Shen Taishou sneered: "Ho? Lieutenant Wang, this gate is so unbearable in your eyes? The official should ask Captain Wang to come in from the waterway and take a look. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Wang Yuan smacked his lips and said, "Has Shen Taishou ever fought?" ”

Shen Taishou sneered: "Could it be that Captain Wang thinks that only you Shence Army know how to fight in the world?" ”

Wang Yuan shook his head and said: "I didn't mean that, I meant to say, but anyone who knows a little about military affairs understands that this floodgate will not work." I admit that this gate is indeed designed to be delicate enough, strong enough and grand enough, and it took a lot of manpower and material resources. But it has a fatal heel. The gates are all made of logs, so may I ask, can the rebels attack with fire, can this gate be blocked? ”

"This ......"

Shen Taishou was a little weak, when he built this gate, he didn't think about arson. However, the original intention of the construction of the gate was only to block the river and close the river, and only solved the defects of the basic defense of Yangzhou City. He will realize that Yangzhou will be attacked by a large number of rebels. Now the Achilles' heel of this gate was hit by the sore spot of this Captain Wang's words, and Shen Taishou didn't know how to respond for a while.

"The rebels may not attack with fire, do the rebels have such a powerful plan?" One of the officials muttered under his breath.

Wang Yuan sneered: "Do you still have this kind of thought?" That's really not how it should be. Some people always look at An Lushan's rebellion with arrogance, and always think that they are a group of incompetent people. However, in a few months, the two capitals of my Tang Dynasty fell, a large area of the northern city fell into the hands of the enemy, and even the Emperor Taishang was forced to take refuge in Shudi, isn't this lesson enough? This fully shows that the rebels are not paper-based. Do you have to wait for my Datang to fall into the hands of the rebels and the Tang Dynasty to fall, before you can restrain your arrogance and ignorance? To fight a war, we have to take the initiative in our own hands, should we take chances and hope that the rebels will not attack with fire? That's really taking the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Yangzhou as a mustard. ”

The officials were speechless, although they all felt that something was not quite right to be reprimanded so face-to-face by a small lieutenant. But there seems to be little reason to refute it.

"Well said!" Cui Daoyuan slowly applauded: "When these words came out of the mouth of a school captain, the old man was happy and sad. Happily, even a small lieutenant understands these truths, but our officials in the Tang Dynasty just don't understand them. Shen Taishou, I'm afraid you were lucky when you built this gate. The old man didn't believe that no one told you about the flaws of this gate. ”

"Yes, yes, Zifang is not thoughtful, ashamed." Shen Taishou bowed his head.

"It's not that you're not thinking about it, I'm afraid you have another hidden reason for building this gate."

Shen Zifang was taken aback, and hurriedly whispered: "Cui Weng Mo wants to joke, although Zifang is not thoughtful, but the construction of this gate is also for the defense of Yangzhou, and it is also the result of the hard work of Zifang, the officials and the people of Yangzhou." Zifang is indeed a bit lucky, I have been promoted to peace for a long time, who would have thought that there would be a day when tens of thousands of troops would attack the city. ”

Cui Daoyuan snorted coldly, waved his hand and said, "You come with the old man, let's talk in a secluded place." ”

Cui Daoyuan slowly walked to the battlements in the distance, Shen Zifang and Cui Yuanbo glanced at each other and hurried away. The rest of the people were not allowed to stand still and wait.

"What advice does Cui Weng have?" Shen Zifang came to Cui Daoyuan's side and bowed.

Cui Daoyuan said coldly: "Shen Taishou, the old man is taking care of your face, so you can't say these words in front of those people, otherwise you will be ruined." Do you really think that the old man knows nothing about the process of building this gate and all the things involved in it? Do you really think that the collusion between you and Yuanbo and Du Zhicheng, the inspector of Huainan Province, is it seamless? ”

Shen Taishou was stunned, sweating like rain, and cast his suspicious gaze on Cui Yuanbo. He suspected that Cui Yuanbo had reported the inside story to Cui Daoyuan. Cui Yuanbo was also stunned, and hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Shen Taishou, don't do my business, I haven't said a word." ”

