A friend suggested that instead of posting a large chapter of 5,000 words in a row, it would be better to cut it into several small chapters of 2,000 words, which would be more popular. However, I think the small chapters destroy the continuity of the plot and reading, so I will continue to publish five chapters.
It’s a thousand-word chapter. Today there are two 5,000-word chapters. Please vote!
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Near Xiangyang City, the weather was still very cold. A group of about fifty cavalrymen galloped from Taipingdian in the direction of Fancheng. The horses were dripping with sweat and kept spewing white air from their nostrils.
This small group of cavalry has no flags, no armor, and they don’t carry many things on their horses. The necessary things are all carried on four big green mules. In the middle of the group, a chrysanthemum-green war horse rides a man who is less than forty years old.
A military general with a dusty face, thick eyebrows, high cheekbones, a wide mouth, and a short and thick black beard. At this time, the war horse kept running forward with broken steps, but he was dozing off in the saddle with his eyes closed, and his burly upper body was swaying.
shake.
For six days, this group of people has been rushing forward in the wind and dust. They have not stayed overnight until sunset, and the rooster crows for the first time before setting off through the white frost. During the day, as long as the mountain road is not particularly rugged and difficult to travel, they will
He dozed off on the horse, and slapped a whip on the horse's butt every now and then. Starting from the vicinity of Xing'an Prefecture, the journey was more than a thousand miles, and there were endless mountains as far as the eye could see. He only passed east of Shihua Street and crossed the Xiangjiang River before reaching the plains.
I was afraid that I would lose time along the way and lose weight to the horses, but as expected, I arrived this morning. Some people woke up from their horses, opened their sleepy eyes and saw the Second City of Xiangfan, and their drowsiness disappeared immediately.
The general riding on the chrysanthemum-green war horse was awakened by the voices of the soldiers. He rubbed his dry eyelids with the back of a broad and chapped hand and looked at the two cities facing each other across the Jiajiang River and the southwest of Xiangyang.
There are mountains and peaks, and I can't help but say in my heart: "Damn, the weather is really different from when Lao Xiong was here!"
A few months ago, after Zuo Liangyu was defeated at Luohou Mountain, the general came to Xiangyang to discuss military matters on the order of Zheng Chongjian, the governor of Shaanxi Province and the Three Borders. At that time, due to the urgent military situation, he only stayed in Xiangyang.
After two nights, he reported to Zheng Chongjian after returning: Although the people in Xiangfan were a little panicked, the defense was very loose.
Now he is still about ten miles away from these two cities. He can see the towering battlements on the city heads, the flags in order, and the faint sound of horns drawn in the distance, one after another. Looking to the right, across the Xiangjiang River, ten miles away
The smoke is steaming from the Wanshan Mountains outside, and the momentum is majestic.
The east end of Wanshan Mountain is connected to Ma'an Mountain, and a renovated fort appears in the thin clouds and smoke. It dominates the top of the mountain and flags are flashing. At the northern foot of Ma'an Mountain, there is a small mountain called Xiaoding Mountain, which is close to Xiangyang City.
Only four miles away, there is an ancient temple on the top of the mountain.
The last time he came to Xiangyang, he took the time to visit Xiaoding Mountain and looked at the huge horse hoof prints carved by bad guys on the big rocky slope outside the mountain gate. According to legend, Liu Xuande's horse jumped over Tanxi River and passed by Lu Maliu.
There are also flags flying on Xiaoding Mountain, obviously there are officers and soldiers stationed in the ancient temple. The sound of golden drums can be heard from the flat ground at the foot of Xiaoding Mountain. Unfortunately, the dense villages on the south bank of the river block the view.
He couldn't see whether the officers and soldiers were practicing formations or practicing martial arts.
These new things that he suddenly saw confirmed all the rumors about Yang Sichang after he arrived in Xiangyang, and also made him sincerely admire him. He was even more happy when he thought about Yang Sichang's promise to wear the seal of the general of tyrants in the future.
.But he was really sleepy and had no intention of thinking too much about it. Taking advantage of the fact that he was still some way away from Fancheng, he dozed off again.
After a while, he felt that his men and horses had stopped, and there was a quarrel in front of him, mixed with the snoring of the horses and the sound of hooves. Then, the quarrel became clear in his ears. It turned out that someone was attacking his men.
When he asked for directions or official documents, his central army and soldiers replied that they had no directions and did not bring any other official documents. They were not ordered to enter the city and they quarreled with each other.
He was fully awake, his eyes widened suddenly, and he said to the people around him in a rough voice with an accent from Mizhi County: "Go! Tell them, I never walk without a guide. I am Commander-in-Chief He from Shaanxi Province."
!”
The gatekeeper was a guard from the garrison. When he heard that he was the famous Shaanxi Commander-in-Chief He Renlong, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute and said with a smile: "Master Zhentai, you have a hard time on the road!"
