Back to the end of the Ming Dynasty to engage in infrastructure construction

Chapter 242 The First Letter to Chongzhen
It can be said that Zhao Cheng is rebellious and outrageous.

But now he doesn't need to worry about these.

The conscript army is already capturing Datong Mansion, so what is this verbal disrespect?
"Hmph!" Cao Bianjiao snorted coldly, "Is there even a question? Our Cao family has been loyal for generations, His Majesty must have believed in us!"

There was a bit of disdain on his face, if he wasn't in the hands of people, he wouldn't bother answering Zhao Cheng's question at all.

"Not necessarily!"

Zhao Cheng smiled.

"Since General Xiao Cao is so confident, he is definitely not afraid to make a bet with me. Let's just make one bet. If Chongzhen believes in me and decides that you are rebellious, then I win. If Chongzhen does not believe in me, but in yours, If you decide that I am rebellious, then you have won.

If I win, you will take refuge in me and follow me in the future.If you win, I will let you and all your subordinates go.how about it? "

Cao Bianjiao was visibly moved.

This time, they captured a lot of people.

He brought eight hundred servants with him, all of whom were his elite subordinates.

These eight hundred family members were all cultivated by the Cao family for many years. Not only was it a matter of spending a lot of money and effort, but there was also a relationship between him and these family members.

It is no exaggeration to say that Cao Bianjiao spent more time with these servants than with his wife.

Even when he was stationed in his hometown, he would not take it with him at home, but grew up in the barracks.

When I went out to fight, I stayed with these servants twenty hours a day, inseparable.

Now, these servants suffered heavy casualties, and some of them fell into the hands of the conquering army and became prisoners. Cao Bianjiao was extremely worried.

However, after all, he tilted his head, glanced coldly at Zhao Cheng and said:

"Cao is loyal and courageous, loyal to the king and the country! It is impossible for you to want Cao to take refuge in you. Hurry up and die. If you want to kill or cut, it's up to you. As for Cao's soldiers , if possible, I hope you treat them kindly.

If that doesn't work... so be it!Anyway, they followed Cao, and they had expected this day a long time ago.Die for the country on the battlefield, and return the shrouded body of horse leather.As a man, there is nothing to regret. "

Cao Bianjiao's tone was open-minded, full of death will.

The more he was like this, the more Zhao Cheng secretly nodded in his heart.

You really deserve to be General Xiao Cao!

General Xiao Cao is absolutely not pretending, he is not acting for him, in order to bargain and increase his status.

General Xiao Cao in history is such a brave person who is not afraid of death.

According to the original historical track, in May of the 13th year of Chongzhen (1640), Cao Bianjiao followed Hong Chengchou out of Shanhaiguan and stationed in Ningyuan.

In July, the decisive battle of pine brocade that determined the fate of the Ming and Qing Dynasties broke out.

Cao Bianjiao, Zuo Guangxian, commander-in-chief of aid and suppression, Ma Ke, commander-in-chief of Shanhai, Wu Sangui, commander-in-chief of Ningyuan, and Liu Zhaoji, commander-in-chief of Liaodong, encountered Qing army forwards in Huangtutai, Songshan, and Xingshan. Both sides suffered casualties. The Qing army retreated and stationed in Uiju.

The Ming court summoned Yang Guozhu, the general of the Xuanfu, Wang Pu, the general of Datong, and Tang Tong, the general of Miyun, and asked them to choose their elite soldiers to go to reinforcements.

Hong Chengchou advocated prudence and prudence in the use of troops, but the imperial court believed that it was not easy for so many troops to gather food and pay, and the battle should be resolved quickly.

In the end, under the constant urging of the imperial court, Hong Chengchou was forced to send troops to fight to the death with the Qing soldiers, and was repeatedly defeated.

In August, Yang Guozhu died in battle, and Li Fuming, the general soldier of Shanxi, replaced him.

Hong Chengchou ordered Cao Bianjiao to set up seven military camps in the north of Songshan Mountain and west of Rufeng Mountain, surrounded by long trenches.Soon, reinforcements from the Qing army arrived in large numbers, and the road for the Ming army to transport grain and grass was cut off.

So the Ming army planned to break out and retreat.

At this time, the show operation of the general of the Ming army came.

The famous escaped general Wang Puxian fled at night, and Tang Tong, Ma Ke, Wu Sangui, Bai Guangen, and Fu Ming also fled one after another.They were blocked by the Qing army on the way to escape, causing countless casualties, and a large number of people were directly driven into the sea and drowned.

After Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen heard the news, instead of fleeing with the tide, they rushed to Songshan and defended firmly with Hong Chengchou.

After Wu Sangui and Wang Pu escaped, they occupied Xingshan.After a few days, I wanted to go back to Ningyuan, but I encountered an ambush on the way, and I was defeated.

In this battle, the Ming army lost more than 700 soldiers successively.Since then, the encirclement of Jinzhou has been tightened, Songshan has been surrounded again, and there are no reinforcements.

