On the evening of 22 October, Zhu Dadian and the accompanying officers of the First Cadre Military Department arrived at the Chengdong Wharf in Ganzhou on a boat that had been transferred from the capital of Ganzhou. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoPang Yue, Qian Lu, a number of generals in Ganzhou Town, some officials of Ganzhou Prefecture, and representatives of some city gentry have already been waiting here.

After the ship docked, the first to go ashore was a team of soldiers responsible for protecting Zhu Dadian's safety and several low-level officials accompanying him. Immediately afterwards, an old man wearing a black gauze hat, wearing a bright red second-grade civilian uniform, with gray hair but strong spirits, slowly landed on the shore with steady steps, which was the military department Shangshu Zhu Dadian who came to Ganzhou this time.

As soon as Zhu Dadian came ashore, Pang Yue and Qian Lu had already arrived together and came to him to take a deep look.

"Pang Yue, the lowly commander of Ganzhou, has seen Lord Zhu!"

"Qian Lu, the prefect of Ganzhou, has seen Lord Zhu!"

"You don't have to be polite!" Zhu Dadian helped the two of them up with a smile, and greeted Pang Yue again: "Mu Yuan, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon!" ”

Pang Yue also smiled: "Yes, time passes like a white horse, but Master Zhu is still in style!" ”

Zhu Dadian was very useful when he heard this sentence: "Hahaha, Mu Yuan has only been in charge of Ganzhou Town for a few months, why did he learn so smoothly?" The old man has already entered his twilight years, so how can he talk about his style? ”

"The lower officials have admired Lord Zhu for a long time, and the prestige of the adults before them is like thunder." Qian Lu also came up and said, "I am fortunate to witness the look of the adult today, and I know that what I heard before is not a lie!" ”

"Lord Qian is serious!" Zhu Dadian said with a smile, "You ask me to be an official in the same dynasty, and I just share the king's worries." The old man just relied on the early entry of the company to accumulate some false fame, and he should not be so falsely praised! ”

As soon as Zhu Dadian's words came out, he immediately received a lot of compliments from Qian Lu. Although Pang Yue's impression of Qian Lu was okay, he still couldn't help but get goosebumps after hearing these polite words. It seems that no matter who you are, as long as you are in the officialdom, you will unconsciously be contaminated with these clichés over time. However, fortunately, no matter how elaborate the scene was, there was an end to it, and after some politeness, Zhu Dadian finally entered the city surrounded by Pang Yue, Qian Lu, and a large group of generals and officials.

In the evening, the Yamen of the Ganzhou General Army, Pang Yue's study

Zhu Dadian was sitting behind Pang Yue's usual desk, and his face was slightly flushed with red light because he had just drunk a few glasses at the reception banquet.

"Mu Yuan, did you write that?" Zhu Dadian pointed to a painting on the wall and asked Pang Yue, who was sitting in front of the desk.

Pang Yue looked in the direction of Zhu Dadian's finger, and saw that the words were the couplets he wrote more than a month ago to mourn the people of Jiangyin: "Eighty days with allegiance, the characters of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Taizu; 60,000 people died with one heart and left 300 miles of rivers and mountains in the Ming Dynasty". Although the font of this character is not very beautiful, it almost penetrates the back of the paper, and there is an unconcealable sadness and indignation between the strokes.

"Yes, the words were written by a lowly officer, but this couplet was not written by a lowly officer, but from the mouth of a scholar." Pang Yue nodded.

"What a character of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Taizu, a good one who stayed in the Ming Dynasty for three hundred miles! It can be said that the loyalty of the people of Jiangyin is vividly portrayed! Zhu Dadian let out a sigh of emotion from his heart, but his tone inevitably carried a trace of sadness and pain: "If my Ming army and people can follow suit, why are you afraid of the thieves and thieves?" Why did the great country fall to this? Alas! The old man could see from this painting that Mu Yuan was full of resentment about the fall of Jiangyin. Isn't that the case with the old man? The East captives annihilated humanity, lost their conscience, and poisoned my people so much! As the secretary of the military department, the old man is also deeply ashamed that he can't protect the people thoroughly! ”…,

"Master Zhu doesn't have to blame himself too much, for the occurrence of such a tragedy, our generals also have an unshirkable responsibility! However, as the so-called evil has evil retribution, this blood debt, he will definitely repay the Jiannu with interest one day! Pang Yue comforted, his eyes revealing undoubted determination.

