Since the Baishui Wanger uprising in July of the first year of Chongzhen, almost the whole of Shaanxi has been in chaos.
However, with Yang He's recruitment, by March of the second year of Chongzhen, all the bandits in northern Shaanxi were basically gone.
Of course, this does not mean that Shaanxi is at peace, but that they continued to cause trouble after the recruitment, but they did not rebel.
In fact, there is not much problem with recruitment itself. This is also a method often used by the government.
It's just that the recruitment conditions of Yang He, the governor of the three sides, are too loose.
In the past, when the imperial court wanted to recruit troops, the surrendered leaders were asked to disband most of their troops, grant them an official position (usually a military position), and allow some of their troops to become official soldiers and go to other places.
Yang He just reprimanded these bandit leaders, and then made them swear to be good and pardoned them.
Moreover, these bandits were not completely disbanded. On the contrary, territory was assigned to large groups of bandits.
The rogue bandits have changed from being desperate rebels to rogue bandits who "rob with a license."
All the counties in northern Shaanxi were severely affected.
The rogue bandits successfully survived the most difficult winter under Yang He's recruitment.
As a result, Yang He gained the reputation of "Yang Dashan" among the bandits.
However, not all officials of the Ming Dynasty bought into Yang He's policy of "using both suppression and appeasement, focusing on appeasement".
Hong Chengchou, the newly appointed governor of Yansui, believed that these bandits must be resolutely eradicated.
Hong Chengchou was originally the governor of Shaanxi and participated in political affairs. By chance, he killed hundreds of bandits and became the second-rank governor of Yansui on the recommendation of Yang He.
And because of his meritorious service in this battle, He Renlong was promoted from Dusi Qianshi to Yichuan guerrilla.
Both were beneficiaries of the peasant uprising in northern Shaanxi.
The process that originally took at least three to five years and a certain amount of luck to get promoted was completed after they only wiped out a few hundred bandits.
So they were both eager to make meritorious deeds by suppressing bandits, and the two of them hit it off!
How can they get any credit if they have already recruited the bandits?
However, Yang He, the governor of the three sides, was his boss after all, and he had favored his promotion, so Hong Chengchou could not openly question Yang He's policies.
Moreover, Hong Chengchou discovered that although Yang He's appeasement was harmful to the local area, it also made the bandits less vigilant, making it easier for them to attack.
He first held a banquet to reward the surrendered bandits Miaomei and others. These bandits had often appeared at Yang He's banquet before, and they had long lost their vigilance.
After three rounds of drinking, Hong Chengchou was seen throwing a glass of wine as a signal. He Renlong, who was ambushing nearby, quickly led his troops out and killed Miao Mei and others who were attending the banquet on the spot!
He Renlong said: "There are more than 500 bandits under Miao Mei, and they have all been controlled by us. How should we deal with them?"
Hong Chengchou pondered for a moment and said: "If word spreads about our killing and surrender, these bandits will definitely be more vigilant, and it will not be easy to deal with them later!"
Then he made a "wipe his neck" gesture towards He Renlong.
He Renlong immediately understood and then killed all these bandits.
Later, Hong Chengchou wrote to Yang He, saying that Miao Mei and others would surrender first and then rebel.
In the next two months, Hong Chengchou and He Renlong killed more than 20,000 bandits of dozens of large and small groups including Little Red Wolf, Yi Zhangqing, and Luo Dihu in Yansui territory.
He Renlong was nicknamed "Crazy He" in the army because of his bravery in combat.
Hong Chengchou was also called "Crazy Hong" by the rebels because he was ruthless and unruly, killing all the peasant soldiers.
The "reputation" that "Yang Dashanren" had finally accumulated among the rebels was completely destroyed by Hong Chengchou.
The remaining bandits were not stupid and fled Yansui territory one after another. For a time, the banditry in Yansui territory was completely suppressed.
However, this group of bandits soon sprung up in other parts of Shaanxi like mushrooms after a spring rain.
This also caused conflicts between Yang He and Hong Chengchou.
Hong Chengchou forced Yang He to change his position from pacification to suppression.
Even if Yang He continues to adopt the policy of recruiting mainly, the bandits will no longer believe in him. In their eyes, Yang He and Hong Chengchou must be in the same group.
It's nothing more than one being a bad guy and the other being a good guy.
Yang He knew that the court would definitely be blamed for the resurgence of rogue bandits!
He took the initiative to participate in Hong Chengchou's unauthorized change of his "focusing on appeasement" strategy of suppressing bandits, which caused the bandit troubles that had been calmed down to start again.
Hong Chengchou thought that Yang He had given him a hand, so he never impeached the court about his strategy of suppressing bandits.
Now that Yang He had already taken action against him first, he couldn't sit still and wait for death.
