Late at night, on the street in front of the mansion with two red lanterns hanging,
Zhu Yuheng was followed by a group of neat knights. He had just turned over and mounted his horse, and glanced sideways at Yuan Ji, the magistrate of Fushui County who was seeing him off at the door.
Behind the middle-aged county magistrate was a pretty girl wearing a curtain hat, standing with her head bowed, not daring to look at anyone, and holding a tray in both hands.
Magistrate Yuan laughed:
"General Zhu, Chen Yuanwai learned that you went out alone to fight for the country at a young age. I really admire you. At the dust-free banquet just now, when you were full of wine and food, the general did not forget your armor and wore this cold soldier's armor.
Later, we stayed in the military camp for the night. The cold night was long. Chen Yuanwai was very worried. The general's health was important.
"So Chen Yuanwai specially sent his daughter to bring some warm autumn clothes to add some clothes for the cold weather. I hope General Zhu will not be polite. Although the general is heroic and has no faults in autumn like your father, he can fight for the country and cannot be cold anymore.
Isn’t he a general?”
Magistrate Yuan pointed to the end of East Street:
"A hundred steps down the street, there is an elegant courtyard belonging to Chen Yuan's wife. The general can go there with Mrs. Chen to change clothes. If the size is not suitable, let Mrs. Chen tailor it on the spot and prepare a warmer one for the general overnight.
Appropriate, how?
"This can be regarded as the wishes of all the officials and people of Fushui County. I hope the general will accept it."
"Hahaha." The drunken soldiers behind him burst into laughter.
Zhu Yuheng glanced at the middle-aged county magistrate who was standing under the red lantern, smiling, and then tilted his head to look at the pretty little lady behind him.
On the tray lined with red cloth in her hand, there was a pile of silk clothes and a copper key.
Zhu Yuheng chuckled.
Tonight is the third day that he led his troops to capture Fushui County without bloodshed.
Fushui County is the eastern gateway to Hongzhou. Now, Zhu Yuheng's vanguard army is stationed in this county. Except for dealing with a small group of unsighted guys at the beginning, they almost didn't waste a single soldier.
The Yuan County Magistrate was also very smart. He directly tied up the young guard sent by Cai Qin and surrendered him quickly. Tonight, he even summoned the wealthy officials and rural sages in the county's jurisdiction to serve as Zhu Yuheng and others.
The soldiers held a lively reception banquet and cordially invited them to attend.
Originally, Zhu Yuheng was too lazy to come because military affairs were important, but he remembered some of his father's instructions and came to drink a few glasses of wine. However, he was also wary of it, but now it seemed that he was overthinking it.
His eyes swept over the pretty little lady wearing a curtain hat. Just looking at her figure could make the man ignore her appearance for a while, as if she turned off the lights.
It’s just... Chen Yuanwai’s little daughter?
Zhu Yuheng twitched the corner of his mouth when he thought of the old man with a big belly who was sitting very close to him at the banquet.
He was a little speechless, you look like a damn pig, how can you give birth to such a delicate little daughter? Are you sure you are not the breed of the king next door?
Laughing at him, it doesn't matter whether this little lady is Chen Yuanwai's biological child or whether she was temporarily picked from a brothel singer. As representatives of the officials and people of Fushui County, Yuan County Magistrate, Chen Yuanwai and others have shown
Attitude is what matters, and Zhu Yuheng is quite satisfied.
"Forget it about the house." Zhu Yuheng said calmly: "I am used to living on wooden wooden beds in military camps, but I am not used to sleeping on warm and fragrant soft couches."
Magistrate Yuan nodded and immediately answered: "General Zhu is indeed a young hero. He has the style of your father. I am ashamed to be a low-ranking official."
After a pause, he said again:
"Speaking of which, I have admired your father for a long time. In the early spring of last year, I once visited your father's face in the Hongzhou Hall. As expected, like father, like son, it's good for father and son to fight together."
"hehe."
On the horseback, Zhu Yuheng, who was condescending, chuckled twice, and his horse was circled three times by his rope. He patted the horse's butt with a crimson whip in his hand before it stopped.
Zhu Yuheng used the riding crop to slap the horse's ass, pointed at Magistrate Yuan below, whose expression remained unchanged, and shook his head with a smile.
"Master Yuan, Master Yuan, in fact you are also a hero, hahaha, it was the general who misunderstood you before, and it is your fault."
What kind of hero? A hero is one who knows the current affairs. If Zhu Yuheng remembers correctly, Magistrate Yuan was a very noble man at the time and did not give much respect to his father.
Every spring, local county towns go to Hongzhou City to report on their duties as usual. When other county magistrates in Hongzhou come to Hongzhou City, they are very sensible and come to Hongzhou City as soon as possible instead of going to Hongzhou Hall to report.
Instead, he went to the Governor's Mansion in Hongzhou, visited him at his door, and handed him a gift.
Only this seventh-grade county magistrate named Yuan Ji regarded himself as aloof and came empty-handed every time. He also scorned his father, who was born in the military, and refused to cooperate with him on some state and county issues.
