Taiyuan, Shanxi general army.

Before Dolgon led a large team of Jiannu to kill outside the city of Datong, Wang Pu had already ordered several fast horses to send the news of Jiannu from Datong to Taiyuan, Yulin, Guyuan, and Jingshi at the same time, and Zhou Yuji, the general soldier of Shanxi, received the news the evening before yesterday, and the thieves attacked Datong, Zhou Yuji could pretend to be deaf and dumb and ignore it, but Jiannu broke through the pass, but he did not dare to take it lightly.

In the evening of the same day, Zhou Yuji ordered his horse to gallop to various guards and stations in Shanxi, and urgently summoned garrisons from all over the country to assemble in Taiyuan.

By this morning, the troops of the recent guards had rushed to the outside of Taiyuan City, and several garrisons leading the army were discussing with Zhou Yuji in the general army, and Wang Qiaonian, the governor of Shanxi, hurriedly walked in accompanied by several local officials in Shanxi, and asked urgently: "General Zhou Bing, I heard that Jiannu was destroyed and entered Kou Datong?" ”

Zhou Yuji, the chief soldier of Shanxi, glanced at Wang Qiaonian coldly, and did not answer immediately.

Speaking of which, it is not a matter of a day or two for the thieves to attack Datong, and Zhou Yuji has already sent someone to the governor's yamen to spread the word, but Wang Qiaonian is hiding and refusing to see people, the reason is very simple, he is afraid that Zhou Yuji will reach out and ask for food and salary, but this will build a slave and destroy the prisoner, but the governor can't sit still!

"Mr. Zhou." Wang Qiaonian said hurriedly, "What about the official asking you, has Jiannu been in the Kou?" ”

Wang Qiaonian is really anxious, no matter how much the thieves make trouble, he is not worried, there are Wang Pu and Zhou Yuji, the two tiger generals are sitting in Taiyuan and Datong respectively, he doesn't think that the thieves can set off any storms, he, the governor of Shanxi, can still be stable and stable, but it is completely different when Jiannu enters the Kou.

Jiannu is much more ferocious than the thief, the thief is actually the people to make trouble, as long as they are defeated, or the year improves, those people will obediently return to the same place and continue to be their obedient people, but Jiannu is completely different from the Kou, after the slave is built, it is really a life, not a single grass left.

Now, Wang Qiaonian can only take the initiative to see Zhou Yuji, a martial artist, and now he can only count on Zhou Yuji's martial arts ability to turn the tide and refuse to build a slave outside the Dayuan Mansion.

Thinking that back then, Jiannu entered the Central Plains twice, and hundreds of counties along the way, how many local officials did not die in the hands of Jiannu, but because they had no way to defend the land, they were cut down by Emperor Chongzhen, Wang Qiaonian couldn't help but worry about his fate.

"Lord Wang." Zhou Yuji said coldly, "Two days ago, the Jiannu army had already been killed outside Datong City. ”

"Huh?" Wang Qiaonian was taken aback and lost his voice, "So Jiannu is really here?" ”

Zhou Yuji presented the Tang report sent by Wang Pu to Wang Qiaonian, and said coldly: "This is an urgent Tang report sent by Wang Pu, the chief soldier of Datong, Lord Wang, please take a look." ”

Wang Qiaonian hurriedly read the ten lines at a glance, and asked in a trembling voice: "General Zhou, if Jiannu continues to go south to plunder Taiyuan after breaking Datong, I don't know if Taiyuan City can be defended?" ”

Zhou Yuji sneered in his heart, but on the surface, he couldn't help but give Wang Qiaonian face, and replied: "If you can't even keep Datong, then Taiyuan doesn't have to be guarded." ”

"Ah, how is that good?" Wang Qiaonian's face changed when he heard this, and he said hurriedly, "That'...... General soldiers Wang hurriedly asked for help from the nearby three towns of Guyuan, Gansu and Ningxia, especially Jiang Jian, the general soldier of Guyuan, I heard that he was a tiger general, and he had a well-trained elite soldier under his command, and General Zhou should hurry up to send an urgent report to the Beijing Division, and ask Long Live Lord to transfer the Beijing battalion to help in the battle. ”

