Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1078 Kong Youde in a delicate situation
Zhu Mingxia put the luggage team and the old, weak, sick and disabled in the middle, Huang Xiong led the company to the rear, led the team to the front, and the cavalry squad patrolled back and forth.He also asked someone to take out the big flag he had prepared in advance, and when dozens of big flags fluttered, coupled with the neat team, it looked like thousands of troops marching from a distance. Quite imposing.This is Zhu Mingxia's strategy of turning beans into soldiers. He wants to pretend to be a paper tiger to scare the Huang County rebels from acting recklessly. If the rebels really come to attack, the restricted refugees will not easily get in the way, and they can be driven away Cannon fodder can also be thrown aside, in short, it will not lead to a rout because of refugees bombing the camp.

"Pay attention to taking in those left behind!" Zhu Mingxia issued a new order.The whole team began to squirm slowly on the ice and snow ground.

The first leg of the operation is to return to the relay point before nightfall, relying on the village to spend the night,
Zhu Mingxia rode on a captured war horse - when he was in Lingao, he had to go to the cavalry teaching team in the Gaoshanling area to receive horseback riding training every week. Although he might not be able to swing a knife right away, it is still no problem to command the battle on horseback.

The wind was so strong that it hurt his face.But seeing the people and horses rolling around beside him, he felt a little proud in his heart.Although most of them are haggard refugees, in a few years they will all become masters of tigers and wolves.

The crowd moved slowly, although the speed was very slow, they could still walk three to four kilometers per hour.Zhu Mingxia felt that it would not be a big problem to return to the relay station before nightfall.

Along the way, you can still encounter sporadic refugees and rebel rangers-there are many rebel rangers and they are widely distributed.Obviously, Kong Youde attached great importance to Huang County, and sent a large number of scout cavalry to be active.

Zhu Mingxia knew that Laizhou was to the southwest of Huangxian County. If the rebels wanted to expand their scope of activities, they had to attack Laizhou first to fully stretch their hands and feet, otherwise they would be trapped to death between the mountains and seas of Dengzhou.From the perspective of history and the reality of this time and space, the rebel army sent troops to attack Huang County in January, which proves that no matter which time and space it is, the enemy's behavior pattern will not change much.

Since the fall of Dengzhou, the city of Dengzhou has regained order after the initial chaos.The army of rebels gathered, and the guard was stricter than before.The traces after the massacre of the natives have been cleaned up, leaving only the blackened bloodstains on the street and by the walls.

Li Jiuzheng, Kong Youde and others inspected the warehouses, and after incorporating the defeated troops and surrendering troops, they had already locked up the entire city and guarded each city gate. Liao people.Outside the city, all strategic places, such as Mishen Mountain, were full of horse infantry troops. Not only were every household occupied by the army, but tents were lined up in the surrounding suburbs, and horses were in groups.At night, drums and horns clashed, horses neighed constantly, and no one knew how many rebels there were.Pedestrians from south to north have to go through layers of cross-examination.

Because the killing was too heavy when the city was broken, Li, Kong and others were afraid that the surrendered soldiers and civilians who were not the old people of Liaodong in the city would have resentment and become the internal support of the officers and soldiers. Therefore, the control of Dengzhou City was extremely strict. When a person walks, he will be executed as soon as he finds it.

Recently, the customs and defenses in the city have been strengthened again. Not only is there a curfew at night, there are additional guards everywhere, and even people are not allowed to walk without reason during the day, and roads are required to enter and exit.The city walls are even more guarded, and the arrows are passed day and night for vigilance. Anyone who finds that the arrows are not passed will be executed regardless of the reason. The entire Dengzhou City is heavily guarded.

A few days ago, the rebel army had privately cast the seal of "Marshal of the Capital", electing Li Jiu as the "Master of the Capital", Kong Youde as the "Marshal of the Capital", and Geng Zhongming as the governor.

The "Commander's Mansion" of the rebel army, which is also the center of action of the entire army, was located in Sun Yuanhua's Dengzhou governor's yamen.

Most of the generals of the rebel army have been in military service for a long time, and Li Jiuzheng is also a person who has served as the deputy commander of Dongjiang.

Kong Youde was standing with his hands behind his back in a hall of the "Shuai Mansion" at this time, looking at the two big trees in the courtyard - he was not very old, but only 30 years old. body of.

Just looking at his face, he looked very calm, without any tension or worry.However, deep in his heart, he is still thinking about the future of himself and Dongjiang all the time.

Raising troops to create chaos was not Kong Youde's original intention, but more from Li Jiuzheng's intention.But once he really raised the flag of rebellion, he had already made up his mind to go to the dark.

Whether Kong Youde or Li Jiuzheng, neither of them had any plans to become emperors—although the Ming Dynasty had shown signs of terminal illness, it was still a giant in the end. There was only a three-point chance of rebellion, but it was close to death. The plan to pull Sun Yuanhua into the gang, but this is just to expand the momentum.Regarding the specific extent of the rebellion, the high-level rebels did not have a unified understanding.

