Xie Ming

Chapter 7: A fierce general, Li Huchen

"Wait a little longer, General Wu, they should be here soon!"

Wu Linzheng feared that something might happen if he delayed, so he wanted to quickly organize his troops and cooperate in the breakout.

Seeing this, Xiao Jingchuan quickly reached out to stop him.

"Wait? What are you waiting for?" Wu Linzheng asked.

"To be honest with you, General Wu, when I was on my way here, I also sent people to notify the Minister of Revenue Ni Yuanlu and several other court officials who were on duty in the Eastern Palace, asking them to rush to Xizhimen and break out with the Crown Prince!" Xiao Jingchuan answered truthfully.

"what?"

"Oh, Xiao Lang, you are confused!"

"How can you make this kind of thing known to the public? Too many people means less secrets. I can still help you block the patrol camp just now."

"It won't be long. If Zhu Chunchen comes in person, how will you and I respond?"

Wu Linzheng was extremely anxious and felt somewhat reproachful.

"General Wu's concerns are not without reason, but I have no other options."

"It's a long journey to Nanjing, and the road is dangerous. I don't know how long it will take."

"I summoned these ministers here with the idea of ​​going south in secret. If something unexpected happens in the capital, there is no guarantee that Nanjing will not come up with some evil ideas in advance."

"It is true that the Crown Prince is legitimate, but the North is in such chaos, and the Crown Prince alone may not be able to deal with the Donglin Party in the secondary capital."

Xiao Jingchuan talked deeply about his hidden concerns. At this point, Wu Linzheng already understood his intention, so he nodded and waved his hand to stop talking.

"Okay, I understand what you mean!"

"It is said that heroes emerge from youth since ancient times. Now it seems to be true!"

"With your intelligence and courage, your future achievements will not be inferior to mine!"

Wu Linzheng praised him, Xiao Jingchuan smiled bitterly and wanted to say something humble, but the other party continued to interrupt him.

"But, I still have one question!"

"You know, now the area north of the Yellow River and the Huai River has fallen into the hands of bandits, so traveling by land is extremely difficult."

"Compared to this, the water route is much smoother and faster."

"Why don't you go east through Chaoyang Gate, head to Tianjin, and take a boat directly to the sea? Wouldn't that be safer?"

Wu Linzheng was already quite puzzled by this question when he heard Li Huchen talk about Xiao Jingchuan's plan. Now, since he was waiting for someone to have time, he opened his mouth and asked.

Hearing this, Xiao Jingchuan smiled bitterly.

"General Wu, the commander of the nine gates of the capital, apart from you, I, Xiao Jingchuan, have no one else to trust!"

"I know that saying this will inevitably give people a reason to criticize me, but this is the truth!"

"If you don't believe it, you will understand it tomorrow."

"That's why I came all the way from Dongcheng to Xizhimen!"

"Also, it's good to go to Tianjin by water, but to get to Tianjin, we have to pass through Luanzhou. Wu Sangui has 50,000 Guanning Iron Cavalry there. If he was a loyal man, he would have come to the king long ago. If he doesn't come now, and I take the prince there, wouldn't that be like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth?"

As he spoke, Xiao Jingchuan put on an appearance of concern for the country and the people.

"Oh, that's true, that's true!" Wu Linzheng was also disappointed.

"General!"

"General!"

Just as Xiao Jingchuan was talking to Wu Linzheng, suddenly from a corner of the street not far away, Wang Chuanwu returned with the eunuch Wang Zhixin and brought back the third prince Zhu Cijiong.

In addition to sending a team of troops from the headquarters, there were also many servants from the ministers' houses behind the team, with different clothes and weapons, making a mess.

"Oh? General Wu Linzheng is here." The group of people not far away came up to them in a blink of an eye. An old man with a white beard walked out of the team and bowed to greet them. He was the Minister of Revenue Ni Yuanlu.

"General Xiao Lang, I'm following the orders of the Crown Prince and am rushing here with the servants in your house to protect you from the siege!" Minister of Revenue Ni Yuanlu said solemnly.

"In compliance with the order of the Crown Prince, Junior Tutor Liu Wenbing and his family servants are here to protect the Emperor!"

"According to the order of the Crown Prince, the Prince Consort Gong Yonggu has brought the servants to protect the Emperor!"

"According to the order of the Crown Prince, Xu Zhi, the head of the Ministry of Personnel, has brought the servants from the palace to protect the Emperor!"

"According to the order of the Crown Prince, Jin Xuan, the head of the Ministry of War, has brought the servants from the palace to protect the Emperor!"

