Chapter 643: The Seven Yan Xiong of the Ming Dynasty

In April of the fifth year of Tiantong, Murong Ke led his army to attack Hongnong County. Qin sent Prime Minister Li You to Zhao State. He asked Zhao State to send troops but failed, so he returned to Chang'an. After Li You left, Zhao State ordered the contraction of the defense line and made every effort to arrange the defense line on the north bank of the Yellow River. The Zhao army took the initiative to retreat, just as Deng State was in the mood. Xue Rengui ordered the cavalry guards stationed in the Central Plains to enter Puyang City.

On April 14, in the fifth year of Tiantong, Murong Ke led an army of 100,000 to the Mochi. At this time, the city gates were closed, and the defenders on the city were ready to fight.

"General, Mingjing has heard news that the troops garrison of Zhao in the Central Plains have all withdrawn to the north of the Yellow River. General Xue ordered the Shenxingwei to enter Puyang City." Outside the city of Fengchi, there was a large tent of the Deng army's camp, and Ling Jing reported the movements of the Central Plains in recent times to Murong Ke.

"Okay!" Murong Ke was immediately happy after hearing this and said, "It seems that Zhao State has recognized the situation and is unwilling to continue to consume too much strength for Qin State. Our battle will be much easier to fight next."

After understanding the situation in the Central Plains, Murong Ke's first idea was that Zhao had given up on the idea of ​​rescuing Qin, otherwise Zhao would not shrink the defense line. If Zhao continued to have the intention of rescuing Qin, he should send troops into Guanzhong. At the least, he would increase troops to the Central Plains and put pressure on Xue Rengui's army. He would never actively shrink the defense line.

"What the general said is very much. When Zhao retreats, Qin is too busy to turn things around!" Ling Jing also smiled.

The gap in strength between Deng and Qin was too huge. Looking at the entire Qin State, the only thing that could make Deng State afraid was Bai Qi. After all, a peerless commander could often control the overall situation. However, Qin State abandoned its martial arts from the beginning and asked Bai Qi to station Lantian Valley. As a result, Bai Qi was dragged to Lantian Valley by Murong Ke and could not move. The rest of the army, Geng Yue, was defeated by Li Siye, and finally died in Mei County. Ying Huai defeated Henan County and retreated to Hangu Pass. As a result, Deng's army entered Guanzhong on a large scale. By this time the war, Qin State was no longer taken seriously by Deng State. The only way to affect the overall situation was Zhao State in the north.

The reason why Xue Rengui's army has never been able to let go of his arms and feet to attack Hangu Pass is to be on guard against Zhao State. Although Deng Yu's Anguo Guard and Ma Chao's Shenxing Guard are in charge of the Central Plains, if Zhao State tries its life, it may not be able to stop it in just two guards. Therefore, Xue Rengui must keep some of his troops and support the Central Plains at any time.

Now the Zhao army retreated voluntarily, and the entire army retreated across the Yellow River. That is, from this moment, Deng Zhao and the two countries shared the natural danger of the Yellow River. With the natural danger of the Yellow River, as long as the two important towns in Xingyang and Puyang were guarded, the Central Plains would be safe and sound. Therefore, while Deng Yu led the Anguo Guard to station Xingyang, Xue Rengui ordered Ma Chao to lead the Shenxing Guard to Puyang. Although the Shenxing Guard was a cavalry guard, it might be almost impossible for the Zhao army to defend the city, but it was difficult for the Zhao army to break through, and Xue Rengui could also devote himself to attacking Hangu Pass.

"Yinghuai sent troops to garrison the Shichi in order to gain time for the Zhao army to go south. The Chang'an side must know that the Shichi and Hangu Pass may not know. Since that is the case, then we will be kind-hearted people and tell them this cruel fact." Murong Ke thought for a while and said with a smile.

The main task of the Qin army coming here is to stop the Deng army at all costs and buy time for Zhao army to go south to reinforce. If the Qin army knew that the Zhao army would not come, it would definitely be a very heavy blow to the morale of the Qin army.

"General wise!" Ling Jing, as a military advisor, could easily understand what Murong Ke meant. The Zhao army would no longer come now, and the main opponent of the Deng army was the Qin army. Although the Qin army was not as strong as the Deng army, if the Qin army fought desperately with the Deng army, the Deng army would suffer a considerable loss. Therefore, if it could hit the morale and morale of the Qin army, it would be very beneficial to the two armies in fighting.

