In May, the Yan army attacked Dezhou, but Li Jinglong was defeated again, abandoned Dezhou City and fled to Jinan. The general Zhenglu's escape immediately weakened the morale of the army, and all the defenders in the cities of Hebei and Shandong fled in anticipation of the Yan army. King Yan easily occupied Hebei and northern Shandong.
In June, the Yan army followed Li Jinglong to Jinan. The two armies fought outside the city of Jinan. Li Jinglong was defeated again and fled south without a trace. The Yan army surrounded Jinan City. Jinan is the key point of Shandong. Taking Jinan can separate the north and the south. The Yan army will occupy half of the Central Plains. Zhu Di and Zhu Quan couldn't hide their excitement after talking about this.
Unexpectedly, Li Jinglong's subordinates all commanded Sheng Yong and had tens of thousands of troops. At this time, they bravely came out to defend the city. Sheng Yong was originally the former subordinate of Changxing Marquis Geng Bingwen. He was thirty-two years old this year. He was a tall man and a powerful warrior, and he was a famous general during the Zhending War. After Li Jinglong arrived, he joined the army and became the capital commander. Li Jinglong's army was too numerous, and he had no impression of Sheng Yong, nor could he use it. He simply didn't care about it.
Unexpectedly, Tie Xuan, who participated in the political affairs of Shandong, was responsible for supervising the transportation of grain and wages. Seeing the crisis in Shandong and the national crisis, he stepped forward and rushed into Jinan City, forming a bloody alliance with Sheng Yong to defend Jinan. Tie Xuan is thirty-five years old this year. He was originally a scholar and civil servant. He is known for his strong temper and smart judgment. When he was deciding affairs in the Governor's Mansion, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang gave him the nickname "dingshi". You can imagine how tough he is. Know. Under his inspiration, the people of Jinan stepped forward to help the defense.
Tie Xuan was both literary and military, determined to stick to his will. The city was united, the army and the people were united, and the city of Jinan was strong and thick-walled. The Yan army continued to attack for many days but failed to capture it, so the two sides ended up in a stalemate.
In the Fengtian Palace, Zhu Yunwen frowned.
Why couldn't hundreds of thousands of troops defeat the rebels who initially had only a few thousand people? After fighting for more than a year, the King of Yan went from occupying the Prince Yan's Mansion to occupying Beiping, then occupied the three prefectures, and now he has occupied Hebei and Shandong!
With hurried footsteps, General Li Jinglong was dragged into the palace by Qi Tai.
Li Jinglong fell to the ground and cried bitterly: "Your Majesty! I have betrayed the holy hope and begged for the death penalty!"
Huang Zicheng stood up, prostrated himself on the ground, and burst into tears: "I made a mistake in my recommendation. I beg you to be punished with death!"
The officials were in an uproar. Fang Xiaoru was the first to be unable to resist, jumped up to Li Jinglong, raised his bony little fist and started to fight, while beating and scolding: "Hit you, a great general! How can you return to Beijing with such shame!"
Li Jinglong did not evade, and allowed Fang Xiaoru's fist to fall on him. He just fell to the ground and cried bitterly.
Mei Yin stepped forward, blocked Fang Xiaoru's fist, and asked Li Jinglong angrily: "Cao Guogong! The imperial army is several times larger than the Yan bandits. What is the reason and why are they repeatedly defeated?"
Huang Zicheng raised his head, raised his sleeves and wiped away his tears, and shouted loudly: "That's it! Why exactly? An army of five hundred thousand! I am the most powerful army of the Ming Dynasty!"
Zhu Yunwen raised his hand, and the officials fell silent. Zhu Yunwen stared at Li Jinglong and asked slowly: "Mr. Cao Guo, I also want to know why you are defeated again and again?"
Li Jinglong finally raised his head, his face covered with tears and runny nose. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to speak, but stopped. After a while, he finally said: "The king of Yan uses his troops treacherously, and I am really no match for him."
The Confederate army was not accustomed to the severe cold. There were too many 500,000 troops and horses to command and form, the Mongolian cavalry was too brave to handle, and there were incredible strong winds... Why bother talking about these? In the final analysis, he could not defeat King Yan. Although he practiced martial arts and learned the art of war together when he was young, he had already left himself far behind during the nearly twenty years of fighting in northern Xinjiang.
Everyone looked at him. The former majestic Cao Guogong had disheveled hair and dirty knots. The original color of his clothes could not be seen. They were covered with dust and mud and there were many dark red stains that looked like blood. His formerly handsome face was now haggard and old, with deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and forehead, and a scar on his dark face. Both hands were also black and black. I don't know whether it was mud or blood. I couldn't tell the difference between the palms, fingers and nails. There were scars everywhere. Although he was lying on the ground, even though it was September and autumn, his whole body was trembling all the time. His eyes looking at the emperor were full of self-blame, guilt, fear and despair.
