In the tenth year of Dading, the imperial court decided to connect Lugou to the capital for water transportation, so that all road goods could reach the capital.
So we mobilized civilians from thousands of miles away and hundreds of officials to help, and led the Lugou River from Jinkou to the north of Zhongdu City, where it entered the trench, and east to the north of Tongzhou, where it entered the Lu River. However, due to the high terrain of Jinkou, the Lugou water was diverted to the east. It rushed and swirled along the way, and the banks collapsed. When it reached the lower reaches, it became muddy and silted up.
In the twenty-seventh year of Dading, the Jinkou Gate outside Tongxuanmen was re-closed. In order to prevent the river from swelling, fortifications were built around the gate, and grain troops were deployed to guard it. Soldiers.
For decades after that, Jinkou Gate remained safe and sound. However, with the increasing military pressure from the north, the fortresses in this area were transferred to the subordinates of the Armed Guards for garrisoning troops.
At this time, the person leading the armed guard stationed here was Deputy Marshal Quan You, Hu Shahu.
In the past few years, Hu Shahu has had ups and downs, and his official career has not been smooth. Because of his reputation for violence, many people regard him as a rude warrior. In fact, he entered officialdom very early and has very deep qualifications in the court. In the eighth year of Dading, Emperor Sejong's crown prince Yun Gong was still alive. When Hu Shahu was only ten years old, he became the crown prince's bodyguard and was later promoted to the crown prince's servant. At that time, Tu Danyi was just a poor man, and Wanyan Gang was not born yet.
To put it bluntly, Xu Chiguo, a powerful official in the Zhang Zong Dynasty, once served as Prince Sicang, and his qualifications were similar to Hu Shahu's.
However, the prince died young, and Emperor Zhangzong who later ascended the throne was his grandson. Although the old ministers who treated his father were still close to each other, they were separated by one layer after all. Xu Chiguo was good at running the country and rose rapidly, while Hu Shahu was always impeached for various reasons and languished for a long time.
But Hu Shahu's temperament is really stubborn. The more he is hostile to others because of his violent and flamboyant style, the more he wants to show you how violent and flamboyant he is.
At this moment, he nominally leads the five thousand armed guards stationed here. In fact, including his own private soldiers and the followers he recruited during this period, the number of troops is ten thousand.
Hearing that the emperor had sent envoys to the military camp to spread the word, Hu Shahu immediately mobilized these ten thousand people and showed great majesty.
At this time, on the entire winding road from the hall at the top of the high slope to the camp gate, two tall warriors wearing armor and holding bows and swords were standing opposite each other every ten feet. The total number of soldiers is nearly a thousand. Surrounded by the soldiers, there are dozens of officers such as Qianji, generals, lieutenants, etc., wearing bright armor, accompanying them on the left and right.
This majestic appearance was exactly what Hu Shahu wanted the emperor's envoy to see.
According to Hu Shahu's guess, now that the Jinshan side has suffered a series of disastrous defeats and Juyong Pass has been lost, then Wanyan Gang, who is responsible for the province of Jinshan and is responsible for military affairs, will definitely be in trouble. Shuhu Gaoqi will only follow Wanyan Gang closely. , and will inevitably become disgraced.
If we follow the rules of the ups and downs of the central government officials over the years, Wanyan Gang will definitely be responsible for stepping down, and the veteran general Hu Shahu, whose status is second only to Wanyan Gang, is very qualified to take over the entire war against Mongolia.
I heard two days ago that the central government was discussing to mobilize local strong troops to return to the capital to serve King Qin. However, the marshal Youdu Superintendent Pucha Ali on the other side of Hedong personally led 5,000 cavalry and rushed to support Zhongdu. He bumped into the main force of the Mongolian army on the way. He was killed and the corpses were everywhere.
As a result, the only people left talking about mobilization in the DPRK were Shandong commander Wanyan Salara's subordinates.
Wanyan Sala was an old acquaintance of Hu Shahu. When Hu Shahu was the commander of the two armies of Shandong and raised troops to attack the Song Dynasty, Wanyan Sala, as the military governor of the Dinghai Navy, was Hu Shahu's deputy.
His relationship with Hu Shahu is like that between Shuhu Gao Qizhi and Wanyan Gang. If Wanyan Salara enters the court, Hu Shahu's status will definitely rise.
Perhaps the key to this discussion is not Wanyan Sala, but me, Hu Shahu?
Every time he thinks of this, Hu Shahu always feels itchy.
