Dingnan Hou Mansion.

Compared with Wang Lanping's two thatched houses in Huaining City, it is really a heaven and an underground, the furniture and decoration are quite stylish, entering from the gate of the Hou Mansion, it is a spacious front yard, generally in some small rich homes, there will be a piece of Zhao Wall that is meant to block the wall at the entrance, however, this is not an ordinary family, this is the Hou Mansion, it is said that the Hou Gate is as deep as the sea, and its specifications are only slightly inferior to the Prince's Mansion.

There is no wall in the front yard, instead of a piece of more than one zhang high 'mountain' shaped Taihu Lake strange stones, strange stones stand in a pool, the koi fish in the pond are in pairs, hiding under the lotus leaves spread on the water surface and grinding their sideburns, quiet and carefree.

A ginkgo tree branches luxuriant, cast a shade in the front yard, listen to the old man who lives next to the Hou Ye said, this ginkgo tree, at least more than a thousand years old, a person hugging the thickness, the body of the tree seems to be a thousand holes, in fact, it can give people a weathered, simple and vigorous feeling, the branches cover half of the yard, standing on a few streets outside the Hou Mansion, you can see its figure.

The pattern of the whole Hou Mansion is very similar to a Lu character, there is a long corridor on both sides of the front yard, which leads directly to the last courtyard, that is, the inner house, which is the room of the ladies of the Hou Mansion.

After the inner house is the garden, the place is not big, but it is the four seasons like spring, all the year round is a piece of green, at this time it is July, the flowers are tightly clustered, dozens of pots of precious flowers compete with each other, each leading the wind \ sassy, the branches of three or five osmanthus trees also reveal a cluster of golden flowers, the fragrance is fragrant, the smell is refreshing, but all this is now no one appreciates.

Wang Lanping stood alone by the lotus pond in the front yard, silently looking at the pair of red koi in the pond, feeling lonely, in his own magnificent mansion, he couldn't raise a little interest, too lonely, even if he got the whole world, but no one shared, this is also a failure.

Whenever Wang Lanping meditates in the mansion alone, he can't help but think of his hard-working old lady, I don't know where she fell, and Yun Niang, who has never even eaten a serious meal and has never owned a decent piece of jewelry, are you okay? Where are you all? Why can't I find you?

Fortunately, every day, a few generals around him would come to the mansion to sit and chat, to pass away Wang Lanping's loneliness, and to make the lifeless Hou Mansion a little angry.

With a burst of hearty laughter, Song Dali and Huaiyuan camp leader Fang Guoan walked into the courtyard side by side, and the two talked and laughed all the way, their faces slightly red.

"Master Hou, you are watching the fish again, well, no matter how long it is, it is a little smaller, in a few days, I will help you fish it up, and it will be good to make a dish with wine" Song Dali came to Wang Lanping's side with a full burp and looked at the pool a few times, this thing is in his eyes, eating is more refreshing than looking.

Fang Guoan didn't dare to be as casual as Song Dali, he arched his hands and saluted obediently, "Master Hou"

Wang Lanping turned his head to look at them and frowned, "Drink again?" ”

Song Dali smiled and stretched out two fingers, "Hehe, it's not much, six taels, I originally wanted to invite you to go together, but I was afraid that Brother Fang and Brother Chen Wanliang would be uncomfortable, so I didn't call you" Chen Wanliang is the chief general of the Anyuan Battalion of the champion army.

Wang Lanping walked into the flower hall with his hands behind his back, and the two followed.

"Chen Wanliang drank too much again, right?" Wang Lanping asked.

Song Dali said with a smile, "Hou Ye is wise, he was sent back to rest by his subordinates."

