This sleeve is broken secretly

Chapter 46 Wangchun

The next day, Liu Ling rushed to the evacuation, begging for a thorough investigation of the quality of grain transport officer Zhang Fuming and Yingzhou's military grain.However, because his words were unsubstantiated, everything he said was speculation, but was refuted by Kuang's remnants, saying that he fabricated things out of nothing and maliciously framed them.

The court was at a stalemate for a while.Xie Ling privately dispatched people to the front line of Yingzhou, intending to investigate the military rations privately.

But it was too late.

When the decision to investigate the military rations was pending and Xie Ling's men had not yet returned, the first thing that was sent back to the capital was the military report that Lou's father was defeated and killed in battle.

According to the military report, on October [-]rd, Lou's father led the army to launch a general attack on Yulin Pass. If this pass is captured, the situation in Yingzhou will definitely be reversed.

The battle started before dawn, and all the soldiers in the Central Plains knew that this was a desperate battle, and no one flinched. The commander-in-chief, Father Lou, took the lead and personally came to the city to command.Climbing ladders, bumping wood, trebuchets, and long-distance firecrackers covered Yulin like a trapped beast in a net. The sound of shouting and killing was loud, and fierce battles were in full swing at the top of the city. flag.

Originally the situation was good, but in the afternoon Lou's father suddenly felt unwell and had cramps in his abdomen.Although he is old, his body is still strong, and he has never had a sudden stomachache on the battlefield.Lou's father was unwilling to give up a good battle situation, and endured the discomfort of his body to stick to the front line.But in the next few hours, symptoms of vomiting, fainting, and physical weakness appeared in the siege team, and the combat power of the Central Plains soldiers began to decline precipitously.

At dusk, the day-long siege battle had exhausted both sides physically and mentally. However, nearly half of the soldiers in the Central Plains had fallen ill, and they were no longer able to make a comeback.

Father Lou's eldest son saw that the situation was wrong, and immediately called for money to withdraw troops.However, Father Lou's body was weak, and he was defenseless when he retreated under the protection of his own soldiers. He was hit in the throat by a cold arrow flying from the tower, and he fell off the horse and died on the spot.When the Central Plains soldiers saw the commander-in-chief fall from his horse, they scattered and fled in fright, mourning everywhere.

Lou's father and young son witnessed his father's death by an arrow, and his eyes were about to split apart. He ignored his elder brother and second brother to stop him and tried to snatch his father's body back.However, he was pushed to the ground by the crazy Central Plains soldiers rushing back in a mess, tens of thousands of feet trampled on his back, and the 19-year-old child was trampled to death beside his father, turning into a pile of flesh mud.

Father Lou's eldest son and second son took the remaining remnants of the defeated generals and retreated one after another, until Jianzitun was able to stabilize the troops.

However, they have lost their father and brother, and nearly [-] Central Plains soldiers.

In this battle, it took only one day from victory to defeat across the board, with countless casualties, and it was later known as the "Yulin Pass Catastrophe" in history.

----

The dignified chief assistant, in order to make up for the shortfall, secretly exchanged the new rice sent to the front line for the old rotten rice in the granary of the guard, and the civet cat for the crown prince, which caused the frontline soldiers to fall ill in battle, and they were defeated. .

How appalling is this? !

When the military report came, everyone was shocked from top to bottom.Emperor Hongwu was very angry that day and ordered the imperial army to imprison Kuang Zheng and his nine clans immediately and seal up Kuang's mansion.At the same time, all the important military ministers were urgently called to discuss the next counterattack.

And when the news spread to the people, it also aroused a lot of anger.Father Lou is a veteran of the three dynasties, and he has always been resolute and upright. When the lake in the capital was flooded before, he also organized Lou's family members to go out to appease the common people and distribute dry food. He was loved by the people.This time he was nearly eighty years old and took command of the expedition, and he also fulfilled the expectations of the people all over the world.

And it was such a general who did not die under the enemy's sword, but died under the frame of a treacherous minister!

How embarrassing and infuriating is it?

On the day when the imperial army seized Kuang's house, news had already spread throughout the capital.Angry people crowded the streets on both sides. When the prison car escorting Kuang came out in a file, the shouts were deafening, and stones, eggs, and stinky vegetable leaves were thrown over the sky, wishing to smash the people in the prison car to death on the spot. It's better to be there.

However, if someone looked closely, they would find that Kuang Zheng, who was in the leading prison car, had an extremely calm expression.

