Born short-lived

Originally they planned to go directly to Yanmen Pass along the straight road, but now it is estimated that Yanmen Pass will not be able to go.Dong Sheng thought about it, sighed helplessly, and said to the past: "There is no way, you take someone to detour to Ningwu Pass."

Hearing this, Wang Sheng squinted his eyes, and immediately asked, "What about you?"

Dong Sheng thought for a while and said, "Let's go to Maguan."

Daomaguan is just after Zijingguan.

He touched his lapel, and touched the jade pendant that had been close to him for a long time through the thin shirt with his fingers.That piece of jade has never been taken off, and after a long time, I can hardly feel its existence. Only when I want to touch it from time to time, will I think of the person guarding the East China Sea again like seeing things and thinking about others.

Dong Sheng looked up at the sky, wondering how far he could go today - even if they didn't stop, it would take three days to reach Daomaguan.

What is still uncertain is whether the Shaan people will go all the way south or take a detour to attack the west.

The defense of the northwest is definitely not as strict as that of the central part. If they detour through Zhenyuan Pass, then the defenders stationed in the northwest will probably be caught off guard by them. Because detouring the northwest is easy to attack, but it is too time-consuming, so most of the Northwest Army did not expect that Sha'an would Get them.

Most importantly, if the defense of the Great Wall in northern Xinjiang is the simplest section among the four realms, then the northwest is the most shady part of northern Xinjiang.If the Sha'an people really pick the Northwest as their attack, regardless of whether they will be short of military supplies later on, the Northwest will definitely suffer heavy losses.

The best way now is to make the past life easier, and go to Ningwu Pass first to wait and see. If the situation changes, Dong Sheng will immediately take people to the northwest for support.

Ningwu Pass is located in the middle of Zhenyuan Pass and Zijing Pass. The terrain is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is a hard nut to crack.Sha'an people will definitely not be crazy enough to attack Ningwu Pass, but for Hua Xu, Ningwu Pass is the best choice for ambush troops, no matter whether Sha'an people are attacking Zhenyuan Pass or Zijing Pass—— But they wanted it, and Shaan definitely wanted it too.

Dong Sheng has always had a stone hanging in his heart, and there has been no news since he was separated from him in the past life—although no news at this time is the best news.

Dong Sheng didn't dare to stop for a moment and led people to Daomaguan. The northern defenders who had retreated here had been stationed for less than half a month. Because the dragons had no leader and their morale was in chaos, a quarter of them ran away in just a few days.Mrs. Zhuo's family hid in the temporary mansion with her son and daughter all day long and dared not go out. There were more than a dozen members of the family, except for Zhuo Feng who had already gone to meet the King of Hades, none of them looked like a queen.

So the first person Dong Sheng met in Daomaguan was Li Chongwen.

This old boy Li Chongwen has been hopping around the northern border for more than a month, and he has become yellow-skinned and thin. He worries about this and that, and his hair is mostly gray because of the stinginess of the Zhuo family. The Zhuo family, the general of one side, has now become an oil bottle.

We met at the post station on the outskirts of the city that day. Due to the strong wind and sand in the north, Li Chongwen wrapped himself in roving from head to toe like a rice dumpling. When he saw Dong Sheng who had been waiting for a long time, he quickly tore off the veil and almost had to pay homage. He was stopped by Dong Sheng.

"The old minister sees His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Li Chongwen's voice seemed to be roughened by the gravel in the north, with a slightly exhausted hoarseness.

Dong Sheng supported his elbow with one hand, and helped him walk into the post station: "There is no need for these red tapes. Master Li has been in the northern border for so many days, and it is really hard work. I wonder how the situation is going recently?"

As soon as this was mentioned, Li Chongwen sighed heavily, and then described to Dong Sheng the recent situation in the northern border in detail.So Dong Sheng found out with mixed feelings that none of the things Li Chongwen said was good.

This northern border is really hard to describe.

"Mother Zhuo's family invites you to have a talk at Liufang Tower in the south of the city. Your Highness, please take a look..."

Dong Sheng snorted coldly in his heart, thinking that this girl from the Zhuo family really had a good time.

Liufanglou is a well-known restaurant in the north, and the Accord is worth a thousand dollars.With a cold smile on the corner of Dong Sheng's mouth, he said very disrespectfully: "Gu can't walk anymore, people and horses need to rest, let her go to Chengguan to see Gu tomorrow."

Li Chongwen nodded knowingly, and said tacitly: "Then follow His Highness's wishes."

Zhuo Feng's widow, Wu Lanyan, originally booked all the seats in Liufang Building and prepared a large banquet table in advance, but she received a report from her servant that night, saying that the crown prince wanted her to go to the Chengguan in person.

Wu Lanyan knew that something was wrong as soon as she heard it, thinking that she might have been flattered on the horse's hoof.As soon as Dong Sheng came here, she was so ashamed of her face as the wife of the commander in chief of the Northern Territory, obviously trying to show her off.

Wu Lanyan is also over half a hundred years old, and most of her hair has turned white.Originally, the wife of the head coach who was also very prominent in the northern border, did not expect to become a widow early on.At this moment, the mourning clothes on my body have not been taken off, and I lay on the bed without closing my eyes all night, thinking about the changed Zhuo family and the sons in the wing room who are not as tall as a horse, flipping pancakes over and over again. sigh.

