All the people who can participate in this military conference are the backbone of Shandong's military and political system, except for Yue Jinfeng, Qiu Ze and other military attachés who are in charge of the army, it can almost be said that they include the top talents in Shandong at present. But when they heard the news of the fall of Xiangyang, everyone's faces showed a look of worry without exception.

Yang Tinglin slapped the table hatefully, "Yang Wen is weak and misguided the country, commanding more than 100,000 elite soldiers, besieged on all sides, and can actually let the rogue get out, but instead attack Xiangyang in one fell swoop, the ordnance, grain and grass, and silver accumulated in the past two years have not all been cheap for the thieves!" ”

The crowd was speechless. After Zhang Xianzhong attacked Xiangyang, his prestige was greatly shaken, and the encirclement of the official army was completely declared a failure, and all departments fell into a panic for a while. Zuo Liangyu commanded 20,000 elites, and he was afraid to rescue Xiangyang, afraid that Yang Sichang would punish him, and had secretly led his troops back to Wuchang Mansion. Shaanxi deputy general He Renlong led his troops back, Henan deputy general Chen Yongfu led his troops back to Kaifeng to garrison, Sichuan soldiers and horses also hurriedly retreated into Shu, and Yang Sichang's carefully arranged encirclement network no longer existed.

Some time ago, King Fu was killed, and Emperor Chongzhen dropped out of the dynasty for three days for this reason, and cried blood to the ancestral spiritual throne to ask for guilt. Unexpectedly, immediately after Zhang Xianzhong once again frightened the Manchu Dynasty, King Xiang was killed, Emperor Chongzhen immediately fainted on the ground after receiving the news, and after being woken up, he did not eat water and rice for several days, and washed his face with tears.

Zuo Liangyu, who was promoted and trusted, dropped the chain at a critical moment, which made Yang Sichang anxious and angry, coupled with the fear of punishment from Emperor Chongzhen, after retreating to Shashi Town, he couldn't afford to be ill, and went on a hunger strike. At the beginning of March, he was already dying. The famous ministers of the Chongzhen Dynasty fell again.

In all fairness, Yang Sichang is indeed a talented person in Chongzhen, but his personality has a fatal flaw, he has no room for people, and he is good at appointing private individuals, everything must be done personally, and he must personally inquire about trivial matters, he is too cautious in the use of soldiers, but there are changes in the battlefield, and he must get conclusive news before he dares to make a response, so that his subordinates are full of complaints and lose the fighter.

Emperor Chongzhen's resentment also disappeared with Yang Sichang's sudden death, thinking about Yang Sichang's tireless work and a series of exploits over the years, Emperor Chongzhen still did not have the heart to hold him accountable after all, and ordered his body to be transported back to his homeland for a grand burial. and Ding Qirui took over his position and continued to be responsible for the elimination of Zhang Xianzhong. But at this time, everyone can clearly see that the advance of the rogues is already unstoppable.

Not to mention anything else, just talking about the commander of the army, Ding Qirui's prestige and means are too big compared to Yang Sichang, and the military attaches of various provinces now have the idea of building a city to protect themselves, and it is simply impossible for Ding Qirui to mobilize these proud soldiers.

"What are the plans of the marshal now?" After being silent for a long time, Zhao Guangluan spoke.

"The only way to do this is to wait and see!" Zhu Ping'an replied without thinking. The fourteenth and fifteenth years of Chongzhen will be the two years when the Liukou grew rapidly and gradually transformed into a military group vying for world domination. In terms of Shandong's current strength, compared with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Li Zicheng, and Zhang Xianzhong, there is still a big gap. What Wang Chengen said at the beginning, at present, it is still the most favorable development trend to hold Shandong and rely on Jianghuai. What's more, the situation in Korea is now being gradually controlled, and even if the Manchus want to make a move, they can use Korea and Phi Dao as a springboard to send troops and horses to threaten their flanks, so that the Manchus will be jealous.

Seeing that everyone was worried, Xiao Yuanteng lost no time in saying: "Dashuai, this time I came back to resume my life, Li Dudu also ordered the students to bring back a person, saying that I asked Dashuai to meet him, and there must be unexpected gains." ”

The person who came was an old man of nearly sixty years old, although he had changed into a cotton shirt, but the vicissitudes of life on his face could not be concealed in any way, and the furrows on his cheeks and the complex look in his eyes also made everyone have a strong interest in his identity.

"This person's name is Shi Quandou, and he was accidentally discovered by a student when he was leading people to explore minerals in Pyongan Province, North Korea, and the number of Han people who fled from Liaodong in Pyongan Road was very large, and it has only decreased in recent years after the establishment of the Han military flag from Huang Taiji."

Xiao Yuanteng turned to Shi Quandou, "This is the current Dengzhou General Soldier, my family Zhu Dashuai ......!" ”

Xiao Yuanteng's words did not fall, but Shi Quandou knelt directly in front of Zhu Ping'an, still crying, "The villain Shi Quandou, who belongs to Group C of the spy battalion of the Ministry of War, today, today finally returned to Daming, and I am here to return to my life!" ”

"The Ministry of War!" Everyone present was stunned, this person was actually a spy of the Ministry of War, how could he be exiled to North Korea.

Zhu Ping'an was also shocked, and ordered Xiao Yuanteng to help Shi Quandou up, and ordered someone to bring a chair and hot tea to let him sit down and talk back.

