After the death of Yang Sichang, the trilateral governor Ding Qirui took over as superintendent in April. But he is rooted in Shaanxi and has his own set of civil and military teams, and it seems that the old superintendent like a tiger can be used in the past. What's more, including those as fierce as a tiger, Wang Xijia, Liu Guangzuo, Min Yiqi, Lang Qigui, Zhou Jin and other Sichuan and Chu generals did not want to accept the command of Ding Qirui, who was airborne. Fierce as a tiger has not gone north for a long time, and it has actually been affected by these people.

In addition to the fierce tiger and Liu Guangzuo's commanded commanders, the Sichuan and Chu forces attached to them accounted for nearly half of the army, and it was impossible for them to ignore their suggestions. For example, Zhou Jin strongly persuaded Meng Ruhu to stay in Chengtian Mansion and continue to wait and see for a while, testing the attitude of the imperial court.

In the opinion of Zhou Jin and others, the group of old generals with fierce as a tiger as the core has enough soldiers and horses to dominate one side, and there is no need to go to Shaanxi, Henan and other places to send people under the fence. Moreover, these generals are basically from Sichuan and Chu, and they must be more comfortable in their homeland than in other places. In addition, compared with Henan, where the relationship between all parties is intertwined, to "serve" Song Yihe, who has a weak army, the old generals of the Dumen can undoubtedly occupy the absolute right to speak with their own strength. With this premise, they can win more benefits for themselves.

Based on the above, although Zhao Dangshi and Gu Junen carefully analyzed the advantages of the fierce tiger going north, most of them discussed from the perspective of outsiders. If you put yourself in the shoes of Zhou Jin and others, the fierce tiger will be indecisive in the invitations of Song Yihe and Zhao Dangshi for a long time, and the reason is not difficult to explain.

Zhao Dangshi himself did not expect that his military campaign to aid Wuchang Mansion between May and July would push the choice of fierce tiger to a certain extent.

Originally, the thieves in the north and the thieves in the southeast were all called great harm to the country. Even if the strong are weak, there is little difference in the urgency. Fierce as a tiger, choosing either side can be seen as a reasonable move. However, Zhao Dangshi exterminated the Hui and Ge thieves in a short period of time, and without the banner of their two battalions, even though the thieves from all walks of life in the southeast of Chu are still dense, how can the cohesion and appeal be the same as "Lao Huihui" and "Geli Eye", and the importance in the eyes of the imperial court is undoubtedly greatly reduced. If the fierce tiger insists on going to the southeast at this time, it will obviously be a negative behavior of avoiding the important and playing the trick, and nine times out of ten it will be reprimanded and even punished by the imperial court. Letting things get to that point will do no good, and he is as fierce as a tiger with soldiers and horses but no foundation, and he is far inferior to a local warlord like Zuo Liangyu, who has been operating in the local area for a long time and has control over the military, government, and finance. Moreover, he himself boasted of his loyalty, and would not have let himself fall into such fields.

Four months have passed since Yang Sichang's death, and there has been no news of the disbandment of the fierce tiger army by the imperial court. This shows that the thieves are becoming more and more anxious, even if the imperial court has not yet figured out how to arrange the old generals such as Meng Ruhu, they are not willing to dismiss this powerful army in vain and do the stupid thing that "makes the thieves smile". Generally speaking, as long as you are as fierce as a tiger and keep to yourself, you can be relied on by the imperial court for a long time.

The imperial court gave him a chance, and he was as fierce as a tiger and did not want to live up to the "mighty Huang En", so there was only one way in front of him - to go north. If Zhao Dangshi's withdrawal is slightly delayed, the place where he and Meng Ruhu will meet is probably not this Chengtian Mansion but Xiangyang Mansion.

Even if he thought about this thoroughly, Zhao Dangshi was still pleased. Because he has little friendship with the fierce tiger, he speculated his personality based on some clues, which is only a superficial conjecture after all. In today's season of rampant materialism and power temptation, even Zhao Dangshi himself can't guarantee that everything he does and everything he says is consistent with his words and deeds, so how can he expect others to always be the same?

Fortunately, the heart of a fierce tiger has not changed, and relieving the country's difficulties is the principle that he adheres to without moving.

