Jokes aside, Zhu Qiyu still made some arrangements to appease his cronies Wenchen: Xu Zheng was sent to Dengzhou to counsellor military affairs, Huang Jian was sent to Jiaozhou to counsellor military affairs, and Chen Jian was transferred to Shandong as an envoy. A large number of close confidants and ministers were sent to serve in various parts of Shandong.

In addition, Gu Zhong was transferred to the command of the capital of Shandong, and a large number of outstanding Yingzhou guard generals were promoted to various guards in Shandong.

After the war in his homeland was basically over, Zhu Qiyu began to consciously spread out his cronies.

The Yingzhou guards who followed Zhu Qiyu at the beginning, even if they were just a pawn back then, as long as they were selected to be sent to other guards, they had to be the most unproductive. And after a few years of training outside, it will definitely be given to hundreds of households.

First, Zhu Qiyu attaches great importance to his feelings, and secondly, the treatment of the Son of Heaven is too good, and he is sent to the local health center, unless he is promoted to two levels. Otherwise, if you only upgrade one level, everyone will feel very disadvantaged. After all, if you stay in the pro-army for a few years, you can be promoted to a higher level, and the treatment is much better than that of the same level in the local health center.

Shandong is the basic plate selected by Zhu Qiyu. Now that there are no obvious political enemies in the court, it is time to run Shandong well.

Zhu Qiyu thought very well, but the North Korean front is about to start the whole big work.

On 17 May, east of Seoul, the Ming army and the combined forces of the DPRK and Japan arranged their own troops.

To the east of Seoul, the terrain is open and flat. The troops assembled by the two sides were more than 100,000.

Such a scene is rare, and it already has the style of the Spring and Autumn Period.

said that the scene was like the Spring and Autumn Period, because both sides were very well-behaved, and it became 5,000 against 10,000, and the size of the army dispatched by each was less, but it was not okay if there was more.

Wu Zhong led 5,000 new Liaodong troops to the front line to set up a formation, Hatakeyama Yoshishi led 10,000 troops to set up a formation, and the rest of the army was purely a bystander.

These Japanese armies are not strictly considered national armies, and they are basically private armies that protect the daimyos.

Hatakeyama Yoshishi was pushed out to take the lead, in addition to deceiving and luring the enemy, there were also other families with the intention of consuming the strength of the Hatakeyama clan.

Hatakeyama has been in charge of the shogunate for so many years, and the strength of the Hatakeyama family is a little too strong.

Hatakeyama knew this, but he was powerless to resist. However, there are two sides to everything, and if Hatakeyama can emerge in this war to aid Korea and make great achievements, he will be able to re-stabilize the position of the Hatakeyama clan.

On the side of the Ming army, Wu Zhong was a close confidant of the emperor and was arranged to take the lead.

Wu Zhong led the Liaodong Army, and its combat power was far inferior to Shang Ying's Lao Jing Battalion, nor was it as good as Hatakeyama's family soldiers, so Wu Zhong chose the strategy of defensive counterattack, since it was to play defensive counterattack with the very unbearable Liaodong Army, it would be cumbersome to bring 10,000 people.

The two sides were separated by 300 paces, and because of the agreement not to use firearms and heavy bows and crossbows, but only to compete in bravery, Wu Zhong chose Zhao Kuo's classic: the Checheng Round Array.

Wu Zhong studied in the Jingshi Martial Arts Academy for a year, and he didn't learn anything else, but he had already learned two or three essences of Zhu Qiyu's shameless style.

After all, it was a formal competition with a war book, and Wu Zhong only used some wooden boxes and sandbags as obstacles, so he was embarrassed to bring up the chariot and the horse.

Hatakeyama Yoshishi was much simpler, dividing his 10,000 thousand soldiers into a formation of 4,000, 3,000, and 3,000.

Two pikemen composed of 3,000 people attacked from the east and west flanks of the Ming army, and Hatakeyama Yoshishi personally led the most elite 4,000 samurai in the center, only waiting for the pikemen to disrupt the Ming army's formation, and then he pressed the whole army and started melee combat with the Ming army.

After the two sides confirmed that their respective formations were completed, they began to attack. The Japanese attacked fiercely, and the Ming army held out.

The Liaodong Army was originally dish, and was not allowed to use firearms. Attacking and killing together, everyone is so nervous that they can't do it. At this time, the Checheng Circle Formation played a role, relying on those large wooden boxes and sandbags to block, the Ming soldiers only needed to hide behind and stab the Japanese army with spears.

Zhu Qiyu is very good at Wu Zhong, although the combat effectiveness of these 5,000 Guangning central guards is not good, but they are all equipped with the latest mass production of heavy armor from the Ministry of Industry.

Let these soldiers criticize and slash in the field with heavy armor, it is difficult for them. But let them criticize the armor to defend in place, and they can barely support it for a while.

The Japanese side stabbed each other with spears for half an hour, and the Japanese army not only failed to disrupt the Ming camp because of the disadvantage of the battle formation and size, but also suffered a small loss.

Seeing that the Japanese army was not very fierce, the Ming army was determined and became more and more comfortable against the enemy's attack.

Hatakeyama Yoshi, who was watching the battle from a distance, was very speechless, he never expected that today's battle would be such a way of playing, and there was no impassioned blood at all.

The retainers next to them were very happy, the task given by Hosokawa Katsumoto, the commander of the Eastern Army, was to defeat or not to win, and with the Ming army, the losses on both sides would not be too great.

Hatakeyama Yi frowned, the loss is indeed not too big, but the way of playing in front of him can't tell the winner even if it gets dark. It is not possible for his 4,000 people to rush up directly, and when the formation on the opposite side is not chaotic, isn't it seeking death with a short knife against a spear.

After staying up for another half an hour, when Hatakeyama Yoshiki was undecided, Hosokawa Katsumoto sent his own soldiers to deliver a message, proposing to determine the battle between the military formations and a tie, and add a coach competition to determine the victory.

Hatakeyama Yoshiki suddenly realized that Hosokawa Katsumoto was waiting for him here. And Wu Zhong on the opposite side seems to have a tacit understanding with Hosokawa Katsumoto, and the reason why he adopts a defensive formation is probably waiting for the coach to decide the victory.

I understand, I understand, the Ming army sent the Liaodong Army, which had low combat effectiveness, to fight, and I am afraid it was also due to internal factional contradictions.

After thinking about it, Hatakeyama Yoshishi had some sympathy for Wu Zhong, Hosokawa Katsumoto put on small shoes for himself, and the commander of the Ming army on the opposite side was also stumbling on Wu Zhong.

It seems that factional battles cannot be avoided anywhere.

Thinking of this, Hatakeyama Yoshishi sent his own soldiers to the front of the Ming army, and proposed that the commander compete to determine the victory, and Wu Zhong readily agreed.

Hatakeyama Yoshishi took an interpreter and rode his horse with Wu Zhong out of their own camp to talk in detail in person.

Wu Zhong smiled and asked, "What are we comparing to?" Knife technique? ”

Hatakeyama replied: "It's better to shoot on horseback, and the one who shoots the opponent first wins." The rule is that each person can shoot a maximum of ten arrows, and they are only allowed to shoot at a distance of 100 paces, and they cannot get close enough to shoot arrows face to face, which will not show that they are good at archery. ”

When Wu Zhong heard this, he hesitated: "I'm good at swordsmanship, not good at riding and shooting." Forget it, let's sacrifice my life to accompany the gentleman today. ”

Hatakeyama is not stupid, Wu Zhong's hidden agitation method, he should not have heard it. If you want to compete in swordsmanship, you are only eighteen years old, and your body has not yet fully grown, and Wu Zhong on the other side is in his twenties, and his body is at its peak.

The key Wu Zhong is still a head taller than himself, Rao is no matter how superb his sword skills are, if he really cuts each other to fight life and death, there is a chance of one or two wins if he dies. He is here to deceive and lure the enemy, not to deliberately give away people's heads.

After discussing, the two returned to their respective camps, untied their swords, prepared their bows and arrows, and began a cavalry and archery contest amid a deafening shout.

(End of chapter)