Jinan Mansion, after Cao Bianjiao got the news, he was also heartbroken, burst into tears, Sun Shoufa, a veteran who followed their Cao uncle and nephew from the second year of Chongzhen, did not die in the battle of Songjin that year, but did not expect to die in the small place of Yucheng in the end, but the three thousand defenders of Yucheng were martyred, and none of them surrendered, which also inspired all the Ming soldiers.

"General......" Song Xiance knew that Cao Bianjiao was sad, but the matter was so important that he still had to report it to Cao Bianjiao.

"Mr. Song, just say something!" Cao Bianjiao also calmed down his mood, and his courage in the future is still very heavy, and he can't afford to have much time to be sad.

Song Xiance responded, presented an official document in his hand to Cao Bianjiao, and said: "The imperial court reported urgently, Zhang Shenyan Zhang Ge died of illness three days ago, and the emperor came up to ask who should take over the position of second assistant. ”

"The sky has broken the pillar of the Ming Optimus! Zhang Ge Lao is familiar with the changes of the times, the courage to do things, it can be said that he is a good worker, my Northern Expedition is in full swing, and the things in the rear depend on Zhang Ge Lao to sit in the government and the opposition to stabilize the situation, at this time Zhang Ge Lao died of illness, which is the misfortune of my Ming Dynasty! ”

Cao Bianjiao is even more sad at the moment, Zhang Shenyan is upright and strong, with a pure temperament, Cao Bianjiao has been committed to military affairs over the years, and the imperial court has always relied on Zhang Shenyan to sit in charge, so there has been no change, and now at this juncture, Zhang Shenyan died suddenly, which is a great misfortune for Cao Bianjiao!

"Who should take over the position of the second assistant!" Song Xiance asked.

"You draft a letter on my behalf to reply to the emperor, the position of second assistant, except for Yuan Jixian, no one is the most suitable!" Cao Bianjiao can only be like this, Yuan Jixian has the pride of Wen Tianxiang, his temperament is upright and unyielding, and in the cabinet, the most suitable person is him now.

"Humble duty understands! General, now Yucheng has been lost, the Qing army is about to go south to fight with our army, and hope that the general takes care, the general is the soul of the three armies, if the general is immersed in sadness, I am afraid that the soldiers are tired, and then I am afraid that the war is unfavorable, and I hope that the general will be clear! And our plan is ready, isn't it time to act? ”

"Thank you Mr. Song for reminding me, I understand, don't worry, I know what I should do, you let the generals come, I will discuss the next battle with them!"

"Yes!" Song Xiance saw Cao Bianjiao like this, so he also nodded and went down to prepare.

Subsequently, Li Dingguo, He Zhen, Zhang Nai, Gao Yigong, Chen Jin, Zu Dale, and Liu Tiansi all came, seeing Cao Bianjiao's eyes moist, knowing that Cao Bianjiao was sad for Sun Shoufa's death, they couldn't empathize, but they also admired Sun Shoufa, and they were also moved by Cao Bianjiao's appearance.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Qing army is about to go south, Yucheng has been lost, and finally the day after tomorrow, the Qing army will come to the city, at the moment our military strength and the Qing army are still some gaps, but I already have a countermeasure, our dead people and soldiers, I will not let them die in vain, this time I want to give Hong Chengchou, a traitor, a big gift, let him know the consequences of treason!"

"We are all willing to follow General Sun and fight to the death for the country!"

"Good! Spread our military order, the whole army, immediately cover the people, evacuate Jinan City, tell the people, the Qing army is about to go south, it is inevitable that the people of Jinan will be slaughtered by them, please the people immediately migrate south, temporarily go to the Great Wall Mountains and forests for refuge, our army will abandon Jinan City, cover the people to the south. ”

"What ......"

Everyone was stunned there, wondering if their ears had heard it wrong, did Cao Bianjiao mean to retreat, Jinan City, they fought it with great difficulty, why did they discard it before fighting, everyone couldn't figure it out, and felt that Cao Bianjiao was wrong.

