Wang Pu in the late Ming Dynasty

An old man among the people knelt down first, and the rest followed, and they knelt in a sea of ​​people. Wang Pu felt ashamed for some reason. He was a modern man, and his mind was heavier than those ancient people. A few torches were sparsely scattered among the crowd. Under the flickering light, simplicity and innocence were written on their faces. Wang Pu felt that it was too despicable to trick these honest people, so he sighed and said, "It's so cold, drink some hot soup before going back." Then he ordered people to go to the camp and set up a pot to cook some rice soup.

Unexpectedly, this kindness moved everyone to tears. Wang Pu tried to persuade them, but it only made them more emotional. Wang Pu found an old man and asked him why he was crying. The old man cried and replied: "My family sold their children. Even if I survived this disaster, I would rather die than think of their sufferings."

Wang Pu was speechless for a while. He didn't dare to ask any more. These people just wanted a hero to lead them out of hell. Maybe Wang Pu's troops did not harm anyone, which gave the people in the city the illusion that he was a hero. But Wang Pu never thought of being a hero like Yue Fei and Qi Jiguang. Don't you see that these two people didn't have a good ending? If he wanted to have a good ending, he would rather be brothers with Gao Qiqian, ally with the traitor Shanxi merchants, and kneel down under the long gowns of the Donglin Party. Being a hero is too hard and too dangerous. It's more cost-effective to be a traitor.

The howling sound in the field spread far away like waves. The local government had already sent people to keep an eye on it. Seeing this, they hurried back to report to the prefect. The prefect was called Chu Jiayong. His eyes were shining with brilliance. He said proudly: "Let's go and meet the general of Datong, the commander of the Shenjia Camp, Lord Wang."

The sound of gongs cleared the way and separated the crowd on the left and right. A group of yamen soldiers and soldiers surrounded a group of officials and entered the field. This headquarters was a temporary conversion of a rich family's courtyard. The front door and the courtyard wall were demolished to create this open space, but with so many people coming one after another, it was still too crowded.

When Wang Pu's personal soldiers saw the prefect approaching with soldiers, they quickly drew their knives to protect the commander. The people in the field suddenly realized what was going on. Fortunately, the prefect was sensible and waved his hand to dismiss the people around him. Wang Pu frowned. When he heard the sound of the gong, he remembered that it was because of the sound of the gong tonight that he ordered people to come out to check. So the prefect must have been waiting on the side. It is even more conceivable that a group of people suddenly came to the gate of his general's camp in the middle of the night to hold a meeting. Behind this, there must be some tricks of the prefect. Thinking of this, Wang Pu asked in a cold voice: "Civil servants and military officers have different paths. What is the prefect going to do?"

"We are all appointed officials of the Ming Dynasty, and we have different paths to the same destination. The governor should know that tens of thousands of hungry people in the city are crying for food." This prefect was thick-skinned and was willing to warm his face to the cold buttocks.

"It's you." Wang Pu stopped talking here. He was going to say that this was the duty of your government and had nothing to do with me. But there were countless people present, including disaster victims. If he said something wrong, his reputation would be ruined, and the heroic persona he had just established would collapse immediately. So he shut up in time, and got angry. He was being tricked. This old prefect set up a trap to praise and kill him, and put him high in the air, unable to move up or down.

The prefect was secretly proud and laughed, "Master Jiezhi has enough energy to conquer the Mongolians in the north.Gu, it can be seen that there is plenty of money and food. I wonder if some relief can be given to the victims. The weather tonight is particularly cold. If relief is not given in time, there may be dozens or hundreds of starving people tomorrow. "

Having said this, Wang Pu knew that he could not escape, so he said: "Then what does the prefect want? Although I have some money and food, the military expenses are continuous every day. It is said that emergency relief does not help the poor. Today's relief will not last long in the future. In the end, it is only a temporary solution and not a permanent solution." Wang Pu was stopping the loss in time, saying that relief is possible, but only this time and not the next time.

"If you want to cure the root cause, it is simple. Just suppress the bandit army as soon as possible and return peace and happiness to the people. "The prefect sneered in his heart and kicked the ball over again, not mentioning whether the future relief expenses should be paid by the Shenjia Camp. It seems that he has taken advantage of Wang Pu's reputation as a rich man and dared not refuse.

Wang Pu knew that this old fox was not easy to deal with, but he had been in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty for a year and finally had some experience, so he smiled and said: "The prefect loves the people like his own children. It's better to find a house to shelter from the wind when it's cold. It's better to say that the victims are frozen to death than to say that they are starving. In my opinion, we should find a house for them to live in." He kicked the ball back again. The families who can have vacant houses in this city are either rich or noble. This is a hard job that offends people.

"Ah, this." The prefect was indeed embarrassed, and said with difficulty: "The more tents there are in the army, the more evenly distributed they are."

"The tents in the army are crowded and can't fit anyone in. "Wang Pu said hurriedly: "There are many empty houses in the city."

