Zhang Weixian was thinking about it, and couldn't help but cough violently again, Zhang Zhiji, who was originally kneeling in front of him, quickly got up and gently patted his back for him, so that Zhang Weixian slowly calmed down.

After taking a sip of tea soup and moistening his throat as if it was about to be torn open, Zhang Weixian realized that he was indeed old, and he was powerless in some things.

Zhang Weixian turned his head to look at his nervous son, and then said slowly: "What I regret the most now is that when Emperor Taichang competed with King Fu for the throne, he was too deeply involved with those Donglin Party members.

My British government has always been loyal to the Ming Emperor, and there is really no need to interfere with the ownership of the throne. Back then, the old man was moved by those Donglin Party members, so he insisted on mixing it up, but until now, he is still indistinguishable from them. ”

Zhang Zhi replied cautiously: "This can't be blamed on my father, who would have thought that Emperor Taichang would collapse so quickly?" ”

Zhang Weixian nodded, sighed and said, "Yes, no one thought of it." After saying this, Zhang Weixian fell silent again.

The room was quiet for a long time, and the British Duke asked abruptly: "How many children of the Xun family have followed His Majesty on the expedition this time?" Why didn't Broad & Bright go? ”

Zhang Zhiji paused for a moment before he said carefully: "There are only about 9 people in the children and nephews of the Huaiyuan Marquis, Dingyuan Marquis, Yongchang Marquis, Zhenyuan Marquis, and Fengcheng Marquis.

His Majesty said that this time the soldiers were in danger, and the children of the Xun family who had not studied in the military academy did not need to follow. Not only did Broad & Bright not go, but Xining Hou and several other children were also left behind. ”

Zhang Weixian's face suddenly became gloomy, "Fierce soldiers? Your Majesty's golden bodies have gone into battle to fight hard, are their lives more precious than Your Majesty?

Even if Your Majesty refuses, can't you plead again? This happened, why didn't you tell me in the first place? You know, I'm not dead yet. ”

Zhang Liji knelt down after a puff, and hurriedly defended himself: "Your Majesty's decision to personally enlist is a matter of the past few days, and everyone didn't know that Your Majesty would personally enlist."

Everyone felt that Jiannu was menacing this time, and the Gyeonggi armies could only allocate half of it, and it was already extremely difficult to hold Jizhou City, and it was really a thankless job to block Jiannu from entering Gyeonggi westward, so they didn't ask to go into battle again.

Besides, whether it's Broad & Bright or other Xun family children, where can they go into battle? Even if the son doesn't care about the lives of these children, he must also take into account the morale of those soldiers who go into battle. ”

Zhang Weixian stared at his son for a long time before shaking his head and saying, "It's okay, it's okay." As a child of the Xun family, he doesn't even have the qualifications to follow His Majesty into battle, how long can this business exist?

I don't have a few days left on this day, and I will tell you a few last things today, and you must not forget. ”

"Father, please." Zhang Liji hurriedly replied cautiously.

"First, from today on, let's close the door and thank the guests, no one in the family is allowed to go out, except for people from the palace, everyone else has been sent back."

"This? Father, Your Majesty is now on a campaign, and the relatives of the capital are all looking at our family, if we close the door to thank the guests, wouldn't it hurt everyone's hearts? And if there is any trouble in Beijing, we should be prepared. ”

"Ready? What to prepare. If Your Majesty returns safely, there will be no need for any preparation. If something happens to Your Majesty, who can bypass my family? Now what are you going to do to prepare? Are you ready to knock on the handle of the British Mansion for Your Majesty? Stupidity. ”

Under his father's reprimand, Zhang Zhiji suddenly stopped talking, Zhang Weixian coughed for a while and said again: "If Your Majesty can return to the capital safely, select children from the clan to study at the army and navy officer schools." Before you go, tell them that if you don't graduate from military school, you don't have to come back.

Let Broad & Bright get closer to Shijie, after all, they are still brothers, don't make them the same as strangers. In the future, the British government will need their brother's support.

