Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 832 Wuzhou City is at the foot of the mountain
Outside the Beijing Camp,
As Zhang Jinyu left at full speed,

Inside the camp, on the stage for selecting generals, all the generals were filled with excitement. Although Marquis Luo Yun was extremely strict in disciplining his troops, he was not ruthless. Looking back at the audience below, General Han had already been helped up by his personal soldiers, wailing in pain.
Yang Shixiong on the stage, bearing the pain, was ready to go back with his bare chest, asking the military doctor to come over and apply some medicine for the wound. Just as he was about to leave,

Duan Kaiyuan called him back.
"Fourth brother, please stay,"

Yang Shixiong stopped, endured the pain and turned his head.

"Brother, what do you want me to do?"

Seeing his fourth brother's miserable appearance, Duan Kaiyuan couldn't bear to say the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

"Fourth brother, today the misunderstanding between you and Marquis Luo Yun has been resolved. Don't let it get to your heart. If the Beijing camp really sends troops this time, it will be a good thing and a bad thing. Marquis Luo Yun likes to use young men from poor families. This is your chance. Don't miss it."

These words were spoken with great earnestness. The Beijing camp had not seen any war for nearly ten years, and had only promoted a number of generals through military demonstrations. However, most of these people were sons of nobles in the capital, such as himself, while many of the remaining commanders had no military merits, so they were not promoted. This was why many generals were so excited just now.

"I know, big brother. I didn't take it to heart. I have to fight the war and lead the soldiers. I have never been afraid of these things. Luo Yunhou is an open-minded person. He will avenge his enemies and reward his merits. Everyone knows that. I am just worried about the safety of the commander-in-chief. It seems that the situation in southern Beijing is different from what we thought. It has become so decadent."

No matter what, he was promoted to a general because of the general. When he was encircling and suppressing the bandits on the official road, it was all because of the hard work. Others could not go, so he led the troops and it took him a year to return to the camp with success and be rewarded. Yang Shixiong kept these favors in mind. If the army heading south was defeated, in the chaos of soldiers, swords and knives were merciless, and he didn't know what would happen to the general's safety.
"Don't worry, fourth brother. With Wang Ren and Jia Lian by your side, even if we are defeated, we can still bring the general out with 30,000 elite cavalry. But there is one thing I don't understand. Is there really an accident in Jingnan, or is there an accident expected in the future? Marquis Luo Yun didn't say it clearly!"

The second in command, Yin Renchang, squinted his eyes, mostly unconvinced in his heart. When two armies faced each other, unless there was an overwhelming advantage, how could the outcome be decided in just one or two rounds? It was a fantasy. Even for Luo Yunhou outside the Great Wall, it took him more than half a month to take advantage of the strong city and wear down the enemy.

Only Hu Shoucheng shook his head after hearing this.

"What the two brothers said makes sense, but it is just our guess. If there is really a situation in the south, there should be a war report in the capital by now. Now it has been calm, it is probably just the court's guess. Letting Marquis Luo Yun lead the Beijing camp is just to stabilize the situation in the court. After all, the troops of the princes from all over the country have just entered the capital."

With Hu Shoucheng's explanation, several people's faces froze. What he said made sense. After all, the princes from all over the country were all here. Given the situation in the court, they should have noticed those people. It seemed that the two princesses had also returned to the capital.

That is to say, among the noble camps, they also knew some things about the royal family. If it were the new officials from the capital, they would be completely in the dark. They could not bear to see some secrets of the capital and would recklessly get involved in them, ending up with their deaths and property confiscations.

"Third brother, what you said is true. It seems ordinary, but it is full of dangers. We can't care about other things. If we don't train the soldiers well and Luo Yunhou sees it, he will not let it go like we did today. He is a man who can't tolerate any sand in his eyes. If that happens, if we really lose our job, no one will be able to reason with us."

Duan Kaiping thought a lot, but unfortunately, he was just a small general of Dingxi and was not in the court. How could he discuss these things? Several people felt sympathetic and knew that now was not the time to think about these things. They all understood each other and went back with their personal soldiers to arrange the training of the soldiers.

At this time,
The troops under General Gu Ping of Jingnan had already taken the northwest path, along the foot of the mountain range, along the Ganze River, and rushed towards the border of Wuzhou. Five days later in the afternoon,
today,

Wuzhou City is in sight in the distance. As long as you go down the mountain road, you will find Wuzhou City at the foot of the mountain.

here,

Gu Ping and Qin Yunjiang, led the remaining 30,000 troops, braved the wind and rain all the way, with almost no supplies, and worked day and night until they finally reached the city.

