Xie Ming

Chapter 455: Night at Wuying Palace (I)

At the end of the hour of Hai on August 15th, Emperor Hongguang Zhu Cilang, wearing a red robe and ordinary clothes, hurried to Wuying Palace to meet Xiao Jingchuan!
He was followed by seven or eight attendants, who also followed him into the hall from the back hall!
When the two sides met, Dan saw Xiao Lang wearing armor and robe and looking tired, which made him realize that this guy was sincere in his work, so he felt very happy and relieved!

"Ah, get up."

"cough cough"

"Quick, get up!"

After Xiao Lang finished talking about his visit, Zhu Cilang dragged his sick body over, stepped in front of the bed, turned around, raised his hand and called out!
But at this moment, Xiao wanted to show that he was serious and was also very careful with his words to express his apology!
"Uh"

"Your Majesty, I was late in receiving the imperial edict, which delayed the time for you to see me!"

"He deserves death!"

"I leave it to your majesty to decide!" Xiao Jingchuan pretended to be polite and careful in his words.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Hongguang smiled even more.

A general who was sent to a foreign post, a high-ranking official who commanded tens of thousands of troops, returned to the court without being arrogant or impatient, without boasting about his achievements or being conceited. With such an attitude, how could the emperor not be pleased? !
Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang was delighted both physically and mentally, and was eager to express his opinion in order to appease the old man.

But! However, I was walking too fast in the night wind, and the coldness in my throat made it dry and painful, and I couldn't help but cough again.
"Cough cough cough cough."

Judging from his facial expression, Wang Zhixin, who was standing beside him, saw the situation and hurried over to order his subordinates to serve him warm tea, so he started to speak on behalf of Yan!

"Hoo Hoo Hoo"

"General Xiao!"

"Please don't go against the Emperor's wishes!"

"Get up quickly!"

"It's not that we are talkative!"

"You don't know!"

"In the past few days, you have really kept His Majesty waiting!"

"Let's not talk about anything else, let's just talk about today being Mid-Autumn Festival!"

"The harem usually has banquets, but in the Qianqing Palace, before the banquet, from beginning to end, I saw that the emperor was indifferent to it!"

"Everything is hard to go as planned, I just hope you will come back!"

"Hehehehe."

"Since I came to the imperial city with the emperor, this is the only time that you have summoned a foreign minister so late at night!"

Wang Zhixin was speaking flattering words, and at the same time, he was also patting Zhu Cilang's back and serving him, without delaying either.

When Xiao You heard this, he was quite surprised and stunned.

After he finished speaking, he slowly raised his eyes to look at the emperor's face, and saw that Zhu Cilang also nodded in agreement, so he stood up and bowed.

"cough cough"

"Okay!"

"If you have nothing to do, why are you going to do those unimportant things?"

"I'm fine!"

"Go, go get a chair for Xiao Lang!"

Furthermore, he did not expect that Hongguang Zhu Cilang was still willing to show favor to the king and conveyed this to the king's heart.

The king smiled and agreed, then stepped back and walked away, doing what he was told.

It doesn't take much effort. He acts with discretion and a king's heart. He holds a pillar in his hands and returns!
Seeing this, Xiao Jingchuan hurriedly declined.

"Ah! Your Majesty!"

"I am extremely terrified!"

"I really can't bear it!"

"I am a military general. I am used to marching among the troops. It is no big deal if I stop!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern!" Xiao Ci.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang smiled and spoke.

"Haha, there's no need to go into details between you and me!"

"I see you are exhausted from all the traveling. You must be tired after all the traveling.

"Look, there's still blood on your shoulder armor!"

"Is everything going well on the road?!"

Emperor Hongguang stared at Xiao Lang, looked him over carefully, and spoke with concern.

"Ah! Yes."

"Return to your majesty!"

"Tired, indeed a little tired, but it doesn't matter!"

"Uh, on the northern line!"

"The battle north of the Yellow River just ended. On the night of the twelfth day, I was able to lead my troops across the river and return to Jinan City!"

"It is only then that I can receive the imperial edict from His Majesty!"

"So they galloped on horseback, all the way to Nanjing!" "It took three days on the road, and when we passed through Xuzhou, we actually ran into some bandits!"

"It took quite a bit of effort!"

"However, it can be considered that I made it here smoothly and entered the palace to see the emperor!"

"Your Majesty is worried about this!"

"It is indeed my fault!" Xiao asked, and then he came to report what happened.

Upon hearing this, the stool was moved closer to Xiao Lang!
Zhu Cilang also slightly shifted his body on the couch and leaned against the soft pillow.

Seeing that he had just finished speaking, he waved his hand and made further arrangements.

"Haha, it's good to be here, it's good to be here!"

"Come! Sit down!"

"Sit down and talk!"

"There's no one else in the palace right now, so you can be more relaxed and talk more easily!"

"Don't hold him back!" Zhu Cilang urged again.

Hearing this, Xiao Jingchuan could no longer refuse.

He turned around and nodded to thank the eunuch Wang Zhixin. Then he moved cautiously and sat down stiffly on purpose.

"Haha, Xiao Lang."

"Half a month ago, you sent a message of victory from Dezhou to Beijing!"

"When I saw the memorial requesting merit, I was so happy!"

"Uh, behind."

"Those Jiannu Tartars who invaded the south have increased their numbers by tens of thousands, according to your report! Huh?!"

"The troops are fierce!"

"Isn't it difficult to handle?!"

"What is the current situation in the North?!"

"You are the commander of the combined forces, and you just returned from the front line!"

"I also want to hear the exact truth!"

"You don't know that you are not in the court!"

"When the court officials report something, they start talking at once!"

"It's all very conjectural, but it's hard to be accurate!"

"Everyone has their own thoughts, it's really noisy!"

Getting to the point, when Zhu Cilang asked Xiao Lang about the situation in Yubei during his posting in recent months, he also first brought up the matter of court officials to lay the foundation for his subsequent discussion!
Upon hearing this, Xiao thought about it and told the story calmly.

"Uh, haha, yes!"

"Go back to the emperor!"

"Since our first battle to defend Dezhou and annihilate the enemy in Pingyuan!"

"It's July 28th, and the enemy reinforcements have arrived!"

"The Jiannu Yi Ding army has about 20,000 soldiers and horses, and the total number of rebels who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty has also expanded to 50,000 or 60,000!"

"In total, there are no less than 70,000 or 80,000 people!"

"This is a real number, absolutely no false statement!"

"Uh"

"As for the follow-up?"

"It is precisely because of this reinforcement that the northern enemy has a strong force, so it will be difficult for Dezhou to hold on for long!"

"Sun Peizhong's troops under my command fought desperately and held on to Dezhou until they ran out of ammunition and food, but they only managed to hold out for a mere ten days!"

"Later, Wucheng, Pingyuan, Gaotang, and Yucheng fell one after another!"

"Hu Maozhen, the former deputy general of Gao Jie's army in Linyi, has defected to the enemy again!"

"Ugh"

"The defeat was like a landslide!"

"I'm so breathless!"

"I will lead my troops to retreat to the north bank and rely on the defense of the Ji River to hold on. Only then can we regroup our troops and breathe a sigh of relief!"

General Xiao Lang has reported the battle on the north bank of the Yellow River for over a month. Every word is true. Please confirm it!
"I'm ashamed to say that!"

"The Jiannu Yiding cavalry is fierce and brave, and their weapons and artillery are well-equipped."

"Say something to encourage others!"

"Compared with those Tartar soldiers, these Ming troops we have gathered are really not as good as them!"

(End of this chapter)