Zhuozhou, Zu Dashou's defense area, is a small city outside Beijing. Five thousand cavalry are stationed there to kill the small groups of enemy troops that intersperse and defend the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
Zu Dashou has been tired for a day. He is in low spirits and has a bad temper. Recently, many enemy squads have appeared near the city of Beijing. They are wandering without attacking, erratic, unable to catch up, and afraid to fight. The pressure from above is great.
There are a lot of complaints below, and I can't take this soldier anymore.
Zu Dashou had not worked so hard for a long time. He felt that the soles of his feet and boots were growing together. He returned to the door, got off his horse, and walked into the living room with the help of two soldiers. He was about to ask someone to help him remove his armor.
Suddenly he saw a stranger sitting on the Grand Master's chair, enjoying tea leisurely. Zu Dashou was furious and shouted: "Who is so bold!"
None of the servants dared to answer. The man smiled slightly and said, "Don't make things difficult for me below. My brother is from the south."
Zu Dashou's expression changed greatly, and he hurriedly drove everyone out, closed the door, held his sword in his hand and asked: "You...who are you? What are you doing here?"
The man took out a sign from his waist and threw it to Zu Dashou and said: "Brother is an errand in the South Factory and is temporarily appointed to the post of Qianhu. He came here for nothing else but to bring a letter from home to Zu Junmen.
"
Zu Dashou touched the genuine waistband in his hand, thought about it in his heart, and suddenly shouted: "Here comes someone!" Suddenly the door was broken, and about twenty soldiers rushed in, aiming their fire cannons at the messenger, waiting for Zu Dashou
Dashou gave the order.
"The daring spy dared to break into the house. Don't blame Zu Dashou for being ruthless. Come on, kidnap him and send him to Beijing to be dealt with by the young marshal!" Zu Dashou shouted righteously and sternly.
But the man still drank tea with his legs crossed, without batting an eyelid, "Junmen, you'd better read the letter first. You are a timid child and cannot withstand being scared."
Zu Dashou signaled his subordinates not to act rashly, and then he took out the letter paper and read it. The letter was written by his wife. The handwriting was very familiar, so it must not be fake. The letter mentioned that the Lord Supervisor took great care of the family and gave gifts to the old man.
, my child will take the imperial examination this year, and I don’t expect anyone to make things difficult for me. I hope Zu Dashou will recognize the situation and abandon the darkness and turn to the bright side.
Zu Dashou was dumbfounded after reading the letter. You must know that many family members of the generals of the Xuzhou Army left and settled in the prosperous places in the south of the Yangtze River. The invasion of the Xixia Army, the Beijing-Shanghai War, and these wars disrupted communications between the north and the south. Zu Dashou did not know that his family members
He was worried about his health, but he didn't expect that Liu Ziguang actually found all his relatives, and was able to comfort him. The purpose of this is self-evident.
Zu Dashou finally woke up, rubbed the back of his head and said with a smile: "I thought it was Yuan Chengzhi who sent someone to fool me. You all should stand down. You are not allowed to come within ten feet without my general."
The soldiers put away their weapons and retreated. Zu Dashou took off his helmet, armor, and sword. He sat down next to the envoy, helped him fill the tea cup with water, and asked politely: "Your Majesty, just
Are you here to deliver a letter? Do you have anything else to explain?"
The envoy said: "Master Jianguo said that as long as you are not an enemy of the people, all sins can be forgotten. Zujunmen should think about it carefully."
Zu Dashou said: "That's it? No other explanation?"
The envoy said: "Yes, what to do depends on the sincerity of Zu Junmen. I will contact you again. By the way, there is another gift here. General Zu will keep it and I will take my leave."
The messenger took out another envelope and gave it to Zu Dashou, then said goodbye and walked away.
Zu Dashou trembled and tore open the envelope, and found a piece of cardboard inside, with portraits of his mother, daughter-in-law, and three children painted on it. He didn't know who had painted them, but the paintings were so lifelike that they looked like they could jump out of the paper.
Of course Zu Dashou did not know that this was a photo. He was just deeply impressed by the strength of Nanjing. Two tears fell on the photo. Zu Dashou trembled and said: "Mother, the child is unfilial."
Zhongnanhai, Beijing City, is the residence of Marshal Yuan. It is heavily guarded. There are three posts, one post and five posts, because there is news that spies from the south have entered the city and may assassinate the young marshal at any time. Yuan Chengzhi's face was ferocious and twisted, and he sat down
There is uncertainty behind the handsome case.
Today, someone in the camp made a riot and incited hundreds of soldiers to besiege Shangguan. If his own soldiers had not dispatched in time and cut off more than a dozen heads, I don't know what the commotion would have been like.
Make money, make money, these soldiers only know how to get money, and they don’t understand Shangguan’s difficulties at all. Hebei is no better than Jiangnan, and its output is limited.
There has been no pay for the month, and the city of Beijing has almost plundered it. However, cash is limited after all. You can't use those antiques, calligraphy, paintings, and jades to pay the soldiers. Antiques from the prosperous times and gold from the troubled times, even if they are valuable in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
No matter how many gadgets there are, it won't do anything.
The food can last for a month, but the money is really not enough. It can only support the expenses of the soldiers. Yuan Chengzhi's mind is spinning rapidly. There are many difficulties at the moment. Not to mention being surrounded on all sides, the morale of the army is also unstable. It is too big to participate in the war.
