Of course, before the war started, Li Hao and the others did not attack the city immediately.
Although Li Hao and the others did not think that Zhao Zongquan and the others would surrender, they still had to follow the procedures.
So they each sent people to shout loudly outside the city gate, asking the people in the city to surrender, and then they could be punished and meritorious service.
However, Li Hao and others did not expect that Zhao Zongquan and others could be so decisive.
In response to the people sent by Li Hao and others to persuade them to surrender, they fired arrows from all sides of the city wall. If it weren't for the fact that those who ran out were smart people, they would run back as soon as they saw something was wrong.
Even so, several people were killed and injured under the city wall in the end.
At this time, Li Hao and the others gave up on trying to persuade them to surrender, and began a tentative siege on all four walls.
After this test, everyone really discovered the problem.
Originally, when Li Hao and the others wanted to come, Zhao Zongquan and the others had just entered the city, so they probably didn't have time to prepare things like rolling wooden stones and hot oil and gold juice.
After all, the calculation is to demolish the house immediately, so it will take some time.
Therefore, it was probably safe under the city wall, so I planned to let people cover it, and then use a ram to break open the city gate and rush in.
As a result, after this collision, it was discovered that the inside of the city gate had been blocked with something, and it was no longer possible to open it by just relying on manpower.
In this case, we can only rely on ladders to attack the city. In this case, if we want to attack the city, it will take a long time and the losses will be heavy.
So after the various ministries tested it, they withdrew their troops and horses from attacking the city and began to discuss whether there were any other ways.
By the way, they were waiting for the follow-up troops to arrive. After all, they still had some ladders over there. Anyway, in the end, it didn't work, so they had to fight for the quantity.
When Li Hao and the others paused their attack, Zhao Zongquan did not stop.
Especially at this time, Zhao Zongquan also knew about Bi Zhongyou's failure.
Originally, Zhao Zongquan still had hope for Bi Zhongyou, thinking that even if he did not capture Xihua Gate, he would not be eliminated so quickly.
Then having him cause trouble inside can at least create more opportunities for himself.
But who would have thought that Bi Zhongyou, who was so useless, would be eliminated so quickly. It was really a waste of all his hard work.
However, precisely because of this, Zhao Zongquan, who was forced to put his hope on himself, further strengthened his offensive.
Even Zhao Ceying and Shen Congxing were recalled and joined in the siege.
Because there is no use in controlling the official family records at this time. After all, it is not just a problem of a few people, but an entire distinguished group.
Just using Jiajuan alone can threaten a few people, but you can't really wipe out Bianjing City with blood.
If we really do this, all the surviving heirs of our family will have to be destroyed in the end, and our family's incense will be cut off.
Therefore, for Zhao Zongquan, the best way now is to break through the palace as soon as possible and deal with Zhao Zonghan.
Letting Zhao Zhen and Empress Cao issue a succession edict is the only way out.
In the face of Zhao Zongquan's all-out attack, although Cao Jingxiu brought some people in to help return a wave of blood,
But even so, Zeng Chaosheng's support now is very reluctant.
Zeng Chaosheng knew that if this situation continued, the palace would not be able to support it for long, so he planned to discuss with Queen Cao to see what to do next.
At this time, Cao Jingxiu was also at Queen Cao's place, reporting to Queen Cao what was going on in the city.
After staying in the palace for so many years, Queen Cao is still much better than Cao Jingxiu in terms of guessing people's hearts.
So when Empress Cao heard that Gu Tingye was not in the palace, Cao Jingxiu was especially afraid that Empress Cao would know about her debauchery last night.
He deliberately said that he went to Ningyuan Hou Mansion last night, but he didn't see anyone.
Now Queen Cao wondered if Gu Tingye knew something in advance, so she disappeared on purpose.
Queen Cao actually understood in her heart that the palace was now a besieged city, and foreign aid was needed to have any hope.
Is it possible that Gu Tingye will become his foreign aid?
Now Empress Cao was just sorry that Cheng Zhu didn't know where he had gone. Otherwise, with news from him, she might be able to learn the truth of the matter.
Just when Empress Cao was distressed about this, she heard that the servant came to report that Zeng Chaosheng was out asking for an audience.
Upon hearing this, Cao Jingxiu said: "In this situation, if he is not commanding at the city wall, why did he come here?"
Seeing Cao Jingxiu saying such stupid things, Queen Cao ignored her and asked her chamberlain to bring Zeng Chaosheng in.
