On the fifth day of April, the temporary shogunate in Chongqing City was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, making it a festive atmosphere.
After the prince read out the edict, he handed it over to Zhu Shuren, regained his friendly demeanor as a friend reminiscing about old times, and congratulated:
"Congratulations to Mr. Guo Xing for being promoted to the Governor of Huguang. He became the governor at the age of twenty-four. He is actually the first person in our country in the 260 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. In this autumn of national crisis, Your Majesty's good intentions, Mr. Guo Xing.
You must be able to understand it.”
"This official will certainly live up to His Majesty's grace. He will wipe out the gangs of thieves, punish the riots within, and create slaves outside. The current situation will definitely allow him to be crowned as soon as possible within a month."
Zhu Shuren received the decree respectfully and then moved his hands far away to the northeast with a righteous and solemn expression.
After finishing speaking, Zhu Shuren discussed with the prince again: "Father, since your majesty has promoted me to governor, there is nothing wrong with me following the authority and exercising the right to cross the border to pursue the enemy, right?
It's a coincidence that this rebel army is now surrounded around Chengdu and is just short of the final blow. However, there are hundreds of thousands of rebels, and I always feel uneasy if I don't come to supervise the battle in person."
The prince hesitated for a moment, but still said: "Our family doesn't know much about this, but according to the court's laws, this matter must be done. I will leave it to the king to make his own decision."
Everyone also knew very well that Zhu Shuren was still reluctant to personally command Zhang Xianzhong's final blow. It would be a pity not to personally participate in such a grand event. Otherwise, he would have insufficient confidence when he was granted the title of Duke in the future.
Chongzhen might be afraid that he would not be rewarded for his merits, so he thought about letting others share some of Zhu Shuren's achievements, but it was already April of the 16th year of Chongzhen's reign. How could he still have the ability to micromanage the front line across most of the Ming Dynasty?
Speaking of which, Zhu Shuren actually has all the power on the front line against thieves.
The people around him waited for them to finish talking, and then came over to congratulate him and wish him double happiness - today is not only the day of his promotion, but also the day of his wedding...
It's just that most of the generals and Sichuan governors and soldiers are on the front line. In Chongqing City, except for Zhu Shuren himself, the highest official position is only at the prefect level, which looks a bit shabby.
Everyone did not dare to delay him too much. After congratulating him, they did not even dare to say anything about the wedding wine. They only said that they would not disturb the governor's happy day.
In the end, Zhu Shuren took the initiative to invite everyone to have a drink together for three rounds during the luncheon, which was a bit of fun, and then they dispersed.
Who told him that most of the wedding ceremony had already been completed in Hefei when he received his bride? Strictly speaking, when he arrived in Chongqing, he only added a couple's greetings.
…
Since there was no one older than him in Chongqing City, and no one could even be found who was barely on the same level as him, there was no need for Zhu Shuren to waste too much time on false courtesy and social interactions.
There are so many things to do with your subordinates.
After spending half a day dealing with external affairs, Zhu Shuren returned to the inner chamber of the mansion that afternoon and completed the remaining etiquette in private with only his relatives, friends and confidante.
Zhu Shuren also had to bring his newlywed wife Zhu Yuchan to kowtow to his stepmother Xu. When they paid homage to the high hall in Hefei, Zhu Shuren himself did not appear, and the "feudal etiquette" in this link could not be dispensed with.
Then the husband and wife pay their respects.
The conscience of heaven and earth, before this, the number of times Zhu Shuren and Zhu Yuchan met did not exceed five times in total, and the number of times they could chat in depth was only three times at most.
But these days, men and women are grabbing a lot of people who have never seen each other before getting married, so their situation is nothing.
As far as Zhu Yuchan is concerned, she has nothing to be unwilling to do, because the palace has been very strict since she was a child, and she has almost never seen a man except her father. Being able to meet Zhu Shuren three or five times is already a lot. She also feels that she is quite lucky.
, just by meeting such a few men, you can meet a man who is worthy of you, looks pleasing to the eye in every aspect, and is very powerful.
