Dingwu glanced at the ministers, these people looked panicked one by one, and some even had a look of horror on their faces that could not be concealed, and they couldn't help but sigh in their hearts, at the beginning of the founding of the Great Qin, the civil ministers and military generals gathered together, and after the baptism of blood and rain, there were not a few capable ministers, but now, looking at it, no one can count on it.

His heart was gloomy, although he had also been in the bloody field, but he asked himself if he was not a real military wizard, the four great generals of the empire, any of them here, I am afraid that they would not fall into the current predicament.

"Holy!" After a period of silence, Ma Hong, the head of the household department, finally stood up and lowered his head, "The ministers have something to report." ”

"Say it!" Dingwu waved his hand and looked at Ma Hong.

"There are more and more barbarian soldiers, and now we are in a very bad situation." Ma Hong hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "They already have forty or fifty thousand people, and they are all murderous and easy to kill, the defenders in the city mainly rely on the royal guards, and the strong men who are recruited are barely able to defend the city at the moment, but!" ”

Dingwu's expression was a lot more relaxed, after all, there were courtiers talking at this time, it was not too bad after all, "But what?" You want to say something, but it doesn't hurt to say it, and even if you say it wrong, I won't blame it. ”

Ma Hong strengthened his courage before he said: "The ministers think that if this continues, the barbarians may not come up with more ways to attack the city." ”

A person next to him said: "Ma Butang, our Wuping Mansion is extremely strong, and the iron horse scimitars of the barbarians can gallop across the grassland, but if they want to use their iron horse scimitars to capture the city of Wuping Mansion, it is a fool's dream." ”

"That's what Lord Liu said." Ma Hong glanced at it and turned to Dingwu Dao: "Holy Lord, the minister has already counted, the total number of soldiers and civilians in the city is more than 300,000 people, and the existing food in the hands of the minister, if it supports the guards and is properly deployed, it can support it for five months." ”

"You're saying that the food in your hands can only feed the Guards for five months?" Dingwu frowned and said, "What about the other people in the city?" ”

Ma Hong shook his head and said: "What the minister has been preparing is military rations, and it has always been calculated according to the rations of the soldiers. Previously, the minister reported to the saint that the food in the city could support two months, that is, the nearly 10,000 Hexi army outside the city and even the nearly 10,000 barbarian cavalry were counted, and now the soldiers and horses outside the city do not need to be considered, there are 3,000 guards in the city, in addition to the recruited strong men, tens of thousands of people have been transferred to the city gates of Wuping Mansion, so the minister is based on the strength of 15,000 people to calculate the rations. In the past few days, the minister has requisitioned a part of the grain from the gentry in the city, plus the original stock of grain, which is conservatively estimated to be able to support five months. ”

Xuanyuan Shao suddenly spoke: "Saint, the guards are hard-working, and the rations can be reduced a little, and they can also support it, but those strong men who are recruited are hard to defend the city, and if they can't eat enough, the ministers are only worried that they will have different hearts." ”

"Holy Lord, now that the lonely city is besieged, it is not just the soldiers who defend the city that need to be taken care of." One person immediately said: "Hundreds of thousands of people in the city, the daily consumption is huge, and now the whole is united, just because they can barely eat their stomachs now, but if the time passes, the people in the city have no food to eat, and the consequences are unimaginable." Ma Butang said that the stock of grain is only enough for 15,000 soldiers to support five months, but if it has to be distributed to hundreds of thousands of people, I am afraid that it will not be able to support it even for a month! ”

Dingwu's expression was even more grim.

Feng Yuanpo did have a lot of grain in Hexi, but the Liaodong Army suddenly came over, so it was natural to give enough logistical support to the Yanshan front, and a large amount of grain and grass was transferred from Hexi to the front line.

In order to stabilize Hexi, Dingwu did not kill the Hexi gentry, but tried his best to appease the local gentry in Hexi, a large area of land in Hexi was owned by the Hexi gentry, and most of the grain collected went into the granary of the local gentry, and the grain paid to the court was very small.

Dingwu knew that the Qin army was short of food, and had arranged for Ma Hong to forcibly levy grain from the local gentry, originally thinking that it would spread outward from Wuping Mansion, as long as he could first suppress the wealthy gentry of Wuping Mansion and let them take out the grain, the gentry in other places in Hexi had a lesson from the past, and naturally did not dare to resist too much, but Ma Hong had just started the grain collection affairs, and Wuping Mansion had a change, and the growth of the Heavenly King Liuli sent people to assassinate the thirteen chiefs, so that the barbarians would mutiniate and rebel in an instant, and there would be no chance to continue to collect grain.

