"Who is the third glass of wine for?" Huang Degong asked in a non-questioning manner.

"Salute to my parents, my wife and children, and my brothers! Our parents gave us life, our wives and children gave us hope, and our brothers gave us courage."

Huang Degong raised his glass again and spilled the wine on the ground.

Inside the military tent.

Some people's eyes were red, some had tears in their eyes, and some turned their backs quietly and wiped away the tears that could not be stopped.

At this time, the wine, which was already in limited supply, was almost gone, so Huang Degong ordered his men to divide the wine equally.

Looking at the half-full glass of wine in his hand, Huang Degong swallowed his saliva and said, "This is the last glass of wine for ourselves."

"I, Huang Degong, have spent half my life in the military. I have no other wishes but to have endless wine to drink while I am alive and to have my name engraved in the Martyrs' Shrine after my death."

“I believe you all have the same idea.”

"Come on, this last glass of wine is for yourself!"

“Done!”

“Done!”

Everyone raised their glasses and drank the wine in them.

Crash, crash!

After drinking, the sound of cups smashing could be heard.

No matter how much you drink to express your feelings, it's never as satisfying as smashing the cup.

"Eat meat and drink tea!" Huang Degong waved his hand, sat down first, picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth.

The personal soldiers outside the military tent hurriedly took out large bowls and placed them on the table in front of the generals, and poured the tea prepared in advance into the bowls.

After a simple moment of humility, the atmosphere in the central military tent reached its peak.

Military generals do not have the same rules as literati, nor are they as polite as literati.

They just eat meat and drink tea.

When the meal was almost over, Huang Degong suddenly stood up and ordered the soldiers around him: "Go, tell everyone inside and outside the tent to leave. I have something to say."

The personal soldiers did not dare to be negligent and cleared away all the cooks who were grilling meat near the general's tent, as well as all the irrelevant people.

The atmosphere in the military tent was a bit weird.

Wang Yongji looked at Bakyong, and Bakyong also looked at Wang Yongji.

They both felt somewhat puzzled.

Huang Degong took the towel handed over by his personal guard and wiped the grease off his hands: "I asked you to come here today for two important matters."

"The first thing is to celebrate the victory, and the second thing is to withdraw the troops."

retreat?

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was in an uproar.

"Didn't we just defeat the Jiannu? Why are we retreating now? Wouldn't it be like telling them that we are afraid of them?"

"Yes, the Jiannu are no match for our army. Why should we retreat?"

"What exactly is the general's intention?"

Amid the confusion of the crowd, Huang Degong told them the strategy of concealing the truth and making a feint to the east and attacking in the west.

He thought about this question for a long time and finally decided to speak it out.

This retreat was extremely dangerous.

The Jiannu were watching closely from behind and might discover the truth and send troops to pursue them at any time.

If Xu Wenpu had not been able to persist as expected, his retreat would most likely have turned into a defeat.

By then, not only would they be unable to annihilate Dorgon, they would not even be able to protect themselves.

Moreover, this retreat was different from the one from Miyun. When they retreated from Miyun, there was no baggage and they were able to reach the Juyongguan area overnight.

By the time Dorgon found out, it was too late to chase him.

There were a lot of baggage to carry with them during the retreat, especially chariots and the like, so they couldn't run fast even if they wanted to.

Only by making mental preparations in advance can you be safe when retreating.

"At the earliest the day after tomorrow, and at the latest the day after tomorrow, our army will set out for Juyong Pass. Starting tonight, I want you to dig deep trenches on both sides of Huailai Guard overnight to prevent the Jiannu cavalry from passing quickly."

"Don't worry about our army's retreat. We will retreat through Huailai Acropolis."

"Then... who will guard Huailaiwei?" Wang Yongji asked.

"Me!" Xu Wenpu stood up, "A real man fights on the battlefield, and the only thing he can do is die! You can all retreat without worry, and I will take care of Huailaiwei!"

Everyone looked at each other.

Some people are moved, some are impressed, and more are... skeptical.

I doubt whether he can hold on and how long he can hold on.

Huang Degong waved his hand to focus everyone's attention on him again: "This matter has been discussed and settled, you just need to execute it. Weng Zhiqi will tell you the time and order for each unit to withdraw their troops later, and you must abide by it."

"Otherwise, military law is ruthless."

"I will follow the military orders of Master Huang."

Everyone discussed for a while and then dispersed one by one.

Huang Degong sighed and asked the guards beside him: "Are you sure the secret letter has been sent to the capital and Miyun?"

"Yes, I saw them leave with my own eyes."

"That's good, that's good..."

......

The Imperial Palace of Heavenly Purity.

Chongzhen was discussing the philosophy of governing the country with Li Banghua face to face.

Chongzhen said: "Mr. Li, governing a country is not an easy task. Similarly, governing officials and people is not an easy task either."

"I think that as long as there are no corrupt officials, the lives of the people will be relatively better."

"Do you think it's possible, Lord Li?" Chongzhen asked back.

Li Banghua was silent.

As the chief minister of the cabinet, he could not get rid of his greed, let alone the officials under him.

Chongzhen continued: "Looking through the history books, why did the country perish?"

"Because...land annexation? Harsh government? Natural disasters? Or is it the economy that Your Majesty mentioned?"

Chongzhen shook his head, "Neither. Throughout history, the reason for the change of dynasties is that the production relations cannot keep up with the development of productivity!"

Li Banghua: ???

He felt like he was listening to a divine book!

"This... Your Majesty, please teach me what production relations are and what productivity is!"

Next, Chongzhen explained production relations and productivity in a way that Li Banghua could understand.

"In other words... there is a problem with the person in charge of the allocation and the **?" Li Banghua raised his head and looked at Chongzhen with an inquiring look.

Chongzhen just stood there in a daze.

Li Banghua is great. He actually pointed out the core of the problem directly.

"What Li Gelao said is right. Just like the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Jiangnan was originally a land of fish and rice, with abundant land and products, but the people were poor and destitute. The reason was the plunder of the Mongols, which led to the situation of extreme poverty in Jiangnan and extravagance in the northern frontier."

"So Emperor Taizu Gao rose up and made the production relations adapt to the productive forces."

"So that's it!" Li Banghua began to seriously think about whether the Ming Dynasty was facing the same problem.

After a brief thought, he sighed helplessly.

Not only did the Ming Dynasty have this problem, but it was very serious!

"Huailai Weitang News! Huailai Weitang News!" Just when Li Banghua was about to ask in detail, a young eunuch ran in with the Weitang News in his hand.