Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 176: The End of Zhang Xianzhong, Part
Outside Gucheng, Tian Yizhong looked at the flames in the city, his whole body in shock, and he murmured, "It's done. Your Majesty has instructed me to do it, and I have completed it."

The reason why he was asked to come to Gucheng was because the emperor gave him only one task - to disband all of Zhang Xianzhong's men. If they were not disbanded, they would be forced to rebel.

No matter what method is used, Zhang Xianzhong must not be allowed to station and train troops here for a long time.

In fact, there were 20,000 people who came with Tian Yi Zhong. It was Huang Degong who led the 20,000 brave guards.

When escaping, Tian Yi Zhong actually had time to inform Lin Mingqiu, but he deliberately did not do so.

If Lin Mingqiu was not the corrupt official that the emperor claimed, he would have risked his life to bring him out this time, but after witnessing Lin Mingqiu's greed with his own eyes.

So Tian Yi Zhong ran away decisively.

As for Lin Mingqiu's death, it became ironclad evidence that Zhang Xianzhong was planning to rebel again.

After the Huguang patrol inspector died, Zuo Liangyu, Chen Hongfan, Huang Degong and others had a legitimate reason to encircle and annihilate Zhang Xianzhong.

In this way, the peasant army resisting behind would not be discouraged from surrendering.

After all, in addition to Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, we cannot ignore the fact that there are at least hundreds of thousands of other peasant armies active in the border areas of the four provinces.

"We can't ruin the emperor's plan!" Tian Yizhong packed up briefly and got on his horse, "Let's go and see General Huang."

……

"Prince, here!"

Inside Gucheng, Chongzhen had already been exchanged with Zhu Changgan and was being protected by Han Qianhu as he fled. He also understood the whole story.

"I said that Tian Yizhong couldn't be so corrupt, and sure enough... he was just pretending."

First it was Tian Yizhong, then the Huguang Inspector Lin Mingqiu, and then the Gucheng County Magistrate Ruan Zhidian.

Chongzhen could not help but praise: "This is a brilliant move. First, trap Zhang Xianzhong in Gucheng, and then mobilize tens of thousands of troops including Zuo Liangyu, Chen Hongfan, and Huang Degong to encircle and suppress him."

According to information from Jinyiwei Han Qianhu, the three armies should soon engage in a major battle with Zhang Xianzhong's troops, so they should take the opportunity to leave quickly.

Once the war breaks out, who will know each other?

It's easy to get hurt by mistake!
Chongzhen breathed a sigh of relief, and all the resentment in his heart was released.

During this short journey of a few hundred miles, he realized what it meant to be like bandits passing by like combs and soldiers passing by like rakes.

I also saw that the place where the bandits went was left barren.

The reason why they are called bandits is that “roaming” is a way of action. It is not aimed at occupying or establishing a stable rule, but is more like a group of hungry locusts, eating wherever they go. They have a weak sense of purpose, so they are more destructive.

Zhang Xianzhong's tens of thousands of bandits were like gnawing locusts. They were not afraid of the government troops coming to hunt them down. They looted the place thoroughly and even spared the wives, children and the elderly at home... They turned the common people into piles of bones wherever they passed.

……

On the official road, dust dragons were rolling.

The clouds cover the sun.

Zhang Xianzhong, who was in dire straits, surrendered to Xiong Wencan. Zuo Liangyu knew that he was pretending to surrender, and tried his best to request to attack him, but Xiong Wencan did not allow it, so Zuo Liangyu was always resentful about it.

Although he said that his troops were stationed in Xiangyang, in fact his army was not far from Gucheng, just to guard against Zhang Xianzhong.

Now that he had received the secret letter from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he immediately reorganized his troops and headed towards Gucheng.

In addition there is Chen Hongfan.

Compared with Zuo Liangyu, Chen Hongfan is not as famous.

He was from Liaodong and was a military candidate. During the Tianqi period, he fought against the Later Jin in Liaodong. Historical records say that he was good at opportunism and thus he was promoted step by step as an official. He successively served as the Gaotai guerrilla, the Hongshui River lieutenant general, and the general of Juyongguan.

At the beginning of the year, the Qing Dynasty attacked Korea and wanted to ask for help from the Ming Dynasty. Chen Hongfan was appointed General Pinglu and led 8,000 troops to rescue. When he arrived, Korea had been defeated by the Qing army, so he had to lead his troops to retreat to Pi Island.

But soon, Pi Island was conquered by the Qing Dynasty. The island commander Shen Shikui and Laizhou deputy general Jin Riguan fought desperately with the Qing army and almost all of them died in the battle.

Only Chen Hongfan escaped, but was impeached by the censors and removed from his official post.

Not long after, with the help of eunuchs and local cliques, he served under the command of Xiong Wencan, the Minister of War and Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief, to suppress the peasant army.

Speaking of which, Chen Hongfan and Zhang Xianzhong have a deep connection.

During the period when Chen Hongfan served as the general of Jingbian Camp City, he became good friends with Wang Wei, the general of Yansui Town, and they had close contacts.

