Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Late that night, there were unusual movements in Shanhaiguan City, and the Guards' widely spread spies immediately informed Sun Weifan of the situation.

Sun Weifan thought that Zu Dashou was going to rebel, so he ordered the guards to be on high alert and took people to ask Zhang Shikang for instructions.

At first Zhang Shikang pretended to be asleep and couldn't hear anything, but Sun Weifan's voice was so loud that he kept shouting and banging on the windows.

Zhang Shikang had no choice but to open the door for him.

"Marshal! Zu Dashou said there was a war in Jinzhou, and he suddenly left the city with a large group of people!"

As soon as he saw Zhang Shikang, Sun Weifan became anxious.

"Oh, it is his responsibility to defend Guan Ningjin. If there is any unusual movement over there, isn't it normal for him to go to defend?" Zhang Shikang said, wrapped in a quilt.

"Oh my! You just beat someone up and there was a war in Jinzhou. How could it be such a coincidence?

I think Zu Dashou must have fled for fear of punishment!" Sun Weifan said with great certainty.

"No way?" Zhang Shikang frowned.

Sun Weifan couldn't help but say as soon as he saw it:

"Why can't you do that? Nephew, I'm not saying anything bad, but you can't just squeeze the urine out of a frog you caught.

This Zu family is not a member of the Donglin Party in the capital. It doesn't matter whether you try to flatter them or not. The Zu family has deep roots in Guanningjin and they have real military power.

Even if you find evidence of his guilt, you shouldn't humiliate him like that. Rabbit still has some temper, right? "

Sun Weifan felt that with Zhang Shikang's wisdom, he should not make such a low-level mistake, but now this kind of thing happened.

"What should we do then?" Zhang Shikang asked.

"What else can we do? We can't use force. We must not lose the Guanningjin defense line, otherwise you and I will both be guilty of a serious crime.

The best thing to do now is that you'd better get dressed quickly. Let's catch up with him and say something nice to him, so that Zu Dashou and the others know that as long as they defend the city well, the court will not treat them unfairly.

Let's stabilize them first, and then we can make long-term plans."

"Oh." Zhang Shikang did not refute and actually started to put on his clothes.

However, he was very slow in getting dressed. Sun Dasheng and his son Sun Weifan rushed forward to help him, but for some reason, the more anxious he was, the slower he got dressed. Either he buttoned the wrong buttons or put his coat on inside out.

First the inner garment, then the outer garment, and finally the armor. It took him more than a quarter of an hour to put on the three sets of clothes.

In the dead of night, Zhang Shikang asked Sun Weifan to gather the guards while cursing.

When the guards had assembled, Zhang Shikang first had a stomachache and then a leg cramp.

In short, various accidents happened frequently, and it was not until dawn that Zhang Shikang finally prepared everything. Sun Weifan was almost dying of anxiety.

According to statistics, Zu Dashou and Zu Kuan took away more than 6,000 people in total, and there were still more than 5,000 Liao soldiers in Shanhaiguan City.

In order to prevent any accidents, Zhang Shikang asked Huang Degong to lead 5,000 men to guard Shanhaiguan, while he himself took 5,000 cavalry to chase Zu Dashou.

"Brothers! How dare Zu Dashou disobey my orders and secretly dispatch troops out of the city.

This is not taking me seriously! This is absolutely intolerable!

We have to teach him a lesson!"

Sun Weifan was extremely anxious. Seeing Zhang Shikang giving a long speech in front of all the soldiers, he could no longer hold back and said:

"Marshal, please stop talking. If you delay any longer, Zu Dashou will already be in Ningyuan!"

Zhang Shikang then set out with 5,000 cavalrymen. However, as soon as they left the city, Zhang Shikang ordered the troops to slow down their advance on the grounds that the snow was too slippery.

When Sun Weifan saw that there was no snow on the ground, he immediately realized that something was wrong.

He quietly walked up to Zhang Shikang's butt and said:

"Nephew, there's something wrong with you."

Zhang Shikang glanced at Sun Weifan and said nothing.

"There's definitely something wrong with you. Then there's something wrong with Zu Dashou too, right?"

Seeing that Zhang Shikang still didn't say anything, he thought about it for a moment and then came to his senses.

"Even we have to hide it, huh."

After saying this, Sun Weifan rode forward angrily and said to the soldiers around him:

"Zu Dashou is plotting treason! Such people must be eliminated as soon as possible. Remember, when you arrive in Ningyuan, you must not show any mercy to Zu Dashou. Kill him and reward him with 1,000 taels of silver!"

But although Sun Weifan said it, he did not let his soldiers gallop on horseback. The cavalry team of 5,000 people was hesitant, like a 60-year-old grandmother.

The soldiers of the Royal Guards were also confused, thinking that at this speed, they would not be able to kill Zu Dashou, let alone his shadow.

After walking for about two hours, Zhang Shikang ordered the soldiers to take a break and eat, which delayed them for more than half an hour.

When the group arrived at Ningyuan City in the evening, the city gate was opened. Not to mention Zu Dashou, even Wu Sangui was gone.

"What a rebellion! What a bold bastard! If I had known that Zu Dashou had ulterior motives, I would have killed him as soon as I saw him!"

In front of the people in Ningyuan City, Zhang Shikang cursed Zu Dashou's eight generations of ancestors.

Not only Zhang Shikang cursed, but Sun Weifan also cursed, and later the soldiers of the Imperial Guards also started to curse.

Before long, the people of Ningyuan City all knew that Zu Dashou disobeyed military orders, which angered the then Grand Marshal, who wanted to kill Zu Dashou.

Zhang Shikang asked the people in the city and found out that more than two hours ago, Zu Dashou had urgently led Wu Sangui's troops out of the city and headed north.

To the north of Ningyuan City, there was only one big city left, Jinzhou. Zhang Shikang stayed in Ningyuan City that night and occupied Wu Sangui's residence.

That night, several spies left Ningyuan City. The Jinyiwei came to ask whether they should be intercepted, but Zhang Shikang deliberately let them go.

The next day, Zhang Shikang and his troops continued the pursuit, a little faster than yesterday, but not much.

When passing by Tashan Fort, the defenders of Tashan Fort were all there, but there were only less than two thousand garrison soldiers in Tashan Fort.

These soldiers were actually the main targets of Zu Dashou's withholding of military pay, so Zhang Shikang told them about Zu Dashou's treason.

These soldiers who had always been treated harshly by Zu Dashou, upon learning that the person in front of them was actually the commander-in-chief of the army of the current dynasty, expressed their willingness to join Zhang Shikang in attacking Zu Dashou.

So the team moved even slower.

By mid-afternoon, the team arrived at Xingshan, with two thousand more serf soldiers from the garrison following behind them.

As a result, although we had originally planned to reach Songshan Fort before dark that day, it became dark not long after we left Xingshan military camp.

When the team arrived at Songshan Fort, it was already past the hour of Xu.

To Zhang Shikang's surprise, Songshan General Liu Zhaoji did not follow Zu Dashou.

Zhang Shikang was not familiar with Liu Zhaoji, so he asked:

"I passed by many fortresses including Ningyuan along the way. Most of the Liao soldiers followed the traitor Zu Dashou and fled. Why didn't you run?

Could it be that you, Zu Dashou, are staying here to confuse me, so that I can attack you from both sides when I arrive in Jinzhou?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhaoji immediately knelt down and said with tears in his eyes:

"Grand Marshal, I have been waiting for the royal army in the south for ten years!"

……