This is a war without suspense, in the end the Ming army musket team won a complete victory, they only paid a slight price of six killed, more than 10 wounded, more than 300 Mongolian cavalry but tragically destroyed, more than 200 people were killed and wounded, more than 50 people were killed and wounded by the dragon king cannon, only more than ten horsemen turned around and fled.

Wang Pu asked the bearded man to leave a team of 100 people to clean up the battlefield, responsible for mending the wounded and undead Mongols, and then led the other four hundred-man team to take advantage of the victory to pursue and kill the Mongol camp.

Surrounded by mountains, the valley is scattered with hundreds of Mongolian felt bags, near the Mongolian felt bags is a piece of cattle, sheep and horses in the pen, herds of cattle, sheep and horses are locked in the pen, the Mongolian cavalry who have fled back has brought the bad news back to the camp, the old and young women and children left in the camp are nervously packing up, desperately driving the livestock, trying to escape here before the Ming army kills.

But all this is in vain, and it is simply wishful thinking to complete the migration in such a short time.

Wang Pu gently pulled forward with the waist knife in his hand, and the bearded man next to him roared hoarsely: "Attack ......"

More than 400 soldiers howled like wolves, their eyes were red, and then they followed Wang Pu and the bearded man and slid down the hill to kill the Mongol camp.

In order to protect the camp and the old and young women and children, the dozen or so Mongolian cavalry who fled back to the camp screamed and brandished their scimitars, and made the last charge of their lives, this charge was tragic, and the result was tragic, and the more than 400 Ming musketeers took only one salvo to knock them all down.

The rest of the old and young women and children could no longer take care of their cattle, sheep and livestock, turned over their horses and ran away, and those who did not have time to escape, whether they were old people or children, all became the ghosts of the guns, only dozens of young Mongolian women were not killed, struggling and screaming and dragged into the felt bag by the Ming soldiers surnamed Dafa.

Wang Pu didn't stop it, and he didn't want to stop it, the soldiers had just gone through half a month of hard marching, and their mental and physical strength had reached an extreme, if they didn't find a channel to relieve their tense nerves, they would probably lose their minds and become real beasts, and at that time, even the seven major military regulations could not restrain them.

After most of the hour, the follow-up brigade also rushed to the Mongolian camp, waiting for them was a pile of blazing bonfires, buckets of hot cows, sheep and mare's milk, and fat mutton roasted on the fire.

Wang Pu could only smile bitterly and shake his head, it seemed that his expectations of these guys were still a little too high, at least their discipline did not fully meet Wang Pu's requirements, but thinking about it again, Wang Pu was relieved, if he wanted to make a group of cold, hungry, hungry and thirsty big-headed soldiers stay calm in front of fragrant fat and tender mutton, it was as difficult as letting a group of silver sticks maintain restraint in front of a stripped beauty.

Under such extreme circumstances, the soldiers must not be restrained too much, otherwise, their already tense nerves may be torn at any time, and the best way to deal with them now is to let them eat like crazy, drink like crazy, play like crazy, howl like crazy, kill like crazy, and even let them fight like crazy when necessary.

All in all, we must vent all the accumulated dark emotions, only in this way will these guys not leave a shadow on their psychology, their surnames will not be distorted, and after returning to Datong, they will be able to regain their sanity and become the disciplined Predators that Wang Pu needs.

■■■

Jingshi, the Forbidden City Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Chongzhen had just finished reading the letter sent by Zhang Zi'an from Datong in an urgent manner of 600 miles, and turned his head to Wang Chengen and said: "I didn't expect that Datong Town would dare to take the initiative to send troops in the case of a shortage of major generals, uprooting the Tumo people who had threatened the border of Daming for nearly a hundred years, and also captured a large number of cattle, sheep and livestock, filling the gap of 600,000 arrears of the border army, not to mention, and handing over 500,000 surplus silver to the key treasury of the Inner Government, hehe, it seems that Zhang Zi'an, a slave, is still a little capable." ”

Wang Chengen was careful, and said in a flattering voice: "Zhang Zi'an, a slave and a slave, still understands, although he loves money and is really bold, but he still has the ability, but then again, if it weren't for Zhang Zi'an's boldness, he wouldn't dare to take the initiative in the absence of a major general, right?" Therefore, the slave maid thought that he was still the most wise, and he sent Zhang Zi'an, the slave and maid, to Datong, which is called far-sightedness and precautions, and it is also called strategizing and winning thousands of miles away. ”

