Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 95 Father, you actually cheated?
Cao Huachun was riding a tall horse in front, looking at the team with flags lined up and horses' hooves rumbling. Each of them was dignified and had sharp eyes.

There are 75,000 soldiers and their equipment has been updated again, and everyone is wearing armor.

The armor and fish-scale armor were shiny and dazzling in the sun, and the swords and spears on his back also flashed a sharp cold light.

His eyes suddenly turned red.

He requested to resign several times, but was rejected by His Majesty. Then he was reprimanded by the Emperor. He thought he would be convicted and sent back home, but he didn't expect that it was just a turning point.

It was directly pulled up several dimensions.

"If I can win a few more battles, maybe I can be on par with the eunuch Sanbao?"

Zheng He, Zheng Sanbao.

He was a man whose name went down in history, and all the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty took him as their role model.

Behind him were Li Banghua, Qin Liangyu and others, with sharp eyes.

Sun Yingyuan's face was calm and his eyes were like thunder, as if he was accumulating strength. Huang Degong was chatting and joking with his soldiers, and then they were greeted with cheers.

Ma Xianglin slapped his horse and rebuked the soldiers who were touching the cannons, "Stop touching them or they'll break them."

Zhang Shize laughed and said, "It's not a girl's butt, how can it be damaged so easily?"

"Haha~~"

There was a burst of laughter.

Compared with previous expeditions, the soldiers were more vigorous and full of energy this time.

Everyone's face was filled with confidence as they imagined how they would achieve great things, kill the Tartars, and earn wealth and glory for themselves and their families.

"Report!" A messenger from the Jinyiwei ran from a distance. Cao Huachun took it and read it, "Let's check again."

It said that Qing troops appeared thirty miles away.

"duo~"

As the horn sounded, all the soldiers stopped what they were doing and looked solemnly towards the area where the flag was.

"The enemy has appeared?" Huang Degong's eyes were as big as a calf's, his gaze was like fire, full of excitement, "Thirty miles away?"

"Well, brothers, it's time to make achievements again."

"Long live!"

"Long live, long live..." the soldiers of the Yongwei Camp shouted in unison.

Beijing Camp,

Zhang Shize was unwilling to fall behind and shouted at the top of his voice: "Da Ming, long victory!"

"Great Ming, long-lasting victory!"

Thirty thousand cavalry, one thousand artillery soldiers, six thousand musketeers, three thousand baggage and logistics soldiers, and the remaining thirty-five thousand infantry were all excited at this moment and shouted in unison.

"Victory! Victory!"

The sound exploded overhead like thunder, scaring away the birds in the distant woods.

What is faith?

This is confidence. When two armies fight, it is actually the same as a fight between people. As long as I have defeated you once, I will dare to fight you and will not be afraid of fighting you.

What I fear is that they have never defeated their opponents. They are not evenly matched, but rather beaten. Like the Ming Dynasty, which had not won a battle for decades, the soldiers would feel their legs twitching when they met the enemy, and they had no desire to win. How could they defeat the enemy?
……

"Go ten more miles!"

After looking at the map, Cao Huachun asked the flag bearer to give the order.

Even though he now has 75,000 soldiers and horses, he has no intention of engaging the enemy head-on. Ten miles ahead is Tongzhou City, and he wants to rely on Tongzhou City to fight against the Qing troops.

As Your Majesty said: Before the border troops from all over the country arrive, we should not engage in a large-scale battle with the Qing army with more than 30,000 troops.

It is true that they have artillery, but the power of artillery and muskets can only be exerted at a certain distance. Once tens of thousands of cavalry rush to the front, it will be a disaster for the three major camps.

Victory or defeat is secondary. Cao Huachun cannot let the enemy's cannons and muskets fall into their hands.

The flag bearer waved the flag, commanding the soldiers of the three camps to continue advancing.

It is now mid-to-late May and the temperature has risen, but the soldiers from the three battalions are sweating profusely but none of them complain of being tired.

"Third brother, aren't you hot?"

"It's hot, but we are hotter than the Tartars. They live in the north all year round and wear three layers of armor. They must be more uncomfortable than us." An old soldier said with gritted teeth: "Just wait, if you can chop off a Tartar's head, it will be enough for you to marry a wife and buy a few acres of land."

"Anyway, I have made up my mind. I must chop more this time so that my mother can have a good life when I go back."

"If I get seriously injured, I will die on this battlefield and I will never go back."

The new soldier looked at the ferocious old soldier and couldn't help swallowing his saliva, "Third brother, the expression on your face just now was like you wanted to eat someone."

