Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 397 0392 [Uncle Zhang’s meritorious service]

Not only did the heavy snow stop, but there was still the sun.

Zhu Ming got up a little later than usual, and as soon as he made any movement in the room, two maids knocked on the door and came in, quickly helping him to get dressed.

Before the clothes were put on, another maid came in with toiletries.

The toothbrush was brought from Ju Ming's room. Of course, the maids were not allowed in, and the whole process was supervised by guards.

These court ladies all liked him, because it was cold last night, and the Grand Marshal knew how to be considerate, so that they didn't have to wait at the door, and they could go back to their room early to warm up and rest.

A small gesture won the favor of the court ladies, because the Generalissimo treated them as human beings.

At this moment, serving Zhu Ming to dress and wash, he seemed extraordinarily attentive and diligent.

But Zhu Ming was not used to it, just when the maid wanted to wipe his face, Zhu Ming grabbed the hot towel and came by himself.

Zhao Fujin was woken up by the movement, and she still hid in the bed and pretended to be asleep. After Zhu Ming left the room, she blushed and got up to get dressed.

Not long after, another guard knocked on the door.

The maid went out to chat for a few words, then came in with a tray, and said with a smile: "The generalissimo sent someone to send it, he is really considerate of my lady."

It's not just delicacies from mountains and seas, millet porridge and meat buns.

"I can't eat much, so call Fourteenth Sister too." Zhao Fujin ordered.

Zhao Fujin stayed up most of the night, came from the next door yawning, and was brought to dinner by the maid with sleepy eyes.

Just as she sat down, she suddenly remembered something, and she walked up to Zhao Fujin again, feeling her whole body up and down: "Is sister in pain? Did he hit you again after I left last night? I heard my sister cry for a long time."

Zhao Fujin blushed with shame, and scolded: "Don't talk nonsense!"

All the court ladies turned sideways, avoiding the two emperor concubines covering their mouths and laughing.

It was the age of growth, Zhao Fujin was really hungry, so he picked up the buns and ate them.

Zhao Fujin swallowed a few mouthfuls, then sat there in a daze.She thought of the people and things in Tokyo, and she didn't know when she could go back to have a look. Suddenly, she thought of Marshal Zhu again, but she didn't resist as much as she did at first.

It was snowing and the sun was clear today, Marshal Zhu went to the school grounds.

More than 100 children, both boys and girls, but most of them are boys are now lining up for practice on the school grounds.

The oldest one was twelve or thirteen years old, and the youngest was only six or seven years old. They were orphans from Shaanxi brought back by various ministries when they withdrew their troops.

At that time, many hungry people were brought back, and they had already gone to Hanzhong with the large army, and they would migrate to the Nanxiang Basin in the spring of next year.

The orphans were left alone. They had been taking care of their bodies a few days ago, and they were well fed, clothed and warm.

Ju Ming even asked a down-and-out scholar to teach them how to read and write every day.

After the armistice, many scholars from Shaanxi came to seek refuge.They were all the bad ones. Some people voted with their families, and some came alone, but they provided Zhu Ming with many middle and low-level official seedlings.

"marshal!"

The children stopped and looked up at Ju Ming with admiration.

The task of that down-and-out scholar is not only to educate cultural knowledge, but also to instill certain ideas in children.That is to say, Zhu Ming is the reborn parents of these children. Without Zhu Ming's help, the children would freeze to death, starve to death, and die of illness.

"Father!"

A twelve or thirteen-year-old child walked up to Zhu Ming and bowed to him.

Ju Ming does not have a strong family influence, so he has to cultivate a hardcore team by himself.Every year, one or two outstanding orphans are selected and adopted as adopted sons or adopted daughters, which can not only bring closer relationships, but also encourage children to learn and improve.

At present, the adopted son is only this one, and the surname has been changed to Zhu Xiaozhong.

Zhu Ming patted him on the shoulder, smiled and said, "Fat is growing on his face again, he is much handsomer than before, and in two years he will be a handsome young man."

