Shi Kefa and others originally thought that the rebels would arrive in the early morning at the earliest, but when they heard the report, they were all stunned.
"Huang Jianjun, didn't you say that the rebels are still sixty or seventy miles away from here? How come they are here so soon?"
After Shen Tingyang was surprised, he looked at Huang Zongxi with some dissatisfaction.
When Huang Zongxi heard this, he frowned and said, "Xiaguan found the rebels a hundred miles away, and most of the rebels were infantry. Even if they marched in a hurry, they should be forty or fifty miles away now."
He said with some disdain: "Now the rebels suddenly appeared. I think it was because other rebels came while you sirs were arguing, that the siege happened."
When Shen Tingyang heard this, a look of anger flashed across his face.
He was about to rebuke Huang Zongxi, but was stopped by Shi Kefa.
Then Shi Kefa straightened his clothes, saluted Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Your Majesty, the rebels came suddenly. The situation is critical now. Please organize defense immediately. At the same time, while the rebels are not yet stable, send people out to ask for help!"
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that although he was a little hesitant before, but now he was decisive in facing the enemy and his strategy was appropriate, he couldn't help but have some changes in his opinion.
Just as he was about to nod in agreement, he heard Xia Wanchun's voice again: "Your Majesty, I would like to lead three hundred soldiers to fight for help. May your Majesty agree?"
When Shi Kefa heard this, he immediately frowned.
However, he did not object this time, and just glared at Chen Zilong with some dissatisfaction.
Chen Zilong also felt that this matter was inappropriate. When he saw Shi Kefa's eyes, he was about to speak out to dissuade him, but the other party signaled that he should not do so.
He was slightly startled, thinking that Xia Wanchun was stubborn by nature, and if he spoke out against it at this moment, it would cause another dispute.
If His Majesty remains as hesitant as before, it will be detrimental to the overall situation.
Then he thought that His Majesty had behaved very bravely before, but he did not expect that the rebels suddenly appeared, but he committed the old habit again. It seemed that as Shi Kefa said, His Majesty was just temporarily angry before, and his nature has not changed.
Just when he felt a little disappointed, he suddenly remembered Xia Wanchun's description of His Majesty's performance during the night terror in the capital. He felt that the other party must be someone with great strategy, and looked at him with some doubts.
Zhu Yuanzhang was sizing up Xia Wanchun when he suddenly saw Huang Zongxi with disdain on his face. Although he suspected that the other party wanted to attract his attention, he wanted to use the rebellion to test everyone's abilities, so he looked at Huang Zongxi and said: "Huang Qing , do you have a strategy to defeat the enemy?"
Upon hearing this, Huang Zongxi strode forward and said, "Your Majesty, please give me a thousand elite soldiers, so that I can repel the rebels at the north gate and escort your Majesty out of the city."
Although Zhu Yuanzhang disagreed, seeing Huang Zongxi's heroic face, he smiled and said, "You only need a thousand soldiers and horses to escort us out of the city?"
"Your Majesty, this is not possible!"
Shi Kefa did not wait for Huang Zongxi's answer, but interrupted loudly: "Your Majesty, the situation is unclear now. If you rush out of the city, you may be ambushed by the rebels. Your Majesty, please think twice!"
Huang Zongxi sneered and said, "Master Shi, you are worrying too much."
"Xiaoguan heard that Guo Sheng's men previously only had 50,000 or 60,000 men. After several major defeats, the number of remaining troops stranded north of Linyi was no more than 10,000."
"The last time we were defeated in Weifang, the number of rebels was only four to five thousand. In addition, they had to divide their forces to besiege the city. Each gate could only have more than a thousand people at most, so what's the point?"
Although Shi Kefa was anxious, he thought of Huang Zongxi's extreme thoughts and admired Mencius's statement that "the people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least important". He even once said, "The world is the master, and the king is the guest." language.