Others don't know the details of Wuping Mansion, but Dingwu is very clear that the grain stored by the government is already seriously insufficient, even if all the grain of all the gentry in Wuping Mansion is forcibly requisitioned, it is not enough to support the rations of more than 300,000 soldiers and civilians in Wuping Mansion, and at this time, in order to resist external and external troubles, the city naturally has to work together, once it is really forcibly requisitioned for the grain storage of the gentry in the city, I am afraid that it will provoke chaos among the gentry in the city, and the consequences are even more unimaginable.

Dingwu pondered for a moment before asking Ma Hong, "Ma Aiqing, what are your ideas?" ”

Ma Hong hesitated, and then said helplessly: "Holy Lord, the ministers can't change food, and there is nothing they can do." According to the minister's estimate, within half a month, the people in the city will begin to run out of food, at most 20 days, the saint will allocate food to the people in the city, even if the minister leads people to collect all the food in the city, and distribute it according to the head, the food in the city can only support the whole city army and people for a maximum of two months. ”

Ding Wu snorted coldly and said, "In other words, even if the barbarians can't capture Wuping Mansion City, two months later, we will starve to death in the city?" ”

Ma Hong "pounced" and knelt on the ground, and said in a trembling voice: "The ministers just reported the truth according to the truth, and did not dare to hide it. The ministers felt that for the sake of the safety of the saints, this city could not be defended forever? ”

"Don't defend the city?" An official immediately shouted: "Is it possible to surrender Kaesong?" The saint, the minister is broken bones, and he has to fight with the barbarians to the end. He also said: "Ma Butang, our grain can last for two months, how long can the barbarians last?" They came from afar, there was no logistics team at all, the more people there were, the more food they needed, you have all seen it before, when the barbarians came, they didn't see their food team at all, even if they brought their own rations, how long could they last? Three or five days, or ten days and a half a month, or can it last a month? Let's compete with them and see who can't hold it in the end. ”

Ma Hong frowned and said, "Holy Lord, this is not the case. Hexi's troops, in addition to most of them are in Yanshan, the rest are also in Wuping City, Hexi has thirteen big cities, countless small cities, except for Wuping Mansion has guards to guard, the defense of other cities is weak, with the number of barbarians, although they can't beat Wuping City, but to attack other cities, especially the small city with weak defense, it is easy. ”

The official on the side said: "Ma Butang, the lower official understands what you mean, you mean that the barbarians are plundering everywhere to replenish military supplies, is that what you mean?" ”

"Yes, that's what it means." Ma Hong still has some experience in money and food after all, he talked about it in public, in the final analysis, he is still worried that after a while, there will be a sudden shortage of food, and Dingwu will inevitably find him trouble, and put the responsibility on his head, in this case, it is better to explain the matter thoroughly in public, even if there is a shortage of food in the future, there will be an ambush here, and the actual difficulties have been made clear, so that when there is a shortage of food, there is a good explanation, compared to Dingwu is likely to take his life when he is angry because of the lack of food, It's better to risk the possibility of being reprimanded today, to tell the truth, Dingwu will not ask for his head today because of this, "The city of Wuping Mansion is besieged, all roads are blocked, all the supplies, we can only rely on what is available in the city now, and it is impossible for a grain to be sent into the city, while the barbarians can supplement their needs by looting." ”

The official smiled and said: "Ma Butang, you must know that Hexi is not a place to produce grain, even if there is grain in each city, the quantity is very small, do you know that outside this city are fifty or sixty thousand barbarian soldiers, in addition to these people who eat grain, the horses they sit down must also eat grain." Now it's winter, naturally there is no place to find horse feed, so they can only use grain to raise, which adds up, that's more than 100,000 mouths, try to ask which city has so much food to support them? ”

"What about one city, two cities, three cities, ten cities?" Mahon argued.

