When Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin came to find Zhu Ping'an, he was hiding in the camp tent and looking through the battle reports of the last two months. Zhu Ping'an was a newcomer, and in order to familiarize him with the situation and military situation of the enemy and us, Lu Xiangsheng sent someone to send all the battle reports in his hand.

"Just got the news!" Lu Xiangsheng handed over a battle report soaked in sweat and sprinkled with a few drops of blood, "Gaoyang is lost, and Sun Ge's whole family has been martyred!" ”

Lu Xiangsheng's voice was low, his eyes were red and swollen, and although Yang Tinglin on the side tried his best to suppress it, it could be seen that his mood was also at a low point at this time.

"Sun Ge is trapped in Gaoyang, and he has sent a letter of distress to both the official and Gao Qiqian, but ......!" Lu Xiangsheng blamed himself. Sun Chengzong is not only an old-timer in the imperial court, his qualifications and prestige are unparalleled, but also the mentor of the first emperor Tianqi Emperor, and his martyrdom is a huge loss for the Ming court.

Zhu Ping'an stood up, Sun Chengzong's martyrdom was expected, Gaoyang City was outnumbered, and it was only a matter of time before it fell. It's just that Sun Chengzong didn't want to leave his hometown father, so he chose to die with the city without hesitation.

But at present, Lu Xiangsheng really has no spare strength to rescue Gao Yang, not to mention the problem of soldiers, just the grain and grass are now unavailable.

"This official estimates that maybe there will be a holy decree in the army in the next few days, and Your Majesty will definitely urge us to march quickly and force the Qing army to retreat."

"What does this mean, our army is newly defeated, not only has no food, but also has no support from a single soldier, how can we fight with the Qing army?" Yang Tinglin was furious.

Lu Xiangsheng shook his head helplessly and sighed. "Boxiang, don't you know? The predicament of our waiting, Majesty Xià will not know a word! ”

Yang Tinglin thought about it for a while, and then understood the meaning of Lu Xiangsheng's words, "Yang, the second thief of Gao, blocking the Holy Hearing, is there any place in this world that is unreasonable?" ”

Zhu Ping'an shook his head, "Lord Yang, instead of scolding here like a resentful woman, it is better to think about how our army should use troops in the future!" ”

One sentence choked Yang Tinglin and rolled his eyes.

Zhu Ping'an also ignored him. knows that this Yang Tinglin is a stubborn donkey. Holding on and going backwards, you don't have to give him a good look, maybe it will arouse his ambition. can figure out some good strategies similar to retreating to the three mansions.

Lu Xiangsheng coughed lightly. Only then did he say: "This official has made an agreement with Xu and Zeng. At the end of this month, they will present the impeachment note at the same time, and then they will do it. What is Master Zhu going to do? ”

Lu Xiangsheng was polite, and Zhu Ping'an was not good at pretending to be a big head of garlic, so he gave it up at the moment. "Rest assured, the last general has already arranged for people to spread the news in the capital, and the matter of Yang Sichang, Gao Qiqian and the Manchu Tartars secretly negotiating peace will soon spread throughout the capital. Even if there is no substantial evidence, it can make them disgraced. In this way, as soon as the recitals of Xu and Zeng were released, it was a matter of course, forcing Yang and Gao Er's thieves to use soldiers to fight a decisive battle with Tartars! ”

"It's as simple as that?" When Yang Tinglin heard this, his anger erupted uncontrollably. "Zhu Ping'an, what kind of idea is this. Yang and Gao Er's thieves deceived the emperor, no matter how earth-shattering the quarrel outside, they all had a way to make suggestions to the emperor and deceive the saints. If it drags on like this, we still can't resolve the dilemma! ”

"Also, don't forget, that Wang Pu is the chief soldier of a town, if you say kill, you will kill it, Yang and Gao Er's thieves will inevitably make a big fuss about it, and when the time comes, I am afraid that your official position will not be guaranteed!"

