national surname chiming

Chapter 234
After Yang Sichang's legacy was handed out, he lingered on his last breath for a while.It's just that the health status is already weakening day by day visible to the naked eye.

Since Shen Shuren came to Xiangyang, it was impossible for him to chat with Yang Sichang for a while, finalize the strategy, and then go back to Wuchang directly.After all, Xiangyang is now the governor's defense zone.

His general, Yang Jinjue, led the fifth battalion army, and has been stationed here, strangling the north gate on the west side of Shen Shuren's jurisdiction. Naturally, Shen Shuren's control over Xiangyang is unquestionable. On the contrary, Yang Sichang retreated after the defeat and lived here as a guest. .

Of course, Shen Shuren has to spend some energy, patrol the theater every day, understand the combat readiness, and by the way, beware of "if Li Zicheng wins the battle in Henan, will he use the Tongbai Mountain pass that has already taken Ye County and other places to break into Nanyang Basin, Continue to attack Xiangyang in the south."

Because Shen Shuren knew that, according to "History of the Ming Dynasty", after Li Zicheng and Zuo Liangyu's Zhuxian Town battle in history, Li Zicheng really went south to attack Nanyang and Xiangyang, and chased Zuo Liangyu all the way until he fled to Wuchang. Unsteady on his feet, he finally fled along the Yangtze River to Jiujiang before stopping.

Now that Zuo Liangyu is still defeated, Li Zicheng is not completely without the possibility of "abandoning the difficult Kaifeng and switching to Xiangyang, which was empty because of the recent defeat".

However, after Shen Shuren observed the local combat readiness for a few days, and sent scouts to investigate from afar, he also realized that the risk of such a situation was much lower than that of the same period in history.

Under the current series of butterfly effects, unless Li Zicheng suffered other defeats in Henan and could not gain a firm foothold, he would not be separated from his division and insisted on going south to Xiangyang.

Because Zuo Liangyu is still blocked on the road from Tongbai Mountain Pass to Xiangyang after all, since Li Zicheng has found that Zuo Liangyu is already "not moving the enemy, I am not moving", it is unlikely that he will deliberately provoke Zuo Liangyu and give himself Make many enemies.

Li Zicheng's occupation of Ye County and other places was just for insurance, to ensure that Zuo Liangyu could not attack him. It was defensive, and he held the dangerous mountains and rivers in the border area between the two armies in his own hands, that's all.

If Li Zicheng really wanted to go south in the future, and deal with Shen Shuren alone without forcing Zuo Liangyu, then he could choose another path.

For example, first attack from Kaifeng Mansion to the southeast along Honggou and Rushui, take Liu Guoneng's Xinyang Mansion, and then take Xinyang Road to cross Tongbai Mountain, enter the Sui and Huang areas, and attack Shen Shuren's heartland.

Among the passes through Tongbai Mountain, Fangcheng Road in Ye County and Xinyang Road in Runan have little difference in traffic environment and difficulty of marching.

Li Zicheng would definitely be willing to overcome this little geographical difficulty compared to the benefit of less provoking Zuo Liangyu, who has a family of [-] troops.

Therefore, after understanding this point, Shen Shuren knew that the key was Liu Guoneng's side if he wanted to be invincible and ensure that he could defend himself before attacking in the future.

As long as Xinyang Mansion is guarded, Shen Shuren's core territory will not be threatened by Li Zicheng.

Although Zuo Liangyu no longer obeyed the imperial court's orders, he also played a role in blocking the way. At least when Li Zicheng chose a possible future offensive route, he blocked one of Li Zicheng's possibilities to move, which can be regarded as a waste heat.

Now that this conclusion has been reached, what Shen Shuren will do next is very clear:
He needs to gather part of Yang Jinjue's troops, as well as the troops he brought back from the Changsha and Hengzhou battlefields in the south, to gather as much as possible to Suizhou Mansion on the other side of the Han River, and then from Suizhou Mansion to go further through Xinyang Road and enter the front line of Xinyang Mansion.

In addition, the troops under Zheng Chenggong's command that Shen Shuren stayed in Jiujiang, and even the soldiers and horses under Huang Degong who stayed in Anlu and other places, should try their best to move closer to Xinyang.

Regardless of whether Shen Shuren's main attack or Li Zicheng's main attack in the subsequent battle, the main battlefield will be between Xinyang Mansion and Kaifeng Mansion.

Either Shen Shuren attacked Kaifeng from Xinyang, or Li Zicheng attacked Xinyang from Kaifeng.

As for Shen Shuren, who needed to go to the front line to handle military affairs in person, Fang Yizhi had to continue to take care of the internal affairs, armaments, and logistics of the Wuchang base camp for a while.

