PS: Continue to ask for a monthly pass.

The solar term is already the weather of early winter in October, and a gust of north wind blows, freezing the ground extremely hard, and occasionally a few snowflakes fall in the middle of the air.

From the Tonghui River wharf outside the Chaoyang Gate of the capital along the avenue to the canal, dozens of brocade guards dressed in flying fish suits and wearing embroidered spring knives at their waists, and a large number of soldiers of the Beijing camp, all of them horses under their hips, well-armored, and wearing bright red cloaks.

In the crowd, the most conspicuous thing was the very ornate and exaggerated glass carriage, around the carriage, more than two dozen eunuchs looked out vigilantly.

The wilderness was deserted, and there was silence, as if only they were walking between heaven and earth. This area itself is a plain, with many rivers and canals, and fertile land, which was originally a dense place of villages and towns near Gyeonggi, but in the ninth year of Chongzhen, the villages in this area were burned by the Qing army once.

I originally thought that two years had passed, and I could live a peaceful life, but I didn't want the people who had just taken a breath from the trauma of the war to face the storm of the Qing soldiers again, and the homes they had just built were once again destroyed by the fire, and the belongings they had just accumulated became captured by the Qing soldiers again. In the distance, the villages looming are either still burning fires or ruins with light smoke, and most of the original inhabitants have become prisoners of Jiannu; The people who escaped by luck could only cry and help the old and the young flee into the capital, while looking back at the dilapidated homes with a pair of tearful eyes.

"Father-in-law, the slave maid has seen it, and there is no Jiannu army and horse rangers near the left, so we will go to Tianjin along this road and speed up. Within two days we could reach Tianjin, where the military horses would escort us to Nigu and embark. ”

"Well, Zhilu said, you monkey cubs have given our family a starting point!"

Wang Dehua, the eunuch who was wearing a three-mountain hat and a python robe in the carriage, let out a long breath, picked up a pot of hot wine that was warm on the red clay charcoal stove, poured himself a glass, and drank it all!

received the news that the city of Hexi Wucheng had fallen and the canal had been cut off, and then a series of bad news came. Wang Pu, the general soldier of Datong Town, was defeated. Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu Town, was defeated. The soldiers and horses of Jizhen were scattered, and the soldiers and horses of Yutian Town were scattered.

As for the soldiers and horses of the Beijing camp, not to mention, you can only rest assured if you can rely on the strong city. Ten miles out of the city is terrified.

In desperation. Emperor Chongzhen had to summon Lu Xiangsheng again.

He wanted to hear the opinion of this Xuanda governor, who was very good at fighting wars and Tuntian. At the same time, Yang Sichang and Chen Xinjia, who were known as Yang Xiang, were summoned.

"Your Majesty, now King Qin's military horses have grown a lot compared to two years ago!" Lu Xiangsheng's words were astonishing.

Although Yang Sichang on the side is nearly 50 years old, his body is extremely strong. The beard is black, the eyes are focused, and there is occasionally a trace of light in the eyelids, which shows that this person is quite shrewd and capable, and he wears a very crisp red official robe on his body, which shows his grace. Compared with Lu Xiangsheng's sacchar sandals, there are many miles away.

Hearing Lu Xiangsheng's words, Yang Sichang was shocked, although he was in charge of the military department, he had never led soldiers, let alone fought in battle.

This Lord Lu has the experience of going into battle to kill the enemy!

Although Yang Sichang is very incompatible with Lu Xiangsheng in his heart, he still admires Lu Xiangsheng's battlefield experience.

Hearing Lu Xiangsheng's words, Chongzhen was displeased, "Why did the Qing family say this?" ”

"Your Majesty, the minister was ordered to seize the love of the army, the governor of the world soldiers and horses, in recent days, although the sound of defeat everywhere continues, but check the combat documents, I Ming all the military horses are not timid to avoid the defeat of the war! There are many generals of various departments, leading the subordinates and Jiannu to deal with the strength and defeat of the defeat, although defeated, there are also gains. Looking at the first level of the army's meritorious service, although the number of real slaves is still small, but the number of miscellaneous beards is quite large, in addition to miscellaneous beards, most of the Han people's heads are also people who have been shaving their hair for a long time, and they are by no means killing good and risking merit. ”

"In that case, why are the troops and horses of each town defeated?"

