As soon as Zhao Kuangyin said this, the ministers in the account talked about it. Although Zhao Kuangyin did not say it explicitly, everyone could hear the meaning contained in his zuihou sentence - someone who was familiar with firearms secretly helped the puppet Han defenders to defend Taiyuan City. Such a judgment is too sensational. Although it cannot be completely ruled out that some soldiers and generals who are greedy for profit and money secretly leak some internal secrets of the Han army to the puppet Han court, the performance and weakness of firearms are by no means something that ordinary soldiers and even generals can understand, and high-ranking generals and civil servants who can master these confidential information can not be bought with a little money. Moreover, now that the general trend has been decided, no high-ranking official in the DPRK will think that it will be beneficial to him to defect to the puppet Han court, and it is absolutely impossible to lose his sincerity to the puppet Han court for the sake of the so-called high-ranking officials. Zhao Kuangyin said that someone secretly helped the puppet Han court, and the civil ministers and generals present were hard to believe. Second, if you talk about the people in the court who know the most about firearms, it is natural that the commanders of the "Shenji Army" and their generals and colonels are none other than them. And the current commander of the "Divine Machine Army" is none other than Zhao Kuangyin's sworn brother Liu Guangyi, with Zhao Kuangyin's personality and character, unless there is conclusive evidence, it is impossible to bring this matter to the emperor -- could it be that Deputy Zhao is planning to come to a "righteous annihilation of relatives" today?

The civil ministers and military generals in the imperial tent whispered there, and many of them peeked at Liu Guangyi, the "suspect" who secretly collaborated with the enemy, but Liu Guangyi could no longer hold his breath. Although it is said that "don't do bad things, don't be afraid of ghosts calling the door", but at present, there are more than 10,000 people in the "Shenji Army", and no one dares to guarantee that none of them will ask for money and provide news for the puppet Han court in exchange for money. Now that Taiyuan City has been unable to be attacked for a long time, the Zhou army has suffered heavy losses, if the crime of collaborating with the enemy in the "Shenji Army" is confirmed, even if it is not done by him Liu Guangyi, I am afraid that I will have to end up with a loss of office. In addition, the righteous brother Zhao Kuangyin did not reveal any news to him before, and the sudden mention of "collaborating with the enemy" at this time really made Liu Guangyi feel a little uncertain, for fear that this righteous brother who has always put national affairs first will really give him a "righteous annihilation".

Of course, there is no bottom in the heart, but you can't show weakness in your mouth. Therefore, without waiting for Chai Rong and the other ministers in the account to say anything, Liu Guangyi had already come out of class and knelt on the ground, pointing to the sky and swearing: "Bixia Mingjian, the 'Shenji Army' is all loyal and brave people of my Great Zhou, and they are loyal to Bixia and the imperial court. The minister dared to guarantee with the head of Xiang Shang, and there would never be anyone in the 'Shenji Army' who secretly communicated with the puppet Han court and collaborated with the enemy to commit treason. ”

When he first heard Zhao Kuangyin say that someone was secretly collaborating with the enemy, Chai Rong's first reaction was to put the biggest suspicion on the "Shenji Army" - after all, the soldiers and generals of the "Shenji Army" were the most qualified people to do these things. can calm down a little, and feel that with the current disparity between Zhou and Han, it is unlikely that anyone under his command, especially the most elite "Shenji Army", will collaborate with the enemy and commit treason. Coupled with Liu Guangyi's defense, Chai Rong was also a little hesitant for a while, not knowing if he should order Yousi to investigate the matter.

At this moment, Zhao Kuangyin suddenly said: "Bixia, the minister also believes that Liu Du commanded the envoy and the more than 10,000 soldiers of the 'Shenji Army' have always been loyal to Bixia and the Great Zhou, and will never do such a thing of treason, disloyalty and injustice. ”

Hearing Zhao Kuangyin say such seemingly contradictory words that seemed to contradict what he said before, there was even more uproar in the imperial tent, including Chai Rong, and Hou Zhou Junchen who was present couldn't figure out for a while what kind of medicine was being sold in the gourd of this deputy Zhao.

