Sheng Yong saw that this scholar who followed Tie Xuan, who participated in politics, to the head of the city was so angry and corrupt. I couldn't help but ask, "Couldn't you know this messenger who surrendered to Yan Rebellion?" ”

Tie Xuan said in a deep voice: "He is Gao Xianning, who is assisting the official in the city to manage the people. It turned out that many officials in Jinan City fled with Li Jinglong, and Tie Xuan had no choice but to let some scholars in the city who were interested in helping the imperial army to hold Jinan temporarily vacant official positions and help him deal with the civil affairs in the city.

Ji Gang, who was sitting on a horse under the city, was a quick-witted person, although he had never seen a battlefield battle, today the two armies also felt the importance of the momentum of the army in front of the battle, thinking of Zhu Di, the king of Yan, and watched from a distance behind him, and he was the messenger who submitted a letter to the public and must not fall into the morale of the Yan army, and he had the intention to show off the strong bow that had been taken off the side of the saddle, and shouted when he opened the bow and took the arrow: "Pick up the letter." ”

The arrows that bound the letters flew out of the air, and with a soft sound of "grabbing", they were firmly nailed into a wooden pillar in the city gate tower, and the arrows were actually three points into the wood under the trembling wings.

Tie Xuan unfolded the letter and looked at it carefully, only to see that the above was just Zhu Di's nonsense, saying that he had no intention of rebelling, just because of the traitor Qi Tai in the court, Huang Zicheng and Huang Zicheng heard the persecution of a number of vassal kings, and had to raise troops to appease, respecting the will of the emperor "Emperor Ming Zuxun", intending to lead the army into the side of the Qing monarch in Beijing, and never touched the throne, hoping that Tie Xuan and Sheng Yong would not be used by traitors in the court, and led the military and civilians of Jinan to quickly return to Shangyunyun. ”“

Tie Xuan handed the surrender letter in his hand to Sheng Yong, and asked lightly, "What does General Sheng think of this letter?" ”

Sheng Yong had also followed the blue jade expedition to fish in the sea in the past, and the reason why he refused to be wooed by King Yan was that he felt that this prince had great ambitions and did not dare to get on his thief ship, so he sneered slightly and refused: "Evil words confuse the public, don't look at it." He knew very well that the Chinese officials of the current dynasty had far more say than the military generals in front of His Majesty the Emperor, and he did not want to make this political sufficiency alienated himself when the two armies were fighting, so he simply disdained Zhu Di's letter of surrender.

Tie Xuan handed the letter to Gao Xianning beside him and smiled: "I have heard that you are quite talented, can you improvise an article to refute Yan's rebellion and chaos in the world?" ”

Gao Xianning took the letter and read it carefully, and after a little thought, he was already in his chest, and said after a little owe: "Yan reversely covered his ears and stole the bell, he could only deceive the village woman and fool, and Xiaosheng already had a draft." After that, he looked outside the city and shouted: "The anti-thief Ji Gang will wait for the city to reply." "Let's take down the four treasures of the Chinese room that I carried with me, and wave the article "Zhou Gongfu Chengwang Theory".

After Tie Xuan took this article and looked at it, he smiled and said, "I don't want you to be a little anxious." ”

After two humble sentences, Gao Xianning firmly tied the letter to the arrow shaft, took the strong bow in the hand of the soldier on one side, and the bow was like a full moon under the struggle of both arms, and the arrow came like a meteor on the ground, and was inserted three feet away from the side of Ji Gang's horse.

Sheng Yong saw that Gao Xianning was able to improvise essays and his martial arts ability to open a strong bow, and he couldn't help but change his perception of these scholars in his heart, and secretly thought to himself: I don't want these rotten Confucians to hide dragons and crouching tigers.

Zhu Di took a closer look at the article retrieved by Ji Gang called "Zhou Gongfu Becomes the King", although he sneered slightly in his mouth, he also admired his sharp humanistic writing in his heart, and sighed lightly: "This person is also quite literate, but unfortunately he can't be used by this king." It turned out that Zhu Di's letter of persuasion solemnly stated that as the son of the former emperor, he had no ambition to rebel against the court and seek rebellion against the usurpation of the throne, and he was faintly placed among the most loyal courtiers of the Ming Dynasty. And Gao Xianning's article is to the effect that since His Royal Highness King Yan is a loyal minister of my Ming Dynasty, and you have no intention of betraying the court, why not endure the misunderstanding and humiliation of the world for the time being, follow the example of Duke Zhou to give up the power in his hands, and assist his nephew, so that the people of the world will no longer be poisoned by the flames of war.

When Zhu Di turned his head, his eyes swept over Ji Gang, recalling that he was skilled in bowing and horses, and the courage to submit a letter under the city, and immediately shouted: "This king has always admired people with courage and insight, so you can stay by my side and be a pro-soldier of 100 households." ”

Ji Gang was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately knelt down on one knee to thank him. He knew very well that although this personal soldier seemed to be extremely low, he could accompany Zhu Di at all times, and he was a confidant.

