Shengjun Fort is smaller than Wuchi Village and Xu's Dazhai in Tongbai Mountain. It is built according to the mountain and faces the post road coming from Langu County.
However, after Kelan was raided, Cao Shixiong showed unusual restraint. Since he did not attack Xishan on a large scale, he also showed no intention to march into Fuzhou. He even gave up some secondary forts and retracted his limited troops. Langu, Kelan, Ningwu and other cities were reorganized.
The main reason behind the performance of Cao Shixiong's rebels was that the Chi Hu people had a very clear strategic division of primary and secondary battlefields. This led Xu Huai to lead small groups of cavalry to frequently enter Lanzhou for guerrilla operations, attacking the Chi Hu people's flank battlefields. The impact is very limited.
The area around Shengjun Fort has not yet been caught in the flames of war, and people are gradually dragging their families to escape from the post road to the east - Shengjun Fort will screen them and distribute a small amount of relief food to help them continue to the capital. Prefecture, fled to the Guanzhong area.
Xu Huai walked into the yard, and Liu Qiong'er took a copper basin to fetch well water. He dipped his hands and face in it, but he felt a little warm in the ice and snow.
Xie Zhong walked in with his riding boots. There were not many rules to follow in the chaos of war. He walked by the gate of the rammed earth courtyard and did not ask Xu Huai what he had captured this time. He directly asked: "Mr. Zhu Han has arrived in Fuzhou." , are you going to see him now?"
"I just returned to the fort and I haven't even had time to take a breath. I have to take a breath first."
Xu Huai poured the well water into the corner of the courtyard wall, melted the snow, took the sweat towel from Liu Qiong'er's hand, wiped the water stains on his face, and said,
"I was thinking, Wang Langjun, Qian Langjun and Lu Ye have all rushed to Fuzhou City. They have met each other. Maybe Zhu Hangjun will come to Shengjun Castle, so you and I can save this trip - - Our side is the upright and upright Military and Horse Supervisor Si Yamen of Lanzhou. The imperial court sent Zhu Hang down to understand the situation of the fall of Lanzhou. He has to enter the Yamen of Lanzhou!"
"What kind of yamen is this? You are the only one who is qualified to let Mr. Zhu Han go." Xie Zhong said with a self-deprecating smile.
Shengjunbao used to have only one inspection department office, a few simple brick houses, but now they arrange all military and official affairs in this small courtyard; staff accommodation is even more of a problem, only Wang Gaoxing and Qian Ze Rui, Xu Huai, Xie Zhong and others had separate rooms, while the others lived in a small mud house with a few or even ten or twenty people. The female dependents in each family's small house were set up in a women's camp to live together.
There's nothing that can be done about it.
In front of Shengjun Fort, there were only four to five hundred garrison troops and less than two hundred households of residents.
Although the local garrison was now transferred back to Fuzhou City by Gu Jiqian, and civilian residences were requisitioned to the maximum extent, more than 6,000 people and 2,000 horses were withdrawn from Shuozhou and Lanzhou.
Fortunately, more than 4,000 women and children of the Hu tribe in Shuozhou, more than a thousand members of the Wuchi tribe, and 2,000 Tongbaishan veterans who were organized into the labor camp, plus more than 3,000 good horses, have been evacuated southward in batches, but even if In this case, Victory Army Fort was crowded with so many people at once, and it was extremely crowded.
If it hadn't been for more than half a month, Xu Huai took the road to Xishan to transport a large amount of grain from Wuchi Village to Shengjun Fort. With so many people and horses, the daily consumption of 30,000 kilograms of grain and 20,000 to 30,000 kilograms of dry food would have been despairing. .
Even so, Shengjunbao's grain reserves were only enough for more than two months of consumption. At this time, Gu Jiqian also behaved very generously and did not force Liu Yan, Chen Yuan, Lei Teng, and Zhu Run to obey. Under his jurisdiction, the food and fodder consumption of Pinglu Fort and Shenfeng Fort were all provided by Fuzhou City.
