In the middle of Shu, he fell into the Army Valley.
It has been a dangerous place for military strategists since ancient times, and it is also the only place that leads from Chengdu in the west to Chongqing, the summer capital in the east.
"General, can we really expect anyone here?"
Zhu Wenzheng's subordinates asked Zhu Wenzheng with some uncertainty.
Zhu Wenzheng broke through the Qutangxia Fortress in the east. After meeting up with He Wenhui, Xiao Han arranged an ambush here. Several days had passed, but Zhu Wenzheng did not see even a ghost.
"Don't worry about it. Since the little gentleman said it, you will definitely be able to squat down. Most of the city guards in this direction have already announced their surrender. According to what the little gentleman said, the remaining Wenzhou Ding Shizhen and others who have not surrendered are probably big." I’m probably going to fight to the death with my Ming Dynasty.”
Zhu Wenzheng glanced at the general and said.
Although he didn't know whether he could ambush anyone, out of his trust in Xiao Han, Zhu Wenzheng still patiently led his troops to ambush here.
"Report to the general that the Xia army has entered the ambush circle. Looking at the flag, it is the Wenzhou army."
Some soldiers ran up and faced Zhu Wenzheng.
"Hey!"
"You really came here to send me the message, give me the order to kill, and take down all the enemies!"
Zhu Wenzheng shouted and immediately ordered an attack. Finally, he was allowed to wait. He, Zhu Wenzheng, had to let Xia Jun know the wrath of the cold wind that had been blowing in the wasteland for several days in vain.
Boom boom boom!
The sound of cannons sounded, and the Ming Dynasty's artillery fire poured down like rain, causing the Xia army to be bombed into chaos. Zhu Wenzheng led his troops to rush out and kill them crazily.
However, as Zhu Wenzheng continued to go deeper and killed more than a dozen people in a row, Zhu Wenzheng's expression changed.
After killing a battalion of Xia Jun on the side, they saw scarecrows scattered all over the ground. A large number of Xia Jun in the middle were actually fake, and they were holding up scarecrows wearing Xia Jun clothes!
Xiao Han's trick of playing tricks on Xia Jun was now shown in front of him, and everything seemed to be changing.
Whoosh whoosh!
A stream of flaming arrows were fired towards this side. The rockets hit the scarecrows all over the ground, and suddenly the flames shot into the sky. At the same time, shouts of killing rang out from both sides.
Xia Jun.
There was actually a counter-ambush!
For a time, both sides of Mingxia were strangled, killing, screaming, and fighting in chaos.
Xia Jun's counter-ambush was very clever and could be said to have exceeded the limit of what Zhu Wenzheng could see through, but the Ming soldiers were not Xia Jun.
Even if they are ambushed and attacked by the Xia army, they are not without the power to resist. Even if there are fires on all sides and the killings are shocking, the Ming soldiers can still fight the enemy with swords.
Although there are millions of people, I am going! The warriors of the Ming Dynasty were not afraid of sacrifice, they just wanted to kill more enemies before death and devote all their strength to the Ming Dynasty.
This battle lasted from early morning to noon. Zhu Wenzheng had a big gun leaning on the ground. His face was covered with blood, and he looked quite embarrassed. His face was even more ugly. On the one hand, he was indeed injured. On the other hand, Zhu Wenzheng was in a bad mood. He was also very angry. The last time the fight reached this level was during the bloody battle in Hongdu.
Now, it was just a battle with the defeated Xia army, but it was so embarrassing. This lifetime's reputation was ruined.
"Grandma!"
"I've been hunting geese all day long, but the geese pecked me in the eye. This time it's really embarrassing!"
"I really didn't expect that the biggest damage in this battle to destroy Xia was not on Lan Yu, but on me."
Zhu Wenzheng wiped the blood from his face and spat. At this station, under Ding Shizhen's counter-ambush, in the initial chaos, more than two thousand Ming soldiers were killed and more than four thousand were injured.
Finally, after Zhu Wenzheng came to his senses and organized a military counterattack to gradually restore the situation, Ding Shizhen abandoned nearly 3,000 Xia army corpses and continued towards Ming Sheng's location.
"However, this Ding Shizhen is really a man. In this situation, he actually dares to continue to get in."
