Cao Huachun, who had always been deep in the city, saw that Emperor Chongzhen began to distrust Zhu Daolin, so he immediately fell into the ground and mended his sword: "Indeed, with General Zhu's eloquence and the well-trained Jiangnan New Army, his future achievements will definitely not be under Mao Wenlong back then." ”

Wang Chengen, who has been quiet, sighed in his heart. He was loyal to Emperor Chongzhen, wary of all courtiers, and secretly wary of Cao Huachun and Zhang Yixian, who were ostensibly good friends, but he felt indebted to Zhu Daolin, who was generous and trustworthy.

Every time Wang Chengen thinks of Zhu Daolin, he can't help but feel a little helpless and worried, and has a deeper understanding of Zhang Yixian and Cao Huachun's ruthlessness.

Emperor Chongzhen listened to the words of Zhang Yixian and Cao Huachun, and his mood was greatly relaxed, and he smiled and said very optimistically:

"Zhu Aiqing is indeed a general!"

"The first battle of Dengzhou moved the world, the officers and men of the new army under his command were well-trained and well-equipped, and the most rare thing was that the military discipline was strict, and there was no crime in the autumn, these advantages have been recognized by the Manchu Dynasty civil and military institutes, even Zhu Aiqing, the governor of Shandong, Zhu Yanzhi, who was most disgusted with Zhu Aiqing, also praised the strict military discipline and strong combat power of the Jiangnan New Army."

"Because of this, I am full of expectations for Zhu Aiqing and the Jiangnan New Army, hoping that they will launch an attack on Liaodong Jianlu as soon as possible and contain the Jianguo army, so that I can free up my hands and mobilize troops and horses from all walks of life to quell the civil strife as soon as possible."

Zhang Yixian and Cao Huachun chanted the wisdom of the saint in succession, Wang Chengen thought about it for a long time, but he couldn't help but cautiously remind:

"Shengshang, the northwest liukou has crossed Taihang and flocked to the southern counties of Zhili, the news will soon spread all over the world, if a large number of border troops are mobilized to the south to clear and suppress, Liaodong Jianyu is likely to take advantage of the situation to ......"

"I beg the Holy Lord to give another order to General Zhu Daolin. He was pacified and ordered to lead the new army to garrison Phi Dao and Guanglu Island as soon as possible, and send thousands of stragglers from Dongjiang Town, who were stranded on the island, to the front line of Shanhaiguan, so as to launch an attack on Liaodong Jianyu as soon as possible. ”

"Huh!? Didn't I order Shang Kexi, the deputy general of Guangludao, and Shen Shikui, the deputy general of Phi Dao, to transfer the defense of Shanhaiguan? How can there still be thousands of stragglers on the two islands? ”

Emperor Chongzhen asked in surprise.

Cao Huachun saw Wang Chengen looking at him, so he had to report to the emperor truthfully: "It is reported that after Shang Kexi and Shen Shikui received the order from the military department. Threatening that the salaries of the 8,000 soldiers under his command had been suspended for two years, and that they would not be able to mobilize them at all before they were replenished, the military department shifted the responsibility to the governor of Denglai, who was responsible for the distribution of salaries to the various armies in Liaodong. ”

"And Dengzhou has been in rebellion for a long time, and the new governor of Denglai, Chen Yingyuan, said bluntly that he didn't know anything about this matter, and the previous two governors had already been convicted and dismissed, and no one was responsible for it anymore, so as a last resort, Shang Kexi and Shen Shikui were still stranded on Phi Island and Guanglu Island."

"Other than that. There are also thousands of old and weak women and children who have fled from Liaodong to Korea for several years and are stranded on Phi Dao, and the slaves think that only General Zhu Daolin can solve this matter, but it is just ...... The minions feared that General Zhu would not be willing to lend a hand, but instead stalled as a result. ”

Emperor Chongzhen was furious when he heard this, and scolded the military department for scolding Dengzhou, and scolded Shangkexi and Shen Shikui after scolding Dengzhou, and sat down weakly for more than ten minutes. Under the persuasion of Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun, he picked up the pen with apprehension. personally wrote an edict to Zhu Daolin.

