On the seventh day of the eighth month of the seventh year of Chongzhen, Houjin conquered Wanquan Zuowei, killed the garrison Chang Rusong, beheaded Qin Zhiying, and after wantonly plundering and burning, he went out of Shangfang Fort. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoThe Tartar invasion that lasted nearly three months is finally over.

Listening to the sound of the Tartars coming out of the border pass, Li Xiao didn't feel relaxed at all in his heart, but was extremely heavy.

This time, Houjin entered the customs to invade and plunder, Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi and other places are all dilapidated, decadent and ruined, and mourning is everywhere. The Ming Empire, with a vast land and a population of hundreds of millions, was beaten to the point that it was almost powerless to fight back in front of the Houjin, a barbaric small tribe with only more than 60,000 people in Dingkou. This is not only sad, but also an absolute shame!

Thinking of the following years, the Ming Empire was in decline, and finally the tragic situation of the country, the entire land of Shenzhou was forced to shave and change clothes, and the Chinese civilization fell into the darkness of hundreds of years, and Li Xiao's heart was cut like a knife.

Because of this Houjin army's entry into the Kou, Emperor Chongzhen was furious and strictly investigated the crime of losing the opportunity of the guards in various places. Two days after the Houjin was released, a number of high-ranking officials in Xuanfu Town, such as Zhang Zongheng, the governor of Xuanda, Jiao Yuanqing, the governor of Xuanfu, and Zhang Quanchang, the chief soldier of Xuanfu, were all dismissed and reprimanded for the crimes of reckless governance of Xinjiang and ineffectiveness in imperial capture.

At this time, the newly appointed governor of Xuanda was Yang Sichang, Chen Xinjia was the new governor of Xuanfu, and Lu Baozhong was the chief soldier of Xuanfu. After getting the news of the appointment of these three people, Li Xiao knew in his heart that the time had come for him to ask Zu Dale to help report his military merits.

Zu Dale sent a report to Yang Sichang, Chen Xinjia, and Lu Baozhong, and after the three of them received the report, they were all overjoyed, and they felt like a pie had fallen from the sky.

The three of them have just taken office, and they have the ardent expectations of the emperor in front of them, and the lessons of their predecessors are not far away, so all three of them have a feeling of trembling and great pressure. The news of such a great victory has come, which can be called a relief in the snow.

As soon as he took office, he received good news, which is a good sign, which shows that he has managed well. With such a great victory to the saint, you can imagine how happy the emperor will be, and how much his future will be。。。。。。

The three of them and Wang Kun, the eunuch of the Xuanfu Town Supervision Army, quickly held a meeting, and then decided to quickly go to Jinjiazhuang Fort to check the first-level merit as soon as possible.

The four of them all know that behind these high-sounding words, there is actually a focus issue.

That is, how to get the extra 467 heads of Li Xiao into his own hands, this is an urgent issue related to his own major interests. And this problem is estimated to be solved only by meeting Li Xiao face-to-face.

Yang Sichang, the governor of Xuanda, and Chen Xinjia, the governor of Xuanfu, felt that they were in a high position, and if they pulled down their faces to discuss the distribution of the head with a small thousand households, it would be too low-level, so the two discussed, represented by Liu Bangzhen, the governor of Xuanfu, and Lu Baozhong, the chief soldier of Xuanfu, and Wang Kun, the superintendent of Xuanzhen, under the leadership of Du Shi, the commander of the Longmen Guard, went to Jinjiazhuang Fort from Wanquan Dusi together.

"Report! Lord Li, there are a lot of people waiting outside the fort, asking to see Lord Li! A fort soldier hurriedly came and said loudly to Li Xiao, who was inspecting the military drill.

"Oh, who is it?"

"Lord Yu, it is Lord Lu, the chief soldier of Xuanzhen, Lord Liu, the inspector of Xuanfu, Lord Wang, the commander of the Xuanfu Guard, and Lord Du, the commander of the Dragon Gate Guard, came to the gate of the fort with a group of soldiers and horses, and came to ask to see your lordship."

