On the second day after Cao Yue was received by Emperor Chongzhen, Dai Shan was executed at the entrance of the vegetable market, almost to death by a thousand cuts.

During the Battle of Songshan, Wang Pu, the first Datong general to abandon the army and flee, and Zhang Ruolin, the prison army, were also beheaded.

After killing Dai Shan, Wang Pu and Zhang Ruolin, the two scapegoats for the defeat in the Battle of Songshan, Emperor Chongzhen announced an amnesty to the world, and then rewarded Hong Chengchou and Cao Bianjiao. Hong Chengchou added the crown prince Taibao, and continued to preside over the military and political affairs of Liaodong as the governor of Jiliao, and Cao Bianjiao served as the commander of the Liaodong Metropolitan Envoy and commanded the military affairs of Liaodong. Other generals who made military exploits were also rewarded, and the more than 1,000 soldiers who followed Cao Yue to attack Shengjing were relatively richly rewarded.

However, now that the treasury is empty, the imperial court really can't afford to reward the soldiers who have made military achievements, and the money and goods given to Cao Yue and his soldiers are also pitiful. Cao Yue had to promise that when the soldiers arrived in Datong with him, he would give them enough rewards and would definitely satisfy them.

Cao Yue gave all the rewards he received to his right-hand men, including Cao Jie, Zhao Liang and others.

Although the soldiers were a little indignant about the rewards they received, Cao Yue's actions still warmed their hearts.

The more than 1,000 people led by Cao Yue's plaintiff, as well as the 2,000 soldiers assigned to him by Hong Chengchou, will follow him to Datong.

Cao Yue also wanted to leave Beijing as soon as possible and go to Datong, which was his hometown, where he would be more at ease, and there was no one there who could restrain him, so he could train his troops well according to his own ideas, and train a strong elite army.

Cao Yue also asked Cao Jie to leave Beijing with some people to fight in Datong first and make some necessary preparations.

In the next few days, Chang Yanling and others came to Cao Yue from time to time to make an appointment and take him to the Qinglou Courtyard or the restaurant to drink and have fun.

Cao Yue didn't refuse, anyway, there was nothing to do, they came to make an appointment and followed.

People often pay attention to a fate, many people meet and get along every day, but there is no way to make deep friends; Some people only dated once or twice, and they felt like-minded, and they became acquaintances, and Chang Yanling and others gave Cao Yue this feeling.

Although these people seem to be the gangsters, this is just a performance phenomenon, in Cao Yue's opinion, these people are very bold and righteous, upright, and quite bloody, and they are worthy of fellowship.

In fact, if it weren't for this kind of person, they wouldn't have come to know Cao Yue with a big grin and asked him out for a drink. They admired Cao Yue's courage and pride, so they came to mingle. Cao Yue was very glad that he was able to meet these people after arriving in Beijing.

On this day, the four of them drank and listened to music together in Tianxianglou, and after several contacts, Chang Yanling and others also knew that Cao Yue had a very high vision, and ordinary Qinglou women couldn't look down on him, and even the Oiran of Tianxianglou was not interested in cheering, so he didn't recommend any woman to him.

Chang Yanling has already decided to go to Nanjing in a few days to take up his post.

"Brother Yue, brother, I will go to Nanjing in a few days, presumably you will also go to Datong soon, you have to talk about it, you must come to Nanjing, my brother will take you to play, take you to see Qin Huai Bayan, if you fancy any of them, my brother will definitely help you get it!" Chang Yanling hiccuped and said to Cao Yue: "Qin Huai Bayan is a person whose eyes are above the top, but they will definitely be able to look at a person like Brother Yue'er who is heroic and talented, and there may be a lot of romance at that time." ”

Zhang Shize and Guo Peimin immediately laughed, saying that they really wanted to see the romantic stories of beauties and heroes.

After laughing, Cao Yue also led the topic to some serious matters, he whispered to Chang Yanling that after he arrived in Datong, maybe he would send some family members to Nanjing to buy some family business, and he hoped to get Chang Yanling's help at that time.

Cao Wenzhao is a native of Datong, and Cao Yue's family, including his mother and second brother Cao Chao and some other family members are in Datong, and Datong can be said to be the birthplace and base camp of their Cao family. This time he took up his post in Datong, Cao Yue planned to take precautions and arrange some things, send people who believed in it to Nanjing, buy some industries, and prepare for future development.

During the Ming Dynasty, the richest place was Jiangnan, and now the Ming Dynasty wants money and no money, and if you want to achieve great things, you must go to the south to develop. There is money and things in the south, and Cao Yue plans to let his family members who have good ability and trust buy some properties in Nanjing and work hard to make money to complete his grand plan.

Datong is a good place, his father Cao Wenzhao is still in influence, the Cao family is also one of the most powerful families in Datong, Wang Pu's Wang family cannot be compared with the Cao family, but Datong is barren, and it is not easy to complete the plan.

Moreover, the situation in the north is unstable, Li Zicheng's peasant rebel army and Jiannu can threaten it, while in the south, neither Jiannu nor Li Zicheng will not take care of it for the time being, their goal is Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Datong is not far from Beijing, and if there is a war, it will definitely spread, and Cao Yue cannot but make other considerations.

