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On the Lantern Festival on February 15, the bad news arrived in Ningzhou by 800 miles. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

When Zhong Ziqi held the Liaozhou character Shungang was lost, and when the Dingzhou Navy Division organized a large number of marines to attack Liaozhou's letter and rushed into the Ningwang Mansion, another urgent letter that made them even more depressed had galloped into Ningzhou City.

Li Qingqin led tens of thousands of troops to cross the dangerous Hanhai, captured Quancheng in one fell swoop, controlled the front line of Quanying, cut off the grain routes and logistics supply channels of hundreds of thousands of troops on the front line, and completely blocked hundreds of thousands of troops in Weizhou.

Just after finally digesting the news that the Dingzhou Navy Division had conquered Anshun Port in Liaozhou, King Ning, who had not had time to catch his breath, spurted blood from his mouth and fell to the ground under this huge blow.

King Ning's Mansion was in chaos.

A fast horse rushed out of the Ningwang Mansion and galloped to the mansions of various officials in Ningzhou City, and one by one the high-ranking officials and dignitaries were called out from the banquet or from the warm bed, and rushed into the Ningwang Mansion in the cold wind.

The people of Ningzhou City knew that something big must have happened, because in the middle of the night, the sound of horses' hooves kept ringing, and when it was dawn, they saw that the streets that had been quiet in the past were already full of heavily armed soldiers. At the same time, one by one, messengers with flags on their backs, Pegasus, left the city and ran in different directions.

An ominous premonition haunted everyone.

In the hall of King Ning's Mansion, there was a deathly silence, and the officials who had just arrived at King Ning's Mansion were shocked by two news, and everyone knew what this meant. There was not a single sound in the hall except for the sound of heavy gasps.

After the doctor's first aid, King Ning woke up quietly, ignoring the doctor's request for him to recuperate, and sat on the chuáng couch with a quilt, his face was extremely pale.

"The form suddenly deteriorated, Li Qing actually led tens of thousands of troops to cross the Dead Hanhai in the cold winter season, cutting off the rear road of our army, my lords, will I be safe?" King Ning's eyes swept over everyone in the hall.

"Your Highness, is there a mistake in the intelligence, there are 5,000 elites stationed in Quancheng, and there is a strong city to rely on, how could it be lost overnight?" A military general stood up and asked puzzled.

Zhong Ziqi explained with a wry smile, "Li Qing first attacked Yingcheng, Yingcheng defender Li Shanbin surrendered to the enemy, and then broke open the gate of Quancheng, the city gate was captured, and the enemy cavalry of Dingzhou rushed into the city, even if the five thousand foot soldiers were heroic, how could they be the opponent of tens of thousands of cavalry, and Li Qing still had more than 10,000 foot soldiers to follow closely, the information would not be wrong, General Lu Xin, who was guarding Quancheng, was killed on the spot, and the head was hung above Quancheng." ”

"Bastard King Eight Cakes!" The military general scolded, "Li Shanbin, who deserves to die, should be punished by the Nine Clans, Lord Zhong, didn't he arrest his family?" ”

"The house has already been empty, it seems that it was premeditated!" Zhong Ziqi sighed.

"Forget it, don't talk about this, it has happened, even if Li Shanbin's family is cut by a thousand cuts? Now we should discuss what to do with the hundreds of thousands of troops trapped in Weizhou, even if we don't count Zeng Yifan's troops, there are 150,000 elites directly belonging to our southern army. This is the last seed of our Southern Army! A white-haired civil official stood up tremblingly and bowed his hand to King Ning: "Your Highness, you should immediately let Hu Ze return all, take advantage of the fact that there is still surplus food, snatch back Quancheng, and open the escape route." Once the army food is exhausted and there is no food in the army, the army's spirit will be scattered, and if you don't fight, you will be defeated! ”

"Lord Lei, please take a seat!" King Ning said: "Hu Zejun veteran, experienced, and should have gotten the news earlier than us, presumably the withdrawal of troops has begun at this time, what we are going to discuss today is, what are we going to do?" ”

"Please speak freely, no matter what the strategy is, speak out boldly, I think everyone should also understand that if our army in Weizhou is completely annihilated, our southern states will inevitably not be protected, and the iron cavalry of Dingzhou will attack, and everything will come to naught."