Chongzhen heard that what Lu Xiangsheng said was quite reasonable, and he was a little absorbed in it, and couldn't help but ask.

As soon as the words came out, I found that Yang, Lu, and Chen were all kneeling on the ground in the warm pavilion and replying, and hurriedly greeted the eunuch on duty, "Quick!" Give a seat to the two gentlemen! ”

"Sir, please be seated!"

"Lord Lu, please take a seat!"

"Lord Chen, please take a seat!"

After thanking the three of them, they each sat down, and Chongzhen was anxious to know why the towns of Ludao were defeated.

"Your Majesty, the military horses fight, in addition to armor, swords, guns, food and grass, nothing more than spirit, the so-called morale and courage are. Now that our army is fighting against Jiannu, what is lacking is not strong armor and sharp soldiers, but can keep the soldiers warm and not kill the enemy in the belly. What is lacking is the courage of the soldiers, before our army fought against Jiannu, they were timid before they met, how is this the opponent of Jiannu who uses killing as a farming war? ”

"Therefore, His Majesty thinks that if Jiannu wants to retreat, or have other plans, he must first annihilate Jiannu and make him know the benefits and harms!" He glanced at Yang Sichang, who was admiring the shape and texture of the tea bowl in his hand, and glanced at Chen Xinjia, who was sitting sideways on the Jindun.

"And if you want to annihilate Jiannu, in the humble opinion of the ministers, although there are many soldiers and horses in King Qin, there is a lack of an elite and loyal army that dares to fight and can fight. If there is such a group of men and horses here, the minister dares to assert that all the armies will be brave, and the Jiannu will definitely retreat in a hurry! ”

"Lord Lu means to transfer Hong Hengjiu into King Jingqin? Or did he let Zuo Liangyu's department go north? Or transfer Qin Liangyu's white pole soldiers into Beijing? ”

Yang Sichang's mind was also spinning, and he kept searching for the army in the Ming army that could fight against Jiannu.

"Ge Lao, you are negligent. Lord Hong and Sun Baigu are now cleaning up the thieves in Shaanxi, and it is the moment to complete their efforts in one battle, how can they do that thing that has fallen short for Shanjiuqi? Although the Zuo Kunshan General Department is commonly known as the good war, but its Department is monitoring several Zhao'an Liukou between the Jianghuai and Han Rivers, at this time, the Zuo Kunshan Department is transferred to the north, which is tantamount to removing the Fan cage. As for the Tusi soldiers of Qin Liangyu's general army, although they are commonly known as loyal and brave. However, for many years, with the army to fight, the elite is exhausted, and it is no longer the white pole soldier in the Apocalypse, not to mention that from the stone pillar to the Beijing Division, Bashan Shushui, the road is difficult and dangerous, and there is a luxury and Yu Party there, once transferred, the minister may not have arrived in the Beijing Division, and the Jiannu has been plundered. ”

"That. In the opinion of Lord Lu. Could it be that such an army, which can be the backbone of the whole army, falls from the sky? ”

The eunuch of the prison army, who had been standing on the side with his head bowed all the time, jumped up and dived, seized the opportunity for Lu Xiangsheng to speak, and made sarcastic remarks.

It made Gao Gonggong smile, although it didn't fall from the sky. But if the command is used properly. Odd Soldier stands out. There is no effect of divine soldiers descending from the sky! ”

"Could it be that Jiutai Gong is talking about that army?"

Wang Chengen, who was standing behind Chongzhen, trembled with excitement in his tone.

"Yes, princess, it's exactly that soldier that the lower official said!"

"That soldier is really good. It's just a pity that it's too far away. It's hard to solve the fire in the distance! ”

The words of everyone like an old monk made Gao Qiqian and the others a little confused for a while, but seeing Chongzhen, Yang Sichang, Chen Xinjia, Lu Xiangsheng, and the old ancestor Wang Chengen and others all nodding frequently, they didn't dare to say anything.