In September, the Ming army had no hope at all.

With the determination to die, Cao Bianjiao decided to decapitate the enemy, in case of success, he could turn the tide.

He selected the most elite servants under his command, and at night opened the city and went straight to the Zhenghuangqi camp of the Qing army, killing the Qing Zuo leader Zhang Guli who was the first to block, and all the Qing troops who tried to block Zhenghuangqi were killed by the Ming army's sword.

Cao Bianjiao led his troops to clash vertically and horizontally in the Qing army, as if entering no one's land, and finally chose the most conspicuous piece of camp to charge over.

And that night Huang Taiji was planning to attack Songshan here.Erfu Doerji led his own army to stop the attack, but was immediately killed by the Ming army; the internal ministers Buyan and Ta Zhan led their troops to fight one after another, but were defeated again; Huang Taiji's guards fought desperately as the last line of defense to defend Huang Taiji On, Cao Bianjiao was stabbed.

But the Ming army still marched forward bravely, killing the guards irresistibly.Knowing their bravery, Gushan Erzhen Turge, his younger brother Irden, the ministers Xihan, Ye Bilong and other Qing generals saw that they could not win by fighting, so they occupied the gate of the imperial camp in desperation and shot arrows desperately, wounding Cao Bianjiao.

At this time, the Qing army had reacted from the chaos and began to gather from all directions towards the imperial camp. Cao Bianjiao, who was almost fainted due to excessive blood loss, had no hope of breaking into the inner camp, so he had to lead his army back to Songshan.

After this battle, Huang Taiji was furious, all the generals were punished and fined silver, and the defense of the imperial camp was strengthened.

In the second year, the deputy general Xia Chengde acted as an internal response, and Songshan City fell.

Hong Chengchou, Bianjiao, Wang Tingchen, Governor of Liaodong Qiu Minyang, Chief Soldier Zu Dale, Bing Dao Zhang Dou, Yao Gong, Wang Sanzhen, Deputy Generals Jiang Zhu, Rao Xun, Zhu Wende, and more than 100 civil and military officials and Ming More than [-] soldiers were captured, and the Qing army inhumanely executed them all on the spot.

Only Hong Chengchou and Zu Dale were not killed.

Later, there was no sign of reinforcements at all, the food in Jinzhou City was exhausted, people ate each other, Zu Dashou had no choice but to surrender.Xingshan and Tashan were also lost one after another. All the soldiers and civilians in the city were killed in battle, and no one surrendered.

At that time, Huang Taiji tried to recruit Cao Bianjiao, and Hong Chengchou surrendered, but Cao Bianjiao vowed not to surrender.

It is such a fierce general who has not had much fame for a long time.

It was not until after the 2020s that someone suggested that Cao Bianjiao was no worse than Fusang's Sanada Yukimura.

And Sanada Yukimura is the national idol of Fuso, known as one of the three tragic heroes, and even has considerable popularity all over the world.

This is undoubtedly very unfair to Cao Bianjiao.

In his previous life, Zhao Cheng had paid attention to the Songjin decisive battle, so he naturally knew about General Xiao Cao's crazy achievements and heroism.

He admired and valued General Xiao Cao very much.

If Zhao Cheng wants to build national integrity and blood, he needs a heroic figure like General Cao.

That's why he was willing to spend more time chatting with General Xiao Cao, and used tricks to make a bet with General Xiao Cao.

In any case, he would not kill General Cao.It would certainly be the best if he could be subdued and let him work for the military government; if not, he could think of other ways.

For example, send him overseas together with his servants by sea boat, and let him open up territories for the Han people...

Speaking of which, I don't know how the sea-going ships in Liaodong are being built now?

"Since General Cao is not afraid of death, why doesn't he dare to make this bet with me? Isn't it good to fight for a chance for his subordinates?"

Zhao Cheng calmed down and asked back.

"As members of the court, they eat the salary of the court, sacrifice their lives for the country, and die well! As a courtier, how can they question the emperor?" Cao Bianjiao's tone was decisive.

"To put it bluntly, you are still afraid of losing! Forget it, since you don't want to bet, then I'll go and chop off all those captives."

As Zhao Cheng spoke, he stood up and waved to a guard beside him.

The guard immediately agreed and turned around to deliver the order.

In a short time, more than 200 captured servants were brought over.

These servants were all wearing handcuffs and ankle chains, and they swayed as they walked.

Cao Bianjiao stood up suddenly when he saw them.

"Wait!"

His lips trembled, and finally couldn't help it.

"If we win the bet, are you really willing to let us go?"

"Of course!" Zhao Cheng said with certainty.

"That's good! I'll make a bet with you!" Cao Bianjiao blushed.

This violated his principles of life.

However, no matter how righteous he said, seeing these servants being dragged away in front of him now, he couldn't stand it.

