In March of the seventh year of Chongzhen, the Houjin army besieged Datong, and the eight banners gathered around Datong. The Ming army that rescued them lacked contact with each other and lacked trust, and they all stopped at the inner Great Wall, including Zhong Laosi's dragoons.

Zhong Laosi didn't get up to Haoge, he kept cowering in the bamboo silk, waiting for the Houjin army to attack, but the Houjin army ran away by himself, Zhong Laosi was also suspicious, even if the sentry horse said that the Houjin army had assembled in Datong, he still stuck to the bamboo silk, slowly transported refugees and supplies to Fuping, and Haoge's flattery was thrown to the blind man.

Zhong Laosi also received a long letter from Wang Changfu, in which Zhong Laosi was scolded bloody, but the formal commendation was written in a dazzling manner, greatly praising Zhong Laosi. Zhong Laosi guarded the bamboo silk pass, and fought a war of words with the group of imperial historians and Zhili patrols in the middle of the matter, and the imperial history and the Zhili patrol did not give him a verification of his military exploits, and the court did not give him a reward.

The military order of the military department to urge the siege to be lifted is as urgent as one, and the siege of Datong must be solved, Wang Changfu told Zhong Laosi that the Houjin army cannot afford to delay and will withdraw soon, so Zhong Laosi is not in a hurry.

Wu Xiang couldn't bear the urging of the military department and the supervising army, sent the forward to fight with the Houjin army, fled as always, and then sent a report back to the military department, saying that the Houjin army reached 100,000 people. You Shiwei also sent a forward force, in the periphery of Datong and the Houjin army sentry cavalry fighting, he was more kind than Wu Xiang, sent all the family Ding, this battle was won, but the Houjin army immediately sent reinforcements, You Shiwei shrank back. Cao Zhao's department, which came to the south to help, had just arrived in Taiyuan, and he was also suspicious, and Cao Zhao saw that Wang Chengen and Ai Wannian's department were making slow progress and stopped at Ningwu Pass.

On the fifth day of the first month of March, Huang Taiji did not have time to wait for the Ming army to come to help, and the army withdrew from Datong, besieging Yanghe on the way. Yanghe was the residence of the governor of Xuanda, but at this time, Zhang Zongheng, the governor of Xuanda, and Hu Zhanen, the governor of Xuanda, were still in Datong. Yanghe has only one soldier to defend Zhu Wannian.

Datong City is high and deep, and Huang Taiji is retreating in the face of difficulties, but he knows that Yanghe soldiers and horses are empty, so he publicizes under the city, and lets the soldiers escort the nearby people to pass by, luring Zhu Wannian to attack.

Zhu Wannian couldn't mobilize Yanghe's men and horses, and finally took his 130 family members to fight in anger, and was beheaded by the Houjin soldiers outside the east gate, which became an important result of Houjin's entry into the customs this time.

At this time, the Ming army returned to the reinforcements, and all the departments gathered at the passes of the Inner Great Wall. After Datong was freed from difficulties, Zhang Zongheng coordinated all the troops to march to Xuanda, and the main force of the Qinwang army in Dengzhou reached Lingqiu through the Bauhinia Pass, plus the total number of auxiliary soldiers was as high as more than 7,000 people, and the two sides tested each other. Wu Xiang did not dare to act alone, and also moved to Hunyuan Prefecture, and on March 8, all of them gathered in Hunyuan Prefecture, posing for a decisive battle with the Houjin army.

After the Houjin army killed Zhu Wannian, they saw that Dengzhou Town did not attack rashly. did not take the initiative to attack Hunyuan Prefecture, after Cao Zhao Ai Wannian's troops arrived in Hunyuan Prefecture, the Ming army slowly advanced north under the command of Zhang Zongheng, but Zhang Zongheng still did not dare to fight a decisive battle. The supply of grain and grass is also very difficult, and people from all walks of life have their own plans, but Wang Changfu did not dare to venture alone.

On March 12, the Houjin army broke through Yanghekou and Huyukou. And Zhu Wannian's body was hung in Huyukou for three days, and Zhang Zongheng commanded the army to stay in Datong. He reported to the imperial court that the siege of Datong had been relieved, and claimed that he was pursuing the Houjin army.