He Renlong stared blankly and asked: "What? You didn't ask me to enter the city without leading the way and official documents? You can't afford to miss the urgent business of this town!"
"Master Zhentai, please calm down. I don't know that since the battle of Xiangyouping, the military order has been strict. There are no road guides or other official documents. No one is allowed to enter the two cities of Xiangfan. Violators of military law will not be spared. If a humble general is even allowed to do so,
If you don't let people into the city casually, you will be punished and it will be inconvenient for you."
He Renlong immediately calmed down and said, "Good guy, it's so strict now? What happened at the battle of Xiangyouping?"
"To tell you the truth, my lord, Fancheng is a little looser, but Xiangyang is much stricter. Didn't your lord know about the battle of Xiangyouping?"
"How do I know? Come on and tell me."
The guard looked left and right before saying in a low voice: "Master Fang, the governor of Huguang, used his troops poorly. Yiling was suddenly captured by bandits. Not only were the six thousand Chu soldiers who entered the mountain to suppress the bandits were wiped out, but also the Chu soldiers who went to rescue the Chu army.
Most of the four thousand Sichuan soldiers and two thousand Yuan soldiers were killed or wounded."
"Ah! There is such a thing!" He Renlong was surprised. More than 10,000 officers and soldiers were reimbursed like this. No wonder Xiangyang is under such martial law. He turned to his entourage and asked: "Do we have any official documents?"
"Sir, it's the common people's business to lead the way. We have never brought any guide. This time, we received an urgent order from the Governor. We came here at night to ask for instructions, and we didn't bring any documents."
He Renlong understood that the current situation was not as usual, and Yang Sichang was not comparable to others. He did not dare to act rashly and follow military orders. He pondered for a moment, and suddenly an idea came to him. He took out the large bronze seal of the chief military officer from his arms and pointed it at the guard standing in front of the horse.
He shook it again and again and said, "Look, this is my guide. Can I enter the city?"
The guard quickly replied: "If you have this, you can naturally enter the city. I have been ordered to guard this city gate. Please forgive me for any offense."
He Renlong said: "There is no offense, this is business." He turned to his entourage: "Hurry into the city, don't delay things!"
They had traveled ninety miles since midnight. They were exhausted, hungry and thirsty, but He Renlong did not dare to stop in Fancheng. They crossed a street, went down to the pier, and ran across the pontoon. Once they entered Xiangyang City,
Without waiting for the troops to settle down, he took his Chinese army and a few personal soldiers to Xinghua Village in front of Fuya to wash up and have breakfast.
The last time he came to Xiangyang, he held a banquet here. This tavern became his hotel for a whole day, so he was already familiar with the people in this tavern. Now when he stepped into Xinghua Village, the shopkeeper, accountant and a group of
The cousin was confused, saying "Sir" one by one, and followed him to wait on him. There were also two waiters who were busy leading a few war horses in front of the door.
Although he only occupied three halls, no more idlers were allowed in the entire tavern. While washing his face, He Renlong ordered loudly and furiously: "Bring us wine and food quickly, the sooner the better! Feed the horses some soybeans!"
When the food and wine were served, He Renlong took the first place, and the guerrilla-ranked Chinese Army officer sat at the bottom. Smelling the aroma of the wine, he really wanted to take a swig, but thinking that he was about to pay a visit to the Governor, he had no choice but to hold back.
It's wonderful to drink, but you can't help feeling regretful.
Seeing the accountant who was in charge of the accounts waiting attentively on the side, he suddenly remembered that this person was also from Yan'an Prefecture. He came to Huguang ten years ago to do business and lost his money, so he lived here. The last time he met, he told him about his hometown. He smiled
Then he asked: "Fellow fellow, are Liu Xingshou who invited you to drink wine last time in this town, and those prostitutes who can play and sing, are they still in Xiangyang?"
"Sir, they have all moved to Fancheng."
"Why?"
"Since Lord Yang Gebu arrived, all the prostitutes have rushed to live in Fancheng, and all the dependents of the surrendered generals have also been settled in Fancheng. There are five families in Xiangyang City, and the household registration is checked every few days. It is very different from the past."
He Renlong nodded and said: "It should be so. This is the atmosphere of war."
After a while, a primary school student under He Renlong walked in from the outside with a horrified look on his face. He Renlong had already finished eating and was about to change clothes when he looked at him and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Back to your lord, the emperor has a secret order. Mr. Fang, the governor of Huguang, was arrested just now at the governor's residence."
He Renlong was shocked: "How did you know?"
"There were rumors on the street just now, and some people said that they saw Fang Futai being escorted out of the carriage by the school captains."
"Go to Haosheng and find out!"
