The surrender of Dezhou seems to be a bit dramatic, from the perspective of the Shandong army, the original plan was to be on the top of the Texas line for a while, first give the Han army a little color and then negotiate on the issue of peace, to be fair to say that this plan does look very good, because as far as the historical precedent is concerned, it must be difficult to get benefits as soon as the enemy army arrives at the local forces, and it must be difficult to get benefits without saying a word, at least it is contemptible that the new regime is not taken seriously, so when the Han army is under the city, the resistance of the Texas defenders is quite tenacious.

However, the later development of the war was greatly unexpected, when one hundred and fifty red-coated cannons were played, the game completely lost its fairness, and all kinds of circumstances have been very clearly shown that the army has lost the will to fight, so the main battle faction in Texas City almost immediately fell into a desperate situation, at this time I am afraid that the only person who can make a correct judgment on the current situation is Wang Chengye, the general soldier of Shandong, but he cannot be the master of this kind of thing alone. So while the Han army had not had time to attack the city, he hurried to the Shandong Buzheng Minister's Mansion to ask for consultation, but after arriving at the location, he soon found that Yao Ran, the Governor of the Buzheng Division, had long been missing.

When the news of the flight of the supreme governor spread, the panicked city of Texas immediately had a violent chain reaction, the prefect Lu Yishan was not very surprised by this, because he had done a good job of property transfer and family resettlement before the war, and now the reason why he is still in the city is just for the last trace of luck in his heart, so when he knew that the chief secretary of the government was a flash person, he calmly took a few family members, changed into a green coat and a small hat to mix in the flow of people, and since then he has been away from the world.

At such a dangerous moment, the chief soldier Wang Chengye showed a very noble quality, although his staff and personal soldiers persuaded him more than once to "protect his life", but without exception he refused, the cannon outside the city rumbled, hundreds of thousands of people in the city fell into a state of exhaustion, and the supreme military commander resolutely went to the front line, braving the artillery fire personally played the flag, to be honest, this scene is indeed very shocking, originally there were many officers and soldiers around him who made up their minds to escape, But after seeing such a touching scene, they all decided to stay and take responsibility for the war with the coach.

The Shandong War ended at the moment when Wang Chengye raised his flag and threw himself into the war. What happened in Shandong was not much different from the time of the destruction of the city of Dezhou, and the officials who had been more hostile to the Han army fled one after another, and the governor Zhao Shenqiao finally stood firm this time, and ordered the whole province to change its flag and surrender to Beijing in the name of the governor, and he himself did a more exaggerated thing at this time. After handing over his duties as governor to the Han envoys, he ordered his steward to find a prisoner cart, and he sat in the prisoner cart with his upper body and thorn on his back, and marched along the canal towards Beijing.

This kind of scene is very shocking, because at this time Shandong has surrendered to the whole territory, and Zhao Shenqiao and local governments at all levels are very cooperative in the transfer of power, of course, the Lin Han Empire will not order the arrest of Zhao Shenqiao, from the identity of Zhao Shenqiao at this time, although he stepped down, but is still a provincial and ministerial-level cadre, his entry into Beijing actually has two meanings, politically it symbolizes the submission of Shandong Province to the central government; Administratively speaking, it is similar to the local supreme governor "entering Beijing to report on his work", so when this pedestrian passes by, the people on both sides of the canal official road will be dumbfounded to see that the front is playing the cards of "quiet" and "avoiding" gongs to open the way, hundreds of elite cavalry respectfully guard the honor guards on both sides, but the core is not a woolen sedan chair, but a prisoner car loaded with a thin old man.

This shocking scene was not stopped until the territory of Zhengding Mansion by the Qin sent by the Han King, and Lin Feng did sincerely admire Zhao Shenqiao's amazing imagination, and at this time he deeply realized that in the field of "show", the so-called super girl Sister Furong in later generations was like selling strong pills under the overpass compared to the level of the officials in the seventeenth century.

In this case, Lin Feng had little choice in his attitude towards Zhao Shenqiao, in fact, Zhao Shenqiao took the initiative from the beginning in this matter, because this "guilty of accepting Jing" comes from the famous "General Harmony" in the "Historical Records", if it is deduced from this perspective, Zhao Shenqiao's question of confronting the Han Central Regime is not politically difficult to characterize as a "crime", but a "mistake". As the "Lord of the World", you can't even compare with Lin Xiang's bearing, right?

According to the rules of the past, there should have been officials such as the political secretary and the envoy on the list of officials who entered Beijing, but it is a pity that the officials in Shandong except for Zhao and Wang did not seem to have the courage to face the king of Han, and they had already fled before the Han army was stationed.

