In the city of Yanzhou, the main hall of the Shuaifu, Yuan Chonghuan, the commander of Xuzhou in the Ming Dynasty, was reading several war reports, and he praised more than 100,000 soldiers and horses on the Shandong front line with the title of governor of the capital, and there were elite chariots and horses of Man Gui and Zu Dashou, as well as more than ten battalions of mountain soldiers of Mao Wenlong's department under the temporary command. There are also hundreds of thousands of fathers and villagers in Yanzhou City who have to be managed by him, which can be said to be in charge of the army and the people, and the affairs are very busy.

Since the great victory under the city of Liguo during the Spring Festival, the military horses in Shandong have all been controlled by him, and they have pursued by victory, and have advanced six hundred miles to the north, and they have been blocked by Dolgon, who has re-emerged from the mountain, until they reach Tai'an Mansion. After several hard battles, there were mutual losses, and the battle line gradually stuck on the front line of Yanzhou.

The Qing army is brave and invincible in the field, but there is a fatal weakness is the lack of grain and grass, 150,000 horses, people want to eat grain, horses want to eat grass, just rely on the northern provinces after the great drought, simply can not provide so much grain and grass, so the best countermeasure is to consume, fight a protracted war, with Yanzhou as the center, more than 100,000 troops stick to the city and camps, do not fight field battles with the Qing army, every day of support, the enemy's logistics pressure will be greater, and the retreat will be one step closer. These days, Yanzhou has been hanging the free battle card. In the face of the Qing army's scolding, if the other party attacked the city, then it was not begging, steam cannons and crossbows were waiting, the trees in the city were cut down, and the arrows made into crossbows were made. If the Qing army attacked the camp of Mangui or Zu Dashou, then the troops in Yanzhou City would kill the camp of the Qing army, and the three times would be horns and cover each other, and the total strength of the two sides would be basically the same. Dorgon doesn't have the ability to win three battles at once.

If it goes on like this, victory is just around the corner, but the military rations transported from the rear of their own homes are getting worse and worse, not only the old grain for many years, but also mixed with countless sand and mud, these are endured, but the military salary is actually in arrears for three months, the soldiers below were instigated to make a few troubles, and were forced to cut off a few leading guys by thunderous means, and collected some money in Yanzhou Mansion to suppress it, but it is not a long-term solution, the governor of the Zhejiang military preparation of the grain can be clearly identified as deliberately delaying the military aircraft and dragging his own hind legs, This guy is Cui Chengxiu's cronies, and he must have been instructed by the above to be so rampant, and he really wanted to kill this Xiaoxiao, but he knew very well that if Miao Kejian was killed, the political enemies who were worried about not being able to grasp their handles would be happy, and this commander would be able to do it, and it was a trivial matter whether to be an official or not, if he changed to a mediocre talent to lead the army, wouldn't he have let down the Shandong fathers and elders who cherished his homeland, and wouldn't he have regarded the lives of these soldiers under his command as child's play.

Just now I received an urgent official letter, saying that Cui Chengxiu, the governor of the Ministry of War, was about to arrive and wanted to go out of the city thirty miles to meet him. Cui Chengxiu is an old rival, this time he is leading the governor of Shandong, belonging to the feudal officials, military horses, money, food and civil affairs, all of them, the governor of the Ming Dynasty usually also holds the official title of deputy capital imperial history, that is to say, Cui Chengxiu is not only the leader of the local administration and military, but also the work of the Commission for Discipline Inspection. This is the courtesy that subordinates should have, and it is also a system, thinking of kowtowing to his old opponent, Yuan Chonghuan couldn't help but feel nauseous.

