On the East River in the city, vegetable vendors parked their boats close to the shore and sat in groups chatting on the shore.

There is a thick man in the weeping willows on the bank, and several young children are playing up and down.

The air was filled with a strong salty smell, and the vendors setting up stalls on the street kept fanning themselves in front of their faces with cattail fans.

The wall of the house not far away is covered with moss, and a plaque of Wangji Blacksmith Shop hangs on the door.

The shouts of blacksmithing kept coming from it.

In the market in front of the door, several government officials walked by with solemn expressions, constantly scanning the pedestrians around them.

A few dozen steps away from the blacksmith shop, a steamed bun shop was closing. In the corner next to the shop, squatting was a young beggar with unkempt hair and clear eyes. In front of him was a broken bowl with a piece missing.
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Zhang Guowei saw off Xiong Rulin and was walking back from this street. Behind him were seven or eight soldiers holding horses to escort him.

When passing the beggar, Zhang Guowei stopped, groped in his sleeves a few times, took out a bunch of copper coins, leaned over and put it into the beggar's broken bowl.

"In the past three hundred years, all the civil and military officials have escaped..."

Just as Zhang Guowei sighed and stood up to leave, he suddenly heard the beggar mutter something. He couldn't help but be a little surprised. He looked at the beggar's appearance and saw that he was very young, so he asked: "Have you read a book?"

The beggar just smiled at Zhang Guowei, did not answer, and then stared at the copper coins in the bowl in a daze.

At this time, the shopkeeper of the bun shop happened to have locked the door of the shop and was about to leave. He saw an official standing in front of the beggar. He hesitated for a moment and then came forward.

"Sir, this beggar's brain is stimulated, so he can only read those few sentences. If you ask him, he won't answer." The middle-aged shopkeeper bowed to Zhang Guowei and explained.

"How do you know?" Zhang Guowei asked.

"He was also lucky. It is said that after the surrender of Kaicheng, Nanjing, a kind man brought him to Hangzhou. The people also heard about it from people who fled to Hangzhou from Nanjing. Some people saw him on the way south."

The shopkeeper sighed.

Zhang Guowei nodded, and the shopkeeper said nothing more and bowed and left.

At this time, in the distance, a general wearing mountain pattern armor and two soldiers ran towards Zhang Guowei.

"Zi Taiwan, Zhi Taiwan, I have found you." Chen Hongfan said breathlessly.

"What's the matter?" Zhang Guowei turned around and asked.

"I'm going to make a report. I heard that 30,000 volunteers have arrived. Can we supervise the bidding..." Chen Hongfan said with a flattering smile.

Zhang Guowei instantly understood that this guy was here to ask for troops. Speaking of which, the Superintendent's standard battalion only had 3,000 men, which was indeed too small. However, King Lu Supervisor had already made arrangements for the 30,000 volunteer troops and wanted to expand the Supervisor's standard.

Just wait and see.

Chen Hongfan's Xiao Jiujiu and Zhang Guowei understood that there was currently a shortage of good generals in the city to lead troops, so they could only use him temporarily, but this guy was useful but not reusable. After all, he wanted to persuade King Lu to surrender before.

"Take care of your troops and don't be too troublesome. The righteous army supervising the country has its own arrangements!" Zhang Guowei said coldly, not giving Chen Hongfan a good look at all.

"General, I understand, I understand!" Chen Hongfan rolled his eyes and hurriedly leaned over to salute.

Afterwards, Zhang Guowei walked away, and Chen Hongfan followed closely.

Before leaving, he looked back at the young beggar.

Under the big willow tree not far away, the owner of the bun shop stepped out from behind and walked towards the blacksmith shop.

......

In Prince Lu's Mansion, Zhu Changzi was thinking about who to choose as the commander of the 10,000 Prince's Palace Guards. After much thought, he found that there was really no suitable candidate, and he couldn't help but miss his former Qin generals.

"Wang Jian, Yang Duanhe, Meng Tian, ​​Zhang Han..." Zhu Changzi murmured to himself, reciting these familiar names. Each of them was a general who could command thousands of armies, and established a solid foundation for his unification of the six countries.

Magnificent military exploits. Now, it would be great if they were here...

Li Bao, who was waiting on the side, heard King Lu's whisper and couldn't help but feel surprised and suspicious. He thought that His Highness might be possessed by a ghost, why was he talking nonsense?

