Zhu Hui seemed to be somewhat contemptuous of Wang Shouren.
This made Cui Yuan a little confused.
Lord Baoguo, do you think so little of a man who can lead his troops straight into the grasslands like Huo Qubing and bring back the results of the battle amidst thousands of enemy troops?
After Cui Yuan left Zhu Hui's tent, he came out and faced the wind and sand to his tent. However, the soldiers he brought here had already prepared his dinner. Cui Yuan was also afraid of the sand in his rice bowl, but he ate it. I didn't find it when I was there, so I asked.
The soldier was sent by the Princess Palace to accompany the army. He replied: "As for me, ours was cooked in the tent."
Cui Yuandao said: "The army is not allowed to light fires in tents. If this causes a fire, I will be guilty."
"It's okay." Jiabing said, "I see that other people with military positions do the same thing. Besides, with such a big wind and sand, who doesn't want to eat a comfortable meal?"
Cui Yuan reminded him while eating: "I won't want it next time."
Before he could finish his meal, someone came to visit him, but it was Zhang Lun, a rare general in the army who was born in the Yanwu Hall.
This time the British government originally wanted to send Zhang Rui to lead the army, but in the end the emperor only allowed Zhang Lun to accompany the army. Zhang Lun himself had no qualifications, so he was naturally not qualified to lead the army alone. Like Cui Yuan, he was tied to the Chinese army by Zhu Hui inside.
"What's the matter?" Cui Yuan looked at the childish young man in front of him, his attitude was still very polite.
The British Duke's position in the Dudu Palace system was extraordinary, not to mention that Zhang Lun was still the eldest grandson, and with the title of "Zhang Zhou's official disciple", Cui Yuan did not dare to underestimate him.
Zhang Lun said: "General Cui, someone just came to see me and asked me to lead a group of troops to the west to explore the enemy situation of the Tatars."
"oh?"
Cui Yuan was stunned.
Zhang Lun did not have a specific official position in the army. At best, he was a "military captain", which roughly means that wherever there is a gap, you can fill it. Zhang Lun did not rely on his own qualifications and military rank to lead the troops. More It's because of the title of "British Grandson".
Because Zhu Hui's "confidences" were the soldiers brought from the capital, and Zhang Mao was the admiral of the capital, Zhang Lun's title alone was very effective.
"Are you here to say goodbye? Or... you don't want to go?" Cui Yuan asked after a simple reaction.
Zhang Lun said a little aggrievedly: "I have no experience. Besides, I heard that Tatars have frequent activities in the west. And if we are close to the sandy land, will we... encounter a bandit army?"
Cui Yuan put down his bowl and chopsticks, stood up and walked to a map, pointing: "Look at this map, this is Maowusu. Give me your hand and hold this side. The sandy land here, the Tatars are heading here." As we walk, we have to cross a large stretch of desert, more than three hundred miles of uninhabited land, and there is not a single blade of grass growing on this end."
Although the Mu Us Desert in the Ming Dynasty has not yet developed to the entire area after the Qing Dynasty, it has basically swallowed up half of the south of the Hetao, and the geographical environment is very harsh.
Cui Yuandao: "As long as you go north along this way and don't leave the fifty-mile range of the Chinese Army, nothing will happen. Once something happens, you can mobilize your scouts and move closer to the Chinese Army."
"What about those fifty miles away?" Zhang Lun asked stupidly.
Cui Yuan looked up at this childish young man who was only thirteen or fourteen years old and said: "If you leave something fifty miles away to Ye Buqiu, if it goes far away and something goes wrong, the loss to us will be great. You are here." Those who have experienced it must have outstanding results, and leading troops to spy on the enemy is also considered experience for you."
"Um."
Zhang Lun nodded.
For some reason, Zhang Lun felt very trusting of the eldest princess's consort, who had no military experience.
It is also because Cui Yuan is sincere to others, free and easy, likes to make friends, and is polite when talking to Zhang Lun. More importantly, Cui Yuan also came from Yanwu Hall, and received some guidance from Wang Qiong, which made Zhang Lun Lun unconsciously developed a sense of dependence on Cui Yuan.
"How many soldiers will I give you?" Cui Yuan put away the map and asked.
"I don't know." Zhang Lun said, "Maybe for a hundred people. I originally wanted to ask Duke Cheng to see him, but some people said that it is not convenient for him to see his subordinates now. That's the arrangement. Just let me execute it."
Cui Yuan reminded: "I only gave you a hundred people. You should deal with them carefully and don't show off."
Zhang Lun stood up and was about to leave, but someone outside looked over and stretched his head. It was the two brothers Zhou Tang and Zhou Ying from the Zhou family's relatives.
"you?"