Returning to the inner house for a couple's drink, Zhu Yuchan was a little embarrassed at first, but was soon teased by Zhu Shuren into opening up. Zhu Shuren also inevitably asked four maids to come over to serve Zhu Yuchan while he picked vegetables and poured juice, and also took the opportunity to show off and get acquainted with each other.
Zhu Yuchan had little experience. When she saw Chen Yuanyuan, Dong Xiaowan, Li Xiangjun, and Bian Yujing, she was surprised at her beauty and was speechless.
"Husband... How can your Shen family be so wealthy? The maids around you can... these sisters are really beautiful."
Chen Yuanyuan hurriedly bowed down and said: "Slaves are from humble backgrounds, how dare they be called sisters by the princess. It is a lucky thing that they can continue to serve the princess and not be replaced in the future. I don't dare to think about the rest."
However, Zhu Shuren did not want his woman to be too wronged, so he directly pointed out to Zhu Yuchan: "Don't blame me, madam. After all, my husband is already twenty-four years old. He has not married until now. It is also because he has been in the official position for five years and has been ruthless in military affairs. He has devoted all his energy to conquering the east and west.
There will be no rest for a year. However, there will always be a few concubines around me, and I hope Madam can allow them to live in harmony."
"I said this as soon as I walked in. Since I was a child, no one has shared or snatched away the things I wanted." Zhu Yuchan was in a trance and said angrily, and shed tears unconsciously.
It's not that she has deep feelings for Zhu Shuren or is jealous, it's just that she has been pampered since she was a child, being held in the palm of her hand and coaxed, and she can't bear to have to share what she wants with others.
Fortunately, she also knew about the situation of the Shen family in advance. Prince Lu had already understood it when he discussed it with Zhu Shuren and told his daughter about it. It was only when the matter came to pass that Zhu Yuchan discovered that these concubines around Zhu Shuren actually
She was quite unwilling to be so beautiful.
Fortunately, people like Chen Yuanyuan also have high emotional intelligence. With just a brief observation, they can roughly see through the mentality of the little princess, so they quickly flattered and said nice things:
"How dare I share His Highness's love? We are all here to serve His Highness. From now on, we will all be His Highness's private property. How can we expect to have a few sisters who were born as palace maids to teach us about decency?"
Zhu Yuchan was originally just angry that she had to share it with others. After hearing this, she suddenly felt that her situation was different.
Those beauties are her servants, and they have nothing to share. From this point of view, I feel that Chen Yuanyuan and the others are almost like court ladies in a trial marriage.
In ancient times, when princesses and princesses got married, they sometimes wanted to be cautious and see if the man was okay, and sometimes they would send some humble palace maids to try.
It's just that these maids are usually the maids around the princess and princess, and they can't be too personal and favored.
Otherwise, if the quasi-consort fails, the most useful maid of the princess will be tarnished, and the princess's face will not be able to hold on, and she will not be able to swallow her breath even if she wants to regret it. Therefore, the maids sent in the end are all of average importance and are disgraced.
I won’t feel too sorry if I become a princess, at least I won’t regard her as my best friend.
Chen Yuanyuan and others lowered their status and got started first, so they finally managed to get things done for the time being.
Zhu Shuren had some teachings for his newlywed wife that night, so there is no need to repeat them.
(The little princess needs blood, so I won’t write more, after all, she is a tool)
…
There is nothing that a man who has been familiar with for five or six years can't deal with a girl who is just sixteen or seventeen years old. The next morning, Zhu Yuchan had a bright look on her face, and she was tidy up, from the inside out.
Take it heartily.
The four of them, Chen Yuanyuan, had also been waiting outside. When the princess got up, they came in and watched them while changing clothes and washing up.
This made the maids brought along by Zhu Yuchan as part of her marriage a little uncomfortable, but they did not fight over it. They also received the attention of the male master in advance and told them not to cause trouble.
Zhu Shuren saw everything in his eyes and was quite satisfied with what he saw. The reason why he was eager to resolve the potential friction between Zhu Yuchan and Chen Yuanyuan was because he was about to go on an expedition and did not want to cause trouble in the back house.
