Number of People

  Chapter 2159 The decane scroll is stripped and cocooned, coerced and lured

  In fact, Zhu Ruqi knew about these situations a long time ago, but deep down in her heart, she was unwilling and afraid to think about it.

Pingyang Mansion is too big, there are thirty-four prefectures and counties, but only Pingyang Guard and Puzhou Office are in charge of defense. In charge of the defense of twelve states and counties in the south.

  In normal seasons, even if some local yamen and inspection departments can't deal with bandits, the guards can handle them, but when it's really a chaotic season, it's really not enough.

Especially in the first half of the year, due to the war damage, Shanxi Township recruited a large number of guards to enrich them. Pingyang Guard was taken away, and Puzhou Station changed from two whole battalions to two incomplete battalions. When I came in, I encountered such a thing as the rebellious army from Shaanxi entering Jin Dynasty.

  There are three divisions with more than 2,000 people left in the first battalion of Yancheng, and the situation in Puzhou is even worse. There are only two divisions with more than 1,300 people left. It is obviously impossible to face the Pingyang Mansion, which is full of wars.

  Although the reality is here, as the higher-ups, you may not think so. Your Puzhou Guards have not moved so far. Facing the fall of Hejin, Ronghe, Quanquan, and Linjin, what countermeasures did you take?

No matter what happens in the central and northern parts, at least the battalions of Pingyangwei still fought a few battles with the rebellious army, or defended the city, but in these counties in the south, the two battalions of Puzhou and one guarding Yancheng, that is There is no room for loss in the salt class, but I guard Puzhou and sit back and watch the surrounding counties fall and do nothing. This is an inescapable sin anyway.

  If the higher-ups want to make excuses or even find a scapegoat, then they themselves become the best scapegoats.

Seeing that Zhu Ruqi's face was green and his lips were pale, he obviously understood his current situation. Wang Wenyan's eyes were a little more sympathetic, "General Zhu, you also know that the current chaos in Shanxi started from Pingyang, of course you can shirk it." Responsibility, it is said that it was caused by the rebellious army from Shaanxi,..."

"Yes, yes, yes, it was the rebel army from Shaanxi who crossed the river and caught us off guard. The people in Hejin, Ronghe and Wanquan couldn't resist it at all, and the hungry and displaced people in Pingyang Mansion itself Many prefectures and counties are not able to provide relief. I have sent letters to the prefects of Pingyang and the prefects and counties in the south, asking them to open warehouses to release food and help the people, but they turned a deaf ear..."

After being punctured by Wang Wenyan's words, Zhu Ruqi suddenly came to his senses, and quickly explained: "When the Shaanxi rebel army came, our local refugees and disaster victims immediately became rioters, and the Shaanxi rebellion army has these rebels who are familiar with the situation to guide them. That's why they attacked the city and pulled out the stronghold, and it became like this all at once,..."

"That's right, General Zhu, what you said is correct, there are indeed these objective reasons, but the imperial court, the Ministry of War and the Metropolitan Procuratorate may not see it this way, and the local government will definitely make excuses, and even shirk their responsibilities. Have you considered it?" No?" Wang Wenyan said with a smile.

"One of the most practical problems is that after the rebel army captured so many counties, none of your Puzhou guards went out to rescue the city, and none of your soldiers fought against the rebel army, hiding in this Puzhou city. , you, the guards in Puzhou are not the people of Puzhou, the responsibility is not just to guard Puzhou, the fall of Hejin, Ronghe, Wanquan, Linjin, and Yi, you are duty-bound, the prefects and counties of these counties will It is said that we have tried our best, and our people have tried their best, but the guards fear the enemy like a tiger and refuse to send troops, so we will eventually fall,..."

Of course Zhu Ruqi understands this truth, and he can imagine that in order to shirk responsibility, the local officials will definitely blame themselves, and the court will definitely find a few scapegoats to sacrifice the flag in the end. The garrison of this Puzhou office? Needless to say.

With a plop, Zhu Ruqi fell to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly, "Mr. Zhu, please save me. It's not that Zhu doesn't want to save me, but because the army is in chaos. Zhu only has more than a thousand soldiers in his hands. How can he save me? The one who captured Hejin in the first place There were five or six thousand people in the rebel army in Shaanxi, and it was too late for me to rescue them. When the rebel army captured Ronghe, Wanquan and Jishan, it was said that there were already 10,000 to 20,000 people. There may be thirty or forty thousand local mobs, so what can I do with my thousand soldiers?"

  Wang Wenyan sneered: "Then you just wait for the imperial court to take your marching method and borrow your head?"

   "Mister, please save me! Please, sir, save me!" Zhu Ruqi only kowtowed, his forehead hit the bluestone floor with a bang, and it was black and black immediately.

"Get up, I can't save you, the only one who can save you is yourself!" Wang Wenyan raised his hand and said coldly: "If you don't want to get up, and you are still wasting time here, then you can wait and see." People from the procuratorate or Long Jinwei will come and get you."

  Zhu Ruqi didn't dare to be stubborn, and got up awkwardly. He is a warrior with a thick skin, as long as he can save his life, he doesn't care about other things at all.

