Arriving at the door of the guest room, Ding Daxie opened the door and asked Zhao Tong to come in after being greeted.
When Zhao Tong entered the room, he saw Zhu Xiuniang painting again, and two maids, He Xiang and Qing Xing, one washing the brush and the other mixing colors.
He walked closer and saw a painting of hibiscus and golden pheasants. It couldn't be said to be very good, but it wasn't bad either. It couldn't be compared with the paintings painted by Emperor Daojun. Not to mention the current situation, even Emperor Daojun has been regarded as the ceiling of the world of calligraphy and painting throughout the ages.
Seeing the two maids going out to make tea, Zhao Tao smiled and said, "Xiu Niang, although I didn't kill Fang La to fully avenge him this time, I cut off one of his arms to collect some interest."
Zhu Xiuniang raised her head, her face a little pale: "Zhao Tong, you didn't send troops to Huzhou?"
The news of the great victory in the city had long been spread, and Zhao Tong never let anyone hide it from her, so Zhu Xiuniang knew what happened yesterday.
Zhao Tong looked at her with deep meaning in his eyes and said: "Xiu Niang, you are the king's wife. Since we are under the same roof, we must consider each other and not play tricks and fool around. What we say and do should be based on the overall situation."
Zhu Xiuniang's face turned even whiter in an instant, she dropped her pen and took a step back, as if a kitten was suddenly discovered stealing food. She felt guilty but clumsily covered it up: "Zhao Tong, I don't know what you are talking about, where did you get the skills from?" The two of you are messing around, don't stop spitting here!"
Zhao Tong looked at her with a calm face and shook his head: "Xiu Niang, you are a smart person, do you still need me to explain it carefully? Wouldn't you have thought that Fang La would most likely go to Hangzhou? He actually asked me to send troops to Huzhou Ambush, Fang La is the culprit who harmed your whole family, don't be confused about this kind of thing."
Zhu Xiuniang gritted her teeth when she heard this and said: "Zhao Tao, don't try to judge a gentleman with your petty heart. I'm just a female, I don't understand military affairs, and I don't understand the overall situation. If you want to kill me, just do it directly, Young Master Find some high-sounding reasons and pour some dirty water on my head!"
Zhao Tong stared at her for a moment, then suddenly smiled, shook his head and said: "How could I kill you, Xiu Niang? You are my, Zhao Tong's woman. It's too late for me to pity you, so how could you do such a ruthless thing!" "
Zhu Xiuniang looked at Zhao Tong and said bitterly: "Zhao Tong, don't deceive me with these hypocritical words. I know what kind of person you are. You are hypocritical and fickle, ruthless, with a human face and an animal heart, and you do many evil things..."
Zhao Tong narrowed his eyes and interrupted her with a sneer: "Xiu Niang, please respect yourself and don't forget your identity. You are now a member of Prince Qin's palace. You insult others and yourself, make others laugh, and even lose your brain? You also know Have you, the lady who is so generous with Shuda Li, even forgotten the basic etiquette?"
Zhu Xiuniang's eyes were cold, her jade hands were tightly held, her knuckles were bloodless, and she glared at Zhao Tao: "You..."
Zhao Tong snorted, tossed his sleeves and turned around to leave. When he reached the door, he looked back and said, "You are now a married woman. Remember to consider the overall situation in everything!"
After that, he slammed the door and left.
Zhu Xiuniang looked at his back and stood there for a long time. Finally, she returned to the table, pushed all the scrolls, paper and pens to the ground, lay on the table, and cried softly...
On the second day, Zhao Tong summoned everyone to discuss the next step of marching.
Tong Guan meant that the army pushed forward all the way, first went to Muzhou and Shezhou, dug out Fangla's lair, and then went all the way south to crush it, regain the land in eastern Zhejiang, and wipe out the remaining invaders.
However, Yao Pingzhong put forward a different idea and advocated dividing his troops to advance, taking Muzhou and Shezhou along the way, and going straight to the southeast to capture Wuzhou, Quzhou, Yuezhou, Taizhou and other places.
His statement immediately caused Tong Guan to glare angrily. The two had some quarrels when they were in the northwest, and Tong Guan felt that Yao Pingzhong was deliberately targeting him at this moment to embarrass him.