Among the major generals of the current champion army, Wang Lanping also gradually figured out some of their respective strengths and weaknesses and personality characteristics, Song Dali, the commander of the iron cavalry battalion, needless to say, is loyal to Wang Lanping, ignores the Ming court, is arrogant, and can be called a brother and brother with anyone, good wine can be drunk, a thousand cups are not poured, and he dares to beat a tiger even if he drinks a few cups before the war;

Song Xian, born as a guard officer, commanded three thousand light cavalry, and was a die-hard loyalist in exchange for a regimental dragon robe, in his eyes, he only knew that Wang Lanping did not know the Ming Dynasty, and he had a deep experience in cavalry combat;

Fang Guoan, the main general of Huaiyuan Battalion, has a calm personality, usually does not talk much, and has a bitter hatred on his face, as if everyone owes him 200 hangings, but he is rich in five cars, can be written and martial, can be called a generation of Confucian generals, since he was incorporated into the champion army, his confidence has increased greatly, he has an unlimited future, he is loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and he is also obedient to Wang Lanping, and he is one of the main generals of the champion army.

Chen Wanliang, the chief general of Anyuan camp, is good to drink two sips of wine, drunk every time he drinks, has a straightforward personality, does things like nothing but admits death, in addition to good wine and greedy cups, he is also very beautiful, when he sees the little daughter-in-law of other families, he is more excited than going to the battlefield, and he has no good impression of the Ming Dynasty.

Cao Dingjiao, the nephew of the famous general Cao Wenzhao, is now the commander of the Dingyuan Battalion of the Champion Army, among all of them, the youngest, the blood is strong, not close to wine, bent on reviving the glory of the Cao family, loyal to the Ming Dynasty, Wang Lanping concluded that as long as this person does not oppose the Ming, he will never betray himself, and is currently stationed in Jiangbei, and his combat effectiveness is also the strongest among the three major battalions of the Champion Army.

Zheng Hongkui, the commander of the water division, is very deep in the city of people, has no good impression of the Ming Dynasty, and uses each other to Wang Lanping, and his people only care about Zheng Shi's family business, Wang Lanping uses it and is cautious to prevent it, and is in charge of all the armies of the Ming Dynasty The absolute elite army, the main force of the Ming Water Division, the Zhenjiang Water Division.

In the end, Zheng Sen who was killed from Huaining City with Wang Lanping, the current Zheng Sen is the future national surname Zhu Chenggong, the king of Yanping County, Wang Lanping knows that this person's ability is not under him, he will be able to become a generation of famous generals one day, at this time to serve by his side, it is really wronged him, specially arranged for him to take over the 30,000 army in Huai'an, laying the foundation for his future road to fame, and only he can block the footsteps of the Qing army to the south for a while, and buy time for himself to run Jiangnan.

It's rare to go back to Nanjing, and live in a tent in Xiangshan Dazhai for two months, these people are about to get moldy, so Wang Lanping is happy with the wind \ flow in the city, and he doesn't have more restraints, people, they all have seven emotions and six desires, and they have to know that the comfortable days are to rely on their own efforts to get back, which is a little reward for everyone's hard days in Xiangshan.

The three of them entered the hall and sat down, and a maid served tea.

Song Dali took a sip, the cup bottomed out, wiped his mouth, and the meaning was still exhausted, the maid was busy adding another cup, Wang Lanping waved her hand and asked her to retreat.

Wang Lanping said, "Vigorously, garrison in the city, drink some wine, I don't care about you, but you must not slack off on military affairs, you are from the infantry army, you are in charge of the heavy cavalry camp at the beginning, and you are like a mountain across the mountain, you have to practice more, be handy, and you can be comfortable on the battlefield in the future."

Song Dali said with a smile, "No, Wu Song fights the tiger, a point of wine adds a point of strength, and our point of wine will add a little more courage,

God blocks and kills God, Buddha blocks and kills Buddha"

Wang Lanping frowned, "You have become the main general of one side, and you are so brave and ruthless, you are now the commander of the five thousand heavy cavalry, and every decision you make is affecting the life and death of five thousand people, don't be brave at every turn, you must learn to use your brains"

Song Dali grinned and smiled dryly, "Yes, yes, I wrote it down"

Wang Lanping said in an accentuated tone, "Don't talk about it, although Song Xian is controlled by you, he has the essence of cavalry combat, you have to ask him more for advice, you must familiarize yourself with the combat methods of heavy cavalry as soon as possible, and tell you, although you are brought out of Huaining City by me, but the combat is not effective, don't blame me for being ruthless in military law."