Lin Feng hesitated for a moment in meeting with the two demoted officials, and finally decided to meet Zhao and Wang respectively, of course, because of the rank and status issues, Zhao Shenqiao was still in the front, because he was always the supreme head of Shandong anyway, and just a few months ago, there was still a vague situation of a prince, so Lin Feng's face was very large, and he ordered a banquet in Qianyuan Palace, and some bigwigs such as Li Guangdi, Zhou Peigong, and Chen Menglei in Beijing were personally present to congratulate.

For the Han King to be so "Rong Cheng Grace", Zhao Shenqiao was naturally "moved", and repented of the wrong things he had done before, but Lin Feng was not very interested in these things, in fact, he has always been a little puzzled about the mentality of Shandong officials, you must know that Shandong is really a disparity in strength compared with the Lin Han Empire, why do these people have to choose war?

"Lord Zhao, let's open it up, militarily speaking, you Shandong is really much worse than the Han Dynasty, but why do those officials insist on fighting?!"

"Return to the Han King!" Zhao Shenqiao knew that Lin Feng was going to ask this question, but he was not in a hurry at this time, and replied, "The criminal ministers dare not deceive, in fact, long before the Han Wang Division sent troops, the whole province knew that it would not be able to defeat the Han Dynasty, and the reason why he wanted to fight was just to protect the public opinion of Shandong Province!" ”

"Public opinion?!" Lin Feng looked at him in surprise, this term was very familiar, but at this time he didn't think that Zhao Shenqiao and those Shandong officials were democratic politicians.

"Exactly," Zhao Shenqiao said seriously, "When the criminal minister was in Shandong, the left and right and the local officials all said that Shandong controlled the north and south, the hub of the canal, and the land was fertile, so the people's life was still good, and now the provinces of Huashenzhou are chaotic, but Shandong is a little peaceful, so the people are always willing to maintain the status quo and are unwilling to change!" ”

Lin Feng frowned, Zhao Shenqiao's words were a little secretive, obviously it was not good to point at Lin Han's regime in person, so it sounded a little unclear, "Oh, Lord Zhao might as well say it bluntly, all the Aiqing present are confidants, the so-called listening is clear, and there is still a measure of widowhood!" ”

"Yes, yes, obey the orders of King Han!" Zhao Shenqiao stood up, glanced at Lin Feng from a distance, and said seriously, "The king is brave and heroic, when the world is chaotic, Zhang Huayi's outline, the courage of the three armies, drive away the bloody shame outside the territory, restore it to be clear, in the eyes of the minister, it is really admirable, but ...... But......" He paused, his eyes looked around, and the officials listened quietly with all their excuses, "However, the king has ever thought that in this world, there are advantages and disadvantages-for example, since the founding of the Han Dynasty, it has been a conquest from all sides, and it costs a huge amount of money, it must be frequent conscription, the people are bumpy and difficult, and the people of Shandong are afraid of it, it is this conscription and war!" ”

Lin Feng was stunned, silent at the moment. Seeing this, Zhao Shenqiao hurriedly asked for sin, "The ministers discussed the military and politics in vain, please forgive the king!" ”

"No crime, no crime," Lin Feng waved his hand, "You are telling the truth, our Han Dynasty has destroyed the Eight Banners in the east and attacked Mongolia in the west in the past few years, it seems that the army is mighty and the princes are cold, but the common people below have indeed suffered a lot," he sighed, looked at Zhao Shenqiao helplessly, and said sincerely, "But you also know that it is not that the widows must fight, but that there are some battles, and we can't help but fight!" ”

"Yes, the ministers know, the ministers know that the king is helpless, the ministers know that the Han is helpless, but the people of Shandong don't know," Zhao Shenqiao said with a wry smile, "The people are stupid, they don't care who is orthodox and who is righteous, as long as they live well under whom, they will recognize whom." In fact, in Shandong Province, the reputation of the King of Han is excellent, and everyone knows that the king of the Han Dynasty has spared people's lives and given relief and pension many times...... But...... It's just a little too belligerent......"