"Lord Wang." Zhou Yuji couldn't bear it, and interrupted Wang Qiaonian in a loud voice, "Do you think it is possible for the Shaanxi Trilateral and Beijing Divisions to send reinforcements?" ”

Wang Qiaonian was already completely confused, and hurriedly said: "Then hurry up and recruit Minzhuang, how much food and salary do you want, and the official will immediately let people transfer them from the domain." ”

"Okay, this is what you said, Lord Wang." Zhou Yuji finally heard a word that made him happy, and said immediately, "General Wang has already said in the Tang newspaper that this time Jiannu has mobilized an army of 200,000, which can be said to be menacing, and the last general has already calculated, if you want to hold Taiyuan, you need to raise at least 50,000 people, at least 200,000 taels of silver and 100,000 stone of military rations." ”

"Okay." Wang Qiaonian gritted his teeth and said, "The salary and military rations will be handed over to this official to prepare, and the matter of recruiting the people and the strong people is also requested to Zhou Zongbing to hurry up, and it must be raised before Jiannu breaks Datong, alas, I don't know how long Wang Zongbing can support in Datong......

■■■

Yulin, the Jiang family compound.

Guyuan general soldier Jiang Zhu galloped to the gate and pulled the reins of the horse, the crotch mount suddenly stood up and stopped the momentum, Jiang Zhu a beautiful harrier turned over and jumped down from the horse, and threw the reins of the horse, and a family member rushed forward to take the reins of the horse and led his mount to the stable.

Jiang Jian walked quickly through the gatehouse, the wall, and the cloister and went straight to the upper room.

In the upper room, Jiang Rang, the chief soldier of Yulin, was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, Jiang Xuan stood straight aside, his eyes followed Jiang Rang's figure back and forth, and the person who was sent by Wang Pu to Yulin for interrogation was none other than Jiang Xuan, the third elder of the Jiang family, and suddenly heard the sound of footsteps outside the door, and when the brothers looked back in a hurry, the burly Jiang Xuan had already entered proudly.

"Second brother."

"Second brother."

Jiang Rang and Jiang Xuan hurriedly greeted him.

The Jiang family is the most powerful wealthy family in Yulin, although Jiang Rang is the head of the family, but the actual backbone of the Jiang family is Jiang Pin, so after receiving Wang Pu's urgent Tang report, Jiang Rang did not dare to make a decision without authorization, so he sent a message to Jiang Pai of Guyuan with a fast horse, and made a decision after Jiang Pai rushed back.

"Big brother." Jiang Yan didn't care about the courtesy, and asked Jiang Rang, "I'm in such a hurry to call my little brother back to Yulin, I don't know what's the urgency?" ”

Jiang Rang said: "There is a big matter, because the stakes are very high, so the eldest brother didn't dare to let Lao Jiu tell you the details, and I want to tell you in person when you return to Yulin." ”

Jiang said: "What's the big deal?" ”

Jiang Rang said: "Jiannu has dispatched 200,000 troops and is besieging Datong, and Wang Pu, the general soldier of Datong, has sent an urgent Tang report, asking us to send reinforcements. ”

"What!?" Jiang Yanse changed his mind, "Jiannu dispatched an army of 200,000 to besiege Datong, is this true or false?" ”

"Absolutely." Jiang Xuan said loudly, "The Datong border army has already fought with the vanguard cavalry of Jiannu, and wiped out more than 2,000 of their cavalry in one go, which the younger brother witnessed with his own eyes. ”

"So that's really the case?" Jiang Bao's face sank, and he said in a low voice, "Wang Pu attacked Shengjing and captured Huang Taiji alive, and Long Live Lord cut Huang Taiji with a thousand knives, and it is reasonable for Jiannu to attack Datong with all his army strength in order to take revenge, but after breaking Datong, Jiannu may not divide his troops to attack Yulin in the west, and it is very likely that he will divide his troops to the south to capture the provinces of Shanxi, but the main target of Jiannu next must be Jingshi, so Yulin will be fine." ”

"That's good."

Jiang Rang breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, as long as Jiannu didn't come to attack Yulin, he would be relieved.

