weaving

Chapter 511

After experiencing that Fu Zhengyang was wearing a large cotton robe outside his body, he came to the Yimen of the Neisi Government Office when he heard a rush of hoofbeats in the distance.

He went outside the door and saw that in the distance was the governor Gao Mingheng wearing a red cloak and cloak, running towards this side in the wind and snow, with seven or eight guards accompanying him behind him.

Fu Zhengyang beckoned the guards at the door to go up and lead Gao Mingheng's mount, and he also stepped forward and whispered softly, "My lord, Tongzhi Guan Hesang is leading three strong men who look like bandit soldiers, and they are waiting in the East Nuan Pavilion of Ertang. .”

Gao Mingheng didn't say much, just said: "You stay here and wait for the chief envoy Liang Fanbo."

After he finished speaking, he strode into the gate of the ceremony, four guards entered right behind him, and the rest went into the gatehouse to rest, and did not follow him in. Fu Zhengyang blinked his small eyes and stared outside the gate of the ceremony, Not knowing why, he shook his head and walked slowly into the concierge to wait for Liang Jing.

Gao Mingheng was concerned about Su Zhuang's reply in his heart, and he went straight to the East Nuan Pavilion of the second hall after he entered the office of the bureau.

Sang Kaidi was waiting anxiously, so he heard footsteps coming from outside the pavilion, at first he thought it was Fu Zhengyang leaving and returning, but he knew that the footsteps were not made by one person, so he guessed that it was Gao Mingheng or the governor When Liang Jing arrived, he hurriedly stood up to greet him.

The door of Dongnuang Pavilion was pushed open, and it was Gao Mingheng who stepped into the pavilion. Before he could take off his cloak and cloak, he walked up to Sang Kaidi and said, "There is no need to be polite. What did Su Zhuang say in his reply?"

Although he was asking Sankaidi a question, his eyes were on the strong man standing behind him.

Sang Kaidi replied: "Return to Mr. Observer, this is the personal soldier of Zhang Zongbing in Xuanzhen Town, and here is the letter he sent to Su Shoudao."

As he spoke, he handed over the letter he had received at the North Gate, which had not yet been opened. Gao Mingheng didn't say much, took the letter, opened it, and opened it carefully.

After a while, Gao Mingheng had read Su Zhuang's letter, and he turned to Fang Han and asked, "What is your position in Zhang Cheng's army?"

"The last general is Fang Han, the commander-in-chief of the squadron under Zhang Shuai's personal military department."

Gao Mingheng looked at Fang Han, and then asked: "Su Shoudao said in the letter that Zhang Shuai of your family will come to rescue Kaifeng after the rendezvous with Chen Zongbing of the Beijing camp. Can you confirm the time?"

"Reporting to my lord, what my commander-in-chief said has been written in the letter. As for Chen Shuai's troops in the capital camp, they may be transferred to the south bank of the river tomorrow. My commander said that as long as Kaifeng City can be defended for two or three days, there will be no worries! "

Gao Mingheng said to himself, "It's not a big problem after two or three days."

At this moment, the door of Dongnuan Pavilion opened again. It turned out that Fu Zhengyang led Master Liang Bingliang into Dongnuan Pavilion. Gao Mingheng didn't have time to call his servants to serve tea, so he simply told Liang Bing about Su Zhuang's letter. The man was ready to go to the palace of the king of Zhou to report the matter, so that the king of Zhou could feel at ease.

Before leaving, Liang Bing reminded: "You should always bring this square team from the north with you. If His Highness has any inquiries, you can summon them in time."

Gao Mingheng felt that it made sense for him to remind him, and immediately the two of them took Fang Han together to get rid of the yamen, and went to the Zhou Palace.

…………

King Zhou was very sensible, he didn't ask too much, he just asked Gao Mingheng and others to stick to Kaifeng for more than five days no matter what, so as not to make the guards and people feel tired.

