As soon as he opened the newly seized letter, Yu Zilian was amused. Seeing that the people around him looked at him with some confusion, Yu Zilian smiled and handed the letter to Yang Tinglin and Zuo Yin.
And this letter also amused Yang Tinglin and the others. It was such an obvious instigation of discord, which really insulted their intelligence.
"But getting this letter is also very hot." Since he had not been in contact with Yu Zilian for a long time, Yang Tinglin didn't stop there.
"Then after entering Kaifeng, leave it to Governor Gao! At most, we can write another memorial with vague semantics and submit it together. Let the court handle it by itself. We all have our own explanations for how the court will deal with Wu Runing." Zuo Yin.
suggested.
Yu Zilian shook his head and disagreed with Zuo Yin's suggestion: "No matter what we do, we can't escape someone who is jealous of talents and talents, and we have also offended Wu Bifu. This time, I want to find a place for the Black Cloud Army.
Maybe I still have to deal with Wu Bifu, so I don't want to cause any complications in advance. Besides, Wu Bifu is now a man with a full-fledged body and a mere three-foot-long book. What can I do to him? Why treat him like a villain in vain?"
"But if you don't submit it, I'm afraid the court will find out later, which will be detrimental to Dong Weng!" Zuo Yin argued.
"My officer is recruiting troops and food like this, which has long caused public resentment. If there were no Black Cloud Army, the road ahead would still be thorny without this matter, but with the Black Cloud Army, it would still be okay to have this extra thing." Yu Zilian replied.
"How do you want to deal with it, sir?" Zuo Yin asked.
"When we enter Kaifeng, I will personally hand this letter to Wu Bifu. If he is willing to hand over Ruzhou to me again, that would be the best. Even if there is no result, it is still a good relationship." Yu Zilian
replied.
…
On September 13th, Yu Zilian's Black Cloud Army arrived at Kaifeng City. On the second day, three groups of Runing Army also arrived at Kaifeng. The siege of Kaifeng City was lifted.
On September 15, the allied forces of Li and Luo withdrew to the area west of Kaifeng City, and the entire army moved towards Henan Prefecture.
In the next ten days or so, the pursuing Runing Army and the Peasant Army were at a distance from each other, as if they were sending them out of the country. The Kaifeng Campaign ended with this.
In this battle, the losses of the coalition forces of Li and Luo were not large. In addition to the casualties of more than 20,000 old, weak, women and children, the losses of soldiers were only more than 20,000. Compared with the huge number of people of the coalition forces of Li and Luo, these casualties were also small.
There are very few.
As for the official army, Yang Wenyue's more than 7,000 troops were almost wiped out. Although Yu Zilian's Heiyun Army suffered little loss in total strength, it also lost nearly 30% of its recruits. On the Runing Army's side, the entire army
There were six hundred and seventy-three casualties.
But compared to the small number of casualties of the Runing Army, the Runing Army now has completely controlled the eastern and central Henan areas. It can be said that the results of the battle are brilliant, and the pre-war goal has been fully achieved.
The reason why the Runing Army did not occupy the western Henan area, and did not even enter Ruzhou City, was to make way for the Li and Luo coalition forces, hoping that they would go on a happy self-driving trip to Huguang. Unfortunately, Li,
After the Luo Alliance Army entrenched themselves in Henan Prefecture, they refused to move, leaving the Runing Army somewhat helpless.
However, when the Runing Army followed them to the border of Henan Prefecture, they stopped and stopped pursuing. This made the war situation in the Central Plains temporarily calm. However, in Kaifeng City, various forces carried out a long-term war for their own interests.
Twenty days of "fierce fighting".
At the beginning, the officers of the Runing Army, who relied on their fists to make a living, could not compete with the civilian officials who relied on their words. However, the Runing Army could not give up its vested interests, so the negotiations reached a deadlock. Until Zhang Xuebin and Wu Shili were urgently transferred by Wu Shigong
Going to Kaifeng, the deadlock in the negotiations was gradually broken. Finally, after some disputes and compromises, the parties reached the following agreement:
The first step is to resolve the anarchy in eastern Henan and central Henan. To put it simply, it is who should arrange the officials in these areas. In the end, the Runing Army made a huge "concession" on this point.
About 70% of the local vacancies of high-level officials (mainly county magistrates) will be arranged by the Henan government, and the remaining 30% will go to the Runing Army. Of course, in principle, the personnel arranged must be approved by both parties.
In exchange, Gao Mingheng and other senior officials in Henan also agreed that before the peasant army was wiped out, the security in the territory would be solved by the Runing army, and they tacitly allowed the Runing army to implement the "Three Decree" in Henan. In this way, the grassroots level at the township level
In fact, the officials are all controlled by the Runing Army. From the perspective of actual power, the Runing Army does not suffer a loss.
The second is the arrangement of the army. The Henan government agreed that Wu Shigong would nominally command all the officers and troops in Henan (excluding Yu Zilian's Heiyun Army). In fact, this was naturally justified. Because Wu Shigong had the title of "Dang Kou" general,
Therefore, in name, he is one level higher than other general soldiers. But this time, it is nothing more than an official reaffirmation.
As soon as this decision was made, Chen Yongfu left Kaifeng City in person and came to see Wu Shigong. At this time, Chen Yongfu certainly did not dare to disobey the order. His son Chen De is still being pinched by Wu Shigong.
However, this visit was quite pleasant. After Chen Yongfu returned to Kaifeng, he immediately drove the 9,000 Henan troops under his command out of Kaifeng City and obeyed Wu Shigong's command. Wu Shigong also asked Liang Hui to lead a coalition of Runing troops, and
Chen Yongfu formed a new town and headed to the Taihang Mountains in northeastern Henan to wipe out the remaining bandits and refugees in the area.
The Runing Army will march into Kaifeng City as a regiment, and they will be jointly responsible for the defense of Kaifeng City with Gao Mingheng's 1,500 Governor Biao Battalion.
The last step is the arrangement of Yu Zilian's Black Cloud Army.
Both the Henan government and the Runing Army promised that if Henan Prefecture is recaptured, they will use Henan Prefecture as a garrison for the Heiyun Army. However, Henan Prefecture is still in the hands of the Peasant Army. In order to compensate the Heiyun Army, the Runing Army will use this time as a garrison.
The 150,000 taels of departure fees paid by Kaifeng City were transferred to Yu Zilian.
Moreover, the Henan government and the Runing Army also promised to give the first victory in relieving Kaifeng to the Heiyun Army. They also strongly recommended Yu Zilian to the court so that he could take over the official position left by Yang Wenyue, the governor of Zhili who died in the war. Of course,
Yu Zilian has to worry about the court's operations. However, the Henan government and the Runing Army will work hard on this matter. Because the Heiyun Army is a guest army after all, no one wants him to stay in Henan. If Yu Zilian
If Lian succeeds as the Governor of Zhili, his Black Cloud Army can march to North Zhili.
Therefore, for the Heiyun Army, they gained a lot from this agreement. Among them, there was also the reason why Yu Zilian took the initiative to hand over the forged letter to Wu Shigong.
In this agreement, each party gets what it wants. However, it must be seen that the Henan government has no choice but to deal with the strong position of the Runing Army, and in many places it has acquiesced to the "offside" of the Runing Army.
In addition, it can be seen that in many aspects, such as the appointment of vacant officials, the determination of the command authority of the Henan Army, etc., Henan Province makes decisions on its own and no longer goes through the court. This also proves the centrifugal force of the Ming Empire.