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Moling Pass, the residence of the envoys of the Tang Dynasty.

"What the hell is going on?" Zhu Yulu retreated left and right, pulled Ma Jixiang and whispered: "Tang Laihe and Jiao Lian have been gone for five days, and now they haven't sent a word yet, could it be that they were attacked by the enemy halfway and have been martyred, or the front line has been defeated, and they are trapped in the siege of the Qing army and cannot send a letter to the lonely king?" But what about Wang Kefan? Why didn't Wang Kefan hear from him at all? If Tang Laihe and Jiao Lian had an accident, Wang Kefan should also do his best to inform the lonely king! ”

As a respected Tang king, and also a minister who came by order, Zhu Yulu has received enough courtesy and respect from the Chu army in the past few days, and it is not that kind of hypocritical politeness and perfunctory, but almost a family-like frank meeting. In the minds of middle- and lower-level officers and ordinary soldiers in the Chu army, the spiritual carrier of their allegiance is still the Ming Empire, as long as the son of today treats the Chu army and Wang Kefan well, it is a good emperor worthy of loyalty. For example, Emperor Longwu, the officers and soldiers of Chu felt that he was such a Ming monarch, and even had a sense of closeness and trust to Zhu Yulu, the king of Tang.

Of course, most of the officials are not good people, and the emperor is always surrounded by traitorous ministers, and the officers and soldiers of Chu are fighting bloodily, and they are most afraid that there will be traitors like Qin Hui in the court, and then they will do things like "Twelve Gold Medals" and "Storm Pavilion", deceive the Son of Heaven, frame Zhongliang, and make it difficult for his own Wang Junmen, and even let him suffer injustice...... The middle- and lower-ranking officers and ordinary soldiers of the Chu army could not understand the twists and turns in the political struggle, but instinctively rejected the civil and military officials of the imperial court. I especially don't like those civil officials, and I am not so polite to the accompanying officials who came with Zhu Yulu. Although Ma Jixiang, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, is considered a military general, he is not a serious military general in the eyes of the front-line officers and soldiers. Chu Jun's attitude towards him was far worse than that of Tang King Zhu Yuke.

is also a minister, but the treatment is very different, and Ma Jixiang is even faintly jealous. The Chu army was so good to Zhu Yu, the king of the Tang Dynasty, that the general military forbidden places could be visited at will, and the latest battle reports on the front line would also be informed to him in a timely manner, but according to the secrecy regulations, some core military secrets would not be told to him...... But Zhu Yulu didn't care about this, he didn't mind, he had no concept of these military secrets that were too professional. Even if he sues him, it is like listening to the book of heaven, and if he can't listen to a few words, he will hide his ears and leave.

Zhu Yulu is concerned about some very intuitive questions, such as after a battle, you only need to tell him the result, such as whether you won or lost, how many Tartar soldiers were eliminated in total, whether you captured the general of the Qing army, how many casualties our army had, and so on. Liu Hongyu, the governor of Anqing in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, had surrendered to the Chu army not long ago, and Zhu Yulu was eager to meet him. It's a pity to ask Xi Baotian, the general of Moling Guard, that Liu Hongyu has been sent to Wang Kefan and must go to the front line to see him.

Go to the front? Okay! Zhu Yulu wanted to go to the front line from the beginning, but he couldn't resist Xi Baotian so he stayed in Moling Pass. I was very envious of Tang Laihe and Jiao Lian, who could go to the front line, if it weren't for the fear of losing face in the imperial court, he would have wanted to play tricks with Xi Baotian. Relying on the identity of the Tang King to forcibly break through the Moling Pass, Xi Baotian could not be rude with him...... But you can only think about it. He is now not only the king of Tang, but also the minister of the imperial court. Shouldering several important and solemn missions, if you show the absurd prince's temper and behavior, it will become a shameful farce.

Although he could not force his way through the Moling Pass, Zhu Yulu was very concerned about the battle situation on the front line, and he had long ago repeatedly told Tang Laihe and Jiao Lian to send a military intelligence report as soon as possible, and to be as detailed as possible, and finally to talk more about the details of the combat life of the officers and men at the grassroots level...... When he was in captivity before, Zhu Yulu was completely indifferent to the ordinary soldiers and civilians of the Ming Dynasty, and through what he saw and heard on this trip, these soldiers and civilians became living people, all with their own joys, sorrows, and sorrows, and they were extremely eager to defeat the Qing army, Zhu Yulu was deeply shocked and infected, and he looked forward to the victory of the Battle of Ningzhen.

