national surname chiming

Chapter 228 Don't explain it to me, explain it to His Majesty.

Zhang Xianzhong's entire army collapsed and fled frantically.

Zhu Wenzhen chased for a long time on the first day. In the end, due to the lack of physical strength and horsepower of the cavalry of the Ming army, he only chased a few scattered soldiers who were left behind because they were carrying too heavy belongings.

But Shen Shuren would not allow him to give up the pursuit because of this. After all, Zhang Xianzhong on the opposite side also had to eat, drink, and sleep. From Hengzhou to the west, he had to pass through at least two state capitals all the way before leaving the Huguang border.

Since the opponent also wanted to sleep and rest, Zhu Wenzhen's cavalry regrouped and continued to chase after recovering their physical strength.

Especially the remnant soldiers on the opposite side may each have a lot of property on them, and they can make a fortune if they catch up with them. How can we miss this kind of good opportunity to expand the results in the harvest stage.

Even if there are many mountains along the way and the road is difficult, Shen Shuren's troops should try their best to continue chasing until they get out of the Huguang boundary.Only in this way can one maximize one's own interests and one's prestige, and at the same time avoid falling into the court's official censor's mouth——

Shen Shuren's pursuit of Zhang Xianzhong and the recovery of the state capital temporarily captured by Zhang Xianzhong was based on the authorization of Yang Sichang, the governor of the military affairs of the six provinces. claim.

The "six provinces" in the title of "Governor of the Six Provinces Military Affairs" on Yang Sichang's head does not include the Yunnan-Guizhou region. In the southwest direction, the scope of Yang Sichang's control is also bounded by Huguang and Sichuan.

The reason why Yunnan and Guizhou is not included is also because in the last years of Chongzhen, the reform of the Southwest to return the land to the flow had never been realized.In such a troubled time, local chieftains often rebel and stand up for themselves, and the imperial court can't manage it at all, and has not established effective rule, let alone go to those places where there is no rule to pursue the bandits.

However, if Zhang Xianzhong fled westward from the southernmost part of Huguang, it would be impossible for him to flee directly into Sichuan, and he was destined to enter Guizhou temporarily first.

At that time, even Yang Sichang, the governor of the military affairs of the six provinces, will not have the authority to continue chasing him.The Ming Dynasty's control over generals and officials was so strict in law.

Therefore, as long as he catches up to that step, even if Zhang Xianzhong is still alive, Shen Shuren is already benevolent and righteous, and he is infinitely worthy of the Ming Dynasty and Emperor Chongzhen.

It's not that we don't want to do more for Chongzhen. With Shen Shuren's selflessness, he intends to fight with all his heart, and wants to burn himself out and illuminate Daming, but Chongzhen really won't let him!

At that time, he can only resolutely return to Wuchang like Yue Wumu who received the twelve gold medals from Zhao Gou.

Zhu Wenzhen didn't understand Master Futai's decision at first, but later he fully unified his thinking and recognized the situation, so he let the troops rest and take a nap with high spirits, and then continued to chase fiercely, preparing to fight for ten days and eight days. The protracted battle of the day.

And at this moment, the logistical preparations that Shen Jiajun had done some time ago had finally fully exerted their effects——

Originally, the escape route chosen by Zhang Xianzhong was very unexpected.This road made it difficult to guarantee the logistics of the pursuing officers and troops. At the same time, it also made Zhang Xianzhong bear more losses, which greatly reduced the number of troops who could break through and keep up.

The reason for saying this is because originally fleeing from Hengzhou to the west, you should choose to go upstream along the Xiangjiang River, first go southwest to enter Yongzhou Prefecture, and then try to turn northwest, and slowly transfer to the north of Guizhou over the mountains.The front section of such a road can march along the Xiangjiang River Valley, the infantry will not be easily left behind, and the road is easy to travel.