"General, Wuzhou City is at the foot of the mountain. Going further north, it will take less than two days to reach the important town of Anyang. Only then can we quickly contact the court. Almost all the scouts left in Linshan County were wiped out. Only a few people managed to escape at the risk of their lives. Linshan County has been lost, and Lord Yu has surrendered to the enemy."

An almost muffled voice came from behind. Deputy General Chai Ding, holding a secret letter in his hand, reported the situation of the scouts left behind four days ago. The guards of the Imperial City brought by Captain Song Liang of the Imperial City Division also suffered heavy casualties, and no news was leaked out at all.

But not seen,
Gu Ping's face was calm. He had suspected something was wrong before. Now it seemed that they wanted him to leave the county city and drive him away so that they could control the government troops. Moreover, when they came to help Lin Yue Mansion, they had already set up an ambush in Luoye Valley, hoping to annihilate him. But Qin Yunjiang led his troops to break through, and by some strange coincidence, he escaped.

Even earlier, after Song Liang came, he said that a group of people had been following him. If the people who were following him didn't leave that day, he would not be able to leave Luoye Valley. Who could have set up such a big plan?

Thinking of those Taiping Sect evildoers, although they are strong, they are no match for me. So, the person behind them, it seems to be the Governor Yu, but it may be someone else. At this moment, I am afraid that the court does not know about the affairs in the south of Beijing. It's bad, the court reinforcements.

Gu Ping's pupils shrank in shock, thinking that the imperial court would certainly send a large army if they knew about the civil unrest in the south of Beijing. If those people and the Taiping Sect joined forces, the imperial reinforcements would be defeated, the imperial court would be shaken, and even the whole world would be shaken, and the local princes would have their chance.

"Qin Yunjiang, order the army to rush to Wuzhou City to get supplies and then rest for four hours before heading north to Anyang."

"Yes, General."

Qin Yunjiang led the vanguard down the mountain road and headed towards the city.

Seeing the army going down the mountain, Gu Ping looked back and ordered,

"Chai Ding, select three hundred men and borrow the courier from Wuzhou. Have Qian Jiang personally take the secret letter and report it to the court eight hundred miles away. You and I are both guilty. Whether we can save our lives depends on this letter."

"This is, General, your order."

Chai Ding's eyes turned red. Tens of thousands of Tiger Guards, but now only a remnant has fled here. If the court knew how the general would survive, those civil officials would definitely make a big fuss.
"General, this kind of battle report cannot be written like this, otherwise those court officials will certainly exaggerate that you are a defeated general. We fought a bloody battle in Luoye Valley and won a tragic victory. What does it have to do with us that he surrendered to the enemy in Shiyuan? That!"

Gu Ping jumped on his horse and scolded;

"Chai Ding, as the general of Dawu, the disadvantage of this battle is also due to my carelessness. As the general of Jingnan, it is my duty to report the truth for the court and the emperor to judge."

Gu Ping's face was solemn. At this moment, he had already put aside the affairs of the court officials. Instead, he felt unwilling that his brothers had died in vain.

"Yes, General, I will go right away."

Chai Ding turned and ran towards the cavalry team behind the team, shouting Qian Jiang,

Wuzhou City at the foot of the mountain,

Most of the government troops guarding the city were dozing off on the city wall with their eyes half asleep, while the soldiers at the city gate were checking the caravans coming in and out, touching them from time to time and deducting some of the reward money.

At this time, no one noticed the army coming outside the city. They only felt the ground shaking under their feet. Before they could come to their senses, the army was close. The leading captain came to his senses, his face turned pale, and he shouted;

"Quick, report to the general, there are soldiers coming outside the city."

After trembling,

Qin Yunjiang came close and looked at the government troops in front of him with a trace of disdain in his eyes. He didn't even see the army approaching. If he had encountered those people from the Taiping Sect, Wuzhou would have been lost long ago.
"I am the commander of Lin Yue's residence. Where is your master?"

"Uh, Lin Yue Mansion?"

The captain of the city gate looked unconvinced that the guard of Lin Yue Mansion could come here, but looking outside, the army gathered here, and he dared not not go back;

"General, my general will be here soon. The prefectural government has also been informed. Please take a rest for a while."

He swallowed and replied.

Qin Yunjiang also knew that things could not be rushed, so he ordered Lan Xiao to set up camp outside the city. The army behind him did not enter the city, but set up camp on the open space outside the city.