"According to the order of the Crown Prince, Li Shichun, the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, has brought his servants to protect the Emperor!"

"According to the order of the Crown Prince, Junior Secretary Lin Zengzhi has brought his servants to protect the Emperor!" "According to the order of the Crown Prince, Director of the Ministry of Personnel Xu Zhi has brought his servants to protect the Emperor!"

Seeing that all the ministers were present, Xiao Jingchuan did not dare to be negligent and hurriedly bowed to greet them one by one.

"Everyone, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is just ahead. Please go and see His Royal Highness first!"

As he spoke, Xiao Jingchuan stepped aside to let the card pass, and the group passed the checkpoint.

After they had passed, Xiao Jingchuan, Wu Linzheng and Li Huchen did not delay any longer.

"General Wu, everyone is here, let's quickly start preparing to break out!" Xiao Jingchuan said.

"Yes!"

"Xiao Lang, you and your troops should also get ready!" Wu Linzheng replied.

"Li Huchen!"

"The general is here!"

"You lead your 200 cavalrymen to line up with Xiao Jingchuan's troops."

"Yes!"

"Come here, select a thousand brave warriors from the various teams defending the city, and gather at the city gate in half an hour!"

"Yes!"

Wu Linzheng summoned the generals one by one, and troops from all units began to be urgently mobilized in front of Xizhimen.

In half a quarter of an hour, Wu Linzheng led more than a thousand brave and death-defying men to line up in front of the city gate.

After them, there were 500 soldiers and horses under Xiao Jingchuan (Shenjiying cavalry), plus more than 100 servants of various ministers (who had no horses originally, and Wu Linzheng temporarily allocated them all war horses).

Next to Xiao Jingchuan's team, Li Huchen's 200 cavalrymen followed closely, all ready to go!

"General Xiao, Captain Li, General Wu invites you two to come over!"

When they were about to break out, a soldier came up behind the formation and asked the two men to come forward, thinking that Wu Linzheng had something to tell them. So Xiao Jingchuan and Li Huchen looked at each other, and neither dared to delay, so they drove their horses forward.

When they arrived in front of Wu Linzheng at the city gate, Wu Linzheng was wearing the helmet (a helmet worn by a soldier) handed to him by his subordinates.

"Come on, both of you!"

While Wu Linzheng was speaking, his hands did not stop moving.

"General, we are about to break out, but what can I do for you?" Xiao Jingchuan was the first to ask.

"Haha, Xiao Lang and Hu Chen, you two, I will lead my men to beat the drums and go out to fight. I have arranged people on the tower to observe the enemy's formation."

"When I have fought the bandits and the enemy soldiers and attracted the two wings to encircle them, the guards on the tower will give you the signal."

"Then you will all try your best to break out and kill them! Do you understand?"

After Wu Linzheng finished speaking, Li Huchen frowned and tried to argue.

"General, you are the commander-in-chief of the Xizhimen City Defense. You cannot get stuck in such a dangerous place!"

"If you want to attract the enemy troops to surround you, I will go. General, don't worry, I will definitely fulfill your mission!"

Li Huchen knew how dangerous it was to lead troops to encircle the enemy. If he was not careful, he would be trapped in the enemy's formation and there would be no way back. So, seeing that Wu Linzheng was willing to take the risk to support Xiao Jingchuan's troops in breaking through to this point, he quickly volunteered to fight in order to protect General Wu Linzheng.

"Hahaha, Xiao Lang, see? Tiger ministers are loyal and righteous, and their reputation is well-deserved!"

Wu Linzheng laughed loudly at Xiao Jingchuan with deep meaning.

"Well, that's right. Brother Huchen is loyal and brave, and I admire him!" Xiao Jingchuan bowed in response.

"Xiao Lang, General Xiao, you are brave and righteous in taking the Crown Prince south!"

"The downside is that we don't have enough soldiers and horses."

"Huchen and you are very compatible. If Xiao Lang doesn't give up, let him lead 200 cavalrymen from our army and follow you!"

"Lead the horse and drop the stirrups. I will let you do whatever you want. What do you think?"

Wu Linzheng's old eyes revealed a sense of pressure in his smile. His behavior forced Xiao Jingchuan to be unable to refuse.

"General Wu, you are joking! We two have always been sworn brothers, and I would love to have the help of Brother Huchen!"

"Is Xiao Lang really like this?" Wu Linzheng asked again.

"Absolutely sincere!"

Xiao Jingchuan replied firmly
(End of this chapter)