Two days later, in the dead of night, a figure quickly climbed over the courtyard wall of the back house of the Zhao Mansion, passed through the silent courtyard and came to a remote grocery room, knocking rhythmically on the door.

"Uncle!" Immediately, the door creaked open, and a middle-aged man who looked like a housekeeper appeared in front of the figure, hurriedly invited him in, looked out vigilantly, and closed the door.

There was a table in the utility room, with a lit oil lamp on it, because the window had been blocked by thick curtains, so there was no light outside, Zhao Youde sat at the table with a cold expression and looked at the figure who entered the door.

"Meet my uncle." That figure was a young man with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, who looked very heroic, walked forward and bowed to Zhao Youde, and saluted in a proper manner, he was Zhao Ruimin's fiancé Zhang Guang.

"Virtuous nephew, you and I are not outsiders, uncle wants to hear the truth from you, what is the current battle situation?" Zhao Youde stretched out his hand and motioned for Zhang Guang to sit down on the chair next to him, and asked quietly.

According to the original plan, Zhang Guangyi married Zhao Ruimin as soon as he graduated from the martial arts hall, and Zhao Youde naturally became his Taishan adult, although Zhao Youde now took refuge in the Northern Yuan, but this did not affect the relationship between the two Weng and his son-in-law.

"Uncle, to tell you the truth, with the arrival of the Northern Expeditionary Army from Mobei to Guanxi, the Ming Dynasty has now won this war."

Zhang Guang pondered for a while, and said solemnly to Zhao Youde, "Not long ago, King Zhongwu defeated more than 200,000 enemy troops led by Wen Du, the general of the Timurid Empire, in Dunhuang City in Guanxi, and then controlled the situation in Guanxi. ”

"North...... The Northern Expeditionary Army? Zhao Youde was taken aback when he heard this, the information provided by Zhang Guang was diametrically opposed to what he knew, and then he realized something, and couldn't help blurting out and asking, "But the reinforcements formed by King Zhongwu?" ”

"Exactly." Zhang Guang nodded heavily and explained, "When King Zhongwu came to Guanxi last year, he did not let reinforcements come, but took advantage of the lack of troops in the Northern Yuan army in Mobei to conquer Mobei, and now all the departments in Mobei have been attached to the imperial court, and the Northern Yuan army in the northwest is already a lone army!" ”

"How so!" Zhao Youde's face had turned pale, he knew that Zhang Guang would not lie to him, and at the same time, he also understood why Ade and the others left Didao City in a hurry two days ago, it turned out that they had fled to Jiayuguan instead of attacking the city on the Lanzhou defense line as previously announced.

In fact, Zhao Youde felt a little strange after Ade and his party left, thinking that Ade was too anxious to attack this time, after all, not long after Didao City was taken, and there were also a lot of casualties during the siege, according to common sense, he should rest for at least half a month.

However, because he believed the lies spread by the Northern Yuan, although Zhao Youde was a little suspicious in his heart, he did not delve into it, after all, according to the propaganda of the Northern Yuan, the Ming army was in a suppressed position in the northwest, so Ade's attack was a pursuit of victory.

It wasn't until after listening to Zhang Guang's words that Zhao Youde understood what was going on, it turned out that Ade led the army to slip away, and regarded these officials who had taken refuge in them as substitutes for the dead.

"Uncle, the defeat of the Northern Yuan and Timurid Empires is already doomed, and the Duke of Zhongguo is about to send troops to recover the city of Didao, if Uncle does not make some merits before, he will definitely be implicated at that time."

Seeing that Zhao Youde was stunned with a pale face, Zhang Guang sighed secretly in his heart, and reminded him in a deep voice, although he felt disgust for Zhao Youde's behavior of defecting to Beiyuan, no matter how Zhao Youde was his future father-in-law, even if it was for Zhao Ruimin, he would help Zhao Youde.

"Merit?" Zhao Youde recovered from the shock, he understood what Zhang Guang meant, so he asked nervously, "If this official is guilty of meritorious service, will the court let this official go!" ”

At this moment, Zhao Youde finally realized the dangerous situation he was in, don't look at Di Daocheng is still under the control of the Northern Yuan, maybe when Lu Tianxing will run away with the 10,000 Northern Yuan soldiers, leaving them, the traitors who surrendered to the Northern Yuan, to clean up this mess.

It is conceivable that the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Timurid Empire and the Northern Yuan Dynasty was protracted and paid a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, so the rebellion that surrendered to the Northern Yuan or the Timurid Empire would definitely be severely punished.

In other words, if Zhao Youde wants to live, he must make meritorious service before the Ming army arrives in Didao City, otherwise as long as the Ming army arrives in Didao City, someone will definitely open the city gate to welcome the Ming army into the city, and then he will die without a place to be buried, and the whole family will be implicated.

"King Zhongwu is the commander of the official army at war with the Northern Yuan and Timurid Empires, and he is also the highest court official of the imperial court in the northwest and Guanxi.

Zhang Guang saw that Zhao Youde looked nervous, and after a deep groan, he opened his mouth to comfort, "Uncle, the little nephew feels that there is a great merit waiting for his uncle now, if his uncle can make this great contribution, he will definitely be able to get out of this matter!" ”

"What's the deal?" Zhao Youde's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hurriedly asked, there is not much time left for him to make meritorious contributions.

