At present, Deng Ming has nothing to do in Wanxian all day and night, and the army is ready to return to Fengjie, but it cannot be done for the time being, Deng Ming feels that he has no need to delay, he should still go to Fengjie to meet with Wen'anzhi quickly, and at the same time, the command of this army in his hands also needs to be handed over - Zhou Kaihuang and his subordinates will definitely return to Dachang, but the original Tan Wenbu will definitely return to Wen'an's control.

Deng Ming summoned all the officers together and told him about Wen Anzhi's letter asking him to go to Fengjie, and of course handed over the affairs of the army to Zhou Kaihuang and Li Xinghan. After hearing Deng Ming's arrangement, many people shouted together, saying that Deng Ming's morale would be unstable as soon as he left, but some people supported it, feeling that Deng Ming's status was noble, and there was no need to stay in Wanxian all day and night to deal with these trivial matters -- in fact, Deng Ming rarely dealt with specific affairs.

The main question at the moment is who among the officers should stay behind to defend Wanxian. Whoever was left behind would be dangerous, and there were more than 6,000 of the 2,400 Ming troops plus the prisoners, and the movement together was not only slow but also not necessarily sufficient. This problem has been bothering the Ming army for a few days, but Deng Ming has a belly case, so he hurriedly raised it while he hadn't left: "Let's go, let Xiong Lan break off." ”

Before the New Year, Deng Ming was curious about why Xiong Lan had been depressed, so he invited a few of Tan Hong's subordinates to ask, and it turned out that in fact, this matter was unusually simple, it turned out that Xiong Lan's biological mother was a concubine, compared to this, Xiong Lan relied on the relationship that her aunt was Tan Hong's concubine to seek a position, but it was not a big deal.

When Tan Hong's subordinates reported with disdain that Xiong Lan was the son of a concubine, Deng Ming didn't feel anything when he heard it, but the other officers immediately had disdain on their faces and laughed. After seeing that they all showed a high-minded appearance, Deng Ming understood that it was not surprising that Tan Hong's henchmen were ashamed to be with Xiong Lan. Deng Ming didn't understand this kind of discrimination, his mother and aunt were both concubines, which showed that the sisters were hard-working women in troubled times, and their backgrounds must be very low and unfortunate, so they should be sympathetic. Could it be that the parents of these officers were from wealthy families? Most of them are children of poor families, and their only advantage is that Ming Media is marrying. Deng Ming realized that what he thought was no big deal was a great deal in the eyes of these Ming Dynasty people, even if other people were from poor backgrounds, they were also upright wives and children, and in the eyes of these people, Xiong Lan could be said to be a by-product.

"That little maid?" After learning about Xiong Lan's origin, the Ming army began to call Xiong Lan with this kind of swearing, and it seemed to him that this could not be called an insult.

"We can't all leave at once, we can only leave in batches, and if we don't let Xiong Lan take people to stay, do we want to leave our own brothers behind?" Although his officers used this slurious name, Deng Ming never used this title.

Deng Ming thought that Xiong Lan could stay with a group of less reliable people and continue to reclaim the land around Wanxian, while the 2,400 Ming army returned to Fengjie with more than 1,000 more reliable strong men.

"Will the little maid be honest? He's been turning it over and over twice. ”

"It's better than leaving someone else." Deng Ming doesn't think Xiong Lan is a trustworthy guy, but on the other hand, this kind of capricious person is not in great danger of joining the Qing army, San Tan has been operating around Wanxian for many years and has cultivated a lot of land, so it's a pity to abandon it.

When Deng Ming and the officers were discussing these military affairs, Zhao Tianba did not speak but pondered quietly on the side, taking advantage of a pause in the conversation, Zhao Tianba suddenly interjected: "Mr. Deng, can you read the letter of the inspector again?" ”

Deng Ming then read it again, Zhao Tianba listened very carefully, and after Deng Ming finished reading, he said: "The superintendent did not urge Mr. to go to Fengjie immediately. ”

"Yes, what's wrong?" Wen Anzhi's letter was written enthusiastically, and he also expressed his eagerness to see him, but he did not ask Deng Ming to leave immediately.

"Can you show me the letter from the Overseer?" Zhao Tianba asked.