However, five days have passed in a blink of an eye, Tang Laihe and Jiao Lian have disappeared as if they have disappeared, and no news has been sent, and Zhu Yulu knows that something is wrong. Even if there is an accident with a messenger in the middle, there will not be a letter in five days, Jiao Lian may be busy with military affairs, but Tang Laihe is half a guest in the mountainous area of Ningzhen, as a court official who is about to enter the cabinet, he has no reason to neglect the request of Zhu Yulu, the king of Tang, and if there are any new changes in the battle situation on the front line, he should send news as soon as possible to exchange views on the future strategic arrangements and envoys.

Emperor Longwu adjusted the strategy of the Eastern Expedition this time, and the focus was tilted towards Nanjing, but Tang Laihe did not agree very much, and proposed compromise revisions to Zhu Yulu several times, and expressed his dissatisfaction very vaguely. Fujian invested a lot of military, financial and material resources, the Ming army casualties have exceeded 15,000 soldiers, but when the success is dying, but the bottom of the kettle, Tang Laihe's dissatisfaction represents the general sentiment of the Fujian Ming army, he himself is under the double pressure of Emperor Longwu and the front-line soldiers, and does everything possible to strive for more resources for the Fujian side.

According to Zhu Yulu's understanding, if the battle situation on the front line in Ningzhen was unfavorable and the Chu army was defeated and retreated, Tang Laihe would definitely question the correctness of adjusting the strategy of the Eastern Crusade. If the battle situation on the Ningzhen front line is favorable and the Chu army blocks the attack of Jierharang, Tang Laihe will also question the necessity of adjusting the strategy of the Eastern Crusade, since he can already win the war, why continue to invest valuable resources instead of using the more needed Fujian battlefield?

But Tang Laihe has not heard from him, and Jiao Lian has not sent any news, Zhu Yulu is so anxious that he has to go to Xi Baotian to inquire several times a day. Xi Baotian provided a military intelligence report, but the content was too professional and too simple, the XX Heights were lost, the XX Heights were recovered, the X Battalion X outposts were assembled in X area, etc., Zhu Yulu couldn't understand more than half of them, and a small half felt that space was ...... The Chu army counted its own casualties more accurately, often dozens, hundreds or even hundreds of casualties, Zhu Yulu found the casualty figures of Jiao Lian's department, 1,300 Yangshuo soldiers participated in the battle and suffered more than 500 casualties, nearly 40% of the casualty ratio looks very terrifying. There is no specific number of casualties among the Qing army, and most of them are words such as "to be counted" and "to be verified".

This military intelligence report is an objective statement throughout. The cold style is devoid of emotion, and the descriptions of specific battles are brief. It is impossible to see whether the battle was won or lost, but Zhu Yulu saw a fact between the lines, the Chu army was retreating step by step, abandoning its position one after another, but the Qing army was advancing step by step, constantly advancing...... He asked Xi Baotian about this, and Xi Baotian's explanation was that the Chu army had taken the initiative to retreat, and the overall defense line was still solid and reliable, and such an answer could not be reassuring at all. Zhu Yulu was even more worried. From the beginning of the Chongzhen Dynasty, when the Ming army defeated the battle, it was this set of rhetoric, Zhu Yulu had never eaten pork and seen pigs run, the Chu army kept retreating, Jiao Lian's department suffered heavy casualties, and Tang Laihe never wrote from him.

"Even if the sky is about to fall, you have to let the Lone King know the truth! Where the hell is Tang Laihe now? Could it be that Xi Baotian was in the way and deliberately concealed the military situation? These generals have always been bold. Deceiving the superior and the subordinate is the best at it, if this is the case, the lone king will definitely punish him heavily! Zhu Yulu was angry when he mentioned Xi Baotian, if this guy hadn't stopped him. He had already left Moling Pass to the front line.

"Your Highness, please calm your anger, and now you have to beg Xi Baotian, it's not beautiful to really have a stiff relationship with him." Ma Jixiang thought for a moment. said: "If Your Highness is worried about the battle situation on the front line, it is better to send one or two henchmen. Please ask Xi Baotian to be accommodating and let him pass the customs and go to the army to find out. As long as the imperial court mission stays in Moling Pass. Xi Baotian did not disobey Wang Kefan's order, and there was no reason to embarrass him...... But, if Wang Junmen had secretly instructed him, His Royal Highness would be afraid to do so......"

Before he finished speaking, Zhu Yulu had already jumped up from the chair, walked out quickly, and said loudly: "Hey, why didn't I think of it?" The lonely king is going to find Xi Baotian, come, you go with me! ”

Hearing that it was only the two relatives of the Tang King who wanted to pass the customs, not the members of the envoy group, Xi Baotian agreed without hesitation, and even sent ten Chu soldiers to accompany him, in addition to protecting the safety of the Tang Wang's entourage, it can also help them find Jiao Lian and Tang Laihe more conveniently, after all, these two Tang princes are not familiar with each other, and they are not to mention that they are drilling in the ravine and delaying time, and they may be arrested as the fine work of the Qing army.

