"Yes, my lord." Yue Mu solemnly assured.

"Just obey the order, this matter must not be spread outside, I can see Liu Xiaoniang today, I can carefully ask if there is any grievance, but I can't do everything, I don't think you want anyone to suffer or be wronged because of this." In addition, Xu Ping also told Yue Mu that although he could not be strictly investigated, it was impossible to violate the military law without paying a price: "This promotion cannot be your business, and you yourself can't wander around Kaifeng." As I just said, there is a group of recruits in Xuzhou who need instructors, and the first teaching team is just short of people, Sergeant Yue will go to Xuzhou to bring new recruits, and come back when the Guards Battalion needs you, remember that you can't chew your tongue wherever you go, and I will not spare the news if it leaks! ”

The pardon order was carried out immediately, and Xu Ping ordered that no public comment should be made so that no notice would be made on the matter.

"My lord, military law is child's play." Although there was no resolute opposition, Zhou Dongtian and the officers of the guards battalion were a little dissatisfied, worried that Xu Ping's prestige would be damaged: "There is no trust in the army, what if the news leaks out?" ”

"Not only will it damage the reputation of the adults, but it will also damage the prestige of the guard battalion, and it will allow people with ulterior motives to attack us and rob the people's daughters." Yu Shenhe was also very worried: "If other people see the adult's treatment of Yue Mu, maybe they will misunderstand the adult's determination, and will coerce and lure to rob the people in the jurisdiction, so what?" ”

"Of course, the punishment will not be severe, I don't want to accidentally hurt the life of an innocent person, not to let go of the black sheep." Xu Ping was a little tired of such a conversation: "Few people know about this matter in the first place, Brother Yu, you should be careful, not too many people will know." ”

"My lord," Zhou Dongtian didn't intend to let Xu Ping go so easily, he said worriedly: "There is no impermeable wall in the world, even among the military judges who were sent to arrest Yue Mu and Qin Dedong, it is inevitable that some people will feel that the benevolence of adults and women will be detrimental to the decisive majesty of Lord Sha Fa. ”

"Even so, if my prestige is lost even a little bit, will it be heavier than Brother Yue's life?"

"Of course!"

Yu Shenhe and Zhou Dongtian replied in unison almost without thinking, and their tones were extremely firm. On the contrary, Zhou Dongtian and Yu Shenhe glanced at each other, as if they were surprised that Xu Ping would actually say such a thing.

"My lord, you are sitting in the Central Plains, with tens of thousands of elite soldiers in your hands, and hundreds of millions of people under your rule, which is a prince in troubled times, and now we are also in troubled times." Zhou Dongtian was even more worried about Xu Ping's lack of such consciousness: "Kaifeng Mansion and Guide Mansion, thousands of officials are given their future by adults, and their life's glory and wealth, future and future are tied to adults, and there are hundreds of thousands of people who work hard for adults every day, even at the cost of dedicating themselves to the battlefield, these people want to hear the news of the adults' increasing sophistication, and they will cheer for the determination of adults." Brother Yue ......" Zhou Dongtian said more and more high-pitched his voice: "He also can't wait to go to the soup for the adult, if he knows that the adult left him alive to damage the great cause of the adult, he guessed that he would rather commit suicide than drag the adult." Zhou Dongtian said excitedly: "Your Excellency, don't be arrogant, so that everyone will be disappointed, what is the prestige of an adult and a soldier, I really don't want to hear such a question from the mouth of the adult." ”

"My lord, what Brother Zhou said is right, don't let everyone down." Yu Shenhe also agreed.

"Am I a prince?" Xu Ping looked a little dazed, yes, Xu Ping's power has swelled dramatically in the past two years, and now in addition to his army and the magistrates he appointed and dismissed, heroes from all over the world dare not look up to him, such as the Central Plains Renyi of Guide, the last time he came to see Xu Ping, he was surprised by kneeling into the tent. As for the scholars, not only in Henan, but also many scholars in the world are waiting to see what will happen to Xu Ping and Sun Kewang, who have clearly declared that they will compete with the Ming court in Guide.

However, for Xu Ping, he didn't think about it so much before, he just thought about how to train more and more elite troops to resist the pressure from the new army, and the appointment and dismissal of magistrates and the recruitment of virtuous people were also for this purpose. It wasn't until today that he was reminded by Zhou Dongtian and Yu Shenhe that Xu Ping suddenly realized that his identity was no longer a student officer of the New Army Teaching Team in his early twenties, and he was not even appointed by Li Zicheng as the general of the camp.

