Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 527 World Town Sichuan
The land of Kuizhou is full of mountains. It is said that Guizhou is not three miles flat, and the situation in Kuizhou is even worse.

The terrain of Wanxian can be described as dangerous, in fact, not only Wanxian, but also most of the other counties in Kuizhou. After hearing the report from the guards, Wang Yan immediately ended his observation of Kuizhou, pulled the reins and rode back to the camp with a group of generals .

He walked side by side with Chen Bangyan, urging his horse, and asked: "Sir, has the person who crossed the river to contact Gao Yigong returned?"

"Not yet, but I should be back in the evening."

Wang Yan nodded, and said again: "It's really inconvenient to contact because there is a big river. Mister will send another person to tell Gao Yigong to cross the river as soon as possible."

Now that Wang Yanbing was approaching Wanzhou City, Wu Sangui's soldiers retreated back to Wanzhou City, they had already reached several dangerous peaks outside the city, and they dared not come out.

The camp of the Ming army was built on a rice field west of Wan County. The rice had been cut off, leaving behind piles of rice and haystacks.

Originally, summer planting should have started long ago, but due to the impact of the war, this year's autumn grain harvest in Wan County must have been wiped out.

The rice field is not very big, about [-] mu between the foot of the two mountains.Although it cannot be compared with the rice fields in Jiangnan and Huguang, it is definitely a good rice field in the mountainous Kuizhou.

There are more than 4 people in the Central Route Army plus civilian husbands, and this paddy field can't hold it at all, so the camp covers from the paddy field at the foot of the mountain to the top of the two mountains.

At this time, the camp was very busy. Except for monitoring Wanxian County to prevent the Qing soldiers from taking advantage of the Ming army to set up a stronghold and suddenly killing nearly Wan Ming army, the other soldiers and peasants were busy cutting down the trees on the mountain.

In fact, it doesn’t take too many trees to build the wall and equipment, but the Ming army has the potential to wipe out the two mountains, but it’s because it’s easy to catch fire in July, and Wang Yan doesn’t want to repeat Han Zhaolie The emperor’s mistake was caused by Wu Sangui’s burning of the company’s camp, resulting in a failure. Therefore, the trees in the camp had to be cut down, and the isolation zone outside the camp had to be cut down.

When the group returned to the camp, Dai Zhifan saw it from afar, and hurried up to greet him, and first introduced the situation to Wang Yan, "My lord, the visitor is in the tent, and it is Wu Sangui's confidant General Xia Guoxiang. Willing to surrender."

When Wang Yan and the others heard the words, their expressions all changed, and most of them were not happy. If the Guan Ning army was anyway, then the battle of Sichuan and Shu could basically be concluded.

Cavalry has always been a weakness of the Ming army. In the southern water network and the mountains in the southwest, it may not feel particularly important, but in the future, going north to the Central Plains will be impossible without cavalry.

Wang Yan had a feeling of being in a trance, the victory was inevitably a little easier, he immediately waved and said: "Let's go, everyone follow this pavilion to meet Wu Changbo's envoy."

Xia Guoxiang was sitting in the tent, with a cup of tea prepared on the low table at hand, he picked it up and lifted the lid, blew on it, and then took a small sip.At this time, the curtain was lifted, and he saw a heroic man in golden lacquer armor, laughing and leading a group of armored generals, rushing into the tent.

Xia Guoxiang got up quickly when he saw this, while Wang Yan took off the gold-plated six-petal helmet, revealing his black hair all over his head, handed the helmet to the guard, and then sat down in front of the commander-in-chief.

The big tent had just been built, and the layout was not perfect. The soldiers of the brigade moved the chairs and put them away, and then quickly retreated.

"Xia Guoxiang, who is under King Pingxi's account, has been ordered to come here to meet Wang Xianggong!"

Wang Yan looked at the visitor, came to the tent and bowed his hands to salute him, he couldn't help but take a closer look at him, he saw that he was seven feet long, about thirty years old, he was born with a dignified appearance, with a pair of star eyes on his face, he should be a wise general .

"Wu Pingxi was a general of the Ming Dynasty in the past. He was highly regarded by the late emperor and he relied on it as a stone pillar of the country. During the Jiashen period, the late emperor was martyred. Not enough to resist the enemy, but returning to the Qing Dynasty due to poverty, there is no other choice." Since Wu Sangui intended to surrender, Wang Yan naturally wanted to find something good to say. You don't have to be so polite, just sit down and talk."

Xia Guoxiang sat down again, and the atmosphere in the tent was lively. If you didn't watch the tens of thousands of people outside the tent, making swords and crossing swords, building ladders and other siege equipment, it would really be as if the friendly army joined forces.

From Wang Yan's words, Xia Guoxiang heard that he had the intention of recruiting the Wu army, and he couldn't help laughing in his heart, cupped his hands on the seat and said, "My lord, my lord is indeed devoted to Daming with all his heart, but the situation forced him to do so. To serve the Qing Dynasty. Now that Xianggong has sent troops into Sichuan, my prince does not want to make him an enemy, so he sent his subordinates down to discuss with him in detail."

