But no matter what, the Runing Army finally achieved the purpose of sending troops, so Wu Shigong kept smiling at home today. Wu Shigong had always had a good temper towards his wife and children, but now seeing Wu Shigong so happy,
Then there was constant laughter in the inner house,
So during dinner, the ladies' repertoire was performed in the inner house. In a word: To satirize Wu Shigong is to base one's happiness on Wu Shigong's embarrassment. Of course Wu Shigong did not take this kind of joke seriously, he was originally
He has a thick skin. But he will not expose his shortcomings and argue with a dozen chattering ladies.
However, after dinner, Wu Shigong grabbed the most sarcastic Xiu Zhu and dragged her into her room. After some false resistance from Xiu Zhu, Wu Shigong finally succeeded in his sexual desire.
They were an old couple anyway, and they knew each other quite well. But after a while, Xiuzhu said: Why are the twin sons so naughty? Then he said: How are the ladies in the inner house. They were just chatty, and they kept talking.
It broke Wu Shigong's interest.
Wu Shigong was so angry! Why was this woman so half-hearted at this time? Wasn't this contempt for her own fighting ability? So after a fierce battle, Xiuzhu was finally subdued.
But after lying down to rest, Xiuzhu started nagging again: "Master! You don't want slaves to serve you now. Let Xiu'er be around you every day. What good is she? She didn't take over the house and become your concubine.
But I have even raised my children for you. I still don’t feel at ease being a wife, and will hang around you all day long. At first glance, I look like a coquettish girl, just like her master."
Wu Shigong pretended to sleep with his eyes closed. He thought to himself: "Isn't it better for you to rest more, Xiuzhu? Why are you so noisy about being a maid? Besides, Xiuzhu, you are always around the child and worrying about it, which is rare.
Appear in front of me, where can I find your aunt!" However, Wu Shigong would not join in the intrigues in the inner house, so at this time he could only pretend to be deaf and dumb.
"Why don't you say anything?" Xiuzhu pushed Wu Shigong angrily, "Master, you are partial. The other sisters have several children, but I only have one. You don't love me anymore."
Wu Shigong was already annoyed by Xiuzhu's demonic sound. He could no longer pretend to sleep. He turned around and hugged Xiuzhu, sighing: "But you are very capable! You can give birth to two children at once. Master, I will try harder tonight.
Let you give birth to triplets."
…
It’s really troublesome to have so many women!
On the sixth day of September in the twelfth year of Chongzhen, Yang Sichang left Beijing, and the officials in Beijing went out of the city to see him off ceremoniously. Yang Sichang did not dare to neglect at all. He traveled quickly and arrived at Xiangyang, the base camp of the encirclement and suppression in just over 20 days. He got off the bus.
He immediately convened a military meeting with the civil and military officials of his department, and began to rectify military discipline while strengthening Xiangyang's city defense.
According to Emperor Chongzhen's instructions, Yang Sichang focused the encirclement and suppression campaign on Zhang Xianzhong. However, he believed that it would be difficult to inflict heavy losses on the enemy if the troops were divided into separate groups in the past. Therefore, he decided to appoint generals in the army to centralize military power. So when he first arrived in Xiangyang, he
Shangshu suggested appointing Zuo Liangyu as the "Pingtai General", "presiding over all the ministries, obeying his command, and co-ministers planning and changing careers." He even compared Zuo Liangyu to Li Su, a famous general who pacified the feudal towns in the Tang Dynasty, saying that he
Although he did not dare to claim that Pei Du was the good prime minister at that time, Zuo Liangyu was not far different from Li Su.
At this time, in order to strengthen the command force, Emperor Chongzhen had prepared to transfer Yu Zilian to the deputy commander of the Ming army in Henan and Huguang provinces, and Liu Yuanbin to supervise the army. These two officials and eunuchs with military talents were to be transferred
All transferred.
However, after receiving Yang Sichang's memorial, he immediately changed his mind and complied with all Yang Sichang's requirements. This fully demonstrated his support and trust in Yang Sichang.
In fact, Yang Sichang's promotion of a military general to be the commander-in-chief of the president's ministries was also an arrangement made in response to the shortcomings of the military system at that time. Regardless of whether Zuo Liangyu was a suitable candidate, this behavior can actually be regarded as the right medicine.
Since the middle period of the Ming Dynasty, the nobles and the military have always been nobles and military officials. The generals who commanded operations were all civil servants. A governor without the title of Shilang is usually the censor of Qiandu, which is only the fourth rank, but his subordinates are often generals with the first rank of military rank.
The soldiers were ordered around like slaves.
The generals of the civil service have great authority, but they do not have their own troops. The generals who lead the troops are controlled by the governors. Although it is determined by the system, they may not all be convinced. Therefore, the governors and generals often fail to give effective command during battle.
The imperial court did not really pay attention to these polished commanders who had no real strength, and easily moved in and out of office. Most of the people who were dismissed and beheaded were this type of governors and governors. The separation of generals and the inconsistency of power really caused the mismanagement of various battlefields in the late Ming Dynasty.
Opportunity was an important reason for poor command. Yang Sichang wanted to use generals to lead the troops and wanted to break this situation.
On the other hand, the military establishment of the Ming Dynasty was based on a passive and decentralized defense strategy. The country's military was dispersed in hundreds of headquarters, collectively called "biao". Every general, from the governor (including the prime minister, governor, etc.)
Divisions), governors, down to the commander-in-chief, deputy generals and even generals who lead independently, all have their own targets, which can range from ten to twenty thousand people to thousands. What the generals can really command is the number of people under the target.
