Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 62 The Arrival of Qi's Army

"call……"

The north wind was blowing and the snow was blowing heavily. Three days passed in a flash, and it came to the eleventh day of October in the first year of Taichang.

It was the first time that a long group of troops had seen the northern wind and snow, and it was even more difficult to march.

"Qi Zongbing, the wind and snow are too heavy, why don't you rest today!"

In the wind and snow, Cao Huachun, who was wearing a big fur coat, was leading the horse, blocking the wind and snow with one hand and talking to Qi Jin who was beside him.

After hearing this, Qi Jin quickly took out the map, glanced at it, and then looked behind him.

Behind him, a long convoy of nearly [-] horses held torches, pulling them for more than ten miles.

In front of him, Zhejiang soldiers swept away the wind and snow for the rear convoy, and on the map in his hand, the distance to the target was less than ten miles away.

Thinking of this, Qi Jin said loudly to Cao Huachun: "It's six o'clock now, and it will be dark in another hour."

"We are less than ten miles away from Yanshan Daying. If we stop, the wind and snow will thicken at night, and all the horses will be buried in the snow!"

"Then continue marching, our family wants people from Jinyiwei to sweep the snow together!" Cao Huachun responded loudly.

"Okay!" Qi Jin said the same.

The whistling north wind came earlier than anyone expected, and the sound was so loud that people couldn't hear the voices of their companions beside them.

A group of Zhejiang soldiers living in the south of the Yangtze River, where have they seen such a blizzard?But even so, they still explored the road without fear of hardships.

Time passed by little by little, even an hour passed in a hurry, the army only marched five miles, it seemed that they could not reach the Yanshan camp before dark.

Just when everyone was about to give up, a fire appeared on the horizon ahead, followed by Tang Qi who came trotting.

The wind and snow were too strong, Tang Qi got off his horse, was blown and rolled on the ground a few times, and then got up with the help of Zhejiang soldiers.

Everyone surrounded him, keeping the wind and snow out, and Tang Qi had the strength to report:

"Excuse me, is it General Qi's military department?"

"Yes! This old man is Qi Jin!" Qi Jin responded loudly, and Tang Qi also said:
"The commander of Tengxiang Zuowei's grandson has already led Tengxiangwei's brother to open a three-and-a-half-mile snow track. Please, your department will drive another mile forward to connect with the snow track."

"Okay!" Hearing this, Qi Jin felt his whole body warm up a lot, and the Zhejiang soldiers also burst into smiles.

Everyone was very motivated and shoveled the snow little by little. Finally, two quarters of an hour later, they saw the left guard horses who were digging snow together.

As the two sides see each other, they dig snow faster.

The snow that was as high as the calf was shoveled away, and with the collision of the two shovels, the two departments officially joined forces.

Qi Jin, who was covered in wind and snow, even his eyelashes were covered with ice and snow, met Sun Yingyuan, and Sun Yingyuan saluted immediately:
"Old hero Qi, His Highness has prepared hot meat soup for the brothers at the Yanshan camp, let's go back to the camp first!"

"Okay!" Hearing this, Qi Jin gained more strength, commanded the Zhejiang soldiers, and pulled more than [-] carts towards the Yanshan camp, gradually drifting away.

One after another, the snow falls to the gate, and the red flag is frozen by the wind...

With the hardships along the way, they soon saw the Yanshan Camp in the wind and snow, and Qi Jin and Cao Huachun also saw a small man standing at the gate of the Yanshan Camp.

Zhu Youjian's ten-year-old height is so recognizable among the crowd at the gate of the Yanshan Daying Gate of the big man.

At this moment, he was wearing the big fur that the good emperor brother gave him, and quietly led all the horses in the barracks to wait for the arrival of Zhejiang soldiers.

Finally, when the time passed, as the Ming army's hunting flag appeared in the wind and snow, all the waiting people smiled.

In the wind and snow with visibility less than ten meters, veterans Qi Jin, Sun Yingyuan and others walked out in armor.

"The last general in Liaoyang, Qi Jin, pays his respects to His Highness Fifth..."

Seeing Zhu Youjian, Qi Jin wanted to salute, but Zhu Youjian supported him, and just smiled:
"The food is ready. The old general will ask the army to enter the barracks to eat something. I just want to talk to the old general about the drill."

"Yes yes yes..." Hearing this, Qi Jin turned to look at his son Qi Yuangong, and Qi Yuangong immediately turned around and said in Yiwu dialect:
"After everyone enters the camp, hand over the baggage cart to the brother of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, and go to the place arranged by His Royal Highness to rest and eat, so that you can rest well, and tomorrow will be on time."

