In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, on March 27th, at night, there were bright lights in Xiaoxiao Valley.
In the barracks on the left side of the valley gate, candlelight flickered, and tables of wine and food were placed there. The two hundred elite cavalry brought by Zhang Cheng, and more than 170 subordinates brought by Zhao Shihu, were all gathered here at the moment. , they sat around the table, eating and drinking happily.
Nearly a thousand bandits, military households, and civilians who were escorted back from Beiliangtou were gathered around piles of bonfires on the school field on the right side of Yumen, drinking broth and eating steamed buns. .
There were nearly a hundred sergeants stationed in Xiaoyayu, walking back and forth to patrol the place. They were extremely vigilant about these newly returned prisoners.
And from Beiliangtou, more than 5,200 taels of silver, more than 200 taels of gold, more than 1,360 shi of grain, more than 400 shi of beans, fodder, and some gold beads were seized. Fine items such as silk and satin, as well as wood, farm tools, armor, etc., have all been collected into the treasury.
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In the hall of the meeting hall, Zhang Cheng sat at the head of the Eight Immortals table, and Zhao Shihu sat at the head of the guest seat. At first, he supported them, but after Zhang Cheng spoke, he did not dare to support them anymore.
Chen Zhong, Wei Zhice, Liu Quan, Sun Dashan, Shi Tiegen, Ma Huijun and others also sat at this table to accompany them.
The thirty-seven strong men who followed Zhao Shihu and held a thorn to plead guilty were all Mabu mountain bandits who participated in the official interception and killing. They are all eating and drinking in the barracks on the left side of the valley gate.
"Everyone, first of all tonight, brothers Zhao Shihu and Muzhaojian brothers have joined me, congratulations."
Zhang Cheng picked up the wine bowl and said loudly.
"Second, capture and kill the bandit leader Hu Sihai for Brother Zhao, and level Beiliangtou with one drum, congratulations!"
Everyone at the table stood up, holding wine bowls, and said loudly: "Congratulations to the general, congratulations to brother Zhao!"
Then, everyone at the table toasted to Zhao Shihu to welcome him. During the banquet, Liu Quan and Sun Dashan pestered Chen Zhong to ask about the war during King Qin's period.
Everyone at the table gradually became engrossed. They all put down their chopsticks and listened quietly. Whenever there was a tense moment, they would hold their breath. When there was an intense moment, they all picked up their wine bowls and drank a bowl together.
Just like the Battle of Julu, it was thrilling and thrilling, and everyone felt as if they were immersed in the scene. When they heard that Lu Xiangsheng died, they all shed tears of regret and lamented endlessly.
Especially when they heard that the high-altitude Guan Ning army collapsed without a fight, everyone gnashed their teeth and cursed. Wei Zhice even slapped the table and stood up, extremely angry.
When Chen Zhong was tired from talking, he took a break. After everyone had dinner, they all asked about the subsequent war. Chen Zhong asked Wei Zhice to continue talking.
Wei Zhice was a scholar after all, so he started to talk about it after Baoding and Sun Chuanting joined forces. He told it vividly, especially the two battles in which Zhang Cheng's formation killed Ma Zhan, the auxiliary of the Qing Dynasty, and Yue Tuo, the general of Yangwu.
What he told was particularly vivid. In order to establish Zhang Cheng's prestige and prestige, Wei Zhice also artistically processed how Zhang Cheng chased Ma Zhan and killed Yue Tuo with one shot.
Especially after the formation beheaded Yue Tuo, how he led everyone to avoid the real and the weak, rush all the way from the darkness, and safely break out of the Qing army camp, as well as the expressions and performances of Chen Xinjia, Sun Chuanting and the general soldiers of the towns after returning to the camp, are all described Just right.