Hearing Cao Yue say this, Chang Yanling agreed without hesitation, and patted his chest and said that Cao Yue's business is his business, as long as he can do it, just say it.

Cao Yue expressed his gratitude, and he suggested that Zhang Shize and Guo Peimin also seize the opportunity to go to Nanjing. However, these two people don't seem to have this idea, and only say that they will decide when they see the opportunity later.

Three days after this gathering, Chang Yanling left Beijing for Nanjing.

Cao Yue, who was still on vacation, went to see him off with Zhang Shize and Guo Peimin.

In the next few days, Cao Yue also began to prepare to return to Datong.

To take over as the general army of Datong, you need to go to the military department for handover. Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, is a person who single-handedly promoted Wang Pu, and he doesn't seem to be very enthusiastic about Cao Yue, a general who has made military achievements, and seems to be a little bit of a mustard for him.

After returning to Beijing, the officials he met did not seem to be very friendly to him, and Cao Yue was very puzzled and could not figure out why.

Fortunately, the handover was done quickly, and after the handover, Cao Yue could leave Beijing and go to Datong to take up his post.

At the time of the handover of the military department, Cao Yue also knew one thing, that is, now the soldiers and horses in Datong Town are pitiful, when Wang Pu threw down his men and fled for his life, most of the soldiers in Datong Town were annihilated by Jiannu, and a small number were absorbed by other general soldiers. Although the imperial court gave a recruitment plan, it was not easy to recruit a full number of soldiers. Moreover, the imperial court still had no way to give food, so Cao Yue needed to find a way to raise it himself.

Cao Yue didn't know if this was a deliberate attempt by the Ministry of War or if this was indeed the case. However, Cao Yue, who has seen many similar situations and knows that everything has to be solved by himself, has not complained too much.

During this time, he also managed to find some relationships, including Wang Chengen's in the palace, and some of his father's close friends, and got some of what he wanted.

When Cao Yue was about to leave Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen summoned him again.

This time, Chongzhen sent Wang Chengen to invite him over, and this special treatment made Cao Yue a little flattered.

After a polite exchange of words, Wang Chengen also revealed that Emperor Chongzhen wanted Cao Yue to be a concubine, of course, he said it very vaguely, and he didn't say that this was what Emperor Chongzhen meant, only said that Zhu Yujiao would soon reach the age of marriage, and now Emperor Chongzhen was looking for a good son-in-law for his daughter, he felt that Cao Yue was quite suitable, and asked Cao Yue if he would like to be a concubine.

Cao Yue didn't expect Wang Chengen to ask such a question, he was not stupid, he immediately thought that this was Emperor Chongzhen sent Wang Chengen to tempt, he subconsciously wanted to agree, but immediately felt that things were not so simple, he was also clear about the many restrictions on horses in the Ming Dynasty, and after praising Zhu Yujiao's beauty and generosity, he said euphemistically: "Princess, if you can marry Princess Kunxing, it will be the blessing of the last general." But now the national disaster is at the head, the foreign invasion continues, the Ming Dynasty has civil strife, the world is not peaceful, the husband should be responsible for protecting the family and defending the country, the Huns have not been destroyed, why do you want to be at home? What the last general wants most now is to eliminate Jiannu and quell the rebellious rebellion, and nothing else has ever thought about it!"

Hearing Cao Yue say this, Wang Chengen was not very angry, but admired Cao Yue's heroism, saying that what the Ming Dynasty lacks most now is a brave and ambitious person like Cao Yue, and he will definitely relay Cao Yue's words to the emperor.

When Emperor Chongzhen met Cao Yue, he only encouraged Cao Yue, asking him to lead the troops after he arrived in Datong, Datong is the throat of the guarding Jingshi, and Jiannu and Chuang Rebellion are likely to fight from there, hoping that Cao Yue will not live up to his expectations, and the enemy will be eliminated under the city in the future, and will not let Jiannu or rebel through Datong to attack Beijing.

Emperor Chongzhen also gave Cao Yue some promises, but they were all vague things, and in Cao Yue's feelings, they were fake big emptiness. However, Emperor Chongzhen's special treatment of himself had already made him quite satisfied, and he didn't dare to ask for anything in front of Chongzhen.

When Cao Yue was about to retire, Emperor Chongzhen changed the topic and talked about Cao Yue's marriage, and asked Cao Yue what he thought about his life's events. Cao Yue also roughly repeated what he had just said to Wang Chengen to Chongzhen.

Before meeting Cao Yue just now, Chongzhen, who had already heard Wang Chengen relay what Cao Yue said, didn't say much, but greatly praised Cao Yue, and said that if Cao Yue made another military exploit, he would personally marry Cao Yue.

Hearing Chongzhen say this, Cao Yue also believed more and more that the emperor in front of him wanted him to be his son-in-law. However, Emperor Chongzhen did not say it explicitly, and Cao Yue did not dare to think about it, let alone express his willingness or unwillingness in this matter, so he could only thank him.

Guessing what Emperor Chongzhen meant, Cao Yue really wanted to meet Zhu Yujiao to see if Zhu Yujiao knew about this and how she reacted. But when he left the Qianqing Palace, he didn't meet Zhu Yujiao or Zhu Cijiong, so he couldn't see Zhu Yuanjiao.

In the end, Cao Yue left Beijing with some regrets and went to Datong to take up his post!

(End of Volume 1)