King Yan, who had lifted his psychological barrier, seemed to be a different person, paying more attention to the war in the north, and even risking his illness to inspect the Great Wall, summoning Zhu Jixi, the prince of Jin, and Zhu Zhi, the king of Liao, to discuss defensive strategies; reported to the imperial court to requisition materials to Beiping, Kaiping, and Daning, and received the return of the army; It was even suggested that the army should attack the river and destroy the camp of the three guards of Uliangha.

These measures have been rewarded by the imperial court, and the imperial court agreed to his request to allocate materials, but did not allow the army to attack Wuliangha, because the war potential of the Ming Dynasty has reached the limit, of course, this is the opinion of the civil officials of the imperial court, Zhu Di does not think so, so he is a little indignant, if it is not for his poor health, I am afraid he will take the initiative to ask Yingying to expedition to Wuliangha.

After the on-the-spot verification of the four-wheeled carriage and two-wheeled carriage organized by Wang Du, there have been preliminary results, the four-wheeled carriage has obvious advantages in terms of load, about 1.5 times more than that of the two-wheeled carriage, so the number of carriages and livestock required for transportation of the same weight has been greatly reduced; However, the four-wheeled carriage also has disadvantages, first of all, it has higher requirements for road conditions, because of the increase in load capacity, if it is more troublesome to fall into the mud, the stability on the mountain road is also poor; The second is that the cost is too high, and the steering device of the front wheel is very exquisite, which needs to be processed by hydraulic forging and manual processing, and the output is not high; Finally, it is easy to be damaged and the service life is not long enough.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care about the above shortcomings at all, and the significant increase in load capacity aroused his great interest, and he specially convened officials from the Ministry of Industry, the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, and the Ministry of War to discuss, and everyone agreed that they hoped to be able to use a four-wheeled vehicle, as long as it could be cheaper and stronger. In the end, this matter was handed over to Zhu Yunwen to be responsible, and the School of Engineering was responsible for implementation. At this point, the controversy over the carriage came to an end.

The biggest problem of the four-wheeled carriage is the steering device, so Zhu Yunwen applied for a patent for it, and set up a steering device research room in the College of Engineering, with Zhao Quanyou as the director, who is responsible for improving the quality of the steering device. At the same time, Zhu Yunwen summoned wealthy businessmen in Beijing and even Jiangnan to cooperate with them in the production of four-wheeled carriages, and they could use the steering device technology of the engineering college for a fee. In the end, Zhu Yunwen did not forget to set the commercial tax on the four-wheeled carriage at 30%.

Mobei, the camp of Fu Youde's army.

Fu Youde found that the vanguard army had not come back after the appointed time, and couldn't help but be a little anxious, and scolded secretly in his heart: These dragon sons and grandsons are really not worry-free, King Ning is like this, and so is the King of Gaoyang County, if it is dark today, it is impossible for the army to march at night, but what should this King of Gaoyang County do? If you wait one night, maybe the corpse of this arrogant Gaoyang County King will be eaten by wolves.

Fu Youde had a gloomy face, returned to the big tent, first invited the king of Gu to take a seat, then looked at the generals, and said in a deep voice: "Now that the king of Gaoyang County has not returned within the time limit, what do you think should be done?" ”

Tang Yun is the commander of Yanshan's right guard, and he is the confidant of Zhu Di, the king of Yan, he stood up without saying a word, hugged his fists and said: "General, the last general thinks that the king of Gaoyang County must have met the three departments of Wuliangha, and our army should rescue immediately, otherwise the king of the county will be in danger." ”

"Rescue?" Cao Yunfan, the commander of Taisun Youwei, said: "If it is late today, and our army is not familiar with the geography of the Mongolian steppe, what if we encounter an ambush at night?" Moreover, we don't know where the king of Goyang has gone? How to rescue? ”

Tang Yun is also a veteran, nearly sixty years old, before he became a commander, he was dissatisfied with Cao Yunfan, who was in his twenties, and was even more angry at this time, and slapped the table with a "snap": "Of course we Yanshan right guard to rescue, you infantrymen, just wait in the camp, a group of cowards!" ”

"What did you say?" Cao Yunfan was also furious: "You repeat, who is the coward?" I went out at night, I was not familiar with the geography, and the county king didn't know where it was? I think you're old and confused, and you want to die. ”

This sentence made Tang Yun even more angry, the old man stood up, and was about to rush to the opposite side to beat Cao Yunfan, but was stopped by the commander of Jizhou Wei next to him: "Old Tang, don't be impulsive, I'm discussing big things now." ”

