Zhou Lang slowly accepted the status quo that the battle of Beijing became a protracted war.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty finally had action, and many reinforcements arrived one after another, and they transferred the Eight Banners stationed in Shengjing (Shenyang) from outside the Guan, and the Eight Mongolian Banners from Horqin, adding up to 100,000 troops.

The combat effectiveness of these armies was strong and weak, but in the field battle, they were all defeated by the Zhou army without exception.

Defeat after defeat, it seems that the morale of Beijing city has dropped to the valley, more and more people have fled, not limited to the rich, ordinary people have also begun to go out of the city through various ways, and even some people have dug through the city wall, from the houses close to the city wall to dig a tunnel directly to the moat, a large number of people from here out of the city at night, the operator even placed a sheepskin raft on the moat that is convenient to put away for quickly crossing people.

This kind of toll fee for taking the tunnel is much cheaper than going out of the city wall in the open, and it only takes ten taels to pass. And the Qing army on duty at night didn't pay attention to this, obviously these guys who ran the black tunnel had already bought off the defenders. There are so many such tunnels that the number of people who leave the city is as high as 1,000 people every day. Tens of thousands of people have already left the city.

The people in the city can easily enter and exit, and spies outside the city can successfully enter the city.

Zhou Lang sent people to contact a few businessmen who operated black tunnels, they said that they were not bosses, they were just running errands for people, and those who really dug up the tunnels were actually people in the army, and unlike those powerful people who could let the soldiers in the city let them go, the people who ran the tunnels were mainly middle and lower-level officers.

The troops that defended the formation, whether it was the Eight Banners or the Green Battalion, participated, and also formed a system of sharing fertilizer with each other and taking care of each other. The upper-level officers actually knew about these situations, but they also turned a blind eye and were unwilling to cut off people's money, after all, there were too many officers affected, and most of them had a flag background, who knew that there would be that big man involved.

In short, you make your money, I make my money, you earn the money of the common people, and I earn the money of the wealthy businessmen. It's not easy for anyone, the well water doesn't interfere with the river water.

Such corruption gave Zhou Lang a lot of loopholes to exploit, so Zhou Lang sent someone to contact a few authentic snakeheads. These snakeheads were also very willing to deal with the Zhou army, because they wanted to cooperate, let them dig tunnels in the position of the Zhou army's defense, as long as the Zhou army did not interfere with their behavior of transferring the people, they were willing to give a share to the Zhou army besieging the city, and guaranteed fair trade, allowing the Zhou army officers to check the accounts.

Because the Zhou army blocked the north, east and south sides, although it was not completely blocked, only cut off the vicinity of the important city gates, dug trenches, and built camps, as long as the Zhou army did not agree, the common people could not get out of the city safely.

The agent said that if the Zhou army could be released, they did not need to dig tunnels, and sent people out directly from the water gate, there are many water gates in Beijing, Zhengyangmen east and west, Chongwen gate east, Xuanwu gate west, Chaoyang gate south, Dongzhimen south, Desheng gate west each have a water pass, a total of seven water passes.

Among them, Chongwen Gate, Zhengyang Gate and Xuanwu Gate are the city walls between the old and new cities of Beijing, the city gate is actually in the city, and the water gate is also connected to the inner moat, these water gates are useless, because the common people do not need to flee from the south city to the old city in the north (also the full city where the banner people live).

Really can pass from the city to the outside of the city, in fact, only Chaoyangmen South Water Pass, Desheng Gate West Water Pass and Dongzhi Gate Water Pass, these three water passes, Dongzhi Gate Water Pass and Chaoyangmen Water Pass are located in the east, one is the North City Water Pass where the flag people live, the other is the South City Water Pass where the civilians live, and the Desheng Gate Water Pass is located in the North City, which is also the water pass in and out of the North City where the flag people live.

This is why the smugglers want to cooperate with the Zhou army, because outside these water passes, they are all besieged by the Zhou army, although the Zhou army only encircles the area near the city gate, but it happens that the water passes are next to the city gate, so all of them are blocked by the Zhou army.

In order to win the trust of these moths, Zhou Lang asked his officers to reach an agreement with them, and now every night, the various water passes are like bazaars, becoming extremely lively, and the people hurriedly drill through the dirty water passes, and then cross the moat, and hurriedly escape in the direction prescribed by the Zhou army, all the way there are various snakeheads responsible for maintaining order, and even lighting torches to guide the way, this service is also considered to be thoughtful.

