In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

In less than half a month, Wei Zijie had mustered an army of 40. After a brief training, these 40 troops were deployed to the Qingzhou battlefield, the Mingzhou battlefield, and the most important Jingzhou battlefield!

With the addition of this new force, the tense situation on the Jingzhou battlefield was changed as expected!

The imperial army, already forced to retreat from one city to another by the two armies, collapsed even faster after the arrival of this new force.

In just one month, Yang Zheng's army was the first to break through the imperial defenses and reach the capital.

Yang Erlang was equally fast. On the third day after Yang Zheng arrived outside the capital, Yang Erlang led his army to join forces with Yang Zheng, and together they surrounded the entire capital with more than 500,000 troops.

"This city will probably be difficult to conquer!"

Standing in the military camp outside the city, Yang Erlang gazed at the giant city in front of him, feeling utterly shocked!

Beijing is known as the No. 1 city in the world, with a population of over 2 million and city walls that are over 30 meters high!

The city walls were so high that even a third-rank martial artist would find it difficult to leap directly onto them, let alone an ordinary soldier.

Even Yang Erlang, who had fought countless battles and led his troops to conquer countless cities, couldn't help but feel a sense of powerlessness when he saw this city.

"Ah."

Yang Zheng nodded, a hint of worry on his brow. Although the imperial court was already extremely weak, there must still be some troops remaining in the city. In addition, the city had a population of 200 million, so the imperial court could forcibly conscript men from the populace...

This means that the city's garrison is virtually unlimited, and with towering, mountain-like walls blocking the way, breaching this city will be no easy task!

Of course, Yang Zheng could also do what he did when he besieged Qingzhou Prefecture: besiege the city until it ran out of food and the city fell on its own without a fight...

However, the situation in the capital was different from that in Qingzhou Prefecture. With a population of two million, the capital must have plenty of grain stored in the city. In addition, the major families that occupied the capital also had a lot of grain stored in their hands. Yang Zheng estimated that it would probably take at least three months to besiege the city and break through its defenses!

And three months...

Yang Zheng clearly couldn't accept it.

The Yang family army set out on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, and it is now early September, which means...

This battle lasted for nine months. The soldiers were exhausted, both physically and mentally. As the battle lines were extended and the number of troops increased, the logistical pressure also became greater and greater.

Yesterday, Yang Zheng received a letter from Wei Zijie in Liangzhou, informing him that the army's food supplies were running out and that the remaining supplies could only support the army for a month at most.

In other words, Yang Zheng must end the battle in Jingzhou within a month, otherwise Wei Zijie will have no choice but to requisition grain from the people...

Yang Zheng rebelled because he himself was starving, and because he wanted all the people in the world to have enough to eat and live a happy and peaceful life.

How could he bear to forcibly requisition grain from the people under his rule after only a few days of good life?

In short, Yang Zheng could not possibly collect grain from the people, so he had to capture the capital within a month!

Not only to conquer the capital, but also to bring the entire Jingzhou region into their territory!

As Yang Zheng gazed at the majestic city wall ahead, he muttered to himself, "Perhaps it's time to ask Mr. Chen for help."

…………

…………

With the capital city surrounded by Yang's army, a scene of panic and disarray undoubtedly emerged within the city.

The common people lived in constant fear, dreading the slaughter of themselves and their families after the city fell. The officials and nobles within the city were equally terrified, for they knew all too well that, given Yang Zheng's modus operandi, while the city's inhabitants might escape unscathed after the city's fall, those who habitually leeched off the people and committed countless atrocities would have no chance of survival.

Therefore, when the enemy was at the gates, their fear far exceeded that of ordinary people. Many high-ranking officials had already packed their belongings, ready to take advantage of the chaos to escape the capital.

"That Guan Yu has a great reputation, but he couldn't even stop Yang Xiong. He's really a good-for-nothing."

"Indeed! This marquis, with his illustrious military exploits, is not even as good as a mere bandit. He is utterly useless!"

"Hmph! I think that Guan Yu must be colluding with Yang the bandit. Otherwise, how could he lead tens of thousands of elite troops and not be able to stop Yang the bandit, to the point that Yang the bandit's army is at the gates of the capital?"

"..."

Many high-ranking officials and nobles in the city began to curse and criticize Guan Yu.

But what they don’t know is…

If it weren't for Guan Yu leading his troops to stop Yang Zheng's offensive, Yang Zheng would probably have already besieged the city half a year ago, and it would have been impossible to drag it out until September now.

Of course, they wouldn't care about any of that. All they knew was that Guan Yu had failed to defeat the Yang family army and allowed them to besiege the city. That meant Guan Yu had failed in his duty, and such a person should be imprisoned and punished!

However, they could only dream about it. Now that the enemy was at the gates, the court desperately needed a general like Guan Yu. Both Emperor Xia Yuanyao and the officials were counting on Guan Yu to lead the troops to defend the city. It was impossible to imprison Guan Yu and punish him.

"What should we do! What should we do!"

Inside the Hall of Diligent Governance, Xia Yuanyao paced back and forth in front of the dragon throne like an ant on a hot pan, his face full of panic and fear filling his heart.

Throughout history, no emperor has ever had a good ending during the change of dynasties. Xia Yuanyao knew very well that once the capital was captured, he would have no chance of survival.

Therefore, the army outside the city was like a knife hanging over Xia Yuanyao's head, ready to fall and take his life at any moment.

"My beloved ministers."

After repeatedly exclaiming "What should we do?" in a state of utter confusion, Xia Yuanyao turned to the officials below and said in a trembling voice, "The traitor Yang is fierce and his army is now at the city gates. He could break through the city at any moment. What should I do?"

Seeing Xia Yuanyao's bewildered and cowardly appearance, many officials in the hall showed disdain. This puppet emperor, whom they had jointly helped to the throne, was truly incompetent to the extreme.

At this moment, they even regretted putting Xia Yuanyao on the throne. Although this emperor was easy to control, he was truly useless. All he knew was how to do what was right and wrong, and he was not even as good as the Qing King who was killed by Chen Dao.

At least when facing the army outside the city, the Green King would never show such a weak posture.

Although they despised Xia Yuanyao's weakness, the officials present were no less afraid than Xia Yuanyao. Who was Yang Zheng?

He was someone who was willing to bear the name of a butcher to slaughter all the landlords and powerful families. When he rebelled, Yang Zheng almost wiped out all the landlords and powerful families in Liangzhou, leaving the entire city in ruins.