After the failure on June 12th, Zhu Houzhao returned to her previous behavior when she was in Xuanfu and stumbled with a group of women all day long.

He even moved out of the garrison yamen where he lived before and moved to a three-yard house in the south of Zhangjiakou Fort, which made it easier for the city to escape when it was broken.

Concubine Li used Jiang Bin's relationship to find a lot of food, drink and fun for Zhu Houzhao, and the women kept sending them to the house. In addition, Qian Ning and Zhang Yuan were also making up for Zhu Houzhao's nonsense, so that Zhu Houzhao regarded the house in Zhangjiakou Fort as a temporary place and never met military and political officials again.

Zhu Houzhao was afraid of being embarrassed.

Because of his stubbornness and persistence, the defeat on June 12th was caused. Although he claimed to win, the main people in this battle were very clear about the outcome of the war. Even Zhu Houzhao himself could not deny that the Ming Dynasty suffered a lot of losses.

With his face damaged, Zhu Houzhao could only hide in the house, waiting for all the people from the nine sides to gather in Xuanfu to launch the battle of revenge that had been brewing in his heart.

Because he was not confident in his ability, Zhu Houzhao also made a decision, which was to move the military office that was originally left in the capital to Zhangjiakou Fort in Xuanfu Town to work.

The two ministers of the Ministry of War, Wang Chang and Lu Wan, who were left in the capital, were all recruited to Xuanfu.

Zhu Houzhao's idea was very simple. Before, the emperor's personal command might only need him to be the commander, and add a few officials to assist him, and then he could win a refreshing victory.

But after experiencing the failure of Zhangjiakou Fort, Zhu Houzhao suddenly realized that he might not be able to coordinate the overall situation. Since Hu Lian, Wang Shouren, Zhang Yuan, Dai Yi and others failed to give him good advice and guidance in the military, he needed more capable people to take on the heavy responsibility.

Now that the Minister of War Shen Xi went to the grassland to fight, he naturally couldn't count on it, so he could just transfer two ministers of the Ministry of War to Xuanfu. Before, Zhu Houzhao wanted to call some of the generals from the Governor's Office of the Five Army, but when he thought about it carefully, these people were all noble and used to being generous. They just executed orders on weekdays, which was far less credible than civil servants who made strategic decisions.

As a result, Zhu Houzhao issued an edict to ask the Ministry of War to move the yamen to Zhangjiakou Fort, and also limited the time to allow Lu Wan and Wang Chang to arrive before June 20th. The trip time left for the two was only six days, which made the two old ministers very difficult.

As for Zhang Yuan, after the war, his career as a power official came to a very comfortable window. Zhu Houzhao ignored anything. Moreover, as the emperor concentrated the imperial military and political power to Zhangjiakou Fort, Zhang Yuan's power at hand increased greatly and he had more ways to make money. There were endless military generals visiting his mansion every day. Although only a very small number of people could see him in the end, even the middle and lower-level generals who could not meet would honestly send the money.

In mid-June alone, Zhang Yuan transported less than 100,000 taels of silver from Xuanfu and Zhangjiakou Fort to the capital.

After a long time of officialdom, Zhang Yuan began to learn to "invest". He learned from Liu Jin's trick and bought some money for Zhu Houzhao to eat, drink and have fun. Even the house where Zhu Houzhao lived was found by him. Although it was stealing by power and was useless, he still took some effort to find dozens of skilled craftsmen to serve Zhu Houzhao more comfortable every day. As for the prostitution business in the place, which had been banned by the garrison yamen, Zhang Yuan also set up a stall again. Women were sent to the emperor's house in the city.

Zhu Houzhao is now living the life of being a groom every day, and she completely forgets where she is.

...

...

June 20th, afternoon.

The dusty Lu Wan and Wang Chang finally arrived at Zhangjiakou Fort on a starry night.

The two rarely rode in carriages along the way, almost running wildly, and rested for no more than four hours a day. After arriving at Zhangjiakou Fort, they were exhausted, their faces were gray and extremely haggard.

The two ministers of the Ministry of War were not young young Ai, and they were able to achieve their current official positions. They had been tempered in the court for decades, and their old bones were about to fall apart on the road, but they could not stop after arriving at Zhangjiakou Fort and had to go to see the car without stopping. As a result, they were told by the guards that the emperor was not interested in meeting them.