Cui Daoyuan scolded angrily: "Rebel, you are embarrassed to speak." You even dare to hide it from me, how much you have done with these local officials behind your back, don't you know me? ”

Cui Yuanbo hurriedly said: "The old man is angry, don't shout." With so many people here, do you really want to shout about it to the world? ”

Cui Daoyuan took a sip and said, "Do you still want face?" When does my Cui family need to use this method to accumulate family wealth? You interact with the officials, and the old man has no objection. But you've also gone too far. Don't think I don't know what you're up to. colluded with each other, colluded with each other, and embezzled the money of the imperial court. You think I don't know? I'm just too lazy to say it. What has the southeastern officials become like when they are all thinking about themselves, which one has considered the imperial court? Thinking about the people? Three years ago, the Yangzhou government received a grant of 500,000 yuan from the imperial court, asking you to build stone bridges between the canal walls, build iron locks, make up for Yangzhou's defense deficiencies, and build enough ships for the Yangzhou navy. Where did you spend the 500,000 yuan? Did you repair this broken gate? This gate is not worth 50,000 yuan. Gave more than a dozen boats to the Yangzhou Navy Army, don't you know where the ships came from? You are bold and obsessed with money. I'm. ”

Cui Yuanbo dared to speak again, it would be fine if he was innocent, but in fact, this matter was between him and Shen Taishou. It allocated 500,000 yuan to the Yangzhou government, which was originally intended to build an arch bridge to connect the east and west city walls in the east and west of the canal, build iron locks, and build military ships to deliver to the Yangzhou naval army, so as to make up for the defense defects of Yangzhou City. However, Shen Zifang has always deliberately associated with the Cui family, and has always had a friendship with Cui Yuanbo. After the money was allocated, Shen Zifang found Cui Yuanbo to discuss with him, and was willing to buy more than a dozen dilapidated ships of the Cui family at a high price as military ships. The value of the dozen or so broken ships was less than 50,000 yuan, but Shen Taishou bought them all at a price of 200,000 yuan. After a simple renovation, it was delivered to the Yangzhou Navy with the old replacing the new, and Cui Yuanbo got a huge sum of 150,000 yuan between changing hands.

This is actually Shen Taishou's move to tie up Cui Yuanbo. After that, Shen Zifang replaced the city defense that should have been built with a stone bridge and iron gate with this kind of wooden gate. The cost of this wooden gate was less than 40,000 yuan, and more than 200,000 yuan was intercepted. Shen Zifang knew that Cui Yuanbo and the Huainan Provincial Inspector Du Zhicheng had always been in collusion. In order to prevent the matter from being revealed, he asked Cui Yuanbo to come forward and privately give Du Zhicheng a benefit of 100,000 yuan, so that he could turn a blind eye and deceive the court. In this way, the 500,000 guan money allocated by the imperial court in the sixth year of Tianbao to strengthen the strength of Yangzhou city defense and the naval army of the Yangtze River Canal was only spent less than 100,000 guan on the main matter, and the remaining more than 400,000 guan were divided by Cui Yuanbo, Shen Zifang, and Huainan Provincial Inspector, so that Du Zhicheng and the three of them were divided cleanly. So this wooden gate is not that Shen Zifang is unaware of its flaws, but that he didn't think about it so much, just to make money.

At this moment, Cui Daoyuan singled out this matter, Shen Zifang and Cui Yuanbo were suddenly at a loss, and the atmosphere was extremely embarrassing. Shen Zifang's brain was buzzing, and he didn't know what the outcome would be when he faced himself. Cui Daoyuan's stubbornness is well known, this old man's family law is like a mountain, and he has a violent temper. Even if Cui Yuanbo is involved, he may not be able to raise his noble hand.

In a deathly silence, Cui Daoyuan sighed and said in a deep voice: "Shen Zifang, you listen to the old man." ”

"Yes, yes, despite Cui Weng's orders, the lower officials feel guilty." Shen Taishou said in a trembling voice.