In the afternoon, the doctor who treated the sores for the fierce tiger arrived, he first checked the recovery of the sores as usual, and said with satisfaction while watching: "The spirit of the dragon and tiger, the speed of healing exceeds expectations, and in seven or eight days, I am afraid that it will be okay to dance with knives and sticks." ”

Fierce as a tiger heart is very pleased, and said with a smile: "Lying in bed for more than half a month has not been good, Mr. has made two strokes to get better, not the spirit of the contemptible dragon and tiger, but the clever means of Mr." ”

Zhao Dangshi then also talked with the doctor a few words, and learned that the doctor's name was Wu Youxing, a native of Suzhou Prefecture in the south, and the museum was opened on the side of the Gangting Mountain in Taihu Lake. Even though he was attacked by military disasters and chaos several times along the way, and even almost lost his life, he never moved the idea of retreating. However, he was looted by thieves when he stopped in Anqing Mansion, and the little coils he carried with him were gone, so he could only practice medicine to earn some subsistence money while hurrying away. His final destination was Henan, and the reason why he took the waterway was only because he heard that the route from Chu to Yu was relatively safe. It was also a coincidence that when he was treating a family in Chengtianfu, he heard the news that Mengruhu was sick and sought medical treatment, and then treated Mengruhu with back sores.

"The follow-up self-recuperation of adults is, as long as they take more warm food, avoid spicy and cold, and there is no big problem." Wu Youxing took the bag of gift money handed to him by Meng Ruhu himself, and he was in a good mood, "The villain will set off tomorrow to continue to Henan, so don't say goodbye." I wish you good luck and a bright future! ”

Zhao Dangshi stopped Wu Youxing, who was about to leave, and said: "Mr. wants to go to Henan, it is better to go to Zhao." There is also a good response on the road. ”

Recalling the danger of the plague that Huang Degong had reminded him of, Zhao Dangshi saw Wu Youxing's medical skills and had the idea of befriending this person. There is a specialization in the art industry, and the plague is not something that can be driven away by a long knife and a big axe. If he can really make achievements in the treatment of the plague, it is not an exaggeration to say that one person is worth a million soldiers.

Zhou Jin introduced: "This is Lord Zhao, the general soldier of Yunxiang. also has to go north, with the protection of his soldiers and horses, Mr. can avoid fear all the way. ”

Wu Youxing thought about it for a while, and arched his hand at Zhao Dangshi: "Then it's troublesome." ”

Zhao Dangshifu chatted with Meng Ruhu and Zhou Jin until the sunset gradually sank, Fang Xing said goodbye, and was sent to the door by Meng Ruhu himself. The two clasped their hands together, and Zhao Dangshi advised: "Lord Meng will take care of your body these days, don't be in a hurry to devote yourself to state affairs and work hard." ”

Fierce as a tiger's laughter appeared, and he replied: "I can listen to Lord Zhao's words, there is no reason to disobey." Lord Zhao rest assured, the contemptible and the weak are weak, and this breath is still quite up. At most half a month, he will live up to the invitation of the adults and lead the army north. At this time, he coughed lightly twice, "It's just that Lord Lao Zhao said a few more words for the contemptible people in Nanyang Mansion......"

"Although Lord Meng is relieved of this matter, Nanyang Mansion has been repeatedly attacked by thieves, and I hope that the army of my lord is looking forward to the rain. Yan Futai has already repaired books more than once before and asked me about my lord's whereabouts, which shows his eagerness. Zhao Dangshi said solemnly.

What he said was the truth, in the two months that Zhao Dangshi was not in Xiangyang Mansion, there were not many things that happened around him.

At the end of June, Zhang Xianzhong, who plundered Xinyang Prefecture, led his army to Nanyang Mansion, braving the heavy rain to dig a hole in the ground, hoping to attack the city by surprise. Fortunately, the prefect Yan Yueyu noticed it in advance and sent the commander Wang Ruzhang to repel it. Zhang Xianzhong was not discouraged, turned around and returned to Xinyang Prefecture. The Xinyang officials and soldiers were relieved to see him go away, but they didn't expect him to go back and lose the attack. Zhang Xianzhong captured the official and military order flag, and had an idea, and staged the surprise attack on Xiangyang Mansion again, earned the nearby Piyang County, killed Wang Shichang, the county governor, plundered the treasury, and replenished the soldiers and horses that had been trapped for a long time.