He stayed in Xiangyang for the past few days, so he asked his messenger to go back to bring a message, and asked Fang Yizhi to help him schedule according to the plan, and mobilize all the war potential in the hinterland of Huguang as soon as possible.

During the two or three months of his previous battle with Zhang Xianzhong, the new output from the Daye Iron Mine and the Iron Works, and the new weapons and armor made by the military workshop, should be sent to the front as soon as possible.
Or some weapons that require rigorous training to form combat power can also be equipped with troops on the spot and go to the front line after running-in training, so as to reduce a little logistical pressure.

After all, the training of firearms troops will be accompanied by a lot of consumption.Assuming that [-] rounds of ammunition are fired in Wuchang just to practice marksmanship and tactics, then only the materials themselves will be consumed.If the fight is over in Xinyang, it will consume an extra capacity to transport these bullets to the front line.

It was up to Fang Yizhi to help him plan the specific priorities and rhythm.

Of course, Fang Yizhi was not easy to refuse the new task that was put down by his friend and boss in the same year, but he also had some difficulties.

Originally, Fang Yizhi thought that after Shen Shuren returned to the teacher, let him help with the internal affairs and logistics for at most seven or eight days, at most ten days, and he would be able to relax for a while, and then Fang Yizhi could temporarily resign and go to the capital to help His father, Fang Kongxuan, took revenge.

This kind of thing seems unbelievable to future generations, but it was normal in the feudal era.At that time, both parents had to resign and go home after death. Ding You had to go home for three years. Even if the father was only convicted and sent to prison, if the son knew that his father had grievances and hidden secrets, he should put aside all other things and first complain clearly about his father’s grievances. .

Moreover, Fang Yizhi in the original history, after Fang Kongzhang was convicted, really resigned from office to defend his grievances. In the end, the appeal was successful, and he went back to serve as an official again.His official career was not affected by this temporary resignation at all, and after returning, he was promoted even higher than before. It can be seen that people in the Ming Dynasty also paid great attention to filial piety in governing the country, and they would spread this kind of thing as a good story.

It's just that after entering the official position with wisdom, the Beijing official who has been working has not served in the local area, so it is very easy to resign and serve again.Before he resigned to avenge his father's grievances, he was a good scholar in the Imperial Academy, and after he returned, Chongzhen saw his filial piety and asked him to be a reviewer in the Imperial Academy.He is also responsible for serving as the lecturers of King Ding and King Yong, that is, teaching the other two young sons of Chongzhen except the prince to read.

In this life, because of the butterfly effect of Shen Shuren, Fang Yizhi only served as a Beijing official for a few months, and then he has been serving as a local official in Anqing and Wuchang.So if you want to resign to avenge your father, there will definitely be a lot of twists and turns.

Because of the urgent military affairs, Shen Shuren suddenly had so many new missions, of course it was impossible to let Fang Yizhi get away, so he could only persuade Fang Yizhi to be patient, and could he think of another way.

The two exchanged letters several times. Fang Yizhi first suggested to Shen Shuren that he consider transferring Zhang Huangyan from Jiangling back to Wuchang to take charge of the logistics and internal affairs of the various armies in Huguang.

Zhang Huangyan is at the magistrate level anyway, and he is Shen Shuren's cousin. It is said that he is enough in terms of closeness and reliability, and he is indeed a capable person.

It's a pity that Shen Shuren told him that he recently learned that Zhang Huangyan's side is still a little bit stuck, and the important places in Jiangling and Yiling must be guarded by someone who can use them.

Because it was on the southern front battlefield, when Zhang Xianzhong was trying to transfer to Xiangxi, he took Sun Kewang and Liu Wenxiu to transfer together.

However, Sun Kewang had some new Huguang troops under his command. Hearing that Sun Kewang was ordered to abandon the Huguang base and flee westward, these Huguang bandit soldiers were unwilling to stay away from their homeland, so they wanted to fight hard.

They heard that the governor of Huguang, Fang Kongzhang, had just been arrested by the court for interrogation. The Jingzhou Mansion might be empty and people's hearts were unstable. They dared to organize a sneak attack on Jiangling from Zigui down the river at this juncture.

Fortunately, Zhang Huangyan defended cautiously. He blocked the bandits in Yiling, and fought a blocking battle with his troops of only 1 people. This happened in the first ten days of August. Some of the remnants who fled have not been wiped out yet.

As a result, Zhang Huangyan captured more than [-] bandit soldiers, captured a captain of the bandit, and captured a brigade alive. This is considered a small military exploit, and it is estimated that he will get some promotion in the future.