The meeting lasted from late at night until noon the next day, when all the officials walked out of the gate of King Ning's mansion with a hint of despair and rushed to their respective yamen.

All localities under the jurisdiction of Ningzhou will implement military management from now on.

A curfew was imposed on the day the order arrived.

A general mobilization order was issued, and all those under the age of 15 and under the age of 60 under the jurisdiction of Ningzhou were conscripted into the army.

After the full hall of officials dispersed, the bones of King Ning, who had a strong spirit, seemed to be scattered, and he fell softly on the chuáng, and in front of the chuáng, only Zhong Ziqi and Qin Kaiyuan remained.

"Sub-period, what do you think of the current situation?" King Ning asked weakly.

Zhong Ziqi gritted his teeth and said for a while: "Your Highness, with all due respect, we have to prepare for the worst." ”

King Ning smiled miserably, "What's the worst? Is there anything else we can do about it? What else can be done but fight to the death? When my Great Chu destroyed the Zhou Dynasty, the prince of the Zhou Dynasty was still able to sail away and flee overseas, but now we don't even have this possibility, Heishuiyang is completely in the hands of the Dingzhou Naval Division, and the Pang Army Naval Division is already unbearable to fight, and we will only have no bones left if we are boating on the sea. ”

"Your Royal Highness, we have not yet reached the time when the mountains and rivers are exhausted, General Hu Zequan may be able to lead some soldiers to break through, Ningzhou, Dengzhou, Bozhou, His Royal Highness has been operating for many years, and the power is strong, based on these three states, we can also fight back, there are many lakes in the south, wetlands, ditches and rivers, this is not the best battlefield for the Dingzhou cavalry, although General Pang can no longer compete with the opponent at sea, but abandon the big ship, mainly small boats, withdraw into the inland river, and still be able to deal with the enemy."

"Not bad!" Zhong Ziqi's words made Qin Kaiyuan, who was depressed, also excited, "Father, with the general mobilization order, we can still gather hundreds of thousands of troops to fight the enemy, and the victory or defeat is still between the two sides, and the people are still fighting for their homes and their own lives and property, and there is still a lot to be done." ”

King Ning is noncommittal, the new policy of Dingzhou, the main thing is to mobilize the masses, with the land as bait, the people at the bottom of the country are vying to join, and the basis of their rule is mainly based on the gentry and nobles, these people will rise up to fight, but those who have been oppressed by the gentry Zengtong people may be happy to welcome the arrival of the Dingzhou soldiers.

"Child, you say, what's the worst plan?" Ning Wang said.

Zhong Ziqi looked into the distance, "King Ning, one hundred thousand mountains." ”

Ning Wang Huo Di sat up, "You mean Mata's lair." ”

"Not bad!" Zhong Ziqi said: "Since King Ning handed over Qingzhou to Mata, Mata began to slowly move the Qiang people into Qingzhou, within the 100,000 mountains, his old nest is empty, at this time, His Royal Highness only needs to send a strong army into the mountain, you can dàng the barbarians within the 100,000 mountains, the 100,000 mountains in your hands, as a last resort, we retreat into the 100,000 mountains, there are some natural barriers, even if Li Qing is intelligent, he can't find our whereabouts, even if he finds it, there are countless natural dangers in the 100,000 mountains, It is also enough to make the Dingzhou soldiers look forward and be helpless. ”

King Ning hesitated for a moment, "I'm afraid that this move will anger Mata!" ”

Zhong Ziqi smiled, "What about Ji Fu? As long as I take the first step to control the 100,000 mountains, I am afraid that he will come from, and besides, he is in Qingzhou, how can he easily get out, and the mountain wind is looking at him with a tiger's eye, His Royal Highness's move back then was really wonderful. ”

King Ning was bitter in his heart, didn't he say that he knew that he was going to lose back then, so he reserved a way to retreat, knowing that this was the Zhong Zi period to save face for himself.

