Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 136 Why don’t you run?
Zhu Changgan, who was about to run, was suddenly stunned and looked back at the other party.

When he found King Xiang, he found that he had already packed his things. He pulled him hard with a scorching look in his eyes and said, "Let's go. Let's run while there is chaos."

"Just ran away?"

King Xiang stared at him with wide eyes, "Why, do you really want to come down and live with this female rebel?"

Zhu Changgan shook his head. Since he had decided to do something to Hong Niangzi and the others, it was not his style to leave before the work was done.

I used to feel that the conditions were not enough, but now I see hope.

While he was distracted, he found that someone had already come running over. It was the Second in Command with a few people. "Why did you run out? Come with me."

King Xiang had an unpleasant look on his face, but he could only follow the second in command and run towards a cave.

Inside the mountain village, people’s shadows were swaying and their footsteps were scattered, making it look extremely chaotic. The crying of children, the shouting of women...all mixed together, making people feel depressed.

Outside, flames shot up into the sky, and fighting had already begun. The second in command chopped down a government soldier with his backhand and shouted in a muffled voice: "Take good care of my brother-in-law and the others. Anyone who comes forward... kill them!"

He then rushed into a group of government soldiers who were hacking and killing women, and his sword flashed like a wheel, knocking people to the ground one by one.

Under the firelight, dark purple blood dripped down the blade, but before it could fall, it was swung again to chop down the next person.

Fighting, fire, sword lights... all came together. The originally quiet village was now like a boiling fire, devouring lives one after another.

Zhu Changgan and Prince Xiang were forced to retreat.

It was the first time he had seen such a scene since he came to the Ming Dynasty.

The government troops seemed to realize that the two men were important figures in the mountain stronghold, and they tried their best to get over them, but they were intercepted by the men under the second in command and fought against each other.

In terms of martial arts, there are indeed a few good ones in the mountain village, but they are just a few.

But the government troops had more advanced weapons and knew how to coordinate battle formations.

There were also arrows shot from afar from time to time. Although the Ming Dynasty's official army was not as good as the Qing Dynasty's Tatars in cavalry and archery, they had a huge advantage when facing the peasant army in these mountain strongholds.

So much so that, just a face to face.

Of the seven or eight people brought by the second in command, four fell down soon.

The other two people grabbed Zhu Changgan and Prince Xiang and shouted, "Retreat!"

"Get out!"

At this moment, another group of people from the mountain stronghold rushed over and protected the two men. It was the third in command who arrived with his men.

Under the cover of everyone, Zhu Changgan and Prince Xiang quickly evacuated and got out of the battle.

……

As they left, the people in the village became completely chaotic, and many refugees were blocked and fell in a pool of blood.

More of them fled in all directions.

The officers and soldiers seemed to have long been accustomed to such scenes. They cut off the heads of the corpses on the ground and put them into bags.

Nothing is more important than military merit.

After working for a long time, the government troops, following the order of the general, burned down the stronghold and left.

When Zhu Changgan and Prince Xiang returned to the mountain stronghold, it was already completely bright.

The temperature in the early morning is very low, but what is colder than that is the human heart.

The two stood in the small square of the original mountain village, looking at the scene in front of them, speechless.

There were corpses all over the ground, blood flowing, arrows, burning and extinguished houses.

Bright red sparks, black ashes and pale corpses intertwined, bringing a bloody and deadly impact.

"Wow!"

Occasionally there was a sound, which was the sound of a house burning down, and gray-black embers were thrown out.

The morning mist filled the air like a thin jacket, and everything seemed like ghosts looming in the sea.

In the dead silence, there were several children crying and searching for their parents, like a knife cutting everyone's heart.

At this moment, thousands of golden lights shone in, interweaving and stretching together with everything in front of them.

Zhu Changgan, who was leaning against a rock, looked at him, and then his pupils suddenly dilated.

"how come……"

Chongzhen looked at the scene in front of him and couldn't help but exclaimed, but no one responded.

……

With red eyes, Hongniang led the people in the village to search for someone who might still be alive, but even though they searched everyone, they did not find a single living person.

All of them had their heads cut off, even the children.

“……” She bit her lips, trying hard not to cry.

Although she usually looks so calm and cold, she is still just a woman in her twenties after all.

Chongzhen stood there in a daze, looking at the body of a child with his neck cut.

He recognized the clothes. It was his student, Zhao Tiedan.

This usually serious child is now lying in his mother's arms.

Her mother had several arrows in her body and her head was missing.

Chongzhen's arms trembled slightly, and he murmured to himself, "How could it be like this? How could it be like this?"

I remember clearly that when the army examines heads, women, children and infants are not counted? But...

