Chapter 752 Are the old guys still alive? Fengping City is 360 miles away from Qingyuan City. As one of the two northernmost cities in Nanyan, it has always been a strategic location. The city lord Zhu Zhitian also experienced the demise of the Shang Kingdom. He is already seventy years old and can still Wearing armor and going into battle, it is said that he has the ability to pierce an enemy with a hundred steps. The Zhu family was originally a prominent family in the Shang Kingdom. It once produced four prime ministers and seven generals, as well as countless officials below the fourth rank. Such a famous family is much more deeply rooted than Fu Zhengnan's family. Now the Zhu family not only controls Fengping City, but also has a big city in the south of Dali. Zhu Chi, the prime minister of Nanyan, is Zhu Zhitian's nephew and is already fifty years old. . This kind of large family that controls the court internally and the military power externally has always been a double-edged sword for the royal family. If used well, it will stabilize the country; if used improperly, it will be the foundation of the country's destruction. However, the Zhu family never had any intention of seizing the throne of Nanyan, because they knew very well that the position of the Nanyan Emperor was not easy to occupy. Speaking of which, Murong Shai's position as emperor was somewhat embarrassing. The imperial orders were only effective for thousands of miles around Dali City. But if the interests of the wealthy families were really involved, the imperial orders would be of no use to all cities. The reason why they agreed with Murong Shai to proclaim himself emperor even though they knew that he was not the prince of Shang Dynasty at all was because as long as someone proclaimed himself emperor, they would be able to exploit their interests. And if someone from a local family stood up and proclaimed himself emperor, he would immediately become the enemy of several other families. Having a less powerful person as emperor is not a bad thing for each family. Zhu Zhitian had become a general when he was in the Shang Kingdom, but his character was a bit gloomy. When the Sui army fought a decisive battle with the Shang army along the Yangtze River, the Shang emperor hurriedly mobilized his army from the south to return to Yongzhou to defend the capital. , but Zhu Zhitian refused to leave. What he was worried about was that once he led his troops back, the military power in his hands would be immediately taken back by the emperor. By the time Luo Yao led his troops to take Yongzhou, the Shang emperor issued thirteen orders to get Zhu Supportian to come back, but he did not even leave. Not just him, almost none of the generals in the southern part of the Nanshang Kingdom were willing to lead their troops back. At that time, the Shang State was already on the verge of disintegration. Even if the Sui army did not go south, the Shang State would not be able to survive for a few more years. The local wealthy families support their own troops and respect themselves, and are not subject to imperial orders. The last emperor of the Shang Kingdom happened to be a man who did not do his job properly. He was obsessed with two things in his life. ¡°One is immortality, the other is painting with pen and ink. Because of the former, he spends at least ten days a month in the alchemy furnace, studying how to live forever with a group of He wizards. Nineteen of the remaining twenty days were spent reciting poems and painting with a group of literati. However, the emperor's calligraphy and painting were indeed very elegant. A few years ago during the Taiping Period of the Sui Dynasty, an authentic painting of the fallen king of the Shang Kingdom was worth at least 50,000 taels of silver. As for the masterpieces among them, they were even more priceless. Even if there is chaos in the Sui Dynasty now, whoever holds a copy of his original work can guarantee a lifetime of food and drink. Whatever the emperor likes, the people below him will do what he likes. As a result, the entire Shang court was full of chaos. The He people had a higher status than the Han people in the Shang Dynasty. As for the wizards, they were even higher than the officials. It would be a miracle if such a country could last. After the fall of the Shang Kingdom, Zhu Supportian never left Fengping City. Later, Murong Shai usurped the throne and ascended the throne. He was invited to attend a grand ceremony in Dali City, but he didn't even go. But even so, Murong Shai did not dare to offend this important man with a large number of soldiers. Decades have passed, and Zhu Zhitian's status has become even more transcendent. He is now the oldest person in the Zhu family. Even if Zhu Chijian, the prime minister, sees him, he must treat him as a junior. But it happened that such an old man had a good relationship