Zhu Yuchan put on the bride's silk and Suzhou embroidery attire, and Chen Yuanyuan helped her comb her hair neatly. She changed the double-ring bun from the one before leaving the pavilion to an upturned bun. It was as simple as possible and avoided too much change in the coiling of the hair, which would have bad effects on the hair quality.
Impact.
Zhu Shuren looked at this scene and was very satisfied. He stroked Zhu Yuchan's hair while the iron was hot and said a few words: "I will lead troops to Jianzhou in the next few days. My wife will not blame her husband for arranging the consummation of the marriage before the expedition."
Zhu Yuchan's face turned red, and she turned around and snuggled into his arms: "What are you talking about? Be careful outside and don't think about all these things. After the visit to Hefei, I will already be your husband, so there is no difference between morning and evening.
"
It seems that although she is not a time traveler and has never heard of the idea of "returning to your hometown to get married after fighting this battle", ancient girls seem to have had intuition and knew that such discussions are unlucky.
Seeing that Zhu Shuren had succeeded, he also struck while the iron was hot. He admitted that he had indeed been too careful. He should not have allowed Chen Yuanyuan and the others to visit Zhu Yuchan as soon as she came in yesterday. But this was also to ensure that when he left, there would be a few people around Zhu Yuchan who could talk to him sincerely.
We can live together in harmony, so we won't feel depressed because we are thousands of miles away and we are unfamiliar with the place we live in.
Zhu Yuchan finally felt completely relieved and said that she would take good care of her sisters in life.
Zhu Shuren dealt with matters in the back house for a while, and soon a maid came in from outside to announce that there were military staff who had returned from the front asking for a meeting. It seemed that there was news about the war.
Zhu Shuren quickly comforted his newlywed wife and went to deal with military affairs.
Zhu Yuchan looked at his back, her original resentment had completely dissipated, leaving only worry and anxiety.
"The young master is a person who does important things. The princess will know this later." Chen Yuanyuan and others quickly helped to explain.
…
After some twists and turns, Zhu Shuren met Gu Yanwu, an aide who had just returned from the front line in Chengdu to exchange information.
In fact, Gu Yanwu didn't have any major events. This kind of notification was routinely communicated to Zhu Shuren by Zhang Huangyan and Fang Kongzhen every half a month or so.
When I came back this time, I also wanted to ask for instructions on the rhythm of the decisive battle. I wanted to know whether Zhu Shuren's statement that "the imperial court will send another troops north to Hanzhong to block the Jinniu Road" was actually deployed in place.
In addition, I want to report to Zhu Shuren the latest trends of Sun Kewang's department.
It was only after Gu Yanwu arrived in Chongqing that he heard that Dong Weng had been promoted to governor and had just been granted a marriage, so he quickly followed him to congratulate him.
Zhu Shuren waved his hand: "Forget it, these are nonsense, let's get down to business, what's going on over there with Sun Kewang?"
Gu Yanwu: "That was seven days ago. Sun Kewang secretly abandoned Emei County and Jiajiang County and fled upstream along the Qingyi River (Datu River). It is said that he went to Yazhou Prefecture (Ya'an). Zhang Daotai stayed in Leshan two days later.
Only then did the partial army discover this, and pursued them to recover the second county.
After an inventory, it was found that Sun Kewang had taken away most of the stored grain and treasures in the treasury, but he did not burn down the house or destroy all the grain. It may be that some heavy objects could not be lifted, and some bad grain was left.
Zhang Daotai thought, it seems that Sun Kewang understood our sincerity from our previous counter-intentional plan, so he also wanted to test it to see if he could let him live."
Zhu Shuren was quite happy after hearing this, but then he felt a little regretful: "This is a good thing. Did my cousin publicize Sun Kewang's betrayal of Zhang Xianzhong in a big way?"
Gu Yanwu: "No, Zhang Daotai said that the key to the art of war is to promote rebellion before rebellion. You should make a big show of it and use fake documents. Even if you really rebel, you should keep it secret. How can the so-called stealing against the master be done regularly? How can it be concealed for one more day?
