The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 286
In May of the 12th year of Chongzhen, Huguang Cheng announced that he was the envoy to Xiangyang Prefecture and Gucheng.

Zhang Xianzhong raised the blood-stained Yanling knife in his hand and placed it in the socket of his elbow, then slowly wiped the blood off the knife with his robe.

The beating flames were reflected in Zhang Xianzhong's eyes, and the fierce fire reflected Zhang Xianzhong's face full of blood.

Zhang Xianzhong looked calmly at the Gucheng County Government Office, which had turned into a sea of ​​fire, with calm eyes, and his heart remained calm.

The branches in front of the Gucheng County Yamen were covered with corpses, which was shocking.

The bodies of Ruan Zhiyou, the magistrate of Gucheng County who committed suicide by taking poison, Lin Mingqiu, the patrol censor of Huguang, and other officials were all hung on it.

A group of soldiers wearing robes and sharp armor stood beside Zhang Xianzhong. The bright firelight shone on the armor, reflecting the cold light, as if he were on a netherworld. ,

"Father, the remaining officers and soldiers in the city have been wiped out."

A young general wearing an iron crown and armor walked over from the side and reported to Zhang Xianzhong.

"All the residences of the gentry and officials in the city, as well as the granaries, are also under our control."

While the young general was speaking, he naturally saw the corpses hanging on the trees from the corner of his eye, and couldn't help but frown slightly.

However, such a small gesture was naturally not noticed by Zhang Xianzhong.

Zhang Xianzhong's attention was still on the burning Gucheng County Yamen in front of him.

After hearing the news that Gucheng was captured, Zhang Xianzhong finally had a smile on his face.

"Okay, well done."

Zhang Xianzhong felt very happy. In the past year, he had been holding back a lot of anger.

"Preach the word, we will kill cattle and sheep tonight and hold a feast. Have a great time!"

Zhang Xianzhong waved his hand and immediately gave the order boldly.

"As ordered."

The young general answered the order and was about to turn around and leave.

"Dingguo, you don't have to go, just let the people under you go. You and Kewang will follow me."

Zhang Xianzhong laughed and reached out to grab Li Dingguo who was about to leave.

"As ordered."

After hearing the order, Li Dingguo stopped moving and responded again.

"Now is not the time to march and fight, there is no need to be so serious."

Zhang Xianzhong stepped forward, patted Li Dingguo's arm and said with a smile.

"Yes, foster father."

Zhang Xianzhong looked at Li Dingguo who was slightly relaxed, and the smile on his face became wider.

He adopted a total of four adopted sons, Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi.

Among the four, Li Dingguo was his favorite.

When he adopted Li Dingguo as his adopted son, Li Dingguo was still very young, only in his early teens, but he was much taller than his peers.

Now that I am 19 years old, I am still young and strong.

Li Dingguo was extremely brave and the most brave in the army. He could gallop left and right on horseback and hit distant targets.

And not only that, Li Dingguo also learned quickly about leading troops in battles and arranging formations, and his ability to lead troops was even much better than that of the boss Sun Kewang.

"Both military advisors, get on their horses and go back to the camp outside the city to give him a good drink!"

Zhang Xianzhong strutted forward, mounted the horse beside him, and said to the two scholars dressed as scribes standing beside him.

During this time, Zhang Xianzhong was stationed in Gucheng and secretly recruited many talents, including several scholars and scholars.

One of these two scholars who was appointed as a military advisor by Zhang Xianzhong was named Pan Duao and the other was named Xu Yixian.

Pan Duao had a reputation as a scholar, but he was bullied and lost the lawsuit because he competed with the tycoons in the county for land. Out of anger, he directly switched to the command of Zhang Xianzhong, who was recruiting troops at the time.

A scholar was nothing to the Ming Dynasty. If you wanted to be an official, you had to at least reach the point of being elected.

But for Zhang Xianzhong, it is already rare for scholars to be willing to take the initiative to serve.

Not to mention that Pan Duao was also a scholar with great fame.

Xu Yixian was also a scholar, but unlike Pan Duao, he joined Zhang Xianzhong's army out of resentment.

Xu Yixian's purpose was clear from the beginning.

The chaos in Huguang, the drought in Henan, and the defeat of officers and soldiers from the north in Beizhili gave Xu Yixian other thoughts.

Zhang Xianzhong's disobedient heart is like Sima Zhao's, and everyone knows it.

After weighing the pros and cons, Xu Yixian chose to take the initiative to serve under Zhang Xianzhong.

The reason is simple. Xu Yixian feels that Zhang Xianzhong is a person who can achieve great things.

During this time, Xu Yixian had been explaining "Sun Wu's Art of War" to Zhang Xianzhong, and also helped Zhang Xianzhong make firearms, and guided Zhang Xianzhong to organize the army according to the Ming Dynasty's garrison military system, lay out regimental and camp square formations, and control the camps.

Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong also introduced Xu Yixian as an honored guest.

Pan Duao and Xu Yixian were both talented in literature and military.

Pan Duao was good at calculations and mathematics, and was responsible for allocating food and fodder to the military camp and managing all internal affairs.

Xu Yixian was knowledgeable about firearms, responsible for making military equipment and armor, and specialized in military management.

After capturing Gucheng, Zhang Xianzhong had no idea of ​​garrisoning in Gucheng.

Gucheng is located in the Yunxiang area, with only two roads to the west and north to travel, and it is threatened by the Ming army stationed in Xiangyang, so it is not a place for foundation.

Even if they stay in Gucheng, once the Ming army comes from two sides and is surrounded by front and rear, all they can do is to capture them without mercy.

The reason why Zhang Xianzhong chose to surrender before was precisely because he was driven all the way here by officers and soldiers. Failure to surrender would be a dead end.

Fortunately, Xiong Wencan was arrogant and money-obsessed enough to accept his bribe.

Otherwise, I'm afraid he will really die in the hands of that killer Zuo Liangyu.

Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong did not move the camp into the city, but still located it on the outskirts of Gucheng.

Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang, Pan Duao and Xu Yixian followed Zhang Xianzhong back to the camp outside the city.

At this time, everywhere in the camp was full of joy, the air was filled with the smell of meat and coriander, and the shouts and cheers could not be heard.

Now the entire Gucheng belongs to them. The Ming army that led troops and was stationed around Gucheng to monitor them, only the thousands of soldiers and horses were taken care of by them early in the morning.

The supervisor, Zhang Dajing, and two battalion generals, Ma Tingbao and Xu Qizuo, were also captured and chose to surrender.

Zhang Xianzhong rode into the camp and rushed straight to the location of the Chinese military tent. Seeing Zhang Xianzhong's arrival, all the soldiers along the way bowed down and saluted, with excitement on their faces.

Along the way, various titles such as commander-in-chief, general, and king have been heard.

In the past year, although there are no more officers and soldiers chasing behind me, life has been really hard. I have to hide everything I want to grab. If I want a woman, I can only spend some money to find those brothel sisters outside the city who sell themselves. .

I wanted to go into the county town and visit the local brothel. Others thought they were Qiu Ba who were soldiers, so they all blocked the city and refused to let them in.

In the past, when cities and towns were casually broken up, those gentry, officials, and their families kept the maids and girls in their boudoirs at their pick.

After being recruited, he was not given much military pay or food, and he had to be looked down upon every day. It would be better not to be recruited.Zhang Xianzhong was riding on his horse, clasping his fists and constantly responding to the generals on the left and right who came to congratulate and greet him.

Seeing such morale, Pan Duao's mood was still high even after entering the military tent and taking a seat.

"With such morale and military morale, the king has risen again, and no one can take his place!"

Pan Duao looked excited, holding up his wine glass and idly
"This glass of wine is for you, your Majesty!"

Zhang Xianzhong laughed loudly, raised his glass and drank it in one gulp, feeling extremely happy.

"This is also thanks to our good governor Xiong Wencan, Governor Xiong."

"Without Governor Xiong, we wouldn't have the good life we ​​have today."

The Tatars in the north moved south, causing most of the officers and soldiers to go north. Now there are not many officers and soldiers in the whole Yunxiang.

Long Zaitian has already led his troops to Yunnan. Counting the instructions, I am afraid that they are all in Sichuan now.

Zuo Liangyu, the bargain hunter, is still in Nanyang Mansion, and Xiong Wencan, the coward, may not even dare to leave Xiangyang City after receiving the news that he was causing trouble in Gucheng.

"This first cup is dedicated to our Governor Xiong."

"Your Majesty said it well, we should indeed respect our Governor Bear first!"

Everyone in the tent laughed and raised their glasses in agreement.

Zhang Xianzhong put the wine glass on the table, took the chopsticks and picked up the dishes on the table casually. The original exquisite arrangement was already scattered and disorganized after just a few chopsticks.

These dishes are all made by the chefs of Gucheng Restaurant, and the taste is naturally first-class.

In these days, Zhang Xianzhong had eaten a few times in the city at the beginning, when he could still enter the city. However, now the chefs have been taken out of the restaurant by his personal guards. If you want to eat in the future, just give him an order.

However, Zhang Xianzhong's current thoughts are not on the usual delicacies.

Zhang Xianzhong's eyes slowly swept across the faces of the generals below, and then he spoke in a deep voice.

"The situation has changed. The original plan is no longer feasible. Going north is a dead end."

At the time of the uprising, it was originally agreed to go north, join forces with Li Wanqing, and then go east to join forces with the [-]th Battalion of Ge Zuo to advance towards southern Zhili.

But Li Wanqing was defeated so quickly that he didn't give them much time to react.

At the end of March, Zuo Liangyu's troops came out of Zhenping Pass and defeated Li Wanqing. Li Wanqing was defeated all the way and retreated to Siping Gang in Chimei City.

