In the south of Suzhou City, the marshal's army was camped ten miles away.
Liu Chengzong looked at the largest city in the Hexi Corridor from a distance. Even through the city wall, he could see the eight-foot-high Bell and Drum Tower in the center of the city.
Suzhou is the largest city in Hexi. During the day and night, the flags on the city have been changed three times. First, it was the Ming army's Zhuzi flag, and then it was pulled out by the Sanjie Hui rebels and replaced by the three-petal white lotus Beidou flag with an indigo background.
.
Now, Gao Yingdeng's troops were welcomed into the city and took over the defense of Suzhou. The White Lotus Beidou flag was also replaced, and his Four Directions Marshal flag was flying at the top of the city.
Not far away, General Zhang Zhen from the Huben Camp came galloping up. After the announcement, he walked to the tent, saluted and reported: "Master Handsome, the military households in the city and those who believe in Bailian are all safe; all places where they will be ambushed and assassinated
We have our soldiers to ensure that nothing goes wrong; General Han has packed up the guards, so the handsome man can have a good sleep."
Liu Chengzong rubbed his neck. There was nothing wrong with what he said at first glance, but after careful consideration, he mentioned that the 'places that would be ambushed and assassinated' were obviously inspected by Ma Ke... This is the Marshal's Mansion.
A general with experience in assassination.
"There's no rush to enter the city." Liu Shizi waved his hand and asked, "Are you saying that Jun Hu and San Jie Hui are not the same group?"
As soon as he entered Jiayuguan, he had already received information from Gao Yingdeng about the Sanjie Congregation's uprising in Suzhou City.
Strictly speaking, Suzhou is composed of two cities, one is the ancient Jiuquan City, and the other is the Suzhou City that was expanded during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. This city is extremely square, with the base of the city wall and the three-story bell and drum tower as the center.
Layout by Bagua.
The Bell and Drum Tower in the center was the east gate of ancient Jiuquan City, and the other half of the city that spread to the east was the result of expansion during the Hongwu Year.
It’s not like Liu Shizi has never seen bumpkins from big cities. Lanzhou City and Pingliang City are very big. Most of those two giant cities are occupied by the royal palace. There are not many soldiers and civilians in the city, so the difficulty of attacking the city is not as difficult as it seems. p>
Suzhou is different. Seventy percent of the people living in this city are military families. Once the residents resist tenaciously, they will inevitably pay a heavy price.
The Sanjie congregation revolted and the Marshal's Mansion captured Suzhou without a single blow, which was an unexpected surprise for him.
But at this time, the bee-tail needle coming out of the city hinted that the Sanjie congregation and the military households were not of the same mind.
Bee Tail Needle couldn't help but laugh, and then he suppressed his smile and said: "The commander-in-chief doesn't know something. The people who believe in Bailian in the city have been preparing for an uprising for a long time. Those lotus flags were made in advance, but for some reason, it was supposed to be two days later."
Suokang, the leader who went to the city to preside over the uprising, did not come, so the uprising was put on hold."
"Isn't their leader the one named Song Xian?"
"No, anyone who believes in Bai Lian has to go through three tribulations. The commander-in-chief doesn't know. There are four streets, nine big crosses and eighteen small crosses in Suzhou City."
Bee Tail Needle spoke with a tone full of envy, shaking his head and saying: "Song merchants have their own shops and shops on three big crosses and six small crosses. They want to eat, drink and drink. Where can a person like him be?"
There are three tribulations."
The southeast, northwest, and west sides of Suzhou City are all built in extremely straight directions. The only irregularity of the city is that it is slightly longer from east to west and slightly shorter from north to south. It is generally rectangular. This is because Suzhou in the Ming Dynasty was actually two cities put together. Its old city stretches from the west gate to the Bell and Drum Tower, which was built for the Jiuquan City in the Jin Dynasty. The Bell and Drum Tower is based on the east gate tower of the ancient Jiuquan City, with a three-story tower built on top, forming a height of nearly 30 meters.
Extraordinarily majestic.
During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, Jiuquan City was expanded, the east city wall was demolished, and half of the city was planned to the east, forming today's Suzhou City.
Because there was a lack of population in Hexi in the early Ming Dynasty, Suzhou City did not expand naturally due to large populations like other cities. Instead, Shaanxi planned to solve the problem of resettlement of the Suzhou Banner Guards. Therefore, the street pattern was particularly clear, even if outsiders entered the city.
