Zhang Mingqi listened to the analysis of the strategist Tang Yan, and finally agreed in his heart to let the Suzhou Xiang army, which remained in the southeast, take the opportunity to seize Suzhou, Hangzhou, Zhejiang and Fuzhou while attacking Canglong City.

Zhang Mingqi said: "The capture of Suzhou, Hangzhou, Zhejiang and Fuzhou is the responsibility of Zhao Lianjin and Chen Hongxin, as Mr. Tang said, to seize these four states, the military is only one aspect, try to win over some generals of the imperial army, is the most important!" ”

Strategist Tang Yan immediately said: "The lord is wise, and the capture of the four states should be based on the heart!" ”

Then Zhou Jiling, the general of the Suzhou Xiang Army, said to Zhang Mingqi: "My lord, now there are still seven passes around Canglong City that are controlled by the imperial army, it is better to divide the troops to capture these seven passes, in that case, Canglong City can be regarded as completely cut off from the outside world." ”

As soon as Zhou Jiling's words fell, the strategist Tang Yan nodded and said: "General Zhou is right, if you can capture the other seven passes of Canglong Eight Passes, then the grain route of Canglong City can really be completely cut off. ”

Zhang Mingqi thought for a moment, and then said to Zhou Jiling: "The matter of attacking the other seven passes of Canglong Eight Passes will be handed over to Jiling, and this official will transfer the thirteenth, fourteenth, twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh guards to you, is there enough strength for these four guards?" ”

Zhou Jiling patted his chest and said: "Don't worry, the lord has these four guards enough, and Jiling promises to take down those seven passes." ”

Now the Suzhou Xiang Army has a total of 22 guards in the entire Canglong City area, and these 22 guards lost about 600,000 people in the previous few days of battle with the imperial army, but in the past few days, 50,000 people have been replenished from the southeast, so now the 22 guards of the Suzhou Xiang Army have a total strength of about 2.2 million.

The thirteenth, fourteenth, twenty-sixth, and twenty-seventh guards had some losses in the previous battles, but they were not large, and the total strength of these four guards was about 420,000.

General Liu Fengbao then asked Zhang Mingqi: "Lord, when will we start attacking the city?" ”

Zhang Mingqi said without hesitation: "Starting tomorrow, we will send all guards to attack the city in turn, which guard can break the city first, and which guard will be the hereditary marquis!" ”

As soon as Zhang Mingqi's voice fell, many generals of the Suzhou Xiang Army in the tent couldn't help but rub their hands, a marquis is nothing, but a hereditary marquis is very rare, it can be passed on to future generations, and it is a guarantee for the prosperity of a family.

From January 2, 429 of the Great Jin Dynasty, the Suzhou Xiang Army attacked Canglong City while dividing its troops to attack Hangu Pass, Baiyun Pass, Guangcheng Pass, Dagu Pass, Jinmen Pass, Mengjin Pass and Zhenyuan Pass of Canglong Eight Passes.

At this time, the forbidden army, the Jiading army and the army of the 22nd Road Ping Rebel Army in Canglong City totaled about 1.7 million, which was 200,000 more than the 1.5 million expected by the Suzhou Xiang Army, and the young and strong people who were recruited were about one million, so many defending troops even surpassed the Suzhou Xiang Army besieging the city in terms of numbers, plus the imperial army had the advantage of the city wall, so the Suzhou Xiang Army attacked Canglong City for a few days, and in addition to losing tens of thousands of people, it did not pose much threat to Canglong City.

However, the imperial army behaved a little strangely in Hangu Pass, Baiyun Pass, Guangcheng Pass, Dagu Pass, Jinmen Pass, Mengjin Pass and Zhenyuan Pass.

At present, the imperial army is stationed in each of the seven passes of more than 30,000 people, all of which are composed of the forbidden army and the family team, if the imperial army of each pass resists desperately, even if the Suzhou Xiang army occupies an absolute superiority in strength, it will not be easy for the Suzhou Xiang army to capture any pass.

However, what is very surprising is that the Suzhou Xiang Army only launched a tentative attack on the seven passes, and the guards of Baiyun Pass and Guangcheng Pass ordered to open the gates of their respective passes and chose to surrender to the Suzhou Xiang Army, and the guards of these two passes are even the children of the thirteenth family.

The fall of Baiyun Pass and Guangcheng Pass seemed to have caused a chain reaction, and soon the defenders of the other five passes, under the onslaught of the Suzhou Xiang Army, did not last long, and successively took the initiative to open the city gate of the pass, and chose to surrender to the Suzhou Xiang Army, and the defenders of these five passes were also the children of the thirteenth family.

