Chapter 283: Take advantage of the situation

After defeating the battle, Xiao Fan was in a low mood.

The 400,000 army was defeated by a gust of wind, which sounded like a joke, but this damn joke was not funny at all.

The army withdrew to Zhending Mansion, and the generals gathered the remnants and cleaned up the number of people. The results reported made Xiao Fan very frustrated.

In the battle of Baigou River, 400,000 people were defeated on the front line. They were hacked and killed by Yan's army in the chaos, and they were trampled and killed by others in a desperate situation. They were scattered and disappeared among the chaos, jumped into the river and drowned. There were even several people with particularly fragile psychological endurance and pessimistic personality. When they saw that the situation was not good, they simply drew their swords and wiped their necks...

In short, the same way of death is different. There are several ways of death that are very creative. Ancient people may have lived a bit awkwardly, but they all died very wisely.

Among the 400,000 people who returned to Zhending Mansion alive, only a small number of casualties of 80,000 or 90,000 were killed on the battlefield, and most of the soldiers left the large army and disappeared while fleeing.

The consequences of this defeat were very serious. Xiao Fan did not dare to hide such a big incident. According to fact, the general's report was written in the memorial book and reported it to the capital for eight hundred miles.

It is conceivable that the capital was shocked.

From the founding of Emperor Hongwu Zhu Yuanzhang to the present, in the thirty-two years, the Ming army has rarely failed in terms of suppressing rebellion or fighting against the Tartars, not to mention the losses of 80,000 to 90,000 people. This is a complete defeat, although the reason for the defeat has nothing to do with the commander and the soldiers, it is just a strong wind.

Yang Jing, Bao Zhao and other Qingliu party began to make trouble in the court, and they demanded that Zhu Yunwen issue an order to replace the commander, and to punish Xiao Fan's crime, it was not enough to fly into the palace like a snowflake. Qingliu people knelt on the ground in front of the Meridian Gate and petitioned, crying in tears, sighing that the emperor knew the unknown and misused the inferior general. The record of the army's invincible victory in Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty has become the dust of history, and it will never come back. Xiao Fan, the first person who broke this record, was extremely evil, and his crime should be punished...

The victory and defeat of the military directly affected politics. The Qingliu finally grasped Xiao Fan's handle and became increasingly reluctant to relax. This time, the traitors didn't know what to say to defend Xiao Fan, and they all shrank their necks and looked down and did not dare to speak.

Zhu Yunwen showed a rare calmness. After reading Xiao Fan's truthful report, he immediately determined that this was not a crime of war, but was entirely due to weather, and the responsibility for defeat should not be added to Xiao Fan or others. So when facing the court's criticism and questioning, Zhu Yunwen kept the memorials and ignored them. The ministers who knelt on the Meridian Gate and cried and asked for the replacement of Xiao Fan's command to issue an order to them. Victory and defeat are common in military affairs. If you are not satisfied with Xiao Fan as the commander, you can go up and try it yourself?

At this time, an unexpected minister stood up and said a few words to Xiao Fan. He said that since ancient times, famous generals have never failed a war. It is normal for a young commander to suffer a loss once. What's more, this is a natural disaster, not a man-made disaster. If heaven does not make good, why should the commander be punished? The saints are still kind and forgiven to those evil people who commit crimes. You are all well-read people. Is this the reason why you vent your anger on an innocent colleague like this?

The person who said these words to Xiao Fan was Fang Xiaoru, a great scholar who was appointed as a lecturer by Zhu Yunwen this year.

A very righteous old man.

In a simple wine shop in a folk alley on Zhuque Street, the capital.

Ji Gang was wearing a gray short shirt and stretched out his right hand, and Nie gently filled a cup of tea for the eunuch in front of him.

Due to martial arts practice, Ji Gang's right hand has very thick finger bones, and his skin is dark and rough, and his finger bones are covered with gray or black calluses. Now, this right hand is wearing three jade gold rings, big and small. If you ignore Ji Gang's identity and clothing, just look at his right hand, you will be a nouveau riche.

Ji Gang was poor, he was poor, and he was afraid of being poor, and he didn't want to be a poor person anymore. He didn't even want to think about the memories of his past poverty. He hated his memories, and it was a dark and unhappy day.