She thought well at first, although after Zhuo Feng's death, the Zhuo family would definitely not be the same as before, but now that the imperial court sent the crown prince to come in person, she thought that she should get to know each other well first, so that she could give Zhuo family A door holds a little bottom.

Unexpectedly, it backfired.

The daughters are all married, and if the sky falls, there will be a husband's family to support them. The big deal is that they will suffer a little anger in the future, so there is no need to worry too much.

But what about the younger son?

Hearing someone knocking on the door in the middle of the night, Wu Lanyan asked, and the soft voice of a little boy came from outside the door—"Mother, I can't sleep..."

Wu Lanyan opened the door and saw that Zhuo Yiming's eye sockets were red and swollen, and he looked at her falteringly with a small fleshy face.Seeing his appearance, Wu Lanyan felt a sore nose when she didn't understand something.

Zhuo Yiming was still crying, and the tears in his eyes couldn't hold back and poured out: "I miss Daddy..."

Wu Lanyan's eyes were also hot, and big teardrops rolled down her old face that was full of grooves. She squatted down and hugged her youngest son in her arms, but she couldn't say anything when she opened her mouth.Zhuo Yiming grabbed the fabric of the clothes on her back, buried his head in the crook of her neck, and cried with snot and tears all over his face.

The next morning, Wu Lanyan took her son to Chengguan to meet the prince.The city gate is in front of the temporary military camp. After Wu Lanyan entered through the fence of the military camp, she saw soldiers and iron horses everywhere. There were patrols on duty all day long. Vigorously opened a small gap in the curtain, silently and indifferently looked at the mother and child who were out of place.

Zhuo Feng was the general of the defeated army, and no one from the Zhuo family gave an explanation after his death, so their status has long since declined.

When several Zhuo Feng's former subordinates saw Wu Lanyan, they respectfully led her to the city gate.The originally prosperous and magnificent Daomaguan is now covered with iron fences, and rows of white crystal psychic cannons are erected on the city wall where the carved glazed lamps were originally hung, and behind them are piles of gunpowder for emergencies.The entire city gate was suddenly enveloped by a murderous aura.

Dong Sheng set up a very simple banquet. There was a map of the defense of the northern territory in front of the table, and he was still wearing shoulder armor. Seeing his appearance, Wu Lanyan hurriedly held Zhuo Yiming's head and paid homage to him. Great gift.

Wu Lanyan pressed her son's head with one hand, and covered the ground with the other, not even daring to raise her eyes, she said cautiously: "See Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Dong Sheng smiled slightly, but there was not much kindness in his eyes, he just said politely: "Madam Zhuo is very polite."

Dong Sheng ordered his guards to refill a cup of tea for Wu Lanyan and Zhuo Yiming, his eyes stayed on the trembling boy for a while, he smiled unconsciously, and suddenly asked, "What's your name?"

Wu Lanyan was taken aback, looked up at Dong Sheng, hurriedly tugged Zhuo Yiming who had already been frightened, and urged secretly: "Your Highness asks for your name."

Zhuo Yiming was stunned for a moment, finally came back to his senses, and whispered calmly: "If you go back to His Highness, I... the younger one is called Yiming."

"Zhuo Yiming?" Dong Sheng smacked the name, then smiled and said to Wu Lanyan: "Your son is going to be a blockbuster in the future?"

Wu Lanyan hesitated for a while, not sure what Dong Sheng meant by her words, and saw Dong Sheng carelessly pulling the tea leaves in the teapot with a bamboo tea clip, and a faint fragrance of tea overflowed into the air.

Dong Sheng raised one eye to look at Wu Lanyan, raised his eyebrows and said, "Why, isn't that what Mrs. Zhuo meant?"

Wu Lanyan was taken aback for a moment, her heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly replied: "Since my son is a general, he must also serve the country. If he can..."

Before Wu Lanyan finished speaking, Dong Sheng raised his hand and waved her to stop: "Mrs. Zhuo, the Zhuo family has been loyal and good for generations, and they have defended the northern border for so many years. Of course, they have contributed a lot."

"Although General Zhuo is dead right now, the Zhuo family has been favored by generations. As long as the son can take care of himself, the Zhuo family will still be the number one general in the northern region in the future." Dong Sheng smiled and added some freshly boiled water to the pot , "If you have any difficulties, you can just tell me."

Wu Lanyan smiled dryly, raised her eyes carefully to glance at Dong Sheng's expression, and responded, "Thank you Your Highness, I understand."

Dong Sheng glanced at Zhuo Yiming, who was kneeling and sitting upright, and said coldly, "Well, your son will stay with me first."

Wu Lanyan was startled, and Zhuo Yiming didn't react for a while, but the kid who turned his elbows out nodded very sincerely and straightforwardly before his mother was about to say goodbye: "It's all up to His Highness."

Wu Lanyan obviously didn't expect it, her face suddenly turned blue, but she couldn't say anything when she saw Dong Sheng's ambiguous smile.

The war in northern Xinjiang continued to be tense, and the imperial court allocated funds to transport them to the north in batches, but the end of the East China Sea coastal defense project was helplessly stranded due to insufficient funds.

As the majestic coach of Yijiang, Zhou Zirong also began to worry about money for the first time.

Although King Beizhao has a lot of private property in the East China Sea, if he wants to support such a large army and support the construction of the Great Wall, I am afraid it is just a drop in the bucket.

Until he received the news from Southern Xinjiang.

[The author has something to say: There was a mistake in writing before. They guarded Daomaguan first, and accidentally wrote it as Zijingguan. 】