"Hahaha......" Emperor Chongzhen laughed a few times, shook his head and said, "However, relying on Zhang Zi'an's slave maid alone, no matter how bold he is, he will definitely not have such a big hand, I am sure that there is another master behind him, Cheng En, you say, who will be the master who will give Zhang Zi'an, the slave and maid?" ”

"This ......," Wang Chengen shook his head and said, "The slave is dull, and I really can't think of it." ”

"I know you can figure it out, but I just won't say it." Emperor Chongzhen snorted and said, "Since you don't want to say it, then I will say it for you, this master is none other than Wang Pu!" ”

"Long live the master, Master Mingjian." Wang Chengen hurriedly knelt on the ground and knocked on the ground with his head, "The slave really didn't expect this layer." ”

"Alright, get up." Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "Grandpa Tai has a clear precept, and the courtiers and relatives are not allowed to be involved in the local border towns, but Wang Pu and Zhang Zi'an, the slaves, are not so particular, Wang Pu is a concubine, and Zhang Zi'an is a border town, but after all, he is a person in the palace, and he is not a real feudal official, so even if they are really involved, it is not a taboo." I know that you want to defend those slaves and maids under you, and I don't want to offend the concubine because of this matter, I know that you are embarrassed, so I don't blame you for hiding it from me just now, but you honestly tell me, is this Datong victory a trick from Wang Pu to Zhang Zi'anzhi? ”

Wang Chengen paused his head and sobbed: "Long live Lord Mingjian, the slave and maid really don't know." ”

Emperor Chongzhen nodded, and said abruptly: "It seems that you really don't know, Zhang Zi'an, this slave and maid, even hid it from you!" ”

It stands to reason that Datong Town won the battle, and the arrears of the border army were also solved, and Emperor Chongzhen should be very happy, but what is confusing is that Emperor Chongzhen doesn't seem to be happy at all, and even faintly worried, Wang Chengen couldn't figure out what Emperor Chongzhen was thinking for a while, so he asked cautiously: "Long live Lord, when you turn around, the slave will send someone to Datong to investigate thoroughly." ”

"It's okay to send someone to check." Emperor Chongzhen said, "But if you want to act in secret, the Datong town guard still lets Zhang Zi'an be the guard." ”

Wang Chengen hurriedly said: "Long live Lord Shengming." ”

■■■

The northern foot of Yin Mountain.

The Mongol winter camp has now become the camp of the Ming army, and Wang Pu's army has been stationed here for two whole days, after two days of rest, under the nourishment of fat mutton, mare's milk wine and fresh goat's milk, this army on the verge of collapse has finally regained its spirit.

However, this is not a place to stay for a long time after all, so you still have to find a way to leave as soon as possible.

Although this Mongolian tribe at the northern foot of Yinshan is not small, it is very poor, although there are many sheep and goats, but the number of cattle and horses is very small, and intuition tells Wang Pu that this tribe should be the Chahar people, that is, the descendants of the last Khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, Lin Dan Khan, and it can be said that it is the highest status tribe in the Northern Yuan Dynasty!

Unfortunately, since the conquest of Mongolia by Huang Taiji, the Chahar people have become the lowest status tribe of all the tribes in Mongolia, their cattle and sheep, women, and pastures have been occupied by other tribes, and Huang Taiji also forced the vast majority of the Chahar people to migrate eastward into the Songnen Plain and the Liaohe River Loop, and eventually became slaves of the Horqin and Manchurians.

This small tribe did not migrate eastward, and stayed in the Yinshan area to survive tenaciously, but their living environment was obviously very bad, and it was likely that they were often exploited by other tribes, so they were so poor, the herd was so small, and there were only four or five hundred horses.

Due to the lack of horses, Wang Pu had to start his previous idea again, and this idea was a sled.

Sledding first appeared in Switzerland, at this time it was far from reaching the Ming Dynasty, whether it was the Ming people, the Mongols, or the Jurchens, they didn't know what a sled was?

But Wang Pu knows what a sled is, and knows that the structure of the sled is extremely simple, it is easy to make, and the important thing is that this thing slides quickly and effortlessly on the snow, and a few dogs can drag four or five hundred pounds of people or goods, which will be impossible to find dogs, but horses are ready-made, and four or five hundred horse-drawn sleds are enough to drag away more than two thousand people and the necessary provisions, and the marching speed will never be slower than that of a horseback march.

With the assistance of Lu Liu and a few personal soldiers, Wang Pu finally set up the first sled.

The main body of this sleigh is a cube shelf made of twelve pieces of wood, about one zhang and two feet long, about six feet wide, and about two feet high, the two long heads at the bottom appear to be particularly thick, the front end exceeds the main body by a large section, and the excess section is also deliberately roasted with fire and then bent upwards into an arc, and the top of the wooden shelf is nailed horizontally with many small wooden strips to form a grid grid, which can both sit and tie things.