with Fu Zhengnan in private. It is said that the two of them often get together and travel together arm in arm, and they are friends who have been together for many years. So before leaving, Fu Zhengnan wrote him a letter. This letter was in Fang Jie¡¯s hands, but Fang Jie did not send anyone to deliver it to Zhu Supportian. "General, why don't you open that letter and take a look?" Chen Xiaoru couldn't help but asked curiously. "Look, there is no way Fu Zhengnan and his family can go to that fishing village alive. Since I let him go, I have never thought about intercepting him on the way. But this letter is definitely not to persuade Zhu Zhitian to surrender. In all likelihood, it was Fu Zhengnan who reminded Zhu Zhengtian what to pay attention to and how to keep Fengping safe. " "Ah?" Chen Xiaoru was slightly stunned: "This Fu Zhengnan is not afraid of himself. Will such a move harm his family?" Fang Jie smiled: "Such a person will always have something in his heart that he cannot let go of, such as his family. He would rather die than give up, and he and Zhu Zhitian have been friends for many years. , so I would rather offend me than give up this opportunity to remind Zhu ZhitianHow can you guard against me? He used his own experience of defeat as an example to remind Zhu Zhitian to guard against the mistakes he had made. " "It's better to get rid of this person. " Chen Xiaoru said uneasily: "He's just afraid that he can't bear the ordinary life, and he always thinks about making a comeback. " "That's not necessarily the case. " Fang explained: "He wrote letters because he just felt that it was what he should do. So I admire this person a little, he is a very clear-cut person. He would die for his family, and even give up his family for his friends. We don¡¯t see many people like this anymore, so just think of me as doing good deeds and leaving a little bit of purity in this world. " "Can we really deceive Kaifeng Pingcheng Gate? " "You can't cheat." Fang explained: "Zhu Zhitian is very scheming. He can still wear armor and go into battle at the age of seventy. He has been in the officialdom for more than fifty years. There are not many ways to hide him. " "Then wouldn't the people we sent to trick him into sending reinforcements be useless? " Chen Xiaoru was even more puzzled. Fang Jie had previously asked the scholars to imitate Fu Zhengnan's handwriting and forged a letter written by Fu Zhengnan and sent it to Fengping, asking Zhu Zhitian to send troops to help. Take this forged autograph letter The Knight Riding School has already set off, but because of this, Chen Xiaoru was curious why the general would arrange it like this since he knew he couldn't deceive Zhu Supportian. "It's useful." Fang Jie smiled and said: "There is a kind of person in this world who will do something for certain things even though he knows he may be fooled." Fu Zhengnan was willing to write that letter for Zhu Supportian even at the risk of offending me and harming his family, precisely because he felt that Zhu Supportian was a friend he could make friends with. Such understandings and thoughts are often mutual. Fu Zhengnan treated Zhu Zhitian sincerely, and Zhu Zhitian would most likely treat him the same way. " "So, even if Zhu Zhitian clearly suspected that the letter was fake, he would still send troops. What kind of people become friends with what kind of people is definitely not accidental. We broke through Qingyuan City so fast that Zhu Zhitian didn't know the news yet. If we had broken through the city four or five days later, reinforcements from Fengping City would have arrived. " Chen Xiaoru frowned and pondered for a while, and finally understood. "It's good to have such a friend. Fang explained: "Zhu Zhitian valued Fu Zhengnan, so he must send troops to rescue him." As long as his men and horses come out of the city, no matter how many they come out, they will be the next thing we have to swallow. Doing your best to kill and injure the enemy's troops outside the city will ultimately do no harm to future siege battles. " "My subordinates understand! " Chen Xiaoru nodded: "Are we going to leave? " "Yeah" Fang Jie nodded: "Let's leave tonight. I asked Chen Dingnan to lead his army out of the city. The first reason is to make a show to confuse the scouts in Fengping City. It took less than three days from our siege to the city's destruction. Qingyuan City and Fengping City were 360 ??miles apart. If the news spread quickly enough, three days would be enough. After Zhu Zhitian heard the news, he would immediately send scouts here to inquire about the information and determine Fu Zhengnan's life and death, so I asked Chen Dingnan Xiahou and Qin Yuan to leave the city. " "Second, it is for departure Chen Dingnan's men and horses set off tonight. I asked Xiahou to divide half of the cavalry to go to his camp. It will not look