The wide and towering gold-inlaid cowhide tent was silent, and hundreds of mite generals and princes stood solemnly, all pointing to the more than 20 corpses of mite soldiers placed flat in the middle of the big tent, as well as the first brave general of mite qing, the first baturu, and the first assistant and master of the dynasty standing in front of these corpses with their backs. From Yue Le and Jieshu, who were noble princes, to ordinary deputy generals and staff generals, they didn't even dare to take a breath of air, for fear of disturbing or disturbing this powerful and meritorious commander of the whole army.

The reason why Ao Bai is so concentrated, of course, is that these mite Qing soldiers are all killed by the mysterious weapons of the Wu army, the night before, the plan of the mite Qing army to encircle and annihilate the Wu army's Gao Dejie department failed, one of the important reasons is because the Gao Dejie army used this mysterious firearm, killed Zhao Liangdong's army by surprise, dizzy, otherwise, Zhao Liangdong's army only needs to use the geographical advantage to drag the Gao Dejie army for two hours, the Mi Qing Laita cavalry can rush to the battlefield to reinforce, even if it cannot achieve the established tactical goal of annihilating the Gao Dejie army, you can also retreat to the next best thing to hit the Gaodejie army, a shame, and at the same time boost morale and stabilize the morale of the army.

However, the main purpose and secondary purpose of the Mites Qing army have not been achieved, and the result is caused by the mysterious firearms of Wu Sangui's army, which Aobai attaches the most importance to.

Judging from the situation at the time and the wounds of the corpses of the fallen soldiers, it was obvious that these mite Qing soldiers died from the explosion of gunpowder, and judging from the iron pieces and iron horns dug up from the wounds of the corpses, it is likely that the weapons of the Wu army were loaded with gunpowder into a thin iron cylinder, ignited and thrown out with fire, and the gunpowder exploded in the barrel, and the iron cylinder shattered and flew in all directions, killing and injuring nearby enemies. The flowering shells of the mite Qing army are also of this type, and of course Ao Bai understands the principle, but what Ao Bai does not understand, that is, the explosive power of Wu Jun's gunpowder weapons.

Judging from the reports of Zhao Liangdong and others, Wu Jun's mysterious firearm is not big, about the size of a wine jug, and the weight is definitely not there, and an ordinary soldier can easily throw this weapon twenty or thirty steps away. According to common sense, there must not be much gunpowder that can be stuffed with such a weapon, but the power of the explosion can almost catch up with the use of the Mites Qing army, and the Hongyi cannon with a charge of more than two catties is full of flowering shells, and even surpasses it, so that several corpses are simply blown into limb separation, chest and abdomen holes are opened, and even internal organs flow out, is this the power that one or two catties of gunpowder explosion can produce?

"Master Qiyu, the craftsman has rushed to make what you want." The voice of Hadaha, the protector of the Chinese army, broke the silence in the big tent, and after kneeling on one knee in front of Aobai, Hadaha held two iron cylinders of different sizes above his head, and said in a loud voice: "According to the Taishi's instructions, these two iron cylinders, one is three catties of gunpowder and the other is two catties of gunpowder, and a straw man has been erected outside the tent, and the power of the explosion can be tested at any time." ”

Ao Bai didn't answer, but first picked up the small iron cylinder, and after weighing it, Ao Bai quickly frowned - even the medicine belt barrel was too heavy, and if he threw it thirty steps away, a strong man with a thick waist and round shoulders could do it, but it was very difficult for ordinary soldiers. But Ao Bai refused to give up, and turned to Zhao Liangdong next to him and asked, "Qingzhi, look at it, how does it compare to the Wu military firearms you saw the night before?" ”

"Back to Taishi, Wu Gou's firearms are not so big." Zhao Liangdong replied tremblingly: "At that time, it was dark and I couldn't see clearly, but the last general was still sure that it was not so big, it was smaller, maybe only half the size." ”

"Taishi, could it be that the iron cylinder is thicker because our craftsmen rushed to make it, so it is big and heavy?" Yue Le asked.

