From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 651

Shanhaiguan fell, the army of Tianjin was destroyed, and Qu Shaogeng died heroically. The news shocked the world.

Song Shanao left the palace and led 70,000 troops from the Three Thousand Camps, the Shenji Camp and the Five City Army to guard the tower and wait for battle.

Huang Taiji led the cavalry to plunder and replenish resources east of Shenjing, and joined forces with the 50,000 cavalry from Shanhaiguan.

At this point, the situation was set.

The 90,000 Donglu army marched westward, locking the city of Shenjing like a wolf or a tiger. The 70,000 soldiers on the city of Shenjing guarded day and night. The 70,000 troops of Huguang and the 50,000 troops called by Min Tianrui went to Shenjing together. The latter would take some time to arrive.

Min Tianrui's 50,000 troops completely emptied the troops of the five towns of Guyuan, Ningxia, Sanguan, Datong and Yulin, and the accumulation of hundreds of years in the northwest was exhausted.

The reason why Zhou Yuan did not let Min Tianrui move Gansu Town was because there was a Yarkand Khanate to the west of Gansu. If the Western Mongolian army was exhausted, they would probably invade the Khoshut tribe and Turpan area to the north, but they could also march eastward to threaten Gansu Town.

Based on the overall situation of the Great Jin Dynasty, Gansu Town could not be moved.

The people of Shenjing were polarized at the moment.

Some believed that the Great Jin Dynasty had lost more than it won in the battle against foreign invaders for many years and had been abused for many years. This time, the 90,000-strong army had already entered Shanhaiguan and the Jinmen army was destroyed. Shenjing was definitely in danger.

The other part was the positive faction. They believed that although the Jurchens were strong and had won a lot in the past, the Great Jin Dynasty was not the same as before. With the Duke of Weiguo, the Jurchens were not to be feared.

They believed that the Duke of Weiguo would definitely come back in time and annihilate the Jurchen army in one fell swoop.

Maybe they could continue to fight eastward, recapture Shenzhou, or even recapture the entire Liaodong, and completely drive out the Jurchen Tartars.

The two factions were arguing fiercely.

But basically, the depressed faction was all elderly. They had experienced decades of disastrous defeats in the Jin Dynasty, from the fall of Liaodong to the massacre of Jizhou. They had no confidence at all.

The positive faction was mostly young people, even teenagers, who were full of fighting spirit and eager for victory.

In the Imperial Academy, a poetry meeting was in full swing. Many young people gathered together and shouted the poems written by the Duke of Wei in unison.

"My hair was standing on end with anger. I leaned on the railing and the rain stopped. I raised my eyes, looked up to the sky and howled, and my heart was full of passion. Thirty years of fame and fortune are dust and dirt, eight thousand miles of journey are clouds and moon. Don't wait, a hundred years of youth, empty and sad."

These young students were passionate and formed a team of thousands of people. They set out from the Imperial Academy and walked onto the street.

The leader was the youngest, only fourteen years old, but he was a recognized child prodigy and had passed the imperial examination. Some people have asserted that this person will be the youngest champion in the next year's Enke.

"The shame of Shenzhou! Has not yet been avenged! The hatred of the ministers! When will it be eliminated! Drive a long car and trample through the gap in Changbai Mountain!"

He led the scholars, not afraid of the attention of the people and the officers and soldiers, and shouted: "I am so ambitious that I will eat the meat of the barbarians when I am hungry, and drink the blood of the Xiongnu when I am thirsty!"

"Wait until the beginning, clean up the old mountains and rivers, and face the sky."

His voice was still very immature, but very courageous. Facing the onlookers, he shouted: "Fathers and fellow villagers! As long as we work together! United as one! We can definitely protect the capital! Drive the Jurchen Tartar out of the pass!"

Hundreds of old scholars and old scholars saw this scene, and they were a little dazed for a while.

They seemed to see themselves when they were young, but they no longer had the mentality to stand up and say something.

In every era, the first to awaken must be the young people.

That is the power of the rising red sun! That is the dawn of changing the world!

There is no lost generation, only a new generation.