Song Dali put away his smiling face and muttered, "Obey"

Wang Lanping turned his head to look at Fang Guoan, "General Fang, how is your morale over there?" ”

Fang Guoan arched his hand and said, "Back to the commander, morning exercises, afternoon exercises, evening exercises, the last general will not dare to have a trace of slackness, one-day training, two-day battalions take turns to rest, but no soldier has ever dared to disturb the people in the city."

Wang Lanping nodded, pointed at Fang Guoan and said to Song Dali, "Well, Song Dali, listen to it, this is the way to lead the army, use both grace and power, combine work and rest, you learn a little."

Song Dali glanced at Fang Guoan and pouted, "Yes, Brother Fang, in the future, I will walk around our army more often, pointing and pointing, ah"

Fang Guoan said, "Don't dare to give advice, just learn from each other"

After talking about military affairs, the three of them talked about the current situation, although the current Nanjing City is completely controlled by the champion army, but this is obtained by relying on the strength of the soldiers and horses.

Seeing that the situation in the court is unclear, the ministers of various ministries all say that they are sick at home, and there is a lot of backlog of various government affairs.

Song Dali said, "In my opinion, take out Nama Shiying directly, clean and crispy, and cut it with a knife, so you can use such thoughts, and then directly let the emperor worship you as the governor of Zhejiang, which will save more trouble."

Wang Lanping snorted, "I just asked you to use your brains more, no matter how incompetent Ma Shiying is, but he is always the head of the hundred officials, it is easy to kill him, how can he convince the public?" How to appease the world's governors"

Song Dali said disdainfully, "What's the use of just holding a bullish name, there are no soldiers and no generals, I really have to find a reason, it's simple, doesn't killing Liu Zeqing mean that he is rebelling, just do it again, press the hat of rebellion, see who dares to say no"

Wang Lanping waved his hand and said, "You, you think too simply, Ma Shiying is a very popular minister, above 10,000 people under one person, saying that he is rebelling, I'm afraid even the emperor won't believe it."

Song Dali said, "What's this, didn't Hong Wuye kill Prime Minister Hu Weiyong like this when he killed him?"

Wang Lanping said, "What kind of person is Emperor Hongwu, that is the emperor who came out of a cloth cloth, and he is a god-like saint among the people, not to mention Hu Weiyong's rebellion, he just said that Hu Weiyong is a monster, and the people of the country are convinced, in the final analysis, it is our lack of fame"

Fang Guoan interjected, "Commander, Ma Shoufu is corrupt and perverts the law, and the mediocre ministers mislead the country, it is obvious to all, a few days ago, he drove all the Donglin Party in the DPRK out of the court, most of them were all locked up in prison, and they were not convicted or released, they have been locked up like this, and there will be a plan in the end, it is better to ask the emperor to let them reinstate on the grounds of no evidence, the Donglin Party and Ma Shiying swear to be together, let them fight, we secretly support the Donglin Party behind our backs, these sour literati, some have a way to find out Ma Shiying's illegal things"

Wang Lanping nodded and shook his head again, "This plan is feasible, but it can't be done, Donglin Party, hmph, it will only make things worse and worse, and then think about it, is there a better way?"

Song Dali said excitedly, "Hou Ye, yes, didn't Brother Fang say it just now, Ma Shoufu was corrupt and perverted the law, everyone in Nanjing City knows, yesterday I passed by Ma Fu, hey, that house is much more magnificent than your Hou Ye Mansion, one check is accurate, now send someone to dig three feet of ground in his house, Liu Zeqing has found millions of taels, this Ma Mansion is only a lot more, and that house alone is worth one million taels"

Wang Lanping said, "It's not now, even if he Ma Shiying is greedy for ink, we can't search for a tael of silver."

