Xie Ming

Let’s talk about the second day of October, at the end of the afternoon (around 3 p.m.).

Xiao Jingchuan said goodbye to Linggu Temple and returned home.

At this moment, the new wife of the Duke's Mansion, Zhu Yuye, was hungry and had been about to get up. She was calculating the household accounts with her maid Hongyu in the main hall at the back hall. When she saw the Duke come back, she hurriedly got up again to serve him.

Hongyu also hurried to the small kitchen to prepare a small feast of fruit wine, snacks, etc., and the couple had a few drinks while chatting.

Not long after, about half an hour later, the young monk from Linggu Temple brought more fruits.

Several food boxes were covered with red paper, and when they arrived at the mansion to investigate, they asked the gatekeeper to come inside.

Xiao Jingchuan also quickly sent Xue Zhong to receive him personally.

After he declined the offer, he gave the money for the trip and brought the food to the back hall. Xiao E heard the whole story and was very happy.

She used her green fingers to open the lids one by one with great interest and took out the wrapping paper.

Such as Aiwowowo, rice balls, fruit-filled salt and pepper golden cakes, steamed fruit pie fillings, twisted orphan candy, yellow chive milk cakes, flower cakes, loud candies, rice dumplings, sugar crisps, white sugar longevity cakes, rose-coated rolls, fruit-baked longevity snowflake cakes, ghee muffins, cowhide candy, sesame elephant eyes, willow leaf candy, pure honey persimmons, honey-moistened ribbons, fruit-filled reunion cakes, peach blossom dumplings, stuffed cold cakes, sandalwood cakes, rock sugar frosted plums, milk tea cheese, Meisu balls, Yimei, milk dumplings boiled with ghee and white sugar, rose Eight Immortals cakes, rock sugar orange cubes, stuffed cold cakes, Wulao Dingsheng sugar cubes, Fengxiang honey cakes, Sanzi twisted dough sticks, and the list goes on.

Yu was very hungry and greedy, and he had to try everything.

I kept eating until I burped.

Xiao Lang was happy to watch the girl eat. He looked so happy that he stuffed a lot of food into his mouth.

I think there is no need to set up dinner for two people.

No need to talk too much
In a flash, another two days passed.

And just as Zhizhong and Yao Zuyin had expected, the young emperor Zhu Cilang indeed intended to urgently reduce the power of the princes.

On the fourth day of October, there was a discussion in the palace, and after noon, Xiao Lang was urgently summoned into the palace.

Mixed with other cabinet members, they entrusted the specific matter of reducing the salaries of the princes to Xiao Jingchuan.

As early as nightfall on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Xiao had already sealed a secret letter, ordered the Death Star to go to Henan in person, and secretly sent Yuan Ping to send troops according to the plan.

So on the fourth day of the first lunar month, when the envoy from Emperor Hongguang came, Xiao might as well accept the position and gain the reputation of a loyal minister.

However, after receiving the imperial edict and returning to the palace, Jin Xiaolang was not in a hurry to set out to take up his mission.

The government pretended to be making preparations and waited for another three days.

It was not until Yuan Ping arrived in Henan that he urgently led his troops to the north and the sounds of fighting suddenly broke out in Tongxu and Lanyang.

Such public opinion soon reached the palace on the evening of the seventh day, and the young Emperor Hongguang became very annoyed.

In order to consider the overall situation, Ye had no choice but to summon Duke Jingguo Xiao Jingchuan to the palace to present his case overnight.

That night, the emperor issued a new decree, allowing General Xiao to rush to Henan and take full authority to deal with the rebellion and reckless advance of the troops in the southeast of Kaifeng.

As the saying goes, a dragon running into the sea is like a tiger returning to the mountains.
On the night of the seventh day, after trying every possible means, Xiao Jingchuan finally got the order to return to the camp. He did not dare to delay at all.

In order to avoid further complications, things have to change.

After Xiao Li left the palace, Ye did not have time to return home, so he immediately sent Chang Ting to go separately and called out Zhizhong. Xiao, Qiu and Yao, the three scholars, met again in Linggu Temple for a final urgent discussion.

