On the south bank of Huaishui, Zhongli, Chen Jun was attacking the city with a counterweight trebuchet, and after the victory in Guangling, Chen Jun captured a large number of Zhou craftsmen, thus finally mastering the secret of trebuchet, and then used it for siege operations.

Counterweight trebuchet, it is said that it was first put into use by the Zhou Guo'an State Army in the siege war, and later the Sui army also learned, in recent years, this kind of trebuchet is not uncommon in the Central Plains battlefield, Chen Guo suffered from it, has been trying to find out the secrets, but does not know.

Chen Guowenwu has always believed that this trebuchet is a kind of instrument with a complex structure, and its structure must be very exquisite, so it can throw dozens of pounds of stones to 200 steps away without the need for manpower.

As a result, when Chen Jun captured the craftsmen of the Zhou Kingdom, who were skilled in making trebuchets, and asked about the structure of trebuchets, he couldn't help but blurt out: It's so simple?

The principle of the trebuchet is really simple, so simple that many people are stunned, and they have also obtained a lot of powerful thunderbolts, but it is a pity that the thunderbolts captured by Chen Jun are all finished products, and no one among the captured craftsmen of the Zhou Kingdom knows how the black powder contained in them is made.

Although it is still impossible to know how to make the thunderbolt, it is enough to have a trebuchet, and Chen Jun has already recovered Xuyi and Shanyang in the lower reaches of Huaishui, and now he is counting on using siege weapons to counterweight trebuchets to break through Zhongli and recover this important city.

The counterweight trebuchet does not need to be pulled by manpower, it can throw dozens of pounds of stones, and build dozens of trebuchets in one go, which can fire artillery day and night to attack the city, which is a very convenient equipment for the besieging party.

On the south side of Zhongli City, the camp of the Chen army, and Kong Fan, the overseer, were using a clairvoyant mirror to check the situation at the head of Zhongli City, and the stones thrown by the trebuchet smashed on the city wall, and the city wall could be clearly seen to collapse.

Although the stones thrown by the trebuchet may not all hit the city wall, it is better than wasting a lot of lives by sending soldiers to climb the city and storm the city.

If there were enough trebuchets to destroy the city wall for days and nights, and then send the first to seize the pass, there would be far fewer deaths, but for Kong Fan, how many ordinary soldiers died had nothing to do with him.

He originally regarded those lowly soldiers as untouchables, ungrateful white-eyed wolves, and now the mutiny that broke out in Jiankang City made him feel that his opinion was not wrong.

Putting away the captured clairvoyant mirror, Kong Fan handed it to the generals beside him, and the other party picked it up and observed the city like a treasure, while he looked left and right to see these generals who focused on Zhongli, and then turned around and returned to the account.

For Kong Fan, the siege was commanded by these puppeteers, and his mind should be placed in the key place, that is, to beware of anyone who is the internal response of the traitor.

There was a man in the tent, with a green coat and a small hat, who was a slave of the Confucian Mansion who had just arrived at Zhongli's camp, and was sent by the housekeeper to report the news, Kong Fan snorted angrily: "Say, how much property is left in the house." ”

"Lord Lang, the Bianhuai Liefu has been looted by the rebels, so far the officials and soldiers have not been able to cross the Qinhuai River, and the property in the house is gone...."

With a "bang", Kong Fan swayed the bookcase for a while, although he had already prepared in his heart, but when he really heard the bad news, he was still angry.

The house slave was so frightened that his face was bloodless, but he still enshrined a letter: "Lord Lang! This is Lang Jun's family letter, and all the relatives in the house have entered Taicheng, and they are safe..."

Kong Fan took the letter but did not move, and after a while, he waited for the air to go well before opening it and looking at it carefully.

The son of Kong Fan said in a letter that the rebels had tried to invade Qingxi many times, but were repelled by the joint efforts of the various guards, and the imperial court then moved the families of civil and military officials living in Qingxi to Taicheng for refuge, which was regarded as a measure to stabilize people's hearts.

Of course, Kong Fan knew that the Son of Heaven had another intention in this move, that is, to treat these family members as hostages, so as not to do something that some generals with soldiers in their hands should not do.

A mutiny evolved into a mutiny, and then the situation got out of control, the rebels occupied the southern city of Qinhuai, and the officials and troops returned from several attacks, which had to make people suspect that there was a mastermind behind the mutiny, so it was normal for the officials to be suspicious.

"You say, what are the rumors in Jiankang City now?"

"There are too many rumors, and the little ones don't know where to start." The house slave replied, seeing that Lord Lang's face was ugly, he was trembling, and hurriedly added: "It is said that there are northern captives who are careful to stir up right and wrong, so the soldiers who don't know the truth are..."

"Say something else!"

"Lord Huilang, the military affairs, the small ones really don't dare to spread rumors..."