At that time, the imperial court owed salaries, so a junior officer under Wang Wei named Zhang Xianzhong, together with 17 soldiers, went to rob the treasury. Afterwards, they were all arrested and sentenced to death.

Coincidentally, Chen Hongfan happened to visit Wang Wei. When he saw that Zhang Xianzhong had an extraordinary appearance, he thought that this man had a bright future, so he asked Wang Wei for pardon.

Wang Wei gave face to his good friend and beat Zhang Xianzhong with 100 military sticks, then expelled him from the army and drove him out of the unit. Except for him, the other 17 people were all executed.

This time, Zhang Xianzhong surrendered thanks to Chen Hongfan's connections. It was with the help of this "bridge builder" that the surrender was possible so smoothly.

Now, when he suddenly heard that Zhang Xianzhong had rebelled, Chen Hongfan was almost frightened to death.

"Damn it, you keep calling me benefactor, benefactor... you're just going to cheat your benefactor, right?"

Without caring about anything else, he immediately led his troops to encircle and suppress the enemy.

As for the Yongwei Camp where Huang Degong was, they had already prepared for this battle.

Although he led a small number of people, only less than 20,000, they were all veterans who had followed him in the great victory in Tongzhou and Wan Guoming of the Eight Banners of the Manchu. Naturally, they did not take these bandits seriously.

Upon receiving the news from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the troops immediately set out.

……

When the sun rose completely, golden light sprinkled on Gucheng and the Zhang flag fluttered in the wind.

But the entire county was in chaos.

Today, Gucheng County has completely fallen into the hands of the thieves. Since they are leaving, it is impossible for them to keep the officials and wealthy families in Gucheng County to celebrate the New Year, so they simply robbed them all.

Gold, silver, jewelry, food, women, the nature of the bandits was fully exposed.

"With swords and guns in hand, there is no need to worry about the world." Zhang Xianzhong said with hatred: "Brothers, these dog officials are not only greedy, but also want to poison me, Zhang. Do you think this is tolerable?"

"Can't bear it!"

"Inverted!"

"Inverted……"

Zhang Xianzhong nodded, "We must not forget the ambitions we had when we started the rebellion. Rebellion to hell!"

"where are we going?"

"Shu!" Zhang Xianzhong had already considered where he could go. Shu had mountains, plains, and most importantly, food. If they could win the battle, they could rely on the Shu basin to grow and develop. If the government troops came to suppress them, they could hide in the mountains.

But just as they gathered and the army had not yet set out, they heard a sudden commotion outside.

"What's the fuss about?"

"Report to the commander-in-chief, the government troops are coming."

"What government troops? So fast?" Zhang Xianzhong's scalp tightened. Before this, he had asked someone to inquire about it. Zuo Liangyu was hundreds of miles away from here, and Chen Hongfan was even farther away. It was impossible for them to arrive in such a short time.

unless……

He hurriedly trotted up the city wall of Gucheng, only to see that the soldiers on the city gate tower were all pale, their steps were weak, and their eyes were looking towards the city.

The dragon riders were flying, and the armored army was shining in the sun. What was even more terrible was that there were rows of artillery and teams of firearms below, with cold eyes. Huang Degong sat on his horse, looking at the bandits on the city wall and shouted: "I am Huang Degong of the Yongwei Battalion. Hurry out of the city to accept the surrender. If you close the city and resist, you will be killed without mercy!"

"I'll give you one stick of incense."

As soon as he finished speaking, he waved his hand gently, and one cannon after another was pushed forward, heading towards the city walls and gates.

There are a total of sixty doors.

The black muzzle of the gun, like the eye of a devil, stared at everyone on the city wall.

"The Brave Guard Battalion?"

"The Ming court actually transferred the Yongwei Battalion here?"

"It turned out to be them. I heard that they defeated the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty..."

Everyone on the city wall was speechless and terrified.

Seeing the artillery, muskets, and armor under the city, the bandits guarding the city panicked. Even Liu Wenxiu's scalp was tense. He asked in a trembling voice: "Foster father, what should we do?"

At this time, there was a layer of sweat on Zhang Xianzhong's forehead, and his head was as big as a bucket, but now he was in a difficult situation.

Lin Mingqiu was dead, and so many bureaucrats and gentry in Gucheng were dead. There was no turning back.

Zhang Xianzhong gritted his teeth, his cheeks bulged, and said in hatred: "Brothers, we surrendered before, but how did they treat us? Now they want us to surrender again, do you think they can tolerate us?"

"What's more, you have taken away the treasures and the women. What's the difference between surrendering now and seeking death?"

"It's better to die than to break the net!"

"Yes, it's better to fight to the death. If we fight, there may be a glimmer of hope. If we don't fight, we will really be captured." Liu Wenxiu and other adopted sons shouted.

The time of one stick of incense soon came to an end. Huang Degong did not bother to talk to them and directly ordered, "Fire 30 cannons at the city gate, and 30 cannons to suppress the defenders on the city wall."

