New Year is the most important festival of the year, although there is still a lively scene inside and outside the capital.
But Zhu Youjian is really having a troubled New Year.
At the end of last year, Xiangyang was captured, and the king of Xiang, Zhu Yiming, was beheaded in public by Zhang Xianzhong.
In terms of seniority, Zhu Yiming was of the same generation as Wanli and his grandfather.
He was also the first vassal king to be killed by the peasant army in the Ming Dynasty.
Although many members of the Zhu Ming royal family were killed in Fengyang before, they were already distant branches of the royal family and could not be compared with King Xiang.
So the angry Emperor Chongzhen ordered Xiong Wencan, who had just been promoted to governor of Huguang, to be escorted to the capital for questioning.
According to the "Laws of the Ming Dynasty", those who lose their feudal vassal will die!
However, Xiong Wencan, the unlucky guy, was unwilling to accept it. He had accumulated a lot of wealth during his many years in Guangdong and Guangxi.
So his family members paid "New Year's greetings" to the important officials in the court one by one!
As the saying goes, money can make the world go round. Many big bosses, including the chief minister Zhou Yanru, have accepted Xiong Wencan's money.
However, only Wen Tiren, Minister of Rites and Second Assistant to the Cabinet, rejected Xiong Wencan's money.
Wen Tiren was born into a family of officials, and his ancestors had served as ministers of the Ministry of War as early as the Hongwu period.
He was very good at figuring out Chongzhen's thoughts and knew that Emperor Chongzhen himself was very frugal and hated corruption and bribery by officials and forming cliques for personal gains.
Therefore, Wen Tiren's way of serving as an official was mainly to cater to Chongzhen, isolate himself and not take the initiative to form a party, and stay clean and avoid corruption and bribery.
In the late Ming Dynasty, when party strife was serious, "not forming a party" could be described as a breath of fresh air!
Of course, just because Wen Tiren is not a party member does not mean that he has no help in the government.
On the contrary, he is very good at exploiting the contradictions between parties, and because he has no party behind him, he will not become the main target of attack by other parties.
In the second year of Chongzhen's reign, Wen Tiren's name was not included in the original list of candidates.
The loudest voice was Qian Qianyi, a member of the Donglin Party who was the Minister of Rites.
Emperor Chongzhen, who had always been very suspicious, suspected Qian Qianyi of forming a clique because his voice was too loud.
It happened that there were two elders surnamed Qian, Qian Longxi and Qian Xiangkun, in the cabinet at that time. The cunning Wen Tiren asked people to let people know and said that the "Three Qian Assistants" were comparable to the "Sanyang Cabinet" during the Renxuan period. A great blessing for this dynasty.
As a result, not to mention Emperor Chongzhen, even the chief minister Zhou Yanru felt threatened by Qian Qianyi.
Qian Qianyi is from Changshu, Suzhou, Qian Longxi is from Jiashan, Zhejiang, and Qian Xiangkun is from Shaoxing, Zhejiang. Although they are not far apart, the three of them are not related at all.
Of course, if you insist on going back to 700 years ago, the three of them are indeed descendants of King Qian Liu of Wuyue.
Wen Tiren cleverly used Zhou Yanru to prevent Qian Qianyi from joining the cabinet.
At the same time, Chongzhen promoted Wen Tiren, who was non-partisan and honest as an official, to the cabinet.
Chongzhen had a very good impression of Wen Tiren, so he not only promoted him to the position of Minister of Rites, but also promoted him to the position of Second Assistant in the Cabinet.
In fact, Wen Tiren had long been eyeing Zhou Yanru's position as chief minister of the cabinet.
However, Zhou Yanru was still relatively favored, and Feng Quan was assisting him in the cabinet, so Wen Tiren could only endure it, waiting for a suitable opportunity.
However, it was not so easy to be the Minister of War in the Chongzhen Dynasty. It was difficult for Sun Chengzong to serve as the chief minister for a long time, let alone Feng Quan, who was talking about military affairs on paper.
Wen Tiren was keenly aware that the Xiong Wencan incident was probably a golden opportunity to bring down Feng Quan and even Zhou Yanru.