When Yao Pingzhong was eighteen years old, he fought with the Xixia army at Zangdi River. In that battle, many Xixia soldiers were killed. Xixia could not resist and was defeated and left. Tong Guan summoned him at that time and talked with him to show his goodwill. Who knew that Yao Pingzhong also I don’t know if he really has backbone or he is just a newborn calf. He didn’t follow Tong Guan’s words at all. Tong Guan was very unhappy and lowered his rewards and refused to promote him. However, after that, all the heroes in Guanzhong praised him for this. He calls him "Little Lieutenant".
Although this was a small matter, it made Tong Guan lose face. Yao Pingzhong became famous in Guanzhong. In terms of results alone, he could be regarded as stepping on Tong Guan to become famous.
Seeing Tong Guan glaring over, Yao Pingzhong hurriedly smiled and said: "Sir Taiwei, I'm just expressing my opinion. Taiwei, don't take it too seriously. Don't take it too seriously."
Tong Guan sneered and said: "Yao Xiyan, with you here, how dare I call you Taiwei? Who doesn't know the name of your little Taiwei in Guanzhong!"
Yao Pingzhong clicked his tongue. After all, he was not eighteen years old, so he did not dare to speak back. His eyes wandered around Liu Yanqing and Xin Xingzong, causing them to frown.
Zhao Tong knew that Tong Guan was petty. Although things developed according to the normal trajectory, Tong Guan ordered the generals of the Western Army to conquer Fang La at the Golden Palace, and also ordered Yao Pingzhong to join the army. However, after the incident, he rewarded his merits and suppressed him again, not letting him come forward or even letting him go. He attended the celebration banquet to meet Emperor Daojun.
Zhao Tong could only smooth things over at this time and said with a smile: "Xi Yan, don't offend Privy Tong. Don't you know that Privy Tong is currently looking for a disciple? I can't tell you that you are a unique martial arts wizard with your unique bones. , take you back and practice your peerless martial arts."
Yao Pingzhong shrank in fright when he heard this, and even Liu Yanqing did not dare to look at him.
Tong Guan looked at Yao Pingzhong and hummed: "Don't think about your peerless martial arts. I heard that the chamberlain is short of a few people to be in charge of the east kitchen and dining room. It's a fat guy. I can recommend you to go there. It will be more relaxing." "
Yao Pingzhong's face immediately twitched, he just laughed and bucked the ground hard with a pair of boots, cursing in his heart.
Zhao Tong secretly shook his head. There was no atmosphere for discussion here. It can be seen that in the past, Tong Guan led the army and mostly spoke one word and did not allow others to speak.
He said: "It's better to get down to business. No matter how we combine or divide the troops, we must come up with a charter. Let's talk about how to divide the troops, how to march, and where to attack first."
After he opened his mouth, the discussion started again. They talked about everything, and there were some other strategies, but most of them were tricks that were not effective, which made Zhao Tao frown.
For a long time, after Zhao Tong drank three bowls of tea, the discussion gradually stopped. Zhao Tong tapped the table with his fingers and said slowly: "I think it is okay to combine the troops and divide them. There is not much difference. It's just this combination." Soldiers..."
When Zhao Tong said this, he looked at Tong Guan with a smile.
Tong Guan was puzzled and said: "Your Majesty..."
Zhao Tong shook his head: "When the combined forces go south, will Privy Tong be the leader, or will I be the leader?"
Um? Tong Guan was stunned when he heard this, and then he realized that he had ignored this matter. In the past, he had almost always led the troops, so he had never thought about it this time, but now it seemed that he had neglected it.
Naturally, he was unwilling to relinquish military power. It was not that he wanted to hand over hundreds of thousands of the Western Army to Zhao Tao. After all, this was an official decree for him to take with him. But when the time came to join forces, everything would definitely have to be handled by Zhao Tao. After all, this was something he was unwilling to accept.
Tong Guan boasted that he was a god in using soldiers, and he always kept his word in the army. He didn't want others to have the final say, and he was even more afraid that if he got used to it, he would be the leader and say the wrong thing and do the wrong thing again. If you offend Zhao Tong, then you are not beautiful at both ends.
