Chapter 262: Armistice and peace

At the subsequent court meeting, Zhu Yunwen officially appointed Yang Heng as Duke of Liao, the Prince Shaobao, and the Grand Governor of the Five Armies. He also held a title ceremony. After the court meeting, Zhu Yunwen met Li Weizheng again in the imperial study.

"Li Aiqing, I used Li Jinglong wrongly, which led to the court's dilemma today. I haven't been able to sleep peacefully for more than a month. It was not until the news of my victory in Fengyang that I slept sweetly. Thank you, my dear."

"Your Majesty, the actual situation is still full of crises. I am not really worried about King Yan. What I am worried about is that King Qin is on the side of King Qin. Lan Yu's intention is already very obvious. He wants to use the King of Qin as a guise to fight with Your Highness for the world. But King Qin drinks poison to quench his thirst. In order to get ahead, he will join forces with Lan Yu at all costs. I am very worried about the situation in Hanzhong. Once Zhang Yi's army cannot withstand the attack of Lan Yu and the King of Qin and let the two become one, the King of Qin will probably ascend the throne with Lan Yu's support. I remind Your Majesty to pay attention."

Zhu Yunwen sighed and said, "I have no time to consider the matter between Lan Yu when King Yan was defeated twice. Can you give me a plan to solve the danger in front of me?"

Li Weizheng smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, I have sent 70,000 troops to Huguang. First of all, I must prevent Lan Yu from advancing east. The terrain in Hanzhong is dangerous, easy to defend but difficult to attack. I guess Zhang Yi can support you for a while. I suggest that Your Majesty can temporarily ask King Yan for peace and stop the troops from both sides. In this way, the King of Yan's attention will turn to Qin and Jin, and he will inevitably march into Shanxi. In this way, the pressure on the north side of Hanzhong will be relieved immediately. At this time, I can lead the army to Sichuan, first quell the Lan Yu rebellion, and relieve your Majesty of this worries. Then we will concentrate on dealing with King Yan. What is the plan?"

Zhu Yunwen nodded and said, "My dear ideas are far-sighted, and I agree with them deeply, but the only thing I am worried about is that King Yan is just holding the remaining power of the great victory, and he refuses to reconcile with me. What should I do?"

Li Wei was raising his head and laughing, "Isn't it easy to get the King of Yan to agree to reconciliation? For me, it's like reading the text on my palm."

The war in Jinan was extremely fierce. The King of Yan besieged Jinan for more than a month and repeatedly attacked the city, but still could not attack Jinan. On the contrary, Shandong Governor Sheng Yong and the governor Tie Xuan were determined, leading 60,000 troops to defend Jinan alone, attacking and repelling the King of Yan again and again.

‘Dong! dong! dong!’ The drums of the Yan army attacked again, and the drums were earth-shaking. The hundred thousand Yan troops launched a fierce attack on the west city like a tide. The sound of cannons rumbling and smoke was pouring. Although the Yan army's cannons were sharp, they could not play any role in front of the impregnable Jinan City. The shells hit the city walls, only stirring up a gust of dust and peeling off large pieces of brick debris. Jinan City still stood tall.

Soon, the cannons stopped, and the charging Yan army shouted loudly, and the overwhelming Yan army rushed towards the city wall with a long ladder. The moat had already been filled, and the ladder had rammed on the city wall. The agile Yan army climbed up like an ant colony. A thousand households of Yan army shouted with all their might: "The King of Yan has an order, and the first person to climb the city to reward a thousand gold. Women in the city can choose any choice."

The Yan army became even more excited and climbed to the city. The counterattack on the city began. Arrows were like rain, wood rolled, stones were like hail, screams and wails suddenly came one after another. General Sheng Yong personally directed the battle. He used all the available resources in the city. Nearly 30% of the houses were demolished and a large amount of stones and wood were obtained. He organized 100,000 civilians to go to the city to assist in defense. Even their wives, children and parents organized to cheer up the military and civilians and encourage their morale to defend the city. The city was broken, their parents and children would be killed, and their wives and daughters would be humiliated. It was the determination to defend their homes that made the morale of the military and civilians always go to the city. The 300,000 elite Yan army could do nothing to them.

At this time, hundreds of Yan soldiers finally opened a gap, and the figure of a Yan army and a hundred households appeared on the top of the city. He laughed wildly and killed one Ming army with one knife. Another young Ming army saw the crisis, he roared, rushed up and hugged the Yan army and fell down the city wall together. A long scream came from the city.

Sheng Yong was furious. He snatched a big knife and danced like snowflakes. He chopped down more than a dozen Yan soldiers who were about to rush up. The Ming soldiers on the city wall rushed up and blocked the gap again.

More than a dozen Ming soldiers carried a long fork and blocked the stairs. Dozens of people tried hard together and shouted: "One, two, three!"

The Yan army's cloud ladder was crossed two feet away by a long fork, and gradually shifted its center of gravity outward. With a shout, the cloud ladder fell outward. Nearly a hundred Yan soldiers on the cloud ladder let out a series of long screams and fell heavily to the ground with the cloud ladder.

At this time, a soldier hurriedly rushed to the top of the city, holding a pigeon letter and shouting: "Governor, the court is in a hurry!"

Sheng Yong took the letter and read it out. He was overjoyed and shouted loudly: "Brothers, the Liaodong Army defeated the Yan army's vanguard in Fengyang, and Yan general Zhang Yu was killed!"

The news of the Liaodong Army sending troops quickly spread across the city. The Ming army suddenly became morale and defeated the Yan army again and again. The situation of Sheng Yong was already controlled by his own army. He could no longer control the excitement in his heart and hurriedly walked down the city wall to find the governor Tie Xuan.