The problem was that the land in Fuzhou was barren and the population was sparse. After the supplies in Hedong were cut off, Gu Jiqian didn't know how much grain the imperial court could divert from Guanzhong to supplement Fuzhou's consumption in such a chaotic situation.
Jie Zhong was thankful that Xu Huai had already prepared for such a bad situation, and that the Lanzhou Military and Horse Supervisory Office had not been dissolved, so he did not need to worry about these problems.
However, the situation was so dangerous, and Xie Zhong also knew that prolonging the matter like this was definitely not an option.
As commanders, they could not easily leave the station, but they were not so careful when the troops were in chaos. Xie Zhong was eager to know whether Zhu Hang's coming would bring any relief. When he saw Xu Huai coming back, he wanted to encourage Xu Huai to go together.
Meet Zhu Hang in Fuzhou City.
Xu Huai took off his armor and talked for a while with Xu Wuji, Pan Chenghu, Guo Junpan, Wang Ju and Fan Yong who came into the courtyard, and then went into the house to catch up on their sleep.
But Xu Huai insisted on showing some kind of posture at this time.
He was unwilling to go to Fuzhou City to see Zhu Hang at this time. In addition to being very tired from guerrilla warfare, he didn't know what he could say to Zhu Hang when Gu Jiqian, Wang Gaoxing, Qian Zerui and others were present.
It is better to wait until Zhu Hang comes to Shengjun Fort.
Xu Huaihun fell into a deep sleep in the dark. When he woke up, he saw that it was already dark outside the window. There was a brazier burning in the corner of the room, and Liu Qiong'er was sitting by the bed, helping him mend the torn lining of his armor.
Xu Huaitai wanted to hug Liu Qiong'er tenderly, but Liu Qiong'er was startled and almost pricked her finger with a needle, so she quickly stood up and dodged.
"Did someone come to this house just now?" Xu Huai asked.
Liu Qiong'er said: "Mr. Zhu Hang has just arrived at Shengjun Fort. I saw that you were sleeping soundly, so I stopped them from waking you up. Mr. Zhu Hang should be at Wang Langjun's side. You should get up now."
Or sleep a little longer?"
"If you stay with me, I can sleep a little longer." Xu Huai said.
Liu Qiong'er pretended to prick Xu Huai with a needle and urged him to get up quickly.
…………
…………
Xu Huai walked into the yamen of Shengjunbao Inspection Department. There was also a brazier burning in the hall. Wang Gaoxing, Qian Zerui, Lu Xiong, Wang Ju, Xu Wuqi, Guo Junpan and others were sitting around the brazier with Zhu Hang talking.
.
They had been separated for less than a year, but Zhu Hang had a lot of white hair on his temples and deeper wrinkles on his forehead. Xu Huai took off the long knife from his waist, sat on a low stool in front of the brazier, and asked Zhu Hang:
"Wang, how are you doing in Bianjing?"
"When I left Bianjing, Mr. Wang Chun was still doing well, but I don't know if he is doing well now."
Zhu Hang shook his head and sighed,
"The news that the Red Husbands tore up the peace treaty and declared war was returned to Bianjing. For three days and three nights, Prime Minister Wang Chun could not rest, and he wrote down ten thousand words of plans to pacify the captives and dedicated them to the officials - even though Mr. Wang Chun's earlier words
, everyone had to be convinced, but the king reported to the Prime Minister that the officials should immediately summon all the soldiers and horses from all over the world to gather in Bianjing to prevent the Red Husbands from going directly south to drink from the Yellow River. All the ministers in the court hesitated again. First, they were worried that the situation might not be so dangerous.
In such a situation, firstly, I am worried that hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses will gather, money and food will be wasted, and the national funds will not be able to afford it. The ministers in the court have been discussing it, so I came over first to see how bad the situation is.
