"Your Majesty, Zhao Erhu has just sent news that he found traces of wolf soldiers on the way, and there are also many rebels coming out of the mountains, as if they are going to attack Linyi."
After Zhang Dabiao bowed and saluted, he reported solemnly.
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned when he heard this, was silent for a while, and said, "Is there any news about Li Jing?"
Zhang Dabiao said: "Not yet, but Zhao Erhu found traces of fighting. I think Master Li and the others may have been attacked by wolf soldiers."
After he finished speaking, seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was silent, he whispered again: "Your Majesty, this matter is a bit strange. Is there another problem within us?"
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "Probably not. If we had female cadres within us, Li Jing would never have been able to go this far."
"You must know that the person behind the scenes has a lot of power in the south. It's just now that he discovered Li Jing, which is a little abnormal. Could it be..."
He said and suddenly stopped.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Dabiao subconsciously asked, "Is it possible that the other party did this on purpose so that His Majesty could stay in Linyi?"
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and said with a smile: "This possibility cannot be ruled out. Although we have been to the front line in person before, we could not stay in one place for more than three to five days. Even if they discovered it, they would not have time to arrange it."
"But this time we have to wait for Li Jinghe to deal with the affairs of the vassal king, so we have been stationed in Linyi for more than ten days, which is indeed a long time."
Zhang Dabiao bowed and said: "Your Majesty, according to Zhao Erhu's information, the enemy is still more than fifty miles away from Linyi. The general still has a thousand cavalry in his hands. If we leave now, it should be too late."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Leave, where are you going?"
Zhang Dabiao couldn't help being stunned when he heard this.
He had just thought about letting Zhu Yuanzhang leave Linyi, but after thinking about it carefully, he didn't seem to have a good place to go.
Because although there are many soldiers and horses in Shandong, Ma Jinzhong, Li Chengdong and others are not trustworthy people.
If they go straight to the capital, the journey is too far. If they are caught up by wolf soldiers halfway, the situation will be even worse.
But if he doesn't leave, the more than 3,000 city defenders and the 1,000 cavalry in his hands may not be able to block the opponent's attack.
Suddenly, he thought of Huai'an.
Although the situation in Huai'an is not clear, there are tens of thousands of people there, and they do not trust each other. They are constraining each other, so they will be safer.
So he said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, let's go to Huai'an!"
"The wolf soldiers and rebels came from the south. They never expected that we would go south. We rushed out when they were not prepared and led the Huai'an troops to encircle and suppress them."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Yes, they have improved a lot than before, but have you ever thought that the wolf soldiers used to be very cautious and could not be discovered until the moment of attack. How could we discover their whereabouts so early today?"
Zhang Dabiao was stunned and said: "Your Majesty, are you saying that they deliberately exposed their whereabouts and wanted to lure us south?"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, and just as he was about to speak, he saw a guard in Jinyi coming in to report that Shi Kefa and others were outside asking for a meeting.
After he signaled the Jin Yiwei to bring Shi Kefa and others in, he said to Zhang Dabiao: "Immediately take a thousand cavalry to the north. Remember to place our flag in Linyi City before leaving."
Zhang Dabiao was shocked when he heard this and said in panic: "Your Majesty, how can the general leave you at this moment..."
As he spoke, he remembered that Zhu Yuanzhang had planted fake flags several times before to confuse the rebels by making false claims to the east and attacking in the west. He then asked tentatively: "Your Majesty, do you want the rebels to think that you have gone north?"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Yes, as long as that wolf soldier leaves, the rest of the rebels are not of concern, so as long as you escape further, we will be safer."
Although Zhang Dabiao felt that Zhu Yuanzhang's words were reasonable, he was still worried and said: "Your Majesty, if the other party does not fall into the trap, wouldn't it be too dangerous for you?"
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "No, they will definitely fall into the trap, because... you go and do it quickly!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Dabiao knew that Zhu Yuanzhang had made up his mind, and seeing that Shi Kefa and others had come in, he bowed and left in a hurry.
Shi Kefa led the crowd
After saluting Zhu Yuanzhang, the man said with a worried look on his face: "Your Majesty, I have just received news that many rebels are coming towards Linyi..."
Zhu Yuanzhang listened to Shi Kefa's story while secretly observing everyone's expressions.
He saw that Shi Kefa, Shen Tingyang and others all had sad expressions on their faces, while Xia Wanchun was nervous but mixed with a hint of excitement, while Huang Zongxi, who was a bit embarrassed, looked calm and looked on with cold eyes.
