The weather is cold and frosty. More than 300 horsemen and horses galloped along the plank road at the foot of the mountain from north to south, on their right hand, is the monolithic water, at this moment, the rocks on the cliff wall cut off the eyes, as far as the eye can see, there is no water flow, can only be judged by instinct that there seems to be a bottomless deep gully over there.

The sound of the rapid hooves seemed to converge into rolling thunder, which shook the earth slightly, and from time to time there were hanging stones rolling down from the deep ravine, and only after a long time came a piercing roar.

The front suddenly opened up, the slope gradually flattened, and the sunlight that had been hidden by the mountains for a long time suddenly swayed down, bathing more than 300 knights in dazzling golden light.

"Your Highness, through this low hill, in front of you is the downstream of the monolithic water, the Longmen River." Zhao Gang followed Zhu Qiming's right side, and his tone was full of the desire to get close to his heart, this deputy Qianhu of the pro-guard army, who always loved to do nothing in the past, seemed to have changed his person, every time he looked at Zhu Qiming, the smile that naturally flowed out of his eyes was not so much out of respect, but out of worship.

Seeing that the five hundred pro-guards had unconsciously turned into a group of tiger warriors who made people look at a glance and couldn't help but be refreshed, and listened to Zhu Qiming's every plan with his own ears, it made people suddenly have a strong sense of expectation, and no one could help but look at this young prince with admiration, and Zhao Gang was naturally no exception.

Shang Huaiying, who is on the right side of Zhu Qiming, is much more reserved, but this reserve is only limited to his demeanor, as for the tone, the cordiality revealed in Shang Huaiying's words is not much better than that of Zhao Gang. "Your Highness, it's been more than a month, and I've run all over the places where I can go, and I've surveyed some places many times, so do you have to survey everywhere next?"

"There's no need, this king is familiar with the "Seven Strategies of Pingyu", and after field investigation, he already knows the mountains and rivers here."

The mountain ahead suddenly became steeper, and a ramp with a very small drop appeared in front of you. Lower the speed of the horse, along the ramp forward Xu, you will see the riverbed of Longmen River, the shallow stream is like a blue wind to the south, the white stones on both sides of the bank are horizontal, people at a glance, I can't help but think of Wang Wei's poem, "Jingxi white stone out, the sky is cold and the red leaves are scarce." ”

Zhu Qiming raised his right hand, and more than 300 people immediately reined in their horses and fixed them on the gentle slope.

Just wade across the Longmen River, and there is a campsite on the other side. But Zhu Qiming's return is not urgent, just a day away from the camp and a night out, at this time he is still in the mood to enjoy the natural scenery here.

After a long time, Zhu Qiming turned his head and looked back, behind him were fifty archers, fifty lance soldiers, one hundred sword soldiers, and one hundred personal guards, all of them at this moment on horseback upright, and the distance between them was as accurate as measuring and arranging. Under such a strict military appearance, there should be a will that is harder than a rock.

He felt a little relieved in his heart, and his gaze naturally fell on the faces of the two young Baihu behind him. The man on his right hand was an archer, only seventeen years old, named Shi Feng, who was born with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, although he looked beautiful, but his strength was amazing. Most of the Ming guards can only open a stone bow, and the archers in the eight hundred warriors of Yuefu use two stone bows, and Shi Feng can open a strong bow of more than two stones, as for what is the concept of "above", it is really hard to say, anyway, it can't reach three stones, the legendary three-stone bow and six-stone bow do not exist in the Ming Dynasty, perhaps it is the statistical confusion brought about by the continuous adjustment of the measurement unit in the past dynasties, and the three-stone bow is opened in the Ming Dynasty, with a pulling force of more than two hundred and eighty kilograms, which is much higher than the latest weightlifting world record of modern Hercules, and it is incredible to think about it. All in all, Shi Feng's arm strength is amazing, and he has excellent riding and shooting accuracy.

