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Chapter 411 Emerging Edges
On June 13, the [-]th year of Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty, in the East Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City, Beijing.

Emperor Chongzhen sat in the dragon chair behind the imperial case. He pointed to a memorial on the case, and said to Chen Xinjia who was standing beside him: "Which rogue is this, who dares to break into Yongning to kill the deputy general of a town? Jiuli Xuanzhen, and tell me about it."

Chen Xinjia's body couldn't help trembling for a while, he thought for a while, and then replied softly: "Return to Your Majesty, the Governor of Xuanda has reported that this thief is a giant bandit from the East Road. Zhang Guowei has also attacked many times before, but he has been unable to Execution, just caused this catastrophe,

I would like to send Zhang Cheng, a general from the North Road, out of the East Road of the town, to wipe out the Dongshan bandits as soon as possible, to stabilize Xuanzhen, and to garrison the army, with a view to serving the country and the court. "

As soon as Chen Xinjia mentioned Zhang Cheng, the anger in Emperor Chongzhen's heart eased a little. He looked at the roof of the East Pavilion with deep eyes, and said lightly:
"Hmph, with the deputy commander of the town, he couldn't wipe out the local thieves, but died at his hands. Zhang Guowei is also a mediocre person, and he will die if he dies. It's just that last time Zhang Cheng was good at killing criminal officials, I The decree has been issued to demote him to the commander of the Kaiping Guard, but he has not seen any military achievements, how can he be promoted?"

Chen Xinjia bowed his head slightly, and played humbly: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I want to send Zhang Cheng to lead the army into the East Road to eliminate the Dongshan bandits. In this way, we can also examine the strength of the troops he commanded. It is not too late for his meritorious service to be promoted."

Emperor Chongzhen slowly closed his eyes, leaned back on the back of the dragon chair, and looked like he was in deep thought. After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Alright, let's handle it accordingly."

"The minister obeys the order!"

"Is there any news from Yang Sichang?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, there was a report to Beijing just a few days ago. Yang Ge's department supervised the division to suppress the bandits, and they achieved great victories. The offering of bandits is at the end of the road, and the rebellion is also trapped in the Yubu mountain, sluggish, and the situation is very good."

Emperor Chongzhen and Chen Xinjia chatted about the military affairs of suppressing bandits in Huguang again.

…………

At this time, Chen Xinjia had already entered the cabinet, and Xue Guoguan, who had just been promoted to the chief assistant of the cabinet in early 13th, was dissatisfied with Emperor Chongzhen because of the incident, so he was resigned and released on June 23.

It was the period when Chen Xinjia was deeply appreciated by Emperor Chongzhen. Zhang Cheng used some money to open up the joints of all parties, from the officials on the East Road to the generals of Xuanzhen, the governor, and the governor of Xuanda.

Zhang Guowei, the deputy general of Xuanzhen Town, guarded the east road. He used his troops year after year and wasted money and food.

In fact, Zhang Guowei, as the deputy chief soldier of Xuanzhen, has quite a few contacts and connections in the town and the court after years of operation, but he is already dead when people leave the tea, so who else will honestly argue for him? .

What's more, regarding this matter, from Xuanda's governor, chief soldier, to Yongning's officials and generals, there are general reports, and there is even a cabinet minister and soldier Chen Xinjia in the court to defend it, even if there are some noises, it will not help.

…………

On July 13th of the [-]th year of Chongzhen, the giant bandit Luo Rucai and the general Sun Yingyuan fought in Fengyiping, Xingshan. They were beheaded by the government army for more than [-] people and captured more than [-] people. Luo Rucai had no choice but to He led all the thieves to flee to Baiyang Mountain and joined forces with Zhang Xianzhong's thieves.

At this time, Cao Wei, Guo Tianxing and other bandits also wanted to cross the river, but they were blocked by Ming officers and soldiers. Just when Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai arrived, the bandits camped together again.

