After losing the battle, Xiao Fan was very depressed.

The defeat of 400,000 troops by a gust of wind sounds like a joke, but this damn joke is not funny at all.

The army withdrew to Zhending Mansion, and the generals gathered the remnants and cleaned up the number of people, and the results reported made Xiao Fan extremely frustrated.

In the first battle of Baigou River, 400,000 people were defeated on all fronts, those who were slashed and killed by the Yan army took advantage of the chaos, those who trampled on and killed by mistake in a hurry, those who were scattered and disappeared in the chaotic army, those who jumped into the river to escape and were drowned, and even a few people whose psychological tolerance was particularly fragile and whose surnames were particularly pessimistic, when they saw that the situation was not good, they simply drew a knife and wiped their necks...... In short, the same death, but the way of death is different, there are several ways to die are very creative, the ancient people may have lived a little aggrieved, but they all died very wisely.

Of the 400,000 people, the remaining 3.12 million returned to Zhending Mansion alive, and only a small number of the casualties of **10,000 died on the battlefield, and most of the sergeants broke away from the army and disappeared when they fled.

The consequences of this defeat were very serious, and Xiao Fan did not dare to hide such a big thing, so he wrote the general's report on the notebook according to the facts, and sent it to the Beijing division in an urgent report of 800 miles.

It is conceivable that the Jingshi court was shocked.

Since the founding of the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang to the present, thirty-two years, whether the Ming army suppressed the rebellion or fought against the Tartars, there are few precedents of failure, let alone the loss of **10,000 people, this is a complete defeat, although the reason for the defeat has nothing to do with the commander and soldiers, it is just a gale.

Yang Jing, Storm Zhao and other Qingliu party began to make a fuss in the court, and the attitude was very fierce to ask Zhu Yunwen to order the removal of the commander, and cure Xiao Fan's crimes, the snowflakes like a book flew into the palace is not enough, Qingliu knelt in front of the noon gate to petition, one by one crying old tears, sighing that the Son of Heaven does not know people, misuse inferior generals, the record of the invincibility of the army in the Ming Hongwu period has become the dust of history, and it is gone forever, and the first person to break this record, Xiao Fan, is extremely evil, and his crime should be punished...... The military victory or defeat directly affected politics, and the Qingliu finally grasped Xiao Fan's handle, and became more and more unwilling to relax, this time even the annihilators didn't know what to say to defend Xiao Fan, and they shrank their necks one by one and frowned and didn't dare to speak.

Zhu Yunwen showed a rare calmness, after reading Xiao Fan's truthful recital, he immediately judged that this non-war crime was completely due to the weather, and the responsibility for the defeat should not be added to Xiao Fan or others, so in the face of the Manchu Dynasty's criticism and interrogation, Zhu Yunwen stayed in the middle and ignored it, and the ministers who knelt at the noon gate and cried bitterly to ask for a change of commander to cure Xiao Fan's crime issued an order to them, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, if you are not satisfied with Xiao Fan as the commander, you go up and try it yourself?

At this time, an unexpected minister stood up and said a few words for Xiao Fan, he said that since ancient times, there has never been a famous general who has not lost a battle, a young coach, it is normal to suffer a loss, not to mention that this is a natural disaster, not [***], the sky is not beautiful, why blame the boss? The saints know and forgive those who are guilty of exterminating the wicked, and you are all people who have read poetry and books, and you are so angry with an innocent colleague, is this the truth that the saints have taught you?

The person who said these words for Xiao Fan was the great Confucian of the world who was appointed by Zhu Yunwen as a bachelor this year, Fang Xiaoru.

A righteous old man.

In a simple liquor shop in a folk alley on Suzaku Street in Beijing.

Ji Gang was wearing a gray shirt, and he was stretching out his right hand, gently pouring a cup of tea for the eunuch in front of him.

Due to the relationship between martial arts, the phalanges of Ji Gang's right hand are very thick, and the skin is dark and rough, and the phalanges are covered with gray or black calluses.

Ji Gang was poor, poor, scared, he didn't want to be poor anymore, he didn't even want to think about the memories of poverty in the past, he hated his own memory, it was a gloomy and undignified day.

Because of this, Ji Gang cherishes his current identity, this is an opportunity he has in exchange for his own strength, the poorer he is, the greater his ambition for wealth and nobility, and the stronger his pursuit of official position and power.

