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The militiaman who was carrying the frying pan dropped the frying pan and ran away.

"what!"

Fan Shouli didn't react, the hot oil was knocked over and splashed on his feet, and he cried out in pain.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!" Wu Anguo and Chen Fan, two officials, were still tied behind the parapet at this time, struggling frantically to escape.

The city wall was empty, only the three of them were officials.

Well, there are still a few corpses, all unlucky ghosts who were bombarded to death by artillery.

The first batch of Datong army has already ascended the city.

Fan Shouli thought to himself that if he was scalded by the hot oil, he would be disabled even if he survived, so it would be better to obey his will and die a heroic death.

He actually knelt down on both knees, drew his sword out of its sheath, and crawled to kill the Datong army, shouting as he crawled, "It's time to be loyal to the king and serve the country!"

The soldiers of Datong were stunned. One raised his shield and knocked away the scribe's sword, and the other two rushed forward to subdue him.

"There are two more officials here!"

Wu Anguo's mouth gag was pulled out, and he quickly shouted in Chinese: "I didn't recruit soldiers to defend the city, and it has nothing to do with me.

They are all mantises surnamed Fan! "

Yuan Shizhong and Xu Xuechang quickly led troops into the city, and when they learned that Fan Shouli was scalded by hot oil and was still guarding the city alone, Xu Xuechang praised: "Unexpectedly, there is a loyal man in the small country of Annan, so let the military doctor treat him quickly. Even if you can't keep your feet, amputation Save it too!"

However, Yuan Shizhong glanced at Wu Anguo and Chen Fan who were kneeling in front of him, and said with disdain: "I heard that you two are the chief envoys of Nghe An Province? Everyone's judges know about guarding the city, but you two chief officials are corrupt. I am afraid of death, so I must be a corrupt official at ordinary times!"

Wu Anguo and Chen Fan were a little dumbfounded, why were they scolded for not defending the city, while those who defended the city were praised?

Chen Fan was so frightened that he kowtowed repeatedly, knelt down and explained: "General Rongzhi, we don't guard the city because we know that Master Wang is benevolent and will not hurt the people at all. This fan surnamed deceives the people and threatens the people that the heavenly soldiers will slaughter the city!" "

Yuan Shizhong grinned and said, "He's right."

"Ah? Really...really going to massacre the city?" Wu Anguo trembled all over.

Chen Fan kowtowed even more sharply: "If the general slaughters the city, just slaughter the small people, please spare the villain's life. The villain is from the Chen family of Qinghua. If the heavenly soldiers attack Qinghua, the villain is willing to lead the way and persuade him to surrender."

Yuan Shizhong gritted his teeth and said, "Sure enough, it's a dog official. He sold the whole city with a single lie!"

"Liar?"

Wu Anguo was stunned, he had been doing the roller coaster repeatedly, just now his heart sank into the valley, and now he was so happy that he flew to the sky.

Breaking out in cold sweat, he kowtowed in tears: "The general is benevolent and righteous, and the people in the city depend on them for their lives. The villain thanks the general for not killing him!"

"Don't tease them," Xu Xuechang said, "get up, you are the chief officers, help our army take over the city. Recruit all the officials in the city, and maintain law and order. Let them tell them from door to door, and our Datong army can't rob them." Looting. Whoever dares to take advantage of the fire to rob, will be executed on the spot if caught!"

"Yes, yes, the villain will go right away!"

The two chief officials rejoiced, they can now be dog legs, the Han soldiers are outsiders after all, and they have to rely on officials like them to govern the place.

Yuan Shizhong said with a smile: "Conquer the city without losing a single soldier. It's really boring if you don't play tricks on them."

Xu Xuechang said: "Thanks to our careful investigation, we were able to go straight to Ngee'an City. If we send troops from Guangxi, the enemy will definitely defend to the death. Once they are unable to attack for a long time, many people will die of fever. In Ngee'an and Tsinghua,

Just like Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty, it is impossible to defend the city with one heart and one mind.

