"Master Marquis." After being led into the tent where he was "recuperating" by King Wu's guards, a personal aide hired by Guo Xing carefully peeked outside the tent. Seeing that there was no one outside, he whispered to Guo Xing: "You Are you serious about handing over the military power to that young highness?"
"Otherwise, what else can we do?" Guo Xing scolded in a low voice with a straight face. "He even mentioned the name of His Highness the Crown Prince and threatened defeat. What can I do?"
"Could it be that you want to persuade me to launch a mutiny and vote for Dayuan?"
"The villain made a mistake." Seeing Guo Xing's face as cold as ice, the staff member was horrified and quickly knelt down to apologize. Guo Xing waved his hand. "That's all. Get up."
He put his hands behind his back and took two steps in the tent in a pretentious manner: "Although Naha Chu failed to set up an ambush, the main force is still there. There are also tens of thousands of cavalry from Shanyang Wanhu."
"That young highness has replaced me again. We have to gather the morale of the army in a short period of time, let alone fight against Naha."
"Moreover, the Jianchang camp must have been lost at this time. The army is short of food and there are tens of thousands more wounded soldiers. I am afraid that it will be unable to support it earlier than Naha. In a few days, if the army does not mutiny, That's all lucky. When the time comes, I won't be asked to come out and take charge of the overall situation."
"Such a situation, unless General Xu Da leads the army from the sky, how can we save it? But the news came from Yingtian a few days ago that it will not be easy to purge the remnants of the Northern Expedition last year, and it will take more than a month for General Xu Da's army to reach Ji Town. "
"In this case, it would be good to let the Fifth Highness bear the burden of several defeats for me first."
Guo Xing comforted himself.
Although he said it nicely, he was still humiliated and had his military power taken away from him in public. Several staff members in the tent disagreed, but they still called "Master Hou Shengming". One of the staff rolled his eyes and offered a suggestion: "Master Marquis, His Highness will not be able to control the morale of the army in a short time anyway. How about we secretly ask the trusted generals to incite a mutiny!"
"At that time, when Naha threatens the situation and the situation is out of control, His Highness will definitely cry and ask the Marquis to come out. The Marquis will be able to take back the military power as early as possible. He can also sell His Highness a favor and teach him to still serve for the Marquis. Cover it up. Wouldn’t it be wonderful..."
"...No." Guo Xing's heart moved, but after thinking about it, he shook his head.
"Why...why? Lord Marquis, can you tell me?"
"...If you don't allow it, you don't allow it." Guo Xing's tone was slightly cold. The atmosphere in the tent was tense, and the staff member looked embarrassed: "In this case, it's just a joke to treat me like a villain. Forgive me, Lord Marquis."
"...Yeah." Guo Xing nodded. This staff member's strategy was indeed of great benefit to him. However, he didn't understand why he refused so categorically.
Just as he had reached the last moment, he didn't know why he suddenly chose to go out to defeat the enemy instead of being more conservative and continuing to defend his life...
…
"I heard that the former Marquis of Gongchang was also a rough and forthright man. He always said 'I'. When our father conquered Changzhou and Wuchang, he took the lead. He wore armor on his body and didn't take it off even if he had lice. ." In the military camp, Zhu Di looked at the Jizhen troops entering the camp in a mighty manner, chatting with Zhu Su one after another.
"At this time, he is always saying 'this lord' and 'this lord', and is showing off. It's only been a few years."
"Fifth brother, tell me, why did these bloody men forget their roots as soon as they became rich?" Zhu Di's eyes were full of destructive meaning, and he looked a bit like Old Zhu. "According to me, it's better to kill such a noble person. What's the use of keeping him?"
"Sigh. If you can't keep your heart, it is inevitable that the young dragon slayer will eventually become a dragon." Zhu Su also sighed. "To put it bluntly, wealth is still a grind. After enjoying wealth for a long time, you forget your old ambitions. You only think about those three melons and two dates, and you want to enjoy wealth forever."
"But I don't know that this is the way to die."
"It's not necessary to kill them. In fact, they are all good men of China. Maybe, if they are forced to a corner, they will be reminded of their past ambitions, and they can still shine and fight for China against foreign enemies?"
"I just hope that there is still some blood in their hearts that is not yet cold."
"The boy who slays the dragon will eventually become an evil dragon..." Zhu Di savored this sentence. Although he always felt that these words sounded a bit rebellious, he understood the meaning.