"Win or lose, but that's it. The reason why Wang Mang became a traitor through the ages is just because he failed to reform the system, and the army was defeated and died. Zhu Quan carefully looked at the reply letter in the city, sneered in his mouth, and secretly thought to himself: Wang Mang is the first usurper in Chinese history, and in his restructuring, the Jingtian system was restored in the name of Wang Tian, and the slaves and maids were renamed "private belongings", and Wang Tian was not allowed to buy and sell, and the reform of the currency system can be described as an enterprising innovation. It is a pity that its restructuring seems to be beneficial to the people and the country, but the idealism is too deep, and it is difficult to defeat the powerful relatives and princes and is stillborn. The usurper, the reformer, and the loser are destined to become the target of all feudal dynasties. I suddenly recalled in my mind that Fang Xiaoru, who was said to be trying to retro the Jingtian system in the court, and a mocking smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: My former teacher, the famous Confucian Mr. Fang Xiaoru, tried to retro Jingtian, but it coincided with Brother Wang Mang.

Ji Gang heard that His Royal Highness King Ning was openly aggrieved by the traitorous King Mang, and secretly thought to himself in his heart: The so-called judging by his words and deeds means that he is a human being, and King Ning said so amazingly, no wonder he would do such a rebellious act.

Zhu Di, the king of Yan, heard Zhu Quan's words about becoming a king and defeating a king, waved his hand and threw down the reply letter in the city, turned over and stepped on the sweaty and bloody horse, drew out the long sword at his waist and slashed down, and shouted: "Siege the city." ”

Tens of thousands of Yan troops, who had been waiting impatiently, either raised their swords and shields, or struggled to lift the ladder and rushed forward under the guidance of the military banner that was being displayed.

More than 10,000 men and horses rushed forward like a tide, and the shouts of thousands of troops and horses gathered together, broke through the sky, and launched a strong attack on Jinan City.

The Yan soldiers either raised their shields diagonally, or carried dirt bags on their shoulders, held stones in their hands, and rushed forward with their lives under the leadership of thousands and hundreds of households. The first obstacle they had to deal with was not the tall and solid city walls, but the moat under the city of Jinan, which was two feet wide and two feet away.

After the Yan army launched an offensive, dozens of artillery pieces in the city of Jinan let out an earth-shattering roar one after another, and cannonballs and arrows like a storm flew all over the sky, flying towards the dense enemy troops under the city.

After the Yan soldiers who were lucky not to die from the arrows and artillery fire came to the moat, they either crouched down and used their shields to resist the arrows flying diagonally from the city, or they struggled to throw the straw bags and stones that were refilled with earth into the moat, stirring up flowers.

At the head of the city, the defenders poked out half of their bodies from the battlements of the wall, and the bowstrings trembled and the arrows rained down the city like deadly raindrops.

The Yan soldiers with strong bows and crossbows also shot arrows at the head of the city from time to time behind the robe Ze who was covered by their shields, and for a while the cannon fire roared, and the sound of arrows breaking through the air sounded, suppressing the screams of the dead and the wails of the wounded under the city to almost inaudible.

On the tower of the city gate, I heard the deafening roar of fighting, and I saw that there were soldiers falling to the ground in front of me on the left and right, struggling on the ground with blood, and the big sleeves of Tie Xuan's official robe, which had always been quite bold, couldn't help but float faintly.

The sudden sound of breaking the air almost swept by, and more than a dozen arrows rushed from outside the battlements of the city wall one after another, and firmly nailed to the wooden pillars.

Commander Sheng Yong came to Tie Xuan's side and yelled at him without changing his face: "It's useless for your lord to get involved here, it's better to go back to the official office." After that, he waved his hand and summoned a few pro-soldiers to escort the political sufficiency down to the city.

After all, Tie Xuan is a civilian official, not comparable to a battle-hardened general like Sheng Yong, seeing such a fierce battle of thousands of troops today, he also has some fear in his heart, but remembering that as the head of the Chinese official of Jinan City, he does not want the troops to see him go in a hurry and shake the morale of the army, so he immediately stretched out his hand to push away Sheng Yong's personal soldiers, and said loudly: "This official is determined to live and die with Jinan, and he does not dare to take a step back, so he will see the heroic posture of the army killing the enemy here." After that, he turned around and came to the ramp of the city wall, and loudly scolded the group of officials who were cowering by the wall of the city to go to the city, and Gao Xianning and Gao Xianning hurriedly commanded everyone to carry the defenders who were wounded by arrows down the city to be placed and treated.

Sheng Yong, who was standing by the sword, saw that Tie Xuan, a civil official, was not afraid at all when he stood at the head of the city, and he had more confidence in defending the city in his heart, and when his right wrist was flipped, he pulled out the long sword at his waist, turned around and came to an artillery, and ordered the gunner to adjust the direction and fire at the dense Yan army on the side of the moat.

