Wei Zhongxian led Shen Lian through Zhengyang Gate and continued walking north. Soon they reached the foot of the Imperial City. Wei Gonggong said:
"Brother Shen, General Liu Shen will come to the capital in the next few days to offer up prisoners. Our family has just received the news,"
After hearing this, Shen Lian, who had a sad face, suddenly beamed with joy.
During the Battle of Kaiyuan, Shen Lian went around the capital to inquire about information, hoping to learn about the situation of the southern soldiers. The imperial court was also very concerned about this important town in northern Liaoning. However, most people were pessimistic and believed that Kaiyuan would be like this. Like Fushun and Qinghe, they were quickly captured by Hou Jin.
So when the news of Kaiyuan's tragic victory came back to the capital, the people in the capital all cheered and some people began to be interested in the guard Liu Zhaosun.
Shen Lian had thought that the court might give Master Liu and his men heavy rewards this time.
He has now left Mr. Liu and has become a royal guard in the capital. If he sees his former brother again, he doesn't know what to say.
When Wei Zhongxian saw that Shen Lian was silent, he continued:
"I am not bringing you into the palace to ask you to be a eunuch. The Emperor's dragon body is not in good condition and we must not disturb the Holy One. Therefore, we are only offering prisoners in the inner city. We need to find some reliable people. Eunuch Lu asked you to come by name."
"Now go back to the Zhenfu Division and find two reliable brothers, three people in total."
Shen Lian asked why there were five soldiers and horses in the city, so why not ask them to protect him. Wei Zhongxian frowned, pulled him closer, and said with a smile:
"For such a good thing, of course our family must think of our brothers first. The Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division also wants to drive away those eunuchs outside the city, so go ahead,"
After Shen Lian agreed, he was about to turn around and leave when he was stopped by Eunuch Wei from afar:
"Shen Lian, remember, the imperial city is tight-lipped, so don't talk nonsense!"
Shen Lian nodded and rode towards Fusi, Xicheng Town.
~~~~~~~~~
On April 12, Liu Zhaosun received the Eight Hundred Litang Report from the Ministry of War, ordering him to go to Beijing to offer prisoners as soon as possible.
Tang Bao mentioned that Liaodong Economic Strategy Xiong Tingbi set out from Shenyang on April 10 and returned to Beijing ahead of schedule.
When this Tangbao arrived in Kaiyuan, Liu Zhaosun estimated that Lord Xiong had returned to the capital. At this moment, he was in the Forbidden City and was being questioned by the old Emperor Wanli, asking for the specific details of the battle in Kaiyuan.
Even though some of the superior officials who had benefited from Liu Zhaosun tried their best to put in good words for him, Emperor Wanli was still dubious about the Kaiyuan War. He did not believe in Liu Zhaosun, nor the Ministry of War, nor the belief that a general could lead a 30,000-strong army with almost no foreign aid. In this case, block a considerable number of rear gold soldiers.
The Tang newspaper clearly stipulates the number of prisoners and the route to Beijing, and stipulates that Liu Zhaosun can lead up to 300 soldiers.
There are two routes to choose from: water and land.
Land route: from Sanwanwei to Guangningwei, then from Guangningwei to Yongpingfu, and finally from Yongpingfu to the capital.
Water route: from Sanwanwei to Yingkou, board a boat from Yingkou and cross the sea, disembark at Tianjin Port, and then enter Beijing from Tianjin.
After receiving Tang Ma from the Ministry of War, Kaiyuan City began to get busy.
Hearing that they were going to the capital to offer prisoners, there was a high chance that they would be seen by the emperor. Many people from the Kaiyuan garrison, from General Qian down to Huo Bing, wanted to go to the capital with Mr. Liu.
Liu Zhaosun was quite excited about the sacrifice of prisoners. He also wanted to go to Beijing to see the saint's face and see what the famous Ming Shenzong in Ming Dynasty's history was like.
When going to Beijing this time, it would be best to recruit some professionals in firearms, water conservancy and other fields and bring them back to Kaiyuan to help strengthen Kaiyuan's defense. Of course, he didn't have much confidence in this. After all, few normal people were willing to abandon the prosperity of the capital and travel all the way to the bitter cold land of northern Liaoning.
