After half a month's march, when Gao Junshan's men and horses approached Ningzhou, he ordered the whole army to stop advancing and stand by on the spot.

Tian Wenju asked Gao Junshan suspiciously: "King Qin, the art of war is cloudy, and the soldiers are fast." Why are we stopping at this moment? ”

Liu Hongru also stepped forward and asked: "Yes, King Qin, if we don't quickly form a siege of Ningzhou, they are prepared, and this city will not be easy to break." ”

"Why are we breaking the city?" Gao Junshan asked the two with a glare.

Liu Hongru was even more confused, and he asked carefully: "Why are we not attacking Ningzhou here?" ”

Gao Junshan smiled slyly: "The commander stationed in Ningzhou is Cao Wenzhao, this person is our old opponent, every time he fights with me, he doesn't take much advantage." I heard that this man did not want to die in a battle, and the cavalry of a thousand men dared to fight with a rebel army of tens of thousands of people. Do you think that he Cao Wenzhao will shrink into the city and not come out when he sees us? ”

Tian Wenju understood a little: "King Qin wants to lure Cao Wenzhao out of the city to annihilate him." ”

Gao Junshan smiled: "We don't need to lead him out of the city, as long as we pass by him, he will definitely pursue." ”

Liu Hongru nodded and said, "King Qin is high." Cao Wenzhao, who is bent on killing us, was bumped into by him today, how could he let go of this opportunity? ”

Gao Junshan patted Liu Hongru on the shoulder: "Wenxuan, Cao Wenzhao is bent on killing us, and today we want him to die without a place to be buried." ”

Tian Wenju said eagerly: "King Qin already has a strategy in his heart, please give an order!" ”

Gao Junshan casually picked up a branch on the ground and drew it on the ground: "You see, our infantry team bypassed Ningzhou, secretly passed the Malian River, and set up an ambush formation in Zhenning's Hutou Town; The cavalry went to Ningzhou, swaggering through under his Cao Wenzhao's nose, and he Cao Wenzhao must go out of the city to pursue, and then lead it to Hutou Town and annihilate it. ”

Tian Wenju asked: "Since we have already led Cao Wenzhao away, why don't we directly attack Ningzhou, but ambush Cao Wenzhao in Hutou Town?" ”

Gao Junshan explained: "The task given to us by King Chuang is to contain Hong Chengchou, if we eat Cao Wenzhao, wouldn't it be the best containment of Hong Chengchou?" ”

Liu Hongru praised: "King Qin is high. If Cao Wenzhao can be completely annihilated, it will not be too late to go back and fight Ningzhou. ”

Gao Junshan nodded, and gestured on the ground again: "This place in Hutou Town is very suitable for ambushes, and I already know the terrain. He turned to Liu Hongru, "You ride a fast horse, take the first step, and go to Hutou Town to familiarize yourself with the terrain, and the ambush plan of Hutou Town will be finalized by you." ”

Liu Hongru accepted the task and left first with more than a dozen horsebacks. Gao Junshan ordered that the cavalry of Gao Yigong, Red Army Friends, and Ma Zhi'an set up camp on the spot, and the infantry bypassed Ningzhou City and continued to advance......

Ningzhou City.

Cao Wenzhao has not been idle these days, his exploration horse kept reporting to him the movement of Gao Junshan's march, due to the limited reconnaissance means at that time, Cao Wenzhao could only know the location of Gao Junshan's vanguard troops, as for Gao Junshan's division of troops in Hutou Town, Cao Wenzhao's exploration horse did not find out in time, so Cao Wenzhao also had no way of knowing that Gao Junshan set up an ambush in Hutou Town.

On this day, Zhou Kexiao, the magistrate of Ningzhou, feasted Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong in the drunken immortal building in Ningzhou City.

Zuixianlou is the most magnificent restaurant in Ningzhou, located in the most prosperous area of the city, with a high base and heavy eaves, the building is magnificent, full of friends every day, pushing the cup and changing the lamp, and it is very lively.

