Chapter 76

Yangzhou city.

The barracks of the imperial army were huge and tight, which surrounded all the gates of the city. In addition, a blockade line combining multiple rides and secret sentries was set up around the city, so that anyone who tried to muddle through the city could not take advantage of it.

On the city wall, the gaunt Wu zhence supported the crenels. His bloodshot eyes were full of perplexity.

Once upon a time, he was still in high spirits, pointing out the mountains and rivers, commenting on ancient and modern times, and looking forward to his own defeat of the Imperial Army and the smooth unification of the south. He then called Wang Jianguo, reorganized his armaments, launched a large-scale Northern Expedition, and unified the whole country to create a splendid future of the new dynasty.

This is not Wu zhence's own daydream, but he has enough strength in his hand, as well as the necessary fortune to support himself to complete this feat which is enough to remain famous for thousands of years. Even lingcangshan, a hermit Taoist, believed that he was a Qianlong with destiny in his body, and a hero who was expected to reign in the world in the future. Therefore, when he had just occupied the land of the next county, he sent his disciples out of the mountain to assist him.

Later, he, the king of Han Dynasty, won nine prefectures in succession, and his influence became more and more powerful, so that many aristocratic families came to join him. The head of Hong family, the first aristocratic family in the south, even intended to betroth his daughter to himself as a princess.

Only three months ago, the situation was very good. In order to win the war, even the incarnation of lingcangshan's immortal ancestor personally killed the commander-in-chief of the imperial court. At that time, no one thought he would fail.

However, without warning, the hermit sect left quietly and withdrew all support for Wu zhence, without even saying a word. As a result, a series of chain reactions were triggered, and many people who were not optimistic about the king of Han Dynasty and had doubts about him became more and more overnight.

Since then, he has been in bad luck, and his life is getting worse and worse. Under the fierce offensive of the Imperial Army, the hard-working territory was occupied by the enemy, and the forces were shrinking.

Until a few days ago, Wu zhence, who was in a tight situation everywhere, had to shrink his remnant troops and retreat to Yangzhou city. There were only ten thousand soldiers left in the army around him, and there was not much food, grass and ordnance left. All things are similar to Zhao Yuanjin, who was trapped in Jingnan County half a year ago.

"Is it Is this heaven going to kill me? "

Wu zhence had a bitter smile on his mouth. He asked himself that he had been conscientious, diligent and loving the people, courteous and considerate to the soldiers. Every time he fought, he would come to the front in person. What he did was worthy of the standard of a wise man. There was nothing wrong with him. Why did he suddenly fall into such a difficult situation?

"Lord..."

The voice of Lin Shiqian, a counselor, rings in his ear.

Wu zhence turned his head and looked at his confidant. His eyes were empty and asked, "what bad news is there?"

With a sigh, Lin Shiqian leaned over and lowered his voice and said, "Zhao Yuanjin, the prince of Jingzhou, has sent troops, which is known as 300000 troops. At present, he has already left Jingzhou and went down the river to Jinling."

"Three hundred thousand?"

Wu zhence frowned and sneered: "can the land of Jingchu support 300000 troops? It's almost as good as scaring children

Lin Shiqian shook his head and said, "according to the information collected by the spies in the past few months, the Duke of Chu has indeed organized and trained 300000 troops. This expedition will leave 100000 people stationed in Jingzhou counties, so there must be 200000 troops. As for where he can afford such a huge army, no one can know why. "

Wu zhence is silent. In the past few months, he has paid close attention to Zhao Yuanjin's opponent. Naturally, he is aware of the various faults in the opponent. It took only a few months for him to turn over from a small vassal who was likely to be defeated at any time, and then rose rapidly to become the leader of Jingchu.

Maybe Is Zhao Yuanjin the real Qianlong and the future son of destiny? Otherwise, there is no proper reason to explain the miracles that happen to each other.

"This Duke of Chu is really ambitious. 200000 troops are going down the river. He is going to eat us and the Imperial Army together, and then take Jinling City." Wu zhence's secluded tunnel.

"It's quite possible." Lin Shiqian had no choice but to smile bitterly.

Although the imperial army has driven Wu zhence to the point of exhaustion, it has also suffered a lot. Today, its military strength is less than 140000, and it is exhausted due to long-term combat. However, the army of the Duke of Chu has been keeping up its strength, and the gap between the two sides is clear at a glance.

If the two sides fight each other formally, it may take only one world war to determine the victory or defeat. Even if the Imperial Army does not lose a lot, the best result is to be forced to withdraw and hand over the rich land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River to Zhao Yuanjin.

"We are now What should I do? " Wu zhence asked slowly.

"There are two ways to go."

Lin Shiqian said: "one of them is to stick to the city and watch the battle between the Duke of Chu and the imperial army. If they lose both sides, it may be our chance to make a comeback."

"The second is to send someone to contact Zhao Yuanjin secretly and express his willingness to surrender and ask the other party to come and help as soon as possible. After the Imperial Army retreats, the Lord will decide to stay."

Wu zhence was so excited that he seriously thought about it.With his original intention, of course, he is willing to live with Yangzhou City, but it is hard to say how many people are willing to accompany him to death.

It sounds good to watch the Duke of Chu's army fight with the Imperial Army, and his own side shrinks behind to take advantage of the opportunity. In fact, it may not be feasible. The commander-in-chief of both sides is not a fool. He can't be so easy.

Then the only viable option is to surrender to Zhao Yuanjin, give up the status of Qianlong and his ambition to dominate the world, and become a courtier in order to save the lives of his wife and children.

"Well, you go and arrange for people to go out of the city at night to ask for help from the Duke of Chu. As long as he is willing to raise his troops to help, Wu is willing to give up the Yangzhou city."

After a long silence, Wu zhence finally made a decision.

As for the surrender to the Imperial Army, it is absolutely impossible. For such an anti thief and rebellious minister, the imperial court has always only copied the family and killed the family, and there will never be amnesty or death.

……

The army of the Duke of Chu came fiercely, and the Imperial Army naturally kept a high degree of attention.

After weighing the pros and cons, Luo Yanxiong decided to keep a small number of troops to keep an eye on Yangzhou city. He led a hundred thousand troops to meet Zhao Yuanjin. He must defeat this powerful enemy at one stroke.

“…… It's quite surprising that Wu zhence sent an envoy to ask for surrender. "

In the camp account, Zhao Yuanjin frowned and said.

Song Wu disapproved and said, "Lord, Wu zhence is now in a desperate situation. In order to save his life, he can do anything."

"Do you think we need to accept his patronage?" Zhao Yuanjin asked again.

They were not ordinary princes, but Huaiyang Qianlong, who was once expected to swallow up the whole Jiangnan area. Although they are in a state of desperation and have lost their days, they still can't be ignored. Accepting the other side's submission requires more than just a sense of mind.

There were different opinions among the officials, some were in favor of it, others were against it, or they were in favor of ignoring it and letting it live and die on its own.

"What do you think of it, sir?" Finally, Zhao Yuanjin asked Qin Feng Dao.

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