Chapter 1210: Unexpected Person
Chapter 1210: Unexpected Person
Because there were too few people, the court meeting did not take place.
Sima Fei moved to the west hall of Taiji Palace and held a small-scale questioning meeting.
After all the ministers gathered, he took a quick look and almost burst into tears.
How many old ministers are still there whom the late emperor entrusted his fate to before his death?
Prime Minister Wang Dao, Grand Chancellor Sima Ying, Grand Commandant Liu Kun, Shangshu Ling Bian Xu (formerly Shangshu Zuo Pushe), Shizhong Liu Wei, Guanglu Xun Yan Han...
Wang Dao was still there, Sima Ying and Liu Kun were in Jingkou, and Bian Xu also came, but for some reason Liu Kui and Yan Han did not come.
There were only two important ministers accompanying him!
"Prime Minister, the situation in the city..." Sima Fei asked impatiently after everyone sat down.
"Your Majesty, how many bandits do you think there are in the city?" Wang Dao sat there. His old body seemed frail, but he was full of vigor. His expression was indifferent when he asked the questions, not at all like a subject facing the emperor.
Sima Fei was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously searched for the person, but unfortunately the person was not there, so he cleared his throat and said, "Maybe within ten thousand people."
Previously, the messenger from Jiangbei said there were "tens of thousands of people", which had been refuted by Queen Shan. However, a few hundred people were too few to cause such panic, so let's compromise and a few thousand people would be enough.
Before Wang Dao could say anything, Shangshu Ling Bian Xu could not help but refute him bluntly: "Your Majesty, do you know how many of us were there when we followed the late emperor across the river?"
"Thousands of people?" Sima Fei had some impression of this matter. After all, he was one of the parties involved. He was seven or eight years old at that time and still remembered some things.
"It is true that there were several thousand people." Bian Xu said, "But for many days, no one on the other side stopped them. Instead, there were soldiers and officials to meet them. The first group of people who crossed the river were only a few hundred soldiers. Later, I, the late emperor, King Pengcheng, King Nandun, King Runan, King Xiyang and others crossed the river, and there were no more than a thousand people. The officials, scholars, servants and families who followed the army came later. Most of the people stayed in the north of the river, and only later did they come to the south of the river. There was a strong wind on the way, and the boats capsized. No less than a hundred people drowned in the river."
"Your Majesty, think about it carefully. How many people can be ferried across in one night?"
"If it is so easy, why did the court deploy heavy troops in Liyang, Niuzhu, Guangling, and Jingkou instead of deploying troops in Guabu and Jianye?"
These words are so powerful that it is difficult to answer.
Yes, why did the people living in Jianye regard Liyang and Jingkou upstream and downstream as the key to life and death, and guard them strictly, but only deployed a small army in the north of Jianye? Isn't it because it is not easy to cross the river here?
Not only was it difficult to cross the river, but it was also difficult to land, because most places were high cliffs that were difficult to climb. Even if there were low and gentle shallows, they were muddy and not very long. The imperial court built a wall of stones on the high ground, and the bows and crossbows were like living targets.
The river is wide, the water is fast, and it is not easy to get ashore. Not many people can be deployed at a time. Even if the defenders are negligent in surveillance and allow you to get ashore with thousands of people, what can you do?
Fighting alone, with difficulty in raising arrows and food, and enemies everywhere, can you turn the tables?
Of course, the above is based on the assumption that both sides have normal sentiments...
"Hearing your words, I am really enlightened." Sima Fei felt relieved and said happily: "In this case, the enemy soldiers may only have--"
"At most a thousand cavalry." Bian Xu said: "A thousand cavalry are more than enough for harassment, but it is difficult to occupy the land."
Sima Pei calmed down and smiled, asking, "If that's the case, why don't you send a large army to surround and kill them?"
Having said this, he turned his head again, trying to find the general who was present.
General Zhao Yin of the Left Guard and General Liu Chao of the Right Guard were not present, and the Commander of the Central Army Wang Shu was not there either, so the plan had to be abandoned.
