Qufu, the ancestral land of Confucian saints.
By the present Hongde period, it has been passed down for two thousand years, and it is a serious thousand-year-old family. Confucianism became more and more prosperous, and the status of the sage family also increased with the rise of Confucianism and Taoism. From the initial worship king, to the later Duke Wenxuan, until five hundred years ago, they were named Duke Yansheng.
And the title of Duke Yansheng has been passed down to this day.
Seventy years ago, Shenzhou fell, and Emperor Sejong Li Yong, who was finally confirmed to be Chen Shizong, led the dilapidated Chen Dynasty to the south, established the country in Jiankang, and became the current Nanchen Small Court.
But the Kong family in the north had no way to follow Shizong to the south.
Because of them, there was no way to move Qufu to the south.
Of course, such a large Kong family would not bet on everything. At that time, there were several officials in the Kong family who were officials in the court, so they did not return home and traveled south with Emperor Sejong. Finally, they established another Kong family in Jiankang. .
It's just that Nan Chen, who had just crossed south, was very fragile. He was frightened at that time and did not compete with Northern Qi. Therefore, several Kong family members who crossed south were not named Yanshenggong, but were granted the title of Duke of Yan by Chen Guo. As Chongshenghou, the Chongshenghou Mansion in Jiankang still exists to this day, and the descendants of the Kong family live in it, which can be regarded as a small branch of the Kong family.
As for the Kong family who stayed in the north, since they still exist, they naturally surrendered to the Northern Qi Dynasty. Now they are still Duke Yansheng of the Northern Qi court. They are not lacking in heaven's grace and their wealth is still there.
But now, the Qufu Kong family is already in front of Shen Yi.
Su Ding looked at Shen Yi and said: "My subordinates estimate that the situation in Qufu is not much different from that in Zouxian County. The Qi people are currently short of troops and are obviously preparing to shrink with all their strength and stick to the big city."
"Even if they defend Qufu, I'm afraid they won't send the main force."
Mr. Shen smiled and said, "General Su, you just don't understand the status of the Kong family."
"In my opinion, Qufu and the others will most likely defend."
Mr. Shen sat back in his seat and took a sip of tea.
"But I won't stick to it."
…………
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
During these two days, Mr. Shen was able to enter the county seat of Zouxian County, where he slept peacefully for two days, took a hot bath and took care of his personal hygiene.
After all, it is not easy to take a bath when marching or fighting.
On the morning of the third day, following Su Ding's order, five thousand troops from the Left Route Army were left to garrison Zouxian County, while the rest, together with Shen Yi's Chinese Guards Camp, almost forty thousand troops, rushed towards Qufu in a mighty manner.
Qufu at this time was just a county town.
However, in comparison, the city wall in Qufu is still taller than that in Zouxian.
Because the distance was very close, the Zuo Route Army set out from Zouxian County in the morning and camped under Qufu City in the evening. When it got dark and the camp was completed, Mr. Shen sat firmly in the Central Army Commander's tent and began to process the reports sent from Di Newspaper Division. Yes, documents from the other two armies.
Su Ding carefully opened the curtain of the camp and walked in. He lowered his head slightly and said, "Mr. Shen, the camp has been set up. According to your instructions, people have been sent to Qufu to surrender documents, and we are preparing to start attacking the city early tomorrow morning. "
The brush in Shen Yi's hand paused for a moment, then he looked up at Su Ding and said, "Sit down and talk."
Su Ding sat down carefully.
Mr. Shen continued to write documents. After writing two strokes, he did not raise his head, but said to himself: "Xue Wei's troops have arrived in Fei County."
"The right army has begun its formal attack on Jining Prefecture this morning."
Mr. Shen paused and said, "It's a state city, so it's probably not going to be easy to fight."
Having said this, he looked up at Su Ding and continued: "But it's harder to fight, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Half of the people in your two armies are newly recruited. It will be difficult to fight without fighting a few tough battles." Integrated.”
Su Ding lowered his head first, and then said: "Actually, it is not as inconsistent as you think, Mr. Shen. After all, both the Huaihe Navy and the Forbidden Army are our subjects of Dachen, and they are all willing to go to the Northern Expedition."
"The treatment of our Huai'an army is no worse than that of the Forbidden Army. The people of the Forbidden Army have no reason to cause trouble."
"As for the people from the former Huaihe Navy..."
He whispered: "According to your instructions, all the generals of the former Huaihe Navy are not used. The people in the army now are ordinary officers of the former Huaihe Navy. They did not have a good life in the Huaihe Navy before. Not as good as now.”
"Naturally more honest."
Mr. Shen raised his head and rolled his eyes at Su Ding.
"I never said that the people in the Forbidden Army and the Huaihe Navy would be dishonest. After all, they are all low-level soldiers. They fight wherever they fight. As long as they are reorganized, they will most likely be obedient."
"What I mean is that our brothers in the Huai'an Army may look down on these outsiders."
Mr. Shen snorted: "When I was patrolling the camp a few days ago, I saw a hundred households who had a brutal attitude towards the soldiers from the Huaihe Navy."
Su Ding's expression froze, he coughed and said nothing.
Shen Yi looked at him and continued: "General Su should know this very well."
Su Ding is also an outsider who became a monk halfway. Even now, some senior generals still think that he is an outsider.
Su Ding sighed slightly and whispered: "This is due to human nature, there is no way."