Wang Chang and Lu Wan looked at each other, puzzled, and did not understand what the emperor was so anxious to ask them to come to Zhangjiakou Fort to do.

After they met Wang Shouren, they probably realized that it turned out that it was just because the emperor encountered setbacks in the war where he strongly advocated the attack, and needed to set up a wartime command center in Zhangjiakou Fort to participate in the military aircraft, but could not find a suitable person to take charge, so they brought the two ministers of the Ministry of War to make up for the numbers.

"...Boan, what's the situation outside Zhangjiakou now? Can the Tatars have made recent attacks?"

Lu Wan was very concerned about military information. He was a kind of practical man. When he arrived at the place, he knew the heavy responsibilities he shouldered and immediately entered the work state.

As for Wang Chang, he was leisurely and leaned against the back of the chair and closed his eyes and slept. The main reason was that he was too tired and found that he could not meet the saint. What Wang Chang wanted most was to go to rest instead of staying here to continue asking Wang Shouren about military information.

Wang Shouren said: "The two ministers may not know. Judging from the investigations these days, the number of Tatar soldiers and horses outside Zhangjiakou Fort, together with those scattered soldiers and raiders, is only 10,000... At the critical moment when our Ming Dynasty soldiers gathered in Zhangjiakou Fort, the Tatars must not dare to invade."

"puff……"

Wang Chang's eyes suddenly opened, and a mouthful of tea that he had not drunk was almost completely sprayed out.

"Ahem!"

Wang Chang was choked by tea and coughed for a long time. With Lu Wan's help, he finally calmed down his breath.

After sitting down again, Lu Wan asked, "What's going on? There are only 10,000 Tatars outside Zhangjiakou Fort? How did this number... be calculated? Didn't you report to Your Majesty?"

Wang Shouren was very helpless: "According to the strategy set by Shen Shangshu, the main battlefield of the war with the Tatars was in the Hetao area north of Yansui. His Majesty also understood the trick before. It was only because Shen Shangshu went to the frontier from Datong Town that the news was cut off. His Majesty was not sure whether Shen Shangshu's plan could be implemented smoothly, and he also believed that the Tatars turned their strategic focus to the front line of Xuanfu, which led to today's situation."

Wang Shouren has already made it clear here, but it was very incredible to Wang Chang and Lu Wan. Wang Chang asked with red eyes, "Your Majesty is in the army, how could he not know anything about it? Who can hinder the Holy Listen so that he can't report the truth until now?"

Wang Shouren, who was questioned, was somewhat unbearable. In fact, he met Zhu Houzhao a lot of times, and there was a chance to present the truth. However, after the initial efforts, he and Hu Lian gave up struggling, so that the emperor's eyes and ears and audio-visual are almost completely controlled by Zhang Yuan.

Seeing that Wang Shouren looked bad, Lu Wan immediately persuaded: "Hanying, don't make things difficult for Bo'an. What is the situation in Your Majesty? Who in the court does not know? It is not easy for Bo'an and the heavy weapons to maintain the current situation. However, with the number of Tatar soldiers, they dare to send troops to fight and can gain the upper hand... It is really unreasonable."

Wang Shouren said: "According to the previous idea, sending troops will help His Majesty understand the strategic layout of the Tatars. However, he heard that a prince died suddenly in the Tatar Khan tribe, which involved power disputes within the Khan tribe. Moreover, the current leader of the Tatar army is a prince, who is eager to make contributions... Alas!"

Lu Wan and Wang Chang were busy rushing to the road and had poor information. In addition, many of the contents revealed by Wang Shouren were "good news" and were not passed to the capital through official documents, so Lu Wan and Wang Chang were very surprised when they heard this.

Lu Wan asked: "The Tatar prince died suddenly? This is strange. It seems that we don't understand many situations. We need Bo An to explain it."

Wang Chang was already very tired, but after listening to Wang Shouren's words, he was completely sleepy and looked at Wang Shouren with anticipation like Lu Wan.