In April, he was defeated again by Zuo Liangyu in Zhangjialin and Qilihe, and Li Wanqing also surrendered.

Ma Shixiu and Du Yingjin saw that Li Wanqing surrendered to Peking Opera, so they all surrendered anyway.

Originally, apart from Li Wanqing, Shunyi King Shen Wandeng and Gaishi King Xu Bian were still there, and they should be able to cope with it for a while.

But King Shunyi did not surrender, but King Gaisheng allowed to change because he was afraid.

The reincarnated king promised to change and bribed a personal guard named Liu Xicai under the king of Shunyi.

Liu Xicai was asked to cut off King Shunyi's head at night, and then taking advantage of the leaderless chaos, King Gaisheng allowed himself to devour King Shunyi's men and surrender to the officers and soldiers.

The Ming army now reoccupied the important city roads of Nanyang Mansion. Zuo Liangyu, Zhang Renxue and other main Ming army forces gathered in Nanyang Mansion at this time.

If I go to Nanyang now, I'm afraid I'll get a bloody head.

The original plan no longer works and must be changed.

"I'm not going to hide it from you. We don't have much time now. If we still can't open up the situation and are still trapped in Yunxiang by September, we will be doomed."

Zhang Xianzhong knocked on the table gently, and everyone's expressions condensed when they heard what Zhang Xianzhong said.

"On March 25, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers from four towns set out from the capital and came all the way to Henan."

"The leaders of the four towns' soldiers and horses are all the general soldiers of the town. Zu Dabi, the chief soldier of Ningxia Town, Cao Bianjiao, the chief soldier of Lintao Town, He Renlong, the chief soldier of Yansui Town, and the chief soldier of Hanzhong Town Chen Wang.”

Zhang Xianzhong has a famous primary school under him and is the nephew of Xue Guoguan, the current chief minister.

In the past, the reason why they were able to successfully recruit and surrender was firstly because Xiong Wencan was greedy for money, and secondly because the small school helped with activities in the capital and cleared the channels, and finally the recruitment plan was agreed upon.

Money can make the world go round, and everyone in the Ming Dynasty is already rotten to the core.

With only two or three hundred taels of silver, he had already gotten the news that the soldiers from the four towns heading south were going to Huguang.

Every time Zhang Xianzhong said someone's name, the atmosphere in the tent became colder.

When Chen Wang's name was mentioned, the atmosphere in the tent dropped to freezing point.

Among these four people, no one is easy to get along with.

"Why are these killers..."

There was a lot of discussion in the tent, and everyone's faces were extremely embarrassed, and there was no trace of joy at all.

Zu Dabi and He Renlong were both madmen and would risk their lives in a fight.

Cao Bianjiao and Chen Wang are both monsters.

"I heard that Chen Wang fought a victorious battle as soon as he arrived in Zhending. He chopped off hundreds of Tatar heads and killed a Tatar general..."

"What are you afraid of!"

Zhang Xianzhong snorted coldly and suppressed all comments.

"The capital is very far to the north. It will take at least several months to get here from the capital."

"No matter how fast the officers and soldiers are, they will not be able to reach Huguang until September. There are still more than four months. What are you afraid of now?!"

Zhang Xianzhong's strength suppressed all the discussions in the tent.

Everyone's eyes were therefore focused on Zhang Xianzhong.

"Xiong Wencan has only 1 soldiers and horses under his command. Our two armies combined have a total of [-] soldiers and horses, all equipped with armor."

"Those refugees who have fled can all be used as hungry soldiers. We have hundreds of thousands of hungry soldiers as front shields. Why don't we defeat tens of thousands of officers and soldiers?!"

Zhang Xianzhong sneered.

Money can really make a fool of himself. After serving as a member of the Ming Dynasty's army for a year, he spent money to buy a large amount of weapons and equipment. Now his army has already replaced shotguns with cannons.

The same is true for Luo Rucai. They also spent money to acquire a large amount of weapons and equipment, and their combat power is no longer what it used to be.

Zhang Xianzhong could completely hide these things about the main force of the Ming army going south from everyone. Anyway, only he knew about it.

The reason why Zhang Xianzhong chose to tell the truth was because he had already made a plan in his heart, and it would be better to tell the news.

Zhang Xianzhong looked around at the generals in the tent without any panic in his heart.

He had heard many stories, one of which was about Xiang Yu defeating 20 Qin soldiers with thousands of soldiers and horses, regardless of the situation.

What Zhang Xianzhong wants is the current effect. He wants everyone to know that they are in a desperate situation and fight with all their strength.

He already had a complete plan in his mind, a plan that was enough to deal with the current situation.

Zhang Xianzhong's eyes were cold, and his gaze slowly swept over the generals in the tent.

"Four months is not enough for us to poke a few big holes in this southern country. That's a joke!"

(End of this chapter)