Wan Yan Gang recruited Hu Shahu that day in order to use Hu Shahu to fight against the leading military officers of various departments in Zhongdu who were close to Shan Yi, the right prime minister. But Hu Shahu has never regarded himself as Wan Yan Gang's subordinate. If there is an opportunity to rise to the top, how can he let it go?
If Wan Yan Gang wants to block a stone, he can just kick it away.
In the past few days, Hu Shahu had put a lot of effort into this, and also sent people to visit familiar nobles in Zhongdu City.
As the war situation continued to worsen, Hu Shahu's mood became better and better. He hoped that the emperor's envoy would bring him good news and put him in a better mood.
Therefore, Hu Shahu made a grand gesture to welcome the emperor's envoy.
When the emperor's special envoy left, Hu Shahu returned to the hall, his face ashen, as if he was an evil beast about to devour people.
The difference between expectations and reality is so drastic that it is unbearable; the reasoning behind this is even more incomprehensible.
"Did you all hear it?" he asked through gritted teeth.
All the generals bowed their heads, and no one dared to answer.
"Wanyan Anhe, how dare you scold me like this? If you are just a close servant, how can you stand in front of me and speak if you don't rely on Wanyan Gang? He, a noble boy, can't even ride a horse. How dare you say that I only care about business and hunting, but do not care about the military?"
It turns out that the special envoy sent by the emperor this time turned out to be Wanyan Gang's eldest son Wanyan Anhe, and the message he brought from the emperor was not a promotion or promotion, nor was it a consolation, but an merciless rebuke. .
When Wanyan Anhe stated the emperor's message, his contemptuous demeanor and derogatory tone were like a knife, stabbing into Hu Shahu's heart.
What's even more frightening is that the emperor's message actually urged Hu Shahu to rush to the front line as soon as possible and face the Mongolian army head-on?
How does this happen? This is against the rules!
Hu Shahu walked back and forth in the hall for an unknown number of times.
Dozens of generals followed him with their heads bowed, not daring to speak.
After more than half an hour, someone came running in panting from outside the hall.
Those who come are dressed as servants. A close acquaintance recognized that the owner of this servant was Li Sizhong, the eunuch and head of the chamberlain who had recently been secretly encircled by Hu Shahu and given generous gifts of gold and silver.
Hu Shahu reluctantly nodded and asked, "What's going on?"
The servant kowtowed and said: "Today, Wanyan Zuocheng was discussing the military situation with the emperor, and there was nothing to do. It happened that Tudan Youcheng came in and brought a memorial, saying that the military situation on the front line is such that the senior generals must be gathered together to brainstorm. You can't depend on one person for your life and death. As a result, Wanyan Zuocheng was furious, and the two argued for a few words... ahem... for some reason, Marshal He Shilie was mentioned. As a result, the emperor was furious and threw away Dan Youcheng, his disciple. The memorial... After his disciple Shan Youcheng left, Wanyan Zuocheng told the emperor that Shuhu Gaoqi's troops had suffered consecutive defeats, and it would be better for important generals like Marshal He Shilie to go to the front enemy. The emperor immediately agreed, He also said that Marshal He Shilie is ridiculous and it’s time to do something for the imperial court!”
As he rambled on, the veins on Hu Shahu's forehead slowly sprouted, and his entire face slowly turned purple.
"I know!" He waved his hand: "Go ahead!"
The servant kowtowed again and retreated.
Hu Shahu continued to circle in the hall.
Next to the hall, there is a gilt and jade scaffolding. On the scaffold is an extremely powerful Haidongqing with pure white tail feathers and golden wings. This is Hu Shahu's favorite. No matter where he goes, the falconer will follow him with a scaffold.
Hu Shahu reached over and slowly caressed Hai Dongqing. The bird of prey was well trained, and it cooed twice without evading it.
The next moment, Hu Shahu suddenly used his palms to tighten his grip on Hai Dongqing's throat. Haidongqing screamed, his huge wings suddenly opened, and he fluttered wildly, and his sharp claws tore hard, tearing the leather arm guard in a few times, and leaving deep scars on Hushahu's arm. .
White and golden feathers flew into the air, and bright red blood flowed down Hu Shahu's arm, to his elbow, and then dripped to the ground.
Hu Shahu's face was as solid as iron, and he neither let go nor evaded.
It wasn't until Hai Dongqing stopped moving and his wings and claws hung down feebly that Hu Shahu threw it to the ground.
He shook his injured arm as if nothing had happened, turned back and sat down, and sneered: "Wanyan Gang, that bitch lost the battle and didn't give up the throne! The emperor actually believed him... He's also a fool!"
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