"Oh, open the door and welcome you!"

The drawbridge was put down with a bang, the fort door was wide open, and Zu Dale and Li Xiao, who had urgently changed the regular uniforms of military attachés, knelt on the left side of the fort gate to welcome Lu Baozhong, Liu Bangzhen, Wang Kun and others inside.

"The lowly ancestor is happy to meet 。。。。。。"

"The last general Li Xiao meets 。。。。。。"

After the polite words of worship in the mouths of the two, Lu Baozhong, Liu Bangzhen and the others helped Zu Dale and Li Xiao to get up.

Lu Baozhong was stout, his eyes were bright, he was dressed in a red and brand-new military attache uniform, and a lion with teeth and claws embroidered on his chest. He served as a general in Jizhen in the past, and Zu Dale, who was a guerrilla in front of the army at the time, fought Zunyong Victory together, and the two had such a friendship.

"Brother Lu, I didn't expect to say goodbye to Zunhua, Jun is now the chief soldier of Xuanfu, which is really gratifying."

"Where is it, Xingyu, you led the Liaodong army this time and won 200 Tartar heads, such a feat, but Lu is beyond reach. In the future, when the reward is promoted, you must be the chief soldier who did not run. In the future, we brothers will take more care of each other. ”

"Thanks to Brother Lu's auspicious words, if the foolish brother can make progress in his career, he still needs Brother Lu to take care of him."

When Lu Baozhong and Zu Dale laughed and complained to each other, Wang Kun, the superintendent, became interested in Li Xiao, who was standing quietly.

"You're that Li Xiao?"

Wang Kun's words were sharp and weird, with a sinister chill, which made Li Xiao's heart feel uneasy.

This Wang Kun, in the history books, is a typical example of a negative eunuch, this person is treacherous and cunning, seeks personal gain, secretly spreads minions, and has successively plagued the three dynasties of Chongzhen, Longwu, and Yongli. But what is touching is that this eunuch who hides his personal interests behind the surface loyalty of the honey-bellied sword can be favored by emperors such as Chongzhen, Longwu, Yongli and other emperors one after another, and he can be regarded as quite capable.

"Exactly down there."

When Li Xiao replied, he also took a quick look at this person, and saw that he was in his thirties, wearing a three-mountain hat with gold shaking wings, and a purple robe with a brocade python, dressed as a standard eunuch of the prison army. It's just that this person has a long thin face, a pair of triangular eyes always seem to be half-open and half-closed, although there is a smile on his face, it always makes people feel gloomy and uncomfortable.

"Li Xiao, I heard that your department has won nearly 500 heads, but it has opened our eyes! Such a great victory has never been achieved by the dynasty since it used troops against the Tartars. It's really terrifying, and the hero is a teenager. Wang Kun said with a smile.

"My father-in-law praised him like this, why did Li Xiao be restrained. In such a small effort, the work of the father-in-law in the middle of the house is not small, but Li Xiao is unforgettable. Li Xiao smiled.

Seeing Li Xiao like this, the eunuch's face immediately brightened, and he nodded and praised: "Li Xiao, you have such a mind, our family is really happy in our hearts." In this Xuanfu Town, our family will take care of it more. ”

Li Xiao hurriedly thanked him: "Thank you father-in-law." ”

In Zu Dale and Li Xiao and others, when talking with the chief soldier Lu Baozhong and the supervising army Wang Kun, Liu Bangzhen, the patrol officer wearing the six-grade civilian official uniform embroidered with a heron complement on his chest, and Du Shi, the commander of the Longmen guard, wearing the three-grade military attache regular uniform, were attracted by the clean and orderly environment and order in Jinjiazhuang Fort.

This Li Xiao has managed this Jinjiazhuang Fort really well. Liu Bangzhen sighed secretly in her heart.

Du Shi was also full of surprise, the dilapidated and dirty Jinjiazhuang Fort that he originally had in his impression could now become so vigorous and orderly, but he didn't expect it.

After greetings, Zu Dale invited everyone to sit in the official hall of the thousand households.

