Zhou Chong, the captain of Yimaling, is having a good time these days.

As an important pass between Beiping and Datong, at the first time when King Yan rebelled, the imperial court sent a large number of troops to Yimaling, so that the pass, which was originally only a majority of merchants, suddenly became crowded, this phenomenon was particularly serious after a large number of people escaped from the boundary of Beiping, and there were many people and soldiers, and Yimaling actually faintly had the meaning of a city.

It stands to reason that with such a move, the imperial court should also appoint an official or general to manage it, but I don't know if the Beiping side is too hot, or everyone knows that Zhu Di, the king of Yan, will sooner or later hit the idea to Xuanfu Datong, no one wants to do this unfortunate thing, and Zhou Chong, the captain of the school, was promoted to three levels out of thin air, and suddenly became a general, responsible for the size of Yimaling.

When the clerk first came down, Zhou Chong was a little shocked and uneasy, the rules of officialdom, if you want to be promoted, you have to worship the dock, he Zhou Chong, a little lieutenant who is not loved by his uncle and grandmother, how can he get such a great honor? Now I can't even find anyone who wants to thank me, and I don't know who helped... After calming down and thinking about it, Zhou Chong quickly understood that this level 3 was buying his own life.

It's good that King Yan doesn't come to Yima Ling, once he comes, just wait to defend it, don't run away if he can't hold it, and die in Yima Ling.

So the joy of promotion and the fear of King Yan's army coincided together, tossing Zhou Chong to death, almost nothing in the past half a year, he was busy reinforcing the defense and training soldiers, and the grassland merchants who were allowed before were also broken, and I don't know which tribes on the grassland died because of the broken Han caravan, anyway, it has nothing to do with him, it is still important to prevent the spies of King Yan.

Taking advantage of the daytime to inspect the passes, and then review the military information sent from the west, Zhou Chong's mood was a little heavy, this time Meng Yuan committed the border everyone at first thought that the barbarians were poor and crazy and wanted to go south to grab a handful, this kind of thing has not happened in previous years, but this year it seems to be a little different, because a large number of Mongolian cavalry began to fight the Great Wall, instead of secretly bypassing the Great Wall to grab some small cities as usual.

This means that their appetite is so great that they want to fill the gap between the grasslands and the Han cities with their lives.

Mostly because of the reason that the south is in Jingnan, Zhou Chong thought like this, in the past, Mengyuan invaded the border, and there was a vassal king in Beiping who wanted to bring troops into the grassland to show off his might, and the imperial court would also increase troops to the border pass to transport grain, but this time it was different, the two behemoths fought, and they really couldn't manage the affairs of the border pass, and the barbarians have always bullied the soft and afraid of the hard, and I don't know how many times they committed the border when they surrendered to civil strife when they were strong.

Walking back to his residence, Zhou Chong took off his armor, asked Zhou Hao where he was going first, and after knowing that everything was going well, he waved his hand and motioned for his subordinates to go down, and soaked his feet in enjoyment.

There is a lot of wind and sand here, walking for a day, the boots are full of sand, and soaking your feet in hot water is a rare enjoyment, although the style is a little lower, but Zhou Chong really likes it.

The moonlight was not good tonight, and the candlelight could not illuminate the whole room, Zhou Chong squinted, his body suddenly tensed, and he looked at the knife he put on the table without a trace.

"Very alert."

A voice came from the darkness, and a thin figure slowly walked out and stood in front of the window: "The greatest advantage of a smart person is that it is not easy to die, because you can always find a way to live." ”

The green shirt was really memorable, Zhou Chong was silent for a moment, pulled his foot out of the basin, and stood on the cold ground: "I've seen adults." ”

Gu Huai looked at him quietly: "Are you wondering how I got in?" It's very simple, since the last time I asked someone to bring you a letter, you have someone from the secret spy department of the palace in your house. ”

"What do you want me to do?" Zhou Chong's attitude was unexpectedly very single.

"Switch."

"I think I'm doing my best for the things that my lord and the palace have explained," Zhou Chong said with a little bitterness at the corner of his mouth, "Why do you want to force me to death?" ”

"Dead end? The switch will die? Gu Huai smiled, and didn't look back, "You are a smart person, there are a few ways to be smart, King Yan is defeated, you can naturally live well in Yimaling, if King Yan enters Datong, you can say that you have already had contact with me and are considered your own people... You won't lose, so you're guarding such a mess that will start sooner or later, and now you're telling me I'm forcing you? ”

Zhou Chong was stagnant, this is indeed his idea, and it is also the reason why he dares to take over this job, when the time comes, he can keep it, but he can't keep it... There is a relationship between Gu Huai, what about following Yan Wang? Maybe even faster.

He licked his lips: "The prince wants to fight Datong?" ”

The candlelight illuminated Gu Huai's face flickering, full of gloom: "The army has been dispatched." ”

"It's indeed a great opportunity, the prince has a unique vision."

