Emperor Chrysostom said that the export became a decree.

Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun were immediately stunned when they heard that the emperor had given Liu Jun the title of General Dangkou as soon as he opened his mouth. Since General Dangkou has a general seal, he is a general with a seal.

There are many generals in the Ming Dynasty, and many generals have been awarded the title of general and awarded the general seal. If Zu Dashou is in Jinzhou, he will be crowned the forward general and hang the seal of the forward general. Another example is the former Shanhaiguan General Mangui, who once hung the seal of the general of the conquest. In addition, there are many people who have been awarded the seal of the title of General of the Imperial Seal, Qin Liangyu has been awarded the General of Zhendong and the seal, and his son Ma Xianglin has been awarded the General of the Hussars and the seal.

There is also Zuo Liangyu, the general of the Ping Thief who was enshrined and awarded the seal of the Hubei General Military Officer not long ago.

Among the generals who sealed the seals, they were basically general soldiers. It is not the general soldier who can hang the seal, but the one who can be printed is basically the general soldier. Among the generals, only Ma Xianglin is a hussar general seal with the rank of deputy commander-in-chief, but his identity is somewhat special, first, he is a Tusi, and secondly, he has been loyal to the imperial court since the three dynasties of the Qin and Ma families, and has repeatedly sent troops to fight against the king.

But Ma Xianglin is also a deputy chief soldier no matter what.

Liu Jun was just a general who had just been promoted for less than half a month, and further back, he was still a guerrilla more than a month ago, he was only a general practitioner two months ago, and he was even a martial arts student three months ago.

The more they thought about it, the more surprised they became, and suddenly found that Liu Jun, a staff member, was just a student half a year ago. Three months later, he had become a general of the imperial court with 10,000 troops, and now, the emperor actually wanted to promote Liu Jun to the rank of general and hang the seal. Even if this Dangkou general is not as good as General Pinglu, Vanguard General, General Pingliao, General Zhenshuo, General Zhendong, etc., he is also a seal general.

The general is even rarer than the general soldier, is the emperor's reward too high?

However, Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen didn't speak, they were just the emperor's domestic slaves, so what if the emperor wanted to seal the general. I think that when the Apocalypse Dynasty was in the beginning, Wei Zhongxian, a eunuch, was also crowned the Duke of the Kingdom, and even his brother, a farmer, was also named the Duke of the Kingdom.

They are not against it. But there was opposition.

Fu Zonglong, the newly appointed secretary of the military department, had just accompanied several cabinet elders into the palace together, and this new military secretary who had also made great achievements in the suppression of bandits, as soon as he heard that the emperor wanted to give a general the title of general to a general, he immediately objected.

The reason for his opposition was that although Liu Jun annihilated tens of thousands of bandits, they were just bandits. If the annihilation of 10,000 bandits is to seal the general, then there will be more generals who have annihilated 10,000 bandits in the imperial court over the years. If you want to be crowned a general with this merit now, then when Liu Jun makes a greater contribution, what should he be rewarded at that time?

Fu Zonglong's attitude of opposition was resolute, "Liu Jun is only twenty this year, and three months ago he was just a martial arts student. In just three months, he has been promoted from a lifelong member to a general, and the speed of promotion is already incredible. If you rise again, it will not be a reward but will harm Liu Jun. ”

However, Chongzhen has never been a monarch who follows advice, on the contrary, he is still a somewhat stubborn emperor. The more you object, the more insistent he becomes. And Chongzhen also felt that there was no problem with his reward, this time was different from the past, and of course he had to do extraordinary things in extraordinary times.

If it's two years earlier. Even a year ago, Liu Jun's record was certainly impossible to get such a generous reward. But isn't the situation different now, the imperial court is in need of a big victory. A brave general like Liu Jun is also needed. He didn't even condemn a general like Zuo Liangyu, who had lost the general seal of the general army when the whole army was wiped out, and he was also crowned a thief general, just because the current situation is bad.

At present, whether it is outside the customs or in the Central Plains, the situation is bad everywhere. Liu Jun is a standout here, who does he reward if he doesn't give him a big reward?

