After the battle of the West Trench in March of the fifth year of Chongzhen, the morale-boosting officers and soldiers decided to take a break and then continue to chase and kill the water dogs. The elite soldiers of Zhuzhen who began to cultivate were gearing up one by one, preparing to make great contributions in the subsequent actions.

Originally, Zhang Mengjin and the others didn't want to miss this opportunity to make war achievements, although the soldiers under them were very tired, but they could completely let the left-behind personnel of Ningsai Fort replace them.

But before Zhang Mengjin could send a message, the order of the military constitution on Yansui West Road also arrived. Dai Junen ordered Zhang Mengjin to return to Fang Ningsai as soon as possible and not to shirk anything.

His immediate boss directly ordered it, and Zhang Mengjin could only obey it. Wu Fu thought about leaving this elite army in Ningsai Fort, although Zhang Mengjin and others were not under his control, but the influence of Wu Fu was indeed very great, so he successfully delayed Zhang Mengjin's defense for a while.

Wu Fu, who had bought a little time, immediately wrote a letter to inform Dai Junen of the current situation of suppressing thieves, and the morale of the officers and soldiers was greatly boosted, and the thieves fled in a hurry. Leaving some more elite soldiers here is very helpful for the imperial court's strategy of suppressing thieves.

After writing the letter, Wu Fu also exerted his influence, planning to let Zhu Chun, the prefect of Qingyang Prefecture, play with several other soldiers to take over the command of Zhang Mengjin and others.

Dai Junen also quickly replied to Wu Fu, saying that Zhang Mengjin's men and horses had only gone to Qingyang Mansion to relieve the siege, and the task had already been completed before. Now they are often called on other tasks, and the tired soldiers have not been able to rest and replenish, which will demoralize them.

And now there are Cao Wenzhao, Yang Jiamo, and He Huchen in charge, and the many elite soldiers and strong generals they lead can fully cope with the subsequent battles. Ningsai's troops are already redundant, and now Yansui West Road needs these men and horses to quickly return to the defense, in case of possible accidents.

While replying to Wu Fu, Dai Junen urged Zhang Mengjin to leave as soon as possible. Wu Fu had planned to stop Zhang Mengjin's troops again. It's just that Wu Fu found out later that the people he had to deal with were not only Dai Junen from Yansui West Road, but also Zhang Fuzhen, the governor of Yansui, who also intervened.

Zhang Fuzhen said that Yansui Town will also have a large-scale plan to suppress thieves in the days to come. Therefore, he needs the soldiers and horses of the forts outside the town to return to the defense as soon as possible, and the officials in the field should not obstruct the actions of the officers and soldiers of the town. At present, most of the elite soldiers in Yansui Town are waiting for dispatch under Zhang Fuzhen. Zhang Fuzhen said this, of course, he was supporting his friend Dai Junen.

Wu Fu, who originally planned to fight further, finally released Ningsai's troops after seeing the governor of Yansui come out. Wu Fu felt that there was no need to fall out with a governor and a soldier for the sake of a few hundred elite soldiers, not to mention that these two were still the same year as himself. (Note 1)

Moreover, there was a rebellion in Ningsai before, and he impartially enforced the law to impeach Dai Junen, which was a matter of matter at that time. If you have any more conflicts with Dai Junen now, it will make some of your official voices not good. Although it is a pity, there are still many elite soldiers on his side.

In fact, Dai Junen and Zhang Fuzhen also saw Wu Fuzhen's thoughts. Zhang Mengjin's subordinates have strong combat effectiveness, and they have repeatedly made meritorious achievements on the West Road before, and they are an important combat force in the West Road of Yansui Town.

But since they were sent to rescue Qingyang Mansion, they have been seconded by the border defense areas one after another. After that, I borrowed farther and farther, and I borrowed it to Pingliang Mansion. If this situation continues, maybe this elite army will take advantage of the situation and become someone else's subordinate, and no one will compensate for the loss of Yansui Town at that time. (Note 2)

After Zhang Mengjin left, He Huchen, the general soldier of Ningxia, led 3,700 soldiers to garrison Quziyi in Huanxian County to guard against other thieves in Tiejiao City. Cao Wenzhao and Yang Jiamo led other elite soldiers to the south to continue to pursue the fugitives in the West Trench.