He was still wearing the official uniform of a first-rank official at the time, and he seemed to be planning to go to court soon.At this time, he was sitting cross-legged in the prison cart, looking straight at him, and yelling and cursing on both sides fell on deaf ears.A child who was close to him spat on his face, but he didn't even blink his eyes, just lifted his hands that were bound by shackles and gently wiped his cheeks.

It was as if he had expected this day to come.

For such major cases, Emperor Hongwu naturally ordered the three divisions to conduct a joint trial.And Kuang Zheng, who was in the dungeon, was also very happy, as if shaking his burden, he confessed all his plans.

It turns out that since he went to the Ministry of Households to check the accounts, Kuang Zheng realized that he had lost the heart of the emperor and was powerless to recover.If Xie Ling really found out the relationship between Yingzhou Kuangkui and him, then he would definitely not be able to afford to walk around.So when the war broke out in the north and everyone was worried about the situation, Kuang Zheng saw an opportunity in it.

The military field is privately occupied, and many local military officers have stored food, grass and military equipment in the warehouse in the past. If he can exchange the civet cat for the prince, and trade the old for the new, wouldn't he be able to seamlessly make up for his own mistakes?

And the food transport officer Zhang Fuming was usually a wimp, so no one noticed his relationship with Kuang.Isn't this a godsend opportunity?

All he had to do was to temporarily divert the attention of the world by using the rumors about Xie and Shen's broken sleeves, and to slow down Xie Ling's auditing, thus freeing up time to arrange everything.

As long as the shortfall is made up, Kuang Zheng will be able to get through this difficulty smoothly. He has plenty of time to restore the emperor's heart, and then he will trample the two yellow-mouthed children Xie Ling and Shen Yi into the mud.

However, has he ever thought about the soldiers in the north who fought hard to protect the motherland behind them?

When asked about this, Kuang Zheng was slightly silent.At that moment, he was sitting deeply in the chair, with half of his face buried in the shadows, his silent and contemplative appearance was a bit like the young man who had just entered the officialdom decades ago.In the earliest days, he also had the dream of the world in his heart. He insisted on clearing the land, cracking down on tax evasion by the tyrants, and eager to fight for a rich territory for the people.

However, after decades of ups and downs in the officialdom, when wealth, grace, and power came to his palm, he could no longer let go.

The boy who slays demons will eventually become a demon.

Under the gaze of officials from the third department, Kuang Zheng finally smiled, and said in a low voice, "How did I know that Chen Liang would really eat a bad stomach? And it just happened to be in time for that battle?... In the final analysis, nothing It's God's will."

A sentence of God's will, but ruined the lives of a veteran of the three dynasties, a star of tomorrow, and tens of thousands of soldiers from the Central Plains.

It was not difficult to convict the Kwong family. At the end of the 27th year of Hongwu, the imperial decree was issued: Kwong Zheng and his immediate family were ordered to be executed, the men of the nine clans were exiled, the women were slaves, and all the properties of the Kwong family were confiscated.

But right now, the more urgent thing is how to restore the war situation in the north.

One faction believes that another general should be selected to go to Yingzhou to preside over the war situation, but this choice has become a big problem.The famous generals of Lou's father's generation have all passed away, and the younger generals have little experience, so I don't know if they can control the overall situation.More importantly, the Lou family's army led by the Lou family has already figured out the combat habits of the prairie soldiers during the tug-of-war for more than a year. If a new commander is rashly sent over, it may not be easy to get along with the original army.

As a result, the second faction headed by Xie Hua emerged.He went to Shuzuo to ask Emperor Hongwu to hand over the power of Lou's father to his eldest son, Lou Changfeng, and his second son, Lou Wanli.Although the two sons were young, they were born in the barracks. They have been leading the army with their father for more than a year, and they are familiar with the situation in Yingzhou and the enemy soldiers on the grassland.It is perfect for the two of them to inherit their father's legacy.

After consideration, Emperor Hongwu agreed to Xie Hua's memorial, and ordered Xie Hua to go to Yingzhou to supervise the army.The name of this trip is to supervise the army, but in fact it is to ensure the supply of food, grass and military equipment, and to communicate with the cabinet at any time about the situation of the war.

Now that the matter has been decided, Xie Hua will go to the north on the day of Kuang Zheng's beheading at the end of the year, and sacrifice the flag with the blood of the Kuang thief to comfort the northern soldiers.

----

The decapitation and the departure of the supervising army were scheduled on the same day and time. That day in the capital was a rare sunny day in the middle of winter. The incandescent sun hung in the sky, shining brightly on the ground of the building that was still covered in ice and snow.

