Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 905
It is not an easy task for Wang Yan to let the Zhejiang Party and the Tang-supporting faction abandon Tang Wang and Lu Wang. This requires all factions to gradually accept the current rules of the Ming court and acquiesce to the political ecology created by Wang Yan.

During this period, Tang and Lu had to be vigilant when they saw his strategy of boiling frogs in warm water, so as to prevent them from jumping out in a hurry and breaking with him.

That night, Wang Yan and Wang Fuzhi really met and talked, and then went to participate in the discussion together early in the morning.

When Wang Fuzhi arrived at the meeting hall, Wang Yan still took a seat in the inner hall. Not long after, the two kings of Tang and Lu also arrived.

The three of them sat down, and the guards outside reported, "His Highnesses, Mr. Qu has something urgent to see you!"

Wang Yan was taken aback for a moment, he was about to enter the meeting hall to discuss matters, Qu Congzhi came here at this time, there would be something urgent, he hurriedly ordered: "Let him in!"

After a while, Qu Cong walked straight into the inner hall, bowed and saluted. "Humble duty to pay homage to the three Highnesses."

"What's so frustrating?"

Seeing his anxious expression, Wang Yan frowned.

"I have lost my composure." Qu Congzhi came to his senses, and hurriedly bowed again.

Wang Yan waved his hand and straightened his body, "What's the matter, you can't wait until the end of the meeting hall's prediction, tell me."

The princes of Tang and Lu also looked at Qu Congzhi seriously. The latter pondered for a moment, then saluted and said, "Your Highness, the battle report from Sichuan has come back."

It has been two months since the Sichuan war started. A few days ago, Yuan Zongdi and Wang Yingxiong sent people to send back news that they were fighting fiercely with Hauge in Hezhou, and the two sides were in a state of balance.

Although the situation in Sichuan was not as urgent as before for the entire Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty's attention mainly returned to Nanyang and Lianghuai, but this does not mean that the Ming Dynasty did not care about the situation in Sichuan.

Qu Congzhi was in such a hurry to announce the report, obviously it couldn't be good news. After Wang Yan heard it, his voice sank, "What did the report say?"

Everyone held their breath, and a bad premonition came to their hearts.

At this time, Qu Congzhi handed the report to Wang Yan, and then said worriedly: "In September, the news that Hauge tore up the peace agreement was sent to Sichuan by spies, and Yuan Duzhen strengthened the defense of Hezhou. Hauge really attacked Hezhou, the two sides saw each other in the city for a period of time, Hauge did not make any progress, and this situation lasted until November, when Yuan Duzhen thought that Hauge was going to retreat, he did not want Wu Sangui to overturn Sichuan Dongdashan attacked Wanxian by surprise, then outflanked Hezhou, occupied Fotuguan, and surrounded Yuandu Town in Hezhou. King Yingxiong, the governor of Sichuan, sent troops to support him, and was ambushed by Wu Sangui. He was defeated and committed suicide. The situation in Sichuan immediately deteriorated. "

Qu Congzhi's voice went from loud to soft. If Wang Yan and the others were not holding their breaths to listen, they would not have heard what he said clearly.

From Qu Congzhi's words, the outline of the entire Sichuan campaign was outlined. Hauge deliberately attracted the attention of the Ming army in Hezhou, led the Ming army to Hezhou, and then used Wu Sangui's partial division to cross the mountain unexpectedly. Outflanked Yuan Zongdi's rear and defeated Chuan Du Wang Yingxiong who was going to support him.

Yuan Zongdi was trapped in Hezhou, the governor Wang Yingxiong was defeated and committed suicide, and only the governor Fan Yiheng was left in charge of the situation in Sichuan. Isn't Sichuan in danger?

This situation made everyone look at each other in blank dismay. No one expected that the Sichuan defense they had hoped for would collapse so quickly.

The governor was killed, and Yuan Zongdi, the admiral of the military, was trapped. This will inevitably bring a sharp shock to Sichuan.

"Where is Wang Deren?" Tang Wang couldn't help interjecting after hearing this, and said anxiously.

After the Ming Dynasty combined the news from all parties and the report of Jin Bao, the envoy detained in the Kingdom of Jin, and judged that Hauge might break the contract, Wang Yan transferred Jiangxi Wang Deren to Hunan and entered Sichuan via Guizhou.

Wang Deren is a general of Tang Wang faction, second only to Jin Shenghuan and Zheng Chenggong. After hearing Qu Congzhi's narration, Tang Wang immediately became worried.

"Reporting to His Highness Tang Wang, the military report is General Wang, who sent someone to send it."

Since the military report can still be sent back, it means that Wang Deren's troops did not suffer a disastrous defeat in the war. Tang Wang was slightly relieved, but immediately became concerned because of the crisis in Sichuan.

While they were talking, Wang Yan had already read the military newspaper, and his heart turned pale with shock.

Wang Yan was full of confidence in Sichuan's defense, but he had calculated everything. He never thought that Wu Sangui would come out from the mountains in eastern Sichuan and catch the Sichuan defenders by surprise.

Speaking of it, it was because of him that Wu Sangui would go to the mountains in eastern Sichuan. If it hadn’t been for the battle of Wanxian, Wang Yan had forced Wu Sangui into a corner and entered the vast mountains and asked him to walk the mountains in eastern Sichuan. Never dare to cross the mountain and attack Wanxian.

"Since Wang Deren sent back the news, how is he doing now? Can the war in Sichuan be reversed?"

Tang Wang was relieved that there was nothing wrong with Wang Deren's department, but what to do with the Sichuan problem, Tang Wang hurriedly asked again.

Without waiting for Qu Congzhi's reply, Wang Yan, who had read the battle report, said, "After Wang Deren arrived in Chongqing, he marched towards Fotu Pass, but Wu Sangui sent back the two reinforcements he organized. At present, because Yuan Zongdi was In the siege, Wang Yingxiong was defeated and committed suicide. The morale of the Sichuan army has been very low. Wang Deren hopes that the imperial court will immediately send reinforcements to Sichuan."

After hearing this, the King of Lu was no longer optimistic about the situation in Sichuan, "Although the battle in Yangzhou has been understood, news came back from Jiangbei a few days ago that the Qing army in Hefei has withdrawn from Fengyang to Huaibei, and our court is safe on the Huaihe River. It is possible to mobilize some troops to rescue Sichuan, but the road to Sichuan is difficult, is it still too late to mobilize troops now?"

This was one of Wang Yan's concerns. Although the Ming Dynasty had built some roads in Guizhou, it was much easier for the Ming army to move in and out, but it may be a bit slower to deploy troops now.

But compared to this, Wang Yan was more worried about another thing. He was afraid that Sun Kewang would come and make trouble again at this time.

The Ming armies in Guizhou and Guangxi have been at odds with Sun Kewang in Yunnan for the past six months. Sun Kewang's western armies have repeatedly crossed the provincial borders to test the Ming army's defenses, but Sun Kewang is afraid of the strength of the Ming Dynasty and has never dared to make big moves. However, if he knew that the Ming army was at a disadvantage in fighting in Sichuan, he might take the opportunity to aggressively invade the Southwest.

Thinking of this, Wang Yan couldn't help it anymore, "Go, inform the officials in the meeting hall that today's discussion will be suspended for one day, and then send someone to notify the cabinet and military officials to come here to discuss the matter!"

Tang Wang and Lu Wang listened, and did not object. Such a big incident must be dealt with first. Neither of them objected. Qu Congzhi hurriedly bowed out and went to inform.

(End of this chapter)