At dusk, with the colorful clouds flying over the western mountains, Li Muchian sighed: "It will be a nice day tomorrow."
"It's going to be a sunny day," Wuzhong asked, and Li Muchian nodded.
"It's so hot on a sunny day, it's not a good day," Wu Zhong muttered, and Li Muchian was furious: "You guy..." Seeing that the two of them were about to quarrel again, Qiao Sanxiu quickly tried to persuade him to make peace, while everyone watched. He leaned forward and backward in a joking manner.
Hurrying all night, until dawn, there were still more than 20 miles away from Ningyuan City. Chang Yu ordered his men to regroup. Everyone lit a fire and took a nap. They vaguely heard a warning sound in the distance. They turned over and saw that Ningyuan City's patrols were there. horse.
Ningyuan was an isolated city outside the Pass, so the defenders had to be cautious, especially at this critical juncture when coach Wu Sangui came to Beijing and the Qing army collapsed and gathered in Jinzhou. They did not dare to be careless at all. Three shifts a day were sent to patrol the surrounding area in preparation. Unexpectedly, we discovered Chang Yu and his team by coincidence.
The little governor of Dongchang is here again!
After learning about it, the patrol team immediately rushed back to the city to report.
When Chang Yu and his party had just crossed the Ningyuan River, a group of military generals in the city came to greet them. The first one was Wu Sangui's confidant Shen Jianghu.
When Wu Sangui came to Beijing to attend the military parade, he had learned that the Qing army had been defeated and escaped from the pass, but was still running for his life in the mountains at that time, so he ordered Shen Jianghu to take strict precautions and pay attention to the surrounding disturbances.
Shen Jianghu did not dare to be careless, so he sent troops and horses to carry out large-scale inspections in the direction of Ningyuan and Jinzhou. He also went out of the city for random inspections every day, which was regarded as his due diligence.
Just when I suddenly heard that the young eunuch led his troops, I was horrified. Could it be that something happened to the commander-in-chief? When I was suspicious, I ordered all the troops to prepare.
"I don't know that Lord Governor is here. I'm a little too far away to welcome you, so I apologize." Shen Jianghu was not only Wu Sangui's confidant but also a brave warrior. He once competed with Chang Yu in boxing and kicking, and was tortured miserably, but because of this Get acquainted.
"I don't know what's wrong." Chang Yu laughed and looked at Shen Jianghu who looked slightly nervous and said, "Why are you tanned like a donkey?" Everyone laughed,
Shen Jianghu was confused. Seeing how relaxed he was, it didn't look like he was here...but he still couldn't help but be curious. After a few words of greeting, he asked, "Didn't Mr. Wu come back with you?"
"Hey, General Wu is very powerful now. He is already a general of the Zhu Kingdom. He is very popular in Beijing now. He has three banquets a day and the crowds are so crowded that even the governor can't squeeze in." Chang Yu said casually, Shen Jianghu and other Wu clan The generals were all overjoyed and couldn't help cheering.
"The battle at Ningyuan was one of the few great victories at the border in several years. It was praised by both the government and the public. Commander-in-Chief Wu was rewarded for his merits. However, due to the special circumstances of guarding the border and unable to return to Beijing, Wu Zhuguo was asked to take charge on his behalf. Just wait for the carnival." What Chang Yu said was true, and the generals were really excited: "Mr. factory governor, the court has rewarded us with money."
"You're much older! Wu Zhuguo's bounty is nearly ten thousand, and each of you is almost a thousand. Don't forget to treat me to a drink later." Chang Yu laughed.
The generals laughed even more happily. They were rewarded with more than 1,000 silver coins, and they all shouted: "I must invite you, I must invite you... By the way, Mr. Factory Supervisor, when will our General Zhuguo come back?"
"Perhaps we have to wait for a while. Wu Zhuguo has just been promoted to the capital and has to stay in the capital for a few days. After all, he hasn't been home for more than a year. He has to enjoy family happiness." Chang Yu said casually, and the generals nodded again and again. Shen Jiang Hu asked again: "Is the factory governor going out for official business this time?"
He didn't dare to directly ask you what you were doing here, so he could only test it like this. Chang Yu looked indifferent: "Why don't you come here to escape the summer heat for official duties?" He raised his hand and pointed at Azige behind him. Can you recognize it?"
The generals turned around and looked, but they saw a Tatar with a bruised nose and swollen face. He looked unfamiliar and didn't recognize him.
"Mr. Factory Supervisor, this person is..."
"Prince Azige of the Tartars!" Chang Yu sneered, and the generals couldn't help but exclaim.
