When Yang Feng and Sun Chengzong returned to the lobby, the generals who were already red from drinking saw Sun Chengzong's smiling expression, and they immediately realized that the matter had been resolved, and after looking at each other one by one, their expressions became a little excited.

After Sun Chengzong returned to the lobby, he sat back in the first place, and his eyes swept over everyone before he said, "Everyone...... Listen to what this official has to say. ”

Hearing Sun Chengzong's words, the originally noisy lobby immediately became quiet, and everyone stopped talking and looked at Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong thought for a while and said: "After discussion between this official and General Yang Staff, it was decided that in addition to leaving 500 heads for General Yang Staff, the remaining 1,638 heads will be shared with you. ”

"Whoa......

As soon as Sun Chengzong's words fell, everyone burst into laughter, and they were all discussing how many heads they should get.

"Silence...... Quiet! Sun Chengzong had to shout again, "All the guards obey the order, and if there is any more noise for no reason, they will be expelled from the hall immediately." ”

"Whoa!"

Immediately, more than a dozen guards from the Governor's Mansion stepped forward, and they looked at the people in the lobby one by one, and when they saw the guards staring at them, the hall quieted down.

Sun Chengzong looked at everyone before he said: "After discussion between this official and General Yang, it was decided to award 321 heads to the Governor and the chief soldier of the Daling River, Zhao Shujiao, 213 heads to the deputy general Zu Dale Department, and 334 heads to the Lu Zhijia Department, the deputy commander of the Forward Battalion, and ......."

Listening to Sun Chengzong distribute today's harvest like a kindergarten teacher in later generations giving candy to the children, Yang Feng had some insights. The decline of the Ming Dynasty is not only in the decay of the imperial court's officials and finances, but even the army of the Ming Dynasty has rotted from the roots.

After the middle and late Ming Dynasty, although the cultural management group was in charge of the entire court and implemented the policy of using literature to control the military, the principle of rewarding military merits did not change. For example, in the later period of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court clearly stipulated that those who won one Jurchen head would be rewarded with 30 taels, and those who won three Jurchen heads would be promoted to one level.

At the beginning of the founding of the country, after the army reported the merits, the Ministry of War also sent verification officials to the field to personally verify the parties who made meritorious contributions, which is not counted, the verification officials also had to consult and check the soldiers and generals in the army at that time, and even interrogated the prisoners. The reason why Lan Yu and other founding generals were able to lead the Ming Iron Cavalry to sweep through the Central Plains and drive the invincible Mongolian Tartars back to Mongolia from the Central Plains.

However, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there was a problem with the Ming Dynasty's system of verification of military achievements, and the system of verification of the Ministry of War was also in vain, and the officials of the Ministry of War generally turned a blind eye to the military exploits reported by the Nine-sided Army, and the military discipline of the Nine-sided Army also slowly became corrupt, and the things of killing good people and falsely reporting their military exploits also happened from time to time, and in the later period, this kind of thing even became an open rule.

For example, the heads of more than 2,000 Jurchen Tartars captured by Yang Feng today should be all the credit of Yang Feng's subordinates, but when Sun Chengzong came here, he had to give more than half of the battle achievements to the Liaodong generals present. How can such a system convince the soldiers below, and how can they summon up the courage to work hard to kill the enemy?

Could it be that Sun Chengzong, as the emperor of the two dynasties, didn't know the drawbacks in this? No, Sun Chengzong understands the disadvantages of doing this better than anyone else, but he has no way to challenge these bad habits that have lasted for nearly a hundred years, if he tries to change all this, he is going against tens of thousands of army generals in Liaodong, and even millions of generals in the entire Ming Dynasty, not to mention him, even if the emperor comes in person, he has to weigh it.

Looking at the smiling expressions of the generals who read their names, Yang Feng only felt panicked in his heart. In his opinion, there are unspoken rules in all walks of life from ancient times to the present, and the so-called existence is reasonable, which is understandable. However, if this kind of unspoken rule has already endangered the combat effectiveness of the army and even the safety of the country, then such an unspoken rule has evolved into a cancer that must be removed, otherwise a bad country will collapse or even perish because of it.

After the distribution of the heads, everyone was happy, and Yang Feng, who was a little unhappy in his heart, found an excuse to go back to the barracks to sleep.

He didn't sleep all night, and early the next morning, when Yang Feng was still immersed in his sleep, he was woken up by a clear drum sound, which was not only exceptionally clear but also had a very rapid rhythm. As soon as he heard this drum, Yang Feng was full of excitement, this is the commonly known Jujiang drum, if he can't arrive on time, he will be punished by military regulations, he immediately jumped up from the bed, he only took less than five minutes to put on his clothes, hurriedly washed up, picked up the sword and stepped on the war horse towards the governor's mansion.