However, without waiting for Chai Rong or other ministers to question it, Zhao Kuangyin continued: "Bixia, what the minister means is that the people in this world who understand the functions and weaknesses of firearms and know how to deal with firearms are not the only ones in my Great Zhou 'Shenji Army'. Moreover, the newly built houses on the head of Taiyuan City that look like stones and are not stones, and can resist firearms attacks, are by no means something that can be built by the soldiers of our "Divine Machine Army". Therefore, the minister said that someone secretly helped the puppet Han court, which does not mean that this spy must be in my 'Shenji Army'. ”…,

Zhao Kuangyin's words made Zhou Junchen stunned after being present, but some quick-thinking people, including Chai Rong, immediately reacted to who Zhao Kuangyin was referring to who might secretly help the puppet Han court. Thinking of this, Hou Zhou Junchen first breathed a sigh of relief, and then became angry in his heart, but soon the anger was replaced by panic and uneasiness. Because the force of this new suspect of collaborating with the enemy -- the Beiping Army -- was so strong that it was only one year after the Battle of Youyun, in which it was defeated and lost by an army of less than 40,000 men and nearly 300,000 Liao troops on its own. You must know that with the amazing combat power shown by the Beiping Army in that battle, not to mention secretly helping the puppet Han to fight against the Great Zhou Dynasty, even if it directly sent troops to support the Northern Han Dynasty, the Later Zhou Dynasty had no other way than to retreat with hatred.

Moreover, if it was really the Beiping Army secretly supporting the Northern Han Dynasty, the Later Zhou Dynasty not only could not use this to ask the Beiping Army for their crimes, but should try to cover up their behavior. Otherwise, the Beiping Army is likely to be annoyed and angry because of the discovery of its crime of secretly communicating with the Northern Han, and then take risks and really tear its face and fight against the Later Zhou court. At that time, the Beiping army swung south, entered the Northern Han border from the bottle-shaped barricade, and killed directly along Daizhou and Xinzhou to Taiyuan, and the nearly 100,000 troops in the surrounding cities were likely to repeat the mistakes of the Khitan Xiao Siwen and his 70,000 troops, and became the victims of the strong force of the Beiping army. However, if the Later Zhou court pretended to be confused and turned a blind eye to the fact that the Beiping army secretly assisted the Northern Han court, then in front of the generals of the Beiping Army, who were well versed in the way of firearms, the firearms that the Later Zhou army was proud of and relied on as the most powerful arm to attack the city were likely to lose their due power and effect, so that the Later Zhou army had to confront the fortified cities and deep trenches of the Northern Han court in a traditional way, thus significantly increasing the difficulty of conquering Taiyuan. In this way, it is difficult to say whether this war against Han will repeat the mistake of the unsuccessful return of the war against Han in the first year of Xiande. So, between the dilemma, the Hou Zhou monarchs and ministers in the tent were all silent, and the entire imperial tent was silent.

After being silent for a long time, Zhang Yongde, who had not expressed his opinion, decided to break the silence. Although for Zhang Yongde, Zhao Kuangyin's new method of attacking the city suffered a setback, and the attack failed to make any progress in several days, but caused the Zhou army to lose troops and generals, it was a good time to take the opportunity to attack Zhao Kuangyin and suppress his momentum. But since the matter is likely to involve the powerful and incompatible Beiping Army, in order to protect the lives of Chai Rong and the generals of the Great Zhou Dynasty, including himself, and to protect the lives of nearly 100,000 Great Zhou soldiers under Taiyuan City, he can no longer care about competing with Zhao Kuangyin. In addition, the strategy of pacifying the world that he has always advocated is to first the south and then the north, first the easy and then the difficult, and places like the Northern Han Dynasty and the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun should be left to Zuihou to solve the problem - in fact, whether it was the Northern Expedition to Youyun last year or the Northern Han Dynasty this year, Zhang Yongde did not agree with it from the bottom of his heart. It's just that in the face of a powerful emperor like his brother-in-law, he, a courtier, is only like other ministers, and does his best to help the king achieve his strategic goals while reserving his own opinions.

