November 20, near the month of Changsha, on the eaves, in the yard, there is a layer of snow, these years, the winter is getting colder and colder, not to mention Changsha, even Lingnan and other places are frequently experiencing snowfall. The weather is cold, and as soon as it gets dark, people often stop going out at home.

The red charcoal in the charcoal stove exuded a slight amount, and it was not until the third watch that Hong Chengchou finally finished reading the mountains of official documents in front of him. As a strategy of the five provinces, he passed through the five provinces of Huguang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou, although Guangdong has now been occupied by Li Dingguo, but he still has no leisure, and his eyes are serious these years, and his reading has become more and more blurred. When he was done with his business, he walked out of the room and into the backyard, looking into the distance to make his eyes more comfortable. I saw the sky full of stars and moons, and everything was silent, but even so, there was no sense of tranquility in his heart.

He looked at the night sky, but his mood was extremely complicated, although he was now wearing the red official robe of the Ming Dynasty, but his mood did not relax in the slightest because of this official robe.

"Hey......"

Another long sigh, Hong Chengchou shook his head, re-entered the signing room with some loss, took out a fold on the table, and opened the fold, but his expression seemed a little complicated, Hong Chengchou first read softly, and slowly shook his head.

This is a letter of persuasion from the scribes in the name of the officials and gentry of the five provinces of Huguang, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. Naturally, it was the king of Chu who was waiting in the capital to ascend the throne next year.

Is this book on or not?

For a while, Hong Chengchou was a little difficult to decide, and the reason why it was difficult to make a decision was because he felt that Li Ziyuan's claim to be emperor was always a little too hasty.

"My lord, the messenger just sent an urgent message from Kunming."

The domestic servant Chen Ying'an came over with a letter in his hand, Chen Ying'an, who has been Hong Chengchou's scribe since he was a child, has always won Hong Chengchou's trust, and has been following him all these years.

"Give it to me quickly!"

Hong Chengchou's heart jumped, and he sent a letter late at night, which had never happened in the past. The military aircraft is changing rapidly and is unpredictable, could it be that there was an accident in Yunnan?

Thinking of the King Mu in Dingnan, Hong Chengchou's heart almost hung in his throat, didn't he hit Kunming? Although he was well aware of Wu Sangui's ability to use troops, Hong Chengchou was inevitably a little worried, after all, at this time, for Hong Chengchou, who intended to take the five southwestern provinces as the foundation, the capture of Kunming by the Ming army would disrupt his overall plan.

Perhaps because he was anxious about the situation in Kunming, Hong Chengchou went against the usual habit of cutting letters, snatched the letter from Chen Ying'an's hand, and tore it open, even his hand was shaking slightly.

The envelope made of goose skin paper was extremely strong, and it was not torn once, and Hong Chengchou tore it again. At this time, the letterhead came out, and the letter was hurriedly unfolded, it was Wu Sangui's handwriting,

"Mu Tianbo led 100,000 Dingnan troops, hundreds of cannons, more than 100 war elephants to attack, the nephew was invincible, and he had to give up Kunming and withdraw west to Dali, waiting for the ...... in the future."

"Kunming is lost! Kunming is lost! ”

Hong Chengchou muttered twice, seeing that the most reluctant to see the news became a reality, he was depressed, he only felt that his breath was in his throat, but he couldn't breathe, and as soon as his eyes were dark, he fainted on the ground.

"Lord, lord......"

Chen Yingan didn't know what was going on, so he hurriedly stepped forward in a panic, picked up Hong Chengchou with both hands, and then put him flat on the bed, and then touched Hong Chengchou's hand, but his hand was cold.

At this moment, Chen Ying'an suddenly became scared.

"Where are you going?"

When Chen Yingan was about to go out to call someone, Hong Chengchou had already woken up.

"Master, you're awake."

Chen Ying'an, who was originally panicked, immediately showed joy when he saw that the old man woke up, and he was in a hurry to go out and call people, and he hurriedly walked to the bed again.

"Master, I was scared to death just now, and when I saw that you fainted, I was about to call the young master."

The young master, who was originally on an errand in Beijing, had already come to Changsha. I have been by my lord's side for the past two years, assisting my lord in handling official business, and when this kind of thing happens, I should call him over first.

"Don't call him, I'm fine. You go to sleep too, and don't tell anyone about what just happened, do you hear me? ”

Chen Ying'an agreed, and then closed the door. And Hong Chengchou was lying on the bed, but he was very frightened in his heart - Wu Sangui was defeated! He was defeated so quickly that he didn't even have a chance to retreat to Guizhou, but fled to Dali.

For the future, Hong Chengchou has also imagined many times, persuasion is only one of the steps, if one day Li Ziyuan is defeated, he will continue to use the land of the five provinces as a bargaining chip, and then "negotiate" with the new dynasty or the Ming Dynasty, and even if the world falls into chaos, he may be able to stand on his own in the southwest.

If the world is in turmoil, it is not impossible, those thieves can still be emperors, why can't he? Maybe you can use this to create the foundation of the Hong family.

