Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 329: Receive Pay at the Parade Ground, Without Armor

The Taihang Mountains are 800 miles long, running from north to south.

Rather than saying that Taihang is a mountain, it is more like a line.

This line is narrow from east to west and long from north to south, dividing the second and third ladders of China. To the east of the line is the North China Plain, and to the west is the Shanxi Plateau.

That is the current Daming Shandong and Hebei block, and Datang Shanxi block.

The east-west river valleys divide the Taihang Mountains into several parts and also connect the two geographical units of the east and the west.

These river valleys are the famous "Eight Gorges of Taihang Mountains".

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Eight Passes of Taihang have been a battleground for military strategists, with more than 50 large-scale battles fought over.

Li Ming believes that it is on this ancient battlefield that the rise and fall of the Tang and Ming dynasties will be decided.

…………

The southernmost of the Eight Passes of Taihang Mountains is Chenguan Pass.

This place is basically on the same latitude as the capitals of all dynasties in China, with Chang'an and Xianyang on the left, and Luoyang and Kaifeng on the right.

"Put your energy on patrol and search every corner of the mountain carefully. Don't let even a wild boar in!
"If any fake agent gets through, I'll beat you up!"

It was a new day again. Cheng Zhijie, who was in charge of the defense of the pass, gave instructions to his soldiers early in the morning as he had done in the past few months.

Hearing their leader repeating the same three things over and over again, the soldiers became tired and listened with some half-heartedness.

"Your mother's!"

Cheng Zhijie's temper suddenly flared up. He fell off his horse, walked angrily into the queue, and kicked a yawning soldier.

"If you dare to doze off again, I'll make you sleep for twelve hours every day!"

After returning to the army, this old Wagang was no longer as cautious as he was in the palace in Beijing.

He turned back into the rude and unrestrained Cheng Yaojin, cursing the whole time.

The deputy general quickly advised:

"General, please don't be so angry. It's understandable that the soldiers are lax.

"Over the past few months, everyone has been patrolling the mountains day and night, and they are all very tired, but they haven't even seen half of the enemy. It is inevitable that the soldiers will become tired."

The deputy general was not trying to excuse the ignorant soldier. He was worried that Cheng Zhijie was already old, and if he got so angry that he couldn't catch his breath, then he would be doomed...

"Tsk, how can you be so unreasonable? I've killed more people than you've eaten chickens!
"How could I not know what kind of situation our army is facing, what emotions the soldiers are feeling, and what rumors are spreading in the barracks?!"

Cheng Yaojin glared at the nosy deputy general, then turned his firepower to the unlucky guy, scolding him with spit flying:

"But the more this happens, the more we cannot slack off!
"Have you ever dealt with Li Ming? I fought him directly at the Suzaku Gate that night!
"To be honest with you, that guy is the most cunning and cunning! The more you don't expect him to go somewhere, the more he will go!

"His group of bandit soldiers may be hiding in some dense forest at the foot of Taihang Mountain, waiting for you to let down your guard, and then they will suddenly attack you and scalp you!
"When you lose your scalp, don't blame me for not leading the team well!"

The old general put on an attitude of teaching the younger generation and began to lecture incessantly.

The soldiers were so shocked by what they heard that their legs trembled and their scalps felt cold, and they felt a chill on their backs.

They were afraid that the trees in the Taihang Mountains would start speaking Liaodong dialect and suddenly jump out to launch a shameless attack and take their scalps.

The deputy general's face turned black when he heard this.

Old General, the "bandit" you are talking about is you...

"Okay, I'm not going to waste my time talking to you. Let's get out and work!"

Cheng Zhijie was so thirsty from bragging that he waved his hand.

"Follow the order!"

The soldiers' work enthusiasm increased and they answered questions with great energy.

After all, since it concerns their own scalp, no one dares to slack off, and they all conscientiously begin a new day of defense and patrol tasks.

