Chapter 62
The situation of the decisive battle between the bandits and the government troops has changed. The Zhang Xianzhong army, which was originally able to divide the government troops in the south and even complete the flank attack, has almost been destroyed. Even if some people have escaped with the army, they can no longer form a sufficient strike force during this period of time. The result of not losing Xiangyang City is that it can cover the flank of Governor Sun and provide security for his logistics line.
Bai Lang did not stay in Xiangyang for long. Soon, he followed the "elite" of the former Zuo Liangyu army reorganized by Governor Deng and headed north again, preparing to enter the battle line and fight Li Chuang. Governor Sun meant to complete the task of annihilating Li Chuang's main force near Kaifeng. "In this way, we can avoid cutting down trees with two axes, and the bandits and the Eastern Tartars will attack in turns, making the court lose sight of one thing while focusing on another..." This was something that any court official with a little bit of brains could see at the time, so this decisive battle was extremely important.
"If Governor Sun is defeated, the Ming Dynasty will probably be doomed - if we don't flee south, it seems there is no hope." Bai Lang knew this, because he still had some memories of the transition from Ming to Qing. He knew that it was Emperor Chongzhen who was hanged on a crooked tree, and he was considered a very strong and fiery emperor in history - "The emperor died for the country, which is also considered to be strong and righteous."
Bai Lang thought that the Han and Tang dynasties were the most familiar to him, and the next was probably the Ming dynasty - the Ming dynasty was a rare dynasty in ancient times, so Bai Lang still felt it was very good. So now he felt that working for the Ming dynasty was not against his conscience - although he was more willing to work for the Republic in his heart, but wasn't it a different era?
He had only lived in the ancient martial arts world for six or seven years, which was in no way likely to offset the imprint left on him by the twenty or thirty years of life education he had received before he crossed over.
When they were heading to the battlefield, the emperor's reward had already arrived. The words in the imperial edict were probably written by the emperor himself, and it was really full of excitement. The words written by the ministers who used the seal were also full of excitement - the great thief Zhang Xianzhong who disturbed the world was beheaded. Is there any better news than this this year? Now it seems that with such a fierce general, Li Chuang, the thief leader, will most likely die under Governor Sun. This thief rebellion that disturbed many provinces in the Ming Dynasty and lasted for nearly 20 years has seen the dawn of peace...
In fact, there had been several such dawns before, but they were basically destroyed by the emperor's "inappropriate orders"... Bai Lang was too lazy to care about the right and wrong of it. Anyway, he basically put the blame on Chongzhen, so that was his good thing.
Bai Lang did not listen to the long and rambling speech, even though the eunuch who was reading the imperial edict was almost crying with excitement... He only heard about his reward, "Bai Lang was promoted to Right Commander-in-Chief Pingxi General for his merits, awarded fifty taels of silver and gave birth to a son who became the hereditary commander of a thousand households of the Embroidered Uniform Guard." Bai Lang felt that he became a third-rank general entirely by chopping heads. It seems that simply chopping heads to a certain level is very promising.
Naturally, Zhang Xianzhong's body was taken away, and it was sent to the capital to be disposed of. Bai Lang was speechless holding two large silver ingots, "This is the so-called reward for chopping off the head of the big thief and defeating the entire army... As expected, my Ming Dynasty is poor. If it were the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, or even earlier, a thousand gold would be no problem."
But the clothes were given to him generously, with a tiger patch on the red official robe of the third rank, "What a beast in human clothing." Bai Lang put on the new official robe, and he did have the demeanor of a great general of the Ming Dynasty - but his face was a little young, but his tall figure made one say, "He is indeed a good man!"
At this time, Bai Lang was wearing the official robe of a third-rank military officer, sitting in a carriage, with cavalry guards on both sides, heading towards where Governor Sun was. There were not many people on this road, and Bai Lang brought only a hundred cavalrymen. The carriage was not very tall, just an ordinary two-horse carriage with a roof and a canopy, which was quite comfortable to sit in.
No incense or anything was needed, just a soft couch in the carriage, and then some wine and food. Bai Lang sat on it with his horse and sword, drinking and eating, and he had to be careful not to let the food and wine get on his beard. Yes, Bai Lang's body began to grow a beard. He originally looked like a strong man in his twenties, and now with a beard he looked even more powerful, like a real general who could destroy thousands of troops.
"This beard is so long... and it's a big beard. Can't I have five long strands of beard, or a beautiful beard?" Bai Lang was quite proud of his beard. This beard grows very fast. If it were modern times, you would have to shave it every day, and you can't use an electric razor, you have to use a manual razor. If you shave in the morning, basically by the evening, the roots will have grown blue and it will be very prickly.
Now Bai Lang's beard is about an inch long, but at this length, it basically doesn't grow so fast. He was eating and drinking leisurely in the carriage, and the cavalry outside was also guarding him in a relaxed manner - the one in the carriage was a figure like the White Tiger Star Lord, who would dare to touch the tiger's beard?
It has to be said that there are always people who touch the tiger's whiskers. "Kill the thieves!" With such shouts, six figures suddenly jumped out from the grass and tall trees outside the road, stepped on the tree trunks or grass, and rushed towards the carriage with the force. The cavalry reacted quickly, and quickly pulled out to block and kill these "assassins" - they must be assassins. As Qin Wujiu, the "traitor" of Huashan, said, there are martial artists from various sects joining the peasant army, and naturally there are such masters on the court side - but their martial arts have never been the kind of kung fu that is good at fighting formations. However, in a one-on-one fight, in close combat, these martial arts masters are very powerful.
Now it seems normal that these people came to assassinate Bai Lang, the right governor and general of Pingxi, who is now the pillar of the court. Maybe they were sent by the Tartars. You know, there are also scums in the martial arts world or martial arts sects originally from outside the Great Wall who joined the Qing army to serve.
The masters in the court are all in the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot, and of course there are a few in the Imperial Stables. In short, they are all guarding the imperial palace. Even if they are masters of the Imperial Guards who travel all over the world, it is unlikely that they will be sent to guard him as a general - not to mention that Bai Lang has the reputation of being braver than ten thousand men.
These assassins moved very quickly. They killed the cavalrymen in front of them with almost no effort. They easily knocked the cavalrymen off their horses with swords, knives, or other weapons, or even with their fists. The six masters took advantage of the force on the horseback and rushed towards the carriage from six directions at the same time. "Kill the thieves!" The voices came from both men and women, and they were full of energy. It seemed that each of them was a master with internal strength.
Bai Lang put down the wine glass beside his mouth, raised his eyes which were originally slightly closed, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth...