Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 536
Hu Weizong's visit to Huguang this time was of course something important, he took the seal, bowed his fists in return, and then glanced at the generals behind Chen Youlong.

Chen Youlong understood, and immediately said to the generals around him, "You guys chat with a few righteous men, and I will go out with the chief steward for a walk. These are the rough food that soldiers eat, you don't need to be polite, just go ahead and eat."

After finishing speaking, Chen Youlong and Hu Weizong left the room, and everyone clasped their fists to see each other off, and then began to eat and drink again.

Since the Song Dynasty, the culture is high and the military is low, and the literati command the army, which is also a historical trend. Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng are both Jinshi, full of culture, so the generals are not consciously on the same level as the literati, although they may not necessarily have read the books. A few books, but more than one study room.

Right now in Chen Youlong's study, he and Hu Weizong are sitting opposite each other.Hu Weizong's official position in the imperial court was only given by the military department, but that was only on the surface. In secret, he was Wang Yan's confidant and the chief rudder of the Tiandihui. He took the initiative to ask: "Chief rudder, the Tiandihui has been active in Jiangnan, why is the chief rudder coming to Huguang this time, but what important things do you have to do?"

"It is indeed a major matter related to Chu and Jiangxi, so I have to come here in person." Hu Weizong did not hide anything. As the leader of the intelligence organization, he knew Chen Youlong somewhat. He and his party originally went to Qizhou to contact Liu Chengyin, but it turned out that He fled without fighting, and all the Ming armies on the eastern front were about to retreat to Wuchang. Only Chen Youlong's troops stood firm in Huanggang, so Tiandi would think he was trustworthy.

"Is it related to Chu Jiang?" Chen Youlong was puzzled. At present, Duoduo's 10 people are in danger, and Chu Jiang is already in danger. What's the big deal about Chu Jiang?

Hu Weizong took out a letter from his chest, handed it to Chen Youlong, and said bitterly: "This is the secret disc of the Tiandihui. The letter was copied from Hong thief. It was written by Beifu Fu Shangrui. This thief contacted Hong thief and wanted to clear his name." The soldiers should surrender with Wuchang City. I will come here and tell Governor Chu to kill this thief!"

Hou Fangyu hid beside Hong Chengchou. He could have obtained such important information early in the morning. Tiandihui should have sent the information to Huguang before Hong Chengchou sent troops, but this time the information was very difficult for Tiandihui.

Before Jin Shengheng suddenly attacked Jiangnan, and Lu Jianguo plundered the coast, Hong Chengchou thought that heaven and earth would know that the Qing army was going to counterattack Chu and Jiangxi, so he ran in series, linked the two major forces of the Ming Dynasty, and carried out a six-month war together. Grabbing food and burning food, stirring up wind and rain for him, and stumbling him, made him burnt out and became very angry.

This incident made Hong Chengchou furious. At the same time, he also realized that there might be secret operations of the Ming Dynasty around him, so he stepped up the surveillance of the officials around him, and stepped up the search of the Tiandihui in the area controlled by the Qing soldiers.

When Hou Fangyu stole the information, Hong Chengchou had already been on guard. As a result, a clerk hidden in the Governor's Mansion in the Nanjing branch committed suicide by taking poison, and Hou Fangyu was cleared of his suspicion.

The Qing army's search and arrest of Tiandihui made it difficult for Tiandihui. It turned out that the situation was wrong and it could plunge into Taihu Lake, but now it can only run around to escape the pursuit.

Hu Weizong and his entourage set off from Nanjing half a month earlier than the Qing soldiers, but along the way, the Qing soldiers had strict checkpoints and tight inspections, which made it impossible for them to pass smoothly until they reached the territory of Huguang.

After hearing Hu Weizong's words, Chen Youlong's face changed drastically. Fu Shangrui is the governor of Hubei. If he wants to surrender, the future will be unimaginable.He read ten lines at a glance, and after reading the letter, his back felt chills.

Damn, it's no wonder that Liu Chengyin's grandson fled without a fight and sold Qizhou Jiancheng, which the Ming army had been operating for more than a year, directly to Duoduo, which opened up the Ming army's defense on the east front. It is estimated that he had colluded with Fu Shangrui a long time ago. .

Chen Youlong's face turned cold, and he asked in a deep voice, "What is the chief rudder going to do?"