"As ordered..." The Yiwu dialect responded in a long way, which was slightly different from the Yiwu dialect four hundred years later.

Although Zhu Youjian was a little curious about the military appearance of Zhejiang soldiers, he also knew that there was a need to talk about serious business, so he said to Lu Wenzhao and Cao Huachun:

"Wen Zhao, Hua Chun, you are responsible for storing the armor sent by the armor factory into the arsenal of the barracks."

"The specific distribution of armor will be discussed tomorrow."

"Yes!" The two saluted one after another, and then started the handover with Qi Yuangong.

But during this period, Qi Jin glanced at Lu Wenzhao's saber, and said suspiciously: "Lu Tongzhi, your saber..."

"Uncai, I used to worship Qi Shaobao's son, Qi Changguo as a master, learned martial arts for two years, and was recommended to join Jinyiwei." Lu Wenzhao explained with a smile, and Qi Jin suddenly realized with a smile:

"In that case, then you can be regarded as my nephew..." Qi Jin heaved a sigh of relief, he didn't expect to have acquaintances here.

As for Lu Wenzhao, he also nodded with an apologetic smile, and when Zhu Youjian saw this, he smiled and said:

"Since we are acquaintances, let's drink two more glasses later."

"Extremely, extremely..." Qi Jin and Lu Wenzhao both apologized, and when Zhu Youjian saw this, he took Qi Jin to the yamen of the Yuma Supervisor.

After walking all the way and entering the yamen, the clever little eunuch untied their coats for them, and Wang Chengen had already ordered the food to be served on the table.

Roast goose, goose head and hoof, goose meat, mustard tripe dish with salty drum, garlic vinegar and white blood soup, steamed chicken with five flavors, mutton bones in Yuan juice, mutton with minced pepper...

Counting down a dozen dishes, they are all handicrafts that can only be eaten in the palace.

Zhu Youjian called Qi Jin to sit down, and the three sons of the Qi family who had handed over the things to his generals, as well as Sun Yingyuan, Lu Wenzhao, Cao Huachun and others entered the yamen one after another, and took their seats under Zhu Youjian's call.

"I'm still young, so I don't respect the old general." Zhu Youjian has been using me as a self-proclaimed name, so he clearly indicated his relationship to Qi Jin.

Qi Jin has seen the ending of his uncle Qi Jiguang, and also knows the importance of finding a good backer, so even though he advocated not drinking while marching, he still raised his glass and said:

"You shouldn't drink alcohol in the barracks, but the old man has been favored by His Highness the Fifth Highness, so I should understand it!"

After finishing speaking, Qi Jin drank one or two cups in his hand, then exhaled:

"Good wine, it tastes like Royal Wine Taixibai?"

"Old general?" Zhu Youjian was a little surprised, while Qi Jin explained:

"In the ninth year of Wanli, the imperial court rewarded my uncle with ten altars of Taixibai. At that time, the old man was young and naughty, so he secretly took a jug to drink. Later, his uncle found out, and he was beaten with twenty army sticks..."

At the end of the talk, Qi Jin laughed lightly, as if recalling the youth and carefree back then.

However, Zhu Youjian heard a trace of regret, just because he remembered that in the second year after Wanli nine years, Zhang Juzheng died of illness, and Qi Jiguang was also relegated.

Qi Jin's other uncle, Qi Jimei, was also implicated in this incident, and was sent to Guizhou to serve as the general soldier of Yunnan and Guizhou.

Afterwards, Zhang Juzheng's political enemies still did not let Qi Jiguang go, he was dismissed from office and returned to his hometown, and other Qi family generals associated with him were also demoted one after another.

The Zhejiang soldiers he trained were also sent to the imperial court a few years later to participate in the fight against the Japanese and aid the DPRK. Later, they were framed by the local army in Liaodong for rebellion and swindled to death, and the rest of the troops were disbanded.

A top army in East Asia at that time was destroyed by its own walls and disappeared into the long river. It was not until Qi Jin learned that his friend Liu Ting died in battle and came back out of the mountain last year that this army was re-established.

Politics is cruel, Zhu Youjian knows it well, but as far as the country is concerned, the Qi family can be said to be full of loyalty.

If possible, Zhu Youjian would also like to stay away from political struggles, but he has no choice but to participate in them even though he hates them now in order to survive.

Thinking of this, he paused for a moment, then raised the teacup, put it in front of him for a few seconds, and then said to himself:
"Qi Shaobao and the old Zhejiang soldiers, oh..."

"It's the imperial court who is sorry for them..."

It was just a heartfelt statement, but for Qi Jin, it awakened his memory of that man, and he burst into tears...

(End of this chapter)