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Liu Zhaoji's injuries hadn't healed yet, but after nearly a month of recuperation, it still didn't affect his actions.

He was very satisfied with his transfer to be the chief soldier of Ji Town. In order to show his kindness to Zhang Cheng in front of the Governor Hong Chengchou, he even hired the most luxurious restaurant in Ningyuan City.

The upper and lower floors of this restaurant are full of military lords in fine attire. Of course, Zhang Cheng and other generals, as well as their battalions' deputy, generals, and generals such as you, are all on the second floor. The floor is seated.

The owner of this restaurant learned that General Liu, the former general of Liaodong Army, was hosting a banquet for Uncle Yongning today, so naturally he worked very hard and personally served everyone upstairs.

You must know that although a restaurant like his located in a border area has a lot of dealings with local military officers at all levels, at most they are only the generals of the general army, and the governor of Liaodong is the best official.

Even Governor Ji Liao may not be able to come to his restaurant to have a few banquets, not to mention that today he is entertaining the super-rank Yongning Bo, so it is natural that he does not work hard.

Moreover, as local Liao people in Liaodong, many of them have children and relatives who served in the Liaodong Army. They have heard about the deeds of Zhang Cheng and Xuanfu Army for a long time.

If it wasn't for Zhang Cheng's efforts to turn the tide in this Songjin battle, especially when he led his army back to aid the important Xingta area in time, I am afraid that the Qing army's cavalry would already be walking outside Ningyuan City, and Jinzhou and Songshan would also be slaves. all.

It can be said that in the bitter cold land of Liaodong, "Yongning Bo" Zhang Cheng's reputation is no less than Zu Dashou, and completely surpasses the new Liaodong General Soldier Wu Sangui.

For this, Zu Dashou had expected it long ago, so he was not very surprised, and his health was deteriorating at the moment, too busy to take care of himself, so naturally he couldn't take care of these trivial matters.

After all, in Zu Dashou's view, no matter how high Zhang Cheng's reputation is, so what?

After all, he still wanted to leave Liaodong and lead his army back to Xuanfu Town, because that was his territory and his home, and the land of Liaodong was still dominated by the ancestors and the Wu family in the end.

Wu Sangui didn't know these truths, but maybe it was because he was still young, and for some reason he just couldn't understand Zhang Cheng's rising reputation, but although he didn't want it in every possible way, he still wanted to pretend nothing had happened in face.

Just when Zhang Cheng led his troops to leave the Xiaoling River, he went to see him off in person, showing a reluctant expression.

It is really "Life is like a play, it all depends on acting skills"!
…………

As the food and wine were delivered one after another, the banquet officially began.

Although Liu Zhaoji received some cold reception that he shouldn't have received because Hong Chengchou wanted to promote Wu Sangui in order to take the opportunity to rectify the military affairs of Liaodong.

However, Liu Zhaoji must have been the commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town before, and he was still a local high-ranking officer whom many generals and businessmen in the formation fawned on.

The situation in Liaodong Town and Xuanfu Town is basically the same, they are both real soil guards that are rare in Ming Dynasty, in fact, Liaodong Town is even worse than Xuanfu Town.

There are two places in Xuanfu Town, Baoan Prefecture and Yanqing Prefecture, which are not real soil guards managed by the Chief Secretary of Shandong Province, but Liaodong Town is the whole place, which is completely under the jurisdiction of the real soil guards. Chief envoy.

Therefore, in the vast land of Liaodong, the generals are the most important, and the military forces are the most important. Everything here is controlled by the military officers of the Liaodong capital.

Let me just ask, under such a management system, the entire Liaodong military households are serving the military system. It can be said that the generals and officers of the towns can completely decide their lives and deaths with one word.

The owner of this restaurant tried his best to curry favor with Liu Zhaoji. Of course, he didn't intend to take this opportunity to cling to Yongningbo Zhangcheng.

Seeing that he was very good at coming, Liu Zhaoji said before the banquet started that if he wanted to, he could open a restaurant like this in Ji Town in the future, and he would definitely join in the crowd.

In fact, this restaurant can be so prosperous in Ningyuan City, but it is peaceful, how can there be no forces behind it to stand for it?

But no matter which one is his backstage in Ningyuan City, these are not important anymore.

The important thing is that if he really went to Jizhen to open a branch, he could only choose Liu Zhaoji as his backstage, which was why Liu Zhaoji pulled him to go to Jizhen for development.

After the banquet started, Chen Jiugao gave full play to his communication skills. During the banquet, Chen Jiugao and Fu Yingchong cooperated tacitly and pushed the banquet to its climax.

As the saying goes, "People are refreshed on happy occasions"!
All the people at the banquet were rewarded by the imperial court, although compared with Zhang Cheng, the rewards they received were like a drop in the bucket, but they were all very self-aware, and no one had any other thoughts about it.

