A few days later, Jinan Fucheng.
Lu Xiangsheng was still dressed in plain white linen at this time, standing proudly on the north city tower. Looking around, countless flags appeared on the cross-country to the north, and several golden dragon banners also appeared in the distance, accompanied by a wave-like army rushing towards this place. The city on the edge.
Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, looked pale and with a hint of fear, said: "The slave traitors have the white flag, the white flag, the red flag, and the red flag, as well as the Mongolian Tatars' white flag and the red flag, and the slave traitors and the Han army's black flag. flag!"
Yan Jizu grabbed Lu Xiangsheng and said, "Master Governor, the main force of the slave thieves is here. Their main target this time is Shandong, Shandong!"
Lu Xiangsheng said without changing his expression: "I don't think it's just Shandong. According to the report sent by the Ministry of War, the leader of the slave bandits is the ordered general Dorgon. This man is the commander of the slave bandits in the Battle of Julu. I think , Dorgon wants to concentrate his forces and fight with me and Liu Yan again, he wants to defeat all the troops of the Ming Dynasty who dare to fight!"
Yan Jizu couldn't believe it, and then said: "Then what should we do? There are only six thousand soldiers and horses in the city now. I think it is better to abandon Jinan Fucheng and lead King De south to avoid trouble!"
The last time the Qing army captured Jinan Fucheng, they killed the whole family of King De Zhu Youshu. After that, there was no vassal king in Jinan City. Emperor Chongzhen ordered his cousin Zhu Youjue to attack and confer the title of King De.
Zhu Youjue was the grandson of Zhu Yicun, the king of Deding, and the son of Zhu Changshu, the Wenyu king of Jicheng. When he was named King De by Emperor Chongzhen, he was only thirty-five years old, which was considered a blessing from heaven.
Lu Xiangsheng glared at Yan Jizu fiercely and shouted: "Abandon Jinan? What will happen to the people in the city! Are you going to let the people in the city be massacred by the Qing soldiers again!"
Yan Jizu felt ashamed and said that he had made a mistake.
Lu Xiangsheng said: "Besides, most of the slave thieves are cavalry. How far can our army go after leaving the city? For now, the only way to reverse the situation is to defend the city and wait for reinforcements!"
"But when will reinforcements arrive?"
"Then it depends on God's will!"
"Woo~woo~woo!"
As soon as Lu Xiangsheng finished speaking, a low sound of horns came from the wilderness to the north of Jinan City, and then countless flags in the north began to shake violently, and nearly 100,000 Qing soldiers began to shout in unison, which shook the surrounding areas.
The Ming soldiers on guard at the top of Jinan City looked at the scene in front of them, and their momentum suddenly stagnated. Many Ming soldiers were afraid. There were even two unlucky ones who took a few steps back by mistake, turned around and were about to run away. They were patrolled at the top of the city. Lu Huaiying, his general, was caught on the spot. In front of all the soldiers, he beheaded the two deserters directly on the top of the city, and then hung the two bloody heads on the north tower. All the soldiers of the Ming army were horrified. Morale also improved slightly.
When Lu Xiangsheng saw this, he immediately roared angrily: "Bang the drum! Fight!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
More than a dozen war drums on the top of Jinan City rang loudly. The majestic war drums resounded through Yunxiang, suppressing the shouts and horns of the Qing army outside the city. The morale of the Ming army soldiers in the city was greatly boosted, and they all raised their arms and cheered. .
Outside the city, Prince Rui Dorgon looked at the city with a sneer, and said to the three people beside him: Prince Duduo of Yu, Prince Yuetuo of Keqin County, and Beile Dudu of Anping: "Look, Lu Xiangsheng's flag is on the top of the city. We arrived in time, Lu Xiangsheng did not leave in time."
Yue Tuo glanced at Dorgon and said: "Perhaps, Lu Xiangsheng did not intend to evacuate. Prince Rui, please see that all the people outside Jinan City have been moved into the city, and even the houses outside the city have been demolished. Obviously, Lu Xiangsheng is preparing to fortify the walls and clear the country, and is going to fight our army under Jinan City."
Duduo was dissatisfied with Yue Tuo's words and said, "So what? There is only Lu Xiangsheng's flag on the city top, and over there is the flag of Shandong Governor Yan Jizu. The other Ming armies have not arrived, and Liu Yan's troops are not here either." . In my opinion, the Ming army in the city is at most 10,000, or maybe even only a few thousand. Our army will definitely capture and kill Lu Xiangsheng in this battle!"
