weaving

Chapter 17

It was nearly three o'clock when Governor Lu Xiangsheng finished the discussion and returned to the mansion from Andingmen.

The servant Gu Xian told him that many friends in Beijing came to visit him this afternoon and evening to inquire about the strategy of defending against the Eastern captives.

In the early morning of the next day, after breakfast, Lu Xiangsheng dressed neatly and entered the palace to bid farewell to the emperor. Not long after he came to the court room and waited, a young eunuch came out to usher him into the palace. Shun the door.

As in the case of other ministers' speeches, Emperor Chongzhen did not come out in person, but several eunuchs stood in two rows in front of the hall, and Lu Xiangsheng knelt down respectfully under the steps carved with white marble dragons, facing the solemn and empty He kowtowed three heads to the throne and sang loudly: "Chen Lu Xiangsheng bows to the emperor, may your majesty live long, long live, long live!"

This sentence is just a general court etiquette, but when Governor Lu Xiangsheng uttered it at this moment, his heart was full of pain and passion, and even his voice trembled slightly, and he almost couldn't help it. Tears come.

Because he vaguely had a bad premonition in his heart - after this majesty's speech to the emperor, he might never see the emperor again.

At this time, a young eunuch came to the steps and passed the imperial decree saying that the emperor had given him a Shangfang sword. Lu Xiangsheng held the Shangfang sword in both hands, kowtowed again, and tears burst out suddenly.

After the Majesty's speech was over, Governor Lu Xiang rose out of Zuoshunmen, and came to the cabinet office to bid farewell to cabinet minister Yang Sichang.

Due to the imperial court's system that non-cabinet ministers are not allowed to enter the cabinet office, the cabinet minister Yang Sichang did not let Lu Xiang be promoted to the cabinet office, but sent him out of the Meridian Gate directly.

When it was time to say goodbye, he seemed to want to say something to Lu Xiangsheng in private, but his lips moved slightly several times, but in the end he didn't say anything.

They just looked at each other like this, speechless for a long time, after a while, the cabinet minister Yang Sichang finally couldn't bear it, he whispered to Lu Xiangsheng and said:

"Jiu Weng, you should understand what the emperor means by now. The sickness of the country is not outside but inside. If you can't be safe inside, why should you gather all the power of the court to fight against the outside?
The armies of Shanxi and Xuanda are the elite of the country.Now that there are thieves in the house, Jiu Weng must leave this bit of property for the emperor. "

Governor Lu Xiangsheng pondered silently for a long time without saying a word, cupped his hands and bowed to cabinet minister Yang Sichang, turned around and left.

As soon as he left Chengtianmen, he received a military report from Changping, saying that although most of the Tartars moved to the East Bianmen and Guangqumen areas of the capital, some rangers began to go from Andingmen to Changping. Sentinels and harassment in the middle area.

He decided to rush back to the Changping army immediately, and said to a family member before leaving: "Go and tell Master Yang Tinglin that I can't go to see him because of the tight situation in the Changping army, and ask him to move within a few days." Go to Changping for a narrative."

After finishing the order, he didn't even go back to his mansion in the middle of the capital. After getting on his horse outside the right gate of Chang'an, he rode his horse and rushed out of the capital, heading towards Changping in a hurry.

……

On the 11th day of October in the [-]th year of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, in the middle of the day, Zhang Cheng, the cavalry commander of Qianzong, under the command of Xuanzhen Township in the east of Changping City, was in the camp.

Zhang Chengduan sat behind the table in the upper position in the middle of the military tent, looked at the people in the tent, and said in a deep voice: "Except for the right post, the second and third teams of each post, follow me to the vicinity of Mafang in the eastern suburbs." , explore in the direction of Shunyi,
Chen Zheng led outpost B and the rest of A to go to Lugezhuang, Zhang Guangda led the left outpost B and the rest of A to Tangshan, Wu Zhizhong led the right outpost B and the rest of A to go to Guanniufang, Hu Dake led the rear Shao Yi always goes to the Niufangquan area. "

As soon as Zhang Cheng said that, he stood up and saw that the several sentries in the tent always stood up, and then he said: "All the ministries will use a team to scout at the front, and the big team will follow behind, keeping a distance of less than [-] paces. If you encounter captives, Fight first to make them escape, and then pass on the news, trying to encircle and wipe out. If there is a cavalry brigade, don't fight, and retreat to Mafang immediately to join me."

