Of course, before the war, Li Hao and the others did not attack the city at the first time.

Although Li Hao and the others didn't think that Zhao Zongquan would surrender, there was still a process to go.

So they sent men to shout loudly outside the city gates, telling the people in the city to surrender, so that they could be guilty of meritorious service.

It's just that Li Hao and others didn't expect that Zhao Zongquan and others could be so decisive.

For the people sent by Li Hao and them to persuade them to surrender, the four city walls directly shot arrows and fired back, if it weren't for the clever people who ran out, they would quickly run back when they saw that the situation was wrong.

Even so, in the end, several were killed and wounded under the walls.

At this time, Li Hao and the others gave up the idea of persuading them to surrender, and the four city walls began a tentative siege.

This temptation, everyone really found a problem.

Originally, Li Hao and the others wanted to come, and Zhao Zongquan and they had not been in the city for a long time, so they should not have time to prepare things such as rolling wood and stones, hot oil and gold juice.

After all, the calculation is to demolish the house, and it will take some time.

Therefore, it should be safe under the city wall, so I planned to let people cover it, and then directly hit the city gate with a rushing car to kill it.

As a result, after this collision, it was discovered that the inside of the city gate had been blocked with something, and it was impossible to break it open by manpower alone.

In this case, you can only rely on the ladder to attack the city, and if you want to attack the city in this case, I am afraid that it will take a long time, and the loss will be large.

So after the various divisions were tempted, they withdrew the soldiers and horses besieging the city, and began to discuss whether there was any other way.

By the way, wait for the follow-up soldiers and horses to arrive, after all, they still have some ladders on their side, anyway, in the end, it really can't work, so they can only fight for the number.

And when Li Hao and their attacks were paused, Zhao Zongquan did not stop.

Especially at this time, Zhao Zongquan already knew about Bi Zhongyou's failure.

Originally, Zhao Zongquan still had hope for Bi Zhongyou, thinking that even if he didn't take Xihuamen, he would not be wiped out so quickly.

Then having him make trouble in it can at least create more opportunities for himself.

But who would have thought that Bi Zhongyou would be so useless and be solved so quickly, it was really a waste of his hard work.

However, it is precisely because of this that Zhao Zongquan, who is also forced, can only put hope on himself and further strengthens the offensive.

Even Zhao Ceying and Shen Congxing were summoned back and threw themselves into the siege together.

Because at this time, what is the use of controlling the official's family file, after all, it is not just a matter of a few people now, but a whole group of honors.

You can threaten a few people with a single family roll, but you can't really wash Bianjing City in blood.

If you really want to do this, the heirs who could survive your own family will have to be buried in the end, and your own incense will be cut off.

So for Zhao Zongquan, the best way now is to break through the palace as soon as possible and dispose of Zhao Zonghan.

Let Zhao Zhen and Empress Cao make an edict to pass on the throne is the only way out.

In the face of Zhao Zongquan's all-out attack, although Cao Jingxiu brought some people in to help bring back a wave of blood,

But even so, Zeng Chaosheng is very reluctant to support it now.

Zeng Chaosheng knew that if this continued, the palace would not be able to support it for long, so he planned to discuss with Empress Cao to see what to do next.

At this time, Cao Jingxiu was also at Queen Cao's place, reporting to Queen Cao about the affairs in the city.

has been in the palace for so many years, and in terms of speculating on people's hearts, Queen Cao is still much better than Cao Jingxiu.

So when Empress Cao heard that Gu Tingye was not in the mansion, especially Cao Jingxiu was afraid that Empress Cao would know about what she had done last night.

deliberately said that he went to the Marquis of Ningyuan's mansion last night, but he didn't see anyone.

At this time, Empress Cao felt that Gu Tingye knew something in advance, so she deliberately disappeared.

Empress Cao actually understands in her heart that the palace is now a besieged city, and there must be foreign aid to have hope.

Is it possible for Gu Tingye to become his foreign aid.

Now it's a pity that Queen Cao doesn't know where Cheng Zhu went, otherwise with news from his side, she might be able to learn the truth of the matter.

Just when Empress Cao was distressed about this, she heard a report from the inner servant, saying that Zeng Chaosheng was asking to see her outside.

As soon as he heard this, Cao Jingxiu said: "In this situation, he is not in command at the city wall, why did he come here." ”

Seeing Cao Jingxiu say such a stupid thing, Queen Cao didn't pay attention to it, but asked the chamberlain to bring Zeng Chaosheng in.