Zhang Cheng naturally became the center and focus of today's banquet. Fortunately, he has always been a good drinker, and his alcohol capacity is amazing, but even so, he only drank a large bowl with several general soldiers at the beginning.

Then, when the lieutenant generals, generals, guerrillas and other generals of the towns came to toast again, he would only take a sip of each of them, just to make a point.

After all, "a good man can't stand a crowd", Zhang Cheng, who has been tested by wine, doesn't understand this truth. If everyone cheers to him, he will be very drunk in a short time.

Therefore, although he always refused to come, he didn't drink every cup. However, Zhang Cheng praised every general who came to toast, but made everyone feel happy.

In Zhang Cheng's view, these people at today's banquet are all heroes who killed slaves for the country in Liaodong, and they should be respected as they should be.

What's more, now he is "Bo Yongning", the general of Zhenshuo who sits in the Xuanfu, but it is still hard to say what the future will be. Now, taking this good opportunity to form more good ties between Jizhen and the Liaodong Army, it must be boundless. Incorrect.

Especially for the personal generals of Chen Jiugao and Fu Yingchong in the Beijing camp, he seemed even more enthusiastic.

Upstairs, Zhang Cheng exchanged cups with several general soldiers, and Wang Pu, Chen Jiugao, and Fu Yingchong were great communicators, and the atmosphere was naturally warm and harmonious.

The same is true downstairs, the battalion leaders of Xuanfu Town have also become the objects of everyone's scrambling to make friends, and they have all received Zhang Cheng's instructions to make friends with as many generals as possible from the towns for future needs.

Although Zhang Cheng has become an earl, he does not have the stinky airs of those nobles in this era.

After all, before he traveled to this end of the world, he was also a person who had experience in society, so he naturally knew the ways of the world and the principle that the higher the position, the more respectful and corporal.

"Everyone, this uncle thinks that we will not be able to enjoy ourselves tonight. Liu Shuai's injury has not healed, and it is not appropriate to drink too much. Why don't you just keep it in mind and make an appointment in the future, and everyone come to my Xuanfu, how about it?" Zhang Cheng He extended an invitation to everyone present with the strength of wine.

Chen Jiugao became interested as soon as he heard it, and he said to everyone: "Xuan's mansion is definitely going, how can we not walk around Yongningbo's mansion to get closer?"

His words caused the crowd to burst into laughter, and then they heard him say: "But Xuan Mansion is a long way away after all, and since we are going to go, we have to make a good plan. According to what we say, if we are in the middle of the capital, the big guys will gather together first. Gather. What do you guys think?"

Fu Yingchong and Wang Pu naturally cheered loudly, one of them wanted to return to Beijing, and the other had to pass through the capital to return to Datong, how could they not support this proposal?
However, Li Fuming, the general soldier of Shanxi, has nothing to do. He only cares about one thing, that is, to go to Shanxi Town to take up his post this time, and to be with Zhang Cheng along the way, so as to enhance his friendship with him.

So he naturally had no objection to Chen Jiugao's proposal, but he just nodded and smiled, not as excited as Wang Pu.

However, Zuo Guangxian showed a look of embarrassment. Although he was appointed as the chief training officer of the Liaodong regiment this time, although he was appointed as the chief training officer of the Chinese Association Branch, he was indeed much more powerful in terms of authority.

But the resident was not in Jizhen, but transferred to Tashan in Liaodong. Therefore, Chen Jiugao had no chance to participate in the Beijing-China gathering proposed by Chen Jiugao, and he couldn't bear it.

In fact, when Zhang Cheng led the Xuanfu army and horses into Liaodong for the first time, Zuo Guangxian, Liu Zhaoji and others were just average, and did not take this young Xuanfu deputy commander seriously.

Even though Zhang Cheng had performed outstandingly in the Battle of King Qin before, in the eyes of these veterans, it was nothing more than his luck.

But after the battle of Songjin, their understanding of Zhang Cheng has also changed greatly, and they even have a little admiration for him.

First of all, the combat power of the Xuanfu army shocked them. It is not only the excellent equipment and sufficient guns, but the most important thing is the spirit of the Xuanfu army, the kind of bravery that dared to face the slaves head-on and never retreat. Qi.

Secondly, Zhang Cheng's personality also made them admire him a lot. He was not like some commanders-in-chief who were arrogant when they became stronger. Especially in war, they only cared about their own side and never cared about the safety of others.

Zhang Cheng is like a clear current among generals in the late Ming Dynasty. He not only has the brave style of Cao Cao, but also the spirit of never bullying his colleagues, and the loyalty of always taking care of his colleagues.

Especially when it comes to military discussions, Zhang Cheng is always able to look at the big picture and always take into account the overall situation, instead of caring about the gains and losses of everyone.