However, Zhang Xianzhong chose to break out of the siege in the northwest direction and go to Baoqing Mansion, so this led to the breakout battle out of the city. At the beginning, the choice of the direction of the battlefield was a little bit unexpected by the officers and soldiers.He thought about it from the beginning, "If you can't fight, you don't need to worry about whether the main force of our infantry can keep up, and you can just choose the shortcut that goes over the mountains."

On this road, Zhang Xianzhong and Zhu Wenzhen's logistics supplies will be very difficult, and the officers and soldiers have no waterways to transport food, so Zhu Wenzhen's cavalry, all the food, grass, and ammunition they need must be carried on horseback. That said, bring your own supplies, and the heavy vehicles and boats cannot keep up.

At this time, the benefits of the canned food in porcelain jars that Shen Shuren had prepared before became apparent, allowing the troops to march with more nutritious and high-calorie-dense cooked food without having to cook.

The dried meat, condensed milk, and dried green beans that I was reluctant to eat were combined with meat and vegetables, so that I didn’t have to go into the hills and jungles like the bottom soldiers of Zhang Xianzhong’s army and then had to hunt or even eat people——

Unless Zhang Xianzhong dared to stop halfway and spend time attacking Baoqing Mansion, or at least rob those remote counties that slaughtered Baoqing Mansion for supplies, Zhang Xianzhong's troops would definitely not be able to escape the logistical dilemma of cannibalism.

After all, the limited transport capacity can give priority to carrying gold, silver and jewelry, who will bring more food.How much food is worth, how much gold and silver of the same weight can be worth.

Ordinary soldiers without foresight, even if they know that their future is uncertain and that it may be difficult to obtain supplies in the future, they will not be willing to use the energy of carrying an extra bag of silver to carry an extra bag of jerky.

Zhang Xianzhong's army had no choice but to find villages and towns with mountain people to slaughter and rob food all the way. However, the mountain people in Baoqingfu (Shaoyang) and other places in western Hunan are tough, and they will find ways to resist the bandits.
Although he was definitely not Zhang Xianzhong's opponent, he could delay Zhang Xianzhong's trip before he was slaughtered, creating opportunities for the officers and soldiers to hunt him down.

After passing Baoqing Mansion, there is another Chenzhou Mansion in the west. You have to pass Chenzhou Mansion to enter Guizhou.But there are not only more mountainous areas in Chenzhou prefecture, but also very few Han people, almost all of them are Miao people, so Zhang Xianzhong has to fight all kinds of poisons.

In the end, it was Zhu Wenzhen's troops who couldn't bear to go into the jungle in the late summer and early autumn to fight against the poisonous substances in Miaojiang. They had to withdraw their troops after chasing Chenzhou Prefecture.

The whole pursuit lasted about ten days, and they successively killed 3000 to 200 stragglers who were left behind by Zhang Xianzhong's troops, and took back property worth more than [-] million taels.

Almost all the infantry of Zhang Xianzhong's troops were killed, and only 6000 cavalry were withdrawn to Chenzhou Prefecture.

For Zhang Xianzhong, the only good news now is that his army is not the only one he brings with him.

He left in the hands of his eldest son Kewang in Zigui and Wu County, and there are 1 to [-] guards.In the hands of the third son, Liu Wenxiu, there are also more than [-] people.

While he was fleeing all the way west, he was also trying his best to contact Liu Wenxiu and others so that they would abandon the base area between Sichuan and Hubei without fear of hardships and dangers, turn southwest and try to join him so that they could detour into Sichuan in the future.

Considering the difficulty of the Qianzhong Road, Sun Kewang and Liu Wenxiu will definitely suffer losses when crossing the Miaojiang along the way, so the more than 4 people may not be able to make it all the way.It is estimated that the number of people who were killed and sick along the way would exceed the 6000 people around Zhang Xianzhong.

Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong's troops, before he dispatched troops in June, claimed to be more than 11. When they arrived in Changde and Yuezhou, relying on the capture of strong men, the peak reached [-] to [-].

