On February 12 of the fifth year of Chongzhen, a sudden heavy snowfall disrupted everyone's plans, and the whole world became a white expanse, and the heavy snow in early spring covered the entire Laizhou with silver, and also buried the sin and filth outside the city of Laizhou.

Kong Youde is in the big tent of the Chinese army, there is a brazier in the tent, the whole tent is smoked warm, Kong Youde sits on a seat made of tiger skin, a case is placed in front of him, there are a few side dishes and a roast chicken on it, there is a small red clay stove on the case, a pot of local wine in Shandong is warmed on the stove, Kong Youde sits lazily on the chair from time to time picks up the wine jug and pours a glass of wine, and drinks it all with a sound, enjoying this rare purity. Suddenly, the tent was opened, accompanied by a gust of cold wind, a middle-aged general in armor walked into the tent, and before he could speak, he took a wine glass and drank the wine in the glass, and poured another glass before shouting, "Dashuai, you are idle, let my brother and I blow the cold wind outside, this plague weather is so cold, it is uncomfortable!" ”

The sudden cold wind couldn't help but make Kong Youde shiver, and when he saw the appearance of the person who came, Kong Youde said with a smile: "It's ninety!" Aren't you counting the wounded and arranging camps, why do you have time to come to my place to drink? Everything is done? ”

"Well, it's done, our sergeants who have besieged the city have suffered a lot of casualties in the past few days, especially in the past two days, it has snowed, because there are not enough cotton clothes, many soldiers have been frostbitten, especially the wounded, the weather suddenly became cold, and the wounds were frostbitten, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get through!" Li Jiucheng's tone was a little low

"Alas! I didn't expect Laizhou to be so hard to gnaw, this has been fighting for half a month and there is no progress, I'm afraid it will be very bad for us to go on like this, once we fail to capture Laizhou within half a month, our situation will be even more difficult! Hearing from the spies, the imperial court has gathered 30,000 troops on the way, and if Laizhou can't capture us, there will be no strategic buffer, and this battle will be difficult to fight! Kong Youde said with a sigh

"Yes! Dashuai, I didn't expect this Laizhou City to be so difficult to gnaw, the hard attack is not possible, the city of Laizhou is thick and the food is sufficient, even if we surround it for a year, they don't surrender, we can't take it in a short time, this is not a long-term solution, the siege casualties have been heavy The soldiers have already complained! Li Jiucheng continued

"What news should we have from in the city? Is there a chance to open the gates and let us in? Kong Youde asked

"It's impossible, our inner should only be some strong men and low-ranking officers, and we can't even get close to the city gate, let alone open it! However, they came with the news that Xu Congzhi, the governor of Shandong, was killed by a cannon! Now it's Xie Lian who is in charge! ”

"Dead? It's good to die, these civilian officials usually look down on our Liaodong Army, bullying us everywhere, etc., this time I finally took revenge, and a governor returned to his roots! How about that Xie Lian? Is it easy to deal with? Kong Youde laughed

"Xie Lian still has some ability, but this person is better with Sun Yuanhua, and he is more inclined to appease, maybe he can use it!" Li Jiucheng thought for a while and said

"Haha, it seems that Master Sun is our lucky star! Without him, we wouldn't be able to defeat Dengzhou, and maybe we are still on the run from the pursuit of the government, how can we be so chic now! Kong Youde laughed proudly

"That's... Do you want to send someone to test their attitude and see if you can deceive the city gate! Let our army enter the city"

"Send someone to try it! If we can succeed, we will be able to take Laizhou in one fell swoop! There's nothing to lose if you fail! Kong Youde said with a deep groan

In the evening, Kong Youde sent someone to bring his handwritten letter into the city to meet Xie Lian, Xie Lian saw Kong Youde's letter and was a little suspicious, and invited Zhu Danian and Liu Fan to discuss, Xie Lian said, "Kong Youde sent someone to come forward and said that he intended to appease, what do you think!" ”

Zhu Danian was the first to speak, "Kong Youde suffered heavy casualties in the siege of the city for half a month, I'm afraid it won't be so easy to surrender, will there be fraud in it?" ”

"This time Kong Youde sent his cronies, with a handwritten letter, I think there is a bit of sincerity, and the letter said that the imperial court has sent tens of thousands of troops to come, the letter said that Kong Youde is afraid, so he wants to leave a way back, if we promise not to ask for guilt, they can negotiate surrender. And several of them are harsh, not like random mention! Xie Lian saw Wang Danian and explained with questioning

"In that case, maybe we can give it a try, if we succeed in recruiting the Liaodong Army, it will be a great achievement!" Zhu Danian was also a little moved

Liu Fan was very anxious when he saw their heart-warming appearance, he knew the history and knew that this was a scam, and said urgently: "Two adults, there must be something strange about this matter, Kong Youde is cunning and cruel, he will not surrender so easily, and they have been attacking the city for half a month, obviously their determination to take Laizhou is very firm, and they still have Dengzhou as a base, and it has not yet reached the point of exhaustion, and the heart of Kong Youde's rebels will not be so easily shaken, otherwise they will not rebel because of the noise!" ”

Xie Lian lowered his head and considered Liu Fan's analysis before he spoke, "Jimin's words are reasonable, but I think Kong Youde is still a little sincere, so be it!" Tomorrow Danian and I will go to the rebel camp for a walk, Jimin will defend in the city, and if there is a change, there will be a way out! ”

"Don't go! My lord! It's a scam, and if you want to go, I'll go! Stay and defend the city. Liu Fan said anxiously

"Jimin! We don't know how to fight, and it's useless to stay, so it's better for you to stay! It's really a scam, we have to go, in case the rebels really surrender to me, the people of Shandong will suffer a little less, and the Ming Dynasty also needs these Liaodong soldiers to resist the captives, this matter is worth a try! Xie Lian said categorically

"Alas! All right! But adults must be careful, don't be impulsive if something changes, I will definitely find a way to rescue you! Don't make indifferent sacrifices! Seeing that this matter was irreversible, Liu Fan sighed helplessly and said

The next day, Xie Lian and Zhu Danian and the two supervisors set off together to Kong Youde's camp, and soon the four of them had come to the gate of the camp, the messenger sent someone to inform Kong Youde while leading the way for a few people, along the way the messenger tried his best to flatter, and kept saying good things, Xie Lian coped with it casually, while observing the situation in the rebel camp, and saw the soldiers gathered together in twos and threes to talk and laugh loudly and the weapons and armor were no longer around, he was immediately relieved, and couldn't help but be full of confidence in this trip.