"Why did so many rebels suddenly appear? What is the current situation in the city?"
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and asked after hearing Wang Shoulin's report.
Wang Shoulin shook his head and said: "The rebels came suddenly. The high commander is still investigating, but the people in the city don't know yet, so it's relatively stable at the moment."
"It's just that many soldiers guarding the city have been frightened by the rebels, and some even escaped from the Daizongmen. Fortunately, Lord Lu Zhenfei found out in time, sent troops to stop it, and killed several of the leaders before suppressing it. This matter."
"However, most of the people in the city came to the city to avoid the war. If they learn about this, I'm afraid it will cause a commotion. If they leave the city to take refuge, I'm afraid the general will..."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he was a little surprised and said: "Of the four gates of Linyi, only Daizongmen does not have Wengcheng. Why did the rebels relax their defense here?"
Although Linyi was a battleground for military strategists, before the Ming Dynasty, Linyi City was only a small rammed earth city with weak defensive capabilities.
It was not until the first year of Hongwu that Zhou De, commanded by Yizhou, demolished the earth city and rebuilt it into a brick city. He also built an urn city outside the east, west and south gates as wartime defenses.
After the city was built, the four gates were named Daizong Gate (North Gate), Wanghuai Gate (South Gate), Zhenhai Gate (East Gate), and Zhanmeng Gate (West Gate) based on local characteristics.
Since among the four gates, only Daizongmen did not have an Wengcheng, if the rebels wanted to capture Linyi quickly, Daizongmen should be the first choice, so Zhu Yuanzhang asked this question.
Wang Shoulin shook his head and said: "There were still some rebels in Daizongmen in the early morning, but after the arrival of the rebel army, all the rebels had withdrawn. Now there are no rebels surrounding Daizongmen at all."
"What? There are no rebels outside the Daizong Gate?"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he frowned and said, "It seems that they deliberately left Daizongmen behind. Firstly, they wanted to undermine the fighting spirit of the soldiers defending the city, and secondly, they wanted to trick us into escaping from Daizongmen so that we could catch them in a jar..." ..."
As he spoke, he suddenly stopped, looked at Wang Shoulin and said, "Didn't Xia Wanchun leave from Daizongmen?"
Wang Shoulin shook his head and said, "No, although the Daizongmen had the fewest rebels at that time, Mr. Xia thought it was a conspiracy by the rebels, so he went to Zhenhaimen."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "This kid is quite smart. Ma Jinzhong is the nearest reinforcement to Linyi. If he goes out from Zhenhai Gate, the rebels will probably think that he is looking for Ma Jinzhong for help. It is safer to go south."
Wang Shoulin agreed: "Master Xia is indeed smart. Before he left the city, he asked Huang Zhicheng to feign an attack from Wanghuai Gate, attracting the attention of the rebels, and then left from Zhenhai Gate..."
Zhu Yuanzhang originally had some scruples about Xia Wanchun because of his identity. Now after listening to Wang Shoulin's story, he couldn't help but feel a little fond of Xia Wanchun, and his original worries were relieved a lot.
Then he took Wang Shoulin out of the study and prepared to rush to Daizongmen to check the situation.
However, when he saw that there were actually eighteen riders among the people accompanying him, he couldn't help but frowned, but his heart felt warm.
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's frown, Wang Shoulin hurriedly explained in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Zhang Dabiao did not intend to resist the decree. It was only because there were too few soldiers in the city that he was worried about your Majesty's safety, so he left behind eighteen horsemen and five hundred tiger warriors... ..."
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "Ask the Jinyi guards along the way to help more. It doesn't matter if you are exposed if necessary."
"Then let's tell that kid not to die, and we'll have to settle the score with him!"
Wang Shoulin knew that Zhu Yuanzhang disliked people violating his will. He was a little worried at first, but now he breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.
When Zhu Yuanzhang and his party were approaching Daizongmen, they were shocked when they found that a large number of people were rushing towards Daizongmen, making the already narrow road even more crowded.
Because there were only more than 3,000 soldiers and horses in the city, we originally expected to mobilize the people to defend the city. If the people left the city one after another at this moment, Linyi City would be in danger of falling.
