No matter how hard Zhang Yong tried to persuade him, he could not make up for the idea of ​​Chen Xi.

Even if Zhang Yong is anxious, it is useless. According to Zhu Houzhao's instructions, he followed Chen Xi to the war as a military supervisor. Shen Xi was the one who was the leader of everything along the way. This is something that even Zhu Houzhao cannot change, let alone Zhang Yong.

Chen Xi was quite polite to Zhang Yong. After all, Zhang Yong did not sing a stage drama with him, and he did not complain about his hard work along the way. He tried his best to cooperate with his work. In this way, Chen Xi would not deliberately put on airs and keep people from thousands of miles away.

Zhang Yong did not stay in the central army tent for too long. Seeing that Chen Xi was determined, he had to get up and say goodbye and go back to see Ma Yongcheng.

Compared with Zhang Yong, Ma Yongcheng's military supervisor was not bad. He had served as the military supervisor like Ma Wensheng for a long time. Before Zhang Yong obtained many military achievements with Chen Xi, Ma Yongcheng's status among all the eunuchs who served as military supervisors in the Ming Dynasty was much higher than Zhang Yong.

But now Ma Yongcheng wants to give face when he sees Zhang Yong. After all, today is different from the past. Zhang Yong has become the eunuch who has made the most military achievements today.

"……how?"

Seeing Zhang Yong come back, Ma Yongzheng hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "What did Shen Zhihou say? We have to go out to the frontier as bait, and we are in danger on the grassland full of dangers?"

Zhang Yong sighed and nodded helplessly.

"oops!"

Ma Yongcheng looked extremely upset, slapped his thighs and his voice was sharp, "Before he came out, we knew something was wrong, and it would be no good to follow Shen Zhihou. He was too radical in his work and never took the ordinary path. He wanted to bring us all into the ditch!"

Zhang Yong smiled bitterly and said, "What we are worried about now is not to act as bait, but to fear that Your Majesty and other people will not be able to send troops on time as agreed, resulting in the failure of the plan from the beginning... In addition, how should we maintain the distance between the armies and let the Tartars fall into a preset ambush circle without being noticed?"

Ma Yongcheng said angrily: "What trap is clearly a deception of his own people. With Shen Zhihou's intelligence and talent, he is determined to be able to successfully set up an ambush? The Tartars are not fools, will they easily send troops without regard for their future?"

Zhang Yong had no choice but to spread his hands: "If you want to understand this, you can only ask Mr. Chen."

"You didn't ask just now? Or did he refuse to say it?" Ma Yongcheng stared at Zhang Yong.

Zhang Yong sighed again: "You have also said that it is not easy for Mr. Chen to act arbitrary and it is not easy to explain to us a general explanation. It is too difficult to expect him to explain everything. However, he said that even if the rest of the people cannot cooperate, he promised to be able to advance and retreat freely on the grassland, and everyone should be safe. But I think, what this sentence roughly means is... If there is no result in this battle, the responsibility will not be on him..."

Ma Yongcheng's eyes lit up and asked quickly: "Does this be taken seriously? Then does he... have the idea of ​​shirking responsibility? He deliberately set the plan like this. As long as the rest of the people do not come or are late, resulting in the final failure, it will be impossible for His Majesty to hold him accountable?"

Zhang Yong shook his head firmly: "No, no, Shen Zhihou wants to fight Zukai! He has no idea of ​​retreating, and he doesn't even accept Xiaosheng!"

"Madman! Madman! Why is our family so miserable? Let's go to war with a guy who is ignorant of the world? How great would it be if he could be with His Majesty? The Xuan Mansion can be blown to the sky with a little contribution. And with Shen Zhihou, even if it is a great contribution... we have no life to enjoy it!"

Ma Yongcheng looked sad and sat on the chair, and had no strength to speak for a long time.

...

...

Chen Xi sent Zhang Yonghou away and began to plan the itinerary for the next two days.

From Juyongguan to Datong Town, it is about 600 miles to walk the official road. This is a difficult road in this era, and it involves climbing mountains and crossing rivers, which is very easy to delay time.

The original plan was to take the full journey in twelve days. After Shen Xi deliberately accelerated the marching speed, he could arrive in seven days. This was the fourth day, and it was less than 150 miles away from Datong.

"... Now I am almost at Datong, and the central army led by His Majesty may take more than five days to arrive at Xuanfu. The problem now is to coordinate all parties to send troops. In this era, there is not even a telegram. It is really difficult to send messages and contact us..."

Chen Xi was worried that many things were not as simple as he expected, and he didn't know how to solve them for a while. At this moment, Yun Liu's voice came from the door: "Sir, I'm looking for a meeting with you."

Chen Xi shouted: "Come in!"