Scarface, Bearded and the others were all watching from the sidelines, and they didn't know what Wang Pu was doing.

Wang Pu clapped his hands and said to the bearded man who was watching next to him: "Beard, bring the horse over." ”

"Hey."

The bearded man replied and brought over a red horse that had been prepared a long time ago.

Wang Pu picked up two hemp ropes, tied the sleigh to the saddle, then picked up the long whip and sat forward, beckoning the bearded man and the others: "Beard, monk, all five of you come up." ”

The bearded, scarface, Tang Sheng, Zhao Xin and Monk Zhang who were standing on the side climbed onto the sleigh, Wang Pu shook the long whip in his hand lightly, and shouted: "Ha! ”

The jujube red horse neighed, shook off its four hooves and ran forward, Wang Pu's "first" sleigh slid briskly on the snow, and the bearded man and others saw that the snow under their feet was rapidly retreating, and they couldn't help but be stunned and amazed.

"It's weird, it's evil." The bearded man said with a look of disbelief, "What is this, a horse can actually pull six of us old men?" ”

"It's pretty fast." Scarface also scratched his head, "Not much slower than riding a horse." ”

"Worthy of a general." Tang Sheng and Monk Zhang cast adoring glances at Wang Pu, "Those who know more than we do." ”

Wang Pu drove the horse-drawn sleigh to glide on the snow for a distance, then controlled the reins of the horse, turned around and went back to the camp, then jumped off the sleigh and said to the bearded man and the others: "Listen to the sleds, take your own people, go to the mountains to cut wood at once, and build five hundred of them as soon as possible, and then we can take this thing back to Datong." ”

■■■

Datong, the royal compound.

As soon as Wang Beech and Zhen Youcai got off the carriage, the pillar came up from the gatehouse, and said in a sloppy manner: "Uncle, Mr. Zhen, you can be regarded as back, in the past half a month, Grandpa Zhang has almost broken the threshold of our Wang family, if you don't come back, the little one really doesn't know what to tell Grandpa Zhang." ”

Wang Beech turned his head and Zhen Youcai looked at each other and smiled, and both of them showed tacit expressions on their faces at the same time.

It seems that Zhang Zi'an, the old eunuch, is really in a hurry, in addition to the Wang family, the five families of Zhao, Li, Yang, Ye, and He are rich, but more than a month ago, the five families have already partnered to buy all the Wang family's business in Shanxi, and now looking at Shanxi, only the Wang family's silver vault has enough silver to buy this batch of livestock.

But Wang Pu confessed that he could only pay half the price at most for buying this batch of livestock, Wang Beech and Zhen Youcai thought that they couldn't tear their faces with Zhang Zi'an, so they had to set up a set, and the two went to Beitongzhou, one was to avoid seeing Zhang Zi'an, and the other was to buy the grain that Wang Pu confessed.

By the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the price of grain had risen nearly twice as much as that of the Wanli period, but even so, it was priceless in the five northern provinces, and as a result, Wang Beech and Zhen Youcai almost bought out dozens of grain stores in Beitongzhou, and only bought 50,000 stone of grain, spending a total of 100,000 taels of silver.

No, Wang Beech and Zhen Youcai had just returned to Datong with the first batch of 5,000 stone grain.

As soon as Wang Beech arrived home, his buttocks were not yet hot, Zhang Zi'an heard the news and came to the door suddenly, Wang Beech didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly let the pillar lead Zhang Zi'an to the living room, Wang Beech hurriedly rushed to the living room after washing up, hugged his fists and smiled: "Oh, Father-in-law Zhang came to the cold house, the cold house is really shining." ”

"Master Wang." Zhang Zi'an asked Wang Zelkova, hugged his fists and saluted back, "Our family is polite." ”

"Oh, don't dare." Wang Zelkova hurriedly said, "How dare the grass people call the master in front of their father-in-law? Come and watch the tea. ”

"Master Wang is the richest man in Shanxi, and he is the eldest brother of Master Ma." Zhang Zi'an smiled, "Deserved, deserved." ”

Wang Zelkova hurriedly said: "Where does our Wang family dare to claim to be the richest man, it doesn't all rely on the father-in-law and the parents and masters of Datong Mansion to enjoy food. ”

"Huh." Zhang Zi'an smiled without embarrassment, and pretended to ask casually, "Master Wang doesn't seem to be at home this time?" ”

"Don't dare to hide from your father-in-law." Wang Zelkova hurriedly said, "The grass people have indeed been doing a big deal recently, so they are not in Datong." ”

"Oh?" Zhang Zi'an asked casually, "I don't know what kind of business it is, and I still have to bother Master Wang to go out in person?" ”

Wang Zelkova said: "Father-in-law, you also know that in recent years, natural disasters in the five northern provinces have continued, and the silk, silk, tea, and porcelain operated by our Wang family for several generations will not be able to hold on. ”

"A little food?" Zhang Zi'an jumped his head and asked urgently, "Dare to ask Master Wang how many stones?" ”

Wang Zelkova stretched out his right hand and shook his five fingers.