The news of Azig's capture had spread outside the pass, and they all heard about it. Just a few days ago, Dorgon led the remaining troops to escape from the pass and returned to Jinzhou City. He immediately sent someone over to deliver a message, saying that hostages would be exchanged. Shen Jianghu and others then The Jin Yiwei who transferred this time to Ningyuan City did not expect that the young eunuch came to exchange hostages. If this was the case, it would make sense. It was just a false alarm and had nothing to do with Wu Sangui.
At this point, Shen Jianghu and others finally secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and welcomed Chang Yu into the General Military Mansion in Ningyuan City with sincerity and enthusiasm. They wanted to hold a banquet for him to wash away the dust, but Chang Yu stopped him. The journey was tiring. I ate something hastily first, then went to wash up and take a good nap.
Here Shen Jianghu summoned the generals to discuss matters. At this time, they had dropped their suspicions about Chang Yu and concluded that he was here to exchange hostages. But after all, Dongchang has the responsibility of monitoring the world's soldiers, not to mention the little eunuch's personal arrival. His methods We are all very familiar with him and his abilities, so I ordered the entire army to stay calm for the next few days. Military discipline must be strictly enforced and no trouble must be allowed.
But the most busy and nervous people in Ningyuan City are not the military people, but another group of people.
Jinyiwei.
As the largest spy intelligence department in the Ming Dynasty, Jinyiwei has overt and covert branches all over the country, which are used to keep an eye on local officials, troops and people's sentiments.
Ningyuan City, the isolated city outside the Pass, how could Emperor Chongzhen not keep a close eye on the last Guan-Ning cavalry? Not only did he hold Wu Sangui's entire family hostage in the capital, but he also specially sent Jinyi guards to keep an eye on him in Ningyuan City.
In fact, if Wu Sangui really wants to rebel or become independent, these Jinyiwei men are actually just decorations and will be chopped off by him immediately. But the premise is that Wu has no intention of defecting. He has to be careful on weekdays because of the intelligence collected by these Jinyiwei. It includes Ningyuan's surrounding strategy, military, and people's livelihood, but it is not limited to that. It also includes his every move. It can even be detailed, including which days he went to drink flower wine and which days he fell ill.
It has to be said that the Jin Yiwei in Ningyuan City are very conscientious in their duties. They collected intelligence when Chang Yu commanded the Ningyuan War a few months ago. After the war, they also reported every move that happened here, such as how Wu Sangui sent troops to persuade the surrounding bandits to surrender, how he failed to detect the Qing army's entry into the customs, etc. When all the details were sent to the Dragon Case in the capital, Emperor Chongzhen had first-hand information so that he would not turn a blind eye and Wu Sangui would do whatever he said.
Of course, there are times when they fail in their duties.
For example, they didn't realize that Wu Sangui had captured the third prince of North Korea, which made Emperor Chongzhen very passive. Wu Mengming sent someone over almost the next day to curse him, but today the eunuch's presence in person made them nervous.
There must be no more trouble with the prisoner exchange this time, and some of the dirty information about Guan Ningjun that has been collected recently has been revealed for the little eunuch to see.
Chang Yu and others slept until dusk. After taking a quick shower, Shen Jianghu came to invite him in person. The generals in the army held a banquet for them to cleanse themselves from the dust. Chang Yu was not polite to these soldiers who had fought side by side and went to the banquet. .
There was no need to toast during the banquet, but Chang Yu was determined to give up drinking and drink tea instead. Fortunately, all the generals knew that he didn't like wine, so they didn't force it. Anyway, it was just for fun, and they drank and drank while talking and reminiscing about the battle.
Bit by bit, they were blowing rainbow farts to each other, which was very lively. Li Muxian and Qiao Sanxiu were dumbfounded when they heard it. They didn't expect that the battle was so tragic. The little eunuch did everything possible for this battle. It was really not easy.
Among the people attending the banquet, apart from Chang Yu, Wuzhong was the most popular. The generals gathered around to toast him. This made Li Muxian very envious but also puzzled. He secretly asked Chang Yu: "Is this guy so popular?"
Chang Yu glanced at him and said: "Soldiers are all straight-tempered and like to play with bold and capable people. Wuzhong has all these qualities. He is very brave and is known to everyone in the Ningyuan soldiers... He shook his head as he spoke.
People like you who are too narrow-minded will not be pleased here."
"How cruel is this poor man?" Li Muchian looked confused. Chang Yu smiled and said nothing. He turned to look at Qiao Sanxiu. Several generals were dragging him to fight for a drink. Li Muchian suddenly felt embarrassed.