The captain heaved a sigh of relief when he saw this.
It was at this time that Ji Lan, the garrison commander of Wuzhou, hurried over with more than a thousand soldiers. He was originally angry, but when he saw the large army outside the city, which did not look like scattered soldiers, he shrank his head and asked;
"What's going on? Where did so many soldiers come from?"

The captain of the city gate quickly replied;

"General, the person who came here said he was the Linyue Mansion's garrison commander Qin Yunjiang. I don't believe it. Linyue Mansion is in the south of Beijing, a thousand miles away from us. How could it be possible for it to come to us?"

"What, the garrison commander of Lin Yue Mansion, isn't he in southern Beijing? How could he come here when the Taiping Cult is rampant, and who is with him?" Ji Lan, the garrison commander of Wuzhou, was unwilling to believe it. The place was thousands of miles away, and there was no order from the court. If he fled with his troops privately, he would lose his head. Besides, there was civil unrest in southern Beijing, and the news spread throughout the interior. Everyone knew about it.

So, seeing that the main army was still outside, General Ji first arranged the government troops he brought with him to the city wall, and he himself brought his personal soldiers here to wait for several officials from the prefectural yamen.

It is said that in the Wuzhou prefectural government office,
That is, the prefect Lu Shangru and the co-prefect Xing Si were drinking tea in the backyard and discussing some developments in the court.
"Sir, you are far-sighted and stay away from trouble. When selecting officials, I saw you directly choose Wuzhou and I didn't understand the meaning. Now it seems that a quiet place is rare."

The praise from the co-magistrate Xing Si made the prefect Lu Shangru laugh and shake his head;

"Haha, oh, Xing Si, Xing Si, you are just trying to please others. When evaluating your performance, the Ministry of Personnel also let you choose, and you chose Wuzhou City. How can you say that I am far-sighted?"

"Your Excellency, please do not say that. I remember three years ago, the Ministry of Personnel selected officials for me, but I followed your selection only after I saw you make the selection. Although Wuzhou City is not rich, I will not complain. As long as there is some income, it is enough."

Lord Xing was always full of nice things to say, and he had been living a carefree life in the past few years, and he had also shown a lot of respect to Lord Lu, which really brought him honor.

"People who are content are always happy. Why do we need so much? I heard that those officials who went to the south of the capital have already died by the sword. They were too eager to plunder and lost their lives. It was unwise. They didn't know how to take things slow and live a carefree life like us."

"That's what my lord said."

In the courtyard, the two of them talked very happily. After working together for so many years, there were some things that did not need to be said explicitly.

At this time, a soldier came in a panic from the front yard, ran straight in front of the two of them, and knelt on the ground with a plop. Behind him, the butler and the servant were also following them, panting.
"Master, General Ji's soldiers rushed in from outside the door, and I failed to stop them."

Seeing the housekeeper gasping for breath to explain, Lu Shangru looked suspiciously and raised his hand.
"I see. What are you doing here?"

The one asking this was the soldier kneeling on the ground, who was seen breathing heavily as he replied;
"My Lord, I am a soldier guarding the city gate. The captain asked me to tell the two masters that a large number of soldiers have arrived outside the city. The general leading them claims to be Qin Yunjiang, the commander of Linyue Mansion. He said he wants to see the prefect. I dare not neglect it and report as soon as possible."

A few words were answered neatly, but when they heard that the guard of Lin Yuefu, Qin Yunjiang, was coming, the two were full of disbelief. Lin Yuefu was in the south of Beijing, about 800 miles away from here, and there were mountains blocking the way. How could he come here? Besides, if he led his army away without the imperial order, it would be fatal.
Civil unrest in southern Beijing,

The two looked at each other at the same time. This should be the case, but it didn't make sense. Why didn't they go to the county town but went to Wuzhou? Lord Xing saw something strange and asked;
"Do you know why General Qin came here?"

"Your Excellency, I don't know!"

The soldier shook his head. How could he know about the adults' affairs? Seeing that he couldn't get any information, Lu Shangru didn't waste time and stood up and said;

"Give him ten taels of silver, and then prepare the carriage, and let's go take a look."

"Yes, sir."

The butler responded, winked at the servant behind him, and then asked the servant to lead the messenger soldier to collect the reward, while he led his men to the door to prepare the carriage and horses.
After a while, the two adults got on the carriage and headed straight for the city gate.

outside the city,

The 30,000-strong army quickly set up camp, tents were set up one by one, and all the soldiers began to lie on the ground to rest. The days of marching had almost worn everyone out. Gu Ping saw all of this.
When we reached the city gate,
Qin Yunjiang and Lan Xiao came over to greet him.
"General, the prefect of Wuzhou will be here soon. Should we stay here or continue north? The brothers are exhausted."

