The dusty messenger brought dismal news, as if overnight, the whole world had been turned upside down. Looking at the dusty soldiers with frustrated expressions, and the anger that flowed between the lines of Zheng Luo's words, the trance made people feel like they were at the end of the road.

Xin Ai Khan suddenly turned his face and abandoned the negotiations, instead declaring the use of force, and the peace between the Ming and Tumut that had lasted for decades came to an end. In a very short period of time, dozens of clashes broke out between the two sides, and each of them ended in the defeat of the border army.

If you look at it only on paper, these defeats have nothing to do with the overall situation, they are all failures in small battles, and the total losses are two or three thousand people. Victory or defeat is a common thing for soldiers, and there are still more than 100,000 generals under Luo's command to command, and a large number of fortresses and fortresses are still under the control of the Ming army. Even if the field battle suffered a setback, the Ming army, which had artillery and guns, should have an absolute advantage over the Mongol army, which used bows and arrows as its main weapon, in defending the city.

However, people who are familiar with the military such as Qi Jin have already sensed that something is wrong from this defeat.

In the present era, wars are often won or lost by morale rather than equipment. Every skirmish ended in defeat, which was a huge blow to the morale of the soldiers. Most soldiers don't think that there are still 100,000 people behind me, and we can still fight, but they think that we have lost so many times, and we will still lose this time, so we really can't win.

The responsibility for the victory or defeat of the battle of the Grand Army lies with the commander-in-chief, the cooperation, the logistics and supply and other factors. This kind of skirmishing is purely a matter of generals. Only when the will of the border army is not high, or even when they deliberately sell their positions, will there be such frequent defeats. And Zheng Luo's letter also confirmed this, and the officers under him unanimously reflected: I don't want to fight.

The reason for the border army to fight is actually very simple, it is to ask for money. The head can be repaid for the bounty, and the attack on the Mongol tribe can make a fortune, which is the motivation to support the officers to fight. As for the feelings of the family and the country, it is okay to talk about it at the top, but among the military attaches at the grassroots level, no one cares at all. Judging from the content of Zheng Luo's letters, the soldiers responded that they were unwilling to die for the Mongolian women. Xin Ai entered the army in order to ask Daming for the three ladies, if the three ladies were put back, they could stop the war in two clicks. Since it's so simple, just hand over the third lady, why bother the soldiers to shed blood and sacrifice for her.

The content of Zheng Luo's letter also asked Fan Jin to focus on the overall situation and persuade the three ladies to leave Datong, or to go to Yanghe together to explain in person. And asked Fan Jin to move as soon as possible, otherwise once the enemy completely broke through the border wall defense system, Zheng Luo had no choice but to put on armor and go into battle and personally tear up the Mongols.

The third lady listened to the relayment of the fine, and frowned: "It seems that not only the people in the grassland don't like me, but there are also people in the Ming army who don't like me." Evoke magnolia and compare ...... If there is really a Mulan now, I am afraid that I will not get the support of these soldiers, and on the contrary, I will be regarded as an outlier. ”

Fan Jin said: "The army is a place with heavy yang energy. A bunch of men together, they have no fame, no wealth, no future. The only thing you can trust is the weapon in your hand, and then there is your own bravery. At least on this occasion, they think that they are the king who can dominate everything, and if a woman can stand up to them, or even be above them, most people will think that the last fortress has been lost, and it is normal for them to be psychologically unacceptable. Therefore, most of the female generals are in Yidi, where the environment is difficult, and it is easier to accept women. Just like the grassland, if Madame operates it properly, she can stay in power all the time, and whoever dares to talk too much will kill it directly. There are a lot of constraints in doing things in the Central Plains, and you can't be so happy. ”

The third lady smiled bitterly, "Happy? I'm afraid that the old man thinks too much, and now I am going to be sacrificed, and I will be safe in a different way, where is the happiness? ”

"Give it away? Who would dare? Fan Jin's voice was sharp, "Madame is the guest of the official, whoever dares to sacrifice you is the opponent of the official!" It's strange if I can spare him! ”

"Virtuous nephew. If the third lady is really here with you, I think it's better to make friends. On weekdays, it is naturally better than martial arts, but when it comes to fighting, it is naturally these Qiu Ba ruthless. If you don't do what they do, they will make trouble, and maybe mutiny. You see, in order to appease these people, I have raised and lowered the price of grain for every penny. I am not happy to lose so much money, but for the sake of the overall situation, this is also something that cannot be helped. Each of us has to take into account the overall situation and cannot do whatever we want. ”

In Fan Jin's room, Zhang Siduan persuaded Fan Jin earnestly. Naturally, he already knew the requirements of the Mongol army, and he also went to find people through his connections, but he never found them. The beautiful and martial arts woman beside Fan Jin also has a plum blossom Lao Jiu, who is also a girl who rides **, not to mention Xue Wu. So no one can be sure that the woman who followed Fan Jin to kill the enemy on a horse was the third lady or his concubine, and Zhang Siduan didn't dare to say it to death.

