At the end of May, the situation around Xuanfu deteriorated rapidly.

More than ten city fortresses including Zhangjiakou Fort were attacked by Tatars. The number of cavalry dispatched by Tatars increased significantly, and two times they also dispatched Hui artillery, cloud ladders, well railings and other equipment. Although it was just a tentative attack, it was enough to make the Ming court nervous.

Not long after, even the capital knew that Xuanfu was in a serious crisis.

"... Everyone said that the emperor should not go, what's the result? The Xuanfu is now full of war, and I'm afraid the next step is to be in a hurry. I didn't get enough lessons from that old guy Liu Daxia rashly sent troops? I thought he was strong, but in fact he could defend a city. Has the Tartars been impressed? Every time I felt that he was afraid of defeating the Tartars, but he was still defeated as soon as he went out of the frontier..."

In the Hou Mansion of Shouning, Zhang Yanling kept expressing his feelings for his brother.

Zhang Heling was very dissatisfied with these words, but he didn't say anything, just listened to his younger brother nagging there.

Zhang Yanling said for a while and finally summarized it: "...As long as the war does not come to the capital, everything else is easy to say."

Zhang Heling asked with a stern face: "How do you know that the war will definitely not burn the capital?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Isn't the emperor still in Xuanfu? If the war really comes, there is only one explanation, that is, something happens in Xuanfu. Who do you think will inherit the throne? Don't be able to find the crown prince in the Ming Dynasty at that time, those vassal kings in other places have to proclaim themselves emperors... It was only then that time!"

Speaking of this, Zhang Yanling grinned, as if this matter had nothing to do with him, and there was a good show to see.

Zhang Heling shouted, "Looking at your appearance, why do you think you are gloating? Could it be that you have the ambition to be the emperor?"

"Brother, are you scolding me? You always ask me to stop saying this, but why do you say it yourself now? If the court knows it, our brothers will not be able to take it away!" Zhang Yanling smiled and joked.

Zhang Heling didn't expect that one day his younger brother would teach him a lesson, which made him even more dissatisfied. He said with a dark face: "The war ahead is His Majesty and Master Xie, and the people from the Ministry of War are in love... Let's ask you, where did the smuggling goods on the city come from during the period of his Majesty's departure from Beijing?"

Zhang Yanling was very happy, but suddenly his face looked a little bad. He hesitated and said, "Brother, do you have to ask everything clearly?"

Zhang Heling said: "I have repeatedly ordered you not to do things that violate discipline and law, but you have been persuaded to change your mind. If something goes wrong, can you take responsibility?"

"What can happen? Isn't it just smuggling some goods? Carrying goods from outside into the city can communicate with each other, so that the lives of the people in the capital will be better... Even if the emperor knows about this, he will not blame me, but instead praise me!" Zhang Yanling said with a face.

This made Zhang Heling even more angry. He stood up and pointed at his younger brother and said, "If you just transport some goods into the city, I won't be skeptical about you, but now you have mobilized soldiers to openly invade the goods of merchants in the city and embezzled the goods... Do you know who is standing behind these merchants? They are simply pig's brain!"

"The censors have already impeached this matter. My sister sent someone to pass on the message. I realized that you were doing something wrong... You should stop quickly, otherwise even my sister will not be able to help you!"

"Brother, tell the truth, you didn't tell your sister, right? Otherwise, how could anyone go and inform the Empress Dowager?"

Zhang Yanling was a little angry and immediately accused her brother.

Zhang Heling sneered: "Why, I know I'm afraid? If you don't know others, you don't do it unless you do it yourself. Now my sister asks about the affairs of the court every day, especially the military situation. Do you think my sister is as pampered as usual and does not ask about foreign affairs? If something goes wrong in the capital, my sister will take responsibility..."

"You should return the embezzled goods quickly. Do some private goods transactions and you will not be evil for your Majesty. But what you do now is lawless. Even if your Majesty is not here, you will soon know your crime!"

Zhang Yanling's face was unstable and she felt extremely ashamed and angry.

Zhang Heling continued: "If someone in the capital does a private goods transaction, you can send someone to arrest him, but you must not abuse his power... I have submitted a memorial to the court, saying that in order to maintain the city's public order, the Beijing camp had to take action against some illegal vendors. As long as it was clear that there was no crime, all the goods would be returned! I have handled everything for you. If you are still obsessed with it, you will bear what happened!"