"Uncle, the privy envoy of the Northern Yuan Dynasty is Lu Tianxing, Lu Tianxing is not only a key criminal when the King of Han rebelled, but also the main culprit of the Northern Yuan Dynasty attacking my Ming Dynasty, if the uncle can catch Lu Tianxing, then this is an out-and-out great credit!"

The corners of Zhang Guang's mouth flashed with a subtle smile, and he said to Zhao Youde in a deep voice, now there are only 10,000 Northern Yuan soldiers in Di Dao City, and there are as many as 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers and prisoners of the Ming army.

Although the individual combat ability of the Ming army in Guanxi is not as good as that of the Northern Yuan soldiers, after Zhou Zheng's training for so long, the combat strength has been greatly improved, coupled with the street battles in the city, the Northern Yuan soldiers have no chance of winning in front of the Ming army, which is outnumbered.

Most importantly, when the Ming soldiers learned that Li Yuntian had taken control of the situation in Guanxi, their morale was bound to be boosted, which would make them more courageous when fighting the Northern Yuan soldiers.

Moreover, the grievances between Li Yuntian and Lu Tianxing are well known in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, and Li Yuntian almost died in Lu Tianxing's sowing discord against Emperor Xuande in the tenth year of Xuande.

"Virtuous nephew, do you know when the official army will come to recover Di Dao City?" Zhao Youde naturally also knows the importance of catching Lu Tianxing, Lu Tianxing is the number one wanted criminal in the Ming Dynasty, when Lu Tianxing escaped from prison, he could arouse the wrath of the Empress Dowager, if he made this great contribution, he could offset the charge of treason.

In addition, if Zhao Youde is lucky, he will not only be able to clear the blame for defecting to the enemy, but also may retain his official position, after all, it is also a strategy to face the menacing Northern Yuan Military Commission, it depends on how Li Yuntian determines his behavior.

"In three days, the officers and troops of Lanzhou City will arrive here." Zhang Guang groaned for a moment when he heard this, and said to Zhao Youde, "Uncle, time is not waiting for me, uncle has to make plans early!" ”

Zhao Youde nodded thoughtfully, his brows furrowed slightly, if he couldn't settle Lu Tianxing before the Ming army in Lanzhou City arrived, then he would miss the best opportunity to atone for his sins.

On the afternoon of the next day, Zhao Youde summoned all the important civil and military officials in Didao City who had defected to the Northern Yuan Dynasty to discuss the military and political affairs of the Lintao area.

To tell the truth, Lu Tianxing couldn't trust those military attaches who surrendered, so he adopted the strategy of suppressing military affairs with civil and military ranks, and used Zhao Youde, who had the highest civilian rank, to control those military attachés, in his opinion, Zhao Youde was safer than those military attaches who commanded the army, after all, Xiucai rebelled for three years, and Zhao Youde was a smart person, and he would never do stupid things to betray the Northern Yuan as soon as his mind was hot like those reckless martial artists.

The venue of the discussion was set in the back hall of Lintao Mansion, and the officials attending the meeting chatted while drinking tea, and because there were many troops stationed in the city of Didao, the military attachés accounted for the majority.

"Lord Zhao." After Zhao Youde came, the civil and military officials in the room got up to greet each other, although the military attachés on the scene had higher ranks than Zhao Youde, but Zhao Youde was a celebrity in front of the Northern Yuan, so those military attaches had to salute him.

After Zhao Youde sat down, he waved his hand to the guards standing at the door, and the guards closed the door and left, and everyone present looked at him together, wondering what task Beiyuan had assigned.

Obviously, in the eyes of everyone, Zhao Youde must have been instructed by the Northern Yuan to convene this meeting today, and there are no more than two topics, one is conscription, and the other is to raise grain, and the Northern Yuan and Timurid Empire want to fight with the Ming army in the northwest, food and troops are indispensable.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this official has summoned everyone here this time to tell you something." Zhao Youde glanced around at the scene and said quietly, "As far as this official knows, King Zhongwu commanded the Guanxi Army and the Northern Expeditionary Army in Dunhuang City not long ago to defeat the Western Chagatai general Wendu, and now he has completely controlled Guanxi!" ”

Hearing this, everyone in the room was stunned at first, and then there was a commotion, talking with each other, their faces were full of shock, the news that Zhao Youde said was too unbelievable, according to the propaganda of the Northern Yuan, Guanxi has now become the world of the Timurid Empire and the Northern Yuan, how did Li Yuntian survive in a desperate situation and turn defeat into victory?

Zhao Youde's Guanxi Army at this time not only refers to the Seven Guards of Guanxi, but also the troops of the Ming Army in Guanxi, as opposed to the Northern Expeditionary Army.

"Lord Zhao, what's going on?" After the initial panic, a military attache sitting on the lower left of Zhao Youde couldn't help but ask suspiciously, his mind was now blank, and he didn't know what was going on.

Everyone at the scene quieted down when they heard this, and looked at Zhao Youde in unison, looking nervous and concerned, they all wanted to know the source of Zhao Youde's news, and it was obvious that the people of Beiyuan would never leak such an important battle report.