Zhang Zi'an breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Five thousand stones?" ”

Wang Zelkova smiled and shook his head.

Zhang Zi'an's heart swished and he asked, "Fifty thousand stones?" ”

Wang Beech still shook his head.

Zhang Zi'an was startled and asked in a shrieked voice, "500,000 stones?" ”

Wang Zelkova smiled and nodded.

"Oops!"

Zhang Zi'an stomped his feet fiercely, his face showed annoyance, this Wang Beech went to Beitongzhou to hoard 500,000 stone grain, wouldn't it cost more than one million pieces of silver at market prices? In this way, the Wang family may not have enough cash to buy all the cattle, sheep and livestock, how can this be good?

Wang Zelkova pretended to be stunned and asked, "Father-in-law, what's wrong with you?" ”

Zhang Zi'an was in a hurry, and he didn't want to go around in circles, so he said straight to the point: "Master Wang, let's make it clear, a month ago, the soldiers of the border army took back a large number of livestock from the Tumuts, because the number is too large, our family can't get rid of it for a while, so I still want to bother Master Wang to buy it at the market price, which can be regarded as serving the court and solving the urgent need for our family." ”

Wang Beech said happily: "This should be served, but I don't know how many silver taels the grass people should prepare?" ”

Zhang Zi'an said in a condensed voice: "Two million taels!" ”

"Huh?" Wang Zelkova was taken aback and lost his voice, "Two ...... Two million taels!? ”

As soon as he saw Wang Zel's expression, a dark cloud rose between Zhang Zi'an's eyebrows, and he asked in a dark voice: "Master Wang, your Wang family is the richest man in Shanxi, won't you be able to take out this bit of silver, right?" ”

Wang Beech said bitterly: "Father-in-law Zhang, the grass people just sold all the family heirloom properties not long ago, and they barely managed to scrape together two million taels of silver, but this time they went to Beitongzhou to buy grain and used nearly 1.2 million taels of silver, and the grass people can't come up with so much silver now." ”

Zhang Zi'an hurriedly said: "Then how much silver can you take out now?" ”

Wang Zelkova said: "Now there are only 600,000 taels in the silver treasury. ”

"It's too much." Zhang Zi'an stomped his feet and said, "It's too much." ”

Wang Zelkova whispered: "Father-in-law, there is a sentence that the grass people don't know whether to say or not?" ”

Zhang Zi'an frowned and said, "I have something to say." ”

Wang Beech said: "My father-in-law's batch of livestock can only be bought at the market price of two million taels, and the number is only more than one million heads, right?" Don't tell your father-in-law, no one wants to eat so many animals in one go! Whoever eats so many cattle, sheep and livestock in one breath will have to pay for his death, you think, how long will it take to sell so many cattle and sheep and livestock? Before you can sell these animals, you need to buy forage to feed them, right? If the black-eyed forage merchant takes the opportunity to raise the price, or if the cattle are not sold well, the silver for the grass and grain alone may exceed the price of the cattle themselves, and then it is not a loss? ”

Zhang Zi'an didn't say anything with a gloomy face, and he had just known about this problem not long ago.

The more than 800,000 animals snatched from the Tumuts made him happy for a few days, and the question arises, these animals can eat grass on the grassland, but there is not so much grass for them to eat in Datong? You can't drive them to the grasslands to graze again, can you? The amount of forage consumed each day to feed these animals is a staggering amount! In the past month or so, there has been no silver in the account, not to mention, Zhang Zi'an owes the forage merchant tens of thousands of taels of silver for grass and grain!

