On the fourth day of the fourth month of the fourth month of the third year of Longwu (1647), after several days of long travel, Pang Yue and Ma Wenqian finally arrived at the capital of Hengzhou in the evening of this day. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

After the group entered the city, it was already dark. Ma Wenqian first returned to the palace to resume his life, and arranged Pang Yue and his entourage in a government-run post house near the palace, so that they could rest for the night and wait for Emperor Longwu to summon him tomorrow.

After Ma Wenqian left, Pang Yue looked at this familiar post house and couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion. He clearly remembered that in September last year, before he led the army to Chenzhou to take office, he was received and entertained by Emperor Longwu in Hengzhou, and that time he also happened to stay in this post house for one night, but he did not expect that after half a year, he came to Hengzhou again and lived in the same post house. And when I think back to the scene when I came to Hengzhou last time, it seems like it was just yesterday.

The more than half a year has passed in a flash, but many things have happened in the meantime. Expand the army and train troops, open an iron factory, set up a manufacturing bureau, open up wasteland and tuntian, and meet the Qing army in the south...... This scene kept transforming in Pang Yue's mind like a marquee, making him almost involuntarily sigh that time is like flowing water. But he also thinks that he has not wasted this half a year of precious time, and has lived up to the oath he made when he first came to this era. After all, after his own knowledge of history and a series of efforts, some tragic events in the original history were avoided, and an elite army that belonged to itself and could realize its own ideals and ambitions had begun to take shape. Although the overall situation of the enemy has not changed, as long as we survive, there is hope that we will turn defeat into victory.

After resting in the guest room for a while, Pang Yue walked to the window and pushed it open, only to see that the order on the street was still the same. Despite the changes in the general situation in the world, the capital city of Hengzhou also encountered the advance of the Qing army last month. But none of this seems to have had much impact on the lives of the people. At this moment, night began to fall, and the pedestrians were busy going home, and the street vendors put away their stalls and rushed home with the last shouts of selling, and the men in the shops on both sides of the street began to open the door boards and hang up the wooden signs for closing, and occasionally three or two children chased after each other, and the cheerful laughter and brisk steps rolled over the bluestone paved street all the way far away. The prosperity of the day has come to an end, but all kinds of things around are still peaceful, and the gusts of night breeze are blowing lightly, which is even more refreshing.

Hopefully, someday. In any corner of the land of China, the people can live in peace and tranquility as they are now, until they grow old naturally! Feeling the cool night breeze, Pang Yue sighed.

"Dashuai!" At this moment, Wei Yuan walked in to report. "General Ma Jinzhong and Chen Youlong are coming, and they are at the door."

"Let them in!"

"Yes!"

After Wei Yuan turned to leave. Pang Yue also closed the window. Went to the outside.

Pang Yue's guest room is an upper room, divided into two rooms, the inner room is a bedroom and a study, and the outer room is a spacious living room, which can be used for meeting visitors and holding banquets. Right now, Wei Yuan is living outside with a few capable soldiers. Protect the safety of Pang Yue at all times.

Not long after Pang Yue walked outside, Ma Jinzhong and Chen Youlong walked in under the guidance of their own soldiers.

"Dingwubo!" Ma and Chen, dressed in civilian clothes, hugged their fists with smiles.

"Oh, it turned out to be General Ma and General Chen!" Pang Yue also smiled back, "I'll wait for the last goodbye." It's been a month, right? Please sit down, come on, and serve tea! ”

"Uncle Dingwu has a good memory," Ma Jinzhong nodded after sitting down, and said with feeling, "That day in Hengshan County, Uncle Dingwu led the army to drag the main force of the Qing Dynasty, and General Chen and I came to Hengzhou to escort from the road under the supervision of the superintendent, and it has been a whole month!" ”

"Yes, time flies, and now that I think about it, it feels like it was yesterday!" Pang Yue answered with a smile, and then asked, "In the past month, the two of you have had a good time in Hengzhou, right?" ”

Chen Youlong said with a smile: "There is Lao Ding Wubo who is worried, since the withdrawal of the Qing prisoners in late last month, everything has been relatively calm. Speaking of which, this still depends on Ding Wubo and the soldiers of the various armies and towns in front of him to repel the Qing captives, and we have waited for such a worry-free day. ”

"The retreat of the Qing captives this time is caused by the joint efforts of all the soldiers who participated in the battle in the Ming Dynasty to kill the enemy, is it my own work? What's more, not long ago, the two of them were still fighting side by side with Pang Mou, and they also killed and injured many Qing prisoners, and made war exploits for the country, so why do you need to say these foreign words now? Pang Yue hurriedly excused himself, and then quipped, "Also, the news of the two of you seems to be very well-informed, and I have been settled in the post house for less than an hour, and the two of you have come here, but what's the urgency?" ”