When the archers were first formed, they only sought a single breakthrough, in order to surpass the Warat cavalry in cavalry archery, so the archers were all composed of special students, and only practiced cavalry archery on weekdays, and the short knives were used for self-defense. But unexpectedly, Shi Feng is also handy with a short knife, the short knife is as sharp as a "fish intestine sword", Shi Feng can pierce thick armor five times out of ten times, but everyone knows, others can pierce once ten times, they will cheer. It's a pity that Shi Feng has never practiced long knives and horse lances, otherwise, he would really have the potential to become an all-around champion.

Immediately behind Zhu Qiming on the left side is Wang Lie, a hundred swordsmen, who is even younger, only sixteen years old, with a figure comparable to Shi Feng, compared with Shi Feng, his posture is even better. Five years ago, when Zhu Qiming screened the young army in Yuefu, he thought he was too young and his body was not outstanding enough, so he almost swept him out of the house and retreated to the Beijing camp.

The knife is equipped with two knives, one long knife and one short knife, the long knife is used for immediate killing, and the short knife is used for hand-to-hand combat. Wang Lie's short knife kung fu is also very outstanding, and in the calculations, I am afraid that it is only slightly worse than Shi Feng.

Zhu Qiming doesn't pay much attention to officialdom in employing people, as long as he is capable and courageous, these two things happen to be possessed by Shi Feng and Wang Lie, so they became front-line officers at a young age. Don't say it, the older soldiers haven't been unconvinced! The key is to have a good atmosphere in employing people, and if the atmosphere is bad, any ability and courage are floating clouds!

Shang Huaiying over there had no intention of enjoying the scenery, just staring and thinking, and sighed after a long time, "It's been a month, and there has been no movement in the area of Longmenwei, Pine Fort, and Monolith Fort, and the Warat people may not cross the border to loot in the autumn and winter this year." ”

"It's just right not to come, and it is exactly what this king wishes that the border people will suffer less." Zhu Qiming turned his head and smiled indifferently, "Father-in-law Shang doesn't have to be anxious, the Tartar thieves won't come this year, and there will be next year, we won't lack patience." He raised his hand and waved his hand.

More than 300 horsemen and horses began to wade across the river, and the deepest part of the water could not be exhausted, so the crossing was very smooth.

The cavalry went ashore, made a detour of five miles, and then returned to the training ground of the camp. Tang Ji and Jiang Yi hurriedly greeted them, and before Zhu Qiming got off the horse, Tang Ji said: "Your Highness, a fast rider from the Pine Castle has just come to report that there are twelve Tartar thieves entering the country, and they are going south along a trail in the west, which is about seventy miles away. ”

"When did the fast ride come to report?"

"I've seen the hourglass below, and it's not a moment before the fast ride comes."

"The trail to the west is more than ten miles away, and the speed of the fast riding horse exceeds that of the Tartar thieves by less than thirty percent, and it is too late to make a detour to the north to intercept it." Zhu Qiming thought to himself, pondered for a while, made up his mind, and swept his eyes over the faces of Tang Ji, Jiang Yi, and Zhao Gang.

Zhao Gang stepped in front of Tang Ji in one step, stood up straight, and looked at Zhu Qiming expectantly.

"I'm not done yet!" Tang Ji grabbed in front of Zhao Gang and smiled at Zhu Qiming: "Your Highness, you see······ It's better to lead the army under the command to volley. ”

Zhu Qiming's gaze fell on Jiang Yi's face, whose reaction speed was always half a beat slower than others, "Jiang Yi, there is a fork in the road due south thirty miles away from here, which is diagonally inserted into the path to the west, you have gone with this king to investigate, you are familiar with the terrain, quickly gather fifty personal guards and fifty archers, and make a detour to intercept the Tartar thieves in front, remember, be sure to set up an ambush in advance." ”

"Yes! Hey, hey, hey, ······" Jiang Yi reacted quickly this time, Tang Ji and Zhao Gang just turned around and looked, Jiang Yi's people had already arrived in front of the queue of archers on the training ground.