Although the rogue bandits had suffered numerous defeats, Zhang Xianzhong was still full of thieves. He immediately held a knife on the riverside. Anyone who was timid and did not move forward would be killed immediately. Stationed in Wanqing Mountain.

Afterwards, Zhang Xianzhong and other thieves jumped out of the junction of Hubei, Sichuan, and Shaanxi provinces. Taking advantage of the conflict between Sichuan governor Shao Jiechun and Yang Sichang, he stormed Xinning, where Shao Jiechun was defending, broke into the hinterland of Sichuan, and began to implement the new strategy of "controlling the enemy by walking". strategy.

On July 27, the angel of the capital came to Chicheng Castle and read out the imperial decree, ordering Zhang Cheng to lead the army into the territory of Donglu immediately, and wipe out the Dongshan bandit Kou Tianbawang within a certain period of time.

However, the generals in Yongning, due to poor defense, caused the bandits to break into the city and burn down the deputy commander-in-chief's office. Liu Zhongshi, a member of the general guard, was transferred back to the town.

…………

On July 29, in the official hall of the Chicheng General's Office, all the generals from the North Road gathered together.

Previously, Zhang Cheng had expected such an ending, so he transferred the left part of Cui Shijie from Dushibuying to Chicheng Castle early on, and Chen Zhong's rangers rushed to Chicheng Castle on the night of May 29th and stayed at Chicheng Castle. here.

Now the two infantry battalions under Zhang Cheng's command are equipped with three troops, Cui Shijie on the left of Dushi Infantry Battalion, Song Shanquan on the right, and a new army allocated in May in the middle, led by Tian Mingyu.

While Chen Dakuan on the left, Jin Yong on the right, and Xinyong in the middle of the Chicheng Step Camp are also composed of Xinyong who have completed three months of training.

At the beginning of February, more than 2000 new soldiers were recruited. After three months of training, each of the two infantry battalions received a new army, and the remaining nearly [-] people were assigned to Wei Zhice's car battalion.

Zhang Cheng's Central Military Department has not yet been formally established. His idea is to select loyal and brave veteran soldiers from each battalion in the future, and then gradually enrich his Central Military Department.

Because, in his heart, he regards the Central Military Department as his core force. At present, there are only more than [-] guards and [-] sergeants under Wu Zhizhong's command. The combat power is the strongest.

In the official hall, looking at the gathered generals, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in his heart.

Previously, he had taken a risky approach, sneaked into Yongning, and killed Zhang Guowei, the deputy commander in one fell swoop. Afterwards, he still panicked in his heart. According to his current strength, he is not enough to fight against the imperial court and influence the court situation.

The reason why he acted like this is that Zhang Guowei was really too much, he dared to provoke himself, and even threatened his wife and uncle, his sinister intentions were clearly revealed, so he couldn't be tolerated.

The second reason is that in order to quickly rise to the position, now that the overall situation of the North Road has been determined, I urgently need to expand the living space, and the East Road is bound to be won, and Zhang Guowei happens to be in the way of my progress, so I must get rid of it!
Fortunately, there is no danger, everything is logical, although some people have doubts about this, but without any real evidence, what can Zhang Cheng do?
It's not just that he can only watch Zhang Cheng's glory all the way, just like Tong Shouxin, the defender of Yongning, who knows what Zhang Cheng has done, but he can only rely on Zhang Cheng's command, and has no other choice.

But there is one thing that Zhang Cheng didn't expect. Yang Guozhu, the chief soldier of Xuanzhen, has been wary of Zhang Cheng since then, but Liu Yongzuo, the governor of Xuanfu, has changed his view of Zhang Cheng.

Previously, he believed that Zhang Cheng was loyal and loyal, and he was one of the few loyal generals among warriors. Therefore, he always cared and loved Zhang Cheng very much. However, after this incident, many rumors spread to him. It was based on factual evidence, but he also had doubts about Zhang Cheng.

(End of this chapter)