"General Zhu, you also understand the current situation. In the south of Pingyang Prefecture, there are two important areas that cannot be lost. One is Puzhou, where Fenglingdu and Pujindu are controlled, and the other is Siyancheng, where the Yancheng of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces are located. The classroom is located here, and the warehouse salt is also stored here. If you want to keep your head, you must at least make sure that these two places cannot be lost. In addition, you have to fight a few beautiful battles to let the court know that you are not afraid of the enemy and afraid of death , but is fighting at the right time, if you can win a few more battles and annihilate some rebels, maybe you can still escape the crime, and the credit for it is unknown."

  Wang Wenyan's words are very beautiful, but Zhu Ruqi is not a fool, if it is so easy and simple, how can he hide in Puzhou and dare not come out?

There are at least 30,000 to 50,000 rebellious troops in Pingyang Mansion, and I only have more than 1,000 troops, and it is enough to encounter any one. There are more than a thousand people but less than four thousand people, how to fight?

  Zhu Ruqi's eyes rolled wildly, Wang Wenyan didn't understand what this guy was thinking, and said indifferently: "General Zhu thinks that the chaotic army is too powerful and there is no chance of winning?"

Zhu Ruqi looked troubled, but finally nodded: "To tell you the truth, Mr. Wang, we three or four thousand people may not be able to compete with the tens of thousands of chaotic troops in Pingyang Mansion who are still expanding. If we want to fight, how should we fight? "

   "Is General Zhu so pessimistic?" Wang Wenyan sneered, "General Zhu has no idea what the combat effectiveness of the 30,000 to 50,000 rebellious troops is?"

"There are so many ants killing elephants." Zhu Ruqi shook his head, "Mr. Wang, you are right. The chaos army may not be able to fight, but their number is too large. Once they get entangled with us, we may not be able to escape. The reason why I didn’t dare to leave Puzhou is that Puzhou city is high and thick. I have more than 1,000 soldiers and put Puzhou’s people on guard, but I can still defend it. But if I want to go out of the city to fight in the field, these people are not good at all. , if we want to fight we must win, once we lose, the whole south of Pingyang will be over."

   I have to say that although this guy is timid, he is still quite thoughtful, and what he said makes sense.

If you don't muster up the courage of this fellow, it is estimated that he will not be able to get more than a thousand soldiers. Wang Wenyan thought while saying: "General Zhu, you said that there are 30,000 to 50,000 rebels in Pingyang Prefecture, then I will ask you , now the main force of the rebel army is attacking along Jishan and Jiangzhou, is this true?"

  Zhu Ruqi was a little puzzled, and nodded: "As far as I know, that is the attack direction of the main force of a rebel army. It is estimated that they want to attack Linfen northward after Jiangzhou and Quwo are taken down."

   "Then how strong is this rebel army?" Wang Wenyan asked.

   "Probably around 30,000 people." Zhu Ruqi vaguely understood the opponent's intentions, and added: "This includes taking down the defenders of Hejin, Ronghe and Wanquan."

   "Okay, the main force of the other road came from Wu Wangdu, captured Linjin and Yi clan, with a force of about 20,000 troops, isn't that true?" Wang Wenyan continued to ask.

Zhu Ruqi thought for a while, "Almost, most of them came from Wu Wangdu, and some came from Ronghe River. The total number is about 22,000 to 25,000. It is only a rough estimate. Confused, impossible to check and verify."

   "Okay, even if it is 25,000, then now they have occupied the neighboring and Yi clans, leaving about 5,000 defenders, right?" Wang Wenyan said again.

  Zhu Ruqi nodded in approval.

"As far as we know, Wenxi, Xiaxian, Anyi, and Xiezhou have all been attacked by rebel troops, including Siyan City. Do you think it's a bit arrogant for these 20,000 rebel troops to attack five places separately?" Wang Wenyan further said: "Or let me count the rebel army in Siyancheng, Anyi, and Xia County as one part, Xiezhou as one part, and Wenxi as one part, that is to say, every rebel army There are only seven or eight thousand people, do you think that if the Tongguan guards add your Puzhou guards to more than 4,000 people, and if you transfer another one or two thousand people from Puzhou, can you choose a force for the first battle?"

  Zhu Ruqi's mouth is astringent, this is going to be desperate.

   Take all the defenders in Puzhou to fight a battle. If you lose, Puzhou will definitely be lost, and you will definitely lose your head.

  At the beginning, I just thought that as long as I defend Puzhou, even if the court wants to hold him accountable, at most he will be dismissed from office.

  Now this guy's idea is to go to the extreme. Either he wins a battle and he can even keep his official position, or he loses a battle and he will be killed.

But if he refuses, this guy is an aide of the governor of Shaanxi, and that Feng Keng is also the right servant of the Ministry of War. This guy just needs to talk about his performance when he goes back. Not to mention that what the other party said is very reasonable, if you continue to defend like this, once the rebel army really gathers and becomes stronger, can you keep the army of Shanxi Town going south?

  (end of this chapter)