Outside the Chinese army tent, the wind and snow were blowing, and the biting and violent cold wind blew the bone-chilling snowflakes endlessly.
Under the night, everything between heaven and earth was a gloomy and desolate scene, and the little lights were almost inaudible in the wind and rain.
The soldiers guarding outside the tent opened the curtain, and an old man wearing a Lingyun scarf and a sea blue cloak walked into the tent hesitantly.
The old man walked into the tent, stopping every three steps, seeming hesitant and frightened.
Lu Xiangsheng stood up and looked at the old man who was entering the account, just meeting his eyes.
The old man froze, his eyes full of surprise and a little bit of disbelief, and his expression changed a lot for a while.
The old man was holding the crutches in his hands, as if he wanted to see more clearly, and took another step forward. He looked at Lu Xiangsheng not far ahead, and then he started to tremble all over, and then he knelt down on the ground with the crutches. , said with a trembling voice.
"Yang Qi, a common man, comes to see Mr. Ming..."
Lu Xiangsheng stood up, raised his hand slightly, and said warmly.
"Old sir, there is no need to be polite. It's freezing cold. Please get up and say something."
"I heard that the old gentleman came from Guangping Mansion. There are wars and wars everywhere right now. Why did you take the risk to come here? Is it possible that you have some grievances that you want me to redress?"
Lu Xiangsheng signaled the guards to come forward, moved the old man to a chair, and asked him to sit down.
"Thank you very much for your mercy. The common people have no grievances against me."
Yang Qi shook his head, looked at Lu Xiangsheng sitting at the top, and sighed.
"After five years of separation, Ming Gong is still as upright as before."
Lu Xiangsheng's expression was slightly stern, and the old man in front of him overlapped with the figure of a person in his memory.
That was the person he met five years ago when he was still serving as a daimyo soldier.
At that time, the rogue bandits rushed into North Zhili. In order to resist the invasion of the rogue bandits, he recruited young men and strong men from Shunde, Guangping and Daming prefectures to form an army. At that time, gentry from all over the country donated food and materials.
Yang Qi was among the representatives of the squires at that time. The Yang family donated a lot of money at that time, and many of the family members even joined the army.
Lu Xiangsheng remembered that there is now a commander in his army who seems to be from the Yang family in Guangping.
"It seems that Ming Gong has remembered the common people. It is the common people's luck that they can be remembered by Ming Gong."
Yang Qi saw Lu Xiangsheng's eyes gradually becoming clearer, and was quite excited.
"The reason why the three famous houses are stable is precisely because Mr. Yang and other gentry are willing to donate money and serve the country."
Lu Xiangsheng's attitude softened a lot again. Meeting his old friend also made the coldness in his heart dissipate a lot.
"Since there is no grievance, why did Mr. Yang take the risk and rush all the way here?"
Yang Qi let out a long sigh, with a complicated expression on his face, and spoke in the face of Mr. Lu's doubtful eyes.
"Slave-building is vicious. We have heard a lot about it these days. People are so scared right now that no one dares to leave the city."
"But after hearing that Duke Ming is coming with his army, we must come to greet him even if we take risks. I am recommended by everyone and come here to visit Duke Ming."
"In the past, Duke Ming served as a great leader, prepared troops, expelled bandits, wiped out bandits, protected the peace of the people in our three prefectures, and benefited the place. How can we dare to forget him?"
Lu Xiangsheng's expression was slightly moved, and his heart that was originally as cold as ice also started to flutter.
"The world has been in turmoil for ten years. The rogue bandits are causing chaos in the world, and the northern barbarians are rampant. Duke Ming's life plan is to be the first in the world."
"Ming Gong led the army all the way to help, but refused to help at all along the county and city walls. These things have already spread throughout the three prefectures, and we have all heard about it."
"The treacherous ministers in the court are jealous of the loyal and the good, and the Ming Dynasty is jealous because of his loneliness and loyalty. The three armies hold the promise of leaving the country, but the soldiers have the desire to return to the west."
Yang Qi did not sit down, but still knelt on the ground, looking sad and crying.
It is not that they have not heard about the affairs in the court. They are also aware of the treatment of the soldiers and horses rushing to help from various places.