Wang Shouren roughly explained the causes and consequences of the previous battle. After hearing this, Lu Wan nodded repeatedly: "It seems that our army was at a disadvantage in this battle. Bo'an, let's talk about the sudden death of the Tatar prince. Perhaps it is a great benefit to the war with the Tatars in this future. In the future, we can turn the situation around."

Wang Shouren shook his head and smiled bitterly: "It's just some rumors, and it's not accurate. Now the news on the grassland has been completely blocked. Although there are not many Tatar soldiers, His Majesty is strictly ordering not to send troops. All cities and blocks are mainly for perseverance. Even though he knows that there are not many Tatars in the north, he can't drive away these things, and the land of Xuanda will never be peaceful!"

When he arrived here, Wang Chang no longer had the interest to listen and yawned again.

Lu Wan glanced at his old friend and stood up and said, "Since that's the case, I will tell Your Majesty again when I meet the Holy One... Bo'an, I came from the capital far away and was really sleepy, so I went to rest first, and then talk about everything after I recovered."

Wang Shouren quickly arranged a residence for the two of them and personally sent them to the inn.

Unexpectedly, before he walked out of the gate, he saw Ba carrying a large sedan chair over. When the sedan chair landed and the people inside came out, he realized that the person who was now popular Zhang Yuan was here.

"Aren't these two ministers of the Ministry of War?"

Zhang Yuan had a ridiculous look on his face, as if he was mocking Lu Wan and Wang Chang for being mediocre and incompetent, and becoming an official without any achievements, then Shi Shi walked over.

Even though Lu Wan and Wang Chang didn't like Zhang Yuan, they still had to bid farewell to the ceremonial supervisor who represented the emperor, and Wang Shouren was no exception.

Zhang Yuan waved his hand: "I'm fine. It was originally supposed to be the one who gave the three adults to the present... Your Majesty learned that the two ministers had arrived and brought some officials from the Ministry of War. He was very pleased. He sent a oral order to send some comfort items to our family... carry them in."

As Zhang Yuan finished speaking, more than a dozen guards carried a few large boxes into the door, but when they opened it, they found that there were simple daily necessities inside.

Zhang Yuan pointed to the box and said with a smile: "These are all your Majesty's longing. You two lords need to understand the affection."

Lu Wan first gave a thank you, and then asked, "Eunuch Zhang, I'm here to Xuan Mansion. I wonder if I can meet the saint one step earlier? There are many things that I need to report to Your Majesty in person."

The smile on Zhang Yuan's face increased instead of reducing. He flattered his mouth and said in a sarcastic tone: "Your Majesty is studying the situation of the war. There is no time to meet you. But you can go to the army these days. Now all the troops and horses inside and outside Zhangjiakou Fort are gathering, and the noise is getting worse and more... Your Majesty's meaning is that the war will start at the beginning of next month, and the central dispatch will rely on the two adults."

Zhang Yuan spoke with a gun and a stick, which was vaguely coerced and threatened.

Lu Wan had known Zhang Yuan's style in Xuanfu for a long time, and it was no exaggeration to describe it with one hand. He was mentally prepared to come here, so when Zhang Yuan made the point clear, he knew what he should do next, and saluted respectfully:

"Eunuch Zhang is courteous and it is our unshirkable responsibility to complete the tasks entrusted by Your Majesty. If there is anything wrong, please let Eunuch Zhang Haihang."

Wang Shouren and Wang Chang were not as smooth as Lu Wan, but just followed Lu Wan rudely and bowed. Lu Wan was determined to calm down. Among the three, he had the highest status, so it was natural for him to speak on behalf of the three.

"Just know."

Zhang Yuan could see the three people in front of him showing a distant attitude. In addition, in his opinion, the people promoted by Chen Xi were all "hard bones". They had never given him gifts. The possibility of gathering him under his command was not high. Moreover, the first thing Lu Wan and Wang Chang did after arriving in Zhangjiakou was to see Wang Shouren, which made Zhang Yuan's attitude towards the two ministers of the Ministry of War was very bad, and his brows frowned unconsciously.

Wang Chang belonged to the old fox, and he took a step forward when he saw this: "What are the instructions of Eunuch Zhang? He said it together, and we can prepare for it. We went out to the frontier to show our Ming style. Eunuch Zhang was in the middle to dispatch the hard work and contributions. We still have to learn more from you."