He thought of it and did it, and Murong Ke immediately arranged for Ling Jing to be responsible for this matter.

Soon, Ling Jing arranged a large number of soldiers to go to the city to shout.

"Listen to the Qin army on the city, Zhao State has refused to send troops to rescue Qin State. You have no reinforcements. If you want to save your life, open the city and surrender quickly, don't mislead yourself!"

"Listen to the Qin army on the city, Zhao State has refused to send troops to rescue Qin State. You have no reinforcements. If you want to save your life, open the city and surrender quickly, don't mislead yourself!"

…………

Ling Jing arranged hundreds of soldiers to shout in unison hundreds of steps away from the city of Shichi. In order to better shake the morale of the Qin army, Ling Jing also arranged hundreds of archers in the army, and then ordered people to write the content of the call to the soldiers on cloth and shoot it on the top of the city.

The Qin army on the city thought that the Deng army was going to attack the city, but who expected that this was the case. At first, they didn't agree, but after the pieces of cloth flew up to the city, the Qin army began to discuss.

After learning the news, Shen Zhi asked the deputy general to appease the soldiers, while he returned to the county government to discuss with Yan Xiong.

"Mr. Yan County, do you think what Deng Jun said is true?" Shen Zhi looked at the cloth in his hand and said with trembling hands.

Yan Xiong shook his head and said, "General, whether this matter is true or not, it can only be fake!"

"I will know this naturally, but I will want to hear the truth!" Shen Zhi said, of course Shen Zhi knew what Yan Xiong said. Now they are stationed in the Thunder Pond and face the 100,000 Deng troops. Now this news is coming. If Shen Zhi does not come forward to deny its authenticity, the morale of the Qin army will definitely be shaken, which will have a great blow to morale. However, Shen Zhi still wants to know if this news is true.

Yan Xiong shook his head and said, "General, I don't know. How can I know about the Shichi far away from Chang'an and Zhao State? But according to Xia Guan's opinion, this matter is most likely true."

"Impossible!" Shen Zhi suddenly rose up when he heard this, swept the things on the desk to the ground, and said with a ferocious look: "Absolutely impossible. Qin and Zhao are ally. Even if they are not ally, Qin and Zhao have long become a relationship of dependent relationship. If the Qin is gone, what will Zhao take to compete with Deng? No matter how you look at it, Zhao will not give up on the Qin!"

"Oh..." Seeing Shen Zhi's appearance, Yan Xiong couldn't help but sigh and said, "The general has made a conclusion in his heart, so why should he do this? The alliance between the Qin and Zhao State is just a relationship of interests, and it is just a mutual use. Take a step back and say, even if Zhao State is determined to save me, Daqin, where does it have the strength?"

Yan Xiong walked to Shen Zhi and continued, "When the two countries formed an alliance, our Qin Dynasty was still in strength, with 300,000 elite troops. With the joint efforts of Qin and Zhao, we can compete with the powerful Deng, which is the mighty world. However, now our Qin Dynasty has only less than half of its elite troops, and we have to face the siege of hundreds of thousands of Deng troops. The defeat has been decided. How could Zhao continue to waste our Qin Dynasty? If Zhao dispatched a large army, it still could not save the Qin Dynasty and instead suffered losses, wouldn't it be worth the loss? Zhao State has many wise men, and they would not be able to see this."

"Besides, Zhao State is now fighting with the Hu people in the northern border, conscripting hundreds of thousands of troops. There are not many soldiers in the country. How many soldiers can they dispatch?" Yan Xiong continued.

"Doesn't that mean that I, Daqin, have no choice but to wait for death?" Chen Zhi's body softened, he collapsed on the mat, and said with a pale face.

Yan Xiong nodded with difficulty and said, "Although the officials don't want to admit it, the facts are in front of us. Now the crisis of the Qin Dynasty, unless a sudden civil strife in Deng State, the Qin Dynasty may not escape the misfortune. Moreover, even if Deng's army retreated, most of our Qin Fortress fell into the hands of Deng State, and we cannot stop the Deng army's next offensive. In fact, since Wu'anjun's defeat in Bashu, the ending of our Qin Dynasty was already destined. Later, General Wang Feng's defeat in Changpingting led his Qin to further the abyss!"

