Twenty-one Chapter Three months of filial piety have not yet been completed

There was a huge golden palace, with hundreds of civil and military officials and the emperor sitting high, but there was silence.

A pair of eyes had different expressions, either surprised or surprised, and they all moved slowly along with the four Han generals, the palace guards, who came in through the palace gate.

The four big Han generals were cheering, carrying a shelf with a weapon placed horizontally on it.

After the Han general put the weapons rack in the palace, Emperor Chongzhen, who was sitting on the dragon chair, looked at the eight-sided iron awl on the rack that was more than ten feet long, had a thick mouth, and the tip was as thick as the cup. The corners of his eyes couldn't help but twitch.

This iron awl is dark and inconspicuous, and the surface of the awl handle is uneven with a bowl-like mouth. You can tell at a glance that it is a crudely made thing. But the thick layer of dark red dirt on the head of the eight-sided pyramid carries a strong evil aura, which makes people shudder.

For a moment, the sound of breathing cold air could be heard in the hall.

Emperor Chongzhen exhaled secretly and suppressed the emotion on his face. He slowly put down the memorial in his hand, covered it with both hands, and pressed it hard.

Then he spoke: "Every minister knows what is stated in the memorial of Governor Ji Liao. The good news must not have been false."

When Emperor Chongzhen came to the throne, he was also very ambitious. He took Taizu and Chengzu as his ambitions to make the world peaceful, with rivers and seas flowing smoothly. However, after he ascended the throne, he realized that the country was in dire straits.

There were so many civil and military officials in the dynasty that he could hardly truly believe in any of them.

They are full of lies, and good news is often fabricated.

Only then did he realize that the emperor's reputation as a loner was not reserved.

Because during the previous court meeting, there was sudden news of success in Liaodong, but he did not believe it. Especially after reading the detailed description in the memorial memorial of Hong Chengchou's victory, it felt as if he was reading a novel in a short book, so ridiculous.

What a far-reaching figure as the overlord of Chu, who single-handedly killed the Tatar high-ranking officials. As a result, the Ming army won a great victory, beheading 20,000 people and capturing more than 10,000 people.

This is obviously a joke!

What a deception!

Hong Chengchou did not make any embellishments in the memorial. Everything he said was straightforward, and everything that happened since Zhao Yu emerged was presented exactly as it was.

Hong Chengchou also knew that this fact was somewhat incredible. But he has evidence.

Therefore, when the good news was sent back, Hong Chengchou sent someone to go ahead and bring ten carts of heads and the iron cone.

Moreover, the person who reported the news was Li Fuming, the commander-in-chief of Tashan, and other generals who had witnessed Zhao Yu's ferocious power.

He himself was cleaning up the mess after the war and waiting for orders from the court.

Right now, Li Fuming was standing in the row of generals.

The previous good news was presented by Li Fuming himself. In the Jinluan Palace, Emperor Chongzhen was the first to see the good news. Even Li Fuming had never seen it - after all, it was a memorial to the emperor from the governor.

When Emperor Chongzhen asked his personal eunuch Wang Chengen to read out the victory report in front of the civil and military officials of the court, what followed was a flood of condemnation.

Those officials and generals first targeted Li Fuming, saying that he was falsely delivering good news and deceiving the emperor. They wanted to capture him and behead him in public.

Li Fuming was mentally prepared early in the morning.

He took his time and made a brief argument before showing the evidence.

So a Han general brought in the iron awl that had been placed outside the palace.

The iron cone is full of evil energy, and the people who look at it feel a little chilly. But it was still not enough to make the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty believe in such nonsense.

Or say: It's a lie. It's just an iron cone, no matter how heavy it is, it's not impossible to make it look like this just by holding the head of the cone and throwing it to death.

Li Fuming still had a faint smile and never had any stage fright.

All he knew was that this was the truth. And after this was implemented, he had credit.

So he went out and bowed: "Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

Emperor Chongzhen flicked his sleeves and said, "Speak."

Li Fuming then turned around and took a few steps to the weapon rack in the palace. He stretched out his hand and pointed three feet away from the awl handle and said, "Your Majesty and all the gentlemen have never seen it closely. Look here!"

There was Wen Wu who was standing close by, and his eyes were fixed on his side. When he took a closer look, he showed a look of surprise.

The emperor nodded to Wang Chengen beside him. Wang Chengen then walked down the steps and came closer. Following Li Fuming's fingers, he saw a clear palm print three feet away from the handle of the awl!

It was clearly a big hand that once held this place. It had peerless power and was able to make a mark on this gold and iron object!

Wang Chengen took another step forward and took a closer look. He could clearly see that the palm prints and even the palm lines on them were lifelike. This is clearly not man-made!

He couldn't help but stretched out his hand, closed the palm print but pinched it, then quickly returned to the emperor and said loudly: "Your Majesty, there is a lifelike palm print on the awl handle. From what I can see, it is not artificial."

"Palm prints?!"

Emperor Chongzhen asked in surprise: "Could it be made by the strong man with his bare hands?"

Then his eyes fell on Li Fuming.

Li Fuming quickly bowed and said: "Your Majesty, this iron cone was built overnight by the general. At that time, Governor Hong sent troops to Songshan to confront Jinzhou. The general was stationed behind Tashan to ensure that the grain road was unobstructed. It was night , the slave chief Huang Taiji sent eight thousand Azig elite cavalry around Songshan to attack Tashan, in order to cut off our army's retreat. At the end of the day, Tashan only had three thousand soldiers and horses. The whole city was full of food and grass, but most of the offensive and defensive equipment were taken away by the supervisor. , the general is ready to live or die with the city."

