I

Outside the city, the military camp.

Government Secretary Liu Fang walked into the commander's tent and handed a letter to Zhao Han: "Headquarters, urgent report from the capital."

Zhao Han opened the letter, read it and then put it down, frowning in thought.

Everyone did not dare to speak out, thinking that something big had happened in Fucheng.

Zhao Han thought for a while. Seeing the serious atmosphere in the tent, he immediately laughed and said, "What are you doing?"

Xiao Huan couldn't help but ask: "But there is chaos in Fucheng?"

"It's not that someone is causing trouble," Zhao Han sighed, "but that many homeless people are farmers who have lost their land and moved to the city. They heard that they can divide their fields, and now they are clamoring to go back to the countryside. Once these people leave, the city will be destroyed. If it were to be paralyzed, the dock might not even be able to find a single coolie.”

Xiao Huan immediately smiled and said: "Congratulations to the chief town, congratulations to the chief town!"

"If you have something to say, just say it. If you have something to say, let it go. Stop fucking trying to beat around the bush." ​​Zhao Han couldn't help laughing and scolding.

Xiao Huan said quickly: "The homeless people in the city are eager to return to their hometowns. Don't they all want the main town and think that the main town can conquer the country? This is what the people want!"

"Congratulations to the main town, congratulations to the main town!" civil and military officials shouted one after another.

Zhao Han was not in the mood to accept their flattery. Why? They are working as helpers, and the city cannot do without them. These people are clamoring to return to their hometowns to allocate their fields, and it is neither good nor bad to agree, and it is also bad not to agree. This is a big problem. "

Xiao Huan also became serious and thought carefully: "It is better to issue two household registrations, one for urban household registration and one for rural household registration. Only rural household registration can divide the land."

Zhao Han shook his head and said: "One person is short of wisdom, but everyone is wise. This matter needs to be brainstormed and discussed in detail at a future meeting. Today, let's discuss how to attack the city first."

Huang Yao said: "Jishui County is so big, how can more than a thousand village warriors defend it? First pretend to attack a few places, and then send people to attack other places and defeat it!"

"That would definitely cause a lot of casualties." Zhao Han said.

"How can one not die in a war?" Huang Yao muttered.

Zhao Han smiled. He was not afraid of death, but he felt it was not worth it to die during the siege.

Jishui County is even more difficult to attack than Ji'an Prefecture.

To the west is the Gan River and to the south is the En River. The terrain outside the city in both places is very narrow. Fortunately, the defenders did not have bows and arrows, otherwise they would not be able to deploy their troops. In that case, they would have to land and attack from ships.

Taiping Mountain is also close to the east. If there are 3,000 regular troops in the city, 2,000 are used to defend the city, and 1,000 are stationed at the foot of the mountain, it will become an offensive and defensive force. Zhao Han will have to have tens of thousands of troops to attack. .

During the Zhengde period, a city was built here, and the earthen walls were turned into masonry walls.

In the second year of the Apocalypse, urns were built outside each city gate, making it impossible to attack from the city gates.

Really, even if there were 500 regular troops in the city, Zhao Han would not dare to come and show off his power. The city wall here is 5.5 meters high and 4.6 meters thick, which is more terrifying than the city wall in Fucheng. No wonder the gentry all fled here!

It’s just a county town, does it need to be built so luxuriously?

"I...little man, can I speak?" Zhong Xingpu was so frightened that he peed his pants and couldn't restrain his desire to take responsibility for his crimes.

"Tell me," Zhao Han said with a smile, "I brought you here for discussion so that you can tell more about the situation in the city."

Zhong Xingpu shrank his head and said: "In fact, there is no need to attack by force. Just build siege equipment every day. If you continue to publicize the land affairs of the rebel army, at most ten days and a half, someone will open the door to dedicate the city."

"Why is that so?" Xiao Huan asked.

Zhong Xingpu explained in detail: "There are a total of twenty-eight families of gentry who fled into the city. Each family has at least seven or eight people, as many as twenty or thirty people, and they also bring maids and servants, as well as money and food accumulated by generations of people. Wealth. There are also more than a thousand rural warriors. Most of these rural warriors are sons of good families, and their whole families have fled into the city. They don’t know what the rebel army’s land affairs are like.”