like there are many fewer people. The Qingqi advanced westward at night, and I told Chen Dingnan to run eighty miles that night. There was a valley eighty miles away, and the men and horses from Fengping City must go here if they wanted to come to support. Just out of the valley is the best place for a surprise attack. " Chen Xiaoru rubbed the corners of his eyebrows and said to himself that his thoughts are really not enough to lead troops to fight. Leading the Cavalry School to do things and leading troops to fight are two different concepts. Chen Xiaoru is smart enough and safe enough, but he is a partial thinker. He is a meticulous person who uses his talents to do the work of the Knight Riding School. He does not have a good view of the overall situation and cannot lead the troops. "We are waiting for news? " Chen Xiaoru asked. "No wait." Fang Jie smiled mysteriously: "There is something more important than Chen Dingnan leading troops to ambush. Let Wei Xiting come to see me. It's time to ask him how many good things are in Qingyuan City's treasury. " Chen Xiaoru was really not good at military affairs, so he didn't think much about it. When he left the city lord's mansion, he couldn't help but be curious, and finally took out the letter that Fang Jie asked him to put away temporarily, opened it and read it , the more I read, the more frightened I became. Nothing in the letter was beyond Fang Jie's expectations. They all reminded Zhu Zhitian of what he should be careful about. He even mentioned that troops should never be sent to rescue Qingyuan City After reading this letter. , Chen Xiaoru was surprised to feel a layer of cold sweat on his back. ¡ ¡ ¡ By the Yangtze River Yang Jian couldn¡¯t help but shook his head as he looked at the rushing river: ¡°Back then, I started my army from the Northeast and fought all the way from the Northeast to the north of the Yangtze River. Then go to Chang'an, then decide on the northwest, north of the Yangtze RiverI conquered all this territory with my own hands. But I have never been to the south of the Yangtze River. Puhu nodded and said nothing. At that time, he was fighting beside Yang Jian. When the Sui Dynasty was first established, its territory was less than half of its current size. The entire south of the Yangtze River was conquered by General Li Xiao during the Taizong period, and the southwestern Dao was conquered only during the Zhenzong period. Invading half of the territory of Eastern Chu, establishing the barbarian territory in the north, and expanding the Qiang tribe in the west were all achievements of the successive emperors of the Yang Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty. He could tell from Yang Jian's tone that there was a kind of sadness in it, but more of it was heroic. "The national strength of the Sui Dynasty at that time was not enough for me to continue to send my army southward. My biggest regret at the time was that I could not pacify Jiangnan. Later, Mian'er knew how to make good use of people, and the boy from the Li family was indeed a wizard. My son in the Sui Dynasty also They are all tigers and wolves, and the destruction of Nanchen is a matter of course." The Mian'er he was talking about was Emperor Taizong of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jiding, whose nickname was Mian'er. "I have always regretted that Jiangnan was not pacified by me personally, so God gave me another chance." Yang Jian stood on the riverside, looking at the warships far away on the river and said: "Even if some people block it, what can I do? "They all say that the Yangtze River is a natural chasm. My son can jump over it, but I can't?" Puhu opened his mouth, but didn't say anything. He just suddenly felt that the taste had changed a bit now that his elder brother was fighting. If in the past, when the eldest brother said such heroic words, he would also feel excited. But this time, there was no grandeur in his heart, only sadness. Jiangnan'an Luo Tu lowered his head and looked at the knife hanging on his waist, a trace of regret flashed in his eyes. "It's a pity I have only practiced the Heaven-Swallowing Technique that Li Qingfeng taught me to the seventh level, and I have not been able to fully absorb Zhan Zhetian's cultivation. If I can fully absorb it, I should be able to enter the upper realm of transparency, which is one foot It's not impossible to enter the Near Heaven Realm. With my current level of cultivation, how can I beat that old immortal?" Ye Jinnan stood beside him, silent. "However, I'll take care of the matters on the battlefield. To deal with that old immortal, Tonggu Academy should do some work. Wan Xingchen's sword killed all the old perverts on the surface, and the ones secretly should also come out. Breathe some air. This is really a great era Go to hell, old guys, it's my turn." Luo Tu smiled with his lips raised.