Zhu Yunwen said nothing and looked at Li Jinglong quietly, with no joy or anger in his clear eyes. All the officials were silent for a moment, and the Fengtian Palace was silent.
Fang Xiaoru couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty! Mr. Cao Guo has wronged the country and brought disaster to the people. He deserves the death penalty!"
Yin Changlong stood up and said: "Your Majesty! The general was so defeated that the Yan army was able to invade Shandong. He deserves to be punished for his crime!"
Other ministers also talked a lot, thinking that Cao Guogong should be punished.
Li Jinglong lowered his head and said nothing, making no excuse. After experiencing several battles and life and death, Li Jinglong suddenly felt that these courtiers were hindsight and could only point fingers here, which was disgusting. It was the same group of people who paid homage to the general that day, and sent him to the riverside to pay homage and congratulate him, hoping for an early triumphant return and waiting for the good news.
Zhu Yunwen raised his hand again, and when he saw that the palace was quiet, he said unhurriedly: "Cao Guogong Li Jinglong was defeated. He was awarded the title of 'Conquering General' and was fined three years' salary. Let's go back to the house now."
Fang Xiaoru shouted: "Your Majesty!"
Mei Yin continued: "Your Majesty, this punishment is too light and it violates the law!"
Zhu Yunwen glanced at the ministers and suddenly said: "Wei Guogong! How do you think we should be held responsible for this defeat?"
Xu Huizu was stunned. He didn't expect the emperor to ask this. After pondering for a while, he saw everyone looking at him, bowed and said: "Dong Cao deserves to be punished, Master Huang cannot escape the blame, but" he looked up at the emperor and said, "it was your majesty who made the decision."
Zhu Yunwen sighed: "Yes, I am the first one to be punished." He said to Huang Zicheng and Li Jinglong: "You guys get up, and that's it."
The ministers still had something to say, but suddenly Wang Zhi hurried into the palace and loudly said: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Urgent battle report from Shandong 800 Miles!"
"read!"
"I relied on God's grace to build the city and defended Jinan for more than three months. The king of Yan was so angry that he had no idea. Yong attacked the Yan thieves at night on September 3rd and defeated them outside the city. Unfortunately, he accidentally hit the horse's head. The King of Yan escaped from Yi and fled, but failed to kill the leader of the King of Yan. The Yan thieves then relieved Jinan on the fourth day of September. Yong took advantage of the victory to pursue them and recovered all the counties in Dezhou!"
The ministers were overjoyed. Huang Zicheng jumped up, grabbed the battle report from Wang Zhi's hand and scanned it again, shouting: "Your Majesty! What a joy!"
Qi Tai finally dared to speak: "Once Dezhou is restored, the Yan thieves will no longer be able to spy on our Lu land!"
Zhu Yunwen's always gentle and calm face finally couldn't help but smile. After thinking about it for a while, he said: "In accordance with my decree, Shengyong was made the Marquis of Licheng, General Pingyan, and appointed as the chief military officer. He promoted Tiexuan to be the chief envoy of Shandong." After looking at the battle report, he continued: "Peace, Wu Jie He is the deputy commander-in-chief of the left and right armies."
Qitai agreed repeatedly.
Li Jinglong was defeated in a row, and the Ministry of War was really involved. Qi Tai had been living like a year in the past few months, and he was afraid that one day he would suddenly report that the city of Jinan had been destroyed. Unexpectedly, Tie Xuan, a scholar, defended Jinan against the Yan army for three months, and Sheng Yong, an unknown soldier, actually repelled the Yan army. It was so surprising.
King Yan, you finally met your match!
Zhu Yunwen said again: "Let me tell the army again that King Ning of Yan is not allowed to be killed, but can only be captured alive."
Qitai was stunned: "Your Majesty!"
Zhu Yunwen waved his hand: "Don't let me commit the crime of killing my uncle."
In Zhu Yunwen's heart, he never believed that King Yan was treason. After the King of Yan launched an uprising in Peiping, he wrote memorials and issued proclamations, all of which were "Fengtian Jingnan", always claiming to be to help the young master eliminate traitors and traitors. Zhu Yunwen often recalled the scene when he met in Beijing in February last year, and really wanted to have a good talk with King Yan. If King Yan was killed carelessly, how sad would Taizu Jiuquan be if he knew about it
Qi Tai did not dare to say anything, so he only responded. The ministers looked at each other and did not dare to say anything.