, it’s hard to lose your sense of direction no matter how you turn.
With the Drum Tower as the center, four streets are divided into the southeast, northwest and northwest. Each street has two major crossroads. Counting the bell and drum towers that cross the center, they are called nine major crosses.
Four main streets and nine crosses are divided into nine small streets, eighteen small crosses, and thirty-six half-alleys, forming the layout of the entire Suzhou City.
Fengwei explained to Liu Shishi: "The commander in the city, Hu Zhishen, and Wang Yanming wanted Song Xian to pay for food and recruit soldiers, but Song Xian didn't want to. The owner of his pawn shop was from the Sanjie Society in Suzhou and knew the slogan of the uprising.
, Song Xian shouted out while burning the IOU to recruit troops, and the commander Wang Yanming was killed on the spot. Song Xian easily captured Suzhou City."
Liu Chengzong narrowed his eyes and said that the time for them to enter the customs was just right. Two days earlier, Suzhou City would not be easy to fight; two days later, I am afraid that the people in the city would have to fight among themselves for the position of leader.<
/p>
It's better now. Gao Yingdeng's troops have stabilized the streets and can avoid the city's destruction from the second war to the greatest extent.
While Bee Tail Needle was talking, he saw at the south gate of Suzhou not far away, two rows of soldiers escorting several people out of the city, and horse teams from the Marshal's Mansion guarding them on the left and right.
You Tangqi came over first and reported: "Commander, General Gao said that Hu Zhishen, the former commander of Suzhou Guards in the city, and merchant Song Xian came to greet him."
Liu Chengzong raised his riding whip and smiled at the bee-tailed needle: "Seeing that I won't enter the city, they are still anxious. It's just in time to see the one who captured Suzhou."
In any case, this surrender command allowed Hu Zhishen and Song Xian, who incited the uprising, to contribute to the Marshal's Mansion. With the flag flying and lowering on the top of Suzhou City, the entire Jiayuguan Fortress defense system collapsed, giving the Marshal's Mansion a huge military advantage.
.
According to the news from Wei Qian'er, who divided his troops into three groups and attacked the surrounding forts, the vanguard army was completely moving all the way to retreat.
The nearby defenders all looked forward to the wind and descended. At present, in the entire Jiuquan Oasis, the only fortresses still holding on were Jiayuguan behind them and Linshuiyi on the other side of the Beida River in front of them.
The defenders of the two fortresses were outnumbered and weak. Although they defended the city, it was difficult for the army that besieged the commander's mansion to win quickly in a short time. However, they did not have the ability to attack out of the city, so they could only huddle in the city and wait for reinforcements to run out.
Not far away, two small teams with different colors were slowly approaching. On the left, there were more than ten people in military uniforms. They looked like surrendered troops from Suzhou City. On the right, there were more than ten people in civilian uniforms, but some people were holding up three-petal white lotus on their faces.
Beidou Banner is obviously a member of the Three Tribulations Society.
Liu Chengzong thought this flag was very beautiful. The white flag had been dyed blue, leaving only the white mark of the lotus on the top and the Beidou on the bottom. It was simple and elegant, and had a good meaning. The lotus was on the ground and the Beidou was flying in the sky. This flag was inverted.
La.
Just as he was about to praise the flag to his subordinates, he saw from the corner of his eye that Bee Tail Needle looked at the Sanjie congregation with a complicated expression, with a frown and a bit of disgust in his eyes.
To be honest, Liu Chengzong also despises the Sanjie Society in his heart, because no one in the world understands the war potential of the Sanjie Society as an independent sect better than him.
In this regard, Wang Ziyong, the leader of the Sanjie Society, is not as good as him, because Wang Ziyong is capable, but not innovative. The teaching materials he uses to train the congregation and form an army are those compiled by Liu Chengzong in Heilongshan as dictated by Liu Liuliu.
Tao Min Zhuang Cao Dian.
Under the specific environment of Yan'an Prefecture, that set of tools was used by the Liu family. It took a year and a half to train a small Qi family army. However, in Wang Zi's hands, it was enough to train a group of grass bandits.
It's not because Liu Chengzong is strong and Wang Ziyong is weak. The key is that the set of things was compiled by Liu Chengzong based on his own situation. It only has things about military training, no reasonable organizational structure, and no local management and construction. He is better at these things, his brother, and his younger brother.