On April 12, each of the three thousand headquarters dispatched 80 soldiers, together with 60 people from the General's Chinese Guards, to form a 300-person prisoner sacrifice team.
The three hundred people were all strong and well-imaged members of the army. After all, going to the capital to present prisoners this time was related to the face and honor of the Kaiyuan defenders, so they couldn't be careless.
Jin Yuji, Kang Yingqian, Pei Dahu and other confidants accompanied them. Wang Erhu and Deng Changxiong each led 150 people to accompany them. Except for these, everyone else stayed in Kaiyuan.
Kang Yingqian suggested taking the Intelligence Department with him to collect some intelligence on the capital.
Liu Zhaosun thought for a while and rejected the proposal. At this time, Jinyiwei was still under the control of Luo Sigong and had not completely declined. Besides, Dongchang Fanzi's anti-reconnaissance ability was still very strong, so don't cause trouble on other people's territory.
The commander who stayed in Kaiyuan naturally became Qiao Yiqi. Qiao Yiqi was not interested in the scenery of the capital. He said that he had been to the capital many times and did not want to meet the emperor as a mere aide. Instead of wasting a month, it would be better to stay. Kaiyuan and Mao Yuanyi were studying firearms. In the past few days, Mao Yuanyi's Hongyi cannon mold was finally ready, and he was waiting to prepare the materials to cast the cannon.
After experiencing the last battle at the North Gate, Supervisor Qiao had a deep understanding of the Immovable Mountain, so it was no problem for him to take charge of Kaiyuan.
Liu Zhaosun was not worried about Jiannu coming to attack. He was worried about Ding Bi in the direction of Tieling. He had been silent since he killed his servant last month. The opponent's calmness made Liu Zhaosun feel inexplicably nervous.
Finally, at Deng Changxiong's suggestion, the Liao people who had just finished their spring plowing temporarily deployed 400 people to strengthen the defense of Kaiyuan gates and at the same time strengthen surveillance of suspicious merchants in the city. Since then, Liu Zhaosuncai felt at ease.
After some discussion, Liu Zhaosun decided to enter Beijing by sea, because the land route must pass through Shen, Liao, and Guangning. Needless to say, Liao-Shenyang is also the place where the stubborn forces of Liao Town are entrenched. After last month After several large-scale armed fights, there was no room for peace between Kaiyuan and Liaozhen. The armed fights between farmers on both sides never stopped, and people were killed and injured every once in a while.
Although Liu Zhaosun was not afraid of these Liao soldiers, he did not want to risk everyone's lives in vain.
Therefore, we could only choose the water route. On April 13, 300 soldiers carried weapons and ten days of rations, escorted more than 100 prisoners, and more than 3,000 salted heads. They arrived at Yingkou by land and were divided into five groups. A lucky boat, riding the wind across the Liao Sea.
According to the predetermined plan, after crossing the Liaohai Sea and landing at Tianjin Port, the three hundred soldiers will receive food supplies from the Tianjin Guards Station.
There is no problem with the guest soldiers passing through and providing supplies in the area under their jurisdiction, not to mention that this is a team that goes to Beijing to offer prisoners.
Of course, what actually happened was far from being as simple and smooth as Liu Zhaosun expected. As soon as they boarded the ship, these soldiers from the north vomited, and even the surrounding southern soldiers who were not seasick also started to vomit. Suddenly, the cabin of the lucky ship was in a mess.
After wandering at sea for three full days, they finally arrived at Tianjin Port, and groups of pale-faced Kaiyuan soldiers stepped off the deck of the Fuzhou ship.
Many of the soldiers from the North had vomited to the point of being reduced to human form. Only the remnants of the Zhejiang soldiers under Deng Qilong's command were basically fine after the bumps. A few of them boarded the dock and talked and laughed, staring at the catches piled up in the port and pointing.
Seeing this, Liu Zhaosun secretly made up his mind that in the future he would recruit more southern trackers and sailors when forming a navy.
