"I am incompetent!"

In the afternoon, beside the red salt pond with a white patch, Li Qiong bowed her head in embarrassment. "With tens of thousands of people, we can't quickly conquer the city. Let the government stay in the city."

"No problem."

Zhao Jiu immediately comforted him and helped him up. "I decided to cross the river because of Han Liangchen's sudden victory. The incident happened suddenly, and Li Qing took over the siege midway, without complete equipment. If I forcefully attacked the city and sacrificed the lives of my soldiers, it would be my fault."

Some polite words still need to be said.

Of course, Zhao Jiu really didn't care about this matter, because he had to respect objective laws... It has been like this since ancient times. In large-scale field battles, there are often confrontations for many days, but the winner will be decided once the battle begins. And a city, especially a famous city and a big city like Anyi with an important location, which has appeared countless times in Chinese history books, as long as the defender is willing to fight to the death, unless some special means are used, otherwise, according to the regulations that Li Qiong had only taken over for ten days, breaking the city is nothing but a pipe dream.

However, there are definitely problems, at least one - that is, except for those specific key cities that have been prepared in advance, there are relatively few people who are determined to defend to the end regardless of the situation.

Why do we have to guard it?

Why should we be loyal to the Great Jin Dynasty?

"But Mr. Li, I remember that Han Liangchen (Han Shizhong's style) and Li Shaoyan (Li Yanxian's style) fought well, and the Jin army was unable to react. It stands to reason that Hedong City has Wen Dunsizhong and his main force of the Jin army, so it is natural to defend it to the death, but what about Anyi?" On the way to the camp on horseback, Zhao Jiu retracted his gaze from the top of the city wall, swept across the conspicuous salt pond next to it, and finally fell on Li Qiong who was holding his horse. "What is the saying in Anyi City?"

"So that the emperor knows that the reason why Anyi City can be defended is all thanks to one person." Li Qiong, who was leading the horse, turned back quickly, and explained hurriedly while backing away. "It was Shi Gao, the governor of Jiezhou in the Jin Kingdom..."

"Is he a Han Chinese?" Zhao Jiu frowned slightly.

"yes."

"Are Yanyun or the Han people from Lianghe?" Prime Minister Lu couldn't help but interrupt.

"People from Dingzhou... Han people from Hebei." Li Qiong answered without hesitation. "However, Dingzhou is close to the border, and was captured by the Jurchens long before the Jingkang period. He was first forced to do hard labor, then became a military officer because he could read, and finally was favored by Aguda's half-brother Wanyan Zhimu and became a member of his staff..."

"Oh." Lu Yihao responded and glanced at Li Qiong, not knowing what he meant.

"What about this person?" Zhao Jiu also glanced at Li Qiong before asking.

"Before Li Jiedu marched, this man often said that once the emperor launched a northern expedition, Hezhong would be the first to be attacked, so he always attached great importance to defense." Li Qiong did not notice that the emperor and the husband both looked at him extra, and hurried to speak again. "Because Anyi is located on the east side of the salt lake, facing the Zhongtiao Mountain Pass, he managed it even more carefully. That day when Li Jiedu marched in a hurry, he was in Anyi, so even though the magistrate of Anyi surrendered immediately, he still gathered local soldiers and conscripted civilians to defend the city. On that day, Li Jiedu tried to climb the city in one fell swoop, but after failing, he could not do anything for a while, so he could only leave Niu Gaoniu to besiege the city."

"I know what happened next. Han Liangchen passed by here and tried, but failed. Instead, he took Niu Gao away to lead the way, which delayed the siege until Li Qing crossed the river to take over..."

"yes……"

"But even if this person intends to hold on, from what you said, there are not many regular troops in the city. Instead, most of them are local people and civilians?"

"yes."

"The situation now is that the people in the city are just suffering. After Han Liangchen's several great victories, didn't you try to persuade him to surrender? It's hard to fake flags and armor, right?"

"So that the emperor knows, we have certainly advised him. When Prince Han and General Ma fought against the Kingdom of Jin at Tieling Pass, they did not forget this place. After I took over, I also informed him of the spoils of the battle of Fenshui and the withdrawal of the entire army of Balisu across the Huishui River." Li Qiong seemed bitter for a moment. "He himself and some knowledgeable people in the city should also know the general situation, but every time I sent an envoy, he treated me with courtesy and then refused sternly..."

"How old is he?"

"Thirty-eight or thirty-nine, maybe forty."

"How can he control the entire city?" Lu Yihao suddenly interrupted again, but his words became much colder.

"Let me know, sir. This man has always been known for his integrity and kindness. He has only been in Jiezhou for two years, but he has won the hearts of the people, especially here in Anyi..." Li Qiong immediately answered seriously.

"Oh?" Lu Yihao twirled his beard and sneered.

"Since I am besieging this city, I have inquired about some things..." Li Qiong explained impatiently. "This person has two very famous things. One is that when he followed Aguda's half brother Wanyan Jiemu in Hebei in his early years, Wanyan Jiemu was planning to give the people of the entire state of Hebei to the army as slaves, and he advised to stop it; the other time was the local incident two years ago, when a hero from Anyi started an uprising and was ready to respond to Li Jiedu. The incident was leaked, and the hero was killed. Not to mention that a book with his hometown and names was found in his home. It is said that there are nearly a thousand people in it... Wen Dunsizhong sent someone to ask for it, but he, who arrived in advance, burned it directly..."

“…”

"At that time, Wanyan Jiemu had already died, and he actually had no one to rely on." Li Qiong said with emotion. "For this matter, Wen Dun Sizhong directly tied him and his son together and took them to Hedong City and put them in prison. Fortunately, he had a chief clerk who had just passed the Jin Dynasty Jinshi exam. He admired his character and knowledge and recognized him as his teacher. He was only 20 years old at the time... He ran to Taiyuan alone and asked Balisu to come forward. Balisu then went to the Jin King Erliduo who was inspecting the south, and then he was reinstated."

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