So when all the ministers excused Xiong Wencan, only Wen Tiren remained silent!
However, news soon came that Zhang Xianzhong had proclaimed himself emperor in Xiangyang and that Li Zicheng was approaching Luoyang.
Now even a fool knows that Xiong Wencan is dead this time!
Even if a vassal king died, everyone can still excuse you, saying that you just took office and don't understand the situation, so you can't bear all the blame.
As a result, now that you have an emperor, who dares to excuse you?
Soon Xiong Wencan was sentenced to Qiu Jue.
The ministers who had previously pleaded for his mercy came forward one after another to plead guilty.
But the most important problem at present is how to counter the rebellion!
The pirates in Denglai have not yet been solved, and the rogue pirates who had finally been calmed down took the opportunity to cause trouble again.
Moreover, it is said that the rogue bandits used methods such as dividing the fields to win people's hearts. In just a few months, they attracted hundreds of thousands of people, and there was even more turmoil in Henan and Huguang.
This made Emperor Chongzhen very dissatisfied with Zhou Yanru, the chief minister of the cabinet, and Feng Quan, the minister of war.
Under Wen Tiren's instigation, many ministers impeached Zhou Yanru, the first assistant, and Feng Quan, the minister of war, believing that they should be responsible for the matter.
When Fengyang was captured last year, Chongzhen had already issued an edict to punish Zhou Yanru.
You can't just issue edicts every now and then.
Zhou Yanru also saw clearly the true face of Wen Tiren at this time. This "lone minister" who usually never seemed to participate in party strife was now taking the opportunity to attack himself.
After careful consideration, Zhou Yanru decided to sacrifice his troops to protect his commander.
He even instigated his own party members to impeach Feng Quan, the Minister of War, and believed that Feng Quan should also be responsible for this matter.
It stands to reason that Feng Quan, the Minister of War, must be blamed for the successive failures of the imperial court in suppressing bandits.
However, when Zhou Yanru, the chief minister, did this at this time, no one thought that he was killing relatives out of righteousness.
Because he and Feng Quan were not only sons and daughters, but also a strong political alliance, which was well known throughout the court.
Lian Chongzhen felt that there was something wrong with Zhou Yanru's character.
In addition, Zhou Yanru had repeatedly reminded Chongzhen to be wary of Wei Zhongxian's eunuch rebellion, and asked him not to favor Wang Chengen too much.
Wang Chengen naturally didn't like Zhou Yanru at this time.
He took the opportunity to say: "Chief Minister Zhou is too irresponsible. Not only does he not share your Majesty's worries, but he always expects others to take the blame for him!"
So Chongzhen quickly made the decision to remove Zhou Yanru, the first assistant, and promoted Wen Tiren, the second assistant, to be the first assistant.
When Feng Quan saw that Wen Tiren came to power, he would definitely not be able to survive in the capital, so he took the initiative to resign to Chongzhen as Minister of the Ministry of War and as a bachelor of the cabinet.
However, he did not think that there was anything wrong with the "Four Positives, Six Corners and Ten Sided Nets" he proposed. It was just that the conquering sea pirates relaxed their crackdown on the rogue bandits, which led to the resurgence of the rogue bandits!
He admitted that this was his dereliction of duty and did not remind the court to promptly appoint and remove a new hunting governor to continue to deal with the rogue bandits.
He also expressed his willingness to go to the front line to exterminate Zhang Xianzhong to share His Majesty's worries!
Feng Quan took the initiative to admit his fault and resigned from his position, which made Chongzhen feel a little regretful!
After all, he was the one who transferred Hong Chengchou back to the capital from the Dabie Mountains.
Feng Quan still had a good intention to serve the court, but he could not let Feng Quan pursue Zhang Xianzhong, so he decided to let Feng Quan go to Nanjing to serve as Minister of War, so that he could continue to contribute to the court.
Feng Quan was eager to leave the capital, a place of right and wrong, so he quickly thanked him!
Wen Tiren knew that his next job would not be easy.
The top priority must be to deal with the two scourges Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng first.
