Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 211: Opportunity to Break the City

How can we find a way to contact the Huaiyin Army?
But it is said that there were several wonderful people in Daxi’s prison.

One is the dull bully of Jinling, Xue Pan.

He carried his mother to the capital, traveled thousands of miles, endured untold hardships, and was eventually thrown into a death row.

One is the talented man from Huaizhou, Song Yun.

A good horse cannot run fast and lament the world's road; a talented person cannot run fast and lament the passing years. He went to the capital just to show his talent, but unfortunately he was regarded as a spy of Huaiyin and was imprisoned in death row.

The two were originally destined to be executed, but because the court suddenly encountered a major change and had no time to take care of them, the two were left idle.

In addition, there are two people.

One is the son of Ma Shang, named Ma Jing, who is considered the nephew of Ma Laohei; the other is the son of Niu Jizon, named Niu Delu, who is of the same generation as Niu Jin, but their relationship is more distant.

Prior to this, Emperor Longqing listened to Zhao Shihong's words and confiscated the property of Duke Niu and Duke Zhiguo's family one after another and put them in death row.

But before he could be executed, Zhao Shihong surrendered to the enemy and betrayed his country. The grassland people broke through Juyong Pass and marched down to the city. Emperor Longqing was anxious to flee south and had no time to take care of the Niu and Ma families, so they are still imprisoned in death row.

After the Little New Year, the Huaiyin army began to attack the city.

The grassland people have almost no experience in defending cities and are very passive in the battle to defend the city.

Therefore, Kah Khan had no choice but to entrust the important task of defending the city to Chen Zhengdu and Deng Ren, who were of Han Chinese descent.

Both of them have rich experience in defending cities and can barely resist the attack of Fang Yong's army.

The only problem is that the two are of Han Chinese descent after all, and many grassland people are still unwilling to believe them. However, there is no better way than this now, so they can only do this for the time being.

In the death row, Xue Pan slept in Song Yun's arms to keep warm.

Ma Jing and Niu Delu don't have to do so. They come from a family of military generals and have been strengthening their bodies since childhood. Their qi and blood are abundant, so they can withstand the ordinary cold.

Suddenly, a man walked in from outside.

This is a death row, and living people are allowed to come in and out freely?
"Master Niu, Master Ma, I have good news for you."

What's there to be happy about?

Since the officials in the city saw the decline of the grassland, they remembered their own Chinese blood and prepared to change course with the wind, abandon the dark and join the dark, and borrow Niu and Ma to board Fang Yong's big ship.

They used their connections to smuggle Niu and Ma out, and use their identities to contact Fang Yong's army.

As for Fang Yong, things have been going smoothly since the siege began.

The army attacked head-on while digging tunnels.

In the frontal assault, the Huaiyin Army had rich experience in sieges and had all kinds of advanced and sufficient engineering facilities, and they were almost suppressing the grassland people.

The grassland had no choice but to send Chen Zhengdu and Deng Ren to defend the city. The two's defensive capabilities were still okay, but the quality of their soldiers was not good. The grassland people often did not understand their orders at all. Therefore, even with the two in command, the situation of defending the city gradually fell into a disadvantage.

Seven days passed in a flash.

The officials in the capital city took great pains and finally managed to send Niu Delu and Ma Jing out of the city.

After leaving the city, the two did not dare to delay and headed straight for the Huaiyin military camp, which happened to be the area under the charge of Ma Laohei.

After meeting the Huaiyin Army, the two men immediately introduced themselves and were soon brought before Ma Laohei.

As soon as they met, Ma Jing knelt down and played the family card.

"Uncle Five!"

Niu Delu, who was standing by, also knelt down and called him uncle.

Ma Laohei didn't buy it and he didn't look kindly at the two of them.

His original name was Ma Qing, and he was Ma Shang's cousin.

When he was in charge of the Duke's Mansion, Ma Laohei was not well received, probably similar to the treatment Jia Huan and Jia Cong receive now.