"It's good that you're really guilty. Ay! But this matter is not your fault, after all, my Cui family is also involved. If he hadn't come forward and used the old man as a shield, you might not have such courage. I even suspect that this idea was Yuan Bo's idea. ”

"No, no, no, this is not the idea of the world brother, it is the knack of a lowly and wealthy man. Brother Yuanbo was dragged into the water by his humble position. If Cui Weng wants to blame, he will punish me alone. You can rest assured, no matter what, I will not mention the Cui family in this matter. One person does things for one person. Shen Taishou said in a low voice.

"Do you think that when you say this, the old man will be grateful to you? What if things involve my Cui family? What if Yuan Bo did something illegal that he was imprisoned and beheaded? Do you think the old man will frown? He brought it all upon himself. Cui Daoyuan shouted in a deep voice.

Cui Yuanbo's face was embarrassed and smacked his lips. Although he knew that the old man might not do this, he still felt embarrassed when the old man said this in front of him.

Shen Zifang hurriedly said: "No, no, no, lowly duty is not what it means, lowly duty just feels that he has to bear the responsibility." ”

The son was also willing to bear the blame. But I beg my father not to be angry. Cui Yuanbo also said.

Cui Daoyuan waved his hand and said, "That's it, you don't want to act in front of me." Shen Zifang, in fact, in the old man's opinion, if it weren't for your actions that affected Yangzhou's defense of the rebel siege, the old man didn't think it was a big deal at all. It's just 500,000 yuan, so what is it? However, because of your behavior, which led to the huge flaws in Yangzhou's city defense, which caused Yangzhou to fall into a crisis, the old man had to expose you. lest you pretend that nothing is going on, and that no one knows what you are doing. ”

"Yes, yes, Cui Weng's lesson, he deserves to die, and he will die." Shen Zifang hung his head and blamed himself again and again.

"Well, what's the use of you dying? This is not the time for you to die or live. It's not too late to make amends, the old man is here to put down the words, as long as you can do your best to defend Yangzhou City this time, the old man doesn't know anything about this matter. Even afterwards, my Cui family will come up with 500,000 yuan to plug this hole for you. The old man can also guarantee that this matter will never affect your career. ”

Shen Zifang's eyes lit up, and she said with joy: "Really? Cui Weng, you are my life-saving benefactor, I, Shen Zifang, will be the slave of your Cui family from now on. ”

"The Cui family can't afford to be a slave like you. Shen Taishou, let's talk about business. The old man knows that you have served in Yangzhou for more than ten years, and the people of Yangzhou still trust you. Yangzhou is your city, and you are most familiar with it here, so you still have to arrange the defense of the city. This time, the rebels came south, and the survival of Yangzhou City was a matter bigger than the sky. It is not only related to the safety of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Yangzhou, but also to the safety of tens of millions of people in the south of the Yangtze River. Being able to stop the rebels from moving south in Yangzhou is a great achievement. If you can achieve your goal, you Shen Zifang will be the meritorious minister of my Tang Dynasty. I hope you understand what the old man means. Abandon all distractions and devote yourself to the plan to resist the enemy, and the old man will take care of the rest for you. Do you understand what the old man means? Cui Daoyuan said slowly.

Shen Taishou seemed to have grasped the straw that saved his life, how could he not know what Cui Daoyuan meant. Cui Daoyuan's meaning is that as long as he assists him in holding Yangzhou, everything will be written off. As soon as the Cui family came forward, there was nothing unfair, and all over the southeast, which official did not give the Cui family face.

And according to reliable sources, after the new emperor ascended the throne, he has already shown favor to the Cui family. Cui Daoyuan himself has also been appointed as the inspector of Jiangnan Province and the assassin of Hangzhou, and Cui Yuanbo was also appointed as a special driver in Yangzhou two months ago. This fully shows that his Cui family is about to enter the court again and take power, which is a huge opportunity for him. And Cui Yuanbo once revealed a more important secret in private, that is, the new emperor intends to accept Cui Ruoyu, the eldest lady of the Cui family, as a concubine. If this matter is done, the Cui family will be relatives of the emperor and the country, and it will be just around the corner to take charge of the government.

"Cui Weng, you take such good care of cultivating the lowly position, and the lowly position is no longer dedicated to it, is it still a human being? You can rest assured, Yangzhou City has humbled itself and descended from his position, all of which are dispatched by Cui Weng, how to defend the city, Cui Weng but speaks. Ask for people and things, and make every effort to supply. Shen Zifang patted his chest and said.

