The crowd gathered in Zhou Pei's tent dispersed, and Zhang Changgeng returned to his tent, worried and unable to sleep. Now the whole army knows that Governor Hu is using the Huguang Green Camp as a bet, gambling on his own future and career, but no one can disobey his orders, as long as Běijīng does not remove Hu Quancai from his post for a day, he represents Fulin's imperial power, and disobeying Hu Quancai is the emperor who rebels against Běijīng, even if Fulin himself thinks that Zhang Changgeng and their rebellion against Hu Quancai is right and justified, it is impossible not to punish him severely, otherwise he is praising this kind of rebellion against imperial power.

How can you lead the army out of danger and give the court a reason to forgive yourself? Zhang Changgeng thought hard in the tent, but he didn't come up with any ideas except for a long sigh.

"Lord Governor!"

A person suddenly broke in outside the tent, this person came fiercely, and the guards at the door failed to pull him but let him break into Zhang Changgeng's tent, but although the person who came crashed into Zhang Changgeng's tent like a bull, he did not shout loudly, but said anxiously in a low tone: "The big thing is not good!" ”

Zhang Changgeng took a look and saw that the person who came was Governor Hu's standard battalion guerrilla, and he was one of the few generals who would never participate in Zhou Juren's conspiracy group.

"Why are you so flustered?" Zhang Changgeng was quite wary of this person, and asked unhurriedly in an official tone.

"The grain route has been cut off," the guerrilla looked very flustered, but still tried his best to keep his voice low: "Your Excellency the Governor has just received news that he is going to summon the sailor to the shore and then scuttle the boat." ”

"What!?" Zhang Changgeng jumped up, his agility was completely inconsistent with his age: "What do you say the Governor is going to do?" ”

"The Governor wants to break the kettle and sink the boat...... The guerrilla of the pro-military camp of the Governor of Huguang did not hide it at all, and explained Hu Quancai's plan and plan: "Just now an urgent report was sent from the south, saying that Li Laiheng of Xingshan suddenly appeared in the lower reaches of the Han River and blocked the road, and the governor was not surprised after reading the report, and ordered the general to immediately summon all the sailors ashore and enter the camp with his warrant, and then scuttle all the boats ......"

Zhang Changgeng glared at the guerrillas in the pro-military camp, and decided that this person had lost his mind and was talking nonsense in front of him, so he could be so realistic, because the other party thought that he was telling the truth.

Guerrilla observed the words and observed the sè, knowing that the governor of Hunan could not believe it, he hurriedly took out the arrow and warrant handed over to him by Hu Quancai, and handed it to Zhang Changgeng with both hands: "This is what the governor just handed over to the last general, please take a look at the governor." ”

Zhang Changgeng snatched the warrant, flipped through it, and suddenly felt that the world was spinning, he stumbled two steps and almost fell to the ground, and his own soldiers and guerrillas hurriedly reached out to support the governor of Hunan, and still said in that low and anxious tone: "Lord Governor, you want to persuade Lord Governor." ”

"Governor, he's going to break the boat." Zhang Changgeng held on to the table, barely steady.

At this time, there was a loud noise from the side of the tent, and Zhang Changgeng and his own guerrillas looked at the place where the noise was moving, and a Hunan general came in from the underground of the tent. This general's tent was not far from Zhang Changgeng's residence, and just now he saw Hu Quancai's personal soldier guerrilla god hurriedly rushing into Zhang Changgeng's tent, and he thought that there was nothing good, so he sneaked outside the tent and eavesdropped through the cloth. Hearing that Governor Hu was about to break the boat, he was anxious to get closer, and accidentally lost his balance and rolled in from under the tent.

After getting up, the general didn't care about the politeness, and rushed to Zhang Changgeng and shouted: "Your Excellency, you must persuade the Governor." ”

Zhang Changgeng scolded: "Eavesdropping on the chief's deliberations, do you still have any rules?" What kind of system? ”

But where can this general still manage what system, shouting that Zhang Changgeng must go to Hu Quancai immediately, the current situation is urgent, the governor of Hunan has no time to deal with this guy, scolded him, and hurriedly left the camp with guerrillas to find the governor of Huguang.