"Of course," Deng Ming felt that things seemed a little strange, but he still handed the letter to Zhao Tianba, and asked with a smile: "Isn't Brother Zhao illiterate?" ”

"Just check the seal," Zhao Tianba took the letter, replied in his mouth, looked at the seal on the letter, and suddenly raised his head and asked loudly: "Letter from the Inspector, it's customary to check the seal, right?" Didn't Mr. Deng ever look closely? ”

Zhao Tianba's actions just now made Deng Ming puzzled, but after hearing Zhao Tianba's rhetorical question, Deng Ming was immediately relieved: It turned out that this was a common practice in the army.

"I really don't know this rule, which makes Brother Zhao laugh." Deng Ming shook his head and smiled.

"It's also that I forgot to explain that this kind of correspondence is always to be carefully checked, just in case." Zhao Tianba also smiled, and put the letter sent by Wen Anzhi into his arms: "I will return Mr. Deng later." ”

"There's no hurry." Deng Ming turned his head and continued to discuss with the other officers about staying behind, farming, and marching along the way.

Zhao Tianba quietly walked out of the conference hall, found Qin Xiucai, and handed Wen Anzhi's letter to him: "Read it slowly for me a few times, not a word is wrong!" ”

……

Bongjie.

Wen Anzhi has been paying attention to the news from Wanxian in the past few days, and in the afternoon, the guards reported that a messenger had come from Wanxian, and Wen Anzhi immediately asked him to recruit him.

"I've seen the overseer."

Wen Anzhi looked fixedly, and the messenger was none other than Zhao Tianba, a thousand households in Jinyi. After being ordered to escort several eunuch envoys from the imperial court to Kuizhou to pacify the army last year, Zhao Tianba has been by Wen Anzhi's side. It wasn't until he set out on the expedition that Wen Anzhi asked him to act as a contact person in the vanguard Yuan Zongdi's army, of course, it also implied a little intention of supervising the army, ensuring that Yuan Zongdi could make a serious contribution. When he heard that most of Zhao Tianba was lost under the city of Chóngqìng, Wen Anzhi was also deeply saddened by the loss of such a capable subordinate.

Wen An later came to the roster to know that Zhao Tianba was still alive, but Zhao Tianba couldn't read or write, and it was difficult to contact him secretly.

"Hurry up."

"Thank you, Inspector," Zhao Tianba didn't hesitate after getting up, and immediately asked, "Does the Inspector have any suspicions about Mr. Deng?" ”

"Mr. Deng? That Deng Ming? Wen An's face sank: "What is going on with this person, you tell me in detail." ”

"I don't dare to say who he is, but from the humble point of view, it is likely to be the ...... of the Emperor" Zhao Tianba was afraid that Wen Anzhi would be reckless, with Deng Ming's prestige in the army, if Wen Anzhi was unfavorable to him, Zhao Tianba was afraid that there would be a big mess, even he himself felt that Deng Ming was most likely a prince, and if Wen Anzhi dealt with Deng Ming and Zhao Tianba, he would associate it with the internal contradictions and cannibalism of the royal family.

"Shut up!" Wen Anzhi didn't wait for Zhao Tianba to finish speaking, and then he stopped angrily. Even a loyal and reliable person like Zhao Tianba was confused, and Wen Anzhi was very surprised: "It's about the name of the first emperor, how can you trust it!" ”

Zhao Tianba was not in a hurry, quietly listening to Wen Anzhi's reprimand, and when Wen Anzhi was tired of scolding and rested for a while, Zhao Tianba took out a roll of drawing paper from his arms and held it in both hands: "Supervisor, please take a look." ”

"What is this?" Wen An Zhiqi said, reaching out and taking the papers. Zhao Tianba didn't answer, so he took two steps back and stood quietly aside. He had already persuaded Deng Ming to set off with the army on reasons such as calming people's hearts, and he first went to Fengjie to tell Wen Anzhi about the situation after the war.

"It's ...... This is ......" just turned the first page, Wen Anzhi's voice suddenly trembled a little, and Zhao Tianba saw that Inspector Wen was looking at the ** picture intently, his words were out of tune, and his arms trembled.

"Where did this come from?" Wen Anzhi turned around and looked at Zhao Tianba, and asked sharply.

"I haven't been to Jingshi, Mr. Deng painted some Jingshi in Wanxian a few days ago, including this one, and I don't know if it's true or not." Zhao Tianba replied in a steady tone. Judging from Wen Anzhi's appearance just now, the Inspector immediately recognized the thing on the painting without his reminder, and it was obvious that the scenery on the painting was not trivial.