When I arrived at Luzhou, the vanguard of the Japanese troops had already arrived at the gates of Taiyuan City. There was no need for me to go further north and I could return to Bianjing to resume the order. However, Prime Minister Wang Zhen wrote another letter, asking me to go to Fuzhou and see you.
The previous side..."
"Cao Shixiong's rebellion and surrender to the enemy didn't cause any disturbance in Bianjing, right?" Xu Huai asked.
After the war broke out, it was inconvenient for them to communicate with Bianjing. However, Zhu Hang was able to use the official post and write memorials about what he saw and heard every day and send them back to Bianjing. He could also know the latest developments in Bianjing at any time. For example,
They are much better informed.
"Controversy between the government and the public is naturally inevitable, but Cao Shixiong's defection to the enemy did not cause much damage. In addition, all the generals in Xinfa and other places defected to the enemy one after another. No official in the court made a special trip to impeach Mr. Wang Zhen for this matter--all
As long as you are running around in Shuozhou, this matter shouldn't cause any trouble..."
Zhu Hang said with great emotion.
He knew that Cao Shixiong's defection to the enemy could minimize the negative impact on them. The main reason was that Xu Huai was willing to label himself as Wang Zhen's family in Shuozhou until the last minute, and at the most difficult moment, he persisted in Shuozhou and Lanzhou.
In the battle, thousands of remnants of the Western Army were helped to retreat westward, and they also raided Lanzhou City (Kelan) to severely damage the rebels' arrogance.
"That's good." Xu Huai was also afraid that Wang Zhen would be affected by Hui Cao Shixiong's defection to the enemy, so that among the ruling ministers in the court, there was no one who was familiar with the Chihu people and the severity of the situation.
Zhu Hang added: "The last letter sent to me by Prime Minister Wang was three days ago. Prime Minister Wang hopes that you can go to Bianjing immediately to make suggestions for the imperial court to prepare prisoners."
Of course, Xu Huai was not qualified to directly participate in the military and political affairs of the court, but as long as Wang Zhen, as the ruling minister, was willing to trust him, he could barely be regarded as making suggestions for the court.
"Ah?" Xu Huai didn't expect that Zhu Hang would come to Shengjun Fort and make such a request. He didn't know how to refuse for a while.
"That thief Cai Ting has been imprisoned by the officials; Wang reported to the Prime Minister to write a letter to redress the grievances of your Wang family. The officials also issued an order to thoroughly investigate the case of correcting the imperial edict. It is estimated that it will not take long to vindicate your Wang family!" Zhu Zhi hurriedly said
He went to Fuzhou to meet his father Zhu Hang, and he knew more about the changes in the situation in Bianjing at this time than Xu Huai did - he advised Xu Huai not to worry about his life experience being an obstacle.
"Let me think about it." Xu Huai muttered.
The second Northern Expedition to Yan was defeated, and the situation in Hedong and Hebei was eroded. This destined the active faction headed by Cai Qing to suffer a complete defeat in the court.
Of course Xu Huai is not worried about what obstacles his life experience will cause.
This is not what he is worried about. What he is worried about is that the disaster of Bianjing is destined to be inevitable. Is there any need for him to be involved in it on a deeper level?
Although in the eyes of Zhu Zhi and others, he could gain the trust of Wang Zhen and participate in the decision-making of the imperial court's defense against captives, which would play a greater role than leading two or three thousand soldiers and horses to participate in King Qin's battle, but in fact
Xu Huai knew very well that the quagmire of Bianjing would not fundamentally change because of Cai Zheng's imprisonment and Wang Zhen's reuse.
If Cai Ting's imprisonment was useful, the new emperor's escape would not have happened...
Bianjing is still a mud pit.
However, Xu Huai has always hoped that Wang Zhen would have the opportunity to preside over the affairs of King Qin. Now many things and some subtle situations are all facilitated by him. He can really bear to refuse Wang Zhen's invitation and lead a troop of troops to participate in King Qin's affairs.
, in fact, it was only on the periphery of the Battle of Bianjing?
