Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 184
On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month in the ninth year of Chongzhen, the camp of Lu Xiangsheng's headquarters outside Yunxian County was full of joy and laughter, and the faces of officers and soldiers in each camp were full of joy.

He Kai, the military officer of the Ministry of War, rushed here with relevant people. After the imperial decree was read out in public and the imperial court's rewards for the generals and soldiers, the whole army was full of joy and encouragement.

After He Kai announced the decree, he went to Yunyang Mansion to rest for a while, and then rushed back to the capital.Seeing that after the Chinese New Year, He Kai would be arranged to travel far away from the capital, of course He Kai was not happy.Besides, although he is a doctor of the Ministry of War, he never likes to be in the army, and this business trip is not very lucrative. With a new bachelor like Lu Xiangsheng, he dare not openly ask for bribes.

After learning about his reward, all the previous dissatisfaction with Zu Kuan and others completely disappeared.

Zu Kuan has become a first-rank general from the general soldier, surpassing his father, standing shoulder to shoulder with his uncle, and also has the shade of kindness.While this made him satisfied, he also had some indescribable feelings in his heart.

Li Chongjin smiled even more.

When he and Zu Kuan were ordered to go to the mainland to suppress the bandits, they were also very dissatisfied.Unexpectedly, in more than a year, he was promoted step by step from a guerrilla to the title of general soldier.He knew in his heart that if he stayed in Liaodong all the time, it would be a good idea to be a general when he died.

People are selfish, who doesn't want to get promoted and make a fortune, to honor their ancestors?
However, the number of high-ranking generals in Liaodong is limited, and even if the imperial court approves them, those who are promoted are all those who are related to their ancestors.

In Liaodong, military generals were promoted regardless of military exploits, but nepotism.

Regardless of your relationship and background, no matter how many military exploits you have, it will be useless, and it will be over if you become a guerrilla.

But once there is a war, you, a guerrilla, have to take the lead in the battle, and you are unlucky to die in battle.

Li Chongjin was not in the small circle of his ancestral family. If he hadn't been guarding Liaodong for several generations for more than a hundred years, and he was able to fight and carry, he wouldn't even be a guerrilla.

I have tried my best in Liaodong, the kindness of my ancestors has been repaid, I, Li Chongjin, do not owe my ancestors anything, and the next step is to repay the kindness of the sage.

Li Chongjin secretly made up his mind.

Huang Degong, Qin Yiming, Gao Qixun, Wu Qun and others are naturally more loyal to Zhu Youjian.Everyone felt that they hadn't paid in vain, and all their hard work had been rewarded to the greatest extent.

Lu Xiangsheng looked calm on the surface, but in fact, his gratitude to Zhu Youjian was hard to express in words.

A scholar dies for a confidant.

I was promoted from the magistrate of Hejian to the high position of a university scholar. Although I devoted myself to Daming during this period, if there is no appreciation and grace from the Holy One, if the Holy Majesty has not blocked countless attacks on the court for him, my official career will not be as good as it is. It's generally smooth sailing now.

Lu Xiangsheng knows his own weakness: too upright, disdain for intrigue, good at planning things but not good at personal life.

Such a character is logically not suitable for standing above the court.If he met an emperor with soft ears, no matter how much credit he made, he would leave the stage sadly under various traps, and even end in ruin.

Today's sage is really a wise king with a broad mind.Eight years after Chongzhen, the Holy One changed from his previous impatient and suspicious character, and became stable, dignified, wise and wise.

Whether it is in the use of himself, Hong Chengchou, and Sun Chuanting, today he has always employed people without suspicion, and has repeatedly encouraged his ministers to let go and act boldly.Moreover, strong support and guarantee were given in terms of logistical materials, which made the originally extremely difficult war of suppressing thieves easier and easier.

Nowadays, whether it is civil servants, military generals or officers and soldiers, they are full of confidence in the complete eradication of the bandits. The previous pessimistic doubts and low morale have been swept away, and the previous crisis has been completely reversed.

The trespasser has been awarded the head, and Shaanxi is basically pacified. As long as the present thieves and others in front of him are killed, all the thieves who have troubled the Ming Dynasty for about ten years will be wiped out, and the jumping beams outside the pass will eventually be defeated.

