weaving

Chapter 45
In the 11th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, on the sixth day of October, at the end of Shenshi, the sun had disappeared from the sky, and the sky was dim.

After the governor Lu Xiangsheng received the emperor's edict, he immediately sent a message to Zhang Cheng, asking him to go to the Governor's Xingyuan, and said to him: "Zhang Cheng, the emperor has ordered the Ministry of War to send personnel to verify the military merits. Go back and arrange it tomorrow. I will send Chen An to hand over Jiannu's head, captives, and golden drums, so that they can go to the capital for inspection."

Zhang Cheng chatted with Duchen Lu for a while, then got up and went back to the camp to prepare for the handover of the first-rank prisoners tomorrow, but he didn't go back to his camp directly, but went to his uncle Zhang Yan's tent first.

Liang Song, the infantry commander who had just arrived in Changping, was also in Zhang Yan's tent. When he saw Zhang Cheng coming in, he hurriedly greeted him and said, "Mr. Head?"

Zhang Cheng also said with a smile: "Liang Huo, you came late. If you were here, these more than a hundred tartars would not be enough for you to chop."

Everyone in the military tent laughed.

At this time, Zhang Yan said: "Tiger, you have to work harder tonight, patrol the camp, those bastards, watch carefully."

Liang Song agreed, got up and walked out. When he passed by Zhang Cheng, he said softly to Zhang Cheng: "Your supplies, He Heizi has gone to camp for you. I said, Mr. Xiao, do you have too much supplies?" point."

"Why, the cavalry has a lot of odds and ends." Zhang Cheng said vaguely.

Seeing that there was no one in the tent, Zhang Yan said to him, "A tree that is as beautiful as the forest will be destroyed by the wind. You and I are warriors, and it is our duty to kill thieves and drive slaves. However, since you entered the guard, you have performed too well. I'm afraid It is really wrong to be hated by others. You are still young, and you have a long way to go, if you make too many enemies at this time, I am afraid it will be bad for you in the future."

After hearing this, Zhang Cheng fell into deep thought. After a long time, he finally opened his mouth and said: "My uncle loves you so much, Cheng'er is moved, and I know that what my uncle said is right, but a man stands between heaven and earth, so he should go forward bravely and watch the world." The general trend has already shown signs of chaos, and it is the time when a good man sacrifices his life to serve the country, so how can we allow him to look forward and backward."

Zhang Yan stared at Zhang Cheng for a long time, before they dimmed, and said softly: "My Zhang family has been in the army for generations, and has made many military exploits, so I have achieved what I am today. The only way to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country is to thank God. You have to do it yourself."

…………

When Zhang Cheng turned back to his military tent, the military tent was already full of excitement. The four outposts were bragging about their respective majestic moments in the Battle of Mafang with Baihu He Biao, the governor of the town who had just arrived in Changping.

"Old He, you don't know how powerful that tartar is, that waist is so thick, and that guy's mace is thick, long, and hard..." Zhang Guangda was bragging proudly. Cheng had already stepped into the tent and stood quietly behind him, without him even noticing it.

"...I told that idiot, if you beat me, let him go...You motherfucker...don't talk about martial arts...sneak attack on me..." He was spitting and dancing, just as he was speaking wonderfully, he suddenly felt that everyone They were all smiling and looking behind him.

Zhang Guangda turned around unconsciously, Zhang Cheng's big face was almost pressed against his mouth, he took a step back, scratched his head in embarrassment, and said, "Mr...Mr. When are you coming..."

Zhang Cheng stared at Zhang Guangda with big eyes, and said with a smile: "Who doesn't talk about martial arts."

In the military tent, all the sentries were always laughing, Zhang Guangda reacted, scratching his head and laughing loudly.

He Biao didn't smile, with a black face, like a dead face, expressionless, his slightly hoarse voice pierced everyone's laughter: "Mr. All the supplies have arrived, please check with Mr. Qian.”

"Well, I've experienced it." Zhang Cheng replied perfunctorily, took He Biao's hand and continued: "I'm looking forward to your coming, I have something to talk to you about."

After Zhang Cheng finished speaking, he took out a booklet from his arms. He opened the first page, and there were many small characters written on it. Zhang Cheng handed it to He Biao and said, "Old He, I have something serious to tell you. The above is all about the battle in Mafang, but I wonder if we can change the notation."

He Biao picked up the pamphlet, flipped through it for a while, and said, "How do I change it? Don't remember this right?"

Several other people also looked blank, they were almost illiterate, Chen Zhong knew a dozen characters, Hu Dake also had more than a hundred characters, let alone the others.

"Look, old He." After Zhang Cheng finished speaking, he picked up the brush on the case table and began to write. He only wrote about the harvest of Mafang this time. The only difference is that in the sentence he wrote, Added commas, periods, these two punctuation marks.

"Look, use these two symbols to divide, so that the sentence becomes simple and easy to understand. Is it because we convey military information in the part?" Zhang Cheng excitedly said to He Biao.

He Biao looked at it for a long time, and then said: "This is much more concise and clear, but the bookkeepers are afraid that they will not be used to it for a while, not to mention writing like this, and outsiders will laugh at it when it is taken out."

"This is only used in our department, and the official documents for foreign countries are still written as they are." Zhang Cheng said.

He Biao thought for a while and said, "Okay, I'm going to go to the book office and ask them to re-record the process of this Mafang victory according to this script."

Zhang Cheng patted He Biao's shoulder with his hand, and said, "This is the reason why I am looking forward to your coming. It is really transparent to communicate with you."

The two looked at each other and laughed.

…………

In the 11th year of Chongzhen, on the tenth day of October, the sky was fine and the sun was shining brightly.