"Wang Qing, immediately send people to seal the city gate. If anyone resists the order, kill them on the spot!"
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at the people in front and said in a deep voice.
After Wang Shoulin bowed in agreement, he led others to squeeze through.
But he only went there for a while,
He came back with a smile and reported: "Your Majesty, the people are not leaving the city, but are rushing to sign up to defend the city!"
"Sign up to defend the city?"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he was a little surprised and said: "Who is guarding this place?"
Wang Shoulin said: "It's Chen Mingyu, the classic historian of Jiangyin."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard about the history of Jiangyin, he immediately thought of Yan Yingyuan who was guarding Wuchang, and asked: "How did this man get to Linyi? Could it be that he is also good at guarding the city?"
Wang Shoulin nodded and said, "Chen Mingyu was borrowed by Mr. Shi from Mr. Yuan (Yuan Jixian), and he has a good relationship with Yan Yingyuan. I think he has a lot of research on the city defenders. When he was in Huai'an..."
"Chen Mingyu, you are also a person who reads the books of sages. How can you act so shamelessly and use money to buy people's hearts? Have you forgotten the teachings of sages, virtue..."
At this time, a sound of scolding came from not far ahead.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard the sound, he couldn't help but frowned, and then slowly stepped forward.
Upon seeing this, Wang Shoulin hurriedly followed, and the others quickly blended into the crowd, secretly protecting Zhu Yuanzhang and clearing the way for him.
Zhu Yuanzhang turned two corners following the sound, and saw a man in Confucian attire in front of Daizong Gate, about 25 or 26 years old, pointing at a middle-aged man and yelling at him, and from time to time he pointed at the person behind the middle-aged man. A pile of silver.
It was said to be a pile of silver, but in fact it was not much, only about five or six hundred taels. It was just because of the special arrangement that it looked like a lot.
"Your Majesty, that man is Mr. Shi's protégé Huang Zhicheng. It was he who lowered Huang Zongxi into the city last night."
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang frown slightly, Wang Shoulin explained in a low voice.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Since they are all Shi Kefa's people, how can they be so tit-for-tat?"
Wang Shoulin said: "Although Huang Zhicheng has some talents and learning, he likes to talk empty talk, and Chen Mingyu happens to have a pragmatic temperament, so the two of them can't get along."
"In addition, when defending the city in Huai'an, Chen Mingyu refuted Huang Zhicheng's plan to defend the city, and the two formed a feud..."
"Chen Mingyu, you are so stubborn and stubborn, then you and I should go to the teacher and talk to you..."
While Wang Shoulin was telling the story, Huang Zhicheng pulled Chen Mingyu's sleeve and shouted loudly.
Chen Mingyu did not struggle, but simply said calmly: "Sir Huang, I have the responsibilities of being a subordinate, and I dare not leave without permission. Please forgive me!"
When Huang Zhicheng saw this, he snorted coldly and shouted: "It's a great responsibility for me. I think you clearly have something wrong in your mind. Come on, follow me to see the teacher!"
As he said this, he wanted to force Chen Mingyu to leave again.
Chen Mingyu frowned slightly and shook his left arm slightly, trying to get rid of Huang Zhicheng's pull. Unexpectedly, the other party stepped back and fell to the ground.
"How dare you, Chen Mingyu, do something!"
Huang Zhicheng got up and shouted sternly: "What are you still doing? Why don't you give it to me..."
But before he finished speaking, he saw some soldiers and people surrounding him, and he couldn't help but feel guilty.
Then he forced himself to be calm and said: "Okay, Chen Mingyu, your villain approach is very good. Just wait and see how the teacher deals with you!"
As he spoke, he walked forward.
When he passed the pile of silver, he seemed to be upset. Just as he was about to stretch out his foot to kick over the silver, he saw several soldiers walking forward like wolves and tigers. He was so frightened that he hurriedly took his feet back and faced him in embarrassment. Run forward.
After Huang Zhicheng stayed away from everyone, he turned back and glared angrily, then walked forward slowly, completely different from when he was running away.
