Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 501 Arranging the Backyard
At the beginning of May, Guangjing.

A cavalry of dozens of people galloped across the official road, flying dust and hooves loudly, and flew directly into the city gate, attracting the people in the city to stop and watch.

In the meeting hall of Wenyuan Pavilion, several cabinet ministers were seated according to their official ranks, Zuo Maodi sat on the main seat, and he asked Wang Yan to sit next to him. There was no greetings, no politeness, and he went straight to the point. He sighed before saying anything: " Everyone, this is a disaster."

When everyone saw Shoufu like this, Wang Yan's face was heavy, and they all leaked doubts. They glanced at each other, trying to get some information from others, but all they saw was a moment of bewilderment.

Seeing this, Su Guansheng said with a heavy face, "Master Zuo, where did the trouble come from?"

"The Duke of Chu is in charge of military affairs, let me tell you about it~" Zuo Maodi shook his head, and raised his hand for Wang Yan to explain.

Wang Yan straightened his body, took over the conversation, and said in a solemn voice: "Zhang Xianzhong is dead, and the rest of the Western Army retreated to Wanxian area. In addition, Baxian County, the prefecture of Chongqing, was captured by Wu Sangui. The governor Ma Gan died in battle, and the general Zeng Ying also retreated. In the direction of Wan County."

Before Zhang Xianzhong gave up Chengdu, for the Ming Dynasty, the pressure was not particularly urgent. After all, Zhang Xianzhong was also a potential enemy of the Ming Dynasty, and he was also a representative of the peasant class. His strength was weakened, and the gentry class liked it. Still holding the Chongqing Mansion in his hands, the situation in Sichuan and Shu has not completely deteriorated, so although the Ming Dynasty said to aid Shu, it was a bit slow in its actions.

The Qing soldiers occupied Chengdu, but not all of Sichuan and Shu. When the Southern Song Dynasty fought against the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolian Yuan occupied Chengdu. The Southern Song Dynasty controlled Chongqing and fought with the Mongolian army for more than 20 years. But now Bacheng is occupied. If he died in battle and the general Zeng Yingdong was defeated in Wanxian County, it would mean that Sichuan was basically over.

Hearing this, Su Guansheng couldn't calm down anymore, not only him, but among the cabinet ministers in the hall, which one didn't change face upon hearing the words?

The fall of Chongqing meant that the Qing army had made a big gap in the defense line of the Ming Dynasty. Chu was attacked on three sides, and Guizhou and Guangxi, which were originally relatively safe, were also exposed to the front of the army. This crisis cannot be expanded too much.

Su Guansheng panicked, and immediately asked: "Is the news reliable? Do you know the details?"

"The news is from Zeng Ying, the commander-in-chief of eastern Sichuan. He is the person involved, so there can be no mistake!" Wang Yan said in a deep voice, "After the Battle of Hanzhong, the elite of the Western Army was basically lost. Although there are more than [-] soldiers in the western army, most of them are old, weak and remnant soldiers. Last month, the Qing army launched several strong attacks. Zhang Xianzhong fought alone for many months, with no reinforcements outside and no food and grass inside. He led the army to break through the siege before, but was shot and killed by the Qing army. After the Qing army broke through Xichong, they went south non-stop. Wu Sangui let the rebel general Liu Jinzhong pretend to be the defeated army of the Western army, and fled to Chongqing to join Ma Gan. Ma Gan did not investigate, but Wu Sangui The inside and the outside attacked and occupied Ba County, and Ma Gan was killed."

All the cabinet ministers listened and fell silent for a moment. Su Guansheng asked Wang Yan, "What does Duke Chu mean?"

Wang Yan said in a deep voice: "If Sichuan and Shu are lost, the Ming Dynasty will be in danger! At such a critical moment, even if the army is not fully prepared, it will go directly."

When Sichuan and Shu were lost, Wang Yan's intention was very clear, he must use all his strength to counterattack and regain this strategically important place.