Lin Feng cut off his words and laughed heartily, "Lord Zhao said it too politely, the original words should be 'reckless soldiers', right?!" ——" He picked up his wine glass and saluted Zhao Shenqiao, "Your Excellency is upright, polite and measured, which is admirable—come, the widow will toast you!" ”

Zhao Shenqiao hurriedly raised his glass in return, "Thank you for the wine," he fixed his mind and continued, "In addition to the people, Shandong officials also want to take a look, these people take advantage of the war in Shenzhou and the lack of discipline, corruption and indulgence, and exploitation of people's wealth, so they are afraid that the Han Dynasty will be punished - this matter is known, the king, you know it well, the ministers don't want to say more, and they can't control it, so they have to be ambiguous, clean themselves, and many foreign affairs, let them deal with it!" ”

Lin Feng nodded, it seems that there are still many reasons why this war can be fought. In the past few years, the country has been fighting everywhere, and the people have been displaced, but the people of Shandong are still able to get by because of the secession, so they have unconsciously bred a certain "isolationist" mood, afraid of getting involved in a certain aspect of the war, and then the local government officials added fuel to the fire, and even fought a big battle with the Han army. Fortunately, with the strength of Shandong Province, it is still impossible to resist Lin Han's army, otherwise, I am afraid that I don't know what chaos will happen.

Lin Feng thought for a while, gradually sorted out his thoughts, and turned to Zhao Shenqiao, "I don't know what Lord Zhao plans to do in the future?!" ”

"Everything is arranged by the king!"

This reaction is reasonable, in fact, for Zhao Shenqiao's placement, Lin Feng has already planned, "Okay, Lord Zhao understands the righteousness, but he sacrifices himself to relieve the disaster of the sword soldiers, and the widow will never be disadvantaged!" - I don't know if Lord Zhao is willing to work in Ning Jin?! ”

Zhao Shenqiao was originally a provincial official, and when he surrendered to the Han army at this time, Lin Feng naturally couldn't give him a demotion, and he seemed to be suspected of "idle dismissal" when he was put to the central government, so in order to set an example for other officials who conquered the provinces, the Lin Han court had already agreed and decided to give him a position as a feudal official.

"Trusted by the king, the ministers should repay themselves!"

"That's it, you first rest in Beijing for a few days, walk around, relax, and wait for the officials to make arrangements, and then go back to Ningjin Governor to take office!" He smiled, "This time, I will put you and Tang Bin out of a position, let him go to Shandong for a spin, and you will go to Ningjin and Liaohe to teach the displaced people to open up wasteland, I guess Lord Zhao should not be cowardly, right?!" ”

Zhao Shenqiao smiled slightly, and knelt down, "Thank you for the kindness of the king, persuading farmers to support business, and cultivating water conservancy, it is the line of humble duty, this is to go to Ningjin, and I will perform my duties in order to repay the king's kindness!" ”

Different from appeasing Zhao Shenqiao, Lin Feng's method of meeting Wang Chengye was a bit special, compared to the former's banquet in Qianyuan Palace, Lin Feng and Wang Chengye's meeting was relatively low-key, just put a pot of wine and a few side dishes in the study, and sat down with Wang Chengye to talk.

As far as the courtesy of the king is concerned, this way of receiving is more important in the minds of the ministers, and it also seems to be very close to trust. In fact, before meeting Lin Feng, because he did not participate in the relationship of the Qianyuan Palace banquet, Wang Chengye has been worried up and down, and he doesn't know where his fate will go, in fact, as far as the previous precedent is concerned, Lin Feng has always done a very good job in treating his subordinates, and the pseudo-Qing officials in the north and south of the river have given high praise, it can be said that the possibility of Wang Chengye being convicted is really very small, but as a party, it is inevitable to be a little suspicious and paranoid when the matter is not clarified, you must know that Lin Feng is very tolerant, but on the battlefield is not as polite as in the court, during the battle of Liaodong that day, the Qing generals Cai Yurong, Yao Qisheng, Peng Chun, Sabu Su, etc. all lost their lives, and not long ago on the Shanxi battlefield, he also ordered to bury nearly 10,000 prisoners alive.

All in all, it is rumored that Lin Feng's image is very contradictory, and everyone agrees that King Han's temper is very good and he is very tolerant of others, but on the contrary, his cruelty and violence are also recognized, at least he will never be soft when he cuts off his head.

However, when he learned that King Han would receive him in the study, Wang Chengye's worry completely disappeared, because if Lin Feng wanted to be unfavorable to him, it would be absolutely impossible to talk to him in the study.

The scene in the study gave Wang Chengye a slap in the face, when Lin Feng just beckoned him to come up and drink, his tears couldn't help but fall, to be honest, Lin Feng was also very surprised that a table of side dishes could achieve this effect, although his original intention was to win over him, but Wang Chengye is also a veteran who has been mixed in the officialdom for decades, and it is indeed very surprising that a little thing can be moved like this. It seems that although he has been mixed in this era for so long, Lin Feng and the people around him still have a big difference in their outlook on life.

