Mao'er Fort is located in the northeast of Shanxi, already outside the Outer Great Wall. Judging from the map of later generations, from the east of the partial pass, the Great Wall has two directions, one is to the southeast, connecting Yanmen Pass, the area of the capital, this is the inner Great Wall, the other is to the northeast, passing through Yajiao Mountain, killing the first line of Hukou, for the outer Great Wall.

However, many sections of the Outer Great Wall were built in the Jiajing Dynasty, which were basically built of rammed earth, and only used bricks in the Wanli Dynasty. The Outer Great Wall around Mao'er Fort has not yet been built, but Mao'er Fort is built on a mountain, which can be regarded as easy to defend and difficult to attack. Cat's Ear Fort has 2 gates, the south gate and the east gate, and the other two sides are two mountains. The mountain is not too high, it is estimated that it is about 200 meters, but the outward side is relatively steep, and it is difficult for cars and horses to climb, and the side towards Mao'er Fort is relatively gentle, and the two mountains are called Mao'er Mountain by the locals because of their shape like cat's ear.

The wall of Mao'er Fort is about 4.5 meters high, 1 li long from east to west, 2 li wide from north to south, and the castle guarding buildings such as the battlements on the wall are still intact.

There was still about 1 km away from the cat's ear fort, and the gong sounded in the cat's ear fort, and the people in the vicinity of the cat's ear fort ran to the fort. Brother Zhu Houzhao took the binoculars and saw the people of the castle with a panicked face, so they asked Dong Qinghai to play the banner of the water and land camp, which caused a misunderstanding. There is a beacon tower on Maoer Mountain, if it is lit, then soon the whereabouts of the two brothers will be known, and then they can only return to the capital.

Speaking of which, no one really knows the whereabouts of the two brothers in Shanxi, the new officials of Huairen County thought they went to Shuozhou, Zhang Shilang thought that the two of them were still in Huairen, and the officials of Datong Town thought they were going to Shuozhou. In addition, the waterway camp is camped in the wild every day, and the entire Datong town is sparsely populated, so no one knows the whereabouts of the two brothers.

Soon, the team arrived at the closed gate of the Cat's Ear Fort, about a hundred meters away. A military attache at the city gate, dressed in a somewhat shabby cotton armor, asked loudly, "Where is your land and water battalion?" How did you get to our cat ear burg? ”

Dong Qinghai came out of the crowd at the signal of Zhu Houzhao and replied, "We are the Qincha, and the deputy envoy of the Qincha is here to investigate the foreign enemies in Shanxi." ”

The military attache is about 30 years old, not tall about 1.7 meters, with deep forehead lines on his forehead, and he can't see his official position when he wears cotton armor, but such a small castle is at most a hundred households. The military attache listened to Dong Qinghai's words, his expression was very angry, but looking at this rich army that claimed to protect Qincha, he suppressed his anger and said loudly, "We have a common enmity between the fort and the Tartars, and no one will communicate with foreign enemies, so you can go and see elsewhere." The other soldiers on the city wall shouted one after another, "That is, there is no one in our fort who has no relatives who died at the hands of the Tartars, and who can do things that collaborate with the enemy." ”

Dong Qinghai waited for a while, and when their voices were quieter, he said, "I have the official documents of the Ministry of War here, as well as the identity certificate, you can take it to check." The military attache thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'll put a basket down, and you can put things in the basket." ”

The basket hanging with a rope was lowered from the city gate, Dong Qinghai put the paperwork and the like into it, and then the basket was slowly fished up. The military attache took the paperwork, glanced at it, and looked at Dong Qinghai, and his scrutinizing eyes seemed to want to see the clue from Dong Qinghai's face. Dong Qinghai was speechless for a while, and the two Zhu Houzhao brothers looked at the military attache with binoculars, and almost didn't laugh, because the military attache took the document backwards.

