After Sun Chuanting's death in battle, bandits swept through Jingxiang, leaving Yunyang alone in the north of the Yangtze River. Beijing once thought that Yunyang had been lost long ago, but until the spring of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, when Li Zicheng captured the entire Shaanxi province and marched north, Yunyang was still there. Hold on.
Li Zicheng was also helpless against the stubborn Yunyang City, but he was unwilling to give in. He specially left 30,000 troops and ordered the route to be marked. Second General Feng Yangzhu led the army and must capture Yunyang.
But until Li Zicheng captured Beijing, defeated Shanhaiguan, abandoned his helmet and armor all the way south, and finally died in Jiugong Mountain, Hubei, the rebel army failed to crack the hard nut of Yunyang.
The Ming Dynasty did not know that Yunyang was still holding on until Chongzhen hanged himself and King Fu Nanjing succeeded to the throne.
The two heroes of Yunyang's city defense, Gao Doushu, the governor of Huguang, was appointed governor of Hanzhong and also controlled northern Sichuan, and Xu Qiyuan, the prefect of Yunyang, was appointed governor of Yunyang.
Originally, Yunyang held firm, and the person in charge was Gao Doushu, but because the cabinet minister Chen Yan had a personal grudge against him, he kept suppressing it. After Xiangyang fell, and the governor Wang Yongzuo escorted the clan and others withdrew, he advocated that the court should convict Wang Yongzuo and arrest him, and then even recommended Li Qiande , Wang Jingchang and Wang Jingchang were appointed governors of Yunyang, but they were unable to take office because of the impassable roads.
Gao Doushu was promoted to the governor of Hanzhong, but Hanzhong was lost early and he had no place to take charge. He had to accept the order and hand over his military power, but still lived in Yunyang City. Xu Qiyuan officially took office as the governor of Yunyang, and the Yunyang officials expressed their support to Nanjing.
However, Nanjing did not send any soldiers to them. After that, Zuo Liangyu regained Jingzhou, Chengtian, De'an, Wuchang, etc., but did not regain Xiangyang. Afterwards, he went south to the Qing Dynasty and died of illness on the river. The Qing army followed and Xiangyang returned. At the hands of the Qing army.
At this time, there were six battalions of soldiers in Yunyang City, with only 4,000 remaining soldiers.
From the fifteenth year of Chongzhen to the present, we have persisted for more than three years.
Governor Xu Qiyuan had just finished inspecting the city and returned to Fuya to discuss matters with Gao Doushu, Wang Guangen and others, when a pacesetter came in to report.
"Messenger from the imperial court?"
Xu Qiyuan was a little surprised. Yunyang is located in the upper reaches of the Han River. The upper reaches of Hanzhong were occupied by He Zhen, the former general of the Shun Army, who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. The lower reaches of Xiangyang were originally stationed by Wu Sangui, who led his troops before Azige returned north. The Qing court was worried about Wu Sangui. The order was issued to return the town to Jinzhou, and other generals were appointed to guard it at this time.
The upper and lower reaches were occupied by the Qing army. Jingzhou in the south was originally occupied by the Chu army. After Li Zicheng died, the deputy general Zheng Siwei who was stationed in Jingzhou killed the main general Meng Changgeng and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. He was appointed as the deputy general stationed in Jingzhou.
Yunyang was surrounded by Qing troops. Where did the imperial envoy come from at this time?
At this time, Yunyang didn't know that after the fall of the southern capital, another Lu king came out to supervise the country in eastern Zhejiang. Yunyang had persisted in the war for several years and was at the end of its rope. Even many generals had left Yunyang or surrendered to the Qing Dynasty or looked for others. road.
"Could it be Tatars?"
Gao Doushu was considered a guest at this time, but Xu Qiyuan still relied on him very much. He was invited to discuss city defense matters with him. "Why don't we call him in first to see him."
When the envoy was invited in, both Gao Doushu and Xu Qiyuan were shocked.
"Could it be Wen Jiujiu?"
"Guozi Jijiu was dismissed by Xue Guoguan a long time ago, and he has been living in seclusion in his hometown of Yiling for several years."
Wen Anzhi, who is in his sixties, was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi's reign. He was appointed as a shujishi and was reviewed by the Hanlin Academy. He was the last official of Chongzhen and went to the Imperial Academy to offer wine. However, he was dismissed from his post and returned home because he offended his chief assistant, Xue Guoguan.
Although Wen Anzhi had never been a high official, he was known for his integrity and had a good reputation among the scholars. Both Xu and Gao were familiar with him.
"What kind of wind blew Duke Wen to Yunyang?"
Wen Anzhi was dressed in short clothes at this time, like a landlord who went to the countryside to collect rent. He smiled and took out a decree from his arms.