"Your Majesty." Director Wang suddenly spoke.
Everyone calmed down and listened quietly to the Prime Minister's instructions.
"I just received a lot of news, true and false, it's hard to tell." Wang Dao said, "Even if nine out of ten are false and one is true, it's still quite scary. There must be princes, famous ministers, and high-ranking officials who have died. If the bandits hang their heads and spread the news everywhere, people's hearts will be greatly corrupted."
"For now, we should inform the people of Jianye that the bandits who crossed the river are weak and can only show off their power temporarily, but cannot maintain their power for a long time. The edict should be posted everywhere on the Imperial Street and the post roads to reassure the people."
"The two guards of the Eastern Palace are enough to defend Taicheng. The left and right guards can be withdrawn to block the roads and prevent the enemy cavalry from driving. We can do the same thing as the Shao thieves did in Chang'an in the past to surround and kill the Xianbei cavalry."
"You can send soldiers to help defend the residences of famous officials, royal family members, and high-ranking officials. You don't need many, a few dozen soldiers are enough for each residence. Under the high gates and large courtyards, with the help of servants and guards, it will be difficult for the thieves to attack in a hurry."
Some of these measures had already been implemented, but some had not yet. Wang Dao mentioned them all to the emperor to let him know about them.
The emperor naturally follows good advice.
Who is the prime minister? The late emperor wanted to confer him the title of "Second Father" and pull him to sit on the throne. Just listen to what he says. At this juncture, if the Wang family of Langya surrendered the city, he really would have no way to deal with it.
"Your Majesty, I would like to leave the palace and summon the young men of various ethnic groups in the south of the Yangtze River to come to our aid." The Minister of Personnel and the Left Prime Minister Gu Zhong suddenly stood up and said loudly.
Sima Fei looked at Wang Dao.
Wang Dao actually stood up, walked in front of Gu Zhong, bowed deeply, and said: "A loyal minister is revealed in times of national crisis. Changshi's journey will not be easy."
"We have to do it no matter how difficult it is." Gu Zhong said generously, "The Jiangdong people will never coexist with the Shao thief."
Wang Dao sighed, turned around and looked at the emperor, and said, "Your Majesty, you can appoint Gu Changshi as General Yangwei and command Wujun to send reinforcements."
"Okay." Sima Fei continued to follow suit.
"Yangzhou troops..." Director Wang continued to give orders.
******
The Yangzhou troops he mentioned were actually quite mixed, and the Danyang County troops were one of them.
Du Yi arrived at Danyang County City early in the morning.
The city was not big, covering only a few acres, with three gates in the east, south and north. Apart from offices, warehouses, arsenals and a small military camp, there was nothing else. After Du Yi entered the city, most of the officials from Danyang did not come, and the few who were there were also dizzy and pale.
"I just went to the Huai River to check and found that some bandit cavalry had rushed to the vicinity of Dongfu City, but were repelled by the imperial army."
"I led my family to flee south last night. It was a stormy night and there was chaos. Groups of people crossed the river and there were sounds of horses' hooves and noise everywhere. Alas, I don't know what happened to Taicheng."
"How many Liang soldiers have come? Will they attack south of the Huai River? Otherwise, why don't you move all your family members in. I heard that some wealthy families were attacked and it was a horrible sight."
Du Yi listened quietly to everyone talking without saying anything.
In fact, he was also a little confused and didn't know what was going on. But out of vigilance, he rushed to the county town as soon as possible, as if only holding the seal of issuing orders could he feel a little comfort.
At this moment, hearing the true and false words from everyone, my mood was also fluctuating.
Could it be that the Daliang King's army is really coming to attack? Should I do something?
If he did it, there would be no turning back. If he failed, the outcome would be dire. Even if the Liang army crossed the river in the future and he rehabilitated the Du family, what would be the point?