After a while, a middle-aged man in his forties ran to the side of the military attaché, who directly handed over the paperwork to the middle-aged man, and then continued to observe the troops under the city. The soldiers on the city walls were also talking about the army below.

A soldier of about 16 or 7 years old asked a middle-aged man next to him, "Uncle Li, what do you think of the army below?" I looked a little strange, it looked like there were two teams, and the thirty or fifty people in front of me were just like that, all of them had big shoulders and round waists, but it seemed that it was really not good to move, and the hundreds of people in the back didn't have a voice until now, standing straight, it should be elite. Uncle Li smiled and said in a low voice, "Third son, you kid is still a little tender, the dozens of people in front of you are right, but the back one, looking at the discipline is good, it can only be said that he has elite potential, but he has no murderous spirit, he has never been on the battlefield, and he is not elite." The third son looked at the army below again, nodded and said, "It seems that something is missing, just like Uncle Li, you don't have to be angry, just staring at me, I have to be afraid, these people are not enough." Uncle Li listened and smiled, "Okay, keep an eye on the bottom, the guy is steady, what kind of water and land camp is not on the ground in Shanxi, maybe it's a Tartar, if you want to fight, you kid should be careful, you will have a lone seedling left in your family." Sanko Zhengse nodded, clenched the bow and arrow in his hand, and stared nervously down.

At this time, the middle-aged man next to the military attache finished reading the paperwork and nodded to the military attaché, and then the military attache spoke, "Okay, open the door." The 7,80 sergeants on the city wall were relieved, after all, there were about 1,000 people below, and if there was a real fight, the cat's ear fort would suffer.

After a while, as soon as the gate of Mao'er Fort opened, the military attache walked out of the city gate with about 10 people, and saluted Dong Qinghai and said, "Lord Dong, we often have Tartars attacking here, so be careful, don't go to your heart." Dong Qinghai smiled and returned a salute, "It's okay, no matter how cautious you are, I can understand." The military attache continued, "Nacheng, I will now go and meet with the deputy envoy of the Imperial Mission, and then take you into the fort." Dong Qinghai nodded, "Come with me, the few people behind you don't need to come over." The military attache frowned, but still nodded, gave orders to a few people behind him, and followed Dong Qinghai towards the carriage.

When they arrived in front of the carriage, the military attache knelt down and saluted, "The villain Gao Shanwei, the hundred households of the Mao'er Fort, Zheng Ke, knock on the deputy envoy." The Zhu Houzhao brothers walked out of their luxury carriage, and Zhu Houzhao said, "Zheng Baihu, get up." Zheng Baihu was startled when he heard this, then jumped up and said in surprise, "No, how can this envoy be two hairy children." The soldiers around him were all angry, and they pulled out their waist knives at once, and Dong Qinghai also frowned. Zhu Houzhao stretched out his hand and pressed it down, and everyone inserted the knife back into its original place. Zhu Houzhao's brothers can see that this Zheng Baihu is a stunned young man, thinking of something and saying anything. Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "The official document of the Ministry of War only says that the two of us are the deputy envoys of the Qin Mission, but the two of us still have an identity, I am the crown prince, and my only younger brother at this time." ”

Zheng Baihu was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, "Which one is this singing, one is the deputy envoy, one is the hairy child, why did he become the prince again?" The world is changing so fast that I can't keep up."

The two brothers usually wear Confucian robes, and the crown clothes of the prince are rarely worn, and now they are dressed in a short dress, looking like a ranger in the capital, not like a prince at all. Zhu Houzhao asked, "Zheng Baihu doesn't believe it, do you need me to prove it?" Zheng Ke came back to his senses at this time, and hurriedly shook his head and said, "No need, no need, no one in this world dares to pretend to be the prince and the prince." Zhu Houwei interjected, "I let you come here alone because I don't want others to know about my identities, so you can only know about this cat's ear fort." Zheng Ke nodded hurriedly, "Weichen knows." ”

Zheng Ke was about to kowtow and retreat, but was stopped by Zhu Houzhao, "Okay, go to the front to lead the way, we will live here today." Zheng Ke bowed, ran to the front of the team, and led the team into Mao'er Fort.