, it was all done for him in Yan'an Prefecture, so there is no need to include it in the textbook.
Wang Ziyong did not have these things. The organizational structure was loosely organized by the White Lotus Sect, and the weapons and supplies relied on military households to pry the corners of the empire. This resulted in the Three Tribulations Association being full of followers in the local area. They had extremely strong intelligence capabilities, but
Without the power to control the place, it is equivalent to having three cards left in Landlord and only having one, two, two and three in your hand.
Either you can commit petty theft, or you can only resort to riots, which are very limiting. The most embarrassing thing is that even if you capture the city, you don't have the ability to govern the place.
Even if they were originally fierce and brave frontier soldiers, they would become soft-footed shrimps under this organizational form after joining the Sanjie Society. They originally had 100% of their abilities as soldiers, but now they have to become the chief executive of the Sanjie Society and be able to display their abilities.
It’s a good achievement to have two achievements.
They are incomparable to the regular army.
Therefore, in Liu Chengzong's mind, the position of the Sanjie congregation is that of the rural and brave grass bandits of the irregular army. It is not surprising that the officers of the Marshal's Office despise Sanjie, but it is wrong to despise them.
This guy was also a bandit. In the past, he teamed up with Zhao Fuhuan to lead troops, and was despised by the veterans. He was awarded the honorary title of being the first to be dismissed by his soldiers on the battlefield from the Marshal's Palace. Why should he look down on the Sanjie Society?<
/p>
While Liu Shizi was wondering, Bee Tail Needle spoke up: "Commander, this group of people from Xin Bailian are not good enough. They refuse to obey even if they have no ability. Eight out of ten robberies in the city are caused by Xin Bailian. They fail to succeed and fail."
If you have more than enough, then Song Xian still has some abilities."
In fact, what he said was very restrained.
The officers and soldiers of the Marshal's Mansion outside the city will have a great impression of Sanjie. On the one hand, they think they are their own people, and on the other hand, they feel that they helped the Marshal capture Suzhou City. However, Gao Yingdeng and Han Shipan, who were the first to enter the city,
In the hearts of the soldiers, their attitude toward the Sanjie Society suddenly changed, and they felt ashamed to associate with it.
In the morning when Gao Ying entered the city, Suzhou City was nominally under the control of the Sanjie Society, but in fact only the two cross streets in the south of the city were under the control of Song Xian, and other places were not under control at all, and there were attacks everywhere.
Smash, rob, fight, kill.
To a certain extent, their congregations are very simple. Bullying of the people rarely happens in Suzhou City, but there are countless people who cut themselves during the robbery, because after the city is broken - everyone is a member of the Three Tribulations Society.
A leaderless group.
Bee Tail Needle's ideological changes actually came from Gao Yingdeng. When he first entered the city, he didn't think the random robbery was very bad until Gao Yingdeng taught him a lesson.
Gao Yingdeng was a fierce general whom Liu Chengzong borrowed from the Yan'an Guard King in exchange for 200 horses. When he was chasing He Huchen's retreat, he chased himself into the enemy's retreat. After being overthrown, he was helped up by the enemy and dragged away.
Only then did our pursuing army catch up with him and capture him again.
All the ideological education he received came from Liu Chengzong, so random robbery was the last thing he could see.
When Bee Tail Needle entered the city, he was called over by Gao Yingdeng to stabilize order, and he was given a set of regular army's dimension-reducing attacks on the grass bandits from the point of view of robbery.
"General Gao said that looting is not a problem. The Marshal's Mansion organizes looting. The purpose of the Marshal is to equalize the wealth and the poor so that everyone can live a better life. They loot privately and are naturally our enemies.
”
Bee Tail Needle spoke eloquently now, and said to Liu Chengzong: "When I entered the city, I didn't understand why, but later I figured out that they robbed the big households to keep the money and food for themselves, so they became big households. Naturally,
They are the enemies of the commander-in-chief."
Bee Tail Needle never dreamed that his words could actually inspire Liu Chengzong.
His words made Liu Chengzong aware of another shortcoming of the generals in the Marshal's Office. Most generals were not familiar with cooperating with friendly forces. After the city was captured from within, the first-level generals could not face the people who assisted them with a correct and tolerant attitude.