Finally, Yang Sichang opened his mouth and solved the mystery for Gao Qiqian and others.

"Your Majesty, if Governor Li's Nanzhong Army can go north from Liangguang Sea to defend Gyeonggi, it will definitely be able to strengthen the wings of all the armies and increase their courage!"

"It's just that although Li Weiru's army is well-armed and brave in battle, it is far away in Liangguang and Nanzhong.

"Grandpa Gao is too worried! Lu Mou was in Xuanda Tuntian, and every time he signed a contract in the merchant firm under the command of Li Daren in the capital, he bought iron farm tools, armor, cloth and other things, and at most he could see these goods in the capital for more than a month. There are large sea ships in the south, which are used to carry goods and soldiers and horses, which is the most convenient. ”

The slave maid also has some experience in this point. Every spring and autumn, the offerings sent to the palace, the money and grain offered by Lord Li, are transported to Tianjin by large ships, and then transferred by small boats to Chaoyangmen Wharf for storage. If, as Master Li said, the canal is widened so that large ships can directly enter the Tonghui River, then the transfer of money and grain will be more convenient and the loss will be lower. ”

It was Wang Dehua, the eunuch with the palm print of the celebrant who spoke, and his godson was in charge of this matter, and the amount of money he earned every year was average.

And the other prince, Wang Chengen, also earned a large part of the profits in Nancao Shipping, and these two princes and their respective henchmen made a lot of money.

However, one person was unhappy with the crowd, and replaced it with another sentence, "I'm not happy, I'm going to make everyone feel comfortable!" ”

This person is a high dive!

A meaningful smile appeared on his face: "It turns out that Lord Lu and Master Li of Nanzhong are so close, no wonder!" It's no wonder that Lord Lu just lifted Master Li so high. It's no wonder that Lord Lu has been able to accumulate hundreds of thousands of stones of corn in Xuanda in the past two years......"

"Bold!"

"Grandpa Gao!"

Wang Chengen, Wang Dehua, Yang Sichang and others next to them almost spoke in unison. And Lu Xiangsheng's face turned pale with anger, and instantly turned red. He got up and left his seat and knelt in front of Chongzhen, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty can let your ministers go back to their hometowns to worry about their father!" ”

I'm gone!

"High dive! Lord Lu is in Xuanda, comforting the homeless, building fortresses, reclaiming wasteland, training soldiers, and three years will be the dilapidated Xuanda area to renovate the soldiers and food, this hard work and merit, the emperor has already issued an order to encourage! And Lord Lu purchased farm tools and other things from the merchants of Nanzhong, and he also sent the inscription to the saint, and the celebrant has passed on the inheritance, you slave, what is your intention to say these words at this time? ! ”

Gao Qiqian was confident in supervising the army outside, and he was not so respectful to Wang Chengen, Wang Dehua and others in the palace, and the usual filial piety of gifts for the New Year was not so thoughtful, and these two people had long looked at him unpleasantly. At that moment, Wang Dehua loudly reprimanded.

Among the tunbao in Xuanda, the big ones have dozens of iron ploughs, and the small ones have more than 10 pieces, and iron hoes, shovels and pickaxes are not rare things in the villages and towns of Tunpu. It is precisely because of these iron farm tools that military households and civilian households in the Xuanda area can do things such as reclamation, deep ploughing of the land to reduce pests and diseases, otherwise, how to turn the frozen soil deep with wooden farm tools? How to reclaim wasteland? How can we expand the cultivated area, let alone increase the yield per mu and hoard grain and grass!

Lu Xiangsheng reported these to Chongzhen in the previous scripts. Now Gao Qiqian has led this matter to Lu Xiangsheng and Li Shouhan's private collusion, isn't this a blatant slap in Chongzhen's face? Moreover, not to mention anything else, hundreds of thousands of yuan of silver and hundreds of thousands of stone japonica rice every year have really entered Chongzhen's treasury.

