After Wang Qiong, the Minister of War, sent troops to submit them to Xuanfu, Zhu Houzhao learned about this immediately.

Zhu Houzhao didn't know that this suggestion was written by Chen Xi, and he thought it was very nonsense.

"...When is it now? If you send troops rashly, you will not cause a bigger mess? Do the people in the Ministry of War have no brains at all?"

Zhu Houzhao disdained Wang Qiong's suggestions.

Xiao Jing didn't understand Wang Qiong's intention at first, but he was very flexible. Moreover, Wang Qiong explained the reason for sending troops in the memorial, but Zhu Houzhao didn't have time to read it carefully.

Xiao Jing said: "Your Majesty, don't be anxious. In fact, with the intention of Wang Shangshu, it is to use various troops to involve the attention of the Tartars to force them to restrain themselves and withdraw their troops to protect themselves."

Zhu Houzhao frowned: "What's the point of doing this? The war is over. Do you want to encourage me to launch a larger-scale revenge?"

"this……"

Xiao Jing didn't know how to explain it, so he stammered for a long time and couldn't answer it.

Xiao Tiaozi mentioned, "Your Majesty, the situation on the grassland may not be accurate now. If the vanguard soldiers are still fighting with the Tartars and the Tartars withdraw their troops, wouldn't it be possible to let more Ming soldiers retreat safely into the Great Wall? Take a step back and say that even if doing so cannot have an impact on the war, at least the Tartars dare not invade Zhangjiakou Fort rashly."

Zhu Houzhao thought about it carefully and nodded, "Since that's the case, then follow the advice of the Ministry of War, and order Xuanda, Panguan and Sanguan to send troops everywhere, but we must ensure that we should not underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. Let us explain clearly to all the officials and generals that whoever has a mess will be responsible! The Ming Dynasty will never be defeated again!"

"Yes, your Majesty!"

Xiao Jing took the order carefully.

Zhu Houzhao shook her sleeves: "Everything that should be prepared is ready. I will go back to Xuanfu tomorrow morning and leave the matter here to Wang Shouren for the time being... I always feel uneasy. Don't attract the Tartars before. Such a riot is really coming!"

...

...

Zhu Houzhao "run away". In order to prevent the Tatars from attacking, Zhu Houzhao retreated from Zhangjiakou Fort to Xuanfu. At this moment, he also missed the people who stayed in Xuanfu, such as Chen Yier who followed him to the border.

After Zhu Houzhao went to Xuanfu, less than two days after the soldiers of the six towns in the northwest took turns to attack the grassland. In addition to the two armies of Datong Town and Pianguan Town that had previously cooperated with Zhu Houzhao to send troops, the troops on three sides were divided into different routes and approached the Hetao area. Although the scale was not very large, they made great efforts according to the instructions of the Ministry of War, with the intention of warning the Tatars.

When Zhu Houzhao returned to Xuanfu, it was already the fourth day of the eighth month. The Tianshi War Department came to report again. Xiao Jing wanted to report to Zhu Houzhao at noon, but Zhu Houzhao rushed to the palace and couldn't come out. This trip to the northern expedition made him physically and mentally exhausted and ignored foreign affairs.

"Eunuch Xiao, don't disturb Your Majesty." Xiao Guozi reminded, "Unless there is an emergency military newspaper on the battlefield, anyone who disturbs the Holy Driving will be punished."

Xiao Jing sighed and left unhappily.

As a result, Xiao Jing came again that night, and this time he really brought the latest news on the battlefield, reported by Hu Songyue and Liu Xu.

"It is related to the grassland war. Jiang Bin's troops have not been wiped out and are on their way back to Zhangjiakou Fort."

Xiao Jing was both surprised and happy. The fact that the vanguard troops who had been most worried about before did not happen. The emperor must be content with mercy after hearing this, because there was no better good news than this.

Xiao Guozi seemed extremely cautious: "Eunuch Xiao, are you laughing? Is this okay? By the way, what did you say that the whole army was wiped out... Who told Eunuch Xiao?"

Xiao Jing realized his words and quickly changed his words: "It was Jiang Bin who led his troops to retreat. The news was sent back by General Hu and General Liu. Why don't you go and spread it quickly?"

...

...

After a long time, Xiao Jing finally saw Zhu Houzhao with a confused look on his face. It was obvious that Emperor Zhengde had no brains and could not understand what was going on the grassland.

After Xiao Jing submitted the memorials of Hu Songyue and Liu Xu, Zhu Houzhao looked at them for a long time before putting them down and asked, "How many people were lost by Jiang Bin's troops?"

Xiao Jing was stunned, and became cautious again, saying, "It was not mentioned in the war report, but I think it was not a big loss. The Tatars showed no signs of continuing the southern offensive. The war should have been completely over."