"The imperial court has called me to do some errands."
A bearded general asked, "Which imperial court, Nanjing has been destroyed? Did Mr. Mo Buwen come here on orders from the Northern Dynasty? When Wu Sangui was in Xiangyang, he sent someone to deliver the order. We almost thought Wu Sangui was still the Ming Dynasty."
My lord, I was almost fooled."
Wen Anzhi was not annoyed, "Who is this?"
The bearded man replied directly, "Wang Guangen!"
"It turns out to be Hua Guansuo, whom I have admired for a long time."
Wang Guang'en of Huaguansuo also started his career as a bandit, and he was one of the Eight Great Kings Zhang Xianzhong who rebelled. He was senior and famous among the bandits. When he was strong, he even called himself the Little King of Qin. However, by the end of Chongzhen, various places
Among the peasant army, only Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were the two most powerful; the others were either annexed or accepted recruitment.
Hua Guansuo was recruited by Gao Dou Shu and was first taught guerrilla. Because of his bravery in fighting and his meritorious service in defending Yunyang, he went all the way to the Yunyang General Army.
"It is absolutely impossible for me, Wen'an, to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. This time, I am following the orders of the Ming Dynasty's orthodox Lu Supervisor of Shaotian Prefecture in Tokyo, Zhejiang."
"Lu Jianguo?"
"You have been trapped in Yunyang for a long time, and you still don't know the situation outside. Since the southern capital has been destroyed, the King of Lu has promoted Taizhou, supervised the state of Shaoxing, and raised troops to attack the three Wu countries in the north. Now the situation is very good.
Zhu Dadian was appointed as the governor of seven provinces including Shaanxi and Gansu, and the governor of military affairs in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. He recruited Gao Yigong, Li Guo and others from the Shunying camp and reorganized it into the Zhongzhen camp. He also recruited and reorganized Ma Jinzhong and other troops into the Zhongwu camp. In addition, Qin Liangyu from Shizhu in Chongqing was appointed as the Zhongwu camp.
Zhongyong Camp·····
Let me tell you some good news. Li Guo and his troops have just captured Yiling Prefecture, and Gao Yigong has captured Jingmen Prefecture. Yuan Zongdi came back from the Jianguo and also led his troops to attack the public security camp. The Zhongzhen Battalion, with 300,000 troops, is encircling it.
Jingzhou."
"And Governor Zhu and Governor Du Yinxi joined forces with the Zhongwu Camp to march towards Wuchang."
"Everyone, the great cause of counterattacking Jingxiang and regaining the Chu land has begun."
Gao Doushu and others were all stunned and in disbelief.
Have all the intruders surrendered to the Ming Dynasty?
Zhongzhen camp, Zhongwu camp?
"Where is He Tengjiao?"
"He Tengjiao has long been recruited as a scholar of Dongge University because of his meritorious service in defending the territory. Now Zhu Dadian is the governor of the seventh province, Du Yinxi is the governor of Huguang, Fu Shangrui is still the governor of Pianyuan, and Zhang Kuang is the governor of the seventh province.
Provincial Supervisory Army..."
After hearing the good news, Gao Doushu and others were all happy.
"Quickly summon all the soldiers and civilians in the city to respectfully welcome the imperial edict of Lu Jianguo!"
After Li Chixin regained Yiling, Wen Anzhi was invited out of the mountain in the countryside. He came to deliver the order this time because Gao and Xu had known each other for a long time. He just sent someone here casually. I guess people here wouldn't believe it. If Li Guo sent someone,
, I won’t even believe it here.
"Director Zhu reported to the imperial court and supervised the country's edicts. He still appointed Xu Qiyuan as the governor of Yunyang, controlling Yunyang, Jingzhou, Xiangyang and other five provinces, eight prefectures, and nine states. He also added the right deputy censor of the capital and minister of the Ministry of War, and was also in charge of food and salary admiral to supervise military affairs.
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Gao Doushu is the governor of Hanzhong, and he is also the right deputy censor of the capital and minister of the Ministry of War. He is also the admiral to supervise food and salary control and military affairs."
"The Yunyang camps were given the military title Zhongkai, Wang Guangen was awarded the admiral of Yunyang, Wang Guangtai was appointed the commander-in-chief of Yunyang, Liu Tiaoyuan was appointed the commander-in-chief of Xiangyang Town, and the four generals Miao Shihua, Yang Mingqi, Tingpin and Yu Qifan were each awarded deputy commander-in-chief.
Troops, separate to defend and assist the town."
"There will soon be a batch of money and grain sent by troops sent by Li Chixin, Marquis of Xingguo. The reward is two hundred thousand taels of silver and some grain and grass. I would like to ask you to help."
"I will stay in Yunyang from now on."