Inspector Liu Bangzhen hurriedly said: "Chief Soldier Zu, this matter is not busy, I am waiting for this, it is important to inspect the head." ”

Zu Dale laughed and said, "In this case, please come with Zu." ”

The group, under the leadership of Zu Dale, walked towards the house where the head was stored.

Li Xiao noticed that Du Shi, the commander of the Dragon Gate Guard, deliberately walked at the back of the line, maintaining a long distance from Zu Dale, who was walking side by side with Lu Baozhong in front.

Li Xiao sighed secretly in his heart, since Du Shi entered the fort, Zu Dale has always given him a cold face, and he should still be angry in his heart that he didn't send reinforcements that day to rescue himself who was besieged by the Tartars.

Na Du Shi was also ashamed in his heart, and naturally wanted to keep a distance from Zu Da Leduo.

Lu Baozhong asked Li Xiao about the battle scene that day, and Li Xiao replied briefly, but everyone listened to it with a great change of expression, and their hearts were full of admiration.

"Alas, in this Xuanfu Town, our family has never seen a strong army like you Li Xiao, a guest army in Shandong, which is a pity." Prison Wang Kunwu sighed to himself.

The group turned a short distance from the fort gate, and when they passed by the school field, Lu Baozhong, Liu Bangzhen and others were attracted by Li Xiao's soldiers who were shouting and training.

"This is Li Xiao's newly recruited soldier, and he is training here." Zu Dale introduced.

They saw that Li Xiaojun's array of recruits was standing in a team by team, and the separate queues and distances of each team seemed to have certain rules. The recruits were all wearing similar cotton armor, and although they did not hold weapons, the whole procession looked over and showed a neat rectangle, with edges and corners, and looked extraordinarily neat and solemn, with a very masculine atmosphere.

"Stand upright!"

"Smack!"

There was a loud bang, but it was every recruit in cotton armor, and when they stood solemnly with their legs together, the iron mesh boots under their feet knocked against each other and made a knocking sound, which frightened everyone's hearts.

"Turn left!"

"Smack!"

Everyone saw that the entire rectangular array collectively turned to the left, and after everyone drew a beautiful semicircle, the iron-clad boots touched together again, and once again made a loud "pop".

Three of the recruits were a little slower, and one was in the wrong direction, and immediately several instructors with military sticks rushed over with fierce looks and jerked at their thighs and buttocks.

The instructor fought very hard, and several recruits who were beaten gritted their teeth and carried them hard, and one of them had blood stains on his pants, but he also didn't say a word.

Li Xiaojun's way of training recruits made Lu Baozhong and others stunned.

What kind of training is this?

Prison Wang Kun muttered: "Li Xiao, it's new for you to train like this, but it's the first time we've seen each other." However, the appearance of the soldiers is good, which makes people feel shocked. ”

"Li Xiao, you practice the Fa like this, you have been governing the army in this town for many years, and you have never seen it, but who is you learning from?" The one who questioned was Lu Baozhong, the chief soldier of the Xuanfu.

"Lord Yulu, this is a self-created recruit training method, cleaning up the army's appearance, and training the array, but it is quite effective." Li Xiao replied calmly.

"Oh, you can create your own practice, but it's good." Lu Baozhong nodded and praised it.

Everyone walked a few more steps, but saw a group of soldiers, putting out the gun and shield battle formation with the front and back guns, which was also extremely strict, shouting and assassinating in a very orderly manner, the big shield and leaning against a row of straight walls, the spears were like a wild dragon rolling, and the whole formation advanced and retreated freely, very imposing and solemn.

"Li Xiao, these soldiers are training, but they are your own formations?" Lu Baozhong asked with a smile.

"It's under the creation of my own."

"The military drills, since they have to practice the method of battle formation, the so-called formation is not for the battle, but Li Xiao, do you practice this formation, this town really can't see what kind of battle method it is, neither the three-talent formation or the seven-person formation, nor Qi Shuai's mandarin duck formation, let alone the gossip array, the golden lock array。。。。。。 Alas, this town has seen a formation all his life, and he has really never seen such a formation. Lu Baozhong sighed lightly.

