In early June, Lu Xiangsheng received a reply from the Ministry of War. The imperial court allocated 430,000 taels of military expenses to Shandong Dusi to make up for the salary deficit over the years.
Lu Xiangsheng and Yan Jizu were overjoyed, but at the same time they were also very puzzled. What was going on with the court? The war in the south was going on right now, so the court's financial resources should be very tight. Why did the Ministry of War suddenly allocate the arrears?
Immediately afterwards, Lu Xiangsheng received the second order from the Ministry of War. He was suddenly shocked and hurriedly found General Lu Huaiying.
"Master Governor, why are you so alarmed?"
Lu Xiangsheng said solemnly: "The Ministry of War has received news, saying that it will recruit new troops under Liu Yan to go to Hunan, and temporarily put them under the control of the Superintendent Yang Sichang to encircle and suppress Zhang Xianzhong's troops."
"What!"
Lu Huaiying said angrily: "Yang Thief is so shameless. If he hadn't been behind the scenes, the army of slave thieves would have been annihilated long ago. How could the country be in such a dangerous situation! Now he and Zhang Thief are in a stalemate in Hunan, and they actually start a fight. General Liu’s idea is really shameless!”
Lu Xiangsheng said: "I'm afraid this matter is not that simple. This is the order from the Ministry of War. It also mentions that the imperial court will use Gao Qiqian as the supervisor to escort 350,000 taels of military expenses, 150,000 shi of military rations, and some iron Materials, craftsmen, etc., went directly south from the capital to Jimo Yingcheng to join Liu Yan's troops."
"What!"
Lu Huaiying was dumbfounded now. Yang Sichang was already disgusting enough, but now Gao Qiqian appeared again. How could Liu Yan fight this battle? Are you going to Hunan to die?
"Master Governor, this matter needs to be reported to the imperial court. General Liu Shen cannot be allowed to go!"
Lu Xiangsheng shook his head and said: "Didn't I say that this matter is not that simple? Think about it, it is surprising enough that the imperial court has made up for the back pay of Shandong soldiers over the years, but it also gave Liu Yan dozens of Ten thousand taels of military expenditure and hundreds of thousands of dan of military rations, isn’t this strange?”
"The governor is saying..."
Looking at Lu Huaiying's confused look, Lu Xiangsheng said: "Yang Sichang probably secretly contacted Liu Yan first, and the two of them must have reached some kind of agreement. These money and food are the benefits Liu Yan has won for us!"
Now Lu Huaiying could no longer hug him, and said with red eyes: "General Liu Shen must have known that he would not be able to fly on this trip, but he was in danger, so he tried his best to advise the governor!"
Lu Xiangsheng sighed and said: "I must write to the court about this matter, but looking at the current situation, it is probably useless. I can only place my hope on Liu Yanji's fate!"
Lu Huaiying clasped his fists and said: "Master Governor, I will rush to Jimo Yingcheng immediately. Before I dive, I will inform General Liu of the news so that he can be prepared."
"Yeah, that's fine."
Four days later, as Lu Huaiying's horse galloped into Jimo Yingcheng, the news that Gao Qiqian was about to go south to supervise the army was also sent to Liu Yan.
"High dive?"
A sneer appeared on Liu Yan's face, and Lu Huaiying, who was sweating profusely next to him, said hurriedly: "You can still laugh? What a disaster!"
Liu Yan laughed and said: "What's the matter? Brother Lu is just worried about Gao Qi's potential for bad things in the war? Don't worry, it'll be fine."
"fine?"
Liu Yan had a sneer on his face, and he exuded an evil spirit and said: "The battlefield is chaotic, swords and guns have no eyes, everyone lives or dies!"
Lu Huaiying felt a sudden chill in his heart: "This Liu Yan is really a ruthless character!"
On the same day, Lu Huaiying left in a hurry. Before leaving, Liu Yan asked Lu Huaiying to give Lu Xiangsheng a message: "Tell the governor that the reissued grain and grain from the imperial court will flow slowly. There will definitely be a locust plague after this drought. People everywhere will be in poverty. If you have money and grain in your hands, , so I won’t panic in my heart.”
Lu Huaiying nodded: "Don't worry, I will definitely bring you."
Two days later, a group of troops from the Ministry of War rushed to Jimo Yingcheng and delivered the transfer order from the Ministry of War and the news that Gao Qiqian had led his troops to escort money and grain.
In the afternoon of the same day, Gao Qiqian led a large group of troops to Jimo Yingcheng. Liu Yan led three commanders, Miao Shao, Xu Ming, Wang Yue, and Qian Qian, the general manager, to greet them outside the east gate.