At the peak of Qin, he had 400,000 elite troops in a hundred battles. Although only 400,000, he could compete with Deng and Zhao. The reason was that these 400,000 troops were all elite troops in a hundred battles and had extraordinary combat power. However, in the battle of Bashu and Changpingting, Qin lost nearly 200,000 troops and suffered heavy damage. Although he later collected more than 100,000 troops, the newly recruited troops were not as good as those elite troops in a hundred battles. It was from that time that Qin had lagged behind Deng and Zhao in all aspects.

"Bold! Yan Xiong, do you dare to curse the Qin Dynasty? Do you want to surrender to Deng's army?" Chen Zhi shouted at Yan Xiong.

"The officials dare not! As a minister of the Qin Dynasty, the officials should live and perish with the Qin Dynasty. However, general, we cannot ignore reality. Today, the officials have said a lot. Please forgive me. The officials will take their leave first!" Yan Xiong said, leaving alone, leaving Chen Zhi alone.

After Yan Xiong returned to his residence, his housekeeper walked in with a cup of tea, then silently closed the door, and whispered to Yan Xiong: "Mr. Ming Qi, is Chen Zhi still obsessed with it?"

Ming Qi, this is the code name of the first backbone of Mingjing, and the person named Ming Qi by the butler is Yan Xiong, the magistrate of Mingchi County in front of him.

"I did not explicitly persuade Chen Zhi to surrender, but he was just a little unacceptable to Chen Zhi's performance. I have been with Chen Zhi for a while and found that he was not a pedantic person and was loyal to Qin. However, it does not mean that he was willing to die for Qin even though he knew that Qin would perish, but the time was not yet up."

"But after this, when will I wait until I can complete Lord Mingshou's order? I would have known General Murong Ke would not have waited for that long!" said the butler.

Yan Xiong was the pseudonym of Ming Qi. Ming Qi was the first group of members recruited by Su Hong when he was founded by Ming Jing. There were 18 people in total. Ming Qi was ranked seventh. Later, he was sent by Su Hong to Guanzhong, which was still Han State at that time as a spy. He also became an official in Han State. However, before he could take office, Han State was destroyed by Qin State, and Guanzhong became the territory of Qin State. Yan Xiong also surrendered to Qin State. However, because of the surrendered minister, Yan Xiong had never had a good opportunity. Later, he was sent to the Machistan to be the county magistrate. He thought that Murong Ke would lead his army to kill and could open the city to surrender and return to Deng State, but who knew that Chen Zhi suddenly arrived and disrupted Yan Xiong's plan.

Although the plan was disrupted, Yan Xiong had a bold idea in his mind, that was, to persuade Chen Zhi to surrender. Others may not know it. However, Yan Xiong had been an official in Qin for many years and had a good understanding of Chen Zhi's situation. Chen Zhi was less than forty years old, but he had already been the only one in the Qin army. In terms of ability, he was not inferior to Geng Yue, Wang Feng, and Ying Huai, and other veterans were representatives of the young and strong sects of the Qin army. Among the younger generation of Qin, Bai Qi was the only one who could suppress him.

If he could persuade him to surrender, he would not only avoid a fierce battle, but also bring a general to Deng State. After Jie Shi returned to Wancheng, Yan Xiong could rise to the top. However, Shen Zhi's attitude is still unclear, and Murong Ke outside the city obviously could not wait, otherwise he would not have used this method to shake the morale of the Qin army.

"You sent General Murong Ke, just say please give me some more time!" Yan Xiong said with a struggle in his heart. It was obvious that he didn't want to give up. Although he wouldn't have anything to do after Murong Ke broke the city, he just didn't have any contribution. However, Yan Xiong was also ambitious. If he returned to Wancheng like this, he would always be a spy with a mirror. It would be difficult to see a spy who made his debut. His status was even less than that of a spy with the dark generation.

