The situation is getting worse and worse, the main force of the Jin army has trapped the right guard of Xuanfu and Guyang, and the soldiers are approaching Datong, and the governor of Datong, Hu Zhenen, asked to transfer the general soldier Cao Wenzhao back to the town - Cao Wenzhao has hardly stayed in Datong after taking office as the chief soldier of Datong, but has been in Shanxi and Henan to suppress thieves, and the other way the Jin army attacked Longmen Fort and did not overcome, and turned to attack the security of the first battle, Xuanfu Governor Jiao Yuanqing and the general army hid in Xuanhua City and continued to be in a hurry, and the Jin army's reconnaissance cavalry also appeared near Juyong Pass.

Donglu is too unreliable, obviously he went to fight Naturalization Town, Liu Zhilun also reported that the Naturalized General Army had fought a battle with Donglu, and he had quite a success, why did he run into the pass again? The ministers scolded the Eastern Captives for being strong and middle-class, and did not dare to seek revenge on the enemy, but they rushed into the Celestial Empire to plunder, which is really a heinous crime and should be severely condemned, and there is no idea about anything else. Zhang Fengyi, the secretary of the military department, was forced to be anxious, so he proposed that the top priority was to hold the Beijing Division, and the three passes of Juyong, Yanmen, and Bauhinia must not be lost, and the emperor immediately made a decision, and quickly transferred Chen Hongfan, the general soldier of Shandong, to guard Juyong Pass, and Ding Kuichu, the governor of Baoding, to guard Yanmen Pass and Bauhinia Pass.

Xuanfu is hopeless, to rescue Datong, Zhang Yiming can't think of a way, the Xuanfu army is unbearable, the Shanxi army is still busy suppressing thieves, what can be done is to transfer Cao Wenzhao from Henan back to the town.

"I raise millions of soldiers in the Ming Dynasty, but there are no soldiers to send when the matter comes, how can it be reasonable, the officers and soldiers of Ningjin and Shanhaiguan have spent countless salaries, and they can't call it?" The Emperor couldn't help but be furious.

"The minister sent a letter to the military department of Shanhaiguan and Jinzhou, and You Shiwei, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, replied that he was short of soldiers and little salary, and the elite was in the hands of Zu Dashou, the chief soldier of the forward, so he was unable to rescue Xuanda, and Zu Dashou replied that he had sent Zu Kuan and Li Zhong into the pass to suppress the thieves, and he really couldn't send troops." Zhang Fengyi replied with a sad face.

"Nonsense, I supply them with six million taels of silver every year, and I dare to say that I can't send troops, and immediately plan to order them to send troops, I want to see if they dare to resist the order!" The emperor's face was purple, the Ming Dynasty was greedy for ink, the military attache was cowardly, and even the emperor dared to bully him, and he had an urge to kill again.

Liu Zhilun has played, asking for the transfer of the naturalized army to help suppress it, why don't you use the ready-made elite soldiers? Forget it, if the emperor doesn't mention it, I won't say it-Wen Tiren swallowed the words in his mouth again, Li Yu is a traitor with a label in the eyes of the courtiers, and some people privately say that he is suspected of collaborating with the enemy, and Dongyu may not be the one who introduced him.

The emperor closed his eyes and leaned on the dragon chair and stopped talking, Zhang Fengyi sweated on his head and whispered: "Your Majesty, Liu Zhilun, the governor of naturalization, has repeatedly asked for war, and the minister thinks that naturalization is close to Datong and Xuanfu, and his soldiers may be able to use it." ”

"No, Hudun Rabbit Han was defeated and died in the big grass beach, and his troops went to naturalization, why didn't the naturalized general soldier hand over his wife to the court for discussion, but instead accepted him into the family for shelter, it can be seen that the heart of the non-my race will be different, and the naturalized general soldier has ill intentions!" Cabinet Minister Qian Shisheng hurriedly said.

"The minister also thinks that it is impossible, the naturalized general army is arrogant and domineering, and there are many illegal acts, and his subordinates are all people and thieves, allowing him to enter the customs is tantamount to luring wolves into the house, and it will surely harm the place, Liu Zhilun, scholar, how can you believe him." Cabinet minister Wang Yingxiong also said.

Zhang Fengyi was so frightened that he shrank his head and didn't dare to say anything more, the emperor glanced at the ministers and left without saying a word, Wen Tiren wiped a cold sweat, and secretly rejoiced that he didn't talk much.

A few days later, the news that the Jin army had captured Fort Victory came, and the ministers of Qingliu were very proud, and the Naturalized General Army really collaborated with the enemy, otherwise how could the Jin army easily win Fort Shengbao under his nose, they did have foresight. However, before the Qingliu had time to criticize the traitor Li Yukou, they received an urgent report from Liu Zhilun - the naturalized army recovered the victory fort and stationed in other important forts in Datong Town to assist in the defense, Liu Zhilun also claimed that the naturalized army was ready to send troops to suppress the prisoners at any time to serve the imperial court, but the money and food needed for the war were insufficient, and he asked for food and salary.