"Brother..."

Zhang Yanling wanted to say something, but Zhang Heling reached out to stop him and didn't want to hear any explanation from this younger brother.

Zhang Heling stared at Zhang Yanling: "You can go back. I have ordered the officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp not to get involved in local affairs, especially those that are related to people's livelihood... If you want to do something wrong, those soldiers will not obey. Don't make things difficult for your brother!"

Zhang Yanling said annoyedly: "Brother, you are stupid. You don't make money. I think how rich our Zhang family was back then? Now? The money has been returned to the national treasury. Do you think I am for myself? Not for this family..."

Zhang Yanling shouted, but found that his brother had no intention of listening to him, so he could only get up and leave in anger.

Zhang Heling looked at the familiar back that disappeared behind the door and said annoyedly: "This brother, I didn't settle the score with him, but he put on airs first! Humph, the Zhang family will be destroyed sooner or later!"

...

...

Xuanfu, the story of Zhang Yanling, the Marquis of Jianchang in the capital, making money by taking charge of the capital camp, reached Zhang Yuan's ears.

Zhang Yuan was originally from Zhang's relatives, but as his power increased, his hatred for Zhang's relatives increased day by day, because the Zhang brothers made him become eunuchs and lost the pleasure of enjoying normal life. He had always complained about the arrogant and domineering Zhang's family. He dared not speak out before, but now he is in charge of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank, so he wanted to make good use of it.

However, the most concerned thing among the Xuanfu is the Tatars invasion at the Great Wall. There are many Tatars and horses, and the passes are in a hurry. After Zhang Yuan roughly added up the number of Tatars reported from various places, he concluded that there were about 30,000 Tatars in the Xuanfu area alone.

In fact, before the main force of the Tatars arrived, the tribes who actually invaded the territory might be less than 5,000, but because the defenders from all over the country were timid, they reported as many Tatars who invaded the territory as possible. Zhang Yuan did not understand which ones were calculated by superimposing them, and just summarized them simply and got a terrible number.

May 29th night.

The night was dark, and Zhang Yuan wondered whether he would go to report the military information to Zhu Hou.

At this moment, the memorial of the censor in the capital impeachment of Zhang Yanling as a crime was reported. Zhang Yuan wanted to report it together, so he asked the adviser Zang Xian for details, but he didn't expect Zang Xian to be optimistic about this.

"...Father-in-law, even if you don't report to Your Majesty, Your Majesty will never send troops tomorrow. Why do you have to do this too much? Didn't you go to the palace in the afternoon?"

Zang Xian meant that Zhang Yuanyin would not endure it and did not bother Zhu Houzhao as much as possible, even if he knew that the unreliable emperor was eating, drinking and having fun now.

Zhang Yuan said: "But now the military situation has finally become clear. The main Tatar forces have gathered in Xuanfu. If our family doesn't go to the Secretariat, when will we go?"

Zang Xian hesitated a little: "Daddy, please see, is it possible that the actual number of Tatar soldiers and horses on the border are not large, but the number of reports from the local government is deliberately exaggerating? As villains know, the main force of Tatar should not appear in Xuanfu now..."

"How did you know?" Zhang Yuan frowned.

Zang Xian smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty is in Xuanfu, and there are more than 200,000 Ming officers and soldiers gathered locally. In addition, the total strength of the local inspection department is more than 300,000. No matter how brave the Tatars are, they cannot choose Xuanfu as a breakthrough. Whether it is Datong, or the side gate, or everywhere, they are targeted by the Tatars, and the possibility of breaking through the gate is even greater."

Zhang Yuan said angrily: "Our family is asking you for specific countermeasures, not listening to you sing the opposite tune... Our family will naturally consider which one is the most likely, and you don't need to say it!"

Because what Zang Xian said was very dissatisfied, Zhang Yuan spoke very sternly, just like scolding his son, which made Zang Xian very dissatisfied.

Zhang Yuan's personality charm is almost gone, he is simply a moody and incompetent villain with no level, and he has no courage to do big things.