When Yang Feng hurried to the Governor's Mansion, he found that many generals were also in a hurry, and many of them even had crooked armor, and it was obvious that this gathering drum was also very sudden for them.

Just as he was about to enter the Governor's Mansion, Yang Feng saw Zhao Shujiao also hurrying over, he hurriedly walked up a few steps to his side and asked, "Lord Zhao, did the Governor gather all the generals like this in the past?" ”

"How is that possible!" Zhao Shujiao's eyes were still bloodshot, it was obvious that he hadn't slept well last night, he smiled bitterly: "If you often gather like this, who can stand it, unless it is a sudden emergency, the governor will inform you in advance." ”

"That's right." Yang Feng nodded slowly.

"Let's go, it's a blessing or a curse, it's a disaster that can't be avoided, and the one who should come will come back sooner or later." Zhao Shujiao patted Yang Feng on the shoulder and took the lead in striding in.

When Yang Feng entered the lobby behind the generals and sat down in turn, Sun Chengzong, who was dressed in a scarlet official uniform, came to the first seat of the hall and sat down under the support of two guards.

Today, Sun Chengzong's arms personally held the Shang Fang sword given by the Son of Heaven, and behind them, several guards also held the chess cards of the prince and young master, the military department Shangshu, the scholar of Wenhua Palace, and the Liaodong Governor one after another.

"Everyone!"

Sun Chengzong said with a solemn expression: "In the early hours of this morning, this superintendent received an urgent report from Lord Yuan Chonghuan, the commander of the military garrison. Later Jin Tartar's Erbeile Amin has already led 12,000 men and horses of the headquarters to surround the Dalinghe Fort, and blocked all the external communication of the Dalinghe Fort, Yuan Chonghuan sent a total of six waves of men and horses out to ask for help, and in the end only one wave of messengers can break through. ”

Most of the generals in the hall showed a look of doubt on their faces, and Zhao Shujiao stepped forward and said loudly: "Master Inspector, there will be something unclear in the end. Dalinghe Fort itself is garrisoned with 8,000 soldiers and horses, and a few days ago, Lord Yuan brought 2,000 soldiers and horses to help Lord Zhou, so that Dalinghe Fort has 10,000 soldiers and horses. Even if Amin's blue flag can be beaten, it is impossible to take Dalinghe Fort in a short time, why would Lord Yuan send people for help in such a hurry? ”

"yes!"

The generals also showed doubts on their faces, since ancient times, the defending side of the city was born to have an advantage over the besieging side, the city of Dalinghe Fort is deep in walls, and it is more than enough to defend with 10,000 defenders, as long as the defenders are united, how can it be easy to capture Dalinghe Fort with Amin's 12,000 men and horses, as for sending people to ask for help in such a hurry.

Seeing the look on the faces of the generals, Sun Chengzong said with a solemn expression: "It stands to reason that it is indeed difficult to take Dalinghe Fort in a short period of time with Amin's inlaid blue flag, but last night our night did not receive the news urgently, and Dai Shan did not return to Yizhou after being defeated by us, but went to the direction of Dalinghe Fort." ”

"Boom ......"

As soon as Sun Chengzong's words fell, the hall began to be noisy, and everyone's faces were no longer as relaxed as just now, but replaced by a dignified color. If they just said that they would definitely not be able to capture Dalinghe Fort in a short period of time with only Amin's 12,000 soldiers and horses, if they added more than 10,000 Zhenghongqi led by Dai Shan, it would be difficult to say, although Daishan's Zhenghongqi was just defeated by Yang Feng yesterday, but no one would doubt their combat effectiveness, and it was not clear that Dalinghe Fort would really be taken down by him.

Zhao Shujiao said solemnly: "Governor, if the red flag of Daishan, the thief chieftain, also joins the siege of Dalinghe Fort, I'm afraid that Dalinghe Fort really won't last long, so we should send reinforcements to help as soon as possible." ”

The generals also nodded, after Sun Chengzong came to Liaodong, he actively built a series of cities such as Youtun, Dalinghe Fort, Jinzhou, Daxingbao, Tashan, Songshan and Xingshan, forming the Jinning defense line, these defense lines are interlocking, both watching and helping each other or holding alone, Dalinghe is the most cutting-edge link in this defense line, if Dalinghe Fort is broken by Houjin, the Jinning defense line will no longer be complete, and Dalinghe Fort will also become a nail inserted into the Jinning defense line by Houjin Tartar, and the Houjin army can launch an attack on the Ming army at any time, so that the initiative was completely in the hands of the Jurchens.