Yunliu was released by the guards at the door, and stepped into the central army's tent. He walked to the commander's case to salute Chen Xi, and said respectfully: "Sir, I have already figured out the situation of hundreds of miles around Datong. No trace of the Tatars was found yet, and there was not even a scout from the grassland tribe. It can be seen that the Tatars have not yet assembled and mobilized!"

Chen Xi nodded: "So, the Tatars were not prepared for this battle..."

Yunliu asked for instructions: "Do you send a scout cavalry to the hinterland of the grassland? Less than a month after the war began, the Tatar cavalry advanced very quickly. If the enemy's intelligence is not investigated clearly, an accident may occur."

"Since the Tatars have not sent troops yet, why are they in a hurry?"

Chen Xi looked calm, "The central army led by His Majesty has not arrived at Xuanfu. Even if he arrives, he will probably stay in Xuanfu for more than a month. When His Majesty has coordinated the dispatch of troops from all over the nine borders, it may be until mid-May..."

Yun Liu was very surprised and asked, "Sir, if the troops were sent so late, the rainy season would be on the grassland. It would rain nearly half a month. Our partial army is mainly firearms and is not familiar with the place. Is it difficult for the soldiers to adapt, right?"

Chen Xi shook his head: "I have thought of the problem you mentioned, but what can I do? Your Majesty's personal expedition cannot be changed. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have won so much support. The troops in Xuanfu would probably be attacked by the Tatars after they left the frontier. In this way, the central army would have difficulty in every step forward..."

Yunliu asked in surprise: "Does sir... want the central army led by His Majesty to become bait?"

"The Tatars are not stupid."

Chen Xi analyzed, "The central army led by His Majesty, plus the logistics supply team, is at least about 200,000 people. There is also the royal flag next to it, and the troops led by me are eyeing each other. Will the Tatars stare at the central army regardless of everything? On the contrary, the central army is bloated and has extremely low movement. If the Tatars put all their energy on me, their troops will not get support at all."

"As long as I lose, the outcome of this war will be very clear. If the Tatars take advantage of the retreat of our central army and continue to harass, they may not necessarily achieve unexpected results... I must let the Tatars know that I am not in Xuanfu, but in Datong!"

Yun Liu said: "I really don't understand that the lord is already in a high position, so why do you have to risk your life as bait? The Tatars gathered together, and the number of soldiers and horses was ten times that of me. If you are negligent, you will never be able to get rid of it..."

Chen Xi cleaned up the book in front of him and stood up: "If I don't act as a bait, I will let the Emperor of Ming be the one. This is not possible. Da Yanhan finally integrated the grassland divisions. Even if he just wanted to establish his prestige, he would lead his troops south to fight a war... It's not too early, it's time to rest, so you can go to the tent with me."

...

...

After walking down a day after competing with Tang Yin, Chen Xi himself was also very tired.

Although he had already adapted to his military career, he walked with two legs and still had a whole day. With his current pampered life, he was just gritting his teeth and holding on. He didn't plan to continue walking. He still had to sit in a carriage, and at least he had to ride a horse to travel for his feet to make his feet feel better.

When he arrived at the tent, Chen Xi was so tired that he sat on a chair. Yun Liu squatted down, took off his leggings and shoes and socks for Chen Xi, and used the candlestick to sanitize the blisters on the soles of Chen Xi's feet.

The pus flowed out, Chen Xi didn't react much, and he was still thinking about the situation in his mind.

Yun Liu carefully wrapped Chen Xi's feet with a white cloth, with a heartache expression on his face: "Sir, the weather is getting warmer, and you may suffer some pain these two days."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "No matter how much you suffer, are there any ordinary soldier suffering more? Even you walk more roads than me every day, right?"

Yun Liu lowered his head: "Most of the time, I am riding a horse, and I rarely walk so many roads. Besides... I'll be fine if I get used to it. Most soldiers don't walk like this on the first day, of course they can adapt more than adults."

Chen Xi looked at Yun Liu with praise in his eyes. After a while, he saw that his legs were almost tied and said, "Get up, you are tired too. In order to collect information as soon as possible, I am afraid I will be unable to untidy my clothes for several days, right? Let Xier bring some hot water and you can take a shower."

Yunliu shook her head: "It's not hard to be a humble job."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Why, for me, do you still have to use the rules in the army to restrain yourself? Here, you are the woman in my room, and everything is to obey your husband's orders."

Yunliu lowered her head shyly, walked to the door of the tent, said a few words to Xier at the door, Xier responded outside, and then happily went to the kitchen to fetch water.

At this time, all the guards around Chen Xi's tent had evacuated. Chen Xi didn't want people to know that there was a woman in his tent. No matter how Yun Liu and Xier could do it, they were still a weak woman in his tent.