People from all walks of life who have been fighting abroad for many years do not pay much attention to the New Year.Especially the soldiers of the Tianxiong Army, who have followed Lu Xiangsheng to fight north and south since the second year of Chongzhen, and have not returned to their hometown for several years;

On the eighth day of the first lunar month in the tenth year of Chongzhen, two soldiers and horses from the Beijing camp finally arrived at Yunyang Mansion after a long-distance march for more than a month.After learning that Lu Xiangsheng camped in Yun County, Mao Yuanyi, the commander-in-chief of the Shenji Battalion, and Feng Xun, the commander-in-chief of the Wujun Battalion, each rushed to Yun County [-] miles away with their own soldiers to visit Dongge University Lu Xiangsheng, a scholar and minister of the five provinces, obeyed Lu Xiangsheng's deployment and arrangements for the various troops and horses in the Yunyang Battle.

In the main hall of the Zhushan County Government Office, the Eighth King Zhang Xianzhong was sitting behind the big case that was supposed to be the magistrate's promotion office. The adopted son Ainengqi was neatly dressed and stood by his side with his hand on his waist knife.

There were two rows of high-ranking chairs in the hall, old Hui Hui Ma Shouying, Ge Liyan He Yilong, Cao Cao Luo Rucai, Chuang Tatian Liu Guoneng sat on the chairs with their respective generals.

Luo Rucai glanced at the serious Zhang Xianzhong, and thought to himself: Damn you, everyone is a rebel army, why should you sit on top!When did we become your subordinates?

Liu Guoneng thought to himself: I don't know if Mr. Li has seen the governor, and he doesn't know what the imperial court thinks about our surrender.

Before receiving Zhang Xianzhong's invitation to various leaders to come to Zhushan to discuss major issues, Liu Guoneng had sent Li Laosi, who had been running away all the year round, to Xiangyang, and asked him to bring a lot of money to buy people in the government, so that he could meet Fang Kong, the governor of Huguang in Xiangyang.炤.

Luo Rucai said carelessly: "I said Eight Great Kings, what is the reason for us to come here this time? Could it be that many beauties have been captured again and want to share with us?"

He Yilong, Lao Huihui and others who were familiar with his nature burst into laughter.

Luo Rucai was lustful by nature, and the first thing he did after he led his men to various places and ruined counties was to ask his subordinates to find beautiful women for his lustful pleasure.Now there are dozens of women from all over the Ming Dynasty in his tent, prostitution in the daytime is already commonplace for him.

Zhang Xianzhong waved his hands and said with a smile: "What are some women? I'll give you Lao Luo a few when I leave later!"

When Luo Rucai heard that there was a real beauty, the dissatisfaction in Shicai's heart immediately dissipated. He clapped his hands and laughed, "The Eight Great Kings are so forthright! I, Cao Cao, accept your love!"

Zhang Xianzhong put away his smiling face and said seriously: "I invite the leaders of the various families to come here today because I have something important to discuss with you! This is a matter of life and death for our rebels! Leaders must cheer up !"

Seeing that he was so serious, everyone put away their playful demeanor and sat up straight to listen to him continue talking.

Zhang Xianzhong looked at the performance of the crowd with satisfaction, leaned forward, kept his arm resting on the armrest of the chair, and rested his other elbow on the big case, glanced back and forth at the crowd and continued: "My child went to Xiangyang to buy something. Materials, I heard a message: King Gao Chuang was captured in Shaanxi, and was scraped by the court after being sent to the capital! King Chuang's army was wiped out!"

Everyone in the hall turned pale after hearing this.

No matter what people say in the open or in the dark, they have to admit in their hearts that Gao Yingxiang's power is far beyond his own.Especially the nearly [-] Tibetan elite cavalry under him, and the rest of the thieves combined are not worth a lot.

Such a tyrannical character, how can he just disappear?Which way is this official army so powerful?
Don't blame them for this. In this generation of extremely occluded information, they didn't know anything about the Shouzhou battle a few months ago.In the past few months, they have been wandering in Xiangyang Prefecture, which is densely covered with mountains and rivers, and they have no way of knowing the major events happening outside.

After recovering from his senses, He Yilong spoke first: "Eight Great Kings, is this letter accurate? Who is the King Chuang who was defeated by the army?"

He is from Suide Prefecture, Yan'an Prefecture, and Gao Yingxiang is a township party member. Although he joined Gao Yingxiang's team because he could not tolerate human control, he still admires this township party.

Cao Cao interjected and asked: "The [-] elite cavalry under King Gao Chuang are not vegetarians! We have fought against the officers and soldiers for many years, and we can only fight with a few horses. I have never heard of any officer and army capable of defeating Gao Chuang Will the king eat it in one bite?"

Zhang Xianzhong said in a deep voice: "A few months ago, I joined forces with King Gao Chuang to attack Shouzhou. Unexpectedly, I was ambushed by the officers and soldiers inside and outside. After that, I took my men all the way from Nanzhili to this place. The loss was not small. Seeing the army of officials and troops gathered, I had no choice but to go down to Shaanxi, but in the Xi'an Prefecture, Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, led people to arrest him!"