Ao Bai picked up another fragment of Wu Jun's weapon, compared the thickness, and found that the fragment of Wu Jun's weapon was indeed thinner, and couldn't help but ignite the last ray of hope, and ordered: "Then blow it up and try it, come out, and go to the scene to see the situation." ”

The mites agreed together, and hurriedly hugged Ao Bai to the experimental field on the right side of the big tent, lit a fire in the open space full of straw people, and successively detonated these two iron cylinders containing two catties of black powder and three catties of black powder. As for the two-pound iron cylinder, it simply blew the iron cylinder into four or five pieces and knocked down the two straw men around.

Seeing that the explosion canister imitated by the Qing army craftsmen only had such an effect, Yue Le, who had a glimmer of hope before, could no longer speak, and simply closed his mouth without saying a word, while Le Erjin scratched the back of his bare head and said suspiciously: "Wu Sangui's old thief's lackey will make demon magic?" How can their firearms be so powerful? ”

"Idiot!" Ao Bai snorted coldly: "Things have come to this point, still don't understand?" Wu Sangui's old thief has already created a new gunpowder that is more powerful than ordinary gunpowder! With just a small amount of new gunpowder, it can exert a much greater power than a few catties of ordinary gunpowder! Wu Sangui, an old thief, invested heavily in firearms a few years ago, and it was really worth the money. This big battle is big. ”

Speaking of this, Ao Bai looked up at the sky again, and said slowly: "And Lu Yifeng boy, the old man really underestimated you too much, I really regret it, why didn't I resolutely leave you in the first place?" If you could have been truly obedient to the old man at that time, Wu Sangui and the old thief could have today? ”

"Taishi, what's the matter with Lu Yifeng's dog barbarian?" Le Erjin said unconvinced: "Listening to the tone of the Taishi, it's as if that Lu Yifeng barbarian is more important than anyone else. ”

"Lord Shun, you probably don't know something." Yue Le explained for Aobai: "According to the information grasped by the Taishi, all kinds of new firearms of Wu Sangui's old thief were made for him by Lu Yifeng, a barbarian, and Wu Sangui's old thief's Nule Mountain Firearms Battalion is actually Lu Yifeng's masterpiece. It can be seen that this powerful new type of gunpowder is also made by Lu Yifeng for Wu Sangui's old thief. ”

"And this?" Le Erjin was taken aback and said in surprise: "That Lu Yifeng barbarian, last time at the New Year's Ceremony in the capital, this king also saw him, a little barbarian who is white and fat, his appearance is not amazing, and he still has this ability?" ”

"There's something even more amazing." Yue Le said in a deep voice: "Taishi interrogated several Sizhou troops last night, according to their explanations, Gao Dejie's army was already entering the city, but Lu Yifeng's barbarian didn't know where he saw the flaw, and stopped Gao Dejie's thief army from entering the city in time, which led to the failure of our plan." ”

"He's him again?!" Le Erjin and many Qing generals were discolored. Yue Le nodded and said solemnly: "Xiao Wang now agrees with Taishi's judgment, if this Lu Yifeng barbarian is not removed, he will become a disaster for me!" ”

"But if I get this person in the Qing Dynasty, not only will I wait for one more help, but the strength of Wu Sangui's old thief will be deeply revealed, and the power of the new firearms will be immediately clear at a glance." Ao Bai suddenly said something amazing.

"Could it be that the Taishi has the intention of recruiting Lu Yifeng?" Yue Le asked in surprise.