It's just that before this, Yuan Ji was a Jinshi Qingliu, and he managed Fushui County well. He was cold and fair, and was loved by the people of Fushui. His life style was relatively poor and law-abiding. He was the same as Jiangzhou who had served as the governor of Longcheng.
The county magistrate Ouyang Lianghan is somewhat similar,
Of course, it's not as outrageous and outstanding as Ouyang Lianghan's miracle flood control and then bringing down a local bully, but his political achievements are not small, but he is also well-known in Hongzhou.
Therefore, the Hongzhou Governor's Office has never been able to find a reason to deal with this hard problem, which made my father very embarrassed. Some Hongzhou counties followed the same example, and some public orders of the Governor's Office were not able to be used.
Let me ask, is there anything more satisfying than seeing the hard bones of the past soften?
Zhu Yuheng sneered at the corner of his mouth and said leisurely:
"Master Yuan is a smart man. He led the county people to surrender very quickly twice, just like the vegetation on the walls of my house. Oh, if you really want to, prepare all the grain, boats, and people to transport the grain.
"Don't hinder the imperial government's counter-insurgency work and affect the opportunity for war. Just wait for my father's army to arrive. The 100,000-strong expeditionary army will set out from Xunyang City tomorrow to wipe out the remnants of the Cai thieves in Hongzhou.
"Master Yuan will soon be able to see his beautiful face again. When the time comes, let's have a good time reminiscing about the past."
Standing under the lantern, Magistrate Yuan, whose expression could not be clearly seen, nodded:
"Okay, let's wait for Governor Zhu's 100,000-strong army. General Zhu will go slowly. The food and grass will be ready in the future. But I hope General Zhu will wait for a moment. It is the autumnal equinox at the moment. Autumn harvest and autumn planting are here. All the folks are here.
The harvesting of grain has to be postponed for two days, but the official promised that within seven days, the harvest will be ready. It only takes seven days, and it will be a little past the busy farming season..."
"Within three days."
Zhu Yuheng interrupted and gave instructions lightly.
"It's just a thousand levies. It's only for three days in your county. After leaving, Mr. Yuan will stay behind."
Zhu Yuheng, a warrior who was not very interested in farmers' farming matters, finished beating the horses and was about to take the lead to leave.
Yuan Ji sighed, turned around, and prepared to bring the little lady Didi in.
But suddenly a suspicious voice came from the street ahead:
"Where is Mr. Yuan taking Mojiang Qiuyi?"
Looking back, it turned out that it was Zhu Yuheng who reined in his horse, raised his head, stopped, and turned around to ask Yuan Ji a strange question.
Among Zhu Yuheng's entourage, a light horseman immediately ran out for the young master. Passing by the door, he rode skillfully on horseback and snatched away Xiao Niang and Qiu Yi.
The little girl screamed and the copper key fell to the ground.
All the warriors laughed and walked away.
Looking at Zhu Yuheng's back, Fushui County Magistrate Yuan Ji's mouth twitched.
Under two red lanterns, he stood still for a while, then turned around and entered the door, murmuring:
"Twice...but what's the difference between you guys?"
After drinking, Zhu Yuheng rode back to the military camp on the outskirts of the county with his bodyguards. When he was blown by the evening wind from the far field, he suddenly sobered up. Looking around at the wild night, he suddenly felt that the sea and sky were vast, and he was completely relaxed.
Zhu Yuheng was not unaware of Yuan Ji's silly little idea of trying to secure busy farming opportunities for the farmers in the county, but at this moment, he only admired and sighed deeply for his father who was strategizing in Xunyang City.
My father was right, civil war and foreign war are really different.
During the civil war, the will of resistance in various places was weak and it was very easy to surrender. Everyone was waiting and waiting for the winner to be decided and continue to return to the normal track of peace in the past.
The nature of this civil war made it not only beneficial to the Kuangfu Army rebels such as Li Zhengyan, but also beneficial to their father and son's "recovery of lost territory."
Military merit is easy to obtain, as long as you carefully prepare for the key decisive battle with Li Zhengyan and Cai Qinjun.
As my father carefully analyzed:
Except for the cavalry going deep into the desert alone, foreign wars like those fought against foreigners on the frontier are not quick. They are a competition of national strength and a blood feud between Huayi and Yi.
But the civil war cannot be slowed down!
The main thing is to make a snowball.
It's a winner-take-all approach, it's about going all in one go, overwhelming the enemy, sweeping through, and winning the key decisive battle. The onlookers will naturally surrender, rather than repeatedly squandering the situation, which is stupid.
My father, who was good at using troops to fight and fight with large groups, had a clear vision and seized this opportunity.
Previously, Cai Qin's army captured Hongzhou City, captured his father, and recaptured the entire territory of Hongzhou like a whirlwind. This was the case when they invaded Jiangzhou.
However, the momentum was interrupted by my father's battle at Guling in Jishui County.