Yawn~ Behind everyone's back, General Cheng, who was very energetic just now, yawned involuntarily, and then slapped himself, forced himself to cheer up, tightened the armor straps, and whispered:
"Alas, what on earth is that little monkey planning..."

Not to mention the soldiers under him, Cheng Zhijie was almost getting tired of waiting for dawn in this deep forest in the mountains where there was no village in front and no shop behind.

His desire for the enemy was so great that he was "looking forward to it with urgency".

Because he couldn't wait to achieve something great and prove himself to His Majesty.

Which Majesty? Of course, it is the current emperor, His Majesty Li Chengqian, the Yongqing Emperor.

As everyone knows, the people of Wagangzhai collectively stood on the wrong side that year (last year) and united closely around Regent Li Zhi.

Then, there is no need to say more about what happened -

He was violently attacked from Dafeichuan by the combined power of Li Shimin and Li Chengqian, and was forced to step down in disgrace.

For Cheng Zhijie, Li Zhi's number one lackey, his current situation is particularly embarrassing.

This can be seen from the fact that he was sent by the new emperor to Chenguanxing deep in the Taihang Mountains.

Don't get me wrong, Cheng Zhijie was "dispatched" rather than "sent".

Because this place is very important to the Tang Dynasty.

The Chenguan Pass starts from Qinyang, south of the Taihang Mountains and north of the Yellow River, and goes straight west through the Wangwu Mountains. The next stop is the Zhongtiao Mountains.

As long as you cross Zhongtiao Mountain, you can bypass Hangu Pass, and Tongguan, the gateway to Chang'an, will be right in front of you!

In other words, the throat of Guanlong is only separated from the rebellious people of Shandong and Hebei by the road of Chenguanxing!
Therefore, the Tang army stationed a group of elite troops here all year round to guard against sudden attacks from the Shandong people.

As early as when the Xueyantuo caused chaos in Hebei, Li Zhi had specially strengthened the guards here.

After Hebei officially changed its master and joined the Ming Dynasty's anti-Tang cause, Li Chengqian further strengthened the defense here and appointed the steady and courageous veteran Cheng Zhijie as the chief general here.

In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, and there were only a few roads available for large-scale marches. The Chenguan Pass was equivalent to a wormhole opened in the Taihang Mountains from Hebei to the Guanzhong Basin.

The Qin people used to take this road to the east, going out of Shandong and defeating Korea.

And the road is two-way.

Today's Shandong people can naturally go west to Guanzhong through this road and slap the people of Guanzhong in the face.

The arrangements must be proper.

"Your Majesty has entrusted me with such an important task. If I have not made any achievements and have done nothing, and have failed the Emperor's grace, then..."

Cheng Zhijie was feeling very nervous and agitated.

Letting the surrendered generals guard the vital roads connecting to the capital city can definitely be considered as a great use of their talents.

His Majesty Li Chengqian may not be good at other things, but when it comes to being magnanimous to his subordinates, he is no less than the retired emperor and he trusts his subordinates.

This touched Old Cheng deeply, and he had to do everything he could to achieve some results for the court to prove that the Emperor had not trusted the wrong person.

Therefore, the Tang Dynasty court did not need to know in advance about the Ming Dynasty's plan of "openly building fortresses and secretly crossing the Taihang Mountains", and it increased the defense level of this throat shortcut.

Cheng Zhijie was eager to make a contribution, so he added layers of defense, setting up countless checkpoints and hidden guards on the entire pass, which was only forty or fifty miles long, to ensure that the Chenguan Pass was defended impenetrably.

The movements of the Ming army seemed to confirm how foresighted the Tang people were in preparing for a rainy day.

Before the Ming Dynasty raised the flag and officially broke off the war with the Tang Dynasty, the Ming army in Shandong carried out frequent military actions near the eastern starting point of the Chenguan Pass, which belonged to the Ming Dynasty.