After Zhu Yuanzhang waited for Shi Kefa to finish speaking, he said in a deep voice: "Shi Qing, how did you learn about this?"
Shi Kefa was stunned when he heard this, glanced at Huang Zongxi subconsciously, and then said hesitantly: "This matter..."
"Your Majesty, the general saw this on the way. He thought it was important, so he hurried back to report it."
"When we returned to the city, because the city gate was closed, the general lied and asked the soldiers to let him into the city!"
When Huang Zongxi saw Zhu Yuanzhang asking about the source of the information, he guessed what the other party was thinking. At this moment, seeing Shi Kefa's hesitant expression, Huang Zongxi explained with some dissatisfaction.
It turned out that after Huang Zongxi rushed back to the city, he explained many times outside the city, but the soldiers who defended the city refused to let him into the city.
Later, he had an idea and said that he was Shi Kefa's retainer and had something important to report. Only then did a general-looking man ask the soldiers to let him into the city.
Although Huang Zongxi came to the city for this reason, he was not grateful in his heart. Instead, he felt that the other party had abandoned the public service for personal reasons, so when he saw Shi Kefa hesitating just now, he told the truth and lies.
Shi Kefa saw that although Huang Zongxi had concealed part of the truth, what he said was still illegal.
He also thought that Chongzhen attached great importance to rules and liked to pursue the smallest details and severely punish those who violated the rules, so he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with some worry.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw Huang Zongxi, Shi Kefa and others' expressions, although he didn't know the specific situation, he had already guessed most of it.
Then he thought that the enemy was in front of him, and if he tried to do more than one thing in politics, it would be detrimental to the overall situation.
So he said in a deep voice: "Although this soldier did a good thing, he also violated military orders..."
When Shi Kefa heard this, his expression suddenly changed.
It turned out that the general who ordered Huang Zongxi to go to the city tonight was one of his proud disciples. He was quite talented and learned, and was deeply loved by him.
He was afraid that his disciple would be punished, so he was about to open his mouth to remonstrate, but he heard Zhu Yuanzhang's voice: "Shi Qing, it is up to you to enforce the military law, beat him with thirty military sticks, and reward him with ten taels of silver as our reward for him. Reward!"
When Shi Kefa heard that he would be beaten with thirty army sticks, he felt relieved. Later, when he heard that he would be rewarded with ten taels of silver, he hurriedly agreed.
"My lords, what are your suggestions for this matter?"
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at everyone and said slowly.
When Shen Tingyang and others heard this, they all looked at Shi Kefa.
Seeing this, Shi Kefa muttered: "Your Majesty, the rebels came suddenly. For now, it's best to stick around and wait for reinforcements!"
Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.
It's just that Chen Zilong obviously didn't mean what he said, while Huang Zongxi showed a sneer.
At this time, Xia Wanchun bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Linyi is not a fortified city, and there are only three to four thousand defenders in the city. If the rebels attack urgently, they may not be able to defend it for two days."
"Currently Ren Yibo (Ma Jinzhong) is rebelling near Yishui County, which is only more than two hundred miles away. Your Majesty may as well ride there while I wait to guard the city. When the time comes, we should cooperate with each other inside and outside, and we will definitely be able to repel the rebels."
As soon as Xia Wanchun finished speaking, Shi Kefa shook his head and said, "No, although Mr. Ma is brave, he is still a bandit. If he is persuaded by the rebels and turns against him in the face of battle, it will be bad."
"It's better to hold on to the city and at the same time, ride quickly to Huai'an to send a message and let Ma Shiying and others come to help."
Xia Wanchun frowned and said, "Huai'an is four to five hundred miles away, how can we make it in time?"
Lu Zhenfei said: "How can your majesty go out so easily? If there is something wrong on the way, what will happen? Why not..."
Shen Tingyang said: "The rebels came in a hurry. I don't think they have enough siege equipment. They will definitely not be able to attack the city in a short time..."
...
Zhu Yuanzhang originally wanted to test everyone's talents, but now he saw everyone arguing and arguing for nearly an hour.
, but couldn't come up with a feasible plan, and couldn't help but shake his head slightly.
Suddenly, a strong yet suppressed anger arose in his heart.
Just when he was wondering, the scene of Chongzhen discussing with his ministers about moving south appeared in his mind, and then he understood.
Because he was confident at the moment and was in a different situation than Chongzhen, the anger dissipated not long after it arose.
At this time, a guard in uniform hurriedly came in to report that several groups of rebels of unknown origin had surrounded the four gates.
