Chapter 1209 Fence City
Chapter 1209 Fence City (Part )
After dawn, rumors were flying everywhere in Jianye City.
When Huaide Ling Wang Xia was about to go out to work, he saw people running aimlessly on the street.
His face changed and he retreated on the spot.
"Boom!" The gate of the palace closed quickly.
"Block the gate tightly." After Wang Xia returned to the central hall, he took out his bow and sword and gave the order.
The servants immediately brought in sundries and piled them behind the door, blocking it tightly.
After blocking the main gate, they went to block the small gate.
There were not enough sundries, so they just brought over desks and couches, and even fetched soil from the back garden, poured it into sandbags, and piled them everywhere.
There were more than thirty servants in the mansion. Regardless of age, strength or weakness, all of them were equipped with weapons. Even a few strong women raised wooden sticks.
The eldest son, Wang Ke, had practiced some martial arts. At this time, he was wearing iron armor, with a bow and sword hanging from his waist and a lance in his hand, and standing behind his father.
Wang Xia took out a knife and handed it to his second son Wang Zhen, saying, "If the situation is hopeless, you take this knife and go straight into the back house to kill all the women in the family and prevent them from falling into the hands of the thieves."
"Ah!" Wang Jianji, the daughter, had just come to the front yard to inquire about the news when she heard her father say this.
Wang Xia glanced at her, then looked at Wang Zhen and said, "The Wang family of Taiyuan has a feud with the thief Shao, and the ancestral business of Jinyang has been destroyed. If the women of the Wang family fall into his hands, what will happen?"
"Yes." Wang Zhen was stunned for a moment, then agreed reluctantly.
My father meant to kill my mother, sister-in-law, and younger sister together. This...
He really doubted whether he could do it.
Wang Jianji's eyes turned red and she turned and left.
The words "father" and "Shao Zei" kept spinning in her mind, spinning and spinning, scattering little pearls all over the ground.
Wang Xia sighed, asked someone to bring a ladder, climbed up to the top of the wall and looked around.
It snowed all night last night and stopped during the day, and everything was white.
Wang Xia looked at it carefully.
There were many panicked people on the street. They rushed south to the stone bridge above the tidal ditch, trying to enter the boundary between Taicheng and the inner city. The tidal ditch was located to the north of Taicheng, also known as the North City Moat. It was dug during the Eastern Wu period. It connected with Yundu and Huaishui (Qinhuai River) through lake systems such as Xuanwuyuan and Qingxi, and then connected to the Yangtze River, forming a natural moat for Taicheng.
"Go south, what are you thinking!" Wang Xia sighed and said, "People are confused."
"Grandpa, when will the prime minister come out to take charge of the situation?" Wang Ke asked.
Wang Dao has not attended court recently and has been recuperating at home because his eldest son Wang Yue died of illness.
The emperor was sympathetic and ordered Wang Dao to rest at home, but all government affairs would still be sent to his house for his review, even though he did not say a word most of the time.
In the past, people may have fought for power and no one was willing to submit to anyone else, but in this critical moment, people need a backbone.
It is easy to tell who is capable and who is not. This is often not apparent in peacetime, because many people with limited abilities and mentalities do not necessarily accept the test of life and death.
"The Prime Minister should come out soon." Wang Xia said, "After he comes out, Wang Chuming in Dongfu City should take action."
Dongfu is the old residence where the late emperor Sima Rui lived when he was the General Zhendong. In the past two years, it has been expanded and surrounded by city walls to form a small city. The central commander Wang Shu and Wang Chuming live here. The city is located in the southeast of Taicheng, between the inner city and the outer city.
And on the opposite side of Yundu in the southwest corner of Taicheng is Xizhou City.
This is also a newly rebuilt small city, and the residence of the governor of Yangzhou.
To the south of Taicheng, on the south bank of the Huai River, and north of Wuyi Lane, there is the Danyang County City.
These three cities are not big, with at most a thousand people living in them on ordinary days, but they are the real power institutions besides Taicheng, and are not easily breached by small groups of enemy forces, and are unlikely to fall into chaos.
If they don't make trouble, it won't be difficult to clean up the situation.