When the team entered the cat's ear fort, they found that there were not many people in the cat's ear fort. Cat's Ear Fort is 2 miles long and 1 mile wide, but it is indeed very empty inside, and there are only remnants of the foundation and less than half a meter of residual walls in many places. Looking through both sides of the carriage, the entire Maoerbao burgers knelt on both sides of the road, and estimated that there were only 200 people. The houses were dilapidated, the people were dressed in shabby, and the soldiers were rarely in armor, most of them were wearing patched mandarin duck jackets.

Since there were not many houses with cat's ears and hats, there was no way to house the soldiers, so they found a vacant lot and set up camp. The team entered the fort at about 2 p.m., and by 5 p.m., all the tents were set up, and the land and water camp had dinner.

The team is a group of 50 people who eat together, and everyone is in line to eat, without exception. The general flag among the 50 people was at the back of the line, and the Zhu Houzhao brothers and the guards lined up in one place. After a few days, the guards also understood the rules of the water and land camp, and they lined up one after another, and there was no competition.

After the Zhu Houzhao brothers finished eating, they sat down at a long table with rice in one hand and a vegetable bowl in the other, ready to eat. At this time, Dong Qinghai came to report that Zheng Ke was carrying a basket and said that he was going to deliver food to the two brothers. After a while, Zheng Ke came over, swallowing saliva while looking at the food in the water and land camp, and the basket he was carrying in his hand was also tightened. When they arrived in front of Zhu Houzhao and the two brothers, they didn't know what to say for a while. Zhu Houwei opened his mouth at this time, "Zheng Baihu, have you eaten?" Zheng Ke immediately replied, "No." Zhu Houzhao smiled: "Then sit down and eat together." Zheng Baihu's eyes widened, and he looked at the two brothers blankly, and the people around him laughed when they looked at him. Zheng Baihu's complexion was very dark, but Zhu Houzhao's brothers still saw that his black was red. Zhu Houwei hurriedly said, "Okay, don't be stunned, sit down, Dong Qinghai, you go and get him a meal." ”

The small long table is rectangular, and it can basically be 6 people, usually Zhu Houwei brothers and Dong Qinghai, and three random ordinary soldiers together. Zhu Houzhao sat on the short side of the long table, Zhu Houwei was on his left, and Zheng Ke sat on the right side and faced Zhu Houwei.

Dong Qinghai called for a meal, put it in front of Zheng Ke, and then sat next to Zhu Houwei. Zheng Ke stared at the food in a daze, and after a while, he asked, "Your Royal Highness the Prince, your army eats this every day?" Zhu Houwei smiled and said, "It's almost, it's basically rice, green vegetables, pickles, and 2 pieces of meat." Zheng Ke's mouth was open, and then he said, "The land camp is really comfortable." Everyone around them laughed, and that was a good point.

Zhu Houzhao opened his mouth and said, "Zheng Baihu, don't look at it, eat it quickly." Zheng Baihu nodded and gobbled it up. After a while, a bowl of rice was eaten, but the dish didn't move much, at this time Zhu Houzhao and others ate a small half bowl, Zhu Houzhao asked, "Are you full, if you are not full, go there to the big bucket and serve it yourself." Zheng Baihu was stunned again, today can be regarded as a knowledge, and he has lost his face, but there are more lice and no itching, and there are more debts, so he calmly eats and continues to eat. After eating three bowls, it is considered full, and this bowl is at least half a catty, and the vegetable bowl is even more licked clean.