He instructed Gao Mingheng and Liang Jing to encourage the morale of the army and the people in various ways, and all expenses for defending the city should not be taken lightly, and the Kaifeng government treasury is insufficient, so the prince's mansion can draw it.

He also asked Gao Mingheng to tell Xuanzhen Zhang Cheng that if he rescued Kaifeng within two days, repelled the army of thieves, and saved the people from fire and water, he would personally invite the court and reward him. Used to pay the army.

Gao Ming Hengce said to Fang Han who was behind him immediately: "Mr. Fang will go back to the Niesi Yamen to eat food and drink, and rest for a while. When the fourth watch is approaching, he will sneak back to the Xuanzhen army camp while the bandit soldiers are asleep, and report to him. Knowing Zongbing Zhang, His Royal Highness Zhou Wang promised that if Zongbing Zhang can come to Kaifeng within two days to drive out the thieves and save the people, he will reward the army with [-] silver."

Fang Han continued in a deep voice: "Please rest assured, my lord, Fang Han will definitely bring His Royal Highness King Zhou's will."

…………

On December 13th, the 26th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, it was only around four o'clock. The cold wind blowing from the Yellow River stabbed the faces of the bandit soldiers like a sharp knife, and their ears and noses were frozen. Got numb.

Although the little snowflakes that had been falling for half the night had stopped, the sky was still filled with thick dark clouds, as if it was going to snow again.

But the clouds that move at any time will occasionally show a few gaps, and a few pale cold stars suddenly appear, and then disappear soon.

In the dim night, the many torches and lanterns on the top of the city are also looming, because the appearance of the city wall is not yet clear, and the endless lanterns and torches seem to be hanging in the air, which has a touch of fantasy smell.

Under the cover of the hazy night, two bandits left the camp. Each of them consisted of thousands of people. They quietly came to the moats on the north and south sides of the west gate of Kaifeng and waited at a distance of more than 200 steps.

They took axes, hammers, shovels and iron chisels, and stood there silently. Although the wind was as cold as a knife, they forgot about the severe cold. They were very excited and nervous, waiting for the command slogan of the thief.

After a while, a rocket shot out from a distance, piercing the sky of the dark night. The two men and horses galloped forward at the same time. Covering the top of his head, he quickly ran towards the base of the city wall.

As soon as they reached the bottom of the city wall, they quickly used iron hammers to drive the iron drills into the gaps between the city bricks. Struggle to pry it out.

The bricks on the city wall of Kaifeng have been squeezed together for hundreds of years, and when they were built, they used plant ash mixed with eggs to wipe the joints between the bricks. The joints are firmly bonded like solid rocks, making it very difficult to dig.

Most of the two thieves in charge of the cave city were miners recruited by the intruders in Funiu Mountain, and some were poor people from Shaanxi who were good at digging kilns. different.

Just when they started digging the city, the soldiers and civilians stationed on the city wall discovered that although it was too late to stop them from approaching, bricks, stones and large logs kept falling down.

Bricks, stones, and large logs fell against the city wall. Although the bandits were protected by door panels, many of them fell directly on their bodies and heads. They screamed and screamed. Many bandits were injured and bled. There were also some who were hit on the head and died on the spot.

As the east gradually became paler, Kaifeng's West Gate Outer City was full of screams. Among the four gates, only the bandit army outside the West Gate was the first to mobilize, and the other three drove the hungry people to come to dig the city bricks after the sky became light.

Since Ximen is the main direction of attack by the bandit army, they directly dispatched a more professional cave city army while it was still dark, and the hungry people were the main force of the second batch of cave cities.

At this time, nearly 800 hungry people were driven out of the bandit camp, and they formed teams more than [-] steps away from the trench, preparing to rush under the city wall to dig city bricks.

This is the usual tactic used by the bandits to attack the city. The hungry people rushed under the city wall to dig down the city wall, or dug a big hole, filled it with gunpowder and blew up the city wall, and then a large number of bandits poured into the city, and then captured the city, commonly known as Cave City.

(End of this chapter)