"I've never thought about it so much," Xu Ping shook his head, driving that fluttering feeling out of his mind, "But even so, I won't sacrifice the life of an innocent brother." Xu Ping repeated what Miss Liu said to him: "I also think that no matter how I choose, it is not a reason for me to hit people with peace of mind." ”

"My lord, you said before that you know that there is no such thing as the best of both worlds, why are you confused now?" Zhou Dongtian was a little surprised by Xu Ping's stubbornness, but after thinking about it, his chief was indeed just a young man who had just turned over twenty, and he himself was also young, and he was also not suitable for his current status, and as for what the princes should do, they were all thinking about it.

"I used to give people a high-five." Xu Ping explained: "It is not good to kill one innocent and take the world." ”

"Scholar's opinion," Yu Shenhe's nose sneered: "Is it this oath that my lord made with King Chuang." ”

Xu Ping frowned slightly: "What's wrong?" ”

"Dare to ask your lordship, isn't it?"

"Yes......" Xu Ping was about to ask what was going on.

"Your Excellency!" Yu Shenhe had already shouted: "King Chuang, he is illiterate, and he has made a mess of Luoyang, how can you discuss with him how to take the world?" ”

"The benevolence of the king's wife, every place he goes, he opens a warehouse and releases grain, but he doesn't have much reserves in his hands, and he doesn't collect the people after the grain is finished, and he doesn't organize them to work in the military camp. Zhou Dongtian spoke again: "Then again, haven't you killed innocent people before?" ”

"Of course not, I have a lot of innocent blood on my hands, even after I arrived at the camp, I also killed the soldiers who did not deserve to die, because the soldiers always killed the soldiers, when I spared the lives of the first batch of soldiers, I did not consider whether they were innocent or guilty, but coveted their family wealth." Now Xu Ping rarely kills people, and the prefect of Guide who was caught last time is still in prison: "So I never dared to claim to be a teacher of benevolence and righteousness, but making mistakes in the past does not mean that you can't change them in the future, if you make mistakes, you must make mistakes to the end, so why should I leave the new army of the imperial court?" ”

"Because the new army can't tolerate us, and the sea and sky are wide on this side of the camp, not to mention that we still have to take revenge." A big reason why Zhou Dongtian and Shen Yunchong defected to them was that as pro-Xu Ping faction, there was no place for them in the new army, and these young officers who had worked hard to learn a skill, had been on the battlefield, made war exploits, and boasted of being rookies in the new army were not interested in teaching in the teaching team for a lifetime - even if they died, they would die happily, not to mention the wealth and danger. When he decided to leave the New Army, Shen Yunchong said something like this.

"Since ancient times, mother-in-law and mother-in-law can't be a big thing," Yu Shenhe said more and more unpolitely: "My lord, since ancient times, I have been in charge of the army, my lord, you have a different status now, you can't be as lax as before." ”

"It's not that what the ancients said is necessarily right, I don't think it's necessarily right to say that Ren is not in charge of soldiers."

"Then why can it be passed down for thousands of years?"

"The teacher does not have to be better than the disciple, the disciple does not have to be inferior to the teacher, the broadsword, spear, bow and arrow have lasted for thousands of years, and we now use cannons and muskets, and the ancients did not use stirrups before. Sometimes the wrong things have to be changed, and the ancients may not know that there is a better one when they use them, or maybe the time is not right. Xu Ping shook his head and said: "This is the army that Xu Ping pulled up single-handedly, and the gap is big enough compared with the ancients, and I don't see any dissatisfaction with you." ”

"Even if you don't compare with the ancients, then Huang Hou is always an example, don't you admire Huang Hou the most, my lord?" Zhou Dongtian cited the military law cases that his predecessors had told him when he was studying in the teaching team, the most typical of which was of course the case of Song Jianjun and Duguqiu, who were religious, and the new students of the teaching team often discussed this case in private: "Huang Hou obviously also agreed that Ci would not be in charge of the army. ”

"If I believe that everything that Master Hou did was right," Xu Ping stretched out his arm and pointed to the camp they were in now, "I won't sit in this tent." Xu Ping touched the felt hat on his head again: "I won't bring this hat." Finally, he patted his military uniform gently: "I won't wear this clothes." ”

Zhou Dongtian and Yu Shenhe saw that Xu Ping was so stubborn, and they had nothing to say.

