Follow Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country

Chapter 237 Zhang Shicheng: Zhu Yuanzhang, don’t bully Gu, Gu is very tolerant!
"This Zhang Shicheng seems to be unable to shed tears even when he sees the coffin."

Zhu Yuanzhang then said something to Zhang Cheng who was also here.

Zhang Cheng then smiled and said, "Then really show him some color."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

then.

Next, Zhu Yuanzhang held a court meeting on the grounds that Zhang Shicheng refused to hand over the traitor Xie Zaixing and others.

The court meeting unanimously agreed that Zhu Yuanzhang issued a decree to declare war on Zhang Shicheng.

This way.

Political and economic aspects.

Datong Society once again banned Zhang Shicheng from selling grain and cloth, and also stopped purchasing cotton in Zhang Shicheng's jurisdiction.

At the same time, the Cabinet Zhang Cheng also asked the Gongwei Department to arrest a group of powerful bureaucrats under Zhang Shicheng who quietly sent to the Datong Community area to purchase the bonds of the Cabinet Finance Department.

The reason is that these profiteers are spying on intelligence and have stated that they will consider confiscating their bonds and refuse to repay their interest principal.

As for why Datong Society knew who the profiteers sent by Zhang Shicheng's powerful bureaucrats were to celebrate, it naturally had something to do with the Guards Department.

Because the Archguard Division has been secretly watching these forces.

Military aspect.

Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Xu Da to lead Chang Yuchun and others to cross the river to attack Tongzhou. At the same time, he ordered Hua Yun to lead Shao Cheng, Feng Sheng and other Chen soldiers to Liuhe. He also ordered Zhu Wenzheng and Chen soldiers to attack Jiangyin, making a move to go north to attack Taixing.

In addition, the Navy Sang Shijie Division was also ordered by Zhu Yuanzhang to enter the mouth of the Huaihe River.

"What a great Zhu Yuanzhang, is he bullying Gu Zhen and not daring to mess with him?!"

"How dare you declare war on Gu."

Zhang Shicheng was quite angry after learning about this.

At this time, Zhang Shixin couldn't help but persuade: "Brother, think again. As the second brother once said, it is not appropriate for us to fall out with Zhu Yuanzhang and the others. After all, our lives are in his hands."

"What a life!"

"It's not like you don't have soldiers, horses, or firearms in your hands."

"Mom, now that the autumn harvest is around the corner, if we raise a hundred thousand troops to march across the south of the Yangtze River, seize his factories and plunder his grain, what else can Zhu Yuanzhang do to control us?"

"Besides, His Highness is not fighting with Liu Futong now."

"To prepare for the unexpected, the worst we can do is to send a letter to Liu Futong and Yuan Ting each, saying that as long as they agree, they will not take advantage of the situation while we are attacking Jiangnan. After we capture Jiangnan in the future, we will work with them to carve up the lands in Jiangnan. !”

Xie Zaixing put forward different opinions at this time.

During this period, Zhang Shicheng also mobilized more than 100,000 troops to the south in order to prevent Zhu Yuanzhang from using Xie Zaixing's excuse to attack him in the north. That's why he threatened Zhu Yuanzhang that once Zhu Yuanzhang came to attack, he would send 300,000 troops south.

Zhang Shixin here hated Xie Zaixing to death.

Because in his opinion, if it weren't for Xie Zaixing, they wouldn't be at odds with Zhu Yuanzhang now.

And when he thought that Zhang Shixin, who had secretly bought bonds through Cheng Renmo's contacts, had been controlled by Datong Society, he was very unwilling to see that his bonds could no longer be repaid because of the bad relationship between the two parties, so he advised again:

"But brother, now is not the time. If you can bear it, bear with it. It won't be too late until there is civil strife in Datong Society."

"Why are you always so lonely?"

"I can't bear it now!"

Since Zhang Shicheng had mobilized his army to go south, and now with the help of Xie Zaixing, he didn't want to endure it any longer, so he made up his mind to have Lu Zhen and Zhao Zihu ready to lead their troops south to attack Zhenjiang at any time.

