Chapter 499: Yijing City is broken!

Facing the murderous Zhao Yong, Guo Zhiping's expression became serious. He quickly drew out the Miao Dao from his waist and rode his horse to meet him.

"boom!"

With just a crisp sound, the goose-wing knives and Miao knives in the hands of the two men on horseback clashed with each other. As if sensing something was wrong, Zhao Yong's eyes flashed with surprise. He did not entangle with Guo Zhiping any more and just spurred his horse to dodge. He did not stand still until he had dodged about ten steps away...

After standing still, Zhao Yongyi cautiously guarded against Guo Zhiping, while glancing at the goose-wing knife in his hand with the corner of his eye. At this moment, this sharp blade that had accompanied him for many years and had gone through countless swords and spears, now had a gap on the blade that was flashing with cold light!
Seeing the gap, Zhao Yong's expression turned very ugly. This goose-wing knife was a rare treasure. When he had just followed Zhao Fuqu to make his fortune, he specially paid a large sum of money to ask a master to forge it. Since he had been with this knife, it could cut iron like mud and was extremely sharp. After so many ups and downs over the years, it had never failed him. How could it be so fragile today that a crack appeared on it after just a collision?
The victory or defeat of a fight between masters is often just a matter of seconds. Similarly, in the previous fight, he had almost tested Guo Zhiping's strength. This bandit leader is not an easy person to deal with. His skills are really strong! Now that the weapon in his hand is broken, what should he do?
Seeing Zhao Yong's uncertain expression, Guo Zhiping showed a faint smile on his face. He knew very well what Zhao Yong was thinking about writing...

Since the establishment of the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau, Ye Mingsheng has been tightening his belt and making continuous investments to ensure the treatment of craftsmen and technicians and to increase their enthusiasm for innovation and research. These craftsmen and technicians are also deeply grateful to Ye Mingsheng and have worked hard to study technology and have produced many technological achievements.

Among these technological achievements is the technology for improving the quality of steel and enhancing the hardness of swords. Because this is a new technology and has not yet been put into large-scale production, the Fengwu Army has not yet equipped it on a large scale. It has only replaced new weapons for senior Fengwu Army generals including Ye Mingsheng.

Guo Zhiping, who was born in the outlaws, has good kung fu skills. With the help of the new weapon, he is confident that he can completely defeat Zhao Yong, so he proposed a one-on-one duel. However, Zhao Yong also brought him some "surprises!"

Guo Zhiping originally thought that Zhao Yong had been in charge of the central army for a long time and had not personally fought in the battlefield for a long time, so his kung fu should have been abandoned, so he could easily defeat Zhao Yong. However, judging from the fight just now, Zhao Yong's horsemanship was still very good!
Their eyes collided fiercely in mid-air. This time Guo Zhiping took the lead and charged forward. Facing Guo Zhiping who was determined to not give up, Zhao Yong had no choice but to meet him although he was helpless. After several rounds, the continuous slashing made Zhao Yong feel that the goose-wing knife in his hand was about to fall into pieces. The disadvantage of the weapon made him block passively. For a while, he was in a very embarrassing situation and in danger. He might be killed by Guo Zhiping's knife at any time...
Seeing their general in such a desperate situation, the remnants of the Yan army who were surrounded were also anxious. At this moment, Zhao Yong's advisor Xu Zhe seemed to have made a decision. He made a signal to his subordinates, who immediately understood what he meant, hid in the crowd, and quietly raised their muskets.

They thought they were doing it covertly, but they never expected that the Fengwu Army was well prepared. Cui Desheng had been keeping a close eye on their every move. Seeing that this group of defeated soldiers were still trying to play dirty, Cui Desheng did not hesitate at all and shouted to remind Guo Zhiping:

"General, be careful of the conspiracy!"

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the Fengwu Army musketeers who had been prepared immediately pulled the trigger and shot at the Yan Army. The gunman who was planning to assassinate Guo Zhiping was shot into a sieve before he could even do anything.

Seeing his men being slaughtered by the Fengwu Army, Zhao Yong, who was exhausted from defending himself, was stunned and lost in thought for a moment. Guo Zhiping also seized this opportunity decisively and chopped off the goose-wing knife in Zhao Yong's hand. Then, before Zhao Yong could fully react, he chopped him down on the head. Zhao Yong subconsciously raised his hand to block, but how could his arm withstand the sharp blade in Guo Zhiping's hand?
Without any luck or accident, Zhao Yong, the pillar of the Zhao family regime, fell to the ground and died...
As soon as Zhao Yong died, the Fengwu Army around him immediately became excited and shouted loudly, "Mighty!"
Guo Zhiping, who had killed a powerful enemy with his own hands, was undoubtedly very excited. He dismounted and used the Miao Dao in his hand to cut off Zhao Yong's head. Then, he held Zhao Yong's head high and shouted angrily to the depressed remnants of the Yan army:
"Zhao Yong is dead! Why don't you surrender?"