But at this point, he had already finished talking, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "Of course, the prince is in charge, and I just obey orders."
Zhao Tong laughed loudly after hearing this and said: "Privy Tong, you want to have some leisure time, but I don't want to lead so many troops anymore. After days of fighting, I am tired and tired. I don't even bother to lead the more than 30,000 people under my command." .”
Tong Guan heard the meaning of Zhao Tong's words and couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Does the prince mean to divide his troops to fight against the thieves?"
Zhao Tong thought for a moment: "It's not easy to divide the troops. After all, it seems that although Fang La has retreated to Muzhou, he cannot tell whether he plans to stick to this place or continue to retreat to other cities."
Tong Guandao: "Although the thief chief's home base is in Muzhou, since he has become the false emperor, how can he care about such a place? I'm afraid he will go to a safer place in the rear."
Zhao Tong muttered: "I think it might as well be like this. Privy Tong will lead an army of 100,000 people to the southeast to recover Yue, Taiwan and other places. If Fang Laru continues to retreat, he will definitely go to Yuezhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang."
Tong Guan nodded in agreement, and Zhao Yu continued: "Let Liu Du lead the remaining Western Army to attack Mu and She Prefectures. With such a two-pronged approach, Fang La will have nowhere to escape."
Hearing this, Tong Guan said cautiously: "But Your Majesty, if I take away one hundred thousand troops, the remaining Western Army will only be more than twenty thousand. Muzhou is on the border. I'm afraid there will be too many soldiers. Liu Dutong's side... …”
Zhao Tong waved his hand: "I will take care of you from the side, Privy Tong, don't worry!"
Tong Guan nodded. He knew that Liu Yanqing was good at fighting a steady battle, but he was not good at fighting with less to defeat more, or surprise attacks, etc. To put it bluntly, he was quite satisfactory. He was good at doing things right but not good at surprising things.
However, with Zhao Tong beside him, he felt relieved. After all, the King of Qin had a remarkable record. What he said before about breaking through ten with one and shocking the past and the present was not flattery, but it also proved that King Qin was good at making surprise moves. Because only Qi Bing can achieve such a heaven-defying victory.
In this way, there should be no problem in capturing Muzhou, and more importantly, no matter which side Fang La is on, he will not be able to escape the credit.
If Fang Lazhen retreats to Yue, Taiwan and other states, once he is captured or killed, he will have all the success.
If Fang La stays in his hometown in Muzhou, or retires to help Yuan, then since Liu Yanqing is his subordinate, the credit belongs to him and Zhao Tong, and he can share half of it.
When he thought of this, Tong Guan stood up and said politely: "Then there is Prince Lao!"
Zhao Tong obviously knew Tong Guan's calculations and smiled: "How can Daofu be polite to me? It's all state affairs, what does it mean to work hard?"
These words had quite a hint of intimacy, but they were also measured. Tong Guan hurriedly said: "What the prince said is true."
After the discussion, they reorganized their troops and horses for another two days, and then Tong Guan gathered 100,000 Western troops and marched straight to the southeast to kill.
Liu Yanqing, on the other hand, took the remaining more than 20,000 soldiers and cautiously went to Muzhou to explore the truth.
A total of 150,000 people came from the Western Army this time. Tong Guan gave Zhu Ruli 6,000 and took away 100,000. Liu Yanqing only had more than 20,000 left here, which means he lost about 20,000 in Suzhou alone.
This battle loss is actually quite large. After all, this is the Western Army, an army that has grown up to fight the Xixia Army. Although there were many Fang La soldiers in Suzhou, this kind of loss is also staggering.
The day after Liu Yanqing left, Zhao Tong called Zhe Kecun and Yao Pingzhong, and asked them to each command 10,000 troops. They would coordinate with Liu Yanqing and discuss matters with Liu Yanqing. Although Zhe Kecun was currently serving in the capital, But he was still Liu Yanqing's subordinate in name. After all, he still had the job of the fourth deputy general of Yanyan Road.
Before leaving, Zhao Tong saw Zhe Kecun again and said, "Sir, if you see that Po Hanwu, bring it back to the king."
