This post road leading to the capital city of Yunnan is very ancient. It was inherited from the Yuan dynasty and may have existed in the earlier Nanzhao Kingdom. Tamped dirt roads, rutted surfaces, and smooth arcs of people and horses repeatedly walking over and down.

Tall maple trees on both sides of the road shade the sky, and the orange-red foliage harmonizes with the sunlight.

"Knock, knock, knock......" The low, rough drum beat resounded evenly on the unfathomable road. In unison, there is also the sound of neat footsteps of "click, click......". People didn't deliberately step out of the sound, but there were more people, and the footsteps gathered into big ones.

The sound of drums and footsteps shook the ground, and the orange-red maple leaves in the air fell one after another, and the colors were brilliant and orange-red. The wide-eaves iron helmet on the ground was shaking neatly with the footsteps of the people, and the white linen bound on the iron helmet was plain white.

People walk slowly, but at the same speed, as if they will never stop, and will always move firmly forward.

…… The sun sets from one place, and the heavens and the earth are dark; But it is bound to rise in another place as well.

The ritual system is compared to the Han Palace's Han Palace, which is sleeping at this time, and there is silence in the palace. In the study room on the east side of the carrier hall, Zhu Gaoxu doesn't know how long he has been sitting here, he has been here all night, and it is almost dawn at this time, right?

Zhu Gaoxu is twenty-four years old this year, and in the bronze mirror, he saw a few gray hairs on his temples.

Natal year. I heard that 12 years of life is a reincarnation, and it is easy to be unlucky in the natal year.

Zhu Gaoxu used to be a gambler, and gambling relied on luck, so no materialist school education could make him not believe in evil. He did not believe in all the mysteries, nor did he believe them all.

But Zhu Gaoxu is now wearing gray and white linen, a kind of burlap with no seams. He didn't wear red, because Hou Hai said that he had to find a fortune teller to calculate carefully before he could wear it, and wearing red indiscriminately could not turn evil into good fortune. So Zhu Gaoxu gave up and didn't bother to pay attention to it.

He sat cross-legged on a futon on the floor, "looking at each other" with the armor on the wooden frame opposite.

This pair of Qingtang fine iron cold-forged armor, Zhu Gaoxu has been using it for at least nine years. The maintenance is very meticulous, and the armor is completely rusty, but after all, after a long time, you can see signs of wear. It glowed with the cold glow of metal in the hazy light of the lantern.

The brim of the broad-brimmed iron helmet is slightly longer, its head bowed, and its face is black and hollow; The heart goggles are like two pectoral muscles. After looking at it for a long time, Zhu Gaoxu felt that it was clearly like a mysterious person, a living creature, standing quietly.

There was a faint fragrance in the room, and in the copper furnace, wisps of white incense wafted out and surrounded the armor. The armor seemed to be spitting out white mist, black light, and white vapor, adding to the terrifying and murderous aura.

Humanity is that jade has aura, and after a long time, it has a soul. Maybe there will be armor too?

Zhu Gaoxu changed his posture and let his legs, which were a little numb, regain consciousness a little. He drew closer to the armor, and the nearer he got there, the illusion of the human form vanished; But the details above are becoming clearer. There are many subtle marks on the nail plates, such as dents and scratches, and there are also iron patches that are different from the old and new ones when they were repaired.

Those traces of damage seem to record every footprint of Zhu Gaoxu, from the Yellow River to the Yangtze River, from Luchuan to Annan.

At this time, the voice of the eunuch Wang Gui said: "Lord Wang, Du Qianrui got up early and made soup dumplings and preserved egg essence porridge for you, it is almost dawn, do you want to have breakfast?" ”

So Zhu Gaoxu asked Wang Gui to bring it up, and ate breakfast in front of the armor; Then he called the eunuchs in and helped him put his armor on his body. Although the armor was heavy, after Zhu Gaoxu put it on, he seemed to feel that something was one with him.

The genius had just dawned, and Zhu Gaoxu had already taken the lead in coming to the main hall of the Carrier Palace.

Before the hour came, the civil and military officials had not yet arrived, and Zhu Gaoxu sat on the throne alone. After a while, Du Qianrui walked into the back door of the main hall first.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the long-sleeved costume she was wearing in surprise, and said, "It's not as good as the soup dumplings made by Xie Qianrui, it's delicious." ”

Du Qianrui looked up at Zhu Gaoxu, who was dressed in iron armor, and bent her knees and said: "Last time, the prince and King Ning co-wrote the "Peony Pavilion" for the concubine, and the concubine didn't have time to sing it to the prince. The prince is about to go on the expedition, and the concubine will sing a paragraph for you. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Okay." ”

So Du Qianrui stood on the empty hall, posed, danced a few steps lightly with long sleeves, and sang a voice: "Dream back to the warbler, the chaotic years are all over the ......"

Zhu Gaoxu listened carefully to the singing, and the words of the opera were sung very slowly, singing and sighing, back and forth tactfully, indescribably graceful. Maybe you have to sing the words in Chinese more slowly to understand what you are singing. Du Qianrui's singing voice is also correct and round, Zhu Gaoxu is sitting on the public seat, listening to it gradually intoxicated, feeling the wonderful and romantic affection in the drama story.

Although Du Qianrui is petite, her eyes are very affectionate, and in that singing and sighing, her eyes never left Zhu Gaoxu, with an amorous and reluctant gaze, and a look of worship and obsession. The bulging chest, delicate waist, and gentle posture made Zhu Gaoxu more and more useful.

I don't want to lose all of this. Zhu Gaoxu seemed to hear a voice.