Sun Chengzong also nodded: "Your worries are clear, if General Yang didn't come before our troops were indeed a little stretched, now we can indeed send out a team of men and horses to gallop to the aid of Dalinghe, who of you is willing to gallop to the aid of Dalinghe Fort?" ”

Everyone, look at me, I see you and no one makes a sound, this is not a good errand, everyone is not stupid, no one wants to leave the safety of Jinzhou City and run to the field to face the soldiers and horses of Houjin, that is to carry their heads and play with the Tartars.

Seeing that no one was willing to go to the large group of people, Sun Chengzong's brows gradually wrinkled: "What, no one wants to go?" ”

Yang Feng looked around, and saw that all the generals lowered their heads, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, is this the most elite Liaodong border army known as the Ming Dynasty? is so afraid of the enemy, is there any hope for Daming? It just so happened that you don't go to that brother to go by yourself, he was about to stand up, but he saw a figure standing up first and said loudly: "Governor, the last general is willing to lead the four thousand cavalry of the headquarters to Dalinghe Fort to relieve the siege!" ”

"Good! Lord Zhao is mighty! ”

"Lord Zhao is worthy of being the tiger general of the three armies, and his courage is really commendable." Seeing that someone finally stood up, the people behind immediately praised him.

Seeing Zhao Shujiao stand up, Sun Chengzong's originally ugly face looked much better, he nodded and picked up a commanding arrow, "Since this is the case, then the official will ......"

At this time, a figure also stood up, "Governor, the last general is also willing to lead the people of the headquarters to go to Dalinghe Fort with Lord Zhao to rescue." ”

Everyone couldn't help but be taken aback, and Sun Chengzong also said with some surprise: "General Yang, your department just arrived in Jinzhou yesterday, it must be a saddle horse, how can this official send your department to Dalinghe Fort to rescue?" ”

The person who stood up was naturally Yang Feng, but he shook his head and said: "Governor Mingjian, it is the duty of our Ming soldiers to kill thieves for the country." Moreover, the last general thought that the Tartars had always been cunning. The Tartars besieged Dalinghe Fort with such fanfare, and Anzhi was not a strategy for the Tartars to encircle and send reinforcements, and besides, Lord Zhao's troops were all cavalry, and if they were hit by the Tartars' ambush, the start was bad, so the last general thought that if Lord Zhao and the last general's headquarters were dispatched together, they would definitely be able to deter the Tartars, so that they would not dare to act rashly. ”

"Hmm!"

Sun Chengzong's face was contemplative, Yang Feng's words were indeed very reasonable, if the siege of Houjin Tatars was fake, and it was true that they set up an ambush to encircle and annihilate reinforcements halfway, then the four thousand cavalry taught by Zhao was really dangerous. And Yang Feng's army combat effectiveness has already been seen by everyone yesterday, and if he goes with him, it will at least be much safer.

Thinking of this, Sun Chengzong finally made a decision, he picked up two arrows and threw them at Zhao Shujiao and Yang Feng, and said in a deep voice: "General Yang is reasonable, then this official will order you and General Zhao to lead their troops and horses to aid Dalinghe Fort, and then return to Jinzhou after the siege of Dalinghe Fort is lifted." ”

"The last general commands!" Yang Feng and Zhao Shujiao each took the parts, knelt down on one knee and saluted Sun Chengzong, and then stood up and strode out of the Governor's Mansion together.

Yang Feng and Zhao led out of the Governor's Mansion, immediately returned to the barracks, gathered their own soldiers and horses, and began to set up camp, Yang Feng's more than 6,000 soldiers, 3,000 auxiliaries and Zhao led 4,000 cavalry, a total of 13,000 horses, went out of Jinzhou City towards Dalinghe Fort.

The movement of more than 13,000 troops out of the city was not small, and the mighty men and horses were discharged for several miles.

And this time the march due to the passage of Zhao Shuojiao's 4,000 cavalry, Yang Feng felt much easier than a few days ago, as soon as the team left the city, Zhao Shuojiao sent hundreds of cavalry to scatter around, and after a long time, the information came back, which direction was safe and which direction had Houjin's outposts, they quickly became clear, and Yang Feng couldn't help but sigh that the cavalry of this era was simply a combination of mobile troops and reconnaissance battalions in later generations.