It is said that he said goodbye to Shen Yinshu and ran all the way to Yingdu, and did not return home, but went directly to the Chu Palace and slammed the cow drum on the steps of the main hall. At this time, it was already afternoon, the hundred officials had already descended to the court, and King Zhao had also returned to sleep.

King Zhao heard the drumming in the harbour and said in surprise: "Who is so eager to beat the drum, could it be that there is something strange about the soldiers in front?" He immediately ordered the palace eunuch to go and inquire.

In the middle of the night, the palace eunuch came back to report: "Yuanyan, the son of long-range shooting, came from Baiju, saying that the military situation ahead is very urgent, and he wants to meet the king." ”

When King Zhao heard this, he immediately dressed himself and went to the main hall of the palace, and summoned Yuan Yan into the palace.

King Zhao saw that Yuanyan was full of blood, and his unkempt face was very embarrassed. My heart was not good, so I couldn't help but get up and ask, "Why is Aiqing like this?" ”

Yuan Yan knelt on the ground and wept bitterly: "The minister and his father obeyed the king's order and led the army to Hanyang to aid Xiangguo. But he didn't want Xiangguo to cross the river to find the Wu army to fight, because he fell into the plan of the Wu army, and retreated to Baiju after the defeat. We led our army to Baiju again, and the two armies met for a decisive battle. Wu's army was strong, and after the defeat of Xiangguo, he fled to Zhengguo; Chen's father was killed in a long-range shot. When the minister was in danger, Yujian Sima led the army to rescue him, so he was able to survive. Sima asked the young general to return first and told the king: Wu Jun has become a big trouble, please prepare for it early, and think of sticking to Yingdu. "Yuanyan naturally subdued the matter of shooting from a distance and not saving the sangwa, and presented the book of Sima Shen Yinshu to King Zhao.

King Zhao was shocked, and urgently summoned his son, Zixi, Ziqi and other ministers to discuss, and wanted to send troops to meet Sima.

Yuan Yan recounted the battle ahead in front of his ministers. King Zhao gave Zixi the Book of Sima and asked him to read it in public.

“…… The Wu army is in full swing, and Xiangguo has disrupted the strategic deployment of his ministers in order to be greedy for merit, isn't it providential! Now that Wu is in deep trouble, Wu has penetrated into the hinterland of our country with a lone army. Defeated our army several times in a row. The minister asked the king to prepare early, reuse Zuo Yin, and stick to Yingdu. The ministers will fight to the death to defeat Wu Feng! ”

The ministers were discussing whether to send troops to help Sima, and Wu Jubei also arrived at this time. He took out Sima's head from his bosom and cried: "Sima was killed in battle, and he was afraid that his head would be captured by Wu Jun, so he ordered his ministers to cut off his head, bring it back to Yingdu, and inform the king. Prepare quickly. The Wu army is powerful, please make a good deal as soon as possible! ”

When King Zhao saw Shen Yinshu's head, he couldn't help crying bitterly: "The widow didn't reuse Sima early, it's the widow's sin!" Now that Sima is martyred, who can be the general of our army? He scolded Nangwa again: "This traitor has misled the country." Something that pigs and dogs are not as good as! If you steal your life, you should be punished by God and God! ”

Zixi played: "The armies in front have been defeated. Wu Jun's soldiers pointed directly at the city of our Yingdu. The king needs to prepare in advance and stick to the Yingdu in order to save my temple and society. ”

King Zhao also summoned Shen Zhuliang, the son of Shen Yinshu, to bring back his father's head, give him a thick burial vessel, and named Zhuliang as the Duke of Ye.

King Zhao said to his ministers: "When the Wu army arrives in Hanshui, the introduction of troops is just around the corner. If we defend the capital of Ying, such as once the city is broken. Destroy the country and destroy the family. The widow thought that the Wu army was unstoppable, and Yingdu was difficult to defend, so it was better to abandon the city first. Find another opportunity to restore the country. ”

When the ministers heard this, they were all shocked, and they knelt in front of the hall with hulala, all opposing King Zhao to abandon the city and flee west.

Zixi cried and admonished: "How can the ancestors give up their hundreds of years of wealth and society to others? The mausoleum of the temple is in Yingdu, and the king will definitely make the people look sideways, and he will be extremely frustrated! If the king forsaken the city and departed, will there be a day when he will return? Please think twice! ”

King Zhao said: "The dangers of the Han River and the Great River, which could be relied on, have now lost their meaning. Wu Jun is coming, are we just going to be captured? ”

Ziqi said: "There are still tens of thousands of men in the city of Yingdu who can be requisitioned, and the king will do everything in the treasury, gather Ding Zhuang, motivate the soldiers, and the city can be defended." In addition, envoys were sent to the subject countries to ask for troops, and then they joined forces to reinforce Yingdu. Wu Jun is alone and deep, and there is not enough food and grass, how can it last long? ”

King Zhao didn't think so: "The Wu army went deep into our country, burning and looting everywhere, how could it lack food, grass and logistical supplies?" Look at the subject countries again, at that time, the Jin State raised its arms and shouted, and the princes of the 17 roads were gathered, and there were many of our subject countries in it. Now that Cai and Tang have turned their backs on Chu and taken refuge in Wu, Zhu Qing is looking at Chu Guoyu, how many subject countries can support us now? ”