"What you said makes sense. I don't know if troops have been sent from Guangxi." Yuan Shizhong looked north.

Li Dingguo led troops to station in Hainan. He was the first to receive the news of Lord Zheng's defeat, and immediately sent his troops to attack.The two Datong divisions in Guangxi must have dispatched troops later.

But Zheng Pi, Zheng Zuo and his son returned to Shenglong Mansion with a few remnants of soldiers, and immediately summoned the ministers to discuss urgent matters.

Li Fanzhi Fan (Book of the Ministry of Rites) Zheng Rongfu, who is of the same family as Zheng, spoke more directly: "Your Highness, this time our army was defeated, and the Han army took the opportunity to invade. Both of these news have been sent back to the capital. .Now, people in the capital are in a state of panic, and they all say that His Highness deceived the emperor and was punished by heaven."

"Nonsense!" Zheng Zuo asked, "Immediately find out who is making rumors, and he will be cut into pieces!"

Zheng Pi was not angry, he raised his hand to signal his son to shut up, and said to himself: "Both Qinghua and Ngee An have enemy troops,

Is Lang Son still safe? "

Bing Fan Zhi Fan Li Gang said: "There is no movement, the lower officials have already sent people to order Lang Son's general soldiers to defend themselves.

Zheng Zheng recruited 1500 troops to march south, but did not draw troops from Lang Son. There were [-] soldiers stationed there, half farming and half fighting in the mountains, similar to the frontier military camps of the Ming Dynasty.

Zheng Pi asked Wu Zongru, an acquaintance of Hu Fan, "How much money can we allocate to recruit soldiers?"

Wu Anguo, the fear of death in Ngee Ann City, is a relative of Wu Zongru.

Wu Zongru said dryly: "Reporting to Your Highness, when we sent troops to conquer the Ruan family, the treasury has run out of money and food.

If all of them are used to recruit soldiers, the salaries of officials will not be paid out. "

"I'm asking you, how much money do you have left to recruit soldiers!" Zheng added a serious tone.

Wu Zongru replied: "There are more than 4 taels of silver and more than 7 stones of rice."

Zheng Bing said: "Give it all to the Bingfan, and recruit as many soldiers as you can! Also, order the officials from all walks of life to let the gentry recruit village braves, and quickly go to Shenglong Mansion to gather troops to serve the king!"

Zheng Rongfu said: "Your Highness, you should also send an envoy to Qinghua to ask the general of the Han army why he invaded our territory without declaring a war. Maybe there is still room for turning things around, and see if we can persuade the other party to retreat."

Li Gang, who was clamoring to fight China a few years ago, now said: "What's the use of negotiating with the generals who lead the army? They are eager to fight and make meritorious service. They have to send envoys to Nanjing, bring money to bribe officials, and let the officials persuade the Chinese emperor to retreat!"

These guys are panicked, they are not afraid of China sending troops from Vietnam, just defend the pass with high mountains and dense forests.

However, the Datong Army did not play their cards according to common sense, and even crossed the sea and landed to fight, and directly took the hometown of the Vietnamese nobles.Now everyone is frightened, not because they are afraid of losing the city and land, but because they are afraid that they will be wiped out by the Datong army and ransacked their homes.

An Nanguo can perish, but his own family cannot.

Chapter 645 [Forcing against the landlord]

Zheng Pi, Zheng Zuo and his son were really scared this time, and even pulled the Taiyuan garrison back to Shenglong Mansion.

Annan Kingdom's Taiyuan City is located fifty miles north of its capital, and like Lang Son, it is the northern barrier of Annan Kingdom.

Lang Son defenders are defending Guangxi.

The Taiyuan defenders were defending Gaoping.

In the valley of Gaoping, there is a Mo family regime. .The Zheng family and the Ruan family started their careers by overthrowing the Mo family, and the Mo family has not been wiped out until now.

Historically, the Mo family first supported Nanming, then took refuge in the Qing Dynasty, and then attached themselves to Wu Sangui, and finally killed themselves.