Seeing that it was the pro-soldier guerrilla and the Hunan governor who arrived together, the guards at the gate hurriedly entered the tent to report, and after a while, the guards came out and nodded, Zhang Changgeng stepped into Hu Quancai's camp in three steps and two steps, and shouted as soon as he entered the door: "My lord, this matter must not be done!" ”

Hu Quancai lit a candle on the table, holding a military book upside down, he first raised his eyes and looked at Zhang Changgeng, and then looked at the pro-soldiers who were cowering behind the Hunan governor's guerrilla, snorted, did not answer Zhang Changgeng's words, but said to the guerrilla: "You are so bold. ”

No matter how Zhang Changgeng persuaded him, Hu Quancai was unmoved, he scolded hatefully: "Our army is obviously much stronger than the thieves, it is all because of these dogs that they are timid, so they have ended up like this. ”

At this time, there was a sudden commotion outside the tent, and countless people shouted "We want to see the governor", and then several generals poured in, led by the person who was eavesdropping outside Zhang Changgeng's tent just now, he was afraid that Zhang Changgeng would not be able to convince the governor of Huguang, so he called a few close colleagues to cheer.

"Your Excellency the Governor, I heard that the grain route and the back road have been cut off by thieves, but is this true?" The attitude of the generals who rushed in was already extremely rude, and they questioned loudly as soon as they saw Hu Quancai.

Hu Quancai was calm and relaxed, and did not answer at all.

"Your Excellency the Governor," a general stepped forward and asked in a loud voice, "We don't send troops to defend the retreat, but the Governor deliberately wants Li Laiheng to cut off our food routes?" ”

Hu Quancai still didn't speak, and when he saw this, one of the generals also let go, and shouted: "You must not scuck the boat, and the last general will immediately order the governor to order the whole army to break through the siege overnight." ”

Others also agreed, and Hu Quancai waited for a few people to make enough trouble, and then retorted unhurriedly: "Why do you want to keep the retreat? To give you a reason to flee? If this official sends someone to stay behind, will you rush to be the guard? There is a fight in front, and you will come here when you are called to support? Is it true that Ben Du is a fool? ”

"The art of war, put it to death and then come to life." After asking a few Hunan generals who came to make trouble speechless, Hu Quancai sneered again: "There is no food, there is no way to retreat, there is Zhong Xiang in front, anyway, if you can't defeat Deng Mingben, you will never leave, if you abandon the army and flee, do you really think that the imperial court is a decoration?" If you beat Zhong Xiang, everyone has a way to live, and if you can't beat Zhong Xiang, no one wants to live. ”

After speaking, Hu Quancai scolded the pro-soldier guerrilla: "What are you waiting for? Why don't you go to the ship? ”

This guerrilla was scolded by the governor of Huguang, and his neck shrank and retreated, and he was immediately stopped by the other generals on the side. ”

"Zhong Xiangcheng is not big, although there are many thieves with armor, but most of them are new soldiers, as long as you are willing to contribute, how can you not fight?" Hu Quancai sneered, knowing that the group of people in front of him would not cry when they saw the coffin, so he took out a letter and shook it in front of Zhang Changgeng and others: "This official knows what calculations you are making now, it is nothing more than thinking about how to escape from the battle and preserve your strength." Look ahead! This is the last example of the Governor, in which the official plays the court and depicts your ugliness clearly. ”

Hu Quancai was afraid that some of these generals would not understand, and explained to them that if Hu Quancai was defeated and died, then his dying watch would have great lethality. The civil and military personnel accompanying him in this letter are on the list, and when the time comes, in order to deter other civil and military officials, they will also be held accountable for the crime of escaping.

"It's easy for you to escape, if the official is unlucky, send this letter out, or you can leave it to Deng Ming, you say, you have fought with the Kuidong thieves for so many years, and there is a chance for revenge, will they cover it up for you?" Hu Quancai said triumphantly, even if his envoy couldn't escape, he would be like a treasure when he broke into the camp and saw such a letter.

Seeing that everyone in the group, including Zhang Changgeng, was like ashes, and there was no word of resistance, Hu Quancai gently put the cantata together, and said in a slow tone: "As long as you work hard and defeat Deng Ming, the official will naturally never mention this recital again, and will ask the court for credit for you." ”

After the coercion and temptation were completed, Hu Quancai paused for a moment, and then shouted to the guerrilla: "Why don't you go to scuttle the boat?" ”

The guerrilla peeked at Zhang Changgeng and saw that the sleeves of the governor of Hunan were shaking, and he was obviously extremely angry, but he was helpless against the governor of Huguang, so he whispered "chirp", intending to carry out the order honestly.