In addition, after 25 years of Wanli, the Zhuangtian purchased in Baoding was sorted out, and when His Majesty returned triumphantly, he would be dedicated to His Majesty. ”

Zhang Zhiji's eyes widened: "Father, why is this?" We also bought the field house in Baoding with real money, why should we hand it over? Your Majesty doesn't ask for that. ”

Zhang Weixian glanced at this son with disdain, and reprimanded him unceremoniously: "Why? If it weren't for the name of the British government, would these farms be our family's property?

Now most of the lords and relatives in the capital have been cut down and sealed and requisitioned from the fields, but my British government has been unscathed, do you know why? ”

"When I was in the English Mansion, the Holy Grace was not declining." After thinking about it for a long time, Zhang Zhiji replied with a hard head.

Zhang Weixian shook his head and said disappointedly: "Your Majesty wants to preserve the friendship with me, an old minister, no matter what the old man says, he also has the merit of three dynasties, His Majesty is unwilling to take action before the old man's death, this is not to leave a cold infamy."

After the old man passed away, you have neither the merit of supporting it, nor the trust of Your Majesty, guarding so many fields, do you want to become a target erected by Your Majesty? ”

Zhang Zhiji looked at his father with a shocked expression, and muttered in his mouth: "Your Majesty treats people gently and sincerely, and the people of the capital also praise Your Majesty's benevolent name from time to time, shouldn't you target our Zhang family like this?" ”

"Kindness? Hehe, the gentry of Shunyi, the old generals of Beijing, the gentry of Henan, and the generals of the Weisuo, will they also feel that His Majesty is merciful? ”

Zhang Zhiji said with some hesitation: "These people have indeed gone too far on weekdays, otherwise they would not have ended up in a situation where everyone shouted and beaten." Even if His Majesty intervenes against them, it will be understandable. ”

Zhang Weixian shook his head and said: "It's okay to have extenuating circumstances once, but if every time Your Majesty makes a move, it is not excusable."

Are all the farms and houses that my Zhang family bought in Baoding innocent? Is it enough, Your Majesty once again excusable shot?

His Majesty is a person who wants to be the master of Zhongxing, otherwise he would not have done so many things. If we are on the wrong side, the family business passed down from our ancestors may end here. ”

Zhang Zhiji thought about it for a long time, and finally couldn't help but say: "Didn't my father always say that my Zhang family wants to share with the Ming Dynasty, shouldn't I stand on His Majesty's side at this time?" ”

Zhang Weixian glanced at his son before he said: "Everything needs luck, Your Majesty wants to become the master of Zhongxing in the Ming Dynasty, and Your Majesty is the master of Zhongxing in the Ming Dynasty, which are completely different things."

For example, Emperor Taichang, who finally succeeded to the throne after a lot of hard work, who could have known that he had only been the emperor for a month? The ministers who supported Emperor Taichang's succession to the throne back then couldn't even wait for a revolt edict.

Although His Majesty's words and deeds on weekdays have the atmosphere of a bright lord, they may not be His Majesty's true face. As the saying goes: real gold is not afraid of fire. Whether His Majesty can repel Jiannu and return triumphantly from the front line is the best litmus test.

If Your Majesty can't pass this hurdle, then everything will be the same as in the Ming Dynasty, and there is no need to mention any new policies. But if His Majesty really passes this hurdle and defeats Jiannu's meritorious prestige, I am afraid that the implementation of the new policy will be even higher.

At that time, if my British Mansion does not change its course, I am afraid that I will have to withdraw from His Majesty's side. ”

Zhang Zhiji hesitated for a long time before he replied cautiously: "Offering land to His Majesty, is it my father's way of changing his ways?" ”

"Of course not, that's just to win Your Majesty's trust and prevent Your Majesty from continuing to be suspicious of the Zhang family. What I said about changing course is to let the Zhang family pick up the roots again and restore the ability to go into battle to kill the enemy, instead of continuing to be a dog guarding the household in the capital..."