He was afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang would be deceived and encounter something unexpected if he rashly left the city, so he hurriedly retorted: "Even if there are only more than ten thousand rebels north of Linyi, what about south of Linyi?"
"You must know that Guo Sheng had more than 20,000 people when he broke out from Linyi. Although many rebels followed him to Weifang, there are probably many who are stranded south of Linyi."
"In addition, there are many thieves in Shandong, and the rebels are good at winning over people's hearts. Who knows how many troops they have now. If you lead His Majesty out of the city so rashly, what if something goes wrong?"
Huang Zongxi was stunned for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "Xiaoguan just said that the rebels south of Linyi should be forty or fifty miles away, so the rebels coming here must be the rebels north of Linyi."
"Furthermore, Mr. Shi just said that the number of rebels south of Linyi is difficult to estimate. If Your Majesty does not leave the city now and waits for the rebels to arrive, with the thousands of soldiers and horses in the city, how confident is Mr. Shi that he can defend the city? "
When Shen Tingyang saw that Huang Zongxi was so rude to Shi Kefa and showed no courtesy, he was a little angry and said: "Huang Jianjun, how did you know that only the troops from the north of Linyi came? What if there were rebels from other places coming?" ?」
"You must know that there are many mountains and rivers near Linyi. The imperial court has carried out many encirclement and suppression campaigns in the past, but with little success..."
...
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned when he saw everyone arguing again.
Then he saw Xia Wanchun quietly leaving at Chen Zilong's signal, and couldn't help but take another look at Chen Zilong.
When Chen Zilong saw Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze, he handed over his resignation and left the study after the other party nodded in agreement.
"Boom!"
While everyone was arguing, a loud noise suddenly came from outside the city, and then the ground shook slightly.
"This sounds like the sound of a red cannon. How can the rebels have cannons?"
Lu Zhenfei frowned slightly and said with a worried look on his face.
As soon as he said this, everyone looked panicked.
Because Linyi is not a fortified city, if the rebels continue to bombard it, the city will fall in less than half a day.
"Your Majesty, please give the order. If it is too late, it will be too late."
When everyone was panicking, Huang Zongxi played loudly again.
Shi Kefa and others were obviously shocked by the cannon, and they all agreed and said they would stick to Linyi to buy Zhu Yuanzhang time.
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at everyone, then looked at Huang Zongxi and said, "How confident are you that you can take us out of the city safely? Where will we go after we leave the city?"
Huang Zongxi heard this and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the battlefield is dangerous and I am not completely sure, but I will do my best to ensure your Majesty's safety."
"As for where to go, I feel that Ma Jinzhong and Li Chengdong from Shandong are both bandits. Your Majesty should not trust them easily. It is safer to go to Huai'an."
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "You just said that the rebels south of Linyi are very powerful, and now you ask us to go south. Wouldn't that mean we are falling into a trap?"
Huang Zongxi was stunned for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, although the rebels are powerful, our move should be successful if we take them by surprise."
"Although going south is dangerous, it is better than sitting...staying in the city. Please don't hesitate, Your Majesty, otherwise it will be too late!"
Although Huang Zongxi changed his words in time, Zhu Yuanzhang understood what he meant and couldn't help but frowned.
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang had previously felt that Huang Zongxi was not very respectful of the imperial power. Now that he saw that Huang Zongxi could actually say "sit back and wait for death" in front of him, he knew that he was even more wanton in private.
In addition, Huang Zongxi had no foolproof plan, but insisted on letting him leave the city. He seemed loyal, but in fact, he didn't take his life and death seriously.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but feel angry.
However, he immediately thought that Huang Zongxi still needed to be used to solve the feudal king's affairs, so he endured it, and then looked at Shi Kefa and others.
He saw that everyone had worried faces, but their eyes were very determined, knowing that there was no need to doubt their loyalty.
But it was such a group of loyal ministers who wasted more than two precious hours in the previous debate.
If he hadn't planned ahead, he would have been misled by these loyal ministers today.
