When I saw the Yan army leaving the city of Zhending and going straight to Texas, there were bursts of cheers in the city, and even Guo Ying breathed a sigh of relief, although he knew that most of the Sheng Yong of King Yan would be unlucky, but the friends of the dead road did not die and the poor road, as long as they did not lose it, they would not suffer, the two were compared, anyway, there was always one side to be beaten, or Sheng Yong suffered a little better.

Sheng Yong, who gathered the remnants of the defeated army in Dezhou and consolidated the city defense for more than half a month, heard that Zhu Di couldn't beat Zhending, and rushed to him with a large army, and hurriedly made the final preparations, this time the time was short, only more than half a month, far from enough for him to arrange thoroughly, but probably it was Zhending's persistence that gave him confidence, although Texas was not as good as Zhending, but it was also able to defend it, and at the moment he could only pin his hopes on the tens of thousands of soldiers left in Zhending, if Zhu Di could not attack Texas for a long time, they would attack and disturb the grain road, Maybe there will be a chance to force Zhu Di back to Beiping.

Of course, I thought so, Zhu Di's army was still panicked when it pressed the border, but after Zhu Di led his troops to Dezhou, he didn't directly enter the territory to surround Dezhou City, but set up a big camp on the border, it seems that this trip is not to fight but to see the scenery.

This move made Sheng Yong inexplicable, but he still conscientiously inspected the city wall every day, and sent troops out of the city to cut down the woods near Dezhou City, and the surrounding prefectures and counties even moved people and things into Dezhou City, and there was nothing left, after doing all this, he sent people to Zhending every day, and tirelessly passed that sentence - Texas is not better than Zhending, if Zhu Di succeeds in Texas, Shandong is in danger, don't worry about the previous things at this time, but if Dezhou is in danger, hurry up and pull the brothers!

Then, he stood at the head of the city every day, looking at Zhu Di at the border of the garrison, and he almost turned into a lookout stone.

And the time, just so imperceptibly, entered June.

……

Xuzhou Pei County, east of Weishan Lake, west of Shandong Mansion, here is the hometown and birthplace of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, and it is also a place where Zhu Di has never hit.

In the evening, the people of Wangzhuang have eaten dinner, take the elderly and children out to enjoy the cool as usual, gather under the well at the door and the ancient trees on the street, spread out a small table, make a pot of tea, cut two watermelons, talk about the past and the present, and a leisurely scene.

The earth shook suddenly, a group of officers and soldiers rode horses, mighty, thousands of people stretched very long, all the cavalry as far as the eye could see, the people of Wangzhuang were still a little panicked at first, and found that those officers and soldiers did not enter the village but hurried south, and then came out and stretched their necks to see the excitement.

In the past two years, there have been more and more armies going north, although the war has not spread to Xuzhou, but the people have been accustomed to seeing the army coming from the south to the north, but the officers and soldiers in front of them are a little different, and the murderous army is neat, so that the people of Wangzhuang can not help but praise the might.

The spirit of the army can indeed be easily seen from the appearance, these thousands of cavalry are indeed elite soldiers in a hundred battles, neat and disciplined, although the marching speed is very fast, but one by one the soldiers ride their horses to follow the team, do not squint, do not turn their heads and ears, even in this hot summer, they are also fully armored, even if they are sweating, no one is bare-chested, can be called a mighty army.

And as night fell, these cavalry gradually disappeared into the admiration of the people of Wangzhuang, but the people of Pei County would never have imagined that these elite soldiers they praised were actually the men and horses of King Yan.

The general who led the troops was Li Yuan, the commander of Ulzhou, strictly speaking, he should be the former commander of Ulzhou, because when King Yan captured Ulzhou, Li Yuan had already surrendered to King Yan, and his appearance here today was naturally arranged by King Yan.

Xuzhou is the rear, Peixian has never experienced a war, the imperial army is stationed in various cities and passes along the way, how can the soldiers and horses of King Yan appear here?

So the people couldn't imagine that the generals stationed here... It's also unexpected.

The next day, an astonishing news spread, King Yan's soldiers and horses suddenly appeared at the Peixian wharf like heavenly soldiers and generals, and burned all the hundreds of thousands of stones that the imperial court had secretly transferred and hoarded here this summer!

You must know that these grains and grasses are supplied to the front line, after the millions of stone grain in Texas were taken away by King Yan, Sheng Yong learned a lesson, and did not dare to hoard military food on the front line, but placed it in the rear, Peixian Wharf and Dezhou Wharf are connected by waterway, if the front line is needed, it can be shipped at any time, even if Texas is lost, it will not let the front-line soldiers have no food to eat, but who would have thought that these grain and grass were burned by a fire?

That's tens of thousands of boatloads of grain and grass! The fire at the Peixian wharf burned for three days and three nights, boiling the river, and countless fish and turtles floated in the lower reaches of the Cao River, all of which were cooked alive.

And when the news spread to Texas, Sheng Yong, who had to go to the city wall every day, heard the bad news and almost fainted on the spot.

Only then did he understand why Zhu Di had been guarding the Texas border, obviously waiting for this moment! Sure enough, after cutting off the logistical supply of the imperial army, Zhu Di did not delay for a moment, and directly waved his army under the city of Dezhou, and at the same time, the city of Dezhou, which could have been held by blocking the news, suddenly had countless rumors, and the soldiers and civilians in the city learned that there was a fire in the rear, and the grain and grass were gone, and they couldn't help but panic, they heard about the incident in Jinan! If you keep it, won't you repeat the old things in Jinan?

