The Western Army and the Qing Army have been facing each other in Hanzhong for several months.
Although the Ming army did not add insult to injury to Zhang Xianzhong and attack the Western Army with the Qing army, it gave them a lot of convenience. For example, Zhang Dapeng, the commander of the imperial camp in Shaanxi and Gansu Province, fought against all opinions and made way for the Yinping Bridge, allowing Zhang Dingguo's partial division to take a detour and go north.
, detouring back to the rear of Yangping Pass.
After Zhang Shipeng, the admiral of Yuyingchuan Guixing Camp, occupied Micang Road, he still gave up Micang Road to Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son Zhang Kewang, allowing them to pass Liulicuan and cross Micang Mountain into Hanzhong Xixiang.
Zhang Kewang and Zhang Dingguo both succeeded in taking a roundabout route and crossed into Hanzhong. At the same time, Jiang Gu of Datong, Wang Yongqiang of northern Shaanxi, Milading of Gansu, etc. all raised troops one after another. In addition, Dorgon suddenly died suddenly, and the situation in Henan and Shandong collapsed.
The Qing court in Beijing could no longer listen to Wu Sangui's advice.
Reluctant to give them any more time to continue calmly.
Instead, Haoge, Wu Sangui and others were transferred back to Xi'an and Datong, so that they could clear their backs first.
Ignoring the order, Hauge abandoned his army and rushed back to Beijing alone to fight for the throne. Wu Sangui retreated to Chang'an and began to deal with Wang Yongqiang's brothers who went south.
Their departure indeed gave Zhang Xianzhong a great opportunity.
The Ming army opened the way for them, allowing Zhang Dingguo and Zhang Kewang to successfully enter Hanzhong, and Yangping Pass was breached.
A war broke out between the two sides in Hanzhong. Brothers Zhang Dingguo and Zhang Kewangyi gathered 50,000 troops and garrisoned Dingjunshan, intending to replicate the great victory at Dingjunshan when Liu Bei attacked Hanzhong.
Dingjun Mountain is indeed of great significance to Yangping Pass. It is not far behind Yangping Pass. The Western Army is stationed here. Although Yangping Pass is still in the hands of the Qing army, it is already under attack from both sides.
Li Guohan, who stayed at Yangping Pass, urgently ordered Hanzhong Wang Ma Ke and Gannan Wang Bai Guangen to attack Dingjunshan, and he also urgently dispatched Xunyang Wang Guangen to send troops for reinforcements.
The two sides started a battle around Dingjun Mountain.
Ma Ke and Bai Guangen mobilized tens of thousands of troops, plus part of the Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners commanded by Qing general Ao Bai, to surround the brothers Zhang Dingguo in Dingjun Mountain.
Over there, Li Guohan led the Eight Banner Manchu, Mongolian and Han troops and still defended Yangping Pass.
The two sides began a large-scale battle.
Originally, Zhang Xianzhong thought that he had successfully broken through to Hanzhong, but Haoge and Wu Sangui retreated to Chang'an with many troops, so the battle would definitely be won.
But the result was surprising. The two sides fought fiercely around Dingjun Mountain, and the result was that the Western Army was defeated by the Qing Army.
Zhang Xianzhong's main force was still blocked outside Yangping Pass. No matter how fiercely he attacked, he could not take the pass with heavy casualties. Although the two brothers stationed at Dingjun Mountain over there also set up a fence and built a camp, they could not defeat the attacking Qing army. They fought repeatedly.
Defeat, fortunately there is a stronghold to rely on and dangers to defend, but the casualties will be heavy.
What's even more troublesome is that one of the Zhang Dingguo brothers took the Yinping Road and the other took the Micang Road. They both came through long and dangerous roads and did not carry much food and grass. The subsequent passage was also blocked by the Qing army, and they were trapped in Dingjun Mountain.
, food and grass won’t last long.
The Western Army tried its best, but still could not escape the siege of the Qing Army.
The battle became more and more ineffective, and many of the Western troops on Dingjun Mountain even began to sneak down the mountain to surrender, unable to stop them.
The situation of the Western Army on the Jinniu Road outside Yangping Pass was even worse. Too many people were blocked here, covering the mountains and plains. As a result, they lacked food and lacked medical care. As time went by, they became hungry and sick. As the war situation went unfavorable, people were escaping every day.