Now after two months of bloody battles, more than two-thirds of them have been lost in total, and those who can reach Guizhou alive are only 4 people.

Although Shen Shuren failed to completely annihilate Zhang Xianzhong, it was considered a very remarkable result.Basically, Zhang Xianzhong was beaten back to the level of two years ago, and Zhang Xianzhong's development and military expansion in the past two years came to naught.

After all, although Zhang Xianzhong's strength before the war could not exceed the sum of the original [-]th Gezuo Battalion, it could at least exceed the sum of the remaining [-] battalions after the [-]th Gezuo Battalion removed the strongest Ma Shouying.

Shen Shuren spent a total of two full years in annihilating the four weaker warlords in the Fifth Gezuo Battalion.Now even if the shotgun is changed, it will not be able to complete all the work in one battle.
The main force that brought Zhang Xianzhong by his side wiped out most of them, which is already very remarkable.Sun Kewang and Liu Wenxiu's two partial divisions are destined to have no energy to deal with it for the time being.

……

Zhu Wenzhen failed to catch up with Zhang Xianzhong himself in the end, but his achievements have been fully affirmed by Shen Shuren.

Moreover, his pursuit, after all, captured gold jewels worth millions of taels for Shen Shuren, and greatly weakened Zhang Xianzhong's subsequent development potential when he relied on the property he robbed in Huguang to recruit troops from other provinces.

Of course, a considerable part of the belongings that Zhang Xianzhong gained from massacring cities in various places in Huguang did not take away with him, so they stayed in Hengzhou City.It is mainly copper coins, silk and some silver, and light things such as gold and jewelry will not be left behind.

This is also the reason why Shen Shuren couldn't personally intervene when he separated Zhu Wenzhen's partial division to pursue Zhang Xianzhong.Because he had to sit on the Hengzhou siege battlefield and stare at the main force of the Ming army to take Hengzhou City back.

Ordinarily Zhang Xianzhong himself ran away, and the defenders of Hengzhou City should have no fighting spirit, and they should have surrendered directly to the court easily.

But in this process, there were still some problems that couldn't be avoided, and Shen Shuren had to spend more energy on two-handed preparations and besieged for ten or eight days before it was completely settled——

The main problem is that the guards who were sold by Zhang Xianzhong and stayed in Hengzhou City were Yin Xianmin, the former general soldier of Changsha, and He Yide, the general soldier of Hengzhou.

The two also negotiated with Shen Shuren at the beginning, hoping that Shen Shuren would pardon their crimes after they returned to the court, and forget the past.

Yin Xianmin He Yide also hastily thought that "the world is in chaos now, Hong Chengchou has surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, the elite frontier army of the Ming Dynasty has been wiped out, and Chongzhen has no power to control the place. As long as Shen Shuren has Zuo Liangyu's separatist heart, anyone can be protected Keep it. If Shen Shuren is willing to protect them, they promise to work for Shen Shuren in the future."

But how could Shen Shuren protect these two spineless trash?Now Chongzhen's control over the local area has indeed been greatly reduced. If Chongzhen wants to deal with him, Shen Shuren, then he will definitely "obey the tune and not listen to the announcement, and will not be ordered by your majesty after being bewitched by the traitors in the court."

But what is Yin Xianmin He Yide?Are they also worthy of Shen Shuren's hard protection regardless of his reputation?
Besides, for the great changes in southern Huguang in the past few months, someone must take responsibility for the imperial court. When Zhang Xianzhong arrived, these two generals surrendered to the bandits without holding out for three days. They must be the chief culprits!Otherwise, how would Shen Shuren lead the team in the future?

Therefore, he resolutely rejected Yin Xianmin He Yide's surrender conditions, and would rather delay the army for ten or eight days longer!
But at the same time, he did not give up Zhang Xianzhong's army of more than 1 people who split up and disintegrated and finally fled back to the city.Shen Shuren made a condition on his own, asking the soldiers to shoot into the city with arrows:
It means that those who were previously in charge of the brigade and above in Zhang Xianzhong's army will not be pardoned, and those who surrendered to thieves above the general in the Ming army will not be pardoned. Those who want to be pardoned in the guerrillas, capital divisions, and garrison in the Ming army can kill the surrendering Shangguan above the general. Bring the team to vote.