As Guo Zhiping's voice rang out, thousands of Fengwu troops around him also shouted at the same time. For a moment, the slogans of "surrender and no killing" were deafening and shook the earth.

Under such a breathtaking might, the remaining hundreds of Yan army remnants lost all their will to fight. As the first person laid down his weapon, the rest of them laid down their weapons one after another. Except for a few of Zhao Yong's loyal confidants, almost everyone wisely chose to surrender.

After dealing with these prisoners of war for half an incense stick of time, Cui Desheng seemed to have some doubts in his mind. After hesitating for a while, he mustered up the courage to ask Guo Zhiping in a low voice:

"General, if you lose the fight with Zhao Yong, will you really let him go?"

Listening to Cui Desheng's question, Guo Zhiping smiled slightly, patted his shoulder and said confidently:
"First, I will not lose!"

“Secondly, I, Guo, have never said that I am a gentleman. Your Excellency has said that a soldier’s duty is to obey orders. In the face of your military orders, my personal honor and disgrace are nothing…”

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When Guo Zhiping annihilated the remnants of Zhao Yong in Sunjiagou, Ye Mingsheng had already led his army back to Yijing. With Ye Mingsheng's return, Zhao Shuhao's troops, who had been chased by Lin Huaiwu to the point where they had no way out, had no chance of survival and were soon strangled to death. Zhao Shuhao himself became a prisoner of the Fengwu Army.

As the art of war says, attacking the heart is better than attacking the city; psychological warfare is better than military warfare!

In order to achieve the effect of defeating the enemy without fighting, Ye Mingsheng continued to display the captured Yan prisoners of war outside the city of Yijing. On the other hand, he also cut off the heads of the killed Yan soldiers and threw them into the city of Yijing along with surrender leaflets using a catapult to intimidate the Yan army soldiers in the city.

Faced with the psychological offensive of the Fengwu Army, the Yan Army in Yijing City, which was already worried, was now even more terrified, not knowing when these ferocious Fengwu Army soldiers would rush into the city.

At this point in time, Gu Liu appeared in Zhang Hongxiang's study again, bowed and told Zhang Hongxiang:

"Sir, I received the letter from the young master, stating that starting tomorrow the Fengwu Army will resume its offensive against Yijing..."

After hearing this, Zhang Hongxiang's face showed an even more conflicted look. He was an indecisive person. The more critical the moment, the more hesitant he became. He was afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind, and was full of worries about his decision.

With the corner of his eye, he secretly glanced at Zhang Hongxiang, and then Gu Liu spoke again:
"General Ye has promised to form the Sixth Division of the Fengwu Army after the fall of Yijing City. My lord will serve as the general of the Sixth Division, and you, my lord, will become the deputy general of the Sixth Division!"

Hearing that there was a deputy general available and that his immediate superior was Gu Shouting, Zhang Hongxiang was not only somewhat tempted, but still hesitant and unwilling to give in. Seeing this, Gu Liu also took out the trump card that Gu Shouting had taught him in the pigeon letter, and forced Zhang Hongxiang to say:
“General Ye has already spoken. If you want to surrender, you must open the Dongyi Gate tonight. If you do not take action tonight, then everything we have discussed before will be invalid. Not only that, after the Fengwu Army breaks through the city, the first thing they will do is to settle accounts with you, sir…”

Zhang Hongxiang was stunned when he heard what Gu Liu said. He didn't know what to do. His face became uncertain. After waiting for about a cup of tea, he saw that Zhang Hongxiang was still hesitating and didn't express his opinion. Gu Liu sighed, bowed to Zhang Hongxiang and said:
"Since Lord Zhang is determined to be buried with the Zhao family, I will not bother you any further!" After saying this, Gu Liu turned around and left without waiting for Zhang Hongxiang's answer. Seeing this, Zhang Hongxiang finally sighed helplessly. Although he still couldn't bear to betray the Yan army in his heart, he also understood that the Fengwu army was approaching, and Yijing was in imminent danger of internal and external troubles.