So Hong Chengchou truthfully reported the situation of these bandits who continued to cause trouble to the local area after being recruited, and pointed out that the bandits were originally recruited by the imperial court to spend the winter, but they were already ready to move after the spring. Even if he did not take action, they would betray the imperial court sooner or later. , rebel again!
Faced with another turmoil in Shaanxi, Emperor Chongzhen finally lost his patience.
He supported Yang He fully despite the pressure. Even if Yang He changed his original intention and requested to "focus on caressing", Chongzhen still approved his plan.
But now that one year has passed, Shaanxi is still in a mess.
Yang He's ridiculous recruitment refreshed his understanding.
Originally, he wanted to scold Yang He and ask him to start suppressing bandits and make meritorious deeds.
After all, this is someone who must be used against all odds, so the slap in the face cannot come too quickly.
However, Chongzhen's previous support for Yang He almost offended the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, including Sun Chengzong, the chief minister.
How could they let go of this opportunity at this time.
Almost everyone in the civil and military circles of the Manchu Dynasty agreed that Yang He's appeasement strategy was simply to help the bandits survive the winter, and was purely a matter of raising tigers.
Ask your Majesty to remove Yang He as the governor of the three sides, and then send the Yulin Battalion from the capital to suppress the bandits in Shaanxi.
It was obvious that these ministers did not understand Chongzhen's psychology.
In Chongzhen's view, Yang He's original strategy of using border troops to suppress the bandits was not wrong, but there was a problem with his subsequent appeasement strategy.
If he sends the Yulin Battalion to suppress bandits in Shaanxi at this time, it will undoubtedly be a complete denial of himself. This slap in the face is really painful!
Since Yang He cannot be reused, he has failed to live up to his holy grace.
Then he can just replace him with someone who can be reused.
So Hong Chengchou became his choice.
Last year when Yang He asked for merit for Hong Chengchou, he noticed this person. Although he was a civil servant, he was very good at fighting.
Moreover, he showed no mercy to the rogue bandits and should be able to wipe out the rogue bandits in Shaanxi.
Judging from the battle reports, this Hong Chengchou was not an easy man. It only took him two short months to wipe out all the rogue bandits in Yansui. The rogue bandits were even more frightened when they saw him.
His subordinate He Renlong is also a rare warrior.
So Chongzhen decided to let Hong Chengchou replace Yang He.
In April of the second year of Chongzhen, Yang He, the governor of the three sides, was dismissed. Chongzhen changed the former governor of Yansui to the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, and appointed He Renlong as the deputy general of Yan'an.
Originally, Hong Chengchou only recommended He Renlong to be the general of Yan'an, but Chongzhen specially promoted him to another level.
Chongzhen's unusual reuse still had a certain effect.
Both Hong Chengchou and He Renlong were grateful to His Majesty and vowed to eliminate the rogue bandits in a short time.
Hong Chengchou knew that the main reason why rogue bandits are so difficult to deal with now is that many of them were originally officers and soldiers.
If the payment problem of the border troops is not resolved, it will be difficult to control the rebellion.
So Hong Chengchou asked the court to repay the several months of salary owed to the frontier troops.
It has to be said that Emperor Chongzhen still gave him great support, allocating 600,000 taels of silver at a time.
Hong Chengchou personally sent people to pay wages in the army, which prevented exploitation at all levels and greatly boosted the morale of the border troops.
He promoted Chen Qiyu, the former inspector of Shaanxi, to the governor of Shaanxi, responsible for suppressing bandits in the Guanzhong area and preventing rogue bandits from northern Shaanxi from crossing the Wei River and causing trouble in the Guanzhong area.
And He Renlong was leading the main force of the border army to suppress bandits in northern Shaanxi.
Then he appointed Du Wenhuan, who had a deep hatred against the bandits, as the commander-in-chief of the reinforcements and suppression, and led a mobile cavalry to pursue and eliminate the rebels in various prefectures in Shaanxi.
The official army has many cavalry and moves quickly, making it impossible for the rogues to outrun the official army.
Unable to run and fighting on their own, the rogue bandits naturally did not pose much of a threat. Soon the rebels in Shaanxi, Gansu and other places were basically suppressed by the government troops.
Only a few people are still holding on in the mountains, but there is no longer much of a threat.
Since Wang Er's death, Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong have become the new leaders of the rebel army.
Zhong Guangdao, who originally followed Wang Er in the uprising, became their military advisor.
Wang Jiayin was filled with emotion when he heard that the rebel army in northern Shaanxi was almost completely wiped out during the encirclement and suppression by the government army!
In November last year, when Yang He recruited the Anyi Army, he also had the idea of surrendering the army for the winter. Fortunately, Zhong Guangdao stopped him.