"What does Lord Wang mean?" Zhang Yuan asked in a sharp voice.

Wang Chang was about to make a joke, but Lu Wan winked at him.

Lu Wan bowed and bowed: "The previous victory was achieved by Your Majesty's army. Eunuch Zhang had great achievements in assisting you in front of Your Majesty. We rushed to Xuanfu after hearing the news. If there is any place in Meng Lang, please do not blame me and say goodbye."

After saying that, Lu Wan said goodbye to Zhang Yuan, obviously because he realized that the other party was not good. When he was just a newcomer, Lu Wan did not want to have a conflict with the eunuch in power, so he hoped to end this unnutritional dialogue as soon as possible.

There was anger on Zhang Yuan's face, but he did not get angry.

Wang Shouren has been silent. He has been in contact with Zhang Yuan for a long time, and the corners of his eyebrows are all avoidant... He does not have the qualifications of Lu Wan and Wang Chang, and is a young and backward. No matter what position he has in Xuanfu, there is no room for him to interrupt.

"Eunuch Zhang, I have the opportunity to visit you again and learn more from you."

Wang Chang still had a sly smile on his face. He thought that he had already had great experience with an old eunuch like Zhang Yuan. Whether it was Xiao Jing or Liu Jin earlier, he had contacted him. Zhang Yuan was not as capable as the two of them and had no deep qualifications, so he just treated Zhang Yuan as an ordinary Si Li Supervisor and did not show the respect he deserved.

Wang Chang's attitude made Lu Wan feel very dangerous.

Zhang Yuan hummed lightly: "Our family doesn't have the same knowledge as you. Our family is just coming to deliver messages on behalf of His Majesty. If you can handle military affairs properly, we will not bother our family, but our family will still be unable to ask for help. But if you come to ask for help from our family... then it depends on whether our family is in the mood to guide us! Let's go well, don't send me off!"

As he spoke, Zhang Yuan seemed to treat himself as the owner of Zhangjiakou Castle. The attitude he showed was that when you arrived at my territory, you had to obey your orders, because I had the final say in everything here.

Wang Shouren did not say anything. Lu Wan smiled and bowed farewell. Wang Chang also had a smile on his face. Wang Shouren sued him and sent the two away. As for Zhang Yuan, he stood there as a winner, aiming at the three people walking far away. He looked careless, but in fact he was upset that he could not control the few people in front of him.

Wang Shouren sent Wang Chang and Lu Wan into the inn. After arriving at the room, it was already a private occasion. Lu Wan whispered: "Boan, as you said before, there are people around Your Majesty who are hiding evil intentions. You must act carefully in your current situation."

Because Lu Wan and Wang Chang both had friends with Wang Shouren's father, what they said was like educating younger generations.

Wang Shouren nodded and said, "I naturally know how to deal with myself. When the two ministers arrived at Zhangjiakou Fort, they should be careful. Mr. Lu and Mr. Wang, said goodbye."

Wang Chang and Lu Wan did not try to keep them, nor did they go out to see each other off, watching Wang Shouren leave.

"Look at Bo'an, he was able to stand alone just after his thirties. Now he is the world of young people." Lu Wan suddenly sighed.

Wang Chang smiled and said, "Why, Brother Quanqing, do you think you are in your twilight years and want to leave things to young people and take a break from your busy schedule?"

The two looked at each other and smiled, but they saw a hint of worry in each other's eyes.

Lu Wan sighed: "I just don't know how thick it is now. Maybe he is still on the grassland, and there will be news in a few days."

Wang Chang did not take Lu Wan's words this time, and his face was full of embarrassment. Obviously, he didn't want to get too entangled with Shen Xi's problem.

...

...

Wang Shouren returned to the camp and found that Zhang Yuan had not left yet.

Zhang Yuan came uninvited and said he was coming to pass the imperial edict. However, according to Wang Shouren's feeling, this Eunuch Zhang may not have explained the news of the arrival of the two ministers of the Ministry of War to the emperor that the issuance of the imperial edict was just to find an excuse to come to the camp.

"Boan, why did you come back? Could it be that you have discussed major issues with the two ministers again?" Zhang Yuan sat on the chair, crossing his legs, speaking sharply and aggressively, which made people feel very uncomfortable.
To be continued...