Only [-] soldiers were left in Taiyuan to guard the city, and the remaining [-] troops were all recalled to Shenglong Mansion by Zheng Pi.As for whether the Mo family took advantage of the opportunity to invade, Zheng Pi could no longer care so much. He lost tens of thousands of troops in his previous expedition, and he was seriously short of troops.

It was precisely because of the Annan civil war that the army in the hinterland was evacuated, and the Datong army was invincible in Thanh Hoa and Ngee An.

After occupying Yi'an City, Yuan Shizhong each sent hundreds of soldiers to capture the nearby Anren (Nan'an) and Zhongyi (Yanzhou).None of these cities had Annan's regular army, and local officials could be said to have surrendered on the lookout.

After seizing the city, the Datong Army did not leave anyone to defend, directly hired local farmers, emptied the treasury and marched north.

The battle on Li Dingguo's side went more smoothly. The Datong Navy warship sailed outside Qinghua City, and a burst of shelling solved the problem.The city guard here is actually surnamed Zheng, he is Zheng Pi's nephew, and he quickly surrendered when he saw the Datong army.

Yuan Shizhong led his troops on a naval warship, quickly joined forces with Li Dingguo, and occupied Nanding City without hesitation. It is located on the bank of the Red River and is only 180 miles away from Thang Long Mansion.

Until this time, Zheng Pi finally completed the gathering of troops.

With the few remnants left before, plus the troops of Qin Wang from all walks of life, Zheng unexpectedly pulled up an army of more than 4 people.It's just that more than [-]% of them are Xiangyong, which is similar to that of the Daming team that Zhao Han met in Jiangxi.

Zheng led his troops to station in Xing'an City, only 50 miles away from Li Dingguo.

If one wanted to attack Thang Long Mansion from Nanding, the fastest and most convenient route was to go up the Red River, and Zheng's army was stuck on the only way.

"Father, we must fight quickly, otherwise we will not have enough food." Zheng Zuo reminded.

Zheng said: "If the enemy doesn't attack, and defend Nanding City by the river, how can we make a quick victory?"

Zheng Zuo said: "But the military rations are really not enough."

Zheng Pi ordered: "You take people to the countryside to collect food, the more food you collect, the better!"

Previously, there were more than 7 stones of rice grain in the treasury, and the troops of King Qin from all walks of life brought more than 1 stones.But there are more than 4 soldiers, and each of them only has more than 200 catties of food. When they gathered in Shenglong Mansion, they lingered for more than half a month.

No oil and water, lack of protein, and no snacks and fruits.In this case, a grown man,

I can eat several catties of rice every day.

Zheng Pi ordered his son to go to the countryside to collect food, and at the same time ordered the whole army to reduce the food: the regular army only ate one catty of food a day, and the Xiangyong only ate ten taels of food a day.

Of course, nobles, generals, and gentry are not bound by this.

Take Li Shenzong, Li Zhenzong and his son as an example, although they are both puppet kings, their treatment must be guaranteed.

Fearing that the royalist party would cause chaos, Zheng brought the puppet king and his son, and handed over court affairs to his daughter Zheng Yuzhu.

Zheng Pi's daughter, Zheng Yuzhu, is the wife of the Supreme Emperor Li Shenzong, the not-so-principal Supreme Empress.

It's not serious because Zheng Yuzhu was married and had four children.

At that time, the real queen died of illness, and Zheng Pi wanted to control the king through marriage, but he didn't have any extra daughters.

So, he accused his son-in-law and sent him to prison, and asked his daughter to remarry the king with her four children.

In the army, Wang Zhang.

Li Shenzong, Li Zhenzong, father and son, ate and drank silently, with the maid standing beside them watching them.

After drinking a pot of wine, Li Shenzong took the opportunity to go berserk and beat up the court lady as soon as he took his job.

The maid was beaten and fled in embarrassment, Li Shenzong hurriedly said: "Look for an opportunity to surrender to the Han, and take advantage of the situation to restore the country!"

"But...Father, this matter may not be easy." Li Zhenzong was even less courageous.

