As the saying goes, defeat is like a mountain.

The retreat of the whole army of the king of Huainan was definitely a strategic mistake, the rebels were already demoralized and unstable, and this sudden retreat was no less than a major rout. The Fanwang rebels were originally a combination of the Fanwang guards, local guards, village soldiers and wealthy private armies, and they were just gathering with great momentum, but once they suffered major setbacks, the internal incompatibility was exposed.

To put it bluntly, the rebels are a combination of interests, and they all thought that the king of Huainan could become the emperor, so they came to take refuge, and now the situation has taken a turn for the worse, and the king of Huainan is even unable to save his life, where do you dare to dream of being an emperor? Those opportunists, especially the private armed forces of such a big family, were unwilling to be sent to death with the king of Huainan again, and although it was difficult to escape the punishment of the imperial court if they left at this time, they would never be uprooted by the imperial court.

As a result, the process of the rebels' retreat was also a process of interest groups scattering and fleeing for their lives, and the rebels still had 300,000 people in Runing Province, and there were less than 150,000 people left after crossing the Huai River. The king of Huainan realized that the defeat was decided, and he did not dare to stay on the road longer, so he returned to Huainan City day and night.

When he arrived in Huainan City, the king of Huainan ordered the defenders in Fengyang City, together with the grain and grass in Fengyang City, to withdraw to Huainan City. Over the years, the king of Huainan has used various relationships to obtain a large amount of cement to strengthen and heighten Huainan City, and it can be said that today's Huainan City is solid. This is also the last means for the king of Huainan to save his life, stick to Huainan City, drag it until the court can no longer bear it, and then negotiate with the court.

The defenders in Fengyang City have withdrawn, the officials of Fengyang Mansion and the family of King Fengyang are sad, and now there are only 2,000 palace guards in the city, how can they defend Fengyang City? They knew that they had been abandoned by the king of Huainan, but they could not think about it except for being in fear in the city all day long.

On this day, a young man in front of the yamen of Fengyang Mansion handed a package to the official guarding the door and said, "Give this thing to the prefect, and say that there is something to discuss in this seat!" ”

The official guarding the door saw that the person who came was extraordinary, and he didn't dare to slack off, so he hurriedly entered the door and reported to the prefect: "Master, a young man came from outside the door, and asked the little one to hand you a package, saying that there is something to discuss!" ”

The prefect took the package, opened it and saw that it was a Jinyi Mansion token, but he was frightened and said urgently: "Quick, please come in!" ”

The young man came to the back hall of the mansion and sat down on a chair and remained silent.

The prefect stepped back, respectfully handed the token to the young man, and said uneasily: "Superior, lower...... The lower officials never betrayed the heart of the court, and the lower officials were forced to ......"

"Are you forced, you have your own imperial court review, this seat is not here to inquire about you today!" The young man stared at the prefect and said, "However, if you don't want to implicate the family, this seat will give you a chance to make meritorious contributions!" ”

"Please say that as long as the lower officials can do it, they will do their best!" When the prefect heard that there was hope for his life, his face was flushed with excitement.

The young man said lightly: "It's good if you have this heart, this matter is done, this seat will definitely ask the Queen Mother and Zhongguo Gong for your credit, but if there is a bad pool, you will wait for the clan to be punished!" ”

"The lower officials don't dare, the lower officials must serve the superiors and strive for the forgiveness of the Queen Mother and the Loyal Guogong!"

"Okay, tonight Jinyi Mansion is going to enter the city to hunt down the Fengyang Wang's family, you take Jinyi Mansion into the city, and find a way to drag the guards!"

The prefect knew that this was the only chance for his family to live, and hurriedly agreed.

It was night, and the second watch was approaching, and the prefect led a group of henchmen to carry some wine and food to the city tower.