"Of course I can come here, but unfortunately there is little hope." Ao Bai said coldly: "The old man back then, but he took out the two Huai Patrol Salt Road, the world's first fat shortage to recruit him, he was not tempted, not to mention that now the emperor is already going to kill him and hurry up, what else to recruit him?" ”

"If Taishi has this plan, then Xiao Wang can try." Yue Le said confidently: "Xiao Wang had a relationship with him back then, and they got along quite happily, as long as the emperor can pardon him with a decree, reward him with high-ranking officials, and show his position, it is not hopeless." ”

"Then you can try it." Ao Bai said casually: "Tell him that as long as he is willing to surrender anyway, the old man can use the head of the item to vouch, and all his previous sins can be forgiven, and what else he wants, just ask, and the old man will do his best to satisfy it." ”

Yue Le respectfully agreed, and Ao Bai instructed again: "Let's disperse, send an order to Tuhai, let him lead the main force south to Huangzhou to station, and the forward army will be stationed in Sizhou, and the Jiming Pass and Jiaoxi Pass will be tightly sealed. ”

………………

Under the initiative of Gao Dejie's army, the main force of the Mite Qing army finally achieved the first fruitful result since the southern expedition - recovering the Sizhou Mansion in Guizhou and recapturing the first piece of land controlled by Wu Sangui's rebels! And this result is the last thing that the main decision-makers of the mite Qing such as Aobai, Tuhai and Yue Le want! The strategic plan to lure the main force of the Wu army out of Guizhou for a decisive battle not only made some progress, but on the contrary, the Wu army led the nose and advanced nearly 80 miles into Guizhou, which further strengthened the determination of Wu Sangui's army to lure the main force of Mites into the hinterland of Guizhou for a decisive battle.

Fortunately, the front only advanced for 80 miles, and the impact on Aobai's strategic plan was not great, and there was still room for redemption, but the failure of the plan to completely annihilate the Gaodejie army was a heavy blow to the morale of the Mites Qing army, and many Mites Qing generals did not dare to say it in person, but they were already muttering quietly behind their backs, "Why is Ao Taishi so cowardly as a mouse?" Since Wu Sangui's old thief wants to fight a decisive battle in the hinterland of Guizhou, we have superior forces, so why don't we just go in and fight him directly? Why are you still grinding here and being laughed at by the world? ”

It's useless to mutter, Ao Bai is not thick enough in the political arena, and his heart is not black enough, but his will on the battlefield is firm, but he is far more than ordinary generals, especially after discovering that the power of Wu Jun's new firearms is far above himself, Ao Bai has strengthened his strategic determination to force Wu Sangui out of Guizhou - a decisive battle on the open Huguang border can not only lengthen Wu Sangui's grain and supply routes, but also limit the consumption of Wu Sangui's army and the supply of firearms. In the decisive battle in the hinterland of Guizhou, which is surrounded by mountains, how can you run if you lose? It's true to wait to be killed by Wu Sangui's army.

In addition to asking Xiao Mazi to promulgate the will of the first to enter Kunming and become kings, and to lure Geng Juzhong and the monk Zhixiao to take the bait, Ao Bai also asked Xiao Mazi and Bamburshan to come forward and send envoys to put pressure on Burma and Annam, asking them to resolutely fulfill the promises they had made to Xiao Mazi and Ao Bai - that is, to cut off economic exchanges with Wu Sangui's army and cut off grain trade with Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. Otherwise, once Ao Bai finds out that they have a set on the back of their faces, and when they clean up Wu Sangui, they will have to clean them up by the way.

In addition to explaining the benefits of recruiting Lu Fatzi to Xiao Mazi in the above table, he also sent a reliable workforce to disguise himself as an ordinary person to infiltrate Zhenyuanfu City, where Gao Dejie's army is currently stationed, and tried to get in touch with Lu Fatzi, hand over his own handwritten letter to Lu Fatzi, and then wait patiently for a reply.

Assist Aobai and Tuhai to arrange the relocation of the Qing army camp, tossing for five or six days, and finally settled down a little, on the afternoon of April 13 of the 11th year of the mite Qing Kang Mazi, the new issue of the Di Bao was transmitted and printed in Yuezhou, Changsha and other places, and sent to the Huangzhou camp, and sent to the important generals of the Mites Qing separately. Seeing that there was nothing to do in the army, Yue Le received the newspaper and quickly read it.

