Night had just fallen when Zhu Guobi fled to Puzhou.
The soldiers around him rode their horses to the moat and shouted toward the top of the city wall: "Open the gate quickly and let us in."
The guards on the city wall asked, "Who is coming?"
"The commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army of the Royalist Army, Lord Zhu Guobi!"
"Master Zhu is in Anping Town dealing with the bandits, why are you here in Puzhou?"
"We were attacked by the enemy army and had to evacuate from Anping Town."
The soldiers on the wall shouted back, "Tell Lord Zhu that Puzhou no longer obeys the orders of the Nanjing court, but the orders of the Beijing court instead. You should leave quickly, or you will be hurt by the swords."
Zhu Guobi was almost mad to death, pointing at the top of the city wall and yelling: "Damn it, you are taking advantage of my misfortune..."
What responded to them was not curses, but arrows.
Although Zhu Guobi was defeated, Zhu Cijiong did not pursue the victory.
So the loss of troops was not particularly large.
He originally wanted to attack the city and teach the soldiers inside a lesson.
But he had just been defeated and had no fighting spirit.
They had no choice but to continue heading south and arrive outside the city of Caozhou.
The Caozhou defenders also changed their attitude and refused to let him enter the city.
Zhu Guobi headed south again with a gloomy face.
There are deserters every day.
Some people fell behind.
By the time he returned to Yanzhou Prefecture after a long detour, the number of soldiers and horses behind him was less than 20,000.
Including the soldiers who had escaped from Yuyuan before, his total force was barely 30,000.
Based on the information from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the caravan, he judged that the main force of the Ping Liao Army was approaching Shandong.
We will be able to join the battle soon.
The main force of the Ping Liao Army was as high as 70,000 to 80,000 troops, twice his strength.
He was defeated when he was fighting 9,000 with 70,000, so there was no way he could win when he was fighting 70,000 with 30,000.
After weighing the pros and cons.
Zhu Guobi decided to switch from offense to defense.
But how to defend it became a problem.
Yanzhou Prefecture had no strategic locations to defend and was unable to stop the attack of the Ping Liao Army.
After discussing with Liu Kongzhao, Zhu Guobi decided to abandon Yanzhou Prefecture and retreat to Xuzhou.
To defend Xu, one must defend the river.
So he ordered his army to retreat to the south bank of the Yellow River and build fortifications at the main crossings on the shore to prevent the Ping Liao army from crossing the river.
As soon as the army set out, Zhu Guobi received the news that Zhao Zhilong had been beheaded after surrendering.
Zhu Guobi was startled and asked quickly: "Is the news true?"
The guard replied, "It is true. Dongchang Prefecture has Jinyiwei from Nanjing. They sent the news out immediately after Zhao Zhilong's death. In addition, His Royal Highness Prince Ding not only did not conceal the matter, but also had people spread it everywhere."
Zhu Guobi covered his face with his hands: "It's over. It seems that whether we surrender or not, the capital will kill us."
Liu Kongzhao was equally worried and said, "Yes, we have no way out. We can only survive by fighting to the death!"
To survive.
While Zhu Guobi and Liu Kongzhao retreated southward, they took the time to raise money and food and recruit soldiers.
On September 15th, Zhu Guobi left Yanzhou Prefecture.
The news soon reached Zhu Cijiong's ears.
He did not take the opportunity to occupy Yanzhou Prefecture, but kept his troops in place.
Li Dingguo was puzzled: "Your Highness, Zhu Guobi took the initiative to retreat to the south bank of the Yellow River. Why don't we go south immediately and seize the opportunity to occupy the city on the north bank of the Yellow River?"
Zhu Cijiong shook his head: "No hurry, wait a little longer."
"May I ask what you are waiting for, Your Highness?"
"Wait for Zhang Rong's money and food to arrive, and let the army rest for a while."
......
On the morning of September 16, Zhang Rong, the governor of the Eastern Depot, brought his men to Dongchang Prefecture.
The purpose of his trip was to raise money and food for Zhu Cijiong.
After entering the city, Zhang Rong went directly to the lobby of the government office.
The prefect of Dongchang Prefecture and a group of civil and military officials came to the government office in person to greet him.
After some polite exchanges, everyone entered the government office and took their seats.
Zhang Rong got straight to the point: "Everyone, I heard that the rebels have raised money and food from the gentry and common people in the city. Is this true?"
The prefect of Dongchang Prefecture did not want to answer this question in person, but among the people present, he had the highest official position.
So he could only bite the bullet and answer, "Yes."
"Okay!" Zhang Rong simply stood up. "I also heard that in order to encourage the gentry and the people to donate money, the rebels registered all the donors and promised to give them corresponding tax reductions after the war."
The prefect of Dongchang Prefecture replied in a deep voice again: "Your Excellency, it is indeed so."
Zhang Rong asked, "Where is the list?"
"It's in the Dongchang government office."
"Show it to me."
"yes."
Soon, an official handed the list to Zhang Rong.
Zhang Rong quickly flipped through it and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.
The officials present knew that Zhang Rong was here to cause trouble, so they all lowered their heads and dared not speak.
Zhang Rong snorted coldly and shouted outside, "Someone come."
Boro stepped in: "I am here!"
"What do you think of donating money to the rebels?"
Bolo answered loudly: "Donating money to the rebels is aiding the enemy and should be punished by death according to the law."
"Okay." Zhang Rong threw the list to the ground: "Immediately take people to arrest the people named in the list, and execute them on the spot immediately after catching them. No mistakes!"
"I obey your command!" Bolo took the order and was about to turn around and leave.
The officials present sneered.
In order to raise enough money and food for Zhu Guobi, all the famous gentry and wealthy families in the city donated money.
In order to qualify for tax exemptions, many officials who did not donate money also added their names to the list.
If Bolo is really allowed to arrest and kill people according to the list.
I'm afraid that none of the gentry, wealthy families and officials in the city will be spared.
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