"This is what Deng Ming painted?" Wen Anzhi turned around and carefully examined the painting again, his eyes were about to stick to the drawing paper, and only after half a ring did he ask, "Did you say what he painted?" ”

"Returning to the superintendent, Mr. Deng said that he painted the imperial city, and these later Zhang are also all." Before Zhao Tianba left Wanxian, he managed to collect a few more photos from others, and what he brought to Wen Anzhi was relatively clear.

Hearing this, Wen Anzhi hurriedly flipped it again, and looked at the drawing paper behind him one by one, one of which was painted by Deng Ming, which everyone would not pay much attention to when they saw this thing in the 21st century, but in the era of feudal monarchy, Huabiao represented the supremacy of the emperor, the majesty of royal power and the sacred dignity and humility.

Wen Anzhi has looked at Huabiao with admiration and eyes countless times, but he will never be able to draw such a picture, he can remember many details at a glance, but if he can't see this painting, these memories will definitely not be able to pick up, Wen Anzhi believes that the person who can draw this picture must be extremely familiar with Huabiao. How did he know that Deng Ming once went sketching with his classmates and drew dozens of architectural sketches inside and outside the Forbidden City. Wen Anzhi turned back to the front one, remembering the scene of admiring Chengtianmen when he had just won the Jinshi, surrounded by Jinshi and Tongjinshi in the same year, Wen Anzhi was the most eye-catching one of them, and then was introduced into the palace hall, and the Son of Heaven and the emperor answered, and was given the joy and glory of the status of Shujishi, full of ambition...... Wen Anzhi remembered the scholarly atmosphere at that time, the ambition at that time, how could he have thought that one day Daming would be so broken.

Wen Anzhi slowly flipped back, and the majestic and solemn hall in his memory appeared clearly in front of him again, and he couldn't help but sigh: "First Emperor, ......"

Zhao Tianba was surprised to see that Wen Anzhi suddenly stroked those pictures of Deng Ming, his eyes full of tears.

"Overseer!" Zhao Tianba took a step forward, but he didn't know how to comfort Wen Anzhi.

"This gentleman, claiming to be the queen of the Liehuang, right?" Wen Anzhi's gaffe didn't last long, he raised his head and asked.

"Mr. Deng has never claimed to be the queen of the Liehuang ......"

"Then which little prince does Mr. Deng claim to be?" Wen Anzhi asked with some puzzlement, obviously a little unable to stand Zhao Tianba's slow pace of speech.

"Mr. Deng has never claimed to be a certain prince or prince." These days, Deng Ming has repeatedly denied the identity of the clan, and Zhao Tianba told Wen Anzhi in detail about the matter, and the latter's expression became more and more strict.

"If it's true, why is he hiding his identity?" Wen Anzhi originally believed a little bit about Deng Ming's clan identity because he saw the painting, but now he heard that Deng Ming denied it so firmly, and he felt very strange.

"Humble and stupid."

Wen Anzhi thought about it, but couldn't figure out the reason here, and finally sighed: "Well, when Mr. Deng arrives in Fengjie, it's not too late for the old man to ask." ”

Unconsciously, Wen Anzhi also changed his name to Deng Ming.

……

In Wen Anzhi's anticipation, a soldier finally came to report that Deng Ming had led his army to Fengjie.

The more than 2,400 Ming troops who escaped from under the city of Chóngqìng all returned to Fengjie, and no one wanted to stay in the dangerous place of Wanxian, and in the end Wanxian was left to Xiong Lan to take care of. At present, at least nominally, Xiong Lan is still under the leadership of Fengjie in Wanxian, and after being ordered to stay, he also wrote to Fengjie, asking for at least a thousand generals to be given in the name of moderation of his subordinates.

After Wen Anzhi saw Deng Ming, he felt that he couldn't see through him, and the other party said nonchalantly that the pretending to be the clan was just to calm the hearts of the army, and to defeat Tan Hong and Tan Yi, as if he didn't feel that it was inappropriate to be called "His Highness" by thousands of people. Let Wen An ask in every way, and when it comes to life experience, he will use the reason of "forgot" to prevaricate. How can this be true, I forgot my life experience, so how did these paintings come to be? Wen Anzhi also heard Zhao Tianba say that Deng Ming is familiar with historical allusions...... Don't forget the palace, don't forget the books you've read, don't forget how you write, and forget your parents' background, how can there be such a person in the world who has lost his memory.