Zhu Wenzheng looked at the direction in which Ding Shizhen's soldiers were leaving, and was quite emotional. He knew that he could not do anything, but he did it. Even if he narrowly escaped death, he still turned around and shouldered the mountains and rivers on his back. It is not an exaggeration to call him a hero. Unfortunately, he followed the wrong master.
"Kill, kill, kill!"
In He Wenhui's camp, a fire suddenly ignited, and Ding Shizhen's soldiers rushed in, all the way into a large tent with relatively luxurious decorations.
"Your Majesty, follow Weichen quickly!"
Ding Shizhen's hands covered with blood opened the curtain and shouted loudly.
Along the way, he continued to attack, and especially had a big battle with Zhu Wenzheng. Not only did the number of soldiers around Ding Shizhen decrease greatly, but his own fatigue also showed.
"Ding Aiqing..."
Mingsheng, with tears streaming down his face, slowly turned around. Ever since he was captured alive by He Wenhui, he had been brought to this camp. Among the continuous tents, his extremely conspicuous appearance was specially used to trap Xia Jun.
Here, he is desperate. He no longer expects anyone to kill him, he is just waiting for Ming Dynasty to judge him.
"Surrender, we are surrounded by Ming troops and we can't get out."
Mingsheng bit his lip and looked at Ding Shizhen in front of him, saying that there was actually a Xia army general who could kill him. Unfortunately, it was too late, the situation was over, and all of this was meaningless.
Poof! Poof!
The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh was heard, and the next moment the curtain was opened again, and He Wenhui led his troops in.
"Wenzhou Guard Ding Shizhen actually let you break through Zhu Wenzheng's ambush and get here."
"Yes, yes, I will give you a chance to surrender. In front of Mu Shuai, I can put in a good word for you."
He Wenhui nodded to Ding Shizhen, and was slightly impressed in his heart. Such a thing is not so easy even for He Wenhui, right? However, what sounds like this has actually been done.
"Ding Aiqing, surrender."
Mingsheng closed his eyes, tears sliding down his face. He was completely awake from the old dream. When he woke up from the dream, he could still see such a scene. As the emperor of Great Xia, he did not become the emperor in vain. .
Plop!
Bang bang bang!
Ding Shizhen was silent for a while, then suddenly knelt down in front of Ming Sheng and kowtowed three times.
"The general is incompetent and cannot save His Majesty from prison. Today I can see His Majesty. I am satisfied with this trip. It is a pity that I can no longer guard His Majesty's side. I will go to serve the late emperor."
"General He, let's do it. Dai Shuai and Wu Shuai are all loyal to the late emperor. Ding is stupid, but he also knows that loyal ministers have nothing to do with the two masters. Ding accepts his good intentions. I hope the general can treat Ding's subordinates well and fulfill his wishes." Ding."
After speaking to Ming Sheng, Ding Shizhen turned to He Wenhui and said.
"Alas! That's all. I like this person, so I'll make an exception today."
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his sword and cut off Ding Shizhen's head with one blow.
"Brother He, if you do this, it won't be easy to explain when you go back."
At this moment, a faint voice sounded.
"Fengxue...when did you..."
He Wenhui turned around in surprise and saw Xiao Han already standing behind him.
"Let's give him a grand burial. Let's just say that I suggested it to Brother Mu Ying in order to win over the Xia Kingdom's desire to surrender."
Xiao Han shook his head slightly, turned and left.
Ding Shizhen was beheaded, and the remaining Wenzhou troops he brought surrendered. Xiadu and Chengdu were successively captured. Wang Xingzu of Wenzhou died in battle, and the remaining forces in Xia were eliminated.
Interestingly, because of Xiao Han's participation, Zhu Wenzheng and He Wenhui's original contributions were no less than Lan Yu's.
However, because Ding Shizhen was the last one to break through the encirclement, he killed Ding Shizhen illegally. As a result, this first attack actually fell on Lan Yu's head as Xiao Han said.
As the Ming army encircled and reinforced the Xia army in Shu, a large number of Xia troops were eliminated. It took the Ming army a month to gradually and completely control the land in Shu.
The palace of the old summer capital.
"Mu Shuai, there is news from Lan Yu. After a period of melee, the Duan family and King Liang gradually calmed down and shook hands to make peace. They may invade our Ming territory again at any time. Should we send reinforcements to scare the south?" Both sides of Xinjiang.”
Zhu Wenzheng said to Mu Ying while holding a battle report.