One day, on the eve of the decisive battle, it is not too late to spread the news."
When Zhu Shuren heard this, his eyes lit up completely, and the regret he felt just now was completely suppressed.
This cousin of mine does have something, and he can adapt to circumstances like this.
The control of morale during a battle is actually a bit like playing a game. Those debuffs that reduce the enemy's morale should be saved as much as possible. Only when they explode at the last moment can they destroy the opponent's morale in one go.
If it's the same as the boosting tactic, if you occasionally spread one, wouldn't it give the opponent's commander an opportunity to "release morale-boosting skills"?
Morale is such an illusory thing. It is the most valuable to gather fire in one breath and destroy it in seconds. You cannot allow the opponent to slowly drain it.
"Well done! That's how it should be." Zhu Shuren took a deep breath and quickly ordered,
"Sun Ke hopes that he can avoid burning Emei and Jiajiang. He should have understood our army's overtures. If he can really draw a clear line with Zhang Ni, there is nothing wrong with allowing him a way out for the time being. By the way, after he retreats to Yazhou, what will happen in detail?
How was the action? Did it cause further harm?"
Gu Yanwu: "Time was short, Zhang Daotai only observed for two days, and sent troops to pursue the investigation in Yazhou. Yazhou officials said that when they encountered the Sun thief crossing the border, they guarded the city and did not dare to come out, so they let the Sun thief pass.
Sun's thieves went to Lizhou's Appeasement Division and Dadu River Station in the south, only to hear that there were local chieftains who didn't know how powerful the thieves were, so they fought with them, but after being broken through and looted by Sun Kewang, they continued to flee."
Zhu Shuren thought for a while, and it seemed that Sun Kewang had estimated a way to survive. At least he felt that by doing so, he should have a way to survive in the future.
Therefore, he chose a place where the imperial court had the control of the state capital, and did not dare to attack the city ruled by the Ming Dynasty officials, lest he would make new enemies and attract Zhang Huangyan's unrelenting pursuit.
But Sun Kewang's troops must raise food and eat, so it is impossible to be completely innocent. He only dared to go to the chieftain tribes in Daliang Mountain who had not yet converted to their native land and tried to find a way to earn a vote——
Sun Kewang actually used this trick very skillfully, because when Zhang Xianzhong was trapped in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, Sun Kewang obtained supplies by dealing with Shizhouwei and the Miao native chieftains in western Hunan who had not yet returned to their native land. The disadvantages of this
The casualties on both sides will be relatively large, and the natives are braver and unwilling to be robbed. The advantage is that they will not further offend the Han government.
Zhu Shuren was very satisfied with the result and said that he would set off to the front of the army tomorrow. At the same time, Cao Bianjiao's group should be able to reach Hanzhong in a few days - according to Wang Gonggong's statement, Zhu Shuren was given a promotion decree, and
Cao Cao left the capital at about the same time as he ordered to move the defense.
Zhu Shuren would naturally count the days when the envoy was on the way and the time for the march to start, so he knew that Cao Bianjiao was coming soon.
…
That night, Zhu Shuren compensated his newlywed wife for another night. On the morning of the seventh day of April, he boarded the ship and personally led nearly 10,000 follow-up reinforcements to Chengdu.
The reinforcements of 10,000 people were also newly transferred from Huguang.
It was Fang Yizhi, the magistrate of Wuchang and the commander of Hubei military preparations, who met the prince who came to Wuchang to wait for the announcement of the decree. He learned from him that Zhu Shuren had been promoted to governor and might launch a final attack on Zhang Xianzhong, so he immediately made preparations. The prince set off.
When entering Sichuan, this unit can not only escort, but also participate in follow-up operations.
In fact, there is no shortage of troops in Huguang. Most of the troops that participated in the Kaifeng Battle last year are resting and recovering this spring. They have rested for a quarter. Of course, they can recruit a force with sufficient combat effectiveness to serve as reinforcements for Sichuan.
Moreover, they can also bring a batch of munitions produced by the Daye Iron Mine and Iron Works this spring, allowing the Sichuan army to increase its effective output of thousands of muskets.
