Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang, was the capital of Wu Yue and the Southern Song Dynasty in ancient times, and has always been a metropolis where merchants gathered, and together with Suzhou, it has the reputation of "Suzhou and Hangzhou above heaven". Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 In the Ming Dynasty, although it was not as fashionable as Suzhou, it was also a metropolis with a population of one million, and the handicraft industry was extremely developed.

However, after all, the area inside the city is small, and there is a full city circle to occupy the land, although there is no city wall outside the city to protect, but it does not prevent the people from thriving outside the city, and the streets and alleys and markets are all over the city. In particular, the Beiguan Night Market outside the Wulin Gate is one of the ten scenic spots in Hangzhou. Ru Mingshi's poem wrote: "The evening market in Beicheng is like a forest, and it has been passed down to this day. The green ramie is shaken by the wind and the moon shadow, and the fire of the sarongs shines on the green yin. Behind the building, the drinking companion travels together, and the people on the lake are drunk", which has the unique charm of canal culture.

It's just that for Chen Wen at this moment, the charm is forcibly invisible to him, and what he is concerned about is whether these streets and alleys should be leveled, otherwise the obstacles and limitations during the siege of the city will be too great.

The army approached the city, but the gates of Hangzhou had been closed as early as yesterday. The dense crowd standing at the head of the city is the Qing army of the Eight Banners and the Green Battalion, with banners and guns, and there is a lot of trouble.

"Dashuai, the envoy of the governor of Zhejiang of the Tartars asks to see you."

"Send someone over before the fight starts, is this teasing me?"

Before the siege begins, the attacker must always go through a process to persuade him to surrender. Just like a saying in later generations, it is said that "people still have to have a dream, in case it comes true", if the defenders surrender without a fight, then it will save the use of swords. It's just that this time the attacker has not yet persuaded him to surrender, but the defenders took the lead in sending people out to negotiate, but Chen Wen was embarrassed.

Smiling and shaking his head, Chen Wen asked the messenger to bring up. There were three people in total, the leader was a white-haired old man, and the other two were middle-aged, all three of whom were dressed as Confucians.

After entering the big tent, the three of them bowed and saluted, and Chen Wen did not pick the etiquette issue of why he didn't kneel - since Xiao Qiyuan chose Confucianism as the messenger, he must have a meritorious reputation, and if he didn't kneel when he saw the official, he wouldn't lower his own prestige and lose the upper hand in the negotiation.

Sure enough, these three people are all famous, and they are all famous in the Ming Dynasty, one has been an official, and two squires have been raised.

"Since you are my Ming scholar, why are you so open to the court?"

As soon as these words came out, the three Confucian scholars didn't say a word, and they didn't care about any preferential treatment, so they just knelt on the ground, and all they said were Xiao Qiyuan threatening the lives of their whole family, so they had to come out to help the "beast" who was "full of evil" to bring a message. One by one, they are a little pitiful.

"Get up, tell me what the traitor surnamed Xiao has to say?"

The three of them got up with a thousand thanks, and the old man who was the leader bowed down and said: "Back to Your Highness, Xiao Thief claims to want to return to the Ming Dynasty, claiming that the court has a law, and he will stick to the city for thirty days, and he will not implicate his family. Therefore, Xiao Thief wants to ask His Highness to delay the attack for 30 days, and when the time comes, he will lead the whole city to surrender. ”

This statement is a bit familiar, but Chen Wen didn't care, he just sneered: "This king is a big breaker, Yue Le and Yibai are all conferred, what qualifications does he have to negotiate with this king?" ”

Chen Wen was like this, and so were the generals in the tent, but the three messengers had a painful face, and they seemed to be about to cry out in a hurry.

"Your Highness doesn't know, the thief Xiao is crazy, not only the three of us, the thief said that as long as His Highness refuses to agree, he will let the Eight Banners in the city and the Eight Banners in the city slaughter Hangzhou. He said that those Eight Banner soldiers knew that there was only one way to die if they fell into the hands of His Highness, so they all thought that killing one was enough, killing two and earning one, and they were not afraid of loneliness on the Huangquan Road. ”

A metropolis of millions of people!