****************
Lotus sent Li Jinglong away, looking at his hunched back with confused thoughts.
I didn't expect that the Yan army and the imperial army would fight like this, and I didn't expect that the Liuli Pagoda would be so magical.
Li Jinglong described it vividly: "Xianmei! I have never seen or heard of my brother until he is almost forty years old! King Yan held it on his palm, shining brightly, and roared "Fengtian Jingnan", and suddenly a strong wind blew. The sky is dark and the earth is dark, but there is still a faint dragon in the sky! My brother's central military camp was originally indestructible, but it was overwhelmed by the Yan army like this!"
Lianhua looked at her sworn brother's frightened eyes, recalled the magical glow of the Glazed Tower several times, and believed that he was really scared.
Li Jinglong babbled: "Xian sister! The King of Yan said, 'Fengtian Jingnan'. This tower and the wind are so incredible. Is it really God's will? I heard the Yan army singing 'The way of heaven cannot be violated, the Buddha bless Yan Xing', this Bodhisattva You are all helping King Yan Jingnan!"
Lianhua has always been a good listener. Li Jinglong always had a lot to say when chatting with Lianhua. At this time, I knew I shouldn't say this to Lotus, but this thought had been bothering me every day for several months, and I finally couldn't help but say it out. Seeing Lianhua stunned, Li Jinglong laughed self-deprecatingly: "Brother Wei is just an idle prince who stays at home now. It's useless to think about this."
Lianhua recalled the scene just now and couldn't help but feel her heart tightening. Brother Hui Guang Huinen always said that if this glazed pagoda is to achieve great karma, it should be with people from the north. I always thought that person was me, but could it be him
However, if he wins this war, what about Yunlang? Lotus didn't dare to think about it.
Suddenly a gentle voice said: "What are you thinking about?" It was Zhu Yunwen, standing at the door with a smile, obviously in a good mood. The sunset in the west reflected slantingly on his side, coating him with a halo.
Lianhua hurriedly greeted him: "Why is it so early today?"
Zhu Yun smiled: "Hey, why are you stricter than the censor? It's rare for me to be lazy."
Lianhua was amused by him and laughed. She hesitated and said, "Brother was here just now."
Zhu Yunwen nodded and stood quietly looking at the lotus. He smiled for a while and said: "Hey, why is there no more content? I thought you wanted to praise me."
Lianhua was stunned: "What?"
Zhu Yunwen smiled: "Benevolent gentleman, benevolent people are invincible, you have the courage to take responsibility. Come on, praise me!" Zhu Yunwen was in a good mood since he got the good news from Shandong the day before yesterday. He had to control his emotions in the court, but he couldn't hide his joy when he saw the lotus. Continuously joking.
Lianhua saw that he was in high spirits, but she just thought about what Li Jinglong said just now, her heart tightened again, and her eyes couldn't help but darken. When Zhu Yunwen saw him, he stopped smiling and asked softly: "Are you worried? Is it for Li Jinglong?"
Lianhua opened her mouth but stopped talking.
Zhu Yunwen stretched out his arms and gently hugged her shoulders: "Dong Cao Guo suffered a series of defeats this time, and the courtiers are dissatisfied. I deprived him of the title of general and fined him three years of salary."
Lianhua shook his head: "It's none of my brother's business."
Zhu Yunwen was a little surprised, but he seldom guessed what Lianhua was thinking. He smiled and said, "Can you tell me, husband?" Lianhua looked up at him, her eyes clear, but a little hesitant. Zhu Yunwen only smiled slightly and did not urge him.
Lianhua bit her lip, broke away from Zhu Yunwen's arm, and knelt down gently: "Yunlang!" Zhu Yunwen was taken aback, suppressed his smile, and looked at Lianhua quietly.
Lian Huaxiang didn't know how to speak, and hesitated for a long time before saying: "Do you remember my glazed tower?" Zhu Yunwen nodded, confused in his heart.
Lianhua gritted her teeth and continued: "I, I gave it to King Yan."
Zhu Yunwen was shocked and looked at Lotus.
Lianhua lowered her head: "I heard that he was seriously ill, so I asked Zhu Gaoxu, the king of Gaoyang County, to take him to Peiping." Concubines in the harem are not allowed to pass on each other privately, let alone the feudal king. This alone is enough for Lotus to be punished with death.
Zhu Yunwen's face turned pale, but what he thought of was not the palace rules, but asked: "Didn't you say you don't remember King Yan?" He stopped mid-sentence. No, she didn't say it, she just lowered her head and didn't deny it!