.
The number of soldiers and civilians who were threatened by Zhang Xianzhong to go northward initially numbered more than 700,000.
But less than half a year later, the number of soldiers in the Western Army camp outside Yangping Pass was less than 300,000.
Facing the dilemma, Zhang Xianzhong has also become much older.
On the one hand, it was difficult to break through the blockade of the Qing army and fight out of Sichuan, but on the other hand, the Ming army was watching covetously behind them. Even though the Ming army never tried to add insult to injury, they even took the initiative to make way for them. Even Ming Jinglue Wen Anzhi kept writing to him to let them go.
Zhang Xianzhong accepted the reorganization, obeyed the imperial court's dispatch, and even replaced the Ming army as the main force, asking them to retreat to provide support, and together they recaptured Hanzhong and fought back to Guanzhong.
But Zhang Xianzhong always hesitated, he did not believe in the Ming Dynasty.
He has saved people for himself. Over the years, he has traveled around the world and made many oaths and promises, but he has never fulfilled them, especially to the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, he does not believe the Ming Dynasty's plans.
"Your Majesty, Wen Anzhi has sent an envoy again."
Zhang Xianzhong has been having headaches lately, and his head often feels like it's about to split.
"Father, we can't defeat Yangping Pass like this. I am willing to lead my army over Micang Mountain and into Hanzhong." Zhang Nengqi requested.
Zhang Xianzhong rubbed his head.
The southern end of Micang Road is now in the hands of the Ming army, and the northern end is in the hands of the Qing army. Even if the Ming army is willing to borrow the road, the Micang Road is difficult to walk and it is difficult to carry much food and grass.
At that time, they will still have to face interception by the Qing army.
The bigger problem is that even if they can break through many obstacles and enter Hanzhong, if they cannot win quickly, they will not get food and grass support.
Two troops and horses appeared in Dingjun Mountain and were still trapped there. They were about to run out of food.
If we send another army over, if there is no food, we will all starve to death there.
"Your Majesty, there is no other way but to fight to the death. Wu Sangui has gone to Xi'an now. This is our only chance. We still have 70,000 troops under our command. If we are willing to give it a try, if we don't succeed, we will be benevolent and kill you."
Enter Hanzhong, relieve the siege of Junshan, and then attack from behind at Yangping Pass to take my father out of the pass."
Zhang Nengqi's original surname was Ai, and he was one of the four adopted sons of Zhang Dingguo. His 70,000 troops actually included the women, children and family members of the old camp.
To lead 70,000 men into battle would be to put them to death before living.
"How long can the army's food and grass last?" Zhang Xianzhong asked his adopted son Zhang Wenxiu.
Zhang Wenxiu's face was full of bitterness.
"It can last for a month at most!"
This is the result of a large number of people escaping, otherwise they would be unable to hold on.
Everyone in the Western Army now drinks porridge every day. The porridge for women and children in the old camp is even thinner, but even if the porridge becomes thinner day by day, it won't last long.
"Father, why don't you talk to Wen Anzhi's envoy?"
Zhang Xianzhong was silent.
Wen Anzhi sent people to find the Western Army not only once, but again and again.
The latest time, Wen Anzhi proposed that the Western Army at Yangping Pass should retreat to Pingwu County, Long'an Prefecture to rest and regroup, and that Baoning Prefecture should be handed over to the Ming army to defend the Qing army. Even Zhang Dingguo and Zhang Kewang brothers who were already in Hanzhong were sent by the Ming Dynasty.
The army was responsible for taking them back to Daba Mountain to rest and recuperate, and placed them at the dam of Nanjiang River.
Of course, Wen Anzhi is not without conditions.
There are still many conditions.
The main ones are: first, Zhang Xianzhong wants to take the imperial title and consecrate Shaotian as Zhengshuo, and he can no longer call himself the Western Emperor internally.
Secondly, the Western Army must be reorganized, and the people Zhang Xianzhong threatened must be handed over to the Ming Army for resettlement.