Jiang Xuan said: "Second brother, then will we send reinforcements?" ”

"Third brother, are you stupid?" Jiang Zhen frowned and said, "The army needs food, who will pay for it?" Shaanxi provinces or Datong provinces? Do you want our Jiang family to pay for food? What's more, Jiannu is not a thief, this time another 200,000 Jiannu came in one breath, even if our Jiang family took out all the family resources, it was only 20,000 or 30,000 people, just this little bit of people is not enough for Jiannu to stuff his teeth, isn't it sent to death? ”

Jiang Xuan said: "So, the second brother doesn't plan to send reinforcements?" ”

"At present, the three sides of Shaanxi are making every effort to encircle and suppress the thieves in Qingyang, Yan'an, and Pingliang, and there are no reinforcements to send." Jiang Pai said, "But Wang Pu can let the third brother go back to Yulin at this time, but it is very interesting, our Jiang family owes him a favor, if he can escape this catastrophe, he will be rewarded." ”

Jiang Rang nodded and muttered, "Second brother is right, we can only do this." ”

■■■

Jingshi, Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Chongzhen received Wang Pu's urgent report only a dozen hours later than Zhou Yuji and Yulin Jiang's house, Emperor Chongzhen had just finished reviewing all the chapters, and was about to take a sip of ginseng soup to relieve fatigue, Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, stumbled into the Qianqing Palace, this time Chen Xinjia broke in directly, and the two little eunuchs were still pulling and pulling behind, trying to prevent him from entering the palace to see the driver.

This is the power given to the ministers by Emperor Chongzhen.

When Emperor Chongzhen first ascended the throne, he set an unprecedented rule, but whenever there is a major military event, the courtiers do not have to go through the notification directly to the palace to see the driver, and there is no time and place restrictions, and the minister will not be held accountable afterwards, from this point alone, Emperor Chongzhen is actually a great virtuous monarch, and he also has the determination and courage to get rid of bad habits and revitalize the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing Chen Xinjia's panicked appearance, Emperor Chongzhen was taken aback and instinctively stood up.

Just when Chen Xinjia entered the hall, he tripped over the threshold and almost fell and ate, Wang Chengen hurriedly stepped forward to help Chen Xinjia, and said sharply: "Hey, Lord Chen, you should be careful, don't break your feet." ”

Chen Xinjia didn't care about thanking Wang Chengen, nor did he care about wiping the sweat on his forehead, so he quickly took out a letter from his sleeve and said silently: "Eight...... Eight hundred...... Riga Express, Datong...... Tongtang newspaper ......"

Emperor Chongzhen hurriedly said to Wang Chengen: "Chengen, come up quickly." ”

"The slave obeys."

Wang Chengen hurriedly took the urgent letter from Chen Xinjia's hand, and carefully smoothed the wrinkles on the letter, and then presented it to Emperor Chongzhen like a baby.

After reading the urgent letter in a hurry, there was no trace of blood on Emperor Chongzhen's face.

Chen Xinjia wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and asked in a low voice: "Long live the lord, is it Jiannu who has joined Kou Datong?" ”

"Hmm." Emperor Chongzhen nodded solemnly, and replied with an expressionless face, "Wang Pu said in the letter that 200,000 Jiannu have moved to Koubian and have already arrived in Datong City. ”

"Huh?"

"What?"

Wang Chengen and Chen Xinjia were taken aback when they heard this, in fact, the two had already expected that it was Jiannu who would enter Kou Datong, but they never expected that Jiannu would actually mobilize 200,000 troops, you must know that when Jiannu entered the Central Plains of Kou the first two times, the maximum number of troops was only 100,000, but this time it was enough to mobilize 200,000 troops, it seems that the person who came was not good.

Emperor Chongzhen paced back and forth a few steps with his hands in his hands, and soon regained his composure and said to Chen Xinjia: "Chen Aiqing." ”

Chen Xinjia said: "The minister is here." ”

Emperor Chongzhen said: "This time Jiannu is coming, with sinister intentions, Datong is just one of their goals, Jingshi and I are the real goals of Jiannu!" You can immediately issue an edict to the world of King Qin, and transfer the world's soldiers and horses to King Qin, especially Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui, and let them immediately lead the army into Gongjinggi. ”

Chen Xinjia said: "Long live the lord, the thief in Henan ......"