Wen Tiren discussed with Zhang Fengyi, the newly appointed Secretary of the Ministry of War, and decided to let Chen Qiyu, the previously appointed prime minister of the five provinces for suppressing bandits, lead the border troops south to annihilate Zhang Xianzhong.
However, at this time, Chen Qiyu only had tens of thousands of troops at his disposal. Although there were many elite border troops among them, they were still insufficient in strength.
In the end, it was decided to let Yuan Chonghuan transfer 20,000 people from the Shandong battlefield to Huguang to form an east-route army, and cooperate with Chen Qiyu's west-route army to attack Zhang Xianzhong.
Although the Shandong pirates were under great pressure, considering that King Xiang was killed and Zhang Xianzhong had proclaimed himself emperor, Yuan Chonghuan still sent Cao Wenzhao to lead 10,000 Yulin battalions and 10,000 Nanzhili Ming troops to Wuchang. 30,000 Huguang soldiers formed the East Route Army.
Chen Qiyu also recruited 60,000 troops from Xuanda, Taiyuan, Yulin, Ningxia towns, and various places in Shaanxi to form the West Route Army.
In fact, according to Chen Qiyu's own opinion, he felt that he should lead his army out of Tongguan first, eliminate Li Zicheng's troops in Henan, and then go south from Henan to capture Xiangyang and kill Zhang Xianzhong!
After all, Li Zicheng has already approached Luoyang. If he goes south to attack Zhang Xianzhong first, it is very likely that Li Zicheng will take the opportunity to attack Luoyang, or even fight back to Shaanxi!
However, Chongzhen Tongwen Tiren ordered him to kill Zhang Xianzhong who had proclaimed himself emperor first.
In desperation, Chen Qiyu had to leave 10,000 horses in Tongguan to prevent Li Zicheng from returning to Tongguan and interrupting his retreat.
In fact, the imperial court had prepared quite a few hundred thousand troops for this expedition against Zhang Xianzhong, including elites from the Yulin Camp and Jiubian.
However, since it is divided into east and west routes, it is still difficult to coordinate operations.
Chen Qiyu could only give Cao Wenzhao of the Eastern Route Army a rough advance strategy.
Since the road to the east was relatively easier, he decided to let Cao Wenzhao attack first and attract Zhang Xianzhong's main force to the east; then he led his army out of Wuguan unexpectedly and went straight into Huguang to catch the enemy off guard.
On the tenth day of February, Cao Wenzhao's East Route Army took the lead in attacking and sent troops from Wuchang to attack Zhang Xianzhong's De'an Mansion.
To be honest, this move by the officers and soldiers was somewhat beyond his expectation.
Zhang Xianzhong always felt that with Li Zicheng blocking his north, the imperial court should at least capture Runing or Nanyang before threatening him.
Unexpectedly, they actually sent troops directly from Wuchang.
But at this moment, he is the Great Western Emperor Zhang Xianzhong who has an army of 250,000 people. How can he still be afraid of the imperial court?
What's more, De'an has his own adopted son Zhang Kewang, the Marquis of Zhendong, who led an army of 80,000 to garrison.
Originally, Zhang Xianzhong was planning to send out a large number of troops after spring to open up territory in the west, but he did not expect the imperial court to call so soon.
So he sent an order to Zhang Kewang to keep the enemy out of the country.
However, the Daxi Emperor obviously had a high opinion of his improvised Daxi Army.
After all, the Yulin Camp is an elite division created by the Ming Dynasty with all its efforts. Although there are only 10,000 people, it is definitely capable of defeating rogue bandits.
Cao Wenzhao's nephew Cao Bianjiao personally served as the vanguard and defeated Xiaogan, Yunmeng, and Yingcheng counties in five days, killing the Daxi Army to the point where they lost all their armor.
Zhang Kewang had no choice but to retreat to Anlu, the capital of De'an, and ask for help from his father Zhang Xianzhong!
This was the first battle after the founding of Daxi, so Zhang Xianzhong naturally could not be defeated.
Although Zhang Dingguo and others advised him not to move lightly, he finally decided to conquer it himself!
On February 20th, Zhang Xianzhong personally led 60,000 main troops into Suizhou.
