The Beibei army appeared outside Xinpingbao City, but they did not lay siege to the city. They only sent some sentries to patrol around Xinpingbao City.
The boy sent by Shopkeeper Li to deliver the letter to Lingqiu came out of Xinping Fort and hid behind a slope. He frowned as he looked at several Mongolian cavalry in the distance.
When he left the city through the hanging basket, he felt that these Mongolian cavalry should have seen him leaving the city, but no one was sent to chase him for so long, which made him a little puzzled.
However, he did not dare to stay here on the slope for too long. After stopping for a while, he ducked down and ran towards the short mountain not far away.
Behind the short mountain is a remote path, which is winding and difficult to pass. Cavalry cannot pass here, but people can walk. Usually mountain people and hunters will take this path when going up the mountain.
There is a camp about ten miles away from this trail.
A soldier brigade of the Tiger Character Banner is stationed in the camp. The man took this road to rush to the camp and find horses from the camp. Otherwise, he would have to walk to Lingqiu on just two legs. He didn't know how long it would take. .
On the day when the Beibei army first arrived on the grassland outside Xinping Fort, the smoke signal was seen by almost all the people in Datong, and more than half of the officials knew about the Beibei invasion.
After receiving the smoke coming from the border fort, magistrates and prefectures from various places began to dispatch manpower to the county town, increase patrols on the town, and shorten the time to open the city gate.
Datong, which had been stable for more than ten years, was suddenly invaded by Northern invaders, which surprised many people, but no one dared to delay on such a matter.
The governor's yamen, the general military office, the military preparation road, and the patrol yamen all sent people to inquire about the news near Xinpingbao.
As soon as the person sent by Li Huaixin to deliver a message to the General Army entered Datong, he was taken to the General Army Mansion.
"I see you, my lord, the general." When Li Huaixin's soldiers saw Zhang Huai, they immediately knelt down and saluted.
Zhang Huaixu raised his right hand and said: "There is no need to salute. Tell me quickly, what is the situation at Xinpingbao?"
Ever since he received the smoke from the wolf smoke, he had always been uneasy. The people he sent to inquire about the news never returned. He had a dark eye on the situation at Xinpingbao. Now that he saw the people sent by Xinpingbao, he had long endured it. He kept asking.
Li Huaixin's personal soldiers stood up and said respectfully: "Ten thousand troops of the Northern invaders have invaded, and the leader of the captives is the sack of Bansheng City. Now the Northern troops are stationed on the grassland outside Xinping Fort. This is what my lord asked me to do." Please ask the Commander-in-Chief to read the letter sent by you."
As he spoke, he handed over the letter he brought from Xinpingbao with both hands.
Naturally, the Beilu did not come with an army of tens of thousands, but for the officers and soldiers, falsely reporting the number of enemies has long been the norm.
Staff Wang Qingyuan came over, took the letter, took out the letter paper, held it in front of his eyes and read it.
Zhang Huai, who was sitting in his seat, couldn't help but ask: "What does the letter say?"
Wang Qingyuan frowned after reading the letter, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Sir, this letter was written by Beilu to General Li. It said that they came to invade Datong because the Tiger Character Banner defrauded the herdsmen of their wealth. I want to If we want them to retreat, we must hand over the people of the Tiger Character Banner to their disposal."
"Hasn't Tiger Character Banner always done business with Beilu, so why did it bring Beilu to our door?" Zhang Huai said with dissatisfaction.
He was the commander-in-chief of Datong, and the invasion of Datong by the Northern invaders had the greatest impact on him. He was dissatisfied with the tiger-character banner that provoked the Northern invaders' army.
Although Tiger Flag's smuggling business can bring him a lot of benefits, compared with his official position, the benefits of smuggling are not that important.
Wang Qingyuan on the side said: "The students think that this should be an excuse for the Northern Barbarians to invade the Ming Dynasty. There is no need to take it seriously. The top priority is to find a way to drive the Northern Barbarians back to the grassland so that they do not dare to invade."