Gao Qiqian led a 2,000-strong Beijing army. This large army was well-dressed and armored. Almost everyone had a horse. With the flags fluttering, it actually looked a bit elite.
But Liu Yan shook his head. Although the equipment of these soldiers in the Beijing camp looked good, they were not in order. They stopped on the official road and whispered to each other. There was no military discipline at all. They were just embroidered pillows.
Among this large group of people, there were hundreds of carts, on which were the money, food and iron materials promised by the imperial court. There were more than a hundred craftsmen in the team, all of whom were dressed in rags, as if they were The beggars were out and about, which formed a sharp contrast with the Beijing soldiers with bright armor.
"Haha, the last general has met Gao Jianjun!"
Although Liu Yan was disgusted with Gao Qiqian in his heart, he had to do enough on the surface, leading Miao Shao, Xu Ming, Wang Yue, and Qian Qian to come forward and salute.
Gao Qiqian opened the curtain of the carriage and said with a smile: "General Liu Shen, haha, I heard that you are the number one general under Lu Duchen. You have made great achievements in Jinan Fucheng recently. You are really brave. !”
"The Gao Jianjun has received the award. This is the last general..."
Before Liu Yan could finish speaking, Gao Qiqian interrupted and said, "This time when we go south to fight, General Liu Shen should be more sensible, obey the orders of the Za family, and make more military exploits for the country!"
After saying that, Gao Qiqian ignored Liu Yan, lowered the car curtain, and stopped talking.
Liu Yan was furious when he saw this, and Xu Ming and Miao Shao next to him were even more furious. If Wang Yue hadn't pulled the two of them desperately, Xu Ming and Miao Shao would have rushed up and pulled Gao Qiqian down.
Liu Yan said nothing and stood aside with a gloomy face, watching the high-altitude chariots and the Beijing troops entering the city. Next to him, Miao Shao whispered: "Sir, what should I do!"
Liu Yan thought for a long time, and then said coldly: "You immediately lead the guard camp to set off. From here to Lingshan Guard, you need to cross the Gu River. You immediately lead the Gu River Valley to set up an ambush. I will ask Gao Qiqian to lead two thousand people." The Beijing camp went to Lingshan Guard to station."
Miao Shao's face lit up, and he whispered excitedly: "Don't worry, sir, my subordinates will definitely handle it, but how will the court explain it?"
"Explain?"
Liu Yan asked back: "Who knew that the one in the car was a Gao Qiqi? Who has seen a Gao Qiqi?"
That night, Liu Yan hosted a banquet at the General's Mansion. Gao Qiqian sat down with a stern face. Liu Yan smiled and filled up the wine and said, "The Gao Jianjun has been working hard all the way. This meal can be regarded as a blessing for the Gao Jianjun."
"Yeah, easy to say."
"It's just that tomorrow we ask the Gao Jianjun to work harder and lead his troops to station at Lingshan Guard first."
"Um?"
Gao Qiqian frowned slightly and asked, "Why is this?"
Liu Yan said with a smile: "The general has ordered all the ministries to gather at Lingshan Guard. The materials and supplies of the army are stored in Lingshan Guard. It is convenient to set off from there."
"Will Liu Shen go with you tomorrow?"
Liu Yan said: "There are still some soldiers and horses here that have not been assembled, and my subordinates have to urge those soldiers and horses to assemble quickly, so tomorrow the high-ranking supervisory army will take the first step, and the general has already prepared his residence at Lingshan Guard, and Some generous gifts.”
Liu Yan specially emphasized the word "thousand gift", and then there was a smile on Gao Qiqian's face.
"Haha, in this case, General Liu Shen, please work hard for a while. The Za family will go first tomorrow. But General Liu Shen, please hurry up and don't delay for too long, otherwise it will be difficult for Governor Yang to explain."
Liu Yan clasped his fists and said, "Yes, the general will not dare!"
The next day, Gao Qiqian led two thousand troops from the capital camp to leave Jimo Camp City and headed west to the Gu River Valley.
This is a depression, with trees on both sides of the highlands, like two hills, and the terrain is dangerous.
Lingshanwei originally had a fire road pier here, but it was later abandoned during the Jiajing period, and the original pier collapsed into disgrace.
Gao Qiqian's carriage and horses were traveling on a bumpy dirt road, which made Gao Qiqian's mood extremely bad, and he scolded the driver from time to time.