Discipline needs power, more power.

Power beckons to him.

And Nie narrowed his eyes slightly, his eyes were cloudy, but Ji Gang was a smart person, and he knew that these seemingly cloudy eyes actually had the ability to perceive people's hearts.

Slowly picked up the teacup, and Nie took a sip of tea and put it down, while Nie squinted his eyes and suddenly laughed, and his voice was shrill and ugly.

"Once you have your ambition and are on the rise, Lord Ji's official fortune has been very prosperous recently, and in the future, I can't even say that even the miscellaneous family will have to look at Lord Ji's face......"

Ji Gang put out a smile, quickly took out a piece of dark yellow paper from his arms, handed it forward, and said with a smile: "The father-in-law is serious, the lower official can have today, thanks to the father-in-law's best efforts to cultivate, even if the lower official is rich and noble, he does not dare to forget his roots, you see, the lower official has prepared some small gifts for you, and the silver has been entrusted to the little father-in-law of the food supervisor to move into the palace for you, please let the father-in-law smile ......and accept it."

And Nie didn't even look at the gift list, just smiled and said: "It's enough for Lord Ji to have this heart, and when Lord Ji is developed in the future, don't forget that one of the credits of the miscellaneous family is that these people say that Marquis Xiao led the army to the expedition, but let you pick up a bargain, and the miscellaneous family admires Lord Ji's methods so much." ”

Ji Gangqiang said with a smile: "Father-in-law, the lower officials don't understand what the lower officials do, what does Marquis Xiao have to do with the lower officials?" What bargain did the lower officials pick up? ”

And Nie stretched out the orchid and pointed at Ji Gang, and said with a smile: "What about pretending to be here with the miscellaneous family?" There are no tigers in the mountains, the monkey is the overlord, your city is not shallow, you saw the opportunity to save the life of the Son of Heaven, and was valued by the Son of Heaven and transferred to the former head of the Imperial Guard, these few days the court is noisy, and you use the excuse of suppressing the minister for Xiao Houye, and call Jinyi Wei to arrest five or six officials who participated in the impeachment of Xiao Houye, and suppress the voice of the court's request to cure Xiao Houye's crimes......"

Ji Gang smiled and said: "Xiaguan once worshiped Hou Ye's disciples, and now Hou Ye has become the target of everyone, and Xia Guan should do something for Hou Ye......"

And Nie seemed to smile and said: "The Son of Heaven has a headache because of the impeachment of the Manchu ministers against Marquis Xiao, and he needs the powerful ministers who sing black faces to come out and suppress the arrogance of the ministers, at this time you just stood up, under the banner of venting evil anger for Marquis Xiao, those five or six officials were made up by you with a bunch of trumped-up charges, caught, and killed, this move is in line with the mind of the Son of Heaven, and the Son of Heaven is more and more appreciative of you, thinking that you are a good courtier who understands the words of the intimate and understanding, but ......"

"But what?"

"The Son of Heaven is young, pure-hearted, and doesn't understand the world, but don't look at everyone in the world as blind, Master Ji, touch your conscience and tell the truth, are you really worried about Marquis Xiao? You arrested the minister under the banner of Marquis Xiao, where did this move put Marquis Xiao? Isn't that putting him on the fire and roasting? Master Ji, you're not kind......"

Ji Gang's smile became a little gloomy: "Father-in-law is upset about Marquis Xiao? ”

And Nie's expression remained unchanged, and he said with a smile: "You look down on the miscellaneous family, the miscellaneous family is just an old slave who serves the Son of Heaven, what does the world have to do with the miscellaneous family, the miscellaneous family does not seek power, it is not lustful, and the one who asks for it is only yellow and white......

Ji Gang lowered his eyelids and said quietly: "Coincidentally, the lower officials do not seek wealth, only seek power, for the sake of power, the lower officials can step on anyone's shoulders and climb up, Xiao Hou Ye I also step on it, under one person, above ten thousand people, I also want to appreciate it." ”

And Nie was shocked by the fierce light flashing in Ji Gang's eyes, and was silent for a long time, while Nie lightly knocked on the edge of the table, stood up, and slowly walked towards the door, without looking back, and lightly threw down a sentence.

"You stepped on this foot very well, and you are about to ascend to the clouds, last night I heard the Son of Heaven muttering a few words in the Wenhua Palace......"