"However, the people who come from the Huaihe Navy and the Forbidden Army are not without their thorns. Some veterans who have been in the army for many years are also very difficult to deal with."
Shen Yi cleared his throat.
"That's why I said, before fighting a big battle, fight a few more small battles to get used to it."
"We have gone to the battlefield and fought side by side, and we are all brothers."
Su Ding bowed his head respectfully.
"Mr. Shen saw it deeply."
Mr. Shen took a document from his temporary table, handed it to Su Ding, and said: "This is the food and grass baggage that will be sent by the Ministry of Revenue soon. It will be sent directly to Qufu when the time comes. You can take it first." Go and take a look. When the person from the Ministry of Finance arrives, you should confront him and make sure you don't make any mistakes."
Originally, when the imperial court marched and fought, the local yamen were generally responsible for the food and grass. But now in Shandong where Shen Yi is located, there is no local yamen belonging to Dachen, and there is no food to collect for the time being. We still have to rely on the Ministry of Household Affairs to deliver it from the rear. Come.
Speaking of this, Shen Yi said seriously: "There are more and more of us, and we have to eat tens of thousands of kilograms of grain every day. We must be careful about the grain and grass to avoid any problems."
Su Ding took it with both hands and bowed his head respectfully: "I will obey your orders."
After explaining the matter, Mr. Shen yawned and felt a little sleepy. He waved to Su Ding and said, "That's all for today. I haven't slept well in the past two days. I'll go to sleep first." .”
Su Ding clasped his fists and said, "I will leave at the end."
…………
Because he was indeed a little tired, after Shen Yi ate something, he lay on the bed in the tent and fell asleep quickly.
However, he did not sleep peacefully this time. Around that time, that is, in the early morning, Jiang Sheng carefully touched the side of Shen Yi's bed and whispered: "Master, Master..."
After he shouted several times, Shen Yi reluctantly opened his eyes, and then looked at Jiang Sheng with a frown on his face through the moonlight outside.
"What?"
Jiang Sheng was also a little scared, lowered his head and said: "General Su said, what's the matter...people from the saint's family are here and want to see you."
"He didn't dare to come in and disturb your sleep, so he asked me to come over and call you..."
Sleeping is one of Mr. Shen's few hobbies. Even when he was an official in Jiankang, Mr. Shen would occasionally take a nap.
Because he likes to sleep, he will naturally not be too upset when he wakes up. Therefore, even a general like Su Ding would not dare to disturb Mr. Shen's rest.
Hearing the three words "sage's house", the sleeping body sat up with eyes wide open. After sitting on the bed for a while, he recovered from his sleepiness. His brows were still furrowed and he said, "Bring me my coat."
Jiang Sheng quickly said "Oh" and got some clothes for Shen Yi. Shen Yi then managed to stand up from the bed. Without any clothes on, he put them on and walked outside.
At the entrance of the handsome tent, Su Ding had been waiting for a long time. At this time, General Su also had a dark circle under his eyes. Obviously, he had probably been awakened.
Mr. Shen glanced at him, frowned and said, "You should rest when you should. Tomorrow you have to take command on the battlefield. Why are you staying up?"
Su Ding lowered his head and was about to speak when he heard Shen Yi continue: "Go to bed and leave the things here to me."
Su Ding then lowered his head: "I will obey your orders."
After Su Ding left, Mr. Shen looked at Jiang Sheng and the guards at the entrance of the handsome tent, and said, "Bring them to the handsome tent to meet me."
Jiang Sheng and others immediately bowed their heads and agreed.
Soon, a young man who looked to be in his early twenties and with a fair complexion was brought into Shen Yi's handsome tent.
After entering the handsome tent, he looked around, his eyes naturally swept over Shen Yi, and loudly said: "I want to see your coach Shen Yi!"
Mr. Shen sat in his seat and frowned: "Can't you see me?"
The young man's eyes immediately widened: "Are you Shen Yi?"
He lost his voice: "Why are you so young!"
Master Shen glanced at him silently, expressionless: "You came to see me in the middle of the night, don't you know how old I am?"
The young man was a little embarrassed and lowered his head slightly.
"I heard he was very young, but after all, he is the head coach of the first army. I thought he should be in his thirties or forties..."
Shen Yi was woken up. He was not in a good mood and had no intention of talking nonsense to him. He said, "Tell me, what's your name? Why did you come to see me?"
"My surname is Kong."
After saying these three words, the young man saw Mr. Shen's big eyes and seemed to realize that he had said nonsense, so he quickly added: "My name is Kong Yanli, and my father Kong Shangzhen is the contemporary head of the Kong family!"
Shen Yi looked calm: "You continue."
Kong Yanli looked at Shen Yi and said seriously: "My father and several brothers were suddenly taken away a few days ago and brought to Yanzhou City!"
"It's no longer in Qufu now."
He looked at Shen Yi and said, "Most of the main members of the Kong family have been taken away and are not in Qufu. Shen..."
When the word "Shen" came out of his mouth, he didn't know how to call Shen Yi and became a little stuttered.
"General Shen...Master Shen."
He looked at Shen Yi and said, "My father and brother are not here. The Kong family is an empty shell. It is useless for you to take Qufu. Can you bypass Qufu..."
"Going to fight Yanzhou?"
He looked at Shen Yi with a sincere expression.
"If Lord Shen rescues my father and brother from Yanzhou, the Kong family will always be grateful for your kindness!"