"Since the beginning, my Ming Dynasty has always been in a soft state towards Duan and Polo Timur. I hope they can take the initiative to join my Ming Dynasty."
"In any case, after all, their people did not successfully enter the main battlefield of Ming Xia. During this period, our Ming Dynasty has already consumed a lot of money. The risk of continuing to send troops to break out the next war is too great. It is not in line with our strategic expectations of destroying Xia and stabilizing Shuzhong. It is not If envoys are sent to question both parties, as long as they can continue to be vassal to our Ming Dynasty, we will temporarily let them go."
He Wenhui shook his head. The situation between the two sides was now quite tense. They directly pressed the troops over and basically started fighting directly.
"Fengxue, what do you think?"
Mu Ying frowned. If Ming ate this mute, it would be very disgusting. However, not eating it would not be in line with Ming's strategic goals.
"me?"
"I also don't agree to use my Ming soldiers as a deterrent."
Xiao Han shook his head slightly.
Zhu Wenzheng listened to Xiao Han's words, and couldn't help showing a trace of frustration in his eyes. Did it turn out that even Xiao Han tended to be conservative?
It seems that the Duan clan and King Liang have fought against the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty on the land of the Ming Dynasty in vain this time.
"I think Zhu Wenzheng's statement is too conservative."
"Are our soldiers of the Ming Dynasty here to intimidate? Our soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are here to fight!"
"Since Duan and Polo Timur dared to attack our Ming Dynasty, they should be wiped out directly while the war was at its peak, and their destruction should be used to tell everyone that although our Ming Dynasty is still short-lived, we will resolutely attack If any enemy who dares to offend the Ming Dynasty has a disobedient heart, this will be their fate!"
Xiao Han slapped the table in front of him with a "bang!" sound and spoke coldly.
"This this…"
"Fengxue...Isn't this inappropriate? I, Da Ming..."
Mu Ying pursed her lips and finally spoke.
Neither Zhu Wenzheng nor He Wenhui mentioned directly going to war with the Duan family and King Liang to completely eliminate them. Why?
Isn't it because the Ming Dynasty's current national strength is already walking a tightrope? Destroying a Xia country has already consumed a lot of money. Isn't it difficult to support two more wars to destroy the country?
Even though the Duan family and King Liang were not considered to be on par with the Ming Dynasty, they were still warlords who occupied a vast territory and had many soldiers. Destroying them would be no different from destroying the country.
"Don't worry."
"I have already written to Yingtian Mansion. His Royal Highness has decided to support us. We have two months to kill two warlords. The advantage is mine!"
Xiao Han's eyes were filled with murderous intent, and his voice was like the judgment of Yama.
Muying:…
Zhu Wenzheng:…
He Wenhui:…
Brother, are you sure that the prince's reply to you within two months was to support your fight, rather than to use a euphemistic way of asking you to give up?
Jinling City, Prince's East Palace.
"I said it so clearly, Feng Xue should be able to understand what I mean, right?"
"The imperial examination has begun. This time the imperial examination reform has been carried out and new items have been added. After the palace examination in April at most, this reform storm will completely spread."
"At this time, it is in the best interests of our Ming Dynasty to bring the army back to Yingtian Mansion to stabilize the situation and prevent the powerful families from all over the country from causing chaos."
"I think Feng Xue's wisdom should be clear enough not to be too rash. Maybe I'm overly worried."
Zhu Biao looked at the wrinkled letter in front of him and rubbed his brows.
The Duan family and Prince Liang actually dared to intervene in the Ming Dynasty's war to destroy Xia, and Zhu Biao was also surprisingly angry. However, the reform momentum was strong, and the imperial examination was over in two months, so this was the most important thing.
Putting down Xiao Han's previous letter, Zhu Biao took out several secret memorials from the memorial.
This was a trend monitored by Jinyiwei. Just as Zhu Biao and Xiao Han had expected, powerful people from aristocratic families were extremely resistant to adding new subjects to the imperial examination.
Zhu Biao announced this before the examination. Less than half a month had passed. Officials from all over the Ming Dynasty had already submitted thousands of memorials to Zhu Biao hoping that Zhu Biao would take back his life.
Most of them were officials with aristocratic family backgrounds who had surrendered directly from Yuanting, and some were later promoted by the Ming Dynasty.
From his words, Zhu Biao could see that the mentality of the two types of people was still different. One simply did not want Zhu Biao's reforms to affect his own interests, while the other was worried that such reforms would cause chaos and lead to a crisis in the Ming Dynasty. .