"Father-in-law." Wang Zelkova said in a low voice, "The grass people advise you, it is best to deal with this batch of livestock as soon as possible, otherwise, I am afraid that even the forage and silver will not be worth it at that time." ”

Zhang Zi'an frowned and asked, "Then according to Master Wang's meaning, how much can you bid?" ”

Wang Zelkova said: "Father-in-law, the grass people have just calculated, if all the father-in-law's livestock are taken down, the price cannot exceed 800,000 taels, otherwise they will lose money." ”

"What?" Zhang Zi'an said with a dark face, "Eight hundred thousand!?" ”

This number is too far from what Zhang Zi'an expected, the 800,000 promised by Wang Zelkova, plus the 200,000 promised by the other five families, add up to only 1 million, but the arrears of Datong and the silver in the filial piety palace add up to 1.1 million taels.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zi'an really regretted his intestines, he knew this, why did he rush to ask for credit from the Lord and the ancestors?

"Father-in-law." Wang Beech put on a bitter face and said, "The grass people also have the difficulties of the grass people, wow, you can't let the grass people lose all the ancestral family business at once, right?" ”

"800,000 is too little." Zhang Zi'an took a breath and said, "How about one and a half million?" ”

Wang Zelkova shook his head and said, "At most, 820,000 taels!" ”

Zhang Zi'an gritted his teeth and said, "One million and three million!" ”

Wang Beech said bitterly: "Eight hundred and fifty thousand! ”

Zhang Zi'an's facial muscles twitched twice, and he said ruthlessly: "One million and two million!" ”

"Father-in-law Zhang, it's not that the grass people have to lower the price, it's really that the grass people have already taken out all the silver at the bottom of the box, and it's really only 850,000." Wang Beech said this, and suddenly seemed to remember something, and then said, "However, if you can persuade the third brother to lend him the silver to the grass people, it is not impossible for the grass people to pay 1.2 million yuan to buy these cattle." ”

"Master Pony?" Zhang Zi'an was surprised, "Last time he told our family that he had no silver in his hand?" ”

"That's what happened." Wang Beech hurriedly explained, "When my father-in-law looked for the third child last time, he did not have any silver on hand, but he still had a batch of ginseng and Dongzhu captured from Liaodong, and this time the grass people helped him bring it to Jingshi to sell it, and exchanged it for 400,000 taels of silver." ”

"I see." Zhang Zi'an nodded, and said, "But, Master Ma is your own brother, Master Wang, will he lend you the silver?" ”

"Don't mention it." Wang Zelkova shook his head and sighed, "If the third child is willing to lend silver to the grass people to go to Beitongzhou to stock up on grain, why would the grass people sell their ancestral inheritance?" Don't hide it from your father-in-law, before leaving, the third child repeatedly told the grass people, saying that the silver was exchanged for the lives of the brothers under his hands from Liaodong, and it could only be used for salaries and pensions, and it must not be diverted for other purposes. ”

Zhang Zi'an was puzzled: "But the master hasn't come back yet." ”

Wang Beech said: "But Mr. Zhen has returned, and my father-in-law can go to him." ”

"Where is Mr. Zhen?" Zhang Zi'an said, "Let's see him here." ”

"Father-in-law, please wait." Wang Zelkova said, "The grass people will ask Mr. Zhen to come." ”

Wang Beech commanded, and the pillar who was waiting on the side took the order, and led Zhen Youcai into the living room before the tea, Zhen Youcai pretended to hold his fists and waved it for a long time, and said loudly: "Villain Zhen Youcai, see Gonggong Zhang." ”

Zhang Zi'an hurriedly said: "Mr. doesn't have to be polite. ”

Wang Beech solemnly said, "Mr. Zhen, please take a seat." ”

"Thank you, uncle."

Zhen Youcai thanked him and sat down under Zhang Zi'an.

Wang Zelkova looked at Zhang Zi'an and said, "Mr. Zhen, I invited you here today to discuss something with you. ”

Zhen Youcai said respectfully: "Uncle, please speak." ”

Wang Beech said: "Here's the thing, didn't my father-in-law take the border army of Datong Town to defeat the Tumut people in Monan, and by the way, he also captured a large number of livestock, I want to buy this batch of livestock, but I can't take out so much cash for a while, so I want to borrow 350,000 taels from the third child's silver treasury, I don't know if it's okay?" ”

Zhen Youcai said: "It is said that the uncle is the general's eldest brother, and this matter is also the father-in-law's business, and the father-in-law's business is the court's business, and the public and the private villain should agree, but before the villain came back, the general had repeatedly told him that the silver was exchanged for the surname of the brothers, and it must not be embezzled without the permission of the general. ”

Zhang Zi'an just wanted to laugh when he heard the first half of Zhen Youcai's sentence, but after listening to the second half of the sentence, he immediately pulled his face down again.