Yue Tuo saw that the morale of the Ming army in the city was greatly improved, and he knew that Lu Xiangsheng was by no means mediocre, but he could not directly refute Duduo, so he had to say: "I hope so."
Dorgon also knew that Lu Xiangsheng was not someone to be taken lightly, so he said: "We should not underestimate the enemy. We should attack for a few days first to consume some of the Ming army's strength in the city, and then besiege and call for reinforcements. It is best to attract Liu Yan's troops. Our army concentrated its superior forces to annihilate them in the Jinan Prefecture area!"
Du Du and Yue Tuo looked at each other, both of them were still frightened. Liu Yan's fighting methods were too sophisticated, he could be cruel and cruel, and the warriors of each banner did not know how many casualties they would suffer in this battle.
Dorgon then ordered a siege of the city, blocking the north with Dudu's Manchurian red flag and Buyendai's Mongolian red flag, Duduo's Manchurian white flag to blockade the west, and Yuetuo's Manzhouzhenghong flag to blockade the east. noodle. Dorgon led the Manchurian Zhengbai Banner, the Mongolian Zhengbai Banner of Ibai, a decent 10,000 Han troops, as well as more than 2,000 Ming army prisoners and more than 20,000 civilians plundered along the way, all stationed in the south.
In the south of Jinan City, Dorgon set up camp, then summoned all the banner leaders to the Chinese army's tent, and ordered all ministries to seize the time to build ladders and rush vehicles, and start attacking the city early tomorrow morning, with the south and north sides as the The main direction of attack is feint attack from the east and west.
At the same time, Dorgon ordered Shang Kexi to be ready for war at any time. Once Liu Yan's troops appeared, he would use Shang Kexi's 10,000 Han troops to fight.
On that day, the Qing army camped on all sides and surrounded Jinan Fucheng. It only took half a day for the Qing army to cut down all the trees around Jinan Fucheng, and then began to build large-scale ladders, rams, shields, shield cars, etc. Siege machinery.
At the same time, the banner owners also sent a large number of scouts to search for the movements of the Ming army. Dorgon specially sent scouts to explore the south. The search range reached hundreds of miles to prevent Liu Yan and his troops from suddenly attacking.
At night, the surrounding Qing troops lit bonfires. Together with the prisoners and the abducted people, the camp of more than 100,000 people stretched for more than ten miles, surrounding the huge Jinan City in the middle, like a Milky Way composed of stars in the sky. Jinan Fucheng became an isolated island.
At this time, Lu Xiangsheng stood on the top of the city and looked to the south. With the firelight in the Qing army camp, he could faintly see a golden dragon scroll fluttering in the night wind.
"The slave thieves are preparing to surround the area for reinforcements."
Lu Xiangsheng said worriedly, and the general Lu Huaiying on the side secretly said that he was lucky. Fortunately, before the Qing army arrived, several of Lu Xiangsheng's brothers were sent away, and they were asked to take Lu Xiangsheng's autographed letter and go to the capital to ask for help. .
At this time, Lu Huaiying said worriedly: "Master Governor, the only soldiers and horses that Shandong Dusi can fight now are the new troops commanded by Commander Liu. The other soldiers in Jimo Camp, Wendeng Camp, and Dengzhou Camp are just superficial. If we really want to fight, There is no hope of getting up. But now there are 100,000 Qing troops under Jinan City, and Commander Liu only has more than 9,000 newly recruited troops. How can we fight this battle?"
Lu Xiangsheng shook his head slightly. He didn't know how to fight. It could be said that this battle was far more dangerous than the Battle of Julu. The initiative on the battlefield was in the hands of the Qing soldiers, and the situation was precarious.
"I hope the imperial court can send reinforcements as soon as possible."
Now King Qin's troops from all over the country should have arrived around the capital one after another. The soldiers and horses in Shanxi Town, Shaanxi Town, and Xuanfu Town in the northwest are all brave enough to fight. The soldiers and horses in the hands of Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou can also be considered elite. If the court can make up its mind, Leaving some troops and horses to cut off the retreat of the Qing troops, and using the main force to fight under the city of Jinan, we might not be able to win another great victory over Julu!
But Lu Xiangsheng then thought of Yang Sichang, Minister of the Ministry of War, and his heart that had just become hot suddenly fell into an ice cellar.