Because of this, Ji Gang cherishes his current identity very much. This is an opportunity he gains with his own strength. The poorer he is, the greater his ambition for wealth and the stronger his desire to pursue official positions and power.

Discipline needs power, greater power.

Power is waving to him.

Nie narrowed his eyes slightly, his eyes were turbid, but Ji Gang was a smart person. He knew that these seemingly turbid eyes actually had the ability to see people's hearts.

Slowly, Nie picked up the tea cup, and Nie took a sip of tea and put it down. Nie squinted his eyes and suddenly laughed and opened his face. When he opened his mouth, his voice was sharp and unpleasant.

"Once you succeed, you will be successful, Lord Ji's official career has been very prosperous recently. In the future, even the family will be dependent on Lord Ji's expression..."

Ji Gang piled up a smile, quickly took out a dark yellow paper from his arms, handed it forward, and smiled and said, "My father-in-law is so serious. I can have today. It depends on my father-in-law to work hard to cultivate. Even if I have a wealthy day, I dare not forget my roots. Look, my father-in-law has prepared some small gifts for you. The money has been entrusted to the young father-in-law of Shangshenjian to move you into the palace. Please accept it with a smile..."

Nie didn't even look at the gift list, but he just smiled and said, "Mr. Ji is enough. In the future, Lord Ji will become more prosperous. Don't forget that the contribution of the Za Family is that Mr. Xiao led the army to fight these days, and you have gained a bargain. The Za Family admires Lord Ji's methods so much that he is proud of him."

Ji Gangqiang smiled and said, "My father-in-law doesn't understand what the officials said. What does Mr. Xiao have to do with his senior officials when he goes to war? What cheap did the senior officials pick up?"

Nie stretched out the orchid and pointed Ji Gang, and smiled and said, "Are you still pretending to be a clever family? There is no tiger in the mountains, and monkeys dominate the king. You are very cunning. You took the opportunity to save the emperor's life. The emperor was valued by the emperor and transferred to the former leader of the imperial guards. In the past few days, you clamored in the court. You used the excuse of suppressing the ministers for Mr. Xiao, and called the Jinyiwei to arrest five or six censors who impeached Mr. Xiao, and suppressed the voice of the court asking for the punishment of Mr. Xiao..."

Ji Gang smiled and said, "The lower official once worshipped the subordinate of Mr. Xiao. Now the marquis has become the target of public criticism. It is also appropriate for the lower official to do something for the marquis..."

Nie Si smiled and said, "The emperor is very troubled by the impeachment of the ministers of the court. He is just in need of a powerful minister who is in a bad mood to suppress the ministers' arrogance. At this time, you just stood up and played a banner that exclaimed his anger for Mr. Xiao. The five or six censors were woven into a bunch of false charges, and they were caught and killed. This move is exactly the same as the emperor's will. The emperor appreciates you more and more. He thinks you are a good minister who is considerate and explains, but..."

"But what?"

"The emperor is young, with a pure heart and a ignorant world. But don't regard everyone in the world as blind. Lord Ji, tell the truth with his conscience. Are you really sharing the worries of Mr. Xiao? You arrested the ministers under the banner of Mr. Xiao. Where did you put Mr. Xiao in this move? Isn't this putting him on the fire? Lord Ji, you are not kind..."

Ji Gang's smile became a little gloomy: "Dadfather-in-law speaks out for Mr. Xiao?"

Nie's expression remained unchanged and said with a smile: "You are so proud of the Miscellaneous Family. Miscellaneous Family is just an old slave to serve the emperor. What is the matter between the Miscellaneous Family? Miscellaneous Family does not seek power and is not lustful. What they ask for is only yellow and white..."

Ji Gang lowered his eyelids and said quietly: "It's a coincidence that the lower officials do not seek wealth, but only seek power. For power, the lower officials can climb up on anyone's shoulders. I will also step on Mr. Xiao. I want to appreciate the scenery above millions of people."

Nie was shocked by the fierce light flashing in Ji Gang's eyes and was silent for a while. Nie gently knocked on the edge of the table, stood up, and walked slowly out the door without looking back, and threw a sentence lightly.

"You stepped on this very well and you were about to climb to the clouds. Last night, the monkey family heard the emperor muttering a few words in Wenhua Hall..."