The four whistle chiefs shouted in unison: "Follow the military order!"

Zhang Cheng also said: "The outposts must keep pace, don't rush forward too much, and communicate diligently with each other, but if there are any traces of captive cavalry, they must be reported to me. If they are not found, all ministries must rush to Mafang to assemble before dark. "

The whistle chiefs shouted in unison: "Yes!"

Zhang Cheng finally said: "Everyone should save money. If you win, you will raise your glass to congratulate each other. If you lose, you will save yourself from death. Now go back and make preparations, and leave the camp in order immediately after lunch."

All the whistle chiefs shouted in unison: "Decree!"

……

In the future, about 40 miles east of Changping City is Guanniufang. Because of the flat terrain and lush pastures, cattle are raised all the year round for the palace and government, hence the name Guanniufang.

Five miles further to the east, there is an unknown hill, about [-] meters high. go.

At this moment, about 500 capable knights are standing around the hillside. On the hillside, there are more than a dozen knights in iron armor standing, looking towards the east. It is Zhang Cheng and others who came out of the Xuanfu camp in the eastern suburbs of Changping. people.

Wu Zhizhong, who rode his horse and stood beside Zhang Cheng, said: "Master, Zhang Guangda has sentry cavalry to report, and they will come right away, should we wait a little longer?"

Zhang Cheng stood on the horse with his waist knife in his hand, and said in a deep voice: "No need, there are only a hundred people in the Tartars, and it is estimated that about half of them should be the elite cavalry, and the rest are all coated or small, and their combat power is limited."

After Zhang Cheng finished speaking, he looked at Wu Zhizhong beside him, and then said again: "Old Wu, when I entered the capital, I came to kill the Tartar soldiers. Now I met this small group of captives. Let us try our hands, and strengthen our Xuanzhen army. In case of future wars, our army will be afraid of the enemy."

"Yes. It's just that the cavalry are ferocious. I'm afraid the master will make a mistake..." Wu Zhizhong said worriedly.

"It's okay. We'll use our minds to calculate without our intentions, and catch them unprepared. If we still can't win, we can just flee back to Xuan Town and be a fart king." Zhang Cheng said confidently.

"Old Wu, you lead the right sentry along the Yu River to the south of Mafang, guard the pontoon bridge, and don't allow the captives to escape across the bridge. At the same time, keep a close eye on the movement in the south of the Yu River. If there is a large group of Tartars coming to help, report to me immediately."

Wu Zhizhong happily replied: "Yes!"

Zhang Cheng continued: "Chen Zheng, your front post is on my left wing, and Hu Dake's rear post is on my right wing. I will lead my troops in the center, and the target is the Mafang prison camp."

"Yes... yes." Chen Zheng and Hu Dake replied in unison.

"Chen Zhong, send the second cavalry to Zhang Guangda, the left guard, and tell him that he doesn't have to come to Guanniufang to meet up. He can go straight to Mafang from the direction of Tangshan, and enter directly from the north of Mafang. All the ministries should immediately form a team and target Mafang." Zhang Cheng ordered with.

Chen Zhong replied loudly: "Yes!"

It turned out that Zhang Cheng led more than 300 cavalry. As soon as he arrived here, he received a report from the sentry in front. Near Mafang, about [-] miles to the east, there were more than [-] captives and more than [-] war horses and mules. There were more than a dozen carts, and nearly a thousand civilians were looted.

Zhang Cheng immediately stationed his soldiers and horses at the foot of this small hill, and immediately summoned the other four roads to join them. Wu Zhizhong was the closest, so he arrived first, and Zhang Guangda was also on the way, and he would be here soon. And Chen Zheng and Hu Dake just arrived here to meet up.

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(End of this chapter)