After the chamberlain had gone away, Queen Cao said to Cao Jingxiu: "He must have come here because the war is not going well. Don't talk nonsense later. Everything will follow my wishes."
After all, Cao Jingxiu was not a fool. After hearing this sentence, he naturally understood what his sister meant and stayed quietly aside.
Soon Zeng Chaosheng walked in under the leadership of the chamberlain and said: "See the Queen, I have something important to discuss with the Queen."
Queen Cao asked everyone else to go out, and then said, "Jing Xiu is not an outsider. If you have any questions, you don't have to avoid him."
Zeng Chaosheng then said: "Judging from the current situation, I'm afraid we won't be able to stay in the palace for long. I came to see the Queen to let you make plans in advance."
After hearing this, Empress Cao said: "I know about this. Now Gu Tingye has gone to gather people to rescue the siege, but it will take some time.
You must persist until he arrives with his army, otherwise all your efforts will be wasted.
You and I are small, and if we let the country of the Song Dynasty fall into the hands of Xiao Xiao, the sins of you and me will be great. "
Zeng Chaosheng's instinctive reaction to Queen Cao's words was surprise. He had heard that Cao Jingxiu had contacted Gu Tingye.
But whether Gu Tingye went to gather troops and horses, how did Empress Cao know? Maybe she was deceiving herself.
Then Zeng Chaosheng looked at Cao Jingxiu who was standing aside, saying that he was the only one who could possibly bring back the news.
After all, after the chaos broke out in the palace, the palace door was closed. No one came in or out except Cheng Zhu who left the palace and Cao Jingxiu who entered the palace.
But if Cao Jingxiu really met Gu Tingye and knew that he was going to gather troops, why not go with him? This would also have a supervisory effect and would be safer.
While Zeng Chaosheng was thinking, Empress Cao spoke directly to help Zeng Chaosheng dispel his doubts. Empress Cao said:
"Actually, Gu Tingye and the others had already understood the situation. Not only Gu Tingye, but also Li Hao and Yang Wenyuan were all aware of the situation and had transferred the family documents early in the morning.
Today Jing Xiu went to Gu Tingye's house to discuss how to deal with Zhao Zongquan's rebellion, and brought him the military talisman by the way.
As a result, he heard the news about Zhao Zongquan's attack on the city halfway, so Jing Xiu separated from Gu Tingye and asked Gu Tingye to leave quickly from other city gates and go to the western suburbs camp to recruit troops.
And I summoned the people from the Imperial City Department to enter the palace. Firstly, I want to strengthen the strength of the palace and buy enough time for Gu Tingye. Secondly, I also want to send the news back to reassure us. "
Listening to Queen Cao's words, Zeng Chaosheng couldn't help but look at Cao Jingxiu and fell into thought.
This guy really has such good intentions that he could do this. It doesn’t look like this.
Cao Jingxiu had already reacted at this time and said immediately: "Yes, Gu Tingye has probably arrived at the western suburbs camp at this time. With his Gu family's connections, and holding military talismans, it will not be difficult to mobilize some troops.
And it's not just Gu Tingye, Li Hao and Yang Wenyuan are also with Gu Tingye.
Although Li Hao was originally unwilling to express his position, now that Zhao Zongquan has done such evil things, Li Hao's attitude must have changed.
Not only will they not stop Gu Tingye, they may even support him. "
After hearing this, although Zeng Chaosheng still had some doubts, he felt that it seemed to make sense.
At this time, Empress Cao went on to say to Zeng Chaosheng: "Now all kinds of turning points are coming soon. It would be a pity if we fail to achieve all our goals.
So now you have a heavy responsibility. You must defend the imperial city until reinforcements arrive. "
Faced with Empress Cao's expectations, what else could Zeng Chaosheng say, but he could only reply: "The humble ministers must defend the imperial city to the death. If the city is alive and people are alive, the city will die and people will die."
After saying this, he said goodbye to Queen Cao, then returned to Xihua Gate and stayed there.
After they left, Cao Jingxiu said to his sister: "Sister, no one knows what is going on with Gu Tingye and the others.
If Zeng Chaosheng and the others were unable to wait for reinforcements, I'm afraid the situation would be bad by then. "
Empress Cao was also a little helpless at this time and said: "Then let it be fate. After all, we have to give Zeng Chaosheng a hope. Only in this way can they persevere.
Maybe we can wait for a turn of events. Now I just hope that Gu Tingye and the others will really move their troops. "
After finishing speaking, Queen Cao turned her gaze towards the western suburbs camp, as if she wanted to see through these obstacles to see if Gu Tingye was at the western suburbs camp.
