Cutting 1719

Chapter 370 Nian Gengyao's Determination
In mid-November, the atmosphere in Fengxiang Mansion, Shaanxi Province became extremely dignified. Teams of Qing troops gathered like flowing water. The long teams could not see the end at all, and the covering flags seemed to be filled with wind and thunder. Sweeping across the entire land, almost no one knew how many people there were in this Qing army, nor did they know how long that line was.

Seeing the arrival of the Qing Army Brigade, the people of Fengxiang Mansion did not dare to go out at all. They only dared to look at everything outside through the cracks in the door of their homes, until a banner like a flame appeared in the middle of the team, with the words "big and small" written on it. The word "Nian" in the name made everyone understand that it turned out to be Nian Gengyao, the general of Fuyuan.

Everyone looked at the large pile of official plaques on the back of the flag, with the words "General Fuyuan" and "Shangshu of the Ministry of War" written on it. .

"The general has returned to Shaanxi?"

"It's good to come back now, the rebels in the east are too arrogant!"

"My lord, I'm afraid I'm going to kill the world this time. Look at all the soldiers, which one is not a murderer?"

The news of General Nian's entry into Fengxiang spread throughout the city in an instant, and the common people were startled and frightened. After all, the rebels of the White Lotus Sect are to the east. Now that Nian Gengyao brings the Northwest Army to Fengxiang, he must fight to the death. , But this is a great military disaster for the common people.

Since General Xi'an and all officials of Shaanxi Province died in Xi'an City, when Gengyao entered the government office, only Fengxiang prefect Wu Yuzhang led his officials to greet him, but the scene looked deserted and lonely.

"The next official, Wu Yuzhang, the prefect of Fengxiang, has seen the general, but he didn't know that the general's soldiers had arrived, and the next official couldn't meet him face to face, so I ask the general for forgiveness."

Wu Yuzhang was born in a righteous way, and worked hard step by step to climb to the seat of the prefect of Fengxiang. He was not impressed by Nian Gengyao's advancement, so these words were naturally without sincerity at all. I don't want to meet this murderous general.

Nian Gengyao was sitting in the sedan chair, and after hearing Wu Yuzhang's words, his heart immediately became angry, but when he stepped out of the sedan chair, his expression changed into a kind expression.

"It doesn't matter, Mr. Wu is able to stick to the land of Fengxiang until now. It's quite extraordinary. It doesn't matter whether you welcome him or not. After all, the official business of the court is more important."

"The general is sympathetic to the difficulties of the subordinates, and the subordinates are very grateful. The government office has prepared food and wine, and I invite the general to have a banquet together." Wu Yuzhang did not have any expression on his face, and began to lead the way.

Fengxiang Mansion is a place at the border of Shaanxi and Gansu. It has always been poor, so even the mansion has only been repaired briefly.However, the Northwest Army used to work hard, so everyone didn't care. After a polite meal, they all sat down together.

It's just that when the food and wine were served, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay. Only the people in Fengxiang Mansion smiled wryly and shook their heads, while Wu Yuzhang, the prefect of Fengxiang, was expressionless—it turned out that the food and wine served were not big fish or meat, and even looked a bit shabby. A pot of tofu, two plates of pickles and a pot of sweet potatoes, as for the wine, it was all muddy village wine, which made people not even interested in taking a look.

Nian Gengyao's face darkened, he no longer tolerated Wu Yuzhang at all, he sneered and said, "The army came to Fengxiang, could it be possible to entertain the soldiers with this?" After finishing speaking, he slammed the chopsticks on the table Slapping, frightened the officials of Fengxiang Mansion, and the other generals of the Northwest Army also put their hands on the handle of the knife with gloomy faces.

The entire mansion became so quiet that everyone didn't dare to breathe too loudly, for fear of incurring the wrath of thunder, but Wu Yuzhang, who was in the eye of the storm, picked up a piece of tofu slowly and put it in his mouth to chew. He even closed his eyes, as if he was savoring some supreme delicacy.

After a long time, Wu Yuzhang finally let out a long sigh, "General, it's really too slow for the officials to treat the general with this thing, but for the people in this city, this thing has become the supreme delicacy."

"Feng Xiang, there is no food left!"