As for the other promotions from civilians to generals in March, he was already a general at the age of twenty. Chongzhen didn't care too much. In the seventh year of Chongzhen, he added the martial arts examination to the palace examination, appointed the champion, and then directly awarded the title of deputy chief soldier to the champion he selected. It's just a martial champion, he has directly given the deputy commander-in-chief, and now Liu Jun's real merits, what about being a general.

Besides, age is not a problem, Huo Quzhi and Qi Jiguang, which of these is not young, and they have already begun to occupy important positions.

Shoufu Xue Guoguan also spoke out against such a reward for Liu Jun.

In the midst of this opposition, Yao Minggong, a cabinet scholar, publicly stood up in support of Liu Jun.

Chongzhen said to Fu Zonglong dissatisfied, "Liu Jun is such a talent, don't use it at this time, and when will you wait?" Could it be that only the people you recommend can be used? ”

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and walked away, leaving behind the ministers to look at each other.

On the same day, a decree came out of the palace, and the emperor rejected the proposal of Hong Chengchou, the former governor of Jiliao, to be recommended, and Fu Zonglong had already passed the proposal of Liu Zhaoji, the deputy general soldier of Liaodong, to train the general army of Ningyuan.

Fu Zonglong sat in the yamen of the military department and faced the eunuch who came to reprimand him on behalf of the emperor, with mixed feelings in his heart, but he did not expect him to oppose the enthronement of Liu Jun, and as a result, the emperor rejected Liu Zhaoji, who he recommended, to serve as the chief soldier of Ningyuan. What made him even more angry was that the emperor did not agree to his recommendation, because the eunuch Gao Qiqian, the director of the two towns of Guanning, reported that Liu Zhaoji was cowardly, and Jinyiwei and Dongchang actually came up with evidence to support Gao Qiqian's false report.

Fu Zonglong, who had just been appointed as the secretary of the Ministry of War, suddenly felt disheartened, it was so difficult to do something practical?

The next morning, Chongzhen once again proposed the matter of enclosing Liu Jun, and many officials such as the cabinet elder Yao Minggong agreed, and only the first assistant Xue Guoguan, Fu Zonglong, the secretary of the military department, and Chen Xinjia, the squire of the military department, were opposed.

"Then Liu Sheng, the general of the staff, will be promoted to the deputy general of Huguang, and he will guard Yunyang, and he will be enshrined as General Dangkou, and he will be awarded the seal of General Dangkou, and he will be the governor of the Zuodu Governor's Mansion."

This can be regarded as the emperor's face to the first assistant and the military department, Liu Jun was only promoted to deputy chief soldier, but the edict must be sealed.

Seeing this, Fu Zonglong and the others could only accept it, now Zuo Liangyu is the general soldier of Huguang, with the seal of the general of the thief, while Liu Jun is the deputy chief soldier of Huguang, and he has the seal of General Kou. From these two generals, it can be seen that the emperor is really determined to exterminate the bandits in the Central Plains as soon as possible.

"Xuanzhao Governor Yang Sichang, Prime Minister Mei Zhihuan, as well as the thief general Zuo Liangyu and the Dangkou general Liu Jun, as well as the governors and soldiers, all departments must work together to destroy the bandits. I do what I say! If anyone dares to condone thieves, they will not be spared! ”

The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty heard that the emperor had offered such a reward to Zhang Xianzhong, and they were all secretly moved. Feng Hou, in addition to the queen's father Zhou Kui as Jiadingbo, no courtier has ever been knighted.

No one expected that the emperor would actually offer such a reward to a rogue now, I don't know which guy has such good luck.

Neither the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty nor the emperor on the dragon chair would have thought that when he offered such a reward, Zhang Xianzhong had actually been captured alive.

At this time, no one thought of it. The Eight Kings, who had been in the country for many years, have now been defeated and captured, and have become prisoners of the newly promoted Dangkou General.

Sichuan, Wushan, muddy ditch battlefield.

The heavy rain finally stopped, but the smoke on the battlefield had not yet dispersed.

The battlefield was littered with werewolf corpses, red bloodstains, and broken knives, guns, and banners.

Especially in the ravine, there are corpses piled up.

Liu Jun stood in front of Zhang Xianzhong, the eighth king, full of surprises.

Zhang Xianzhong was embraced by several pro-soldiers. Then his hands were cut backwards, and the cowhide rope tied him like a big rice dumpling.

