After the lights were first on, the candles in the governor's mansion in Yidu City were bright, and some people were anxiously waiting for the battle report from the south, Gu Kai had already finished dinner at this time, made a pot of tea, and drank with Jiang Bin who rushed back.

Gu Kai admired Jiang Bin's talent, if Jiang Bin hadn't refused to go out many times, how could he have given him a fourth-grade Langzhong, or even a third-grade foreigner. As for whether it is the Ministry of Officials, or the Ministry of Households, or the Water Prison.

It's a pity that Jiang Bin has always been committed to being a staff member in the palace, and he is unwilling to show his skills in his official career, which is really a pearl in the dust.

The chief official does not go back to the house to rest, and the officials below are naturally serving diligently by his side. When I heard the three sounds of the watch in the city, it was already time.

Gu Kai finally couldn't stay up all night, calculating the footsteps, even today's fastest battle report will come in another hour, Gu Kai said to the surrounding subordinates: "The night is dark, wait and return to your home, there is no need to gather here and wait, let's disperse." ”

Jiang Bin leaned over and saluted: "My lord, please go back to the backyard to rest, and when there is news, Jiang will inform my lord." ”

Buying slaves, Zhuo Sicheng and other high-ranking officials on Yidu Road had already rested at this time, but before going to bed, they instructed their subordinates to pay attention to the express news from the south.

Gu Kai and Jiang Bin could talk, and Jiang Bin simply waited for news together in the governor's mansion. Don't look at Gu Kai's youth, but he has been preparing for the war recently, and he has taken a lot of effort, but his spirit is not as good as Jiang Bin, who has grown him by one round.

"Trouble Mr. Jiang. The official went to the back room to rest for a while, and if the battle report came, he must inform the officer. ”

"Don't worry, my lord, Jiang will take care of it."

As soon as the ugly time came, a fast horse galloped into Yidu City panting, the rider held emergency documents and tokens, and galloped all the way into Yidu Xuanzhi Embassy, and soon an astonishing news spread all over Yiwangfu, the governor's mansion and other yamen: the official army going south was completely defeated, and the defeated army was retreating, and it was estimated that it would be able to withdraw to Yidu City after eight or nine hours!

This news shook like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and the minds of Mainu, Gu Kai, and Zhuo Sicheng were almost stirred into a pulp. The three of them sat on the bed for a long time, looking at the faces of their subordinates in a nervous cold sweat for a long time before finally realizing that the news was true.

Jiang Bin was speechless, he couldn't imagine that the words of the little brother would become a prophecy, although he was somewhat prepared, but he was still extremely shocked when it came to the end!

However, the specific battle situation has still been obtained, and I will understand it after coming back first, and now we have to consider how to write this defeat to the Jingshi!

Gu Kai, Jiang Bin, and Zhuo Sicheng hurried to Yiwang's mansion immediately, at this time, the high-ranking officials of Yidu Road arrived one after another, and a group of people talked softly about the war situation one after another.

The people waiting around were all afraid to come out, trembling and waiting carefully.

The messenger had been questioned several times, and he was the first messenger to gallop back yesterday afternoon, when the officers and troops had just been routed, and they were busy gathering the rout and counterattacking the pursuers. But he still knows a little bit about yesterday's battle. Faced with so many high-ranking officials in the hall that he might never have the chance to see again in his life, the rider barely suppressed his nervous thoughts, stabilized his mind, and answered the inquiries one by one.

Although the details are not yet fully known, everyone in the hall finally understands that the direct cause of the defeat lies with the thief Yu Zhilong.

"The Jing'an thief army not only has more than 1,000 men and horses, but also nearly 1,000 cavalry?" Jiang Bin muttered, "The Jing'an Thief Army alone has at least two thousand extra horsemen out of thin air!" ”

Before the rider returned, he also specially ordered that when returning to the number of thieves' cavalry, it must not be less than a thousand, according to his original intention, it should be at least three or four thousand, but after the defeat, the army retreated north in a hurry, and the generals of the various departments were either dead or scattered, and the people's hearts were uncertain.

