Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 98 An Unsuccessful Start, Loss of City and Territory (Part 2)

March 18th, the day of Yimao, was the day the imperial edict was announced.

Early that morning, around 5 a.m., the square outside the examination hall was bustling with people.

The people of the capital were also waiting to see the top scholar parade through the streets, and the newly appointed scholars were all preparing to attend the Qionglin Banquet. It seemed that factions in the court were also looking for newly promoted officials who could be won over.

The imperial examinations held every three years, namely the metropolitan examination and the palace examination, were rare and grand events in the civil service examinations. Even the Jurchen invasion did not seem to affect everyone's attention to these grand events.

At this moment, Wanli, along with Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and a group of over a hundred riders, quietly left Chaoyang Gate and headed straight for the East City Military Parade Ground.

Lu Xiang-sheng had already assembled tens of thousands of cavalry from the Beijing Garrison at the Great Parade Ground and was waiting.

When Zhu Jue arrived, Lu Xiang Sheng didn't say much. He simply greeted him as if he were an ordinary Imperial Guard officer, and then led his army to set off.

Soon, they crossed the pontoon bridge over the Chaobai River and rushed towards Jizhou City. Around 7:00 AM, they arrived outside Sanhe City, which is located between the capital and Jizhou.

This place is called Sanhe, so naturally there is a river. The largest tributary of the grain transport river is located on the east side of Sanhe City. A pontoon bridge has already been built across the river. The garrison of Sanhe City has also sent hundreds of soldiers to camp at the west end of the pontoon bridge to guard against any unforeseen events.

Once the army arrived here, the warhorses needed to rest. After all, a warhorse's limit was about two hundred li (approximately 100 kilometers) a day to carry a person, and a single gallop of two hundred li would exhaust the horse.

After galloping a hundred miles, let the warhorses stop to eat some grass, drink some water, and rest, so they won't be too tired.

Zhu Jue didn't really take a close look at the pontoon bridge over the Chaobai River when they passed it, since they didn't stop and just rode straight across.

There's also Sanhe City, which is considered a border town of Jizhou Town, but he's never been there before.

Now that the warhorses had all gone to rest, he couldn't resist taking out his small binoculars to scan the area closely.

The city walls of Sanhe City are more than two zhang high, and there are moats all around. At this moment, the city gates are tightly closed and the drawbridges are raised. If Lu Xiang-sheng does not order people to open the city gates and lower the drawbridges, they will definitely not be able to enter.

He glanced at the pontoon bridge again and finally saw its overall structure.

The pontoon bridge is not simply a row of wooden rafts or sheepskin pegs. Both sides of the pontoon bridge are fixed with iron chains, and not just one, but three chains on each side, at the top, middle and bottom. The wooden rafts are tied to the bottom chain, and sheepskin pegs are tied to the bottom of the rafts to increase buoyancy. The rafts are also covered with thick wooden planks.

As he was watching, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from the other side of the pontoon bridge. Soon, a courier with an urgent command flag on his back galloped over and stepped onto the pontoon bridge in a flash, causing the entire bridge to tremble.

This is likely a report from someone regarding the latest movements of the Jurchens.

Seeing this, Zhu Jue quickly whispered in his ear, "Jian Dou, just tell him that I have entrusted you with the full responsibility for the defense of Jizhou Town. No matter what urgent memorials you submit, you don't need to send them to the capital. Just give them to you directly."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng immediately ordered his personal guards to stop the courier. Soon, the urgent report from Jizhou City was delivered to him.

He opened the memorial and his expression changed drastically. He strode over and whispered, "Your Majesty, Zunhua has fallen, and Wang Yuanya has died for his country!"

Ah!
How can this be?

Zhu Jue took the memorial and read it. His expression became incredibly complex, showing shock, anger, and regret.

It turned out that the Jurchen infantry only arrived at the north of Zunhua City yesterday at dusk. Wang Yuanya was already trapped in the city, and Wang Yingzhi and Zhu Guoyan dared not send out scouts across the Shahe River to their deaths. Therefore, the news of the Jurchen infantry's arrival did not reach the capital.

Early this morning, before dawn, the Jurchens suddenly lit torches and launched an attack from all sides. Wang Yuanya hurriedly went up to the North Gate Tower and divided his troops to guard the four directions.

Not long after, flames suddenly broke out in the south of the city, and soon someone ran to the north city wall and shouted, "Lord Wang, it's terrible! The Jurchens have already attacked the south city wall, and the south gate is about to fall!"

At that time, there were only a small number of Jurchens holding torches and drums outside the North Gate, and there was no sign of them attacking the city walls.

Upon hearing the news, Wang Yuanya immediately dispatched most of his troops from the north to the south to provide support.

Who would have thought that the Jurchens to the south only raised their shields and approached the city wall to fire arrows, without ever raising ladders to attack the city wall. The fire was actually lit by spies inside the city at the base of the wall.

