Wang Pu said with a heavy heart: "Since the thieves are less than a hundred miles away from Datong, it seems that it is impossible to move the people outside the city into the city before the thieves arrive. ”

"General." Zhen Youcai suddenly proposed, "Can we set up an ambush on the path that this gang of thieves must pass?" After all, there are only more than 10,000 people in this gang of thieves, and they are only the vanguard of the thieves in Shaanxi, and as long as we solve this gang of thieves, we will still have time to move the people outside the city into the city. ”

Wang Pu thought about it again, but still shook his head and said, "No, this is too risky." The thieves marched along the river valley, the valley is a flat and open place, it is difficult to lay ambushes, and since this gang of thieves is the vanguard, it must be the most elite of the thieves, and there are more than 10,000 people, if we send fewer people and horses to ambush, it will not be a handful of rice to steal chickens, if there are more people and horses sent to ambush, Datong's defense force will be too weak, and if the first-class thieves temporarily change the route of the march, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

Zhen Youcai said: "It seems that we can only wait for the thief soldiers to come to the city." ”

"The presence of thieves in the city is not necessarily a bad thing." Wang Pu's tone changed and he continued, "At least I can scare Zhu Chuanqi's iron rooster and Zhang Zi'an's old gelding half to death, so that when I reach out to them to ask for food, they will also give it more happily, hum." ”

"Hey." Zhen Youcai said with annoyance, "Having said that, we were still careless, and we were actually caught off guard by the thieves." ”

"Although the thieves killed us by surprise, things are not so bad that they can't be cleaned up." Wang Pu said this, turned back to Zhen Youcai and said, "Youcai, it seems that we are going to break up tonight, the monk and Tang Sheng are more than brave, and the resourcefulness is insufficient, so the Lei Gongshan camp will ask you." ”

"General rest assured." Zhen Youcai clenched his fists and stood up, and said solemnly, "I will do my best to assist the two generals Tang and Zhang to guard the camp of Lei Gongshan." ”

Wang Pu also got up and hugged his fists and said, "Please." ”

"Humble resignation."

Zhen Youcai clasped his fist at Wang Pu again, and then turned away.

When Zhen Youcai left, Wang Pucai turned around and shouted: "Lu Liu! ”

Lu Liu stepped forward and said, "Yes." ”

Wang Pu shouted: "Order the whole army, pull out the camp and enter Datong overnight, and then send fast horses to inform the surrounding guards, offices, forts, and 4,000 soldiers who are protecting the people into the city, they don't have to go back to Datong, let them retreat to the left guard of Datong immediately after receiving the military order, there must be no mistake!" ”

"Yes!"

Lu Liu suddenly agreed and took the order.

■■■

The next morning was early in the morning.

As soon as the sky was bright, the 8,000 righteous army led by Li Yan came to the city!

In fact, there has always been a lag in the intelligence of the official army, when Wang Pu received the news that the righteous army was still about 100 miles away from Datong, Li Yan's righteous army was actually only 50 miles away from Datong, and the strength was not more than 10,000 people, but 8,000 people, but this cannot be blamed on the eyes of the officers and soldiers, because more than 8,000 people and more than 10,000 people do not look much different.

■■■

Datong South Gate, Arrow Tower.

When Zhu Chuanqi, Zhang Zi'an and Wei Daben, who received the news, arrived one after another, Wang Pu had already dressed up neatly and waited for them on the arrow tower majestically, and met the frightened eyes of the three people, Wang Pu said coldly: "Lord Wang, Gonggong Zhang, Lord Wei, the thieves have already arrived in the city!" ”

Zhu Chuanqi looked out through the arrow hole, and saw that the black pressure outside the city was full of thieves, and he couldn't help but gasp at the moment, and said in a trembling voice: "Flow...... Rogue...... How, how...... It's ...... So fast? Yesterday...... Didn't return it yesterday...... Is it still 300 miles away? ”

Wei Daben's face was also bloodless, and he said to Wang Pu: "Master Horse, the people outside the city haven't had time to move into the city, how can this be good?" ”

Among the three, only Zhang Zi'an can still keep his composure, although this guy is just a eunuch, but he can be regarded as a person who has gone through strong winds and waves, when the sea is dying, the Horqin cavalry suddenly appeared, and more than 10,000 Datong border troops were defeated like a mountain, he has seen that kind of terrifying scene, of course he will not be intimidated by the scene in front of him.