No wonder King Yan wanted to come to Tianxi Temple together on the day he arrived. No wonder the two of them talked so excitedly!
Zhu Yunwen's thoughts turned and he roughly understood: "Were you very good with him when you were in Daning Guard?"
Lianhua had never heard Zhu Yunwen's cold voice before. She lowered her head and said, "He saved my life. I was chased by the Mongols and met him in the desert."
In the desert! It turns out they have known each other for a long time! During the Ning Wei Dynasty, King Ning even wrote a memorial saying that he was not sure if this was Princess Yi Ning! I still look for her everywhere! She was also worried that Prince Ning and Prince Yan would embarrass her!
Zhu Yunwen looked at Lotus with disbelief in his eyes: "You were already betrothed to me at that time, did you know?"
Lianhua opened her mouth, but had no way to defend herself. What's there to say? I was indeed tempted. Although it was because of the desperate situation in the desert, because of the dangerous sandstorms, and because of the Mongolian captives... the past events are still vivid in my mind. If I could do it all over again, would I firmly abide by the engagement and not be attracted to King Yan? Lotus is confused.
Seeing that she didn't answer, Zhu Yunwen's face turned even paler: "You, you made it so hard for me to hide it!"
Lianhua lowered her head and said softly, "I'm sorry."
Zhu Yunwen was furious: "And to this day, you still think about him! You still ask someone to bring things to him! You, how could you be like this..." Looking at the lotus, he finally couldn't say "not abiding by women's ways", stamped his feet, turned around and took a long step. And go.
Although Zhu Yunwen didn't say it, how could Lianhua not hear it? After several years of marriage, it was the first time I saw Zhu Yunwen angry. Did you do something wrong? But should we just let him become seriously ill and go crazy? The Buddha often said that saving one life is better than building a seven-level pagoda, let alone him
Lotus stared blankly at the sunset in a corner of the sky. When he woke up after being rescued in the desert in the summer of that year, the sky was also surrounded by such a magnificent sunset, reflecting his old purple robe...
Before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face.
****************
For three days in a row, Zhu Yunwen did not go to Tianxi Temple.
Every morning and afternoon, I see all the officials and I am very busy, but my heart is empty. A sharp voice kept shouting: "She lied to me! She has someone else in her heart!" Zhu Yunwen threw down his pen and walked out of the provincial palace.
The warm autumn afternoon sun shines on the black gold bricks in the courtyard. A few fallen leaves whirled and danced on them with the autumn wind, and a pair of fluttering colorful butterflies chased the fallen leaves, going around and around, and finally turned around and flew away.
Zhu Yunwen felt sad for a while. When he looked up, he didn't know when he arrived at Wenyuan Pavilion. When I opened the door, there was no one in the room. There were books piled on the shelves, and it was deserted.
Zhang Yuanheng behind him asked softly: "Your Majesty! Do you want to light a lamp?" The room was dark, and it was not bright enough for reading. Zhu Yunwen shook his head, signaled Zhang Yuanheng to step back, and walked past the rows of bookshelves to the corner of Wenyuan Pavilion.
Here it is, the light blue man, huddled in this corner, holding a collection of Ouyang Wenzhong's essays, looking at it in fascination. "The eyebrows are dark and dark?" Her shy whisper seemed to float in my ears.
Zhu Yunwen sighed softly, looked at the corner with his hands behind his hands, and suddenly his heart moved.
He had saved her life, and they had become familiar with each other when they were in Daning Guard, but she still came to the capital. He came to Yeling to see her, but she didn't do anything. She sent it to Liuli Pagoda, but chose to tell herself.
In her heart, she originally put herself first.
Why had she never asked about the hardships she had gone through for North Korea and the thrilling adventures in the desert? How much hardship has she endured? How many life and death adventures have you had
Zhu Yunwen turned around to the side of the ancient Shenggan Tower and looked at the lotus with a smile. The bright yellow figure is particularly dazzling against the magnificent orange-red sunset.
Lianhua rubbed her eyes. Yes, it was a bright yellow twelve-chapter sun, moon, star mountain, five-claw dragon robe.
A gentle voice said softly: "I'm here to listen to your story."
Lotus smiled, her eyes filled with mist.
Note: Tie Xuan was famous for his loyalty. He was captured in Huainan after Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty ascended the throne and died unyieldingly. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty, he was posthumously given the title of Taibao and was given the posthumous title of Zhongxiang. The world respects him as "Iron Lord". The Tiegong Temple on the shore of Daming Lake in Jinan, Shandong Province was built to commemorate Tie Xuan.