"well!"
A long sigh.
Lu Xiangsheng shook his head, as if he wanted to shake away all these worries, and then asked, "Where did Yan Futai go?"
Lu Huaiying said: "In the afternoon, your Excellency discussed with Yan Futai about recruiting young men in the city to help defend the city. However, the city's treasury is currently insufficient, so Yan Futai went to Prince De's Mansion, saying that he wanted to borrow grain and money from Prince De."
Lu Xiangsheng nodded. Although the Virtuous King Zhu Youli had no talent and had done a lot of bullying of men and women, his reputation among the vassal kings was still average, at least in terms of right and wrong. Been confused.
"I hope Yan Futai can borrow money and food."
Prince De's Mansion.
"What? Want to borrow money or food?"
Yan Jizu looked at King De Zhu Youjue expectantly. He saw Zhu Youjue furrowing his brows and pondering for a long time before he said, "This king has just become a vassal not long ago. There are not many rewards from the court, even a title." The harvest of the city has not been collected yet, and I am also short of money now."
"Your Highness!"
Yan Jizu was so anxious that he ignored etiquette and said loudly: "Now an army of one hundred thousand slaves and thieves is outside the city. We don't know when the imperial reinforcements will arrive. If there is not enough money and food, there will be thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of young people in the city." Why should we defend the city? Are we going to let all the soldiers starve to fight against slaves and bandits? We are going to let the soldiers who die in battle not even receive any money for their compensation!"
"Your Highness, think about the family of the former King De. If the slave thieves are really defeated, the officials and others will naturally die to serve the country, but Your Highness will never be alone!"
Zhu Youli frowned and stood up suddenly. Just as he was about to have a seizure, he saw Yan Jizu not giving in and staring at him, trembling in his heart, so he slowly sat down.
"well!"
"Yan Futai has really put me in a difficult position. Now that we've said that, let's talk about how much food we need, Yan Futai."
"Your Highness is wise. Based on the current strength of the troops in the city and the rations required by the people in the city, and taking one month as the time limit, the official will need at least 50,000 taels of military pay and 80,000 dans of food. If the war cannot end within a month, then Your Highness will We still need support for one or two.”
"What!"
Zhu Youli stood up again, his eyes widened, and said loudly: "So much money and food? Are your governor's office and Lu Xiangsheng's governor's office both beggars? You don't have a tael of silver or a grain of food?"
Yan Jizu smiled bitterly and said: "Your Highness Mingjian, how long has it been since Jinan City was destroyed by slaves and thieves? Xianguan and Lu Duchen spent money and food to rebuild the city. If we hadn't spent almost all the money and food in the treasury to rebuild the city walls and gates in advance, The construction is completed, and now the army of slave thieves has laid waste to Jinan Fucheng, and the officials and others really have no money or food to use!"
Zhu Youli was furious when he heard this and shouted: "It is the imperial court that fights against the slave thieves. You, the high officials in the frontier, have no money or food, but you are eyeing the pocket of an idle prince like me. What's the point of this!"
After saying that, Zhu Youli was about to walk away. Yan Jizu also got angry at this time. He rushed forward, grabbed Zhu Youli's sleeve, and said loudly: "The money and food have not been released, where is your highness going!"
"you!"
Zhu Youli was so angry that he pointed at Yan Jizu's nose and shouted: "How presumptuous!"
"Without money and food, we cannot defend the city of Jinan. Everyone will die. Your Majesty will not follow the etiquette today. Your Highness can report to the court to impeach this official after the war. But today, Your Highness cannot leave without money and food." of!"
Zhu Youli was "roared" by Yan Jizu for a while, and finally lost his temper, so he had to pay for the food. However, he forced Yan Jizu to write a written statement that after repelling the Qing soldiers, the Governor's Mansion and the governor's Yamen must return the capital with interest. In Prince De's Mansion, the interest should also be calculated according to the private market conditions.
Yan Jizu was so angry that he clenched his teeth and wrote down the written note, and then threw it to King De Zhu Youli.
"Haha, Yan Futai should follow the knife-wielding man in my palace. The money and food can be delivered tonight."
Yan Jizu clasped his fists and left, but when he reached the entrance of the main hall, he stopped and said, "By the way, when the war starts, His Highness King De will need to move to the top of the city to boost the morale of the defenders!"
King De Zhu Youjue was immediately dumbfounded.
Some people died, but not completely...