Now, thanks to my father's defection and the cooperation of his old subordinate Zhao Ru, the imperial court, which should have been slow to react, took back the initiative early. With Jiangzhou as its base camp and relying on its complete logistics system, it gathered superior forces and turned from defense to offense.
.
At the moment, he and his father represent the upright royal divisions of the imperial court, and they still have the advantage in military strength. His father was once the governor of Hongzhou. The territory of Hongzhou originally surrendered to Cai Qin, and Prince Teng's government had no reason to resist them.
Already.
Of course, if Yuan Ji is so happy to welcome Master Wang, who dares to disobey him, the Zhu family and his son? They just disobey the overall situation!
This is the general trend, no matter how hard your bones are, you have to soften them.
The same was true for the former cold-faced county magistrate Yuan Ji, and the same was true for the troublesome Ouyang Lianghan.
How could the good situation of their father and son give way to the busy autumn harvest and farming of the people of Hongzhou?
"It's a good idea to attack with troops and defeat others without fighting."
Zhu Yuheng sighed, becoming more and more convinced and admired by his father. He felt deeply that he had mistrusted Yue Ziang and the others because of his youthful vigor and enthusiasm.
"My father said that after this battle, I will defeat Li Zhengyan, help the Wei family win military honors in the southwest, and defeat the Baoli faction. When the Wei family is recommended, they can find an opportunity to send me to the northern frontier army, so that I can truly make contributions and not succumb to Jiangnan."
A small corner, but a chance to compete for that eternal general title!"
Zhu Yuheng, who had just sobered up, was a little bit angry, and the prospect of a smooth road in the future was more intoxicating than wine and beauty. He murmured to himself:
"I will never disobey my father again. Facts have proved that my father's choices were all right..."
Zhu Yuheng turned his head, laughed, and whipped the delicate buttocks of the horse behind him with the whip in his hand, "Ah--" he let out a whimper, which sounded like resentment and shame.
Zhu Yuheng smiled heartily and immediately led the people back to the military camp.
"Send her and Qiu Yi to my tent."
After giving instructions with a smile, Zhu Yuheng was going to wash up and change into his autumn clothes. Unlike other soldiers, who were covered in stinky sweat, he did not want to be rude to a beautiful woman, and he also wanted to be decent.
"My lord, the governor sent someone here, saying it's urgent! We've been waiting for half an hour."
Suddenly, the bodyguard who had been waiting for a long time stepped forward quickly and made an anxious report.
This is the letter from my father. He was once an old subordinate in the Dudu Mansion. Later, during the Taiping Period, he had to be transferred to Jishui County as a county captain. The recent battle in Jishui proved his loyalty to his father. He was not alienated because of the external transfer. He is one of his close confidants.
of confidants.
"Okay, got it."
Zhu Yuheng had no time to worry about Qiu Yi or the young lady, so he immediately led his entourage to the big tent.
As he approached the tent, he calmly stopped and asked two Xianbei guards to wait at the door, with the same expression as usual:
"No outsiders are allowed in."
"yes."
Zhu Yuheng walked into the tent.
I saw a lame man who had been waiting for a long time, with a calm face, it was the guerrilla general Zhao Rushi.
"Uncle Zhao, why did you come here late at night? Father has new instructions?" Zhu Yuheng said in a confused tone.
After seeing Zhu Yuheng, the lame man immediately stood up excitedly. He walked with a straight figure, which was too wide and caused a slight limp. He walked up to Zhu Yuheng, grabbed Zhu Yuheng's palm, and stuffed a hard object into it. The latter looked down and saw that it was a
The familiar jade ring, the lame man in front of him came to his ear and whispered as hard as he could:
"My lord, something happened in Xunyang City! Something big happened!
"Li Zhengyan found a top-grade Qi practitioner from nowhere, who seemed to be some kind of Lady Yunmeng. He also brought a weird tripod sword that looked like a scroll. He sneaked into the city last night and killed Ouyang Lianghan, Wang Lengran, and Cai Cai.
The two female officials, Chang, left no trace of the bloody bloodbath in the Xunyang Palace, and instead framed the imperial court.
"Li Zhengyan went to look for the governor privately before he left. The governor had no choice but to weigh it again and again and decided to join Kuang Fu's army with the tripod sword to fight a bigger wave. Now he followed Li Zhengyan to burn the official ship in Xunyang and ran away overnight. He ordered the general to take the letter.
I ask you to lead the vanguard army to Hongzhou Cai Qin immediately, don’t delay, the pursuers are right behind!"
"What did you say?!" Zhu Yuheng was stunned when he heard this.
Until Zhao Rusi immediately took out a felt hat that was also familiar to Zhu Yuheng from his sleeve, and patted it on his palm anxiously: "Li Zheng... Li Gong left it before he left. He asked us to pass it to General Cai of Hongzhou with a smile. This is
Token.”
Zhu Yuheng lowered his head and stared at the jade ring and old felt hat. In his mouth that opened silently, thousands of words were gathered into a single syllable: