Some people shook their heads to express their disapproval, some just wept and sighed, and some were even more disappointed; others were even more disappointed because of the critical military situation and the dim court, and Lu Xiangsheng died in vain.

Xiangsheng and the soldiers around him couldn't help but shed tears when they saw the people crying. Lu Xiangsheng said calmly: "Mr. Tun Chu, since the first time the captives invaded, you have strongly called on the people of Jifu to defend their homes and defend the country, so you are known as a righteous man. But today, it is inevitable that it will be promoted to the end of the country. The decisive battle is just around the corner, and Xiangsheng only knows that he is serving the emperor, and life and death have long been put aside. The fathers and elders of the three mansions love and care for each other, and Xiangsheng is only grateful. ”

"My lord, I heard that the captives are coming south, please temporarily withdraw your troops, avoid the fierce front, and postpone the decisive battle with the captives for ten days?" Yao Dongzhao saw that he could not persuade Lu Xiangsheng to oversee the army to temporarily force Jinan, so he had to say the next step for this trip.

"But why?" Lu Xiangsheng was like a blindfolded man at this time, and the information that the sentinel cavalry was out of the detection range ten miles away, which was generally difficult for this Ming Governor to obtain, and even the situation that the captive cavalry was coming south had just known about it.

"If the adults can not fight the Tartars within ten days, Tosho and the elders of the three mansions can lead tens of thousands of children to come to the aid of the adults. "Yao Dongzhao is in line with the principle that if the mountain doesn't come, I will go to the mountain, the imperial court doesn't look down on us peasant self-defense forces, so it's always okay for us to come to serve in front of the army, besides, I've talked to the Ming Dynasty commander and the superintendent of the army, so it's not a gathering of people to make trouble!

Xiang Sheng was deeply moved by this chivalrous old man, he grabbed Yao Dongzhao's hand, pulled him a few steps away, looked at him with grateful eyes, and sighed: "Mr. Tun Chu! I thank you for your kindness, but how can I wait ten days?"

"Why can't you wait?" the old man said in his heart, I know how to avoid the real and attack the false, it can't be that the commander of the imperial court doesn't have as much ink as I have drunk, right?

Lu Xiangsheng also opened his heart to the respectable old man at this time, and he said: "First, the student has been deprived of the title of Shang Fangjian and Shangshu by the imperial court, and I don't know when Tiqi will come to arrest the Jingshi and ask for the guilt. In case the students are arrested and sent to Beijing within ten days, it is better to fight with the captives as soon as possible, and it is better to die for the country than to die in prison. ”

Looking at the old man's shocked gaze, he continued to explain, "Second, judging from the news led by the old gentleman, the trend of the captives and cavalry is clearly intended to go deep into Shandong, cut off the canal, and threaten Jinan. At that time, not only will the imperial court punish the students for the crime of arsoning with the enemy, but how will the students also treat the people of Shandong?"

"There is a third," Xiang raised a low voice, "at present the morale of the officers and soldiers is low, and they are afraid of the enemy like tigers; since the departure of Wang Pu, the general soldier of Datong, the rest of the men and horses have been even more shaken; the remaining thousands of hungry and tired divisions, because of the students' loyalty and patriotism, treat each other with sincerity in peacetime, and can barely bear to leave for the time being, and can barely fight." After a little time, the morale of the army collapsed, and even if the students wanted to fight, they could not succeed. In fact, Lu Xiangsheng has another reason that has not been said, if these people and horses are scattered because of this, the danger to the Ming Dynasty is disastrous, each of them can be called a seed full of hatred, the sages and sages once said, "The king treats me as a countryman, I should repay him as a countryman! Jun treats me as a passerby, I repay him as a passerby! You treat me with a mustard, I should repay it with revenge!"

Thinking of this, Lu Xiangsheng felt a little chilled, and he had already made up his mind, "Even if you die, you must bury these seeds of hatred!"

"How about waiting for me for five days?" Yao Dongzhao also sensed that the situation seemed to be not good, and he insisted.

"Five days?...... No, no. "The court is in his own account, and if he avoids the war for five days, he Lu Xiangsheng will definitely be divided by five horses.

"If it doesn't work in five days, please wait for me for three days?"

Although Lu Xiangsheng couldn't judge three days, maybe tomorrow, the Qing soldiers would come, and the reinforcements of the people would be useless in three days, but he couldn't refuse Yao Dongzhao's kindness again, so he responded and said: "Okay, you go back and call on the children of the three provinces not to order the captive cavalry to drive south, and within three days, I will have news here." ”

After a pause, he sighed, "I see that the captive cavalry army is very sick, often like a sudden wind and rain, I'm afraid it's too late for you to help me." Tomorrow I will move a little southwest in order to get closer to the army of the High Supervisor. Julu is Mr. Sangzi, I hope we can meet again in Julu. ”

He took the hand of the old man Yao Dongzhao and returned to the front of everyone. The fathers and villagers took out the small amount of dry food they brought with them and insisted on offering it to Inspector Lu.

An old man with a snow-white beard said in a trembling voice: "My lord, because we came in a hurry, and we don't know if we can meet adults, so we don't bring much food, which is just a little bit of the hearts of the people of the three provinces. If the adults move their troops to Guangguang and Shun, the people of our three provinces still have the spirit of loyalty and righteousness in order to resist the invasion of foreign races, and although the days are very hard, they are very happy to take out the grain they have put into the pot, and as long as they can destroy the family, they are willing. ”

The wealthy families in the nearby countryside and Nangong City have long since fled, leaving only some poor people who cannot afford to flee. When they heard that Lu Xiangsheng was determined to fight against the Qing soldiers, and that the army was running out of food, the fathers and elders of the three prefectures came to offer food, and they also took out all kinds of miscellaneous grains buried at the head of the bed, hidden in the holes in the walls and cellars, and sent them to the outside of the camp gate.

An old woman with a full face of vegetables came panting with a handful of green dates in her shirt and crutches. With tears in her eyes, she held the dates to Xiangsheng with both hands, and said, "My lord, there has been a drought for many years, and there are locusts, and there is also a shortage of food for the common people. I, a lonely widow, have nothing else to do, but this date is given to adults to cook and eat, and a few more tartars are killed. ”

"Auntie, don't you have a son?" Lu Xiangsheng thought about the people under his command, but he did not harm the local people, "Even last night, his Chinese army reported that someone ......"

"Alas, it's a hard life! The sons are gone! The last time the Tartars came to this area, one son was killed, and the other was taken captive, and there was no news!" The old woman cried and said, "The court Lao Tzu raised so many soldiers, it will only increase taxes and harass the good people, who is willing to contribute to the war with the Eastern Tartars? The common people like grass mustard deserve to suffer, the White Lotus Niangniang said that this is a robbery, the court is like this, what can the poor people do?"

Lu Xiangsheng refused to accept her dates at first, but where was the old woman willing to follow, and said that Lu Xiangsheng had to stay.

(End of chapter)