Upon hearing His Majesty's words, Wang Jiayan immediately withdrew the phalanx and pushed the chariot aside to make way. Zhu Ling led a group of ministers, followed closely by hundreds of royal guards, and walked toward the eighteen people.
The shock brought by these eighteen cavalrymen was almost unprecedented. At least in the two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, eighteen men had never defeated five thousand enemy troops. It would be really difficult to reward such an achievement.
Several ministers followed behind with expressions on their faces, some were ecstatic, thinking that the Ming Dynasty would be restored soon; some looked calm, but perhaps they still had some resistance to the generals in their hearts; and some others looked in deep thought, as this situation was not suitable for their civil servants.
Not beneficial.
Just as Zhu Ling and others were walking towards the Eighteen Cavalry, the Eighteen Cavalry also noticed their group. The leader was holding Xu Hong's head. He was persuaded by others that it would frighten His Majesty, so he threw it aside.
Turning around, he immediately dismounted and walked towards the direction where His Majesty came from. Although he is a warrior, at least he is clear about some court etiquette. Naturally, when meeting His Majesty, he should be more respectful in everything, at least he will not commit any crime.
The crime of losing one's appearance in front of the Holy Master.
Seeing the Eighteenth Cavalry dismounting and walking towards this side, Zhu Ling couldn't help but speed up a bit. He wanted to meet this brave Eighteenth Cavalry earlier. He was anxious for a moment, but he didn't notice a bump under his feet in front of him.
When he stumbled over the stone, he lost his center of gravity and fell straight forward.
Because there was no warning, the ministers behind him and the Jin Yiwei who were closely guarding him did not protect him in time. At that moment, Zhu Ling was almost about to fall to the ground. Just when everyone behind him was nervous, a pair of hands protected him in an instant.
He caught Zhu Ling who was about to knock him down.
The ministers looked at the person coming, but it was one of the eighteen horsemen, half-kneeling on the ground, holding His Majesty's shoulders with both hands, protecting him. Then everyone breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly stepped forward to help His Majesty up.
The moment Zhu Ling was propped up, he also knew that the person coming was one of the eighteen riders. He looked up and saw that this man had a dignified appearance, regular features, and bright eyes. Apart from the smell of blood on his body, he really had a bookish temperament.
This man slowly helped His Majesty up, and Wang Chengen hurriedly held on to his back, fearing that His Majesty would fall again.
Seeing the ministers and imperial guards arriving one after another, the visitor quickly knelt down, and the seventeen people behind him also knelt down and shouted: "Your Majesty, your subordinate Sima Jingru, we are here to rescue you on the orders of General Yang.
Your Majesty! Your Majesty was frightened."
"I wasn't surprised, but I was pleasantly surprised."
Looking at the eighteen people in front of them, they all had an extraordinary bearing, heroic and fighting demeanor, and the heavy objects hanging on their bodies were extremely heavy, but they did not show any sign of fatigue. On the contrary, they looked particularly fearless after defeating the enemy.
"Everyone, please be safe. Today's battle is very brave. Since the day I ascended the throne, there have been no such heroes since Cao Wenzhao, Lu Xiangsheng, and Sun Chuanting. I didn't expect that I would be lucky enough to meet you in today's crisis."
Zhu Ling's words all revealed his full affection. If these eighteen people are used well, let alone using them in the future, at least when they arrive in Shandong, they will have some reliance on Liu Zeqing.
The man named Sima Jingru stood up slowly, and the seventeen people behind him immediately stood up. Faced with His Majesty's words of praise, he did not show any signs of joy and remained calm and composed.
When several ministers saw this, they couldn't help but frown a little. These dozen people were a little crazy. His Majesty liked them so much and praised them, but he didn't have much joy. If it were anyone else, he would have scolded him, but today they are the ones who saved your Majesty.
And myself, I tolerated it, but my dissatisfaction with it was accumulated in my heart.
"It is our duty to protect His Majesty and guard the Ming Dynasty."
Sima Jingru's expression was expressionless, he cupped his hands and bowed slightly before answering, his words being expressed in a righteous tone which quite dissatisfied the adults opposite him.
"You have made such military exploits today. It would be unreasonable for me not to reward you." His Majesty heard that he wanted to reward you. Even if Sima Jingru wanted to refuse, Zhu Ling raised his hand to stop him.
"You don't want it, but your brothers do."
"Let's just be a guard for now, fifth-rank official. I'll tell you in detail when we get to Shandong. What do you think?" Zhu Ling looked at Sima Jingru, who was hunched over in front of him. Although he liked it, there was always an uncontrollable feeling in his heart.
