On the evening of the fourth day of the first day of November, the snow was flying all over the sky under the twilight, and a one-wheeled carriage drove into Zhengyangmen in the wind and snow, dragging a long rut mark straight into Dashi Yongfang, and stopped in front of the door of the residence of Fang Congzhe, the first assistant of the cabinet, a man wearing a round hat and a fox fur got out of the car and entered the gate of Fangfu, and the carriage was waiting outside the door.

The groom on the wheel sat cross-legged, his sleeves and hands shrunk into a ball, the snowflakes fell silently, time passed slowly in the cold air, about an hour later, the man with the round hat and fox attack came out and got into the carriage, the groom immediately turned the horse's head and drove in the direction of the thousand-step corridor without waiting for the order, but heard the man say: "Go to the old alley of Li Ge." ”

The groom agreed, drove the carriage around in a circle, drove out of Dashi Yongfang, crossed West Chang'an Street, and came to the east end of Li Ge Lao Hutong along Shichang Street, at this time the curfew had begun, and the area around the imperial city was an important place to patrol, so there was a sergeant on patrol at night to stop the car and interrogate, the man in the car showed a waist card, and the sergeant who checked immediately bowed down and let him go, but the coachman asked the sergeant: "May I ask the military master, which is the apartment of the champion?" ”

Zhang Zhuangyuan of course refers to Zhang Yuan, and the sergeant said: "Enter the fourth gate from the entrance of the street." ”

The man in the round hat fox attack in the car let the carriage take shelter from the snow under the eaves on the side of the street, he went to Zhang Yuan's apartment alone, just arrived at the golden pillar gate, and saw two people walking briskly on the west side of the street, the slightly shorter one on the right carried a lantern to light the way, the man with the round hat and fox attacked smiled slightly, and said: "What a coincidence." He arched his hand and said, "Xiao Wu is in charge—"

It was Wuling who was carrying the lantern, and when he heard that he raised the lantern and looked at it, he opened his eyes sharply and said, "It's Master Yang of Shangqiu." Master Yang. This is my young master. ”

Zhang Yuan, who was following behind Wu Ling, stepped forward at this time. Zuo Yi said: "Mr. Fengyun, Zhang Yuanli." ”

Fengyun is Yang Hao's number, Yang Hao is also a young famous, weak crown jinshi, fifty-seven years old this year, his career can be described as ups and downs, because of the defeat of the Ulsan army, he was impeached and dismissed for nearly 20 years, and now he has been reinstated because of the crisis in Liaodong. After visiting Fang Congzhe in the capital, he came to visit Zhang Yuan, which shows that Yang Hao attaches great importance to Zhang Yuan, and the letter that Zhang Yuan asked Wuling to bring in four months has worked.

Although Yang Hao is nearly sixty years old, he looks quite vigorous, with a small square face, thick eyebrows and black beard, and slightly narrowed eyes. Yang Ho came to ask for advice. ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Don't dare, Mr. Fengyun, please come in." He looked left and right and asked, "Mr. Fengyun came here in the snow." Where's the son? Xiao Wu, go and invite Master Yang's groom to come in and drink a cup of hot tea to keep out the cold, and the horses also feed some grass beans. ”

Entering the hall and sitting down, after a little greeting, Yang Hao said bluntly: "In July, Yang Hao was impressed by the letter of the Champion Gong, Yang Hao admired it, Yang Hao has been convicted and lived idle for 20 years, but I really didn't expect the Champion Guild to teach with a long letter. ”

Zhang Yuan said humbly: "Mr. Fengyun must not be commensurate with the champion, in the next young and shallow, it is a fluke to release the brown, how dare he be proud in front of his predecessors - in the next envoy to North Korea, along the way to listen to the Korean people praise Mr. Fengyun's achievements in the past, the Korean Shishu deeply regretted that Mr. Fengyun was wronged for his meritorious service, and set up a shrine for Mr. and wrote by his king' Rebuilding the feudal state's plaque, although the battle of Ulsan was unfavorable, but the merits of the great victory of Jisan could not be erased, some bureaucrats in the DPRK and China, who did not know the dangers of the war, had never experienced it personally, but they talked loudly, regardless of merit, picked on the shortcomings, and read the newspaper of the year in the Hanlin Academy, and they were very unfair. ”

