Located in the middle and lower reaches of the Red River Basin, Thang Long City is an ancient city with a history of 1,000 years, and it is also a city that has experienced several dynasties, been destroyed several times, and rebuilt several times.

And today, this city, which has been quiet for nearly a hundred years, is shrouded in gloom.

Jianping City, known as the gateway to Shenglong, was razed to the ground by the Ming army in less than half a day, and now it has come straight to Shenglong.

Is it to flee, surrender or resist?

It has become a question that every citizen in the city has to think about.

At this time, in the Mo's palace in the center of the city, it was a different scene.

The main battle faction and the main peace faction quarreled in the golden palace hall.

However, the Queen Mother, who was sitting on the side of the throne, did not pay attention to the dispute between the two factions, but whispered to comfort her father, who had lost his territory.

On the other side of the Queen Mother, the nominal ruler of the country, King Mo Gaoxuan looked at everything in front of him with a blank expression, the fingers of both hands tightly grasped the robe at his knees, looking very nervous, but more afraid.

After a long time, the young queen mother turned around and sat upright, glanced around at the ministers who were still arguing, and said lightly: "Okay, don't quarrel." ”

The main hall, which was as noisy as a vegetable market just now, suddenly fell silent, so the ministers all looked at the young queen mother on the throne and listened to her final choice.

The queen mother, who has been accustomed to being watched by the ministers, did not feel the slightest cramped, but the corners of her mouth rose slightly, and said: "I, Annan, have been serving the Central Plains Dynasty since ancient times, and I have served the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years. However, Annan's small army is weak, and if it blindly resists, it may destroy the country. ”

The white-bearded old man who went to see Fan Jinyan last time hurriedly stepped forward, leaned over and asked, "I don't know what the Queen Mother means?" ”

The Queen Mother pursed her lips, as if she was struggling for the last time in her heart, and it took a long time before she said slightly: "Send an envoy to the Shangguo Jinghai Marquis to beg to surrender!" It is said that the king will personally go to the Jing to plead guilty. ”

When she said this, she didn't mean to ask Mo Gaoxuan at all, and she didn't even glance at the king sitting next to her.

It can be seen that Mo Gaoxuan, the puppet king, has been completely ignored by the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty.

Although many ministers did not agree with her words, no one refuted them, but their humiliated expressions still betrayed them.

Soon, the Annan delegation led by the old man marched out of Thang Long City and headed for Fan Jinyan's army, which was heading straight for Thang Long.

……

Fan Jinyan since arriving in Annam, he found that the woodland here covers a wide area and most of them are century-old trees, and most of the area of Annam is long and narrow and there are many bays, even though the northern area is wide, but also the water system is dense, the upstream cut down trees, can be directly put into the river to flow to the downstream of the sea, transportation is very convenient, if dozens of large shipyards are built in this coastal area, it is not a problem to develop for a hundred years.

However, in this way, the Mo royal family of Annan has become a stumbling block for Fan Jinyan, and only by truly and completely controlling Annan can he complete his vision.

And, the premise must be to destroy the Mo clan.

……

An envoy sent by Annan finally intercepted the Qiongzhou army that was resting in a small town forty miles away.

However, this time, the white-bearded old man who continued to serve as an envoy was much more polite than last time, and he no longer had the arrogance he had when he met last time, and his attitude was much more deferential, "The minister of Annan has seen the Marquis of Jinghai of the Ming Dynasty, the general of Zhennan. ”

Fan Jinyan didn't immediately ask him and his entourage to get up, but slowly took the teacup handed over by Wang Dashan, blew the hot air, took a shallow sip, and then said slowly: "I don't know what your envoy came from afar!" ”

That's not nonsense!

Of course, no one dared to say this in front of him, it was definitely an old birthday star, looking for death.

The white-bearded old man still maintained a posture of leaning over and saluting, even though he was reluctant in his heart, but he still closed his eyes and spit out, "The subordinates are on the orders of my king, and they have come to pray that the Marquis of Jinghai can stop the army and make peace." ”

This is what Fan Jinyan heard, how awkward, begging to surrender, begging to surrender, and rejecting the army to make peace? I guess it doesn't hurt yet!

Thinking of this, he said: "Since the king of the other country is unwilling to condescend, then he has to go to visit Benhou himself, this place is only more than forty miles away from Thang Long, go back and tell your king, just say that Benhou can arrive the day after tomorrow at the latest, tell him to wash his neck and wait!" ”

When the words fell, the Annan envoy was stunned.

The white-bearded old man trembled with anger, he had seen a bully, but he had never seen a bully to be bullied.

Immediately afterwards, he was too lazy to maintain a leaning posture, straightened his waist, stared at Fan Jinyan tightly, and said word by word: "Even if my Annan loses the country, I will never grovel again, since you don't give Annan a way to live, then see you on the battlefield!" ”

After speaking, he flicked his sleeves, turned around and left the battle with his head held high, and the Qiongzhou generals who were full of tents were stunned, and even Fan Jinyan was stunned and didn't know what to think.

，

Annan's toughness also completely angered the arrogant Qiongzhou soldiers through the propaganda of the officers who returned to the camp, and they all quickened their pace, and in one day, they pushed the cannon and walked the last forty miles, reaching the ancient city of Thang Long.

Although Thang Long is the capital of the country and the direct domain of the king, the height of its walls is far less than that of Jianping County, and the highest point is only more than five meters, and even the moat has not been dug.

It stands to reason that the royal domain should be more prosperous than other places, but along the way, what Fan Jinyan saw was homeless people, beggars and starving bones.

Even in the suburbs of Thang Long, it should be better!

But no, the suburbs are rarely populated.

Mo Yao lived here for a long time when he was young, and he was no longer surprised by this, "Lord Hou doesn't know, although the land of Shenglong is fertile and vast, there are also many powerful people, and the land of the common people is mostly occupied by the powerful, in order to make a living, instead of going to the city to beg for a living, they can only work for the powerful family." In addition, the royal leader will recruit a large number of people to go into the mountains every year to cut trees, build mausoleums, etc., so there are not many people in the suburbs. Moreover, when the Hou Ye's army was killed, many people had already scattered and fled for their lives......"

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Fan Jinyan's glare, "Go, order the soldiers to set up camp and attack the city tomorrow." ”

"Hey, hey." Mo Yao grinned stupidly, answered and fled away from the big tent.

After Wang Dashan saw Mo Yao leaving, he began to complain, "Master Hou, this kid is getting more and more ignorant of what to do, and he dares to ...... face to face."

However, he was still interrupted by Fan Jinyan, "You don't have to sue, he and you are both straightforward people, you should cooperate sincerely." Okay, go down and arrange for the soldiers to strengthen the night defense, after all, this is the capital of Annam, be careful. ”

"Yes." After Wang Dashan leaned over and answered, he also withdrew from the big tent and went down to convey the master's order to the general Yang Dahai.

Fan Jinyan was the only one left in the big tent, looking at the busy soldiers outside the tent in a daze, not knowing what the hell to do again

(To be continued.) )