Bright Spring

Zhu Gaoxu had to consider the huge number of Han King's army now, the required military pay and food, and the extra month of consumption would be an astronomical figure!It is really difficult to maintain hundreds of thousands of troops for a long time with only four provinces in the southwest.

Moreover, many things that Hanwang Mansion did in the early stage were all preparing for the Huguang battle.For example, the North Route Army built warehouses in Chenxi County to hoard grain and grass; various ministries in Guangxi successively set up stronghold warehouses along the Li River.

These preparations cost a lot of manpower and material resources, if you want to give up, how can you be reconciled for a while...

However, if Sichuan is not rescued, it will be very difficult to maintain the front line of the chief envoy of Sichuan with the meager strength of Mu Sheng and Wei Da, and Sichuan is in danger of being lost again.

The Chief Minister of Sichuan, as the most affluent territory currently controlled by the Hanwang Mansion, once lost, will undoubtedly make the Hanwang army's stretched income and expenditure even worse!It is difficult for the King of Han's army to last long, and the battles in the future will be more passive; because the available tactics are limited by the cost of consumption.

If Sichuan is not saved, the original strategy will have to be changed: that is to start the Huguang decisive battle ahead of schedule.Otherwise, once the results of the Huguang battle are not good, and Sichuan is lost in the rear, this battle will become a complete failure!

...Zhu Gaoxu's personality and habits for many years are preordained like a program, so he of course chooses to fight!

After all, what if the Huguang battle is won?Then there is no need for headaches, and it doesn't matter if Sichuan is taken.

It only took Zhu Gaoxu two days to make up his mind to bet against the official army.Now he needs a little more time to consolidate this determination, and persuade the generals to unify their propositions and make specific deployments.

And the original plan to prepare for a while longer, I had to give up...

While discussing the strategy with the generals, Zhu Gaoxu began to reward and promote meritorious soldiers in large quantities to boost morale.

Zhu Gaoxu is just a vassal king, without the power and status of being a knight, but when he besieged Guizhou City, he made a "Han Wang Zhongwei" iron ticket; promised that all generals with this title will be given priority in the future.

In the future, if he wants to be appointed as a marquis by the generals, he must be the emperor; now Zhu Gaoxu has ignored the cover-up, and his ambition is clearly revealed!But that's not a bad thing.If he has no intention of imperial power, what are you guys doing for it?

The military generals who have recently been rewarded have been summoned in the Xingyuan of the Chinese Army one after another.

Standing in the middle hall of the Chinese Army's Xingyuan right now are some of these meritorious generals; their names will also be registered and recorded in the official office of the King of Han.

"Chen Zhen, the former Commander of Lu Liangwei, was promoted to the Tongzhi of the Governor's Mansion, and also led the right deputy general of the Central Route Army, and gave the King of Han a loyalty certificate." Hou Hai read to the file.

Zhu Gaoxu took an iron plate from Miao Jin's hand and presented it to Chen Zhen.Chen Zhen, with gray hair on the temples, spent most of his life and fought countless battles in Yunnan before he came to command the guard; at this time, his face was glowing red, and his happy mood was revealed. , willing to be the vanguard of the prince!"

"You and Wang Bin fought in Luorong. Although you didn't win the battle, you are not to blame. You performed well when you retreated." Zhu Gaoxu praised, "General Chen used the remnants of the army to attack Pingyuefu, and quickly surrendered to the city of Yangshuo County. It is a great contribution to create a fighter in battle."

"Yin Desheng from Zuoqianhu, the former Yunnan Qianwei, was promoted to the commander of Yunnan Qianwei." Hou Hai continued to read, and added, "General Yin has passed the Iron Scroll of Zhongwei."

Standing in front of Yin Desheng, Zhu Gaoxu encouraged him: "I remember you, do your best! We have clear rewards and punishments for our conquest army, and we will definitely not treat brave and meritorious soldiers badly. General Yin will be promoted to rank in the future."

Unexpectedly, Yin Desheng said: "My lord, the final general doesn't care much about being promoted to a noble."

Zhu Gaoxu froze for a moment, but in front of everyone, he still maintained a very patient posture and asked, "Then what do you want?"

Regardless of Chen Zhen's wink, Yin Desheng said to himself: "The general doesn't want those brothers who died to die in vain!

In the past, when the last general attacked Duobang City in Annan Kingdom, more than half of the soldiers under his command were killed or injured, and the rest of the brothers crawled out of the dead.Later, the last general followed the prince to attack Sichuan, attack Guizhou City, and march into Guangxi. Those brothers who escaped from death all died.The last general also looked down on life and death a lot, but he didn't want the crusade army to become a rebel army, and those brothers who died in battle would be insulted as traitors. "

"Of course we can't die in vain!" Zhu Gaoxu said solemnly, "We shed blood for the righteousness of the world and to govern the Ming Dynasty better. This king also wants to accomplish such a great cause without dying, but obviously that is impossible thing."

Yin Desheng's words irritated Zhu Gaoxu a bit.When Zhu Gaoxu started his army, he started the civil war for self-protection, and then for power and profit. However, he personally led troops through countless battles, so he naturally knew the price on the battlefield and the countless deaths and injuries caused by the fighting between the two sides.

Zhu Gaoxu never thinks he is noble, but he is not bad enough.In the face of serious consequences, he has never regretted it, but it is inevitable that he feels ashamed... No matter who is right or wrong, the casualties of this war are hundreds of thousands, and countless people are displaced; happened.

