Chapter 68: Capturing the Thief
Yang Yuanhao's eyes turned red as he said, "Where can I escape to? All lands under heaven belong to the king. One day I will be caught and taken back."
Zhuang Yu said, "I heard there are islands outside the South. Let's flee there for now and come back when the situation stabilizes. As long as we have the green mountains, we will never have to worry about running out of firewood!"
Yang Yuanhao seemed to be persuaded by his words, and a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes, but the glimmer disappeared in an instant: "The rebels have surrounded the city tightly. Even if I grow wings, I can't fly through these 80,000 troops."
Zhuang Yu's eyes swam around, and suddenly an idea came to his mind: "Your Majesty, I have a plan. Are you willing to try it?"
"Who else can I trust besides you?"
"Then we can only burn our boats!"
Zhuang Yu said, "Tonight I will send people to set fire to the city to create chaos. The people will surely run around like frightened birds."
"The army outside the city will definitely take the opportunity to attack the city when they see the fire. When the city gate is opened, Your Majesty can change into the clothes of ordinary people and then follow the people out of the city!"
Although this plan was risky, it was the only way. Yang Yuanhao gritted his teeth and nodded: "Okay! Everything will be done according to your words!"
Zhuang Yu quickly sent someone to find a man whose height and appearance were 70% similar to Yang Yuanhao, and asked him to change into Yang Yuanhao's clothes.
Yang Yuanhao's heart skipped a beat when he looked at this man. Anyone who saw his subordinates keeping someone who looked similar to him would become suspicious.
Zhuang Yu quickly explained: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. This person can stay in the city for a while longer."
Yang Yuanhao didn't have time to think too much. He quickly changed into ordinary people's clothes and prepared to take action after dark.
*
On the other side, Zhao Xiao led his army to station outside the city. Some soldiers were challenging the enemy outside the city, but the enemy did not respond at all, clearly wanting to be a coward.
Due to the terrain, siege rams could not be used. There was a steep slope outside Shuzhou City, and pushing such a heavy ram up would be ineffective.
However, there were many bamboos in Shuzhou, so the soldiers could cut bamboos to make ladders.
As the sky gradually darkened, suddenly some soldiers noticed thick smoke coming out of Shuzhou City!
"General, General, something bad has happened! The city is on fire!"
Zhao Xiao ran out quickly and could smell the pungent smell of burning coming from the city from a long distance!
"These bastards want to massacre the city. Prepare to attack the city!"
Zheng Daan said: "General, there are not enough ladders. We only made a dozen."
"That's enough. I'll lead two thousand vanguard troops to attack the city and open the gate!"
"I'll go with you, too!"
Zhao Xiao held Zheng Daan down and said, "You can't go. Let's split up into two groups. You are responsible for blocking the civilians outside and preventing them from escaping in the chaos!"
"yes!"
Zhao Xiao put on his helmet and led two thousand vanguard soldiers carrying ladders towards the city!
Arrows rained down from the city wall, and people around him were shot dead one after another. Everyone spontaneously protected the general in the middle.
Zhao Xiao shouted: "Don't worry about me, just take care of yourselves!"
The army behind them was also shooting arrows at Shuzhou City to cover their advance.
The pace of the siege quickened, and soon someone placed a ladder against the city wall and people began to climb up.
Zhao Xiao climbed the fastest, and he reached the top of the city wall in less than half an incense stick of time. While the soldiers above him were changing arrows, he suddenly rushed out, slashed an archer to death with his sword, and then killed several soldiers who came to help.
As more and more people climbed up the tower, they looked into the city and saw that the entire Shuzhou city had turned into a sea of fire! Tens of thousands of people were suffering, and the wailing and screaming were deafening.
"These beasts!" Zhao Xiao chopped and cursed angrily, as if he was a god of death, killing the opponents so badly.
The city gate opened and the army rushed in, but was knocked down by the thick smoke in the city.
At this point the fire was out of control, the wooden house burned very quickly, and with the help of the wind the house was fused into one almost instantly.
Someone shouted, "The city gate is open, everyone, get out and escape!"
Yang Yuanhao was surrounded by Zhuang Yu and several guards, and ran out of the city with the people.
