Xie Ming

Xiao Jin rode his horse back home, and Yuan Ping from the yamen asked about his feelings.

Talking about the blessing of being pregnant and giving birth to a child, he also talked about preparing gifts to send off his sister E.

On the evening of the 26th, after Xiao rushed back to the city, he told Yuan Ping during a casual conversation in the government office that he had prepared a gift for his sister-in-law after Xiao E gave birth successfully.

After hearing this, Xiao Yi was delighted. He didn't want to disappoint his sworn brother Yuan Ping, so he quickly agreed.

"Hehehe"

"Okay, okay, I won't stop you."

"Brother, you are so kind-hearted. I would like to thank you on behalf of Xiao'e."

"Besides, we actually talked about this when we went back this time."

"You are the child's uncle. I think if we can really give birth to a boy, I will learn martial arts from you in the future."

"When the time comes, don't think it's a bother or a burden!"

Xiao Lang accepted the offer and blurted out all these things, intending to get closer to Yuan Ping.

Hearing this, Yuan Zi's heart was filled with joy.

As luck would have it, the tea bowls had cooled down a bit, so the two sworn brothers had dinner together by the stove.

After a while, when they finished eating, outside the eaves, the gloomy weather that had lasted the whole day turned into rain and snow.

"oh?!"

"It's cold again."

"Alas, it has become increasingly cold in recent years."

"In troubled times, there are natural disasters. Heaven and earth are merciless."

"On the way back, the road was completely wet and muddy."

"It's too difficult to act now."

"It's better now that there's no war. If there's any emergency, I'm afraid I'll suffer again."

Seeing the rain and snow falling, Xiao Jingchuan put down the bowl, sighing with emotion.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ping also sighed even more.

"Yes, it is difficult for people to live long in troubled times."

"All the poor people in the world are suffering."

"Xiaochuan, I still say the same thing, each generation has its own things to do."

"You and I should grit our teeth and fight the battles that need to be fought, defeat the bandits that need to be defeated, and sacrifice our lives."

"Life will only get better when our children and grandchildren grow up."

"We shouldn't let them destroy their country and their families again."

Yuan Ping was upset and his words had a hidden meaning.

After that, without waiting for Gu Xiaolang to reply, he asked him about Xiao's trip back to Beijing and got down to business.

"By the way, when I go back this time, how is the health of the little emperor in the palace?" Yuan Zuo asked.

"Ah, ah"

"Zhu Cilang's illness is difficult to cure, and his health is getting worse and worse."

"This time when he returned to the capital, he also intended to mediate and asked me to have a meal with the third little prince in the palace."

"Looking at the attitude, although he hasn't said it explicitly, I'm afraid he has already intended to entrust his son to me."

Xiao Lang told the whole story in detail.

After hearing this, Yuan asked again about the way to the pass.

"Trust me, humph!"

"Xiaochuan, what do you think about this?"

"When are we going to rebel?!" Yuan Ping begged urgently.

Hearing that his brother was getting anxious about this matter again, Xiao was helpless and couldn't refute any more, so he simply kept silent for a while.

After a moment, he let out a long sigh again.

“Wait for an opportunity”

"There is no turning back when the bow is drawn."

"The more times have passed, the more we need to keep our composure."

"After all, the six ministries in the court still respect the Ming court."

"If you act too hastily, you may not be able to turn around in a short time."

"We can't just charge into Nanjing and kill all these weaklings in one go."

"It's a great pleasure."

"But, even if we are in good shape, we still need people from the imperial court to maintain stability and do things to govern the people." "Otherwise, if things really get chaotic, wouldn't that benefit the foreign enemies and make things easier for others?!"

Xiao Jingchuan tried to persuade her with kind words and even talked until his lips were sore.

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"In order to achieve transition, they want to follow the old path of using the emperor to control the princes."

"I'm afraid you discussed the details with Zhizhong this time when you returned?"

It is not easy for Yuan Ping, a stubborn man, to speak all these things slowly.

After saying that, Xiao Lang could only smile awkwardly.

"specific."

"Hey, the first to strike will win, the last to strike will win."

"I don't agree with your roundabout ways."

"However, since you have such a plan, I will follow your will."

"What you said before, the situation in Shandong"

Yuan Ping then turned his attention to the situation in Shandong.

Because Xiao had given advice before and had also made predictions about Shandong, how to start the war depended entirely on this.

"Haha, yes, Shandong, you know what, has made some moves recently."

"I heard from the reconnaissance lines in the central and northern parts that in recent months, there have indeed been frequent troop movements in the north of Shandong, bordering the capital Cangzhou."

"According to this judgment, the current situation is that the Qing troops heading northwest will have won a great victory and will be returning home soon."

"I am afraid that the next step will be to target Shandong, and an invasion to the south will not be far away."

Xiao Lang spoke in soft and secret words, holding nothing back.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ping finally felt a little relieved.

If you keep silent, it won't be so annoying.

Seeing his sworn brother's face, Xiao Jingchuan couldn't remain silent, so he told him everything about the military supplies he had obtained during the trip.

When it came to the specific matters of silver, grain and military expansion, Yuan Ping's eyes brightened up again and he became interested.

"Haha, brother, this time, I have secured 450,000 taels of silver from the court, hundreds of thousands of shi of grain and fodder, and other military supplies, firearms, and armor, enough to support three or five battalions."

"And on this return trip, we also went to Fengyang and transferred another 200,000 taels back."

"With these military supplies, the food and salary shortages caused by the expansion of our army will be alleviated in the short term."

"Look, right now in Kaifeng and Guide, Peizhong's troops have expanded from the original two battalions to four battalions, totaling 10,000 people."

"The Hu Chens defended Luoyang, Xuchang and other places, and they also fought hard and expanded to four battalions."

"There are 20,000 people here and there."

"Brother, add a thousand more men and horses to your cavalry battalion."

"Ji Zu, just work hard. In a few months, the original 2,000-man team will be able to grow to 7,000 men in three battalions."

"Li Hongsheng reorganized his battalion into two battalions, and Zhao Yingyuan's battalion was expanded into two battalions."

"With the added traditional martial arts, the two thousand will become three thousand."

"Even if Gao Hu's troops are not included, how many troops do you have in total?!" Xiao Jiangzhong asked.

"About 40,000. I already knew all this. Why are you bringing it up again?"

Yuan Ping didn't need to argue much, he just opened his mouth.

Obviously, Yuan Ping has been weighing the current combat effectiveness of Xiao's army.

Upon hearing this, Xiao pursed his lips and suddenly smiled.

"Haha, okay, it seems that you have put in a lot of effort to remember it so clearly."

"As for me, the reason I'm talking about this again is mainly because I still have room for improvement!"

Hearing this, Yuan Ping was stunned, his eyes filled with confusion, but he finally gave up resisting and raised his eyes to whet his appetite.

Therefore, General Xiao kept the secret and just raised his hand and stretched out a finger.

Yuan Ping was confused and didn't understand what was going on. He was impatient and kept urging him to speak.

"Hey, you little brat, stop showing off in front of me."

"If you have something to say, say it quickly," Yuan said.

“Hahaha, ten thousand!”

"This time when I went to Fengyang, I redeployed Gao Jie's former subordinates."

"More than 10,000 soldiers were collected and returned with the team. I think they will be further strengthened and integrated into the team."

Xiao Zaiyan continued (end of this chapter)