Wujun, Qiantang.
It was late at night, the moon and stars were sparse, and the whole city was silent inside and outside. The only sound left was the summer wind, which made the branches rustle, and the only sound that could be heard was the chirping of cicadas.
That night, a group of people jumped out of the market. They used the weak moonlight to take advantage of Sun En's killing of cattle and sheep to reward the army. When the guards were unprepared, they rushed out of Qiantang and defected to the imperial army.
Sun En's main force defeated Qian Tang after only two days of siege. General Huwei Xie Yan, the son of Taifu Xie An, was defeated and died in the battle. As the saying goes: A defeat is like a mountain falling, and most of the men under Xie Yan's control also dispersed after losing the city.
All twenty-four noble families in Qiantang County were confiscated and exterminated by Sun En. No one was left alive. Blood flowed day and night. The whole city was crying. Within ten days, there was no rooster crow for a hundred miles at the sound of Sun En's name. , the name of the Heavenly Master, babies dare not cry, evil dogs dare not roar!
In such a dangerous situation, this group of people were able to remain calm in the face of danger and plan to kill Qian Tang precisely because there was one leader among them - Qian Tang Ling Dingtai!
After the Qiantang case of destroying embankments and flooding fields was provisionally finalized, the principal culprit, former Wu Commandery Governor Gu Yuezhi, was exiled to the foggy land of Lingnan. The accomplices, including Qiantang County Prime Minister Fan Yin and below, were captured by Tingwei Wang Kun, Yushi doctor Sun Kang, and Ye Zhepushe Tao. Fan Sanfa's officials discussed the crime and executed him.
Because Ding Tai repented in time, revealed the inside story and confessed his crime, and Xu Zongwen intervened, he stated that he had personally donated a thousand dan of food to relieve the victims, but because of his weak power, he controlled the money for the county captain Zhu Zhen, county prime minister Fan Yin and other nobles. In the government affairs of the Tang Dynasty, there was no real power, so there was delay in dealing with disasters. Although there was dereliction of duty, there was no serious crime.
Therefore, the Sanfa Division only fined Ding Tai one year's salary for dereliction of duty. As a result, Ding Tai not only saved his life, but also served as a criminal and still served as Qian Tangling. He could not be promoted or dismissed. Even he himself did not expect this result.
The Qiantang gentry was raided, and the Ding family could not escape the disaster. Ding Taiben was also implicated, but he was not only the local parent official Qian Tangling, but as the head of the Qiantang Ding family, he had always hidden a secret in the clan. That is a secret known to all the heads of the Ding family in the past generations. It is passed down from male to female, and from direct descendants to concubines. There is a secret room in Ding's house that leads to the north gate of Qiantang.
If we want to talk about why this secret passage and secret room cannot be dug directly outside the city, then we have to talk about the structure of Qian Tang City.
There are dense ditches and waterways inside and outside Qiantang City, especially in the north of the city.
Ding's House is located in the north of the city. It took several generations to dig to the city gate, let alone dig far away to reach other city gates, which is even more difficult than climbing to the sky! It was not easy to reach the water channel, which not only flooded the secret passage, but also wasted several years of work in vain, and suddenly exposed the secret of Ding's house!
Therefore, Ding Tai could only lead a few tribesmen, family members, servants, and the few remaining county officials to rush out of the city gate through a secret passage in the middle of the night.
"Master, according to the little people's investigation in the past few days, we learned that the strength of the anti-thief army in Qiantang has not decreased, but is constantly increasing its troops!"
"It's very strange. The city gate is closed during the day, but it opens at night. Large carts have been brought into the city from outside the city for many days. I still can't figure it out..."
Ding Tai leaned against the wall and listened carefully to the servant's report while quickly analyzing it in his mind.
As the servant said, the actions of the anti-thief army were indeed abnormal. I heard that the imperial army gathered in Wu County. Sun En did not want to march to help Lu Xun, so why did he stop at Qiantang and refuse to leave?
So many carriages were probably used to transport grain and fodder. Could it be that they were transporting coins?
However, according to the information revealed by the surrendered imperial soldiers, Sun En's army's food and grass supplies were all stored in Wucheng. So much food and grass was transported to Qiantang, what about Wucheng?
Dingtai noticed something strange!
"It's not busy, like this," Ding Tai pointed to the family and servants behind him: "Let them all go back. We are still hiding in the cellar and secret rooms these days. Except for your eyes and ears, everyone has to eat, drink, and defecate." Inside, don’t be exposed!”
"No!" The servant hunched over, squinted his eyes, thought about the joints for a moment, and quietly retreated.
Sun En frowned slightly and realized that things were not simple. There must be secrets in Qiantang City!