Fu Youde looked at the unscrupulous appearance of these generals, and couldn't help but be furious, "snap", and slapped it heavily on the table: "This is a heavy place for military tents, how can you make a loud noise, come here, drag these two people out, and take forty boards seriously." After the guards rushed in, they were about to come up and grab Tang Yun and Cao Yunfan with Fu Youde's gesture. Everyone was shocked, and quickly knelt down to plead, saying that a big battle was about to happen, and if the general was injured, I was afraid that it would affect the combat strength of the army. The king of the valley also stood up to persuade Fu Youde, but Fu Youde said: "When the army goes out, the first priority is military discipline, and the military discipline is not strict, how can you defeat the enemy and win, drag it down, and bear the heavy responsibility of forty boards." I'll tell you," Fu Youde raised his finger and pointed at Tang Yun and Cao Yunfan, and said, "If any of you is in bad shape and is killed, then throw it on the grassland to feed the wolves!" ”

"No, general," Tang Yun broke free from the guard, knelt on the ground, and burst into tears: "General, the last general is wrong, the last general is willing to be punished, but can the last general be allowed to rescue the king of Gaoyang County and then execute, even if the last general is killed at that time, the last general will admit it." If you die at this time, you will die without looking at it! As he spoke, he kowtowed again and again, only to hear the sound of "bangbang", and blood soon appeared on his forehead.

Cao Yunfan also broke free from the guards, knelt on the ground and said: "The last general knows his mistake and should be punished, but can he ask the general for mercy, and after this battle is over, how about dealing with it?" The last general, like General Tang, if he dies at this time, he will not be able to die. ”

Everyone hurriedly helped to speak, and the king of the valley also stood up to help speak, Fu Youde thought for a while and said, "You two remember to this general, and if you make noise in the military tent, you will not be spared." In this matter, the king of the valley interceded, and your punishment was changed to ten lashes per person, and the others were punished according to your performance after the battle. ”

At this moment, the two of them were convinced, and hurriedly knelt down to thank them: "General Xie!" ”

The two men were dragged to the door of the tent, stripped off their shirts, tied to a pillar, and whipped ten times with their heads and faces. When the generals in the camp heard this, their skins tightened, and they hurriedly sat upright, not daring to make any more noise.

At this moment, the off-the-books guard reported: "General, the messenger of the king of Gaoyang is asking for an audience outside the account. ”

Well? Everyone in the tent stood up and looked at the tent door, and Fu Youde also said excitedly: "Quick, let the messenger in." ”

After a short time, an officer walked in from outside the account, dusty, with traces of swords and arrows on his armor, and a cut on his right cheek, and his flesh turned out a little scary. Fang Chang recognized him first, and was just about to say hello, when his hand stretched out, but he hurriedly withdrew it, lest he be discovered by Fu Youde.

After the officer arrived in the tent, he knelt down in front of Fu Youde and said: "General, His Royal Highness the King of Gu, the last general will be Ye Dingyuan, the personal guard of the King of Gaoyang County. ”

Fu Youde carefully observed this Ye Dingyuan, and after listening to his words, he said in a deep voice: "Where did the King of Gaoyang County meet the enemy?" How many enemies are there? What is the current situation of the King of Goyang? ”

Ye Dingyuan settled down and told the afternoon about the afternoon.

It turned out that Zhu Gaoxu took Zhang Yu's Yanshan left guard, and met a small group of Mongolian sentinels in the afternoon. He was skilful and extremely brave, so he chased after him and slashed a few, and then ordered the army to pursue him. The army chased out fifty miles, and when he found that it was almost dark, and the enemy had fled into a mountain col, Zhu Gaochu felt that something was wrong, and looked at the sky, it was already past the time to return to the camp, so Zhu Gaochu ordered to return to the camp.

However, a large number of Mongol troops rushed out of the mountain pass, and Zhu Gaoxu immediately ordered a return fire. While the battle between the two armies was raging, a large number of Mongol troops came to the south. Zhu Gaoxu ordered the whole army to rush north and kill at any cost, and to escape before the two armies were encircled. The left guard of Yanshan was indeed elite, and with 5,000 people against the 8,000 people of Mongolia, they fought a bloody way and rushed north.

After settling down a little, Zhu Gaoxu ordered Ye Dingyuan to take two guards to report to the camp in a roundabout way, one was to remind the camp to be careful, and the other was to ask for support.