"Keep these sycophants and shoot them later, I don't really care if Datong fights or not, I just want the Mengyuan people to go back to the grassland."

"But..."

Footsteps sounded, Gu Huai walked over, stood in front of Zhou Chong and looked at him quietly: "I don't have much patience, especially when I think of the bad experience of entering Datong before, I am more and more impatient, there are definitely not as many people who died this time, but those people are innocent." ”

"Have you forgotten that you have a son and sold me once? I couldn't figure out how those Mengyuan people knew that I had entered the grassland, until I went to Jinling Jinyiwei once. ”

Zhou Chong was stunned, and then his face was ugly, and Gu Huai's face suddenly became a little hideous: "Dozens of lives... Don't think that I don't care now that I'm used to seeing dead people, you want to bet on both ends, let your son go to the south and leave some incense, I can pretend that I didn't see it, but believe it or not, and I'll let you and your son meet again underground? ”

Zhou Chong's face changed several times, and he made up his mind: "There are now 10,000 guards and more than 70,000 people in Yimaling, and I have no confidence that I can persuade all of them to surrender..."

"Want to negotiate the price? It's too early," Gu Huai restrained the violence on his body, "It won't be lower than you are now... But I want you to switch it off now and let 5,000 cavalry enter Datong. ”

What can you do with just five thousand cavalry? Zhou Chong became more and more confused, but he still agreed: "Yes, just let them change into military uniforms, and I will send the military uniforms out of the customs." ”

Gu Huai nodded, said no more, and turned around again and walked into the darkness.

Smart people have always made bets extremely fast, and he was not worried about Zhou Chong's betrayal, because from the moment he switched on and off to let the carriage of Yanwangfu pass through Yimaling, this person was marked with the mark of Yanwangfu.

And he also has a son.

It's just a pity that for the time being, there is no way to sacrifice his son's life to pay tribute to those caravan guys who died inexplicably because of themselves.

The debts of this world always have to be counted one by one, Gu Huai thought so.

……

The campfire at night in the wilderness always brings great warmth and satisfaction, Chen Ping added some firewood to the fire, and his calloused hands sharpened the hilt of the knife, waiting in silence.

After receiving the order to open the ban, Chen Ping said goodbye to his family as quickly as possible, took his soldiers from a thousand households, received another 4,000 soldiers, and rushed to the junction of Beiping and Datong, where he saw the chief official again, and then followed him all the way to this place.

As a soldier, the only thing you need to do is to obey, Chen Ping didn't ask what to do when he went to Datong, because these days there is an extremely tyrannical aura on the chief officer, and it is the first time he has seen such a chief official, which is diametrically opposed to the usual quiet and gentle.

A figure walked to the bonfire and sat down, Gu Huai's green shirt was a little thin, and he hadn't changed it these days, he also added a piece of wood to the fire, and said: "The Ming army's uniforms will be sent out, let them change into them, and they will enter Datong tomorrow." ”

"Yes."

"Five thousand cavalry, enough for a small run, let them feed their horses, bring five days of dry food, and go directly to the steppe on the way."

"Humble duty understands."

Silence fell again, save for the crackling of firewood burning in the fire.

Probably seeing that Gu Huai's face looked much better than when he entered Yimaling, Chen Ping hesitated and said, "The mood of the adults doesn't seem to be very good. ”

"It's not bad, it's just a little dazed and shocked," Gu Huai roasted the back of his hand, "When I was in the south, I heard Meng Yuan going south, and I subconsciously felt that this was what the palace did, because I knew that there was a person there who was willing to let thousands of people struggle under the hooves of the Meng Yuan people, and also used these things to drag down the court." ”

The amount of information was too much, and Chen Ping didn't know how to answer it for a while.

"But fortunately, the more I look at it, the less traces of the palace's involvement in this matter, although I can't be sure that it has nothing to do with the palace at all, but at least the scene I don't want to see hasn't happened yet," Gu Huai smiled self-deprecatingly, and lowered his voice, "At least that Yongle Emperor doesn't take this step... Otherwise, what am I doing? ”

Chen Ping didn't hear Gu Huai's self-talk behind him, nor did he ask what Gu Huai didn't want to see, he just asked, "My lord, what are we going to do?" ”

"What to do? This is a good question," Gu Huai rubbed his eyebrows, "The attack on Datong is a foregone conclusion, with the intervention of the Mengyuan people, it should not be difficult to fight, and Li Jinglong's side is also in a hurry, but it is a good situation, since there is no need to worry about this, I naturally want to let the Mongolians go back to the grassland." ”

He joked, "How about you take five thousand cavalry and attack the royal court?" ”

Unexpectedly, Chen Ping actually thought about this problem seriously: "The military rations are insufficient, and I didn't bring much grenades this time, and the location of the Mongolian royal court has never been difficult to find, if you know the route..."

"Just kidding, don't be so serious," Gu Huai smiled, "Actually, I just want to talk to some people." ”

He looked to the west: "Like a certain old bastard who doesn't keep his word." ”