Specially emphasized that the Jing'an Army cavalry was in 1,000 people, so as not to make Tang Wuwei's face ugly! First of all, he was also gloomy.

It's not that he is incompetent, but that his opponent is too treacherous! The strength hidden in the dark is too deep!

"The thief army has as many as 10,000 people in a short period of time, how similar is this to the red turban thief!" Gu Kai was deeply afraid. Thinking of the incident of Liu Futong and others, everyone's hearts couldn't help but tremble quietly.

In the first month, Liu Futong gathered hundreds of thousands of people in his abdomen, occupied dozens of counties, and the imperial court had to recruit at least 100,000 soldiers and horses, which accumulated for several years before they were basically wiped out.

Although Liu thief Futong is now hiding in the mountains with the remnants, but the thief chief has not been obtained, and he cannot achieve the full success, and the imperial court is still very anxious to pursue it.

It's a pity that the timing of the Zhang thief's incident was too coincidental, attracting a large number of officials and soldiers, and saving the desperate Liu thief.

Fortunately, the war in the south came mostly with good news, and if there were no accidents, within ten months of triumph, the time would have freed up the army to continue the pursuit.

But I heard that Haozhou and Wuchang are also not appeased, and I am afraid that this army will have to have a succession of pursuits.

The thoughts of buying slaves went far away for a while, and then suddenly woke up, thinking about what to do in the long run, and now it should be about taking care of their own family!

Seeing that he could no longer ask for any more news, the slave waved his hand to signal the messenger to stand down, and ordered him to be rewarded with a piece of silver. After the messenger left, the hall fell into an awkward silence.

Mai Nu finally spoke, and asked directly: "The thief has not succeeded, do you have any suggestions, let's listen to it." ”

The officials were speechless for a while, Zhuo Sicheng was a little anxious, he was the director and chief manager of Shandong Xuanwei, in charge of the local military and civilian, and now he was back, it was not easy to explain to the Privy Council.

Looking at Gu Kai below, Zhuo Sicheng simply named and said: "Lord Gu has a deep sense of holy will, and since he came to the local area, he has worked hard and made many achievements. "Marshal Yidu Ludu was also absent first, he really didn't have confidence in the talents of the few people under his seat, but what Gu Kai did was quite effective, and he was gradually relied on.

Gu Kai still had no clue, and was named by Shangguan and had to return. After thinking for a while, Gu Kai bowed his hand and said: "The lower official is stupid, only Bo Zhi, the battle has been completed, but the details are not clear, if the lower official is not bad, in addition to the strength of the thief army far beyond our expectations, it must have also used some means, if you can know, you may be able to explore the context of the thief army's response and understand the enemy's reality." For the time being, it is still necessary to organize the defense of the city as soon as possible and strengthen the vigilance. ”

"Could it be that the thieves still want to take advantage of the situation to attack Yidu City?" Mainu asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm not afraid of 10,000, I'm afraid of what if, how noble the prince is, how can he take such a big risk?" Gu Kai replied.

Jiang Bin saw that Mai Nu's gaze turned to him, sat on the seat and bowed slightly: "What Master Gu said is extremely true, the official army is newly defeated, and the morale of the army is weak. Although Yidu City is highly armed and is not afraid of the attack of the thief army, the thief army is under the city, and the looting outside the city after being annoyed and angry will inevitably be unavoidable. In the end, it was the small people under the rule of the prince who suffered, even if they succeeded in forcing the enemy to retreat, it was the reputation of the prince who was damaged, and it was the gentry of our road who were injured. ”

Ji Zongzhou replied loudly: "The eyes of the two adults are like torches, and their subordinates admire!" Although the officers and soldiers were not afraid of thieves attacking the city, their subordinates were worried about the livelihood and safety of more than 10,000 people outside the city. ”

Several other officials expressed their support for Gu Kai and others.