The courtiers were dumbfounded, the side wall was built by the Ming Dynasty with great painstaking efforts to prevent the northern captives, and now it has become a barrier used by the northern captives to prevent the eastern captives, what is this! Another round of rip-offs began, who are Daming's friends? Who are the enemies of the Ming Dynasty? This is the primary issue at present, Jianyi is undoubtedly the enemy, but it is difficult to say whether the naturalized general army is an enemy or a friend. The courtiers analyzed and discussed this issue, and for a while forgot about the Xuanda Governors who were suffering in dire straits. The emperor was anxious and tried to pull the courtiers back to the topic, but the courtiers couldn't take it anymore, and immediately kept silent when it came to business, and he was elated when he talked about naturalization, and even Liu Zhilun mentioned in the recital that all parts of the northwest could imitate the naturalization of widely planted potatoes to solve the famine It has also become a joke - barbarians eat what is dug out of the ground, Liu Zhilun went crazy, how to collect grain and tax widely planted potatoes? How can the Diao people clean up the mountains and wilderness when they gather potatoes for food?

There are still sober people, the head of the household is still playing, please allow the naturalized army to enter the customs to suppress the Kou, and is willing to prepare food and salary for needs, when the cabinet is still in doubt, Hou Sui has brought a few people to the door, these are the same as Hou Sui are famous righteous gentlemen in the court.

"Lord Hou, what do you mean? Naturalization has ill intentions, does the household department still give them food? Several ministers opened their mouths and asked.

"The ambition of the naturalized wolf is well known to everyone, how can he raise tigers and cause trouble, and he will not give them a grain of grain," Hou Sui waved his hand and explained to the puzzled ministers, "I have discussed again and again, instead of letting naturalization become bigger, it is better to lure them into the customs and kill each other with the eastern captives, and take the opportunity to annihilate them in the customs when the two captives are exhausted. ”

"Dazhen, can this plan be successful?" Wang Yingxiong hurriedly asked, and several other ministers also gathered around.

"It can be done, but I must contact the governor of the three towns of Xuanda and the general army to work together, in addition, the eastern and northern captives are extremely strong, and my elites in Ningjin and Shanhaiguan must also send elites to help in the war, are you pavilion elders willing to help me?" Hou Sui replied affirmatively.

All the ministers looked at Wen Tiren together, and Wen Tiren hesitated for a long time before he said: "The stakes are very important at this time, and you must report to the emperor, and you must not act rashly." ”

"As a minister should be the Lord to relieve his worries, how can I let the emperor do such an unrighteous thing, I offer this strategy, and I will not hesitate to break my bones, you only need to secretly help me and wait, if there is something for me to bear, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I must not hesitate." Hou Sui said eagerly, and the other people who came with him also unanimously expressed their willingness to pledge the country with their bodies.

"This is a big deal, you must tell the emperor, you can discuss it first." Wen Tiren shook his head and left, Wu Zongda immediately followed, and the two never showed up again.

"Shoufu is useless, Dazhen, I'll gamble with you." Wang Yingxiong high-fived and shouted.

"It's true." Qian Shisheng and He Wusu said together.

At the beginning of August, the imperial court issued an edict ordering Cao Wenzhao, the chief soldier of Datong, You Shiwei, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, Wu Xiang, the chief soldier of regimental training, and Li Yu, the chief soldier of naturalization, to lead their troops to aid Xuanfu and Datong, and Zhang Zongheng, the governor of Xuanda, supervised the reinforcements from all walks of life.

Fort of Victory, with this fort city as the center, gathered all the battalions of the Fengzhou army for dozens of miles around, although because they were busy with the autumn harvest, no major military operations were carried out, but food and ordnance were still continuously delivered here - the people of Fengzhou understood that the war would break out sooner or later, and they should also support the soldiers to drive away the Jin army.

After the Jin army withdrew from the victory fort, they did not dare to look back, and when they arrived at the city of Datong, they found that the city gate was closed, and they ran to the direction of Shuozhou after a short rest, Dai Shan still felt that the farther away from the Fengzhou army, the better, and a large area from Datong to the side wall fell into the hands of the Fengzhou army. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Bai Xianzhi ran to Fort Victory, and took the seven aunts and eight aunts of Datong to Fengzhou for refuge, Liu Qian, Xu Jinxian and a group of officers and soldiers from Datong were also busy doing the same thing.