"Eating people?" The old soldier at the side laughed and said, "After you fight a war, you won't be much better."

……

At this moment, Governor Wu Aheng, who came from Miyun, had already led his troops towards Tongzhou.

After he received the news of the great victory of the Ming Dynasty in Tongzhou, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. "I understand. I finally understand why His Majesty asked me to organize the troops."

Wu Aheng finally understood why the emperor not only did not hold him accountable, but instead asked him to let the Tartars in.

And organize your troops and prepare to snipe when the enemy returns.

As soon as he received the order from the Grand Council, he led his 8000 troops to Tongzhou.

Not only him, but after receiving the order from the Grand Council, Lu Xiangsheng also ordered the three generals of Xuan, Da and Shanxi, Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu and Hu Dawei, to lead their troops south and rush towards Tongzhou.

The three towns of Xuanda had a total of about 28000 people, but only 9000 combat soldiers were sent out.

The Ming Dynasty army was divided into "combat troops" and "defending troops".

The guards are weak troops that can only defend the city, while the combat soldiers are the troops that can be deployed.

Among them, 5000 were from Xuanfu, which means that Datong and Shanxi towns only contributed 4000 troops. This was obtained by Lu Xiangsheng using the imperial sword to pressure the opponent.

Because Lu Xiangsheng discovered that the Shanxi general reported that there should be 1 combat soldiers in the entire town of Shanxi on paper, but in reality there were only 7500.

Among them, 3000 people were directly mobilized by the Shanxi general, and there were only 3000 cavalrymen among the 800 people, and these people were Hu Dawei's servants.

The situation was similar for Wang Pu, the general of Datong. On paper he had eight thousand men, but in reality he only had 5000 combat soldiers, including 1500 cavalry, all of whom were Wang Pu's servants.

"I'll settle the score with you when I come back." Lu Xiangsheng recruited all the cavalry and led his troops south.

Other than that,

Guanning Front,

Zu Dashou, the governor of Jinzhou City, sent out 6000 infantry and 3000 cavalry.

Wu Sangui sent out 8000 infantry and 3000 cavalry.

Jizhen sent out 4000 infantry and 2000 cavalry.

Baoding sent out 3000 infantry and 2000 cavalry.

Tianjin sent 5000 infantry and 2000 cavalry.

The governors of Shandong and Denglai also sent out 8000 soldiers... In total, about 7 soldiers and horses gathered towards Tongzhou.

……

In the examination room, Chongzhen finally finished the exam and handed in his paper. It was still dark, and he slowly walked out of the Imperial Examination Hall. Outside the door, Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming looked at Chongzhen with great excitement, "My son, you didn't get into trouble this time, did you?"

Chongzhen looked at the excited Prince Xiang and shook his head, "No, not only that, the prefect also asked his teacher to give me the food box."

"Father, are you friends with the prefect?"

"We can't say we are close friends, but we have known each other for so many years, so we still have some friendship." Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming pulled him, "Come on, follow father home. The mansion has hired a new chef. Father has tasted him today, and he should be to your liking."

But after pulling him, he failed to move. Instead, Chongzhen looked at Prince Xiang seriously and asked, "Is there really no special relationship between us?"

"No!" Xiang Wang Zhu Yiming asked in slight astonishment: "Why does my son value this so much?"

"I just want to pass the exam based on my real abilities, and I don't want to resort to any crooked methods. If that's the case, even if I pass, I won't feel at ease."

"Don't worry about that. My relationship with the prefect is not that serious. We are just nodding acquaintances."

"Huh~" Although Chongzhen still had doubts in his heart, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had great confidence in his articles, even conceited.

Whether from the perspective of words or articles, he believed that his essay for this provincial examination was an excellent work and good enough to pass the examination.

"Let's go. I asked the cook to prepare the food before we left. The food will be cold by the time we get back."

Just as Chongzhen was about to take a step, he saw Hongtao suddenly pour a basin of water on him, soaking him like a drowned rat.

"Let's ask for a good start." Xiang Wang Zhu Yiming said with a smile: "This is called, a golden fish cannot stay in a pond, once it encounters wind and rain, it turns into a dragon."

“……” Chongzhen’s mouth twitched a few times, and he wiped the water off his face speechlessly.

After returning to the palace, Chongzhen first washed up. He had been sweating profusely for three days in the Imperial Examination Hall, and the foul smell inside. Now, after washing up, he finally felt reborn.