The two thousand soldiers from the Beijing camp had already lost their posture. Under the scorching sun, they took off their armor and hung it on their horses. Many of them were even shirtless, but they were still shouting and complaining.
Gao Qiqian opened the curtain of the car window irritably, covered his mouth and nose with one hand, looked at the surrounding soldiers with disgust, and was about to rebuke loudly, when he suddenly saw many figures appearing on the hill, all of them were in iron armor. Soldier!
"Who is that?"
Gao Qiqian pointed to the hill in front and said loudly: "Someone, go and take a look!"
As soon as he finished speaking, another person appeared on the hill. It was Miao Shao, the commander of the Guards Battalion. Miao Shao looked at the large group of people in the valley with a ferocious face and shouted loudly: "Let go!"
The Guards Battalion was the first battle camp to be reorganized. Among the more than 3,700 people, including the guards and Ye Bu Shu, 2,000 were equipped with flintlock muskets. Under a volley of fire, there was no one in the valley. The two thousand men and horses in the Beijing camp who were on guard suddenly fell to the ground, and they were shot so hard that they fell on their backs.
The carriage that Gao Qiqian was riding in was the object of "key attention". The two groups of good horses pulling the carriage were shot and killed immediately. When the two horses fell, they overturned the carriage to the ground. Gao Qiqian was even more direct. Thrown out of the car.
"What a disaster!"
Gao Qiqian was beaten to pieces, with dust and blood stains on his face. He got up on his hands and feet and saw that less than half of the two thousand troops had fallen. The remaining soldiers from the Beijing camp were all like bereaved dogs, lying in the river valley. Running around, there is no sign of an army anywhere.
"Guard! Guard the Zajia!"
Gao Qiqian's voice was immediately heard by Miao Shao. Miao Shao pointed at a eunuch wearing Feiyu uniform in the river valley and shouted: "Gao Qiqian! I'll kill you for your stupidity!"
Then Miao Shao called to the dozens of bird gunners around him, pointed at Gao Qiqian and shouted: "Fire! Kill him, kill that castrate for me!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
After a burst of gunpowder smoke, Gao Qiqi, who had been screaming just now, was shot intensively by dozens of bird cannons. The gorgeous flying fish on his body could no longer be seen as it was. Blood was pouring out from more than a dozen holes, and his head was even more damaged. They were beaten until they were unrecognizable, and those who were already dead could no longer die.
"Ha ha!"
Miao Shao laughed excitedly when he saw this: "Eunuch! If you dare to be an enemy of my family, you are seeking death!"
The soldiers of the Guards Battalion were very nervous at the beginning. After all, this battle was to ambush the soldiers of the Beijing Camp, and those people were Ming troops just like themselves.
But as soon as the battle began, the officers and soldiers of the new army forgot their nervousness and started shooting according to the infantry drill code and Miao Shao's orders without any hesitation.
Some veterans in the army had experienced the Battle of Julu. When they heard that the man was Gao Qiqi, they gritted their teeth and joined in the curse.
At this time, many soldiers from the Beijing camp began to flee towards both ends of the river valley, but were stopped by the spearmen and sword and shield wielders of the Guards Battalion blocking both ends.
"It's the soldiers and horses of Jimo camp, Liu Yan rebelled!"
Some Beijing camp generals recognized the armor of the new army officers and wanted to threaten them in exchange for a way out of their lives. However, what they received in return was constant oppression by a military formation composed of spearmen from the Guards Battalion, who then stabbed them with their spears and began the massacre.
"Ah! We are also officers and soldiers, stop fighting!"
"I surrender, please spare my life!"
"Sir, please spare your life. We have no grievances and no grudges. It's not like this!"
The officers and soldiers of the new army were like killing machines, sweeping through them with an almost devastating attitude. The battle only lasted less than half an hour and ended.
When Miao Shao led his men to the river valley, not a single one of the two thousand men from the capital camp survived.
To be on the safe side, Miao Shao took people to examine each corpse one by one, and found that every one of the two thousand and one corpses was accurate.
"Burn all the corpses, clothes, and carriages without leaving any traces. Take all the war horses back without leaving a single one behind!"
"Got the order!"
That night, Liu Yan wrote an official document and reported it to Lu Xiangsheng, and sent someone to send it out overnight: "The Gao Jianjun headquarters has not arrived yet, and the money and food promised by the court have not been received. Please ask Governor Lu to urge the court on your behalf! Now everywhere With the increase in civil unrest, the general is worried that something might happen to the Gao Jianjun's headquarters, so he has sent troops to search everywhere."
Some people died, but not completely...