"It's not a big deal for us to come here." Ma Jinzhong said, "I heard that Ding Wubo followed Ma Gonggong and his party to Hengzhou, so I came over to have a look. First, it is to congratulate Ding Wubo on his promotion to the right governor of Tongzhi, and second, it is because we are ashamed that some things are not explained to Ding Wubo, and my heart is really uneasy. ”

Hearing this, Pang Yue slowly smiled and asked, "Why did Mr. Ma say this?" ”

Ma Jinzhong sighed and said: "On that day, Ding Wubo led the army to contain the main force led by the slave chief Duoduo in Hengshan County, but we failed to fight side by side with Dingwubo and the soldiers of Huguang Town, so that the soldiers of Huguang Town were in danger and suffered heavy losses. As soon as I thought of this, I always felt ashamed of Dingwubo and all the soldiers of Huguang Town! ”

Chen Youlong also nodded apologetically: "The last general and General Ma have the same thoughts, so today I heard that Ding Wubo came to Hengzhou, so I thought that I would come over to make amends to Ding Wubo and the soldiers of Huguang Town no matter what!" ”

It turned out to be this, Pang Yue sighed lightly and comforted: "The two of you don't have to blame yourself so much, at that time, the Qing Dynasty had already sent a partial division to Hengzhou, if the two of them didn't come to Hengzhou in time to rescue the driver, the saint would be in danger." It's all the army of the imperial court, so there is no need to be so clear. It is impossible for the division of labor among the various military towns to be absolutely equal at all times, and it is inevitable to do more and do less. It's important that we don't overthink these subtleties, and sometimes it's okay to take on a little more than our allies. If you can't even do this, how can you talk about recovering the rivers and mountains and recovering the Ming Dynasty? I received the intentions of the two, but what I want to say is that the two of them are not ashamed of me Pang and the soldiers of Huguang Town, and I and the soldiers of Huguang Town just did what they should do. ”

"Dingwu Bo is righteous, so Ma is really ashamed!" Ma Jinzhong once again solemnly arched his hand, "Although Ma is not talented and has an unbearable past, he has always admired those real men who are open-minded and well-behaved. Wu Bo is exactly such a person, worthy of association! I just don't know if Dingwu Boken refuses to make me a friend? ”

Pang Yue laughed loudly: "Mr. Ma's words are serious! The fact that the two of you are here today to say these words to me is enough to show that the two generals are also upright and good men! If so, how can I be reluctant to make friends? Both of them are older than me, so if there is no objection, how about allowing me to call them Brother Ma and Brother Chen respectively? ”

At the moment, although Pang Yue is still not sure what Ma Jinzhong and Chen Youlong really mean, he doesn't know if their words are sincere. But if they can come here and put down their posture and say those words of apology, it at least shows that they are taking the initiative to show favor to themselves. Considering that Ma and Chen did not have any bad deeds in history, and they had no losses in the big festival, Pang Yue didn't mind making friends with them. After all, multiple friends have many roads, and many enemies have many walls.

"Don't dare to be! Don't dare to be! Chen Youlong hurriedly said, "In the future, if Uncle Ding Wu has a place to be useful to Chen, even if the words are enough!" ”

Ma Jinzhong didn't have so many scruples, it seemed that because he had dissolved the knot in his heart, he was in a very good mood: "Since Uncle Ding Wu is so frank with each other, then Ma Mou will rely on the old and sell the old, and in the future, he will dare to call Uncle Ding Wu Brother Pang in private?" ”

"Of course you can, Brother Ma, please feel free!" Pang Yue smiled, "By the way, the two of you haven't had dinner yet, right?" Why don't you just stay and eat a little together, it just so happens that I still have something to teach the two brothers. ”

"Since Brother Pang is warmly invited, if I still blindly refuse, it will seem hypocritical and pretentious! Although General Chen and I have fought side by side with Brother Pang for a period of time, we have not been able to sit down for a good meal, so I just take this opportunity to make up for this shortcoming today! Ma Jinzhong readily agreed, and then sighed, "Otherwise, I don't know when I have to wait." After all, there are probably not many stable days left like the current one. ”

Listening to Ma Jinzhong's last sentence, Pang Yue couldn't help but wonder: "Why did Brother Ma say that?" But what was expected? ”

Ma Jinzhong said: "In recent days, the military department and the household department have been seizing the time to raise grain and grass, but that is obviously not for the garrison in the city. At present, the food and grass of the various armies in the city are still sufficient, and if they are only garrisoned, they will not need so much of it. Therefore, I guess that the imperial court is already preparing for the next war. I just don't know where it will be targeted, at present, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong are not very peaceful. ”

At this time, Pang Yue couldn't help but start thinking again.

………

Early in the morning of the second day, a eunuch in the palace came to the post house to spread a message and inform Pang Yue to enter the palace to face the saint.

After learning the news, Pang Yue did not slack off, made a little preparation, changed into the military attache court clothes, and followed the eunuch who came to deliver the message to the palace. (To be continued.) )