The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 187 The Net of Four Points, Six Corners and Ten Sides
Chongzhen ten years, March 24th.

Shaanxi Province, Hanzhong Prefecture, Jitouguan South.

Just south of Jitou Pass, on the hillside highlands on both sides of the official road, the area that was supposed to be deserted is now full of military tents.

Red flags fluttered one after another, and military tents stood everywhere.

Jitouguan is located in the north of Baocheng. There is a big stone at the pass that looks like a chicken head, hence the name.

The throat of Qin and Shu is far away from the Han family.

Fengyun protects the ancestral temple, and people come and go on the road of Lingzhao Pavilion.

Jitouguan is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It was called the throat of Qin and Shu in ancient times.

In the seventh year of Chongzhen, when the rogues moved south in large numbers, Yi Daocui, the magistrate of Baocheng County, cut off the plank road and isolated Jitouguan, so that Hanzhong Mansion was not affected by military disasters.

At the beginning of March, Chen Wang received Hong Chengchou's military order, and then led his troops to rush all the way to Jitouguan in order to prevent the rogue bandits currently entrenched in Fengxiang and Xi'an from going south to the hinterland of Hanzhong.

In late February, Li Zicheng and Gao Yingde joined forces in Jingyang.

Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou divided their forces to guard the east and west, intending to besiege Li Zicheng and Gao Yingde in Jingyang.

But on the eve of the battle, Sun Chuanting's general Xu Zhong rebelled, and Li Zicheng personally led the elite cavalry to launch a night attack. Under the cooperation of inside and outside, the Ming army suffered a big defeat and suffered heavy losses.

Sun Chuanting retreated all the way to Sanyuan, relying on the tens of thousands of Xi'an Sanwei guards who had been called before, to temporarily stabilize the situation.

But the encirclement net that was originally set up was broken. This time Li Zicheng ran out of the mountain, bringing all the elite cavalry and horse troops, and turned into Rufeng.

And Gao Yingde, Xie Zikuai and other subordinates are all elite cavalry troops, who can march day and night day and night, and can cover hundreds of miles a day at the fastest.

After breaking through the defense line set up by Sun Chuanting, Li Zicheng directly led his troops towards Xianyang without much hesitation, and then turned towards Fengxiang Mansion in the west again.

Hong Chengchou led troops to garrison in the southwest of Jingyang, but the cavalry under his command totaled no more than [-], so it was impossible to defend them tightly.

Li Zicheng led the troops into Fengxiang's mansion, and then divided into two groups, one route went to Gongchang via Chencang Road, and the other route went in the direction of Longzhou as a support.

Originally, the best way to guard Feng County was to block off Chencang.

But before the civil uprising in Fengxian County, the entire Fengxian County was burned to the ground, and it had already been turned into scorched earth, which could not be used as a fortress at all.

And more importantly, everything happened too quickly. When Chen Wang received the letter, Li Zicheng actually led the army through Feng County and entered Gongchang Mansion.

Soon after, Chen Wang received a second military order.

"Stick to Mian County and Jitouguan to prevent the bandits from fleeing into the hinterland of Hanzhong."

With the passing of the second military order, Chen Wang also learned more things.

Now Li Zicheng can be said to be a truly strong soldier, with more than 5 horse troops, and the 72nd Battalion under his command has nine battalion leaders and nearly [-] fine cavalry under his command.

After Li Zicheng entered Gongchang Mansion via Fengxian County, he was broken into parts and scattered in the deep mountains and giant valleys in Lueyang, Fengxian, Liangdang, Huizhou, Chengxian, Taozhou, Minzhou, Jiezhou, Wenxian and other places. .

The reason why Hong Chengchou ordered him to guard Mian County and Jitouguan is because there are many rogues operating around the two places.

In the southwest and southeast of Feng County, it seems that there are Little Red Wolf and Hunshiwan in the 72nd Battalion.

As for the activities in Lueyang area, it was King Renyi and General Manager Qi.

The Ming army has now lost all control over Lueyang in the northwest of Hanzhong Prefecture.

The speed of the rogues turning in was as fast as lightning, Yuguan had already been damaged, and Lueyang was still broken because of the previous destruction by the rogues, and it had already been broken by the army led by King Renyi as early as the middle of March.

Although Chen Wang was the deputy guard of the Hanzhong Mansion, he did not need to bear the responsibility for the loss of Lueyang.

After all, he only had nearly [-] battalion soldiers in name, and the field strength of the guards who assisted in the defense could not exceed [-].

Because the order Hong Chengchou issued before was to guard Xing'an and guard against Yunxiang. The place of defense has always been Yunxiang in the east, but now the danger is from the west and north.

Hong Chengchou in Lueyang had already divided his troops to defend, but the defenders he left behind could not reverse the situation.

Lueyang fell, and the order issued was naturally to guard Mian County.