When Zhang Xianzhong said that Gao Yingxiang was captured, his expression was very heavy, but he still felt very comfortable in his heart.

The old man Ma Shouying was surprised and said: "Where did this Sun Chuanting come from? Is he even stronger than Hong Chengchou? It seems that Shaanxi is a must!"

Zhang Xianzhong nodded and said: "Old Ma is right, you can't go to Shaanxi! There was Hong Chengchou there, and now there is a more capable Sun Chuanting! What I want to talk about is not just about King Gao Chuang, I We are in trouble now!"

Everyone who was distracted by Gao Yingxiang's capture and killing became even more nervous after hearing his words.

Zhang Xianzhong said in a solemn voice: "Before the New Year, my subordinates reported to me that there seemed to be officers and soldiers sentry to spy on us! Then I sent people to investigate all the way north, but when we arrived at the south of Yun County, we saw officers and soldiers on the road. After setting up the card, it is impossible to move forward! That is to say, there are officers and troops in Yun County, but I don’t know how many people there are! I think it must be Lu Yanwang! The officers and soldiers are ambushing us in Shouzhou Those roads!"

Although Lao Huihui had heard of Lu Xiangsheng's name, he had never fought against him.

Cao Cao hurriedly asked: "I have heard the name of King Lu Yan, and it is said that he is quite capable of fighting. Eight Great Kings, you have fought against him, tell me, who is stronger than King Lu Yan than Hong Chengchou and the one who defeated King Chuang?"

He Yilong said: "It's different to say whether it's great or not. What's important now is to find out how many people there are in the army. If there are too many people, we will run away. If there are few people, we will fight with him!"

After Zhang Xianzhong learned that there were officers and soldiers coming, he immediately knew that it was Lu Xiangsheng.

Now that Gao Yingxiang is defeated, he, Lao Huihui and others are the only ones who are famous in the rebel army. The court will never let them go.

Zhang Xianzhong knew that the officers and soldiers would come to him, but he didn't expect it to come so soon.

Only by defeating or repelling Lu Xiangsheng, will he continue his strategy of long-term management in Huangmaoguan, otherwise he will have to continue running.

Pan Duao and Xu Yixian were also very supportive of his strategy of occupying Yunnan as a base area, and encouraged him with the example of the Taizu of this dynasty: If you want to achieve great things, you must occupy a place. Thieves.

However, Pan Duao believed that although the terrain around Huangmaoguan was dangerous, it was not enough to be a real stronghold, and the best base for dedicating camp was in central Shu.

As long as you enter the land of Sichuan and Shu, where the roads are difficult, and then find a suitable foothold, within a few years, the camp will undergo a radical change.

Although Zhang Xianzhong felt that what the two of them said was reasonable, he was a little reluctant to give up the two counties that he had managed for several months. Just when he was hesitating, the officers and soldiers had already arrived.

According to the information of the subordinates, officers and soldiers have appeared near Banqiao Mountain in the northeast of Zhushan, and the number should be several thousand.

Banqiao Mountain is only forty miles away from Zhushan Mountain. If we start to retreat to Dachang and Daning in the southwest now, the officers and soldiers will catch up soon after they realize it.

If you run south, you will enter Jingzhou Mansion, which is densely covered with water networks. If you encounter a city barrier, you will still let the officers and soldiers make dumplings.

To the east is Xiangyang Mansion. Lao Huihui and others just returned from defeat there not long ago, and the number of officers and soldiers there is also quite large.

Running now is not the best option.On the battlefield, as long as one side starts to retreat, even if it is a normal retreat, if the opponent is closely chasing, the retreat will easily turn into a rout.Especially for thieves with poor organization and discipline, this kind of thing will happen [-]% of the time.

What's more, to evacuate from Zhushan to Dachang, there are hundreds of miles in the middle, and there are several rivers in the middle, so the road is complicated and difficult.

More importantly, there is no one to lead the way.

Zhang Xianzhong was not a man of great talent and strategy. After he came to Yunnan, he didn't think about going to Shuzhong, so he didn't send anyone to explore the way.

When the way ahead is unknown and there are chasing troops behind, it is basically impossible to evacuate safely with 2 or [-] horses.

Now there is only one way to go: unite with Lao Huihui and others to defend the Zhushan and Fangxian areas, and if it is impossible to run into the mountains.

But if you really want to lose again, it depends on luck if you want to recover.

　thanks for your support!Thanks to the book friend SHAJIA for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)