Zhang Shi's words directly hit Shen Gai's weakness.
Shen Gai knew very well that if they all left, the army would definitely surrender immediately and give up resistance. By then, the Ming army would effortlessly capture Hangzhou and it would be difficult for them to escape, so Shen Gai has been looking for people who are willing to stay and defend Hangzhou. .
He also didn't want Hangzhou to be captured so easily by the Ming army. Once this super city built with the manpower and material resources of Jiangnan was captured by the Ming army, it would only make the Ming Dynasty even more powerful.
The Ming Dynasty can easily use the resources of this city to radiate control of the entire southeastern coast, and will quickly pacify Jiangnan. This is definitely not something Shen should be willing to see. Shen should hope to add more trouble to the Ming Dynasty.
Unfortunately, I never found the right candidate.
These days, super high school-level idiots who have not participated in the imperial examination, are proud of their youth, and have a benevolence for the country are really one in a million. He looked around and saw that Zhang Shi was the most suitable and almost the only suitable candidate.
The more troubled the times, the fewer fools will be, and they will die quickly. At the last moment, all the fools will be used up, and they will all be smart people, and then everyone will not be far away from dying together.
So much so that before learning that Zhang Shi was planning to stay, Shen Gai even had a final plan.
"Jingfu, to tell you the truth, I really can't find it, so I already have other ideas. Since no one is willing to defend Hangzhou, then I will simply destroy Hangzhou. I plan to set fire to 300 places in Hangzhou city, and directly Set the whole city on fire and cause huge chaos to cover our escape from here.”
Shen Gai looked firm and said in a low voice: "Those who achieve great things don't stick to trivial matters. This is a matter concerning our lives. Dear husband, please don't think I am cruel. There is nothing you can do about it."
Zhang Shi was immediately shocked.
He really didn't know that Shen should be planning to do such a crazy thing.
He suddenly felt that his fist was hardened, and he almost couldn't resist punching Shen Gai to death.
But he knew that it wasn't possible yet. It wasn't the time to beat Shen Gai to death. He couldn't reveal his identity yet. Otherwise, he really wanted to hit Shen Gai hard now.
The city of Hangzhou has experienced several wars. Although it no longer has the huge population of one million before the war, after more than two years of peace after the establishment of the Jiangnan Kingdom, the population of Hangzhou has steadily returned to the level of 700,000, and it is still a world-class city. City.
Looking at the entire Southern Song Dynasty, there were not many cities with such a large population. Looking at the Ming Dynasty, only a few central cities such as Zhongdu had such a large population. And in such a prosperous city, you can just set fire to it?
How many people are going to die?
How much economic loss will there be?
To be honest, Zhang Shi originally thought that Shen should not have to die after the Jiangnan Kingdom was destroyed, and he could even be persuaded to surrender in exchange for leniency, so that he could live out his old age peacefully.
Shen should be almost seventy, and he has never done anything harmful. It is not too much to surrender in exchange for a peaceful old age.
As a result, Shen Gai could actually think of such an inhumane escape plan, sacrificing the lives of the entire city of Hangzhou and 700,000 people in exchange for the safety of himself and the bureaucrats.
Good guy, really good guy.
I originally thought that some of the scholar-bureaucrats had some conscience and could be saved, but now it seems that this is not the case.
Zhang Shi took a few deep breaths and finally calmed down the surging Qi in his chest before speaking slowly.
"My lord, why is this happening? After all, Hangzhou was the capital of the Song Dynasty, and there are more than 700,000 people there. It will be burned at will. Why is it happening like this?"
"If the Song Dynasty is gone, what's the use of the capital city of Hangzhou? It's just an enemy! Burning it will destroy all the buildings, property, and people. Not only will it buy us time to escape, but it will also give us time to escape." It would cause more trouble to the country, so why not?"
Shen Gai lowered his face and said in a low voice: "I haven't told anyone about this yet, only you. So, dear husband, don't worry. If you want to leave, we can definitely leave. Don't think about those unpleasant things anymore." Possible things, let’s go!”
Zhang Shi thought for a while and felt that he must learn some art of speaking.