Chongzhen's entry into the Kou at the beginning of the seventh year finally ended, and the Houjin army plundered nearly 100,000 people, killing several times the number of people, and the whole Xuanda was in a depression. However, the Dengzhou dragoons killed Mang Gurtai, but they saved face for the Ming army.

On March 15, the Dengzhou dragoons, led by Zhong Laosi, went straight to Xuanfu. Zhong Lao Sigen ignored Zhang Zongheng's dispatch and went directly to Zhangjiakou Fort to set up camp.

The sudden arrival of this Ming army made Zhangjiakou very chaotic, and even more panicked than when Houjin entered the customs, because as soon as they came, they first piled up the heads of nearly 1,000 Houjin soldiers outside Zhangjiakou, and dozens of Zhenyi prisoners of war were tied on both sides of the road, and finally hung up the armor of Mang Gurtai, the yellow flag and the real flag of Gushan, the main banner of the blue flag, and the true flag of the blue flag of Gushan. Some Dengzhou cavalry blocked all roads in Zhangjiakou, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving the country.

Zhangjiakou was well-informed and knew that this army came without an order, so the gate of Zhangjiakou Fort was closed and strict precautions were taken. Jiao Qingyuan, the governor of Xuanfu, quickly sent people to Zhangjiakou, but they were all blocked out of the military gate, and Zhong Laosi replied that there was news that Jiannu was operating outside Zhangjiakou and might enter the army to attack Zhangjiapu and Xuanfu again, and the dragoons must be on guard here.

Zhang Dong, who had been trapped in Zhangjiakou for more than a month, finally breathed a sigh of relief, went out of the city and entered the barracks, Zhang Dong entered the fourth camp of Zhong Lao, the familiar appearance of the Dengzhou army made him feel at ease, but the guard did not lead him to the Chinese army, but an inconspicuous tent.

Zhang Dong walked in with some surprise, and after opening the door curtain, an elegant taxi turned his head and smiled at Zhang Dong: "Director Zhou asked the old man about the whereabouts of Master Zhang, and now that he sees it, he is relieved." ”

Zhang Dong hurriedly returned the salute: "It turned out that Lord Song was in charge of the overall situation, so the subordinates had a bottom in their hearts." ”

Song Wenxian beckoned Zhang Dong to come in and sit down, and after Zhang Dong sat down, he asked in a low voice: "Mr. Song and the dragoons are here, is it because of the slavery of the Zhangjiakou merchants?" ”

Song Wenxian nodded, "This matter is indeed related to these businessmen, but how to do it still needs to be discussed, the two guides caught are sent by Fan Yongdou and Wang Dayu in Zhangjiakou, but they are not directly determined by them, they are arranged by Tongguò Baoding and Lingqiu and other places, and there is no real evidence for this matter." ”

Zhang Dong said respectfully: "Then what does Lord Chen mean to do?" ”

Song Wenxian stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Lord Chen has full authority to deal with it, the minimum requirement is to deter the merchants of Zhangjiakou, how to do it, let the old man go to the Xuan Mansion to talk about it." Just when he was in Hunyuan Prefecture, the old man met with Wu Xiang and You Shiwei, and he might as well cooperate with Guan Ningjun in this matter. ”

Zhang Dong lowered his head and thought about it: "But the Xuanda border army also has a lot of reinforcements, the dragoons suddenly appeared in Zhangjiakou, those border generals are entangled in interests here, and they are afraid of clashing with our army. ”

Song Wenxian shook his head indifferently, "It's okay, Wang Changfu is within two days' journey, and not everyone in the Xuanda Border Army is related to the Eight Families, just suppressing the Eight Families can divide the Xuanfu forces, and there are also many people waiting for the fall of the Eight Families, and then redistribute the Zhangjiakou Border Trade." ”

Zhang Dong arched his hand in admiration and said: "Thanks to Lord Song for coming, this matter is indeed clear, since Lord Wang is within two days, as long as the two armies of Guanning participate, the head snake of Xuanda will not be able to suppress our strong dragons." ”

"Guan Ningjun will definitely participate." Song Wenxian pointed to the outside of the tent, "Wu Xiang failed, You Shiwei hesitated, the two of them were likely to be sat together, they need us to give some people to resist the credit, here in Zhangjiakou, let's divide it into fifty or five, provided that it ...... They do it first. ”

"Then Zhang Zongheng and Jiao Qingyuan, if they stop it?"