The prefect was furious, but he couldn't just let people freeze to death. He could only take the bodies for free. He had to save face in front of everyone, so he gritted his teeth and said: "How can the owners of these houses agree to this? What if the victims act recklessly in front of the owners, or even kill and rob? How can we deal with this?" He was forced to tell the truth, which made some sense.

"Your Excellency has cleared the clouds and awakened the dreamer with one word. If the owners of the houses are unwilling to take in the victims, then of course they value the lives of the victims. There are priorities, and I will make arrangements."

"An, what to arrange. "The prefect's face was too ugly, thinking that he was in trouble, and he lost more than he gained.

"I will immediately send people to post notices everywhere, and spread the prefect's order. Every household with empty houses and empty buildings must take in a number of disaster victims. If the owner closes the door and refuses to let them in, the soldiers in my camp can break the door and force the disaster victims to move in." Wang Pu said with a smirk. He is a military general, not a local official. The locals hate him but can't do anything about him. The prefect is destined to be criticized by thousands of people this time, and he will be cursed and his official career will be greatly damaged.

The prefect's eyes went dark, and he almost fainted. He said angrily: "I don't mean that. Master, please don't be rude to me. "Qizhou City is not a small place. It is known as Little Luoyang. After the Jingnan Rebellion, Emperor Chengzu forcibly moved all the nobles in the country to this city. Therefore, there are many imperial mansions in the city. All of them are powerful people who have been around for hundreds of years. Their power is deeply rooted and not easy to mess with.

"Are you making fun of me, the prefect? ​​Although I am a warrior, I have the ability to make my words heard by the emperor." Wang Pu immediately turned hostile.This was a naked threat to the prefect. If he regretted it, he would write a memorial to accuse him.

"Ah, this, this." The prefect was panicked. He knew that Wang Pu was a member of the Donglin Party. Although he was not favored by the emperor, he was protected by a big man in the court. He might not be able to withstand this blow.

"If there is nothing else, I will do it now." Wang Pu was not like the prefect. He did not care much about the reputation of the literati. Instead, he cared more about the reputation of the people. Therefore, this matter was harmful to the prefect, but it was beneficial to him. He was very eager to get the matter done.

"It's over." The prefect looked at Wang Pu's hurried back and fell into despair. He wanted to slap himself in the face. He originally planned to take advantage, but he didn't expect to be taken advantage of by others. Moreover, this person was a warrior. In the future, he would become a joke in the officialdom. There was no hope of promotion and his official career would come to an end.

Wang Pu, in the name of the prefect Chu Jia, ordered the soldiers of the Divine Armor Camp to smash the doors of the rich and powerful in Qizhou City and force the victims in, causing chaos in the city. The news that the Divine Armor Camp had killed Lin Danhan still seeped into the Han area from various holes in the Great Wall. Although the Ming court had already closed the post station, such a victory news could show the power of the court and deter the evil intentions of the rebels. The local governments were willing to pay money to spread this long-lost victory news far and wide. They gritted their teeth and borrowed a few horses from the local gentry with the few remaining fast horses in the government office. They pieced together a horse team, braved the blockade and harassment of the dense bandits and mountain bandits in various places, and rushed to the nearby prefectures to pass the victory news, and performed the duties of the government with difficulty and determination. The giant of the Ming Dynasty, paralyzed by financial exhaustion, finally twitched, as if the giant had turned into a corpse.

Officials and gentry from all over the country were excited and wrote to celebrate the victory. In the Zijing City of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen was also happy for once. He rarely smiled so brightly. Happy events came one after another. First, the birth of a son was normal, and then there was news of a great victory on the grassland. Lin Danhan was killed in battle. This was a rare victory since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty's revival finally had signs. The Dalinghe City in Liaodong was also half built smoothly. They spent the New Year in peace. Next year, they would be able to pacify the bandits in the south and destroy the Jiannu in the north.

Chongzhen's pale face was covered with rosy spots. Although Wang Pu's strong soldiers and horses made him feel a little uncomfortable, he thought of Wang Pu's battle outside the Great Wall and defeated Lin Danhan's 200,000. Although the Shenjia Camp won, it must have hurt its vitality and could not be arrogant for a short time. Moreover, Wang Pu's promotion to the position of general was his decision against all odds, which greatly increased his prestige. His subjects were convinced, and he was a wise ruler in the eyes of his subjects, which made him particularly happy.

"I heard that the Shenjia Camp used a trick to pretend to be defeated ten miles." Chongzhen asked: "The commander, Zhao Xiao, is a talented general, and the reward must be generous. But one thousand soldiers defeated two hundred thousand enemies, which is absurd. Why? I thought about it last night. Could it be that Lin Danhan did not have two hundred thousand troops, but only a few tens of thousands?" Chongzhen hesitated.

"That's not the case. I read the military report of Xuanzhen overnight. He was stationed outside Xuanfu last year. The Xuanzhen armyI saw with my own eyes that there were more than 200,000 people. "Wen Tiren shook his head.