What's more, neither Zhu Chuanqi nor Wei Daben witnessed Wang Pu's bravery, but Zhang Zi'an knew, thinking that Wang Pu could chase more than 2,000 Mongolian cavalry everywhere with less than 400 horsemen, and what were the 10,000 thieves outside the city, Wang Pu could destroy them with a wave of his hand.

Looking at Zhu Chuanqi's colorless appearance, Wang Pu's eyes flashed with a trace of imperceptible disdain, and then said: "Lord Wang, this is just the vanguard of the thieves, if it is tomorrow night, the hundreds of thousands of thieves should rush outside Datong City." ”

"Ten...... More than 100,000 streams...... Rogue? Zhu Chuanqi's teeth began to fight, and he asked in a trembling voice, "That'...... How ...... is there in Datong City now? How many defenders? ”

Wang Pu said: "The 4,000 officers and troops in the north camp of the city have withdrawn into the city, and there are also 3,000 members of our Wang family, adding up to more than 7,000 people. ”

"Huh!?" Zhu Chuanqi asked in a loud voice, "Only more than 7,000 people?" Didn't the border army have nearly 20,000 horses? ”

Wang Pu said: "The border army has more than 18,000 horses, but more than 10,000 people are scattered in various guards, stations, and forts, and more than 4,000 have been scattered to various villages and towns to protect the people. Therefore, they can only retreat to the left guard of Datong first. ”

"Yes, Master Horse is right." Wei Daben wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said in a trembling voice, "These troops can't go back to Datong anymore, if they really want to let the thieves infiltrate the city, the consequences will be unimaginable, for the safety of Datong, they can only let these troops retreat to the left guard of Datong." ”

"Lord Wang, Gonggong Zhang, Lord Wei." Wang Pu's eyes swept over the faces of the three people one by one, and said in a deep voice, "If you want to defend the city, in fact, there are not many people and few people, if the soldiers dare to play with their lives, three thousand people are enough to defend the city, but if the soldiers are all greedy for life and afraid of death, then even if there are 30,000 troops, they will not be able to defend the city." ”

Wei Daben asked sneeringly: "Then, how can we make the soldiers spare their lives?" ”

"It's very simple, there will be warriors under the reward!" Wang Pu's gaze fell on Zhu Chuanqi like a knife, and he said in a deep voice, "As long as someone is willing to take out 700,000 taels of silver and reward 100 taels for each of the 7,000 soldiers defending the city, they will defend the city with their lives, even if an army of millions of thieves comes to attack, Datong City can be as safe as a rock." ”

Zhang Zi'an and Wei Daben's eyes also turned to Zhu Chuanqi, and now in Datong City, it seems that only Zhu Chuanqi can get so much silver.

Yes, the Wang family is the richest man in Shanxi, and some of them are silver, but everyone knows that the Wang family has used almost all the silver to buy cattle, sheep and livestock in Zhang Zi'an's hands, Zhang Zi'an has silver, but everyone knows that he has repaid 600,000 taels of arrears, and 500,000 taels of them have been handed over to the key treasury of the Inner Government.

"Lord Wang." Wei Daben knelt down in front of Zhu Chuanqi and begged, "Please take Datong as the priority!" ”

Zhu Chuanqi turned his head and looked at Wang Pu with pleading eyes, and asked in a trembling voice, "Really...... Really want seven...... 700,000 taels? ”

The army of thieves pressed the border, and Zhu Chuanqi didn't dare to grit his teeth anymore no matter how stingy he was.

Zhu Chuanqi can be said to be a typical nest, when the thieves have not yet hit the outside of the city, he dared to turn his face with Wang Pu for a little ration of the people, but when the thieves really hit the outside of the city, he immediately fell soft, because he knew that Wang Pu was a courtier of the Ming Dynasty, and Wang Pu didn't dare to treat him as a prince no matter how he was, but the thieves outside the city had no scruples, and they really wanted to let the thieves enter the city, and the first object of looting was him Zhu Chuanqi.

After Luoyang was broken by the thieves, the Fu King Zhu Changxun was stacked into meat sauce and made into Fulu wine by the thieves, and rewarded the soldiers under his command to enjoy the things that the world knows, Zhu Chuanqi can't help but worry, if he doesn't come up with this silver, the soldiers in the city will not want to defend the city desperately, and the thieves outside the city may really enter the city, and at that time, his palace and the tens of millions of family property in the palace will all become thieves.