After all, what Shen Shuren needs to attack the most is the unity among the thieves.Just as what he likes to reuse most is the thief who killed his adoptive father and then surrendered,
Anyway, Shen Shuren himself would never accept a adopted son in his life, and he didn't think that this method of destroying the kindness and filial piety of the righteous father-son relationship would do any harm to him.

In the troops in Hengzhou City, although there are no generals who accept subordinates as foster sons, the reasoning is the same.Anyway, Shen Shuren would not accept unconditional immunity and surrender directly. If he wanted to surrender, he would kill Shangguan to surrender!Kill the bigger thieves and guards, and offer their heads to the account!
Under Shen Shuren's combination of civil and martial arts, the Hengzhou defenders resisted for a few days, but suffered heavy losses due to lack of morale and no leader.

In the end, under the repeated catalysis of the battle situation, several officers of the first-level defense finally rebelled against their old superiors. Taking advantage of the two men not daring to close their eyes, after they had personally supervised the battle and defended the city, and fell asleep exhausted, Yin Xianmin He Yide was captured alive. Bound and sent to Shen Shuren's tent,
That scene was exactly the same as Song Xian Wei Xuhou Cheng tied Lu Bu Wuhua Da to Cao Cao in Baimen Tower.

After Shen Shuren learned that the two boneless soldiers had been kidnapped, he was also overjoyed, and went out of his tent to watch his battle results in person.

"It's a good life. Send it to the capital and cut it again, and it will calm down your majesty. It's a pity, it will be difficult for more than a month. Why are you so thin, and you won't be able to cut many knives by then."

Shen Shuren took a simple look at the physiques of Yin Xianmin and He Yide, just like examining animals.

If you encounter thieves and surrender without a fight, what should you do? Shen Shuren doesn't bother to talk to them, let them talk to Chongzhen.

……

After taking Hengzhou City, Shen Shuren had the opportunity to check how many battlefields were captured in the elimination of Zhang Xianzhong's main force.

When Zhang Xianzhong slaughtered Changsha City before, he got several million taels from Prince Ji's Mansion alone, which was more than what he got from killing King Xiang in Xiangyang last year. It is no less than that of Prince Ji's Mansion, so that at least 1000 million taels of oil and water have been squeezed out of the entire Changsha City.

This city of Hengzhou is economically underdeveloped and there are few rich people, but the wealth of Prince Gui's Mansion far exceeds that of Prince Rong's Mansion. Who made their family the uncle of Chongzhen?

To be a vassal king, either it is an old brand that has been passed down for more than 200 years, which has accumulated a lot of wealth over time, or it is based on the close blood relationship with recent generations of emperors, and the local officials dare not control them to collect money, which is even more ugly.Fu Wang is a typical example of this type.

Although King Gui is far less than King Fu, he is still Chongzhen's uncle after all. With such close relatives, he should be very rich.In the end, Zhang Xianzhong got more than 700 million taels from Gui Wangfu.

Throughout the Huguang area, Zhang Xianzhong fled all the way, extorting a surplus of money, which was close to 2000 million taels!

Zhang Xianzhong himself had already taken it away with all his might, but it was a pity that he was still only a small head, and he kept about 600 million taels.There are more than 200 million taels, all of which are cheaper than Shen Shuren.

Of course, Shen Shuren didn't take it in vain. After all, he led five to sixty thousand regular troops in bloody battles for two or three months, and the military expenditure was also huge.

Of course, Shen Shuren deserved the 200 million taels.

The boss is often empty-handed. Every day when he opens his eyes, the army of 10 people will be served by him for food, drink and lazard. How many mouthfuls will he have left in his mouth?

(End of this chapter)