How could the generals not know what the troops outside the city looked like? They had no fighting power at all. If they did not rest and recuperate, they would be powerless to resist if something unexpected happened.
"Then rest for one more day and have a good rest here. Wuzhou must provide all the supplies."

"Yes, General."

Just as the two were discussing the decision, the carriage of the prefect of Wuzhou arrived at the city gate. The guard Ji Lan led his men to greet them. The carriage stopped and the two gentlemen lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage.

He looked at General Ji and asked;

"General Ji, can the people coming here be considered as imperial soldiers?"

When Ji Lan saw what Governor Lu asked, he nodded quickly.

"Sir, the soldiers who came are actually from the imperial court. The general leading them claimed to be from southern Beijing. I don't quite believe it. How did they get here from such a long distance?"

"No matter how he got here, we should make the best of it. Find out clearly before making any plans."

At this point, the troops have set up camp. What else can I do? I just have a bad feeling in my heart. These troops may seem elite, but they look tired, and the blood on their armor has long been dry. They are defeated. Could it be that there are still pursuers and bandits behind them? In that case, Wuzhou City is in danger.
Thinking of this, I quickly suppressed the thought and stood firm.
Walking outside the military camp, he saw several generals riding on horses, which were particularly eye-catching. Governor Lu clasped his fists and asked;
"May I ask who is the general in charge?"

Hearing the prefect's words,
Gu Ping turned around and saw the person in charge coming here. He felt relieved and clasped his fists and replied;

"I am General Jingnan, Gu Ping, and I am honored to meet you, the prefect. I have traveled all the way to lead my troops to break through the siege. I hope you can help me and transport some food and meat so that my brothers can have a hot meal."

Gu Ping didn't try to test him at all. He just told him the whole story and said that he just came to ask for food.

But when these words were heard by several officials in Wuzhou, their faces changed. General Jingnan and the man behind him who claimed to be the commander of Lin Yuefu, what did these two people mean by breaking through to this point? Did they lose all the land in Jingnan? It was not even written in the court gazette.

Lu Shangru thought a lot in his mind, with a smile on his face.

"General Gu, don't worry. The enemy troops have not received any documents from the court, so I can't open the treasury at will. However, since you have come from afar, I have to show my hospitality. You can still withdraw money from the treasury. You just need to write an IOU and an official letter so that we can have an explanation."

"Okay, I will present you with my own documents."

I don't know whether Gu Ping had prepared in advance or had thought about it when he came, so he handed over the grain borrowing document. Prefect Lu looked a little embarrassed, and took it with his hand. It was not easy to regret, so he ordered Lord Xing to gather the runners of the yamen and start sending out the grain. After making some arrangements, Lord Lu smiled again and asked;

"General Gu, please forgive me for being so nosy. You are in the south of Beijing. You are going to the county town to break out. How can you cross this winding mountain range and reach Wuzhou? But there are pursuers behind you."

This question,
Ji Lan, the garrison commander of Wuzhou Prefecture, suddenly changed color. There were only 3,000 soldiers in Wuzhou City, and they had received 2,000 unpaid salaries. Now there were only about 1,000 people guarding the city. If there were pursuers, Wuzhou City would be finished.

"General, why are you chasing so many soldiers?"

Seeing that the two of them were a little flustered,

Gu Ping, Qin Yunjiang and others dismounted and consoled him;

"Don't worry, Lord Lu. There are no pursuers. We fought a bloody battle in Fallen Leaf Valley. Our retreat was cut off. We are blocked by pursuers in front of us. We have no supplies. We can only break through here. Please borrow some food and grass. I still need to go to the important town of Anyang."

Seeing that the people were about to leave, the two people who should have been happy suddenly felt a little uneasy. There were no pursuers, but they were about to leave. What if there were still pursuers, then they would be finished.

"Wait a minute, General. I don't know what's going on in the south of the capital, but since you have broken through to this place, you should wait for the imperial documents here. If you go north to Anyang and alert the court, you should know the consequences.

Although Wuzhou is not rich, it has plenty of food and grass, enough for the general's troops. I think the general has already reported this to the court, and I will follow suit."

Prefect Lu's explanation was for the sake of the overall situation and even selfless. Ji Lan understood the prefect's meaning and quickly agreed.

"Yes, General, it is better for you to rest here for a few days and wait for the imperial decree to come down, so that you can make plans. If the pursuers come here, I am ashamed and cannot stop them!"

(End of this chapter)