After leaving Xu Ping's camp, Yu Shenhe complained: "I said that I would persuade the adults well, why did you suddenly stop talking?" ”

"Didn't you say it too?"

"I don't know what to say, huh?"

"Am I not as old as you? Adults don't know how to be a prince, should I understand? ”

Yu Shenhe shouted: "You were taught by Jin Qiude. ”

"Yes, our staff officers have all gone to the staff department to take classes, but Jin Qiude has never taught how to assist the princes," Zhou Dongtian muttered dissatisfiedly: "It's him, I don't think Huang Hou is assisting well." ”

"What then?"

"I didn't speak just now, there is another consideration." Zhou Dongtian explained: "Although we think that the princes should be decisive, but the people who want to say that they have achieved great things are actually strange, but their generals are almost the same. When I think about it, it's pretty much the same as the work of our staff officers—no matter how much I oppose the commander's decision, but as long as the commander is determined, I must turn it into a practical order. ”

Yu Shenhe didn't say anything, and Zhou Dongtian continued: "The position of the princes is too high and too difficult, the adults are much stronger than the two of us, and they will definitely do better than us, aren't we actually thinking about it?" So we don't care what the adults do, we have to assist the adults so that their determination will be carried out. ”

……

Shandong

Yang Zhiyuan and He Baodao are now divided into two armies to attack Ji Huisi, the latter is powerless in the face of such a huge group attack of the new army, and he has long been embarrassed. During this period, Ji Huisi asked Xu Ping for help several times through Zhong Guinian, but Xu Ping, who had not even completely reorganized the guard battalion, of course, did not have any force to send Shandong to fight with tens of thousands of new troops, so he simply asked Zhong Guinian to persuade Ji Guisi to come to Henan to join him.

At this time, at that time, now Ji Huisi is very reluctant to leave Shandong, if Xu Ping accepted him two years ago, with tens of thousands of sons under him, even if Ji Huisi can't be on an equal footing with Xu Ping, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo, at least he can mix the kind of partnership relationship between Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng, maybe it is still the biggest share.

But now that Xu Ping defeated the new army three times, and Li Zicheng defeated the Qin army three times, the momentum of the camp is far from the time when he just left Shangluoshan two years ago, when Ji Huisi's army was still stronger than the camp, and now it is 108,000 miles behind. In the past year, He Baodao has been hiding in Shandong, and Ji Huisi has no way to win in battles at the battalion level or even on a smaller scale, and the long-term guerrilla war without seeing the hope of victory has seriously damaged the equipment and fighting spirit of the Dongjiang Army. Now if he is driven to Henan by the new army, many subordinates from Shandong will flee the army, and Ji Huisi does not want to say that he is on an equal footing with Li Zicheng, even Xu Ping can't do it, and even the actual status of some generals under Xu Ping will be above him.

Therefore, Ji Huisi could only bite the bullet and go down with He Baodao and Yang Zhiyuan, hoping that the new army would suddenly be sent by the imperial court to attack Henan again, or break into the camp and attack the Zhili Ming court to recall the new army, and continue to give the Dongjiang army a chance to breathe and keep the Shandong base area.

"Ji Huisi is already at the end of the road," In the barracks, Huang Xiwen was ordered to give a briefing to the commanders under Yang Zhiyuan's account: "Compared with half a month ago, the number of Dongjiang thieves is less than half......" Huang Xiwen suddenly closed his mouth, hugged his fist to Yang Zhiyuan and said: "The marshal forgives the sin." ”

"It was many years ago, and we didn't feel the word Dongjiang anymore." Yang Zhiyuan asked Huang Xiwen to continue: "You didn't use this word wrong, it's a Dongjiang thief, continue." ”

"Ji Kou can't last a long time, he will definitely have to run to Henan before next month," Huang Xiwen's face was quite proud, although he didn't know how He Baodao's way was, the encirclement and suppression of the Dongjiang Army in Shandong in the past few months has helped the new army a lot, a large number of soldiers have eliminated the fear of the battlefield through this easy battle, and they have always been victorious and non-stop pursuit, which is a great encouragement to the morale of the officers and soldiers, and through actual combat and marching, many problems that are difficult to detect during training have been exposed: "Our two new armies have been slightly rectified, You can attack Henan as appropriate and relieve Kaifeng and Jia Shuai. ”

"What do you think of Kaifeng?" The New Army has always been very concerned about the situation in Henan, and because the Dongjiang Army is vulnerable, the military affairs of Henan are often discussed for longer time at military meetings than the situation in Shandong, and the commanders, staff officers, and officers will also discuss with each other during specific operations: If the opponent is not the Dongjiang Army but Xu Ping's army, how to deal with it.