"Lord Wang." Wang Pu said coldly, "As long as one hundred taels of silver, you can let the border soldiers work for you, do you still feel a loss?" Whose life is not life? You can go back to the palace and ask your guards to give them a hundred taels of silver to fight the thieves outside the city, will they be willing? Do they dare? ”

"Okay." Zhu Chuanqi gritted his teeth and said, "This king can give 500,000 taels, and the other 200,000 taels can only rely on Gonggong Zhang and Lord Wei to figure out a way, whether to let the merchants and gentry in Datong City donate money, or apportionment according to the capitation, that is your business, and Wang Pu, you have to promise not to let the thieves enter the city." ”

"Of course." Wang Pu said coldly, "As long as the prince is willing to give money, no one will be able to enter the city." ”

■■■

Outside the city.

Li Yan led the army to the outside of Datong City and found that the defenders in the city had been prepared, so he did not force an attack, but ordered the whole army to rest on the spot, and ordered the soldiers to cut down trees and set up camp, and in the evening, the rebels had already set up a simple camp in the south of Datong City.

Li Yan is in charge.

Ma Shouying said loudly: "Brother Li Yan, you are really a god, you just caught a few officials and soldiers, and when you ask, you know that Wang Pu, who was raised by a son of a bitch, really plans to move the people outside the city to the city, and said that if you don't give us a grain of food, you will starve us to death, it's really fucking vicious." ”

Lin Yangsheng also said: "Fortunately, we came fast enough, so we didn't let Wang Pu, the son of a bitch, succeed." ”

"Who's to say it's not." He Jin also nodded and said, "If we come two days late, and really let the people outside the city bring food into the city, then we will be in big trouble, and the brothers will not be able to find food here, so they can't go hungry to fight, right?" Then you can only transfer to other prefectures and counties. ”

He Yilong also said: "Brother Li Yan, in order to avoid long nights and dreams, do you want to send someone to collect food?" ”

"Nope." Li Yan shook his head and said, "The people of Datong are already very bitter, and it is not certain whether the little ration they have can be maintained until the wheat is ripe, so we must not requisition the people's rations until the last resort, and now there are seven days of dry food left in the army, so let's think of other ways first." ”

"Something else?" Liu Xiyao frowned and said, "What other way can there be?" ”

"Dashuai!" Liu Xiyao's voice fell, Jing Maocheng suddenly strode into the tent, hugged his fist to Li Yan and said, "There will be an important military report at the end!" ”

"Oh?" Li Yan said happily, "General Jing, please speak." ”

Jing Maocheng said: "Just now, the general and his brothers encountered a small group of officers and soldiers when they were patrolling, and after a fierce battle, they completely annihilated this group of officers and soldiers, and also caught a few live mouths, which said that there is a mountain called Lei Gong Mountain less than fifty miles away, and there are more than 2,000 of Wang Pu's soldiers stationed on the mountain, and there is also a large amount of grain and bacon hidden on the mountain!" ”

Li Yan said: "Did you ask how much grain is hidden on the mountain?" ”

Jing Maocheng said: "According to several live estimates, there are at least 20,000 stones of grain on Leigong Mountain, and millions of catties of bacon!" But what the specific number is, they don't know, those few people are all pawns, and they only know some general situations because there are acquaintances on Lei Gong Mountain. ”

"Twenty thousand stone of grain? And millions of pounds of bacon!? Ma Shouying was overjoyed when he heard this, "God, this is really good, if you can get this batch of grain and bacon, it will be enough for the brothers to eat for two months!" ”

"So what are we waiting for?" He Yilong said loudly, "Brother Li Yan, let's give an order, immediately attack Lei Gong Mountain, and take this batch of grain and bacon." ”

"yes." He Jin also chimed in, "Don't let Wang Pu, the son of a bitch, rush this batch of grain and bacon back to the city." ”

Liu Xiyao also said: "Brother Li Yan, send troops, right?" ”

"No hurry!" Li Yan shook his head and said, "20,000 stone grain and millions of catties of bacon are a lot, to transport so much grain and bacon back to Datong at one time, there will be thousands of carts alone, such a huge convoy is easy to be attacked, Wang Pu will definitely not do such a stupid thing, let's wait for the arrival of the follow-up army, if there is really food on the mountain, it will not be able to fly away in these two days." ”

(To be continued)