Zang Xian lowered his head and said, "Since my father-in-law asked, the villain said truthfully... My father-in-law wanted Your Majesty not to send troops, so he would try his best to report the military situation around Xuanfu to his Majesty, take a few places as an example, and say that the war situation was as dangerous as it was, and let people from all over the country go to Xuanfu to serve the king!"

Zhang Yuan frowned: "There are many memorials. Our family cannot call out the most urgent part. What are your best solutions?"

Zang Xian heard that Zhang Yuan did not want to talk about the memorials because Zhang Yuan read less and had certain problems with his interpretation of the memorials. He hoped that he could convince Zhu Houzhao by just speaking, rather than relying on evidence.

Zang Xian hesitated for a moment and said, "Then what Your Majesty is most worried about, my father-in-law will say! My father-in-law can be said to have bad news from Lord Shen. Now Xuanfu is very dangerous. However, if His Majesty notices, the consequences will be unimaginable..."

"Well, this is true. Our family can say that Shen Zhihou's advance was setback and was retreating into the pass. The morale of the Tartars was greatly boosted. He had already targeted the Xuanfu and wanted to force His Majesty to surrender. Even if Shen Zhihou escaped back to the pass in the future, our family was not afraid, because his chances of winning were minimal. He wanted to pacify the grassland with more than 10,000 people. After returning, he would definitely be in a mess, and His Majesty here had already repelled the Tartars' attack in the Xuanfu!" Zhang Yuan said.

Zang Xian thought to himself: "If there are such ministers who deceive the superiors and conceal the subordinates, it would be strange if the Ming Dynasty can get better!" But he said: "If my father-in-law wants to submit a memorial to impeach the two uncles, he must think clearly. At this moment, Your Majesty is concerned about the stability of the capital and will not punish the two uncles, which will lead to his own stance. If the war is victorious, Your Majesty will not punish his own uncle, so..."

Zhang Yuan frowned: "Our family really cannot impeach Jianchang Hou's illegal acts?"

"This... depends on your own choice."

Zang Xian tried his best to separate the relationship so as not to be held accountable by Zhang Yuan later, and analyzed, "As long as your Majesty focuses on the battle in Xuanfu, will your father-in-law's goal be achieved? As for what the two uncles do in the capital, it will not affect the interests of his father-in-law... His father-in-law can send someone back to persuade him and let them restrain themselves, saying that if there is another time, he will hand over the memorial to His Majesty as a jingle!"

Zhang Yuan nodded with satisfaction: "That's what it should be! Otherwise, they wouldn't learn a lesson and I don't know who is in charge of the imperial court now!"

...

...

May thirty, night.

Zhu Houzhao did not focus all his energy on eating, drinking and having fun as usual.

Zhu Houzhao rarely cared about military affairs. According to the previous reports from Zhang Yuan, Lifei, Xiao Taozi and others, he roughly marked the situation around Xuanfu on the military map... This map was given to him by Chen Xi when the army left the capital, and the northwest terrain was clearly marked.

Xiao Tiaozi stood beside him and saw Zhu Houzhao staring at the map with deep eyes, as if he was devoted to the current war.

As for whether the emperor was on a whim or was preparing for a long exam, Xiao Tiaozi didn't know, but one thing he knew was that Zhu Houzhao was unintentional to send troops to the sun, and the preparations were not completed until now, and the people in the army were disbanded.

After a long time, Zhu Houzhao asked, "Xiao Tuozi, do you think I should lead troops to Zhangjiakou Fort tomorrow? If I pass by Xuanfu, it is not far away. I heard that there are already tens of thousands of Tartars attacking the city there!"

Xiao Guozi didn't want to bear any responsibility, so how could he dare to interfere in decision-making? He immediately knelt down: "Your Majesty, I don't understand these things, so I can't give suggestions... Otherwise, Your Majesty, King Xuan and Hu, two masters, entered the palace to discuss?"

Zhu Houzhao sighed: "Since I was splitting up with Mr. Chen at Juyongguan, I felt a mess in my head. Why did everything happen when I arrived at Xuanfu? "

Xiao Zhuozi thought to himself: "No? After you arrived at Xuanfu, you rush to the palace to enjoy the joy. For you, you just want to have fun in another place. You will not implement any plan of sending troops that you had formulated before. Until now, you have not even found out the date of sending troops in Shangshu Chen and said you would win a battle. That is really strange. It is also because Shangshu Chen has foresight and has not joined forces with His Majesty, otherwise his reputation would be ruined!"