Zhang Mingqi was very happy about the voluntary surrender of the court defenders at the seven passes, and rewarded the court generals at the seven passes, especially for the surrender generals at the seven passes, who belonged to the children of the thirteenth family, Zhang Mingqi gave a heavy reward, and the court troops in the seven passes were scattered to the various guards of the Suzhou Xiang army.

On the evening of January 6, 429 of the Great Jin Dynasty, in a study room in the mansion of Dou Yan, the commander of the military department of Canglong City, Dou Yan said with a tired face to his nephew, Dou Bing, the general of the Che Cavalry: "Now that the other seven passes of Canglong Eight Passes have fallen into the hands of the Suzhou rebels, Canglong City has really become isolated!" ”

Dou Bing, the general of the cavalry, hesitated for a moment and said: "Uncle, the fall of the seven passes is too weird, the generals guarding the passes should not surrender to the Suzhou rebels so easily, most of these generals are disciples of our thirteenth family!" ”

Dou Yan, the captain of the military department, sighed and said: "The reason why these generals guarding the pass surrendered to the Suzhou rebels so easily is because they received orders from their families, and not all the people of the thirteenth family are willing to burn the jade in Canglong City with the Suzhou Xiang army, and many people have begun to find a way back." ”

Dou Bing, the general of the chariot cavalry, asked with a shocked face: "Uncle, do you mean that there are people from the Thirteenth Family, who are already ready to take refuge in the Suzhou rebels and Zhang Mingqi?" ”

Dou Yan, the captain of the military department, nodded slowly and said: "Even our Dou family, there are some people behind my back and issued an order to the Dou family's forbidden army generals at the seven passes to surrender to the Suzhou rebels. ”

Dou Bing, the general of the cavalry, said with some excitement: "Uncle, our Canglong City soldiers are full of food, these days the Suzhou rebels have attacked the city, and there are very few people who can climb the city wall, how can they want to take refuge in the Suzhou rebels!" Once Zhang Mingqi controls the authority of the Great Jin, it is likely to be a catastrophe for our Thirteenth Family, can Zhang Mingqi still allow such a force as our Thirteenth Family to exist? ”

Dou Yan, the captain of the military department, smiled bitterly and said: "Some people don't think so, they think that after Zhang Mingqi controls the power of the Great Jin, the family can still get away with Zhang Mingqi." ”

"Uncle, those people don't want to dedicate Canglong City to Zhang Mingqi, right?" Dou Bing, the general of the cavalry, frowned and asked.

Dou Yan shook his head and said: "At present, they don't dare, but if Canglong City is besieged by the rebels in Suzhou, it may be said, after all, the food in the city is enough for the soldiers and civilians in the city to eat for half a year at most." ”

After a pause, Dou Yan said to Dou Bing again: "In order to prevent accidents, the old man has made some arrangements, even if some people want to exchange Canglong City for the glory and wealth of the entire family, they have to pass the old man's hurdle first!" ”

Dou Bing's face showed a gloomy look and asked, "Uncle, if the Suzhou rebels keep surrounding, what will our Dou family do?" ”

Dou Yan said in a deep voice: "The general Liu Ji has promised to end the attack on Gaochang Kingdom in the Western Regions as soon as possible and bring troops to rescue Canglong City, presumably in half a year, the reinforcements of the Broken Army will definitely be able to rush to Canglong City, as long as the elite of the Broken Army arrives in Canglong City, the rebels in Suzhou will not be worried!" ”

Dou Bing immediately said with some concern: "Uncle, the Empress Dowager Zhou and the first emperor were killed one after another, and Princess Xiangcheng is Liu Ji's wife, in case Liu Ji is angry with our thirteenth family for the Empress Dowager Zhou and the first emperor, maybe Liu Ji is more terrible than Zhang Mingqi." ”

Dou Yan sighed and said: "Now there is only one branch that can have the strength to rescue the soldiers and horses of Canglong City, and there is only one of the Broken Army, after all, the powerful local army has basically joined the previous counterinsurgency army, and now there are twenty-two soldiers and horses of the Suppression Rebel Army in the capital, in addition to the Broken Army, other local powerful factions, even if they send some more troops to rescue Canglong City, in the face of millions of Suzhou rebels, it is just a drop in the bucket." ”

Dou Bing nodded bitterly and said, "I can only count on the broken army, I hope Liu Ji is a person who can take care of the overall situation." ”

Dou Yan continued: "By the way, the imperial court has appointed Liu Ji to concurrently serve as the governor of Qianzhou, and I hope Liu Ji can be satisfied with this advance payment!" In addition, you must control the Yulin Right Guard in your hands and the remaining 80,000 Dou family members, no matter how the situation develops in the future, as long as our Dou family still has an army in our hands, it will not be completely eaten! ”

There are a total of sixteen guards in the forbidden army, which are Jinwu Guard, Jinwu Guard, Jinwu Left Guard, Jingo Right Guard, Yulin Guard, Yulin Guard, Yulin Left Guard, Yulin Right Guard, Government Army Guard, Government Army Guard, Government Army Left Guard, Government Army Right Guard, Tiger Ben Guard, Tiger Ben Guard, Tiger Ben Left Guard, and Tiger Ben Right Guard.