Since it is impossible to prevent the possibility of the rogues from Gongchang Mansion going south, it is better to directly

This time, Chen Wang only brought four troops, one cavalry, and three infantry, totaling only 600 people.

The rest of the army was still stationed in Xing'an led by Hu Zhiyi.

There are still a large number of rogues entrenched in the Yunxiang area, and they have not been completely wiped out, and the threat has not disintegrated, so naturally they still need to be guarded.

The chicken head was closed, and Chen Wang stood on the Guanlou, looking at the mountains in the distance, with a dignified expression.

Chen Wang already found something wrong in the information from the north.

Gao Yingde had never heard of it, but intelligence showed that he led Xie Zikuan and Zhang Miaoshou back to Shaanxi, entered Xi'an Mansion, and joined forces with Li Zicheng outside Jingyang.

And the next battle of Jingyang turned out to be the end of the failure of the Ming army.

If the original process had been followed, it should have been under Sun Chuanting's siege. The two divisions, Xiezikuai and Zhang Miaoshou, suffered heavy losses and surrendered to Sun Chuanting after successive setbacks.

But in the current situation, Xie Zikuai and Zhang Miaoshou did not surrender, but followed Li Zicheng to fight a victory and entered the south-central part of Gongchang Mansion, entrenched in the northwest of Hanzhong Mansion.

Everything is completely different from the original process. The stars who stirred up the situation in Shaanxi, Huntianxing, had died early in battle, and the former star Hui Dengxiang did not rebel again.

Prime Minister Huideng was honestly managed by Sun Chuanting, and together with Yi Dou Gu Huang Long and Qian Cock Zhang Er led troops and horses to suppress the rogues in the Shangluo area in the south of Xi'an Prefecture.

Chen Wang knows that the huge advantage of history is getting smaller and smaller, and everything in the pass is slipping towards an unknown ending.

A burst of hurried footsteps came from under the Guanlou, Chen Wang tilted his head slightly, and in the corner of his vision, Chen Gong had already boarded the Guanlou.

"Report from Mian County, Zhou Yumao arrived around Mian County the day before yesterday."

Chen Gong stepped forward, and Chen Wang handed over the task of guarding Mian County to Zhou Yumao. Following Zhou Yumao, there were more than a thousand Hanzhongwei's main army.

These main troops were the original soldiers of Hanzhongwei, and Chen Wang did not mobilize the soldiers from the two thousand households on the right and the rear to join the battlefield.

Now it is the busy time of farming, and the spring planting has not been long, and the two schools are now in a wasteland, and the manpower is completely insufficient.

Farming and farming, ordnance production, many things are easy to say and easy to think about, but in reality it is extremely difficult.

In other words, in order to ensure the irrigation of the cultivated land, first of all, a large number of diversion canals and water trucks are needed. Otherwise, relying on manpower alone may exhaust the people who cultivate the land to the point of collapse.

Chen Wang held on to the railing, pondering in his mind.

Originally, he asked Zhou Yumao to guard Mian County because he knew the history clearly in advance.

Li Zicheng's situation in history was much more difficult than it is now. Gao Yingxiang died, the dragons had no leader, people were panicked, and many surrendered.

Li Zicheng's marching route went south from Gongchang Mansion via Lueyang of Hanzhong Mansion to break through Ningqiang Prefecture, and then went through Ningqiang Prefecture and crossed Qipan Pass to advance into Sichuan.

But now it seems that there are countless changes in it.

Chen Gong frowned slightly, as if remembering something, he stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

"Zhou Yumao's side only has 3000 soldiers including the guards. I heard that Li Chuang's elite cavalry army has more than 6 people, and the infantry army has more than [-] people before entering the mountain."

Chen Gong paused, thought for a while and continued.

"Now the army under Li Chuang's command is probably a lot more than before."

"Even if Li Chuang makes a big attack with the help of terrain barriers, Zhou Yumao might not be able to hold back."

Chen Gong is not alarmist, all these things are indeed possible, and the probability is not small.

But now that the situation has been settled, Li Zicheng's next plan is unknown, and it may not be too late to transfer troops from Xing'an.

Now the soldiers guarding Jitouguan with him can't move without authorization. He remembers that the little red wolf who is now entrenched in Fengxian County entered Hanzhong Mansion from Fengxian County in the tenth year of Chongzhen in the original time and space. It was He Renlong who led the troops to help and solved the siege of Hanzhong Mansion.

After thinking for a long time, Chen Wang had already made a decision.

"Send an order to Hu Zhiyi to lead the troops to rush to the aid of Jitouguan."

Reinforcements must be transferred, even if it is too late, if they cannot defend Mian County, they will defend Hanzhong City.

After Chen Gong responded, even if he went down the Guanlou, every minute and every second is crucial now, the threat of the bandits is not far away, and no one knows how the bandits will act.

Chen Wang walked into the closed building, found a seat and sat down. The complexity of the situation has gradually exceeded his expectations.