The righteousness is awe-inspiring.

"The last general sent his men to stay overnight to investigate the movements of the Tatars. At the pass of the Lianshan Mountain outside Tashan Mountain, he met Zhao Zhuangshi one night. Zhao Zhuangshi ambushed the pass at night with one sword. If you don't accept the Tao, you will be rewarded by the general's merits, so that Ye Bu will take back Tashan and report the news, asking the general to send troops immediately."

Li Fuming had an expression of disbelief on his face: "I don't believe it, I don't believe it. I have few soldiers and they are not elite, and I don't have enough offensive and defensive equipment. In order to protect the city from losing food and grass, how can I dare to go out of the city to fight in the field?"

When the emperor heard this, all the civil and military officials in the court nodded in agreement.

I heard Li Fuming say: "But not long after, for about a stick of incense, there was no report at night. He only said that Zhao Zhuangshi killed Azig in formation and killed Aziger's 8000 troops in a wolf rush. collapse."

Everyone looked incredible.

"The general will always be suspicious." Li Fuming said: "So he sent a team of soldiers to check. But it turned out to be true!"

"Is that why you led the army out of the city?" the emperor couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Li Fuming said: "If you say that you didn't accept what you said last night, you still have doubts, but the general's soldiers are all old brothers for many years, and they will never deceive the general."

The emperor nodded slightly.

"When the last general led his army to the Lianshan Pass," Li Fuming exclaimed: "Half of Azig's eight thousand elite cavalry had been killed by Zhao Zhuangshi. Many of them knelt down and surrendered, and very few escaped."

Hong Chengchou also described the battle of Zhao Yu's formation to kill Azige and defeat the eight thousand army, but it was not detailed. Now hearing Li Fuming come one by one, the emperor couldn't help but marvel, his face turned red, and he clapped his hands repeatedly.

Then Li Fuming said that he invited Zhao Yu to Tashan, communicated with Hong Chengchou, and sent Tashan craftsmen to melt such a large iron cone for Zhao Yu overnight.

"This iron awl is in the hands of the last general. Whether there are palm prints on it, the last general knows very well." Li Fuming said: "Zhao Zhuangshi defeated Azige that day, arrived at Songshan the next day, and Governor Hong sent out troops that night. This iron awl It’s just one day and one night in the hands of Zhuangshi Zhao.”

After everyone listened, they were all silent.

After a long time, Emperor Chongzhen sighed: "What a warrior!"

He looked at the iron cone: "This cone is covered with Tatar blood, and the life of the slave chief is really a magic weapon!"

Then he couldn't wait to ask: "Where is Zhao Zhuangshi now? Did he come to the capital with you?"

Hearing this, Li Fuming couldn't help but look regretful, and after bowing, he said: "Your Majesty, I must have not made it clear in the memorial to the commander. Zhao Zhuangshi has no intention of joining the army. He is from Ningyuan Daxingbao, where the last general is from. We are close neighbors in Dafu Castle. At the end of the night, the general had a detailed conversation with Zhao Zhuangshi. I found out that he came out of the mountain just for revenge. "

After a pause, he continued: "After the Tatars were defeated that night, the supervisor interrogated the prisoners and learned that Zhao Zhuangshi rushed to the slave chief and other senior generals and killed six or seven senior Tatars, including Duduo and other slaves. They all beheaded them, captured the slave chief Huang Taiji alive, and then disappeared with the slave chief."

"In the middle of the next day, the general found this iron cone at the gate of Tashan City."

"When General Zhao returned to his mansion, the heads of Azige and another general, who were confirmed to be Hauge, the eldest son of slave chief Huang Taiji, who had been given to General Zhao by Zhuangshi Zhao, had disappeared."

Seeing that the emperor also showed regret, Li Fuming couldn't help but said: "General Yimo guessed that Zhao Zhuangshi took the head, took the slave chief, and went back to his hometown to pay homage to his parents."

...

Although Emperor Chongzhen regretted it, he did not give up.

Although Li Fuming said that Zhao Yu had no intention of pursuing an official career in the military, Chongzhen did not believe it. Who is not a master of civil and military skills and a member of the imperial family?

Such a talent, with his own strength, actually defeated the Tatar clan's troops and horses. It is like a heavenly soldier and a heavenly general. It is a blessing from God!

When the Ming Dynasty was experiencing internal and external troubles, such a person suddenly appeared and helped the imperial army determine the victory. Isn't this God's will?

Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but think that if he found this god-given warrior, even the Tatars were no match for him, so why bother with the mere thieves?

Therefore, he hurriedly conveyed the order to Liaodong, ordering Hong Chengchou to find Zhao Yu.

...

Outside the mountain village, Lao Panxia, ​​I don’t know when a small thatched hut was built.

Zhao Yu sat cross-legged in the thatched hut, wearing hemp and mourning, and looked at the altar quietly, occasionally looking over the altar at the decaying village.

On the altar, there were more than ten human heads, all shriveled up. The skin and flesh on the faces were all dry, like dry tree bark, clinging to the bones. The eyeballs were maggot-infested and sunken.

It looks extremely ferocious and terrifying.

The smell of corpses was so full that if the hut wasn't upwind, Zhao Yu would probably be unbearable.

Five or six days have passed.

Qiu Laohu recalled that the weather had been extremely hot these days. Even though the dozen or so heads had been pickled, they could not stand the weather.

On that day, Zhao Yu beheaded Huang Taiji in front of the altar, sacrificed his parents and relatives, and settled down temporarily here.

He wanted to observe mourning for his parents for three months, and then return to the mountain to accompany his master.