"Mu Yuan's words are reasonable, such an enmity that does not share the heavens, how can we and other Ming courtiers forget it? It's a pity that now the power of our dynasty is lonely, and there are Eastern captives eyeing and pressing step by step, and King Lu is self-established to contend with the imperial court. Under such a critical situation, it was really difficult for the imperial court to raise troops for the Northern Expedition and take revenge in a short period of time, so it had to write down these blood debts for the time being. Zhu Dadian sighed and said slightly, "However, many of my loyal ministers and good generals of the Ming Dynasty are also thinking about sharing worries for the court all the time, such as Mu Yuan, the old man has learned from the nearby gentry on the way to Ganzhou that soon after you took office, you raised troops to wipe out a group of thieves who had been harming southern Gannan for many years, and relieved a major problem for the imperial court, and the impact among the common people and gentry was also quite far-reaching. You can do this, and it is not in vain that the old man trusted you before! ”

Pang Yue said modestly: "Such a trivial matter is really a humble duty, and it should not be praised by Lord Zhu like this." ”

"Mu Yuan doesn't have to be too humble, the old man has long said that as long as there are loyal ministers and good generals like you, there will be a day of revival in the Ming Dynasty." Speaking of this, Zhu Dadian seemed to have some good news in mind, and a smile appeared on his face: "Recently, there has been good news in Huguang. After the appeasement of He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, and the governor of Yinxi, the remnants of the Chuang army that moved to the area of Huguang and Jingzhou have been subordinated to the imperial court under the leadership of Gao Yigong and Li Guo. After more than ten years of Li Chuang's rebellion, it finally ended, and the spirit of Emperor Weizong (Chongzhen) in the sky could also be blinded. ”

Hearing Zhu Dadian say this, Pang Yue immediately remembered the next historical trend. After the rest of the Dashun Army was reorganized into the Loyal Battalion, he personally went to Hubei to recruit Huguang Governor Du Yinxi and decided to take advantage of the lack of Qing troops in Hubei to launch a campaign to restore Hubei. At that time, Du Yinxi sent a letter to He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang in Changsha, suggesting that he should lead the loyal battalion to capture Jingzhou first, and then He Tengjiao would lead the troops from Yuezhou, Hunan to the north, and then the two armies would meet under the city of Wuchang to conquer this important military town, so as to recover the entire Hubei. It can be said that the strategic vision of plug Yinxi is quite unique, and the strategic concept put forward is also feasible. At this time, the military strength of the Qing court in Hubei was quite weak, and only a few soldiers and horses raised by Tong Yang, the governor of Huguang, and were not able to compete with the Ming army in Hunan and the loyal battalion in Hubei. If the strategic concept of blocking Yinxi can really be implemented, it will not be difficult to restore Hubei.

But the results turned out to be unsatisfactory. After receiving Tong Yanghe's urgent distress document, the general of Jiannu Pingnan, who was stationed in Nanjing, led his army to Wuchang day and night. However, He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang who was close to Hunan, and Dao Zhangkuang, the superintendent of the army, dragged their work and gathered soldiers and horses to rush to Wuchang after the solemn oath in Changsha, and did not arrive in Yuezhou, Hunan until seven days before Le Kedehun arrived in Wuchang, and stayed in Yuezhou for a few days because the horses he purchased did not arrive. Later, Luck Dehun only sent a few Manchurian soldiers to bluff and make a gesture of going south to Yuezhou, and Ma Jinzhong, Wang Yuncai and other troops under the supervision of He Tengjiao were frightened and ran away, and He Tengjiao and Zhang Kuang also fled back to Changsha in a hurry without ascertaining the strength and strategic intentions of the Qing army. After effortlessly scaring He Tengjiao away, Luck Dehun made a detour from behind to launch a surprise attack on the loyal battalion that was attacking Jingzhou, and the loyal battalion suffered heavy losses under surprise and was forced to retreat westward to the Three Gorges area. The Ming court's plan to recover Jingzhou and even the entire Hubei region fell through. …,