Zhong Guangdao said: "Although the surrendering officers and soldiers can survive the winter, the spirit of the rebels will be gone. Rebellion is a job with your head in your belt. Once you lose the belief of risking your life, then It’s hard to become a climate again.”
As expected by Zhong Guangdao, those small and large rebels who surrendered to the government troops soon became unwilling to live that kind of wandering life.
Although many people later rebelled against the imperial court, these people could no longer make a difference.
Wang Jiayin and others took advantage of the fact that the main force of the government and army were in northern Shaanxi, and suddenly crossed the Yellow River to kill Shanxi.
Wang Jiayin suddenly approached Hequ City on the edge of the Yellow River, shocking the Ming army in Shanxi.
Shanxi commander Wang Guoliang used Fo Lang machine guns to bombard the rebel ships crossing the river.
Fortunately, the ship was not far from the shore. Leader Gao Yingxiang led hundreds of his rebels to jump from the boat into the cold Yellow River.
Gao Yingxiang and others swam directly to the shore with amazing will, and then started a hand-to-hand battle with the officers and soldiers on the shore.
Although the number of officers and soldiers was superior, the morale of the rebels under Gao Yingxiang was high.
In particular, his nephew Li Zicheng took the lead and killed the generals of the Ming army, which greatly reduced the morale of the officers and soldiers.
At this time, Wang Kegui and others in Hequ City took advantage of the unpreparedness of the officers and soldiers, opened the gate of Hequ City, and welcomed the rebels into the city.
According to Zhong Guangdao's suggestion, Wang Jiayin took advantage of the opportunity when the Yellow River froze in winter to shuttle on both sides of the Yellow River, playing with the officers and soldiers at his fingertips.
Sometimes they conquered Shenmu, Fugu and other places in northern Shaanxi. Sometimes they occupy the He meander and Baode areas of Shanxi.
In the end, Wang Jiayin established a political power in Hequ and named himself "King of Hengtian Yizi". He also appointed the king as Zuo Prime Minister and Zhong Guangdao as military advisor.
Gao Yingxiang, on the other hand, was named "Chuang King" by Wang Jiayin because of his daring to fight and his aggressiveness, and his subordinate Li Zicheng was called "Chuang General".
The rebel regime was not a formal regime, and the various leaders only nominally surrendered to Wang Jiayin and obeyed his command.
Now among Wang Jiayin's more than 50,000 troops, he actually commands only more than 5,000.
In addition to Wang Ziyong and Gao Yingxiang, there are also Zhang Xianzhong, the "Eight Kings" known as Huang Hu, Ma Shouying, the "Lao Huihui", He Yilong, the "Leather Eye" and others who are also quite powerful.
Among them, there are twenty or thirty leaders, big and small, who are called kings. These people have hundreds to thousands of subordinates.
However, among the rebels, apart from Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong, the person they admired the most was Zhong Guangdao. This military advisor was really powerful.
It was actually possible to contact the Mongols and Shanxi merchants in Shanxi to provide cheap supplies to the rebels.
Nowadays, most of the most elite "Thirty-sixth Battalion Leaders" of the rebel army in the late Ming Dynasty are among Wang Jiayin's rebel army.
In order to ensure that these seeds could be widely used, Li Xianzhong, the Duke of Liao Dynasty, could only start a loss-making business.
He ordered Shanxi merchants headed by Fan Yongdou to transport supplies to the rebels by land, while Mongolian merchants in Jiuyuan City used merchant ships to transport supplies to the rebels directly from the Yellow River.
The food, fodder and some weapons that the rebels urgently needed were delivered to them almost at cost price.
Not only that, the Intelligence Department in northern Shaanxi also actively provided Zhong Guangdao with the latest updates on the government and military. Otherwise, how could Zhong Guangdao have such a clever plan?
Even before Wang Kegui opened the gate of Hequ City, it was arranged by the Intelligence Department, otherwise Li Zicheng and Gao Yingxiang would have been buried in the Yellow River long ago.
At this time, Zhong Guangdao said: "According to the latest information, 'Crazy Hong' is preparing to send He Renlong across the Yellow River to encircle and suppress us!"
"The army has already collected ferries in Fugu County, and is expected to attack Baodou on the other side soon. 'Eight Kings,' are you ready to face the enemy?"
Zhang Xianzhong said: "Baode is garrisoned by tens of thousands of troops including myself and Prime Minister Zuo. It should not be a problem to defend the Yellow River."
"It's just that Madman Hong has always been cunning in his military use. I'm afraid he has a back-up plan."
Zhong Guangdao said: "What the eight kings said is true. Not only He Renlong's route, but Ningwuguan in the west and Zhenxiwei in the south will also dispatch 15,000 troops to cooperate with He Renlong. This time the official army is in a strong position. We will definitely annihilate us all in northwest Shanxi."
