The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 88 Yulin Storm
Yulin Town, also known as Yansui Town, is one of the nine important border towns. It is located in the middle section of the Great Wall. It is an important border area and one of the areas where the Dashun and the Mongols fought most frequently.

Since the Great Wall defense system was unable to proactively and thoroughly resolve the Hetao Mongols problem, the Hetao Mongols had always threatened the northern Shaanxi region.

Yulin was a powerful town with the best soldiers and many talented generals, but its land was the poorest and it could only rely on the imperial court to allocate money and food. However, even in such a harsh living environment, the people of Yulin had no complaints until death, and repeatedly fought against the attacks of the Hetao Mongols, and even took the initiative to attack, defeating the Mongols of Ikh Ju League and invading the Hetao grasslands to "destroy the nests" and "drive away the horses" of the Mongols.

Although Yulin is isolated outside the Great Wall, its soldiers and horses are strong and strong, and it is as solid as a rock. Except for being captured by Li Zicheng in the late Ming Dynasty, Yulin has never been captured from outside.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. While the capital was preparing for the war, Yulin Town was a completely different scene.

Unlike other border towns, Yulin Town still maintains the customs of the former Ming Dynasty. There are no ordinary people in the city. It is filled with the families of officers and soldiers. Moreover, sons can inherit their father's career and serve in the army for generations.

As the sun sets, smoke rises from every house. Children running after each other can be seen everywhere, and women fetching water, picking vegetables, and shouting and scolding their children.

Compared with these lively, cheerful and energetic children, the soldiers and young men squatting against the wall and at the intersection looked listless and lifeless.

Even the soldiers on duty outside the general's mansion not far away had lost their former fighting spirit and stood there woodenly.

There was a sound of horse hooves, and a group of more than twenty riders galloped towards the gate of the general's mansion.

The soldiers and young men who were squatting there stood up. They recognized that the leader was the new deputy general of Yulin Town.

The soldiers on duty also recognized him and saluted woodenly to the deputy general of Yulin Town.

The deputy general of Yulin Town pulled the reins, first looked at the soldiers and young men not far away, then looked at the soldiers with wooden expressions in front of the door. In his heart, he greeted the Second Prince and the Jurchens' ancestors for eighteen generations.

That day, they received two letters asking for help from the vanguard camp, but the second prince was angry and refused to send troops immediately. He insisted on waiting for the third letter asking for help. What he got was the news that tens of thousands of Plain White Banner cavalry appeared on the battlefield.

The frightened Second Prince ordered the general to cancel the rescue plan and led his army to retreat to the Great Wall in one breath. After learning that the vanguard battalion was wiped out, he led his army back to Yulin Town.

Deserter! These two words deeply hurt the hearts of every Yulin person.

But the matter was far from over. In order to escape the blame, the Second Prince and his subordinates fabricated facts to protect themselves and put all the blame on the Duke of Shanguo Shi Guangzhu and the Vanguard Battalion.

In addition, in order to silence the generals in Yulin Town who knew the inside story, the second prince threatened with the emperor's holy name and the reputation of the royal family.

Not signing the military newspaper was the final insistence of the generals of Yulin Town.

This morning, the Jurchens sent the corpse of Duke Shanguo Shi Guangzhu and the big flag to the foot of the Great Wall with great fanfare.

The actions of the Jurchens were undoubtedly a slap in the face to them.

When Shi Guangzhu's body, covered with a tattered flag, was sent back to Yulin Town, all the soldiers who "escaped back" seemed to have been drained of their energy and spirit, and had lost their former fighting spirit.

He understood that if he could not have a fair fight with the Jurchens and vent the anger in his heart, these soldiers would become useless over time.

Thinking of this, he greeted the Second Prince again in his heart, dismounted from his horse, and strode towards the gate.

The setting sun in the sky suddenly turned blood red.

The light in the study had dimmed.

A personal soldier lit the lantern on the desk and retreated.

