Chapter 337
On the night that Gui Yuehua's head was hanged, Hua Bin returned to the city and brought ten helpers. There was no accident. They were captured alive shortly after they walked out of the tunnel. The tunnel was flooded and then sealed. .
The prisoners were detained separately, and the emperor personally interrogated Hua Bin.
Only three days apart, Hua Binbi was a lot haggard when she was under house arrest in the Yiwei Camp. There was no scar on her body, but she was under great pressure.
The secrets of the Chu people were not exposed. After everyone expressed their plans, the king of the Huns was very satisfied. He left everyone behind and gave daily banquets. The concubine offered wine.
The accident happened the night before, and the banquet was in progress. The Great King of Xiongnu received a letter and asked the interpreter to read it to him in a low voice. Showing a bit of recklessness, and I don't know which sentence was wrong, it actually angered the Huns.
Maybe he was just unlucky. The Hun King was in a fit of anger, got up, drew his knife, walked to Gui Yuehua, and slashed without thinking. Poor Gui Yuehua is also a famous master in the world, but he didn't dare to do so under that circumstance. Doing any resistance, he just raised his arm, put it down quickly, and died inexplicably in the tent.
The Great King Xiongnu made a big phone call and was very angry. His wives and concubines hugged and trembled. Many nobles stood up and responded from time to time, not knowing what they were talking about.
The Chu people were all taken out of the tent, and the interpreter told them with a serious look that the days of enjoyment were over, and Hua Bin and the others had to return to the city tomorrow night to get the emperor's head within two days.
Hua Bin was really terrified. He was still trembling when he told this. In Da Chu, what the Hua family felt was only humiliation. In the Xiongnu, what he felt was grass. It was worthless there, and Hua Binde tried hard to recall the means by which the servants pleased her, in order to protect herself in front of the Huns.
The owner of Yunmengze Dong Zhai put the responsibility on Hua Bin and others, thinking that they failed to bring the emperor's head as promised, which caused their status among the Huns to plummet, so he personally followed him to make a great contribution .
But Hua Bin just wanted to beg the emperor's forgiveness. As soon as she saw the emperor, she knelt on the ground, no longer arrogant.
Han Ruzi thought it was ridiculous that the dignified Marquis of Junyang had become so lowly after spending a few days among the Huns. He sat on the couch, separated from Hua Bin by many guards and eunuchs, and asked, "Where is General Deng?"
"He, he and the King of the East Sea were all kept by the King of the Huns."
"East Sea King?"
Hua Bin told the story of the first day again. Deng Cui's performance was so successful that the King of the Huns was reluctant to let him go, while the King of the East Sea was too cowardly and the Huns did not intend to send him to persuade the Chu general to surrender. He hasn't made up his mind yet.
Deng Cui did not escape from the Huns' camp, but instead became the VIP of the Huns. Han Ruzi didn't know whether to be disappointed or happy. He waved his hand to the guards to take Hua Bin away, and began to think about one thing, what made the Huns suddenly angry. In a hurry to take the emperor's head?
During the siege during the day, the Huns obviously intended to lead reinforcements to the vicinity of Jincheng. This practice was not only showing off, but also angering the defenders, hoping that the emperor would go out to fight.
Except for sieging the city, the Hun King was using all his tricks to kill the emperor.
The robbers from Yunmengze had been in the Huns camp for a long time. Perhaps they knew some inside information. Han Ruzi would not meet those people in person. A piece presided over the interrogation.
Zhang and Xie were both surprised, but they didn't ask any further questions. Instead, it was Cui Teng, who waited for the two to leave, and immediately asked, "Zhang Jing is an old official of the Ministry of Punishment, and Xie Cun is still a child, so His Majesty asked him to interrogate the prisoner? "
"Let him start learning." Han Ruzi admired Xie Cun's keen observation ability and felt that this person could become a criminal in the future.
Hua Bin and others have returned to the city, and the tunnel has been blocked. Han Ruzi no longer needs to hide in the palace, and decides to take a tour of the city to break the rumors that the emperor can't get out of bed.
When he left the mansion, Cui Teng said: "Your Majesty, I have to remind you that Xie Cun is the son of Marquis Zan. Although his family has been declining for a long time, his descendants are either officials or generals, even if they are idle. As for being an official, he would definitely be willing to go to the Ministry of Punishment to be a court official, and he may not accept being an official who interrogates prisoners, no matter how high his rank is.”
"And you?"
"Me?" Cui Teng shook his head again and again and said with a smile, "I can't be an official, I would rather follow the emperor without an official position."
"Let Xie Cun choose for himself."
It was already dark outside, and most of the officials and people had already fallen asleep, but the emperor's inspection still alarmed some people. Before dawn, the news would spread throughout Jincheng.
Han Ruzi went straight to the military camp, where he summoned the generals defending the city and listened to their arrangements for defending the city.
Fan Zangshan was the general defending the city, and he mainly reported the situation.
Han Ruzi quickly heard the problem, "Wait, there are only 4,000 defenders in the city. According to General Fan's arrangement, at least 5,000 people have been used now."
"We recruited some soldiers from the people in the city." When it came to arranging the troops, Fan Kangshan was reluctant, and when he went on, he became more and more nervous, and he often needed other generals to remind him.