After the two cheers, I saw more than 100 riders start quickly, and they disappeared in a blink of an eye.

"It's strange, there's no village over there, right?" Zhu Qiming got off the horse, turned his head while making doubts, and saw Shi Feng and Wang Lie looking at him with a blank look, and immediately said with relief: "You are already tired from running all the way with this king, and it is not suitable for you to fight. ”

Shang Huaiying got off the horse and raised his neck excitedly, "Your Highness, it's finally time for the Tartar thief to enter the prison!" ”

"There are only more than ten horsemen, what a way!" Zhu Qiming shook his head disappreciatively, "It is not appropriate for this king to survey the terrain again, otherwise it will delay the fighter." ”

Wang Lie took Zhu Qiming's mount and walked towards the stable with Shi Feng, saying something along the way, as if he was still shaking his head and sighing.

"Tang Ji, Zhao Gang!" Zhu Qiming called the two depressed guys to him, "From now on, half of the men and horses will be left every day to avoid their drills, and the people will not unload their armor, and the horses will not be unsaddled, and they will be on call at any time." ”

"Yes."

For some reason, Zhu Qiming turned around and looked at the backs of Shi Feng and Wang Lie again.

Shang Huaiying seemed to see Zhu Qiming's thoughts, and played to his side and whispered: "It is inconvenient for the prince to go out with His Royal Highness, but there should be children of your family who sign up for the expedition, so that they can have an explanation to all the people in the world." ”

Zhu Qiming was stunned. Is this what the king thinks? Hey, although Shi Feng and Wang Lie were born in a civilian family, their demeanor is not the same as that of the handsome people in your family, alas, if they were really children of your family! I think that in ancient times, the aristocracy regarded it as the glory of sacrificing their lives for the country, but now the nobles are difficult to see, and there are many local tyrants!

Well, it's enough to have a prince here!

······

At lunchtime, the sound of hooves became more and more sudden in the distance, and everyone gave up their meals one after another and rushed towards the training ground.

"Jiang Qianhu, how is the battle going?"

"Jiang Qianhu, have you intercepted the Tartar thieves?"

Jiang Yi turned over and dismounted in the encirclement of the stars like the moon, silent, and ran straight towards Zhu Qiming's camp.

"Your Highness." Jiang Yi rushed in and said hurriedly: "Hey, hey, hey, behead the fifth level, and there are no casualties in our department." ”

Decapitation level 5? Aren't there twelve? Zhu Qiming just glanced at Jiang Yi lightly.

"There were also seven Hui merchants, who were followed by the Tartar thieves. However, the Hui merchant was armed with a weapon and wearing thick armor, and it is speculated that the Tartar thief must have been able to take advantage of it, which allowed the Hui merchant to escape. ”

I see!

The camp was crowded with soldiers, and everyone began to talk about it, some said that the Tartar thieves were stupid, some said that the Tartars were fat, and some said that the merchants were strong in martial arts. Of course, many more people clapped and cheered.

At that time, Zhu Qiming and Xu Gong killed more than 40 Tartar thieves in the north, and later the court discussed the merits, but the Tartar thieves were recorded in the name of the Tatars, so in the Ming Dynasty and the Warat people's confrontation record, the victory has been zero.

Later generations will find it inconceivable when they look at the transcripts of the Orthodox Dynasty and the emperor's edicts, and it is ridiculous that a large number of correspondence documents are only exposed and reprimanded for such trivial matters as one Tartar thief escaping or several Tartar thieves crossing the border unhindered.

Today, he beheaded the fifth level in one go, this is quite an amazing achievement, and the good news will surely shake the entire imperial court, at this moment, everyone, including Shang Huaiying and Zhao Gang, is all excited.

But Zhu Qiming was indifferent. Such a small victory is more than a star and a half compared to the big victory he expected!

However, he still gave Jiang Yi a smile, "Jiang Qianhu won the first battle, congratulations!" ”