The Ming army was very busy preparing for the attack on the city tomorrow and filling the moat to facilitate direct attack on the city wall.
But at the same moment, Lin'an City was not in a state of unity. On the contrary, Lin'an City was filled with the sorrow and dissatisfaction of a large number of people who did not want to start a war.
There was no other reason, because a rumor suddenly spread, and it spread throughout Lin'an City in a very short period of time, and the rumor became very popular.
The reason why the Ming Dynasty launched a military war against the Southern Song Dynasty was because it was revealed that Emperor Zhao Heping and Zhang Jun's state minister Yu Yunwen secretly planned to destroy the Ming Dynasty's Yellow River dam and cause a breach. The people sent to carry out the task were discovered by the Ming Dynasty people. This caused extreme anger in the Ming Dynasty, so the Ming army went south, and this war began.
The gossip also stated that the state had notified the Southern Song Dynasty official of the reason for the war, and demanded that Yu Yunwen be severely punished, and Zhao Min himself had to pay the price, otherwise he would never give up.
However, because the matter involved Emperor Zhao Zhen, Zhao Zhen ordered the news to be blocked to prevent leaks.
Then he wants to pull everyone to die together, or to be more precise - he wants everyone to die for him first, and then he will look at the situation to see if he can survive.
After all, he is the emperor, so he will not seek death and survival easily.
The effect of this news spreading in Lin'an City was terrifying.
Only an hour after the envoys left the Ming army camp and entered the city, the news spread everywhere.
The officers and soldiers guarding the city, officers at all levels, ordinary people in the city, small officials in the city, and other people all knew about it, and they were all having very heated discussions, and they were all very concerned about this matter.
Emperor Zhao Xun soon learned of this and was so frightened that he immediately ordered Yu Yunwen to deal with the matter.
Yu Yunwen was in a hurry and had no good way to deal with it. He could only order to be silenced. Anyone who dared to communicate such content would be beheaded. He sent 500 people from the palace forbidden army as a law enforcement team, and arrested a group of more than 100 people and beheaded them in public. The momentum of this discussion was stopped.
Then he refutes the rumor, saying that it is false and completely a rumor. It is impossible for His Majesty and Yu Yunwen to do such a thing. These are sinister behaviors of people with sinister intentions. Rumors stop only for the wise, so please do not believe them.
However, the more stringent the ban, the more ingrained this statement is in people's minds. Looking at the people who were beheaded, the credibility of this statement continues to increase in people's minds. A considerable number of people already believe that this war occurred because The Southern Song Dynasty’s own deliberate instigation.
Because of this incident, Zhao Zhen vented his anger on Shen Gai.
The reason is that Shen Gai knew the inside story and was ordered to block the news. As a result, the news leaked and Zhao Xun's situation suddenly became dangerous.
Shen Gai defended himself in many ways, saying that he did not leak the information. He and his subordinates were very strict with their mouths and there was absolutely no behavior of leaking the information.
He swore to God he didn't.
But Zhao Min was so angry that how could he listen to his explanation?
"You didn't? I think it was you who did it! You hated me for not agreeing to Ming Guo's request, so you colluded with Ming Guo to spread the news to shake the morale of the military and the people, and tried to blackmail me into submission! Isn't that right?!"
"How can an official speculate on an old minister like this?!"
Shen Gai was shocked: "I am loyal to the officials, how could I do such a thing? How can the officials doubt my loyalty?"
"Loyalty? Is it a rebellious heart?!"
Zhao Hao stared at Shen Gai fiercely.
Shen Gai suddenly felt extremely chilled.
He did not want to fight and wanted to promote peace, but in the conscience of heaven and earth, he had never thought of betraying Zhao Min and seeking glory.
He was just too afraid that the Ming army would liquidate him.
"If the officials think that the old minister is guilty, please provide definite evidence to prove that the old minister is guilty. Then how will the official deal with the old minister? The old minister is willing to let the official handle it without any hesitation. But if not, the old minister will never plead guilty!"
Shen Gai was very unhappy and contradicted Zhao Min.
Zhao Hao was so angry that he picked up the tea cup in his hand and smashed Shen Gai's forehead. Taking advantage of the situation, he also dismissed him from his position as Shangshu Youcheng and asked him to shut up and think about his mistakes as a sin, saying that he would wait to be beaten. He will be severely punished after the battle.
Shen Gui was injured by the emperor and almost fainted. His head was wrapped in circles of gauze. Even so, there was still blood on the gauze.
A group of officials from the Lord Peace Sect around him stared at his head, their faces filled with sadness.
"How come the officials don't care about their ministers so much?"