The defeat of Ulsan is a stain on Yang Hao's life, if it were not for the rescue of Zhao Zhigao, who was the first assistant at the time, Yang Hao would have been imprisoned for the crime, but Yang Hao was very dissatisfied with this stain and resentful, the Ming army did suffer a major setback in the Battle of Ulsan, but it was not a "big defeat" accused by some officials, so now Yang Hao heard Zhang Yuan so fairly evaluate his merits and demerits, how could he not be moved, and said: "The birds are good to hide the bow, at that time the Japanese have withdrawn, and the court no longer needs Yang Hao to lead the troops in the vassal state, the three major levies cost the national strength, and the military salary is so that the people's resentment is boiling, Someone must appease this public grievance, Yang Hoshi was defeated, and it is of course that he is guilty of degrading officials. ”

Yang Hao carefully read Zhang Yuan's "Difficult to Walk - Ding Si Joseon Chronicles", knowing that Zhang Yuan has extraordinary knowledge, but what makes him puzzled is: Zhang Yuan will not send someone to send a letter to him to discuss the situation in Liaodong for no reason, how will Zhang Yuan know that he will come back? When he talked to Fang Congzhe, he learned that Fang Congzhe's proposal to reinstate him was put forward by Fang Congzhe on the 21st of last month, and there was no discussion about his comeback in Beijing before-

Yang Hao hesitated for a moment, and finally said his question, but saw Zhang Yuan smile and said: "The old Fang Pavilion recommended Mr. to come back, and there are few objections from the DPRK and China, why?" It is for Mr. to be familiar with Liao affairs, once commanded the great campaign to resist the Japanese and aid Korea - under the envoy to North Korea, smashed the conspiracy of the slave chieftain to make up with Korea, but also learned from the slave chieftain envoy Nalan Baksh about the ambition of the old slave in Jianzhou, expected that there will be a war in Liaodong, and according to what I saw below, the Ming army in Liaodong was lax, it was difficult to fight against the Eight Banners Army, last month Fushun City fell, Zhang Zongbing died in battle is the result of many years of weakness, and now Liaodong is in danger, Mr. Fei can not preside over the overall situation, after returning from North Korea, it is expected that Mr. will come back. ”

Yang Hao said in his heart: "This is simply Kong Ming's resurrection magic trick." Although I feel that Zhang Yuan's god is very strange, but it sounds like he is in a happy mood, this is simply An Shi is not as good as the people in the world, Zhang Yuan's prediction is accurate, and he Yang Hao's ability to turn the tide is expected.

Yang Hao remained silent, and said slowly: "Zhang Zanshan is as wise as the sea, in the next year, nearly sixty years, and in the field for many years, to Liaodong, to Jiannu, to Mongolia has been alienated, time has passed, today's Liao affairs are no longer the Liao affairs of twenty years ago, when the imperial court gave Nuerhachi an official position, who would have thought that this person would become a big disaster for my Ming Dynasty!" ”

Zhang Yuan nodded secretly, Yang Hao is still very sober and self-aware, and later generations only know that heroes are judged by success or failure, and Yang Hao was degraded to nothing after his defeat in Salhu-

I only heard Yang Hao say again: "The emperor issued an urgent summons, came in the starry night, and just entered the inner city in the evening, the first to visit was the old Fangge, and he came out of the old mansion to visit Zhang Zanshan, just to hear Zhang Zanshan's high opinion on Liao affairs." ”

Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "Mr. Fengyun should know that Zhang Yuan and Fang Ge Lao are a little discordant, if Mr. has too close a relationship with Zaixia, I am afraid that some people will criticize him." ”

Without waiting for Yang Hao to say anything, Zhang Yuan's words changed, and his tone became a little deeper: "But there are some things that must be said to Mr., the rise and fall of the country is the responsibility of the husband, and the grievances of the party should not involve the military and political affairs of the imperial court. ”