A team.
This decentralized construction makes it difficult for those generals who claim to command hundreds of thousands of troops to organize large-scale battles due to the lack of a strict hierarchical command system, making it difficult to dispatch, let alone mobilize flexibly on the battlefield.
force.
Yang Sichang seems to want to make some improvements to this construction shortcoming, but because it involves the entire military system, he can only temporarily use the method of adding a general above each rank to enhance the cohesion of the entire army.
Yang Sichang's appointment of generals in the army actually included some attempt to reform the outdated military system in the late Ming Dynasty. However, he knew it but did not know why. When he was seriously ill, he took a strong medicine and did not know about the disadvantages accumulated for a hundred years.
, how easy is it to change the situation? On the contrary, it will cause the military morale to become even more unstable.
In fact, at this time, we have to choose Wu Shigong, who has the highest prestige. No matter what, Wu Shigong, the commander-in-chief of each army, is still the most convinced of Wu Shigong, who is the best at fighting. Moreover, Wu Shigong has many soldiers, generals, and allies, so at least he can
Henan and Huguang have the entire situation under control. As for whether Wu Shigong has different intentions, Yang Sichang, as the prime minister, can actually monitor and control the situation nearby. It is better to control it than to leave it alone.
However, Yang Sichang ignored Wu Shigong, and Wu Shigong did not participate in the Xiangyang military meeting and did not give Yang Sichang any face. As a result, Yang Sichang and Zuo Liangyu, who had a grudge against Wu Shigong, could not mobilize the Runing army at all, so in the subsequent
During the battle, there was no help from the Runing Army.
Emperor Chongzhen was almost obedient to Yang Sichang's various requests, and immediately approved the appointment of Zuo Liangyu as the Pingtei General, and sent the imperial commissioner from the inner government to the front line. Zuo Liangyu was indeed very excited, and prepared to attack Zhang Xianzhong.
A great battle was fought to avenge the enemy. Yang Sichang was not in a hurry to send troops, but actively reorganized the troops, allocated strength, hoarded food and paid, consolidated the rear area, and prepared to accumulate strength and win in one fell swoop.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen's support for Yang Sichang had not diminished at all. Even after the governor Yang Sichang went to the front line in person, the courtiers stopped attacking him out of respect for the minister's presence in the battle. Only the Ministry of War
Because we have to constantly deal with this auxiliary who is away from home, some discord will inevitably occur.
However, Yang Sichang kept having demands for military pay, and it was difficult for the Ministry of War to meet them all. Moreover, some things were established in the system, and the Ministry of War was unwilling to change them at will, breaking the rules. At the end of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, Yang Sichang was dismissed from the Ministry of War for failing to perform duties and hindering the military.
The plan of encirclement and suppression. Although Fu Zonglong, Minister of the Ministry of War, was recommended by Yang Sichang, he was very dissatisfied with his use of power to suppress others, so he returned a copy, saying that Yang Sichang "wasted only the country's military resources, could not make any achievements, and used his power to bully the court ministers"
”.
However, Emperor Chongzhen was very angry with Fu Zonglong for not being able to work together with his commander at the critical moment. It happened that the Ministry of War made another mistake in hiring people in Liaodong, so he was arrested and imprisoned for neglecting his duties and making fun of the border. The Ministry of Punishment planned a crime and sent him to the garrison.
, Emperor Chongzhen refused and threatened to put him to death. Another important minister was imprisoned for offending Yang Sichang.
After deposing Fu Zonglong, Emperor Chongzhen appointed Chen Xinjia, whom Yang Sichang had always strongly recommended, as the Minister of War. Chen Xinjia was born as a juren. In the history of the Ming Dynasty, there were only a few people who were appointed ministers through juren. Therefore, the official Jinshi were very unconvinced. But Chen Xinjia was indeed a scholar.
He was talented and had similar ideas to Yang Sichang, so he gave Yang Sichang great support during his tenure as a soldier.
With the emperor's wholehearted trust, the whole-hearted cooperation of the Ministry of War, and the huge authority of the governor of the cabinet, Yang Sichang was ready to fight. So at the end of the year, he traveled around the provinces of Chu, Henan, Sichuan, and Shaanxi
A notice was posted, with Zhang Xianzhong's portrait engraved on it, and a reward written on it: "Whoever can capture Zhang Xianzhong will be rewarded with ten thousand gold coins, and will be given the title of Marquis."
However, not long after the announcement of the list, someone posted a leaflet on the gate of Yang Sichang's residence, "Anyone who surrenders from the beheading tribe will be rewarded with three coins of silver." This made Yang Sichang suspicious, thinking that he was surrounded by spies of the peasant army.
But in any case, Yang Sichang was fully prepared. On the first leap month of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, he mobilized various Ming troops to officially launch an encirclement and suppression of Zhang Xianzhong's troops.
At this time, Luo Rucai broke up with Zhang Xianzhong because he couldn't stand Zhang Xianzhong's domineering attitude. Luo Rucai was a very loyal person. Even though he was bullied and betrayed by Zhang Xianzhong many times, the most he could do was break up. He would never fall out or say a bad word.
One of the principles he always adhered to was: "Friends get together well and part ways easily" and "leave the feeling of meeting each other". So Luo Rucai separated from Zhushan after having a good discussion with Zhang Xianzhong and losing a lot of smiles.
Under such circumstances, Yang Sichang's battle to encircle and suppress the peasant army officially began.