"Has Mao Wenlong arrived?" Yuan Chonghuan asked the pro-soldier colonel standing under the hall, this Mao Wenlong is from Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Wanli was born in Songshengli, Qiantang County, Hangzhou Prefecture, and his family was poor since he was a child. When he was young, he was poor and made a living for others. He also learned the art of war of Sun and Wu, and was good at talking about military affairs. At the age of thirty, he went north alone, and became the king of the mountain in the mountains near Yanzhou, Shandong Province by virtue of his martial arts and the art of war, starting from 20 people, and gradually developed into a strong bandit who robbed the rich and helped the poor, came and went without a trace, and later the Manchu Dynasty forced the implementation of the shaving order, keeping the hair without leaving the head, many backbone Han people did not want to shave their hair, and did not want to lose their heads, so they went up the mountain to vote for the bandits, this group of people contained a lot of scholars, and their joining made Mao Wenlong's bandit team gradually evolved into a righteous army with anti-Qing colors.

Mao Wenlong's base is in the area of Yanzhou Mountain Pavilion, at the southwest foot of the Taiyi Mountains, the terrain is complex and diverse, there are many mountains and hills, few plains, and the east is a group of mountainous areas of more than 200 zhang, with heavy mountains and mountains, rolling and undulating; The western part is a low hill of less than 30 zhang and a sloped flat land in front of the mountain. The low mountains are continuous, the hills are all over, the rivers are criss-crossed, and the plains are few. There are a total of 1,234 large and small mountains, which are located in the northeast and are also known as Yiyun Mountain, which is the highest peak in Lunan.

Mao Wenlong overcame thorns and thorns, prepared for the use of instruments, summoned the displaced people, built a stockade on Yiyun Mountain, expanded tens of thousands of horses in a short period of time, relied on the familiar terrain, repeatedly defeated the green battalion soldiers who came to crusade, attracted the attention of the Ming court, the military department sent personnel to recruit An, gave Mao Wenlong the title of Shanting General, and the troops formed more than a dozen battalions, called Shanting Town.

Although Mao Wenlong received Zhao'an and became a general, he was also an official of the imperial court, and tens of thousands of people under his command were nominally people who ate the meals of the Ming court, but he was not from an orthodox background, and he was not as good as the forbidden army of the imperial court, and he had sufficient food, weapons, and armor. They can only be regarded as self-supporting public institutions, and their cash income basically depends on robbery and kidnapping, and they rely on their own grain to open mountains and farm land, and occasionally send troops to attack and harass such small places as Zou Cheng and Teng County, and they are also very happy.

Since the Qing Emperor's southern expedition, Mao Wenlong continued to harass and destroy the rear of the Qing army, and after the Ming army launched a counteroffensive, it was fully cooperative, sending personnel to infiltrate Zoucheng, Yanzhou, and Li Ying to assist the army to take the two cities, and made great achievements. After the start of the Yanzhou defensive battle, a defensive line was arranged in the mountainous area, which cut off the idea of the Qing army to attack in the rear by a detour.

Yuan Chonghuan still admires this person, and has the intention to promote him to join the ***, that is, the Xuzhou military system, but this guy is very attached to the promising career of the bandit, and has always listened to the tune and does not listen to the announcement, running his own independent small kingdom, and gritting his teeth with hatred from Yuan Chonghuan. After the Northern Expedition of the Ming Army, Mao Wenlong also had some food, but it was allocated by the Xuzhou Army, and Yuan Chonghuan stopped distributing the grain of Mao Wenlong's department, not to mention the silver, and wanted to exert further pressure to force him to take the initiative to vote.

But Mao Wenlong's slippery head was not so obedient, he didn't know how to catch Miao Kejian's path, set up the relationship with the villagers in Hangzhou, and got a lot of weapons and armor, but he didn't buy Yuan Chonghuan's account.

This is the third time that Yuan Chonghuan has written to Mao Wenlong, persuading him to pull Shanting Town out and join forces with the Xuzhou Army for unified command. This time, he directly ordered him to come to Yanzhou for a meeting, and prepared to fight for it one last time.

