The hooves of the war horses trampled the mud after the summer rain. The summer sunshine, accompanied by the rising steam from the mud, made people sticky all over, as if they were in a big steamer. If God could blow a gust of wind at this time, it would surely be great, so God did not blow wind.
Nonsense, whatever you think will come true. Are you God or am I God?
This is what they mean when they say that heaven is cruel.
Mao Xiang sat on his horse with his back straight, trying his best to use his strong willpower to overcome the drowsiness and boredom brought to him by the humid and hot weather.
Although as the commander-in-chief of the Jinyiwei, he knew very well that as a qualified intelligence officer, he had to do everything possible to conceal his identity at all times, but he had to set an example to motivate the Jinyiwei cavalry behind him to keep up with his speed. They had to get to Zhaoyang as soon as possible.
In fact, it was not that the Jinyiwei he brought were not elite enough.
For any elite force, spending three days and two nights without sleep, rushing all the way from Jiankang to here, was already the limit. Mao Xiang couldn't even remember how many times he changed horses along the way, six or seven times, his head was so groggy that he couldn't remember.
He still remembered that there was an accident last night and two horses died. The postmaster of that post station was a stubborn person. He had clearly told the postmaster that he wanted to replace thirteen horses, but two of them died on the road. He only needed to find them by following the direction they came from and naturally settle the account. However, the postmaster insisted on finding the dead horses first before he was willing to give him new ones.
Even if he revealed his identity and showed the badge of the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it didn't work.
It should be said that it even had the opposite effect.
"Commander-in-Chief? A high-ranking official of the third rank? Are you kidding me? High-ranking officials are either enjoying themselves in Jiankang or staying with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. How could you come here in the middle of the night, covered in mud, to change horses?"
These are the exact words of the postmaster.
Mao Xiang was extremely angry, but he couldn't say that the postmaster was wrong.
If it weren't for the prince's strict order, he would never treat himself so badly.
In other words, while it was outrageous for senior officials to stay in the rear and enjoy themselves during the war, it was even more outrageous for them to appear outside and do business.
What the hell is this world?
However, Mao Xiang did not waste time talking to the postmaster.
The deputy of the postmaster helped Mao Xiang change his horse tremblingly. Whether he went to report to the authorities or ran away was not Mao Xiang's business. Anyway, if the local officials asked the Jinyiwei to verify, they would definitely get proof if they really had the courage to cause trouble for the Jinyiwei.
Mao Xiang felt that he had handled the matter well. Although the post station suffered a loss of two horses, in case of military emergency, a dead horse could be exchanged for a live one. Besides, he was a third-rank official and he personally gave 100 taels of silver to the deputy of the post station chief, asking him to find a good place and buy a good coffin to bury the post station chief. The remaining money could be used to take care of the post station chief's orphans and widowed mother.
It has been a long time since the Jinyiwei had acted so benevolently.
Thinking of this, Mao Xiang even felt that he had regained some strength.
After all, doing good things will make people feel refreshed. This is probably what the saying "good people will be rewarded" means.
But if he really wants to get the reward promised by the prince, then he must rush to Zhaoyang before dawn tomorrow to cooperate with General Tang Tong of Pingnan who sent the letter for help.
"I was at the front line against the remnants of the Khmer Empire, known as the Sin Yew Tau, by hanging flags, adding more cooking pots and stoves, and expanding the camp, misleading them into believing our main force was still confronting them. As a result, I withdrew my main force overnight and withdrew my light troops to Zhaoyang. After reorganizing, I personally led my troops in a surprise attack on the Qinghe Army's defenses."
"The Qinghe Army was caught off guard, and our army launched a surprise attack, breaking through two of the Qinghe Army's border fortresses and twelve strongholds, and repelling dozens of Qinghe Army counterattacks."
"But the Qinghe Army built a large number of fortifications behind the border, with large fortresses as the core and trenches and tunnels as the main arteries. Taking advantage of the mountainous terrain of the border, they put up a stubborn resistance."
"Because Qinghe used a new material called cement, its fortifications were incredibly strong, making them impenetrable to catapults. Furthermore, they employed a large number of civilians to dig up mountains and fill valleys, altering the topography. This completely invalidated our attack plan, which was based on the terrain we had gathered from our early reconnaissance."
"Although Qinghe's defenses are strong, they rely heavily on fortifications. Their soldiers' field combat capabilities are far inferior to ours. If we can get reinforcements, we can break through their defenses in one fell swoop and engage in hand-to-hand combat inside. Our army will surely win."
"If reinforcements are difficult to arrive, we will need the help of the Jinyiwei to obtain the fortification map so that we can focus our attack. The Jinyiwei captain from Zhaoyang led his men to infiltrate the Qinghe defense line and has not returned for ten days."
...
This is the letter Tang Tong wrote to the prince asking for help.
To be honest, the content of this letter exceeded the prince's expectations.
In the words of the Crown Prince, "Far from the center and without support, Tang Tong has done a good job over the years, ensuring the combat effectiveness of the army. He also fought well this time. The early surprise attack caught the enemy off guard and won the initiative for our army."
"But the Jinyiwei's work is a little lacking. Although it's just a hundred households, I didn't ask them to go to the Qinghe Palace to steal Lin Hai's jade seal. How could they be defeated just by stealing a defense map?"
After the prince's praise and criticism, Lord Mao Xiangmao was covered in sweat.
There is no way, the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is the most embarrassing position in the Chen Dynasty.
Generally speaking, even if the old emperor passed away and the new emperor ascended the throne, it would not have much impact on most ministers in the court. At most, they would just cry a few times. Sometimes, if they were generous, they could even receive rewards from the new emperor's ascension to the throne. Therefore, the death of an emperor did not have much impact on the officials in the court.
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