Zhu Ping'an smiled, "It's a matter of worrying about Lord Yang." It's just that the matter of killing Wang Pu, Yang Sichang and Gao Qiqian are afraid that they will still be counted on the heads of your Lord Yang and the commander, and the last general will be humble and humble, and probably won't be able to enter the eyes of the two of them! ”

"You, you, you ......!" Yang Tinglin was speechless for a while, but he didn't expect Zhu Ping'an to play a scoundrel and directly push the matter of killing Wang Pu clean.

"Okay, okay", Lu Xiangsheng had to be a peacemaker. "Boxiang, why do you always quarrel with Lord Zhu. Master Zhu came to the army since he was beaten, and everything he did was for the sake of everyone. The matter of Jingshi will never be so simple, you should calm down and listen to Lord Zhu talk in detail! ”

Lu Xiangsheng spoke, and Yang Tinglin was inconvenient to attack again, glared at Zhu Ping'an fiercely, poured a bowl of water by himself, and drank it angrily.

Lu Xiangsheng's attitude made Zhu Ping'an very satisfied. Although this person is completely incomprehensible in political disputes, it is rare for him to know that he handed over all the things operating in the capital to Zhu Ping'an, who has not known him for a long time, which can be regarded as a rare trust.

The Governor was serious. What the last general just said is also true. Please forgive me for the specific content and I can't tell you for the time being, but please rest assured, Xu and Zeng's two adults' recitals, there will inevitably be powerful figures in the court to help, and the commander and please relax. The top priority is to determine our strategy for advancing the army, only by defeating or defeating the main force of the Tartars, can the court echo each other, and we will have a glimmer of life! ”

Zhu Ping'an's words came from the bottom of his heart, and Lu Xiangsheng also felt the same way, although he didn't know what secret chess Zhu Ping'an had played in Beijing, but what he said in the end was true, no record, even if the situation in the court was favorable, he couldn't escape the emperor's thunderous anger.

"According to the news sent by Tanma, after the Tatars conquered Gaoyang, they plundered the towns on a large scale, and it seems that the army is also short of food. Then they marched south, and the officer judged that they should be heading for Dingzhou! ”

Zhu Ping'an and Lu Xiangsheng observed the map in the camp very carefully, and Dingzhou was only two hundred miles north of Zhending. If the Qing army conquers Dingzhou, it will definitely continue to move south, coming in the direction of Zhending, looking for an opportunity to annihilate Lu Xiangsheng's Xuanda army.

Yang Tinglin put down the water bowl and stood on the side of the map. "Commander, the humble position is still the same sentence, our army should immediately rush to the three mansions, raise grain and grass, recruit soldiers, and make plans after replenishment!"

Zhu Ping'an nodded rarely, "Commander, what Lord Yang said is very true. At present, the most precious thing is time, and our army must ensure that the Tartars must be firmly held back within twenty days, otherwise, even if the court changes, it will be useless. Sanfu is the place where the governor started, and the people can use it. I hope the governor will make up his mind early! However, before withdrawing, the Admiral feels that we still have something to do! ”

Lu Xiangsheng was twisting his beard to think, and when he heard Zhu Ping'an say this, he hurriedly waved his hand, "It's okay for Lord Zhu to be blunt!" ”

Zhu Ping'an brought over a thick stack of battle reports. "The last general has been reading the battle reports from various places for the past few days. Something unusual was discovered. ”

Zhu Ping'an threw his hand at him, "Before the last general speaks, I want to ask Lord Yang a question!" ”

Yang Tinglin suddenly mistakenly thought that Zhu Ping'an was provoking, and immediately replied lukewarmly: "Yang is a shallow learner, and he doesn't dare to be so exalted by Lord Zhu!" ”

Zhu Ping'an smiled. "Lord Yang is polite. Lord Yang has been in the center for a long time, and he should be more familiar with the comprehensive situation than the last general or the commander, and he really has doubts below, so I sincerely ask for advice! "Finished. It's another one.