……

……

In the early morning of the 22nd day of the first lunar month.

Zhu Daolin, who was obviously much thinner, quietly returned to Liugong Island with a large number of military supplies.

When he learned that the five transport ships of the East China Sea Fleet had unloaded a large number of weapons, equipment, ammunition and materials, and that they would leave Weihai early tomorrow morning, together with the four captured warships that needed to be refitted, they would transport 5,600 soldiers of the Longtan Army, 2,000 eliminated rebel prisoners, and more than 300 apprentice craftsmen and their families recruited in Weihaiwei, Zhu Daolin immediately rushed to the Weihai Acropolis by traffic boat and held a military meeting overnight.

The generals and colonels of the various armies heard that Zhu Daolin had suddenly arrived. Hurriedly got up from the warm quilt and hurried to the general's mansion in the center of the acropolis.

Seeing Zhu Daolin, who looked calm, sitting around the fire with Bagas, commander of the East China Sea Fleet, Tang Zhenglin, commander of the Longtan Army, Zhao Wude, deputy general, and Li Yugang, the chief commander of the town, he immediately stepped forward to salute and greet him.

Zhu Daolin instructed everyone to find chairs to sit down and continue to talk in a low voice with the three commanders of the Longtan Army.

Guo Zhongjun, Li Yuming and others were busy hanging up large maps with a group of soldiers, lighting dozens of candles and placing them in various directions in the lobby. The dim and dark lobby of the Jiang Mansion is illuminated as bright as day.

After about a quarter of an hour, seeing that the chief officials of all the departments had arrived, Zhu Daolin nodded and stood up, walked to the front of the large military topographic map of Liaodong on the west side, glanced at the more than 20 generals and colonels gathered around him, and ordered: "This meeting tonight is very important, I am afraid it will be held until dawn...... Move your chairs and sit down. ”

The generals were awe-inspiring, and immediately turned around and moved chairs, placed them in front of Zhu Daolin, and sat neatly according to the size of the official rank.

Several soldiers and guards immediately moved a dozen braziers around, the weather was too cold, and I was afraid that I would not be able to sit still for ten minutes without charcoals.

After everything was cleaned up, Zhu Daolin said unhurriedly: "You are deeply puzzled by the transfer of the Longtan Army, and the officers and men of the Longtan Army are also very confused, and they don't know what happened to cause such a big change...... Well, now I'm telling you the truth, it's because the emperor suddenly changed his hexagram! ”

"After the end of the Dengzhou counterinsurgency, the emperor appointed me as the chief military officer of Dongjiang Town in accordance with the agreement, and ordered me to lead you and all the officers and men of the New Army to enter Phi Island and Guanglu Island to attack Liaodong, but I did not keep my promise and handed over Jinzhouwei, a strategic place belonging to Dongjiang Town, to me, nor did I include the tattered Weihaiwei into Dongjiang Town."

"As a result, our army will not be able to establish a supply base for grain, grass and materials, and even the emperor did not mention the Qingdao Port, which our army invested huge manpower and material resources to build day and night."

"After thinking about it repeatedly, I suddenly found that if there was no support from Weihaiwei, our army would definitely not be able to enter Phi Dao and Guanglu Island alone, otherwise not only would it not be able to rebuild Dongjiang Town and launch an attack on the Manchu Tartars, but it would fall into a predicament of not being embarrassed or embarrassed because of the loss of support from the rear, and it might be even more desolate than the end of Mao Wenlong's marshal back then."

The generals were shocked.

Although no one dared to accuse the emperor of breaking his promise, there was a look of anger on every face.

"What does the emperor think? Is there a villain who is slandering the emperor? ”

Wu Jicheng, who had an upright personality, couldn't help but roar loudly, and the whole hall echoed the school.

Wu Jicheng's deputy, Zhang Yizhen, was annoyed, and shouted that he would simply leave this ghost place and go south to Yingzhou to expand his territory, and immediately received a voice of support from the full hall of generals. (To be continued.) )