The ministers couldn't argue, so Zixi had to compromise and ask King Zhao to stay in Yingdu temporarily: "The ministers led the army to resist the enemy, if they couldn't win, it wouldn't be too late for the king to leave." If the king leaves now, who will still have the heart to fight among the people of Yingdu? Please put your family and country first! ”

King Zhao was silent for a while, nodded and said, "The survival of the country is all on the two royal brothers. The matter has come to this point, and the second brother has done his best. The widow has nothing to help Brother Wang, and the things in the palace treasury are at the mercy of the second brother. With that, King Zhao returned to the palace in tears.

King Zhao retreated to the palace, met his mother, and recounted the battle on the front line, especially with tears on his face.

Meng Huan didn't ask about the government for a long time, so he asked: "What, is there something big going on in the court?" Why is my son so sad? ”

King Zhao replied: "The queen mother can know that Nangwa, as a prime minister, is greedy for merit and jealousy, regardless of the overall situation of the military state, for his own selfishness, let my army be defeated at the hands of the Wu people!" Even the generals such as Long Shot, Wu Chenghei, and Shi Huang have all been killed. It's a pity that Sima also threw his body on the battlefield, and let his retainer Wu Jubei behead him and bring him back to the national capital. It seems that Yingdu is also in danger! The child wanted to wait for his mother to go west and avoid Wu Jun's soldiers for the time being. ”

Meng Huan saw King Zhao's hurried and panicked appearance, so he was a little angry and said, "How can the king be so cowardly as the king of a country? As the saying goes: soldiers will block, and water will cover the earth. Although the Wu army is pressed by the army, but Yingdu, as the capital of the past dynasties, is strong and can be defended, so what is there to fear? ”

King Zhao saw that his mother was angry, so he listened to his mother's teachings.

"The king is very old, sixteen years old, and a great husband. should stand up to the sky and carry down the rivers and mountains of Chu, why do you have the intention of abandoning the city and fleeing west? ”

King Zhao was speechless for a long time, and said softly: "The child is just worried that once the city is broken, he will not be able to escape. ”

"Did the king ever think that after escaping from the national capital, Sheji was not there, the temple did not exist, and the world of Chu did not know whose world it was?!" How could Meng Huan let her years of hard work go to waste?

"The child thought, if you can't hold on, why do you die here? As long as the green mountains are left, there is hope for the restoration of the country. Now the two sons led the army to defend the city, and most of the generals in the court and China were killed in battle, and it was difficult for these civil servants to resist the enemy, so the child was deeply worried. ”

"From the founding of the state of Chu to the day of the founding of the country, have you ever heard of the disaster of destroying the country? Although the concubine is a woman, she can't bear to abandon it. It is the fault of the king that the bag tile misleads the country. Since there is a mistake, we should accept these consequences. If the king had the heart to defend the city, it is difficult to say what the outcome would be. The whole city looked at the king, and if he abandoned him, how could the soldiers defend the city with their lives? ”

King Zhao saw that his mother, Meng Huan, was reluctant to leave Yingdu, so he had to not mention it for the time being. Ordered the chamberlain to take care of the necessary things, prepare in advance, and always watch every move on the front line.

In this way, the two sons of Zixi and Ziqi, the regent of Yingdu, were in charge of military affairs and led the battle of Yingdu to defend the city.

According to the intention of the second son, the three cities of Maicheng, Jinan City, and Jianli are the barriers of Yingdu, as long as these three cities are guarded, Yingcheng can be safe.

Zixi said to the generals: "Jianli is the only way for the Wu army to cross eastward, and there must be a large army to garrison it. And Maicheng is in the north of Yingdu, which is also an important way to enter Yingdu, so it should not be underestimated; Ji Nan City is the moat of Yingdu, Wu army must first capture Ji Nan City if they want to enter Ying, this city is a barrier to Yingdu, don't be careless! ”

So the second prince ordered the general Douchao to lead 5,000 troops to defend the wheat city and defend the enemy on the north road; ordered the general Song Mu to lead 5,000 troops to defend the southern city of Ji; Zixi personally led an army of 10,000 to garrison Jianli to strangle the enemy of Dongdu. Gongzi led the ministers: Wang Sunyin, Shen Baoxu, Zhong Jian and others patrolled the Yingdu and protected it very tightly.

Na Douchao led the army to Maicheng, and ordered the soldiers to strengthen the city walls, widen the trenches, and gather the tools to defend the city. And sent a lot of soldiers dressed as villagers to visit the news of Wu Jun at any time, so as to take precautions as soon as possible.

And Gongzi Zixi, with an army of 10,000, operates Jianli, and wants to defend the river. This Jianli is the closest route for the Wu army to attack Yingdu, so Zixi personally commanded the army to garrison it, and did not dare to make a slight mistake.

The monarchs and ministers of Chu were ready to defend and respond to the enemy, and the battle of defending the city of Yingdu gradually kicked off. (To be continued......)