At dusk on December 23, there were numerous camps and large armies on the line from Yujiadian to Jinglongkou on the north bank of the Yellow River in Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan Province.
Chen Jiugao, the commander-in-chief of the Beijing camp who came to aid Henan, also led his troops to Yangwu County. He set up the Chinese army's tent in the city, while thousands of troops from the Beijing camp were camped outside the city.
He had stayed here for eight days. Although there were repeated urgings from Kaifeng, and His Royal Highness the King of Zhou also sent letters urging him to cross the river and march south to ensure the safety of Kaifeng, he still marched a long distance with his army, and the soldiers were exhausted. There are also many artillery pieces and it is difficult to transfer across the river, so the move has been delayed to this day.
Yesterday, he got news that Zhang Cheng's forward cavalry in Xuanzhen had arrived to camp near Yujiadian in the southeast of Yangwu County. He paid close attention to this. When he learned that Zhang Cheng had arrived with his army, he hurriedly Looking for you urgently.
Chen Jiugao has a good appearance, with a tall and straight figure and a handsome appearance. He is quite suave. He has just turned thirty and is a handsome guy. Even compared to Zhang Cheng, he is only slightly less heroic.
However, his face was full of depression at the moment. He was originally living a happy life in Beijing, but he was sent to Henan to help suppress the intruders. Although he was unwilling in his heart, he could not disobey the emperor's order.
He led the army in a protracted march, and did not reach the territory of Henan Province for a long time. It was not until Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan, who went to the army in person to urge him, that the march speed was slightly accelerated. However, after Li Xianfeng returned to Kaifeng and led Chen Yongfu to rescue Luoyang, he stayed there again Yang Wu stopped moving forward.
Chen Jiugao originally wanted to go back to Henan as a pretense, but he never thought that the intruders would become more and more violent and gather hundreds of thousands of cavalry soldiers to surround Luoyang. When he arrived in Yangwu County, he did not dare to enter again.
A few days ago, he was startled when he encountered a large number of hungry people heading north. He ordered his army to prepare for the attack. Later, he found out that the troops of the Dengfeng thief Li Jiyu had been subdued by Zhang Cheng of Xuanzhen and were heading to Xuanzhen with a large number of hungry people.
Only then did he remember that he should be part of Zhang Cheng's coalition forces, relying on Zhang Cheng's troops to fight against the bandit army, and assisting him from the side. He might be able to achieve some military exploits and be rewarded when he returns to the capital.
After entering Zhang Cheng's camp, Chen Jiugao was full of envy and sighed in his heart: "Zhang Chengguo is well-deserved. Not only is the camp solidly built and well-guarded, but the officers and soldiers in the camp are also full of high morale and vitality."
He shook his head and sighed secretly: "As expected of the Emperor's own title of 'The Best of the Three Armies'!"
Chen Jiugao's demeanor showed the familiarity of someone from the capital, and he was a little careless. He sat politely and politely in Zhang Cheng's Chinese army tent, sipping the fragrant tea, and was the first to speak: "General Zhang first arrived in Henan Province. It was a truly great achievement to overwhelm Li Ji in Dengfeng and rescue tens of thousands of people in Dengfeng and Mi County."
Looking at his appearance, Zhang Cheng felt that this man was very cute. Before that, he only had friends from civil servants such as Yu Shangyou, Yuan Pengnian, Wang Tiaoding, etc. in Beijing, as well as his relatives Wu Jinkang, a doctor in the maintenance department of the Ministry of Industry, and his father-in-law Ji, a bachelor. Civil servant.
He had always wanted to establish a connection with the noble military attachés in the Beijing camp so that he could get greater help in his future development and growth, but he just suffered from no chance.
When he was ordered to help suppress the intruders in Henan Province this time, he learned that a section of the Beijing camp had also been ordered to go to Henan Province. At that time, he wanted to go to Beijing to see if he could make contact in advance, but later he felt it was a little abrupt, so he gave up. .