Sure enough, the junior colonel replied: "Back to the big handsome, General Mao has not yet arrived." ”

Regardless of Mao Wenlong for the time being, the person to deal with now is Cui Chengxiu, who wants Ben Shuai to go out of the city thirty miles to greet him, hum.

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Thirty miles outside Yanzhou City, the Zhejiang army camped, Cui Chengxiu has already set up a Hongmen banquet, 18,000 men and horses are divided into left and right wings, and a banquet is placed in the camp of the Chinese army, it stands to reason that Yuan Chonghuan should set up a banquet for the governor who came from afar, but it is better to kill people at home, just think that the governor set up a banquet to reward the generals of the border army, and there were five hundred knife and axe men in ambush behind the big tent.

Cui Chengxiu fiddled with the wine glass, patiently waiting for Yuan Chonghuan's arrival, there were his own people in all directions, the first battalion of pacesetters brought by Beijing and Miao Kejian's personal army team were all strong men with big shoulders and round waists, not to mention the help of martial arts masters under Fan Wencheng, even if Yuan Chonghuan's personal soldiers rose up to resist, it would be useless.

"Lord Qiyu, there is a group of people in Yanzhou City." A small school ran over to report. "It's finally here." Cui Chengxiu put down his wine glass and beckoned Miao Kejian, "Come with me to welcome Yuan Chonghuan." ”

Miao Kejian said curiously: "My lord can sit in the tent and wait for him to come to worship, why bother to welcome him?" ”

"The one who is about to die, why not greet him once." Cui Chengxiu smiled generously, paced the steady official steps and walked outside, Miao Kejian secretly admired Cui Shangshu's courage, and stopped a little before slowly walking out on the right rear side of the adult. When he looked back, he followed behind the general manager of the pro-soldier team, and he was so angry that he kicked over, "Hurry up and go back to ambush, don't forget to drop the cup!" ”

Cui Chengxiu was wearing a red official uniform, standing at the gate of the Yuan, squinting at the smoke and dust in the distance, his face was getting worse and worse, the Biao people and horses did not have any honor guards at all, just a team of fast horses reporting news.

Sure enough, the people and horses came to the front, and the first general rolled the saddle and dismounted, and bowed down in front of Cui Chengxiu, "Lord Shangshu, the last general Niu Yong, greet the adults on the orders of Yuan Shuai." ”

Cui Chengxiu was speechless for a long time, all the arrangements were in vain, he let Niu Yong kneel on the ground and didn't let him get up, calmed down his anger a little before he asked, "Why didn't your Yuan Dashuai come to greet this official?" ”

Niu Yong blinked his little eyes and said: "The Tartar suddenly dispatched troops, the intention is unknown, the marshal is afraid that Yanzhou will lose, and he does not dare to leave his post without permission. ”

Cui Chengxiu said in his heart, of course I don't care about any false courtesy, I want your handsome head! But if Yuan Chonghuan doesn't come, he can't kill Niu Yong instead, and he may need these generals to control the Xuzhou Army in the future.

Thinking of this, Cui Chengxiu smiled and nodded, "Those who know me, Brother Yuan." "Stepped forward to help Niu Yong, "This is Niu Yong Niu Shen General, this official has already heard of your name, it is better to meet than to be famous, today you have to see the tiger might, it is really a fierce general." Hurry up, please. ”

Niu Yong stood up happily and said: "Please raise the camp and set up the village, the city has prepared a house for the adult, it is the residence of the former King Lu when he was sealed in Yanzhou, magnificent and magnificent, and it is very suitable for the adult to live." ”

Cui Chengxiu said with a smile: "It's so hard work, General Niu should rest first, and then make a decision whether to enter the city or not." ”

A general came over and led Niu Yong aside to drink water and rest, watching his back disappear into the tent, Cui Chengxiu flicked his sleeves, changed color, and returned to the big tent with a hum, Miao Kejian, who was following behind, didn't dare to say much, damn Yuan Chonghuan, he was so bold, he didn't come to greet him in person, this Hongmen banquet was in vain.