Steel Dynasty - Chapter 557

[Chapter 557 Jinling Earthquake]

The blazing sunshine is baking Pengzhou City, making people reluctant to stay outside for any longer.

After handing over the bounty to Fiji, Xiao Ming and everyone arrived at the main hall of the Mi family. Xiao Ming was a little surprised that the battle in Pengzhou City went so smoothly.

After asking Lu Fei and Luo Xin about the battle process, he gradually understood that the Pengzhou Army was defeated so quickly because they were not familiar with the Southern Expedition Army’s tactics. They still used traditional combat methods to deal with his army.

Therefore, under the long-range firepower of artillery and muskets, the Pengzhou army suffered heavy casualties, which in turn aggravated the soldiers’ fear, causing the morale of Pengzhou City to be greatly reduced after the city gate was captured.

In view of this, Xiao Ming said to Lu Fei: “Now that Pengzhou City has been captured by us, Wei will no longer have any natural dangers to defend. From now on, it will be smooth sailing. Now you must use Pengzhou City as a base to continue southward to attack the city and plunder the land while replenishing troops.” .” Xiao Ming said thoughtfully.

He has been thinking about the current strategy these days. According to his plan, he will annex Wei as soon as possible. In this way, he will not be attacked from the side and can concentrate on dealing with the vassal king to the west.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Lu Fei bowed and said.

After giving the order to Lu Fei, Xiao Ming said to Fiji and other officials: “Now that the Southern Expeditionary Army has captured Pengzhou City, it is your business to manage it. You will make statistics on Pengzhou City in the next two days. Land and actual population, the land will be distributed into the hands of the people. “

Equalizing land is a policy that Xiao Ming insists on. It is this policy that allows Xiao Ming to get the support of the people in the feudal country. Fiji has truly felt this after coming to Qingzhou. Benefits from changes brought about by policy.

Fiji nodded and suggested: “Your Highness, in addition to the normal land equalization, the old minister thinks that some fertile land should be rewarded to the people who joined the army to encourage the local people to join the Southern Expedition Army. Only in this way can the Southern Expedition Army be able to “

Well, you are right. This is exactly what I want. Now that the fiefdom can no longer provide soldiers for the Southern Expedition, it can only rely on recruiting from the occupied cities. In addition to providing some fertile land, You also need to put up notices to appease the people and bring them home as soon as possible,” Xiao Ming said solemnly.

Fiji and other officials bowed in response.

After that, he took the officials to Pengzhou Government Office to formally take over the government affairs of Pengzhou City and its nearby counties and villages.

…

Jinling City.

News of the defeat of Pengzhou City spread here along with the fleeing wealthy families.

When Mi Wenyi told King Wei everything, the teacup in King Wei’s hand fell to the ground, and King Wei’s face turned pale and his body was shaking a little.

“Uncle!” Upon seeing this, Xiao Qi immediately stepped forward to support King Wei.

“Fifty thousand Pengzhou City elites and the local wealthy tribes can’t hold it for a day. What do I want from you?” After taking a few quick breaths, King Wei said angrily: “Someone will escort Mi Wenyi to me. I’ll kill him tomorrow! “

“Your Highness, it’s not that I neglected my duty and was defeated before fighting. It’s because King Qi’s muskets and artillery were too powerful. Although the soldiers resisted with their flesh and blood, it was of no avail.” Mi Wenyi was shocked.

“I don’t need your explanation. It’s unreasonable that I value your Mi family. I didn’t expect that you are just a bunch of rotten people who are just trying to make up for the numbers. Needless to say, Pengzhou City is the gateway to the Wei Dynasty. Now that the Wei Dynasty is lost, there is no danger of defending it. I If the king doesn’t kill you, won’t the guards of other cities follow your example one by one?” King Wei cursed.

“Your Highness, please spare my life.” Mi Wenyi cried as the guards dragged him down.

Xiao Qi sighed and said to King Wei: “Uncle, please calm down. The current plan is to protect the land of the feudal state. This time Xiao Ming came well prepared and with great momentum. We cannot sit still and wait for death.”

King Wei’s obesity His face was full of frustration, and he said: “Pengzhou City was conquered in just one day, how many days can other cities withstand it? Do you want to kill me naively?”

“Is this the time when the emperor’s uncle feels sorry for himself? Xiao Ming’s There are few people and many enemies. At this time, most of the troops are used to guard against King Zhao. Although Pengzhou was lost this time, King Qi’s army also suffered a loss of troops. It is impossible to fight again without a period of rest. Let’s take this opportunity. When He Zonglian left the King of Qi with no time to go south,

“What do you say?”

“Mi Wenyi said that after Qi King’s army entered the city, it showed that Xiao Ming’s ambition was to conquer the world, and this move was to appease the people. “The next target of King Qi after Wei is definitely Yan. My nephew thought that he should send envoys to form an alliance with King Yan to jointly resist King Qi,” Xiao Qi said.

King Wei frowned, “It’s just that I, King Yan, have always been at odds with each other. Will he agree?”

“If the land of Wei dies, King Yan will have the opportunity to directly face Xiao Ming’s army. Naturally, King Yan will know which one is more important. , Wei and Yan are equally powerful, and even if there is some friction, they cannot overturn each other, but Xiao Ming is different. The fact that he can take Pengzhou City so easily shows his strength. Facing such a strong enemy, we can only resist by joining forces. “

” Well, you are right. Not only King Yan, but also this king will send envoys to Chang’an and Liang. If we can successfully form an alliance, we will destroy Xiao Ming!” King Wei said bitterly.

Xiao Qi nodded, bowed and said: “Uncle, my nephew is willing to take on the responsibility of being an envoy to repay the kindness of the emperor for taking him in.”

King Wei looked at Xiao Qi with pity and said, “What’s wrong with this?” If you need to go there in person, just send a few officials there. “

“Uncle, this is a serious matter. Other officials are afraid of ruining the alliance if they go there. My nephew has no other skills, except that he has studied “Guiguzi”. “The art of verticality and horizontality,” Xiao Qi said.

King Wei sighed, “My dear nephew, my uncle wanted to win the throne of Chongqing for you, but now he doesn’t repay it. My uncle is really ashamed of you.”

Hearing this, Xiao Qi hesitated and said: ” Uncle, why can’t you let go of your nephew a long time ago? If your uncle can listen to your nephew, why don’t you surrender to the King of Qi and become a free prince from now on? In this way, you can keep the honor for the rest of your life. In my nephew’s opinion, only King Qi in the world can restore the royal homeland. “

Xiao Qi, this is a time when others’ ambitions will be destroyed,” King Wei said angrily, “Uncle Huang will not surrender to Xiao Ming’s son.” “

Sighing, Xiao Qi said: “In that case, my nephew will follow the emperor’s uncle to the end.”

Looking at Xiao Qi intently, King Wei didn’t say what he wanted to say. He waved his hand and let Xiao Qi leave. .

Although he didn’t want to admit it, he knew that he would always live in Xiao Ming’s shadow since the Battle of Cangzhou, and now everything proved that his intuition was right.

But as the most favored vassal king, how could he surrender to Xiao Ming? ,

(End of this chapter)