The official sneered: "The towns around Wuping Mansion City, I'm afraid they have been robbed by the previous barbarians, they still have to grab grain, so they can only go farther away, move back and forth, and grab grain everywhere, when they are tired of grabbing food, where will they have the energy to attack Wuping Mansion City?" In the final analysis, as long as we hold on to the city and keep going, we will always be able to hold out until the barbarians retreat in disgrace. Turning to Dingwu, he arched his hand and said: "Shengshang, the minister thinks that the barbarians are attacking in a big way, and the city of Wuping Mansion may not be a lonely city, and the foreign people are coming to invade, is it that everyone in the world is watching?" The minister thought that they would also find a way to expel the barbarians first, and maybe reinforcements were already coming to the rescue. ”

The officials immediately whispered and exchanged heads.

Dingwu said lightly: "Ma Aiqing, you have always said that we are short of food, and you have said that the barbarians can loot and supplement logistics in Hexi, do you want to say that we can't support the barbarians?" ”

Ma Hong hurriedly said: "That's not what the ministers meant!" ”

"And what do you mean?"

Ma Hong thought for a while, and finally said: "The ministers think that in the current situation, they should ask for reinforcements!" ”

"Reinforcements, please?" Dingwu squinted at the surrounding ministers, and saw that everyone lowered their heads and did not speak, and asked, "Where are the reinforcements you mentioned?" ”

"This!" Ma Hong also lowered his head, sweating slightly on his forehead, raised his hand and wiped it with his sleeve, and peeked at Dingwu, "The ministers don't dare to say it!" ”

"You said there were reinforcements, but why didn't you dare to say it?" Dingwu frowned and said: "I said that now that the barbarian soldiers are coming to the city, as long as there are good countermeasures, but it doesn't hurt to talk about it, I won't blame it." ”

The other ministers were also puzzled, everyone was quite familiar with the current situation in the world, and Hujin Meilong in the south defended the Qingtian King of Hebei, and did not dare to act rashly. At the end of Yanshan, the main force of the Qin army was already struggling to resist the Liaodong Army, and even more on this change, maybe the barbarian soldiers on the front line had rebelled, although after the incident, Dingwu sent a fast horse to Yanshan as soon as possible, hoping to send the news of the barbarian rebellion to Wenpu, the chief general of the Qin army in Yanshan, before the barbarian messenger, so that Wenpu could prepare for the rebellion of the barbarian cavalry on the front line, but whether Wenpu was the first to get the news, and how to deal with the change, Hexi side has not gotten any news, and wants Wenpu to suddenly appear in Wuping Mansion to rescue, It's too unlikely.

To the west, Dingwu also used Anyi Yuan Chongshang and Xishan Qiao Mingtang as horns to prepare to defend Chu Huan's Northwest Army, and even sent Feng Polu to lead tens of thousands of elite cavalry to support, but the result was a complete defeat, Chu Huan had completely destroyed the defense of the Western Front in a short period of time, as long as the Northwest Army marched into Hexi, there was almost no strong defense along the way.

Embattled, where can there be reinforcements?

Ma Hong knelt on the ground and said stubbornly: "Holy Lord, the reinforcements mentioned by the minister are referring to Chu Huan's Northwest Army!" ”

As soon as these words came out, the surrounding ministers were in an uproar, and many people just thought that there was something wrong with their ears and heard Ma Hong's words wrongly, even Dingwu was a little surprised, stunned for a moment, his lips moved slightly, but he did not make a sound.

Xuanyuan Shao, who had been silent, finally said: "Ma Butang, do you mean to ask Chu Huan for rescue?" ”

Ma Hong raised his head slightly and said, "Holy Lord, now the only one who can support Wuping Mansion to defeat the barbarians is Chu Huan's Northwest Army. ”

"Ma Butang, didn't you sleep well?" Xuanyuan Shao sneered unceremoniously: "Who is Chu Huan, don't you know?" He has set himself up as king, and rebelled against the court, and he is a thief whom everyone has been condemned, so let us go and ask him to come to his rescue? Even if we wanted him to come, would he really be willing to fight the barbarians? ”

"Not bad." Immediately, someone said: "Chu Huan's wolf ambition is known to the world, how could he come to the rescue of Wuping Mansion?" ”

Hearing the voices of doubt on the side, Ma Hong lowered his head, and didn't dare to speak for a while, Dingwu groaned slightly, and did not reprimand Ma Hong, but unexpectedly asked Ma Hong: "Why did Ma Aiqing think of sending someone to Chu Huan for help?" How did you know that Chu Huan would come to the rescue? ”