"Ming Gong's army was stationed in the wilderness like this, sleeping in the open air, but could not even eat a full meal. The soldiers seen along the road all had pale faces and bloodless lips."
"The slaves are ferocious and there are so many of them, but the soldiers under Ming Gong's command can't even get enough to eat, so how can they go into battle to kill the enemy?!"
Every word Yang Qi said was like a sharp knife piercing Lu Xiangsheng's heart.
Lu Xiangsheng clenched his fists unconsciously, and his eyes gradually became colder, but in the end, all the emotions and the thousands of words he had accumulated just turned into a sigh and dissipated in the tent.
"The country is in crisis, can An stay out of it?"
"How can we sit back and ignore the suffering of the people?"
Lu Xiangsheng knew the hidden meaning in Yang Qi's words. Yang Qi wanted to avoid the main force of establishing slaves like other armies.
He knew this was the best choice at the moment, but he couldn't do it. His answer was only two sentences.
He had no way to convince Yang Sichang, nor could he agree with Yang Sichang.
He is not Yang Sichang, and he will never be Yang Sichang, let alone Yang Sichang.
He couldn't just watch this happen and regard it as something he had to experience on the road to success.
Yang Qi was not surprised at all by Lu Xiangsheng's answer. He had already expected that Lu Xiangsheng would reject his proposal.
Yang Qi leaned down and prostrated on the ground, begging sincerely.
"Without Ming Gong, our three mansions would have been harmed by bandits long ago, how could we have had so many years of peace and stability."
"Now Jiannu is going south to plunder and invade the three mansions. Although we are very angry and determined to kill the thieves, we are suffering from the lack of a leader."
"Jiannu had an army of tens of thousands, but Ming Gong is now weak, isolated and helpless."
"Grass people, please ask Ming Gong to move his army to Guangping and summon the righteous army. When the children of the three prefectures hear that Ming Gong is coming, they will definitely come in large numbers and want to follow. They can also add support to Ming Gong, so as not to build slaves alone."
Outside the tent, the wind howled.
Inside the tent, candlelight flickered.
Lu Xiangsheng's figure continued to change with the flickering candlelight, and the expression on his face was difficult to see clearly due to the shadow.
The atmosphere was terrifyingly silent...
I don’t know how long it took.
Lu Xiangsheng slowly stepped down from the first seat, lifted up Yang Qi who was kneeling on the ground, and sighed.
"I, Lu Xiangsheng, am so virtuous and capable that I can care about you like this for the elders of the three mansions."
"The enemy is rushing to the west, and the reinforcements are in the east. But even so, in the face of the raging slaves, as the governor, how can I stay out of it?"
"What's more, this is an order from the imperial court. How can we disobey it?"
Lu Xiangsheng helped Yang Qi up, took a step back, shook his head.
"Please forgive me for rejecting the request of the elders of the three palaces."
"Now I have only 8,000 exhausted soldiers under my command. They are already among the slaves. They are alone and helpless. They have very little food. They die day and night. I go to Guangping. It is only in vain that the people of the three prefectures suffer together with me."
"Dawei, send a team of cavalry to send Mr. Yang back to Guangping Mansion..."
Lu Xiangsheng did not give Yang Qi a chance to refuse and directly gave the order to Hu Dawei.
Yang Qi wanted to say more, but seeing Lu Xiangsheng's expression, he finally didn't say anything to persuade him.
Hu Dawei stood up and led Yang Qi towards the outside of the tent.
After Hu Dawei left, tranquility returned to the tent again.
Lu Xiangsheng sat back down.
Du Wenhuan and Yang Guozhu were silent from beginning to end, just sitting quietly on their chairs.
However, Lu Xiangsheng had no intention of continuing to remain silent.
"The giant deer is a place of death. There is no need for you to follow me there..."
"If you want to leave, now is your last chance. I can give you a military order. You go to Guangping and defend Guangping."
Lu Xiangsheng did not raise his head, and Du Wenhuan and Yang Guozhu, who were sitting at the bottom, remained silent.
