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Chapter 343

The guards helped Jiang Lu out of the big tent, Tang Yin also sat back in his seat, Shangguan Yuanbiao snorted coldly and said, "This Jiang Lu is really too much." ”

Tang Yin also felt that Jiang Lu was excessive, but now was the time to employ people, and Jiang Lu did have some talent, so Tang Yin could only endure the disgust in his heart.

After a short time, Ziying returned to the tent, still holding a letter that had just been written, carefully handed it to Lotte, arched her hand, and said meaningfully: "Please entrust the surname of the whole family to the general!"

Lotte had a straight face, and while taking the letter, he said, "General Ziying, please rest assured, I will do my best." ”

"Thank you, thank you!"

After Ziying and Lotte finished speaking, they bowed deeply to Tang Yin, and said with an embarrassed face: "The last general was too rude just now, and I hope that the adults will not be surprised." ”

Tang Yin nodded secretly, Ziying is not only outstanding, but also humble and easy-going, which is very good. He smiled slightly and said, "Where did General Ziying say, take a seat!"

"Yes!"

Lotte did not dare to delay the matter of Ziying's family, and that night he passed the truth of the matter to the Tianyan spy in Yancheng in the form of a flying pigeon to pass the book to Ziying's family. Lotte is the person in charge of Tianyan, and the spies below are naturally looking forward to Lotte's orders.

After receiving his summons, the Tianyan spies immediately assembled, and went to Ziying's mansion early the next morning. Because there is Ziying's family letter, things are going very smoothly, Ziying's family is more than 20 people, there is no fanfare to move, just clean up some soft, follow the Tianyan spy quietly out of the back door, get into the carriage prepared in advance, and leave the mansion unconsciously.

Ziying's family was picked up by the Tianyan spies for two days, and the news that Ziying led the crowd to join the Tianyuan Army was transmitted back to Yancheng. Hearing this news, Zhong Tian didn't come up in one breath, and almost fainted on the spot, it doesn't matter if Ziying surrendered, the key thing is that the Peng army of 70,000 people under his command also defected to the Tianyuan Army with him, so that the army that Zhong Tian can mobilize is only the 100,000 central army in Yancheng, and it is simply impossible to rely on this person to compete with the hundreds of thousands of menacing Tianyuan Army.

Zhong Tian was first very sad, anxious and angry, and stomped his feet in the main hall of the palace, and then became angry, and ordered the guards to immediately arrest Ziying's family and behead them all.

The guards took the order to go, but when they arrived at Ziying's house, they found that the building had already been empty, and the guards hurriedly returned to the palace to report to Zhong Tianyu, Zhong Tian heard this, gritted his teeth angrily, and his fists clenched, no need to ask, Ziying's defection must have been premeditated, otherwise why would his family be gone?

Zhong Tian, who was angry, ordered that the whole city should collect Ziying's family members and arrest them all. At this time, the strategists under his command were all anxious, and they all came out of the ranks, and said: "King, since the Tianyuan Army has captured Huya Mountain, it will be able to reach Yancheng before it happens, so make a decision quickly!"

Zhong Tian's face turned red, his gray beard trembled, and he frowned and asked, "What decision?"

"Our army...... Is our army fighting or ...... Or withdraw?" the strategists wanted to say that they would flee, but they felt that it was inappropriate to say so, so they changed their words and said that they were withdrawing.

"Withdraw, as the king of a country, how can I be scared away by the rebels?" Zhong Tian's face turned from red to blue, and he looked around at the ministers below, and said quietly: "Could it be that you are also like Ziying, and you can't secretly communicate with the Tianyuan army?"

As soon as these words came out, the strategists below were all trembling with fright, and everyone knelt on the ground, bowed their heads, and stammered: "King, we have no selfish heart for the Tianyuan Army, and we dare not do such a great rebellion.

Even Ziying, who he trusted and valued so much, had defected to the side of the Tianyuan Army, Zhong Tian now looked at the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, and felt that no one was something he could really trust and rely on. Looking at the people lying on the ground, he sighed secretly.

Zhong Tian knew very well in his heart that he was the king of Peng Kingdom only if he stayed in Yancheng and lived in the palace of Yancheng, and once he chose to escape, he would be nothing. However, now that hundreds of thousands of Tianyuan troops are about to hit Yancheng, can they resist only their own 100,000 central army?

Seeing that the anger on Zhong Tian's face gradually turned into hesitation, all the strategists looked at each other, and one of them said: "As a monarch, the king should focus on the overall situation, at present, the Tianyuan army is menacing and morale is flourishing, the king should not resist its edge, but should retreat to Wancheng first, that is, he can command the overall situation, and the situation can be safer." In addition, the king can leave a capable general in the capital and let him command our army to resist the attack of the rebels. ”

Wancheng is the near city of Yancheng, just south of Yancheng, less than 100 miles away. In Wancheng, Zhong Tian's power is also very deep-rooted, and there is Yancheng in the north to resist the edge of the Tianyuan army, and the situation can be relatively safe. After hearing this, Zhong Tian felt that this idea was good, he deliberately showed a look of embarrassment, and said quietly: "At such a critical juncture, as a monarch, how can I, as a monarch, be greedy for life and fear death, and flee without a fight?"