Cui Yuan wanted to ask, have you all discussed it today? Why don't you come here to bother me?
Zhou Tang hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "I have met General Cui and General Zhang."
"I don't dare." Zhang Lun felt that he could not be called a general, and others were only polite to him.
…
…
Zhang Lun said goodbye and left.
Immediately, two cousins, Zhou Tang and Zhou Ying, got into Cui Yuan's tent. After explaining their purpose, Cui Yuan felt that Zhu Hui might be deliberately punishing this group of inexperienced children of aristocratic families.
After all, the Zhou brothers are the same generation as the emperor, that is, they are the same generation as Cui Yuan. When Cui Yuan spoke to the two of them, although he did not mean to give advice from above, he was not close to them either. In other words, they were all relatives. They are all eating from the same bowl and have an indirect competitive relationship.
"... Let us each go with our troops to the rear army. We are told to ask the rear of the palace to bring any enemy information over as soon as possible..."
The Zhou brothers were also very depressed.
Those who join the army to obtain qualifications are meant to wait until death. Not to mention the hard work along the way, now they are actually asked to "take charge of their own affairs."
But unlike Zhang Lun who directly led the troops, the two brothers went out with the troops. This probably means that Zhang Lun relied on his ancestors to lead his own troops at a young age, while they just listened to others. Order and dispatch.
Cui Yuandao: "In the military, you need more experience."
His words were not much different from when he comforted Zhang Lun before, "Don't want to go? Do you want me to talk to Duke Baoguo?"
Zhou Ying asked: "General Cui, are you saying that if you are in the rear army, there is no danger?"
"Um?"
Cui Yuan was startled.
This guy's focus seems to be different from others, right? Don’t you think that Zhu Hui is protecting your personal safety by letting you follow the army?
Cui Yuandao: "It stands to reason that this is the case, but if you are in the rear army and a big battle occurs on the front line, you will not get any meritorious service. If the front line collapses, the rear army will... be constrained in its flexible response."
Zhou Ying asked: "What do you mean?"
Zhou Tang explained: "You still don't understand this? You are in the rear, the front is defeated, and you don't even know where to run."
"Ah?" Zhou Ying cried with a sad face, feeling like she had been cheated.
Cui Yuandao: "When you are in the army, you can just obey orders. You should make it clear what your intentions are."
Zhou Tang said: "We want to make meritorious deeds."
This request caught Cui Yuanshi by surprise, and he thought to himself, you two young men are about the same age as me, but you are very ambitious.
"Before we parted, the elders in the family mentioned that during this battle, we either have to gain seniority in the army, or we can find opportunities to gain military honors." Zhou Tang was honest to Cui Yuan, "Seeing that there were no signs of Tatar activity after the invasion, if If you can’t get military merit, then seniority will come first.”
"Yeah." Cui Yuan nodded.
He understood, but the brothers still didn't want to go.
"I'll talk to you later." Now that Cui Yuan understood what the Zhou brothers meant, he knew it and went to talk to Zhu Hui to see if the two brothers should continue to follow the crowd and wait to die.
Although these are the instructions of the coach, and the people below can just obey the orders, but as a relative, it seems that it is not against the rules to secretly find someone to apply to the coach.
…
…
The next morning, the army set off very late.
Even Cui Yuan felt that this march was a bit hasty, but because Zhu Hui felt good about himself and the morale of the army was also good, Cui Yuan could not say anything casually.
"These two honorable ministers do not care about the emperor's favor. They do errands for them and want to push back. Mao Ren, you should not mention it. If they do not carry out my military orders, I will teach them a lesson."
What Zhu Hui now emphasizes is "orders and prohibitions". To put it bluntly, he wants to establish his prestige in the military.
If even the two boys from the Zhou family dared to stand up to him, how could he have the face to teach other generals a lesson?
Cui Yuan was also very responsible and continued: "The two of them have no experience in following the army. They can just follow the Chinese army's tent and occasionally obey orders. If they follow an army alone, if something happens, the Empress Dowager will It’s not easy to deal with.”
Am I speaking for his two brothers? I'm trying to help you.
Isn’t Zhang Lun’s background awesome?
If he dies, it is at most the Wuxun family's mission. He died for his country. No matter what Old Man Zhang does, he can't do anything to you.
But try something happen to those two brothers from the Zhou family!
If you keep it safe, you won’t even be able to pass on your title in the future!
Zhu Hui said: "Is it possible to harm them by letting them stay in the rear? If the Empress Dowager knows this, she should understand my painstaking efforts."
That's what he said, but Zhu Hui was obviously a little scared.
