This night, Emperor Chongde did not sleep well. He tossed and turned on the bed, all kinds of thoughts in his head, one after another, and he never stopped. For a while, he thought that Yang Fei had lived up to his expectations, and the four-sided net he presided over had exhausted his national strength, but he had gained nothing, which was really a crime that could not be punished; After a while, I thought that now the court is passive everywhere, but there is no one available in his hands at all, and if Yang Fei is disposed of, there will be no one around him who can be used; After a while, I thought that Yang Fei might have some way; After a while, I thought about it, I don't know what the situation in Liaodong is now, the imperial court has almost transferred the army of the nine sides and handed it over to Hong Yan to relieve the siege of Jinzhou, and I don't know when the siege of Jinzhou will be lifted...... And so it went on until dawn.

After dawn, Emperor Chongde got up, thinking uncertainly, should Yang Fei's recital come up today?

In this way, I fidgeted and ate breakfast, and waited until the afternoon in a state of confusion, but there was no news. It wasn't until it was almost dark that I saw Cao Huachun with a patch on his head, and rushed over tremblingly.

"What's the matter, there's a piece of Yang Fei?" Emperor Chongde asked.

Cao Huachun didn't answer, first knelt down with a plop, and said, "Your Majesty, Governor Yang ......"

"How?" Emperor Chongde was taken aback and thought to himself, "Could there be anything worse?" ”

"Governor Yang died of a serious illness, and now there is a testament here." Cao Huachun said as he handed over a piece of music.

"Governor Yang is sick and dead? What disease? Emperor Chongde was taken aback and hurriedly asked.

"It is said that when he entered Sichuan, Governor Yang was already ill, and later pursued the enemy army in Sichuan, and this illness has not been cured. Later, Zhang Bingzhong sneaked through Huguang again, and Governor Yang ordered Liang Yu, the general soldier of the left, and Dalong, the general soldier of He, intercepted him. When Governor Yang found out, he immediately rushed back with his travelers, day and night, and suffered from the wind and cold. When he arrived in Jingzhou, he knew that Zhang Bingzhong had attacked Xiangyang, and King Xiang was in trouble, so he couldn't afford to fall ill......"

When Emperor Chongde heard this, he didn't speak, but just opened the watch, looked at it carefully, sighed and said, "It's really damned!" ”

Cao Huachun didn't know whether Emperor Chongde's "damn" was referring to Yang Fei, or Zuo Liangyu and He Dalong, so he didn't dare to talk.

Emperor Chongde said again: "Didn't Zuo Liangyu and He Dalong be on the table?" ”

Cao Huachun said: "Yes, yes, the two commanders have pleaded guilty. As he spoke, he handed over the other two copies.

Emperor Chongde took the two pieces and placed them on the table. Then I unfolded one of them and looked at it carefully.

This recital was by Zuo Liangyu, and he scolded Yang Fei for his indiscriminate command, so that he repeatedly missed good opportunities and made the officers and soldiers repeatedly unsuccessful. also let Zhang Bingzhong escape from the encirclement and harm King Xiang, which is really a heinous crime. And He Dalong's recital also accused Yang Fei of indiscriminate command and harmed King Xiang.

Emperor Chongde saw it, sneered, and threw the two pieces aside. looked at Cao Huachun who was kneeling again and said, "It's not your fault, what are you doing kneeling?" Get up. ”

Cao Huachun stood up and stood aside and waited.

"Cao Banban, who do you say is telling the truth between Governor Yang and the two chief soldiers?" Emperor Chongde asked.

"The slave doesn't know." Cao Huachun said, "But the slave thinks that people are about to die, and their words are also good." When Governor Yang was dying, he should not tell lies. ”

Emperor Chongde shook his head and said, "Your opinion should be good, but your reasons are not right. If Zuo Liangyu and He Dalong's statement is correct, then Yang Fei is either a stupid fool, or he deliberately wants to let the thief go. Yang Fei is by no means a stupid fool. Although many people in the court blamed him for the Xiangyang incident, and a large number of people came to the table to impeach him, even these people, no one thought that Yang Fei was a stupid fool. As for deliberately letting go of the thief army, Yang Fei is not a military attaché, what benefits can he get from raising Kou to respect himself? Therefore, this concert of the two of them obviously wants to put the responsibility for the loss of the relatives on Yang Fei, who is already dead. It seems that Yang Fei said that the two of them were domineering and did not listen to the dispatch, which should be true. ”

When Cao Huachun heard this, he praised him: "The emperor is sage." The slaves and maids saw that they were attacking each other, and they couldn't tell who was true and who was false. But after listening to what the emperor said, this matter was immediately understood, and the emperor could really be said to have a deep understanding of the situation. ”

"Shengming?" Emperor Chongde smiled bitterly and shook his head, "If it is really a saint, how can the world be what it is now?" However, Yang Fei, as a governor, could not coordinate his generals, resulting in the flow of thieves and the murder of the prince, and the crime was not small. Remember that he is dead, so do not pursue it. Zuo Liangyu and He Dalong ......"

Speaking of this, Emperor Chongde's voice became gloomy.