Zhou Kexiao is a magistrate who only took office half a year ago, he is a scholar, his home is in Yuyao, Zhejiang, in his early forties, because he reads too many books, he is pedantic and stubborn. Because the Ming Dynasty was heavy on literature and light on military force at that time, when Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong came to Ningzhou to station, he despised these generals and did not take Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong in his eyes.

Two days ago, this Zhouzhi County got the news that Liukou was coming to attack Ningzhou, and then he panicked and remembered that he wanted to talk to the military generals stationed beside him, so he set up a banquet in Zuixian Tower to entertain Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong.

Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong stepped into the gate of the Drunken Immortal Tower side by side, and there were already servants from the yamen waiting at the door.

It is not false to say that this restaurant is full of friends, the business of the restaurant is very hot, the seats in the lobby are full, and all the people who come here are literati and artists, businessmen and tyrants.

Cao Wenzhao saw three or four busy running halls shuttling back and forth, and the shopkeeper's gentleman pulled the abacus in front of the counter.

Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong were led up to the second floor, and the entire second floor was covered by Zhou Kexiao, the magistrate, so there were two heavens downstairs and downstairs, and there was no noisy city here, and there were soldiers on both sides of the corridor.

Raising the curtain of the east wing, the messenger said, and Zhou Kexiao came out to greet him with a smile on his face.

"Welcome, welcome!" Zhou Kexiao stood beside the door and arched his hand, "The two generals worked tirelessly, trekking through mountains and rivers to come to Ningzhou to garrison, as a local parent official, they should have been cleaning the dust for the two, and due to the busy official business, they also invited the two generals Haihan." A table of wine was prepared to welcome the two generals. ”

Cao Wenzhao returned the salute: "Lord Zhou is polite!" He saw Deng Xizhao, the prison guard, sitting on the VIP seat, and heard He Renlong beside him softly, "Hmph!" With a sigh, as if dissatisfied, he pretended not to hear it, and continued to greet Zhou Kexiao, "It is the duty of a soldier to protect the country and defend the people, not to mention any hard work, we don't care about picking up the wind and washing the dust, as long as Lord Zhou puts us in his heart and always misses the soldiers who fought in front of us, our trip is not in vain." ”

"Of course, of course!" Zhou Kexiao nodded and said.

He Renlong said lukewarmly: "I have been stationed in Ningzhou for a month, and it is rare to see you Lord Zhou once, the purpose of my visit is to see when Lord Zhou will send us money." ”

Zhou Kexiao said with a haha: "This, it's easy to say." Please invite the two generals to the table, you see, Gonggong Deng has been waiting here for a long time. ”

Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong glanced at each other, and the two went straight to their seats.

In February of the third year of Cao Wenzhao's Chongzhen, he was transferred to Shaanxi to suppress bandits, and the official worshiped the deputy chief soldier of Yansui East Road. In April of the fourth year of Chongzhen, he conquered the river meanders where Wang Jiayin was entrenched. He also pursued Wang Jiayin to the south mountain of Yangcheng, broke it, and promoted the chief military officer of Lintao with merit.

In the fifth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Chenji, the imperial historian, recommended Cao Wenzhao in front of Zhu Youzhen, and in order to exterminate the bandits in Shanxi, the generals of Shaanxi and Shanxi were once restrained by Cao Wenzhao.

He Renlong, a native of Mizhi, Shaanxi. Initially, it was subordinate to Yang He, the governor of the three sides, as a garrison. In the fourth year of Chongzhen, Yang He appeased Shen Yikui, and ordered He Renlong to treat them with wine, He Renlong has been promoted to a general, he has just been defeated by Gao Junshan, and he has nowhere to vent, so he took the opportunity to lay an ambush and kill more than 320 people such as Shen Yikui. In the winter of this year, Hong Chengchou succeeded Yang He and sent him to the party to suppress Kou, and won more than 200 heads. In the summer of the following year, he captured alive the rebel general Sun Shoufa. In the autumn, he took his team to Shanxi to help. In the spring of the sixth year, together with the general soldier You Shilu, he recovered Liaozhou. After that, he defeated a rebel army in Yuanqu and Jiangxian County, and was promoted to the secretary of the capital and the deputy chief soldier.