However, Queen Cao was looking in the wrong direction, and she presumably couldn't see Gu Tingye. After all, Gu Tingye was currently in the north, preparing for the next siege.
At this time, after a round of testing, the four city walls were temporarily quiet, and the city was resting and preparing.
By the way, they were engaged in forced demolition work, directly tearing down the houses close to the wall, and then transporting the wood and stones used to build the houses to the city head to make defensive supplies.
As for the people outside the city, they now have to wait for the follow-up troops and supplies to arrive, so they also set up camp to let the soldiers recover their strength.
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Anyway, now that the city gate is blocked, there is no need to worry about the city sending people out to attack, so the rest is naturally more stable.
But speaking of it, Li Hao did not expect that Zhao Zongquan was really decisive in blocking the door. This was not leaving himself any way out.
It would be uncomfortable to come to the palace under such circumstances, and I'm afraid the pressure I would bear would be huge.
But Li Hao has no good solution now. Originally, Li Hao asked Zhang Fu and others to be in the city and place them near Nanxunmen.
I just wanted to take advantage of the siege to let them have a seizure in the city, and find a way to open the city gate from the inside while coordinating the inside and the outside.
But now that Zhao Zongquan is causing trouble, this step flag is completely useless. After all, Zhang Fu and the others still have too few people.
There is no way they can fight and clear the doorway at the same time, so they can't let their sacrifices go in vain.
If you can use a ladder, this siege will be really difficult.
So at this moment, Li Hao was wondering if he had any good means to deal with the current situation.
After thinking about it, Li Hao suddenly realized that he actually had other options.
I have worked so hard and spent so much time and money. Isn’t the artillery that I have developed suitable for this?
Maybe the current artillery is not powerful enough to blow down the city wall, but if you focus on attacking the city gate, you can still hope to smash the city gate directly and knock out the blocking things inside.
I remember that I had given an order earlier to have the artillery escorted from Zhengzhou back to Bianjing. Counting the days, it should arrive within these two days.
Thinking of this, Li Hao immediately called his guards and ordered: "Go to the South Workshop of the Salt and Iron Division immediately, saying that you are asked to go and ask them if the artillery has arrived.
If it arrives, ask them to quickly load the artillery into the truck and send it to me here together with the shells. "
Then he took out a private seal from his body and asked him to prove it.
After all, in order to keep the work confidential, Li Hao strictly ordered them to keep the matter secret. If he or someone with his own credentials had not gone there, then they would never tell the truth.
After the guards left, Li Hao fell into waiting again.
However, this wait is in line with the mentality of most people, because it is based on the need to maximize benefits.
The group of generals in the western suburbs camp were actually not willing to make a quick decision. What if Zhao Zongquan really entered the city too fast and Zhao Zongquan really hadn't broken through the imperial city yet.
If Zhao Zhen and Empress Cao were both alive and well, and Zhao Zhen would be the designated successor to the throne, then all their original ideas would be empty talk.
Even if only Queen Cao is left in the end, having a backbone in the palace is not what they want.
But if you really ask them to do it themselves, they are really unwilling.
So the best thing is for Zhao Zongquan to break into the palace, clean it inside, and then they come to avenge the official family. In this case, things will be reasonable.
Of course, everyone is not just thinking this way. At least Ying Gong, Li Hao, and Gu Tingye are still anxious.
While waiting, almost an hour passed, and the rest of the people from the western suburbs camp finally arrived one after another.
At this time, someone proposed to start attacking the city immediately.
But he was stopped by Li Hao, because Li Hao also wanted to confirm whether the artillery was there. If it was, the matter would be much easier to handle.
But now it seems that there is still a high possibility. After all, if the artillery was not there, the guards would have arrived long ago, so there is no news yet.
Sure enough, with Li Hao's waiting, the artillery finally came.
However, before using it, Li Hao still planned to pay attention to the power of this artillery.
So he called the craftsman in charge of the development and asked: "According to your test results, how powerful and accurate is this artillery? Can it directly knock down the city gate in front of it?"
I heard the craftsman reply: "According to your wishes, the cannon body will be re-molded and developed, and coupled with the newly made gunpowder, the power will be much greater than before, and there will be no problem in breaking the city gate.
As for accuracy, we also manually produced the rifling that the adults told us.
After having rifling, the accuracy of this artillery has indeed increased dramatically. "