Sometimes they were conducting drills, sometimes they were conducting military exercises, and sometimes they were conducting large-scale deployments.

It was very lively and exciting.

The Tang people on the other side of the mountain were so nervous that they were almost paralyzed. They were afraid that one day they would wake up and find that the Ming army had already taken this route to sneak into Chang'an.

So naturally, the actions of the Ming army attracted more and more Tang army troops to gather at the Chenguan Pass.

Not only are ordinary garrison troops from the second and third lines stationed here, but even a considerable number of elite first-line field troops also come here to join in the fun.

As we all know, field combat cannot be carried out by simply drafting a few able-bodied men; the field army is very valuable.

Especially when the Tang Dynasty was still focusing on strengthening the long Yellow River-Central Plains defense line, sending troops to Chenguanxing would undoubtedly make the front-line troops stretched to the limit.

The high-intensity and futile patrol defense cannot be underestimated in its impact on the morale of front-line troops.

However, Cheng Zhijie felt that this was not a waste of resources and was all worth it.

The Chenguan Pass must be defended!
Who knows how many troops the cunning Ming army would deploy into Taihang Pass, which was built simply for stealing chickens!

He had suffered at the hands of Li Ming, so in order to guard against Li Ming, he must be fully prepared!
The result was that the most powerful armies of the Tang Dynasty gathered here and guarded this mountain road where one man could block the passage of ten thousand.

As the war broke out and progressed, everyone was on high alert, always paying attention to any movement on the road.

One day passed...

Ten days passed... a month passed...

I waited for several months and nothing happened.

Not to mention the Ming Dynasty's field army, there wasn't even a shadow of the Shandong people to be seen.

"General Cheng..." The deputy general couldn't help but whispered in his ear:
"Could it be that... the Shandong guy doesn't intend to follow this path at all?"

This question immediately made Cheng Zhijie dazed.

He himself also felt that something was not right.

The battles on several fronts outside were in chaos, but the situation in Chenguanxing was calm.

In the dead of night, after finishing a whole day of tiring and useless tasks, Cheng Zhijie had more than one question -

It's possible that Li Ming was just bluffing, predicting his prediction and deliberately standing them up!

but……

"Report to the general!"

The messenger ran back in a hurry to report, even with an excited expression on his face.

Cheng Zhijie was immediately excited, and could even be said to be overjoyed:
"What? Are the fake Ming bandits attacking?"

"It's almost there! Their troops have gathered at the foot of the mountain!" The soldiers excitedly shouted the results of the reconnaissance to prove that they were not just sitting there doing nothing.

"..." Cheng Zhijie's mood visibly deteriorated.

During this period of time, he received too much information that was neither true nor false.

Needless to say, this kind of performance art by the Ming army would ultimately produce no results.

Cheng Zhijie even suspected that the other side already knew that his scouts had been spying on them secretly and were deliberately putting on a show for them.

But then again, it was impossible for the Tang army to just ignore the Ming Dynasty's provocation right under its nose.

Although he had never heard of the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", he knew the main idea - never underestimate Li Ming!

"Strengthen the vigilance, increase the number of patrols from five to seven. Keep a close eye on them at all times. They cannot leave your sight for even a moment!"

Cheng Zhijie gave the order in a deep voice.

"I will report to the court and request more reinforcements."

…………

About 400 miles further north of Chenguanxing is the middle section of the 800-mile Taihang Mountains, where there is also a pass.

Jingxing.

This is the dividing line between the North and South Taihang Mountains, connecting Cangyan Mountain in the north of Ming Dynasty and Bingzhou (Yangquan, Shanxi) in Tang Dynasty.

In terms of geographical location, its priority is definitely not as high as the shortcut to the capital, Chenguanxing.

But it cannot be said that Jingxing is not important.

Because it is connected to Bingzhou, which is the central hinterland of Shanxi after all.

I can only say that the importance is neither high nor low, it’s okay.