People rushed to the city gate like crazy. Adults had their shoes squeezed off and ran barefoot. Children were trampled underfoot and disappeared before their mothers could pull them up.
Crying and cursing came one after another, and at that moment Shuzhou City seemed like hell.
Zhao Xiao's eyes were blazing with fire. He grabbed the captain beside him and said, "Go inform Lao Zheng to stop all the people and don't let any of them go!"
"yes!"
Zhao Xiao understood that this was a trick played by Yang Yuanhao, and he must be trying to escape during the chaos.
Zheng Da'an had already sent troops to intercept them outside the city. When he saw the huge crowds of people, he immediately ordered them to be stopped.
"Don't run around, or I'll kill you without mercy!"
The frightened people didn't listen to him and fled in all directions and couldn't be stopped.
"If you run again, I'll shoot you!"
Zheng Daan quickly ordered his soldiers to shoot arrows at the people who were fleeing in front. Seeing the dead in front, the people were so scared that their legs weakened and they stopped.
"As long as you don't run, we won't kill you!"
The soldiers ran over and surrounded the people.
"Amitabha, Amitabha..." Yang Yuanhao was hiding in the crowd, extremely anxious, with beads of sweat the size of beans dripping down his forehead.
Almost, almost he escaped! Now that he was stopped, he had lost the initiative. He could only hope that the substitute in the city could protect him from this disaster.
Zhuang Yu was also panicked. He could do nothing at this moment. Once he attracted the attention of the rebels, he would surely be killed!
*
In the city, Zhao Xiao asked some soldiers to put out the fire and rescue people, and he himself led a hundred people to rush into Yang Yuanhao's mansion.
Most of the people in the palace had fled, leaving only a few maids and servants.
The soldiers searched the mansion upside down and finally found "Yang Yuanhao" hiding in the closet.
"General, we found it!"
"Yang Yuanhao" was so frightened that he trembled and begged for mercy: "Please spare my life, please spare me..."
Zhao Xiao grabbed him by the collar and looked him up and down. Although he had never seen what Yang Yuanhao looked like in person, he always felt that this person was not real.
He pulled the maid next to him and asked, "Is this your prince?"
The light was dim, and coupled with the shock, several maids nodded and said that it was their own prince.
Zhao Xiao sneered and took the man out of the city.
*
"General, you're back!" Zheng Da'an saw Zhao Xiao carrying someone out of the city.
"Did anyone run out?"
"No, everyone is stopped here!"
Zhao Xiao held up the fake "Yang Yuanhao" and said, "I know you are a stand-in. Now if you point out where the real Yang Yuanhao is, I will let you go. If you dare to lie, I will make you live a life worse than death!"
The stand-in was so frightened that his face turned pale. He looked up at the people not far away and walked towards them tremblingly.
Upon hearing the voice, Yang Yuanhao closed his eyes and hid behind the guards, his heart in his throat.
As the stand-in's footsteps got closer and closer, Yang Yuanhao kept praying in his heart: "Don't come over, don't come over..."
The stand-in stopped beside him, and just as he was about to point, Zhuang Yu pulled out a knife and slashed it directly on the neck of Yang Yuanhao who was beside him.
"He is the Twelve Kings! He is the real Yang Yuanhao!"
Yang Yuanhao looked at him in disbelief. He could not believe until his death that his most loyal dog would actually bite him back.
The soldiers immediately surrounded the two men. Zhuang Yu knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Yang Yuanhao ordered the city to be set on fire. I couldn't stand it any more. Kill him and rid the people of this evil!"
Zhao Xiao walked up to him, and the powerful pressure made Zhuang Yu's neck numb.
"Lift your head."
Zhuang Yu slowly raised his head and looked at the man in front of him who was wearing armor and covered in blood, and swallowed nervously.
"May I have your name?"
"Zhuang...Zhuang Yu."
"What position do you hold beside Yang Yuanhao?"
Zhuang Yu said: "Just... just a guard."
Zhao Xiao gave Zheng Da'an a look, and Zheng Da'an immediately sent someone to drag him out and prepare to torture him to extract a confession.