"My father will fight for the Song Dynasty until death. I can't do anything against his wishes. Since I can't protect the Song Dynasty, let me accompany the Song Dynasty until the last moment. My husband, I will leave the matter of guarding Hangzhou to you. Me, at the last moment, I will personally set the city of Hangzhou on fire and destroy it together."
Shen Gai looked at Zhang Shi deeply and didn't say anything for a while, but his eyes became more and more sharp.
Zhang Shi remained silent, his expression unchanged, and he looked at Shen Gai calmly.
Their eyes met for a while.
Zhang Shi was a little nervous inside. He didn't know what Shen should think of his behavior, and he didn't know if Shen should believe him.
Shen Gai didn't want to believe that such a high-ranking official would really be willing to die for the country, but thinking about Zhang Shi's father Zhang Jun and Zhang Shi's experience, he still couldn't deny the possibility. .
So he finally sighed.
"Respect my husband, why bother?"
Hearing this, Zhang Shi relaxed slightly. He realized that being able to say this meant that Shen Gai had almost half a chance of believing that his motives for doing so were pure.
But this is not the time when the crisis has been completely resolved.
"My husband feels bitter, but I don't feel bitter. My husband feels sweet, but I don't feel sweet. My husband, there is a kind of person in the world who must have a happy heart in order to be happy in body. If the heart cannot be happy, the body will never be happy. Can Xianggong understand?" ?”
"You are not a fish. How can I know the joy of a fish? I am not you, so how can I know your joy?"
Shen Gai shook his head and said: "Jingfu, if you are really willing to defend Hangzhou City and live and die with Hangzhou City, then Shen will never be able to forget you in this life. If so, there will be people in the Song Dynasty watching until the last moment. Then what will happen next?" People’s evaluation of the Song Dynasty will never be too ruthless.”
Zhang Shi raised his eyebrows.
"Do you recognize me, sir?"
"Who am I to question a person who is willing to live and die with the city of Hangzhou?"
Shen Gai sighed: "With your identity and status, you can indeed call on the army to obey your orders, but Jingfu, you must know that the Ming army's combat power is far stronger than ours. You asked the Ming instructor to train me?" I heard that the military soldier matter is not going very smoothly?"
"Indeed, there is a lot of conflict between the officers and the instructors. The Ming Dynasty seems to treat soldiers very leniently, and our army... my husband also knows it."
Zhang Shi pretended to smile bitterly and said: "Recently, there have been incidents in the army of soldiers supporting Ming Dynasty instructors and resisting our army officers. This makes me feel very embarrassed. If this continues, I am worried that we will not even be able to fight a war. We are about to face a situation where the entire army will defect."
Shen Gai was a little surprised that Zhang Shi told this matter so openly.
Someone had mentioned this matter in his ears before, saying that they suspected that this was Zhang Shi's strategy of secretly cooperating with the Ming Dynasty in exchange for his own safety after the Ming Dynasty moved south, so Shen Gai also suspected that Zhang Shi had the intention to surrender to the enemy.
But since he spoke out about it so directly and did not shy away from it, it only meant that he himself did not expect this to happen.
Shen Gai's worries about Zhang Shi were disappearing.
"This is no small matter. If the army escapes our control, wouldn't the situation be worse?"
"It's true. I didn't expect such a thing to happen at first. I just hoped to borrow the military training methods of the Ming Dynasty. Facts have proved that the military training of the Ming Dynasty is indeed very strong. The soldiers who have been trained by the instructors of the Ming Dynasty are both in military formation and archery. Both hand-to-hand combat have been greatly improved.”
"But if your heart is not towards the Song Dynasty, no matter how strong you are, you will still serve the people of the Ming Dynasty."
Shen Gai shook his head and said, "I spent so much money and ended up making wedding clothes for others. Can this kind of thing really continue?"
"This is also a headache for me. I already regret doing this, so I want to find a way to drive away the Mingguo instructors and cut off the connection between them, so as to ensure that the army is in our hands."
"Any plans?"
Shen Gai asked: "If we were the ones to propose this matter, wouldn't it be good? How would Zhongdu view this matter? Is there any possibility of taking action in advance?"
This is what Shen Gai is most worried about.
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