Zhang Changgeng also sighed and bowed deeply to Hu Quancai: "The life of the lower official will be sent to Zhongxiang, if you win by luck, I hope that the adults will not break their promises." ”

"Nature." Hu Quancai replied, then with a blank face, he yelled at everyone: "Don't you retreat?" ”

Zhang Changgeng turned around and left, and several Hunan generals wanted to go out with him when they saw this, but the person who first questioned Hu Quancai just now didn't move, and his colleague pulled him but couldn't pull him, Zhang Changgeng, who had already stepped out of the tent with one foot, turned around again when he saw this, and shouted to the general: "Didn't you hear the words of the governor?" Don't go yet! ”

The Hunan general turned a deaf ear to the governor's words, and a strange swarm appeared in his eyes, and he suddenly drew his saber and leaped forward, shouting at the same time: "Governor, beware, there are assassins!" ”

……

Zhou Peicheng was sleeping in the tent, and suddenly heard the noise of people outside, and the camp was full of noise, and after being woken up, Zhou Peigong rubbed his eyes, yawned and sat up. After listening for a while, he heard the sound outside the tent getting louder and louder, so Zhou Peigong walked to the door, opened the tent and went out to see what was going on.

As soon as I went out, I saw that the camp was full of people, there were bright torches everywhere, and the chaotic crowd let out all kinds of shouts.

"The grain road is broken!"

"Assassination of the Governor!"

When Zhou Peigong heard two sentences, he was greatly frightened, and hurried to the governor's camp, only to see a large number of soldiers pouring out of their tents, spinning around like headless flies.

The governor's camp was particularly chaotic, and before Zhou Peigong could squeeze through, he saw a governor's staff running over in a panic, he hurriedly grabbed this person and asked, "What's wrong?" What happened to the Governor? What's going on with the grain road? ”

"It's a big deal." This staff member was full of panic, and howled to Zhou Peigong: "I met Governor Zhang just now, he said that our grain route was cut off by Li Laiheng, and the governor hurriedly summoned the messenger who came to report the news, but I didn't expect that the messenger actually hid a short sword and assassinated the governor. ”

"Where is the Governor now?" Zhou Peigong was also cold when he heard this, although Hu Quancai was unpopular, but he was the master of the army, if something happened, the Qing army would be in chaos immediately.

"Life and death are uncertain, and several of the governor's guards have been killed." The staff member actually began to cry, just now he had not been able to get close to the tent at all, the guerrilla leaders of the pro-barracks surrounded the governor's camp, and the governor of Hunan and a group of generals were in the camp to defend the governor, discuss the military situation, and no one was allowed to approach.

"What about the Assassins? What about the Governor? ”

"The assassin took advantage of the chaos to run away, and the governor said that it was a young man, about twenty years old, who called himself Liu Ming, and brought a dozen followers." The staff told Zhou Peigong all the news released by Zhang Changgeng just now.

At this moment, a louder commotion was suddenly heard, and a group of heralds galloped through the camp, shouting orders: "I found that the assassins ran in the direction of the Hanshui Camp, and did not return to Zhongxiang, and the governor has led the team in pursuit." The Doge is martyred! Before dying, he ordered everyone to return to Wuchang. ”

"The Governor was martyred? Returning to Wuchang separately? Zhou Peigong was stunned when he heard this.

But at this time, Zhang Changgeng had already led a group of Hunan cronies and generals, as well as Governor Hu's personal soldiers to guerrilla, leading the army to rush out of the camp gate with a roar, and went straight to the water camp by the Han River.

……

It was half an hour before the Ming army discovered that the Qing army was in turmoil, and it was impossible to see what was going on at night, only that there was a lot of noise.

"Who's going to rob the camp?" At the head of Zhong Xiangcheng, Deng Ming and Yuan Zongdi looked at each other, they didn't know that Li Laiheng had outflanked the Qing army, but they also knew that it was the last day or two, so the Ming army had already made a plan, and did not plan to take the initiative to attack, but waited for the Qing army to use the water division to retreat and then cover up.

Deng Ming sent a herald to Liu Tichun's troops outside the city to inquire, and soon the troops reported that they didn't know what happened to the Qing army, and He Zhen suspected that it was the enemy's plan to lure the enemy.