The fire in the city was almost out, and the sky was gradually turning pale.
Zhao Xiao said: "All the people of Shuzhou, return to the city immediately and settle down! Anyone who dares to take advantage of the chaos to rob, steal, or rape women and children will be killed without mercy!"
The people lined up and slowly returned to the city. Nearly half of the 30,000 Shu troops were killed or wounded, and the rest all surrendered.
*
In Shangjing, Song Yuzhu also received a system notification that the Shuzhou map was open.
He quickly opened it and took a look. It was drizzling in Shuzhou today, with the temperature ranging from 7℃ to 13℃. Shuzhou had rich mineral veins. In addition to ordinary iron ore, there were also gold and silver mines, natural gas, sulfur, Glauber's salt, mica, etc. If it was developed well in the future, it would definitely be a Feng Shui treasure land.
I just don’t know how Zhao Xiao is doing, whether he is injured.
Now Yunnan is the only piece of land left on the map that is still covered with mosaics. Once Yunnan is taken, his mission to unify the country will be completed. I wonder what reward the system will give him.
People feel refreshed when good things happen to them. Song Yuzhu was in a particularly good mood today. Unfortunately, she couldn't share this happy thing with others, after all, the good news had not been sent back to the capital yet.
During the morning court session, the Ministry of Scientific Research was formally finalized. The official in charge of the ministry would be a third-rank civil servant, and it would be divided into three departments, namely military industry, medicine, and people's livelihood.
As the name suggests, military industry is responsible for the research and development of weapons, gunpowder and the like, while medicine focuses on the research of drugs. People's livelihood is broader and includes not only daily necessities but also plant and biological research.
Song Yuzhu promoted an official named Shen Lun from the Ministry of Works. This person was originally a secretary of the Ministry of Works. When he heard that the emperor had set up the Ministry of Scientific Research and understood the purpose of the Ministry of Scientific Research, he immediately submitted a request to be transferred to any position!
Song Yuzhu called him to the palace and met him in person. After discussing with him, he found that this person had extremely profound research on mathematics and was also very obsessed with science.
Song Yuzhu believes that with this kind of talent, as long as he is given the right environment and time, he will definitely be able to create miracles!
The location of the Research Department was chosen to be next to the six ministries and was set up separately. Because of the emperor's attention, this place became popular, and many officials with children wanted to use their connections to get a job there.
However, Song Yuzhu had made preparations in advance. All personnel entering the scientific research department, regardless of their rank, had to be approved by him personally before they could enter, thus preventing this place from becoming an idle department for retirement and gilding.
Song Yuzhu also planned to have people cultivate grain varieties to increase grain production. At present, the food of the Sheng Dynasty was relatively simple. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn, which had high yields and were cold-resistant, drought-resistant, and easy to store, had not yet been introduced, so people had to be sent to Latin America to find them.
In a blink of an eye, it is the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, and the Chinese New Year is just over ten days away.
This year's Shangjing is much more lively than in previous years. Because emperors died every year in the late period of the previous dynasty, people did not dare to post Spring Festival couplets or set off firecrackers.
Now that they finally have an emperor who is in relatively good health, they naturally start buying New Year's goods in preparation for the New Year.
At the same time, the military letter from Shuzhou was finally delivered to Shangjing. In addition to the victory report, there was also a letter written to him by Zhao Xiao.
Zhao Xiao's handwriting was not very good. Compared with Song Yuzhu's handwriting, it looked like it was pulled out of a chicken chop. However, he taught himself after following King Jing, and it was not easy for him to write like this.
Zhao Xiao's letter was not long. Most of it was about how much he missed him. There were also some explicit and cheesy words in it, which made Song Yuzhu blush.
Song Yuzhu also missed him very much. This was the longest time they had been apart since they met. It was only a little over a month, but it seemed like a long time.
The letter ended with: Shuzhou has been taken, I am going to Yunnan on the way, I am afraid I can't get back before New Year's Eve, I feel very sorry. I can only send you my love and the bright moon, hoping to be with you year after year.
Song Yuzhu read it over and over again before folding it and putting it in the box next to her.
(End of this chapter)
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