Therefore, Zhang Yongde decided to take this opportunity to persuade his brother-in-law to withdraw from the siege and return to the court. In this way, we can not only avoid falling into a situation where the battle is indecisive and cannot be dragged on for a long time, but also avoid possible frontal conflict and confrontation with the Beiping Army, which can be called killing two birds with one stone. So, after hesitating for a long time and thinking about it again and again, Zhang Yongde still went out and said: "Bixia, the minister thinks what Lord Zhao said is very true. Although there is no evidence that the Beiping Army secretly assisted the puppet Han court, judging from what our army has seen and heard in the past few days, the Beiping Army will never escape the suspicion of secretly collaborating with the enemy country. Although the Beiping Army is only suspicious at the moment, considering that it has been inseparable from the imperial court for a long time, the imperial court cannot but be vigilant. As the saying goes, 'A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall'. Since it is suspected that the Beiping Army is secretly obstructing the imperial court's conquest of the puppet Han, in order to prevent it from doing more rebellious things, our army should stop attacking Taiyuan and immediately return to the court to protect everything. ”…,

Although he was a little uneasy about the possibility of the Beiping army colluding with the puppet Han court, Chai Rong, who was a powerful emperor with great ambitions and had the experience of swallowing his anger under Youzhou City the previous year, was unwilling to bow to the Beiping army again when he said anything this time -- especially when he was only suspicious of the Beiping army's "collaboration with the enemy" without any real evidence. Therefore, before Zhang Yongde's voice fell, Chai Rong waved his hand and said unhappily: "Zhang Aiqing's words are wrong. First, now there is only suspicion that the Beiping Army is secretly collaborating with the enemy country, but there is no real evidence. If the imperial court withdraws its troops because of this, then once this matter spreads, it will definitely bring shame to the imperial court and me, and become the object of ridicule of the world. When the time comes, where will the prestige of the court be, and where will my face remain.

Second, even if this matter was really committed by the Beiping Army, judging from the fact that it only dared to help secretly and did not dare to openly support, although its strength was strong, it still did not dare to risk the disapproval of the world to be a rebel and thief who rebelled against the imperial court. However, if the imperial court hastily withdrew its troops because it discovered that it was secretly collaborating with the enemy, then it would inevitably make the Beiping army, which was already in harmony with the imperial court, even more arrogant, and its respect for the imperial court and the zuihou of me would probably be gone, so that they would have to do something more arrogant and uncourteous. In the long run, who can guarantee that one day they will not take risks and really do that great rebellion and usurpation of the throne.

Therefore, the siege of Taiyuan is not only irrevocable, but it is necessary to do everything to capture Taiyuan City. In this way, the majesty of the imperial court can be demonstrated and the small can be deterred. ”

As soon as Chai Rong's words came out, it already involved the throne and the country, and neither Zhang Yongde nor other ministers who had the same idea as Zhang Yongde dared to say a word more, and the discussion of withdrawing the troops and returning to the dynasty was naturally stopped.

Seeing that no one in the Manchu Dynasty had any objections to the continuation of the war against Han, Chai Rong was in a slightly gloomy mood. He thought for a moment, and then said in a firm tone: "Since Zhao Aiqing's method of attacking the city cannot work, it will be difficult to capture Taiyuan City in a moment. Our army should turn the strong attack into a long siege and trap the puppet Han monarchs and ministers in Taiyuan City. He ordered all the besieging troops to build a long city outside the city, and sent soldiers to be on strict guard to prevent the defenders in the city from breaking through. In addition, after the construction of Changlian City, the 'Shenji Army' should also put up cannons on it, cross the head of Taiyuan City, and bombard the place near the left of the city wall where the soldiers could hide, so as to kill and injure its soldiers and break its morale. At the same time, the besieging departments also need to allocate sufficient manpower to build a long embankment to fill the Fen water, and decide to inject the water into it, and then divert the Fen water from the north to irrigate the city. I want to see how long he Liu Jun can hold out under the attack of flooding and fire. ”