5 miles north of Jizhou City is Wuzhong Mountain, also known as Kongtong Mountain, it is said that the Yellow Emperor asked in the place of Guangchengzi, there is a Guangchengzi temple on the top of the mountain, but it has been quite decayed, only 2 Huoju Taoist people live here.

Although the height of this mountain is only more than 300 meters, it is extremely steep, and you can overlook the entire Jizhou City from the top of the mountain. Therefore, after Mao Yuanyi and Zuo Liangyu arrived in Jizhou City, they immediately sent a company of soldiers to occupy the top of the mountain as a screen for Jizhou City.

Jizhou city nine miles thirteen steps, with bricks and stone wrapped in the wall of the earthen wall as high as more than 3 zhang. Because there is a hill in the north of the city, only the east, west, and south of the city have opened the city gates, and the north city wall is built into an arc.

In the hilly area between Jizhou City and Wuzhong Mountain, a military fortress of varying heights had been laid at this time to deal with the Houjin cavalry from the northeast.

To the south of Jizhou City, nearly 4 miles of vacant land adjacent to the Tongzhou River is still under intense construction. Thousands of people were busy digging trenches and laying wooden walls, trying to establish a defense line to block the Houjin army with Jizhou City as the core, connecting Wuzhong Mountain in the north and Zhou River in the south.

In the past, this line of defense was ineffective. Houjin can cross the state river, detour to the east of the ten hundred households out of the state river valley, and directly around the city of Jizhou.

However, the Zhouhe Reservoir, which began to be built last year, is about 8 miles east of the county seat, bordered by Cuiping Mountain in the south, and has accumulated a large lake with a width of 70 miles from east to west in the valley of the upper reaches of the Zhouhe River, completely covering the valley plain in the southeast of Jizhou.

Although the reservoir has only completed the first phase of the project, and because it is a dry winter season, the water storage depth is less than half of the design depth. However, it is enough to form an artificial natural hazard.

If the Houjin army wanted to go west from the official road of Jizhou, it would have to directly attack the Great Wall of Civil Engineering built on the basis of Jizhou City.

And the farmers who were originally requisitioned to build the second phase of the Zhouhe Reservoir are now being pulled to build this Jizhou defense line. The gentry of Jizhou, under the leadership of Cui Chengxiu, the former military secretary of the township guard system, donated a large amount of materials and mobilized a large number of villagers to consolidate this defense line.

The enthusiasm of these gentry to defend their property was much higher than the previous construction of the state river reservoir. Of course, the goal of these gentry clans is to keep their hometown in Jizhou, and they are not interested in any more.

After Mao Yuanyi and Zuo Liangyu's men and horses arrived, the Jizhou gentry did not let them continue to advance to Mashenqiao, for fear that this army would be defeated by Jiannu, which would cause the people of Jizhou to be very bad, and even Jizhou City could not be saved.

There were originally two battalions of military horses in Jizhou City, namely Yingzhou Wei and Jizhou Wei, as the rear transfer base of Jizhou Town, and there were also a large number of military supplies in the city. However, Mao Yuanyi and Zuo Liangyu also found that the soldiers and civilians in Jizhou City had been frightened by the news brought by the defeated officers and refugees in front, so that they could still obey orders in Jizhou, and they all shook their heads when they heard that they were going eastward.

In this way, what they can rely on is the nearly 10,000 horses brought from the capital, which is okay to defend the city, and the eastward march to rescue Zunhua is obviously insufficient. The main task of Mao Yuanyi and Zuo Liangyu is to stabilize the Jizhou defense line, and then find out the situation of the enemy in front of them and the news of Zunhua City.

Therefore, after the two discussed, it was decided to stabilize the Jizhou defense line first and receive the arrival of the follow-up men first. Ma Shenqiao only sent a company of men and horses and hundreds of defeated and retreating Ming troops to guard.