After he rescued Cao Wenzhao, a series of chain reactions were triggered. At first, these effects were not great.

But as time goes by, one thing after another keeps changing, and everything is gradually becoming unrecognizable now.

Chen Wang frowned, thinking about how to deal with it.

Chen Wang really wanted to comfort himself not to worry about things unfoundedly, but in fact, it is indeed possible for rogues to enter Hanzhong Mansion.

Li Zicheng's troops are now considered to be strong and strong. Although they are much worse than Gao Yingxiang in his heyday, they should not be underestimated.

Chen Wang in Hanzhong City is confident that he can keep it, but all the newly reclaimed fields will suffer.

And if one or two cities in the Hanzhong Mansion were lost, Chen Wang would probably lose his official position and stay in his post like He Renlong, and make meritorious deeds.

Chen Wang raised his head and looked outside Guanlou.

It is now March of the tenth year of Chongzhen. He remembered that during this period of time, a person who was extremely important to history came into Chongzhen's sight at this time, and then became an important person in the Ming court.

……

Inside the Xinuang Pavilion of Qianqing Palace in the capital and the Forbidden City.

A young man wearing red cloud shoulders, sleeves, Long Lan straight body, and a pterosaur crown on his head was frowning as he looked at the memorial in his hand.

The only person who can be in the Qianqing Palace and wear dragon pattern clothes is naturally only the emperor.

Ten years have passed since he ascended the throne when he was young.

Chongzhen is actually only 26 years old this year, but his face looks so hard to connect him with the high-spirited youth.

The 26-year-old Chongzhen's face looks even more ordinary.

There are no charcoal fires in the Nuan Pavilion, but it is as warm as spring.

Chongzhen is not sitting alone in the Xinuang Pavilion, under his desk is sitting the new Minister of War Yang Sichang.

Zhang Fengyi, former minister of the Ministry of War, committed suicide in fear of crime, and Yang Sichang succeeded him.

Yang He, the governor of the three sides who was dismissed because of the failure of the campaign, was Yang Sichang's father.

Yang Sichang was born peacefully. At this time, he is wearing a beam crown on his head, wearing a bright red python robe, and a jade belt around his waist, sitting at the bottom.

Yang Sichang has a long beard, black and deep beard, and his eyes show a little bit of sharpness. He is very good at inheriting his father's appearance. Just looking at his appearance, he can make people feel good at first sight.

Yang Sichang is familiar with the stories of laws and regulations, he is skilled in writing and eloquent, which is completely different from Zhang Fengyi's sluggish and dull appearance.
Chongzhen put down the memorabilia in his hand, on which were the suggestions submitted by Yang Sichang, and he had read them all.

But for some of the details, Chongzhen still feels vague in many places.

"Can you briefly explain to me, what is the four righteousness, the six corners, and the net of ten sides?"

Yang Sichang's eyes moved slightly, his body leaned forward slightly, and he was confident.

The question Chongzhen asked was within his expectation, and he already had a plan in mind for how to answer it. "

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the so-called Four Righteousness refers to the establishment of four governors in Shaanxi, Henan, Huguang, and Jiangbei for special defense."

"Liuyu refers to the six provinces of Yansui, Shanxi, Shandong, Jiangnan, Jiangxi, and Sichuan, and the six governors divided their defenses and cooperated in the suppression."

"Four positives and six corners total the land of ten provinces, and each of them sets up soldiers and horses to jointly attack and suppress them. The land of ten provinces is ten sides."

"And the governor, the prime minister, and the two ministers follow the thieves' direction and specialize in conquest. This is the so-called four-point, six-corner, and ten-sided net!"

Chongzhen's heart moved slightly, but there was still not much change on his face.

After being on the throne for many years, he has understood how to hide his emotions.

Chongzhen has been the emperor for ten years now, and he is no longer the young man who just came to the throne and was ignorant of all government affairs.

Yang Sichang's strategy Chongzhen had a rough look at it, and it was hundreds of times better than those ministers in the court who could only talk empty-handed.

Although Chongzhen's expression did not change, Yang Sichang's career has been ups and downs for many years, and his understanding of people's hearts has already reached the point of perfection.

"In order to fight against the outside world, security is the first priority, to strengthen the army is based on sufficient food, and to protect the people is the only way to defeat the bandits."

Yang Sichang knew that Chongzhen still had hesitation in his heart, so he was going to add one last fire in exchange for Chongzhen's trust.

"The troubles of the bandits are deep in the heart."

"External troubles cannot be slowed down, but internal troubles should be more urgent."

"Toxins from the abdomen and heart, carbuncles in the viscera, dryness of essence and blood, it is difficult to continue."

　Recently, I have some symptoms of the new crown again. It is cracked and my head is as big as a bucket. The quality of today's chapter may not be very good. I am really sorry

　　
　
(End of this chapter)