Whether he surrendered or not, it could not change the outcome of the fall of Yijing City. And if Yijing was lost, even if Zhao Fuqu came back, the Zhao family would still be doomed. At most, they could survive in the southern part of Youyan, unable to stop the advance of the Fengwu Army. He still had a large family to support, so he could not die with the Zhao family!
Zhang Hongxiang smiled bitterly and said to himself:
"Well, let me, Zhang Hongxiang, be the traitor..."

Hearing that he was finally willing to express his opinion, Gu Liu stopped and looked at Zhang Hongxiang. Zhang Hongxiang looked at him and asked:

"Is the Fengwu Army ready now?"

Gu Liu nodded and said:

"Yes! The Fengwu Army is ready to raid the Dongyi Gate at any time! After taking the four Dongyi Gates, open the city gate and fire three fireworks as a signal. To avoid accidental injury to you and your subordinates, you should tie a white cloth around your waist as a mark!"

Zhang Hongxiang didn't say anything when he heard this, but just nodded, and then began to lead his family generals and private soldiers to prepare. An hour later, Zhang Hongxiang was ready and arrived at Dongyi Gate with more than a hundred confidants.

Because Zhang Hongxiang was the commander of Dongyi Gate, he quickly took control of the gate. Hearing Zhang Hongxiang's order to open the gate, the defenders of Dongyi Gate thought they had misheard at first, but seeing that Zhang Hongxiang was serious, although most people chose to remain silent, there were still some Zhao family loyalists who stood up and accused Zhang Hongxiang.

Although Zhang Hongxiang was a bit indecisive, he had been in the army for many years and knew very well that he could not be soft-hearted at this moment. He immediately ordered his generals to kill those who were unwilling to surrender. After doing this, Zhang Hongxiang successfully opened the city gate and launched three fireworks into the sky...
As the fireworks at Dongyi Gate slowly rose, Qi Dechao walked into the tent and reported to Ye Mingsheng, who was resting with his eyes closed:

"Sir! Zhang Hongxiang succeeded!"

Ye Mingsheng opened his eyes, a fleeting gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and then he ordered in a deep voice;

"Let Yuan Song and Lin Huaiwu take action! Let them remember that no one can hurt Zhao Jianan. They must make sure he gets out alive!"

"Yes!"

Just a cup of tea after Ye Mingsheng gave the order, Sun Zhunde hurried into Zhao Jianan's mansion. He looked anxious and shouted loudly without paying attention to etiquette as soon as he entered the door:

"The eldest son! The eldest son!"

"Master Sun, the eldest master has finally fallen asleep, please don't disturb him! If you have anything to say, we can talk about it tomorrow."

Because of the lesson of Sun Zhunde's previous visit to Si Chuang's mansion, the servants of Zhao Jianan's mansion really stopped Sun Zhunde and tried to persuade him:
Listening to the nonsense of these servants, Sun Zhunde was furious. He raised his big hand and slapped them hard, shouting and cursing:

"If it weren't for you bunch of villains, how could the eldest master be so greedy for wine and women?"

"The Fengwu Army has already rushed into the city, why don't you quickly pull the eldest master out? What are you waiting for..."

As soon as the words "Fengwu Army has stormed into the city" were uttered, and when they thought of the Fengwu Army being as fierce and ferocious as rumored, these villains were undoubtedly all terrified, and no one dared to stop Sun Zhunde, who killed his way all the way to Zhao Jianan's bedroom.

Seeing Zhao Jianan, who was drunk and sleeping soundly with several concubines in his arms, he was even more furious. However, as a Confucian official, he still had to have the etiquette. He could only suppress his anger and wanted to wake Zhao Jianan up.

No one knew how much wine Zhao Jianan had drunk. No matter how Sun Zhunde shook him or shouted, he remained indifferent and refused to open his eyes. Seeing this, Sun Zhunde was extremely anxious and didn't care about anything else. He directly ordered someone to get a basin of cold well water, and then he personally poured the basin of ice water on Zhao Jianan's face.

This trick really worked. The freezing cold water fell on Zhao Jianan's face, immediately blowing away his pajamas and waking him up from his sleep. Zhao Jianan was naturally furious when he woke up. He looked at Sun Zhunde in the basin and pointed at his nose and cursed loudly:

"Sun Zhunde, are you going to rebel? Ye Mingsheng, that bastard, bullied me, and now you are bullying me too?"

“Someone come! Take him away for me…”

(End of this chapter)