"Shengshang, the minister said before, looking at the formation of the barbarians, this time he is determined to capture Wuping Mansion." Ma Hong raised his head and said: "The minister thinks that the enemy is outside, we are inside, we are trapped, it is impossible to get food from the outside, and the barbarians are outside, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, to loot in Hexi, it is not difficult, he is to divide 20,000 soldiers and horses to rob grain and grass, and the remaining soldiers and horses are enough to trap us, although the food in Hexi is not abundant, but robbing everywhere, supporting them for three or five months, it is absolutely not a problem, and we can't support it for so long, once there is no food in the city, that is!" Gritting his teeth, he stubbornly said: "That's self-defeating!" ”

Someone on the side was about to reprimand, but Dingwu had already raised his hand and signaled not to say more, but he knew that Ma Hong's words were not false, if there was really a shortage of food in the city, and he could not continue to resist at all, he was the respect of a country, and even his martial arts were extraordinary, but he could not prevent the attack of tens of thousands of barbarian iron cavalry.

"The holy dragon body is noble, and safety is the supreme thing, we expect the barbarians to retreat and let the city of Wuping Mansion turn the corner from danger, but if the barbarians can really hold on, what should we do?" Ma Hong said: "And the barbarians don't know how to siege the city now, but if they know that they can use siege weapons to attack the city, and then capture craftsmen to make siege weapons for them, they are outnumbered, we!" He didn't continue, but said: "So the minister thinks that he can only ask for help from outside, and the only one who has the strength to stand with the barbarians is Chu Huan's Northwest Army!" Raising his head slightly, he saw that Dingwu was looking at him, and immediately bowed his head and prostrate on the ground, "Holy Lord, Your Majesty is really from the bottom of your heart, I just hope that the Holy Lord will think twice, now that the army is pressing, the Holy Lord and the Holy Lord should focus on the overall situation!" ”

After a period of silence, Ding Wu finally said, "Do you think I should send someone to ask Chu Huan for help?" ”

The ministers looked at each other, they didn't dare to speak, in fact, many people didn't want to find reinforcements in their hearts, after all, the lonely city was trapped, if the barbarians were determined to break the city, without foreign aid, the city would be broken one day, and the city would be ruined by then, and the officials present were afraid that few would be able to survive, so they invited reinforcements, and they waited for a little more hope to live.

It's just that Ma Hong said that he would send someone to Chu Huan for help, and everyone felt a little suspicious, Chu Huan had already established himself as the king, and openly played the banner of anti-Qin, among the many forces in the world, Chu Huan can be said to be the strongest of the anti-Qin forces, Ma Hong didn't say it to others, but he just said this person, it was really surprising, as Xuanyuan Shao said, whether to send someone for help is certainly a thing, but whether Chu Huan will rescue or not is the key.

Fighting for the world, the heart is ruthless, Chu Huan has come to this day, no one will think that Chu Huan is an honest and good man, at this time, Chu Huan is already benevolent and righteous if he doesn't take the opportunity to attack, how can he help Qin State repel the barbarians?

Dingwu stared at Ma Hong, glanced at everyone, and pondered for a long time before asking, "Ma Aiqing, do you think that if I send someone for help, Chu Huan will send troops to help?" ”

Ma Hong listened to Dingwu's tone relaxed, and hurriedly said: "Holy Lord, if you want Chu Huan to send troops to rescue, that one and that one will always have to pay some price." ”

"Oh?" Ding Wu showed a hint of a smile, "What price?" ”

"Since Chu Huan is the king, the Holy Lord has decreed that he will be crowned king, and he can be given the title of Northwest and other places." Ma Hong saw Dingwu with a smile, and pretended to be bold and said: "If he puts forward some other conditions, as long as it is not too much, we can all agree to him for the time being, in this way, as long as he agrees to send troops and let his Northwest Army fight with the barbarians, no matter whether they win or lose, they will be greatly injured!" ”

"Conditions?" Dingwu leaned forward slightly, "What conditions do you think I should promise him?" Give him my throne, what do you think? ”

Ma Hong heard that although Ding Wu's tone was gentle, the meaning of his words was cold to the bone, and his heart was cold, and before he could speak, he heard a "choking" sound, and Dingwu had already pulled out the sword of the Son of Heaven.