Zheng Baihu's eyes were red after eating, and Zhu Houwei couldn't help asking, "Zheng Baihu, what's wrong?" Zheng Baihu hurriedly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and then forced a smile, "It's nothing, I just remembered the past." Zhu Hou glanced at him, "You tell us, we don't know anything about life at the border gate." Zheng Baihu nodded.

At this time, most of the people had finished eating, and they all quieted down when they heard Zheng Baihu talk about the past. Zheng Baihu said calmly at this time, "Our cat's ear fort was built by Grandpa Cheng at that time, and according to my father, it was also a medium fort at that time, with a total of 3 hundred households and nearly 1,000 households. But then the Tartars from the north often came here to threw the grass and grain, and when we came into the cat's ear fort, they could not do anything with us, so they cut off the grain from the field, and burned what could not be taken away. At first, there were some men, riding horses to find those Tartars desperately, but once they got out of this gate, they could never come back. Slowly, there are fewer and fewer men who are willing to go out and work hard, and the food they fight every year is getting less and less. Many people have moved away and fled, and there are fewer people in Cat Ear Fort. Every time the Tartars came to grab food, the 200 or so people in the fort could only stand on the wall and watch, the fields were burning with fire, and their hearts were dripping with blood. Five years ago, the Tartars came to grab grain again, and there was not much food in the fort, and they had to pay grain to Weili. If this grain is robbed, there will be no way to survive in the fort. At that time, the hundred households here were still my father, and I was about as angry as a few people, so I had to ride out and fight with 200 Tartars, but my father didn't allow it. I quarreled with him, and then I scolded, 'Everyone here is starving to death, you don't dare take us out, I don't have your soft-boned father'. He was expressionless and did not speak, but after a while he sighed and said to me, 'You are not too young, and the family will depend on you in the future,' and then he had someone tie me up, open the city gate, and rush out alone. Speaking of this, Zheng Baihu was already in tears, his voice was choked, and then he wiped his face and continued, "After 5 days, Gao Shanwei's reinforcements came, and when they arrived at Mao'er Fort, they saw that the Tartars were gone, so they asked us to hand over this year's grain. At that time, because I was always shouting for revenge from the Tartars, I was still tied up in the firewood room. Gao Shanwei's visitor was received by my mother, she handed over all the food at home, and if it was not enough, she collected it from each family, and after handing over all the food, Gao Shanwei's also left. I was released the next day, and I was supposed to go to the Tartars to take revenge, but the long-term worker of the family told me that my mother had gone. It turned out that 36 old people over 50 years old in the fort hanged themselves on Maoer Mountain together. Someone starved to death that winter. Zheng Baihu paused, the tears on his face had not been wiped away, and he smiled a little embarrassedly, "I have been doing this Baihu for 5 years, and this is the first time I have eaten a full meal, which makes His Highness smile." ”

The people around him either have a blood feud with the Tartars, or they have lived a hard life in the past and have never eaten enough, they are all touched, and many people are wiping their tears. Brother Zhu Houzhao looked at Zheng Baihu who was wiping his tears and snot, and was speechless. After a while, Zhu Houwei asked Dong Qinghai, "Qinghai, how much grain is there in the camp?" Dong Qinghai wiped his tears and replied, "There are still more than 20 days to go." Zhu Houwei glanced at Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Houzhao nodded, so Zhu Houwei said to Zheng Baihu, "In the future, when we are here, you will let the people in the fort eat with us, and if you feel that you don't want to go, you will find some people to help us cook and cook." Zheng Ke knelt down and shouted excitedly, "Your Highness Xie, Your Highness Xie." "His voice was hoarse and he was broken, but no one laughed at him. Zhu Houzhao was about to say something, but he heard someone shouting in the distance, "Beacon smoke is burning in the north, and there are Tartars entering the Kou." Everyone stood up and took up their weapons.

Zhu Houzhao said to Zheng Baihu, "You go back and organize the soldiers, and we will go to the city wall to defend." "The whole battalion began to operate at high speed, everyone knew about the Tartars, coming

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