On the Chinese side, Zhu Wenzheng's troops had captured Taixing first, and it only took one day.

at the same time.

Xu Da led Chang Yuchun to capture Tongzhou.

Sang Shijie also seized Rugao and directly blocked Yangzhou's maritime gateway.

After Zhang Shicheng heard about it, he couldn't help but feel scared, and had to admit that the Chinese army was indeed very powerful.

"Your Highness!"

"Please let me be the vanguard and launch a large-scale counterattack!"

"I promise that I will conquer Zhenjiang and Changzhou for you, Commander-in-Chief."

"Whether it's Zhu Wenzheng, Xu Da, or Chang Yuchun, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

"The firearms they should have are also available to my soldiers and horses. What's more, you have gathered more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, so why be afraid of the Chinese army? The worst is possible!"

Therefore, Xie Zaixing had to take the initiative to ask Zhang Shicheng for help.

Naturally, he did not want Zhang Shicheng to lose.

After all, once Zhang Shicheng was defeated, his refuge with Zhang Shicheng would be in vain.

However, Zhang Shicheng did not respond to Xie Zaixing. He just expressed further discussion and announced that a court meeting would be held on the third day to discuss with the courtiers.

Some of Zhang Shicheng's bureaucrats were also very angry, saying that they could not bear the threat from Datong Society and should retaliate decisively.

After all, most of these bureaucrats were Confucian scholars recruited from the local area by Zhang Shicheng.

Many of these Confucian scholars were big landowners, and they were also very disgusted with Datong Society.

Especially some rotten scholars who really regard the humiliation of the emperor as the humiliation of the subject. Now they hate Zhu Yuanzhang more than Zhang Shicheng, and some even express their willingness to break up their families and fight for the Dacheng Kingdom against the Chinese army. But Zhang Shicheng himself did not dare to really fight against the Chinese army.

He was afraid that if he tried his best, everything would be lost, including the privileges that he now had in Huainan, where he was indeed the king and the orphan, and could take everything away from him.

What's more, he also knows that he doesn't have many strategic resources. Once he really starts a social war with Datong, if he can't win quickly and it becomes a stalemate, it will only cause large-scale civil strife within it.

After all, he has not yet achieved self-sufficiency in food, nor has he yet achieved self-sufficiency in weapons.

Therefore, it is impossible for him to listen to the suggestions of Xie Zaixing and some bureaucrats and really dare to break with the Chinese Army.

Before, he really just intimidated Zhu Yuanzhang and prevented Zhu Yuanzhang from actually raising troops.

But he didn't expect that Zhu Yuanzhang would actually launch troops with him to seize his city after declaring war.

At this moment, Zhang Shicheng really didn't know what to do.

However, it was impossible for Zhang Shicheng to fight back.

Therefore, Zhang Shicheng said at this moment:
"What's the counterattack? We just lost some soldiers, horses and cities! And at the moment, we're not sure who attacked Tongzhou and Rugao. Maybe they were sea bandits."

"Until the situation becomes clear, tell Lu Zhen and the others not to act rashly! Otherwise, they will be punished for serious crimes!"

Seeing this, Zhang Shixin chimed in and said, "What my brother is saying is that it may have been Fang Guozhen who did it!"

"The Fang thief is disgusting!"

Zhang Shicheng seemed to directly confirm that it was Fang Guozhen who attacked Tongzhou, and put the blame on Fang Guozhen.

"Brother, I'm not sure whether it's Fang Guozhen or not, but a soldier has a murderous weapon!"

"Therefore, in my humble opinion, no matter what, it is not advisable to raise troops easily. At the moment, it is better to stabilize Datong Society and send envoys to talk to Zhu Yuanzhang and the others."

Zhang Shixin continued to make suggestions at this time.

Seeing this, Xie Zaixing and some war-fighting bureaucrats couldn't help but look sideways at Zhang Shixin, and were also greatly disappointed with Zhang Shicheng.

Zhang Shicheng also said angrily: "Gu Kan Ba ​​Cheng is the pirate Fang Guozhen, who is deliberately trying to alienate the friendly relationship between Gu and Wu Guogong!"

then.