So at this juncture, Zhang Huangyan, a well-known confidant who is capable of writing and martial arts, absolutely cannot be transferred back to Wuchang. Shen Shuren pointed at Zhang Huangyan to ensure that Sun Kewang would not take risks. , Zhang Huangyan said that this pawn guarding the exit of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River can be moved.

After seeing Shen Shuren's difficulties, Fang Yizhi knew that Futai was indeed unavailable, so he had no choice but to be "robbed of love", and gave up the idea of ​​resigning from office for a few months to avenge his father.

As for the young Zheng Chenggong, the original level is enough, and he can be regarded as a spare tire in Shen Shuren's talent pool.But after all, he is only 19 years old now, and his internal affairs and logistics skills are really immature. If the situation in Wuchang is entrusted to him, he will definitely be in trouble.

It's a pity that "taking love" in order to help friends can't be said on the stage after all, and it's not as grand as the emperor's decree to let ministers win love.Fang Yizhi has vaguely felt that he may still be attacked by the enemy because of this in the future, and he will be given a long-term reputation as "unfilial".

Fortunately, his worries were seen by his family members. At the critical moment, it was the second younger sister Fang Ziling who jumped out and spoke clearly to his elder brother:
"Brother, I know what you're worried about. Knowing that your father has committed a crime and not redressing your grievances, you are ashamed to be a son of man if you spread the word. But the country's major affairs and military affairs are the most important. Family affairs, other people handle it, that's all." .

Why don't you ask my younger sister to go to Beijing on your behalf, and find an opportunity to rely on your relationship. It's best if you can meet you, but if you can't, at least call on the elders and submit a complaint.You can go back and forth in a month or two at most, and there will be no danger. "

Fang Yizhi was hesitating, but he was taken aback by the younger sister's sudden pleading: "Nowadays the army is in turmoil, and the Central Plains is full of thieves. You are a weak woman, how can you go to Beijing alone!"

Fang Ziling was not to be outdone: "I didn't say that I would go to Beijing alone. If my elder brother is worried, he can send troops to guard me. If it is not safe to go north and south through Henan by land, you can also go by water.

As for the weak woman asking for her life, why not?Han You Tiying saved his father, and also promoted Emperor Wen to abolish corporal punishment, which has been passed down as a beautiful story through the ages.I have been studying for many years, can I still do this well?

As for the petition, you can write it up and let me take it. When I appeal like this, I can go to Datian to let the people know that you did not appeal for your father in person because of the heavy responsibility of the country's military aircraft, and you are not greedy. The official position is rich and honored, and the love store will not go. "

Fang Yizhi was shocked, and felt that what the little girl said was logical and reasonable, and he couldn't refute it for a while.

"Forget it, since that's the case, you should be safe and careful. Now Henan is raging against thieves, and even Brother Shen is gathering troops to fight against it. It's too dangerous to go to Henan. Brother, I'd like to borrow some warships for you. Take the express boat to take you to Beijing."

With Fang Yizhi's power, coupled with the friendship with the Shen family, it is certainly not difficult to second a few large sand ships of [-] materials driven by the Shen family's confidant elite sailors and servants to transport some envoys to Beijing.

The Shen family was originally the King of the Yellow Sea, and they were in charge of the Northern Maritime Trade, and they also carried the imperial court's sea and water transportation. This little thing is just a drizzle.

So the next day, Fang Ziling changed into some men's clothes that were convenient for going out, and brought a few maids who were in charge of internal and external communication for convenience, and then went north by boat.

The Shen family's boat tried to go as fast as possible, and those who could take the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River to shorten the journey also took shortcuts as much as possible.In less than half a month, Fang Ziling arrived in the capital.

However, the criminals Yin Xianmin and He Yide, who were escorted by Shen Shuren to the capital before, had just arrived in the capital because they walked slowly on the road.After all, these criminals all arrived in the capital slowly in prison vans with horses and oxen, and they couldn't travel hundreds of miles a day like messengers.

Not only Yin Xianmin He Yide has just arrived in the capital, in fact, even Fang Kongxuan himself arrived almost at the same time.

Only Yang Sichang's bequest arrived three or four days earlier, and had already been read by Chongzhen. However, Chongzhen felt that the follow-up arrangements for Huguang were of great importance, so he temporarily left Yang Sichang's bequest for discussion. Call Zhou Yanru and Chen Xinjia to discuss follow-up arrangements.

After Fang Ziling arrived in Beijing, he quickly spent money to find out about the situation, and was relieved to learn that the emperor had not yet been released.

(End of this chapter)