Shanhaiguan, Zishi.
At this time, black clouds have covered the bright moon, and only a few unknown stars are looming, giving light to the world.
Under the dim starlight, the winding mountains rise one after another, like a sleeping dragon.
The sea breeze in the summer night is blowing wildly on the mountains and rivers. While raising the waves, it also takes away the heat and surrenders to some weak vegetation.
But at the junction of mountains and seas, a majestic pass stands proudly and unyieldingly.
Despite the constant blowing of the sea breeze and the lapping of the waves, it remained unmoved.
It's just that although Xiongguan is majestic, the soldiers on the wall are not mighty.
Under the force of the sea breeze, most of the soldiers who were supposed to patrol the city hid in the leeward and fell asleep.
Even those who have not fallen asleep are still yawning and complaining intermittently that the night is too long and the military pay is too little...
Of course, there were also a few people who braved the sea breeze and looked around vigilantly under the swaying lights.
At this time, a burst of rapid footsteps woke up the sleeping soldiers.
They got up instinctively and ran towards their posts in panic.
However, when they saw clearly that the person coming was just a young general and not their superior, they lazily dispersed.
The general glanced at the soldiers with dissatisfaction, and was about to reprimand when he heard a flattering voice: "General Zhu, it's windy now, why did you come to the gate?"
As the flattering voice sounded, the soldiers who were about to go to bed quickly returned to their posts and secretly observed the general's expression.
Because they had heard someone say that a general who was given a national surname came to Shanhaiguan yesterday.
At that time, their commander-in-chief personally went out to greet them and accompanied them on a tour of the city defense.
Moreover, during the inspection, General Zhu felt that the soldiers were too lazy, so the always kind-hearted Commander-in-Chief scolded dozens of them.
So when they heard the words "General Zhu" at this moment, they all stood ready.
Zhu Chenggong was quite dissatisfied when he saw that although the soldiers had returned to their posts, they had no fighting spirit.
Then he saw that the soldier in front of him had a wretched look on his face, and he was obviously a sycophant, which made him feel even more disgusted.
So he ignored the soldier, but walked straight to the crenel and looked into the distance.
When the soldier saw this, he licked his face and said flatteringly: "General Zhu is so elegant. You know, the night view of Shanhaiguan is the most..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw an angry look on Zhu Chenggong's face, so he hurriedly shut his mouth, smiled awkwardly and walked away, but he did not stay away, and he looked towards Zhu Chenggong from time to time.
Seeing this, Zhu Chenggong winked at the guards behind him and looked outside the pass.
At this moment, the moon is still obscured by black clouds, and it is hazy in the distance.
Although he couldn't see clearly ahead, Zhu Chenggong still tried his best to look into the distance.
Because he was feeling restless at the moment and wanted to calm down.
It turns out that the reason why Zhu Chenggong went to see Liu Wenbing the day before yesterday was to learn about Duduo's infiltration by sea.
In fact, it was no big deal for Duduo to come, but the problem was that Zheng Hongkui and others in Jinzhou did not know about it.
You must know that Zheng's high position depends on the power of the sea.
Now Duduo came by sea, but they didn't know anything about it.
If the imperial court knew about this, they would definitely look down on the Zheng family, and it might even ruin the current good situation.
In view of this, Zhu Chenggong went to Funing, hoping to take advantage of Gaodi's incident to control Shanhaiguan, and join forces with Zheng Hongkui and others to repel Duduo and save the defeat.
However, although he received instructions from Liu Wenbing and successfully placed Gao Di under house arrest, there was no news about Zheng Hongkui who was supposed to come to his aid.
He thought that Dorgon had led his army, and he couldn't help but worry about the battle situation in Jinzhou.
Just as Zhu Chenggong was deep in thought, the sound of rapid footsteps came from afar.
He followed the sound and frowned when he saw that the person who came was actually Huang Tinghou, who was responsible for guarding Gao Di.
Zhu Chenggong was about to step forward, but stopped again, and then signaled his guards to disperse and drive away the soldiers patrolling the city.
Huang Ting quickly walked to Zhu Chenggong's side, glanced at the soldiers in the distance, and then whispered: "Major General, just now Jiang Yingkui suddenly led a group of people and rushed into Gao Di's mansion. Will General ..."
"Why are Jiang Yingkui here? Aren't the city gates closed?"
Zhu Chenggong asked hurriedly before Huang Ting finished speaking.
Huang Ting muttered: "Although we have Gao Di under house arrest, we have not yet completely controlled the city defense. In addition, most of the soldiers defending the city are weak. If Jiang Yingkui has the warrant from Duke An, it will not be difficult to enter the city..."
Hearing this, Zhu Chenggong shouted angrily: "How can you open the city gate so late at night? These bastards are really a bunch of trash..."
Upon seeing this, Huang Ting advised: "Major General, don't get angry yet. The most urgent task is to find a way to stabilize Jiang Yingkui."
"You must know that we were originally ordered to get Gao Di, but Jiang Yingkui came suddenly and never greeted us. The general suspected that Duke An Guo knew about Duduo and was suspicious of us."
"Furthermore, Jiang Yingkui has arrived. It may be a pretense to come to An Guogong to help the capital. He will arrive soon. Your plan may not come true by then!"
Zhu Chenggong was silent for a while and said, "Can our people arrive tomorrow morning?"
Huang Ting nodded and said: "It should be possible, because the general has asked Shi Lang to prepare before, and he has just sent someone to urge him. They should be able to arrive in time."
"It's just that if Duke An comes personally, even if Shi Lang comes with his army, you may not be able to take charge of Shanhaiguan."
Zhu Chenggong shook his head and said: "The capital is in crisis now. Duke An Guo's return of aid may not be fake. He should be..."
"Is General Zhu here?"
Suddenly, a rough voice sounded in the night sky.
Zhu Chenggong heard the news and went out, only to see a hundred households and a few soldiers looking around.
He was stunned for a moment, then said loudly: "Zhu Chenggong is here, who is looking for Zhu?"
Seeing this, the hundred households stepped forward and saluted, and then reported that Jiang Yingkui had invited him to go to Gao Di's mansion to discuss important matters.
When Zhu Chenggong heard this, he couldn't help but frowned.
Because although he was on the same level as Jiang Yingkui, he was given the national surname and his status was far more noble than the other person.
If Jiang Yingkui had something to discuss with him, he should take the initiative to come to him. He should not ask the soldiers to send him to Gaudi's mansion so openly.
"Could it be that Duke An Guo came and didn't want to expose his identity, so he recruited me in Jiang Yingkui's name?"
Thinking of this, he was slightly shocked and couldn't help complaining about Zheng Hongkui.
Because after getting along with him some time ago, he knew that Liu Wenbing was kind-hearted and liked to support his subordinates.
Therefore, he planned to get a reply from Zheng Hongkui, then report Duduo's arrival to Liu Wenbing and submit a battle plan.
In this way, even if Liu Wenbing comes, he will not be deprived of his command authority.
But now that the letter has not arrived and Liu Wenbing has arrived, it is no longer possible to act as before.
But his people clearly saw Liu Wenbing going to the capital, so how could they come here?
Because Zhu Chenggong had doubts, he took the opportunity to test on the way back.
Unexpectedly, those hundreds of households were very alert and tight-lipped. Zhu Chenggong spent a lot of time but could not find out any useful information.
Some people died, but not completely...