"Use the whole city to blackmail the king! Good thief, he is not afraid of surrendering, and this king will also find an opportunity to slaughter him! ”

Chen Wen was furious, and the three messengers fell to their knees in fright, and even Chen Wen's tone was not a question, and he didn't have time to hear it, a middle-aged Confucian student trembled and said: "Back to His Highness, the thief said that he was not afraid of death, but he had to think about his clansmen, so he had to do so." ”

"He's not afraid of death, he's calculated that the king won't dare to kill him!"

Assuming that Xiao Qiyuan really surrendered, then he would be the first governor-level official to surrender to Chen Wen, and he would buy horse bones for the Northern Expedition in the future, and he would also be kept to show his generosity and benevolence to the Manchu governors in various places. After all, Chen Jin was assassinated by a house slave, Hong Chengchou was a good person who no one did not cut his teeth, and Cai Shiying and Yi Yonggui would rather die than surrender.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Wen raised his head again and shouted to the three messengers: "Go back and tell the surnamed Xiao, I Chen Wen can't trust him, let him hand over the concubine of King Lu's West Palace and the prince first, and then talk about the rest." ”

Zhu Yihai's Xigong Concubine Rong and Shizi Liuge were both captured in the Battle of Zhoushan. According to the old practice, the Rong family, who was alias Chen, was married by Jin Li to his son-in-law's house slave Ding Shoucai, and the son Liuge was given to a man named Sun Yingke and became the son of this person. Later, Lu Jianguo got the news that he sent someone to secretly hold the silver to redeem it, but it was exposed and he was escorted to Jiangning to be executed.

This matter was affected by the chain reaction caused by the complete change of Jin Li's fate, and the involvement of the Xigong Concubine Rong and the prince Liuge, who received Ding Youcai, a slave who followed Jin Li's widowhood, was exposed not long ago and was imprisoned in Hangzhou. It's just that the case is still being heard, and Chen Wen's secret agent in Hangzhou got the news from some sources.

The three of them didn't say much, they glanced at each other, and the old man who was the leader responded to this errand, saying that he would definitely convey it to Xiao Qiyuan after returning to the city. However, Chen Wen still made a special mention and asked them to tell Xiao Qiyuan word for word.

"Tell Xiao Qiyuan that this king has not seen the concubine of the West Palace and the prince of the world, and tell him to play tricks with Lao Tzu less."

………………

"Chen Wen is stalling for time!"

"Procrastinating?"

The staff around him are only responsible for financial matters on weekdays, but the staff in charge of military affairs does not speak - now, leaving the opportunity to be in the limelight to the boss is the minimum workplace wisdom for subordinates. Moreover, if he does not say it correctly, he will not be overwhelmed.

Xiao Qiyuan understands the thoughts of his staff, but being a good teacher is inevitable for scholars, even if he is still a banner man of the Han Army Banner.

"Taking advantage of the great victory in the field and approaching the city, but Hangzhou is such a huge city, Chen Wen's army always needs time to prepare. Not to mention anything else, without siege equipment, it is difficult to break the city. ”

"The owner knows thousands of miles, and the students worship it."

"Listening to the owner's words is better than reading a book for ten years."

The sycophants sounded one after another, but Xiao Qiyuan only smiled slightly. "Come on, invite those Niu Lu Zhangjing."

The Qing army in the city was divided into five parts, one of which was the remnants of the Eight Banners garrisoned in Hangzhou; second, the reinforcements were routed; third, the rebuilt Upgrading Battalion; Fourth, the rebuilt Fubiao Battalion; Fifth, Hangzhou City guarded the camp.