Zhang Xianzhong remained his king of Yunnan, and General Wen'an reorganized the Western Army into four towns, each with 5,000 troops, for a total of 20,000 troops, plus 8,000 auxiliary troops.
that is all.
The rest must be disbanded and disbanded, and handed over to the Ming army for resettlement.
Wen Anzhi also promised that after the Western Army was reorganized, the entire Long'an Prefecture could be handed over to them for guarding, and taxes would be given to them to raise troops. When they had rested and reorganized and were willing to go south to Yunnan, they would then move to Yunnan.
During their stay in Long'an, the Ming army also lent them food.
The conditions cannot be said to be bad, but Zhang Xianzhong didn't believe it.
There are many people in this world who add trouble to others, how many of them offer help in times of trouble? It’s already good to be the icing on the cake, but you still want them to help in times of trouble?
If he were Wen Anzhi, he would not take action now, but he was afraid that the Western Army would engage in a fight between trapped beasts and cause casualties. And the Qing Army was still there, so he asked the Western Army to stand in front and block the Qing Army for them.
Without the Qing army, they would have been attacked by the Ming army.
"Call Wen Anzhi's envoy here and hear what conditions he has this time!"
Wen Anzhi's envoy was called in.
"What new proposals does Wen Jinglue have?"
"Back to your Majesty, my Prime Minister said that the situation has become more and more critical now, and I hope that your Majesty can make a decision soon. Our army has detected that the situation in Dingjun Mountain is very critical, and we may be annihilated at any time."
Zhang Xianzhong remained silent.
"My manager said that if the king wants to send troops to pass through Micang Mountain, just say so, and we will fully cooperate. Also, if the king is short of food, my manager is also willing to borrow some first, all for the purpose of fighting the Tatars!"
Zhang Xianzhong opened his eyes suddenly.
"Is this true?"
"really."
The messenger sent a letter.
Zhang Xianzhong asked the prime minister's son-in-law Wang Zhaolin to read it to him.
Wen Anzhi said that in order to fight the Tatars, he should unite with the outside world. He knew that the Western Camp was short of food. Although the Sichuan Army was also short of food, he was still willing to squeeze some for the Western Army.
He even offered to buy food for the Western Army.
Buying agent?
Zhang Xianzhong and others, whose heads were spinning very quickly, immediately understood the meaning. Is it possible that Wen Anzhi was actually willing to sell grain to the Western Army?
Is there such a thing in this world? The Ming army sold grain to Zhang Xianzhong?
Doesn't the so-called purchasing agent mean selling directly to them?
Is Wen Anzhi trying to take advantage of the opportunity to commit corruption?
But his reputation doesn't end there.
Could it be that Zhang Xianzhong was really selling the grain from the imperial court to him?
But Wen Anzhi sent an envoy and wrote a letter himself, which even listed in detail the price quoted for buying grain on his behalf.
"Thirteen liang of wheat is one stone, twelve liang of old rice is one stone, millet is eleven liang and one stone, sorghum is six liang and one stone, black beans are seven liang and one stone, corn is seven liang and one stone..."
Seeing this price, Zhang Xianzhong thought that his hand was shaking and he wrote it wrong. It should be one, two, three, and one stone of wheat.
"Your Majesty, even in the land of fish and rice around Taihu Lake, you don't even dare to say one, two, two, one stone of rice just after the autumn harvest. What's more, here, even if you have money, you can't buy grain. This grain is mobilized by the imperial court from Jiangnan, Lingnan and other places.
, transported to Sichuan by boat, and had to break through the interception of the Qing army in Huguang along the way, and then transported it here. The journey of thousands of miles was extremely difficult. In many places, the boats were pulled on the backs of fibers, or even carried on the backs of mules and horses, which had to be carried on the shoulders.
It comes from mountains and ridges.
We are also short of food, but Wen Jinglue is still willing to grit his teeth and squeeze out some to supply the soldiers of Xiying. If you are not willing, then it doesn't matter if it's gone."
Zhang Xianzhong's chest was about to explode with anger.
But if you think about it carefully, isn’t that what happens in troubled times?
When they rebelled in Shaanxi and could not survive, a dou of millet cost eight taels of silver, and a stone of millet cost eight taels. But when Houjin was suffering from severe famine outside the customs, a dou of rice cost eight taels of silver, and one stone cost eighty taels of silver. Even more
exaggerate.