Ji Gang was stunned, sat up straight unconsciously, and said in a trembling voice: "What did the emperor... say?"

"The emperor said... 'Ji Gang is useful, and may be the deputy commander of the Jinyiwei'. Lord Ji, congratulations, you are about to be promoted again."

The war failed, and the imperial army gathered its soldiers. After the Zhending Prefecture was assembled and built, the entire army retreated south and entered a strategic defensive.

This is impossible. The army that had just lost the battle was very low. Although the number of people was still more than Zhu Di's Yan army, this depressed and negative state could not fight at all. The Yan army won the more with fewer victory this time and fought a beautiful victory. Although the reason for the victory made them wonder, their morale is now high and exciting as a rainbow, one by one, and they are so excited.

As one goes up and down, it is not advisable to confront the Yan army head-on, otherwise what awaits him will inevitably be a second defeat.

Xiao Fan made a calm choice, and the entire army evacuated south, and divided more than 300,000 troops. Ping'an led 100,000 soldiers to station Shunde Prefecture, Sheng Yong led 100,000 to station Dongchang Prefecture, Qu Neng led 80,000 to station Qinzhou, Shanxi, and another 30,000 to Guo Ying of Daming Prefecture and Geng Bingwen of Zhangde Prefecture. In this way, hundreds of thousands of troops were stationed in several important towns outside Beiping. From the map, if these cities were connected into a line, it just formed a tight encirclement to Beiping Prefecture.

Xiao Fan himself led the remaining 80,000 soldiers to Jinan Prefecture, Shandong.

Failed without chaos, Xiao Fan is making his own efforts, striving to control the war in the north and not spread to the south, and to quell the rebellion at the lowest cost.

Fortunately, despite the defeat on the whole line, the reduction of soldiers was not too serious. Thanks to the opening of the martial arts lecture hall, a large number of middle and low-level generals learned the valuable experience of leading the veterans. When the team was defeated, they could still remain calm, desperately stopped and gathered their subordinates, and tried every means to save the defeat. These generals retained the seeds for the army and left Xiao Fan with rich capital that they could fight again.

After everything was arranged in an orderly manner, Xiao Fan stationed in Jinan Prefecture.

He was in a bad mood.

He was a time traveler, and his education was also modern education in his previous life. He probably knew what was going on in ancient times that the era of cold weapons was nothing more than face-to-face battles on the battlefield, the strength of the country, the wisdom of the commander, the bravery of the soldiers, etc. These are the main reasons for the success or failure of a war.

He never expected that the situation where everything was under control would lose to a strong wind.

The existence of the general flag occupies a great weight in the hearts of the soldiers. Xiao Fan probably understood that for them, the general flag was a weather vane on the battlefield and a signal to determine success or failure. In ancient times when information was underdeveloped, as long as the general flag was still standing in the central army, the soldiers' morale would not be in chaos, and even if the situation was bad, there would be a chance to win back.

But... can you not be so ignorant? The wind blows the flagpole just because it is related to the warning of heaven and the sign of great danger?

A person with modern education really cannot understand the ridiculous superstitious thoughts in the hearts of people in this era. The strong wind blows the flagpole and leads to the defeat of the entire army. If this is written into the history books, Xiao Fan will be sympathized and ridiculed by billions of people in later generations, and may be named the most tragic commander in history.

Since ancient times, there are many famous generals. Look at Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and Yue Fei, the battle is so glorious. The stars shine for thousands of years. When they mention them, they have to respectfully call them "national heroes". What about him, Xiao Fan? What do people in later generations say about him?

A tragic hero, a generation of declining god...

Since time traveling through time, he has been walking very smoothly, and he has never encountered such a heavy failure.

It is difficult for men to grow up without failure. Without failure, it is impossible to experience the joy of success. Frustration is the price of growth, but this time the price is a bit high. The casualties of tens of thousands of people are replaced by him alone. The voices of impeachment in the capital, including the news that Ji Gang took advantage of the situation, were spread to Xiao Fan's ears through various channels.

Without the time and energy to take into account, Xiao Fan has to do too much now. The most important thing is to improve the morale of the soldiers. How to improve them? They need a victory.