Liu Zhilun felt that the situation was very good, and kept urging troops to be dispatched, but Li Yu resolutely refused on the grounds that there was insufficient food, grass and ordnance, and made it clear that he did not believe in any promises made by the Ming government. Liu Zhilun was also anxious, and went to Datong with Ma Shiying, the governor of the General Administration, to find the governor of Datong to ask for the fulfillment of the promise, but the two did not even enter the city gate, but quarreled with the governor of Datong, Hu Zhanen.

Hu Zhan'en stood on the tower of the city and told them that Datong had no extra food and salary, and that the Jin army was in Shuozhou and Yingzhou, and that the Fengzhou army could go there if they wanted to fight the Jin army, and the local government would provide them with food and drink. Ma Shiying was angry, accusing Hu Zhanen of not believing in his words, Hu Zhanen hated it when he saw the former prefect of Datong, and casually scolded Ma Shiying as a "traitor who took refuge in the barbarians", Lao Ma jumped like thunder and scolded Hu Zhanen as "a traitor party that brought disaster to the country and the people", and the two sides "traitor" and "traitor party" scolded each other for a while, Hu Zhanen walked away, Liu Zhilun and Ma Shiying had to return empty-handed, and Liu Zhilun rarely raised the matter of soldiers again.

After a few days, Datong monitored the eunuch Liu Wenzhong to come to the victory fort to pass the decree, this guy was illiterate, and brought a master to read the edict to Li Yu, Liu Zhilun and the generals of Fengzhou - the emperor enshrined Li Yu as the governor of the left capital, hung the seal of the former general of the east, rewarded a python robe, one hundred taels of silver, and immediately led the army into the customs to suppress the captives, without delay.

Liu Zhilun's eyes lit up and asked, "Father-in-law Liu, may our army's food and salary be guaranteed?" ”

"The edict makes it clear, Your Majesty knows that the naturalization is poor, and specially ordered the Household Department Shangshu Hou Sui to take care of the naturalized military rations and ordnance, Shanxi can't get much out of the drought this year, and can only be transported from elsewhere, so the time will be delayed, but since Your Majesty has a will, the Household Department does not dare to treat the brothers of the naturalization town badly, you can rest assured, you can't make a mistake!" Liu Wenzhong replied with a smile.

Liu Zhilun became excited, waved his hand and said to Li Yu: "Hanmin, send troops immediately, no one dares to disobey the emperor's will, Lord Hou of the household department is the most honest and upright, with him taking care of food and ordnance, I have no worries about the naturalized army." ”

Li Yu smiled and said to Liu Wenzhong: "Father-in-law Liu has worked hard, can you rest for a few more days in Victory Castle?" ”

"This time, the herald doesn't want to come to you, our family is on a temporary business trip, and there are many things to do in Datong, so our family will rush back soon." Liu Wenzhong said and glanced at Li Yu.

"Then I'll give my father-in-law a ride." Li Yu accompanied Liu Wenzhong out of the General's Mansion, and the two chatted all the way to the outside of the Victory Castle.

"Li Shuai, Wang Dehua's father-in-law of Jingshi asked our family to pass a message to you, someone in Jingshi wants to plot against you, including the one surnamed Hou, these days, the more Qing officials are not good things, you have to be careful." Liu Wenzhong said in a low voice.

Li Yu laughed: "The court has long looked at me unpleasantly, some people want to calculate me, don't worry, father-in-law, I'm guarding against it." ”

"Don't be careless, this time it's the news from the cabinet, it's not clear what they want to do, but it's definitely different." Liu Wenzhong reminded.

"Thank you Gonggong Liu, you must be careful in the future." Li Yu thanked him.

Li Yu returned to the General's Mansion, talked about Zhao Ji, Du Wenhuan, Bai Xianzhi, and Terrigra for a while, and then lay on the table together and fell into contemplation on the map, Liu Zhilun broke in again, and impatiently urged Li Yu to send troops.

"The autumn harvest is almost over, the food and salary of the imperial court have also been settled, plus the grain, grass and ordnance stored during this period are enough to send troops, do you want to resist and disobey?" Liu Zhilun angrily questioned Li Yu.

"Master, I'm not trying to resist the decree, I'm afraid! The Ming Dynasty is known as the Heavenly Empire but the least trustworthy, quickly put Hai was booby-trapped by Li Chengliang, Guiyingcha was booby-trapped by Fang Zhikun, the people of the Ming Kingdom are not ashamed but proud, I don't want to die in vain," Li Yuchang said with a red face.

"Lord Governor, you Han people are too good at intrigue and trickery, in your eyes we are not human at all, but barbarian beasts, we deserve to die, if you want us to shed blood and fight, we have to think clearly first." Terrig continued, and was immediately kicked by Li Yu.