However, now Wu Sangui's letter has completely broken his wishful thinking. Kunming lost nothing, the key is that the more than 100,000 horses under the command of Wu Sangui actually withdrew to Dali!

Wu Sangui's more than 100,000 horses are different from the green battalion soldiers under Hong Chengchou's command, those people and horses are all elites in a hundred battles, and they are also the foundation that Hong Chengchou relies on the most. It is precisely because of this that he will be shocked and comatose, fortunately, only Chen Ying'an is there alone, otherwise, if this matter spreads, I don't know what kind of impact it will have.

After feeling a little more comfortable, Hong Chengchou no longer wanted to lie on the bed, he got up and put on a dress, sat at the table, looked at the jumping lights, his brows became tighter and tighter, and the melancholy on his face became more and more intense.

If Yunnan is lost, Guizhou will not be able to keep it, and if these two provinces are lost, the situation in the southwest will be very unfavorable to him, if Li Dingguo sends troops to Guangxi again, and Li Laiheng attacks Chengdu again......

Slowly, Hong Chengchou's face became more and more difficult to look at, and he only felt as if a noose was around his neck, and he couldn't breathe.

"Are they really unwilling to give Hong someone a way out?"

The reason why Hong Chengchou asked such a question is because now he has "returned" to the Ming Dynasty, and Wu Sangui is the same, but why did the Mu family still point to Kunming, forcing Wu Sangui to go away to Dali.

Thinking of the rope around his neck, Hong Chengchou remembered that when he was young, when he was studying in his hometown in Fujian, those nights of reading by candlelight, and remembered the oath of Jinshi in the examination. I thought of my old friends, I remembered the old lord Chongzhen, of course, I also remembered the defeat and capture, and I also remembered the beating and scolding of my mother when I saw my mother again after entering the customs, I remembered the helplessness of returning to my hometown and not being able to enter the house, and of course, I also remembered the dilemma of wanting to survive but couldn't. For a while, he quietly had mixed feelings.

The more Hong Chengchou thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became, and finally couldn't help but burst into tears. Even in the end, it occurred to him that if he did it again, would he still be cleared?

To Hong Chengchou's surprise, there was no answer in his heart, despite all this, he still didn't know what choice to make when facing the test of life and death.

Cherish life like this, maybe this is human instinct!

Early the next morning, Hong Shiming came to his father's room to say goodbye. Seeing his father sitting in front of the bookcase, he didn't seem to have slept all night, and in front of his father's desk, there were a few pieces of paper, and his father seemed to be writing something there, looking at a layer of fine beads of sweat oozing from his father's head, Hong Shiming walked over to ask for an answer.

"Father, well!"

"How long have you been up?"

Hong Chengchou asked, his head was not raised, and his hand was still writing.

"It's been half an hour."

Hong Shiming replied respectfully.

"Where did you read today?"

Hong Chengchou demanded that Hong Shiming must read history books for half an hour every morning after waking up, which has been the case since he was a teenager, even when he went to Beijing to take the exam, he has never stopped.

"I re-read the history of the Later Han Dynasty again."

After listening to his son's answer, Hong Chengchou did not speak, but just nodded slightly. It's always good to read more history books.

"Wu Sangui came with a letter last night."

Hong Chengchou's pen has not stopped.

"What does the letter say? What's the situation in Yunnan now? ”

Hong Shiming asked eagerly.

"Kunming has been captured by Mu Tianbo."

Hong Chengchou wrote hard as he spoke, his face was calm as if nothing had happened, but his dark eyes clearly showed that he had not slept all night last night.

"Mu Tianbo defeated Kunming!"

Hong Shiming couldn't believe the news, and then he felt that this tone was wrong, could he still doubt his father's words? Does my father still speak? Not to mention such a big thing! Kunming let Mu Tianbo fight down, this, this is not good news.

Hong Shiming suddenly said nervously.

"Mu Tianbo has defeated Kunming, then Yunnan and Yunnan are afraid that it will be difficult to protect!"

It's not that it's hard to protect, but it's not at all!

Hong Shiming looked at his father nervously, how could his father still be in the mood to write there, he looked at the paper on the table, and then he saw clearly what his father wrote, what kind of article he wrote there, and it was densely packed with the word "regret".

"You go and tell Daniel Zhang, Zhao Liangdong, Sun Sike, and Wang Jinbao, I will wait for them here."

Daniel Zhang, Zhao Liangdong, Sun Sike, and Wang Jinbao are the four commanders under Hong Chengqing; three years ago, when he was training the green camp in Changsha, Hong Chengqing specially summoned four people from Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan to assist him in training and leading the army.

About an hour later, Daniel Zhang, Zhao Liangdong, Sun Sike, and Wang Jinbao had already arrived in the mansion. Despite the panic in his heart, Hong Chengchou still had a faint smile on his face. As soon as he saw the four of them, he said.

"This time I persuaded the book, and there is already a reward from the king over there!"