"Haha! That's right." Zhao Cheng smiled and waved his hands, "Draw all these captives down! Send them to the coal mine first, let them dig coal, and wait until my bet with General Xiao Cao is completed." After the result is known, we will deal with it."

Someone brought a pen and paper.

Zhao Cheng did not shy away from it, and spread out on the same table, sharing the same table with Cao Bianjiao, and the two began to write the memorial at the same time.

The content of Zhao Cheng's memorial is very simple, directly writing:

Your Majesty is well.I'm Zhao Cheng, the garrison officer of Huai'an Guard in Xuanfu Town.

Cao Bianjiao, the little general of Datong Mansion, has turned against Cao Bianjiao. He privately supported his servants, and he also joined hands with the great Shanxi merchant and the big traitor Fan Yongdou to instigate the rebellion of our soldiers and horses in Xuanfu Town, causing Qianhu Guan Liu Fei to lead his troops to rebel.

Cao Bianjiao and Liu Fei teamed up to attack the strong ground, and we were forced to fight back. Fortunately, the soldiers were very good at fighting and defeated them.

Now Cao Bianjiao has been caught by me, and I am going to sentence him to death. Your Majesty, please allow me!
In addition, there are Liu Fei and Fan Yongdou, who are fleeing all the way south, and we are sending people to chase after them. Your Majesty, you have an order, let everyone help us kill the rebels!
By the way, I see that in the Shanshan area, many dog ​​officials have the intention of rebellion, otherwise, the situation in Shanshan would not have deteriorated like this.

When we were chasing Liu Fei, if we saw anyone who dared to assist him, it must be a traitor. Your Majesty, please give us a Shang Fang sword, let us cut first and then play.

One last thing, please bring us the food and salaries of Huai'anwei as soon as possible, it's owed for half a year.Even earlier, I would not have pursued it, but the food and salary for the past six months must not be less than a penny.

Your Majesty must be considerate of our difficulty in leading troops, brothers can't hold back any more!If there is less food and wages, they will definitely have the opposite.At that time, His Majesty will have to spend more money to destroy them, but the key point is that he may not be able to defeat them.

In addition, we have dispatched a lot of people to hunt down the traitors Liu Fei and Fan Yongdou in this campaign against Cao Bianjiao. Your Majesty will also bring in the expenses, food, and so on.

Brothers fight for His Majesty, His Majesty can't even ignore food, right?That would be so uninteresting!

OK OK.That's all for now, bye, bye!
Zhao Cheng wrote here to close his pen and write down his name.

Cao Bianjiao was brewing feelings, holding the pen tightly in his hand, and his tiger eyes were slightly teary.

For him, giving a memorial to the emperor is definitely a very sacred thing.

However, he was stunned to see Zhao Cheng get it done with three strokes.

Couldn't help being curious, turned his head and glanced, Cao Bianjiao was so angry that he stared straight into the eyes.

"You actually used this tone to talk to His Majesty?"

"So what? Your Majesty is a human being, and I am also a human being, and he is not a god. Do you want to create a divine language for him to use alone?"

Zhao Cheng rolled his eyes.

"Besides, no matter what tone I use to tell him, he will believe me. You don't have to work hard, no matter what you say, he won't believe it. "

"This is absolutely impossible! Your Majesty, how can you fail to see that you are a traitor!"

Cao Bianjiao snorted coldly, and said nothing more to Zhao Cheng.

Zhao Cheng was not in a hurry, he was holding a big tea mug, drinking tea and chatting with the guards.

Cao Bianjiao was thinking hard, his eyes were red, and the more he wrote, the more moved he became.

Zhao Cheng glanced at it and was almost amused.

This Cao Bianjiao was written almost from his birth.

The entire memorial is eloquent and divided into two parts. One part is to introduce Cao Bianjiao's own life, his loyalty to the court, and his preparation for dying for the country when he can no longer serve the court.

The other part is to denounce Zhao Cheng's rebellion.

"You really dare to ask me to send this notebook to the capital?"

After finishing writing, Cao Bianjiao asked in disbelief.

"Of course!" Zhao Cheng nodded without hesitation, "You can choose two people from your servants and ask them to deliver your letter, and you can tell them whatever you want."

"Good! I didn't expect that you also have a frank side. I only hope that you can keep your word."

Cao changed his way.

Zhao Cheng didn't talk nonsense, and asked the guards to take Cao Bianjiao to the captives to choose someone.

Cao Bianjiao picked two of the most trustworthy servants and handed them the letter, exhorting them thousands and thousands of times.

Zhao Cheng casually handed the letter to Dongfang Company.

In the past few months, the Dongfang Company has opened branches in many cities, and armed caravans are walking between the cities.

Under Zhao Cheng's suggestion, Dongfang Company opened a business called "Express Delivery".

Originally, Li Gaoyi was not very optimistic, because all the post stations of the imperial court were eliminated.

(End of this chapter)