The Qing army of all departments, the most well-preserved is the Hangzhou city garrison, which has not fought with the Ming army of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Zhejiang, all the veterans, and have also suppressed the small group of rebels and tax-resistant people in Hangzhou, and the combat effectiveness is definitely higher than that of the government service. The promotion and raising of the standard were originally the rare elite of the green battalion in the south of the Yangtze River in the Manchu Dynasty, but they were defeated by Chen Wen several times, and the veterans became fewer and fewer, and the war-fearing mentality of the Ming army in Shangjiang and Zhejiang became more and more heavy.

These three Qing armies are all green battalions, and the overall number is relatively large, with tens of thousands of troops, but their combat effectiveness and credibility cannot be compared with the two Eight Banner Armies at all, even if these two Eight Banner Armies are defeated under Chen Wen, one falls into the hands of the Ming army and has no way to live, which is enough for them to fight hard.

The people had already gone to invite, but one of the staff members asked Xiao Qiyuan: "Dongjia, are the concubines of the West Palace and the prince of the Nalu Domain still released?" ”

"Put! Of course, we have to put it, but only the Rong family, and the prince will remain in our hands. ”

The two staff members glanced at each other, and immediately understood Xiao Qiyuan's intentions. Concubine Xigong is a female concubine after all, and her innocence has been tarnished by the minions below, and she is far less valuable than the son of the world, especially when this son is still the eldest surviving son of Lu Jianguo.

"Could it be the one outside the city who wants to repair the relationship with Lu Fan?"

"It's hard to say, maybe it's to hold that son in your hands."

"What the two gentlemen said is possible, so it is even more necessary to control the son. However, the immediate priority now is to try to drag the Ming army outside the city. Speaking of this, Xiao Qiyuan thought for a while, and then added: "In addition, I have to keep an eye on the uncle and nephew of the Xu family." The feeling they give to the official is not right! ”

………………

The siege of Hangzhou began, and the Fujian Ming army also launched the siege of Nanjing. Looking from the city, the Ming army is mighty, even if it is just a claim, but no matter how you look at it, it has the posture of more than 100,000 troops.

The Qing army in the city was trembling, and the green camp was still missing, but the Eight Banners Army of the Four Banners on the left wing of Jiangning in Jiangnan was terrified, and it was almost a hundred suicides. The families of the Eight Banners in the city are either crying or praying to God and worshiping Buddha, and the soldiers and remnants of the Eight Banners are also in a spirit of 10,000 points, on the one hand, they want to protect the city, and on the other hand, they have to supervise the green camp in the city, which can be described as exhausting.

The first thing that led them to their current situation was naturally Zheng Chenggong, but it was normal for the Qing army to kill the Ming army, and the Ming army to kill the Qing army in turn. As a result, Guan Allegiance immediately became a street rat that everyone spited on, especially a dead rat who lost his teacher and humiliated the country.

The outer Guo of Nanjing City Wall is claimed to be 180 miles, and the actual city wall is also more than 40 miles, and the inner Guo surrounds the inner city, which is also more than 60 miles huge. Zheng Chenggong's army approached the city, and the various departments launched a siege on it, but the city was too large, if the army was scattered, it would become a plate of scattered sand, both inside and outside could be broken, so Zheng Chenggong's defense was still scattered in various parts as a fulcrum, as a cover for the main camp. As for other places, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice.

When the generals set up camp, in the big tent of the main camp, Pan Gengzhong, who joined the army, said to Zheng Chenggong: "King, if you look closely at the city, it will be empty. It can be attacked from all sides, and the city will definitely be obtained. ”

Pan Gengzhong was an important civil official in Zheng Chenggong's scene, and Feng Xifan's father Feng Chengshi, Chen Jinnan's prototype Chen Yonghua and others were still in the middle of the match.

This proposal was agreed by Zheng Chenggong, but just as he ordered the troops to start building siege equipment, his own soldiers came to report, saying that Zheng Chenggong's previous subordinates were defeated and loyal to Guan Guan, and that the street rat who was shouted and beaten by everyone in Nanjing sent someone to ask to see Zheng Chenggong.