Friendly forces.
Only a few people in the Marshal's Mansion had this experience, including him, eldest brother, Cheng Yun, Cao Yao, etc. After that, they sent troops to Qinghai and never cooperated with friendly forces again.
But now that the Marshal's Army has once again entered the Pass, cooperating with all friendly forces, it is inevitable in Liu Chengzong's eyes.
Although the Marshal's Mansion is powerful, Liu Chengzong is not arrogant enough to think that he can wipe out the world with his own strength. Fighting in coordination with friendly forces is a lesson that the generals of the Marshal's Mansion must learn.
Realizing this, Liu Chengzong laughed in front of Bee Tail Needle.
Half a day of chaos is not a good situation for the city of Suzhou, but it is an excellent learning opportunity for the generals to learn from the future development of the Marshal's Mansion. After all, there will be no leader in the Three Tribulations of Suzhou, and the various small bosses will be scattered.
If Yingdeng is not handled well, it will not lead to internal strife.
Before the confused Bee Tail Needle could ask questions, not far away, Song Xian and the commander Hu Zhishen had already approached. After being notified by the guards, the two stepped forward to bow down and salute.
Liu Chengzong stepped forward to help the two of them up, and said with a smile: "Suzhou Yiqi, you two are meritorious members of the Marshal's Mansion, so you don't need to salute."
Song Xian declined, but Hu Zhishen on the other side quickly replied: "Reporting to the King of Han, the change of flag is all the credit of Mr. Song, and the villain dare not take the credit."
Liu Chengzong actually had no impression of Hu Zhishen.
But among his many titles, he likes to be called the King of Han. He was in a good mood when he realized the shortcomings of the Marshal's Mansion. Now when he heard Hu Zhishen call him the King of Han, he felt even happier. He immediately smiled and said: "I
This person is easy to get along with. As long as you are against Ming Dynasty at home and Jin Dynasty externally, you are my brothers and sisters, Liu Chengzong."
Hu Zhishen said sincerely, this rebellion against the Ming Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty has nothing to do with me. At most, I don't oppose the Marshal's Palace, and I just want to enjoy life as a commander who waits for death.
He knows that there is no shortage of such people in the Marshal's Mansion. Many capable generals are just waiting to die. So a person like him who has no ability...should also be able to wait to die, right?
Hu Zhishen had been living in the Ming Dynasty for so many years, and he had never thought that it was a shame to earn a living.
But Liu Chengzong didn't think so in his heart. He waved his hand and said: "I think Mr. Song has made great contributions to the city and is talented himself, so he will temporarily take over the post of commander and magistrate of Suzhou Guard, be in charge of seals, and take charge of all Suzhou Guards." Song Xian's face immediately showed ecstasy. Most of this joy was fake, but some of his true feelings were also revealed. As the first person in Hexi to open a city to surrender, he had already expected Liu Chengzong to promote him to an official position.
It's just that his estimated official position is Qianhu.
"As for General Hu, I will appoint you as Suzhou Commander-in-Chief. I will give you the establishment of the Suzhou Battalion. I will temporarily send you one month of food and grass to persuade you to surrender and recruit troops. After one month, you will go to the front line. If you have made meritorious deeds, there will be other important uses." p>
Hu Zhishen was about to cry. What if he had agreed to just eat and wait for death? He prostrated and said: "I would like to thank the King of Han for his promotion, but I have no real talent and learning. I hope..."
Liu Chengzong narrowed his eyes: "Huh?"
Hu Zhishen was frightened, and hurriedly retreated and said: "I hope the king can teach Dong Ju about Suzhou and assign his righteous husband Yan Zhi to the camp, and send another general who is good at fighting to assist the villain in running the camp." Liu Chengzong was completely unable to understand Hu Zhishen's positioning of himself as a useless snack. He only regarded it as a modest remark and to avoid suspicion. He also said in his heart that General Hu was quite sensible. He glanced at the bee-tailed needle and waved his hand: "In that case, Zhang Zhen,
You will first serve as the deputy general in Suzhou Camp and serve as General Hu’s assistant."
After that, he looked at Hu Zhishen and said: "But General Hu, your deputy has to rely on you to recruit surrender. There is a guerrilla Ding Guodong in Jiayuguan, and there is Qian Zongmi Laoyin in Linshuiyi City. Who can be recruited to surrender?"