"When is the Duke planning to set off?" University scholar He Zouwu asked with some concern: "The war in Sichuan and Sichuan will not be resolved overnight. If the Qing troops send troops from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, or from Henan to cooperate with the Sichuan Qing troops, and attack from both sides, the country will be defeated." The Duke is not in the court, and we are not good at military affairs, how should we deal with it?"

He Zouwu's words can be said to speak to the hearts of several cabinet ministers. These people are okay in terms of internal affairs, but they are a little blind when they encounter military affairs. What he means by this is that Wang Yan will also arrange the subsequent work arrange.

"After tomorrow morning, I will invite troops to send out, and the affairs of the court will be handed over to you gentlemen." Wang Yan pondered: "As for the Qing soldiers attacking from the east, you don't have to worry too much. Fujian has a successful country, and Jiangxi With Jin Shengheng and Wang Deren, there are nearly [-] troops gathered in Hubei, which is enough to withstand the invasion of the Qing soldiers. I will leave Zhongzhen and Zhongwu two towns to support Guangdong, and the defense should be no problem!"

Everyone felt relieved when they heard the words, and Wang Yan suddenly added: "There is one more thing, the governor of Hubei, Fu Shangrui, previously shirked the matter of ineffective rescue to Huang Chaoxuan and Zhang Xianbi, and the court has no other evidence. Know the facts? But this time, after I marched into Guizhou with Ling Gao, I locked up two generals. If it really had nothing to do with Fu Shangrui, then it’s fine, but if the two generals were ordered by Fu Shangrui, he saw that the two generals were locked up. Take it, my heart is definitely not stable. Now that the situation is unclear, I suggest that the imperial court can call him into the center again. If he leaves, he should be assigned a vacancies first. Take him to Guangjing for trial."

Several people nodded after hearing this, and after chatting for a while, they dispersed to deal with the pressing affairs. Wang Yan began to dispatch troops. Zhongwu and Zhongzhen had just finished their Eastern Expedition and needed to rest. The main force of this expedition was to rest and reorganize. Half a year of loyalty, rebuilding loyalty, superintendents, and Lincha and other miscellaneous troops.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty had not yet completed preparations for equipment, food and grass, but the Qing soldiers had been fighting in Sichuan and Sichuan for nearly a year, and they were already exhausted. Wang Yan still thought that he had a good chance of winning, not to mention driving the Qing soldiers out of Sichuan. , but desperately want to take Chongqing back.

After hastily issuing a few orders, Wang Yan returned to the mansion and ordered Yuan Pengnian, who was under house arrest secretly, to be brought out again. The two talked for half an hour in the study before being taken away.

On the morning of the next day, Wang Yan played Ming Xingshi, and the emperor said that he would build an altar to worship the general and march for the army. After the next court, Wang Yan went out of the palace, but did not leave, but stood in front of the palace gate and waited.

The courtiers who came out bowed their hands to him one by one, and then left each other. Wang Yan nodded as well. He stood for a while, and then saw Jin Bao coming out of the palace gate. He smiled, turned and left.

This made Jin Bao feel a bit of coolness behind him. He could feel that Wang Yan was waiting for him on purpose, and he also knew that Wang Yan knew that he was involved in the last incident. The matter was pushed to Manqing, and the incident immediately subsided.

After more than half a month, he thought the matter was over, but Wang Yan suddenly hinted to him just now that he has become the emperor's confidant now, and the emperor intends to train him, so he shouldn't be afraid of Wang Yan, but he But he knew that the emperor's time was numbered.

Jin Bao returned to the mansion in a daze, and at night, he took a carriage and quietly went to the Duke of Chu's mansion to ask for an audience.

(Thanks to Zuo Fei Youfei for the five hundred book coins, thank you for the battle, Yue Dongwoxin, the descendant of Ziye Sanlang, who came to give you a reward with a smile, thank you Ming Yi, the descendant of Ziye Sanlang, for the monthly ticket of Prelude 123456. )
(End of this chapter)