Someone came into the tent, and saw Zheng Chenggong standing high in the tent, and as soon as his front feet entered the big tent, he fell to the ground and crawled over with his limbs together.

"The villain is fortunate to see the king today."

Zheng Chenggong and the generals and staff in the tent were very satisfied with the performance of the envoy. Zheng Chenggong had just defeated Guan Allegiance not long ago, and his people were afraid not to mention, even if they held on, the Qing army might not have enough troops and the will to hold on. If the envoy here is like this, he will definitely pay the money.

"Tell the king, the villain's head of the family said, the king is here, and the defeated will open the door and extend in. However, there is an example in the imperial court, and those who defend the city spend 30 days, and if the city is lost, the crime is not as good as that of the wife and children. Now all the officials and dependents in the city are in Beijing, and the king of Fu begs is limited to 30 days, that is, he should open the door to welcome the surrender. ”

Sure enough, it was the matter of asking for surrender, but this condition was very fresh. However, Zheng Chenggong was convinced of this, ordered a generous reward for the envoy, and threatened him: "The attack on this lonely city by the army of this domain is just a matter of raising your toes. Since your master has come to surrender, this vassal has granted his request, in order to win the trust of the world. If the day comes, if the day comes, there will be no grass left when the army invades! ”

The sweet jujube was a stick, and the messenger hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, promising that he would inform Guan of the allegiance of this matter, and then turned around and left. The envoy left, and when there were no outsiders, Pan Gengzhong couldn't help but express his worries in his heart, but Zheng Chenggong didn't care about it, not that he couldn't see Pan Zhonggeng's doubts, but with the precedent of Zhenjiang surrendering without a fight after the First World War, he needed to consider more overall problems.

"The ancients, the siege is the bottom, and the heart is the top. Now that he has come to surrender, and he has made an appointment, if he suddenly attacks him, he will not accept it. If it is not as good as the previous agreement, and then attack in a hurry, it is not only that the people in the city are pleased, and the world knows that I am a teacher of benevolence and righteousness. Moreover, the tomb of Emperor Taizu is here, and it is not appropriate to shake. ”

The rush turned into waiting for surrender, but Zheng Chenggong did not relax his vigilance, and issued orders and his troops to defend strictly, looking out during the day and ambushing the road at night. However, within a few hours, a messenger of the Qing army for help was caught below, carrying a document for help sent by the Qing army in Jiangning to various places.

"There are more than 200,000 naval divisions and more than 1,000 warships, all of which are made of iron, and arrows cannot penetrate or slash through them. In the second battle of melon and town, the soul of the defeated was still frightened, and the strategists shrank back. Now it has captured Zhenjiang, Taiping, Ningguo and other prefectures, Pukou, Liuhe, Dantu, Fanchang, Jurong, Pujiang and other counties, Chu, He and other prefectures; The situation of Zhejiang bandits is waiting and watching in the south. Now besiege the southern capital, the danger is like an egg, begging soldiers to go south to rescue and extinguish, so as not to burn the prairie flames ......"

After reading the documents, Zheng Chenggong laughed instead of being angry, and the Qing army's fear of war and the eagerness to ask for help in the city were all overflowing between the lines. Thinking about it carefully, the four banners of Jiangning's left flank in Jiangnan are gone, and there is no Qing army around him that can threaten him, even if he asks for help where his reinforcements come from, he is obviously panicked and helpless, and there is no need to worry about it anymore.

As for the heavy army group on the Hangzhou side......

Contrary to what the gentry said, Chen Furen was by no means a despicable villain. Judging from his past behavior, there is no doubt that he should be a sincere gentleman, and he will not sit idly by and watch the captive go north. And ......"

Speaking of this, Zheng Chenggong was silent for a moment before continuing to talk to himself: "Moreover, although I have never had the pleasure of seeing each other for many years, he gives me the feeling of an old friend, as if we should be friends." Even if there are still contradictions between them......"