Therefore, he chose not to leave for the time being. He had to first figure out what Sun En was going to do in Qiantang.
Although Xie Yan died, I heard that the reinforcements sent by the imperial court to suppress the rebellion were the elite troops of Xu Xiao, the general who conquered the north - the Xiaoqi Army.
If you can find out the secrets of Qiantang City and then find a way to deliver them out of the city, this will be a great achievement!
After the plan was decided, Ding Tai turned around and left. After a while, the group of people disappeared into the streets without a trace. The sentries in the anti-thief army who were responsible for patrolling the city did not notice it!
Not long after Ding Tai left, a group of soldiers and horses quietly left from the north gate of Qiantang in the hazy night...
Yangxian, Zhangputing.
On a low mountain, several people were lying in the weeds, drowsy. When the chirping of cicadas finally subsided, one of them turned over and sat up, wiped his eyes and looked south, and prayed together: "I hope General This battle is a great victory, and we will thwart the Sun thief's plan to invade the north, and relieve the brothers in Wuxian County from being besieged..."
This person is the leader of the Xiaoqi Army, and the Wolf Guard will serve as the camp commander Xu Wen. Xu Zongwen crossed the river from Tangyi half a day ago and went south to Yixing County. When he arrived in Yangxian, he deliberately left a group of scouts to ensure that the army's retreat was smooth. , and this important task fell on Xu Wen, who followed Xu Zongwen.
I think back then, before the Battle of Bailangdu, Xu Wen built a dam in the Baisha Land on the south bank of Zhang River to store water, preparing to ambush Murong Lin who was going to Fuhu Mountain to pursue Xu Zongwen. As a result, he was so busy for a long time that he didn't even get a hair on the Yan army. Although he saw it, he did not receive the order to open the gate and release the water. Later, the military information came that Murong Lin was captured in a trap in Fuhu Mountain, which made Xu Wen regretful!
Today, Xu Zongwen handed over the retreat to him. Xu Wen swore in his heart that he would not let Sun En's Tianshi Dao rebel army take advantage of the opportunity to cut off the army's return path!
Therefore, Xu Wen asked the night patrol sergeant to wake him up every hour, just in case, to prepare for a rainy day!
"Is there anything unusual?" Seeing that the patrolman had returned, Xu Wen lay down again, holding a grass root in his mouth, and focused all his attention on the mountain road ahead, without looking back.
The patrolling sergeant stepped forward cautiously to answer, fearing to wake up the sleeping comrade at his feet. He lowered his body and replied: "Boss, it's the same as before, not even a ghost, no trace of the rebels at all. It’s true that today, it’s so hot during the day and I’m sweating profusely, but at night it’s like falling into an ice hole, it’s so cold! God, it’s almost June, but it’s still freezing cold "..." Later, the sergeant's words all led to the cold and hot weather.
Xu Wen didn't know whether he listened or not. He chewed grass cores in his mouth and held his head in one hand, still looking at the official road at the foot of the mountain. It was the shortcut from Yangxian to Wucheng. If there were rebels in Wuxian County, If you want to take the retreat route from Zhuque Camp, the only way is to go north around Zhenze (today's Taihu Lake) to Wuxi, then turn southwest and go south along the Yangxian Official Road. There is no other way.
Zhangputing is adjacent to Zhenze to the east and low mountains to the west. Only a small trail in the middle is allowed to pass. The widest part can only accommodate two or three horses riding side by side. If an elite soldier is ambushed in the canyons on both sides, it doesn't need to be many. Just a few hundred will be enough. It chokes the throat, making the invading enemy unable to come back, and is in a dilemma!
Therefore, as long as Zhangputing is defended, Yangxian will be contained. If Yangxian is defended, Xu Zongwen's main army will be able to advance and retreat in a well-established manner and take the initiative!
"Don't be careless. If the enemy makes a surprise attack, there is more than one way to go south. Don't forget that Sun En is a pirate. The worst of his men is Zhou Ji. If the bandit army comes from Daze, how can we people do it?" Can you stop it?" Xu Wen explored the terrain of Zhangputing very carefully. Although he did not know it thoroughly and had a confident mind, he still had a good idea. What he remembered in his mind was no different from the actual landform.
"No! I will immediately arrange for a few brothers to keep an eye on Daze. If there is any movement, the younger one will report it immediately!"
Sun Enjun's most easily overlooked advantage can often become the most fatal factor!
Xu Wen had been beside Xu Zongwen for a long time, listening to Pei Qing, Xi Jian, Guo Shang and others discussing military affairs, and he also had some insights. Just now he was staring at the bottom of the mountain, but in fact his mind had already flown to Zhenze behind him...