"A trick to lure the enemy? It's too similar. Deng Ming stood at the head of the city and looked at the camp of the Qing army, obviously the enemy army was already in chaos: "Could it be that General Li has already succeeded, and the enemy soldiers have begun to retreat because they have learned the news?" ”

"Where is there such a retreat?" Yuan Zongdi disagreed with Deng Ming's speculation, shook his head and said: "The retreat must also be carried out by land and water, the army will explore the ambush for the naval division, and the naval division will transport heavy baggage and wounded soldiers, covering each other, this is not a withdrawal at all, it is a bombing of the camp." ”

After seeing the chaos of the Qing army, the Ming army had already sent sharp soldiers to see if they could take advantage of the chaos to catch a few prisoners.

It wasn't until an hour later that Liu Tichun and others sent a new envoy to tell Deng Ming that Hu Quan had been assassinated, and that the Qing army had collapsed, and Liu Tichun's envoy also said to Deng Ming: "The main villain of the family came to see the admiral, saw the admiral with his own eyes and then returned." ”

"Why is that?" Deng Ming was confused.

"According to the captive, it was a thief assassinated by an assassin in his early twenties, and with more than a dozen skilled guards, he rushed out of the Qing army camp unharmed.

"Of course not me." Deng Mingshu smiled and said, "I have always stayed in the city honestly. ”

Soon the envoys of He Zhen and Hao Shaoqi also sent the same information, and the captives they captured also recounted the same situation, and the envoys of both of them also asked to see Deng Ming. When questioning the captives, both He Zhen and Hao Shaoqi felt that the Qing soldiers were very familiar with the description of this assassin, which was almost the same as the description of Deng Ming in the newspaper of Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong describing the fire in Kunming. This made both of them suspicious, worried that the assassin was Deng Ming, who was bored in Zhongxiang, and went to make trouble in Hu Ying for a while, if this was the case, the pursuing Qing soldiers would be released first, and the most important thing was to pick up Deng Ming and confirm that he was safe and sound.

After learning that Deng Ming was safe and sound, the three generals outside the city immediately dispatched the whole army to pursue the Qing army, and at the same time let the fast horse grab the head of the Qing army and go downstream to report the news and inform Li Laiheng to intercept it.

At dawn, a large group of captives were escorted to Zhong Xiang, and the escorted officer reported to Deng Ming that the Qing army's sailors had fled first, and it is said that only Zhang Changgeng, his soldiers and horses of several Hunan generals and Hu Quancai's personal barracks were carried away, and most of the Qing troops were abandoned by the Han River, and now they could only flee south on foot, and it was estimated that not many could escape back to Wuchang under the siege and interception of the Ming army.

Deng Ming rode a horse and looked at the long line of captives, and suddenly saw an acquaintance among them.

"Zhou Peigong?" As an art student, Deng Ming has a strong ability to remember people's faces, and he immediately recognized Zhou Juren.

"It's the students." After seeing Deng Ming, Zhou Peigong hurriedly agreed loudly as if he had been granted amnesty.

There are several people around Zhou Peigong who also know Deng Ming, and the old man who threw money at him last time was also among them, and after being recognized by Deng Ming, the old curtain guest was also full of smiles, and he didn't mean to throw anything at Deng Ming at all: "Seeing that His Royal Highness is in good health, the old man is really overjoyed." ”

"The old gentleman is polite, call me Deng Ming, general, admiral, you can do it."

There are also some people that Deng Ming didn't know, Zhou Peigong introduced these literati to Deng Ming one by one, and these people saluted Deng Ming one after another: "I have heard the heroes of the Admiral for a long time, and now I see it, it is really worthy of its reputation." ”

After the literati were introduced, at this time, a group of guys dressed as military attaches stood behind Zhou Peigong, and after seeing Zhou Dacai's friendship with Deng Mingla, these military attaches who thought they were familiar with Zhou Peigong refused to honestly follow the captive team, but stood there waiting for Zhou Peigong to be introduced.

……

South Zhili, Zhenjiang.

The 20,000 Qing troops on the opposite side have already opened their positions, and the vanguard of the Fujian army also has more than 20,000.

Zheng Chenggong stood firmly in the Central Army, and today he asked the Zhejiang army to monitor Zhenjiang and transferred all the Fujian troops to fight against Guan Allegiance.

"Thirty-five wins, five defeats." Zheng Chenggong gently read a sentence of his previous field battles, and said to himself: "Before noon, it should be thirty-six victories." ”

"Let's beat the drums." Zheng Chenggong raised his voice and waved the horsewhip in his hand at the same time.