Iron Dynasty

Yingzhou.

This is a city in the south of Yan State.

Compared with Bozhou, Yingzhou's city is not big, only ten miles in length and width. After King Yan led officials to flee here, the small Yingzhou became more and more crowded.

Father, now that Bozhou is occupied by the fourth prince, and only half of the city of Yan is still in our hands, what should we do now?

The officials in the temporary palace in the city looked at King Yan eagerly.

At this time, King Yan's expression was decadent, and he seemed to be very tired while reclining on the chair. The bad news came one after another in the past two days.

In the end, the Black Feather Army did not stop the aristocratic tribes. Today, Bozhou has been completely occupied by the fourth princes. At the same time, the imperial state and county once occupied by the Yan Kingdom were successively conquered by the army of King Qi, and all six cities were lost.

Under such betrayal and separation, King Yan gradually lost his calmness, and his mood gradually became irritable.

King Yan did not speak, but the underground officials became more and more anxious.

An official took the opportunity to say, His Royal Highness, Xiao Ming has already been enthroned as emperor, and what he wants is nothing more than the Jiangshan of the Great Yu Kingdom. If he were to declare himself a minister to Xiao Ming at this time, he would definitely be delighted, and he might not care about this matter anymore.

Yes, Your Highness, King Qi's army is unstoppable, and those who know the times are Junjie. Another official said loudly.

That's right, it's too late to be loyal now.

...

After these two officials, other officials joined in.

King Yan suddenly sneered a few times when he heard the words, and his eyes turned to the officials. These officials naturally hoped that he would be loyal to Xiao Ming.

Because at that time he will be slashed by Xiao Ming, but they are still officials, and Xiao Ming will still use them to manage Yandi.

So for him, everyone can surrender, but he alone cannot.

No need to say any more, this king has made up his mind. If anyone mentions surrender again, this is the table. King Yan suddenly pulled out his sword and slashed it on the table in front of him.

Immediately, the table was stopped by a sharp sword twice, and the officials shrank their necks when they saw this, and did not dare to speak any more.

With a snort, King Yan waved his hand to let the officials leave, leaving brothers Cui Cheng and Cui Hao.

At this time, King Yan said: You are all staring at these officials. If anyone wants to eat inside and out like the Tian family and Ji family, just...

Having said that, King Yan made a neck-slashing action.

Cui Cheng and Cui Hao looked at each other and nodded. Among them, Cui Cheng said, Father, the King of Huainan has already sent 100,000 troops to attack Yingzhou, but there are only 70,000 troops in the city. If Yingzhou is lost again, we will no longer be able to hide. place.

King Yan said ponderingly: This king may not be Xiao Ming's opponent, but he is definitely not someone who can be manipulated by the king of Huainan. From now on, he will recruit troops in the remaining five states, but all men over thirteen years old must join the army, Xiao Xiao If Ming wants to kill this king, this king will come with him to break the net.

Thirteen years old. Cui Cheng looked surprised, but it seemed to him that it was too late.

The age of conscription in the Great Yu Kingdom was sixteen years old, and now they are conscripting from the age of thirteen because they have no way out now.

After hesitating for a while, the two said in unison, Follow your father's orders.

At the same time, the King of Huainan and his eldest son, Cui Shangan, led an army of 100,000 people to arrive in Gwangju yesterday.

This Gwangju is located in the southwest of Yingzhou, only 70 miles away from Yingzhou. In the past, it has always been a military center for the King of Huainan to defend against the King of Yan.

Father, my son has sent someone to find out the situation in Yingzhou City. Today, there are only 70,000 troops stationed in Yingzhou City.

Standing on the city wall and letting the north whizz by, the King of Huainan looked in the direction of Yingzhou City and said, 70,000 people, this King Yan is indeed very powerful, and he still has so many troops after being beaten by the emperor.

Cui Shangan felt a little uneasy: King Yan is a one-character king, while his father is a two-character king, not only is his status lower than that of King Yan, but also not as many as King Yan in terms of the number of cities, it's just a matter of who is loyal to the royal family. It can be compared to the father.

Hahaha... Dalang's words are wrong, this vassal king is something that was set by the great ancestor, and the royal family does not dare to easily change the vassal king's name, but even if it is a one-word king, it is not a matter of one by one. His name was torn apart by his death. King Huainan's eyes were filled with wise light.

Father said very much, it is precisely because father has never been ambitious that the emperor believes in father so much, and let his sister enter the palace and become a royal concubine. Cui Shangan said in a deep voice.

The King of Huainan sighed, His Royal Highness is not at ease with any vassal king, otherwise he would not have sent us to attack Yingzhou. This is a test in itself. This time, my father's personal expedition is also to reassure the emperor, and my father does not want to follow the Wei king. the footsteps of.”

Compared with other vassal states, his vassal state has only five states and a population of only 900,000, which can be described as weak among many vassal states.

In the past, they had been living in the cracks of many vassal kings, so there was no intention of betraying the royal family in their hearts.

But after King Wei was destroyed, he keenly felt that his opportunity was coming. Taking advantage of this time to join Xiao Ming, he would definitely have a bright future in the future.

His choice this time will also be speculative, and from the current situation, he seems to have made the right choice.

Cui Shangan was silent, and after a while he said: But Father, now the attack on Yingzhou has already exhausted all the power of the vassal. If 100,000 people are finished in Yingzhou City, wouldn't the strength of the vassal state be greatly damaged.

Those who achieve great things are not careful. The King of Huainan said, It is the father's loyalty to the emperor to fight, but the strength is not enough. We also tried our best.

Cui Shangan nodded when he heard the words, I hope the emperor can understand his father's loyalty and courage, and let his father become a king of words from now on.

While the two were talking, a general suddenly climbed up the city wall, and he said to the King of Huainan: Your Highness, two merchant ships from Qingzhou have come from outside the city, and the merchants on board said that they were ordered by the emperor to send fifty artillery pieces for His Royal Highness. .

Cannon. King Huainan was overjoyed when he heard the words, Really?

The last commander did see the artillery on the ship, while the other ship was filled with shells and ammunition. It was said that the siege of the city was difficult because the city walls were strong, just use the artillery to blow down the city wall, and someone on the ship would train the soldiers how to use it. Artillery, said the general.

When the King of Huainan heard the words, he burst into laughter, Your Majesty is still thinking about this king. I have long heard of the benefits of artillery. This time, the artillery is even more powerful.

Cui Shangan's brows also stretched out. At first, he always suspected that Xiao Ming was trying to hurt both of them, but now it seems that he misunderstood.

After being excited, the two immediately followed the general to the Gwangju Pier to receive artillery pieces. In five days, they trained an artillery team consisting of fifty artillery pieces.

After mastering the use of artillery proficiently, King Huainan and Cui Shangan personally led a mighty army to Yingzhou.