Now is the time to let Lu Xiangsheng contribute, and this minion Gao Qiqian actually slandered Lu Xiangsheng and Li Shouhan for his own personal grudges, how can Chongzhen get by?

was about to have a seizure, and Wang Chengen over there just took another handful of eye medicine for Gao Qiqian.

"Gonggong Gao, you treat Governor Li and Lord Lu like this, do you still hate the words that Governor Li angrily reprimanded you when he saw that you were too timid to fight against Dongnu?"

When Li Shouhan pursued Jiannu who had left the pass to Qingshui Mingyue Pass, he saw that Gao Qiqian was sitting on tens of thousands of military horses and did not dare to fight the enemy with a single arrow. After watching Jiannu swagger out of the customs with the looted property. Angrily left a sentence on the pine tree under the gate, "An eggless leads a group of eggless!" ”

With these words, Gao Qiqian was completely offended to death.

encountered such an opportunity today, Gao Qiqian, a eunuch who was not so broad-minded. How could you not give Li Shouhan and Lu Xiangsheng a stumbling block?

But. The passing year is not good. At this time, Chongzhen was about to use Lu Xiangsheng and Li Shouhan.

"Toot! You minion! How to recklessly comment on the minister? Get outside on your knees! ”

Gao Qiqian was driven to the courtyard by Chongzhen to punish him for kneeling, and Wang Chengen and Wang Dehua specially arranged for two little eunuchs to serve outside, but in fact, they were supervising this high father-in-law.

Inside the East Warm Pavilion. The monarch and the ministers continued to discuss the military situation in front of them.

"Lu Aiqing, if you transfer Li Aiqing's troops and horses to Weiqin King, this, this."

Chongzhen was a little hesitant, and he didn't know how to phrase it for a while. He knew very well that if Li Shouhan, the apparent self-employed five, was not given some benefits, he would not be so active in leading his troops north. It's just that what else can the imperial court reward him at the moment?

Knighted? It's not appropriate, the last time he rewarded part of the prince's honor guard, the ministers of the court and the central government had a lot of discussions, hindering him from beheading thousands of military exploits, these people are not good to say, now if they have not entered Beijing, they will have the reward of knighthood, lest public opinion discuss.

"Your Majesty, with the minister and Lord Li, this person is loyal to the country and diligent in the king's affairs, how can he judge from a secular perspective? When it comes to food and salary, I think Master Li will bring it himself. The emperor only needs to think about how to reward the three armies and comfort the meritorious soldiers! ”

Reward? Now the military horses everywhere are staring at the little money and food in Chongzhen's hand! They all stretched out their hands to ask for money and food, and if they win, they want to be rewarded, and if they are defeated, they want to be compensated. This is the kind of paperwork that flies in from all over the place every day.

The little money that Chongzhen had accumulated in his hand flowed out with these documents. How to find money and food to reward the soldiers of the Southern Central Army? What's more, the money and grain itself was given to him by the Li family to Zhu Youzhen?

"Your Majesty, in the humble opinion of the ministers, it is better to send an angel to Lord Li to summon his troops to join the guard, as for the reward, you can slowly co-ordinate." Chen Xinjia, who couldn't speak for a long time, finally seized the opportunity to express his opinion.

At present, the military situation is like wildfire, and Jiannu is plundering the prefectures and counties everywhere, so it is better to transfer the troops that can be beaten first, and after driving Jiannu out of the customs, then carefully plan and discuss the matter of settling down and rewarding.

went to Nanzhong to deliver the decree, and ordered Li Shouhan to lead his troops north to King Qin again, which sounded good. The prosperity of Nanzhong is also heard of by everyone. And according to the rules of the Ming officialdom and Li Shouhan's performance in recent years, no matter who goes to announce this holy decree, legal bribes such as Cheng Yi and travel expenses are indispensable. After this trip, you can at least get tens of thousands of taels of silver back.

However, although the white flowers of silver are very attractive, there is also a life to spend them.

