Taizhou capital city, although its prosperity is far less than the capital, but it is also densely populated, the traffic artery of merchants and merchants, it is very lively on weekdays.

Recently, this place has become more like a boiling pot. The bandit Ma Jiajun and the men and horses of the king of Dachu Pingnan are menacing, forming an iron wall encirclement of Taizhou, which is bound to win.

Fortunately, the county keeper of Taizhou Prefecture was far-sighted and prepared. Before Da Chu's soldiers and horses drove to the city, his old man had already prepared several carriages, carrying several ladies' families and gold and silver, and slipped away in the night.

General Si, who was in charge of the city defense, went to the county guard mansion several times, but he was stunned and couldn't see the figure of the county guard, so he was inevitably depressed and at a loss.

Most of the well-informed wealthy merchants and big families in the city also prepared carriages and shouted that they wanted to run for their lives out of the city. General Si was worried that the soldiers would come to the city, and if the four gates were opened and there were thieves mixed in during the chaos, then Taizhou City would not be breached. Therefore, he gritted his teeth and made up his mind, and ordered the four doors to be closed and no one to enter or leave.

These rich businessmen and tycoons are all gone: you can die as you please, but you can't drag everyone to accompany the funeral! Therefore, they all poured into the streets, and the noise and shouting turned the sky upside down.

The noisy sound of the street finally woke up the old stubborn Sun Cheng'an, who was still sleeping and napping in the warehouse of the government office, he rubbed his eyes, stood up, walked out of the back corner door of the government office with his hands behind his back, and crowded into the street with the flow of people to watch the excitement.

On a simple wooden platform made of logs in the middle of the street, the bearded General Si closed his eyes with a dark face, and turned a deaf ear to the noisy crowd in the audience. The soldiers standing around him looked nervous, their right hands pressed on the hilt of the knife at their waist, ready to draw their knives at any time to deal with mass emergencies.

"The surname is Si, the county guard has left us out of the city and fled for his life, you are a small captain of the city guard, why did you stop everyone from leaving the city? If you want to die, stay by yourself, don't stand in the way of everyone's life! You say, don't you?! ”。

A tall, white-skinned middle-aged man with a dazzling gilded wide belt around his waist raised his arms and shouted indignantly.

His shouting seemed to throw another boulder into the pot of boiling water, which immediately caused an uproar, and the crowd was furious, gritted their teeth, and shouted towards the wooden platform in the center.

General Si opened his eyes suddenly, his eyes were full of murderous energy, and he stood up suddenly, and with a "bang" he pulled out his bright sword and pointed at the audience and shouted: "What are you yelling about? The city of Taizhou is now besieged by bandits, who are bloodthirsty and murderous. The reason why Ben will close the four doors is to save your life! If you are willing to throw yourself into the net and take the initiative to go out to die, then order the guards of the city to open the four gates, and let the bandits enter and exit at will, what do you want?! ”。

The originally noisy crowd was obviously shocked by his momentum, and suddenly fell silent, and they all looked around without idea.

Sun Chengan pushed aside everyone, bent over and hunched over and struggled to climb the wooden platform, and came to General Si's side and bowed slightly.

General Si looked him up and down suspiciously, not knowing what the dry old man wanted to do.

Sun Chengan smiled at him, turned to face the audience and saluted: "Old and young masters, I, Sun Chengan, must know many of you, right?" In the lower Taizhou Mansion is a small official. First of all, I ask the big guys to be calm and not to believe the rumors. What kind of county keeper abandoned the city and fled, it is a complete lie! I have been working in the yamen for a long time, and I know best in my heart: the county guard cares about the people, and he went out of the city overnight to bring rescue soldiers to our big guys! ”。

Speaking of this, the dark-faced General Si next to him turned his head in surprise with his mouth half-open and glanced at Sun Chengan, with both surprise and gratitude in his eyes.

Everyone in the audience chattered and turned their heads one after another, obviously half-convinced.

Sun Chengan shook his gray beard, waved his hand to stop the noise of everyone, and said again: "Ladies and gentlemen, everyone should also be considerate of General Si's painstaking efforts. Now that the enemy is present, we should unite as one and hate the same enemy. As the saying goes: There are eggs under the nest? Even if you are lucky enough to escape the thieves this time, once we are destroyed, where can you flee to? ”。

Everyone in the audience fell silent again, lowered their heads one after another, frowned and thought.

Sun Cheng'an stretched out his thin neck full of wrinkles, waved his thin arms and said in a loud voice: "At present, only by working together and swearing to defend Taizhou City can we defend our homeland and protect our wives, daughters and children from the poison of bandits!" The true dragon son and the pilgrim will never sit idly by and watch the bandits run rampant and the lives of the people of Li are ruined! What we have to do is to buy precious time for the imperial court, not only to save the country and the people, but also to save ourselves! At the moment of the great enemy, General Si and other soldiers defending the city are the only guardian saints of our current lives, everything should be subject to its arrangement, what else do you have to shout at them?! ”。

Sun Chengan's uprightness and impassioned enthusiasm had a very good effect, and the onlookers cast approving glances at him, lowered their heads and gradually dispersed.