"That's right. To be able to kill Lin Dan in battle, if there were not 200,000 people, there must be at least 100,000 people." Chongzhen nodded. He felt that 200,000 and 100,000 were not much different. But in his mind, a thousand elite soldiers in armor fought seven times in front of 200,000 people, everyone was bleeding but still fighting to the death. Finally, the enemy soldiers lost their courage, retreated and were killed by thousands of people all the way. Finally, they killed Lin Danhan and cut off his head. Chongzhen shook his head hurriedly. Although he was not familiar with military affairs, this was too unreasonable.

"Your Majesty, the victory report of the Divine Armor Camp is indeed not entirely true. I have heard a rumor, I don't know whether it is true or not, but there is no smoke without fire." Zhou Yanru smiled with his eyes narrowed. This gossip came just in time, allowing him to show his face in front of the emperor.

"Oh, Mr. Zhou, please speak. "Chongzhen was really interested.

"There are rumors that Wang Pu secretly replaced his more than a thousand cavalrymen. The cavalrymen that are now encircling the bandits in Shanxi are actually empty shells. His real heavy cavalrymen were ambushed nearby during the battle with Lin Danhan."

"Oh, then two thousand people don't seem to be enough." Chongzhen still didn't understand. There didn't seem to be much difference between one thousand and two thousand.

"Your Majesty, Wang Pu's one thousand cavalrymen are not ordinary cavalrymen. It is said that everyone is like Lu Bu, wearing heavy armor and still moving fast, and can tear people in half with bare hands. Moreover, Lin Danhan's defeat is not an isolated case. Two months ago, the bandit army Zhang Xianzhong was defeated by one or two hundred cavalrymen like the above near Ningwu, with more than 20,000 casualties. "Zhou Yanru said.

Chongzhen and Wen Tihen looked at each other with pale faces, and couldn't help thinking, since two hundred people can defeat twenty thousand, then two thousand can defeat two hundred thousand, which is not an exaggeration.

"Is it really that powerful? Where did he get so many brave generals?" Chongzhen couldn't help asking.

"Well, I secretly asked the king to pay attention to the number of elite soldiers in Wang Pu's hands in Datong. According to him, there is really such a cavalry, and the strength of the troops is very terrifying."

"So that's it. "Chongzhen felt that all this made sense. Sure enough, only one thousand Lu Bu or Zhao Zilong could defeat two hundred thousand, but he couldn't be happy.

Wen Tiren saw the emperor's expression and knew that this was a good time to mention a reward, so he said: "Wang Pu appreciates the emperor's grace, leads the army to the north, and wins the victory. From now on, the world will respect him. Please be generous with the reward, and order the Ministry of Revenue to issue food, grass, colorful satin, imperial wine, silver and money, and send the eunuchs to Datong to reward the three armies in front of the army. "

When Chongzhen heard the words "from now on, the world will respect him", his body couldn't help trembling. When he heard that he had to take out silver and money for reward, he felt pain again, so he said: "I didn't order him to go to the war, but he went to the war. How can I explain this? "You actually want to find an excuse to deny the reward to Wang Pu.

Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru shook their heads secretly, thinking: Now that things have come to this, you still have the nerve to say that, it was because you were sorry for a few small coins that you cut off Lin Danhan's money and military supplies, and that's why he turned against him, and he invaded Datong in anger. It's really a case of losing the big picture for the small, picking up sesame seeds and throwing away watermelons, fromThe strategy of the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia to attack the Eastern Tartars, which was set by Xiong Tingbi before, was broken by you. Huang Taiji would laugh in his sleep. At the critical moment of the survival of the Ming Dynasty, you are still worried about the small money. If you don't reward the Divine Armor Camp, won't it let everyone in the world know that this attack on Mobei was done by Wang Pu without your instruction. Everyone in the world will know that the Ming Dynasty has a powerful vassal, and people's hearts are shaken.

At the beginning, Xiong Tingbi and Lin Danhan agreed that the head of the Eastern Tartars was ten taels of silver, which was very cost-effective. The Eastern Tartars were only 200,000 people at most, and it only took two million taels of silver to exchange them. The Ming Dynasty now spends far more than this amount on Liaodong Town every year.

Seeing that the two trusted ministers were silent, Chongzhen's face turned red. He came to his senses and realized that he had just said something nonsense. It was unreasonable not to reward such a great victory, so he said: "Send a letter to Datong Town, ordering them to send the heads for inspection immediately, and determine the reward according to the number."

"I obey your order."

"But how about Wang Pu's reward?" Chongzhen thought about it and asked unwillingly, his face seemed to have eaten a mouthful of feces.

"Give him some silver, but he has a lot of money. I heard that there is a gold mine in Jinzhong." Wen Tiren hesitated to speak. He didn't know whether the gold mine was true or not, but Wang Pu was very close to Shanxi merchants and Jiangnan sea merchants. It is estimated that this expedition cost more than one million taels. Wang Pu didn't even blink an eye, which shows how big he was.

When Chongzhen heard the word "gold mine", his eyes lit up, then dimmed, and he said absentmindedly: "Then he can't be promoted, the general is already the best warrior."

"You can marry the princess to him." Zhou Yanru said. This surprised Wen Tiren, thinking, who are you from, do you want to surrender to the Donglin Party.

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