Hong Tao was holding a cup of water in her hand. She lowered her head and almost bumped into the prince. She quickly stopped, but due to inertia, she still bumped into the prince. Her chest was soft and shook for a while. "Prince... The prince invites you to have dinner."

"understood!"

……

The next day,

When Chongzhen returned to Prince Xiang's mansion, he saw Prince Xiang waiting outside. "My son, do you have time to accompany father to see the list today?"

Chongzhen had already gone to court, but Zhu Changgan was still asleep. He quickly said to the outside, "Father, wait for me. I'll get up right away."

The family finished their breakfast in good order. Prince Xiang asked Hongtao to break off a branch from the locust tree outside the door and gently pat Chongzhen on the body.

King Xiang shouted loudly: "The locust flowers are yellow, and the candidates are busy."

"If there is a locust tree in front of the door, you will get promoted and become rich."

Chongzhen's originally normal expression froze instantly. Seeing Prince Xiang's extremely serious look, he could only cooperate and let Hong Tao take pictures of him from front to back.

"Don't move." Prince Xiang stopped Chongzhen again and told the servant beside him, "Carry the prince on the carriage. Carry him high, carry him high, don't let him fall to the ground."

“……”Chongzhen was completely confused.

When they arrived at the place where the notice was posted, it was already surrounded by people in three layers.

The provincial examination usually only admits dozens of people, who are divided into two grades, A and B, among which the top ten are in Grade A.

Similarly, the first place in the prefectural examination can directly obtain the title of scholar without having to participate in the next level of academy examination.

Other candidates who passed the county and prefectural examinations were awarded the title of "Tongsheng", which indicated that the candidate had basic cultural knowledge and writing skills, and at the same time proved that the candidate had obtained the formal qualification to participate in the imperial examination and could further participate in the academy examination held at the provincial level.

In addition, Tongsheng had some other privileges, such as not having to kneel during lawsuits and being able to eat at the same table with officials during wedding and funeral ceremonies.

After passing the academy examination, one will be considered a scholar and can take part in the subsequent provincial examination.

"Everyone, get out of the way, get out of the way!"

"Out!"

With a loud shout, the door of the government office opened, and the legal advisor came out with his men to post the notice.

After the officers pushed the crowd away, they posted the list.

As soon as the people left, everyone gathered around.

"Father..." Chongzhen was separated from Prince Xiang due to the crowd, but he also followed the crowd to the front of the list.

For some unknown reason, his whole body suddenly felt hot and full of anticipation.

Heart and chest heat.

I am talented, too!

How could he be a mediocre person?

He was sitting on the left, so he read from left to right. (In the Ming Dynasty, all official documents and books were written from right to left.)
Grade B, thirty people.

No.

Grade A... No, no, not yet... the first in the government case?

Chongzhen looked at the name and his body suddenly froze in place, as if he had been struck by lightning. There was a roar in his ears and all the moans disappeared.

Zhu Changgan?!

Are you the first in the case?

Chongzhen thought he would pass the exam, but he never thought he would be the first in the palace case.

Grade A, first place.

Chongzhen clenched his fingers, his chest heaving, his breathing rapid, he could hear the sound of his own heartbeat. He swallowed hard, pushed through the crowd and squeezed outside. He wanted to find Prince Xiang.

"Father, I..." But when he found Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming, he saw a person, the prefect's legal advisor, who was greeting and talking to Prince Xiang.

"congratulations!"

"Thank you, Master..."

The two of them had a very pleasant conversation, and the master was extremely humble, with laughter coming from time to time.

Chongzhen was filled with surprise and remembered again the food box and water that his master had given him.

This conversation, this government case...

Chongzhen suddenly felt a little cold. It was almost the hottest time of summer, but he felt cold all over.

My whole body was shaking.

It took more than a while, maybe a long time, maybe just a moment, and when he reacted again, it was Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming who patted him on the shoulder, "My son, what's wrong with you? Didn't you hit the target..."

"Is this what you mean by having no relationship with the prefect? ​​Is this what you mean by an acquaintance?" Chongzhen almost roared, shaking all over.

"I trust you so much, I admire you so much, I even..."

He could tolerate anything, but he could not tolerate cheating in the imperial examinations.

In a flash,

Shock, regret, pain...all the emotions swept towards me like a wave.

Chongzhen's eyes turned red and he turned around suddenly. He couldn't wait to leave here, leave this dirty place, leave this place that gave him warmth but deceived him.

"My son..." Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming was suddenly stunned by Chongzhen's roar.

He didn't understand what was going on, and it took him several seconds to react, "Quick, bring the prince back."

(End of this chapter)