On the tower, countless soldiers also saw this scene, their blood boiling, and they felt aggrieved for a long time.

Hong Bo scratched his head and grinned, "Although I am not educated, this is the first time I feel that these young scholars are somewhat pleasing to the eye. In times of crisis, they know to stand up and encourage the people. Not bad."

Luo Kun nodded and said, "Scholars are the backbone of the people. If they all fall, the world will not be able to support them for long."

Liu Daguang was very excited. While rubbing his hands to keep warm, he laughed and said, "I have long been eager to fight side by side with Boss Zhou, but I didn't expect that he hasn't come back yet. This time, we have a chance to be heroes."

Luo Kun narrowed his eyes and said, "Brother Liu, you are joking. Last year, you escorted Boss Zhou's family to Shaanxi. Isn't this a merit? His Majesty will not reward you, but Boss Zhou remembers this favor clearly. It is only a matter of time before you become successful."

Liu Daguang hurriedly said, "We are all brothers. Why are you being so polite?"

He seemed to have thought of something and frowned, "But... Speaking of which, it is already December 14th,Six or seven days have passed since the death of the Jinmen army. Huang Taiji should be here soon, right? "

Luo Kun said: "We received intelligence yesterday that Huang Taiji was stationed at the Tongzhou wharf with 90,000 troops."

Hong Bo was stunned and asked in confusion: "What is he doing there?"

Luo Kun said in a deep voice: "There are millions of people in Shenjing, and the daily food consumption is not small. He went there to block the canal and wanted to starve us to death."

Hong Bo couldn't help laughing: "Hahaha! Starve us to death? The food reserves in Dongmen Warehouse are enough to be millions of stones, and the whole Shenjing can eat for half a year. What the hell is he blocking!"

"It is said that Huang Taiji is a man of great talent and has a lot of ideas in his mind. I think he is just a fool!"

But the next moment, the smile on his face suddenly froze.

He stared blankly at the front with his eyes wide open, muttering: "What's over there? "

Luo Kun and Liu Daguang followed his gaze and looked forward, only to see the flames raging over there, as if the whole city was on fire.

"Not good... That's the location of the East Gate Warehouse! The grain was burned!"

Luo Kun yelled and hurriedly said: "Quick! Bring the soldiers and follow me!"

Liu Daguang jumped up and ran down directly, so anxious that he couldn't speak. That was his Dongcheng jurisdiction!

At this moment, Huang Taiji, who was stationed at Tongzhou Wharf, also saw the billowing smoke over Shenjing City.

He smiled lightly and said slowly: "Daichan, this time you are the first to do it. You have been dormant in Shenjing for so many years and have cultivated so many secret agents. Finally, you have played the most critical role. "

Wanyan Daichan said in a deep voice: "Why do I feel that it is not meaningful? The East Gate Warehouse is very large. Even if my people do their best, it is impossible to burn all the grain. Even if a small part is left, it can support the consumption of Shenjing City. "

Huang Taiji nodded and said calmly: "I have great ambitions and have been planning Shenjing for a long time. I also have people in the city."

"Your people burned the food, so what about my people? They have to do something too."

Wanyan Daichan said: "What did you order them to do?"

Huang Taiji said: "People, there are many things to eat, but the only thing to drink is water."

"What do you say if Shenjing City lacks water? "

Wanyan Daichan's scalp numbed and she exclaimed: "You want to poison the well?"

Huang Taiji said: "Whether it is burning food or poisoning, it is essentially forcing them to open the city gates and fight me."

"It is not easy for us to win with 70,000 defenders attacking the city. Even if we win, the casualties will not be too large, which is not acceptable to us."

"Cutting off the firewood from under the cauldron, strangling the throat of Shenjing's fate, and forcing the war to enter the rhythm we want, this is what a leader should do. "

"We don't have much time. It's already December 14th. We have at most one month, otherwise Zhou Yuan should be back."

Wanyan Daichan said: "Other areas of Dajin will have a large army to support Shenjing."

Huang Taiji nodded and said: "But how can they know how I will respond?"

"We are the ones who decide the general direction of the war."

"What's more, I have prepared a surprise for Shenjing."