"You followed me from Bianzhen all the way to the capital, and from the capital all the way to Nangong. You have done your best to benevolent and righteous. I know it in my heart and will not blame you."
Lu Xiangsheng raised his hand and waved.
"You should go back to your base camp first. I have already signed a military order and had it delivered to your tent. If you want to leave, leave camp and head east at dawn tomorrow. Don't come back again..."
Du Wenhuan and Yang Guozhu looked at Lu Xiangsheng, who was sitting at the top. Lu Xiangsheng's words fell, but neither of them moved or left the tent.
"Let's go."
When Lu Xiangsheng spoke again, Du Wenhuan slowly stood up first, and then Yang Guozhu also stood up.
The two of them bowed respectfully to Lu Xiangsheng, then faced Lu Xiangsheng and slowly exited the tent backwards.
The curtain was lowered and Lu Xiangsheng finally raised his head.
Listening to the roar of the wind outside, Lu Xiangsheng's mind kept wandering.
No one knows his current situation, Du Wenhuan doesn’t know, Yang Guozhu doesn’t know, Hu Dawei doesn’t know either...
On Hu Dawei's side, wait until he comes back and then let him make a decision.
Now the people who want him dead are not only Jian Nu... but also Yang Sichang...
Now Lu Xiangsheng has figured everything out.
From the moment he took over the responsibilities of governor again, his end was already doomed when he spoke about the main battle on the platform.
Jian Nu went all the way south to plunder, invade the capital, attack all over the capital, and spread poison for thousands of miles. There must be someone who takes on this responsibility.
And he was tit for tat with Yang Sichang, so he was mercilessly attacked by Yang Sichang.
Yang Sichang first continuously weakened the army under his command, and then placed various unfounded charges on his head.
His title of Minister of the Ministry of War has been taken away by the emperor's decree. Now he supervises the division with the title of Minister, and performs meritorious deeds.
It was obviously Yang Sichang who sent people to cut off his food and salary and divide the troops under his command, so that he could not help various places.
But the public opinion in the court is that he stood still, fearful and timid, and watched the county fall.
The responsibility for Sun Chengzong's death was also pushed onto him. Each edict sent by the court became more severe, and even the emperor sent a letter of reprimand.
All the blame is now placed on him. The fall of various prefectures and states is also because of him. The successive defeats of soldiers from various places are also because of him. Everything is because of him.
He was leading the troops outside and was constrained. He had obviously tried his best, but in the end he was forced to bear these unwarranted crimes.
Lu Xiangsheng's heart was filled with ice at this moment, and the cloak on his body could not bring him the slightest warmth, because the cold came from the bottom of his heart and was hidden in his veins, not the coldness of the outside world.
If you stand still, you will be guilty of being afraid of fighting and sitting back and watching the country fall.
When Jian Nu comes out of seclusion, he will be a sinner of history and a sinner of the country.
When the time comes, what he is waiting for will not be the imperial edict, but the cavalry of the Jin Yiwei.
There seemed to be countless options, but in fact he had no choice.
At this moment, only death can prove his innocence and clear up his grievances...
Lu Xiangsheng lowered his head and looked at the map on the table.
He didn't know the strategy of establishing slaves, and he didn't know the trends of establishing slaves.
It all depends on the giant deer.
Jiannu set up numerous nets in Shunde, Guangping, and Zhending, just to surround him in Julu, waiting for him to plunge into the encirclement net.
Lu Xiangsheng's eyes kept moving on the map, observing the surrounding situation.
Over at Shunde Mansion, he had previously sent two generals, Liu Shijue and Li Yougong from Xuanzhen, to rescue them. Chen Zhenyi also led his headquarters' consolidation battalion to rush to the rescue. There were about six to seven thousand people, and they might be able to help.
But now the main force of the Qing army is in Shunde Prefecture, and there are only six to seven thousand officers and soldiers in Shunde Prefecture. After relieving the siege of Shunde Prefecture, do they really have enough left to rush to help?
Moreover, Chen Zhenyi and Gao Qiqian have an extraordinary relationship. They are both supervisors and come from the same sect.
Gao Qiqi seemed to have resisted the Daming Prefecture a few days before diving, and was now stationed at Daming Prefecture south of Shunde Prefecture to defend against the enemy.