From then on, Zhang Cheng shot Prince Dorgon of Tartar Rui with an arrow, Julu fought bravely to rescue Lu Xiangsheng and broke out of the encirclement, ambushed the Tartars with a red flag and killed the auxiliary Duke Ma Zhan, and attacked the slave camp at night and killed the Tartar general Yangwu with one shot. Thanks to these four things, it became a legend, spread among the people of Gyeonggi and the Xuan army, and spread throughout the country in the future.
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Seeing that everyone was full of wine and food, Zhang Cheng called the sergeant next to him to fill his bowl with wine. He sat on a chair and said in a deep voice: "Tomorrow, I will rush to the Security Guards City to meet with Chen Let’s meet the governor and explain the affairs here tonight.”
After hearing this, everyone at the table put down their bowls and chopsticks and listened quietly to Zhang Cheng's continued words: "I will return to Xuan Mansion, make some arrangements, and then rush to Shangbei Road to take up my post.
However, I still want to keep the Laiaoyu Valley, Tietou Valley, and Zhao Shihu’s wooden hawthorn tip, and still ask you to garrison them. The three valleys are headed by Laiaoyu, and Tietou Valley focuses on iron smelting and land reclamation;
Ten Tigers, you Muzhaojian are relatively independent. After you return, you have to reorganize your team. I will allow you to refine 500 soldiers. Liu Quan will provide you with a set of armor and weapons. All the profits from your Muzhaojian will be reserved for raising troops. However, if there are any deficiencies, Liu Quan will make up for them;
Also, the private salt business will continue and even expand. Official salt is so expensive that military households can afford it. You are doing a good deed to benefit the village. All the consequences will be borne by you. "
Zhao Shihu was obviously a little excited. He had only seen Zhang Cheng being promoted to guerrilla, and he had also seen it in the official circles. Only dozens of wounded soldiers and a group of young and strong people had such combat power. He was afraid that King Zhang Chengqin would come back. To take revenge on him, I thought of surrendering to protect myself.
But later, news about Zhang Cheng continued to come from the Xiaoxiao Valley, and Ma Zhan and Yue Tuo were killed in the formation, and he was even ordered to leave Zhenxuan Mansion on the North Road, and he felt the intention to sincerely surrender to him.
Now, when he saw that Zhang Cheng was doing something eclectic, unconventional, and even a little out of the ordinary, he was both surprised and admired.
Wei Zhice, who was sitting on the other side of Zhang Cheng, was lost in thought. He first met Zhang Cheng outside Zhending Mansion, and when Zhang Cheng urged Lu Xiangsheng to send troops to rescue Huolu, he felt that Zhang Cheng was different from ordinary generals.
He vaguely saw a glimmer of hope in Zhang Cheng, who was not only brave and loyal, but also had vision, tolerance and mind. As far as he knew, at this time, military generals everywhere were greedy for pleasure.
They only have immediate interests and wealth in mind, and it is common for them to live on empty wages and raise private soldiers. It is normal to flee before the battle, and to kill good people and take credit for their merits. How can such generals be expected to support the country and relieve the people?
Until he met Zhang Cheng, he seemed to see something strange, which made him vaguely feel that there might be hope, especially because Zhang Cheng's Julu fought hard and did not abandon his governor Lu Xiangsheng, which made him want to follow him.
However, everything was normal before, but when he arrived at Xiaoxiaoyu, he found that Zhang Cheng was actually raising private soldiers and marching troops and horses from strongholds everywhere. He didn't know what kind of game he was going to play.
At this time, Zhao Shihu was encouraged to continue selling private salt. This unconventional behavior surprised him, but he knew that it was wrong, but he also felt that what Zhang Cheng did was reasonable.
Wei Zhice shook his head gently to get rid of the distracting thoughts that were temporarily unreasonable and confusing. However, he felt that the drink he had just drank was already a little overpowering. At this time, he heard Zhang Cheng speak again.
"Liu Quan, your three villages are combined into one thousand headquarters, and there are four sentries. Two are stationed in Xiaoyao Valley, one is stationed in Tietou Valley, and one is stationed in Muzhaojian Mountain Village."