Three cannon shots and drum music came from the camp. He Renlong knew that Yang Sichang was raising the tent, so he quickly changed his clothes, led the Chinese army and a few soldiers, and rode towards the camp.
Today is the second time that Yang Sichang convened a meeting of all the generals and frontier officials in Xiangyang. The scheduled time for raising the account is at 3:30 p.m., because according to the calculation of the five elements, not only is today an auspicious day, but this moment is also the most auspicious moment of the day.
The general successfully launched his army.
During this period of time, the army was defeated at Baituguan and Luohou Mountain, and Li Zicheng was asked to break out of the siege and sweep Shangluo Mountain. The emperor was already very dissatisfied. Now that Chu soldiers first ambush in Yangjiao Mountain, he sent Sichuan soldiers to rescue them, but failed.
Instead, they were annihilated by bandits in Xiangyouping. Together with the 2,000 Yuan soldiers who were annihilated in Yiling, the official army actually lost at least 12,000 people this time!
He heard that Xiong Wencan had been beheaded in Beijing, and that the emperor had become more and more authoritative recently. Once the news of Xiangyouping's defeat spread to the capital, Yang Sichang's holy love would be over, no matter how deep it was. He knew that he must find one as soon as possible.
The scapegoat was entrusted to him and his relationship was clearly separated. The best person was naturally Fang Kong, who was at odds with him and personally participated in the battle of Xiangyouping.
Before raising the account, he sent someone to invite Fang Kong to the festival hall, saying that he had something to discuss. In fact, Yang Sichang had already given Chongzhen a secret book before the news of the tragic defeat in Xiangyouping arrived in Beijing, saying that Fang Kong had improperly commanded
, dampened morale, and requested that he be severely punished. At the same time, he recommended Song Yiniao Fang Kongzhao, who was known as a "knowledge of soldiers", as governor of Huguang.
In order to make Yang Sichang more skilled in the military, Chongzhen prepared the memorial as soon as he received it, and ordered Fang Kong Zhao to go to Xiangyang immediately after the transfer to wait for his orders.
Chongzhen considered himself a very wise emperor. In fact, he never knew the actual military situation. He mostly dealt with matters based on his subjective wishes and one-sided reports from his trusted figures. Therefore, as long as he heard that a certain frontier official was suppressing
If the thief fails, he will gnash his teeth and hate him.
Yang Sichang was familiar with the emperor's psychology. Sure enough, after the emperor dismissed Fang Kongzhao, he issued a secret order to Yang Sichang a few days later, ordering him to arrest Fang Kongzhao and send him to the capital. It had been two days since Yang Sichang received the secret order, and he deliberately did not send it out until today.
When the civil and military officials gathered in Xiangyang, they made a surprising move.
After Fang Kong received the news of Xiangyouping's fiasco, he actually knew that his career was not good. But he did not expect that Chongzhen would be so mean and ungrateful that he would arrest him and punish him in the capital without remembering his past achievements.
Yang Sichang invited him into the festival hall, offered him a seat, and chatted for a few words. Suddenly his expression changed, he stood up and said, "Uncle Shi, the emperor has a decree!"
Fang Kong jumped all over and knelt down tremblingly to receive the decree. After Yang Sichang took out the imperial edict and read it out, two uniformed guards and banner officers came in and escorted Fang Kong out of the festival hall.
Yang Sichang walked to the door of the festival hall, raised his hands and said: "King Sichang is alive, so I won't send him far away. I hope my uncle Shi will take care of himself on the road. As soon as the anger is relieved, Sichang will do his best to save him."
Fang Kong turned around and smiled coldly. He knew that although he was responsible for the defeat, it was far from this. It was clearly Yang Sichang who had entrusted others to exclude dissidents and wanted to torture him to death.
He cursed coldly: "Yang Wenruo, the emperor is mean and ungrateful in his employment. One day it will be your turn too."
The expressions of Yang Sichang, the new governor of Huguang, Song Yiniao, and many other staff members who stood behind him changed. He was best at flattering Yang Sichang, and even his name was changed from crane to bird to avoid the name of Yang Sichang's father, Yang He.
A bird scolded: "Fang Kong, you are so rebellious and dishonest that you dare to humiliate me!"
"Haha!" Fang Kong shook off the two Jinyiwei flag masters with force, snatched the saber from Jinyiwei's waist with a swipe, placed it across his neck, and cursed: "How can a scholar-bureaucrat be humiliated by the jailer! Yang Wenruo,
I'll wait for you down there!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiu Chun Dao wiped off his neck, blood spattered on the spot, and everyone was shocked.
Only Yang Sichang's expression did not change. With an indifferent expression, he waved his hand to the Imperial Guard Flag School to drag Fang Kong's body away, and then said: "Fang Kong accidentally committed suicide by playing bandit, and committed suicide out of fear of crime. Please do not follow suit."