From generals to ordinary soldiers, all have a bleak future. Yuan Chengzhi couldn't figure out how to change this situation even if he thought about it.
Although there are many troops under his command, they have to guard Shanhaiguan, guard Dagukou, guard Tianjin Guard, guard Zhending Mansion, guard the Great Wall in the north, and guard the front line in the south. They are surrounded by enemies on all sides. No matter how many people there are, it is not enough. Winter is approaching.
We don't have enough winter clothes, we don't have enough food and wages, and we have one round less ammunition. It's a lot of pressure, it's just too much.
There had been no movement on the front line for several days. This calmness made Yuan Chengzhi very uneasy. When he turned on the radio, it was full of noise and he could not hear the signal at all. Yuan Chengzhi felt uneasy and sent out scouts to investigate. Soon the report came that the Mongols had broken through.
After arriving at Gubeikou, the troops pointed directly at Beijing, the Dagukou fort was completely destroyed, and the enemy troops had landed in Tanggu! The 20,000 elite troops deployed at Shanhaiguan did nothing, and actually raised the lowering flag anyway! Enemy troops were also killed in Shanxi.
After leaving Pingxingguan and heading towards Zhendingfu, only the Dezhou front line was motionless. Enemy roving troops were also frequently spotted around Beijing.
Yuan Chengzhi was furious. What happened to Mangui in Gubeikou? He could actually let the Mongols come in. Could it be that he had reached some kind of agreement with the Mongols? It is possible that this guy was originally a Mongolian!
Shanhaiguan, Tianjinwei, Zhendingfu, the defenders of these passes are free of charge? Are their muskets used to burn fire sticks? And that Zu Dashou, what is the use of giving him 5,000 troops?
If the Rangers can't eliminate it, what's the use of him?
After all, Yuan Chengzhi is young, younger than Liu Ziguang, and has not experienced many things. He originally thought that he would become a god of war after reading two military books. In fact, his ability to command about 10,000 troops is just okay, and he can manage many people.
, there are too many territories to handle, and after all, this guy is just an armchair strategist.
"Alas, the handsome man's reputation has been ruined by this boy."
"What young marshal? I think it's Zhao Kuo!"
"We have to find a way out."
A group of old military leaders secretly gathered in Zhuozhou Zu Dashou's mansion for a meeting. They were all old men of the Xuzhou Army. After the Beijing Incident, the newly emerged young faction took away military power. It was not until Yuan Chonghuan came over that he regained power. However, his popularity
Already dispersed.
"In my opinion, the Apocalypse reign cannot last this year, and the emperor has no heirs. It is reasonable to establish a new emperor in the south. Why don't we comply with the people's wishes." Zu Dashou said.
"Both the north and the south belong to the Ming Dynasty. As long as Liu Ziguang does not usurp the throne, we will not be considered surrendering or repeating villains. The worst we can do is to jointly protect the commander's life after the incident is over." He Kegang said.
"I have talked with the Mongolian Khan Zamuhe. We don't want anything to do in the south. We just need to remain neutral at critical moments." Man Gui also interjected.
While we were chatting, suddenly a soldier ran in and said: "Junmen, there is a flag officer coming from Beijing holding an order arrow."
Zu Dashou was shocked and asked: "How many people are there?"
"One flag, one general, and twenty guards."
"Hurry up and gather your brothers and let me break the cup as a signal."
The soldiers took the order, and Zu Dashou said: "Excuse me, please hide behind the screen and wait until brothers handle this matter. I think it is probably the young marshal who wants to operate on me."
Man Gui and others calmly stood up and hid behind the screen. They were all generals who were used to seeing big scenes, so they did not panic in this situation, and they did not forget to make a joke about Zu Dashou.
Not long after, a group of troops entered Zu Dashou's official residence. Twenty soldiers stood akimbo in the courtyard. A young military officer walked into the lobby accompanied by a flag. Zu Dashou came out with a smile on his face.
: "I'm busy with military affairs, so I'm sorry for missing you."
When he looked up, he saw that he was an acquaintance. The person who came was none other than Yuan Chengzhi's younger brother, Zhang Dongjian. He was a twenty-year-old boy with few military achievements, but he had been promoted to the rank of commander-in-chief, the same level as Zu Dashou and others.
Yes, thinking about this made Zu Dashou uncomfortable, but he didn't express it on his face.
"After listening to the order, Zu Dashou is hereby relieved of his post as commander of the Zhuozhou bandit suppression. The troops and horses are handed over to Commander Zhang Dongjian. Zu Dashou is transferred to the commander of the Five Cities Military and Horse Division in the capital."
After the flag officer read the order, he handed the piece of paper to Zu Dashou: "Zu Junmen, take a look."
Zu Dashou took a look and saw that Yuan Chengzhi's customs defense was stamped on the order. It was definitely not fake. If he had removed his military power and returned it, wouldn't he become meat on someone else's chopping board? Zu Dashou thought quickly in his mind.
After a while, he made up his mind, picked up the tea cup from the table and said: "Come and work hard, drink tea, drink tea."
After saying that, he threw the cup away, and hundreds of swordsmen and axemen poured in from all directions. Mangui and others also turned out from behind the screen and looked at General Zhang and the flag official with a smile.