Emperor Chongzhen breathed a sigh of relief, and said with regret: "The thieves in Henan can only be let go first." ”

Chen Xinjia said again: "Long live the lord, that Datong ......"

Emperor Chongzhen was silent for a moment and then said: "If Datong can be defended, even if I don't send reinforcements to Wang Pu, I can hold it, if I can't hold it, even if I send reinforcements to Wang Pu, I can't hold it, and whether Datong can hold it in the end depends on the creation of Wang Pu and the people of Datong." ”

"Ugh."

Wang Chengen and Chen Xinjia sighed softly at the same time, and a trace of regret involuntarily appeared on their faces, and the two suddenly felt that Wang Pu was actually a good young man, at least he was a person with a surname in love, he could say whatever he wanted, and do whatever he wanted, unlike these ministers in the court, who played intrigue tricks in front of them and behind them.

■■■

Datong, the general army marches.

Wang Pu honestly sat on the main seat unceremoniously, Zhu Chuanqi, the acting king, sat on the left, the two Zhan Shi of the palace and Zhang Zi'an, the eunuch of the town, sat on the right, and Wei Daben, the prefect of Datong, accompanied the last seat.

Originally, Zhu Chuanqi had been avoiding Wang Pu, he was afraid that Wang Pu would reach out to him again to ask for money and food, but Jiannu attacked in a big way, but Zhu Chuanqi couldn't hide anymore, Jiannu was not a thief, the two couldn't be compared at all, not to mention that this time he returned 200,000 Jiannu army!

Wang Pu glanced at Zhu Chuanqi coldly, and said, "Lord Wang, the urgent Tang newspaper has been sent out two days ago, and Taiyuan, Yulin, and Jingshi have each sent one. ”

"Ugh." Zhu Chuanqi was so anxious that his face was flushed, and he said in a loud voice, "I don't know if Zhou Yuji, Jiang Rang and Long Live Lord will send reinforcements, and how many reinforcements can they send?" If there are fewer reinforcements sent, I'm afraid it won't be a problem, there are too many Jiannu who came this time, a full 200,000. ”

"Lord Wang, don't dream." Wang Pu said coldly, "Zhou Yuji will not send reinforcements to come, Jiang Rang will not send reinforcements, and it is even more impossible for the Lord to send reinforcements, if this town is not mistaken, this will be the Lord of Long Live has issued an edict to the world to King Qin, calling on the world's soldiers and horses to enter King Qin!" ”

"Huh?" Zhu Chuanqi lost his voice and said, "This ......"

Wang Pu said: "No one can save us now, we can only rely on ourselves!" ”

Zhu Chuanqi said in a trembling voice: "Just ...... Only...... Just rely on the city of less than 8,000 people? ”

Wang Pu said: "In addition to the 8,000 troops, didn't Lord Wei also raise more than 10,000 people in the city?" If the prince is willing to give them a reward with his family wealth, there will be brave men under the so-called heavy reward, and these more than 10,000 people can also withstand an elite army, so it is not impossible to hold Datong. ”

"Huh?" Zhu Chuanqi said bitterly, "Do you want to take silver again?" ”

"It doesn't matter if the prince doesn't want to give out the money." Wang Pu said expressionlessly, "But Datong can't hold it, Jiannu has entered the city, and all the gold and silver treasures in the prince's mansion are about to change owners, oh, by the way, this town heard that Dolgon, the regent of Jiannu, is a womanizer, and I heard that the two concubines of the prince are absolutely beautiful......"

"Stop." Zhu Chuanqi said unhappily, "Although the two concubines of this king are quite attractive, they are quite inferior to Mrs. Ru of Wang Zongbing, Dolgon will rob the beauty and rob you first, in short, the silver can be out of the king, but not only the king, your Wang family is also the richest man in Shanxi, and your Wang family also has to get it, and the two families will share it equally." ”

"Okay." Wang Pu said loudly, "Guarding Datong is to protect the Wang family, as the so-called nest is finished, if Datong is not guaranteed, there will be no more Wang family in Shanxi, so our Wang family decided to pay one million taels of silver, as long as it is a meritorious person who kills slaves, everyone will be rewarded!" ”

Zhu Chuanqi gritted his teeth and said painfully: "This king also gave out a million taels!" ”

Zhang Zi'an didn't know which tendon was wrong, and suddenly stood up with a flushed face, and shouted with a scream: "The prince and the concubine do not hesitate to scatter all their family wealth for the sake of Datong, how can the slave and maid stand by and watch, and the slave and maid also have to donate 200,000 silver!" ”

"Grandpa Zhang, ...... are you?"