Therefore, the coach of Ningzhou is Cao Wenzhao, and the deputy coach is He Renlong.

After the guests and hosts sat down, Cao Wenzhao had a greeting with Deng Xizhao, the superintendent, and the banquet officially began.

Zhou Kexiao high-fived, and several actors entered the wing room to beat drums and gongs and sang "Xiaolou had an east wind last night, and the country could not afford to look back at the ...... in the bright moon", the tune was graceful and resentful, and in the song, a sixteen or seventeen-year-old female actor danced with her bare chest and bare back, and her single clothes were half-transparent.

Deng Xizhao was holding the wine glass while admiring the dance of the play, his eyes stared at the protruding part of the female play, and the wine glass was empty and he was reluctant to put it down.

Zhou Kexiao didn't bother the eunuch, and raised the wine glass to persuade Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong to drink: "Two generals, sing about wine, what is your life!" What's more, there are beautiful women dancing to help the fun. In order to exterminate the rogues as soon as possible, we have made this cup to wish the two generals victory! ”

Cao Wenzhao took a glass of wine and drank a glass, and when he saw that He Renlong did not move, he touched He Renlong with his elbow.

"Come, come, full." Zhou Kexiao poured wine and approached the two, "These thirty years of osmanthus wine are fragrant!" Flowers with beauties, wine with heroes, how could the two generals miss this old wine! ”

Cao Wenzhao picked up the wine glass that had just been filled and sent it to the tip of his nose, and it was really fragrant. Lick the tip of the tongue, taste it a little, sweet and refreshing, full of wine aroma, and have a long aftertaste.

"This is really a good wine that has been aged for some years, fragrant!" Cao Wenzhao exclaimed.

Zhou Kexiao raised his glass with a smile: "Let's just do this one." After he finished speaking, he turned his head to the eunuch who only looked at women and said, "Gonggong Deng, don't patronize and appreciate beauties......"

Deng Xizhao muttered: "Our family is not strong enough to drink, you can do it yourself!" ”

The three of them were not polite, and each drank a glass of wine.

Putting down the wine glass, Zhou Kexiao pointed to the table full of delicacies and said: "Wine and delicacies, please enjoy it." ”

He Renlong faced a table of chickens, ducks, and fish, and his heart was panicked, because his army had not received the salary for three months, and he was angry. He didn't move his chopsticks, but once again emphasized the matter of paying silver: "Lord Zhou, since you have the money to prepare this banquet, do you also take out some silver to make me silver?" ”

Deng Xizhao turned his head at this time and took on in a strange manner: "General He, it's not difficult for you to get silver, I heard that Gao Junshan has tens of millions of taels of silver in his hand, and he has the ability to ask him." ”

It's good that Deng Xizhao didn't speak, but his words aroused He Renlong's anger, He Renlong originally had an opinion on this prison army, so he was angry and went to Deng Xizhao: "Dog's ball!" If you hadn't given 200,000 taels of military salaries to Gao Junshan in Mapuling, would Lao Tzu be able to beg for money from people everywhere like a flower child? ”

Deng Xizhao ate He Renlong's set, he screamed: "It's not that you He Maniac is not effective in suppressing Kou, can our family lose 200,000 taels of military salaries and grain and grass in Mapuling?" ”

Zhou Kexiao saw this posture, and hurriedly played a round in the middle: "General He is angry, Gonggong Deng has lost his military salary, grain and grass, and the emperor has already punished him, as far as I know, the emperor has deducted his salary for half a year." ”

He Renlong said indignantly: "It's useless to deduct him for half a year, and Lao Tzu can't get a tael of silver!" ”

Cao Wenzhao's Guanning Iron Cavalry did not encounter the situation of deducting salaries and silver, as a military general, he had to say two words for He Renlong, so he said to Zhou Kexiao: "Lord Zhou, the soldiers also have a family, and if their salaries are cut off, how can the soldiers still fight?" I don't think that's going to work? You take out the silver first, and when General He's salary arrives, I will make it back for you. ”

Zhou Kexiao was trying to shirk it, and Liu Chenggong, who joined the army, came to report and found a rogue outside the city.