My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 966 Do your best and obey fate

In the tent, Zhang Fu took a piece of soft cloth and gently wiped the sword in his hand. This sword was the sword of his father Zhang Yu. After Zhang Yu died in the battle, the sword was passed to his hand.

When Zhang Fu was young, he carried this sword when he went south to conquer Jiaozhi. He also carried this sword and followed Zhu Di on several northern expeditions. Countless Mongolians died under this sword, and there was even gold. An important member of the family.

"Old man, you are still as sharp as before, but it's a pity that I'm old. I'm afraid I won't be able to kill enemies with you!"

Zhang Fu wiped the sword clean, with a sense of absolute desolation and sadness in his tone.

Ever since bidding farewell to Xue Shou last night, Zhang Fu was ready to die, and news came out this morning that Wala had launched an attack on Tumu Fort and surrounded the entire Tumu Fort. Now the hundreds of thousands of people in the fort People are already unable to fly.

Fortunately, Guo Mao, who was guarding Magukou, performed well. He relied on the dangerous terrain and his thousands of soldiers to block the Ora army. Until now, the Ora people have not been able to advance even half a step.

But Zhang Fu did not feel the slightest relief from this. Instead, he felt heavy because he knew that there was a huge problem in the army that needed to be solved, and that was drinking water.

Although there are several wells in the earthen fort, they are usually enough for the garrison here, but now that there are hundreds of thousands more people, these wells are just a drop in the bucket.

Just take the example of yesterday when they just arrived at Tumubao. At that time, the army was also short of water. After the army arrived at Tumubao, in order to solve the problem of drinking water, they sent people to the Guichuan River in the south to get water. This allowed the army to temporarily solve the problem of drinking water. question.

But the most important thing about the Tumu Fort that is now surrounded by the Oala army is to send troops to cut off the road between Tumu Fort and Guichuan River. As a result, the Ming army cannot get water from the river. They can only rely on a few wells in the fort. It won't last long.

"Sir, His Majesty has summoned you to discuss matters!"

At this moment, the steward walked in quickly to report.

Zhang Fu smiled bitterly when he heard this. Before, he wanted to see Zhu Qizhen and had to ask for permission again and again before he could be summoned. But now that the army was besieged, Zhu Qizhen finally remembered them civil and military officials and took the initiative to summon them. But this is the first time since the expedition.

But now it was too late. The Wala people had already surrounded them and cut off the water source of the army. In this situation, I am afraid that no one except the gods can save them, so Zhang Fu had already prepared to go. Preparation for death.

However, Zhang Fu finally stood up and walked out of the tent. After all, no matter what, he was a minister of the Ming Dynasty. When the king called him, he must go. This is the duty of a minister.

However, not long after Zhang Fu walked out of the tent, he saw Kuang Ye, Minister of War, coming towards him. When the other party saw him, he immediately stepped forward and saluted: "My lord, do you know everything?"

"I don't want to know about such a big thing. Now that the army is trapped, His Majesty finally thought of summoning us for discussion."

Zhang Fu replied with a wry smile, his tone involuntarily filled with complaints.

"Who says otherwise? Yesterday we tried our best to persuade His Majesty, hoping to get to Huailai County as soon as possible, but His Majesty didn't listen at all. General Xue took the 3,000 battalion and left overnight. He probably didn't want to stay here and wait to die."

Kuang Ye also said with a wry smile, obviously he was also very angry with Zhu Qizhen.

"How is the army now?" Zhang Fu was silent for a moment, and then asked Kuang Ye. Although he was ready to die, if there was a chance, he still hoped to let more people live. .

"It's very bad. The morale of the army is unstable to begin with. In addition, the news of the three thousand battalion leaving overnight yesterday has spread throughout the whole battalion. Now others want to follow suit. If they were not surrounded by the Oara people, I am afraid that the army would More than half escaped."

Kuang Ye shook his head repeatedly at the end. If he had known that Xue Shou was leaving last night, he might have followed him. After all, as Minister of the Ministry of War, he was very aware of the dangers of staying in Tumubao, but now he wanted to leave. I can't leave either.

"If the soldiers have no fighting spirit and will want to retreat, how can we fight this battle?"

Zhang Fu was silent for a moment after hearing this, and then he sighed.

"My lord, let's just complain, but the situation is critical now. Is there any way you can help us out?"

Kuang Ye was shocked when he heard Zhang Fu's sigh, and immediately asked eagerly. Although he is the Minister of the Ministry of War, he is still a civil servant. He has absolutely no way to deal with the current situation, so now he places his hope on the experienced people. On Zhang Fu.

"Do your best and obey fate!"

Unexpectedly, Zhang Fu just shook his head and said something that made Kuang Ye's face change drastically.

Neither of them spoke anymore until they came to Zhu Qizhen's residence, which was the guardhouse of Tumubao and temporarily became Zhu Qizhen's palace. When the two came here, they saw Prince Consort Jingyuan, Wang Zuo, the Minister of Household Affairs, Cao Nai, the cabinet scholar, and other ministers have already arrived and are waiting outside the door to be summoned.

In the past, Zhu Qizhen would make the ministers wait for a long time before summoning them, but this time Zhang Fu and the others were taken in by the eunuchs as soon as they arrived. Apparently Zhu Qizhen was also eager to listen to the opinions of the ministers.

In the main hall, Zhu Qizhen was walking around with his hands behind his back. Wang Zhen beside him was no longer as calm as before. When the two saw the ministers coming in, Zhu Qizhen immediately asked: "Everyone My dear, now that the Walas have surrounded Tumubao, what do you think we should do?"

Facing Zhu Qizhen's inquiry, all the civil and military officials who came in lowered their heads, but no one was willing to speak.

In fact, this is normal. The ministers have advised Zhu Qizhen countless times before, but he just refuses to listen. Now the army is surrounded by the Oara people, and its morale is extremely low. In addition, there is a lack of drinking water in the army. It can be said that The situation is extremely bad, and the ministers are not gods, so they are helpless in the face of this situation.

"Everyone, Your Majesty has a question for you, why are you silent?"

When Wang Zhen saw that the ministers did not answer, his face immediately darkened and he stepped forward to question.

Regarding Wang Zhen's arrogance and domineering, all the ministers were resentful, but they did not dare to show it. Kuang Ye stepped forward and replied: "Your Majesty, Magukou is in a dangerous position. The Wala people have attacked many times, but they were all defeated by General Guo. Fight back, but as long as Magukou is not lost, the Walas will not be able to fight in. "

Kuang Ye paused for a moment before he continued: "In contrast, the most important thing in the army now is the lack of drinking water. Although there are several wells in the fort, they are far from enough to consume the army. People can You can’t go without eating for three days, but you can’t go without drinking water for three days, so you must solve the drinking water problem as soon as possible!”

(End of this chapter)