Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 95 The Rebel Old Story ([-])
The victory of the rebels on the borders of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces shocked the court.Emperor Jiajing was so furious that he urgently ordered all the ways to join forces, and ordered the admiral Zhang Nie, the assistant minister of Guangdong and Guangxi, and the chief soldier Ping Jiangbo Chen Gui to mobilize the army.In February of the 41st year of Jiajing, Zhang Niezuo asked for the secondment of 30 "wolf soldiers" from Guangxi to join the official troops in Guangdong, Fujian, and Jiangxi, mobilizing a total of [-] troops.

In June, Liu Xian and Yu Dayou, the famous anti-Japanese generals, were ordered to lead the officers and soldiers to encircle and suppress the "Flying Dragon Kingdom" rebels in six ways.In July, Hu Zongxian also took control of Jiangxi. When he learned that the Feilong Army had almost devoted all its troops to the battle, and that the base camp of Baisongguan was empty, he ordered Yu Dayou to attack urgently.

Yu Dayou quite agreed with this decision, saying: "It's better to use the submerged master to destroy its nest, and if you attack it, you will save it. Why do you use tens of thousands of people to follow the waves?" (see "Ming History Biography Yu Dayou").So Yu Dayou personally led the main force of 5000 people to attack quickly, and climbed to the highest peak of Baisongguan to observe the terrain. He saw that the rebel barracks were surrounded by mountains for several miles.

Yu Dayou was able to stand side by side with Qi Jiguang and enjoy the praise of "Yu Long Qi Hu". Naturally, he was not easy. He commanded the army to strangle all the intersections down the mountain, set fire to the mountain, and the fire raged instantly. Hundreds of barracks were burned. Engulfed, the Yellow House in Zhucheng was also reduced to ashes.Then he swung his army up the mountain again, killing the remaining rebel officers and soldiers and even the family members of the thieves.

Zhang Lian had to report that his lair was lost, so he hurried back to the teacher to rescue him, but Yu Dayou had expected it, so he was defeated by Yu Dayou's ambush on the way back.Afterwards, Feng Gaomo, the deputy envoy of the procuratorate, adopted the tactics of attacking the heart, and sent officers and troops to various rebel camps to shake the hearts of the troops by shouting, shooting leaflets, and issuing sympathy votes (surrender certificates).After all, Ming orthodoxy was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so this method was quite effective. Several mid-level officers (Jiang Manqing, Li Fengshi, Guo Yujing) quietly rebelled, and Yu Dayou ordered them to return to the camp to serve as insiders.Within a few days, Yu Dayou tried to lure Zhang Lian to fight, and the rebels suffered heavy losses again. More than 200 main forces of Zhang Lian's army were beheaded on the spot.

In the 42nd year of Jiajing, Luo Pao once again led the rebels to attack Yongding County from Jianzhu pass (on the pass). A fiasco.

Lin Chaoxi saw that the main force of the two routes had been defeated and more than half of the strength of his headquarters had been lost, so he asked Huang Jishan, the leader of another rebel army in Heyuan, to counterattack together, and the official army killed Huang Jishan. wipe out.

So far, Zhang Lian's three rebels were all defeated under the powerful offensive of the Ming Dynasty army.

It stands to reason that since Zhang Lian was destroyed, his story should have ended here. However, what Liu Chen said next made Gao Wushi realize that things seemed really tricky.

The key trouble lies in whether Zhang Lian himself was killed or escaped.

I don't know if it's Liu Ting who is less prepared for people, or Gao Yushi really seems to be "harmless to humans and animals", but he didn't even think about it, so he told Gao Yushi that if he had to go to bed When the outline is online, it can even involve the big event of "crime of deceiving the emperor".

With a worried look on his face, Liu Ting said, "That day all Zhang Lian's troops were destroyed. My father and Mr. Yu both wanted to compete for victory in capturing Lian. , Only a group of Zhang Lian's personal soldiers were captured, but Yu Gong claimed that Jiang Manqing, the rebel general Jiang Manqing he had recruited in advance, captured Zhang Lian, and then Yu Gong "throwed him to the market"... But there seems to be some Concealment."

Gao Yushi also frowned, and asked, "What's the secret?"