Little did he know that King Lu in front of him was really possessed by a spirit, but it was not a ghost, but the First Emperor Ying Zheng!

"Report, urgent message from Huzhou Prefecture!"

A chamberlain hurried over holding the memorial in both hands.

Zhu Changzi came to his senses and hurriedly took it and read it.

The memorial was sent by Ren Daxun, the prefect of Huzhou, from Deqing. The Qing army Liu Liangzuo's troops and Liu Zeqing's troops were marching towards Deqing. The puppet prince Duduo and his Eight Banners Army, 30,000 strong, had already stationed in Wukang County for rest and recuperation.

Deqing's defense was weak and difficult to support, so Ren Daxun decided to defend the county seat and delay time.

This memorial will also be the last memorial sent by him.

After Zhu Changzi looked at it, he thought for a moment, then frowned and said, "Go quickly and call the commander-in-chief Fang Guoan to see this king."

Li Bao took the order and hurriedly sent people to spread the message.

Not long after, Fang Guoan, who was patrolling the city defenses and training the people, rushed to Prince Lu's Mansion in a hurry.

"Fang Guoan, the main force of the Qing army has been assembled, why didn't your Tangqi troops detect it?" Zhu Changzi asked accusingly. Duduo personally led the army to Wukang, but Fang Ying's night guard did not detect it. This is really dereliction of duty. If

It's not an urgent message from Ren Daxun. I'm afraid the Qing army didn't know about it until it got under their noses.

Fang Guoan's head trembled, he was a little flustered, and he replied tremblingly: "Back to the prison country, after the general entered the city, he intensified his exploration of the direction of Wukang Deqing, but..."

"Just what?" Zhu Changzi said in a stern tone.

"It's just that the Qing army's scouts are really powerful. Our troops suffered heavy casualties if they didn't collect them at night. We couldn't even get within ten miles of Wukang." Fang Guoan said helplessly. Regarding his subordinates, he knew very well that in battle,

The force of the Qing army was vastly different from that of the Qing army. Even the most elite troops who stayed on guard at night were almost wiped out.

Zhu Changzi wanted to reprimand Fang Guoan, but after hearing Fang Guoan's words, he swallowed his words. The Qing army has been fighting for a long time, what can he expect from the other camp?

The Qing army's battlefield was so tightly covered, it seemed that they were preparing to attack Hangzhou in Wukang.

Liu Liangzuo and Liu Zeqing had 20,000 troops, and Deqing could hold out for two days at most.

"How is the city defense?" Zhu Changzi softened his tone and asked coldly.

"Back in the prison country, in addition to the original city command troops, the general assigned ten generals to lead an army of five thousand to guard the city. Five thousand garrison troops were placed on the city wall. The nephew of the general, Fang Yuanke, was personally in charge. Order.

Another 20,000 people have been recruited and trained, ready to go to the city to support at any time." Fang Guoan quickly reported.

Ever since Zhu Changzi guaranteed enough food and salary, Fang Guoan had rekindled his fighting spirit and became more active in doing things. After being ordered to enter the city, he personally did all the city defense matters without slacking off.

After listening to Fang Guoan's report, Zhu Changzi felt relieved and asked again: "Isn't the five thousand defenders on the city wall too weak?"

"Back to the prison country, I will guard the northern and western walls of the city with 5,000 troops, as well as the east and south. Governor Zhang transferred 10,000 troops from Sun Jiaji's army to guard. Governor Zhang's Biao camp is in the center and can provide support from all sides at any time." Fang Guoan explained.<

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Not only that, Zhang Guowei also ordered people to move the Gunpowder Bureau in the north of the city to the foot of Wushan Mountain in the southwest, and mobilized many ships to moor on the Zhonghe River in the Wushan section, ready to transport ammunition to various ministries.

Many craftsmen in the city have been recruited to the Gunpowder Bureau to produce various projectile weapons day and night.

"The red cannon of the Qing army has a range of up to three miles and is extremely powerful. The city of Yangzhou was destroyed because it opened the city gate. Do you have any countermeasures?" Zhu Changzi asked. He already understood the role of firearms at this time.

Although I have never seen it with my own eyes, especially the cannon weighing several thousand kilograms, I have heard of its name for a long time.

When Fang Guoan heard this, he lowered his head deeply and remained silent.
Chapter completed!