"Naturally, I would like to ask Mr. Chen to try to inform the governor of Chu to release Fu Shangrui from his military power and lock him up." Hu Weizong said.

But Chen Youlong shook his head, didn't reply, he let out a long sigh first, and sighed with wry wrists: "I'm afraid that something bad will happen, and I won't be able to recover from it."

"Why is that?" Hu Weizong asked in surprise.

"The chief rudder didn't know that Governor He brought the main force of the Chu army to the Shangyong area. Most of the people in Wuchang City were Fu Shangrui's troops. Now Liu Chengyin, who is close to him, also fled back to Wuchang with his troops. Fu Shangrui probably already controlled Wuchang. "

Hu Weizong didn't know that the layout of Chu's soldiers and horses was based on He Tengjiao's position in Wuchang, but he didn't expect that Wuchang was in the hands of Fu Shangrui, and the Ming army lost Wuchang, and Xiangfan could not be defended. , "Now that Duoduo's 10 horses have arrived, Wuchang has surrendered to the Qing soldiers again. Under the front and rear attacks, isn't Chen Zongbing in a desperate situation?"

Both of them were silent for a while, frowning and thinking. After a while, Chen Youlong said: "The gentry and common people in Wuchang City may not be willing to surrender. In addition, there are thousands of troops from Wang Ding and Yan Wenjie. As a matter of fact, he did not dare to fight the rebellious flag first. However, Fu Shangrui had the upper hand in the army, and he was going to serve as an internal response to the Qing army. Wuchang could not be defended, and the situation in Hubei was probably irreversible. It is meaningless for a certain to stay in Huanggang now, so a certain decided to retreat to Yue State, try to keep Hunan intact, can the chief rudder go with you?"

Hu Weizong frowned, suddenly leaned towards Chen Youlong, and said, "Chen Zongbing, since Fu Shangrui hasn't set up a rebel flag yet, can the Zongbing lead his troops to pretend to be watching the wind and flee directly to Wuchang, and then look for an opportunity to kill Fu Shangrui? "

Chen Youlong was startled, Tiandihui is indeed an expert in assassination and sabotage, but he has no confidence in his heart: "In Wuchang City, there are 1 bidders directly under Fu Shangrui, and Liu Chengyin's attitude is unclear. Some 7000 people went over, I'm afraid it's not an opponent."

"Chen Zongbing, the situation in Huguang is hard-won. If Hubei is lost, Hunan is also in danger, and the overall situation of fighting against the Qing Dynasty will take a turn for the worse. The Chu Governor's hard work in running Hubei for a year will go to waste, and the people will be ravaged by the Qing soldiers. Fu Shangrui cast In the Qing Dynasty, not all his men and horses are eager to surrender, the soldiers are just coerced by the chief, as long as we plan properly and kill the evil leaders, there is still a turning point for the Wuchang Revolution."

After hearing this, Chen Youlong was silent for a while, finally stood up, and said abruptly: "Wealth and honor are sought in danger, fame and fame will be obtained immediately, for the sake of the elders in Chu, Chen will accompany the chief rudder to fight."

Immediately, Chen Youlong ordered the defenders to abandon Huanggang and retreat to Wuchang. When the people in the city heard the news, they wept and fled the city one after another to avoid the war.

Two days later, in the city of Wuchang, Fu Shangrui reported that Chen Youlong had abandoned Huanggang, withdrew hastily, and asked to enter the city, so he asked Liu Chengyin to discuss it.

He Tengjiao's original principle in employing people was to use generals who were born in the army, so at the beginning, the Shun army, who was born as a thief, was in every possible way, and even used the strategy of "melting thieves" and "restricting thieves" to force Tian Jianxiu and others away. , but in the subsequent battle with Wang Yan to regain Chu, Liu Chengyin and others whom he trusted originally performed unsatisfactorily. On the contrary, Hao Yaoqi, Ma Jinzhong and others performed very eye-catchingly, so he gradually embarked on the path of his son-in-law .

Because Liu Chengyin was neglected by He Tengjiao and married Fu Shangrui, the two were tied together.

At this time, Liu Chengyin heard Fu Shangrui's words, without even thinking about it, he just sneered, "He came back just in time, Futai University can convict him of fleeing without a fight, kill him directly, and then annex his 7000 men and horses. In this way Come on, our bargaining chips will increase by one more point."

(Thanks to General Xiaocao for the monthly pass)
(End of this chapter)