Wang Zelkova asked in a low voice, "Mr. Zhen, can't you be accommodating anymore?" ”

Zhen Youcai said carefully: "It's not that you can't be accommodating at all, but the villain really doesn't know how to say this?" ”

Wang Beech said: "Mr. Zhen just said. ”

Zhen Youcai said: "There is such a sum of silver in the general's treasury at the moment, this silver was originally intended to be used to distribute pensions to the families of the generals, if it is misappropriated and lent to the uncle, then the families of these fallen brothers will have to be compensated, and the villain thinks that the best way is to find something for them to do, so that they can be regarded as having a long-term hope for their lives." ”

Wang Beech said: "I don't know what kind of compensation method it is?" ”

Zhen Youcai said: "The villain also understands the situation in Datong City, and there are not many people in other places, only the three weapons workshops under the name of the father-in-law and two gunpowder bureaus are idle, and a lot of people can be placed, so the villain estimates that if the villain can come forward to take over the work of these three weapons workshops and two gunpowder bureaus, and then arrange the families of the fallen brothers to work inside, then even if this pension money is temporarily appropriated for other purposes, no one will make irresponsible remarks about the villain behind his back. When the general returns, he will not blame the villain. ”

"This ......"

Wang Zelkova pretended to be embarrassed and looked at Zhang Zi'an.

"Our family thought it was something difficult, but it turned out to be this." Zhang Zi'an said disapprenosantly, "What's so difficult about this, Ming'er, our family will let those few people in charge go to Mr. Zhen, from Ming'er, you are the actual operator of the three weapons workshops and the two gunpowder bureaus, but there is a sentence that our family has to say ahead, it is best not to let too many people know about this matter, and the account must also be done clearly, lest the upper authorities send someone to check that we can't say clearly, and the age of the border army still has to be paid according to the number." ”

Zhang Zi'an really did this thing.

Although these three weapons workshops and the two gunpowder bureaus are all government-run workshops, who can still distinguish between the government-run and the private sector in these years? In fact, this is also a last resort, otherwise the Ministry of Industry will only rely on the Ministry of Industry to the towns and guards of the little silver, can not maintain the operation of the official workshop.

Zhang Zi'an also didn't find a suitable operator for a while, otherwise he would have taken out the three weapons workshops and two gunpowder bureaus, and now Zhen Youcai sent it to the door by himself, not to mention, but also solved the problem of livestock silver by the way, where is Zhang Zi'an still not agreeing?

■■■

After resting for five days at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain, Wang Pu led his army and began to march towards Datong.

This march was much smoother, as the nomadic Mongols had already taken refuge in their winter camps, and in such a cold season, even if the Mongols knew that there was a Ming army wandering in Monan, it would be difficult for them to gather a large army, and the small Mongol cavalry did not dare to provoke them at all; Second, they snatched enough supplies from the camp of the Chahar people, and the sleigh built by Wang Pu not only saved the soldiers from the suffering of marching in the snow, but the whole army rode the horse-drawn sleigh and returned to the border of Daming leisurely.

At the pass of Mopan Mountain, a hundred households of the Datong border army are stationed here.

On this morning, two border sergeants stomped their heads and feet with their spears, and while they were on duty as usual, a strange sound suddenly came from the reckless snowfields of the north, although the sound was far away, but it sounded very imposing, as if many people were yelling at the same time.

"It's not good, it's a Mongolian Tartar!"

A sentry's face changed, and he hurriedly picked up a special iron rod and struck it vigorously on the square iron plate hanging on the battlement, and in an instant, the crisp sound of "dangdang" resounded throughout the pass, and the border soldiers who were sleeping with their heads covered in the pass got up one after another, grabbed their weapons and rushed to the pass in a chaotic manner.

"What's going on?" The head of the hundred households put his helmet on his head and shouted, "Is it a Mongolian tartar?" ”

The sentry greeted him and whispered, "It seems to be." ”

"What do you mean?" The general was furious and slapped the sentry in the face, "Yes, yes, no, no." ”

The sentry covered his face, pointed to the north and shouted, "Master, listen to that voice." ”

There is no need for the sentry to remind, the soldiers of the border army who grabbed the sum of the pass also heard the voice, and the voice was much clearer than just now, and listened to the general ear for a moment, and a strange color suddenly flashed on his face, and he read with the voice: "The flag is fluttering, the horse is Xiao Xiao, the gun is on the shoulder and the knife is on the waist......"

"Not Mongolian Tartars." The general frowned and said, "It's our words of the Ming Dynasty." ”

"Look, my lord, our army of the Ming Dynasty!"

A sharp-eyed border sergeant suddenly closed his fingers and shouted.