Yang Sichang's tone made everyone present feel terrified. Fortunately, He Renlong came to report at this time, which eased the terrifying atmosphere.
"The commander-in-chief of Shaanxi's aid and suppression force, He Renlong, has arrived from Xing'an to see Mr. Yangge!"
When Yang Sichang heard that He Renlong was coming, his expression changed again. Because recently, he felt that Zuo Liangyu's military discipline had been lax, that military law was a trivial matter, and that he would not listen to his orders at all. Although He Renlong had many shortcomings,
, after all, he was still a general, with many surrendered soldiers and generals under his command, and his strength was second only to Zuo Liangyu. He was also much more obedient than Zuo Liangyu, so Yang Sichang sent his trusted aides and privately promised to congratulate Renlong that in the future he would seal the title of General Pingthief.
Giving him the gift means that President He Renlong will assist in suppressing soldiers and horses in various towns.
However, due to the fiasco at Xiangyouping, Yang Sichang had to achieve a great victory as soon as possible in a short period of time in order to restore his crumbling image and status in the eyes of the emperor. In this way, the matter of changing the seal of the Ping Thief General could only be put aside.
, during this period Yang Sichang still needs to rely on Zuo Liangyu.
When meeting He Renlong in the festival hall, Yang Sichang's attitude was particularly cordial. Compared with the morning, he was as friendly as the two of them. He asked He Renlong about his family situation, and then asked about the number of troops and food and salary.
situation.
When Madman He mentioned that the troops were in arrears with pay for three months, he immediately agreed to urge Qin Governor Zheng Chongjian to pay him the salary. Regarding the issue of how to attack Zhang Xianzhong, he gave some additional instructions, which was nothing more than to ask He Renlong to be in Xing'an and Pingli area.
The dangerous defense prevented Zhang Xianzhong from escaping into Shaanxi territory, and he divided his troops to cooperate with Zuo Liangyu in an in-depth raid.
Only when it came to the matter of the Ping Thief General's Seal, Yang Sichang began to talk about him. He Renlong asked around, but couldn't find out anything. He just felt as if he was being teased by Yang Sichang's staff.
Then, I thought that the thousands of taels of silver he gave to that staff member might have been wasted!
Yang Sichang tried his best to stop He Renlong from talking, comforted him, and sent him back to his residence to rest. Then he discussed with his confidant Song Yiniao, the new governor of Huguang, how to reverse the situation as soon as possible after the fiasco at Xiangyouping.
situation, especially if the emperor's attitude cannot be changed, a great victory must be achieved in the near future.
Although Yang Sichang was narrow-minded and regarded Fang Kong as a scapegoat and forced this old uncle to death, he did have some talents. Yang Sichang analyzed the situation at this time and said to Song Yiniao: "Xian, Cao, Chuang,
Ge, among the rebels on the left, the most worrying one is the traitor."
"The Xian thieves are cunning and fierce, their troops are well-organized, and they have Pan Duao, Xu Yixian and other well-dressed scum as their wings. They are actually a serious problem at the moment. The ancients said: 'To capture the thieves, capture the king first.' If you only need to use all your strength to wipe out one of the Xian thieves, then
Cao's thieves can be appeased without fighting. The thieves of Ge and Zuo have no far-reaching plans. They are just scabies. As for the intruders, although they have suffered heavy losses in the past two years and are currently surrounded from all sides, this person is the most unruly and difficult.
He cannot be controlled by force, nor can he be tempted. If you watch his actions, you can be regarded as a hero among the thieves."
Although Song Yiniao was known as a "knowledge of soldiers", he actually had no strategic talent. His only specialty was obedience. He was just one-sided and repeatedly praised Yang Sichang's analysis.
Yang Sichang added: "I think the current strategy is to encircle and suppress the Xian thieves with all our strength, and wipe them out in one go. Zuo Liangyu has the seal of general to defeat the thieves, so we have to let him continue to hang up. To encircle and suppress the Xian thieves, Zuo Zhen still needs to contribute."
.As for the intruders, wait until the thieves are defeated and sacrificed, and then move to sweep them away. As for Cao Cao and Ge Zuo, once they are sacrificed and Chuang is the leader, they will be unable to do anything and can be appeased."
Yang Sichang finally sighed and said: "I have calculated countless times, but I have not calculated that the square hole is so useless that it can lose more than 10,000 officers and soldiers! I have to put aside the plan to deal with Zuo Liangyu!"
In fact, the tragic defeat of Xiangyouping was due to Fang Kong deliberately delaying the advance of Yuan's troops, but the overall plan for the Sichuan, Chu, and Yuan armies to suppress them was still formulated by Yang Sichang. He put all the blame on Fang Kong alone, making himself
Uncle Shi committed suicide and died, but he still felt at ease.