Shi Quandou was obviously excited and couldn't help himself, and after a long while, he slowly calmed down, and took out an old waist card from his arms, Xiao Yuanteng took it, and put his hands on Zhu Ping'an's table.

Zhu Ping'an looked at it carefully, but he was taken aback, because of the age, the handwriting on the waist card was blurred, but the introduction of the military department could still be vaguely seen, and the words "five years of the Apocalypse" were still recorded.

"My lord, the spy battalion was established in the fourth year of the Apocalypse, and it is under the direct command of the Ministry Division, and Group C is all the horses sent to Liaodong Guanwai. There are a total of five hundred and thirty-two people, among whom the villain serves as the deputy capital commander, and Guo Donglai, a member of the staff department, ......! ”

At this time, Guo Chai, who was standing beside Zhu Ping'an, couldn't help but tremble, and his eyes instantly turned red.

"In the fifth year of the Apocalypse, the Ministry of War sent Group C spies out of the customs in batches, most of them were mixed in as businessmen, and some of them were relatives who took refuge outside the customs and lurked down. Group C's action outside the customs was to provide various information about the Tartars to Liaozhen and the imperial court, so that the imperial court could judge the situation, the most important of which was the movement of the Tartar soldiers and horses, so as to prevent them from entering the border and disturbing the border. ”

"In the sixth and seventh years of the Apocalypse, Group C continued to send a lot of news to the Guannei, so the generals of Liaozhen had the 'Ningyuan Great Victory' and 'Ningjin Great Victory'."

Although Shi Quandou said it lightly, everyone was shocked, they didn't expect that Yuan Chonghuan's two most admirable victories were actually achieved with the help of these military spies.

The Ming Dynasty sent spies to Saiwai and Liaodong, which has long been done, including Jinyiwei has also sent spies to Guanwai, but because it is difficult for the Han people to take root in these places and are accepted by foreign races, they have little effect. However, what Shi Quandou said was clearly a large-scale and planned operation to send intelligence personnel to the outside of the customs carefully planned by the Ministry of War, why did it not leave a trace in the history of the Apocalypse Dynasty? And the Ministry of War seems to know nothing about this operation, just like Zhao Guangluan and Yang Tinglin, both of whom have served in the Ministry of War, when did the Ministry of War have a spy battalion?

"Then why didn't you stay outside the border, but why did you go to North Korea?" Zhu Ping'an asked suspiciously.

In one sentence, Shi Quandou's tears burst out of his eyes again, as if there was some terrible scene in his mind, and his whole body trembled violently because of this.

Shi Quandou clenched his fists, "In the seventh year of the Apocalypse, the physical condition of the old slave chief deteriorated, perhaps because he sensed that the war was not going well in two years, and began to purge the Han people outside the Guan, during which more than 100,000 Han people were slaughtered, and hundreds of thousands of Han people had to leave their hometowns and move into the Guannei. The forces of Group C were also hit hard in a short period of time. Of the five hundred and thirty-two brothers, there were only more than 100 people left when they withdrew, and at this time, His Majesty the Emperor died, and the road to Guannai was blocked, and in desperation, we had to retreat to Korea. When they arrived in North Korea, there were only about 30 people left, and all the others died on the road, leaving not even a single body behind. ”

"What about those who stay outside the gates?" Zhu Ping'an was thrilled to hear it, he never expected that back then, there were already these unsung heroes fighting on the secret front spilling their blood.

Shi Quandou sighed, "Where can you figure it out?" Back then, most of the people should have died in the slaughter, and even if some people survived, they probably became slaves of the Tartars, and life was better than death! ”

Just when everyone was sighing, Guo Chai behind Zhu Ping'an suddenly opened his mouth, "What happened to Lord Guo, the capital commander of Group C?" ”

Shi Quandou was stunned for a moment, but suddenly became excited, and a flame of sadness and anger appeared in his eyes. "When I withdrew from the Tartar capital, I was already targeted by the Tartar spies, chasing and killing all the way, in order to cover our retreat, Lord Guo personally took a few brothers to break off, I, I, I watched him be knocked down by the Tartar's war horse and ......!"

Shi Quandou couldn't speak, and slammed his fist into his chest, obviously blaming himself for what he saw that day.

"I should have stayed behind that day, I am an old man, and there is nothing I can't give up. Mr. Guo is young and promising, but he is in his early thirties, and he still has a good wife and young children at home, and his future is limitless......! ”

Before Shi Quandou finished speaking, Guo Chai, who was standing on the side, was already spurting blood from his mouth and fell straight down.

This startled Zhu Ping'an and the others, hurriedly supported Guo Chai, and ordered the medical officer of the Dusi Yamen to come quickly. After some rescue, Guo Chai finally woke up.

As soon as I woke up, I looked at Zhu Ping'an and everyone blankly, and immediately cried bitterly, still muttering to myself, "I finally found my father, but I didn't even have any bones left, how should I explain to my mother!" ”

Shi Quandou was stunned for a moment, and grabbed Guo Chai's arms suddenly, "You are the son of Lord Guo?" ”

Guo Chai nodded while crying.

Shi Quandou took two steps back with his knees, touched the ground with his head, and made a pounding sound. "The villain failed to protect the adults thoroughly, but let Lord Guo lose his life for us, I can't repay it in this life, in the next life, I will be a cow and a horse, and I will definitely repay the Guo family's great kindness!" R1152