The soldiers of the general and border army looked in the direction of the soldier's finger, and sure enough, they saw a Ming army coming out from behind the mountain beam, these soldiers were all in rags, their hair was messy like a chicken nest, and their beards were like artemisia grass, but they were all full of spirit, with their heads held high, and their steps were neat, as if they had won a great victory.

At the front of this army is a large white flag, which looks dirty and broken, neither bordered nor belted, only painted with a dark red fork on the flag, this pattern is confusing, obviously not the flag of the Ming Dynasty, but it does not look like the surname of a general, anyway, it is incomprehensible.

Of course, this army is Wang Pu's army, because the Mopan Mountain Pass is located between a mountain, through the pass to climb over several mountain beams, horse-drawn sleigh can glide on the flat ground like flying, but to the uphill section, a horse can not pull several adult strong men no matter what, Wang Pu had to order a queue on foot.

Looking at the majestic pass in front of him, Wang Pu was full of emotion.

It has been a whole month since the first day of the first month of the first month, and this month is really an unprecedented and severe test for Wang Puhe and his army, but it is gratifying that this army has finally withstood the test and they are back!

Although it cost a huge number of casualties, it was well worth it.

When he came out of the fortress, Wang Pu had a total of more than 4,000 people, if you count the 1,000-man team that Zhao Xin brought to help in the battle, the total strength was actually more than 5,000 people, but now Wang Pu's men have only more than 2,400 people left, and in terms of numbers alone, more than half of the casualties have been lost, which can be said to be a heavy loss.

But Wang Pu did not regret it at all, in fact, this result was much better than Wang Pu expected.

Wang Pu took 4,000 troops out of the fortress originally for training, in order to temper a group of veteran ruffians who were accustomed to losing battles into a confident elite soldier, and it was an elite soldier who was completely loyal to Wang Pu! In Wang Pu's expectation, the more than 4,000 veteran ruffians and horse thieves could finally be satisfied with a thousand left! As the saying goes, soldiers are more expensive than expensive, and Wang Pu would rather have 1,000 well-trained, well-equipped and absolutely obedient soldiers than 5,000 veteran ruffians who are demoralized, poorly equipped, and free and slow to obey commands.

Those soldiers with weak physique and low combat quality were ruthlessly eliminated by the cruel battle, and the remaining 2,400 or so people were all veterans with strong bodies and excellent combat qualities, and they can be said to be the elite soldiers among the elite soldiers! Wang Pu believes that a veteran like this is completely worthy of ten ordinary soldiers on the battlefield!

A loud roar pulled Wang Pu back to reality.

"Stop!" The border commander on the pass shouted, "Don't get any closer, if you get any closer, we'll have to release arrows!" ”

After that, as soon as the general order was given, more than 100 border soldiers crowded on the pass drew their bows and arrows one after another, aiming at the group of soldiers named Hanako.

Scarface ignored the threat of the border army at all, strode to the gate and shouted, "your grandma, open the door tightly!" Also, let your people put down their bows and arrows, and then dare to use arrows at Lao Tzu, believe it or not, Lao Tzu screwed off all your heads one by one as a night pot? ”

The border soldiers on the gate were all stunned, they had never seen such a horizontal person, so they couldn't help but look back at their top boss, the general was also stunned, and quickly waved his hand to signal his subordinates to put down the bow and arrow, and when they spoke again, they were not so confident, and asked cautiously: "May I ask which guard you belong to?" ”

"Which guardhouse?" Scarface viciously threatened, "Lao Tzu is from Jingying!" ”

"What?" The general manager was confused and didn't believe it, "Why did Jingying run away?" ”

"Can't open the door?" Scarface was already impatient, and yelled, "If you don't open the door again, Lao Tzu will bring someone in!" ”

At this time, a small soldier ran to the general manager and reminded in a low voice: "Master, isn't the commander of the Jingying camp, that is, the master of the horse, worried at home, these people are afraid that they are the people of the master of the horse." ”

"Yes, yes, how did Lao Tzu forget this stubble." The general slap himself hard, and quickly shouted, "Quick, open and close the door!" ”

■■■

Datong, guarding the residence of the eunuch Zhang Zi'an.

Zhang Zi'an was in a daze looking at the twelve silver boxes lined up in front of him in the warm pavilion, and the cattle, sheep and livestock taken from the Tumuts were finally freed, most of which were sold to the Wang family, and a small part were sold to the other five, with a total of 1.4 million taels of silver, which is a full 1.4 million taels of silver, Zhang Zi'an has never seen so much silver in his life!

However, as soon as he thought that after deducting the rewards, arrears and pensions of the border soldiers, and then deducting the 500,000 yuan in the filial piety palace, there would be not much silver left, Zhang Zi'an's heart was blocked for a while, so much silver was about to become someone else's in a blink of an eye, how could he not be sad?

