On March 18, an urgent Tang newspaper was delivered from Fengyang to Nanjing.

"When Ding Kuichu led his troops to Huainan, they were ambushed by Li Chuangzi and suffered heavy losses. He surrendered to Li Chuangzi. He then used the imperial edict and seal to trick the Huainan city gates open and took Huainan without a single drop of blood!"

"Li Chuang's 50,000-strong army is approaching Fengyang City!!!"

Inside the Chunhe Hall, when the Minister of War Shi Kefa read out the letter, everyone held their breath.

“Everyone, how should...how should we respond?” Zhu Cilang’s voice trembled a little.

Fengyang cannot be lost.

If Fengyang is lost, Nanjing will be under martial law.

The entire southern court will face a shutdown.

In addition, Zhang Xianzhong's attack on southern Huguang will make the situation in the south even more chaotic.

The north is already in chaos. If the south becomes chaotic, the Ming Dynasty will be finished.

"Don't panic, Your Highness. Zhu Guobi and Liu Zhaoji have retreated from Huai'an to Yangzhou. Li Jiyu, Wang Zhigang and others have also led their troops south to attack the bandits' rear." Shi Kefa was the first to come forward to comfort him.

"In addition, according to my calculations, your Highness's order has been delivered to the armies of Yuan Jixian and Qin Liangyu. If they go down the Yangtze River, they can reach the city of Nanjing in ten days at the fastest and half a month at the slowest!"

"What I'm asking is how to defend Fengyang!" Zhu Cilang shouted loudly!

Whether or not Fengyang can be defended is related to his and the royal family's reputation.

What’s more, a former “King of Tang” was imprisoned in Fengyang.

In the ninth year of Chongzhen, the Jiannu invaded the pass and plundered and harassed the capital.

Zhu Youjian, the former King of Tang, ignored the rule that vassal kings were not in charge of the military, recruited soldiers and personally led a thousand people from Nanyang to the north to support the king.

After arriving in Yuzhou (now Fangcheng), he was discovered by the local governor and reported to the emperor.

Chongzhen ordered him to return to his base.

Zhu Youjian did not encounter the Jiannu along the way, but ended up encountering bandits.

The two sides fought several battles, each winning and losing, and then they returned to Nanyang.

Chongzhen was furious when he heard the news, and demoted him to a commoner. He also sent the Embroidered Uniform Guard to imprison him in Fengyang and instead conferred the title of King of Tang on his younger brother Zhu Youxuan.

Faced with Zhu Cilang's anger, the ministers lowered their heads helplessly.

What can I do?

We can only wait for Yuan Jixian and Qin Liangyu.

After Zhu Cilang had finished his temper, he thought of two people: "Where are Gao Jie and Liu Liangzuo?"

"To reply to Your Highness, the message has been sent. There are many bandits on the road to the north, and the message is transmitted slowly, but it should be delivered by now." Shi Kefa said with his head down.

"Well, how is the preparation of the military pay going?"

"I have ordered Zhang Huangyan to go to Yangzhou to raise funds, but there is no news yet."

"Then send someone to ask! If you can't raise money for military pay, I will have to collect next year's taxes in advance!"

All the civil and military officials in the court bowed their heads and remained silent.

Zhu Cilang snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves and left.

......

Yangzhou.

Inside the government office, Zhang Huangyan and Yangzhou prefect Ren Minyu sat opposite each other.

After a long while, Ren Minyu said, "Brother Zhang, Fuyang and Huainan have been lost one after another, and Fengyang has also been surrounded by Li Chuang. If nothing unexpected happens, the bandits will attack Yangzhou next!"

Zhang Huangyan sighed: "Yeah, I didn't expect Ma Shiying's army to be so vulnerable."

"Have you found a solution to the problem of raising funds?"

"Not yet! The wealthy merchants in Yangzhou are extremely stingy. Unless the bandits are at the gates of the city, they will not donate money to support the military."

The two were silent.

They were all officials of the Ming Dynasty, representing the imperial court. They could not rob money like bandits, but could only call on wealthy households and businessmen to donate money.

But no one will voluntarily donate for this kind of thing unless forced by the government.

As a result, the issue of raising funds fell into a vicious circle.

Zhang Huangyan sighed, "There are millions of people in Yangzhou City. Even if each person donated one or two taels of silver, we could collect millions of silver for military pay! Unfortunately, no one donated money. When the enemy attacks, they will not climb up the city wall to defend, but will just stay at home and pray for God's blessing."

Ren Minyu sighed, thought for a moment and said, "Five hundred thousand taels!"

"What?" Zhang Huangyan looked at Ren Minyu in surprise, "Where did Brother Ren get the 500,000 taels?"

"The Yangzhou Treasury has 100,000 taels of taxes that have not yet been refunded. In addition, the Huaibei Salt Field's 50,000 taels of salt tax has been temporarily stored in the Yangzhou Treasury a few days ago. These can be lent to you temporarily, and you can return them in time after the silver from the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing is delivered!"

"In addition, I intend to use the government's name to force those wealthy families and merchants to pay 350,000 taels of silver to help with military expenses."

"This..." Zhang Huangyan hesitated, "I'm afraid this is not appropriate! If it gets out, Brother Ren might not be able to continue his career as an official."

"It's okay. I've been tired lately anyway, and I wanted to take this opportunity to rest for a while. After I've rested, I'll have to trouble Brother Zhang to help me resume my official duties!" Ren Minyu said casually.

Zhang Huangyan's eyes were filled with tears. He stood up and knelt in front of Ren Minyu: "Brother Ren, please accept my respect!"

Ren Minyu helped Zhang Huangyan up, and then gave orders to the officers in the yamen.

......

Jingzhou.

After defeating Liu Wenxiu, Qin Liangyu immediately went down the river and surrounded Jingzhou.

Half a day later, the defenders of Jingzhou left the city and surrendered.

Next, Qin Liangyu did not launch a rash attack, but took the opportunity to rest and sent out a large number of spies and scouts to investigate the situation in half of Huguang.

"Report!" In the military tent outside Jingzhou City, a messenger walked in with a man dressed as a civilian.

"Your Excellency the Governor, there is an order from Nanjing."

Eunuch Zhang Yixian came before Qin Liangyu, and after confirming her identity, he took out the imperial edict in his arms and began to read it.

After handing the order to Qin Liangyu, Zhang Yixian urged, "Governor Qin, hurry down the river to Nanjing."

Qin Liangyu thought for a moment and shook her head.

Zhang Yixian was stunned: "What does the pro-Governor mean?"

"I am the governor of four provinces appointed by His Majesty himself. I should have the final say on how to fight the war, not the crown prince, and certainly not you."

Zhang Yixian's face turned cold: "From what you said, are you going to disobey the order?"

"I am not disobeying your order. The 120,000 soldiers under my command are all elite troops in Sichuan. This trip out of Sichuan and into Chu is of great importance. We must be fully prepared before sending out the troops."

"You are an official appointed by the court and should obey the court's orders, otherwise it would be treason!" Zhang Yixian threatened.

Qin Liangyu shook her head again: "Have you forgotten the lesson of Hong Chengchou's defeat at Songjin twelve years ago?"

"That was caused by Chen Xinjia's urging for war! I am not here to urge you to fight, but to ask you to rescue Nanjing."

"In my opinion, this is urging the war! I can't be like Hong Chengchou and attack rashly without caring about the lives of the soldiers. If I must send troops, I am willing to resign from the court."