Wu Yuzhang's words seemed to throw a stone on the calm lake, breaking the tacit sense of tranquility, and no one could pretend to be dead anymore, because Wu Yuzhang's words had revealed the most The painful truth is that staying in Fengxiang has become a dead end.

Nian Gengyao took a deep look at Wu Yuzhang, and then asked in a concentrated voice, "Where is the official food?"

"Fighting hard every year, fighting for a long time every year, now that there is no more input of food and grass, the food is naturally gone."

"Where is the official food?"

"Official rations have become empty, but only the heads of lower officials can be lent to the general to stabilize the morale of the army."

"Okay! Come here, drag it down and chop it up, and show it to the public!"

The tone of Nian Gengyao's voice hardly changed at all. He said this sentence extremely calmly, and then two guards took Wu Yuzhang, who was as stable as ever, down. After a while, Sheng You Wu Yuzhang's head was submitted for inspection.

A magistrate from the fourth rank, he killed as soon as he said so, and no one seemed to express any objection whether it was the murderer or the murdered, as if the murder had become a foregone conclusion.

That's right, this is indeed a foregone conclusion, because there is no food in the city, but the war is urgent, and Nian Gengyao can't control so much. Once the soldiers' resentment rises, I'm afraid they will never have any chance to explain anything. They will try every means to burn, kill and loot, and find ways to search for the last bit of food stored by the people, but by that time, the people may really have no way to survive.

Wu Yuzhang saw it very clearly. He used the head of a magistrate to tell everyone that there was no food, so don't think about it.

Nian Gengyao can understand his meaning, but the current situation has no room for maneuver for him, because he is now leading an exhausted army of less than 10,000, and the rebel army has engulfed 10,000+ people in Xi'an , although among the 2+ people, only [-] to [-] can fight, but he is the same.

If it was Nian Gengyao's own idea, he would rather stay in Gansu and recharge his energy, and wait until the army's morale and physical strength have been raised, and then wait for an opportunity to enter Shaanxi to fight the White Lotus Sect, but the problem is in Beijing. Yongzheng couldn't take it anymore.

Because the current situation is obvious, it is absolutely impossible for the White Lotus Sect to fight against Ning Chu in the south at the moment, so it can only develop to the north. For the White Lotus Sect, entering Shanxi from Shaanxi is a very tempting choice. Because it means that once Shanxi is conquered, they can go east to the city of the capital and take the lead in realizing the intention of the Northern Expedition.

But don't underestimate this intention, because once the capital can be won, it means that the White Lotus Sect will be the first to complete the great cause of the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains before Ning Chu. , In one fell swoop, the north was settled, and the north and the south were divided with Ningchu.

Everyone can see it, and Yongzheng can also see it. On the one hand, he wants to keep Shanxi as a barrier for the capital; No matter what, they were unwilling to let the White Lotus Sect go north like this. However, after the first battle in Xi'an, the only military power of the Qing court in the northwest was Nian Gengyao's Northwest Army.

Therefore, Yongzheng also ordered Nian Gengyao to keep the Dayi Army in the south of the Yellow River at all costs, and never let them cross the Yellow River.

What does it mean to do whatever it takes?That is, even if Nian Gengyao died, he could not enlarge the rebel army to cross the Yellow River.

Nian Gengyao got such a decree, which means that there is no way out, just like Sun Chuanting who was forced out of Tongguan back then, he had to fight if he could, and he had to fight if he couldn't.

After killing Wu Yuzhang, the banquet would naturally be unbearable, and Nian Gengyao didn't have the same thoughts. He went directly to the government office and asked people to post notices inside and outside the city. The crime deserves death, and the crimes are too numerous to write down." It doesn't matter whether it is true or not, because Nian Gengyao has no other good way.

After dealing with all this, Nian Gengyao began to write the papers he submitted to the emperor, but he didn't feel much about it, so he could only sigh and put down his pen for the time being. At this moment, the guards beside him He came in to report the good news that Hu Qiheng, the chief aide in his account, had arrived.

Hu Qiheng is not an ordinary person. He was just a small juren in the early years. Although he had to be awarded the Imperial Academy classics, he basically remained like this for the rest of his life. Later, he met Nian Gengyao and became his staff and counselor. The plan won Nian Gengyao's trust, and after taking care of Nian Gengyao in Gansu, he also went to Fengxiang Mansion.