Liu Ting sighed, and said: "I heard that after Jiang Manqing captured Zhang Lian, he intended to take credit for himself, but Li Fengshi, another rebel general of the rebel army, notified Yu Gong of Zhang Lian's capture, and Yu Gong sent troops to Jiang Manqing's cottage. Robbed Zhang Lian. At the same time, there was a fight between the rebel soldiers and the Guangdong soldiers..."

Gao Pragmatic put his hand on his forehead, looking like "what a fucking dog".

Liu Ting said again: "The problem here is that if you can capture Zhang Lian, according to the rewards at that time, you can reward ten thousand gold and seal ten thousand households. After Jiang Manqing captured Zhang Lian, why didn't he immediately sacrifice it to the officers and soldiers and stay in the village, which caused a lot of trouble. Looting and even fighting between our armies? Judging from the situation at the time, all the officials and armies reported victories in order to claim credit and receive rewards. Mr. Gao, countless people died in the war, and besides, neither the late emperor nor the ministers of the court had seen Zhang Lian. It is not impossible to arrest and kill a person who looks similar to Zhang Lian, and then report it. Therefore, my father has always believed that this incident may be largely a false report of military exploits."

Gao Wushi frowned, and asked: "Don't talk about that first, Brother Zishou, let me ask you, what did your father say about the victory? What did Yu Gong say about the victory?"

Liu Ting was a little embarrassed, but said honestly: "My father only said that Zhang Lian's own soldiers were captured and killed hundreds of times. According to their statement, Zhang Lian died in the rebellion, and the head of the body is nowhere to be found; Duke Yu’s victory has already been mentioned, and he was captured by countermeasures, and then he was killed by Duke Yu’s order.”

Gao Wushi frowned and said, "For such an important prisoner, Mr. Yu did not offer prisoners to the imperial court, but he was punished in the capital? Mr. Yu has been a general for many years, how could he make such a mistake?"

Liu Ting spread his hands and said: "The problem is that because of the robbing of Zhang Lian, there was a fight among the officers and soldiers, and there was even internal strife. Therefore, Yu Gong explained that he must be killed immediately, otherwise it may cause more trouble. accepted the statement."

Oh, this is indeed a reason, but the question is... Was the Zhang Lian captured by Jiang Manqing at that time the real Zhang Lian?
Gao Yushi has always been a conspiracy theorist, he thinks this matter may not be simple.For example, if Jiang Manqing, the rebel general, was a double agent, he pretended to surrender to the officers and soldiers, but in fact he was just a cover for Zhang Lian, claiming that he had captured Zhang Lian, but in fact he was fooling the officers and soldiers with a fake, and None of the officers and soldiers had seen Zhang Lian's appearance, so they probably believed it.Coupled with the fact that there was internal strife among the officers and soldiers, in order to calm the situation, Yu Dayou didn't bother to carefully check whether this Zhang Lian was that Zhang Lian, and killed him first, then the truth of this matter will disappear forever in history.

In this way, Liu Xian's report was "Zhang Lian died in the rebellion", and Yu Dayou's report was "Zhang Lian has been executed", but no matter who they said was right or wrong, Jiajing was already in poor health at the time. It doesn't matter to the emperor—since the traitor is dead on both sides, what does it matter where and by whom?What he wants is to wipe out the rebels, what he wants is that Zhang Lian is dead!
However, Liu Ting, as Liu Xian's eldest son, had obviously heard what Liu Xian said about the battle, so he knew that Zhang Lian might not have died at all!
Gao Wushi blinked and looked at Liu Ting: "Could it be that you suspect that Cao Gan is Zhang Lian?"

"That's not true. Although I don't know the exact appearance of Zhang Lian, the officers and soldiers knew about his appearance at that time. For example, he should have triangular eyes, but this Cao Gan has a pair of leopard eyes. eye." Liu Ting said, "The reason why I feel wrong when he mentions Zhang Lian is because of Cao Gan's accent!"

"Accent?" Gao Wushi recalled slightly.

Liu Ting was impatient, and immediately said: "Master Gao, you know, my father was originally from Nanchang, and I can also speak Jiangxi dialect. Although Cao Gan speaks a northern dialect, there is always a hint of Jiangxi flavor. It might be someone else I can’t tell, but I happen to be from Nanchang.”

(End of this chapter)