Number of People

Chapter 2159 Gui Zijuan peels off the cocoon, coercion and inducement

 In fact, Zhu Ruqi had known about these situations for a long time, but deep down in his heart he was unwilling and did not dare to think that way.

Pingyang Prefecture is too big, with thirty-four prefectures and counties, but only Pingyang Guard and Puzhou Guard are responsible for defense. Pingyang Guard is in charge of the defense of 22 prefectures and counties in the central and northern parts of the country, including Linfen, which is governed by the prefecture. Puzhou Guard is responsible for the defense. Responsible for the defense of twelve southern states and counties.

In normal times, even if there are some bandits that the local yamen and inspection department cannot deal with, the guards can handle them. But when there is real chaos, it is really not enough.

Especially in the first half of the year, Shanxi Town recruited and replenished its guards due to battle losses. Part of the Pingyang Guard was removed, and the Puzhou Institute was reduced from two full battalions to two incomplete battalions, and there was no time to replenish them from the people. When I came in, I encountered the Shaanxi rebel army entering Jin Dynasty.

The first battalion of Si Yancheng has three troops with more than 2,000 men left, and the Puzhou camp is even worse, with only two troops with more than 1,300 men left. It is obviously impossible to face the Pingyang Prefecture, which is full of wars.

Although the reality is here, the superiors may not think so. Your Puzhou Guards have not taken any action so far. Faced with the fall of Hejin, Ronghe, Quanquan, and Linjin, what measures have you taken to deal with it?

No matter what happened in the central and northern parts, at least the Pingyang Guards battalions fought some battles with the rebels, or defended the city. But in the southern prefectures and counties, there were two battalions in Puzhou and one guarded Si Yancheng. There is no room for loss in the important area of ​​the Salt Course. However, I guarded the Puzhou post and sat back and watched the surrounding counties and counties fall without taking any action. This is a sin that cannot be ignored no matter what.

If the superiors want to make excuses or even find scapegoats, then you become the best scapegoat.

Seeing that Zhu Ruqi's face was green and his lips were white, and he obviously understood his current situation, Wang Wenyan's eyes showed a little pity, "General Zhu, you also know that the current chaos in Shanxi started from Pingyang. Of course you can shirk the blame. The responsibility is said to be caused by the Shaanxi rebel army..."

"Yes, yes, yes, the Shaanxi rebel army came across the river and caught us off guard. The strong people in Hejin, Ronghe and Wanquan couldn't resist it. There were also hungry refugees in Pingyang Prefecture. There are so many, and all the prefectures and counties are unable to provide relief. I have already written to the prefect of Pingyang and the magistrates of the southern prefectures and counties, asking them to quickly open warehouses and release grain to help the people, but they turned a deaf ear..."

Punctured by Wang Wenyan's words, Zhu Ruqi suddenly woke up and quickly explained: "As soon as the Shaanxi rebels came, our local refugees immediately turned into rioters, and the Shaanxi rebels had the guidance of these rioters who were familiar with the situation. That’s why we attacked the city and it suddenly became like this..."

"Yes, General Zhu, what you said is correct. There are indeed these objective reasons. However, the court, the Ministry of War and the Metropolitan Procuratorate may not see it this way, and the local authorities will definitely defend themselves and even shirk their responsibilities. Have you considered No?" Wang Wenyan said with a smile.

"One of the most practical problems is that the rebels have captured so many prefectures and counties, and not a single soldier of your Puzhou Guards has gone out to rescue the city, nor has a single soldier fought with the rebels. They are huddled in Puzhou City. , you, the Puzhou garrison, are not the people of Puzhou, your responsibility is not just to defend Puzhou. You are also responsible for the fall of Hejin, Ronghe, Wanquan, Linjin, and Yishi. The magistrates and magistrates of these prefectures and counties will We said we tried our best, our people and our people did their best, but the guards were afraid of the enemy and refused to send troops, so we finally fell..."

Zhu Ruqi certainly understands this truth, and can imagine that in order to shirk responsibility, local officials will all blame themselves on him, and the court will eventually find a few scapegoats to perform sacrificial flags. Is it appropriate for so many state and county officials to do so? Is this the defense of Puzhou Station? You can tell without asking.

With a plop, Zhu Ruqi knelt down on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, "Please save me, Mr. Zhu. It's not that Zhu doesn't want to save me, but the rebellion is huge. Zhu only has more than a thousand soldiers in his hands. How can he save me? Who was the one who captured Hejin?" There were five or six thousand Shaanxi rebels, and I had no time to save them. When the rebels captured Ronghe, Wanquan, and Jishan, it was said that there were already ten or twenty thousand people. When Linjin and Yishi were captured, they were hijacked. There are probably thirty to forty thousand local mobs, so what can I do with more than a thousand soldiers?"

Wang Wenyan sneered: "Then you just wait for the imperial court to use your fear of the enemy and miss the opportunity to take advantage of your marching methods and lend you your head?"

"Sir, please save me! Please save me, sir!" Zhu Ruqi just kowtowed, and his forehead hit the bluestone floor with a thud, and he immediately turned black when he saw it.

"Get up, I can't save you. The only one who can save you is yourself!" Wang Wenyan raised his hand and said coldly: "If you don't want to get up and are still wasting time here, then just wait. People from the Procuratorate or Long Jinwei will come and get you."