Cui Daoyuan nodded slightly, he actually didn't mean to ask Shen Zifang about the guilt, and when he pointed out that incident today, he actually wanted Shen Zifang to die for himself. Although the Cui family is a wealthy family, people like Shen Zifang are court officials after all, and Yangzhou City is no longer under the jurisdiction of Jiangnan Province, to which it belongs. If you want to stop the rebels in Yangzhou and prevent the rebels from harming the many cities in Jiangnan Province, you can only rely on Shen Zifang's cooperation. The land south of the Yangtze River is the foundation of the Cui family, and Cui Daoyuan is never willing to burn the flames of war to the land of the south of the Yangtze River.

Cui Daoyuan, Shen Zifang, Cui Yuanbo and others walked back slowly, and Wang Yuan stepped forward and said, "How many people have discussed a strategy to defend against the enemy?" ”

Shen Zifang didn't answer, Cui Daoyuan smiled and said, "Captain Wang, the old man wants to hear your opinion." You were born in the Shence Army, and you have experienced many actual battles with Wang Xiangguo. None of us here are as experienced as yours. The southeast has not experienced war for a hundred years, and the old man thinks that your opinion should be the most practical and pertinent. ”

Wang Yuan nodded and said: "In fact, there is no magic plan in the bottom, at present, it seems that the defect of Yangzhou's city defense is obvious, that is, how to block the river." The wooden gate is definitely not possible, and it needs to be found another way. Now that time is running out, the rebels are likely to arrive in two days, and there is not much time to come up with a special plan. I think the only way to do it at the moment is to use the simplest and quickest way. ”

"What's the quick and easy way?" Cui Daoyuan stroked his beard.

Wang Yuan said: "It's still a sunken ship blockage." ”

"The canal is more than 30 zhang wide, and the water depth of the river here is more than 10 zhang, how to block it? How many big ships does it take? Shen Zifang frowned.

Wang Yuan said: "At present, we can only mobilize all the ships to plug the gap in the city wall. All civilian and official ships were requisitioned and transferred, and if one ship could not be completed, two would be two, and if two were not enough, ten or twenty would be served. If there are not enough large ships, small boats are chained to form large ships. There are many piles of earth and gravel sandbags on the boat, and the river channel into the city must be blocked, and the tighter the blockage, the better, so as not to give the rebel ships a chance to rush into the city. ”

"This ...... I'm afraid it's inappropriate. Doesn't the requisition of civilian ships have to cause protests among the people? Besides, once all the boats in the city are used to block the river, there will be no way back. Shen Zifang groaned.

Cui Daoyuan snorted and said, "Retreat? What else do you want to retreat at this time? Didn't the old man explain the truth to you? In order to hold Yangzhou, it is worth paying any price. Moreover, the people of Yangzhou may not be without this awareness. Once the city is ruined and the house is gone, what is the use of a ship? Ruo Yu girl, how many ships does my Cui family have in Yangzhou? ”

Cui Ruoyu thought about it quickly and said, "Grandpa, there should be twelve large and small boats." ”

Cui Daoyuan said: "Use it all, sink it all into the river and block the river." ”

Cui Ruoying frowned and said without frowning: "Okay, I'll go and ask them to drive the boats." ”

Seeing this, Shen Zifang also muttered: "Cui Weng, in that case, the lower official will order someone to immediately collect civilian ships." Although there are not many large ships, there are always a dozen, and those that are too small are of little use. ”

Wang Yuan interjected: "Shen Taishou, the official ship will also be requisitioned." The dozen or so warships under the river were also used. ”

Shen Zifang said: "How can that be?" In that case, wouldn't the navy have no ships to meet the enemy? ”

Wang Yuan frowned and said, "Shen Taishou, how can these thousands of ships and more than a dozen ships in Yangzhou meet the enemy?" Could it be that Shen Taishou still intends to have a water war with 70,000 or 80,000 rebels? The only way to defend Yangzhou is to defend it according to the city walls. ”

Shen Zifang glanced at Cui Daoyuan, nodded and said, "Okay." The official then gave the order. ”