So Zhu Gaoxu seemed to be convincing himself, and he said a few more words: "If this king rules the Ming Dynasty, he will definitely be able to do better!"

Yin Desheng is the youngest general here, he doesn't seem to doubt Zhu Gaoxu's words.Zhu Gaoxu could tell from his eyes that this person seemed to be from a hundred households, but in just over a year, he was close to a military position at the first level of the guard, and his thoughts were not as complicated as others.

However, most of the generals present didn't care about anything else. When Zhu Gaoxu said that he wanted to rule Daming, everyone clasped their fists in anticipation and said in unison: "Your Highness is wise and mighty!"

After a while, Zhu Gaoxu finally calmed down and continued to reward other generals.

At this time, the sergeant came in with a wooden plate full of gold, silver and jewelry. Zhu Gaoxu was going to use these things to convert rewards and distribute them to meritorious generals.

... Since Zhu Gaoxu raised his army, he has given many benefits and promises to various forces that follow him.

He is now so poor that there are basically no valuables left in the Hanwang Mansion, and all that can be sold are confiscated. Soldiers.

Therefore, the civil and military under Zhu Gaoxu still supported him very much, because Zhu Gaoxu's existence provided guarantee for the survival and interests of many people.

He doesn't trust people to be loyal, but he believes that people in the world will be loyal to themselves.Perhaps only by sharing the benefits of the battle with a group of people can the loyalty of more people be gained.

Wang Bin was also in the middle hall. Not only did he not get the reward, but he was directly demoted from the governor to the position of a general.Zhu Gaoxu observed Wang Bin intentionally or unintentionally, and saw that he seemed very indifferent, and he was not dissatisfied.

For example, King Jingjiang's grandfather, who was still a relative, seemed to be dissatisfied with the uneven rewards given by Emperor Taizu, and wanted to seek refuge with Chen Youliang.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu said to Wang Bin in a casual tone: "Brothers may not be good friends, but good friends are often like brothers."

Wang Bin was stunned for a moment, then quickly cupped his fists and said, "I dare not be the last general."

Chapter 5 Passed on

At the beginning of September, it rained in Zhili. After the autumn rain, the weather became cold, and the capital already had a bit of early winter atmosphere.

Between the red walls on the west side of Kunning Palace, there is a gate tower; once you pass the gate tower, the West Sixth Palace is outside.Not long after the current emperor ascended the throne, there were not many concubines, and the concubines of the former Emperor Taizong also moved away, so some yards in the West Sixth Palace have been vacated.

Because Empress Zhang believed in Buddhism, the eunuchs in the palace chose one of the courtyards in the West Sixth Palace and arranged it as a Buddhist hall.

Most of the people clustered around the queen's sedan chair were court ladies and female officials.Apart from a few young eunuchs, there are two other eunuchs: one is Haitao and the other is Yang Qing.

The sedan chair stopped at the foyer outside the courtyard of the Buddhist hall. Yang Qing immediately opened the umbrella and covered it securely outside the sedan chair door; hold it down.The queen can cook and do some housework, but she can only work for the Holy Majesty. Of course, her hands cannot be roughened by the rough material of the eunuch's clothes.

The queen was surrounded into the hall.Hai Tao turned around and ordered: "You all wait in the hall, don't make any noise."

All the court ladies said: "Yes."

The queen didn't go to the Buddhist hall first, but walked along the gallery under the eaves and entered a wing room.Haitao ordered Yang Qing to serve tea, and he himself followed into the wing.

Haitao waited for the queen to sit down, then bowed and said: "The servants have already asked about the inside story of Kuizhou city. It is said that Zheng He, one of the rebel defenders, gave gifts to the empress, but he thought it was a bit strange. Isn't he a member of the King of Han?"

Zhang's face suddenly changed: "Zheng He has always been the late emperor's close servant, how can he be a member of the King of Han?"

Yang Qing said in astonishment: "The maidservant thought that the empress knew."

Mrs. Zhang frowned and said, "Tell me, what's going on?"

Yang Qingdao: "Early before the 'Battle of Jingnan', Emperor Taizong lived in Beiping, and every time he summoned the Gaoyang County King at that time, he sent Zheng He there; there were many opportunities for the two to meet alone. Besides, Hanwang The eunuch Wang Gui next to him would give Zheng He property from time to time, and he has made friends with him for a long time..."

"Who did you listen to these things? Are you sure?" Zhang asked.

Yang Qing bowed and said: "My maidservant has been in Yan Wang's mansion for many years. Before that, I only did some rough work, but after a long time, I can find out a lot of things. Wang Gui and Zheng He had contacts, and this maidservant saw it with my own eyes! In front of your empress, you will never dare to speak half a lie!"

Zhang's complexion was not very good, and he sat there without responding.

Yang Qing raised his head and glanced at the queen quietly, and said: "There is another old thing. During the 'Battle of Jingnan', the Jianwen Dynasty once used a plan to divorce the father-son relationship between the present emperor and the late emperor; so he sent a letter A secret letter persuading surrender to Shizifu (Zhu Gaochi)..."

Mrs. Zhang nodded and said, "I remember that incident. The Holy Majesty did not fall for the trick, and immediately handed over the spy and the undisclosed secret letter to the late Emperor."

Yang Qing bowed his waist and said, "Your Majesty's words are very true. But when the King of Han heard about the secret letter, he wanted to take the opportunity to make trouble and slander the emperor before the late Emperor. Later Zheng He went to see the King of Han and dissuaded him; Therefore, the flags and drums were silenced, and no criticism was made, which won the praise of the late emperor."