Daming Military Empire

Chapter 87

Just as Zhu Cijiong was frantically expanding his army in Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places to wipe out the peasant uprising army, the leaders of various rebel armies were also frantically recruiting troops in Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi, preparing to attack cities and land.

These rebel leaders are all from Shaanxi, why did they go to Shanxi to recruit soldiers?These can be said to be the credit of Yang He, in the words of the leader of the rebel army: "That old guy Yang He is too annoying, Shaanxi really can't stay."

Although Master Yang He didn't recruit all the rebels, he still made some achievements. At least all the leaders of the rebels in Shaanxi were forced to go to Shanxi by him.

The rebels from all walks of life are really afraid of this old guy. No matter where they start trouble, they will definitely receive a letter from this old guy asking whether you will surrender or not. benefit.Don't surrender, right? Hong Chengchou, go up and beat them up!

In the beginning, there were still a few rebels foolishly tricked by him into accepting the recruitment, but after a while they had no choice but to rebel, and they couldn’t survive without rebellion.The most hateful thing about this old guy is the extravagant hype about Zhao'an, what guarantees that you will have food, and show you well that you will be appointed officials and nobles.Once you've foolishly listened to him and surrendered, he's starting to play tricks.

Eat, okay? Well, I will feed you for a few days, and then go back to my hometown obediently.To be an official?How can I ask you to be sealed by your performance? Firstly, you have not recruited other rebels, and secondly, you have not contributed to the court. How can I ask you to be sealed?
The rebels from all walks of life played around with him, and they didn't get anything except a few full meals. This big stick and carrots are really not delicious. If you don't surrender, you can't do it.

Under such circumstances, the leaders of the rebel armies from all walks of life unanimously chose the first of the 36 strategies: walking is the best policy.

I can't afford to offend you, can't I go?As a result, volunteers from all walks of life left Shaanxi and came to nearby Shanxi.

There are only three prefectures at the border between Shanxi and Shaanxi, Datong, Taiyuan and Pingyang. Anyone who is not a fool will choose Pingyang. Just kidding, Datong and Taiyuan are both one of the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty, famous military towns , to seek death there?

In this way, Pingyang Mansion became the base camp of the rebels, and all kinds of rebels came here to recruit soldiers and buy horses, echoing each other, and the total number of rebels grew to more than 20 in less than three years!
The biggest one among them is the Fugu King Wang Jiayin mentioned above. He captured Fugu in the first year of Chongzheng and called him Wang Jianfu. At that time, he had more than 3 people.Rebels from all walks of life came to vote one after another, and his power continued to grow. In the fourth year of Chongzheng, he had grown to more than [-] people, accounting for more than half of the rebels.There are countless capable people under him, such as Zijin Liang Wang Ziyong, Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang, Eight Great Kings Zhang Xianzhong, Chuang General Li Zicheng, Lao Hui Ma Shouying, Chuang Tate Tian Liu Guoneng, etc. are now his generals.

As soon as this power swelled, so did his ambition. A small piece of Pingyang mansion could no longer satisfy Wang Jiayin's taste, so he set his sights on the nearby Zezhou.

Zezhou is located in the southeast corner of Shanxi. It is the only way from Shanxi to Henan. The transportation is convenient and the roads extend in all directions. Unlike Pingyang, which is separated from the Central Plains by mountains, the transportation is extremely inconvenient.It can be said that as long as Zezhou is occupied, the door to the hinterland of Ming Dynasty will be opened. At that time, whether it is to go south to Henan, and then occupy the world of flowers in the south of the Yangtze River; or to go east to the capital, it will be very convenient to end the rule of Zhu Ming Dynasty.

After discussing with the generals under him, Wang Jiayin decided to attack Zezhou with the whole army to open the door to the hinterland of Ming Dynasty.

More than 5000 rebels rushed straight to Zezhou. Such a big movement could not be concealed from the eyes of the imperial court. The magistrate of Zezhou was shocked when he received the news, and immediately sent people [-] li to Taiyuan to ask for help.According to Zhu Cijiong's arrangement, Zezhou has only [-] troops in total. It is possible to resist Wang Jiayin's [-] troops a little bit, but it is impossible to keep Zezhou. Now it depends on whether Lu Xiang's promotion is fast or Wang Jiayin's attack It's coming soon.

