After dinner in the hut, they sat down and drank tea. The tea leaves used to make tea are raw leaves, and Zhu Gaoxu can't tell what leaves they are at all, and the taste is very strange.

During the day, the valley with beautiful mountains and clear waters, the blue sky and white clouds and strange rocky cliffs are very beautiful. But when you live in the evening, you can understand that this place is quite uncomfortable to live in.

There is scarcity of goods, and everything is very rudimentary. There are a lot of mosquitoes, Zhu Gaoxu has been bitten on the back of his hands and neck, and everyone is drinking tea and talking, while holding grass fans to beat mosquitoes. Qi Tai has a dirty mosquito net on his bed, and he may be better when he sleeps.

And they have nothing but a few books. These people, who used to be important civil and military ministers of the Ming Dynasty, can spend a few years in this place, and their concentration is still possible. If seclusion was really so good, perhaps the people would not have to endure so much conscription in the Central Plains.

Everyone talked slowly for a while, and probably finished drinking a bowl of tea. Zhu Gaoxu also gave a general account of what has happened in recent years.

At this time, many things in the government were not public, and if it were not for the powerful officials, they might not know so much; It's not something you can find out about once a few months when you go out and buy something.

Qi Tai pondered for a long time and said: "For the time being, I think that we must go to Sichuan first, and then attack Huguang!" Yunnan is a long-term land, the Han population is too small, several are surrounded by mountains, once the imperial court forms a siege of Yunnan, it will fall into an offensive and defensive dilemma.

Sichuan has been rich and densely populated since ancient times, and it is a country of abundance. However, it is not easy to get out of Sichuan, so after occupying Sichuan, it is the king to enter Huguangfang. ”

Zhu Gaoxu pondered while listening. In the past, he really thought too carefully about the rebellion route, because he always thought that he might change his fiefdom in the Yongle Dynasty; After the conquest of Annan, he had a guess that he was about to change his fiefdom to the north.

Suddenly encountered a sudden change in Beijing, he has been busy escaping, survival is the most important thing, and he has no time to think too far.

At this time, since Qi Tai talked about this, Zhu Gaoxu also listened humbly.

Qi Tai talked eloquently: "The Han King's army this time has some similarities with the 'Battle of Jingyan' back then, the war cannot be delayed for a long time, and the victory or defeat is only in a few important battles. This kind of intra-royal warfare is not a foreign invasion, and if the situation on one side is unfavorable, those who surrender will be many.

The people, and even most of the soldiers, were reluctant to die for such a struggle for power. Only the ministers and generals either want to make contributions to the marquis and worship the prime minister, or they are worried that they will be ruined by the Qing Dynasty.

But among the civil and military nobles, there are many marriages, and the relationship is complicated, and it is difficult to distinguish between friend and foe. Therefore, if the king of Han does not fight, he must win if he wants to fight, so as to gather people's hearts. ”

Sheng Yong also agreed: "At that time, in the battle of Zhending, Geng Gong Changxinghou had insufficient troops, and he used defense instead of attacking, and there were mutual casualties in this battle, and the officers and soldiers did not suffer a big loss. Helplessly, the coach Geng Gong was beheaded by the Han King, and Guo Gong Wu Dinghou did not come out of the door, losing his momentum slightly.

Later, when Li Jinglong's reinforcements came, he was a gentleman, and the situation became more and more out of control. The 600,000-strong army was defeated in Beiping, and the official army was deprived of the hearts of the army. ”

Sheng Yong sneered: "What makes me wonder the most is that the 600,000 army of the official army was defeated, and Li Jinglong can still lead the second war." ”

Qi Tai scolded: "It's not that Huang Zicheng has misled the country!" When I was in the court, I tried my best to dissuade the first emperor from using Li Jinglong, but Huang Zicheng was good at power, and I was unfavorable in the court, so Huang Zicheng had the upper hand. ”

Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth and said: "That's it, you are waiting for the Han Palace, and you don't have to fight for the generals anymore." I'm the coach myself, who can do it and who can't, haven't you counted it in my heart? ”

Qi Tai no longer had any elegant manners, grabbed the bowl and took a sip of tea, and finally calmed his emotions.

Qi Tai continued: "But I'm not in a hurry to prepare for a big war recently, King Han has to try to win over two people, one is Mu Sheng and the other is Zhang Fu!"

Mufu has been operating in Yunnan for many years, and if he can get his help, it will be of great benefit at the beginning of the army. Otherwise, it will be troublesome, in case Mu Sheng takes refuge in the imperial court and goes to Dali to gather troops to fight against the King of Han, will the King of Han attack?

If you attack it, you will waste time and delay the fighter. When the King of Han finished cleaning up Yunnan, the deployment of officials and troops in Guizhou, Sichuan, Annan, and Guangxi was completed, and the roads out of Yunnan were all blocked! The king of Han wanted to go out of Yunnan and repeatedly fought for the mountain passes, until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse!

If he didn't attack, the king of Han would not be able to gather the Yunnan guards, and there was still a threat on his back. In case the Han King's troops are weak and fail to enter Sichuan, the military families in the rear are captured by Mu Sheng, the army is in turmoil, and the situation is urgent! ”

Qi Tai paused and said, "The second Zhang Fu." His sister is the concubine of the Yongle Emperor, and she is also a noble who lives in Beijing, and her whole family is in Beijing; There are many military households in Zhejiang and Jiangxi under his command, and his family members are within the sphere of influence of the imperial court.