"People are not united?" Xiao Huan asked.

"It's not just the people who are divided," Zhong Xingpu said, "nearly ten thousand people with their families came in at once, and disputes continued every day these days. We only need to surround the city, and the gentry have enough food, but the city The small and medium-sized people are suffering, and grain dealers will surely take the opportunity to raise prices. Vegetables and meat cannot be transported in either."

Zhao Han already understood.

The enemy in the city is a reactionary force headed by twenty-eight gentry families and supplemented by more than a thousand good family members. Not only did they come by themselves, but they also brought their families and even slaves with them. The total population was nearly ten thousand.

The gentry could not live a hard life, and the good people followed suit. There were nearly ten thousand people who could not be accommodated, so they simply occupied the magpie's nest and drove many residents out of the city.

Why were nearly ten thousand people fleeing, but only a thousand warriors defended the city?

Because they brought too much property, they not only had to guard against enemies outside the city, but also guarded their homes and courtyards against robberies in the city.

It's okay if there are no bandits surrounding the city. Once the city is besieged, all kinds of conflicts will break out. Especially the original residents of the city and the gangsters in the city have long resented the outsiders and may one day set fire to and rob.

Moreover, the gentry also had conflicts with each other. In the past, they had a feud over grabbing water and land.

"Then let's continue the siege, and we have to step up the construction of siege equipment," Zhao Han said with a smile, "We can't just count on the city itself to cause chaos."

Two days later, the city began to be in shortage of supplies.

What is missing?

Firewood!

As you can imagine, the whole city was cut off from natural gas supply by Zhao Han.

Some residents who did not have enough firewood reserves began to remove door panels to make fires for cooking. One door could last them several days.

There were gangsters making trouble one after another, so Zhou Ruixu simply spent money to recruit soldiers and organized all the unemployed vagrants in the city into a defensive army. The city defense force suddenly approached 3,000.

Seeing more and more soldiers guarding the city wall, Zhao Han not only did not worry, but became even happier.

Twenty-eight gentry families commanded the local warriors, which was already chaotic enough, but now they are recruiting troops temporarily in the city - don't you think they will die soon enough?

"Shout!" Zhao Han ordered.

More than a dozen missionary officers, holding paper trumpets, took turns stepping forward to shout.

"Old cousins ​​in the city, don't work for the landlords. How much food and salary can you get as a soldier? Now that Mr. Zhao is here, everyone can share the land!"

"Listen, brothers, domestic slaves. Mr. Zhao used to be a domestic slave, and Mr. Zhao's personal soldiers are called slave soldiers. Mr. Zhao said that you are not allowed to raise domestic slaves in the future. As long as you open the city and surrender, the domestic slaves can return to their hometowns and be divided. Tian. Mr. Zhao's personal soldiers are also recruiting people who are willing to join the army. They will give you half a stone of food a month and all they will receive is good rice!"

"Mr. Zhao said that the night raids and killings of farmers a few days ago only killed the culprits and not the soldiers!"

"Listen, dear gentlemen in the city, some of you are small landowners and some are yeoman farmers. Although some of you come from rich families, you can only get monthly money and no land of your own at all. Help the big landowners in the war, and you can earn What? Mr. Zhao will not seize your land, but will also reduce your taxes and taxes. He will no longer charge any exorbitant taxes in the future!"

"..."

As the main force defending the city, the morale of the more than a thousand local warriors was shaken instantly.

What is a good man?

In fact, they are homesteaders and small landowners, with only a few coming from large landowning families that have not yet been separated.

They were brainwashed by the big landowners and spread the propaganda that the Zhao thieves were coming and would confiscate everyone's land and would be killed to divide the land, so they followed the gentry and fled to the county with their families.

Since Zhao Han doesn't divide their fields, and wants to reduce taxes and taxes, and only kills the culprits when massacring the peasants, how can they still defend the city?

Perhaps, a son of a good family with a good reputation is unwilling to become a thief for the sake of the imperial examination. But those who have no fame have no psychological burden. They are even more afraid of being killed by the rebels after breaking the city.