In the large array of the Yan army, Zhu Quan stood on the horseback of the "dark clouds covering the snow", and saw from a distance that there were artillery spewing smoke and firing from time to time at the head of Jinan City in the distance, but when he turned his head, he could not see the artillery in his own army returning fire in the large array, and he couldn't help but secretly think to himself: Although the artillery of this era is not powerful enough, its role in boosting the morale of the army cannot be underestimated. It turned out that the artillery powder of the Yan army was also poured into a mess by the sudden shower when the fierce battle on the bank of the Baigou River, and although the Yan army's strength was far superior to the enemy, there was no artillery bombardment to help.

After a day of fierce fighting, the Yan army suffered thousands of casualties, but barely filled the moat under the city of Jinan.

Zhu Di already knew in his heart that it would not be easy to break through Jinan, the capital of Shandong, which had such a moat, tall city walls and a complete defense system such as urn city, and saw that it was dusk when the sky was gradually darkening, so he immediately ordered the army to retreat and return to the camp.

Day 2, Day 3......

In a few days, the Yan army under the leadership of Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng and other fierce generals attacked fiercely, but the commander of the southern army at the head of the city, Sheng Yong, commanded properly, coupled with the political Tie Xuan worked hard to stabilize the hearts of the military and people in the city, and went to the city to supervise the battle every day, so that the morale of the defenders was like a rainbow, and the huge Jinan city was defended as impregnable, and the Yan army suffered more than 20,000 casualties, and it was still difficult to conquer the city.

In the night, Zhu Di returned to the tent after inspecting the military camp, frowned and said to Zhu Quan and his generals: "Unexpectedly, this Sheng Yong is so stingy, but this king looks down on him." From tomorrow, the army will besiege the city of Jinan to see how long they can hold out. Speaking of this, he asked the Chinese army Sima to return to the north, urging the team carrying grain and grass on the road to come to the city of Jinan.

When Zhu Quan inspected the barracks, he also vaguely saw that the lieutenant general and the soldiers of the Yan Army had been fighting hard for days, and the morale was inevitably a little low due to heavy casualties.

Early in the morning of the second day, Zhu Di ordered the generals to lead the various armies to besiege Jinan and set up a solid camp, intending to fight a protracted war. After he defeated the imperial army with absolute superiority in strength twice, he knew that it would be impossible for Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen to organize hundreds of thousands of troops to rush to Jinan in a short period of time, and he was determined to take the capital of Shandong and establish a firm foothold for his southward march.

Jinan, the capital of Shandong, as a place for the rear of the counterinsurgency army, has a mountain of grain. If Sheng Yong could hold Jinan and curb the rebels from moving south, it would be beneficial and harmless to his own life, so when he withdrew the army, he allocated a large number of arrows, gunpowder, weapons, grain and grass that were indispensable for the battle between the two armies to his subordinates. The grain and grass are sufficient, the ordnance is safe, and the morale of the defenders is strong, which makes Sheng Yong and Tie Xuan full of confidence, and they are not afraid of the prison tactics besieged by Zhu Di's army. Not only that, at night, Sheng Yong also ordered his subordinates to bravely dare to die thousands of households, hundreds of households led more than three or four hundred, less than more than 100 southern soldiers and soldiers quietly roped down the city, attacked the Yan army at night, and disturbed the enemy camp. Tie Xuan organized the young and strong people in the city to sneak out of the city by taking advantage of the moonlight, intending to dig through the moat filled by the Yan army.

Although the night battle was unfavorable to both armies, the southern army secretly went out of the city to harass it, but it was impossible to prevent it. Under the pursuit of the Yan generals, they were often calmly retreated into the city by the enemy. In a few days, the Yan army from Zhu Di, Zhu Quan, and then to a group of generals and colonels were so unable to sleep at night, and they were so angry that they couldn't do anything.

On this day, Zhu Di couldn't bear it and ordered the siege again, the fierce battle was a day and thousands of soldiers were lost but still could not conquer Jinan, the next day the sky was not beautiful, it was actually raining heavily, Zhu Di was worried about the rain to drive the soldiers to attack the city, the casualties were heavy and the army was unstable, so he had to have a headache and ordered the army to hold the camp, and wait for the weather to clear up.

The rainy season is gradually entering the rainy season, and the heavy rain stops and stops, and it is endless.

On this day, there were no clouds, under the sun, wearing a gray monk's robe, the ugly old monk Daoyan rode his horse slowly on Zhu Di, Zhu Quan's side, and rode a horse to walk within dozens of miles around Jinan under the support of hundreds of Yanshan escort cavalry to check the terrain. It turned out that the Yan army was trapped under the city of Jinan, and after Dao Yan heard the news, he immediately followed the team transporting grain and grass to the Yan army camp under the city of Jinan to meet the king of Yan.