Wang Yuanya realized she had fallen into a trap and hurriedly led her troops north, but it was too late. Tens of thousands of Jurchens swarmed up the north city wall like ants, overwhelming the city. The few hundred soldiers on the north city wall could not withstand them at all.

The North Gate fell just like that.

Knowing he was powerless to reverse the situation, Wang Yuanya climbed the south city wall and ordered his soldiers to climb down by rope, dive across the river, and break out under cover of night to send a message. He himself then bowed three times and nine times towards the capital, before drawing his sword and committing suicide.

"As long as the city stands, people live; if the city falls, people die." They weren't lying!

Alas, what a pity for such a loyal and virtuous man; he had originally intended to give him an important position. He stared at the memorial for a long time before gritting his teeth and saying, "No matter how much you guard against it, it's hard to guard against traitors within your own ranks. It seems that these traitors who collude with the enemy have already planted spies in Zunhua City, just waiting for the Jurchens to attack!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng said with shame, "Your humble servant was careless and did not think of this."

This is not your fault.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "It's no use even if you think of it. These kinds of spies are usually very well hidden. If they don't take action, no one will know they are spies."

Yes, a spy can't go around shouting that they are a spy.

Lu Xiang-sheng thought for a moment, then suddenly exclaimed, "Could there be spies in Jizhou City and Santun Camp as well?"

This is highly likely.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Quickly send fast riders to Santun Camp and tell Degong to send people to patrol the city day and night to guard against spies, especially when the Jurchens come to attack the city."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng immediately turned around and hurried away.

Soon, one of his personal guards set off with two warhorses.

When Zhu Jue saw him return, he asked again, "Can we set off now?"

Lu Xiang-sheng glanced at the warhorses grazing and pondered, "We should be about there if we lead the warhorses across the pontoon bridge."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue decisively said, "Then let's set off immediately."

He was getting a little anxious.

He wasn't too worried if the Jurchens fought them fair and square.

The problem is, those traitors who collude with the enemy and betray their country have secretly arranged for spies to help the Jurchens.

This kind of battle is really hard to fight.

Later generations have argued that the Ming Dynasty was entirely handed over to the Jurchens by traitors who colluded with the enemy. Otherwise, the Jurchens, with a total population of less than a million at the time, would never have been able to destroy the Ming Dynasty, which had a population of hundreds of millions.

Looking back now, it really is true. Hong Chengchou inexplicably lost more than 100,000 elite border troops of the Ming Dynasty, Wu Sangui directly handed over Shanhaiguan to the Jurchens, and Li Zicheng fought his way from Shaanxi to the capital, wiping out the Ming Dynasty's border troops, and then handed over the capital to the Jurchens and ran away!
The same goes for Zunhua City; with a bunch of spies causing trouble, the Jurchens took it over in an instant, without any effort at all!

If Jizhou City and Santunying were to fall so inexplicably, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Their group of over ten thousand men galloped all the way, and in less than an hour, the magnificent city of Jizhou came into view.

At this time, the official road on the west side of Jizhou City was lined with makeshift shelters. The civilians who had temporarily moved from the west of Zunhua to avoid the war showed no signs of panic, which proved that Jizhou City was still safe.

Sure enough, when they arrived at the west gate of Jizhou City, Sun Yingyuan, Zhou Yuji, and a civil official in a scarlet robe came out of the city gate to greet them.

This civil official should be Wang Yingzhi, the deputy military commissioner of Jizhou, because only officials of the fourth rank and above wear scarlet robes, and there is currently only one fourth-rank civil official in Jizhou.

Sun Yingyuan and Zhou Yuji were both taken aback when they saw Zhu Jue standing next to Lu Xiangsheng.

However, they only paused for a moment before bowing and saying, "This humble general greets Your Excellency."

Wang Yingzhi quickly cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "This humble official greets Your Excellency the Governor."

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded, then asked, "How is it? What's the situation now?"

Sun Yingyuan and Wang Yingzhi both looked at Zhou Yuji.

Zhou Yuji quickly explained in detail: "This humble general has already sent out scouts to keep a close eye on the direction of Zunhua. The Jurchens are building a pontoon bridge at the narrowest point of the Shahe River south of Zunhua City. The river there seems to be less than ten zhang wide. All we need to do is level the two sides, then cut down some large trees, drag them over, put them together, and nail on the planks."

"I estimate they should have already completed the pontoon bridge. The cavalry should be able to reach the east of Jizhou City in less than an hour, while the infantry will likely arrive tomorrow."

Santunying is located northeast of Zunhua City, and Jizhou City is located southwest of Zunhua City. Building a pontoon bridge south of Zunhua City must mean they are heading towards Jizhou City.

The Jurchens didn't attack Santunying, but headed straight for Jizhou City!
There must be spies in Jizhou City!
(End of this chapter)