"No, no, no!" said the strategist, "the king did not flee without a fight, but temporarily retreated to the rear, and with the prestige of a king, organized his troops, and sought an opportunity to counterattack and rebel. ”

"En!" Zhong Tian nodded again and again after hearing this, and his heart was also very useful, and then he looked at the generals on his left and asked, "I don't know which general is willing to lead the royal division to stay in the capital and resist rebellion?"

After Zhong Tian finished asking, the hall was quiet, and there was not even anyone who replied. The generals under his command all lowered their heads, and they didn't dare to breathe, and if there was a crack in the ground under their feet, they would definitely get into it without hesitation.

At this time, who still wants to stay in Yancheng? Who doesn't want to follow Zhong Tian to retreat to Wancheng? Staying, there is a chance that it will be a dead end, and if you follow Zhong Tian, there may be a glimmer of life.

After waiting for a while, seeing that no one said anything, Zhong Tian frowned and asked again, "Which generals are willing to stay in the capital?"

As before, no one answered. Zhong Tian's anger collided, he slapped the table, stood up, pointed at the generals, and scolded: "Waste! All are waste! Where is your usual majesty? Now that you are needed, why are you all pretending to be deaf and dumb?"

Under Zhong Tian's scolding, the generals' heads hung lower. At this moment, someone suddenly took a step forward and said in a deep voice: "Father, my son is willing to guard the capital!"

Zhong Tian hurriedly looked for the sound, and it turned out that the person who spoke was not someone else, it was his second son Zhong Wu. Zhong Tian gasped, Zhong Wu is now his most valued son, and the only heir he can count on, let Zhong Wu stay to defend against the Tianyuan Army, what if he has three longs and two shorts?

Taking a deep breath, Zhong Tian's face became gloomy, and he said coldly: "The generals of the Manchu Dynasty are all your predecessors, can you be a hairy boy who knows the way to lead the army?"

Zhong Wu was unconvinced and wanted to argue, Zhong Tian had already waved his hand and shouted: "War is not child's play, there is no place for you to talk here, go back!"

Alas, Zhong Wu sighed helplessly, there was no choice but to retreat.

Zhong Tian didn't wait for the generals to take the initiative to ask for help, and directly named: "General Li Qi!"

"The minister is here!" As Zhong Tian shouted, a middle-aged general hurriedly stepped out of the ranks.

"Lieutenant General Xu Hui!"

"The minister is here!"

"Lieutenant General Ye Cheng!"

"The minister is here!"

"Lieutenant General Wei Xuan!"

"The minister is here!"

Zhong Tian pointed out eight generals in one breath, one of them, five lieutenant generals, and two generals with flat words, he looked around at these generals who were pointed out by himself, and said: "You lead 80,000 soldiers and stay in the capital, General Li Qi is the commander, and the other generals are the assistants, work together to resist the enemy, there must be no mistake!"

After Zhong Tian finished speaking, the eight generals who stood up were speechless, and they were all in a cold sweat.

Zhong Tian's eyes shot a vicious glow, and he asked in a condensed voice, "What's the matter?"

The eight people were all shocked, and they didn't dare to hesitate, they knelt down on one knee one after another, and arched their hands and said, "Minister, receive the order!"

"En!" Seeing this, Zhong Tian nodded with satisfaction, and said with a smile: "Then, this king is waiting for the good news of the generals' retreat from the enemy in Wancheng!"

"Yes! Great King!" These eight replied stubbornly, and they were all secretly complaining in their hearts, Zhong Tian was not waiting for the good news that everyone on his side had retreated from the enemy, but waiting for someone to report the funeral! Only 80,000 people temporarily scraped together the Central Army wanted to resist the hundreds of thousands of brave and warlike tiger and wolf divisions, like a fool's dream, no matter how strong Yancheng is, no matter how perfect the city defense is, there is no chance of winning!

Alas, I'll wait for a break! Before we could confront the Tianyuan Army, the eight generals who were named by Zhong Tian and left behind were already desperate.

Zhong Tian continued: "In order to ensure the safety of the generals' families, this king took them to Wancheng with him. ”

His meaning couldn't be more obvious, that is, to hold the family members of the eight people hostage to prevent Ziying's defection from happening again.

The generals knew it well, and scolded Zhong Tian's ancestors and eight generations in their hearts, but the expressions on their faces were all respectful, not only could they not show their complaints, but they also had to bow their heads and thank Zhong Tian.

Zhong Tian accepted the advice of the ministers, took the concubines of the harem, the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, many palace guards, and 20,000 central troops, fled from Yancheng, went to Wancheng, and lived in the palace of Wancheng.

With the transfer of the Pengguo court to Wancheng, many powerful and wealthy families in Yancheng who were dependent on Zhong Tian also went to Wancheng, so that Yancheng immediately became much more depressed, and the atmosphere of the imminent war became more and more intense.

The Tianyuan Army also got the news that Zhong Tian had fled to Wancheng for the first time, Tang Yin scoffed at this, Qiu Zhen expected it to be right, Zhong Tian did choose to flee south, but the Baguan was already in his own hands, and Zhong Tian ran south only to die.