Usually Xier stays with Shen Xi for more time, and Yunliu has been traveling around. This time, Xier is like a maid, serving Yunliu with all her heart and strength, and serving tea and water is done by Xier.

After everything was packed, Chen Xi leaned halfway on the head of the bed and thought about things.

When Yun Liu came over, she was wearing loose pajamas and her hair was soaked and draped on her shoulders. There was no condition for Yun Liu to dry her hair, so she could only deal with it like this. She wanted to squat down and help Chen Xi pinch her waist and pound her legs, but Chen Xi asked her to sit on the edge of the bed.

"grown ups……"

Yun Liu called out timidly.

Chen Xi sighed lightly: "Who ever thought that you are the hardest person on the way? You have been back and forth from Datong Mansion several times. If it were me, I would probably not be able to stand this hard work."

"It is a blessing for me to be able to do things for the adults!" Yun Liu said.

Chen Xi laughed: "No need to say more polite words. I understand your feelings. Now you are the only one who can entrust the heavy responsibilities around me. Don't put yourself in a low position. After this battle, there shouldn't be so much hard work."

Chen Xi said this, he was not very sure because he felt that there were too many places he could use Yunliu, and it was too difficult to let Yunliu relax completely and be a little woman.

...

...

Zhu Houzhao walked very slowly.

Less than 300 miles from Juyongguan to Xuanfu, the journey is relatively easier than Datong, but it still only takes 30 to 40 miles a day. At this speed, it takes seven or eight days to get to Xuanfu.

After leaving Juyong Pass, Zhu Houzhao was still calm, but the people under his command were extremely nervous, especially those who knew about military affairs, such as Hu Lian, who knew how dangerous the journey from Juyong Pass to Xuanfu was. Not to mention the disastrous defeats Yingzong encountered on this road back then, just talk about the more than ten years from the middle period of Hongzhi to the present, there have been 20 or 30 wars on this road.

When the Tatars sent troops, they would find ways to bypass the Ming city barrier. The Tatars had long been smart, no longer staring at those strong fortresses, specializing in the weak points of the defense line of the Great Wall, and even took action at night. Although the firearms of the Ming army were powerful, they were too limited. The Great Wall could not be covered in everything, and the Tatars would always take advantage of the loopholes.

The wars carried out by the Tatars on the Neiguan line were all caused by destroying the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty and killing from some gaps. In addition, after the Tatars invaded, the soldiers and horses from all over the city did not dare to go out to meet the enemy, and there was no echo between each other, so that the Tatars would have some invasion activities going south every year, which was repeatedly banned.

But for Zhu Houzhao, these things are not taken seriously at all. They still do their own things. They get up late in the morning and set up camp early in the afternoon, and will definitely stay until the second half of the night.

In order to compete for favor, Qian Ning, Zhang Yuan and others kept sending all kinds of women to Zhu Houzhao's camp. Zhu Houzhao marches almost every night during the march, which made some people who knew the inside story very anxious.

Especially Hu Lian, who knew the danger of this road better than anyone else, and knew that delaying the marching speed was aggravating this level of danger. Hu Lian thought sadly that when Emperor Yingzong went to the expedition, he even began to doubt the real purpose of Zhu Houzhao's command in person.

Until March 29, the troops were still more than a hundred miles away from Xuanfu.

Hu Lian calculated according to his current speed, even if he could not complete the task even if he walked for another two days, he simply went to see Zhu Houzhao after the army was stationed in the afternoon, but was blocked outside the imperial tent.

The person who blocked Hu Lian was Zhang Yuan, who was a big shot that Hu Lian could not afford to offend.

Sili Supervisor's Seal stood at the top of the power layer. When Shen Xi and Xie Qian were not in the central army, Zhang Yuan could be regarded as Zhu Houzhao's voice-over and the "No. 2" in the army after the emperor. Hu Lian was well versed in the officialdom, so he could only try to suppress his dissatisfaction.

Zhang Yuan said arrogantly: "It's hard to march. Your Majesty has just rested. Lord Hu should not disturb the sages casually. This is not a responsibility that our subordinates can bear... What do you think?"

Hu Lian's face looked extremely ugly, but under Zhang Yuan's aggressive gaze, he could only salute respectfully. Not saying anything means he agreed.

Zhang Yuan smiled and said, "Mr. Hu, you are a capable minister promoted by Secretary Chen. Our family has always had a good relationship with Secretary Chen. This is how you can tell us if you have any problems. After nightfall, you can sit in our tent. Let's solve some difficult problems together, okay?"

Hu Lian couldn't help but frown after hearing this. He was reluctant to discuss military information with the eunuch, but the problem was that Zhang Yuan's status was obvious. He had to refuse to follow. He could only respond with a hint of worry in his heart.
Chapter completed!