Fu Youde inquired in detail about the details of Zhu Gaoxu's encounter with the enemy, and Ye Dingyuan answered fluently without hesitation. In the end, Fu Youde digested it and said, "Ye Dingyuan, how many people are in the Mongolian army?" How is the county king doing now? ”

Ye Dingyuan said: "There are about 8,000 Mongolian troops coming out of the mountain pass, and about 20,000 people encircling from the south, these are all estimated by the county king. There were about 3,000 men around the king, but we also cut down more than 3,000 enemies, and we still made money. ”

"Well, has the county king raised his royal flag?"

"Yes."

Fu Youde thought for a moment and said, "Ye Dingyuan, you go down, General Ben is going to discuss the matter." ”

"Yes, the little one."

Fu Youde glanced at the generals, and also looked at Tang Yun and Cao Yunfan, who had just eaten ten whips, and both of them were a little trembling. Finding that everyone's reaction was good, Fu Youde was also very satisfied, and said, "Let's talk about our army's behavior in the next step." ”

At this moment, no one suggested to save the county king of Gaoyang, after all, the county king had already safely broken out of the encirclement, and even the most enthusiastic Tang Yun did not insist.

It's just that Fu Youde shook his head and said: "If we don't rescue, the county king will be very dangerous, at present, the county king is not carrying any supplies, and the enemy will not attack our camp, they are likely to turn around and encircle and suppress the county king, at that time, I am afraid that it will be too late for us to save." ”

When everyone heard this, they felt that it was right, if they did not send troops on their side, I was afraid that the king of Gaoyang County would continue to be driven north, their number was too small, and it would be dangerous once they were entangled.

But it was too dangerous to send troops late at night.

However, Fu Youde was confident and said: "So General Ben plans to lead 15,000 cavalry north to find the king of the county, leaving 10,000 people to hold on to the camp." ”

"Ben estimated that the enemy must be watching us near our camp, and as soon as the army left the camp to the point where it was impossible to return in time, they would come and attack the camp. There are 3,000 Wugang vehicles in the camp, which is a very good barrier, and we also have arquebuses, tiger squat cannons and explosives bags, so there should be no problem in defending the camp. ”

"When the enemy is exhausted from attacking the camp, the army will attack from the rear again, and it is likely to annihilate the enemy army in one fell swoop, so there will be no obstacle for our army to go north and join King Ning."

"But how do you avoid a sneak attack on the army at night?" Tang Yun asked.

"This is easy, our army is divided into three parts, with torches in hand, the speed is slowed down, the enemy has less than 30,000 people, it is impossible to eat us."

"So if they are nearby, they will inevitably abandon our army and attack the camp."

"However, what if the enemy is chasing the king of the county and is not here?" Fang Chang said.

Fu Youde thought for a while and said, "There is no better way to do this, I can only hope that the county king will have the opportunity to make peace with King Ning's army." ”

"But," Jizhou Wei commanded Fang Changxian to say, "Isn't it a bit risky to leave only 10,000 people in the big camp?" ”

"It's a risk, but if not, how can the enemy attack at night?"

Everyone thought about it and found that there was no good way, at least Fu Youde's method might hit the enemy hard.

Fu Youde looked at everyone's expressions and said with a smile: "Since this is the case, General Ben will assign tasks, Tang Yun, Fang Changxian, Li Jun, the three of you will lead the cavalry of the headquarters to follow General Ben out of the camp; Gu Wang and Cao Yunfan led the remaining 10,000 people to guard the camp, Cao Yunfan, your task is very heavy, these 10,000 people are basically infantry, respectively the army of Taisun Right Guard and Jinzhou Wei, you are the most familiar with it, and you are more familiar with the tactics of the weapons such as arquebus, tiger squat cannon, and explosive bag, so you can only let you stay in the camp. ”

"Cao Yunfan, you have to promise General Ben that if the enemy army attacks, you will hold out until dawn, and General Ben will remember your great achievements, if you can't do it, you will be punished for both crimes, and General Ben wants your head."

Cao Yunfan stood up, hugged his fists and said, "General, if you can't hold it, you don't need to deal with it, I will definitely be killed in battle." ”

"Okay, good, good man, but you have to hold on to death, understand?" Fu Youde walked down and patted Cao Yunfan on the shoulder.

"The last will understand."

Fu Youde turned to the King of the Valley and said, "His Royal Highness the King of the Valley, is there anything wrong with the arrangement of the last general?" ”

King Gu's expression was a little unnatural, and he said in his heart: You only care about the king of Gaoyang County, do you ignore me, the prince? However, as an elder, he couldn't say anything, so he had to nod with a smile: "General, your arrangement is very proper, and this king has no opinion." ”

"Okay," Fu Youde looked around at the generals: "The generals will listen to the order, quickly reorganize the troops and horses, and go with me to fight." ”

"Yes, General."