When the chamberlain walked away, Empress Cao said to Cao Jingxiu: "He must have come here because the war was not going well, don't talk nonsense later, everything will follow my will." ”

Cao Jingxiu is not a fool after all, after listening to this sentence, he naturally understood what his sister meant, and stayed quietly on the side.

Soon Zeng Chaosheng walked in under the leadership of the chamberlain and said, "See the queen mother, the minister has something important to discuss with the queen mother." ”

Empress Cao let everyone else out, and then said: "Jing Xiu is not an outsider, so you don't have to avoid him if you have anything to say." ”

Zeng Chaosheng then said: "Judging from the current situation, I am afraid that the palace will not be able to hold on for a long time, and the minister will come to the queen to let you make plans early." ”

When Empress Cao heard this, she said: "I know about this matter, and now Gu Tingye has gone to gather people to come and relieve the siege, but it will take some time."

You must hold out until he arrives with his army, or else all your efforts will be wasted.

You and I are small in death, let the rivers and mountains of the Great Song Dynasty fall into the hands of Xiaoxiao, and you and I will be guilty. ”

Zeng Chaosheng's instinctive reaction to Empress Cao's words was surprise, he had heard that Cao Jingxiu had contacted Gu Tingye.

But whether Gu Tingye went to gather soldiers and horses, how did Empress Cao know, isn't she fooling herself.

Then Zeng Chaosheng looked at Cao Jingxiu, who was standing on the side, and said that the only person who could bring back the news should be him.

After all, after the chaos in the palace, he took the initiative to close the palace gate, except for Cheng Zhu who left the palace and Cao Jingxiu who entered the palace, no one entered or exited.

But if Cao Jingxiu really met with Gu Tingye and knew that he was going to gather soldiers and horses, why didn't he go with him, so that he could still play a role in supervision, and it would be safer.

Just when Zeng Chaosheng was thinking, Empress Cao spoke directly to help Zeng Chaosheng dispel his doubts, only to hear Empress Cao say:

"In fact, Gu Tingye and they have already understood the situation, not only Gu Tingye, Li Hao and Yang Wenyuan are all aware, and they have transferred their family rolls away early in the morning.

Today, Jing Xiu went to Gu Tingye's mansion, ready to discuss how to deal with Zhao Zongquan's rebellion, and brought him the talisman by the way.

As a result, he heard the news of Zhao Zongquan's siege of the city halfway, and Jing Xiu separated from Gu Tingye, and asked Gu Tingye to leave from the other city gates and go to the camp in the western suburbs to order troops.

And he summoned the people of the Imperial City Division to enter the palace, firstly, he wanted to enhance the strength of the palace and buy enough time for Gu Tingye, and secondly, he also wanted to send the news back so that we could rest assured. ”

Listening to Empress Cao's words, Zeng Chaosheng couldn't help but look at Cao Jingxiu and fell into thought.

This guy is so kind and can do this, it doesn't look like this.

And Cao Jingxiu had already reacted at this time, and immediately said: "Yes, Gu Tingye is estimated to have arrived at the camp in the western suburbs at this time, with his Gu family's connections, plus holding a talisman, it is not difficult to transfer some soldiers and horses."

And it's not just Gu Tingye, I want to come to Li Hao and Yang Wenyuan, and they are also with Gu Tingye.

Although Li Hao was reluctant to express his position at first, but now that Zhao Zongquan has done such a bad thing, Li Hao's attitude must have changed.

Not only will he not stop Gu Tingye, but he may even support it. ”

After hearing this, although Zeng Chaosheng still had some doubts, he felt that there seemed to be some truth.

At this time, Empress Cao went on to say to Zeng Chaosheng: "Now that all kinds of turning points are coming soon, if it is for the sake of the mountain and the success, it will be a pity to fall short."

So now you have a lot of responsibility on you, you must hold the imperial city and wait until the reinforcements arrive. ”

In the face of Empress Cao's expectations, Zeng Chaosheng had no choice but to reply: "Weichen must defend the imperial city, the city is in the people, and the city is dead." ”

After finishing speaking, he said goodbye to Empress Cao, and then returned to Xihuamen and insisted on going.

When the people left, Cao Jingxiu said to his sister: "Sister, Gu Tingye, what is the situation with them, but no one knows."

If Zeng Chaosheng and they can't wait for reinforcements, I'm afraid that the situation will not be good. ”

Empress Cao was also a little helpless at this time, and said: "Then let it be fate, we have to give Zeng Chaosheng a hope, only in this way can they persevere."