When Zhang Zi'an was in a heartache, the voice of the little eunuch suddenly sounded outside: "Godfather, my son is looking for you in a hurry." ”

"You wait outside first, and we'll come out right away."

Zhang Zi'an hurriedly covered the twelve silver boxes tightly, turned to the outside room and asked, "It's so late, what's the matter?" ”

The little eunuch said: "Godfather, my son has heard some rumors recently, and there seems to be a group of people from the palace in the palace. ”

"People in the palace?" Zhang Zi'an's expression moved, and he frowned, "People from the palace don't come to our house, but go to the palace on behalf of the king?" ”

"Godfather." The little eunuch said, "The son estimated that someone had told the secret and stabbed the master and the ancestor about the fact that the horse master sent troops to help the godfather, so the palace sent someone to investigate the matter." ”

"Let them check it out." Zhang Zi'an said coldly, "Our family didn't deceive the king, the use of troops against the Tumut people was not blown out, Tumut Khan's head and his saber have already been submitted to the palace, and the horse master has sent troops and efforts, but he is only cooperating with the battle, and he is leading the Wang family's family, not the border army of Datong Town!" According to the Da Ming Law, Ding Wei's military attache at home is not allowed to lead troops to the battle, but the Da Ming Law also does not stipulate that Ding Wei's military attache at home cannot take his family to defend his homeland! ”

Zhang Zi'an is really not afraid of this, he has already agreed with Wang Pu at the beginning, there are only 200 people who followed Wang Pu to attack and naturalize, and they are all the "family members" of the Wang family, as for the 3,000 elite soldiers selected by Tang Sheng from the Datong border army, they did participate in the battle against the Tumuts, but these 3,000 elite soldiers have all died because of the light enemy's rash advance!

As long as Wang Pu bites this matter and doesn't say it, and then let the person who comes back alive hide first and don't show his face, no one will be able to catch Zhang Zi'an's handle, even if others know that there is something greasy in it, but they can't catch the evidence, what can they do? As for Wang Pu, it is obviously impossible to shake this thing out, if this thing really comes out, he will be the first to be unlucky.

"Yes, yes, yes." The little eunuch hurriedly responded, "The use of troops against the Tumuts is your godfather's strategy, and the master of the horse is just taking the Wang family's family to cooperate with the battle, and the use of troops against the Tumut people is also to protect the people of Datong Mansion, the Wang family is the richest man in Shanxi, and he has thousands of family members, so it is natural for him to serve the imperial court." ”

Zhang Zi'an said: "That's it. ”

"That's right." The little eunuch suddenly said, "My son heard that Master Ma has returned. ”

"The horse master is back?" Zhang Zi'an hurriedly said, "Why didn't you say it earlier?" ”

The little eunuch said: "Didn't my son just learn the news, so he rushed to report to his godfather." ”

"Hurry up and prepare the warm sedan chair ......" Zhang Zi'an just got up, suddenly remembered something, sat down again, and said, "Forget it, Master Ma must be tired when he just came back, so you don't have to bother him tonight." ”

■■■

Wang's compound, warm pavilion.

It's almost the middle of the night, Chen Yuanyuan and Nen Niang haven't slept yet, the two are cutting paper patterns around the pit, Chen Yuanyuan has just cut a mandarin duck playing in the water, Nen Niang is looking at Chen Yuanyuan with envious eyes, and said in a coquettish voice: "Madam, your hand is just right, and the paper pattern cut out is really beautiful." ”

Chen Yuanyuan smiled and said, "Do you want to learn?" ”

"Hmm." The young lady nodded again and again, and responded, "I want to learn." ”

Chen Yuanyuan picked up the paper and scissors, and was about to demonstrate to the young lady when the closed door of the warm pavilion suddenly opened, and a slightly eager voice in surprise had already sounded in the warm pavilion: "Lady! ”

Chen Yuanyuan's little hand holding the scissors suddenly trembled, almost pricking his little hand, and when he looked back, the good man who had missed it thousands of times and tens of thousands of times had already stood in front of her, but when Chen Yuanyuan saw Wang Pu's appearance clearly, he almost didn't dare to recognize him, only to see Wang Pu's ragged clothes, messy hair, and unshaven beard, only a pair of eyes were still black and bright, looking at Chen Yuanyuan burningly.

"Xianggong."

Chen Yuanyuan cried sadly, ignoring Wang Pu's dirty and smelly, he threw himself into his arms, Fang's heart was already soft, and tears fell down like pearls off the thread......

(To be continued)