However, Gao Qiqian and Yang Sichang worked together and repeatedly blocked him from sending troops. This time, I'm afraid...
Lu Xiangsheng's eyes were dim, and he seemed to be at the end of his rope.
Lu Xiangsheng's eyes followed Nangong all the way up. There were Qing troops who had blocked their way, and there seemed to be ten thousand people there.
Just... maybe...
Lu Xiangsheng slowly clenched his fists. This battle may not be inevitable, and there may be a glimmer of hope...
We haven’t really reached the end yet...
…
In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, November 6th, Pingdan.
The noise outside the tent made Lu Xiangsheng wake up from his sleep.
Lu Xiangsheng looked calm, and the rising noise was probably caused by Du Wenhuan and the others leading their troops to retreat.
Lu Xiangsheng thought like this. He didn't take off his armor even when he was sleeping. He stood up and walked out of the military tent.
But when he stepped out of the camp, he couldn't take another step.
Outside the tent, Du Wenhuan, Yang Guozhu, and Hu Dawei stood on both sides of the aisle with helmets and armor, and a group of military academies. No one left...
Lu Xiangsheng noticed that standing next to Hu Dawei was a person he knew well, a person who should have been sent away yesterday - Yang Qi.
The originally empty camp was now filled with all kinds of rice and food.
On the road in the camp were people coming and going. Among the people, some were pushing carts, and some were driving donkeys and horses on trucks and grain carts, transporting grain to the camp one by one.
In addition to those people, there were more people, carrying pockets and bags, lining up and walking along the road in the camp.
They walked to the place where the grain was stored, opened their sacks, opened the cloth bags, and dumped all the few grains in the bags into them.
The bodies of those people were thin and thin, and many of their clothes were extremely thin.
Most of the food they fell down was very small, some were two buckets, some were one bucket, and some were only half a bucket.
Lu Xiangsheng stood there, staring ahead, silent.
Looking at the people one after another in front of him, he still didn't know what was happening.
"Ming Gong doesn't want to involve us and others, so he moved to Guangping."
Yang Qi took a step forward, bowed and saluted Lu Xiangsheng, and said with tears in his eyes.
"Ming Gong is so kind, but we have nothing to repay, so we can only spend all our food reserves to help Ming Gong."
"I am so weak, so please forgive me. I asked you to cook these grains and use them as army rations so that your soldiers can fight with enough food."
"It's windy and rainy ahead, so be careful on the open road..."
Lu Xiangsheng's hands trembled slightly as he looked at the scene in front of him. For some reason, the fog lingered in front of his eyes, blocking his sight.
If the country has the Way, it will remain unchanged. If the country does not have the Way, it will not change until death...
Lu Xiangsheng slowly closed his eyes and clenched his fists.
Yang Sichang... In this world, perhaps as you said, in order to win, only those who can disregard any morality can have the last laugh.
But even so, I still have to stick to my moral principles.
As a human being, you cannot change your integrity even when you are in trouble, and you will not change your ambitions even if you die!
Some things cannot tolerate the slightest compromise.
Jade can be broken into pieces, but its whiteness cannot be changed.
Bamboo can be burned, but its joints cannot be destroyed.
Although the body is dead, the name can be hung on bamboo and silk, so why be afraid? !
…
"Chronicle of Duke Sima Lu of the Ming Dynasty":
In the seventh year of Jiaxu, at the age of thirty-five, he performed outstandingly. In March, he entered Qiandu as the censor and governed Yunyang. The soldiers and people of the three southern counties mourned each other and planned to leave the palace to write to the Duke. However, the Duke was already riding a bicycle on the road. Tens of thousands of people covered the road and shouted, and they could not ride forward.
After the Duke's condolences for a long time, the soldiers and the people fell to the ground and cried, unable to get up. The Duke was moved by this, and the crowd came to invite him to ride on them.
"History of the Ming Dynasty·Volume 261·Biography 149·Biography of Lu Xiangsheng"
The crowd roared with cries and thunder, and each brought his bedside grain to pay the army, or a liter of jujube, saying: "You will cook it for food!"
(End of chapter)