On March 23 (Gengshen), more than 2,000 thieves who had fled from the West Trench converged with the friends of the Red Monarch in Tiejiao City, and began to wander around Pingliang Mansion again. The officers and soldiers who received the news launched a pursuit again, but this time they did not catch up with the other party. The thieves quickly shook off the pursuing officers and soldiers, and on the 24th (Xinyou) captured Wu'an Prison, captured the official horses inside, and the prisoner Wu Sancai fled. (Note 3)

The thieves who got the supplies disguised themselves as official soldiers and captured Huating County on the 25th. Instructor Zou Bangrong was killed, and Xu Zhaolin, the county magistrate, survived because he had only been in office for seven days and was about to report to his superiors that he was not in the city. But he did not escape in the end, and then the imperial court ordered Xu Zhaolin to abandon the city for the crime of losing the city.

Because they failed to catch up with the thieves, they caused the other party to wreak havoc in the place one after another. The officers and soldiers who pursued received accusations from other officials, and Cao Wenzhao, Yang Jiamo and other officers and generals were not happy. can only speed up the pursuit, and rushed to Huating on the second day of the fourth month (Jisi), but at this time Hongjunyou and they had already left. (Note 4)

Just as the officers and soldiers were about to continue the pursuit, Cao Wenzhao and others received news again. The big thief tiger is attacking Zhuanglang County, and on the third day of the fourth month (Geng Wu), the official army attacked again, and Wang Laohu was about to burn down the city gate, and he was almost about to capture Zhuanglang. However, his sentry found the officers and soldiers who were coming, and Wang Laohu could only give up and escape, and the officers and soldiers failed to catch the gang of thieves.

I kept running behind the thief's ass, but I couldn't catch the other party, but instead spent a lot of energy. If Zhang Mengjin knew about this, he might have secretly congratulated himself that he had returned to Ningsai. However, after that, the official army finally did not waste effort, and Cao Wenzhao quickly divided his troops to pursue after relieving the siege of Zhuanglang.

Du Si Jin Guixiang, guerrilla generals Cao Bianjiao, Feng Ju, Liu Chenggong, garrison Jin Shouliang, Li Dengbang and others continued to pursue the big thief Tiger. Cao Bianjiao and others fought a big battle in Zhangma Village on the fourth day of the first month of April and successfully defeated the other party. Next, he chased and killed the fugitive for more than 20 miles, and beheaded 231 people. The thieves fled into the high mountains and fought again by virtue of the terrain, and shot and killed Li Yingchun, the commander of the officers and soldiers, and the officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties.

At the time of the stalemate, Wang Xingshan and Li Hongsi, deputy commander-in-chief of Gansu, and general Mo Youjing and others arrived with troops. The thieves continued to flee when they saw the strength of the official army, and were beheaded by Wang Xingshan for two hundred and ninety-eight ranks. After Zhang Ma Village killed 529 thieves, the officials and soldiers swept away their previous depression.

The unremitting pursuit finally paid off, and all the soldiers who participated in the battle were gratified. Wu Fu also reported the good news to the imperial court, saying that the official army of Shaanxi proved their ability with a great victory after the Battle of the West Trench.

And then Zhang Mengjin and others, who knew these news, lamented that they had missed a big battle. However, if they were to choose again, even if there was no strict order from Dai Junen, they would still rush back. Because in this way, they can return home safely and happily attend Zhang Mengcheng's wedding.

??????

In a festively decorated room at the top of Artemisia, Cai Qixian (Cai Jiumei's full name) sits quietly in the room and lets her mother fix her hair.

"Aunt Qi, the men in the village have already seen the procession of Jinding Mountain to welcome relatives, you should start to go up." Cai Qixian's fourth sister-in-law hurriedly walked in, reporting that they could start their Cai family's habits.

I don't know when it started, but anyway, I had this habit long before I became a bandit. When the daughter of the Cai clan gets married, she must let the men in the clan be three miles away and secretly see the aunt's welcoming procession. After reporting the news, the daughters-in-law of the Cai family can give their daughters who are about to get married.

"Okay, okay, everyone stand up, it's time for the nine girls to go up together, seventh brother and sister, start up." An old woman with gray hair said to Cai Qixian's mother.

"Comb to the end." The young mother, who had been ready for a long time, gently touched her daughter's black hair. Finally, he combed the comb in his hand and read the first sentence at the same time.

"Comb to the end." Under the leadership of Cai Qixian's mother, the other daughters-in-law of the Cai family in the room all recited it together. They were young and old, but they all had smiles on their faces.