General Si hurriedly bowed down to Sun Cheng'an and said, "Thank you, old man, for speaking up and relieving the urgent need of my defenders, please accept a certain bow from our company." ”

Sun Chengan hurriedly stretched out his hands, leaned over and said, "Why did General Si say this?" Although the old man is in the government and has a humble position, he does not dare to forget the country, and he has always had a heart to serve the country with a fist in his chest. General Sun shoulders the lives and safety of tens of thousands of people in the city, and he has a long way to go. The old man only hated that he had never practiced martial arts in his life, and he couldn't hold a sword and dance with a general, and kill thieves side by side. But where there is an old decay that can do a little bit of meager strength, although General Si speaks, the old decay will definitely be smeared with liver and brain, and he will not give up. ”

General Si hurriedly stepped forward, stretched out his hand and excitedly grabbed one of Sun Chengan's thin arms and said: "The old man is so righteous and thin, although he is a rough man from the army, he admires it in his heart, and he just has something important to ask for. Can you follow me to the barracks to borrow a step to talk? ”。

Sun Chengan readily agreed, turned around and hurried away with General Si.

When he came to General Si's slightly humble tent, he first politely invited Sun Chengan to sit down, ordered his soldiers to serve two cups of tea, then waved away everyone, bowed his head and whispered to Sun Chengan.

"Don't hide it from my husband, this time the thieves are besieging the city, and they are menacing, and they are bound to win. I was in a hurry, but I couldn't find the county guard, and I was looking for someone to help me come up with an idea. ”

Sun Chengan smiled and said: "You and I are like each other at first sight, if there is any difficulty, General Si might as well tell me bluntly, and we will think of a way together!" ”。

General Si nodded, and said with a straight face: "Don't hide it from my father-in-law, forgive Si for saying bluntly: This time, my defenders are seriously insufficient, even if I give up my life, I don't know how long this Taizhou City can hold out, and when I can expect to come to the court to rescue the soldiers." Second, in the past few days, a certain family has been investigating various parts of the city defense, and some parts of the city tower have collapsed due to disrepair. Leave it alone, I'm afraid that the thieves will be strong, and the city will be self-defeating! However, because there was no silver tael for repairs, and there was a lack of manpower, I didn't know what to do for a while! ”。

Sun Chengan lowered his head and thought for a long time, then slowly put down the tea bowl in his hand, raised his head and said: "As the saying goes, when people are united, Mount Tai moves." If the general can trust me, the old man is willing to share the general's worries. Please ask the general to allocate me a sentry, shrewd and capable, fully armed, one hundred and ten men are enough. The general only needs to strictly order the four doors to be closed, and no one is allowed to enter or exit, and the old man will put together this old bone to do these difficult things for the general. ”

General Si craned his neck and asked, "But I don't know what the old man plans to do?" ”。

Sun Chengan said bluntly: "Since the county guard has left the city, you are the supreme governor of Taizhou Prefecture. Troops can be sent to take over the grain depot and silver depot of the yamen and make unified dispatch. The old man led people through the streets and alleys, encouraging the young men in the city to take up swords and support the city defense, as much as possible to supplement the lack of defenders. ”

Sun Cheng'an paused for a moment, picked up the bowl of tea again, poured two large sips, moistened his dry throat, turned his head and continued: "According to the old man, although those rich businessmen and giants who want to leave the city are temporarily suppressed today, out of survival instinct, they will definitely make some moves, waiting for the opportunity to sneak out of the city to escape for their lives." The old man suggested that General Si should not be soft at that time, catch some and kill a batch! They confiscated their belongings and confiscated them, so that they could have silver taels for repairing the fortifications of the city, and that they might restrain the hearts of the people in the city. The old man will go around mobilizing some people, so that they can complete the repair work, and the soldiers who defend the city can defend themselves with peace of mind. At the same time, we will never be soft on those who spread rumors and disturb the morale of the military and the people, and we will make an example of every one of them. ”

When General Si heard this, he couldn't stop bowing his head again and again. After a while, General Si stood up, raised the tea bowl and said, "What the old man said is very true, Si replaces the wine with tea, and respects the old man with a bowl." Si Mou also made an oath here: The city is here, and our defenders swear to live and die with the people of Taizhou! ”。

Sun Chengan also stood up excitedly, held the tea bowl with both hands and said: "Brothers work together, and their profits are golden!" The old man is willing to do his best to assist the general to defeat the thieves and protect the Taizhou capital together. If the city is broken, the old decay will die with a clear will, and will never be greedy to live under the iron hooves of thieves! ”。

Smoke and dust rose and horses neighed.

Ma Jiajun and the two groups of people and horses of King Pingnan appeared under the city of Taizhou as scheduled, and surrounded the city of Taizhou, which was closed with four gates, like an iron bucket.

Riding on a horse, Tang Wannian, the king of the Great Chu Pingnan, who was dressed in silver helmet and silver armor, glanced at the city tower, and a sneer of contempt appeared on his lips.

A deputy general hurriedly walked to the front, clasped his fists and arched his hands: "Lord Wang, our army is all in place, do you want to immediately set up artillery to attack the city?" ”。

Tang Wannian waved his horsewhip and said easily: "What are you panicking about? This small Taizhou city is now surrounded by water, the defenders are already the turtle in the urn, my two armies launched a strong attack at the same time, and taking this small city is more like a bag to get something. I guess the defenders of the city are squatting in the corner and shivering at this time, so that they will be frightened for a while. Our army is running all the way, people are sleepy and horses are tired, first set up camp on the spot, bury the pot to make food, and wait until they are full of food and drink to clean up their gang of cowards! ”。