So Wang Xia prepared for the worst, but he was also optimistic about the overall situation.
While the father and son were talking, a group of cavalry appeared on the northern horizon.
They followed the defeated soldiers and fleeing civilians at a moderate pace, occasionally throwing a round of arrows to throw the crowd into greater panic.
As far as Wang Xia could see, he saw countless people trampling on each other, and countless people being squeezed into the cold tidal channels.
As the bandits were fighting, a group of them dismounted, stood arrogantly on the street, and shot arrows at the buildings on both sides. From time to time, someone fell off the wall. Some people were so frightened that a dozen or twenty bandits climbed over the wall, and immediately there was a sound of screaming and wailing.
"Oh!" Wang Xia sighed.
It was too tragic. If his home was attacked, it would be the same fate, which he could never accept.
I would rather kill him than let the women be raped by the thieves.
******
Wuyi Lane was bustling with people.
Soon, three hundred escorts and guards came out.
They were wearing helmets and armor, each holding a sword, shield, bow, and halberd, looking very majestic.
Following closely behind were banners one after another, fluttering wildly in the cold wind.
Some of the drummers in the front walked, some rode horses, and some rode in cars. As they walked, bells and chimes rang out, which could be heard from far and near.
After all this was over, there appeared a magnificent carriage.
The grand carriage with its feathered ornaments, red wheels and gorgeous hubs was magnificent, almost like an emperor's ceremony - in fact, it was given by the previous emperor, and its specifications were exactly the same as those of the emperor.
Forty swordsmen followed the carriage, all dressed in brocade clothes and holding their heads high.
Next to the swordsmen are two family generals, one holding the yellow axe bestowed by the emperor, and the other holding a gold seal and purple ribbon, symbolizing the prime minister's tremendous power.
After the carriage passes, the rear will start to play drums.
Behind the drums from the rear, there were three hundred armored soldiers.
There are so many carriages and horses!
The majestic momentum is rising!
After leaving Wuyi Lane, the common people, officials, and soldiers gathered outside were relieved when they saw him. "The Prime Minister has come to court!"
"The Prime Minister has come out to take charge of the situation!"
"This is the first time I've seen such a grand ceremony."
Indeed, Wang Dao always had these things, but he never used them. Instead, he rode a "short-shafted calf cart" to court, which was very simple. Today's behavior had obvious political considerations, intended to stabilize people's hearts and let everyone know that at this chaotic moment, the prime minister drove to court.
When people's hearts are at peace, a few bandits are not worth mentioning.
While Wang Dao was attending court in a high-profile manner, he also sent messengers to Dongfu City, Xizhou City, and Shitou City to deliver messages.
The commander of Shitou's naval and land affairs and the prince of Qiao, Sima Wuji, led three lieutenant camps and 4,000 infantry and cavalry to defend Shitou City and not to act rashly. The navy ships gathered on the riverside were dispatched as soon as possible to patrol the river surface and prevent the bandits from sneaking across.
Wang Shu, the commander of the Central Army, inspected the camps of the Left Guard and the Right Guard, distributed rewards, stabilized the morale of the troops, and then drove the various units of the Imperial Guard into the streets, blocked all roads, set up barricades, and cleared the area layer by layer.
The Yangzhou officials immediately went to Xizhou City to call a roll, and then were dispatched to various locations to comfort the people and order them to stay at home and protect themselves. Anyone who dared to run around would be treated as collaborating with the bandits.
After doing all this, Wang Dao sat peacefully in the carriage, neither sad nor happy.
The convoy crossed the Huai River to the west, turned north, and continued along the Imperial Road.
When passing the Taimiao, some scattered soldiers gathered together.
When passing by the area where officials lived, officials at all levels gathered together and followed him to court.
The door of their house was closed, and the servants climbed onto the wall, with their swords drawn and bows strung, just like at Wang Xia's house.
The convoy soon arrived south of Xuanyang Gate.
There was a hint of chaos in the direction of Qingxi in the east, as if some bandits were rushing towards the Qingxi Bridge, acting recklessly and arrogantly.
Wang Dao acted as if he saw nothing and went straight through Xuanyang Gate and into Taicheng.