In fact, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, not all officials were greedy for life and feared death. During the Chongzhen Dynasty, there were still many officials who were not afraid of death and sacrificed their lives for the country. many.For example, the Zezhou prefect is not afraid of death. Instead of fleeing, he left Zezhou City with only 5000 troops, headed for Pingyang Mansion, and finally ran to Zezhou Yangcheng, which is the closest to Pingyang Mansion, and prepared to occupy the city. Stay tight and buy time for Lu Xiangsheng!The name of Zezhou magistrate is not recorded in the historical materials, but he did block Wang Jiayin's footsteps in the Yangcheng area. He is also a man of blood and deserves respect. I won't name him randomly here, just use Zezhou Let the magistrate replace it.

Naturally, Wang Jiayin knew that the imperial court had sent a governor, Lu Xiangsheng, to gather a hundred thousand troops in Taiyuan Mansion to exterminate them, but he was not afraid. He thought back then that he dared to capture Fugu with only a few thousand men, occupying land and becoming king. Now his subordinates There are more than [-] people, so what is he afraid of?

Soldiers come to block, water comes to cover, he was also a guard of the Ming army, and he has a good understanding of the combat effectiveness of those recruits in the court.Isn't it just a bunch of farmers who just put down their hoes? They are also farmers. The farmers under him have been "fighting" in the northwest land for three or four years. Those recruits under Lu Xiangsheng have never even been on the battlefield. Even if there are ten He really didn't pay attention to Wan Dajun.

Pingyang Mansion is next to Zezhou, and it is said that Wang Jiayin's army should be able to reach Yangcheng in a day or two, but the southern part of Pingyang Mansion and the junction of Zezhou are also vast mountains, and Wang Jiayin led more than [-] people across the mountains. , It took five or six days to get to Yangcheng.

He had sent people to investigate how many imperial soldiers and horses there were in Zezhou in advance. He thought that Yangcheng would be guarded by a thousand people, and he probably scared away when he saw more than [-] people, but he never thought about Yangcheng. At this time, the gates of the city were closed tightly and the guards were heavily guarded. One could tell from this posture that they were going to fight stubbornly.

Wang Jiayin was also a soldier, so naturally he would not leave a nail in the way of his back. This Yangcheng must be taken down, otherwise if he loses the battle, his way back will be gone.So, he gave an order, and more than [-] troops directly surrounded the small city of Yangcheng.

During the period of cold weapon warfare, siege has always been a very headache. At that time, there were no aircraft, artillery, or tanks and armored vehicles. The city walls several meters high could not be directly bombed down. We had to build ladders and wells to climb up. , or build a siege engine to smash open the city gate, but these need to be filled with human lives.

Therefore, "Sun Tzu's Art of War" says: Therefore, the first is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the army, and the next is to attack the city. This is to warn the leading generals that attacking the city is the worst policy, but if there is a way, don't attack the city.

Wang Jiayin had also studied "Sun Tzu's Art of War", so he didn't plan to forcefully attack at the beginning. The so-called: attacking the mind is the first, and attacking the city is the bottom. He decided to try to persuade him to surrender first.

The prefect of Zezhou naturally also learned "Sun Tzu's Art of War", so he used the strategy of slowing down the army.I want to persuade you to surrender, okay, come on, let's have a good talk first.

So the two sides began a long negotiation process. Of course, this negotiation was not a face-to-face negotiation, but a letter delivered with a bow and arrow. That is, Wang Jiayin wrote a letter of persuasion and let people shoot it into the city. If the prefect of Zezhou is willing to talk, it will be within a day Reply, if you don't reply within a day, then you have to call.

Since it was a plan to slow down the army, the Zezhou prefect would naturally reply, and he would not be satisfied with the benefits Wang Jiayin promised in the letter of persuasion. He would put forward conditions that were too high to be outrageous, and let Wang Jiayin bargain with him.

Sure enough, Wang Jiayin was fooled, and started to bargain with him. After five or six days of back-and-forth talks, the opinions of the two sides gradually began to unify.

Wang Jiayin became more and more happy. Siege is not so simple. It takes five or six days just to prepare the siege equipment. Now Yangcheng can be taken down without a single soldier. It really is the heart attack!

The prefect of Zezhou is getting more and more anxious. Why hasn't the Governor come here yet?

What the hell is Governor Lu Xiangsheng doing?If you want to know what happened next, let's listen to the next chapter.

(End of this chapter)