Kong Fan wanted to have a seizure, but he still held back, rubbed his temples, and asked in a low voice, "What about the whereabouts of the concubine?" What about Princess Ning Yuan's whereabouts? ”

"Lord Huilang, the two highnesses are no longer in the chaos."

"What evidence is there?"

"Lord Lang, on the day of the mutiny, the forbidden army rushed to Waguan Temple to respond...."

"Needless to say, talk about the latest news!"

"Lord Lang, this is the news that the housekeeper heard, saying that since these days, the official family has sometimes washed his face with tears, and sometimes he has jumped like thunder, thinking that Zhang Guifei is really gone, so that the temperament of the official family has changed greatly, and there are many people in the palace who have been killed by the rod for no reason, even Kong Guifei has been beaten by the official family."

Kong Fan was shocked when he heard this: "What? How is Concubine Kong's current situation? ”

"Fortunately, the official family was probably just thinking about the concubine at that time, so they were angry and anxious, and they hit Kong Guifei by mistake, and later after the official family's mood eased, they also personally rubbed medicine on Kong Guifei, and these days, it was Kong and Gong Ergui who accompanied the official family."

The master and servant muttered for a long time, Kong Fan finally asked about the current situation of Jiankang City, of course, the life and death of ordinary people has nothing to do with him, what he cares about is the current situation of the official family.

He is a fortunate minister of the Son of Heaven, offending countless civil and military officials, if the Son of Heaven has three long and two short, he will inevitably be thrown out by the Queen Mother to calm the anger of the public, so even if he is in Huainan, he will always pay attention to the movement of Jiankang Taicheng.

The Son of Heaven favors Zhang Guifei the most, and he is about to make her the queen, but he and Princess Ning Yuan were not in the chaos of the army, so bad news reached the ears of the Son of Heaven, Kong Fan could imagine the other party's thunderous appearance.

In the harem, in addition to Zhang Guifei, the next is Gong and Kong Erguifei, who are the most favored by the Son of Heaven, Kong Guifei and Kong Fan are not of the same race, but Kong Fan is cheeky and Kong Guifei are brother and sister.

It's not that they have any adultery, Kong Fan needs someone to blow the pillow wind in the ears of the Son of Heaven from time to time, and Kong Guifei needs to have strong reinforcements in the outer court, so the two become brothers and sisters, and it is much more convenient to use each other.

But even so, Kong Fan didn't dare to relax his stammering with Zhang Guifei, now that Zhang Guifei is gone, his 'sister' has a chance to replace her.

For the ministers of good fortune, forming an alliance of interests with the favorite concubine of the Son of Heaven is the best means to ensure their status, so Kong Fan, who learned that the property in the palace had been lost, is now mixed news for him.

A mutiny broke out in Jiankang, but it was not quelled for a long time, is it because the official army is really unable to quell the rebellion? No.

Kong Fan felt that the Son of Heaven was worried that there was a mastermind behind this matter, and he was worried that the other party would collude with some generals who were leading the troops, so he easily did not dare to mobilize heavy troops to return to Jiankang, so as not to be forced into the palace by the other party.

Therefore, the rebels were able to occupy the area of Changganli on the south bank of the Qinhuai River, and their arrogance was abnormal, but Kong Fan felt that this chaos would subside sooner or later, and as for the impact on the Huainan war situation, it would depend on the speed of quelling the chaos.

If the official family needs him to return to the division, he will not hesitate to take the troops back, even if he gives up the good situation of Huainan for this reason, it doesn't matter, because the merit is higher than the savior, as long as the trust of the Son of Heaven is maintained, then can the imperial court recover Huainan, and what does it have to do with him Kong Fan?

Shi Wenqing, the internal supervision army, and Yang Huilang, Taishi Lingyang, have confirmed that they were tortured and killed by the rebels, as the so-called rabbit died and the fox was sad, and the things hurt it, Kong Fan didn't want to end up like Shi Wenqing and Hui Yanglang, and the people who wanted to kill him were not only the rebels, but also many civil and military officials.

Among the generals who were commanding the army to attack Zhongli outside, there were also people who wanted to kill him, because the two sides had a grudge before, but Kong Fan had the support of the Son of Heaven, and those people couldn't do anything about him.

It can be said that Kong Fan's fame, fortune and life are closely related to the grace and luck of the Son of Heaven, and if he loses power one day, he will definitely not die well.

The house slave retreated, Kong Fan sat alone, and fell into deep thought, the trust of the Son of Heaven in him will not disappear easily, but there is such a big thing in Jiankang City, Zhang Guifei and Princess Ning Yuan are not in the chaos, so there must be an explanation for this matter.

If someone takes the opportunity to borrow his Kong Fan's head....

Thinking of this, Kong Fan's heart sank, but after a while, he smiled softly, and his mood improved.

The cunning rabbit has three holes, and he also has three holes.