Ji Gang sat up straight unconsciously, and said in a trembling voice: "Son of Heaven...... What was said? ”

"The Son of Heaven said...... 'Ji Gang is useful, or he can be the deputy commander of the Jinyi Guard', Master Ji, congratulations, you are going to be promoted again."

After the battle was lost, the imperial army gathered the soldiers, and after gathering outside the Zhending Mansion and returning to the building, the whole army withdrew to the south and entered the strategic defensive.

This is no way, the morale of the army that has just lost the battle is very low, although the number is still more than Zhu Di's Yan army, but this depressed and negative state can not fight at all, and the Yan army this time won more with less, and fought a beautiful victory, although the reason for the victory made them feel inexplicable, but their morale is now high and agitated like a long rainbow, one by one as if they were fighting chicken blood, and they were very high.

Under the situation of eliminating the strengths of the other, it is really not suitable to confront the Yan army head-on at present, otherwise what awaits him will definitely be a second defeat.

Xiao Fan made a calm choice, the whole army evacuated to the south, and divided the army of more than 300,000 troops, by Ping'an led 100,000 soldiers to garrison Shunde Mansion, Sheng Yong led 100,000 troops to garrison Dongchang Mansion in Shandong, Qu Neng led 80,000 garrisons in Qinzhou, Shanxi, and another 30,000 to Guo Ying of the Daimyo Mansion, and Geng Bingwen of Zhangde Mansion, so that hundreds of thousands of troops were stationed in several important towns on the periphery of Beiping.

And Xiao Fan himself led the remaining 80,000 soldiers to withdraw to Jinan Mansion in Shandong.

Defeated but not chaotic, Xiao Fan is doing his own efforts, trying to control the war in the north, not to spread it to the south, and to quell this rebellion at the lowest cost.

Fortunately, despite the rout of the whole line, the attrition of soldiers is not too serious, thanks to the opening of the martial arts hall at the beginning, a large number of middle and low-level generals have learned the valuable experience of leading the veterans, and they can still maintain their composure when the team is defeated, desperately stop and collect their subordinates, and use all kinds of methods to save the defeat, these generals reserved the seeds for the army, and also left Xiao Fan with rich capital that can fight again.

Everything was arranged in an orderly manner, and Xiao Fan was stationed in Jinan Mansion.

He was in a bad mood.

He is a traverser, and the education he received is also the modern education of the previous life, he probably knows what the ancient war was all about, the era of cold weapons is nothing more than face-to-face fighting on the battlefield, the strength of the country, the wisdom of the commander, the courage of the soldiers, etc., these are the main reasons for the success or failure of a war.

He never expected that the battle situation in his control would actually lose to a gust of wind.

The existence of the Shuai Banner occupies multiple weights in the hearts of the soldiers, Xiao Fan can probably understand that for them, the Shuai Flag is the weather vane on the battlefield and the signal of success or failure.

But...... Can you not be so foolish? The wind blew off the flagpole, and it has something to do with the warning from the sky, and the bad omen?

A person with a modern education really can't understand the ridiculous superstitious thoughts in the hearts of people in this era, and the wind blew off the flagpole and led to the rout of the whole army.

Since ancient times, there have been many famous generals, look at Wei Qing, Huo Quai, Yue Fei, when they start a war, they are called a scenery, and the stars will shine for thousands of years, and they have to be respectfully called "national heroes" when they are mentioned, what about him Xiao Fan? What do the people of later generations say about him?

Tragic heroes, a generation of declining gods...... Since crossing over to the present, he has gone very smoothly, it is too smooth, and he has never encountered such a tragic failure.

It is difficult for a man to grow up without failure, and it is impossible to experience the joy of success without failure, setbacks are the price of growth, but this time the price is a bit big, tens of thousands of casualties in exchange for his growth alone, those voices in the Beijing who participated in his impeachment, including the news that Ji Gang took advantage of the situation, reached Xiao Fan's ears through various channels.

There is no time and energy to take care of it, Xiao Fan has too many things to do now, and the most important thing is to raise the morale of the soldiers, how to improve it? They need a win.

Of course, Xiao Fan desperately needed a victory more than the soldiers.

The taste of failure is too uncomfortable, it is also a defeat, and the death of the overlord of Chu is called a passionate and heroic, and there is still a romantic taste in his bones.