Even though, for this reform of the imperial examination, Zhu Biao had already made full preparations, vigorously promoted the Ming Dynasty Dictionary, sent people to teach people how to use it, and then distributed Xiao Han's three textbooks on a large scale.
Not surprisingly, the people were more interested in Ming Dynasty agricultural science, while wealthy businessmen and families bought more of Ming Law and Ming Political Program.
Then, Zhu Biao arranged for Jin Yiwei to secretly build momentum to improve the evaluation of the three textbooks, using public opinion to point out that only by learning these three books can one become a qualified Ming official.
Before the powerful family members could react, Zhu Biao asked Xu Da to write a letter in person, suggesting that three textbooks should be included in the imperial examination. Zhu Biao immediately approved it.
By this time, Xiao Han and Mu Ying were already fighting fiercely with Xia Guo again.
Powerful families from all over the world also came to realize that these sudden appearances were all paving the way for the imperial examination to be reformed.
For a time, the scholar-bureaucrats launched a counterattack, constantly belittling the three textbooks, and coaxing a large number of people who did not know the truth to boycott the Three Books. Even many local governments received the Wanmin Book in the hope that the imperial court would withdraw its orders.
Of course, some were deceived by powerful families, and some were sober. At first, they stayed out of the matter, but when they read through the Ming Dynasty's Agricultural Techniques with a Ming Dynasty dictionary, some of the excited old farmers suddenly reacted. If according to the rumors, If the reform of the imperial examination system, which has been criticized for being bloody, will give old farmers like them who can only farm the land a chance to become officials.
As soon as this happened, this group of people could no longer sit still and took the initiative to stand up, hoping that the government would adhere to the reform of the imperial examination.
It is a pity that the voice of this group of people is still too small after all, and it seems to be unstable in the public opinion frenzy created by the scholar-bureaucrats.
After all, not all people are willing to study the Ming Dynasty dictionary and read the three textbooks released by the Ming Dynasty.
In the morning he was a farmhouse man, and in the evening he ascended to the Emperor's Hall.
This kind of thing may happen to poor people, but it most likely will not happen to common people.
Reading is indeed great, but does it mean that if you can read, you don’t have to farm?
Can you pass those scholar-bureaucrats in the imperial examination just by knowing how to read?
Since even if you know how to use the Ming Dynasty dictionary and know how to read, you can't compete with those scholar-bureaucrats, then you might as well just fail at reading and just farm the land honestly.
It is under the influence of this kind of mentality that people who can truly accept the message that Ming Dynasty conveys in the reform and can hope that Ming Dynasty will persist are too weak compared to those who take advantage of the powerful family to stand up. .
In the entire Ming Dynasty, only two counties had the Book of People, hoping that the Ming Dynasty would persist. It is said that for these two books of people, people with lofty ideals from other provinces even went there specially.
Compared with the books boycotting all peoples that are blooming everywhere, it is just a drop in the ocean.
"well!"
Looking at the reactions from all parties, Zhu Biao let out a long sigh.
Sure enough, reform has not been an easy task since ancient times. It seemed that Zhu Biao acted suddenly, but in fact he had already made all the preparations he could.
It seems to be eager for quick success, but this is the method with the least resistance. Carrying out reforms in a way that catches the powerful people of the family by surprise is the most likely to succeed. Otherwise, it will only be more difficult to announce the reform after all the powerful people of the family come to their senses. .
Wow!
Pulling out the imperial edict from the side, Zhu Biao began to write. An imperial edict and a secret edict were written out by Zhu Biao.
Following the imperial edict issued by the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Biao expressed a tough attitude and announced that the reform must be implemented persistently, and in this spring, a trial run would be carried out according to this model.
As for the secret edict, it was distributed to Jinyiwei. Although Jinyiwei had not been established for a long time, it had already reached a certain scale. Zhu Biao had targeted several powerful people from the most troubled aristocratic families. Once they appeared, he would carry out extreme actions and create With the tendency of riots, they directly broke into the house and ransacked their homes to deter other powerful families.
"His Royal Highness, a reply from His Highness the Second Highness."
While Zhu Biao was writing furiously, Li Heng, the prince's internal officer, sent in a letter.
Zhu Biao couldn't help but feel happy. He opened the letter immediately, and his expression suddenly froze.
(End of chapter)