The length of this issue of the Di Bao is similar to the previous issues, all of them are fifteen pages and more than 4,000 words, and the content is quite rich, in addition to the official change of Xuezheng and the name of the newly appointed Xuezheng in various provinces this year, there is also the news that Xiao Mazi gave birth to the emperor's eldest son, Yinyu, and there are also some sycophants from all over the country who scolded Wu Sangui and the news that the Internal Affairs Office was ordered to arrest Kuding, and when I saw the thirteenth page, a piece of news made Yue Le's mouth squirt out of tea, and people also jumped up and exclaimed: "How is it possible? How could the emperor do this?! ”

Just when Yue Le was shocked, the soldiers outside the door suddenly flew a report, saying that it was the Fuyuan general Tu Haitu University Scholar who asked to see him, Yue Le hurriedly ordered the meeting, and personally greeted the door, and wanted to greet him outside the hospital, but Tu Hai limped into the room with a cane, and also held a copy of the newspaper that had just been delivered. As soon as they met, Tu Hai immediately gestured to hint that Yue Le would understand, and quickly drove all the soldiers out of the room, and personally closed the door and had a secret conversation with Tu Hai alone.

"Lord An, you also saw the Di Bao, right?" Tu Hai asked with a nervous face. Seeing Yue Le nodding, Tu Hai lowered his voice and asked, "What is the emperor planning to do?" Why did you release Wu Yingxiong and give him back the official position of young master and prince and prince? That's not all, why do you still use the palace to report this news to the world? What the hell is the emperor thinking? ”

"I'm curious about that, too." Yue Le replied in a low voice: "This is clearly showing favor to Wu Sangui?" Could it be that the emperor is already planning to make peace with Wu Sangui? ”

"If the emperor plans to make peace with Wu Sangui, then the Taishi will be in danger." Tu Hai said nervously: "Wu Sangui's old thief played the banner of Qingjun's side, killing Ao Taishi, the spearhead is aimed at Ao Taishi, the emperor released Wu Yingxiong at this critical moment, and let him reinstate the official, obviously he wants to use Wu Sangui's hand to get rid of Ao Bai." If the emperor really thinks so, then what position should we, as subordinates of Aobai, take? ”

Yue Le was speechless, if Xiao Mazi decided to join forces with Wu Sangui to deal with Aobai, then the closer they got to Aobai, the worse the fate would be in the future. Tu Hai stared nervously at Yue Le's expression, and suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Prince An, you and I have never had a holiday, today I want to ask you a question, please be sure to answer truthfully!" Tu Hai can also swear to Tianming that he will never leak a word, a word! ”

"Picture in the hall, excuse me." Yue Le replied in a low voice.

"Lord An, you are the emperor's cousin, and you are the general of Dingyuan Pingkou, you have military power, if the emperor has a secret decree, it is likely to be promulgated to you." Tu Hai said word by word: "The lower official knelt down and begged the prince to make it clear, did the emperor issue a secret decree to the prince, so that the prince could find an opportunity to get rid of Aobai, take over the military power, and then negotiate peace with Wu Sangui?" ”

"Nope." Yue Le shook his head decisively and replied in a low voice: "Tu Zhongtang is suspicious, how can the emperor give me such a secret decree?" ”

"Lord An, this is a humble surname, please be merciful, don't hide it from your humble position." Tu Hai almost didn't cry, and begged: "Prince An, you also know that the humble duty was rescued from the heavenly prison by Ao Bai, and his body has long been branded by the Ao Taishi and his party. ”

"Tu Zhongtang, you misunderstood, the emperor really didn't give me such a secret decree." Yue Le was angry and funny, and said in a low voice: "If Tu Zhongtang doesn't believe it, Xiao Wang can also swear to Tianming, if he hides the slightest bit from Tu Zhongtang, let Xiao Wang die under the sword and arrow, and he will never be able to turn over!" ”

Speaking of this, Yue Le lowered his voice again, and said with a wry smile: "Besides, you also know that although I am the emperor's cousin, but in the court, I don't have the picture in the middle hall that you can eat—the emperor would rather be alone with outsiders than me, how could the emperor give me such a secret decree?" ”