Liu Zhilun was angry, pointed at Terig and shouted angrily: "Nonsense, my dynasty is a country of etiquette, everyone accepts education, has always been respectful and thrifty, and is friendly with neighbors, and naturalized people in the Guannai abound, but have you ever been as unbearable as you said?" ”

Terrig sneered and replied: "They, they scared you to death by telling what they did before, I dare to say, these people will be the same again in less than three months after returning to the Guannai." ”

Liu Zhilun ignored Terig, patted the table and shouted to Li Yu: "Li Hanmin, if you don't obey the order, kill me and rebel, otherwise you will immediately send troops." ”

After Liu Zhilun finished speaking, he left, the people in the house glanced at each other, and then lay on the map again to plan - the deployment of the Jin army is a little strange, Tiancong Khan led the main force to the vicinity of Yingzhou, Azig, Dolgon, and Duoduo brothers took Baoanzhou, and Derge conquered Chang'anling, and ran to meet him successively, but Daishan stopped in Shuozhou and did not move, Li Yu judged that the two brothers must be awkward, and the second brother was guarding against the old eight, but this also gave the Fengzhou army an opportunity to take advantage of it, and could do a large-scale movement between Shuozhou and Yingzhou, looking for fighters to break through.

Li Yu said slowly: "Don't think about it anymore, the strength of the two Jin armies is not weak, the Ming army can't count on it, we can't afford to eat any of them, or use our old method, with iron cavalry to run long distances, fight fast and retreat, constantly harass the other party, forcing them to withdraw as soon as possible, the Jin army relies on fighting to obtain supplies, and has to divide troops to loot, this is the fighter, seize the opportunity to eliminate the scattered enemy, compress their range of activities, limit their access to supplies, and it will not work if they do not withdraw the army for a long time." ”

"Leave this job to me, I'll take Sun Fuhu and Qiu Xian's two battalions, we are the best at this." Zhao Ji touched his bald head and said.

"There are too few people, you go to deal with the old Daishan in Shuozhou, I will take the Flying Tiger Battalion and the two battalions of Baiyintu and Tulichen to deal with the four Beile in Yingzhou, all the people are all double riding and carrying three buckets of fried rice," Li Yu pointed to the location of Shuozhou and Yingzhou on the map, and turned his face to Du Wenhuan, Bai Xianzhi and Terig and said, "The main force continues to stay in Fort Victory, resolutely hold the line of the Datong side wall, and the range of activities to the south must not exceed thirty miles, we have no strength to support the army to fight from a distance, and the imperial edict has a fart, I don't believe those bastards are going to pay me. ”

"Yuzi, you just let it go, there are us here, I really want to be ten years younger, then I can swing a knife and kill the enemy again." Du Wenhuan patted Li Yu on the shoulder and said.

"Use the people of the Titang Division as well, the group of salt dealers collected by Zhang Shi'an are more familiar with the terrain and roads of Shanxi than anyone else, and it is not wrong to use them to lead the way." Bai Xianzhi added.

Li Yu nodded, waved his hand and said: "Let's set off tonight, don't alarm anyone, let alone inform the Ming State Government, I would rather trust the people than the people in the government." ”

Early the next morning, Liu Zhilun came to theorize again, but was told that Li Yu and Zhao Ji had entered the customs to suppress the captives in accordance with the will of the imperial court.

Du Wenhuan smiled and quipped: "Lord Governor, we have ten Ming officers and soldiers on the top of the Fengzhou army, Han Min and Lao Zhao entered the customs with tens of thousands of people, which is worthy of the Ming Emperor." ”

Daizhou, this city is located between Shuozhou and Yingzhou, is an important passage to connect the two places, the Jin army's scouts have appeared around, the magistrate ordered the city gate to be closed, and the tall city wall is full of officials, soldiers and people.

There is a hill in the Hutuo River south of the city, which is quiet from a distance, but hides a heavily armed cavalry. Li Yu sat with his back against a big tree, closed his eyes and was recuperating, grabbing a handful of fried rice and stuffing it into his mouth from time to time - a large number of Jin troops were gathered outside Yingzhou City, and it was difficult to find an opportunity to start, and even the Mongols, who had always been lax, seemed to sleep with their eyes open, and the Fengzhou Iron Cavalry raided several Jin army scouts and horses, and quickly moved south, hiding here and waiting for fighters.

"Nervous?" While eating fried rice, Hadari asked Brother Li and Li Xuan beside him in a low voice - these young people were all left by Li Yu in the personal guard post, and Hadari became the deputy sentinel, but the sentry officer Mo Rige always followed Li Yu, and this sentry was actually under the control of Hadari.

"Sort of." Brother Richard and Li Xuan smiled with red faces.

"It's okay to fight two battles, follow me when you go into battle, and Uncle Yuzi also took me like this back then." Hadary patted the two of them and whispered to them.

"All on the horse, the goal - Yuanpingyi." A hurried whistle sounded suddenly.

Hadari shouted a few times to the guard post, then rushed to his horse, and a moment later the iron horse galloped south along the Hutuo River.