Lu Xiangsheng also opened his mouth. "Boxiang. It's a big matter involving the soldiers, and Lord Zhu is not joking! ”

Yang Tinglin had no choice but to stand up straight and put away the banter on his face. returned the salute to Zhu Ping'an, "Lord Zhu, but please ask, Yang knows everything!" ”

"It's easy to say, Lord Yang knows how much grain and grass the army can carry with the army this time?"

Yang Tinglin was stunned for a moment, and blurted out without thinking about it. "The Tartars marched this time, with a total of hundreds of thousands of people, including 60,000 elites of the Manchu Eight Banners, 20,000 of the Eight Banners of the Han Army, and more than 10,000 cavalry from the Mongol tribes of Monan, and the rest were Minzhuang and auxiliaries. The grain and grass carried should only be enough for more than a month, after all, the purpose of the Manchu Qing invasion this time was to plunder the Quartet, and eat in the Ming Dynasty, and last year and this year, the grain harvest outside the customs is not good, and I heard that many livestock and cattle and sheep died of starvation. ”

"In this way, it is a little strange", Zhu Ping'an handed the battle report to Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin respectively, "Tartar September Koubian, it has been nearly two months now, but he is still alive and well, and he doesn't worry about the supply at all, why did he come?" ”

"The cities along the road have been captured by the Tartars, isn't it the grain that was stolen from these cities?" Yang Tinglin said.

Zhu Ping'an shook his head, "No, if the last general is not mistaken." As early as when the Tartars entered the Kou, the cabinet issued an order, ordering all parts of the North Zhili to hold the city at the same time, to fortify the walls and clear the wilderness, and not let the Tartars obtain grain and grass supplies from the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Taking 10,000 steps back, even if there is no such order, or the implementation of the local government is not effective, then in these years, the disaster situation in the Ming Dynasty is strict, especially in Shanxi and Beizhili, there has not been a single rain all year round, the grain is not harvested, and there is no surplus grain in the hands of the government and the people, and there is hunger everywhere, and the wilderness is thousands of miles. Even if the Tartars plundered the four directions, they might not be able to raise enough grain and grass for tens of thousands of troops! ”

Zhu Ping'an's words made Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin nod again and again. This is indeed a true thing, not to mention the treasury of the local government, I heard that even the rich families in the city have seen the bottom of the grain in their homes. The Qing army burned all the way, but the Ming army lost part of the city because of the lack of food, which is traceable, for example, Lü Pingzhou, Dingxing, and Rongcheng were lost because of the lack of food to guide the army. In this way, the supply of the Qing army is really a bit strange.

Zhu Ping'an flipped through a few battle reports and pointed them out to Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin, "The two adults, please look at these battle reports, but they are a little unbelievable. According to the report, the Qing army conquered Shouzhou, Xiongxian these places, got a lot of supplements, according to the horse report, after conquering these cities, the Qing army collected a large number of vehicles, specifically to escort grain and grass supplies, these cities where to get so many grain and grass supplies! ”

"That's right!" Yang Tinglin patted his head, "Did the commander ever remember that at the beginning of the war, you ordered me to go to Shouzhou to collect grain and grass, but the prefect of Shouzhou was helpless, there was a drought for many years, and the farmers near the state city were ten rooms and nine empty, and the treasury was empty. ”

"Yes, there is such a thing, not only Shouzhou, but also Xiongxian and other places, but where did the Tartars get the grain and grass?" Lu Xiangsheng was puzzled.

Zhu Ping'an patted Yang Tinglin's arm quietly, "Lord Yang still remembers an incident that happened in Zhongdu last year, which was about Liao Yongtang, a thousand households of Jinyi Wei!" ”

Yang Tinglin thought about it steadily, and his face suddenly turned pale, "You mean ......!" ”

Zhu Ping'an nodded heavily, "That's right, that's exactly what the last general thinks!" (To be continued......) u