Xiao Fan was secretly annoyed, when the army was defeated, why did he forget to pull out his sword and explain a few words like "pull out the mountain and cover ......the world" and so on? Somewhat add a bit of a tragic but positive glorious image to yourself.

It's a pity that at that time, I only cared about escaping ......**************************************************** Jinan prefect's yamen.

Xiao Fan had a straight face and was having a meeting with the generals.

The conference had two main themes, one was to reflect on the past, and the other was to imagine the future.

Now is the time to reflect on the theme of the past.

Jingshi came to the holy decree, Zhu Yunwen did not blame Xiao Fan for losing the battle, but gently comforted and encouraged, after such a big defeat, Zhu Yunwen's punishment for him was just a painless punishment of him for a year, the official title is still the same, and he is still the commander who quelled the rebellion.

If you fail, you have to find a reason, Zhu Yunwen can ignore it, but he Xiao Fan can't just forget it in a daze.

The generals were straight, and their eyes were staring at Xiao Fan intently, but their spirits were not very good, and they fought a defeat inexplicably, and no one was in a good mood.

Clearing his throat, Xiao Fan spoke.

"This time, Wang Shi was defeated by Yan Rebellion, and his responsibility is the official, and it has nothing to do with everyone, you don't have to ...... pressure"

Sheng Yong stood up, clenched his fists and said awe-inspiringly: "My lord, the reason for this defeat has nothing to do with my lord, why should my lord take it to himself?" There is nothing wrong with the deployment of the adults, but no one can predict a natural disaster......"

The generals nodded in agreement, this is a word of conscience, no one can blame Xiao Fan, only the damn weather.

Xiao Fan said with some emotion: "I am the commander of the first army, no matter what the reason, defeat is defeat, all the blame for the official will be borne by the official, you just need to fight well, you don't have to worry about other things, the official is a very principled person, I will carry the black pot and send you to death......"

"Cough, cough, cough ......" Cao Yi on the side saw the opportunity quickly, and hurriedly kicked Xiao Fan under the table.

Xiao Fan suddenly stopped talking, coughed dryly, and said: "Speaking of business, no one is uncomfortable if we lose the battle, this official has summarized the reasons for our failure in the past few days, the reasons are very profound, and it is worth our warning......

The generals looked at each other, confused.

The reason for the failure is clear to everyone, it's just an untimely gale, this kind of thing is not in line with the gods, what is there to summarize?

Slowly scanning the generals, Xiao Fan made a straight face and said solemnly: "There are three reasons for failure......

The generals leaned forward and listened respectfully...... "First," Xiao Fan's face twitched imperceptibly a few times, and said in a sad tone: "...... Feudal superstition kills people! ”

The generals wiped their sweat: "............"

"In the future, you will promote atheism more, Shuai Qi is just a rag, and it is not that someone smashed the signboard in business, and if it falls, it will fall, as for being so frightened? Hundreds of thousands of people are so ignorant, sad, lamentable......"

The generals silently glanced at each other, and echoed incorrectly: "Reasonable, reasonable." ”

"Second," Xiao Fan looked around at everyone and said with a sad expression: "...... The issue of environmental greening is very important, tell the local government that if you want to get rich, plant trees first, and deal with the problem of wind and sand, those dog officials are busy getting promoted and making a fortune, and the environmental problems are completely ignored by them, isn't this a cheat? ”

The congregation will continue to wipe their sweat: "............"

"Third," Xiao Fan paused, a string of sparks appeared in his eyes, and his tone contained anger, "...... Who made the flagpole of the handsome flag? ”

The congregation will be silent.

Cao Yi glanced left and right, swallowed his saliva and said cautiously: "It is made by craftsmen in the army." ”

Xiao Fan said viciously: "Find him out and beat him with fifty military sticks!" Then hang him on the flagpole and expose him to the sun for three days, and in these three days he will be a living humanoid handsome flag! ”

The generals were dumbfounded...... Xiao Fan sighed heavily, and said with a sad expression: "...... The order goes down, and in the future, the flagpole of the handsome flag will be changed to an iron beat, and the kind that blows the typhoon constantly, and it is not allowed to cut corners! ”

"Yes!"

“…… Meeting! Damn, I lost so badly! ”

Xiao Fan flicked his sleeves and left angrily.

He felt that he should change his surname, surnamed Dou.

(To be continued)