Before Zhu Shuren set off, Zhu Yuchan was naturally a little unwilling. She wanted to be a little bit playful and secretly follow the boat together. She also said that since they were taking a boat anyway, they would not be exposed to the public.
Zhu Shuren had no choice but to enlighten his little wife who was not familiar with the world with sincere words: "This is not a matter of publicity, but military discipline! Since ancient times, we have not been worried about the lack of numbers but about inequality. Naturally, no one in the army can bring along women. As a coach, you must set an example!"
Not to mention that it was just the governor's expedition, but also the battle of Tumubao, when the Yingzong Yujia personally went on the expedition, could he bring his female family members with him? It's not the same. Don't worry, you can come back in more than a month at the earliest."
Zhu Yuchan was not unreasonable, but she just didn't understand much. After Zhu Shuren explained it clearly to her, she accepted it.
After another seven or eight days of marching, on April 15th, Zhu Shuren finally arrived at the front line of Longquanyi.
Qin Liangyu and Fang Guoan, led by Fang Kongzhen, were also very successful. Before Zhu Shuren arrived, they had occupied Longquanyi and broke through Zhang Xianzhong's army's defense line based on Longquan Ridge.
Because of the loss of Longquanyi, Zhang Xianzhong's army located at Xinjin Ferry on the Minjiang River further south had to give up the defense of the ferry because their flanks were too exposed and the risk was too high.
The waterway armies of Zhang Huangyan and Liu Guoneng have successfully joined forces with Fang Kongzhen and Qin Liangyu on all fronts, completely blocking all possibilities for Zhang Xianzhong to escape in three directions: southeast, southeast and west.
It can only be said that because Zhang Xianzhong coveted the wealth, prosperity and beauties of the Land of Abundance in Chengdu, he was really reluctant to abandon the city before the army attacked the city with all its strength. All this led to his tragedy.
But this cannot be blamed on Zhang Xianzhong. When he was in Changsha and Hengzhou, the wealth in those places was far less than that in Chengdu. Zhang Xianzhong was also a little reluctant to part with it. This is the case for people who are afraid of poverty.
They knew very well that if they withdrew directly, the hundreds of thousands of people they had managed to pull up temporarily would be dispersed. In this case, it would be better to have a bloody battle with the government and army, with tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people on both sides dying, and then
Withdrawing it again is better than throwing it away without redeeming anything.
It was not like Li Dingguo and Feng Shuangli were not persuaded to leave early. Tens of thousands more people would only increase casualties and were unnecessary. However, Zhang Xianzhong was already blinded by the loss and did not want to take the final step until that moment.
On the morning of April 15th, Zhu Shuren personally lined up and arrived at the gate of Chengdu City under the protection of the generals.
Of course, Zhu Shuren himself must be protected by several layers of iron shields, and he must be at least one mile away from the city.
Even if the thief army had the Folang machine, they would not be able to hit that far, but the thief army with the Hongyi cannon is impossible.
It was at this moment that Zhu Shucai allowed the scolding warrior to use his final trump card:
"Zhang Xianzhong, you thief, listen! The imperial court has sent Shanxi general Cao Bianjiao into Hanzhong to occupy the Jinniu Road. After Chengdu is defeated, you have no way to escape! Even if Mianzhu and Jianmen are still in your hands, it will be useless
Got it!
Your Majesty was just worried about alerting the enemy in advance, so he was not in a hurry to recapture Mianzhu and Jianmen! You have already fallen into the trap! Except for Zhang Xianzhong, anyone who surrenders will be spared death! Anyone who kills his superior to surrender will be spared! If you persist in your stubbornness, we will attack the city!"
——
Zhang Xianzhong will be finished tomorrow or the day after tomorrow at the latest. The most painful part of writing is probably over. The main reason is that it is difficult to not let Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo be completely Lu Bu, but also to keep them alive and not to hold grudges.
In the end, it may not be handled too smoothly, and there may be a slight sense of unreality, especially in the handling of character relationships. Please forgive me.