Zhu Houzhao said: "That means... General Hu and General Liu's troops have not yet met with Jiang Bin's troops. Can you understand this way?"

"yes."

Xiao Jing answered affirmatively. He had read the battle report in detail and could confirm the wording of Hu Songyue and Liu Xu and the authenticity of Liu Xu. He knew very well that Hu Songyue and Liu Xu were not the kind of generals who deceived their superiors and concealed their subordinates and were brave.

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand: "I am worried that Jiang Bin hasn't had any trouble for so many days? It's a good idea... In this way, will the subsequent troops be really effective? Hey, I promised to send people to the grassland to harass me. In just a few days, the Tartars have really retreated? Even if there is a reaction, it's not so fast, right? It really makes people wonder... What the Tartars are doing?"

Xiao Jing thought to himself: "What does Your Majesty mean? Does Your Majesty think that Jiang Bin's troops should be wiped out?"

Zhu Houzhao looked up and said, "Tell Wang Shouren that after Jiang Bin comes back, he will immediately summon him to Xuanfu. I want to ask him personally. Whose responsibility is it for a war to be like this! I must investigate it strictly to the end!"

Originally, Xiao Jing had no good feelings for a slander like Jiang Bin. When Jiang Bin was defeated, he hoped that Zhu Houzhao could punish Jiang Bin heavily. Even if he was not sentenced to death, he could be dismissed from his post and investigated. At this time, he felt a little disappointed. Jiang Bin actually escaped for a lifetime. Could it be that the so-called disaster lasted for thousands of years?

"Yes, your Majesty."

Xiao Jing lowered his head and replied.

...

...

On the eighth day of the eighth month, the final result of the grassland war was that Hu Songyue and Liu Xu led their troops to the north for fifty miles, and finally met with Jiang Bin and Xu Tai's troops, and understood what happened before and after the war, and immediately sent the news back to Zhu Houzhao.

It was Xiao Jing and Zhu Hou who reported it. This time Xiao Jing was much more cautious and did not express his thoughts on his face. He was more of a business.

"... Jiang Bin was attacked by Tatar soldiers at night. The enemy was unknown in the night. He fled in a hurry, and lost more than 2,000 yuan. Then he led his troops to retreat to the old place of Chahan Naoerwei. He was blocked by Tatar soldiers and could only defend and wait for assistance. Fortunately, there were not many Tatars, only tens of thousands of people. After that, they fought hard for half a month. It was not until the Tatars retreated a few days ago that Jiang Bin led his troops to retreat south. Several small-scale wars occurred on the way..."

"... When Jiang Bin met with General Hu and General Liu, there were only less than two thousand left. The food, supplies, weapons, ammunition and horses were seriously damaged. Most of the soldiers who returned safely were injured, but they did not disappoint His Majesty at all."

After Xiao Jing finished reporting, he respectfully waited for Zhu Houzhao's further instructions. He hoped that Zhu Houzhao would surrender Jiang Bin, but he would not show it deliberately. Instead, he would have made contributions to Jiang Bin, and it seemed that it was very difficult to escape without any hesitation.

Zhu Houzhao sneered: "There are only two thousand soldiers left in six thousand, and more than 4,000 people are lost. This is not much different from the entire army. Jiang Bin has the nerve to come back with his head? Will the four thousand soldiers stay on the grassland forever as dry bones?"

Xiao Jing said: "Your Majesty calms down, this battle is over, there is really no need to get angry at the dragon body."

Zhu Houzhao was very upset. In the end, this result was not that he was too disappointed. He finally let go of his heart that had been hanging before, but he felt extremely unwilling to accept it, but he couldn't find a place to vent.

"Where is Jiang Bin now?" Zhu Houzhao asked sternly.

Xiao Jing replied: "I haven't arrived at Zhangjiakou Fort yet, but Your Majesty's imperial decree has been passed down. As long as he enters the pass, he will be taken down and escorted to Xuanfu."

"Um."

Zhu Houzhao nodded, "Xu Tai and those generals are also escorted to him... Even if they have just experienced a bloody battle, I will hold him accountable one by one, but the most important thing is to find out the culprit, otherwise I will not be able to explain it to the people of the world!"

...

...

Jiang Bin returned to Zhangjiakou Fort and thought he was a hero. After continuous battles, his contempt for the Tartars had long disappeared. Instead, he thought it was not easy to escape from the grassland. The most important thing was that he used advanced firearms to kill and injure many Tatars.

Because his officers and soldiers were equipped with the most advanced weapons of the Ming Dynasty, and the Tatars' offensive methods were not good, and they did not want to take the risk of dying too many people, the attack on the old place of Chahan's brain-wei was not very fierce, and the battle with Yuxi River was not the same order of magnitude. Even so, most of Jiang Bin's troops were eaten up.