Zhe Kecun accepted the order, but he was puzzled. He remembered that when he first came to Beijing, when he reported to the Guards and Military Division, Zhao Tong asked Han Shizhong about it, but he didn't know where he got it. Now he asked again, which shows that he attaches great importance to it.
However, Han Shizhong was originally his subordinate, so there was no problem in bringing him here to meet him, but why didn't Zhao Tong directly ask Liu Yanqing before?
It was impossible for Zhao Tong to ask Liu Yanqing. Han Shizhong was not a high-ranking official at the moment. Regardless of his military position, he was only a deputy lieutenant in the armed forces.
This Deputy Lieutenant Jinwu is an eighth-grade Wu Sanguan. He is not even as senior as Zhou Chu and others in Zhao Tong's mansion. The three commanders Su Shi, Zhou Chu and Qian Wenxi in the palace not only have military positions, but also have military positions. He is a military official, that is, a dispatcher. Wu Xiaodao and others below also have official ranks, they are not white, and they are only older than Han Shizhong.
Therefore, Zhao Yu could not ask Liu Yanqing about this matter. The difference in status was too great, lest others think too much. If there was no chance of saving, he would ask out of desperation. Since there was chance of making mistakes, Han Shizhong in the Western Army was also the one who wanted to make mistakes. Ke Cun's subordinates don't have to do that.
After dispatching the two men, Zhao Tong was not idle. There were now more than 10,000 soldiers and horses left in the city, so Du Bo and Zhang Xian trained them every day. Whenever these soldiers and horses could not endure the suffering and could not persist, they would It is said that Fang La's army has countless money, which is now carried with the army. Once the battle is won, it will be searched out and distributed to everyone.
When the soldiers heard this, they all became energetic. The rewards given to them last time were not small. They were enough to cover a year's military salary. If they come here a few more times, those who don't have a house can buy a house after returning to Tokyo, and those who don't have a wife can buy a house. You can get married, and you can just go shopping in Goulan since you have everything.
But what they didn't know was that the reward paid by Zhao Tong to the 9th commander of the Dragon Guard Army was three times theirs.
There was no way, these two commanders were direct descendants of Zhao Tong. Zhao Tong put too much effort into the thousand cavalry commanded by these two commanders. Although the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army was not of much use, they were the bigger ones among the dwarfs. These thousand people were regarded as The best among them.
Zhao Tong not only focused on cultivating all aspects of these two commands, but also had very strict requirements for replenishing battle damage. Once those who have battle damage replenishment must go through layers of screening, the first thing is not to be a Tokyo military household.
Those who do not want to sit in the military household, it is best to be outsiders who join the army. Although such outsiders can only join the Xiang Army or the Rural Army at first, after Zhao Tong selects them, he will directly join the Forbidden Army if he meets the conditions.
Also, Gaotang’s parents are still alive, and his family is full of relatives. Although this sounds harsh, it is actually the easiest, because many outsiders are refugees or have come to Tokyo to make a living without food, and there are no relatives here at all. Most of my parents in my hometown are gone.
There are still some additional requirements left, and then there is the screening of quality, temperament, body, courage, strength and speed. Only if everything is met, will they be added to the ninth command.
He wants these two commanders to be like the Scarlet Pioneers. It is not enough to be direct descendants, but they must slowly become his own people.
In the evening, Zhao Tan went to the guest room at the back of the house to have dinner. Zhu Xiuniang didn't say a word, and Zhao Tan didn't say anything either. After eating, he threw his chopsticks and left.
He behaved like this every day for the next few days, as if he would eat here from now on. As soon as Zhu Xiuniang saw him coming, she immediately avoided him and refused to sit at the same table with him. Later, she didn't know what to think and stopped leaving, but she still didn't. Willing to speak.
Zhao Tong came over to eat as usual that day. Halfway through the meal, Ding Daxie suddenly knocked on the door and said, "Your Majesty, there is an urgent military situation."
Zhao Tong said: "Bring it to me and see!"
The maid Qing Xing went out and took the secret letter and presented it to Zhao Tong. Zhao Tong opened it and saw that it was Tong Guan who came, and Wuzhou was recovered...
(End of chapter)