More than 3,000 people died in the mountain stronghold.

Even more escaped, more than 5,000.

The original team of 12,000 people was reduced to only more than 4,000 people after this battle.

Hongniangzi didn't say a word from beginning to end, but her red and swollen eyes said it all.

As soon as she put out the fire, she continued to devote herself to the work of burying the bodies in the mountain village. She just chose to be busy temporarily so that she would not be idle and fall into grief and anger.

Chongzhen stood in front of the school that was burned down again before it was completed, and thought for a while.

"Zhao Tiedan, Bao Haoyun, Niu Shizao, You Dazhi..."

He read out the children's names, then put the words written by the children and his own comments into the fire, but unfortunately the other children could not see them.

Of the seventy-six students, thirteen died.

……

In the capital, Zhu Changgan had not yet met Sun Chuanting, but instead waited for another person.

Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi Xiong Wencan.

With Lu Xiangsheng's appointment as Governor-General of Xuanda, the position of "Premier of Five Provinces" who was responsible for suppressing the peasant army became vacant.

Yang Sichang strongly recommended the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Xiong Wencan, to replace Wang Jiazhen as Prime Minister.

Yang Sichang said in his memorial: "I think that the position of Prime Minister, who is responsible for suppressing the rebellion, must be filled with courage and wisdom, and the ability to respond to emergencies. Xiong Wencan, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, is the best choice."

However, Yang Sichang and Xiong Wencan had never worked together in the past, so there was no question of them having any real understanding of each other.

With such a definite assertion, couldn't it be that Xiong was the only one who could be the prime minister in charge of "suppressing bandits" in the Central Plains?

The reason was that Xiong Wencan claimed to be knowledgeable about military affairs. During his tenure as Governor of Fujian, he pacified the "pirate" Zheng Zhilong and was promoted to Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. He then pacified the "pirate" Liu Xiang, which won him great appreciation from the court.

There was a lot of support within the court.

"Who? Xiong Wencan?"

Zhu Changgan seemed to have heard of this name before.

……

At this time, outside the palace gate, a fat figure just stood there for a moment and began to sweat profusely.

It was the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Xiong Wencan.

He was now regretting so much that his intestines turned green. He wanted to slap himself twice, "You are such a drunkard. It would be so nice to be the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. Why did you have to come here to suffer this?!"

Guangdong and Guangxi are rich in products and are the gateway to foreign trade. All kinds of rare treasures and novel items flow into the Central Plains from here.

The Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi is a lucrative position.

Xiong Wencan was well versed in the intricacies of the official career and often collected treasures and presented them to the powerful in the court in order to keep the lucrative position of Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi for a long time.

Who would have thought that the emperor was worried about Liu Xiang's whereabouts and Xiong Wencan's character, so he sent a trusted eunuch, Wang Yingchao, to Guangxi under the pretext of purchasing medicinal materials, but in fact he was making a secret visit to Guangdong.

Xiong Wencan did not understand the emperor's true intentions and thought that the eunuch was the emperor's confidant, so he used his usual methods to win him over.

Not only did he send a large amount of money and goods, but he also held a grand banquet and "stayed for ten days to drink."

This made Wang Yingchao extremely happy.

As a result, when drinking, Wang Yingchao talked about the "rebellion in the Central Plains" and sighed, "No one is doing his best for the court."

Xiong Wencan was so drunk that he forgot everything. He slammed the table and cursed, "It's all the ministers who have ruined the country! If I, Wencan, had gone there, would I have tricked the thieves into coming here?"

Wang Yingchao saw Xiong Wencan's righteous expression, and immediately stood up excitedly and said frankly: "If I didn't have to go to Guangxi to purchase, I would immediately issue an order to discipline Brother Wencan. I think this matter can only be resolved by Brother Wencan. You wait for me to go back day and night, and Brother Wencan can also pack up his military uniform and prepare to set off."

Xiong Wencan sobered up instantly, but the words had already been said, so he could only give objective reasons.

To sum up, there are “five difficulties and four cannots”.

He said that even if he had the ability, he could do nothing about it.

Wang Yingchao clapped his hands and smiled, "This is not a difficult matter. As long as we can quell the banditry, the emperor will definitely agree to your request. Just wait for good news."

Seeing that he had no choice but to agree.

After Wang Yingchao returned to the court, he boasted about Xiong Wencan's talent and ambition. As expected, the emperor's edict arrived, so he got up and went to Beijing to meet the emperor.

Just as he was daydreaming, he saw a eunuch come out and said, "Master Xiong, His Majesty has summoned you!"

　Chapter 2 is here, please give me a vote
　　
　
(End of this chapter)