Fang Guoan and Song Dali were puzzled, and said together, "Why?" ”

Wang Lanping said, "A chief assistant of the Ming Dynasty, the minister of the Hongguang Emperor, he is so greedy, doesn't that mean that the emperor is a fool, and the imperial historians of the Manchu Dynasty are all blind?" Is the Inspectorate an ornament? Where did he get all this money? The people who give bribes are all over the world, and if I do this, won't everyone be in danger, and I will also offend all the officials in the world, and no one will come out to impeach him."

Fang Guoan nodded, "Yes, yes, the commander is thoughtful, it is difficult to bring him down, fortunately, now that he is under house arrest, we have time to slowly collect evidence of his crimes."

Wang Lanping stood up, "Okay, in this way, the most important thing at the moment is not Ma Shiying, we must let the hundred officials go to the court as soon as possible, no one has been on duty for more than six days, state affairs cannot be delayed, Fang Guoan"

Fang Guoan stood up and arched his hand, "The last general"

"Give you a day, invite all the Beijing officials out of their homes, let them perform their duties, it's really not good, send troops to escort them, and carry me if I'm sick, and also, the riverside fort looks at the river, echoes the defense of Nanjing, and is the most important fortress to control the waterway in and out of Nanjing, you go and find a way to take it down"

Fang Guoan frowned, "But the fort garrison is subordinate to the Yangtze River Defense, and it is under the control of Liu Kongzhao, the sincerity of Bo Liu, and not under the control of our Nanjing garrison battalion, is this overstepping the limit?"

Wang Lanping smiled, "Over the limit? If you want to be a good child, don't want to eat candy from the neighbor's house."

Song Dali on the side was helpless, "Old Fang, if you can't do it, I'll go, as soon as the five thousand iron horses go up, I will smooth the iron lumps for him."

Wang Lanping pouted, "So I don't let you go, I have other things for you to do, there are spies to report, several major soldiers around are secretly communicating with Ma Shiying, wanting to gather people to come and force me to hand over the military power, and Zuo Liangyu in Jiujiang, he is also secretly dispatching military horses, there are signs of eastward advance, we must take precautions as soon as possible, in case of a fight......"

Song Dali straightened his waist, "If you want to come, you will come, if you want to fight, you will fight, you are not afraid of them"

Wang Lanping pointed at him, "Confused, you can't fight with your temper, you know?" Now Li Zicheng's 500,000 men and horses have gathered in Huguang, Zhang Xianzhong's hundreds of thousands of people have also gone out of Sichuan, and the Manchurians in the north have also gathered 300,000 troops on the Huai River.

Song Dali knew that he was wrong, and his voice was a lot smaller, "Then, then what are you letting me do?" ”

Wang Lanping said, "We can't fight, but we have to do a good job of fighting, bluffing, and let those who want to take advantage of the chaos to enter Beijing to reap some benefits, if you want to fight Nanjing, you must first weigh whether you have the strength, tomorrow you and Chen Wanliang together, 20,000 troops will be arranged on the periphery of Nanjing, day and night drills, show military might, and always send people to monitor everywhere, as soon as there is a disturbance, immediately come to report, and never allow war, do you understand?" ”

The two arched their hands and said, "Yes!" ”

Wang Lanping nodded, "Okay, let's do it, I'll go to Beijing to face the saint."

Song laughed and said, "I heard Song Xian say that the emperor was scared sick and bedridden."

"So I have to go and appease it, in addition, Jingcha is also going to begin, and this will has to be made by the emperor."

"Master Hou, will the emperor agree?"

"I can't help him, I want to let those old and mediocre officials and old stubborns who rely on the old and sell the old give up their seats, and let the young people who want to do things and dare to do things serve the country, I am not afraid that they will do wrong things, I am afraid that they will not do things"

Song Dali smiled, "I just like the tone you said this, bullish"