The Tatars wanted to siege the city and fight for aid, but they were waiting for the Emperor of Ming to lead their troops to fall into the trap. However, they found that Zhu Houzhao was running very fast and could only change his tactics and planned to trap Jiang Bin's troops in the former site of Chahan Naoerwei.

However, afterwards, the troops from all over the Ming Dynasty went deep into the grassland to harass the clans and the people were swaying. To put it bluntly, each family was afraid that their territory would be occupied by the Ming Dynasty and could not bear the losses of personnel and animals. Therefore, they were unwilling to fight. The more people dispersed, the more they were dispersed, and they failed to defeat the siege of Chahan's old land. In the end, they simply scattered, and Jiang Bin had the opportunity to escape.

As soon as Jiang Bin entered Zhangjiakou, he was taken down by Wang Shouren. Jiang Bin was furious and questioned him, but Wang Shouren turned a deaf ear and tied him up in a prison cart.

"I am a hero of the Ming Dynasty. Who dares to be rude to me?" Jiang Bin was still shouting, but in fact his momentum was no longer as strong as before. He was not a local official who could be slaughtered. As the Governor of Xuanda and the Minister of War, Wang Shouren, who has enough power to take him down.

Wang Shouren never thought of talking nonsense to Jiang Bin, so he threw him into prison directly. He hungry Jiang Bin for a day before he was escorted to Xuanfu.

Wang Shouren even greeted the person who was escorting him. If Jiang Bin was doing it in a mess, he could kill him directly!

This time, not only did Zhu Houzhao want to deal with Jiang Bin, but even the orthodox civil servants in the court were eager for Jiang Bin to die. This is because Jiang Bin committed public anger. Wang Shouren even prepared to send someone to secretly kill Jiang Bin if the emperor pardoned Jiang Bin. Of course, everything was still in the idea.

Jiang Bin was escorted to Xuanfu on August 15th, but Zhu Houzhao had no intention of summoning him that day.

Jiang Bin was escorted to Xuanfu Town to see the prison cell of the officer who was punished. It was another inhuman abuse. It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Zhu Houzhao forgot that there was this person at all. Xiao Jing, Xiao Taozi and others also intentionally did not mention it to Zhu Houzhao.

It was not until August 19 that Zhu Houzhao remembered that he had not seen Jiang Bin yet, so he immediately called Xiao Jing to ask about the situation. Xiao Jing told the truth and told Jiang Bin that he had arrived at Xuanfu long ago.

"Where are people?" Zhu Houzhao asked slowly.

"Detained in prison."

Xiao Jing said, "But the old minister heard that his situation was not very good. Not only did he have any injuries on his body, but he was also sick... it was difficult to eat."

Zhu Houzhao was originally full of resentment at Jiang Bin, but she felt a little embarrassed when she heard this and said, "Take me there and see!"

...

...

Jiang Bin's experience in the past few days is a bit miserable.

He was abused on the way to Xuanfu. He was imprisoned in a dark dungeon when he arrived at the ground. In addition, he had not recovered from his injuries before and was deliberately arranged to the water prison in the worst environment, which caused him to suffer a severe cold. He was only fished out of the water yesterday and was unconscious at this time.

Zhu Houzhao was very concerned about Jiang Bin, a subordinate. He went to visit the prison in person. When he arrived at the place, he found that Jiang Bin was in a mess, even the beggar he remembered. He lay there motionlessly, as if he was dead, and his whole body emitted a pungent stench and frowned immediately.

"What's going on?" Zhu Houzhao was a little dissatisfied. Even though he really planned to teach Jiang Bin a lesson, he never thought of torture with such means.

Xiao Jing said from the side: "Your Majesty, I don't know what's going on. It's probably the case that the prisoners in the army are like this, but he is injured and infected, so it looks even more serious."

Zhu Houzhao thought about it carefully and found that he was indeed the order to treat Jiang Bin as a criminal. The people below were indeed not polite to the criminal, but Zhu Houzhao was very unbearable for Jiang Bin's experience in front of him.

"Open the prison door."

Zhu Houzhao is not the kind of emperor who is rigid and is preparing to visit him in close proximity.

Xiao Jing quickly reminded: "Your Majesty, don't do this. It's very dirty here. I don't know what disease he has. If he gets infected and goes back, what's going on! The dragon body is important."

"Open the door!"

Zhu Houzhao shouted without hesitation.

Then a prison guard came over to open the door. Zhu Houzhao stepped inside, and the stench became even more pungent, which made Zhu Houzhao's idea of ​​going forward to touch Jiang Bin's breathing. He stood in front of Jiang Bin less than five steps and looked for a long time but did not notice that Jiang Bin had opened his eyes.

"Your Majesty, you are not dead, you have a sigh."

After the prison guard went up and checked carefully, he turned around and reported to Zhu Hou.
To be continued...