Zhu Houzhao didn't know that even the eunuch who trusted him was resistant to him.

Without getting the answer you want, Zhu Houzhao sighed: "But that's good. I haven't sent troops, which means I won't make mistakes. As long as I can resist the Tartars outside the pass in Xuanfu, I can still make a name for myself!"

Xiao Zhuozi reminded: "Your Majesty, you are the most prominent being in the world, what do you need for those false names?"

Zhu Houzhao said: "Why, the Lord of the Nine Five doesn't need a good reputation? There are so many emperors in history, including wise and foolish monarchs, but more of them are unknown. I don't want history books to comment on me and say that I am a foolish monarch who is not doing his job properly, and I want to justify myself!"

Xiao Zhuozi stopped talking, and some things were all in the words. Obviously, he didn't think that Zhu Houzhao was a wise lord, but he just was so flattering to him.

Zhu Houzhao didn't want to get an answer from a young age, so she continued to stare at the military map in front of her. After looking at it for a while, she suddenly remembered something: "Where are the troops of Mr. Shen now? Is it true that Mr. Chen deliberately hid it as Zhang Yuan said, and then suddenly came out after the war started, catching the Tatars off guard?"

As he spoke, Zhu Houping looked at Xiao Tiaozi. Xiao Tiaozi lowered his head and did not dare to answer because he had no idea about Chen Xi's specific methods of using troops.

Zhu Houzhao said dissatisfiedly: "I am asking you."

Xiao Zhuozi replied: "Your Majesty, how can I know these? I am afraid that only the generals in the army can answer them. Why would Your Majesty send someone to the Governor's Office to ask?"

Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "I don't know after asking any questions. I don't know what the use of keeping you by my side. Let's pour a cup of tea!"

At this point, Zhu Houzhao found that Xiao Tiaozi had the greatest function, so he helped him serve tea and water. In fact, this was Xiao Tiaozi's responsibility. As a close eunuch, he just needed to serve the emperor well. He did not have the qualifications to manage the government. However, Zhu Houzhao usually stayed in a leopard room or a palace, and needed someone to take care of him, so he would ask Xiao Tiaozi. If others were to think that he was not the same as him.

Zhu Houzhao took the teacup from Xiaotie's hand, drank tea and looked at the map, and suddenly a flash of inspiration flashed in her mind, and she asked anxiously: "What is the plan for sending troops set by Mr. Chen before?"

Xiao Guozi was stunned, then shook his head again. Even if he remembered something, he would pretend not to know at this moment.

Zhu Houzhao turned around and asked in surprise: "Don't you remember?"

Xiao Guozi shook his head: "Where is the right to ask about these things? Your Majesty, why not read the previous memorials of Shangshu Chen?"

Zhu Houzhao frowned: "Then do you remember that Hu Lian and Hu Qing's family had submitted a memorial before, mentioning the specific time when Mr. Shen sent troops?"

Xiao Tiaozi swallowed: "Your Majesty, this is just one-sided remark from Lord Hu. Your Majesty, you have taught me a lesson and told me not to say it casually, I dare not..."

"Say!" Zhu Houzhao scolded.

Xiao Guozi then lowered his head and replied, "May 11th."

"eleven?"

Zhu Houzhao turned around, looked carefully at the surrounding Datong Town on the map, and murmured: "If Mr. Chen had sent troops for twenty days, which road he would most likely take? Go north, enter the grassland, and then walk west in the hinterland of Chahar. If according to the established plan, I should send troops to the west from Xuanfu... How far can I go in twenty days?"

Xiao Twist shaking his head to show that he didn't know.

Zhu Houzhao said: "Mr. Chen is likely to be on his way to Hetao. Now the Tartars began to disturb my border guards, meaning that the Tartars would probably want to stop us from going to rescue Mr. Chen and then annihilate Mr. Chen's troops in one fell swoop?"

Xiao Tiaozi's eyes widened, and he didn't dare to guess anything casually.
Chapter completed!