Jiannu's rangers from time to time haunt the capital city of Jifu, yesterday is to conquer Tongzhou's Caoyun Wharf Zhangjiawan, took away the hoarding of 50,000 heather japonica rice there, thousands of Jiannu are there cheering, back and forth, this time to Tianjin, not looking for death what?

Since the civil officials were unwilling to go to Nanzhong to announce the transfer of Li Shouhan to the king of Jingqin, this glorious and arduous task fell to the eunuchs.

After some twists and turns, Chongzhen made a decision to order the eunuch Wang Dehua to be the eunuch of the eunuch to transfer Li Shouhan to the south and transfer Li Shouhan to the king of Jingqin. When he returned to Beijing with the army, he was a eunuch in the army......

Looking up at the beautiful patterns on the roof of the carriage, Wang Dehua had already wandered out of the world, on the one hand, he was imagining to establish a meritorious career like the Three Treasure Eunuchs of the year, and on the other hand, he was worried that he would be cut by Jiannu before he arrived in Tongzhou. He is still very clear about the combat effectiveness of those soldiers and horses in the Beijing camp and the Jinyi Banner School, but he is afraid that he may not be able to completely defeat the hooligans and gangsters in the capital.

"Father-in-law, please rest assured, in addition to the guards you brought outside, there are also two hundred security guards that are prevalent in my long, these people are all selected from the retired soldiers, although they are not as strong as the father-in-law's subordinates, but they can also deal with Jiannu to protect the father-in-law."

It was the Tian steward who spoke of the prevailing firm in Zhonglong in the capital.

He was responsible for leading the escort of 200 merchants to escort Wang Dehua to Tianjin to board the ship.

"There's Mr. Lao Tianda."

Wang Dehua knew that the guards outside the road were all good players who had fought against Jiannu, so he naturally wanted to be polite to this Mr. Tian. However, he didn't know that the banner in the hands of the riders outside was even more familiar to Jiannu, and both Huang Taiji and Dolgon had strict orders not to harm or rob the team holding the banner of the Longsheng Firm.

"It is also appropriate for the businessmen to accompany their father-in-law to the south when they turn back. If the father-in-law and the accompanying father-in-law and the soldiers of the guards plan to purchase some items at the office, they can still serve below. ”

Hearing this, Wang Dehua could only smile bitterly, he and his subordinates, in addition to going out on this mission with the determination to die, were even more interested in making a fortune. Many little eunuchs did not hesitate to borrow money from usury merchants in the capital to prepare for the book, planning to purchase all kinds of valuable goods and things in Nanzhong and sell them back. And those soldiers of the Shenji Battalion and the 3,000 Battalion brought a lot of silver money with them.

"In this way, there is Mr. Laotian."

"My father-in-law said that. It's time to repay, it's time to repay! ”

"Your office from Governor Li down is such a person who is anxious for justice and righteousness, especially Lord Li, who is diligent in royal affairs and loyal to the country, and is a model for ministers."

Wang Dehua began to put a high hat on the head of this field manager.

"Your Majesty intends to continue to favor your lord after repelling the slaves, and we who are slaves and maids speculate in private that Your Majesty probably intends to hand over the smuggling, arrest and theft at sea in Fujian, Guangdong, Nanzhili and other places to Lord Li for management."

It was Yang Sichang and Chen Xinjia who put forward the task of handing over the maritime defense affairs of Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and other places to Li Shouhan's naval divisions. "Since Li Weiru's sailors are so elite, they can work hard and manage all the above-mentioned things on the sea. It can be regarded as His Majesty's trust in him. ”

As Yang Sichang, who has been an official in the capital for many years, he naturally knows those things on the sea in this area.

It seems that he has given Li Shouhan a bad job, if it is done well, it is a business that can earn gold and silver, and if it is not done well, it will be a dead end for broken bones.

However, Lord Yang will not tell Li Shouhan about these dangers.

Without saying anything all the way, Wang Dehua arrived safely and soundly along the newly paved road on the side of the canal and boarded the boat, and then the fleet rode the north wind all the way along the Bohai Bay to Guangzhou. (To be continued......)