Zhang Xianzhong originally thought that maybe he could disguise himself as an ordinary rebel soldier and find a way to escape. Unexpectedly. The officers and soldiers actually recognized themselves at a glance.

"A certain wish to surrender!" Zhang Xianzhong secretly looked at the general in front of him, he was very young, and his youth was surprising. But his status seems to be very high, and the officials and soldiers all embrace him.

"You're already my captive." Liu Jun said with a smile. "You should also know that Cao Cao has fled with his men and horses and abandoned you."

After speaking. Liu Jun also ignored Zhang Xianzhong anymore, "Hurry a prison car out, lock up the thief, remember to lock him up with iron chains, and never let him run again." ”

"Your Excellency, please rest assured, you will never let the thief escape." The soldiers patted their chests and said excitedly.

"Where is Zhang Xianzhong?" In the distance, Mei Zhihuan had already rushed over with a team of personal soldiers.

Liu Jun stretched out his hand and pointed at Zhang Xianzhong, who was guarded by a group of personal soldiers, "Marshal, the thief is here." Mei Zhihuan jumped off the horse, rushed to Zhang Xianzhong and looked up and down for a long time, and then laughed, "It's really a yellow tiger, I thought it was fake." ”

"At first, I really didn't find him, so I casually cut off the head of a thief and stuck a gun in it, and then asked everyone to shout to kill the thief, but the thief really believed it, so he withdrew his troops, and the real Zhang Xianzhong was left here at once, and there was no way to escape. After this guy surrendered, he still wanted to hide his identity, but I didn't expect that I had already seen his wanted portrait and recognized him at a glance. ”

Mei Zhihuan laughed, he walked up to Liu Jun, "Tanma has just returned, Yang Sichang is almost here, and the six thousand Shaanxi soldiers led by He Renlong and Li Guoqi are in Dachang City." As soon as you shouted like that, and the thieves found that the Shaanxi soldiers had chased after them, they retreated in a panic, otherwise, we would have hung up today. ”

Looking at the corpses all over the ground, Liu Jun also nodded, this battle was too ruthless.

"Luo Rucai has gathered his soldiers and horses, and he has already marched to the southwest, and it seems that he is going to Fengjie."

"Go with him first, we don't have the ability to pursue him now." Liu Jun smiled bitterly, although he didn't know the post-war statistics, he knew that whether it was the Nine-headed Bird Battalion or several other battalions this time, there would definitely be a lot of casualties.

"It is imperative that we clean up the battlefield in a hurry, and then withdraw to Wushan, and then return to Fengjie." Liu Jun thought for a while. Mei Zhihuan thought about it and agreed to this proposal.

Liu Jun and Mei Zhihuan escorted Zhang Xianzhong to the prisoner camp, and on the way Liu Jun asked Mei Zhihuan, "When did He Renlong and the other Shaanxi troops arrive in Dachang City?" ”

"Last night."

"Then they don't know that we are fighting the bandits here, why haven't we seen a single soldier until now?"

Mei Zhihuan just shook his head and didn't say anything.

The officers and soldiers gathered their troops and horses, cleaned up the battlefield, and carried out each item in an orderly manner. The military doctors set up tents with many soldiers, built field hospitals, and organized soldiers to carry stretchers around to find the wounded and carry them back to the tents for treatment.

Groups of soldiers were searching for and pursuing the remaining enemies, and those who did not lay down their weapons were killed on the spot, and those who were slightly more seriously injured were directly stabbed.

There were also many soldiers who were responsible for collecting weapons, armor, flags, etc., that had been left behind on the battlefield. There were also soldiers who were responsible for cutting off the heads, and some soldiers were carrying the corpses of the thieves with their captives, and those who had been beheaded were seized of their weapons, armor, and money, and the remaining bodies were carried by the captives to the slopes on both sides and thrown into the trenches.

The fighting is over, those trenches have also lost their function, and now the waste is utilized. Serve as a burial pit.

"We suffered heavy losses today, losing many of our brothers who fought together." In the temporary big tent, Yuan Jixian, who was in charge of post-war statistics, said in a somewhat heavy tone.

"Let's talk about how many bandits we've killed." Liu Jun said.