"Once the city gates are opened, anyone holding a weapon will be killed without mercy!"

"Boom boom boom..."

Dozens of cannons roared loudly, and the defenders on the city walls were blown so hard that they dared not raise their heads. The city gate below the city collapsed with a loud bang, making a teeth-grinding sound.

In less than one round, the city gate was wide open.

"Kill!" Huang Degong shouted, holding a spear and riding out.

"Kill~"

The soldiers rushed in like a tide, and anyone who stood in their way was hacked to death.

Bandits are bandits after all. They were no match for Zuo Liangyu, let alone the Yongweiying, a "human beast" that had just experienced a fierce battlefield.

Not to mention that the Yongwei Battalion is well disciplined and its equipment is much more advanced than theirs.

The soldiers formed a battle formation. The soldiers in the front held up their shields to block the guns, cannons and arrows, while the musketeers in the back held up their gun barrels to continuously reap the lives of the bandits.

Zhang Xianzhong and his men wanted to resist, but facing such a powerful killing machine, they were no match for it.

After being killed, they left behind corpses and kept retreating.

"Bang bang bang~"

The sound of muskets has now become the sound of death counting in the eyes of all the bandits, because every sound means someone is going to die.

Liver and gallbladder split.

……

When Zuo Liangyu arrived, he found that troops had already entered. When he asked, he found out that it was not Chen Hongfan but the Yongwei Battalion.

My mind was in a trance for no reason. "Hurry, follow me into the city."

"Whoa~" Zuo Liangyu rode into Gucheng on horseback. He was stunned by the scene in front of him and couldn't help but pull his restless warhorse.

He had been to Gucheng before, but the current Gucheng seemed so unfamiliar.

Collapsed walls, blackened ruins...corpses, and broken limbs could be seen everywhere.

The dead bandits' faces were twisted and filled with fear, as if they had witnessed something terrible while they were alive.

I walked forward for a long time, but didn't see a single person.

It was not until we were about to enter the east gate of Daogu City that we saw several bandits covered in blood running towards us in panic. The next moment, several "bang bang bang" sounds of musketry were heard.

The bandits fell to the ground.

Several soldiers from the Yongwei Camp, holding muskets, suddenly turned towards Zuo Liangyu. After experiencing several battles, their eyes were inexplicably filled with a fierce aura.

Zuo Liangyu's personal guards hurriedly said, "We are one of them. This is General Zuo Liangyu."

Several soldiers looked at them and finally moved the muskets away, but did not say much. Instead, they walked to the dead bandit, cut off his head, put it in the bag around his waist, and left quickly.

Although the bandit's head is only worth half the price of the Manchu Tartars, it is still a lot of money when accumulated, so it cannot be wasted.

Being ignored like this made Zuo Liangyu feel a little embarrassed. "Excuse me, who is your general?"

One of them looked up and said impatiently, "Our general, Huang Degong, is just ahead."

Zuo Liangyu urged his horse forward, but before he got close, his horse was startled by the roar of artillery.

"fire!"

"put!"

Dozens of artillery pieces fired with such force that the ground shook and smoke rose in the air.

Thousands of musketeers fired at the bandits, and the bandits fell to the ground one after another like cutting wheat.

The bandits under Zhang Xianzhong had almost no power to fight back. They were defeated one after another and began to flee in all directions.

"That's... the artillery of the Yongwei Battalion?" Zuo Liangyu looked at the soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion who quickly reloaded their ammunition and then fired again. His Adam's apple rolled and his eyes turned red. "What a good thing! It would be great if our battalion had a few of them."

When he finally found Huang Degong's tent, he was told that Huang Degong had left the city to chase Zhang Xianzhong.

It turns out that one stick of incense before,

At the east gate of Gucheng, Zhang Xianzhong's adopted sons Ai Nengqi and Liu Wenxiu were left behind by Zhang Xianzhong to cover their retreat.

However, faced with the bombardment of artillery and muskets, hundreds of bandits fled with almost no resistance.

The scene that Zuo Liangyu saw before was the soldiers of the Yongwei Camp clearing out the fleeing bandits.

Ai Nengqi's thigh was hit by a cannonball, and his white bones were exposed. After a few howls, he died.

Liu Wenxiu was also hit in the shoulder by a musket and was captured by the Yongwei Battalion. Just as he was about to chop off the other party's head, he heard the other party shouting: "Don't kill me, I am Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son, I know his whereabouts."

After Huang Degong confirmed the other party's identity, he waved his hand and had him tied up. "Where is Zhang Xianzhong?"

"He...he and Li Dingguo led their men to run eastwards." Liu Wenxiu's lips were dry and he swallowed hard. "He is carrying two boxes of gold and silver treasures, so he can't run fast. If you chase him now, maybe you can catch up with him."

Huang Degong pushed him away and said, "Cavalry Battalion, chase to the east. His Majesty said that if Zhang Xianzhong is dead, he must be found alive or dead."

(End of this chapter)