Who would have thought that Chen Jiugao would come to the door today? Zhang Cheng smiled and said: "The emperor also thinks highly of Mr. Chen, so he entrusted him with the important task of commanding the troops in Henan Province to assist in the suppression. If Mr. Chen does not give up, my brother is willing to do it." Mr. Chen is following the lead!"
Chen Jiugao sighed and then said: "Yes, the Emperor's respect."
He still looked a little happy. He had never thought that Zhang Cheng's giant deer would fight the Tartars in a bloody battle and kill the slave chief Yue Tuo. What's more, he had just won the credit of subduing Li Ji's tens of thousands of thieves. He is so respectful and respectful.
Although he also knew that these were just superficial politeness, Zhang Cheng's words still made him feel particularly comfortable.
Originally, I was still worried that Zhang Cheng would be arrogant and domineering and would not be easy to deal with, so I had to put down my arrogance and come to visit first, otherwise I would be despised by him.
Fortunately, as soon as they got along with him, he discovered that Zhang Cheng was actually such a kind person. He was quite different from the arrogant and domineering person in the legend. His thoughtful etiquette made Chen Jiugao feel very good.
For a noble person like him, what he hates most is that others look down on him and neglect him. What he loves most is face. As long as he gives enough face, everything else will be easy to talk about.
Zhang Cheng, in his two lifetimes, knows this very well!
Chen Jiugao seemed to think Zhang Cheng was a good person, and he seemed to have found the ideal person to talk to. Chen Jiugao poured all his bitterness into Zhang Cheng.
He talked about how outstanding he was when he was in the capital, how Sun Yingyuan, the chief military officer of the capital camp, admired him, and how Fu Yingchong, the deputy general of the Shenji camp, had a deep friendship with him, and he was even more fond of him. Ba taught a lot and so on.
Chen Jiugao added, "Brother Zhang, you must have heard of Zhou Yuji and Huang Degong, right?"
Zhang Cheng took a sip of tea and said: "I have heard a little bit that these two people, together with General Sun Yingyuan, are now accompanying Yang Ge's troops to eliminate the Xian thieves in Shu."
He still had some impressions of these three people, especially Zhou Yuji and Huang Degong. He was even more impressed.
In the battle of Ningwuguan, he led more than a thousand elite sergeants and relied on the dangers of the pass to resist more than 100,000 invaders for many days, killing and wounding more than 10,000 invaders and killing four generals. Outnumbered and weak, he died in battle at Ningwuguan.
Huang Degong was also a loyal and good general in the late Ming Dynasty. He, Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo, and Liu Zeqing were known as the Four Towns of Jiangbei. Gao Jie was murdered by Xu Dingguo, the commander-in-chief of Henan Province. Liu Liangzuo and Liu Zeqing both led their troops and surrendered to the Qing army. Only Huang Degong died loyally protecting his master.
"Um!"
Chen Jiugao hummed and said, "I also admire these two people very much. It's just that Zhou Yuji is brave when he's brave, but he's a bit naive and he always speaks without meaning.
At first he was very arrogant, and I just said a few words to him with a few of my classmates. Guess what he said:
'You are all handsome men from good families. I am afraid that you will not be able to fight on the battlefield in the future. Why don't you practice diligently to serve the country and feel ashamed of the salary from the court? ',
Brother Zhang, look at this, how shameless and boastful is it? "
He then sighed: "But, they are loyal to Xu Guo and serve His Majesty, so why would I mind? I still give him lots of advice and teachings on weekdays. Look, isn't he now a deputy general?"
Zhang Cheng also sighed beside him: "Brother Chen, you are really broad-minded."
Chen Jiugao slapped his thigh and said happily: "That's it!"
He became even more interested at this moment, and continued: "Let's talk about Huang Chuangzi and Huang Degong. He loves drinking the most, he is also very good at gambling, and he often has no money on him.
Alas, this man is really good at spending money, but he doesn't know how to find money by himself. I can't stand it, so I often help him, so that he can gradually accumulate merit, and now he has become a general soldier.
Huang Chuangzi has never forgotten the time I helped him, and he mentioned it frequently in his private messages. "
Zhang Cheng smiled and continued to praise: "Brother Chen has a wide circle of friends. He really has friends all over the world."