In order to earn a fortune, he joined the army.

He was accompanied by Niu Jin, who was in a similar situation. At that time, the four kings and eight dukes were still very powerful.

After entering the army, the two participated in several bandit suppression campaigns and were soon promoted.

But the good times didn't last long.

When the crown prince rebelled, Emperor Kangning claimed that he did not want to suffer the pain of separation from his family any longer, so he abdicated the throne to Emperor Longqing.

After Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, he quickly launched a new policy. Then the White Lotus Rebellion broke out in Suzhou. Gan Ba led his troops to quell the rebellion. However, due to the conspiracy of some high-ranking officials, food supplies were robbed, Gan Ba was defeated, and eventually several people were charged with conspiracy to rebel and were forced to become bandits.

The Duke's Mansion behind them chose to sacrifice pawns to save the king without hesitation. Although he knew that this was the common practice of large families, Ma Laohei still found it difficult to accept when it really happened to him.

Especially Ma Laohei's biological mother, who was implicated in this incident and eventually died...

Ma Jing noticed a hint of alienation in Ma Laohei's eyes. He was young and didn't know much about the inside story of what happened back then, so he didn't dare to speak casually.

He took out a blood-written letter from his bosom and quickly stated the purpose of this trip.

Things are not complicated.

There are many loyal and righteous people in the city. They have long been dissatisfied with the Tartars from the grassland occupying the capital. Now, when they hear that the heavenly army of Lord Yonghuai has arrived, they have long admired him.

The four families of You Ji and Yu, two officials' families, the Bai merchant family, and Jing Hua, the head of Jintai Academy, took the lead, and countless officials' families, big and small, responded. They swore an oath of blood and gathered 600 death warriors. They planned to light a fire at the west gate of the city at the second hour of the lunar month as a signal to help Duke Yonghuai break into the city.

After hearing this, Ma Laohei's eyes flashed with surprise. He took Ma Jing's blood letter and read it twice before saying:
"I can't leave here, so I'll send someone else to take you to see the general."

The two were overjoyed after hearing this.

In the capital, Gao Zhi and his uncle Zhao Shihong sat opposite each other drinking tea.

The two of them could not hide the sadness on their faces.

I thought the imperial court was in trouble and that taking refuge with foreign races was a way out.

But I didn’t expect that I guessed correctly at the beginning but not the end.

Although the imperial court was in decline, the Huaiyin bandits emerged as a rising force.

If this continues, it is clear that Kah Khan will be defeated.

They have to choose a retreat plan as soon as possible.

Others could surrender to the Huaiyin bandits, but they couldn't.

Gao Zhi and Zhao Shihong planned to kill Ma Shang and Niu Jizong, while Ma Laohei and Niu Jin held important positions in Fang Yong’s army. Even if they had a bad relationship, they were of the same blood, and even if their bones were broken, their tendons were still connected!

Under such circumstances, even if Fang Yong was willing to accept them, they would not dare to go and seek refuge with him.

Zhao Shihong drank tea, holding the cup tightly in his hands.

"We can't just sit there and wait for death, nephew. No matter who you surrender to, you must first seize the military power!"

Gao Zhi looked troubled.

"Now all military dispatches are in the hands of Chen Zhengdu and Deng Ren. It's difficult to get the military power!"

A hint of cruelty appeared in Zhao Shihong's eyes, and he said:
"Then get rid of these two people. This city can't be defended anyway!"

Gao Zhi asked, "Then get rid of Chen Zhengdu?"

Zhao Shihong shook his head: "No, the Tartars know that you and Chen Zheng have old grudges, so Deng Ren is safer."

Gao Zhi nodded: "Uncle has considered everything."

Zhao Shihong said: "In addition, you also need to gain the trust of Kah Khan. I have a piece of news..."

The chief account of Huaiyin Army.

Fang Yong looked at the blood letter in his hand.

"Bo Yan, what do you think?"

(End of this chapter)