The two reunited after a long absence, so Nian Gengyao asked someone to buy food and drinks in the army to help Hu Qiheng clean up the dust. After some politeness, he talked about Wu Yuzhang.

Hu Qiheng shook his head helplessly, "The general is in a dilemma now, and he didn't want someone to invite someone with his life. It's really hateful."

Nian Gengyao said angrily: "If it wasn't for the imperial court's urging, how could I have brought these [-] exhausted soldiers to Fengxiang to fight such an unknown battle? But if I don't fight again, I'm afraid the prison car escorting me is also on the way Already!"

These words vented Nian Gengyao's full of grievances, but Hu Qiheng was terrified when he heard that the gap between the general and the emperor had become so deep. The sin of the head is imminent!

"The general is careful! How can you say this? If it reaches the emperor's ears, how will the general deal with it?"

Nian Gengyao drank the wine in his glass, then wiped the liquid on his beard, and then said in a low voice: "Yuan Fang, don't you understand now? It's not someone who is forcing me to , the emperor is forcing me!"

Speaking of which, just a few months ago, Yongzheng was overjoyed by the success of the Qinghai War. Not only did he reward Yue Zhongqi, the chief minister, but he also did not forget Nian Gengyao, a great general. The military merits of Tibet and the pacification of the Guoluoke Rebellion have been successively awarded the third-class and second-class princes, and this time it was promoted to the first-class merit, and his father was named the first-class prince, and the Taifu This kind of honor is also unprecedented.

However, the prosperity declined. While Yongzheng rewarded Nian Gengyao, he also became more and more wary of him, because at this time, Nian Gengyao was not only in charge of military affairs, but also made remarks on the government. He even transferred the original Shaanxi governor to the Ministry of War. Nian Gengyao had to be consulted for important appointments of servants, how could this make the emperor feel at ease?

Of course, in this process, Yongzheng himself was also the mainstream, and he even asked generations to bear in mind Nian Gengyao's great achievements, "Not only do I rely on my family's rewards, but my descendants and all the subjects of the world should be grateful for it." If you have a little heart, you are not my descendants; if you have a dissent, you are not a subject of my court." This also made Nian Gengyao even more arrogant.

Hu Qiheng is good at controlling people's hearts. He understands that General Nian can't make a mistake at this time, but if he makes another mistake, the whole court might want General Nian to die.

"General! This battle must not be fought. Return to Gansu immediately."

Nian Gengyao is not a fool, he has roughly understood Hu Qiheng's thoughts through Hu Qiheng's expression, but this is not what Nian Gengyao really wants, his expression is a little unpredictable.

"After all, the emperor's kindness to me is as great as a mountain. How can I support myself in this crisis?"

Hu Qiheng shook his head. He stared at Nian Gengyao and said earnestly: "General, don't you understand now? There are only two ways left for you now. Either you have a real fight with the Dayi Army, and you take the money in your hands. If you run out of troops, and then tie yourself up and ask the emperor, you may be able to escape with your life, or you can immediately support yourself, if the general chooses neither, otherwise the consequences of the general will be unpredictable."

"Yuan Fang, why don't I understand what you mean?" Nian Gengyao sighed, "The emperor treats me very well. Needless to say, high officials and high salaries are generous, but this is the only thing that I can't surpass."

For Nian Gengyao, Yongzheng's trust and respect for him is unique. Although he lives in an extremely luxurious style and is arrogant and domineering, he never thought of betraying Emperor Yongzheng. With a sincere heart.

Hu Qiheng often sighed, "I know the general is a man, and it's not surprising that he can make such a decision, but if the general refuses to do this, he can only fight this battle well, not only to win, but also to win the battle." After winning the battle, immediately ask the emperor to resign from the military power, otherwise the catastrophe of death will come!"

"However... the morale of the army is low, and the food and grass are unsustainable. If you are eager to seek a decisive battle at this time, I am afraid that the chances of winning are not high." Nian Gengyao shook his head. go."

Hu Qiheng didn't have the slightest expression on his face. His fingers were stained with wine, and he wrote a big word "kill" on the table, and then said a very cruel plan word by word.

"Tu Fengxiang, it can be used for military pay and rations."

(End of this chapter)