Fan Jin shook his head and said, "Uncle is a businessman, how could he be fooled like this?" Xin Ai is clearly taking the opportunity to blackmail, using things that are not in my hands to blackmail me, in the final analysis, it is still to find a reason to enter the army. The third lady may have been killed or imprisoned by him a long time ago, and then blamed me. Those soldiers had never read and were easily deceived, and my uncle should not be fooled like this. Where do I have the three ladies for him? ”

Seeing that Fan Jin was firm, Zhang Siduan didn't dare to bite to death, after all, Fan Jin's identity was transcendent at the moment, and there was the support of Jia Yingyuan, the governor of Datong, behind him, and he couldn't attack it head-on. After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Siduan asked, "What about this letter?" ”

Zheng Fanxi invited, Fan didn't dare not go, and he couldn't go. After so many defeats, is it to bully me for not understanding military affairs, or is it not good to bully the Shang Fang Sword in my hand? Fan Jin snorted coldly, "These people don't care about fighting, but want to force the chief officer by defeating the battle, if such people don't do it, there will be no royal law!" ”

Zhang Siduan was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Victory and defeat are commonplace, how can this be done to him?" Unless something else is done. ”

"Military land is greedy for ink, military smuggling is smuggling, these things can ask for people's heads. If you want to kill someone, you can always find an excuse, not to mention a bunch of small characters, what can you do if you find a reason to kill at random? Fan Jin leaned back on the chair and said with a disdainful expression: "I don't go to Yanghe once, how can these things be shipped?" This time, Zheng Fanxi gave me a chance, and I have to thank him. ”

"At this time, what else are you going to sell?"

"This is the best time to sell." Fan Jin sneered: "Although those Mongols are attacking fiercely, they are just a false fire. I've read the battle reports, and they have won a lot of battles, but they won't capture a lot. These people are a bunch of poor ghosts, and they can't hold on to anything if they can't grab anything. At this time, a batch of food, ordnance, and even gunpowder was sold to them, and the price was naturally as we said. I don't think Xin Ai would dare to bargain with us at this time. ”

Zhang Siduan frowned and said: "Having said that, if you are caught in this kind of business now, it is a big crime, and it is a big crime that is difficult to turn over." ”

Fan Jin smiled: "Then who will do it." Of course, it is a great sin for ordinary people to do this kind of thing, and it doesn't matter if I do it. Except for Zheng Luo, no one is qualified to turn over my hole cards. And Zheng Luo himself is a smart person, so he shouldn't be stupid enough to get in my way. If he doesn't know the current affairs, the official will let him get out! There have been so many defeats this time, and I can get him dismissed afterwards with a concert. As long as his brain isn't broken, he knows what to do. ”

Zhang Siduan, who was in front of Fan Jin, was still full of melancholy, but when he returned to his residence, he couldn't help but smile. Fingers tapped lightly on the table, and he said to himself: "Rich and arrogant, self-blame." Although the meaning of these words is to lead me into the game, your mind is also revealed. There is no one in the eyes of the sky, and the people who are plugged by the side are regarded as ants, and you deserve to fall. Youngster...... In the end, it is young people. ”

Although the messenger was in a hurry, Fan Jin still delayed stepping on the road for a full day. Of course, the biggest reason why it is so grinding is that the transportation of those materials is not convenient, and a large number of chariots and masters have to be requisitioned to participate in the transportation, without the support of Jia Yingyuan and Fan Jin's popularity here, the speed of this work will be further delayed.

Due to the large number of people involved in the transportation, it became very difficult to find a person inside. Rao is Zhang Siduan secretly launched his own eyeliner to find it, and even contacted Zhang Menggu, but he still couldn't find the whereabouts of the third lady. This made him a little unsure, whether Xin Ai was wrong in the news, or if he really used the topic to play, ready to fight with Da Ming.

Since Zhang Menggu arrived at Fan Jin's room, she has become a state of Fan Jin's secret invitation, and rarely contacts Zhang Siduan unless it is necessary to meet. But there is no change in Zhang Siduan's attitude, and he is still treated like a second brother. In this era, the feelings of big families are more complicated, some are closer, and some are like that.

The Zhang family has always governed the family with a serious family style, and the children in the family nominally abide by the principle of communication as light as water, so this attitude is very correct and you can't see the handle. Judging from the jewelry on her body and her radiant appearance, Zhang Siduan can be sure that she is very favored in the Fan family and lives very happily herself. This is actually not surprising, if such a woman is not favored, it is a little incredible. Her current state is roughly in line with Zhang Siduan's vision.

Although the Immortal Jump plan failed, the general direction has not deviated, and all we have to do now is to get things back on track, complete the last link of the layout, and everything is still under control. As for Xin Ai's reaction, or the whereabouts of the third lady, in his layout, it can only be regarded as a minutiae, he is sure to control everything in his hands, even if there is a problem on their side, it will not affect his overall situation.

