Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Nanjing City, Gao Jie Military Camp.

Ever since the last surprise attack on Huang Degong, which not only failed to achieve any results but also resulted in the loss of a large number of troops, Gao Jie has never left the military camp again.

First he fled Sizhou without a fight, and this time he was defeated again. His reputation in the city became worse and worse.

A group of Nanjing nobles were always clamoring for Xu Hongji to punish him, especially the guy whose concubine he had stolen.

Although Xu Hongji had been suppressing the nobles and had not punished Gao Jie beyond his psychological limit, his attitude towards him was already very unfriendly.

Gao Jie knew that his position was awkward. In order to prevent retaliation from certain people, he just stayed in a house next to the military camp and never left the camp.

Zhang Shikang surrounded Nanjing but did not attack. Although the hundreds of thousands of defenders in Nanjing were nervous, they had nothing to do.

Inside the military camp, Lieutenant General Wu Gang was drinking and talking with his brothers.

"Brother Wu, what do you think is going on outside? Whether they are going to fight or not, what's the point of just surrounding them?" a subordinate asked.

"The situation is not very good. Even if Zhang Shikang can't get in, there is no way we can get out." Wu Gang said depressedly after taking a sip of wine.

The city of Nanjing is high and has deep moats. Since Emperor Taizu rebuilt the city wall, Nanjing has never been breached again.

But as a lieutenant general in the army, Wu Gang could always see some clues. Ever since Zhang Shikang successfully crossed the river, the situation had changed drastically.

"Then should we just sit in the city and wait to die?" another person whispered at this time.

"Xiao Li, you just joined the military camp, don't talk nonsense. We have stored a lot of food in Nanjing City!" another person retorted.

The one called Xiao Li obviously didn't care and argued:

"Yes, there is a lot of food, but do you know how many people there are in Nanjing? Including the civilians, there are more than one million people.

How much food would that require? Even if there was a lot of food, how long would it last?"

As soon as these words were spoken, even Wu Gang frowned. This was a very realistic problem.

"But we are soldiers. Even if there is a grain of food in the city, we will be given priority." Others retorted.

"Yes, yes, you have a point, but the common people won't just starve if they don't have enough food to eat. Why do you think Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were able to become so powerful?"

Xiao Li retorted coldly.

This time everyone was finally silent. When Xiao Li spoke, his eyes were always wandering as he looked at the expression of Lieutenant General Wu Gang.

"Alas, General Gao is not well-liked by Xu Hongji now, and we are often ridiculed even in the city."

"The Lord doesn't like General Gao, but doesn't General Gao like us too? Whatever benefits we get will go to his personal soldiers."

This guy was probably drunk and dared to say anything. Saying that Gao Jie doesn't like them is the same as saying that he doesn't like Wu Gang.

Wu Gang's face suddenly fell.

"Kong Liuzi, shut up!" Someone nearby immediately tried to stop him.

The man who spoke quickly stood up and apologized to Wu Gang. Wu Gang glared at his subordinate but did not scold him.

Except for Li Wen, who had just joined the army, the only ones who could sit here and drink with him were his old subordinates.

Li Wen had only recently joined the army, but Wu Gang saw that he was skilled in martial arts and had a quick mind, so he incorporated him into his personal guards.

After such a commotion, everyone lost interest in drinking and left one after another. Soon, only Wu Gang and Li Wen were left in the room.

"Brother Wu, I have something in my mind but I don't know whether I should say it or not." Li Wen approached Wu Gang and said.

Wu Gang was still depressed, so he said:

"We are all brothers, just say what you want to say."

"Brother Wu, although what Kong Liuzi said just now was unpleasant to hear, his words were true.

The Lord doesn't like General Gao, and General Gao doesn't like us either. Every time we go to battle, he always wants us to be at the front, and when there are spoils of war, he always gives them to his own people.

There is still food and grass in Nanjing now, so everything is fine. But if food and grass become scarce in the future, won’t we have to starve first? "

Wu Gang frowned and said nothing.

"Not only that, the Northern Army has already begun sweeping across Jiangxi and Huguang, and our foundation has been lost.

With only this strong city, how long can it hold out?" Li Wen asked again.

This time, Wu Gang finally took the initiative to speak:

"You and I are from the same hometown. If you have something to say, just speak it out. Why hide it?"

"I dare not lie to Brother Wu. As the saying goes, if you don't plan for the future, you will have immediate worries.

I feel that the city of Nanjing will not be able to hold out for much longer.

As for the Duke of Wei, we respect him and call him Lord, but outside of Nanjing City today, who will recognize him?

If we just stay in the barracks, we will be waiting for death!" Li Wen saw that Wu Gang was finally moved and finally spoke out what was in his mind.

"Then according to your opinion, how should we respond?" Wu Gang stood up and looked outside, then said.

"If you don't take care of yourself, you will be punished by heaven and earth!"

"Appreciate further details."

……

Qian Qianyi walked back and forth in his own house with a frown on his face.

None of the news I received recently was satisfactory. I thought that Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing, as the elite soldiers in the city, should be able to defeat Huang Degong.

But they didn't expect that their 60,000-strong army was defeated by Huang Degong's more than 20,000 people, and the defeat was quite ugly.

Although this news was blocked from the people in the city, it was still spreading like wildfire in the city. No one knew when the rumors started to spread in Nanjing and they could not be stopped.

Although there are still more than 100,000 defenders in the city, their morale is very low. They are good at defending the city but lack fighting spirit.

But he knew in his heart that just defending the city was already a defeat. They could not leave Nanjing, and sooner or later the city would be destroyed and people would be killed.

Apart from that, Hedong Jun has not been heard from since their last meeting.

Even though he wrote several poems expressing his admiration, he did not get any response.

Qian Qianyi had been active in the literary world for decades, but this was the first time he had suffered such a great blow from a woman.

It is not known whether it was driven by his competitive spirit or the cost of silence, but Hedong Jun Liu Rushi became a hurdle in Qian Qianyi's heart.

If he could not defend Nanjing, he would definitely sacrifice his reputation, and he was very determined about this.

As a great scholar of Donglin School and a leader of the Jiangnan literary world, the responsibilities he shouldered did not allow him to have any other choice, and Qian Qianyi himself was well aware of this.

He seemed to have disregarded life and death.

But the fact that he couldn't get Liu Rushi became a knot in his heart, making his thoughts confused.

“Master, there is unrest in the city right now, and people go missing every day.

If the master agrees, I have a way to make the master's wish come true." Seeing that his master was worried about the beauty, the housekeeper of the Qian Mansion could not help but say.

Qian Qianyi was very smart. In fact, he had already thought of this method in his mind, but he just couldn't bear to say it out loud.

"Is it too much to act like this..."

"Master, if the city falls, we will all die.

Besides, who would remember this little thing?

I will do my job with confidence and will never let outsiders know about it."

……