The imperial court granted Wen Anzhi the title of Military Supervisor of Yunyang, and he was in charge of the Yunyang Five Dao, Eight Prefectures, and Kyushu Officials and Volunteers.
Yunyang in the Ming Dynasty was special. Like Pianyuan and Nangan, it did not have a governor in the province, but had jurisdiction across provinces.
In fact, the official name of the Governor of Yunyang is to govern Yunyang and other places and supervise military affairs. He is stationed in Yun County, Yunyang Prefecture, and is in charge of the military and civilian affairs of the five provinces, eight prefectures and nine states in the adjacent areas of Hubei, Henan, Sichuan and Shaanxi.
The five roads are Upper Jingnan Road, Lower Jingnan Road, Guannan Road, Runan Road and Shangluo Road, the eight prefectures are Yunyang, Xiangyang, Jingzhou, Anlu, Nanyang, Xi'an, Hanzhong and Kuizhou, and Jiuzhou is Junzhou and Yuzhou.
During the great peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty, Yunyang could be said to be the base camp of the peasant army. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong recovered from their injuries several times in Yunyang.
Although Yunyang is not a province, it has jurisdiction over a very large area, and they are all in very difficult areas, such as the Badong Mountains, the Northern Hubei Mountains, etc.
The establishment of the Zhongkai Camp actually integrated the former Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers centered on Yunyang, as well as the surrendered former Chuang troops, refugees, etc., which not only showed that the supervisory state attached great importance to them, but also established military quotas to provide for them.
pay and strengthen control.
The Zhongzhen camp of Li Guo and others, the Zhongwu camp of Ma Jinzhong and others, the Zhongyong camp of Qin Liangyu, and now the Zhongkai camp of brothers Wang Guangen and others.
Zhu Yihai now parachuted high-ranking officers to supervise divisions and commanders in remote places that were beyond his reach. At the same time, he also continued to confer officers and titles to the powerful military leaders in those places and began to reorganize them.
He is not stingy with titles and official positions. As long as he is willing to accept reorganization and unite the front, what does it matter if he is given some titles now? This is different from the situation at the base camp in eastern Zhejiang.
Wang Guangen was granted the title of Marquis of Yunyang, and several other generals were also granted the title of count, deputy general of the army, etc.
Historically, the name Zhongkai Camp was originally given by the Southern Ming Dynasty to the generals of Central Sichuan, Wang Xiang, Li Zhanchun, Wu Dading and others. The original intention was to reorganize the Sichuan troops and balance the remaining Zhongzhen Camp of the original Shun Army.
At this time, Zhu Yihai attached so much importance to the isolated city of Yunyang because he hoped that they could resist. At the same time, Yunyang was geographically important, connecting Hanzhong and Xiangyang and overlooking Jingzhou. The inclusion of this place under his command was also very important for the Jingzhou-Wuchang Campaign that had already begun.
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Wang Guangen was very satisfied with his title, official position and money. The past few years of fighting had driven him into isolation, and he even wanted to lead his troops and leave like Xu Yong.
When Xu Yong left with his troops, he went to surrender to Zuo Liangyu, and later surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Now he is the commander-in-chief of Jiujiang. I heard that life was pretty good, and I sent him several letters to surrender.
But in the past few years, Hua Guansuo had fought against the Chu and Qing armies, and countless people had died under his sword. He was naturally bored with the Tatars, and was always hesitant in his heart.
It was good now that this decree made him stop thinking about other things for a while.
“What Yunyang is most lacking now is food and salt.”
If Yunyang was not located in a dangerous location, neither the Shun Army nor the Qing Army could besiege the city for a long time and could only blockade the city. Yunyang would have starved to death long ago. Although Yunyang is remote, it also has its advantages, that is, it is surrounded by mountainous areas.
People in Guanzhong, Huguang, Henan, fled into the mountains due to the war, reclaiming wasteland and farming, but they could barely survive.
And every time Yunyang repelled the enemy's attack, he could still go to the mountains to collect some food and grass. Although it was not much, he could barely survive.
Gao Doushu asked, "When will Jingzhou be attacked? Do we need to send troops?"
Wen Anzhi told them that the strategy of supervising the country is that Yunyang only needs to send a small group of troops south, go to Jingzhou City and raise the Yunyang flag to bluff. Yunyang's main task is to defend the city. If the troops from Xiangyang or Hanzhong dare to move for reinforcements,
Jingzhou Qing army, then Yunyang can stop them halfway, or simply attack their hometown."
"Depending on the specific situation, it is mainly a diversionary task."
Wang Guangen stroked his beard, "I like this plan. Now I really wish that the Xiangyang garrison would come out to reinforce Jingzhou, so that I can lead the troops to capture Xiangyang."