The door of appeasement has not been closed. No matter whether it is Li, Kong or Geng, it is clear that the court is in a state of desperation. Any mutiny and civil unrest, as long as it reaches a certain scale, appeasement is almost the thing the court is most willing to do.Not to mention, almost none of the several mutinies at the end of the apocalypse and the beginning of Chongzhen did not end in "appeasement".Huanglong was tortured by rioting soldiers in Pidao, and even broke his leg, and finally he "pacified" the matter.

So in general, they still intend to rebel in order to get the best "recommended" conditions.Therefore, from the very beginning, they have continued to express their willingness to accept appeasement by all means.At the beginning, this was a tactic to delay the troops, to delay the arrival of the suppression by the officers and soldiers, to expand the territory as much as possible, and to increase the strength.

As long as you have strong strength, you can put forward sufficient conditions to the court.And this condition is what many generals from Dongjiang have been trying to do.

That would turn Dongjiang Town into a third force that nominally belongs to Daming, but can actually move between Daming and Houjin.

Such signs had already loomed in Guanning Town at that time—the general family in charge of the army was transforming into a warlord. Not only did they receive a large amount of military pay, but the imperial court gradually became ineffective in commanding.

Compared with Guanning Town, Dongjiang Town sits on the Liaohai Sea. If you advance, you can contain Houjin who is trying to enter the customs, and if you retreat, you can threaten the capital and Shandong of the Ming Dynasty. Send military pay and food, let them form a de facto military group on the separatist side.This is the old technique of "consolidating the freshness" that Dongjiang soldiers have been trying to establish a third force in the gap between the two powers of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Brother Liu Xingzuo, who once dominated Dongjiang Town after Mao Wenlong's death, had such a plan.But the Liu brothers are not the old Dongjiang people who followed Mao Wenlong to raise troops, and their appeal is limited, so they can't get things done in the end.

In contrast, people like Li Jiuzheng and Kong Youde were almost all the old troops who followed Mao Wenlong and created Dongjiang's old army. Li Jiuzheng also served as the deputy general of Dongjiang, and he had a high prestige among the old people of Dongjiang.

As long as the imperial court is willing to appease and appoint Li Jiucheng as the general soldier of Dongjiang, the old Dongjiang department will be able to get rid of the "outsider" Huanglong.Let go of your hands and feet and act freely.

Although the abacus was well calculated, Kong Youde knew that things would not be so simple—especially a few days ago, Sun Yuanhua unexpectedly disappeared from the military prison where he was under house arrest, and disappeared without a trace!
The guards guarding him were either dead or ignorant.Although all the guards stationed at the Jianjun Dao Yamen were Liao people, they still tortured the guards after the incident, but found nothing.They either fell asleep, or they didn't hear or see anything.

Losing Sun Yuanhua means losing their biggest weight. Compared with the other officials who were captured together, Sun Yuanhua has the highest official position, the widest relationship in the court, and the highest official in the Denglai area. Every word and deed can have a great influence. Originally, Li Jiuzheng and others planned to use him to contact the imperial court to appease him.

The mysterious disappearance of Sun Yuanhua also brought a more terrifying potential threat, that is, who is it that can take him away without anyone noticing in the heavily guarded Dengzhou City?

Although it was found that all the guarding soldiers were killed on an enemy building the next day, it is very likely that the other party entered by crossing the city, but they dare not say whether it is Li or Kong. For a strange person like Hong Xian, it was only a box she stole, but Sun Yuanhua is a living person.

Not only Sun Yuanhua was missing, but also two boy servants and a servant who served Sun Yuanhua.These four living beings were able to take them out of Dengzhou City from the city wall in a big way in the dark night, and none of them dared to say that they believed it.

On the same day, an order was issued not to spread any news to the outside world, and the other guards in the Jianjun Dao Yamen were silenced from top to bottom as long as they were alive.However, this incident aroused suspicion among the high-level rebels—many people believed that this was done by a certain high-level general in the city, and he probably hid Sun Yuanhua as capital for his future "anyway".

And Kong Youde is the most suspected person - almost everyone thinks: if someone will do this, then Kong Youde is the most likely person.

First of all, he has received the great kindness of Sun Yuanhua—and it is more than that. The relationship between Sun Yuanhua and Kong Youde is not as simple as kindness. Many people have heard that Sun Yuanhua's ability to become the governor of Denglai is related to Kong Youde's secret bribery of the big shots in the court. rumors.After Sun Yuanhua became the governor of Dengzhou, he really treated Kong Youde well.

Secondly, Kong Youde's authority and appeal among the top rebels is second only to Li Jiuzheng. If it is to be done anyway, he is in the most advantageous position-as long as Li Jiuzheng, the "chief culprit", is killed, he will not only be innocent. meritorious service.

The combination of these factors made Kong Youde's situation very unfavorable.

(End of this chapter)