Seeing this, Zhuo Sicheng turned his head and asked the slave: "All the officials have said it, and please show it to the prince." ”

Mainu grimaced, and after groaning, he said slowly: "Since there is a danger of thieves attacking the city, you should go and prepare to meet the enemy." After the marshal returns, he will discuss in detail the strategy of meeting the enemy. Lord Zhuo, please bother more about this matter, it's best not to alarm the people too much, if the whole wind is loud and the grass and trees are all soldiers, it will make people laugh in vain! ”

"The city sent a force to meet the first, if it can force the thief army back, it is best to buy some time for the city's defense. Also, send more scouts to the south to see what the thieves will do! ”

"Although there are some soldiers and horses in the city, it is still insufficient to defend such a large city, so tonight I will send people out of the city to recruit the righteous army outside the city to enter the city to assist in the defense. Tell the gentry everywhere that if the thief army comes with victory, they will not be willing to return empty-handed, if they can't enter the city, the gentry outside the city will be the object of their wanton plunder, and those who want to survive and want to have their wealth unharmed had better cheer up and obey the dispatch of the government. ”

The slaves were ordered one by one, and all the officials under them were only right.

Zhuo Sicheng leaned over and asked: "Do you want to recruit the Han army from the surrounding prefectures and counties tonight, and report to the Beijing Division?" ”

Jiang Bin arched his hand and said: "It is a timely move to send envoys to recruit troops and horses from all over the country tonight, but it is best to wait for the marshal to come back, and then discuss how to show Chen Yu to the Beijing Division, what is Lord Zhuo's opinion?" ”

When Zhuo Si was founded, he understood that this was after buying slaves and other people to understand the war situation in detail, Yidu could consider how to choose words and sentences on this matter and polish the text. After all, a big defeat is really not good to state to Jingshi.

"Please also give an order that the defeated troops return to the city, not to enter the city for the time being, and to be stationed outside the camp outside the city to rest and recuperate, and not to talk to people outside the camp without authorization. As for the war, it is discussed strictly in private, and those who discuss it in vain will be engaged in military law! "Jiang Bin was worried that the defeated army would be disciplined and disturb the people after entering the city, and second, he was worried that there would be unreasonable discussions within the army and the army's morale would be unstable, which would not be conducive to the re-election of the whole army.

Zhuo Sicheng and slave buyers are all allowed.

All things were implemented one by one, and in the end, the Shuntian army from Linqu was not seen, and after leading the remnants back to the city first, they learned that it was Li Zhenxiong and Meng Qing, who fought back, and the thief army saw that it was not profitable, and they withdrew their troops after chasing out more than ten miles.

The following days were busy up and down, summoning troops, training troops, resting, and strengthening the city defenses, like a tiger that had lost too much blood to return to its nest, slowly licking its wounds, and waiting for the injury to come back.

On the third day after the war, the war report was sent to Dadu. After buying slaves, Yexian and Zhuo Sicheng repeatedly scrutinized the words and sentences, and after several easy manuscripts, they finally hurried and ran all the way to Dadu.

The text asserted that the Linqu thief army has reached more than 20,000 people, and there are 4,000 thieves riding on horsemen, and the official army has failed to defeat the army, in addition to the huge thief army, there are more entrenched bandits in the mountains for many years, although the official army of Yidu Road has fought bloodily, but the thief army is treacherous, and has prepared in many ways, although the enemy has been hit hard, but they are outnumbered, and they have to temporarily retreat, and they will be regrouped and suppressed again.

More than 10,000 thieves were destroyed, the enemy was defeated, and the city was defended, and the officers and soldiers themselves suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat.

At the same time, he asked for merit for Tang Wuwei, Meng Qing, Tian Hui and other generals, and listed a number of their military exploits one by one. I would like to ask the Imperial Court to award a number of memorials to the fallen soldiers.

In the end, Mai Nu and Zhuo Sicheng asked the court to punish themselves, and the enemy was not secret on the road, resulting in the unresolved war and the death of the soldiers, which was a great crime!

Another person was the steward of the Yiwang Mansion, who secretly rushed to Dadu with the handwriting of the slave and some assets, and secretly contacted him at the Hama and other mansions in Beijing.

After the Jingshi benefited from the news, the officials did not mention it.