The feeling of living.
After he finished speaking, he carefully observed his expression.
"General, I would like to thank you for your kindness! Your kindness is so great that we will serve you to the death." Sima Jingru knelt down again, kowtowed and shouted, and everyone behind him also thanked him.
"However, General Yang's place..."
When Sima Jingru reminded Yang Kuo, Zhu Ling then remembered that if he directly gave him an official position, he would be poaching people. It would be fine if they were ordinary soldiers, but these eighteen people were treasures. Yang Kuo or Wu Sangui behind them could
Do you agree?
But Zhu Ling didn't care about this. This time he wanted to collect all the eight thousand Guan Ning troops. By then, Sima Jingru would naturally be in his hands, and there would be no such trouble.
However, before subduing them, he would not show his feelings. Instead, he said: "That's natural. I'll tell him later. Wang Qing, the Ministry of War has filed a record in time. When they arrive in Nanjing, they will all be included in the file."
"I will bear this in mind."
Wang Jiayan immediately answered with his hands raised.
At this moment, Yang Kuo also led an army of 8,000 people back. He sent out scouting horses to guard the surroundings. The army took a break for a while, and he led the generals on horseback. Then he quickly dismounted, ran over and knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, Yang Kuo, see you.
Your Majesty, it is my crime to put your Majesty’s talents in danger, please punish me!”
After listening to Yang Kuo's apology, Zhu Ling directly helped him up, and then said seriously: "Can the intruder army be defeated?"
"Your Majesty, I have lived up to my trust and defeated the enemy. Our army's casualties were only a few dozen!"
Hearing this, Yang Kuo was naturally excited and answered excitedly. The moment he had just defeated the enemy, he couldn't help but recall his promise to His Majesty. When asked this time, he naturally answered excitedly.
"Okay! With this, this sin will be averted."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Yang Kuo was very excited, but he also felt a little lucky. At least His Majesty was not in any danger, and Sima Jing's words really made a difference in protecting him.
"Your Majesty, if you have anything to say, let's talk on the road. The intruders may come back at any time." Wang Jiayan stepped forward to persuade him. After all, the number of intruders was not small. If they appeared suddenly, it would be a crisis.
"Listen to Wang Qing, let's set off."
Everyone immediately bowed to accept the order. Sima Jingru originally wanted to return to Guan Ning's army, but was stopped by Zhu Ling.
"Sima, come with me, follow me."
After hearing His Majesty's order, he naturally did not dare to disobey it, so he ordered the other seventeen men to return to the army. He rode forward alone to accompany Zhu Ling.
"Where is Sima from?"
"A native of Liaodong, he used to be a businessman and traveled around the provinces. However, after the slaves repeatedly plundered Liaodong, he wanted to kill the enemy and serve the country. With his martial arts, he was recruited into the Guanning Army. This time, he joined the army of General Li to serve the king.
"
"These seventeen people?"
"These seventeen people are my fellow countrymen and will join the army with me."
"If the country is not protected, how can we protect our family?" Zhu Ling couldn't help but sigh, but he never noticed the indifference in Sima Jingru's eyes.
…
"Reporting to General Luo, General Li did not listen to our dissuasion and insisted on going his own way. As a result, all ten thousand cavalry were killed, and we were almost ambushed. Fortunately, the general retreated in time, which gave most of the soldiers a way to survive."
More than ten miles away, Li Guo knelt on one knee and reported loudly to Luo Rucai in front of him. He was now covered in blood and looked quite embarrassed.
"You mean, it was caused by Li Guo's own command error?"
Luo Rucai was holding a riding crop and pacing back and forth, looking thoughtful, but always feeling a bit unconvinced.
"General, before this defeat, the last general had warned General Li not to pursue easily in case he was ambushed, but General Li was eager to atone for his sins, so he was surrounded by officers and soldiers."
"It was him last time, and it's him again this time! No matter how large our army is, we can't withstand his destruction like this!" After listening to Liu Ming's report, Luo Rucai seemed quite angry. Although she had some friendship with him, she was
In the face of such big things as right and wrong, we still need to understand the overall situation.
Now that he is so humiliated, if he thought about it, if King Shun knew about it, wouldn't he be punished with him?
"Go! Bring someone to look for me. The goods need to be found, and the dead need to be found with the corpse!"
[Author's digression]: Sitting for a long time these days has caused some problems. Typing every day is a torment. I have to get up and walk after writing for a while.
It's so painful. Please give me more votes for counting. (Manual dog head)