In this way, maybe they can wait for a turnaround, and now I just hope that Gu Tingye will really move the troops. ”

After finishing speaking, Empress Cao turned her gaze to the direction of the western suburbs camp, as if she wanted to see if Gu Tingye was in the western suburbs camp through this obstacle.

However, Empress Cao looked in the wrong direction, and she couldn't see Gu Tingye, after all, Gu Tingye was now in the north, preparing for the next siege.

At this time, after a round of temptation, the four walls of the city were temporarily quiet, and the city was resting and preparing.

By the way, he did the work of forced demolition, directly knocked down the houses near the wall, and then transported the wood and stones used to build the houses to the city to make defensive materials.

And outside the city, now they have to wait for the follow-up men and materials to arrive, so they also set up camp to let the soldiers recover their strength.

】

Anyway, now that the city gate is blocked, there is no need to worry that the city can send people out to attack, and this rest is naturally more stable.

However, speaking of which, Zhao Zongquan really blocked the door decisively, which Li Hao did not expect, this is completely not leaving a way back for himself.

In this case, it is not comfortable to come to the palace, and I am afraid that the pressure will be great.

But Li Hao didn't have any good way now, originally Li Hao asked Zhang Fu to be in the city and placed near Nanxunmen.

I just want to take advantage of the siege of the city to let them attack in the city, and find a way to open the city gate from the inside under the cooperation of the inside and the outside.

But now that Zhao Zongquan is making trouble, this step flag is completely useless, after all, Zhang Fu and their people are still too few.

There is simply no way to fight while still having the ability to empty the door hole, so they can't be sacrificed in vain.

If you can use a ladder, this siege difficulty is really not low.

So at this time, Li Hao is thinking about whether he has any good means to deal with the current situation.

Thinking about this, Li Hao suddenly realized that he actually had other methods.

After spending so much time and money on my own hard work, isn't the artillery I researched just right?

Maybe the power of artillery is not great now, and it can't collapse the city wall, but if it is a special attack on the city gate, there is still hope that it will directly break the city gate and knock out the things that are blocked inside.

I remember that I had given an order to escort the artillery back to Bianjing from Zhengzhou, and I counted the days, and it should be these two days.

Thinking of this, Li Hao immediately called the guards and ordered: "You immediately go to the south workshop of the Salt and Iron Division, and say that you are going to go, and ask them if the artillery has arrived."

If it arrives, you have them load the guns and bring them here with the shells. ”

Then he took out a private seal from his body and asked him to prove it.

After all, in order to keep the work secret, Li Hao strictly ordered them to hide this matter, if it wasn't for themselves or the person who held their own credentials, then they would never tell the truth.

After the guards left, Li Hao fell into waiting again.

However, this wait is in line with most people's mentality, because it is based on the need to maximize benefits.

The group of generals in the camp in the western suburbs were actually not willing to fight quickly, what if the speed of entering the city was too fast, and Zhao Zongquan really hadn't broken through the imperial city yet.

If Zhao Zhen and Empress Cao are alive and well, and Zhao Zhen designates the throne to inherit at that time, then their original assumptions will not be empty talk.

Even if only Empress Cao was left in the end, having a backbone in the palace was not what they wanted.

But if you really ask them to do it themselves, they really don't want to.

Therefore, it is best for Zhao Zongquan to break through the palace and clean it inside, and then they will come to avenge the official family, so that things will be reasonable.

Of course, everyone is not only thinking about this, at least the British Gong, Li Hao, and Gu Tingye are still anxious.

In the midst of this waiting, almost an hour passed, and the rest of the men and horses of the western suburbs finally arrived one after another.

Then it was proposed that the siege should begin immediately.

But it was stopped by Li Hao, because Li Hao still wanted to confirm that the artillery was not there, and this matter would be much easier to handle if he was there.

But now it seems that the possibility of being there is still a great possibility, after all, if the artillery is not there, the pro-guard fast horse is estimated to have arrived a long time ago, so there is no news yet.

Sure enough, under Li Hao's waiting, the artillery finally came.

However, before using it, Li Hao still planned to care about the power of this artillery first.

So he called the craftsman in charge of the development and asked, "According to your test results, how powerful and accurate is this artillery, can you directly knock down the city gate in front?" ”

I only heard the craftsman reply: "According to your meaning, after the re-inversion of the mold development, the cannon body, coupled with the new gunpowder, is much more powerful than before, and there is no problem in breaking the city gate."

As for accuracy, we also made the rifling that the adults told us about at the beginning.

Indeed, with rifling, the accuracy of this gun has indeed increased dramatically. ”