Yang Hao said: "I heard that Zou Zhiyi, the head of the Shanhaiguan Military Department, has a three-way proposal to enter the army, and my army is divided into three roads, each led by a general, all the way from Guangshun Road to Ning Palace to smash its nest; First, intercept the enemy's front from Sanyang and Qinghe; As soon as you get out of Liaoyang, you can go to the Puhe River or Wujing to curb its conflict, so that you can win a big victory. The elder of the pavilion and the officials of the military department all agree with this strategy of dividing and attacking together, I don't know what Zhang Zanshan thinks? ”

Zhang Yuan was silent for a moment, but asked: "If the imperial court wants to levy Jiannu on a large scale, I don't know how many military horses can be used?" ”

Yang Hao muttered: "There must be 100,000 troops and horses to be dispatched, and the military department has urged the soldiers and horses of Xuan, Da, Shanxi, Yan, Ning, Gan, and Guzhu Towns to recruit another 20,000 soldiers and horses from Korea, and the 100,000 army should be mobilized, but it must be claimed to be 400,000 to deter the slave chieftains." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "How many soldiers and horses does Mr. think Nurhachi can have?" ”

Yang Hao said: "Judging from the defeat of Fushun this time, the previous estimate of Jiannu's infantry was too small, and I thought that the infantry was no more than 50,000, but now it seems that the total number should be no less than 60,000." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "When the next envoy to North Korea, I heard a report from the North Korean that Jiannu has 30,000 long armor troops, 40,000 infantry and 50,000 cavalry, all of which can be used to fighting, and last month Zhang Zongbing's army fell, 9,000 war horses and 7,000 pairs of armor were all returned to Jiannu, and Jiannu can form tens of thousands of cavalry by virtue of this, and it is estimated that in the spring of next year, Jiannu armored cavalry should have 40,000 cavalry, and the infantry should also be equal, with a total of nearly 80,000, and my Ming Dynasty hastily mobilized 100,000 troops to confront the enemy 80,000, and the soldiers do not have much advantage. ”

Yang Hao listened carefully to Zhang Yuan's analysis, and when he heard that it would be broken by each of them, he smiled and said: "I know that the old slave is good at using soldiers, but where and when my army will attack from where and when to attack, how can the old slave know in advance that although his cavalry moves quickly, after all, he can't fly with wings, and how can he break through the south, south, south, and north!" ”

Zhang Yuan really couldn't convince Yang Hao at this time, frowned, and said: "The 100,000 army is divided into several roads, if you encounter the main force of Jiannu, you are only afraid of more than auspicious, and you will be defeated all the way, and the other roads will be panicked and even grass and trees are all soldiers, Zhang Zongbing and Jiannu encountered battle, 10,000 sergeants only fled back a few hundred, and it is said that the Eight Banners Army only broke dozens of people, and the impact of Jiannu Iron Cavalry is extremely terrifying." ”

Zhang Chengyin's 10,000 army was defeated This is a fact, Yang Hao must pay attention to it, and said with a solemn face: "I will carefully ask the defeated soldiers in Liaodong about the actual situation of the battle at that time, and understand the tactics of Jiannu, in fact, the division and joint attack is also a policy according to local conditions, the armies of all roads are not in one place, and the old nest of Jiannu Hetuala is the place where my soldiers gather troops, but unfortunately the armies of all roads have not yet arrived, otherwise the heavy snow can make use of the strengths and avoid the weaknesses, and the snow can block the charge of the Jiannu cavalry." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "The armies of the various routes are separated by hundreds of miles, it is difficult to unify the command, and it is even more difficult to ensure that they arrive at Hetuara on time. ”

Yang Hao asked: "That praise plan will be released?" ”

Zhang Yuan said: "There is no need to rush the troops, but should slowly plan it, first send someone to negotiate with the slave chieftain, and exchange Nalan Baksh for the Fushun guerrilla Li Yongfang, who surrendered to the enemy, this person set a precedent for my Ming generals to surrender to Jiannu, and as the pioneer of the enemy, in the forts to bewitch and surrender our army and civilians, the impact is extremely bad, if you can exchange this person, ask the guilt and correct the law, from now on the Ming army soldiers will not dare to easily surrender to the enemy——"

———————————————————— (To be continued.) For mobile phone users, please go to read. )