"Because of the catastrophe caused by the unauthorized revision of military regulations in Shandong, Xu Ping is not strong now." Now the generals in the new army have mentioned again and again the matter of Xu Ping's unauthorized modification and deduction before the Shandong war, and almost called this incident the only reason why the new army would be defeated in Shandong, and every time they talked about it, these people were angry, thinking that Xu Ping had been tempered with the blood of the new army: "On the battlefield in Henan, Xu Ping never showed indecision, and his orders were cold and correct. But when he was not on the battlefield, Xu Ping behaved extremely incompetently, and his woman's kindness was truly breathtaking. ”

The officers of the New Army in the camp tent laughed one after another, only to hear Huang Xiwen say: "No matter what Xu Ping is thinking in his head, giving Kaifeng food is an unforgivable mistake in military affairs. Our brothers in Kaifeng's new army are in danger, we will be anxious, we will go to Kaifeng to relieve the siege when we are not prepared, and we will give Xu Ping a chance. And now, it's completely different. ”

At the military meeting, Huang Xiwen always maintained a meticulous and serious expression, but a sneer came up here: "So far, Kaifeng has exchanged 10,000 people with Xu Xuping, not only is the city completely free from the threat of famine, but all the armies in the city have grain reserves, and the granary of the Henan Governor Yamen is also half full. Although a large number of people leaving the city will undoubtedly affect the loyalty of the defenders, Huang Xiwen believes that it will not be a problem for the time being: "Only after 60,000 or 70,000 people in the city are exchanged out of the city, the defenders will become worrying, but before so many people are exchanged, Kaifeng has no problem holding out for a year and a half." Xu Ping kept saying that he wanted to inherit Pu Shuai's will to exchange food, but there is no doubt that the fundamental reason came from the kindness of his woman, even if Pu Shuai's food was exchanged, as long as the city threatened to eat people, Xu Ping would squeeze out the food exchange, and the more kind he treated these people outside the city, the more he would be unable to quickly cut through the chaos and stop exchanging food in the future. In the past, Kaifeng was our bleeding wound, but now, this wound is Xu Ping's, and Kaifeng is consuming Xu Ping's materials and restraining his army. ”

"Just let Kaifeng drag Xu Ping down like this until we are more prepared," Huang Xiwen ended his speech: "Ci is not in charge of the army, Xu Ping's woman's kindness will be his fatal weakness." ”

There was a low cheer and approval in the tent, and Yang Zhiyuan, who was sitting in the middle position, smiled and thought about Huang Xiwen in front of the map and nodded.

At this time, a guard shouted outside the camp gate: "The staff department has an urgent order!" ”

"Call in." Yang Zhiyuan gave an order, and a person dressed as a messenger opened the door.

After seeing the visitor, everyone in the tent gasped, and Huang Xiwen shouted, "Father." ”

Zhendonghou smiled and greeted his subordinates one by one, and after talking for a long time, he also had dinner with them.

At night, when Zhendonghou talked to him alone in Yang Zhiyuan's camp, Huang Xiwen had been serving on the side, and at night, Zhendonghou insisted that his son go to sleep first.

After Huang Xiwen left, there were only two people left in the tent, and Yang Zhiyuan sat up straight and watched the smile on Zhendonghou's face disappear.

"Brother Yang, I don't want to fight with Xu Ping."

Today is the fourth day of the Beijing International Book Fair, and Sohu Reading Channel invited me to do a live interview about "Tiger Wolf" on the spot, and the video address and speech content will be posted tomorrow. In addition, Gao Tianliuyun, the author of "If This Is the History of the Song Dynasty", is my friend, and when his book is packaged and sold with mine, this is the case with "Stealing Ming", and the same is true for "Tiger Wolf". 前些天他告诉我他投稿平面媒体支持我，《中华读书报》给刊登了，这里是中国青年报社网站的转载《中华读书报》地址：p////?//萴

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