The gentle and wonderful time always makes people feel very short, Du Qianrui finished singing a paragraph, and made a blessing, and said in a joking tone: "It's not early, the civil and military officials are coming, and the concubine is retiring." In the future, the concubine will look forward to the early triumphant return of the prince. ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded, and suddenly looked at Du Qianrui's graceful figure.

I don't know how long I sat there, but the people in the main hall gradually increased, and the royal honor guard began to play a grand drum music. A big drum "bang" woke up Zhu Gaoxu, and then the drum sounded like raindrops, as if thousands of horses were galloping, orchestral bells and gongs joined it, and the hall was very lively.

"Smack! Syllable! "The whip sounded in the main hall, like a separator in a grand drum music.

Civil officials wearing filial piety uniforms and military generals wearing armor marched into the main hall in procession, and the soldiers had to wear armor, so only a piece of white linen cloth was tied to the helmet, like a symbol.

The crowd saluted with their fists in a fist.

The drum stopped, and an iron-masked man walked to the top, unfolded the dossier and read: "I am the son-in-law of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty, and the country's closest relative." For his father, he fought in the south and the north, invincible, and made great achievements. Then the feudal vassal state, the arch defended the imperial unity. There was a sudden change in the palace today, and the traitors in the East Palace plotted to kill my father and the emperor, and wanted to design to kill me in the East Palace. This plot of murdering the father and mutilating the clan relatives has lost all conscience, and people and gods are angry. I will take redress of sins in heaven, and I will reassure the community. The gods of heaven and earth show my heart. In the fifth year of Yongle, Zhu Gaoxu, the king of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Everyone shouted in unison: "The lower officials and others are willing to follow the king of Han, punish the sins in heaven, and settle the society!" ”

Then the iron-masked man read again: "The decree of the Han Wangfu, in order to punish the crime, open the capital governor's mansion, with Li Changjue as the deacon, and concurrently lead the right long history of the Han Wangfu." Ren Qu Neng was the governor of the left capital, the chief officer of the forward army, and led the forward army of 100,000 on the same day, and passed on the march! ”

Qu Neng walked out of the queue, knelt on one knee, hugged his fists and said: "The last general will definitely live up to his heavy responsibility!" ”

Many people looked sideways at the man who had just come out. Most civil and military people remember the name Qu Neng, but only then did people suddenly understand that Qu Neng was actually in this hall!

The Qu Neng Army was the first army to assemble and reorganize into an army, known as 100,000, and the total strength was 17,000. Among them were some of the guards of the Han Palace, as well as the soldiers of the Yunnan guards.

Most of the guards in Qu Neng's army were men and horses near the capital city of Yunnan. Because of the soldiers and horses of the guards farther away, they have not yet reached the capital city of Yunnan.

In fact, the total number of soldiers and horses that Zhu Gaoxu can mobilize is less than 100,000. His three guards have 20,000 troops, and in the past few days, together with Mu Sheng and others, the guard army can probably mobilize 70,000 people. The total number of "guilty soldiers" is only 90,000, and it will take some time for them to be fully formed.

Zhu Gaoxu stepped down from the throne, untied the Yanling knife with a gold inlaid hilt on his body, and handed it to Qu Neng. He took the plate in the eunuch's hand, picked up the new big seal with the satin padded on it, and glanced at the small seal engraved on it: Guilty Jun Qu. The seal was carved by Zhu Gaoxu after he wrote it and then carved it according to his handwriting.

In addition, there is a letter of appointment stamped with the golden seal of the King of Han on the wooden plate.

Qu Neng took it with both hands and bowed.

Zhu Gaoxu also clasped his fists and bowed back: "Qu Du Du led the army first, and this king then led a large army of 300,000 to cover it, and I hope that Qu Du Du will win the front army flag!" ”

Qu Neng said: "Obey!" ”

The man in the iron mask also announced that the palace of the Han Dynasty was the palace guard, and there were two divisions in the north and south. The North Division is pro-army; The Southern Division specializes in the development of firearms. Those who have improved firearms will be rewarded.

All the armies subordinate to the Han Dynasty's Mansion were required to pay the Han Emperor's Mansion a consistent (copper) or silver monthly salary during the time of garrison, march, requisition, and training.

These treatments are already much higher than those of the Ming military households, and the expenses of the Han Wangfu will be extremely large. For 90,000 troops, the salary of the army alone will cost more than 100,000 yuan per year. However, Zhu Gaoxu has accumulated a lot of money over the years of marriage, rewards, and fortunes, and has divided tens of thousands of yuan from the jadeite trade; "Borrowed" 100,000 yuan from the Shen family. If you maintain it for a year or two, it is still not a big problem.

After the ceremony, everyone dispersed, and they were all busy with today's business. Recently, the civil and military forces of the Han Dynasty have been very busy, and it is not easy for Zhu Gaoxu to complete the reorganization of Qu Neng's army in a short period of time.

…… The road that Qu Nengjun will take is the Luzhou Road in Wusada, because this road is the best road to enter Sichuan. Qu Nengjun first went to Wumeng Mansion (Zhaotong) and Wusa Military and Civil Mansion (Weining), and incorporated Wumengwei and Wusawei, who did not know whether they currently belonged to Sichuan, Yunnan or Guizhou; Then he approached Bijiewei in Guizhou.

After Zhu Gaoxu completed the reorganization of the army in Yunnan, he then led a large army to coordinate with Qu Neng to attack Sichuan along the Luzhou Road in Wusada.

At this time, the "strategy for attacking Sichuan" of the Han Wangfu was roughly drawn up, and of course there were huge risks that could not be avoided. And Qu Nengjun's attack is the first step.

The movement of troops on the ground in Yunnan has become more and more intense, and it is completely difficult to cover it up.