Zhu Xiaozhong was very happy to receive the praise: "The food here is delicious, every meal is full."

"You guys continue to practice." Zhu Ming ordered.

"Yes!"

Zhu Xiaozhong retreated and led many children to practice stabbing with wooden spears.

The snow in the school grounds has been cleared, and because Zhu Ming is watching, the children practice extraordinarily hard, just hoping to get a word of praise from him.

……

Tong Guan had already returned to Tokyo in embarrassment, and knelt down in front of Song Huizong to plead guilty.

Song Huizong's face was extremely gloomy, and he smiled angrily: "What did you say when you led the troops out of Beijing? Did you do one of the things you boasted about in Haikou?"

Tong Guan said with tears: "Your Majesty, this is not a fault of the war. The land of the mediocre is dangerous and difficult. Even if there are millions of tigers, you can only fight with the navy. The bandits are not only capable of the navy, but also have a kind of artillery When it is fired, it makes a thunderclap sound, and it can throw iron stones ten miles away. If an ordinary shield is hit, it will immediately turn into dust."

"Is it really that magical?" Song Huizong didn't believe it at first, but now he has confirmed it.

Because the two armies of Zhong Shidao and Liu Yanqing also said the same in the battle reports, they all mentioned that the Zhu thief had strange artillery vehicles.

It's just that the shooting range is different, Zhong Shidao said it can hit three miles, Liu Yanqing said it can hit eight miles, and Tong Guan said it can directly become ten miles.

Tong Guan wept and said: "It is indeed so miraculous, it may be taught by overseas immortals, and it cannot be resisted by human power."

Song Huizong said: "According to Zhong Shidao, this thing is a weapon made by the Zhu thief. There is also a smaller iron rod that can also shoot projectiles. The Zhu thief has hundreds of soldiers holding this magical weapon. If it was made by the immortal Ci, why do you give so much?"

Tong Guan changed his words and said, "It must be the blueprint of the magic weapon given by the immortal, and Zhu thief and his son made it by themselves."

Song Huizong ordered the accompanying eunuch: "Call for Master Zhong."

After the war, among the main generals, only Zhong Shidao obediently returned to Beijing to be punished.

Yao Gu led his troops back to Hehuang, and reported victory to the imperial court before withdrawing, saying that he had stopped [-] bandits in Baoji and Dasan Pass with less than [-] troops, and captured hundreds of elite armored thieves.

This old man was indeed not defeated, and was promoted to be the Jiedu Envoy of Xihe (from the second rank) because of his meritorious service.His son, Yao Pingzhong, was promoted to Qinzhou Chengxuan envoy (fourth grade) because of his meritorious service.Even Wu Jie, who made great contributions in making suggestions, was promoted to Dun Wulang (Zhengbapin).

At the same time, the imperial court ordered Yao Guli to mobilize his troops and go to Shandong to suppress bandits immediately after the snow melted in spring.

And Zhe Keqiu didn't blame anyone, but said that the Zhe family's army fled because there was not enough food and grass.As for why there is not enough food and grass, it is left to Song Huizong to guess.

Then he said that the strength of the Zhejia army was not damaged, and he gathered nearly [-] fleeing soldiers along the way, and he could go to fight the Zhu thief again at any time.

But the money and food were not enough, and the court had to provide food and salaries as soon as possible.

"Collect nearly [-] fleeing soldiers", this sentence is the key!

Song Huizong could only reprimand on the surface, and then asked the local government to transport grain and grass to appease him, and ordered him to go to Hebei to suppress the bandits in the spring of next year.

As for Liu Yanqing, he first blamed Zhong Shidao, saying that he was about to break through the bandits' stronghold and completely break through the Tangluo Road to enter Hanzhong.At this moment, Zhong Shi Dao was defeated, causing the Zhu thief to go to Shaanxi and block Liu Yanqing's returning army in Luogu.Then he dumped the blame on Wang Yuan and Han Shizhong, saying that the two had turned against each other before the battle, causing the morale of the entire army to plummet.