Zhu Ruqi didn't dare to be stubborn and got up slyly. A warrior like him was extremely thick-skinned. As long as he could save his life, he didn't care about anything else.

"General Zhu, you also understand the current situation. In the south of Pingyang Prefecture, there are two important places that cannot be missed. One is Puzhousuo, which controls Fenglingdu and Pujindu. The second is Siyancheng, which is where the salt of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces are. The class is located here, and the warehouse salt is also stored here. If you want to save your head, you must at least make sure that there are no losses in these two places. In addition, you must fight a few good battles to let the court know that you are not afraid of the enemy or death. , but you are choosing the opportunity to fight. If you can win a few more battles and annihilate some rebels, you may be able to escape the blame and you will not know how much credit you will get."

Wang Wenyan’s words are very beautiful, but Zhu Ruqi is not a fool. If it were so easy, how could he hide in Puzhou and dare not come out?

There are at least 30,000 to 50,000 rebel troops around Pingyang Mansion. He only has more than 1,000 troops, and he will be in trouble if he encounters any force. Even if the person in front of him brings more than 2,000 Tongguan Guards, plus one of his own There are more than 1,000 people but less than 4,000 people. How to fight?

Zhu Ruqi's eyes were rolling around. Wang Wenyan didn't understand what this guy was thinking. He said calmly: "General Zhu thinks that the rebel army is too powerful and has no chance of winning?"

Zhu Ruqi looked troubled, but in the end he nodded: "To be honest with Mr. Wang, the three or four thousand of us may not be able to compete with the tens of thousands of rising rebel troops in Pingyang Mansion. If we want to fight, how can we fight? "

"Is General Zhu so pessimistic?" Wang Wenyan sneered, "General Zhu has no idea about the combat effectiveness of the thirty to fifty thousand rebel troops?"

"The ants will bite the elephant to death." Zhu Ruqi shook his head, "Mr. Wang, you are right. The rebel army may not have the combat effectiveness, but they are too numerous. Once they get entangled with us, we are afraid that we will not be able to escape. This is also The reason why I dare not leave Puzhou is that after all, the city of Puzhou has high walls and thick walls. With more than a thousand soldiers, I can still defend Puzhou's people, but if I want to go out to fight in the field, these people can't do it at all. , if we want to fight, we must win. Once we lose, the whole south of Pingyang will be ruined."

I have to say that although this guy is timid, he is still very thoughtful and what he says makes some sense.

If he doesn't work up his courage, he probably won't be able to get these more than a thousand soldiers. Wang Wenyan thought while saying: "General Zhu, you said that there are 30,000 to 50,000 rebel troops in Pingyang Mansion, then let me ask you , now the main force of the rebel army is attacking along Jishan and Jiangzhou, is this a fact?"

Zhu Ruqi felt a little puzzled and nodded: "As far as I know, that is the attack direction of the main force of the rebel army. They probably want to capture Jiangzhou and Quwo and then attack Linfen northward."

“How many troops are there in this rebellion?” Wang Wenyan asked.

"Probably around 30,000 people." Zhu Ruqi vaguely understood the other party's intention and added: "This includes them taking down the defenders of Hejin, Ronghe and Wanquan."

"Okay, the main force on the other side came from King Wu and captured Linjin and Yishi. The force was about 20,000. Is this correct?" Wang Wenyan continued to ask.

Zhu Ruqi thought for a while and said, "About that. They mainly came from Wu Wangdu River, and some came from Ronghe South. The total number is about 22,000 to 25,000 people. It is only a rough estimate. The rebel army's establishment Confusing and unable to scrutinize and verify.”

"Okay, even if it's 25,000, then now that they've captured the nearby Heyi clan, the remaining defenders are about 5,000, right?" Wang Wenyan asked again.

Zhu Ruqi nodded in approval.

"As far as we know, Wenxi, Xia County, Anyi and Xiezhou were all attacked by rebels, including Siyancheng. Do you think it is a bit arrogant for these 20,000 rebels to attack five places separately?" Wang Wenyan further said: "Maybe I will count the rebel armies in Si Yancheng, Anyi and Xia County as one group, Jiezhou as one group, and Wenxi as one group. In other words, each rebel army is also There are only seven or eight thousand people. Do you think if the Tongguan Guards plus your Puzhou Guards of more than 4,000 people, and another one or two thousand from the Puzhou Minzhuang Army, would they be able to fight as one force?"

Zhu Ruqi's mouth was astringent, and he was going to make a desperate move.

Take all the Puzhou garrison to fight a battle. If you lose, Puzhou will definitely be lost, and you will definitely lose your head.

At the beginning, I thought that as long as I defended Puzhou, even if the court wanted to hold him accountable, he would be dismissed from his post at most. If he used some money and found some connections in the future, he might not be able to recover.

The idea put forward by this guy now is an extreme one. Either he can win a battle and even keep his official position, or he can lose a battle and his head will fall to the ground.

But if he refuses, this guy is a staff member of the governor of Shaanxi, and Feng Keng is also the right minister of the Ministry of War. As long as this guy talks about his performance when he goes back, it will be in vain to get more money from acquaintances, let alone Not to mention that what the other party said was very reasonable. If we continue to defend like this, once the rebel army really gathers and becomes more powerful, will we be able to defend the Shanxi Town army from moving south?

 (End of this chapter)