If I don't do it, I will miss this opportunity in vain. Even if I have the support of my fellow clansmen in the north, I will still be looked down upon. Not to mention, the King of Lu is not easy to talk to. If I don't have any merit, I still want to go further? Dream on.
So Du Yi was undecided.
"It's so difficult to decide." Du Yi sighed in his heart.
Gotta find out what happened!
Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the county government.
Everyone was startled when they heard this, but fortunately they still had their senses and knew that it was probably not the Liang bandit cavalry rushing in. How could they attack the city on horseback?
A moment later, Danyang Yin Shanwei came in.
"Master." Everyone came forward and saluted.
"No need to be so polite." Shan Wei said impatiently, "Hurry up and beat the drum to gather the troops."
Everyone looked at him in surprise.
"My Lord, are you going to gather troops and enter Taicheng to support the king?" Du Yi asked, expressing everyone's thoughts.
"There are several thousand people in Taicheng, who can break through?" Shan Wei said unhappily, "We met an imperial envoy on the way, and the Prime Minister ordered that two thousand soldiers from Danyang County be dispatched to defend Wuyi Lane and Changganli."
Du Yi suddenly realized.
Changganli is considered to be a relatively prosperous commercial area in Jianye. It is located at the outermost part of the southern part of Jianye and is only separated from the real swamp wilderness by a fence.
In the past, in order to raise funds for the military, Zu Ti disguised himself as a bandit and robbed and killed merchants and travelers in the wild outside Nanli Gate.
It seems that the Prime Minister does not need the Danyang County soldiers. He only orders them to block the main passage in the south to prevent the bandit cavalry from wreaking havoc.
Du Yi sighed secretly and put aside all his little thoughts.
Director Wang responded very appropriately. He did not give them any chance, unless they were desperate and hot-blooded and started fighting directly. But where could he find such people?
A moment later, the sound of rumbling drums rang out in the county town.
Five hundred soldiers went out of the north gate and headed for Wuyi Lane. Along with them was a large amount of baggage, which was obviously made of chevaux de frise and antlers, intended to block the entrance of the lane and prevent the enemy cavalry from clashing.
Since the cavalry could not charge, the infantry were not so afraid. They hid behind deer horns and chevaux de frise, protected themselves with large shields, and deployed powerful crossbows for long-range shooting. With their large numbers, they could barely put up a fight.
After these five hundred people, another thousand people set out from the military camp outside the city, led by Shan Wei himself, and headed towards Changganli.
Du Yi led 500 men to garrison the county town.
In this way, Jianye seemed to gradually calm down during the day of the tenth day.
Near noon, Du Yi even heard someone report a victory: a group of bandits attacked near the Qingxi Middle Bridge, but because they could not see the road, they were blocked in the alley. Fifteen bandits fought desperately to break through, and three of them rushed out, while the rest were beheaded on the spot. The heads of twelve bandits were hung near Qingxi to boost the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city.
Du Yi wondered who was leading the troops this time. It was too reckless.
If these cavalrymen who have crossed the river still insist on wandering around in the city with its densely packed houses and complex terrain, I'm afraid none of them will survive.
As he sighed, the clerks brought lunch over and said happily, "Lord Du, we just received news from the Imperial Ancestral Temple that the Imperial Guards used bows and crossbows to force a group of bandits into an alley, besieged them from the front and back, and killed a bandit school member and ten cavalrymen. We have chopped off their heads and got a few good horses."
Du Yi smiled "happily" and said, "The king's army is still capable of fighting."
At this moment, outside the south gate of Danyang County, noisy fleeing soldiers came in wave after wave.
The guards at the city gate reported to the county government immediately: Jianye magistrate Qian Feng had raised an army in rebellion. He brought more than a thousand of his own servants and followers, broke in from outside the Nanli Gate, caught the Lord of Shan off guard, and he was defeated and fled.
Du Yi stood up "angrily" and said, "Qian Feng is looking for death!"
Just when you think the situation is stable, something unexpected always happens...
(End of this chapter)