When Cao Wenzhao saw that Zhang Xianzhong had been fooled, he withdrew his troops and retreated to Xiaogan.
When the Daxi Army saw the defeat of the officers and soldiers, their morale instantly became high.
After Zhang Xianzhong and Zhang Xiang joined forces, they pursued all the way south. Not only did they regain the previously lost Xiaogan and other three counties, but they also captured Hanchuan, the gateway to Wuchang.
On the first day of March, we even reached the edge of the Yangtze River and looked at Wuchang City in the distance.
The time agreed upon by Cao Wenzhao and Chen Qiyu was the first day of March.
On this day, Chen Qiyu sent his two generals, Mengruhuhu and Hudawei, from Hanzhong into Yunyang Mansion in Huguang in two groups.
Three days later, the two joined forces and captured Yun County, the capital of Yunyang.
Then Chen Qiyu ordered the army to go south along the Han River, capturing Junzhou and Gucheng along the way, and approaching Xiangyang City.
When Zhang Xianzhong got the news, it was already March 13th. He quickly retreated after getting the news.
This is what Cao Wenzhao was waiting for.
He personally led five thousand cavalry all the way to cover up the killing. The three thousand cavalry from Zhang Xianzhong's old camp could not withstand the cavalry from Yulin camp.
Then Cao Wenzhao killed the 100,000 troops all the way.
When we retreated to Anlu, there were more than 30,000 people left.
At this time, Zhang Xihu said: "Father, Xiangyang was besieged ten days ago. Even if we can rush back at this time, we may not be able to break the siege of Xiangyang."
Looking at Zhang Kewang's anxious look, Zhang Xianzhong was thoughtful.
After all, he is a generational hero, and there is nothing he cannot let go of.
Soon after, he said: "Hopefully, my father needs someone to attract officers and soldiers for him now!"
Zhang Kewang clasped his hands in his fists and said: "Father, don't worry, I will definitely guard Anlu and prevent the army from catching up with my father!"
Zhang Xianzhong shook his head and said: "Cao Wenzhao is not an ordinary general. He will never waste time under Anlu City."
This was not the first time Zhang Xianzhong had dealt with Cao Wenzhao. He knew that Cao Wenzhao had always pursued the rebels.
So he asked Zhang Kewang to lead thousands of troops to suggest returning aid to Xiangyang, while he took the opportunity to head west and enter Chengtian Mansion.
He could no longer stay in Huguang. "Cao Cao" Luo Rucai had told him before that the Ming army did not have many troops in Sichuan and it was a suitable place for him to base his base.
Xiangyang was already besieged by Chen Qiyu's army. If Zhang Kewang lured Cao Wenzhao's army there, he would definitely be dead.
However, he did not hesitate. He was about to starve to death. It was his adoptive father Zhang Xianzhong who saved his life and adopted him as his adopted son. Now it is time for him to repay his father.
He said: "Father, don't worry, I will definitely fight back to Xiangyang to rescue my second brother and the others."
Zhang Kewang left two thousand people behind and spread flags widely on Anlu City, asking the people to guard the city to confuse Cao Wenzhao!
He led three thousand troops to Suizhou.
After joining the 5,000 defenders in Suizhou.
He did not march to Xiangyang as Zhang Xianzhong said.
In fact, going to Xiangyang will not delay the officers and soldiers for long, but it will be a dead end for him.
He chose to go north and enter Henan directly from Tongbai Mountain.
After Cao Wenzhao heard that the bandits did not go to Xiangyang but went north to Henan, he had a premonition that the situation was not good.
Zhang Xianzhong was really too cunning. At this time, he actually wanted to divert trouble to the north and let himself go north to attack Li Zicheng.
The location of Tongbai Mountain was very dangerous, and it was impossible for Li Zicheng not to send heavy troops to guard it. He only had a few thousand cavalry at this time, and even if he went there, he would not be able to catch up with Zhang Xianzhong.
Forget it, just to be on the safe side, let's occupy Anlu, Suizhou and other places to regain De'an Prefecture, and then attack Xiangyang together with Chen Qiyu.
