Chapter 59 Military Order

The sound of galloping horse hooves can be heard far in the night.

Pengze County is not a big city, so it is certainly not a city that never sleeps. It is very quiet at night.

Wu Zhankui and Wei Meng, who were drinking, were both stunned. They put down their chopsticks and listened attentively.

The sound of horse hooves was vague at first, then became louder and became clearer, and finally the sound of the rider reining in the horse was even heard.

The rider halted his horse outside the gate.

Wu Zhankui and Wei Meng both felt a sudden change in their hearts, knowing what this meant.

It is rare to see horses galloping late at night. If they were sent directly to the county government, they could continue eating and drinking without worrying about anything else. However, it was obvious that the man on horseback was coming for them, and then the faces of the two of them became uncertain. .

As an important role in this banquet, Wei Guangde has always kept a low profile. At this moment, he is thinking about how to speak. He tells his family elders that he does not plan to continue the next few exams and directly prepares for the government exam in two months. He is keen. He noticed the subtle changes in the faces of his father and uncle.

He also heard the sound of horse hooves, but he didn't think much about it.

But combined with the sound of horse hooves that seemed to have stopped outside the house, and the changes in the faces of his father and uncle, he knew that there must be something going on.

Sure enough, with the sound of the iron ring on the door slapping, someone knocked on the door.

After a while, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the house, and a servant came into the house and walked to Wu Zhankui's side, whispering a few words.

The banquet that was lively just now gradually cooled down, and everyone in the room turned their attention to Wu Zhankui.

After the man finished speaking, Wu Zhankui stood up and smiled at the others, "You continue to eat and drink. I have some things to take care of first."

After speaking, he winked at Wei Meng, and the two hurriedly left the table and walked out the door.

No one in the room was deaf. They had naturally heard the sound of horse hooves before, but no one paid attention to it. But at this time, they couldn't help it.

After Wu Zhankui and Wei Meng left the table, everyone naturally had no intention of continuing to eat and drink. Although his aunt kept warming up the place, calling everyone to eat, and said a lot of auspicious words, Wei Guangde would definitely be on the gold list this time. But everyone's thoughts were not here, and naturally the warm atmosphere was gone.

After a while, neither father nor uncle came back. When my aunt saw this scene, she knew there was no need to hold on, so she asked people to start cleaning up, and everyone got up and walked out.

The door to the left wing outside the main room was open, and everyone walked in. Wu Zhankui and Mr. Wei were sitting inside with sad faces. There was a piece of paper and a mailbox placed on the desk between them.

"Dad, what happened?"

Wu Dong stood in front and asked.

"See for yourself."

With that said, Wu Zhankui handed the paper on the desk to Wu Dong. Wei Wencai and Wei Guangde also stood beside Wu Dong, staring at the words on the paper with their eyes open.

Mother and aunt didn't know a few words, so they naturally didn't rush to read it. They were still waiting for Wu Dong to tell them what happened after reading it.

After reading the content on the paper, Wu Dong was frightened. It was a military order, and it was stamped with the seal of the Jiujiang Guard Commander. It could not be faked.

"Dad, what should we do?"

"What else can we do? Open the city gate at dawn tomorrow, and you and Wencai will ride back to gather the team and bring everyone over."

Wu Zhankui replied.

"Where are you going this time? Is the messenger sent by grandpa?"

Wu Dong asked again.

"I can't tell clearly. I just know that there seems to be fighting again in the north. This time the military order from above was not clear. It only told us to gather the troops and prepare to set off."

At this time, Wei Guangde was also confused. He racked his brains and couldn't remember when the Jiajing Dynasty transferred troops from the south to fight the Tatars in the north.

I really have no impression at all.

"What are you writing about?"

My aunt felt something was wrong now, fearing that something big was going to happen, so she hurriedly spoke to Wei Wencai.

"This, this is the military order to assemble the team to prepare for the expedition."

Wei Wencai hesitated slightly, but still said what was written in the military order.

"Are you still going north?"

My aunt screamed.

After being on tenterhooks for a year, I thought this matter was over, especially after the imperial court and the Tatars began to trade with each other, and I thought there would be peace in the north, but why did the war start again?

Wu Zhankui shook his head before replying: "I heard from Shigui last time that the Tatars invaded Datong again in the first month. Your Majesty asked General Qiu Luan to lead reinforcements. I am afraid that if a fight really breaks out, the palace is worried that the Tatars will appear again two years ago. The situation in the capital requires us to gather our troops and prepare for the expedition. "

When my aunt heard that Jiujiang Wei might really go to the north, she was really frightened. If the Tatars really came to attack, she didn't know what the outcome would be.

But of course she, a woman, was not allowed to make irresponsible remarks on such a big matter, so she could only stand aside and be at a loss.

"Same as last time, I guess we should go to Yingtian Mansion first and meet up with the Nanjing Jingying people."

Wu Zhankui looked at the panic of his daughters and spoke, hoping to stabilize them.

"This has already been mutually traded, so why are we still fighting?"

Wei Wu also spoke at this moment.

Although they are from a house of women, the families of officials naturally know a lot more than ordinary people outside.

Last time the Tatars besieged the capital, wasn't it because of mutual trade?

Since the emperor has agreed to mutual trading, and mutual trading also started last year, why do we still need to fight?

Wei Wu couldn't figure this out.

Wei Guangde didn't read the military order, but asked his uncle: "Uncle, the trade has been opened, why did the Tartars attack Datong? This is not right."

Wei Guangde was puzzled. He knew about the trade. It was said that the Tartars withdrew from the capital because they had privately negotiated to reopen the horse market and trade with the Tartars.

Outsiders didn't know, but he knew it, and he also knew that the horse market was opened last year, otherwise it is possible that all the troops of Jiujiang Guards have gone to the northern border towns.

"The horse market was reopened twice last year and at the beginning of the year. The Tartars used the trade to plunder the border forts twice."

Perhaps afraid that others didn't understand, Wu Zhankui continued: "I heard from Shigui before that the trade was carried out, and the horses were taken back by the Tartars, and several border villages were broken by the way."

There was not much meaningful content in the military order, just to gather the troops of Qianhu and be ready to set off to Zhenjiang at any time.

But this is enough. There is no written order for them to go to the north. It is estimated that the previous news scared my uncle and father.

As the saying goes, "a general is not subject to the orders of the king when he is away from home." My uncle and father naturally don't want to go to the north. Not to mention that they are foreign troops, it is mainly too dangerous.

Fortunately, the military order only requires them to gather in Zhenjiang. Even if the Tartars come to the capital again, they can drag on the road and go slowly.

"Dad, uncle, the military order only requires the gathering of troops to Zhenjiang to meet with the Nanjing Beijing Camp, but it does not allow them to go directly to the north."

Wei Guangde spoke after reading the things in his hand.