Who allowed this army to have so many honorable men and women, a lot of children from relatives and friends, and even a lot of ordinary people from relatives and friends. They want to appease this one, but also take care of that one... Each one of them wants to gain seniority. The key to military merit is that I, Mr. Zhu, am not the kind of person who can easily gain military merit.
Doesn't this pose a problem for people?
"At worst, send them more people. They don't need to be responsible for the march. Twenty thousand elite cavalry will protect them. Can anything happen to them? That's it!"
Zhu Hui finally made a serious decision.
…
…
Zhu Hui continued to march. Although the three armies still had a certain amount of morale, it was obvious that this morale was not brought to them by Zhu Hui, but was obtained by Zhang Zhou, Wang Shouren and others on various battlefields.
Ordinary soldiers only know that the Ming army has a unified system. The Tatars are also afraid of the Ming army. In addition, they also have artillery, firecrackers and other blessings. Logically speaking, if they encounter Tatar soldiers and horses, they should not be at a disadvantage. ...This ensures a certain level of morale.
However, morale will gradually decline with the futile march, and the entire army will gradually die down.
In the capital.
On this day, Zhu Houzhao finally had a chance and followed Zhang Zhou out of the palace. After strictly stipulating the route of travel in the capital, he was allowed to eat at the designated "restaurant".
"Hurry... If you have anything delicious to eat, just go. I remember when I went to Jiangnan, there were many special delicacies in many places along the way. It was so delicious. Just thinking about it makes me drool."
Zhu Houzhao had a look of expectation on his face.
When he saw the food on the table with great anticipation, his face turned into a charcoal.
"No more?" Zhu Hou looked at a table of familiar dishes, which seemed to be no different from what he ate in the palace.
Gao Feng came over and said, "No more."
Zhu Houzhao pointed to Zhang Zhou and asked, "Sir, what does this mean?"
Zhang Zhou said: "It's good for you to have a meal outside the palace. The palace chef is also used here. Wherever you go, you must ensure the safety of the food. There is fish and meat. Usually, His Majesty's meals are not so rich. Not satisfied?"
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he wanted to slam the table and said dissatisfiedly: "Father, he has never eaten good food since he was a child, and now he also likes to eat chaffy vegetables. Can I compare?"
"Your Highness, be careful what you say." Gao Feng reminded.
Zhang Zhou said: "No matter how frugal your Majesty is, he will not eat chaffy vegetables. Do you know how many meals the people can eat in a year? If you cannot share the joys and sorrows with the people, how can you understand the hardships of the world and how can you appease your people?" , what about governing the country?”
"Are you teaching me a lesson?" Zhu Houzhao frowned.
Zhang Zhou picked up his chopsticks and said, "This food is good. Let's eat first. Some people will come later. You can listen more and watch more."
"who?"
Zhu Houzhao was in a separate compartment. He didn't know what guests would come to the restaurant.
A lunch.
Zhu Houzhao ate listlessly, but at noon, a group of people seemed to have arrived uninvited in the restaurant. Those sitting outside shouting and drinking were a group of scholar-looking people.
After they arrived, they ordered food and drinks, and then started talking.
"...This is the newspaper that just came out today. But you know that there is already a war in the northwest. I heard that the Ming Dynasty sent hundreds of thousands of troops, and the Tatars also sent tens of thousands of troops. This matter is related to our future determination of the land of Hetao, and may even be able to Set the grassland.”
"Forget it, we still have to decide on the grassland. The leader is Bao Guo Gong, not Cai Guo Gong."
"They are both Dukes, what's the difference?"
"The difference is huge. Do you know what a divine man Cai Guogong is? Besides, all the veteran generals in the court have already passed away. I don't know what the current emperor thinks."
"Don't talk about court affairs, be careful that walls have ears."
"Everyone is talking about it outside, but no one has been arrested by the court. Besides, we are all concerned about the border wars in the Ming Dynasty. What's wrong? Give me two more bottles of wine."
…
inside the compartment.
While they were drinking and shouting outside, Gao Feng muttered: "I've had a few more drinks, and I can't keep my mouth shut."
Zhu Houzhao asked with a smile: "Sir, they are talking about you."
"Oh." Zhang Zhou said.
Zhu Houzhao asked: "Is the Di newspaper you're talking about the kind we publish? Did you make a lot of money? Can you take me to have a look?"
Gao Feng said: "Your Majesty, there is a Di Bao in the capital."
Zhu Houzhao rolled his eyes at him and said: "In the past, I just recorded one or two things casually. It's nothing like now, it's all printed. Sir, how many pages does our Di newspaper print in a day now?"
"One thousand four hundred copies." Zhang Zhou said.
"That's quite a lot...it doesn't seem like you can make much money. Take me to see it, and I'd like to contribute."