Just like him, Zuo Guangxian and Liu Zhaoji, they had nothing to do with Zhang Cheng before. Even when they were in Ningyuan, they were not very close to Zhang Cheng, and they couldn't be compared with Wu Sangui at all.

However, Zhang Cheng did not regard them as outsiders, and helped Zuo Guang design the Wudaoling defense line first, and even saved Liu Zhaoji's life before the battle, and helped him keep the grain on Bijia Mountain.

From their point of view, they naturally feel that Zhang Cheng is different from other generals, especially when they compare Wu Sangui with him, this situation is even more obvious.

As the nephew of Zu Dashou, the leader of Liaodong generals, Wu Sangui was naturally deeply influenced by his consciousness. Even in Wu Sangui's heart, he still had the ambition to serve the country, show off his ambitions, and become famous all over the world.

But most of the time, the first thing he has to consider is the self-interest of the ancestors and Wu families. Naturally, he will try his best to suppress and exclude the generals who are not from the ancestors and Wu families, but he will try his best to support the generals of his own family.

Just like Zuo Guangxian and Liu Zhaoji, they were the targets of exclusion from the Zu and Wu forces before.

At this time, facing Chen Jiugao's gracious invitation, Zuo Guangxian could only politely refuse in an extremely embarrassing manner. Faced with this situation, Zhang Cheng naturally spoke for Zuo Guangxian.

I only heard Zhang Cheng say: "You don't have to blame yourself, Commander Zuo. Now the slaves and thieves have not retreated, and the danger of Jinzhou has not been completely relieved. A general like Commander Zuo can't leave the flooded land lightly.

However, looking at the situation in Liaodong, it is inevitable that the slaves will be defeated. In this battle, not only my teacher suffered heavy casualties, but the slaves were also injured. Forgive them for not starting the war lightly anytime soon.

However, the rogue bandits in Yu Province are becoming more and more rampant. The supervisor Zhong Lun was ordered to suppress the thieves, and he was also defeated in Xiangcheng. A while ago, Ben Bo listened to the words of Wang Gonggong and Fang Gong, and the rogue bandits were driving south, and there was a tendency to attack Nanyang. .

And Nanyang is the land of Tang Dynasty feudal vassals. There are many royal relatives and nobles. It is also the main road connecting the capital to Huguang, Yun and Sichuan.

Merchants from the mountains, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang gathered in the city, with sufficient financial resources and grain, and the city was high and thick, so it cannot be broken in a short time.

Zuo Shuai, why regret it for a while! "

Zuo Guangxian naturally knew what Zhang Cheng said, and it was nothing more than sympathy for him. Even if the rogues in Yu Province were raging and difficult to deal with, but there were slaves and bandits in Liaodong who were always watching, how could they be recruited to help suppress the rogues in Henan Province?
But even though this is the truth, he can't make it clear. After all, "seeing through but not revealing" is the way to deal with things in life. He has been in the military for a long time, and he is no longer a brat. He still understands this truth of.

At that moment, Zuo Guangxian immediately said to Zhang Cheng: "Uncle Yongning is generous and righteous, and he is a model for my generals in Ming Dynasty. Guang Xian really admires Uncle Yongning, but it is a pity that we have not known each other for long, and the acquaintance is even shorter. I am really unwilling."

As he spoke, he stood up, held the wine bowl high in front of his chest, and said loudly: "Guang Xian was originally a member of the Xuan Mansion, he used to be a guard in Shenjing Castle, and he has some connections with Yongning Bo.

Today, Guang first has the courage to respect Uncle Yongning with a bowl of wine. In the future, whenever the uncle has an assignment, Guang Xian will never frown. "

Seeing him like this, Zhang Cheng naturally couldn't refuse him. Fortunately, he deliberately controlled it a bit today, and he was able to drink again, so he got up like him, holding the bowl in his hand, and said, "How can I refuse Zuo Shuai? ?”

As he spoke, he slightly moved forward the wine bowl in his hand, and said, "Do it!"

After drinking, after everyone sat down again, Liu Zhaoji, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, was also ordinary, and expressed to Zhang Cheng that although he had been transferred to the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, the governor Xingyuan only ordered the Xuan army to retreat in batches, but he didn't care about Jizhen's aid to the Liao Dynasty. There is no such command.

Zhang Cheng knew what it meant when he heard it, and he comforted him immediately: "Liu Shuai doesn't need to worry about this, my uncle returns to Beijing this time to thank you, and he still needs to live in Beijing for a while. If that time comes, Liu Shuai will also lead his teacher Go back to Ji Town, you can come to Beijing and get together."

The crowd feasted until it was dark and the moon hung in the sky, and then reluctantly dispersed one after another, and each went back to the place where they stayed to rest.