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Chapter 403 Battle Report

In the blink of an eye, the Spring Festival of the ninth year of Jingyang is coming again, and Hong Tao has to be passively busy on this day. Various sacrificial activities are endless. After worshiping the ancestors, heaven and earth, Xuanhuang, there is also a pretentious ceremony to hold the land.

According to the practice of the Ming Dynasty, on a certain day in the first month of the first month, the emperor, along with all the civil and military officials, took farm tools and drove mules and horses to the Zihuang Village of Nanhai to find a piece of land to cultivate in disguise. I pray that this year will bring good weather and good harvest.

To enhance the atmosphere, fireworks will be used during the ceremony. When the ceremonial officer of the Ministry of Rites shouted, "The clouds are rising!" The Jin Yiwei will set off fireworks to fill the sky with smoke, which means thick clouds and rolling thunder.

At this time, the ceremonial officer will shout again, "The rain is coming!" The Jin Yiwei set off fireworks again, but this time the fireworks were different from the cloud-making ones. There was water hidden in them. After they exploded, water droplets fell down, symbolizing spring rain.

The meaning was quite good, and the method was considered thoughtful, but all side effects were borne by the emperor. What fell was not the spring rain at all, but mud particles with a sulfur smell, covering one head, face and neck. There was nowhere to hide, and the whole clothes were basically scrapped.

"It's not easy for King Fu either..." After finally surviving the ceremony and returning to the palace, Hong Tao murmured to himself while soaking in a large wooden barrel and picking mud from his hair.

"Long live Lord, are you missing King Fu?" Wang Chengen stood on a wooden bench, mixed hot water and cold water and poured it into the funnel on top of the wooden barrel. This was also a thing invented by the emperor, called a shower head, which can divide the water flow into dozens of streams.

"He must deserve to die for rebelling, but he has also shared a lot of hardships for me. His merits and demerits are equal to each other. His crime is not worthy of death, so staying here is of some use."

Hong Tao didn't feel any compunction about the deaths of King Fu and Concubine Zheng. He was mainly annoyed by the complicated etiquette. In the past, when King Fu was around, most of the sacrificial activities could be done on his behalf. Now that he is the only orthodox royal family in the capital, he can't find anyone to slack off.

"Long live the Lord, my slave Wang An has something important to report!" At this time, a low voice came from outside the door asking for instructions.

"Come in, I won't see you following me when I'm suffering. I'll get back to work as soon as I feel comfortable." Well, his attempt to take a comfortable bath was about to be shattered again, and Hong Tao stayed in the barrel with a glimmer of hope. . Anyway, Wang An has been taking care of his daily life since he was a child. He has already seen what he should see, and there is no need to avoid it.

"If it weren't for the urgent report from Shanhaiguan, I would never dare to bother Long Live Lord!" Before he finished speaking, Wang An had already pushed the door open and walked in quickly. He said as he walked, and he picked up a cloth and handed it over.

"When did you receive it?" Upon hearing the emergency report from Shanhaiguan, Hong Tao's lazy expression immediately disappeared. He stood up and took the towel while wiping it.

"Jin Yiwei is in a rush for eight hundred miles. Wang Zhizhen didn't dare to delay for a moment. The slaves came as soon as they got it. The Ministry of War will be delayed for a few hours. They shouldn't have received it yet."

When it comes to serving people, I have to say that ginger is always spicy. Although Wang An has not been around for several years, he still knows whether the emperor likes to stretch out his left hand or right hand first when putting on clothes, which is very silky. Although Wang Chengen worked hard, there was still a big gap in many details.

There is only one kind of official document that is eligible for express delivery over 800 miles, which is the border war report. Hong Tao, who came from Shanhaiguan, could roughly guess the content without opening the fire paint. It was either a Jurchen or a Mongolian with the edges cut off, and the scale was not too small.

Sure enough, yesterday morning an army suddenly launched a fierce attack on Taolinkou. The defenders lit beacon fire to warn the nearby guards. After hearing the news, Du Song, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan, immediately dispatched 1000 Shanhai Guard cavalry to support and ordered to appease the troops. Ningwei, Dongsheng Zuowei, and Xingzhou Youtunwei sent troops northward to rescue. Afterwards, Dongsheng Youwei, Kaiping Zhongtunwei, Zhongyi Zhongwei, Xingzhou Zuotunwei, and Xingzhou Zhongtunwei were ordered to stay on guard to prevent the enemy from moving towards the capital after breaking through the Great Wall. The specific battle situation is not yet known, and we have to wait for subsequent battle reports to arrive.

"...Have the six ministries and nine ministers and the cabinet bachelors go to Yangxin Hall immediately and inform Yuan Keli that the Marine Guards will assemble at Tianjin Guard and allocate a thousand people to be sent to the mouth of Luanhe River by sea ship to assist the Luanzhou Iron Works.

Tell Zhang Ran to bring all the combatable troops from the Warrior Camp and the Fourth Guard Camp to Tongzhou. If they are attacked by the enemy, send a message to the Tianjin Guards immediately. They must stand firm and wait for help. The city is still alive, but people will die if it is lost! "

Hong Tao did not wait foolishly and took countermeasures immediately. Regardless of whether the invading enemy is harassing or attacking, the first thing that must be supported is not the capital but the Luanzhou Iron Works.

There are tens of thousands of workers and laborers working in full swing there, as well as a large number of machinery and equipment. They will be the source of power for the rapid development of Ming Dynasty in the next few years, and they must not suffer large-scale losses.

If there are a large number of enemies and they really break through the Great Wall defense line, sending 1000 marine guards over will definitely not be enough. But it doesn't matter, Li Ruzhang is training the factory protection team in Luanzhou at this time, and it has been three months.

Even if they have not experienced the baptism of war and cannot form an independent army, the command and demonstration of the Marine Guards officers and soldiers should not be too useless. You can still look forward to relying on the factory walls and buildings to stand firm and wait for reinforcements. As long as you don't disperse in a hurry and wait for the surrounding garrison and border troops to surround you, the enemy will have to leave if they don't want to.

Secondly, the focus of defense is still not the capital, but the Tianjin Guard. The factories, workshops, and population here are more densely packed, and not only cannot they be damaged, but they are not even allowed to be frightened.

Compared with Luanzhou, Tianjin Guard's defense force is much more sufficient. After all, it is the headquarters of the Navy. In addition to the Marine Guards, there are more than 4,000 naval officers and soldiers. When they get off the ship and pick up guns, they are no worse than Marine Guards. Especially artillery, they must be particularly professional and experienced.

The last thing to protect is still not the capital. Tongzhou is extremely critical as the east gate of the capital and the terminus of the canal. The business is extremely developed, and there are countless various warehouses.

It was really uneasy to rely on Shenwu Zhongwei and Dingbian Guards to defend Hong Tao, so he gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, and even sent out personal security forces. There is no way, with only such a small amount of money, it is very stretched at critical moments.

"...Long live my lord, is the capital a little empty? Why don't you let the Marine Guards come to the capital to escort you and lead the troops to rescue Luanzhou with Jun Song?"

Wang An very much recognized the emperor's calm, decisive and sharp performance in dealing with chaos. A superior should be like this. He had to show his courage even if he was defeated, so that the people working below would not beat the drum in their hearts.

But, calmness and boldness alone cannot win a war, you must also have the ability to organize troops. In this regard, he did not agree with the emperor's arrangement. Luanzhou, Tianjin Wei, and Tongzhou should indeed be guarded, but the capital should be protected even more. All the limited elite soldiers were sent out, but the family was empty.

(End of this chapter)