He specifically instructed that the gates of the city should not be closed to avoid causing panic among the people.
More soldiers of the imperial guards guarding Taicheng can be added, and chevaux de frise and powerful crossbows can be set up to keep the outside loose and the inside tight.
Everything is in good order, busy but not chaotic, which reflects Director Wang's understanding of the situation and control over people's hearts.
This broken imperial court will not fall apart without him.
******
There was also a certain degree of panic in the palace.
After all, rumors are flying everywhere, and when all kinds of true and false news are passed on, they always magnify people's fear.
The first person to become restless was the Emperor Sima Fei.
Seeing the whispers in the palace, even the guards turned pale, and there were rumors that Shao's "100,000 troops crossed the river" and had defeated the imperial guards in Qingxi, etc., he was furious and ordered the execution of many palace people and soldiers.
Sima Fei's anxiety was not calmed until Queen Mountain Yi Nan hurried over.
"Your Majesty, there are still thousands of soldiers in Taicheng, with complete food and equipment, and perfect defensive equipment. Even if the enemy comes with tens of thousands of people, it will be difficult to capture it in a hurry. Why bother to disrupt the formation?" The queen had a frosty face when she spoke, and she was quite displeased.
But the emperor fell for it.
After being scolded by Shan Yinan, he felt relieved and said with a wry smile: "The queen is right. I was wrong."
He is not completely ignorant.
Although the Seven Guards only consisted of the Left Guard, the Right Guard, and the Cavalry, it was still a total of 16,000 infantry and cavalry.
Among them, 4,000 men are stationed at the palace to guard it, and the Eastern Palace has 4,000 guards on the left and right of the crown prince, making a total of 8,000 men.
Can't eight thousand soldiers defend a city?
As for outside the city, it is also possible to do a careful calculation.
Not to mention the Cavalry Corps, one thousand of them went to Hefei and one thousand went to Jingkou, and they are gone.
Two thousand men of the Left Guard were taken away by the King of Kuaiji, two thousand were stationed in Taicheng, one thousand followed the King of Langya westward, and the remaining two thousand were stationed in the inner city.
Two thousand men of the Right Guard stayed in Taicheng, two thousand followed the King of Langya westward, and the remaining three thousand were stationed in the outer city.
There are 4,000 soldiers in the Three Colonels Camp in Shitou City.
Add to that the one hundred, two hundred, or several hundred soldiers usually granted to ministers, generals, and the soldiers of the Yangzhou governor and Danyang county, and it would be enough for defense.
The key is not to panic and not to scare yourself.
Once people's hearts are in chaos, some soldiers cannot be effectively commanded, and some soldiers may even turn against us. That would be the end of us. After all, this imperial court is really fragile.
After Shan Yinan had comforted the emperor, someone from Hongxun Palace hurried in and cried, asking the emperor to send troops to rescue them.
The emperor subconsciously wanted to agree, but was stopped by Shan Yinan.
Soon, the soldiers guarding Hualin Garden came to report: King Kuaiji entered from Daxia Gate, saying that the enemy army was rampant and besieged the residence of Sima Zong, the Minister of Imperial Clan Affairs, and might have broken into it. On the way, he also saw King Pengcheng Sima Xiong panicking and fleeing with his family, but was intercepted by the enemy halfway...
Upon hearing the news, the emperor burst into tears and wanted to send troops to rescue, but everyone looked at Queen Shan and gave up.
After a while, someone came from the north of the river and said that he saw a "large group of bandits" landing on the riverside, but the navy had not arrived yet.
When asked how many people there were, he said "tens of thousands".
Shan Yinan gave a two-word comment: "Ridiculous!"
So when I asked him a second time, it became “thousands”. When I asked him again, he said he couldn’t remember clearly, “or hundreds of people”.
Of course, this is actually nothing. This person said with certainty that Chen Yan, the prefect of Tangyi in Jiangbei, and Su Jun, the general Yingyang and the prime minister of Guangling, "all rebelled."
Sima Fei was greatly frightened when he heard this.
Shan Yinan frowned and fell into deep thought.
At this moment, news came that Wang Dao and all the officials were going to court.
(End of this chapter)