It was because Li Shenzong was disobedient and made trouble secretly when Zheng Pi was defeated that he was abolished and let his son succeed him.

Li Zhenzong was terrified, he didn't have the blood of a young man at all.

Li Shenzong roared angrily in a low voice: "It's not easy to do, do you want to be a puppet for the rest of your life?"

If it was something else, Li Shenzong could still bear it. Zheng asked him to marry a remarried woman with four children. This kind of insult was like a slap in the face in front of the whole country's officials and people.

The father and son said a few more words, and the maid who was beaten and fled came back with a few officers.

When Li Shenzong heard the footsteps, he immediately hooked up with his son, held up the jug and pretended to be drunk: "Come...drink...there is wine today...today...drunk at night, Li Zhenzong lay alone in the king's tent, tossing and turning, always unable to sleep Sleep.

His sons were all dead. Although the imperial doctor said that he died of illness, he suspected that Zheng Pi had poisoned him to death. In fact, he was thinking too much. If he died without children, Zheng Pi would have to get his father back and restore him.

The successive failures of several sons have already frightened Li Zhenzong, and now everyone thinks that they are trying to harm him.

Li Zhenzong hoped that the Han soldiers would come quickly and kill the entire Zheng family.As for who will be the king in the future, Li Zhenzong doesn't care about it. It is best for the Han soldiers to annex Annan, and then make him the Duke of An Le, so that the rest of his life can live in peace

..

Xing'an, the countryside.

Zheng Zuo sent thousands of soldiers and horses to go around to collect food.

The so-called grain requisition means that officials of county communes (similar to towns and villages) bring small officials to force the people to hand over grain.If there is not enough food in any village or town, the army will be dispatched immediately, and it will also be obtained by burning, killing and looting.

At the same time, those troops went straight to the homes of the big landlords, because the magistrates could not make a conquest in the big landlords' homes.

"Officer, my family is really out of food. This is life-saving food for the family!" A farmer hugged the soldier's thigh, while his wife and children cried bitterly in the house.

The soldier kicked the farmer away: "If you have no food, go to the landlord's house to borrow it!"

After the farmer fell down, he climbed over and kowtowed: "Where can I borrow it? Last year's rent has not been paid yet."

The soldier smiled and said, "You still have a daughter, and if you sell it, you will get food."

After this team of soldiers robbed one house, they immediately went to the next one.

As for the landlords, they can’t escape either. It’s okay to obediently pay the food, but those who are disobedient will break into the house. Maybe their wives and daughters will be bullied by the soldiers.

Such behavior is perfectly normal.

In the Annan Mo Dynasty, it was because of successive years of wars that they kept collecting grain from landlords and farmers, and finally caused continuous uprisings across the country.The Zheng family and the Ruan family took the opportunity to overthrow the Mo family's rule with the peasant uprising army with the support of the gentry.

Twenty miles west of Xing'an and 25 miles north of Nanding.

Gan family.

The Gan family belongs to a prominent local family. Although it is very close to the capital, they have not been very high-ranking officials.Because Annan's court was controlled by Qinghua and Ngee An nobles, they joined forces to squeeze out gentry from other places.

"Father, 800 shiguzi were forcibly confiscated today, and there is not much food left in the family," Gan Shoudao said angrily.

"If the war continues, the officers and soldiers will definitely come again, and then the whole Gan family will starve to death!"

Gan Yu sighed, "What else can I do?"

Gan Shoudao continued: "Those Qinghua nobles are becoming more and more defiant. In Xing'an City, many people from Qinghua and Yi'an came to serve as officials, and they exploited the people as soon as they arrived. Even the landlords were forced to destroy them." The family sells the land. This Xing'an Mansion will be swallowed up by outsiders sooner or later!"

"What do you want to say?" Gan Yu asked.

Gan Shoudao said: "It's better to vote for the Han army and get back what was lost! The Zheng family just lost a big defeat and tens of thousands of troops were lost. Now Qinghua and Yi'an are lost, and there is not even enough food to raise soldiers. How can they fight? Have you ever won Han soldiers?"