Wang Pu looked back at Zhang Zi'an in amazement, and suddenly looked at this old eunuch with some impress, to say that Wang Pu was busy slaughtering Zhu Chuanqi's fat pig, and he hadn't had time to squeeze Zhang Zi'an, but he never expected that Zhang Zi'an had obediently donated the silver by himself, Wang Pu knew that Zhang Zi'an's family background, 200,000 yuan was already all his family funds.

It seems that a national disaster can indeed purify a person's soul.

Zhang Zi'an said: "Don't forget, don't forget, slaves and maids are also Datong people, and guarding Datong also has a responsibility for slaves and maids." ”

■■■

Outside the city of Datong, the camp of slaves was built.

When Ning Wan, whose face was covered with blood, walked to the account with the support of the two Jiannu, Dolgon, Duoduo, Azig, Fan Wencheng and others stood up in surprise.

Dolgon asked anxiously, "What is wrong with you, sir?" ”

"Ugh." Ning Wan sighed and said gloomily, "The slave is useless, let the master disappoint you." ”

Fan Wencheng said: "Gongfu (Ning finished my words), what is going on?" ”

Ning Wan said: "The slave took two thousand stone grain, two hundred fat sheep and fifty good horses to go to Lei Gongshan to lobby with good intentions, but I didn't expect this gang of thieves to indiscriminately poison the slave, not only cut the slave's money rat tail, but also drew two crosses on the slave's left and right faces, and said that the slave's two faces should not be left again......"

Azig asked stupidly, "Why don't you keep my husband's two faces?" ”

Duoduo laughed and said, "The thief is laughing at my husband for being shameless and being a slave to our bannermen." ”

Azig said again: "After my husband, what about the grain, fattened sheep and horses you brought?" ”

Ning Wan said: "The grain, fat, sheep and horses were all stolen by the thieves, and these despicable and shameless thieves also killed all the banner people who went to Lei Gong Mountain with their minions. ”

"Damn!" Azig clenched his fists and said angrily, "These damn thieves, the account of the last time has not been settled with them, this time it is just a matter of laughing at our minions, they still dare to rob food, sheep and horses, and kill our banner people, old fourteen, I will lead the troops to serve Lei Gong Mountain and kill this gang of thieves." ”

"Alright." Dolgon frowned and said, "Brother Twelve, calm down, the terrain of Lei Gong Mountain has been investigated by this king, the mountain is extremely steep, there are cliffs on three sides, there is only one road in the south to go up the mountain, and the thieves have set up a checkpoint on this road, it can be said that it is a one-man pass, ten thousand people are not open, it is not easy to lay down Lei Gong Mountain." ”

"What level." Azig said disapprerovingly, "We set up the Hongyi cannon bombardment, and if you don't believe it, you can't open it." ”

"Our goal is Datong and Wang Pu." "Why bother with these irrelevant thieves on Lei Gong Mountain? If they don't want to be used by me, it's just that, fifteenth brother, you take 5,000 people ten miles away from Lei Gong Mountain to go down to the village, monitor the thieves on the mountain, as long as they don't make trouble from behind, don't provoke them. ”

Azig said: "Fourteenth brother, you can't just forget it. ”

"That's enough." Dolgon couldn't bear it anymore and said angrily, "Do you have to bury all the elites of the two white flags before you give up?" Go back to your tent now, and reflect on yourself. ”

Seeing that Dolgon was angry, Azig didn't dare to speak, the eldest concubine Abahai gave birth to three sons, Azig is the eldest, Duoduo is the most favored by Nurhachi, but Dorgon is the most assertive of the three brothers, since Nurhachi died violently and Abahai was martyred, Dorgon has been the backbone of the three brothers.

……

(To be continued)