"I also want to drive them back to the grassland, but it's not as easy as I said." Zhang Huai said angrily.
The Beilu were all cavalry, and when tens of thousands of cavalry ran, it was like splitting the sky and covering the earth. He knew clearly in his mind that with the strength of Datong, it would be good to be able to defend the city. As for driving the Beilu back to the grassland, he could only Thinking about it in my head, I just can't do it.
Wang Qingyuan whispered: "Do you really want to hand over all the people in the Tiger Flag to Beilu?"
Hearing this, Zhang Huai glanced at him and said: "I can't decide this matter. I have to discuss it with the governor. However, if I can get the Northern Banners to retreat and sacrifice a tiger-character flag, it will also be for the sake of Datong." Win the people.”
Wang Qing saw that Zhang Huaizhen had the idea of handing over the tiger-character flag to the Beilu, and hurriedly advised him: "Sir, you must not do it. The Beilu are cunning and cunning, and they never keep their word. Even if we hand over all the people in the tiger-character flag to them. , Beibei may not really retreat."
"I don't know what these generals you mentioned are clear, but the most important thing now is not to allow the Northern Lu to enter the hinterland of Datong, especially not to allow the Northern Lu to go to Beizhili and other places through Datong." Zhang Hong said with a frown.
Civil officials are guilty of losing territory, and so are military generals.
He is not afraid even if the Beilu are burning, killing and looting in Datong. As long as the Beilu are willing to retreat, he can claim to the outside world that he has defeated the Beilu and get some heads to make up for his achievements.
But once the Beilu enter the ground in Beizhili, even if he finally drives the Beilu back to the grassland, he will still be charged with a crime that is detrimental to the war. During the liquidation, even if he is not sent to prison, he will be thrown away. official.
Wang Qingyuan thought for a while and said: "Sir, according to what the students have seen, it is better to ask Liu Heng of Tiger Character Banner to send people to the Beilu camp to see if they can persuade the Beilu troops to withdraw."
"The Northern prisoners came to invade the border because of the Tiger Flag. How could they be persuaded to retreat by the people of the Tiger Flag." Zhang Huai shook his head, not optimistic about Wang Qingyuan's method.
Wang Qingyuan smiled and said: "Sir, except for Dayan Khan who wanted to seize control of the Central Plains during the Zhengde period, every time the Northern invaders invaded the border, it was all to plunder the wealth of our Ming Dynasty. I believe that the Tiger Character Banner will only pay some benefits. , we will definitely be able to make the northern army outside Xinping Fort retreat."
"There is some truth in what you said." Zhang Huai stroked the beard on his chin and said immediately, "But how can you be sure that Liu Heng of the Tiger Flag will be willing to pay benefits to Beilu? Don't forget, merchants gradually Li, Liu Heng may not be willing to give away his wealth to others."
Wang Qingyuan smiled faintly and said: "He has no choice but to refuse it at this time, unless he is willing to be buried with the Tiger Flag."
"It would be a good thing if Liu Heng is willing to send people to persuade the northern captives to retreat." Zhang Huai said thoughtfully.
Being able to make the Northern prisoners retreat without even using a single soldier can be said to be a great victory afterwards. Although it is impossible for him, the commander-in-chief, to be knighted, the reward from the court will never be less.
Wang Qingyuan was moved by Zhang Huai and said: "If your Excellency agrees, the student is willing to go to Lingqiu and convince Liu Heng personally."
"There's no rush." Zhang Huai waved his hand and said, "I can't decide this matter alone. I still need the governor's nod."
Wang Qingyuan said: "My lord, why don't you go see the governor first? I think the governor is also waiting for news from Xinpingbao at this time."
Zhang Huai nodded and said, "You go with me to see the governor. It's time to let the governor know your thoughts."
"Students must obey the arrangements of adults." Wang Qingyuan intervened and saluted Zhang Huai.