It is estimated that at about 11:00 that night, Xiao Jian made a resignation speech to tell the affairs of the mansion, and in a hurry, he asked Chang Ting and Mr. Liu to rush to lead more than a hundred soldiers from the mansion to garrison and leave the city at night.

We headed northwest without stopping, straight to the troops of Hu Chen and Zhao Yingyuan in Guide Prefecture.

The plan to return the army to the camp was finally accomplished, and General Xiao was able to lead his troops again with great pride.

To continue the story, part of Xiao's army withdrew from Shandong's defense.

In early October, after Xiao returned to Henan, according to the plan, the matter of Yuan Ping was resolved in an instant.

Around the tenth day of the month, Xiao Jingchuan made several more memorials and requested that most of Xiao's troops be withdrawn from Shandong and rushed to Henan and northern Anhui.

During this period, Peizhong, Minglu, Qi Gang, Li Hongsheng, Xu Jizu and others all returned to the army in an orderly manner. In the mountainous areas of central and eastern Shandong, only a few thousand newly recruited local militias remained, temporarily handed over to Duan Hongcai under Peizhong's rule.

Relying on the mountains in the middle and east, they set up camps and properties early on and developed independently in order to succeed them.

The conversation jumped to the fifteenth day.

Xiao Jingchuan was trapped in Guide Prefecture, while generals including Qing and others returned to their bases and rushed over.

On the way, which actually took seven or eight days, although Yuan Ping obeyed the order and stopped the fighting in Tongxu and Lanyang, the thousand cavalry under his command kept lingering near Lanyang and refused to withdraw.

This action also shows Yuan Ping's attitude, and he still has some grudges towards Xiao Lang.

There was nothing I could do, I had to do it to win people's hearts and relieve my brother's anger.

Xiao Jingchuan had no choice but to humble himself, personally lead a team of soldiers, and lead Changting to visit Lan Yang at night, to talk and comfort each other, in order to put aside the past grudges and achieve the effect of unity.

It's day and night!
Inside the temporary camping site of the cavalry camp near Lanyang.

"Report——"

"Report! General!"

"General Xiao has arrived in person. He has dismounted his horse and is coming this way now." An official hurried to Yuan Ping and reported the situation.

At this moment, although Yuan Ping's cavalry had set up a temporary camp, they did not set up any tents.

They focused on mobility and found a place sheltered from the wind and camped outdoors. It was cold at night, so most people in their 10s or 20s gathered around a fire to keep each other warm and then rested there.

At the moment, there was no one sleeping in the tent near Yuan Ping, and he was standing by the fire, fiddling with the firewood and adding firewood.

When he suddenly heard the report from the official, Yuan Ping froze in shock, but he did not stand up to greet the emperor.

His attitude is lukewarm and quite indifferent.

"Oh, I'm here now, why are you yelling?!"

"Go and bring the person over here." Yuan Ci Diao was still a little angry.

However, without waiting for the official to reply, Xiao Jingchuan had already led the two men in the hall and walked straight to the nearby place.

“Hahahaha.” It was late at night and I heard the voice before I saw the person.

"Brother Yuan, how long are you going to keep annoying me?"

"Today, I, Xiaochuan, come to apologize in person and look at you."

"How to say?"

"No, how about you beat me up, brother?!"

Xiao Jingchuan smiled bitterly and approached the fire. He looked at Yuan Ping, who also sat down and took some dead branches to help light the fire, not surprised.

"Humph!"

"Don't try to be nice to me, you little brat."

"I still want to beat you up. How dare I do that? Who are you now?!"

"Since he is a duke and has royal relatives as his sisters-in-law, he will surely rise to the top in one step."

"And, if we attack Lanyang, it will ruin the peace talks with the north. The little emperor in the Nanjing Palace will not let us off easily, right?"

"Tell me what you want me to do with you, whether to kill or chop you up, I, Yuan Ping, will take your leave."

"I will never provoke or embarrass you, a Duke!"

Yuan Ping's words were spoken in anger. (End of this chapter)