After my father slaughtered Dayuan, he never forgot the people. Can he be considered true to his heart?
What Lao Wu means is that if the Ming emperors of later generations forget their roots, then they will have a way to die. Will they not be considered innocent if they die?
Zhu Su naturally didn't know that Zhu Di had already thought so much, but he was still thinking about what to do next. Zhu Di thought for a while, suddenly remembered something, and said to Zhu Su: "By the way, are the arrangements outside in place?"
"How about I go take a look?"
"No need. I have arranged for Cao Yuan to go." Zhu Su said. "Cao Yuan was good at defending, but Naha's plan failed, and the morale of the army was low. It shouldn't be difficult for Cao Yuan to use the terrain to defend Naha's attack."
The reason why he chose to set up camp in this place called "Sanchakou" was precisely because it was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it could very well delay Naha's counterattack. And behind him is "Qingshan Pass" which is equally easy to defend and difficult to attack; and behind him is the temporary base camp "Changli County" garrisoned by his second brother Zhu Fang. Such a step-by-step approach would ensure that even if they were temporarily defeated, they would still have somewhere to retreat to, which would be enough to hold Naha back for a long, long time.
"Even so, it is only a temporary measure after all." Zhu Di was still worried. "We don't have many usable troops in our hands. We must absorb the Jizhen army as soon as possible. How to absorb the military morale of these people? Do you have any ideas?"
"What else can we do? It's just to replace the generals and assistants, and then show kindness to the soldiers..." Zhu Su spread his hands. "I plan to let Brother Chang take charge of this army temporarily. After all, he has the title of Duke, and the Chang family also has prestige at the grassroots level in the army. Then I will ask layman Zhang to assist Brother Chang in taking charge of the army."
"Actually, the most serious problem now is military rations. But now, we can only believe that Zhang He can quickly transport the rations from the sea."
"Next, we can only try our best to treat the wounded soldiers, show kindness to the soldiers, and slowly win over the morale of the troops."
"Treat the wounded soldiers... Doctor Dai is already old after all, can he bear it?" Zhu Di touched his chin, which had begun to grow stubble. He knew that Dai Sigong was Zhu Su and was going to take him back to Beijing to save the lives of his eldest brother and mother. , so he takes Dai Sigong's safety very seriously on weekdays. Even when Dai Sigong set up a clinic for refugees and ordinary people in Changli County, he personally supervised his stay and refused to overwork Dai Sigong.
Zhu Su looked at the mighty defeated army of Ji Town. They were also the elite frontier troops of the Ming Dynasty. Even though they were trapped in a heavy siege just now, they did not retreat, but fought hard against the Yuan army that was several times their own. But it is precisely because of their bravery that many of them are now seriously injured, some have their arms cut off, and some have disabled legs and feet. As far as the eye could see, almost one or two people out of every ten people were carried into the camp by Pao Ze.
If these wounded soldiers cannot be properly treated, their morale will be greatly damaged, let alone the morale of the soldiers.
"There is indeed a lack of doctors in our army..." Zhu Su also became worried. Although there is the miracle doctor Dai Sigong, there is only one miracle doctor. Even if Mr. Dai is made of iron, how many nails can he order?
"Let's go to the wounded barracks and have a look." Zhu Su said. Fourth brother also reminded himself. This is indeed a lack of thought on my part.
It's time for him to step forward. Otherwise, if he fails to receive treatment in time and causes a riot instead, wouldn't he be shooting himself in the foot?
At this time, the wounded barracks must have been in chaos, right?
The two brothers hurried to the wounded barracks. Zhu Su fully thought that at this moment, the wounded soldiers' camp would be full of complaints and wailing. Dai Sigong must also be busy and never touch the ground.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the tent was opened, it was quiet and orderly. Dai Sigong was like a visiting doctor in later generations, examining many injuries in an orderly manner. The wounded soldiers were lying in the camp, trying their best to endure it. Don't let your voice disturb Mr. Dai who is making a diagnosis. Even if someone has lost his limbs, he would rather suppress his blush and remain silent.
"Ah, Your Highness the Fourth, His Highness the Fifth!" Seeing Zhu Di and Zhu Su coming, a figure immediately came up to greet them.
"Huh? Who are you? Why are you here?" Zhu Su looked at that figure in shock.
(End of chapter)