Yue Le told the truth, he was in the Qing Dynasty, and he was indeed not as good as Tuhai before he lost power, and he was more suspicious and excluded than Tuhai, how could Xiao Mazi hand over such a major secret matter to him? After Tu Hai thought about this, he quickly said suspiciously: "Since the secret decree is not here with you, Prince An, will it be with Prince Kang and King Shunjun?" ”

"I don't know." Yue Le stretched out his hands and comforted again: "Tu Zhongtang, don't think too much, the emperor released Wu Yingxiong and reinstated him as an official, perhaps because Wu Yingxiong has always been loyal to our Qing court." You also know that Wu Sangui's old thief sent someone into Beijing to pick up Wu Yingxiong, and Wu Yingxiong did not betray the Qing Dynasty. ”

"Lord An, if only it were that simple." Tu Hai smiled bitterly: "What is the relationship between Ao Taishi and the emperor, you and I both know it, and Tu Hai does not dare to deceive the prince is that the emperor has actually placed an inside line by Ao Taishi's side, which is to guard against Ao Taishi." The monarch and the minister are so suspicious, what else can not happen? ”

Yue Le was silent, and soon understood the true intention of Tu Hai to visit him suddenly, and at the same time he also had a sense of contempt for Tu Hai in his heart - no matter what, Tu Hai was rescued from the prison by Ao Bai, and helped Tu Hai get rid of the prison disaster of being tortured every day, even if he didn't repay it, now Xiao Mazi just revealed a little intention against Ao Bai, Tu Hai immediately wanted to move closer to the imperial party, maybe he wanted to sell his benefactor in exchange for his own glory and wealth, such a character is really a bit too noble.

"No, I have to go see Prince Kang." Tu Haiyi gritted his teeth and asked in a low voice, "Lord An, are you going?" He's also your cousin, so he's a bit talkative. ”

"I'm not going." Yue Le shook his head and replied: "Regardless of whether Jieshu has such a secret edict in his hand or not, I am not interested, I just want to quickly exterminate Wu Sangui, a traitor, and remove this real confidant for the emperor." ”

"Lord An, it is true that the old thief Wu Sangui is the emperor's real confidant." Tu Hai didn't notice Yue Le's disdain at all, and even persuaded: "But if the emperor doesn't want to clean up Wu Sangui now, but wants to get rid of another henchman, then if you stand on the wrong team, then you won't have any chance." ”

"Get out! Get out of here! Yue Le was furious, pointed to the door and roared: "Get out of here now, you like to stand in line and stand by yourself, I, Yue Le, am not that interested!" Get lost! ”

Tu Hai's face turned pale, and he finally understood that his shameless act had completely angered Yue Le, who was still upright, but when he wanted to explain, he was glared at by Yue Le's eyes, and he was so frightened that he didn't dare to speak, so he had to leave with a cane, and Yue Le spat heavily at his back and scolded: "Shameless! ”

Angrily, he turned around the room for a long time with his hands behind his back, and was hesitating whether he should play a fold to Xiao Mazi, asking Xiao Mazi to put Wu Yingxiong back in prison or behead him directly, when the soldiers suddenly came in from outside the door, saying that it was Aobai summons, Yue Le didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly changed his clothes and went out of the city, all the way directly to the big tent of the Aobai Chinese army located outside the city. When he entered the big tent again, he saw Ao Bai sitting alone on the handsome chair, Yue Le hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, "Little Wang Yue Le, I was ordered to meet the Taishi." ”

Aobai, who usually didn't pay much attention to etiquette, was unusual, as if he hadn't heard Yue Le's voice, and he didn't open his mouth for a long time to let Yue Le get up. Yue Le was curious, quietly raised his head, and when he took a closer look at the expression on Ao Bai's face, he saw that Ao Bai was also holding the newspaper in his hand, and on his cheeks with a thick beard, two muddy old tears had been hung on at some point............

"Master ......." Yue Le's nose was sour, and he choked up and repeated: "Little Wang Yue Le, I was ordered to meet ...... Great Qing Taishi. ”

(To be continued)