"My lord, I think that everything should not be taken for granted, and the formation should also be fought in the upper formation. In such a formation, it can attack and defend, but it is very useful. Li Xiao replied without humility or arrogance.

"Well, yes, the use is wonderful, with one heart, Li Xiao, you are indeed a rare general." Lu Baozhong showed a happy smile on his face, and looked at Li Xiao's gaze, which was also very meaningful.

Li Xiao said with a smile: "Xie Junmen praised, and the last general was terrified. ”

The group walked and watched, and walked through the place where the cavalry and Lu Mi were trained, and Lu Baozhong and the others praised it again.

Li Xiao saw that only Du Shi, the commander of the Dragon Gate Guard, looked absent-minded, and he looked around with his head probed, as if he was looking for something.

Li Xiao knew that this person must want to see where his nephew Du Shaoru was, but since he was accompanied by many dignitaries, it was inconvenient to ask more.

When the distribution of the first level and the promotion of each person are decided, let this Du Qian go down, Li Xiao thought secretly, anyway, it is useless to keep such a mediocre person.

Not long after, Zu Dale and Li Xiao led the group to a house guarded by soldiers.

"Please follow your ancestors inside, the heads of the Jurchen Tartars, the Mongolian Tartars, the Han Army, etc., have all been nitrated, and they are stored in the house, please check them." Zu Dale made a gesture of welcome.

When everyone entered the room, the room was very dark, and the pungent smell of lime nitration was so strong that it made people feel sick, and Li Xiao hurriedly ordered the sergeant to light a torch and send it in.

As soon as the torches entered the room, Lu Baozhong, Liu Bangzhen, Wang Kun and others all looked straight with their eyes.

Everyone saw that there were several rows of shelves in the middle of the floor, and on each shelf, a long tartar head was neatly placed. Under the light of the torches, all of them looked horrible, their mouths and eyes were hideous, and under the miserable white lime powder, dark red and somewhat atrophied muscles and blood vessels were revealed, and if the faint of heart saw them, they were afraid that they would faint with fright.

On these shelves, there is a special label paper to indicate which ones are Jurchen Tartars, and which ones are Mongolian Tartars or Han Army, which are classified and marked very clearly.

Prison soldier Wang Kun, who only took two steps in the house, his face was full of pale and uncomfortable color, he took a cursory look, and then hurriedly ran out of the room, breathing heavily.

And Liu Bangzhen, the inspector, was originally a civil official, and now he is doing such things according to the requirements of his superiors, which is really very elegant. He frowned, covered his mouth and nose with his cuffs, and looked patiently in rows.

Only Lu Baozhong and Du Shi, the two warriors, were both surprised and delighted, both of them opened their eyes wide, carefully examined their heads, from the braids to the teeth, carefully confirmed one by one, and after a long time, they finally completed all the first grades.

Lu Baozhong patted the lime slag, minced meat, mucus and other things stained under his hands, and his face was overjoyed, indescribable.

"Junmen, these first-class braids are all shaved for a long time, and the face shape and mouth are all Donglu, and they are indeed all real Tartar heads." Du Shi's voice was subtle but full of joy.

"I see myself, I don't need you to say more." Lu Baozhong coughed lightly twice, and then said to Liu Bangzhen, the patrolman: "Lord Liu, this town has checked it, these Tartar heads are classified into different categories, and there is no deviation, and the amount is just right. ”

Seeing Lu Baozhong speak like this, Liu Bangzhen, who was choked by the smell of lime in the house, hurriedly said: "Since Lu Junmen has personally inspected it, if there is no mistake, this official confirms it." ”

When the group came out of the house, Liu Bangzhen looked at Li Xiao with a deep face, and said lightly: "Now that the heads have been tested, the official wants to know, how does Li Qianhu distribute these heads?" ”

Li Xiao smiled and said: "Lord Liu, don't be anxious, the smell here is unpleasant, and it's not too late to go to the Qianhu Official Hall with Ben to talk." (To be continued.) )