On the way, messengers on fast horses rushed back and forth, delivering the latest combat progress on the front line to Fan Jin. Originally, this was the Governor's purview, and the Inspector was not necessarily allowed to intervene. But Fan Jin made a fuss about inspecting military affairs, so he came in and intervened, so Zheng Luo had no choice but to give Fan Jin a copy of the military affairs he handled. The contradiction between the governor and the governor is not news in the current Ming officialdom, but everyone knows that it is not a good omen to get this step in wartime. Zhang Siduan watched coldly, waiting for the final moment of collapse, no matter who ends up in the end, it will be beneficial and harmless to him.

The battle report was still a defeat, and even if Zheng Luo invested in his own standard supervision battalion, the situation did not change significantly. In these skirmishes, the Inspector Battalion won some victories, but on the battlefield without the Inspector Battalion, it was still defeated. However, the overall number of the Inspector Battalion is limited, and it is impossible to distribute it throughout the battlefield, and their activity is also a drop in the bucket for the overall battle situation. More than seventy percent of the battle reports are bad news, and the remaining thirty percent of the good news is also overshadowed. And according to Qi Jin's analysis, if nothing else, soon the tentative offensive of the Mongols will end, and a general offensive in the true sense of the word will be in full swing.

When he came to Yanghe Fort, Zheng Luo's views were basically the same as Qi Jin's. According to his many years of experience in leading troops, the Mongols' large-scale attack was just around the corner.

Pointing to the map on the wall, Zheng Luo's tone was full of anger: "Although the land has not been lost now, the border wall is already in danger. Once the Tumut tribe breaks through the side wall, it will attack and harass the Jin land on a large scale, and even plunder the Beijing Division. Among them, Fan Daochang should be able to be clear. We can't ruin state affairs for a woman, let alone a Mongolian woman! ”

Zheng Luo glared at Fan Jin, looking as if he was ready to pounce on him at any moment and tear him to pieces.

"The three ladies disregarded hundreds of thousands of living beings in Tumut because of their own selfishness, which was originally a move of the rat's eyes. As the imperial court's edict, she should know what it means to put the overall situation first. Only by maintaining the integrity and obedience of the Tumut tribe can we contain the eastern captives and prevent the barbarian tribe from becoming bigger. Now she is unwilling to settle accounts because Xin Ai is old and sick, this is the little woman Nederland's idea, how can she be in charge of 60,000 households on the grassland? Among our border army candidates, there are many tribes that Tumut is attached to, and they all think that this matter is done by the three ladies. For the sake of the three ladies to fight, they are unwilling. The army has no fighting spirit, no one wants to charge into battle, how do you want me to fight this battle? ”

Fan Jin snorted coldly: "What does Zheng Junmen mean that if the third lady goes out of the city, Xin Ai will retreat?" ”

Zheng Luo shook his head and said: "At this point, even if Xin Ai wants to retreat, he may not be able to retreat." But if he loses his reason to enter the army, he also loses his Tao. The five things of the soldier are to be the way of heaven and earth, and the enemy has lost his morality, and his morale is not as good as it was at the beginning. I will give in, and then motivate the soldiers with heavy money and thick coins, and I can turn defeat into victory. ”

Fan Jin said: "What about the three ladies?" Don't you want to marry Xin Ai? ”

"The former Zhaojun went out of the fortress, for the sake of the world, and the concubine can also marry Fanbang, not to mention that she is a Fanbang woman? The marriage of a Fanbang woman, compared with the safety of millions of people in my Ming Dynasty, who is more important and who is lighter, there is no need for the old man to say more, and he has his own sense of proportion in his heart. ”

Fan Jin shook his head and said, "Old Zheng's words do make sense. When everyone heard it, they had to applaud Zheng Weng's beating. However, the official believes that this cannot be done. Today we can sacrifice a third lady for the sake of the overall situation, how about Xin Ai ask for ten beauties tomorrow? What about a hundred? We can interact with them, we can drink and laugh with them, but these are what we give them, and they can ask for them. Instead of them putting an army on the table, we're going to give. The third lady is not by my side, and I don't know where she is. Even if I knew, I wouldn't hand over a woman and make Xin Ai think we're weak and deceivable! ”

"It's admirable to think about it, but the current situation is not the moment to withdraw from the army with a few bold words. The morale of the army is weak, and the people have no fighting spirit, and in this situation, even the famous generals of the ancients have nothing to do. Let's talk about it, what does it take to get rid of Xin Ai's soldiers? ”

"It's easy to say and easy to do. The official personally made a tour of the border to see how majestic the Mongols really were. If I die, none of these people will want to live. If they still can't help, I'll write a letter to them! If they want to live, they're going to have to give me a good fight. Xin Ai is just these three axes, as long as you give him a heavy blow, I guarantee that he can run faster than a rabbit! ”