Yuan Jixian nodded and looked at the records in front of him, "In this battle, we killed a total of more than 8,700 bandits, including more than 3,100 horse thieves, and more than 500 prisoners. More than 600 intact war horses were seized, more than 500 wounded horses, and many swords, guns, and armor were seized. ”

After five or six hours of fighting, a day of fierce fighting. In the end, more than 8,000 people were killed, and only more than 500 prisoners were captured, which can be said to be completely different from the previous two battles of the nine-headed bird. The previous two battles were also ambushes, but each time it was just a battle, and with a few rounds of artillery fire, the thieves collapsed directly, and then most of them surrendered. Direct kills are rare, mostly captives. The nine-headed bird suffered few or no casualties.

But this time, the two sides fought for a day, especially the thousands of horse thieves who were surrounded in the valley, all of them were elite old thieves. Quite fierce and has been desperate.

In the end, more than 3,000 riders were basically wiped out, and only about 200 riders remained. And the bandits outside are constantly attacking and attacking, crowd tactics. Although they inflicted heavy casualties on the officers and soldiers, the defense of the officers and soldiers also caused them great casualties, especially those caused by artillery fire.

In addition to more than 3,000 horse thieves killed. There were more than 5,000 killed, of which more than 3,000 bandits died in front of the frontal attack on the north entrance.

In the fierce battle, a large number of shells carried by the nine-headed bird were about to be exhausted, and even several cannons were damaged.

More than 8,000 thieves were killed, and rivers of blood flowed. But the casualties of the official army were also very large, due to the heavy rain, the artillery fire was limited, and the number of thieves was large, the three battalions of Hu Gongguo and Lu Yuansun brothers were about to fall apart, especially the battalion of Hu Gongguo, who had been assisting the baggage battalion to guard the north entrance, and used flesh and blood to block it again and again.

Of the 3,000 men and horses of that battalion, more than 800 were killed in direct battles, hundreds were seriously wounded, and the rest were all wounded, and almost half of the troops had to be reduced.

The two battalions commanded by Lu Yuansun and Lu Yuan let the brothers also lose almost 1,000 people each, and the two battalions died directly in more than 1,000 people.

The situation of the three battalions of the nine-headed bird was slightly better, at first they did not directly rush to the front of the meat bo, but later, when the thieves attacked on the mountain, Liu Jun also had to send his soldiers and horses out to meet the battle, his three battalions of men and horses killed more than 300 people, a large number of wounded, the preliminary estimate is to reduce at least 500 troops.

"Our six battalions of men and horses, more than 2,300 people died in direct battles, more than 1,000 seriously injured, there are many seriously injured brothers who can't survive today, and many brothers will be crippled, and no more than half of them can be healed and return to the camp in the end." Yuan Jixian's tone was heavy.

The crowd was silent.

3,000 killed in a battle, even if more than 8,000 thieves were killed, it was still a heavy loss.

Li Changgeng comforted Liu Jun and Hu Gongguo and other generals, "In fact, this battle has been fought very well, we fought more than 50,000 thieves with more than 10,000 people, and also encountered heavy rain, but we finally killed more than 8,000 thieves, especially more than 3,000 elite cavalry of thieves and bandits, and captured Zhang Xianzhong alive, no matter what, this is a big victory." ”

Everyone just sighed, although it was true, but how could everyone not be sad about such a big casualty. In the final analysis, there are still many reasons for such a large number of casualties, such as the thousands of the most ferocious bandits and horses, the elite backbone of the bandits, and they cannot be regarded as ordinary bandits. Second, it encountered heavy rain, although Liu Jun built a canopy so that the artillery and firearms could continue to be used, but it still had a great impact. For example, when the bandits climbed the mountain to attack, the firearms in the trench could not hit the enemy, and they could not be used in the rain when they came out of the trench, so that the musketeers and gunners of the nine-headed bird were close to each other, causing heavy casualties. There is another one, that is, only the battalion of Hu Principality in the Chu army is a battalion of fellow villagers who have been trained for a long time, and the other battalions have been established for a very short time.

From these aspects, the fact that the more than 10,000 Chu troops actually won the battle in the end is quite remarkable.

"Take the bodies of all the fallen brethren, take them captive, put them on the heads of the bandits, and let us go back!" (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for your support, when will I be happy, rqz296, hsq168, Buffett, Nickky, Midnight Qingfeng, Xingziyun, thank you!