"Alas...... I said General Wang, you don't have to be like this," looking at Wang Chengye's tearful appearance, Lin Feng subconsciously felt a little uncomfortable, a person in his forties, posing like he wanted to cry or not, which made people look very uncomfortable, "Come, come, come, don't treat me as the king of Han today, let me put it bluntly, don't look at me in a yellow robe now, but I am also a fighting man who leads troops to fight, let's be so restrained with each other, don't be so restrained - come, I'll do it first for respect!" ”

"The last general...... Sinner...... Xie ......" Wang Chengye choked up, stammered and couldn't speak, so he simply didn't say anything at the moment, and raised his head to make a drink.

"Okay, that's right." Lin Feng applauded and stepped forward, "Brother Chengye is really refreshing, and he has the style of a famous general!" ”

"King Miao Zan, the minister stubbornly resists the heavenly soldiers, it is really a capital crime, today is so honorable, so ashamed that the minister is ashamed to ......" Wang Chengye blushed, lowered his head and whispered, "Don't say this, don't say this," Lin Feng waved his hand, stretched out his chopsticks to clip a green vegetable for him, and said, "This matter has nothing to do with you, you are a military general, whether this battle is fought or not, it is not up to you to decide," he put down his chopsticks and smiled, "I came with you today just to talk to you about this war." ”

"Your Highness, it doesn't hurt to ask, the minister's words are endless!"

"Okay," Lin Feng nodded, "You have been fighting with the Guards for nearly half a month, according to you, what do you think of this Guards force?!" ”

This question was a bit abrupt, Wang Chengye was slightly stunned, opened his mouth, and didn't know what to say for a while.

Lin Feng waved his hand and said seriously, "Chengye, I was born in a war, and you are also from the pile of dead people, the two of us are real people, one is one and two is two, you can say whatever you want," he smiled and said, "If you push back and write flattering sycophants, you will teach people to look down on you!" ”

Wang Chengye's face turned red, then he calmed down, his expression was solemn, he arched his hand towards Lin Feng, and said seriously, "Back to King Han, since you have said this, then let's open the skylight and say bright words, if there is any disrespect, please forgive Your Highness!" ”

Lin Feng nodded with a smile, and toasted him again, Wang Chengye thanked him, drank it all up, and then said, "According to the last general, the Guards are still very good at fighting, and this time it was not General Ma's fault that it suffered a slight setback outside Dezhou City!" ”

"Well, I know this, Ma Jinliang was born in the army, and he still has a hand in fighting," Lin Feng frowned slightly, "So something went wrong this time, the first thing I thought about was whether there was a problem with the Guards!" ”

"Your Highness, do you know what strengths the Guards have? What are the shortcomings?! ”

Lin Feng was stunned and said with a smile, "Please advise the general!" ”

"Don't dare, don't dare! Your Highness, don't say that, torture and kill the guilty minister! Wang Chengye hurriedly thanked him, "In fact, from the observation of the ministers, the Guards Army is good at fighting field battles and big battles in the flat land, and her strength is here," Speaking of this, he thought for a while, "The last general estimated that the Guards Army also mainly practiced this on weekdays, and the battle paid attention to the neatness of the formation, the order was neat, and there must be rules for every board and every glance, and no violation was allowed. Wait until the enemy army can no longer support it, and then assault the charge bayonet hand-to-hand combat, while the cavalry sorties in great pursuit - you say, is this a method of warfare?! ”

Lin Feng frowned, pondered for a long time, and then nodded slowly, "Although it's a bit one-sided, it's generally true!" ”

"Yes, in fact, this is basically the method of fighting, from this point of view, the minister feels that the officers of the Guards are well-trained, the artillery is accurate, the soldiers are fierce and not afraid of casualties, and they are really a first-class strong army in the world," Wang Chengye stretched out his thumb and praised, "But the things on the battlefield are ever-changing, and there are all kinds of strange things, and the Guards are suffering from the loss of being well-trained when they fight Texas this time!" ”

Lin Feng was surprised and said, "This ...... How to say?! ”

"Actually, if you put it bluntly, there is no way," Wang Chengye said with a smile, "The Guards fought Texas this time, and the main loss was on the peripheral pillboxes, not because of anything else, or because the training was too old-fashioned, and the junior officers didn't know how to work around - well, as soon as they hit the bunker, they first called for artillery to bombard, then honestly lined up to charge, and finally entered the bunker to fight hand-to-hand, then repelled the enemy, and finally went out to pursue!" ……”