Of course, Xiao Fan needs a victory more urgently than the soldiers.

The feeling of failure is so uncomfortable. It is also a defeated battle. The Chu Bawang died so passionately and heroically, with a romantic smell in his bones.

Xiao Fan was secretly upset. When the army was defeated, why did he forget to draw out his sword and explain a few scenes like "Strength is driving the mountain and the energy is beyond the world..."? It gave him a bit of a tragic but positive glorious image.

Unfortunately, I was just escaping...

Jinan Prefectural Office.

Xiao Fan was holding a stern face and was having a meeting with all the generals.

The meeting has two major themes: one is to reflect on the past and the other is to imagine the future.

Now is the time to reflect on the themes of the past.

The capital received an imperial edict. Zhu Yunwen did not blame Xiao Fan for his defeat. Instead, he comforted and encouraged him. After such a big defeat, Zhu Yunwen punished him for a year without any pain. His official position and title remained unchanged. He was the commander who quelled the rebellion.

If you fail, you have to find the reason. Zhu Yunwen can't care about it, but Xiao Fan can't just let it go.

The generals were straight and stared at Xiao Fan with their eyes focused on him, but they were not very energetic. They had a defeat for no reason, and no one could get better.

After clearing his throat, Xiao Fan spoke.

"This time the Wang Shi defeated Yan Ni, and his blame is on me. It has nothing to do with everyone. You don't have to be under pressure..."

Sheng Yong stood up, clasped his fists and said sternly: "Sir, the reason for this defeat has nothing to do with you. Why should you take it on yourself? There is no problem with your deployment, it is just that no one can predict the natural disaster..."

The generals nodded and agreed. This was a conscience. No one could blame Xiao Fan, but only for the damn weather.

Xiao Fan said with some emotion: "I am the commander of the first army. No matter what the reason, if you lose, you will be defeated. I will bear all the blame. As long as you fight hard, you don't have to worry about other things. I am a very principled person. I will take the blame and I will die..."

"Cough cough cough..." Cao Yi, who was standing beside him, saw the opportunity quickly and quickly kicked Xiao Fan under the table.

Xiao Fan stopped talking, coughed twice, and said, "When you talk about serious business, you won't feel good about anyone. I have summarized the reasons for our failure these days. The reason is very profound and worthy of our warning..."

The generals looked at each other and were confused.

Everyone knows the reason for the failure. It’s just an inappropriate storm. Even gods can’t help but have such things. What can I summarize?

Slowly glanced at the generals, Xiao Fan said seriously: "There are three reasons for the failure..."

The generals leaned forward and listened carefully...

"First," Xiao Fan's face twitched a few times without notice, and said sadly: "...feudal superstition kills people!"

All the generals wiped their sweat: "…………”

"In the future, you can promote atheism more. The flag of the coach is just a piece of rag. It's not that someone smashes his sign in business and falls down. As for being so panicked? Hundreds of thousands of people are so ignorant, sad, and lamentable..."

The generals looked at each other silently and agreed with disloyal words: "It's reasonable, it's reasonable."

"Second," Xiao Fan looked around everyone and said with a deep expression: "...The environmental greening problem is very important. Tell the local government that to get rich, plant trees first and manage the wind and sand problem well. Those dog officials are busy getting promoted and making money, and the environmental problems are completely ignored by them. Isn't this a cheating father?"

The generals continued to wipe their sweat: "…………”

"Third," Xiao Fan paused, a string of sparks appeared in his eyes, his tone was filled with anger, and he said, "...Who made the flagpole of the handsome flag?"

All the generals were silent.

Cao Yi glanced around and swallowed his saliva and said carefully: "Made by craftsmen in the army."

Xiao Fan said viciously: "Find him out and beat him with fifty military sticks! Then hang him on the flagpole and expose him to the sun for three days. Within these three days, he will be a living human-shaped handsome flag!"

The generals were stunned...

Xiao Fan sighed heavily and said with grief: "...Send the order, and in the future, the flagpole of the handsome flag is changed to iron, and the typhoon will blow continuously. You are not allowed to cut corners!"

"yes!"

"...The meeting ended! Damn, I lost too badly!"

Xiao Fan brushed his sleeves and left angrily.
Chapter completed!