The defender of the castle tower said strangely: "What is the meaning of the prefect's coming here this night?" ”

"This official knows that all the soldiers are working hard to defend the city, and I am here to reward the army!" The prefect pulled the defending generals and said: "While the imperial army has not yet arrived, let's live happily for a few days, let the city tower let the officials guard, the officials and soldiers will drink a few cups, and the imperial army will have no chance when it comes!" ”

One of the words touched on the sorrow of the defenders, and everyone was a person waiting to die, sympathizing with each other, and hurriedly gathered together to drink, cursing the unkindness and injustice of the king of Huainan.

Half an hour later, the prefect saw that the defenders were almost drunk, and hurriedly glanced at his henchmen, who quickly drew their knives and hacked the drunken defenders to death, and then sent a light signal out of the city.

After the city gate was opened, a team of 500 people armed with muskets walked into Fengyang City led by a young man.

When the prefect saw the fierce momentum of the Jinyi Mansion entering the city, he was secretly frightened, and hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Shangcha, the lower officials have already obeyed the order to welcome you into the city, but there are still nearly two thousand palace guards in the city......"

It was not the people of Jinyi Mansion who entered the city this time, but the law enforcement team of Zifu, and the leader of the team was Qinglong, and this time it was in accordance with the order conveyed by Ling'er to kill the Fengyang King Manmen.

Qinglong interrupted the prefect's words and snorted: "A group of rabble is not to worry, the prefect led people to stop the guards rushing to the palace at the intersection of the palace, and told them that the imperial army has entered the city, and if you want to survive, you must lay down your arms and surrender!" ”

This is a difficult task, and it is very likely that he will be killed by the guards who rushed to the aid of the palace, but the prefect has already ridden the tiger and has no choice but to agree.

Qinglong led the five hundred Zifu law enforcement team to the Fengyang Wang's mansion, first personally climbed over the wall, killed the secret sentry near the mansion gate, opened the gate to let the law enforcement team enter the mansion, and rushed into the wings on both sides to kill the guards who were still asleep. Immediately, they searched and killed them in the back of the house.

When a burst of gunfire finally alarmed the entire palace, the law enforcement team and the guards who were in a hurry to meet the battle started a frontal battle.

"Stop!" A middle-aged woman walked out surrounded by a large group of men and women, and shouted from afar: "Stop, this palace is the princess of Fengyang, who is here?" ”

The palace guards stopped, and Qinglong also signaled the law enforcement team to stop shooting, shouting: "Jinyi Mansion enforces the law, everyone immediately put down their weapons!" ”

"It's finally time to come!" The princess sighed, ordered the guards to lay down their weapons, and shouted to Qinglong: "This palace is willing to lead the family to Beijing to accept the imperial court's sanctions, please let the guards live!" ”

Qinglong instructed several law enforcement team members to step forward and collect the guards' weapons, and then led his troops to approach the palace in a semi-encirclement manner, and said coldly: "I knew why I had to do it today, the queen mother had an order, and the rebellious ministers and thieves were killed and killed!" ”

The one-sided slaughter lasted for a quarter of an hour, and all the old and young members of the Fengyang King were killed. When the news came out, the guards had no one to protect and surrendered. Qinglong instructed the prefect to take care of the captives, wait for the imperial army to receive them, and then led his troops to disappear into the night.

Han Fei led the imperial army to pursue all the way, and also rushed to the outside of Huainan City and surrounded Huainan City. So far, the general trend of the world has been decided, and the only rebellious seven kings are left with the king of Huainan and the king of Changsha, although the city of Huainan is strong, but in the eyes of the imperial army with a thousand cannons, it is only a matter of time before it is broken. Han Fei was not in a hurry to break the city, in order to avoid more casualties, it was best to force the King of Huainan to surrender.

However, it is also urgent to cut off the remnants of the peripheral forces first, and at the same time eliminate the influence of the military calamity, and rectify the rule of officials. Han Fei thought for a long time, ordered the army to camp outside the city, besieged Huainan City without attacking, and sent a partial general to lead an army to Changsha Mansion to destroy the remnants of the king of Changsha, and then asked Ling'er to return to Beijing with a few letters.

(End of chapter)