Lin Feng was stunned and said, "Is there something wrong with this?!" ”

"Of course it's not right," Wang Chengye said, patting his thigh and saying, "Fighting a war is killing people, can you do it without using your brain?" You say it's just a tactic, even if it's powerful, you can use it for the rest of the year, let me tell you, I fought very hard at the beginning of this battle, but when I got to the back, I saw that the way was coming, and the guards went back and forth with this trick, and there was no change - well, let's come up with a countermeasure: they hit the * cannon first, I told the soldiers to hide behind, and when the cannon finished charging, they returned to the wall, and when they got closer, they didn't have to shoot at the guards - I didn't shoot with them because the guards had good guns and accurate marksmanship, and I gave the order to die, When they got to the near place, they all used to raise their guns, and they only fired three shots and immediately retreated, and as soon as they rushed in from behind, they immediately took their spears and stabbed them, and if they couldn't resist it, they retreated to the rear, because the rear had already arranged to raise their guns to cover them, and there were bamboo stick pits and horse traps dug everywhere on the road, and they couldn't chase them, so every time a battle was fought, the guards always killed more people than me! ”

Lin Feng nodded thoughtfully. Wang Chengye continued, "In fact, the minister's soldiers have good food and training on weekdays, and they can still fight, but if they are in a field battle with the large guards on the flat ground, it must be a loss or a win, as far as the offensive and defensive battles on the periphery of Texas are concerned, the casualties of the guards and the minister's troops in the bunker are about four, and the vast majority of the extra casualties are traps and ambushes during the pursuit," he smiled embarrassedly, "Anyway, the Texas army is also a snake, and the terrain is still quite familiar, However, the problem of the Guards here is also quite big, obviously they have suffered a lot of losses, but they just refuse to take it as a warning, and the tactics are rigid, and then the ministers surrendered to them and asked, what did they actually say that there is a code of conduct in the 'Mazhuang Martial Arts', and the war must be fought like this, otherwise it is a violation of military discipline - you say this is not a joke about human life?! ”

Lin Feng was stunned for a long time, and finally shook his head and smiled bitterly, "That's true, it seems that we are really confused by the Eight Banners and the Mongolian soldiers, you must know that there are foreign wars in foreign wars, and of course there must be civil wars in civil wars, we don't understand this, but it's really a bit of a joke about human lives!" ”

Sighing for a long time, Lin Feng said to Wang Chengye, "Chengye, now you have also voted for our big man, today we hit it off at first sight, and this king does not treat you as an outsider, so let's do it, you are new to the city, or start with the 'Lang General', the tens of thousands of soldiers in Texas have to be reorganized, and the officers must all go to Mazhuang Martial Arts and Baoding Martial Arts for training, and the widow will turn around and issue an edict to award you the rank of major general, and the general will be called 'Mighty Lang General' - what do you think?!" ”

Seeing that Lin Feng brought out the frame of the Han King at this time, Wang Chengye immediately withdrew from his seat, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed, "Thank you, Lord Longen, the minister receives the order!" ”

"General, please get up," Lin Feng stood up, picked him up, and said with a smile, "Now there are more than 20,000 people in the Texas garrison, and I plan to reorganize it into two armies, one of which will be awarded the 'Eleventh Army of the Han Infantry', and you will be the commander, and the other will be awarded the 'First Guards Infantry Army', which will be appointed by the widow - I don't know what General Wei Wulang wants?!" ”

"Obey the orders of the lord!" Wang Chengye bowed slightly, arched his hand, and said, "However, in addition to the first line of Dezhou, the Shandong Army also has some troops in other state capitals, totaling more than 50,000 people. ”

"Well, the General Staff also gave me a note on this matter, this local army is ready to be selected and awarded the number of 'Twelfth Han Infantry', and then trained strictly, as for the other Ding Zhuang, it is better to go home and farm!" Lin Feng smiled, "Shandong people are afraid that the widows will engage in military service and conscription, so we have to calm people's hearts first!" ”

"Lord Shengming!"

Lin Feng slowly went through a few circles, thought about it carefully, and suddenly walked to Wang Chengye's side, and whispered, "Chengye, there are two things to be done after you go back, one is to reorganize the troops, don't make trouble; The other is ...... It's to keep an eye on Henan, this battle will be sooner or later, and most of your troops will be our vanguard in Henan!! He patted Wang Chengye on the shoulder, "The so-called 'Thousands of Miles to Find a Marquis', what is the future of the general, that depends on your ability!" ”