It was Zu Dale who took the lead and asked: "General, we finally took Jinan City, and mobilized the people to help each other and repair the city defense, isn't it just to deal with the Qing army, why do we flee without a fight now, the last general can't figure it out." ”

"If you can't figure it out, don't think about it, just do it according to my military order, give up is not run away, we are a strategic shift, after a few days, you will understand my mind, tell the soldiers of the three armies, you must obey the order, the people in the city, none of them can stay, tell them, I Cao Bianjiao will give them a better home in the future, if I can't do it, let them dig up the ancestral grave of my Cao family, and I, Cao Bianjiao, will also lead the neck to apologize." Cao Bianjiao's eyes were sharp, and he said undoubtedly.

"Yes!" Everyone didn't understand Cao Bianjiao's intentions, but when they saw Cao Bianjiao so resolute, they didn't say anything anymore, and they all took orders one after another.

The official road from Jinan to Tai'an Prefecture was already crowded with people, including soldiers of the Ming army and people who had withdrawn from Jinan. For this retreat, Cao Bianjiao's civil officials around him tried their best to persuade the people, but fortunately, Cao Bianjiao had a high prestige among the people, and they did not rise up to make trouble, and Cao Bianjiao seemed to have been prepared, and when he began to migrate, there were thousands of mules and horses to help the people carry materials, and there were also soldiers to command the evacuation of personnel, which can be regarded as orderly.

There was a sudden loud noise on the official road, followed by the neighing of people and horses.

"What happened?" Cao Bianjiao saw that there were people in front of him, and he also stepped forward to investigate.

"General, a carriage has fallen and is stuck in the middle of the road."

When Cao Bianjiao heard this, he also stepped forward on his horse, and saw a big cart carrying these seven or eight large boxes, because it was too heavy, the wood was broken, and it fell in the middle of the road, and more than a dozen soldiers desperately wanted to help the cart up, but the items on the car were too heavy, so that the vehicle lay on the road without moving. As a result, the originally wide road suddenly became narrow, and the traffic behind had to stop, making the road suddenly congested.

"Whose house is this, and what's in it?" Cao Bianjiao immediately asked.

"General Hui, this is Xiaomin's cart, and it is full of books."

"Don't lift it, lift the chariot to the side of the road, empty the road, if it's a lone book, you pick it out and put it on horseback, if it's a general book, just throw it away, and buy it later."

"But the books in that car ......"

"In the important is not as important as human life, pass the order, throw away all the unnecessary things to me, what they want in the future, I will compensate them." Cao Bianjiao urged him to turn over and get on the horse, and he broke off his drink.

When approaching, in the north direction of Jinan City, there was a team of iron horses, all white cotton armor, it was the Qing army riding with a white flag, looking at the dead Jinan City from a distance, the city gate was opened, and everyone couldn't help but be a little stunned.

Just when they were stunned, a person galloped out of the city, everyone was on guard, and when they approached, they saw a person wearing Ming army clothes but with a Manchu hairstyle came to the front of the battle with a charming smile, and said with a smile: "Ladies and gentlemen, don't misunderstand, the villain is Ma Jixiang, the general of the Ming army, and the villain is here to take refuge in the Qing Dynasty, the Ming army has evacuated Jinan City, and the villain secretly broke away from them to welcome you here." ”

When Shuo Zhan, who led the army, heard this, he also instructed a Niu Lu beside him: "You go into the city to investigate and see if it is true!" ”

"Huh!" At that moment, this Niu Lu bypassed Ma Jixiang and rushed into Jinan City with a team of men and horses, and after a stick of incense, he galloped back and reported to Shuo Zhanyu: "My lord, it is really like this, there is no one in the city. ”

Shuo Zhan then put his mind at ease, stepped forward and said to Ma Jixiang: "It is really commendable that you can abandon the darkness and turn to the light, this general will show your merits to the court afterwards, you tell me now, where have the Ming troops withdrawn?" ”

"Thank you, my lord, they have all withdrawn to Tai'an Prefecture, where the mountains are undulating, they want to entangle with the army of the imperial court there, now they only have 30,000 horses, and they are still carrying 200,000 people, if they are pursued, it will be too late!"

Shuo Zhan nodded, and then said to the scout: "You go and tell Hong Chengchou about the situation on Hong Shangshu's side, let's enter Jinan City first and wait for Hong Shangshu's military order!" ”

Immediately Shuo Zhan took 5,000 men and horses into the city of Jinan to rest, Ma Jixiang was also familiar with the road, leading the way for the Qing army, and was very attentive.