As soon as Zhong Guangdao said this, the leaders from all walks of life began to become nervous.
Ningwuguan Tongzhen Xiwei was like the two ends of an open pliers, firmly locking the rebel army in the tiny land of northwest Shanxi.
Nowadays, the Ming army is attacking from front to back, and their last stand is a disaster.
At this time, Zhong Guangdao said with a smile: "This is a golden opportunity. For so long, the Zhenxi Guards in the south have blocked our way south into the prosperous area. Now the Ming army there has taken the initiative to attack north. This has given way to Passage to the south!"
Gao Yingxiang said: "But there are a lot of cavalry in the official army. If we penetrate directly, let alone whether we can quickly capture the Zhenxi Guards, we are likely to be pursued by the Ming army's cavalry."
Zhong Guangdao said: "What King Chuang said is not unreasonable, so we need to have a team of people stay in Baodian to attract the army and buy time for everyone to move."
Facing three groups of Ming troops, wouldn't this be a suicide?
Zhang Xianzhong, who always likes to conserve his strength, said: "This task is too difficult, can I not do it?"
Zhong Guangdao said: "Someone bring up the firecracker!"
So he picked up a Rumi gun and said: "This is a Rumi gun only equipped by the Ming Dynasty. The range can reach 120 steps. With these 500 Rumi guns, the confidence of defending the city has been greatly increased!"
To be honest, everyone is greedy for such a sharp firearm, but this is a life-and-death thing. No matter how good this blunderbuss is, it is useless!
Zhong Guangdao said: "You don't need too many troops, just five thousand elites!"
He looked around. Although the people below were whispering, no one wanted to stay and die! "
Then he added: "My military advisor has discussed with the 'King of Hengtian Yizi', and the king is willing to give 1,000 elites from the old camp to the people left behind to command them. From now on, these thousand troops will belong to him. And my military advisor also I will stay in Baodian and live and die with my deceased brothers, and I can guarantee that I will take most of them out alive!"
At this time, Zhang Xianzhong said: "I also admire the brother who stayed to cut off the queen. I am willing to allocate 300 elites from the three thousand troops to hand over to him to cut off the queen. I will never use the old and the weak to make up the number!"
After Zhang Xianzhong finished speaking, others also expressed their willingness to help, but no one was willing to stay to defend the city.
So Zhang Xianzhong simply said: "Zhongjun is very resourceful. I will leave these five thousand troops to you. My brothers can rest assured that they will follow you from now on. I believe that you will be able to turn danger into good and break through the siege!"
In fact, Zhong Guangdao also considered the situation mentioned by Zhang Xianzhong. If no one was willing to decide, he would take over the team and do it himself.
It's a pity that there is no one who can become a great leader among these rebels!
At this moment, Li Zicheng, who was behind Gao Yingxiang, suddenly stood up and said: "I am willing to stay and lend a helping hand as a military advisor. Don't worry, brothers. Li Zicheng will at least buy you five days, which will be enough for you to fight around Taiyuan Prefecture." .”
Li Zicheng believed that Zhong Guangdao was not the kind of person who spoke freely. Since he dared to say so, he was certainly confident.
This is actually a rare opportunity. With a large number of firearms and 5,000 elite troops, even if one-third can escape, in the future, these elite troops will soon be able to pull up a team of tens of thousands.
Although he was in charge of hundreds of people under his uncle Gao Yingxiang, it was difficult for him to stand out.
If you master this skill, you can become the leader of a party.
Moreover, these people more or less owed him a favor, and he might even hope to become the boss of the rebels in the future.
Now that time is running out, it would be best if someone is willing to take over this post-interrupted task.
After Li Zicheng took his 500 men to garrison Baoding, everyone also sent over the men they promised.
After all, Li Zicheng and Li Zicheng, both of the same kind, have to buy time for them. Whether they can go to Taiyuan to eat and drink spicy food depends on how long they can hold on.
The elite must be the capital for their family and life. No one would be stupid enough to actually use their core team. However, the people who come here are at least young and strong, and there are very few old and weak. This has exceeded Li Zicheng's expectations.
The real core is the 500 brothers he led and the thousand-old camp left by Wang Jiayin.
Seeing the solemn expression on Li Zicheng's face, Zhong Guangdao said: "General Chuang, don't worry. You only need to defend the city for a few days. By then, my military advisor will naturally have a way to make you escape unscathed."
Li Zicheng said helplessly: "Commander Zhong, it's useless if I just believe in it, my brothers must also believe it, so that they can fight to the death and serve!"
So Zhong Guangdao whispered a few words next to Li Zicheng, and Li Zicheng was overjoyed and shouted: "Let the brothers gather together, I have something to say!"
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