Except for Xuanda and the three towns of Shanxi, Qin Wang's soldiers and horses had all arrived on the [-]th, and Qin Wang's reinforcements from all the towns of Guanning also arrived yesterday afternoon.

Outside the city of Changping, densely packed camps covered the sky and covered the sky, and as far as the eye could see were King Qin's elite elites.

On this day, Eunuch Gao Qiqian, the internal supervisor of Tianxiaqin Wang Bingma, suddenly came to Changping. Behind him were several young eunuchs, and some fine horse guards from the Beijing camp. cloak.

Governor Lu Xiangsheng came out to greet them in person, and when the two met, Director Jun Gao Qiqian said, "Lord Lu, I'm here to ask you for a reward."

Lu Xiangsheng guessed something in his heart, but pretended to be stupid and said: "Gao Gong, I was joking."

"Lord Lu, where is Zhang Cheng, who killed the slaves in Mafang? The emperor's decree is for this, let him come to receive the decree together with Xuanzhen Yang Guozhu." Gao Qiqian spoke, and turned sideways to show Lu Xiangsheng. A mahogany tray held by the little eunuch, on top of which is a brocade box wrapped in yellow silk.

Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly ordered Chen An, the general who was with him, to summon Yang Guozhu and Zhang Cheng, and come to Governor Xingyuan to receive the order.

He welcomed Gao Qiqian into the governor's palace first, and after the two were divided into guests and hosts, Lu Xiangsheng explained to Gao Qiqian the emperor's gift of silver, horses, and iron whips in the past two days, and also said: :
"In my opinion, the fighting spirit is very strong today. We can only live up to the sacred will by fighting the enemy bravely in order to repay the country's grace. As for the good strategy to kill the enemy, the students have a plan in mind. , the students would like to hear the teachings of the supervising army."

On Gao Qiqian's clean face, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and he asked with an intriguing smile, "Lord Lu, what tricks do you have for me?"

Lu Xiangsheng lowered his voice and said softly to him: "Student, on the night of the [-]th, under the cover of the moonlight, we plan to divide our troops into four directions to raid the slave camp, and take advantage of his unpreparedness to kill him and turn his back on his back, so that he will not dare to come back." I, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, act recklessly. Duke Gao, what do you think?"

Gao Qi's potential expression was a little cold, obviously not very interested, he smiled coldly, and said: "Our family only heard of snowy nights attacking Caizhou, but we have never heard of moonlight nights attacking enemy camps."

Being ridiculed like this, Governor Lu Xiangsheng was enraged in his heart, he even wished he could raise his body and kick the supervising army to the palace hall, but he rationally chose to endure and tried his best to control his emotions.

Because he knew that if he didn't endure such ridicule now, it wouldn't matter if he got himself into trouble, but there would be no need to talk about the big matter of fighting Jian Nu.

So he suppressed his anger, forced a smile and said: "Jiannu is now victorious and proud, so he must despise us and neglect to be on guard, and because it is a moonlit night, we will use our best to attack from all sides, and we will definitely be able to beat you!" Defeating the enemy, even if you can't defeat it, will hurt its root and make it fearful of our King Qin's army."

"The enemy is outnumbered, so it's best to be prudent at this time." Gao Qiqian picked up the teacup, blew gently, and said casually.

Lu Xiangsheng's anger surged, and he said in a louder voice: "It is precisely because the enemy is outnumbered that the students choose the strategy of surprise attack."

"Lord Lu, send troops rashly, in case of losing the battle, wouldn't it be a desperate attempt?" Gao Qiqian played with the teacup, still with a casual attitude.

Lu Xiangsheng became more and more angry, and he couldn't help saying loudly: "It's a common thing for military strategists to send out surprise soldiers to win, how can it be called desperate?"

"This matter is no small matter, Mr. Lu, don't be in a hurry, and let me think about it carefully in order to find a perfect solution." The corners of Gao Qiqian's mouth rose, showing an unpredictable smile.

The conversation between the two fell into a stalemate for a while, neither of them was willing to make any concessions, and neither side made a sound, drinking tea in silence.

At this moment, Chen An led Yang Guozhu, the general of Xuanzhen, and Zhang Cheng, the general of Qian, back.

Gao Qiqian suddenly changed the subject, said with a smile all over his face: "Master Lu, this person is here, let's announce the decree first."

The incense tables and offerings had already been prepared over there, and they moved out at this time, and arranged them one by one. Even the governor Lu Xiangsheng, everyone hurriedly arranged their clothes and armor.

In the Xingyuan, Zhang Cheng stood behind Yang Guozhu in a daze, and suddenly heard a rather high-pitched voice: "The imperial decree has arrived, Lu Xiangsheng, Yang Guozhu, Zhang Cheng accepts the decree."

Governor Lu Xiangsheng retreated to the middle of the row, and knelt down in front of the incense table. Chen An followed Lu Xiangsheng and knelt down a step behind him on the right side, and Yang Guozhu knelt down on Lu Xiangsheng's left side, about half a step behind.

Zhang Cheng knelt one step behind the commander-in-chief Yang Guozhu. He raised his eyes and took a sneak peek, and saw the man in eunuch's attire walking up to the set incense table, standing there upright.

This eunuch should be in his 40s. He is quite tall and burly. He looks majestic and heroic, but his face is white and beardless. The gown, tied around the waist with an exquisite jade belt, is very eye-catching, with a complacent look on his face.

Following him were several people dressed in the same eunuch costumes, all of them had soft faces, exuding the unique evil energy of eunuchs, and there seemed to be a faint smell of urine wafting from afar.

Zhang Cheng secretly guessed that this guy must be the notorious father-in-law of the later generations.

(End of this chapter)