The good times did not last long, Zuo Liangyu then led the troops to come, Zhang Xianzhong did not dare to fight, fled to Yingshan County, and was defeated by Yingshan hunters with medicine arrows. went to Tang County again, besieged the city, so he sneaked into Yunyang Mansion in early July, and left if he wanted to do a vote. Xu Hui, who didn't want to sit there, was alert, prepared in advance, and drove away Zhang Xianzhong's raiding troops, and Zhang Xianzhong had no choice but to disappear. However, according to the analysis of the marching route, it is estimated that it will appear in Nanyang Mansion again in the near future. Therefore, Yan Yueyu, the prefect of Nanyang, really hopes to move to the border as soon as possible with Zhang Xianzhong, who has fought many times and is as experienced as a tiger.

Fierce as a tiger is a sincere person. Either he doesn't agree, as long as the words of the promise are spoken, Zhao Dangshi has no other doubts.

Zhao Dangshi stayed overnight in Chengtianfu City, and the next day Liu Shijun, Guang Wenlu and Zheng Shixin led troops from Jingshan County to the meeting, and then went directly north along the Han River to the north, first to Yicheng County in the south of Xiangyang Prefecture, and returned to Fanhe City in late July.

At the junction of Chu and Henan, Zhang Xianzhong led the Tukou to be rampant, and the situation was uncertain, so Zhao Dangshi arranged for Wu Youxing to live in Fanhe City first, and then go to Henan at the right time.

Three days after his arrival, the imperial court happened to send an envoy to announce the seal. The substance is not much, on the basis of his Yunxiang general soldier, the former military governor of the Zuodu Governor Tongzhi and the vanguard general of the thief, he added the crown prince Shaobao, in order to commend him for his exploits in the battle of the Qing and the war of the thieves, and also issued 30,000 gold, 50,000 household gold, and silver medals, cloth coins, etc., to reward the army.

The false position of "Prince Shaobao" is dispensable to Zhao Dangshi, and it is mainly a way for the imperial court to show its importance. As for money, now that Zhao Ying has firmly controlled the transfer of the treasury of Xiangyang Mansion, as well as his own agriculture, commerce and many other aspects, these rewards from the imperial court are better than nothing.

Song Yihe mentioned the transfer of the prisoners to Yunxiang Town in the report, the thief is the confidant of the imperial court for a long time, and he will definitely not be able to escape the personal fate of the imperial court, so Emperor Chongzhen personally criticized, "The thief is big and small, and the legacy is very widespread. The rest of the people, may those who are anyway be pardoned, and obey the military government's own judgment."

In a word, Ma Shouying, the "old returner", must be killed, and after being killed, he must be wrapped in lime and sent to Beijing for storage. Other small fish and shrimp, those who can serve the country can be pardoned, and the rest will be disposed of by Xiangyang Mansion or Yunxiang Town itself. is simple and rude, but it also cuts to Zhao Dangshi's spleen and stomach.

As Zhao Dangshi said, he brought Ma Shouying back to Xiangyang Mansion because "some people have some things" in northern Chu and Ma Shouying needs to face it personally.

"Some people" are already on the way, and the Feijie Right Battalion commands Ma Guangchun and the sentinel Ma Guangning. Zhao Dangshi believes that these two brothers should be the people who want to see Ma Shouying for the last time in this world.

However, the Ma brothers did not arrive, He Kewei came to visit first, and the content was related to the firearms workshop. Lu Qiqing had already embarked on the road to Sichuan with Qin Qigong and others a month ago, and the work presided over by Lu Qiqing in Huguang such as the Firearms Workshop was temporarily handed over to He Kewei.

With Zhao Dangshi's several supervisions, He Kewei likes to babble and talk around the bend, and the problems of making a lot of tricks have converged, and he reported the latest progress of the firearms workshop in the development of new artillery during this period to Zhao Dangshi.

According to him, since He Dahua, a monk from Shen Ya in Gucheng County, was invited to help a month ago, many incurable diseases in the firearms workshop have really been solved. In just two months, in addition to the adjustment of the structure of the gun truck, the prototypes of the No. 1 Hongyi cannon, the No. 2 Hongyi cannon, and the big Buddha Lang machine gun have all been prepared. The workshop itself has tested several times, and there have been no major problems, only some small points still need to be slowly adjusted by He Dahua and Franc Jiren and the craftsmen in the workshop.

After Lu Puyi reported the results, He Kewei deeply felt that Zhao Dangshi had been waiting for this matter for a long time and felt that he could not delay it any longer, so he notified him as soon as possible, hoping that Zhao Dangshi could take the time to go to the artillery field and guide him in person.