Wang Yan nodded and said, "It's my great fortune for Wu Pingxi to have such an idea. I originally planned to write a letter to persuade myself. Since Wu Pingxi sent General Xia first, the matter would be easy to handle. Press As usual, this pavilion hopes to finalize the matter within three days. The imperial court, according to the imperial edict given to Wu Pingxi during the Hongguang period, was granted the title of Duke of Ji, and the Guan Ning army remains independent."

Wang Yan's conditions were very generous. Wu Sangui was only Ping Xibo before he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, but now he is given to Duke Ji, which means that he has worked for the Qing Dynasty for two years, and his value in the Ming Dynasty has doubled.

At present, the Ming army is still at a disadvantage overall. It is worthwhile to exchange a duke for [-] to [-] Guanning troops. The Manchu Qing can offer the title of a county king, and Wang Yan is naturally willing to have a duke.

Of course, it is also because of the excessive number of titles in the Ming Dynasty in the past few years. The Hongguang, Lu Wang, Lu Wang, Gui Wang, and Longwu regimes have promised a large number of titles in order to win people's hearts. In the past, earls were rare things. They all grabbed a lot.

Xia Guoxiang was going to bargain with Wang Yan and delay a little longer, but Wang Yan said such a condition all at once, which made him not know how to speak for a while.

If even higher conditions were put forward, it would show that Wu Sangui had no sincerity at all, and it would make Wang Yan see that they were deliberately delaying time.

Xia Guoxiang pondered for a while, and finally bit the bullet and said: "I will tell my lord the conditions of my husband, but my lord still has some doubts about the matter anyway. After all, for the past three years, Guan Ningjun has been under the supervision of the Qing army. Your Majesty, I have done many crimes worthy of death, so my prince is still a little worried, afraid that the court will settle accounts after autumn."

Wang Yan listened carefully. He could understand Wu Sangui's mentality and concerns, so he said in a deep voice, "What conditions does Wu Pingxi have?"

"My lord wants to live in Sichuan." Xia Guoxiang replied in a low voice, looking very confident.

Hearing this, Wang Yan stood up, and the faces of all the generals in the tent also changed. This Wu Sangui is really a hard-boiled duck, and he is trapped in Kuizhou. He still thinks about Shizhen Sichuan.

In the land of Sichuan and Shu, the land of abundance, is there such a good town?Sichuan is located in the upper reaches of Chu and Jiangxi. How could the imperial court give such an important place to a person with a criminal record to guard it.

Xia Guoxiang glanced at Wang Yan, saw his face change, and his heart also became nervous along with him. He was not afraid that Wang Yan would not agree, but worried that Wang Yan would respond directly.

Wang Yan stood up, but after a while, he sat down again, without showing anger on his face, but said in a deep voice: "The land of Sichuan is of great importance to the imperial court. Wu Pingxi's conditions, even if this pavilion agrees Even if the court agrees, will Wu Pingxi believe it? This matter is beyond the authority of the court, so Wu Pingxi should ask Wu Pingxi to put forward another condition."

After hearing this, Xia Guoxiang suddenly realized that, logically speaking, even if Wang Yan agreed to this condition, Wu Sangui would not believe it.On a July day, he suddenly felt a cold chill on his back, "What Xianggong said is true. This is my lack of consideration. Then I will go back to the city first, explain to my prince, and after discussing it, I will reply to Xianggong."

Wang Yan nodded. In fact, just now he thought about agreeing directly. First, he told Wu Sangui anyway, and eliminated Hauge together. After the fact of anyway was confirmed, he pressed down the conditions.

It's just that he considered that the main purpose of recruiting Wu Sangui was because the imperial court needed a strong cavalry. In this way, he would inevitably be at odds with Wu Sangui in the future, and would not dare to rely on the Guanning Army on the battlefield. It will affect him to recruit other generals, so he did not choose to agree.

At this time Wang Yan heard Xia Guoxiang's words, waved his hand and said: "This pavilion will give Wu Pingxi three days. Within three days, the army will not seize the city. I hope General Xia will convey the meaning of this pavilion to Wu Pingxi as soon as possible." Make a decision."

Xia Guo wanted to nod in response, clasped his fists in salute, and hurriedly exited the big tent.

Seeing this, Wang Yan frowned and thought for a while. After a while, seeing all the generals in the tent looking at him, he waved his hands and said, "You all step back~"

Everyone got up together, bowed their fists in salute, and then retreated, but Yuan Zongdi stayed behind. After everyone had left, he suddenly clasped his fists and said, "Master, there is something I have to report to Mr. Xiang at the end."

Hearing the sound, Wang Yan came back to his senses, froze for a moment, looked at him and said, "Oh~ what is it?"

Yuan Zongdi pursed his lips, "Sir, I think Wu Sangui wants to delay time."

Wang Yan raised his brows, he also had this doubt in his heart, just now when Xia Guoxiang mentioned the world town of Sichuan, he had some doubts in his mind.

"Why do you say that?" Wang Yan straightened his body.

Yuan Zongdi clasped his fists and replied: "The general was waiting for the army in Longbao Town, and the town guard said that before our army entered the bottom, the Qing soldiers plundered all the food in the town, so the general felt that Wu Sangui obviously wanted to stick to it."

(Thanks to zard for the two hundred book coins, gdrtg, and Yuedong Woxin for their rewards, and thanks to book friends 14021, abcde4869, Hunter, and the book has a monthly ticket of 2581.)
(End of this chapter)