"Can we recruit Mata and advance and retreat with him, in this way, with the help of tens of thousands of Qiang soldiers, we will compete for strength."

"Never!" Zhong Ziqi said categorically: "Your Highness, if Mata really has to return to the 100,000 mountains with us, then when he returns to his lair, he is the Lord, and we are the guests, will he still be obedient?" He and we are just taking advantage of each other, and if he really gets to that point, he will sell us, and I am not surprised. ”

"The best way is to never suffer in the future, kill them, and plunge the Qiang soldiers in Qingzhou into chaos and civil strife, then the prince can use the relationship between the princess and the princess to absorb some of the Qiang soldiers to increase our strength."

"Kill Mata?" Qin Kaiyuan exclaimed. "Orchid is willing to work with us?"

King Ning glared at his son dissatisfied, and muttered, "Now that the situation is in place, I'm afraid that Mata won't come to Ningzhou easily?" ”

"Your Highness can summon him to come to Ningzhou to discuss the plan, if he comes, he can take the opportunity to cover up and kill him, if he doesn't come, he has a different heart, not to mention that, on the one hand, he uses the passes to block it in Qingzhou, cut off his way back to the 100,000 mountains, and on the other hand, he sends assassins to plot to assassinate him. As soon as Mata dies, the Qiang soldiers will be divided, and they will inevitably become a mess, which will be beneficial and harmless to us, and it will be more convenient for us to control the Qiang tribes in the 100,000 mountains, and try their courage in order to counterattack. Zhong Ziqi said.

King Ning took a deep breath, "You are right, this matter will be presided over by you, Kaiyuan, you immediately lead 20,000 elites under your command to the 100,000 mountains, oh, by the way, take Ma Lanhua and Ping'er together." ”

"Your Highness is wise!" Zhong Zi said.

"You go ahead and do it!"

Zhong Ziqi bowed and withdrew.

Qin Kaiyuan looked at his father, "Father, I still don't understand, if we really kill Mata, or stop Mata in Qingzhou, Orchid Yan is willing to cooperate with us and assist us in taking over the 100,000 Great Mountains?" ”

King Ning glanced at his son hatefully, "Confused, Ziqi is in front of you, some words are not explained, you are such a big person, why can't you understand it after following me to act in government affairs for so long?" It's really come to this point, how can you leave Ma Lanhua? The day of Mata's death or the time when he becomes enemies with us is Ma Lanhua's death, and as for taking over the 100,000 mountains, isn't there still Ping'er? Ping'er is Mata's grandson, with Ping'er, and Mata and Ma Lanhua are both dead, isn't it justified for us to take over 100,000 mountains? If it is divided and co-opted, why worry about the injustice of the Qiang people? ”

Qin Kaiyuan gasped, he never thought that the implicit meaning in Zhong Ziqi's words was that even his wife would be killed!

"Kaiyuan, at this time of life and death, the love of children is unacceptable, when it is broken, it is broken, and it is constantly chaotic, not to mention, Daddy also knows that you have always been dissatisfied with Ma Lanhua, isn't it? You go and straighten out at once. ”

"Yes, Father!" Qin Kaiyuan retreated without a word, at the beginning of his marriage with Ma Lanhua, he really couldn't get used to the barbarism of Ma Lanhua's body, and he didn't have the gentleness and obedience of a southern woman, but in the past few years, especially after the birth of his son Ping'er, the relationship between the two has been heating up day by day, Qin Kaiyuan felt another style from Ma Lanhua's body, and now he suddenly heard that the two were going to end in this way, and for a while, he couldn't help but feel numb.