The eastern starting point of Jingxing within the Tang Dynasty territory is Niangzi Pass in the middle of the Taihang Mountains.

"Yawn~"

The garrison sentry at Guanshang was high up, overlooking the North China Plain in the east, rubbing his sleepy eyes lazily.

There were boundless green hills, and not a single ghost could be seen except for the occasional swaying between the trees.

Nothing happened today. Are we really at war with the enemy? There are still a few days before the salary is paid. This armor is so damn heavy... Just as he was about to leave, his thoughts were running wild.

Suddenly, there were light footsteps behind me.

"Who?!"

The little sentry instinctively turned around.

Snapped!
As a result, he received a hard slap in the face.

Before he could react, the newcomer started cursing:
"Open your dog eyes and take a closer look. It's you, my father! You turned around so suddenly and scared me!"

The sentry opened his eyes wide.

Only then did he see clearly that the man behind him was his sergeant.

"Hey, it's the boss. Why did you come here quietly?" asked the sentry, rubbing his red cheek.

"Have you become stupid from standing guard? You even forgot to collect your pay today?" The sergeant cursed and turned away.

One more thing before leaving:
"You don't need to bring armor and weapons when you go to the parade ground to collect your salary."

Is the salary paid today... The sentry was stunned for a moment, but the sergeant had already walked away.

Damn it, if you don’t take the money, you’d be a fool, not to mention you don’t have to stand guard!

Without a doubt, he quickly put down his spear and took off the armor that was in the way.

"Hiss, it's a bit cold after taking off the armor~"

He trotted with his arms folded, heading for the training ground in a relaxed and happy mood.

When they arrived at the place, many comrades had already gathered there. They had taken off their heavy armor, crossed their arms, and chatted casually, waiting to receive this unexpected fortune.

As time passed, more and more soldiers gathered on the parade ground.

Soon, the defenders of Niangzi Pass arrived.

If you are not proactive in collecting money, there is something wrong with your thinking.

Just when everyone was shrinking their necks and waiting for the pie to fall from the sky.

A group of fully armed soldiers suddenly broke in from outside the parade ground.

They were all wearing armor, but the style of the armor was subtly different from the Tang armor, and it looked obviously more sturdy and durable.

The officers and soldiers waiting here were all stunned - when did so many people appear in Niangzi Pass?
The group of uninvited guests quickly surrounded the training ground without saying a word.

The original defenders looked at the shining gun tips in the enemy's hands and the suspicious style of armor, and slowly came to their senses and their hearts sank.

Could these people be...

"Comrades!"

A loud shout with full energy.

Everyone looked over and saw a spirited old man standing on the martial arts stage. He was chubby and quite cute.

Several older junior officers recognized the commander with a very distinctive appearance at a glance.

"Mr. Li Wei?!"

One stone stirs up a thousand ripples, and there is a buzzing sound of whispers below.

The illustrious name of the God of War Li Weigong is well known to everyone who makes a living as a brain operator.
But, hasn’t Lord Li Wei already…

Did you betray the Tang Dynasty and surrender to the false Ming Dynasty? !

As if to confirm what the soldiers were thinking, the flag of the Tang Dynasty slowly fell from the city wall of the pass, and the flag of the Ming Dynasty fluttered in the wind.

Ah this...

Everyone's heart sank to the bottom.

"Comrades, what are you waiting for?"

Li Jing's mouth curled slightly:

"Come and collect your salary."

He stepped aside slightly.

Cartloads of Kaiyuan Tongbao coins and stacks of Ming Dynasty banknotes were pushed forward and laid out in front of the soldiers.

Choose the currency you want!
"Getting paid on the parade ground" is not a lie. If you say you will get paid, you will get paid.

But it is not certain from which family the salary is received.

The soldiers looked at the golden money, then at the shining knife, and swallowed their saliva at the same time.

(End of this chapter)