Tie Xuan was formulating a grain distribution plan in the governing yamen. There was not much food in Jinan City. In order to fight a protracted war, he began to consider the issue of grain supply.

Sheng Yong walked in and smiled and said, "Mr. Tie, there is no need to worry about food issues. The King of Yan will withdraw his troops soon."

Tie Hyun was stunned, "Why is this?"

"Sir, please read this pigeon letter." Sheng Yong handed him the letter.

"Are the reinforcements of the imperial court coming?"

"You'll know by looking at it."

Tie Xuan opened the pigeon letter and read it in a hurry, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face. Fengyang's victory, the Liaodong army finally sent troops, but his brows quickly frowned. He was a civil servant and understood better than Sheng Yong's deep intention of Li Weizheng's choice of this opportunity to send troops.

"Do you think it's inappropriate?" Sheng Yong saw the worry in Tie Xuan's eyes and was shocked.

"The Liaodong Army has hundreds of thousands of armored soldiers. General Sheng thinks they are supporting us, or are they going to Fengyang to facilitate?"

Sheng Yong thought about it and he also had doubts in his heart, "Sir, I'm right. Shandong and Liaodong are all in a row, of course, to help us facilitate us. Isn't it a bit too far to go to Fengyang?"

"Not only that, Li Weizheng put the cart before the horse." Tie Xuan smiled bitterly and said, "Isn't it easy for him to withdraw the Yan army? Send tens of thousands of people out of Shanhaiguan to symbolically attack Beiping. How can the King of Yan not withdraw his troops? Last time he gathered defeated troops in Hebei, didn't he do this? He still had to travel thousands of miles to Fengyang, and he went on the battle himself. This intention was too obvious."

“Mr. Tie means…”

"Xiang Zhuang dances swords with the intention of Pei Gong! He went there with a political purpose." Tie Xuan sighed.

Sheng Yong was also a little worried, and he asked quickly: "Will he be unfavorable to the emperor?"

Tie Xuan shook his head, "This won't be the case. His move is to give carbon from the snow and gain the greatest political interests. I guess another powerful minister will be born in the Ming Dynasty."

Sheng Yong was silent for a moment and said, "As long as he supports the emperor, I am willing to obey his command."

At this moment, a scramble of footsteps rushed over, and a soldier loudly reported: "Governor Sheng, the Yan army has retreated."

Sheng Yong stood up suddenly. Needless to say, the King of Yan must have received news from Fengyang.

On the top of the city, Sheng Yong and Tie Xuan stared at the Yan army in the distance. It seemed that the Yan army did not retreat, but seemed to retreat north. Tie Xuan was overjoyed and hurriedly said to Sheng Yong: "General Sheng, since the Yan army has no intention of fighting, are we chasing them?"

Several generals next to them also shouted: "General, please give me an order! Brothers, please hold your breath!"

Sheng Yong's eyes were restrained, and he said coldly: "No! This must be the trick of King Yan. He surrounded us for more than a month and could not even get a pigeon letter. Why did he put it in today? If we pursue it, we will definitely hit his plan."

He turned around and shouted, "Transfer my order. The entire army must not slack off. We must strictly prevent the sudden return of the Yan army tonight."

Zhu Di was extremely sad. His confidant general Zhang Yu was killed. From the beginning of getting the news, he had not yet entered the water for a day and a night. Not only Zhang Yu, but his most elite 30,000 Yanshan Iron Cavalry were also wiped out. Zhu Di's hatred for Li Weizheng was unforgettable. It was not until today that he understood Li Weizheng's true intention. He was not going to be the King of Goryeo, but to be Cao Cao of the Ming Dynasty. Over the years, he had been playing with himself in his hands.

Zhu Di seemed to have seen a game of chess. This game began when Li Weizheng was stripped from his post and returned home. It was a game of chess played by him and his father. In this game, both of them, Zhu Yunwen, Qin, Liao, and Ning, were just chess pieces. No wonder his father wanted to summon him to the capital to kill him, and no wonder he refused to enter the capital. Unfortunately, after his father passed away, he did not hand over this game to his descendants. It became Li Weizheng who was playing chess alone, using his war with the court to achieve his goals step by step. Now he has succeeded, taking advantage of Li Jinglong's second defeat. When the court has no soldiers available, he sent troops. He was too accurate to hold this opportunity. This step was his final chess. Zhu Di suddenly felt tired and felt uncomfortable to be a chess piece.

"Does Your Highness really want to accept the peace proposal proposed by the court?" Han Lu, the adviser next to him, asked in a low voice.

"This was not proposed by the little emperor, it was proposed by Li Weizheng." Zhu Di sighed long, "What should we do if we don't accept it? Liaodong has always been a big concern."

"Will your Highness go back and plan to attack Liaodong?"

Zhu Di shook his head and said, "I don't know about this, I'll discuss it when I go back."

Speaking of this, he walked to the door of the big tent, looked at the dark Jinan City in the distance, and said unwillingly: "Even if it is a peace talk, I will take down Jinan City."

This is when a war horse gallops towards the Yan army camp. The scout immediately turned over and dismounted and ran into the camp. "Your Highness, Jinan City Information!"

Zhu Di was excited and asked quickly: "Tell me quickly! What's the situation in the city at Jinan?"

"Report to your Highness, the head of Jinan City is still busy preparing for war, without any slackness, but is more cautious."

Zhu Di was stunned for a moment, and after a while he sighed and said, "God won't give me a fighter shot!"

He waved his hand helplessly and ordered: "Send an order, the army retreats north and returns to Peiping."

He looked at the night sky in the south again, and suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "Li Weizheng, then let's play another game of chess!"
Chapter completed!