Wang Yuan reminded: "Shen Taishou, it's time for you to release the news that the rebels are coming. Most of the people in Xiajian City did not seem to know the severity of the situation, and Shen Taishou issued a notice and recruited a large number of young and strong people to help defend the city. Among other things, it would take a lot of manpower to carry the sandbags on these boats for a while. In addition, all the soldiers in the city must also be assembled and put on standby, and the arrows, earth, stones, and defense equipment must also be carried up to the city immediately. ”

Cui Daoyuan smiled and said: "It can be seen that Captain Wang is indeed experienced in a hundred battles, and he is not surprised. So, how about you take full command of the defense of the city this time? Everyone, including the old man, will be your logistical dispatcher, and we will do what you say. ”

Wang Yuan hurriedly said: "How dare you do it below." ”

Cui Daoyuan waved his hand and said, "At this time, what else do you want to shirk?" Unless you don't have much faith either. ”

Wang Yuan thought for a while and said: "That's it, I'm most afraid of people and generals, of course I'm confident, but I'm afraid that my little lieutenant is a newcomer and will point fingers, which will make people unhappy." ”

Cui Daoyuan laughed and said: "The old man is willing to be driven by you, what are you afraid of?" I'm sure none of you here will have any objections. What do you think? ”

The officials in the city could only nod their heads in agreement. Shen Zifang opened his mouth, but he didn't speak. Shen Zifang was unhappy to be guided by a small lieutenant, but when he thought of Cui Daoyuan's words, he could only swallow his anger. Besides, I was really a little confused, and I didn't know where to start. In that case, why argue about anything. In this way, the city is broken and has its own room for maneuver.

Wang Yuan became the commander-in-chief of the defense of Yangzhou, and Wang Yuan was naturally familiar with the defense of the city. In the early afternoon, more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in the city were assembled. Wang Yuan assigned several generals to lead a team of soldiers and horses, and began to strengthen the battlements of the city wall, carrying wooden boulders and bed crossbows. Bows and arrows and other fortification materials on the city walls. The soldiers were no longer chaotic when they had someone to guide them, and several generals of Yangzhou City were not convinced at first, but when they saw that Wang Yuan's orders were clear and comprehensive, they also accepted their contempt for this captain. In addition, facing the huge pressure of the rebel siege, everyone has no heart to worry about some trivial matters.

By the afternoon, the people of the entire city of Yangzhou had all known the news that the rebels were going to attack Yangzhou. The panic was certain, when even many ordinary people and wealthy merchants began to make a little bit of a soft plan to flee to Jiangnan by boat from the south gate. However, almost all the big ships in Yangzhou City were requisitioned by officers and soldiers. The remaining boats were not enough for them to withstand the wind and waves of the Yangtze River, so these people had no choice but to return. However, most of the people of Yangzhou chose to respond to the call of the government and contribute to the defense of the city.

Although Yangzhou is located in the southeast, it has been peaceful for a long time. But the people here are not as weak and cowardly as outsiders think. Located at the junction of the north and the south, there have been constant wars since ancient times, and the folk customs left behind are also quite strong. Although in the hundred years of prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, this kind of fierce folk customs has been wiped out a lot, but it is by no means as cowardly and cowardly as outsiders think. This can be seen from Shen Zifang's reaction after issuing a notice and soliciting young and strong people to help defend Yangzhou. In just a few hours, five or six thousand young and strong people in the city responded to the call. These young and strong people gathered on the Beicheng Square with their knives, forks, sticks and other things, vowing to contribute to the protection of the peace of Yangzhou City.

Wang Yuan was greatly amazed when he saw this scene. The common people are actually very simple, their actions are not to maintain the power of one party, but only to maintain their own peaceful life. To put it bluntly, the people only want a stable and happy life, and if anyone breaks their life, they will become enemies of them. The so-called people's will is actually to see who can care about the people's suffering, and who can make the people live a stable and full life. The biggest mistake of An Lushan's rebels was that they were too harsh on the people. The rebels' misdeeds against the people have spread all over the world, and no one wants the rebels to occupy the city and suffer their enslavement, so it is understandable that they will actively participate in the struggle.