As for the newly recruited young men in the city, they are even more ready to make a move.

They are local residents of the county and join the army purely for money. If you can go to the countryside to divide the land, the military salary given by the gentry is nothing!

"Don't listen to rumors," Zhou Ruixu shouted quickly, "The rebels are cunning and will go back on their word. Once the city is breached, the rebel army will kill everyone in the city!"

The other gentry also restrained their subordinates, and just said a few words back and forth, saying that the words of slander against the traitors were not credible.

However, the defenders on the city tower couldn't help but prick up their ears, wanting to hear what the rebels had to say.

There's nothing to lose anyway, and there's no charge for listening to it.

"Listen up, dear friends. Mr. Zhao has come to Fucheng twice. The south dock of the city is still prosperous. Mr. Zhao keeps his promise and always keeps his word. There is no looting, burning or killing. The homeless people in Fucheng are waiting to be divided into fields!"

"We are the army of benevolence and righteousness. The residents who were driven out of the county have been resettled by Mr. Zhao. The residential buildings built near the city were demolished by Mr. Zhao for siege. There will be compensation. You can see it even if you are not blind. .”

"..."

The soldiers guarding the city looked at each other, trying to find out what others were thinking, but they didn't dare to be the first to surrender to the enemy.

The people who had been resettled and had their houses demolished were also organized by missionary officers to report their situations to the city, which further enhanced the credibility of the propaganda.

Xiao Huan praised: "The general town's plan is brilliant. Attack the city first and attack the heart first. How can the soldiers in the city still have the heart to resist?"

"Most of them were deceived," Zhao Han said with a smile. "Except for those big landowners, how have I ever treated a good family badly?"

East of the city.

Li Musheng whispered: "Brother, take action. If you don't take action, these village warriors will rebel."

"Wait a little longer," Li Chun'an said. "When the rebels begin to attack the city, and we switch sides again, we will surely seize the gate and surrender the city easily."

Li Musheng said: "Looking at it like this, the rebels haven't planned to attack the city yet, and they will probably have to shout outside the city for several days. I'm afraid that if we shout and shout, the local heroes will spontaneously dedicate the city, and then we will lose the merit of dedicating the city. .”

"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Li Chun'an felt it was too dangerous and was afraid that half of the city would be killed by the gentry.

"Kill!"

Suddenly, shouts of killing came from the north of the city.

Li Musheng was shocked: "Brother, I'm afraid the Liu family is offering the city, and we are already one step too late!"

"These bastards named Liu were gnashing their teeth at the rebels yesterday." Li Chunan was furious.

"Don't say so much, it's more important to dedicate the city to gain credit." Li Musheng said anxiously.

While they were talking, at a section of the city wall near them, the gentry of the Zou family suddenly shouted: "My sons, the imperial court is unkind and unjust, and they all rebelled against me!"

The Zou family is also a rich family. There is an ancestor named Zou Shouyi. Wang Yangming's favorite disciple, the Jishui Zou family, moved from Anfu County.

Li Musheng became even more anxious. He suddenly raised his sword and shouted: "My uncle is a rebel... He is a high-ranking official of Mr. Zhao. Come and join me in killing officials and rebelling. From now on, I will definitely be able to make my wife a wife!"

In the blink of an eye, three of the twenty-eight gentry families defected, all of which were not stained with the blood of the peasants that night.

These guys are not thieves sincerely, but out of consideration for continuing the family. At this moment, the morale of the army is fluctuating. How can we still defend the city? Then just take action in advance and save your own people.

In terms of numbers, the mere three gentry families would naturally not be able to defeat the remaining twenty-five families.

However, the temporary recruits in the city, numbering more than a thousand, also defected under the leadership of a few gangsters and village leaders.

The number of defecting soldiers has exceeded the number of soldiers defending the city!

Zhong Xingpu hurriedly rushed outside the city, snatched the paper trumpet from the missionary officer's hand, and shouted in a hissing voice: "Dad, brother, I am Xingpu. I have surrendered. Please hurry up and don't let the Zhong family have any trouble." Disaster of genocide!”

Zhao Han looked at the chaotic city wall and said with a smile: "Attack the city."