"Zhang Zongheng?" Song Wenxian laughed, "He himself is difficult to protect, when the old man passed Baoding, he had already sent a letter to Zhang Dahui, at this time, the impeachment of Zhang Zongheng by Jingshi should be full of bullets and slaves, Baoanzhou and Lingqiu were broken, Xuanda was corrupted, no one could not top this black cauldron, if Wu Xiang and You Shiwei didn't want to top, they had to listen to us." ”

Zhang Dong nodded again and again, and said with some excitement: "The eight families in Zhangjiakou were still transporting grain to the mouth yesterday, and there were many people involved, and now people and goods cannot enter and exit, and there are many people here who want the eight families to fall, these people are also local snakes, with their assistance, let's arrest people one by one." ”

Song Wenxian stood up and said to Zhang Dong: "You recruit a group of green skins in Zhangjiakou to fight, the reward may as well be higher, the most important thing in this matter is that we don't put on the appearance of wanting to monopolize the benefits of Zhangjiakou, as long as we fight the eight families, the benefits of the border mouth are still shared by the people here, you talk to that Tang Hongchang, and he and the other families explain it privately, just say that we are selling his face and not cleaning up other merchants, so that we can divide them, this Tang Hongchang will have a high status in Zhangjiakou because of this, and he will also have a close relationship with my Dengzhou Town in the future. According to Lord Chen, he is called an agent, and he can check and balance other merchants here, and the strength of other merchants is not stronger than the eight, at least in a year or two, the materials obtained by Houjin from Zhangjiakou will drop greatly, and the silver money spent will also increase greatly, which will be for us. ”

"I understand, my subordinates will find some green skins, and then I will take the dragoons to arrest people in the name of catching spies, and after interrogation, I will hand them over to the imperial history and Jinyi Wei who come to Xuanda, as long as Guan Ningjun does it first, we have someone in hand, and the court is helpless."

"Exactly, once this matter is over, you will talk to Tumut about the return of the captives. You go back today, prepare the manpower, and tomorrow the old man will let Zhong Laosi do it. ”

Zhang Dong had heard about Zhong Laosi's affairs, and he smiled at Song Wenxian and said, "I don't know what credit this Zhong Laosi has this time. ”

"He will return to Dengzhou soon, the next time you see him, he may have been promoted, and Lord Chen has prepared a good place for him." ……

"Zhou Shao'er, are you going back to Dengzhou with Lao Tzu?"

"Zhong Laosi, Lao Tzu came to the fifth battalion because you transferred, Lao Tzu did a good job, and was transferred to the east and west by you, this time you are going back to martial arts, and I will go back with you to be a teacher?" Zhou Shao'er scolded Zhong Laosi, "Lao Tzu told you about playing the yellow flag, you don't believe it, what about now?" ”

Zhong Laosi rubbed his forehead, "If you don't fight, you will fight, what can I do, I will go back to Dengzhou tomorrow to clean up those traitors." However, Lao Tzu is only temporarily in martial arts, Wang Changfu's adjutant has a good relationship with Lao Tzu, and has quietly told me, as explained in the letter from Lord Chen to Wang Changfu, let Lao Tzu go to martial arts to improve the discipline of the dragoon and musket team, if he does a good job, he will let me go to another battalion. ”

Zhou Shao'er and Liu Yue came over together, "What camp?" ”

Zhong Lao said proudly, "Youth Guard Battalion." ”

Liu Yue hesitated: "That group of young soldiers? ”

"The military salary is the same as that of the guard battalion, which is higher than the head of the ordinary battalion, will you go? When Lao Tzu arrives, he will be able to talk to the military affairs department. ”

Zhou Shao'er and Liu Yue glanced at each other, "Go!" ”