In addition to the Xiao family where the hussar general Xiao Su is located, the He family where the hussar general He Guangzong is located, and the Li family where the hussar general Li Hong is located, as the generals in the thirteenth family, each controls the forbidden army of two guards, and the other ten families each control the forbidden army of one guard, and the Dou family controls the right guard of Yulin.

"Uncle, don't worry, I will try to minimize the losses of Yulin Right Guard and the Dou family." Dou Bing replied in a deep voice.

Just when Dou Yan and Dou Bing, the two uncles and nephews, were talking secretly, in a study room in the mansion of Wu Ziyu, the secretary of the ministry, there were also several important ministers of the court who were secretly discussing important matters.

In addition to Wu Ziyu, the secretary of the ministry, there are also Zhang Shunran, the secretary of the household department, Chen Sikai, the secretary of the criminal department, and Xiao Su, the hussar general.

Wu Ziyu, the secretary of the ministry, said in a deep voice: "The Suzhou Xiang Army has taken over Hangu Pass, Baiyun Pass, Guangcheng Pass, Dagu Pass, Jinmen Pass, Mengjin Pass and Zhenyuan Pass, and the defenders of the seven passes have all been incorporated by the Suzhou Xiang Army. ”

Zhang Shunran, the head of the household, followed and said: "Don't put your eggs in the same basket, not only a few of us understand, now the general trend of the Suzhou Xiangjun has become a success, and other families also have people who understand!" ”

The hussar general Xiao Suleng snorted and asked, "Then what else do we need to do next?" Is it really true that Canglong City is also dedicated to Zhang Mingqi? ”

Chen Sikai, the secretary of the Criminal Department, said categorically: "It is impossible for us to hand over Canglong City to Zhang Mingqi now, and the relationship with Zhang Mingqi is just to leave a way back for our thirteenth family, and there is a slight chance to keep Canglong City, and our thirteenth family should not dedicate Canglong City to Zhang Mingqi." ”

Wu Ziyu, the secretary of the ministry, nodded and said: "It is also a last resort to take this line with Zhang Mingqi, Canglong City must not be easily given to Zhang Mingqi, don't look at Zhang Mingqi is not bad for the children of our thirteenth family to join the Suzhou Xiang Army, but no one can guarantee what his attitude towards our thirteenth family will be after Canglong City falls into the hands of Zhang Mingqi." ”

The hussar general Xiao Su said gloomily at this time: "Now that all the eight passes of Canglong have been lost, which makes the hearts of the people in Canglong City fluctuate, even if we don't dedicate Canglong City to Zhang Mingqi, I don't know how long Canglong City can last?" ”

In fact, the hussar general Xiao Su did not agree to give Hangu Pass, Baiyun Pass, Guangcheng Pass, Dagu Pass, Jinmen Pass, Mengjin Pass and Zhenyuan Pass, as well as more than 200,000 imperial army troops, as well as a large amount of grain hoarded in the seven passes, so easily to Zhang Mingqi.

However, the head of the Xiao family agreed to this plan to tie up with Zhang Mingqi, and Xiao Su could only do it.

Chen Sikai, the secretary of the Criminal Department, glanced at the hussar general Xiao Su, and then sighed and said: "We have more than 30,000 people stationed in Hangu Pass, Baiyun Pass, Guangcheng Pass, Dagu Pass, Jinmen Pass, Mengjin Pass and Zhenyuan Pass, with more than 30,000 troops at each pass, it is difficult to stop the Suzhou Xiang Army with an absolute advantage in strength. ”

The corners of the hussar general Xiao Su's mouth twitched slightly, and he didn't say anything more, Wu Ziyu, the secretary of the ministry, said at this time: "Now that the four of us have made the first step, we need to continue to do it, and then we can further get in touch with Zhang Mingqi by taking refuge in Zhang Mingqi's children, and find out what attitude Zhang Mingqi has towards our families, if Canglong City really reaches the point where it is unsustainable, in order to continue to exist in the family, there are some things that we have to grit our teeth to do, even if we are not willing to do it!" ”