Han Ruzi couldn't do anything either. There were no generals in the city. Fan Zangshan at least had a good reputation and could hold down the soldiers and civilians in the city. As for the specific plan for defending the city, he had his own staff and generals to help him formulate it.
Deng Cui was right, the key to whether Jincheng can hold is not the Chu army, but the determination of the Huns, all the arrangements in the city are better than nothing.
Deng Cui is more arrogant and does not like to do such trivial things with no results, but Han Ruzi is different. Although he does not have to do everything himself, he will not let it go and leave it to others to do it. Better than nothing is also a choice for him.
He was satisfied with the plan of defending the city, and after encouraging him, he dismissed the generals, leaving only Fan Zangshan alone, and asked, "Who is responsible for recruiting troops from the common people? Why has no one told me?"
Fan Kangshan scratched his forehead, although he was brave in front of the battle, he was always a little nervous in front of the emperor, "It's like someone recruited by the Ministry of War, I just used the soldiers they sent, I didn't ask in detail, I thought the Ministry of War would tell His Majesty. Report."
Han Ruzi smiled and said, "Well, General Fan should just concentrate on defending the city. How about those new recruits? Can they fight? Are the weapons and armor enough?"
When asked about these things, Fan Cangshan was able to answer fluently, "It's not bad, I'm more obedient, I can obey orders, maybe not in the battlefield, it's enough to defend the city, and they don't need to carry knives, guns, bows and crossbows, mainly to transport soil and rocks to the city. , I have practiced several times, and it has been very smooth.”
The place at the top of the city is cramped, and it needs to be kept unblocked. It is impossible to pile up too many equipment. When the war begins, the supply must be guaranteed by the city. The newly recruited soldiers mainly do this kind of thing. Guarding the city is very helpful.
It seems that there are still capable people among the accompanying officials. Han Ruzi has to admit that he used to have prejudice against the officials in the DPRK and China, thinking that they are all incompetent. However, various facts have proved that many ministers actually have real skills, but they are not arrested. In the right place, and not being given enough credit.
Han Ruzi returned to Daiwang's mansion and found the official documents of the past few days. He believed that the documents about recruiting troops were among them. He just ignored them before. There were too many recent things, and he really didn't take them seriously.
He was reading the stacks of official documents with a light on. Zhang Jing and Xie Cun asked for a meeting. The two had already examined the Yunmengze group of thieves and obtained a lot of useful information.
The king of the Xiongnu who besieged the city was from the Western Xiongnu and was the younger brother of Da Chanyu. Only by killing the emperor can the strength of the Huns be shown, but Da Chanyu was influenced by the nobles of the Eastern Huns and insisted on only besieging and not attacking.
Therefore, the Great King Xiongnu took advantage of the power of the heroes of the rivers and lakes, hoping to assassinate the emperor, and then he would be able to break through Jincheng logically and join forces with Da Shanyu.
According to legend, Da Shanyu's health was not very good, and the great Xiongnu was eager to join forces, fearing that if Dadanyu ascended to heaven, he would be tricked by other brothers and nephews when he led his troops abroad.
As for what news the King of the Huns was angry with, the robbers did not know.
Zhang Jing noticed that the emperor intended to cultivate Xie Cun, so he deliberately praised the young man.
Han Ruzi sent the eunuch to see them off and said to Cui Teng, "Go and ask Xie Cun what he thinks."
In addition to drinking, Cui Teng didn't stay up all night often, and he was yawning all day long. He was very happy to have something to do, so he answered yes and ran out to chase after Xie Cun.
Han Ruzi continued to read the official documents, and finally found that no one was in charge of recruiting troops. From the six officers who accompanied him to the junior officials in the local yamen in Jincheng, they all participated in more or less, with different names, and finally the one who accompanied him. The scholar advisor proposed to change the requisition of labor to conscription, one is to strengthen the momentum, and the other is to inspire the people - the army has higher pay, and the reputation of defending the city with soldiers is also better.
Single name Zhong, Han Ruzi had a slight impression of this scholar, but he didn't remember anything special about him.
It is always difficult to find talents. Even if talents are around, they are often ignored. Han Ruzi has a deep feeling and writes down this person, but he is not in a hurry to choose him. He still has an imminent threat that has not been lifted.
It was midnight, and when Han Ruzi was about to go to bed, Cui Teng finally came back, blushing. He took advantage of a small loophole in the emperor's will and invited Xie Cun to have a few drinks.
"It's clear." Cui Teng said triumphantly, feeling that he had accomplished a great thing, "As I said before, Xie Cun is unwilling to be an official, and would rather stay in the Yiwei Camp as a general."
The generals of the scattered followers are just a good name, but they are actually the emperor's entourage.
Han Ruzi sighed, even if he did find talent, how to use it would be a problem.
Now is not the time to solve this kind of thing, Han Ruzi sent someone to send Cui Teng away, went to bed, and lay down for a while, suddenly wanted to understand something, and said to Meng E who was staying in the room naturally: "I guess What annoyed the Huns?"
"Well." Meng E replied, waited for a while, and said, "I didn't guess."
"Da Chanyu is about to send an envoy for peace talks."
"Da Chanyu really wants peace talks?"
"No." Han Ruzi's heart sank, "I'm only afraid that the Chu army in Qi country will encounter big trouble."