Although the members of Mingjing are qualified, there is no distinction between superiors and inferiors. Whether it is the Ming, the Dark, or the Xuan, the latter, they are actually the same. Unless they are the commander of one place, the commander of Mingjing in Guanzhong is not Yan Xiong, who is Ming Qi, but Ming Shiyi, who is far away in Chang'an City. He is also the person who learned about the Qin army's raid on Shuzhong Dao that time. It was also because of that time that Ming Shiyi was appointed as the commander of Mingjing in Guanzhong by Yao Guangxiao, commanding all Mingjing spies in Guanzhong.

"Mr. Ming Qi, I will try my best to convince the general!" The butler responded, and then turned around. Just as he was about to open the door and go out, Yan Xiong behind him suddenly said: "An Jiu, I have been with me for so many years, and I have aggrieved you!"

The housekeeper, no, it should be Anjiu who smiled and replied, "What's wrong with me? I've been with the adults for so many years, having a safe life, marrying a wife and having children, and that adult didn't treat me badly. It's better than those brothers who have today and not tomorrow!" After that, he left.

That night, a secret letter was sent to Xuan Yi, a member of Mingjing in Murong Ke's army. Since Mingjing was established, every time Mingjing was sent, there would be a member of Mingjing around the general who was commanding the army. The commander of the first army also knew it, but he did not have much opinion. After all, Mingjing can bring some unexpected surprises in many cases. Of course, this is also on the surface. It is unknown how many members of Mingjing are there in secret.

After receiving the secret letter, Xuan Yi immediately came to the central army's tent and met with Murong Ke.

"Are you talking about the people who are in the Mingchi City? And he is still trying hard to persuade Chen Zhikaicheng to surrender?" Murong Ke was very surprised when he suddenly heard that there was the people who were in the Mingchi City and were also trying to persuade Chen Zhikaicheng to surrender. And Murong Ke knew that this person's status in the Mingchi City would not be low, otherwise he would not be qualified to stay with Shen Zhi, let alone persuade Chen Zhikaicheng to surrender.

Xuan nodded and said, "Yes, General, but the people in the city still hope that the general can suspend the offensive. He said in the secret letter that he was confident that he would convince Chen Zhikai to surrender."

"Mr. Xuanyi, can you tell me what the person in the city is?" Murong Ke was very curious about the members of Mingjing in the Machi City, because he could get along with Chen Zhi, how could he be a simple person?

But Xuan Yi shook his head and said, "God of General. Mingjing has rules for Mingjing. Without Mingshou's permission, no one can expose his identity without authorization. Please don't make things difficult for the general!"

"I understand!" Murong Ke did not force himself. After all, he and Mingjing were not subordinate to each other. Mingjing had the rules of Mingjing, so he could not interfere. So he said, "But Mr. Xuanyi, I can't wait too long. Hangu is of great importance. If Hangu Pass is opened one day earlier, General Xue's army will be able to enter the pass one day earlier and the day of destroying Qin will arrive earlier. You also know that Your Majesty once said that it has been more than a year since the destruction of Qin within two years, and there is not much time left for us."

"I understand!" Xuan nodded and said, "But General, since the people in the city are so confident, they must be sure. Please give some time. Besides, if Chen Zhi can open the city and surrender, our army can also avoid a fierce battle. I hope the general will think twice!"

Murong Ke thought about it, and after thinking about it, he said, "Okay, if you tell the people in the city, you will give him ten days. In ten days, no matter whether he succeeds or fails, he will attack the city. This matter is related to the success or failure of our army. I cannot be careless. Please forgive me, Mr. Xuanyi!"

"Thank you General!" Xuan was relieved when he saw Murong Ke relaxed and gave him ten days, and he was relieved. To be honest, he was actually unsure of his feelings when he came to persuade Murong Ke this time, because even if Ming Qi could successfully persuade Chen Zhikaicheng to surrender, Murong Ke could still break through the city of Mongchi. After all, the Qin army only had 10,000 troops, and the Deng army had an army of 100,000, and Mongchi was not a strong city. With the strength of Deng army, it was easy to win it. Murong Ke was able to give himself ten days of time!

"You have to be polite. I am not a rude person. I am just thinking about Da Deng. Naturally, I have no reason to agree. Besides, Chen Zhi is also a rare general. If I can surrender to my Da Deng, it will be a good thing!" Murong Ke said with a smile.
Chapter completed!