It's okay now, people's hearts are scattered, the grain and grass have been cut off, no matter how well prepared Sheng Yong is, there is no way to defend Texas anymore, and it is thanks to him that he understands that there is only a dead end for Dezhou City to defend it, it is better to retreat to Shandong, and then block the Yan army that burns grain behind them!

Nine thousand cavalrymen were able to go around the rear unnoticed, where to hoard grain and grass, the routes to transport grain and grass, and the situation of the garrisons along the way... How did Yan Jun know?

Sheng Yong, who withdrew all the way out of Texas, beat his chest and scolded his mother in anger, and could only vent his anger on those cavalry who had not yet retreated safely, and when he led the army to block the cavalry returning to the north, he was desperate to find that it was not that he was moving fast enough, but... Someone else is deliberately waiting for him.

King Yan's cavalry actually bypassed Texas and entered the Shandong territory! Where are the 9,000 cavalry on this so-called retreat? It's clearly 30,000 Yan Sanwei fine riders!

Outcome... Needless to say.

……

The news was transmitted back to Jinling, Zhu Yunwen didn't have time to go crazy, Sheng Yong's recital arrived, Sheng Yong, who survived by luck, fled to Shandong, and his words were a little inappropriate under the anger.

But he didn't want to mention it, Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong, who were vigorously carrying out the "reversal of Fang Huang Movement" in Jinling City, would not care, as soon as they heard that Texas was defeated and fell into the hands of the enemy, Xu Huizu was going crazy, and personally took the lead in writing a recital to impeach Fang Huang and the three of them, and now even the Shaozhuang faction that was originally preparing to unanimously cut down the feudal clan couldn't sit still, they united with Xu Huizu's military generals and relatives, as well as Li Jinglong's peace faction, and even some centrist officials who were originally on both sides of the wall, frantically wrote to impeach Fang Huang and Qi and the three of them, and there was a noise between the government and the opposition. Everyone's voices were unified this time, and everyone accused Fang Huang and the others of being incompetent, and for a while, they scolded and wrote, and flew towards the imperial study like snowflakes.

At this time, Zhu Yunwen, who was originally angry, was also a little unbearable, the news arrived at noon, this is not yet a court meeting, if you really want hundreds of officials to go to the palace, what kind of scene will it be?

At this time, he didn't care about holding Sheng Yong accountable for the defeat of the battle and the affairs of the imperial court, Zhu Yunwen hurriedly found Fang Xiaoru and the three of them, and when they saw the mountains of impeachment recitals in the imperial study, as well as the angry battle report recital, the three of them were silent.

It was night, the light in the study of Huang Zicheng's mansion was on all night, and the three of Fang Xiaoru, Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai, who had not been together for a long time, sat speechless.

After a long time, Huang Zicheng spoke in a hoarse voice: "Successive defeats, grain and grass were burned, civil and military officials were surging, Your Majesty... As you have seen today, even His Majesty has complained about us, and now the situation is difficult. ”

Qi Tai said coldly: "The family funds saved by the Hongwu Dynasty have been almost lost, the treasury of the household department is empty, the recruitment of soldiers is also extremely difficult, and the reform according to the Zhou rites is still swallowing silver, these... It's all the result of our auxiliary government, shouldn't Your Majesty be angry? ”

Huang Zicheng was stunned, he didn't figure out how his old guy seemed to have taken the wrong medicine today, he was a little annoyed and angry: "You..."

In the end, it was Fang Xiaoru who came out to play a round: "In times of trouble, we should be in the same boat, why quarrel?" ”

Silence fell again, and after another moment, Qi Tai spoke: "Now more than half of the hundred officials in the DPRK and the central government are constantly attacking us, and even the military generals and relatives have joined in the excitement to write a letter of impeachment, and the people in the city are also complaining, Your Majesty can still hold on now, but it won't be long before I am afraid that we will be able to calm the government and the opposition and the army... In my opinion, it's better to be proactive. ”

Fang Xiaoru leaned closer: "What does Qi Shangshu think?" ”

"I am the main military, to do the main political affairs, the country is in this situation, the two of us can hardly escape the blame, rather than being impeached and removed from power by hundreds of officials, it is better to take the initiative to write a letter to ask for guilt, so that Mr. Xiaozhi, who is only responsible for the implementation of the Zhou ceremony, can still stay in the court, in order to plan for the future."

Huang Zicheng raised his head suddenly, looking at his old buddy in a daze, Fang Xiaoru also hurriedly got up and excused himself: "Absolutely not, how can I be left alone?" ”

Qi Tai didn't see Huang Zicheng's eyes at all, and only pressed Fang Xiaoru's hand: "Mr. Xiaozhi, don't shirk, the people in the court and the central government are surging, if you don't give them an explanation, won't Your Majesty be embarrassed?" As long as Mr. Xiaozhi remains in the court, the two of us will have a day to emerge after all, and it is not a good thing for me and Brother Yixing to leave Beijing temporarily, at least with this, the Yan rebellion who rebelled in the name of Jingnan will not dare to go south! ”

He stood up: "The two of us resigned, what reason does he have for martyrdom?" As long as we can hold him back for a while, Brother Yi Xing and I can recruit troops in Jiangnan, and when the crisis situation is resolved, the imperial court... It's still that court! ”

"It's just that Jiangshan Sheji and Your Majesty are going to be entrusted to Mr. Xiaozhi."

Fang Xiaoru saw that he said solemnly, and he didn't dare to refuse, but just got up and shook solemnly: "I will live up to the trust of the two!" ”

Huang Zicheng opened his mouth, but he couldn't say anything, so he could only sigh faintly.