Donggong co-opted Zhang Fu, which was much more beneficial. It is best for the king of Han to take the policy of rights and interests, as long as Zhang Fu is allowed to watch the fire from the other side, and the soldiers will not move for a while; It is a good situation to avoid Zhang Fu waving his army north to Yunnan and threatening his abdomen. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said quietly: "Mu Sheng's only son, Mu Bin, is also in Beijing. ”

Qi Tai was stunned when he heard this, and did not speak for a long time.

At first, Zhu Gaoxu was full of anger and revenge, but when he had just cleared up the situation, he gradually realized that the situation was far worse than his intuition.

At this time, I have to admit a fact: the cards in my brother Gao Chi's hand are very stable, and the situation is very good!

Qu Neng finally spoke: "The thing in front of me is not Mu Sheng and Zhang Fu, but how to get to Yunnan Mansion." The road from Sichuan to Yunnan is not as good as the mainland, there are only a few roads, there are many health stations along the way, and if we are not careful, we can't even go to Yunnan. ”

Everyone was silent for a while, and Qu Neng continued: "I have been the commander of the Sichuan capital, and the road is relatively familiar. From Sichuan to Yunnan, there are about three official roads. Among them, there are two ancient roads and one new road.

The ancient road is a zero-pass road and a five-foot road; After the Yuan Dynasty, the Wusada Luzhou Road and the Huguang Road were opened in Yunnan, and only the Wusada Luzhou Road passed through Sichuan.

The zero pass road leads to Dali, and we want to go to Kunming, and we will go far away.

There is a section of Luzhou Road in Wusada that passes through the capital of Guizhou, but the advantage is that the road of the new post road is easier to walk, and there are many post stations along the way.

The ancient road Wuchi Road was called Shimen Road in the Tang Dynasty, and it was to go south through Xuzhou Mansion (Yibin), Wumeng Mansion (Zhaotong), and Qujing Military and Civilian Mansion. The road is the closest, but the road is poorly repaired and rugged.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, the Central Plains has entered Yunnan, mostly taking the Wusada Luzhou Road and the Huguang Road, and the five-foot ancient road has abandoned many guards and post stations. If we take the ancient road, we may encounter fewer patrols and guards, but it is more difficult to walk. ”

Qu Neng is very familiar with various road systems, not only about the political envoys in Sichuan, but also about Yunnan, which he has not been in charge of.

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu said in his heart: Qu Neng was the governor and the general in charge of the troops of a province before the "Jingjing", and his talent was not limited to the commander of a battle at all; This is the state princes who are at the level of the commander of the guard, even if they are Qiu Fu, Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng and the like, it is difficult to compare at a high level.

That year, Zhu Gaoxu took a huge risk and personally went to Beiping to rescue Qu Neng at any cost, and now it seems to be worth it!

At that time, Zhu Gaoxu saw that a general like Qu Neng could not be grown up by any middle and low-level general, but a person with a lot of war experience and experience in the comprehensive deployment of frontiers, and countless white bones could be cast.

Even if Qu Neng was defeated, Zhu Gaoxu always recognized his talents.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't speak for a while, he was weighing several ways to compare Qu Neng's words. In fact, there are only two roads to choose from: the Wuchi Ancient Road and the Wusada Luzhou Road.

Wusada Luzhou Road, to go through Guizhou, but because of the complete post road facilities, it may be very fast. If you're inclined to gamble, this is the way to go.

Although the distance of the five-foot ancient road is close, it is relatively difficult to walk. However, it should be safer...... If only the danger posed by people is counted, not the beasts.

After a long time, Zhu Gaoxu thought that there was no need to gamble at this time, so he decided directly: "Take the five-foot road!" Let's leave tomorrow morning, sleep only three hours a day, travel for nine hours, and do our best to return to Yunnan.

At this time, the crown prince had not yet ascended the throne, and at the beginning of his accession to the throne, it was difficult for the government decree to reach those remote places on the border. We have a guide from the Yunnan government, so we say that we are businessmen from Yunnan to Sichuan, as long as we pass through Sichuan as soon as possible, there is still a great chance of returning to Yunnan smoothly. What's more, I still have a team of guards in Guizhou, which can confuse the imperial court.

The Usada Luzhou Road passes through Guizhou, which is relatively risky. That Gu Cheng must be the prince! ”

Qu Neng also agreed with Zhu Gaoxu's judgment, and everyone agreed, and they were ready to rest. What is the rough, it will only make sense when I return to Yunnan.

Qi Tai arranged it, Qi Tai, Qu Neng's father and son, and Sheng Yong squeezed together and slept in a wooden house; The two eunuchs slept together...... No one wanted to sleep with the eunuchs, they would rather have four men squeezed together. After those eunuchs were cleaned, their bodies were damaged, and most of them dripped, and now they haven't slept, and there is already a stench in the house.

And Zhu Gaoxu was a prince, so he slept alone in Qitai's wooden house. Miaojin is a woman, and Qi Tai can't ask her about her relationship with Gao Xu, so she can only sleep alone.

They carried torches, washed themselves by the stream, and then went to bed.

The whole valley was restored to its state of savagery, with no lights or human voices, only moonlight and the chirping of insects. Not long after, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly heard a gentle knock on the door, and he got up. There was no one else in the valley, and he wasn't too nervous.

When I opened the door, I heard Miaojin's voice whispering, "It's me." ”

Zhu Gaoxu let her into the house and closed the door. Miao Jin said: "I'm a little scared over there alone. ”

The two of them walked back to the mosquito net in the dark, Miaojin's breathing gradually became heavier, her voice trembled, and she whispered: "It's also your fault!" Gao Xu said so many sweet words by the stream, which made people make a fool of themselves on the spot. Zhu Gaoxu groped in the dark and whispered, "Don't make a noise for a while." ”