Liu Yanqing claimed that in order to keep the army, he negotiated with the Zhu thief in many ways, and was forced to agree to surrender.Most of the captives released by the Zhu thief have fled back to their hometowns. As long as the court provides enough money and food, he can recruit them back immediately.

Since the army could be recruited back, Song Huizong couldn't punish too much, and symbolically gave Liu Yanqing's wife a higher order.

Even Zhong Shizhong, Liu Xi, and Liu Qi were promoted to Jilu officials by one level because they saved Xianyang and Chang'an and prevented the Zhu thieves from sweeping Guanzhong.

For the three-way army in Shaanxi, the scapegoat has to be borne by Mr. Zhong.

This person has been stripped of all his posts and ordered to promote Liquan Temple.

Zhong Shidao was recruited into the palace to face the saint, Song Huizong said: "You and Tong Guan talk about that weird weapon."

Zhong Shidao said: "After I was captured by the Zhu thief, I made many indirect attacks. Although I didn't find out clearly, I also knew that the two weapons were called muskets and cannons. I thought about it carefully and guessed that it was fired with gunpowder, but I didn't know. How to imitate."

The gunpowder formula in the Northern Song Dynasty can only burn violently and cannot cause an explosion effect because the proportion of saltpeter is too low.

Of course, occasionally due to improper deployment, explosions may also occur.

Zhong Shidao said again: "After I returned to Tokyo, I asked some puppet masters and medicine craftsmen. They said that the gunpowder might indeed explode. A medicine craftsman, with some money, I am willing to explore the method of making muskets and cannons for the court."

Song Huizong nodded and said: "You are allowed to do this matter. If you succeed, you will be reinstated immediately."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!" Master Zhong said gratefully.

Song Huizong said again: "Choose a kind of daughter and send it to the little Zhu thief."

Zhong Shidao quickly expressed his position: "The Zhong family has been loyal to the imperial court for generations, and will never marry that bandit!"

Song Huizong asked back: "Zhu thief asks for a marriage, your Zhong family doesn't want to marry a daughter, should you let the Zhe family marry a daughter?"

Zhong Shidao was at a loss for words, if the Zhe family married the Zhu thief, Shaanxi would be in danger in the future.Once the Zhu bandits lead troops to kill them, all the Western armies must not only guard against the bandits, but also guard against the Zhe family's sudden defection.

Thinking of what the Zhu thief said, it really came true.

Zhong Shidao had no choice but to accept the order: "Yes!"

"Officials, official... Shandong has good news!"

The eunuch Li Yan came with Cai You and stood outside the hall and shouted excitedly.

Song Huizong immediately became energetic: "Come in quickly!"

Cai You said: "Zhang Shuye used the estrangement plan to make the bandit Prince Li and his troops fight against each other. The officers and soldiers took the opportunity to fight out, smashed the bandits, beheaded more than 1 people, and captured more than [-] people. The officers and troops recovered Yunzhou, Dongdong Ah, in the three cities of Pingyin, Prince Li, the bandit chieftain, has been captured and will be escorted to Beijing today."

"well!"

Amid a series of defeats, Song Huizong finally heard the good news: "Zhang Shuye was promoted to two officials, promoted to Jingdong Road Metropolitan Transshipment, and Jingdong Road's appeasement envoy, fully responsible for Shandong bandit suppression."

Tong Guan and Zhong Shidao quickly said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty."

Song Huizong said happily: "Zhang Shuye is the mainstay of the country, and he is really the pillar of the country. Let his son be an official. Next year, the Western Army will be transferred to Shandong, and Zhang Shuye will also be the commander!"

Tong Guan bowed his head, his face was a bit sullen, he seemed to have lost the right to command the army.

Thinking about the battle against Jinzhou, Tong Guan was extremely aggrieved...

(End of this chapter)