Thinking of this, Pang Yue tried to ask Zhu Dadian: "Dare to ask, what does Master Zhu think about the reorganization of the rest of the army?" ”

Zhu Dadian twisted his beard and said slowly: "Li Chuang has been in turmoil for many years, and he is a big trouble for the imperial court, and later he broke through the Jingshi and caused Weizong to suffer, which is even more evil!" However, at the moment, Dongyu is my Ming's number one mortal enemy, so this mustard has to be put aside for the time being. What's more, Emperor Weizong also said that the thief is also a son of the Ming Dynasty, and he can be suppressed or appeased. Now it is not impossible for the army to change its mind and return to the imperial court to make meritorious contributions. ”

"What Lord Zhu said is extremely true." Hearing Zhu Dadian say this, Pang Yue was relieved, it seems that Zhu Dadian is not the kind of rotten Confucian who hates the Dashun army more than Jiannu.

"After the army returned to Shun, I have another force in Huguang that can be used." A glimmer of hope flashed in Zhu Dadian's eyes, "At that time, the loyal battalion and the Huguang armies will attack from all sides, why worry about Jingzhou and Wuchang?" It is not difficult to recover even the whole of Hubei! ”

Hearing this, Pang Yue felt that it was necessary to remind Du Yinxi through Zhu Dadian, so he said: "Lord Zhu, dare to say it, although the situation in Huguang is now beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, we must not be unguarded against Jiannu!" ”

"Oh? Mu Yuan, please speak! "Zhu Dadian has always attached great importance to Pang Yue's suggestions.

Pang Yue said: "With all due respect, although there are a lot of soldiers and horses controlled by Lord He, the governor of Huguang, there are very few soldiers who dare to fight. Hugh said that confronting the Manchurian Jiannu, even compared with the remnants of the Chuang army that was reorganized into a loyal battalion, I am afraid it is beyond the reach of the dust. Jiannu still has 30,000 elite eight banners in Nanjing, once the situation changes, day and night along the river, can reach Wuchang in less than a month, then the strength and weakness may be reversed instantly. ”

After listening to what Pang Yue said, Zhu Dadian's face also became solemn: "What Mu Yuan said is not unreasonable, but is it too pessimistic?" First of all, no matter what the combat strength of the soldiers and horses under Governor He is, even if it is really as unbearable as Mu Yuan said, but after all, it is close to Changsha and Yuezhou, and it will not take much time to go north to Wuchang. ”

Pang Yue had long expected that Zhu Dadian would say this, and the current Huguang Ming Army led by He Tengjiao was still a behemoth at least on the surface, and there were still a few people who could see their inward-looking nature at a glance. But Pang Yue was not ready to completely convince Zhu Dadian, but just hoped to use Zhu Dadian's mouth to remind Du Yinxi, because the real power over Huguang was not in the hands of Zhu Dadian.

"But has Lord Zhu thought about it? Jiannu's marching style has always been known for surprise, once it suddenly appears in Huguang territory day and night, won't my Ming army be caught off guard? We have to guard against this! Pang Yue said, "Therefore, I think that Lord Zhu should give Governor He and the governor of blocking a reminder, especially the governor of Hubei, please be sure to have multiple eyeliners, and always guard against Jiannu's thousands of miles of attacks and secretly attack!" ”

Although Zhu Dadian really found it difficult for He Tengjiao and the others to be so vulnerable, out of trust in Pang Yue, he still nodded solemnly: "Mu Yuan rest assured, the old man will send a letter to Governor He and Governor Du as soon as possible, so that they can always be on guard against the eastern captives who may come from Nanjing." Moreover, after returning to Fuzhou, the old man will send a notice to the armies in Huguang in the name of the Ministry of War, so that they can take precautions. ”

"Your Excellency!"