"Zuo Liangyu and He Dalong are deeply grateful for their holy grace and self-respect, causing the vassal king to suffer, and the sin is unforgivable." Cao Huachun said loudly, "The slave and maid are willing to personally lead the horses, arrest them, and severely punish them to set an example!" ”

Emperor Chongde glared at him and said, "What nonsense are you talking about?!" Didn't you see what Governor Yang's testament says? These two men are not very loyal, and they have a large army in their hands, how can you catch them with a few horsemen? If these two guys rebelled in a hurry, wouldn't it be even worse? ”

"Then don't you give a decree to rebuke them, belittle their officials, and let them suffer for their crimes?" Cao Huachun asked again.

Emperor Chongde thought for a moment and said, "For the time being, it can only be like this. I only hope that Hong Yan's side can repel Jianxuan as soon as possible, otherwise, I won't have any available troops here. ”

"Emperor, who will replace Governor Yang?" Cao Huachun asked again.

"Are there any candidates for the cabinet and the celebrant of ceremonies?" Emperor Chongde asked.

"The cabinet and the celebrant are still deliberating." Cao Huachun said, "Some people also say that it is best to reactivate Sun Baigu and Fu Yuanxian. ”

"Hmph, when Yang Fei was dying of illness, some people believed the nonsense he said? Besides, these people are usually afraid that they are all impeached by Yang Fei, right? Now all the nonsense he talked about when he was dying? What kind of heart do they have in peace? Emperor Chongde said.

Regarding the recommendation in Yang Fei's testament, Emperor Chongde was very unimpressed. Emperor Chongde felt that Yang Fei was completely sick and confused. However, if Liu Qidong is allowed to evaluate, he will definitely think that Emperor Chongde's performance at this time is a typical avoidance of illness and medical treatment, unwilling to honestly admit his mistakes, and trying to save his face by insisting on the wrong way.

When he said "What kind of heart is An", Emperor Chongde suddenly had another thought: "When Yang Fei was dying, he suddenly came to such a recommendation, he was really sick and confused?" Or did he expect that these people would pursue him, punish him, and even kill his body, so he came to do it? In this way, if those people want to oppose him, they will implicate Sun Baigu and Fu Yuanxian, so they will throw themselves into the trap...... Yang Fei is not a pure minister who is dedicated to the country! ”

As soon as this thought came to him, Emperor Chongde immediately felt that Yang Fei was really disgusting, and naturally he was even more reluctant to follow his idea.

Emperor Chongde saw Cao Huachun standing aside and did not speak, so he asked again: "In addition to Sun Baigu and Fu Yuanxian, are there any other candidates?" ”

"There are a few more candidates." Cao Huachun handed another booklet to Emperor Chongde. Emperor Chongde took it and looked at it, but he was not very satisfied, so he said: "Let's discuss it again!" It's just that you have to hurry up, Kaifeng is still surrounded. During this period of time, two princes have died, and there can be no more third! ”

……

Under the city of Kaifeng, now the moat has been filled. More siege engines have been built. A new offensive against Kaifeng began again.

Huang Zide felt that although the previous attack also gave the soldiers some common methods of defending the city, and the training of formations and other things also made some progress, but if they didn't fight honestly and didn't really see some blood, this kind of training was still not enough. And until now, the Jokhang court still did not send reinforcements over, Huang Zide felt that this was because he did not put enough pressure on Kaifeng City, so after discussing with his subordinates, he decided to attack the city seriously.

Generally speaking, in this era, due to the existence of artillery, the previous ones such as watchtower carts were made higher than the city walls, and the large equipment that could be pushed over and allow the archers above to condescendingly suppress the firepower of the city was completely useless. These things are very complex to build, but they are also prone to breakage. Especially on the premise that the opponent has cannons, such a thing, before it has time to get close to the city wall, will be smashed by cannonballs. Under the threat of artillery, any siege machine that is too tall and too slow to move is useless. Nowadays, Huang Zide mainly relies on such siege equipment.

The first is artillery, but the power of the artillery in Huang Zide's hand is still limited, and it is not enough to directly collapse the city wall like the urban cannon. However, they are effective in destroying the female walls of the city walls. Without the protection of the female wall, the advantage of the archers and musketeers in the city when firing at targets under the city will be greatly reduced. At the same time, when the cannonball hits the female wall, the scattered fragments of the female wall will also cause damage to the defenders of the city. For several days in a row, Huang Zide's headquarters kept firing at a section of the city wall. There are not many female walls left on this section of the city wall now, although the defenders have temporarily piled up some female walls with broken stone and rotten bricks, but its sturdiness and ease of use cannot be compared with the original. At this point, it's time to use the second weapon.

In the Tang and Song dynasties, the ladder was a large combat vehicle with wheels underneath, shields on three sides, and a foldable ladder on top. The ladder is wide and long when it unfolds, making it easy to climb quickly. But now, because of the existence of artillery, such things can't get close to the city wall at all, so the ladder has become a long ladder that everyone can often see in later film and television programs. As long as the female wall on the city is destroyed, the threat of bows and muskets on the attacking side of the city to the defenders of the city will be greatly increased.

The first real assault on Kaifeng City is about to begin.