When besieging a city, money is often useless. Gold is worth rice, and gold of the same weight can be exchanged for rice of the same weight. At this time, any bit of food is the hope of survival.
Now Wen Anzhi is selling grain to him, and the price is basically ten times the current price of grain in Jiangnan.
Even after Sichuan was in chaos, the price of food was at most two to three times that of Jiangnan, but Wen Anzhi wanted ten times as much.
"Does Wen Jing Lue remember that I still have some gold and silver in my hand?" Zhang Xianzhong suppressed his anger, "The gold and silver wealth are just external possessions and cannot be eaten or drank. If I can exchange some food with Jing Lue, I will
I really want it, but I don’t know how much food I can get in exchange for it?”
"Shunqing Phoenix Mountain can deliver 100,000 stone grain at any time!" the messenger said.
Zhang Xianzhong clenched his fists in his sleeves, holding one hundred thousand stones of grain, which would cost at least one million taels of silver. He took out this silver and accumulated it through years of plundering, including the proceeds from the previous seizure of Chongqing and the destruction of Chengdu. But one million taels of silver
Buying 100,000 stones of grain is really unheard of.
He has 300,000 people, and if he buys these 100,000 stones of grain, every three people can get one stone of grain. If we follow the current saving method, three people can eat one liter of grain a day, which can last for a hundred days.
Of course, one liter per day for three people is too little. If the supply is normal, three people will need at least five or six liters of food per day. In this case, it can supply about twenty days.
This amount of food is not much, but it is not much, and it is just right.
"Okay, I'll buy it! Thank you Wen Jinglue."
"Jinglue said that if the king wants to buy it, Jinglue is willing to send troops to transport it to Baonyeong Prefecture and trade outside Shifu City. The king will settle the money for us to buy grain and hand over Baonyeong Prefecture to us."
Zhang Xianzhong almost couldn't hold it back.
Not only does this one hundred thousand stone grain cost one million taels of silver, but it also requires him to build a Baoning city?
This does not include the southern county between Baoning Fucheng and Shunqing, as well as Hexiguan and Nanjinguan.
Zhang Xianzhong gritted his teeth and said nothing.
"Don't go too far!" Zhang Nengqi couldn't help scolding.
"If your Majesty doesn't want to, then forget it."
"Wait a moment."
Zhang Xianzhong stopped the envoy who was about to turn around and leave.
"Wen Jinglue is not joking about selling grain. Are you really willing to sell one hundred thousand stones of grain?"
"Is your Majesty willing to spend more than one million taels of silver to buy these 100,000 stone grains?"
Zhang Xianzhong said with a yellow face, "Money is not a problem. Even the southern county and Langzhong City will be given to you. However, I need to use Micang Mountain to send troops into Hanzhong. I wonder if Wen Jinglue can agree?"
"No problem." The messenger answered happily.
"As long as the king agrees to accept the reorganization, we will not only borrow the road, but also send troops to help pick up the two young princes trapped in Dingjun Mountain!"
Liu Wenxiu interjected, "Why didn't Wen Jinglue directly send troops to help us capture Hanzhong Mansion? Wouldn't it be better?"
The envoy replied directly, "We are not ready to capture Hanzhong Mansion yet. We still have to mobilize money, food and troops. At most, we can only take risks and withdraw the troops from Dingjunshan for you."
The intention of the Ming army was very obvious. They were absolutely unwilling to help the Western army capture Hanzhong, or even enter Guanzhong.
"You go back and tell Wen Jinglue that I agree to his proposal. However, I want to buy two hundred thousand stones of grain. Money is not a problem. One hundred thousand stones are still being delivered in Langzhong City. The other one hundred thousand stones are expected to be delivered to Bazhou or Dazhou.
Zhang Nengqi, when the time comes, he will lead his troops to get the grain. After getting the grain, he will take the Micang Road and pass through Liulicuan through Daba Mountain into Hanzhong. Is that okay?"
"I can go back and report the summary immediately, and your Majesty can wait for the summary's reply!"
"Okay!" Zhang Xianzhong agreed, "I hope to reply as soon as possible!"