So the business was booming, and at the end of the day, Zhou Jun was able to get a few thousand taels of silver.

But Zhou Lang is mainly for military purposes, since the common people can go out of the city, through these snakeheads, can they also let the army enter the city, and there is no need to hide it, directly open the price, buy one or two water passes, as long as the Zhou army can gain a firm foothold, it will not be difficult to take Beijing City.

This is a huge turnaround.

No one expected that the Qing army would be corrupted to such an extent, and the management of the army was simply full of holes, and in just a few months, it was able to develop the smuggling of ordinary people out of the city into an industry, and no one cared about it. Such an army must not have much combat effectiveness, because there is no mission to fight at all.

After a month of building trust, Zhou Lang's scouts also made several visits to the city, learned about the terrain near the city gates, drew maps, and had the officers draw up specific battle plans.

Zhou Lang sent the officers in charge of contacting the snakeheads to inquire about the snakeheads.

Zhou Lang most hopes to buy the Desheng Gate West Water Pass, the reason is very simple, this is the largest water inlet in Beijing, other water gates can only be called culverts, and the Desheng Gate West Water Pass, the water is directly connected to the lakes in the city such as Shichahai, and these "seas" have been extended to the south, running through the imperial city, and the West Water Pass is the main and even the only source of water in the imperial city.

It can be said that if it is a western castle that relies on rivers for water supply, as long as the west water pass is blocked, the water in the city will be cut off. Unfortunately, China's cities are much better at being self-sufficient. There are 1,255 wells in a city in Beijing, and in an area of 62 square kilometers, there are an average of 20 wells per square kilometer, one well per 50,000 square meters, and two or three wells in some alleys. Rivers can be blocked, but groundwater can't.

Therefore, in ancient China, when attacking cities, few people heard of water cuts. The perverted walls of Nanjing City, and the outer city even has enough farmland to supply the whole city with food. This is why Zeng Guoquan led the Hunan army to besiege Nanjing for more than two years, and the reason why Nanjing began to have a shortage of food was not that there were too many stores, but that the city itself could produce food. In the end, the reason for the lack of food was mainly because the Hunan army broke through the outer city, and the farmland between the inner and outer cities could not be cultivated safely.

In fact, Beijing City is the same, after Deshengmen enters the city, it is poured into Jishuitan (Shichahai Xihai), in the Ming Dynasty, Jishuitan is surrounded by rice fields, managed by eunuchs, specially supplied to the palace for food, not because of good taste, but because it is safer than bought, not afraid of being poisoned.

And lakes such as Jishuitan, which are now named those lakes with the sea, such as the Qianhai, Houhai, and South China Seas. These seas are located near the center of power, so entering the city from Deshengmen Shuiguan can be directly approached to the imperial city.

It's a pity that the defense here is the tightest, and although the Eight Banners there also do business of letting people out of the city, they have always strictly forbidden people from outside the city to enter the city, and they will not be allowed to let them go no matter how much money is given. Not to mention the sale of water.

If you can't buy Desheng Gate West Water Pass. Secondly, you also have to buy the Nanshui Pass of Chaoyangmen, although it is far away from the imperial city to enter the city from here, but after all, it is the inner city where the banner people live, and there is no obstacle between it and the imperial city. If you buy Dongzhimen Shuiguan, even if you enter the city, it is only the outer city where the common people live, and you have to go through two city walls to attack the imperial city, which is completely no different from staying outside the city, and it also restricts the movement of troops, and if you don't do it, you will be surrounded and annihilated.

To Zhou Lang's disappointment, the city guards at Nanshuiguan in Chaoyangmen had no problem letting one or two people in to collect money and do things, but when they heard that they were going to let thousands of people into the city, they immediately refused to agree. The Great Zhou army outside the city entered the city, and they could still have their good fruits to eat, which was related to their own net worth and life, so it was better not to touch this money.

In the end, it turned out that only one snake head was willing to sell.

But Zhou Lang didn't even want to buy it, and he didn't want it for nothing, because this snake head was not controlling a serious water pass, but a dragon whisker ditch for sewage discharge!