The general of Yulin Town sat at his desk with his eyes closed. The flickering candlelight made his angular face look moody.

The deputy general of Yulin Town hurried in. Seeing the general's expression, he was startled at first, then walked over and asked softly, "General, why did you call me here so urgently? What's the big deal?"

The general then opened his eyes, pulled out a piece of paper from the file and handed it over.

The deputy general took the paper with both hands, took a look at it, and looked at the general in surprise.

The general said: "Our second prince is really cruel and ruthless! Those scouts of the vanguard camp escaped the pursuit of the Jurchens and Mongols, but died inside the Great Wall." The deputy general said: "I can understand that he killed the scouts who survived the battlefield, but why did he send people disguised as our people to hunt down the Jurchen envoys? And he deliberately let one person go."

The general smiled faintly and said, "The second prince has a master behind him! He wants to spread the war to Yulin Town, kill people with borrowed knives, and destroy all evidence."

The deputy general was startled: "How dare he?!"

General: "This is not a matter of daring or not. Once the court knows the truth, even if the emperor favors the second prince, he will at least be imprisoned in the clan house for several years! When he is released from the clan house, the overall situation in the court will be determined, and there will be no place for him."

The deputy general gritted his teeth and said, "Imprisoning him for several years is too easy for him."

The general sighed, "All the people in the land are subjects of the emperor. He is the emperor's son, we must respect him and listen to him, even if it means killing us. But he shouldn't kill everyone, not even the elderly, the weak, women and children!"

The deputy general was excited: "Marshal, we can't just sit there and wait for death!"

“Of course we can’t just sit there and wait for death.”

The general's eyes flashed with a faint light, "Let me tell you, someone from the vanguard camp escaped!"

The deputy general was startled: "Who?"

The general did not respond to his words, and continued: "The scouts just sent a message that the second prince has left Jiazhou and headed straight for Yan'an Prefecture. He went to mobilize troops to cut off our retreat."

The deputy general took a deep breath, feeling very angry: "Marshal, what do you think we should do?"

"Defend Yulin, stop the Jurchens, and wait for reinforcements from the imperial court."

The general stood up and said, "If we want to defend Yulin, we must first kill all the people left by the second prince!"

The deputy general was shocked: "They are all officials appointed by the imperial court!"

The general replied coldly: "On the battlefield, swords and guns are blind. It doesn't matter if a few people die."

Lieutenant General: "."

The general's face became serious, and he said solemnly: "If we don't kill them, they will use their power to let the Jurchens in! Think about our families."

The deputy general knelt down and said, "I will obey the commander-in-chief in everything!"

General: "Okay! The Second Prince's men are now in Shenmu. You lead your troops there immediately, kill them all, and then take back the command of the garrisons at the various passes."

"Yes." The deputy general stood up and walked out the door, then stopped at the door. "The second prince must have changed the military report, which may cause the court not to send reinforcements. If that happens, we will be trapped here to death."

"I know." The general interrupted him, "That's why I asked you to take back the command of the garrisons at the various passes. With so many smoke signals going off at the same time, someone will ask the court for help on our behalf. In addition, I have sent people to sneak into Shanxi. As soon as the smoke signals go off at Gushan Fort on the Yellow River, they will immediately go to the capital to ask for help!"

After hearing this, the deputy general felt relieved: "Marshal, I'm leaving!" and strode out.

The general of Yulin Town turned back to his chair and sat down. As long as Xie Jing came to Beijing, and considering what happened here, even the emperor could not protect the second prince. He would be demoted to a commoner and sent to the clan house for eternal confinement.

Of course, before that, you have to find a way to survive.

The general shouted loudly: "Come here!"

A personal soldier came in in response.

General: "Call all the lieutenant generals and lieutenant commanders above the third rank to the lobby of the general's mansion and wait for me to come up to the tent to discuss matters!" After saying this, he walked out of the study.

(End of this chapter)