It would be a great achievement to regain the three mansions of Xiangyang. Even though the Daxi Emperor Zhang Xianzhong escaped, the Daxi Kingdom could still be regarded as destroyed.
After Zhang Kewang entered Henan, he found that Cao Wenzhao was not pursuing him, so he knew that the officers and soldiers had not been fooled.
He understood that the 8,000 men and horses in his hands alone could not break the siege of Xiangyang at this time.
Unless Chuang Wang Li Zicheng is willing to lead his army south to help.
Only by Li Zicheng's 300,000 troops moving south could it be possible to break the siege of Xiangyang.
Just when he was about to persuade Li Zicheng, he heard that the Chuang army had conquered Shaanzhou, Yanshi, Dengfeng and other places.
Zhang Kewang suddenly felt that something was wrong. Now that all the important towns around Luoyang had been lost, it was impossible for Li Zicheng to leave Luoyang alone and go south to rescue Xiangyang.
But at this time, he had no other choice but to try his luck.
Zhang Kewang expected it to be true. When he saw Li Zicheng, he was leading an army of 200,000 to besiege Luoyang.
Zhang Kewang knelt under Li Zicheng's tent and said: "Chen Qiyu, the prime minister of the five provinces, and the Ming army of 100,000 people under Cao Wenzhao are besieging Xiangyang. Please ask King Chuang to send troops to relieve the siege of Xiangyang for the sake of the rebels being united." !”
Li Zicheng personally lifted up Zhang Kewang who was kneeling on the ground. He said: "How can I not know the truth of the coldness of lips and teeth? Now our army has surrounded Luoyang like an iron barrel. As long as Luoyang is conquered, I will immediately send troops south!"
Zhang Kewang also knew that it would be difficult to ask Li Zicheng to abandon Luoyang and go south to Xiangyang at this time. He said, "I wonder how many days it will take King Chuang to break Luoyang City?"
Li Zicheng and Li Yan looked at each other, and he quickly said with understanding: "I wonder how many troops there are in Xiangyang City now, and how much food and grass are there?"
Zhang Kewang said: "When my father went south, he took away most of the main force of the old camp, but there are still 60,000 soldiers and horses in Xiangyang City; as for food, I have 400,000 shi of military rations in Daxi in Xiangyang."
Good guy, it seems that King Xiang is fat enough. Zhang Xianzhong has been emperor for several months. His 250,000 troops have eaten for so long, but he still has 400,000 shi of food.
Li Yan said: "There are less than 20,000 officers and soldiers in Luoyang City. Our 200,000-strong army will definitely be able to break through Luoyang within one month."
When he heard that it had been a month, Zhang Kewang's heart suddenly went cold. He said: "There are a hundred thousand officers and soldiers under Xiangyang City. I'm afraid Xiangyang will be lost long ago."
Li Yan said with a smile: "The Great Western Emperor Zhang Xianzhong won the hearts of the people by dividing the territory in Xiangyang and imposing tax exemptions. Xiangfan has been a fortified city since ancient times. It has a large number of troops and sufficient food and grass. It will not be a problem to defend it for three to five months. Major General, don't worry too much!"
"The Ming Dynasty is unpopular. Luoyang may not be able to hold it for long. One month is just our conservative estimate. We may take it in a few days and we don't know!"
After all, Zhang Kewang was young at this time, and he was eager to save his father, so he said: "The eight thousand soldiers and horses under the general's command are willing to advance to Luoyang first and help King Chuang conquer Luoyang!"
Li Zicheng and Li Yan looked at each other and smiled. What he was waiting for was Zhang Kewang's words.
So he said: "Send an order to feed the brothers in the Western Army. They must have wine and meat!"
After Zhang Kewang left, Li Zicheng sighed: "I didn't expect that Zhang Xianzhong's 250,000-strong army was defeated by the government troops and only one Xiangyang city was left in just one month. If we go south to fight with the government troops, what are our chances of winning?"
Li Yan shook his head and said: "Except for our army having more firearms than Zhang Xianzhong, the combat power of both sides is basically the same. There is no chance of winning in a head-on battle with 100,000 troops going south!"