"I and other officials work hard for the government, how can the government treat loyal ministers like this?"
"What have we done wrong? No one from the government told us about the Yellow River Dam. How can we not be devastated by such actions?"
"This is not the treatment of a Confucian official!"
"He Yu Yunwen is also a bastard! He did something stupid and insisted on dragging us to die together!"
Although a group of people were very dissatisfied with Zhao Yu's behavior, they did not dare to directly criticize Zhao Yu. They could only criticize him severely.
Shen Gai sat on the bed with a dark face and said nothing, as if he was surrounded by a thick black air, which was intimidating.
After everyone discussed it, there was no way to stop Zhao Hao and Yu Yunwen. They were unwilling to hang out with Zhao Hao and others and wait for death, but there was nothing they could do. In the end, they had no choice but to retreat. Please Shen should have a good rest. They I'll think of another way.
After everyone left, Zhang Shi sneaked back and met with Shen Gai.
"Jingfu, why are you here?"
"Of course it's a matter of public relations."
Zhang Shi said softly.
"My husband? I am no longer your husband. Now I am just a criminal without an official position. I don't know when I will be driven out of Lin'an City and exiled to the ends of the earth. If I am not lucky, I will die on the way."
Shen Gai had a dark face and sneered: "Is it because your father-in-law and I have always been at odds with each other?"
"My husband is wrong. My father has passed away a long time ago. What does my father's death have to do with my husband?"
Zhang Shi opened his mouth and said, "I really can't agree with what my husband said about not having an official position. In the past, Dong Zhongshu left his post and returned to his hometown. Whenever Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had any problems that were difficult to decide, he would send people to take the matter to the mountain where Dong Zhongshu lived for questioning. At that time, People call him the Prime Minister of the Mountains, which shows that whether he has the respect of the prime minister is different from whether he has the office of the prime minister."
Shen Gai heard that there was something in Zhang Shi's words, and suddenly felt that something was wrong.
"Jingfu and I have never had any friendship, and Jingfu has only just arrived in Beijing. Why would you say such things to me, your father's political enemy?"
Shen should feel very strange.
Zhang Shi is Zhang Jun's son, and he is Zhang Jun's political enemy. The two never deal with each other.
Of course, Zhang Jun was killed on the order of Zhao Jun. Shen Gai had already been squeezed out by Zhang Jun along with Tang Sidei at that time, and was dismissed from his post and stayed away from Lin'an. He did not have the ability to influence Zhang Jun's death.
So strictly speaking, Shen Gai had nothing to do with Zhang Jun's death.
But then again, Zhang Shi had been holding a cultural and educational position in Changsha and was in charge of Yuelu Academy. He was the main cultural official in the court who opposed and criticized "Hongwu Political Treatise". Famous literary leader.
The reason why he is now living in Lin'an is naturally because of the comprehensive failure of the Song army in the previous battle of Xiangfan and the subsequent large-scale march of the Ming army southward, so that he could no longer stay in Changsha.
Tens of thousands of Ming troops attacked Jinghu South Road. As an important town, Changsha soon fell to the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, Yuelu Academy could not stay any longer. He took most of the students in the academy and fled to Lin'an, barely surviving.
Zhao Hao felt guilty for killing Zhang Jun, so he gave Zhang Shi a position. Now Zhang Shi holds a medium-sized official position in Lin'an.
Shen Gai and Zhang Shi had never had any friendship, but today, when everyone was in danger, what was Zhang Shi's intention when he came over and said such a thing?
When Shen Gai asked, Zhang Shi smiled.
"Does Mr. Xian really think that this is the final outcome? Mr. Xian, do you think the Ming army outside the city can break through Lin'an City?"
"How can I say this accurately?"
"Then Mr. Xianggong thinks, which one is more difficult to attack, Xiangyang City or Lin'an City?"
"Of course... Xiangyang City."
Shen Gai said solemnly: "Although Xiangyang City is smaller than Lin'an City, the width of Xiangyang's moat is unparalleled in the world, the city walls are tall and thick, and there are still several years of grain and grass reserves in the city. An ordinary army may not be able to successfully conquer Xiangyang in ten years, and Lin'an City... ...Although it is larger, its defense does not seem to be the strongest.”
"My husband is very sincere in what he said, and I think so too. What's more, the Ming army also has a new type of firearm called artillery, which is very powerful, so I think Lin'an cannot be defended."
Zhang Shi said slowly: "The Ming army has said that as long as they refuse their conditions, they will fight until the city wall is breached. Although the outer city wall and the inner city wall have been breached, the outer city wall cannot be saved, and the inner city wall can resist the Ming army." How long?"