However, the more Deng Ming seemed to be fearless, the more Wen Anzhi couldn't figure out the details of him, and talked politely all afternoon, but he was still not sure of the other party's identity and couldn't guess the other party's thoughts. Putting aside Deng Ming's life experience, his merits are real, Wen Anzhi has no good way to cure his crimes - in the final analysis, Deng Ming has never claimed to be a clan, even if a posture of despising imperial power makes people have a kind of hope of cleaning him up, but the merit and shape are placed here, Wen Anzhi doesn't feel good about changing his face and taking people, and it is inconvenient to torture him, the most critical point is that Wen Anzhi is not sure whether the person opposite has the qualifications to despise imperial power.

Wen Anzhi deliberately talked about some geographical features, and wanted to test Deng Ming's life experience, but soon found that the other party seemed to know more than himself, not only can the big rivers and rivers be named, but also seem to have seen the sea, whether it is the North China Plain or the Jiangnan Water Town, Deng Ming was asked about these places when he answered almost too much, Wen Anzhi, who had not enjoyed the benefits of TV news, even had a feeling - this age is almost a quarter of his own offspring, and his knowledge is more extensive than himself. Where did he look so young and so many things come from?

There are two ways to distinguish the real from the fake, for example, if someone brings a dog and claims that it is a pig, if the onlooker knows very well what the pig should look like, then of course they can immediately tell that it is a lie; If you don't know a pig, you need to know a dog if you want to see through this lie, and if you recognize at a glance that it must be a dog, then you won't be deceived even if you don't know what a pig looks like. Judging from Wen An's current situation, if he has a clear understanding of the sèsè clan and is sure that Deng Ming is not one of them, he will not be deceived; Or, if Wen Anzhi can see that Deng Ming is a person from the twenty-first century, then it can also be determined that he is definitely not a member of the Ming clan in the seventeenth century.

But Wen Anzhi can't do any of it, Wen Anzhi has only seen a limited number of clan disciples, although Deng Ming's speech is weird, but Wen Anzhi doesn't dare to say that it's not the clan that is weird. Previously, Wen Anzhi's confidence in distinguishing the true from the false mainly came from the second way of distinguishing the true from the false, he felt that he was well-informed and could see the original identity of the other party, but after some contact, Wen Anzhi was basically sure that the other party was not a scholar, farmer, craftsman, merchant, fisherman, servant or military household he had seen, in short, Deng Ming and Wen Anzhi had seen all the social groups that were not like each other - so who else was left? There are still the children of the clan who are raised behind the high walls and deep palaces, and this Wen Anzhi has never had the opportunity to have an in-depth understanding.

Wen Anzhi's confusion was very similar to Yuan Zongdi's feeling at the beginning, excluding what they were familiar with, leaving the social group of the Heavenly Family Clan, which they were not familiar with and had always been hidden behind layers of fog. The more uncertain the identity of the other party, the more rude it is, seeing that two hours have passed and still nothing has been found, Wen Anzhi, who is anxious, stays with Deng Ming for dinner, he still wants to continue to work hard to find out the truth.

"What should the clan look like?" When Deng Ming went to change clothes, Wen Anzhi felt that the elimination method was no longer working, and it must be verified positively. But this question made him himself a little confused, needless to say, Shi Nong and Shang also have obvious things in common, even the servants and military households also have obvious things in common, these possibilities have been excluded by Wen Anzhi, what should be the common and unique characteristics of the clan? Wen Anzhi felt that it was difficult to draw conclusions.

It is possible to observe Deng Ming's etiquette when eating, but Wen Anzhi feels that even if the other party is polite, it does not mean that it must be a clan. Thinking about it, Wen Anzhi had another thought, he asked someone to fetch a small tube, which was a good thing given to him by the Son of Yongli.

"It is said that the clan should know about this thing, and if it is the Lie Emperor, it should know even more." Wen Anzhi took out a black gift from the tube, pondered for a moment, and ruthlessly took out another one.

"But if he doesn't know, it's not necessarily not a clan, and this can't be used to deny his identity." Wen Anzhi was a little reluctant to think of this, and put the two in his hand back into the tube.

"Alas, I can't bear to put my shoes on the wolf." Wen Anzhi hesitated again and again, although this gift may not be able to spy on any valuable information, but it has been an afternoon and there is still no progress, Wen Anzhi really doesn't know how to report this strange thing to the imperial court, he took out one from the barrel again, and made up two again.

Handing over the two of them to the servant, Wen Anzhi pondered for a while how to test quietly and silently, while asking people to invite Deng Ming: "Please invite Mr. Deng to come over for dinner." ”