Li Zicheng was obviously a little panicked. He said, "Mr. Li just promised Zhang Kewang to lift the siege of Xiangyang. I am not the kind of person who breaks his promise!"
Li Yan smiled and said: "To save Xiangyang, we don't have to go south to fight with the army. King Chuang might as well think about it. If we capture Luoyang and kill King Fu, will Emperor Chongzhen still be able to sit still?"
"I don't believe they won't withdraw their troops from Xiangyang."
Li Zicheng said: "In the end, it is Mr. Li's clever plan. In this case, we will have a decisive battle with the army in Henan."
Li Yan shook his head and said: "Henan is undefeable, and it is not our foundation. Military advisor Zhong and General Liu's men have already laid an ambush outside Tongguan, and are waiting for the army to leave Tongguan to rescue Luoyang!"
Li Yan knew very well that their goal was only King Fu's money and food in Luoyang City. Luoyang was not a suitable place to hold on for the time being. The foundation in his mind was Guanzhong.
But he didn't know why Zhong Guangdao was so sure that the Ming army in Tongguan would come out to support Luoyang.
Zhong Guangdao's confidence certainly comes from the Intelligence Department.
Chongzhen took action quickly this time, and Li Xianzhong naturally could not sit idly by. He ordered Mao Wenlong to send troops to Qingzhou and occupy Anqiu County.
The main force to contain Yuan Chonghuan.
On the other hand, it was arranged for Chongzhen to order the rescue of King Fu.
Because Prince Fu’s biological mother, Empress Dowager Zheng, is still in the palace.
Soon the eunuch of the Intelligence Department told the Empress Dowager Zheng the news, and the Empress Dowager Zheng was eager to save her son.
But she knew that she was not favored by Chongzhen, so she had no choice but to seek help from the Queen Mother Zhang Yan.
After all, King Fu was also Chongzhen's uncle, and he had to save him both emotionally and rationally. Soon Zhang Yan interceded with Chongzhen.
Chongzhen still respected Zhang Yan, the emperor's wife. After all, Luoyang and Prince Fu were related to the Ming Dynasty's reputation. He had never experienced the past events between Concubine Zheng and Emperor Taichang.
But at this time, Chen Qiyu's main force was besieging Xiangyang, and he could not fail.
At this time, the pirates entered Qingzhou, and Yuan Chonghuan's troops were dragged back to Shandong.
The troops in Kaifeng and other places were blocked by bandits in the Xingyang area.
After thinking about it, only the people from Shaanxi came closest to Tongguan.
Chen Qiyu should still leave 10,000 elite troops in Tongguan. With the addition of soldiers and horses from various places in Guanzhong, there should be no problem in making up 30,000 troops.
So Chongzhen ordered Qiao Yingjia, the governor of Shaanxi, to go out of Tongguan to reinforce Luoyang.
On the fourth day of April in the fourth year of Wanli, Qiao Yingjia led an army of 30,000 people out of Tongguan eastward. The army encountered an ambush of nearly 100,000 intruders near Lingbao.
Suddenly, arrows rained down, and the sound of firecrackers was everywhere.
The commander-in-chief Wang Zhenyu was killed by Liu Zongmin, the general of the insurgent army. Qiao Yingjia abandoned his soldiers and retreated in a hurry.
Li Guo, Liu Zongmin and others led an army that quickly surrounded and annihilated the main force of 30,000 Ming troops.
At this time, there were almost no available soldiers in the entire Guanzhong area. One day later, the rebel army captured Tongguan.
Liu Zongmin, the general of the Breaking Army, even defeated Huayin, Huazhou, Weinan, Lintong and other places.
On the ninth day of April in the fourth year of Chongzhen, the people shouted: "Kill the cattle and sheep, prepare wine and slurry, and open the city gate to welcome King Chuang. King Chuang will not pay for his food when he comes!"
Welcoming Li Zicheng's army into Xi'an!
Thank you to all book friends for your support with monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and follow-up subscriptions!
Thanks to book friends "Possibility of Encounter", "2022051062954320", "Wenzi_AB", for their monthly support
(End of chapter)