Cai Qixian had been trying to keep her calm heart, and after her mother began to pronounce the first word, she was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of suffocation. She is no longer interested in the strange rules of the Cai family's daughter when she got married. Cai Qixian felt that she had something. I know it's going to be gone, but I don't know what to catch if I want to catch it.

"Comb the second comb until the white hair is up to the eyebrows." Mother brushed the comb in her hand again, and her eyes were red, and tears were about to burst out of her eyes.

"Comb the second comb until the white hair is up to the eyebrows." Seeing the seven sisters-in-law (seven brothers and sisters, seven daughters-in-law...... The women laughed as they recited the words neatly.

What is it, the jewelry on the body is carefully checked by the mother and sister-in-law, and it must be on the body. I checked everything that should have been prepared yesterday and checked it again, and it was all ready. Jewelry? Clothes? Bow and arrow? ……

"Three combs until the children and grandchildren are full." The mother noticed that her daughter was a little excited, but she did not react and just did her duty seriously.

Xiucai promised himself that as long as he wanted to come back, he would accompany him back. The mountains, the water, the houses, and the people here can all come back and see them again. By the way, what did my mother read just now?

"Three combs until the children and grandchildren are full." The neat response sounded again with a joyful voice.

“！”

"Four combs to ......." "Woo, woo, mother, I'm not married, I can't bear you, I can't bear everyone, woo wow." Cai Qixian, who couldn't help it, hugged her mother in her thirties and cried loudly. Fortunately, the experienced daughters-in-law did not put makeup on her in advance, otherwise Zhang Xiucai would have lifted the hijab at night and might have been scared to death by his newlywed wife.

"Okay, okay, don't cry, woo, my mother can't bear you, woo woo."

"It's the first time I've seen my ninth sister cry like this, hehe, don't cry, seventh sister-in-law, don't cry either, what are you doing on a happy day."

"Seventh sister, let's finish the above words, it's not beautiful to miss the hour."

"Yes, Seventh Sister, if you cry hoarsely, the next words of the Nine Girls, do you want others to help you say them."

"Mna don't cry, when your grandmother was still there, didn't she see you crying the most. If you get married today, your grandmother will definitely be watching you from heaven. Seventh daughter-in-law, don't cry, my uncle is almost here. ”……

When the daughters of the Cai family get married, they ask the daughters-in-law of the Cai family to be present and recite the greetings together, not just to ask for good luck. At least there is a reason that is easy to find, and it is clear from watching this scene.

PS: Note 1: Wu Fu is also a Jinshi in the 41st year of Wanli, and Dai Junen, Zhang Fuzhen and Wu Fu are all from the third Jiaci Tongjinshi. If you are interested, you can flip through the information, this year's Jinshi has produced a lot of historical celebrities. In addition to the three of them, there are also Zhou Yanru, Zhang Fengyi, Wang Huazhen and Fan Jingwen, all of whom are important figures in the history of the late Ming Dynasty.

Note 2: The west moat is in the territory of Pingliang Mansion, and it is separated from Yansui West Road by a Qingyang Mansion. The combat strength of the general military reserve is indeed an example of supporting neighboring areas, but the inter-government secondment is quite special for a small garrison like Zhang Mengjin.

Note 3: The predecessor of Wu'an Jian was Wu'an Yuan, which was subordinate to Weiyuan Jian in the early Ming Dynasty, and Weiyuan Jian and Wu'an Yuan were horse herding institutions in the six prisons and 24 courts in the early Ming Dynasty. Due to the gradual decline of the Ming Dynasty's horse administration, the Ming Dynasty decided to rectify it. According to the record of volume 120 of the "Mingshenzong Record", the first month of the tenth year of Wanli Gengshenshuo Article records, the head of Wu'an Yuan was abolished, and Wu'an Yuan was promoted to Wu'an Supervisor and set up a supervisor, and Yu Lu was the same as the county official.

Note 4: The above time records are from the first volume of the Suikou Chronicles and the fifth volume of the Huailing Liukou Records. Some of the missing cadres and branches were made up by the author. In addition, in "Huailing Liukou Always Record", the leader of the convergence of Iron Horn City is Jiang Junyou, which should be a mistake of Red Junyou. In the 160th biography of "History of the Ming Dynasty", it is also a red gentleman's friend.