Seeing Xi Baotian so cooperative, Zhu Yulu's perception of him improved greatly, and he enthusiastically invited him to find a restaurant to entertain Xi Baotian that night. For this rare favor, Xi Baotian resolutely refused, and his tone was quite jealous.

"His Royal Highness's kindness is the end of the general's heart, but this wine can not be eaten, our Chu army has a dead rule, military generals at all levels in addition to official exchanges, it is strictly forbidden to make friends with important members of the imperial court, today this casual remark, if you really receive the prince's post, the last general will also get an explanation from the military law team, dare not go, never dare to go......"

Zhu Yulu had no choice but to give up, his face was somewhat unacceptable, and he couldn't help but secretly slander Wang Kefan in his heart, Wang Kefan is good for everything else, but he is too strong in business, and he has to calculate big and small things, for fear that others will pry his corner, it is not as good as this king's frank and free and easy.

Next, it's boring to continue waiting. Although it is not too far from Moling Pass to the front line, but the mountain road is difficult to travel, there is no five or six days don't want to go back and forth, but just two days later, one of the relatives came back, he met Jiao Lian's messenger on the way, so he rushed back to deliver the letter first.

"Meet Your Highness!" The messenger's eyes were deep-set, his face was flushed, in addition to the hard work of the journey, he seemed to be mentally tired, but his eyes were shining brightly, and his feelings seemed to be good, and after saluting Zhu Yulu, he took out two letters from his arms and handed them to his relatives: "The villain brought back two letters, one is from my general Jiao Lian, and the other is forwarded by Tang Laihe, the prison army. ”

After getting the letter, he did not hand it over to Zhu Yulu immediately, but carefully checked it according to the rules, first pinched whether there was any foreign matter inside, and then checked whether the envelope was intact, whether the fire paint seal had been opened, and checked the seal on the cover...... Zhu Yulu couldn't wait, and asked the messenger, "Where is Tang Laihe now?" If he has a letter and a lonely king, why should he be forwarded by Jiao Lian? And how is the battle going ahead, and is our army retreating? ”

"The prison army has been in front of the enemy for the past few days, personally risking arrows and stones to check the situation of the battle, and frequently fighting viciously from morning to night every day, and the guards around him have injured several people, so I ordered my general to forward the letter. The battle is raging ahead, and although our army is retreating, there is no sign of defeat......"

"Why did he have to go out himself?" Zhu Yulu was surprised, he didn't pay attention to the second half of the messenger's words, and hurriedly asked, "Why didn't Wang Kefan stop him, and why didn't he send him more guards?" ”

"I heard that it was Tang Jianjun who insisted on inviting him to the former enemy, Wang Junmen originally refused to allow it, but later Tang Jianjun personally promised him three things, and Wang Junmen finally nodded and agreed, but the villain didn't know what those three things were." The messenger said: "The former enemy has no eyes, and it is inevitable that the personal guards of the Tang Jian army will be damaged, and there are many Chu soldiers to protect them, which will definitely ensure that the Tang Jian army is in danger, and His Royal Highness does not need to worry." ”

"Since that's the case...... All right. Hearing that Tang Laihe, a civilian official, went to the battlefield in person, Zhu Yulu was very surprised, but he was not too worried, if the commander of the first army could not be responsible for his own safety, he would not hand over thousands of troops and horses to him. Tang Laihe personally ran to the forward position, and stayed for several days, definitely in order to be more intuitive and more accurate to judge the shape of the battlefield, so this military intelligence report was belated.

This was the first military intelligence report sent by Tang Laihe, and according to the previous agreement, he would make an assessment of the entire course of the Ningzhen campaign in this letter, and propose suggestions for the next strategic adjustment. As the commander of the Eastern Expedition Southern Route Army, Tang Laihe's vision must be far higher than that of a half-hung military general like Ma Jixiang, and his evaluation of the battle form is more accurate.

When Zhu Yulu almost lost patience, the envelope was finally cut open with a knife and presented it to him.

Zhu Yulu stretched out his hand to grab the envelope, his movements were too impatient, the letter inside was thrown on the table, and he first saw the conclusion at the end of the letter: In view of the fact that the battle of Ningzhen is expected to completely annihilate the army of King Jierharang, the other Ming armies should suspend the offensive, fully cooperate with the Chu army, and transfer Zhu Chenggong's water division into the mouth of the Yangtze River to help in the battle. If this battle is won, Jiangnan can be determined, half of the wall can be safe, and there will be no risk of defeat in the Ming Dynasty within twenty years! (The novel "Remnant Ming" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lottery gift for everyone!) Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign in the upper right corner to "add friends", search for the official account "qdread" and follow, hurry up! (To be continued......)