The beheading was at Caishikou, but the supervisory army went north but was at the Beicheng Tower, so the people watching could only pick one to see.Most of the people chose to watch Thief Kuang lose his head, but the high-ranking official also ended up today, which really made people applaud.It was cut at noon, but now when the hour passed, there were crowds of people on both sides, all waiting to see the happy scene of blood splattered five steps.

Compared with this, there are much fewer people in the North Tower.

Xie Ling and Shen Yi climbed up the tower slowly side by side, but saw only a handful of people on it, most of whom were also familiar officials' children.They greeted each other briefly, and they all stood by the battlements.

This is really a rare good weather.Looking up from the heights, the sky is as blue as washing, although the cool wind is cold, with the warm winter sun shining on the body, you don't feel cold, but you feel a sense of openness.

But I saw a group of people standing outside the city tower, and the red military flag was waving in the wind, overlooking the north.Xie Hua was in that team, but their irrelevant personnel couldn't come forward to talk to them, they could only take a look at them from a distance and bid farewell.

Xie Qin put his hands on the battlements, looked down at the second brother silently downstairs, and unconsciously rubbed his thumbs against the rough wall.

Knowing that his heart was anxious, Shen Yan asked softly, "Did you bid farewell last night?"

Xie Ling twitched the corners of his mouth, nodded and said: "The whole family had a meal. The old man also joined the army earlier, and he had already realized the matter of sending his son to the front line, so he was quite calm... But in the middle of the night I watched him in the room The lights are always on, so it must be a sleepless night."

This is natural.

Coupled with Xie's father's soft-hearted and stubborn temper, it is estimated that even if he is reluctant to let his second son say it, he is too embarrassed to say it, so he can only light a lonely lamp in the middle of the night and toss and turn alone on the bed.

Shen Bing sighed in his heart, but also faintly envious.Seeing that no one was paying attention, he stretched out his hand to hold Xie Jin's palm under the cover of the generous winter cloak.

Xie Ling looked forward without turning his head.However, the hand under the robe tightened, and he held Shen Bing with his backhand.

Shen Yan looked down the city in a blink of an eye and said: "You don't have to worry too much... If my prediction is correct, the battle situation will not change much. If everything goes well, there will be another truce before the summer solstice.

"Although the losses in this battle were heavy, the Lou family's army quickly regrouped when they retreated. Although the defeat was not defeated, as long as the food, grass and ordnance catch up again, they will be able to fight back again. The newly added recruits when the frontier guards were rectified before were just right. Fill in the damage of this battle.

"But let's look at the grassland army. They are not good at defending the city, and they are not good at fighting in winter. Their vitality has been exhausted before Yulin Pass. If it weren't for the case of grain and grass, they would have been defeated. Now they are only short of the last blow... I I believe Lou's father and his two sons will be able to fulfill their father's will."

Xie Ling understood these truths in his heart, but he still couldn't help being anxious.But at this time, when Shen Bing spoke in a calm and soft voice, his restless mood gradually calmed down.

The tower was temporarily quiet.The long wind blows, and the military flag is rolled up.In the warm sun, a resounding military song suddenly rang out from the ranks below the city tower——

"Catch iron armor, carry a long knife. Fight with your son, the road is long. Let the enemy fight together, live and die together—"

The magnificent and unrestrained singing went straight to the sky, reverberated in the blue cangxiong, and shook the whole field.Everyone on and off the city tower also seemed to feel something, and slowly began to hum along.

"——War with the son, never let up. Step on the swallows, chase the beard—"

The sun gradually moved to the center.

Amidst the loud and clear singing, a vague exclamation was suddenly heard from afar in the city.

Everyone raised their eyes, only to see a group of crows jumping up in shock in the direction of Caishikou, and quickly spread their wings and disappeared into the air.

It's noon.

The majestic horn rose from the city, blowing thousands of miles along with the long wind.The wine was gone, the singing was not over, the army and horses were urged to set off under the gaze of everyone, and went north along the official road.

Xie Hua, who was sitting on the horse, seemed to have sensed something, turned his head in the line, smiled and waved his hands in the direction of the tower against the rising sun.Immediately, he clamped his legs and urged the horse to quickly follow the flaming military flag.

"——Let's fight with Zi, the song is fearless!"

Xie Ling closed his eyes, and slowly exhaled the foul breath in his chest.

At this time, it is still a piece of frozen soil in winter.

But presumably spring will return to the earth, and it is not far away.