Zhang Shicheng looked at Zhang Shixin again and said, "However, you are right. For the sake of the poor people in the world, we cannot easily raise troops to fight back, even if Zhu Yuanzhang is already rude!"

Zhang Shixin hurriedly bowed his hands: "Brother Shengming!"

Seeing this, Xie Zaixing couldn't help closing his eyes and sighing.

Many frontline bureaucrats were also disappointed.

Zhang Shixin knew that he could not let these people down too much, otherwise it would affect his prestige, which would be detrimental to his rule.

Therefore, Zhang Shicheng said again: "But he, Zhu Yuanzhang, cannot go too far and think that our Dacheng Kingdom is Ni Nirvana!"

"So, it was time to send envoys to see Zhu Yuanzhang. However, Gu did not send people to have peace talks with Zhu Yuanzhang. Instead, he warned Zhu Yuanzhang that if he dared to push the envelope and raise troops to go north again to seize Gu's city and destroy the friendship between the two sides, Gu would not If he continues to endure, he will not only regain Tongzhou, Rugao, and Taixing, but also occupy his Zhenjiang, Changzhou, and Pingjiang, and even seize his Jiqing inheritance! Let him know what it means to kill a million people in anger!"

Zhang Shicheng's words were very tough.

Only then did Xie Zaixing and a group of leading war officials soften their anger.

But as mentioned before, Zhang Shicheng obviously knew that his strength was indeed inferior to Zhu Yuanzhang, and he did not dare to really fight for Xie Zaixing and Zhu Yuanzhang.

Therefore, after Zhang Shicheng dispersed the dynasty, he sent Zhang Shiyi, whom he appointed as his envoy, and told him:

"You must ask for Zhu Yuanzhang's consent on behalf of Gu, so that Zhu Yuanzhang can save some dignity for himself. Don't force Gu to hand over Xie Zaixing, making the world's heroes laugh at Gu!"

"You tell Zhu Yuanzhang that he hopes to form a fraternal alliance with him and that he is willing to recognize Zhu Yuanzhang as his brother and pay tribute every year. He only hopes that the two countries will stop fighting and that the brother can save some dignity for the brother and not force the brother who has surrendered to him. Soldiers."

"If Zhu Yuanzhang does not agree, go and see Mr. Zhang first and ask Mr. Zhang to help my Zhang family win some face."

Zhang Shicheng was clearly and truly forced to do nothing by Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Cheng, and began to beg Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Cheng to give him face.

However, face is earned by oneself, not given by others.

Therefore, after Zhu Yuanzhang received Zhang Shicheng's letter, he did not agree. He still demanded that Zhang Shicheng must hand over Xie Zaixing before negotiating peace, and also asked Hua Yun to lead the cavalry deep into the vicinity of Gaoyou.

Therefore, this undoubtedly made Zhang Shicheng very embarrassed.

But for Zhang Shicheng, as long as he is not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed.

Therefore, Zhang Shicheng held another court meeting, and at the court meeting, he captured Xie Zaixing and pointed at Xie Zaixing: "Xie Zaixing, do you know your guilt?"

Xie Zaixing was originally shocked because Zhang Shicheng suddenly grabbed him, but now he was even more shocked and angry when he saw him asking: "What crime do I have! Zhang Shicheng, I am really blind, why did I fall in love with a coward like you!"

"presumptuous!"

"You betrayed the old master, ruined the friendly relationship between Gu and Datong Society, and now you insult the new master! How can Gu keep you!"

Zhang Shicheng said: "Imprison him and his people and hand them over to the Datong Society in the future to calm the war and calm the hearts of our soldiers and people!"

"Your Highness, no!"

"Not to mention that Zhu Yuanzhang has seized several of my cities, and now we have to give in again because of this. If he really wants to hand over Commander Xie, then where will my royal power be!"

At this time, a civil servant of Gong Boyue suddenly came forward, knelt on the ground, and started crying.

Zhang Shicheng said: "It's just a few border towns, it can't be considered a real invasion. If it really invades, we will naturally not give in!"

"Retreat!"

(End of this chapter)