"You are in vain for the emperor's kindness, you are lawless, you respect your own troops, and you are too timid to fight. You can be killed!"
After reading Liu Wenbing's letter, Zhu Yuanzhang searched for information about Zuo Liangyu in Chongzhen's memory. The first thing that popped up was this resentful accusation.
Immediately afterwards, Zuo Liangyu's various illegal behaviors appeared, including stationing troops in Xuzhou for the eighth year of Chongzhen's reign and watching the Fengyang Imperial Tomb be destroyed.
In the ninth year of Chongzhen's reign, there were those who fled back in fear of the battle at Songxian, but falsely conveyed good news.
There was a case where Chongzhen disobeyed orders for ten years, stayed in Shucheng, sent troops to plunder women, and caused the fall of Xichuan.
There is Chongzhen...
Chongzhen's memory is filled with scenes of Zuo Liangyu being self-respecting and afraid of fighting.
Especially during the Sichuan-Shaanxi War in the 13th year of Chongzhen, Zuo Liangyu regarded Yang Sichang's Jiuxi as nothing and refused to send troops to quell the rebellion.
As a result, Zhang Xianzhong calmly left Sichuan, captured Xiangyang, and killed the king of Xiang Zhu Yiming, which began the prelude to the defeat of the Ming Dynasty.
It was precisely because of this that Chongzhen hated Zuo Liangyu and thought he should be killed. However, because the rebels were so powerful and there was no one available, he had to compromise and entrust him with important tasks.
As a result, Zuo Liangyu now has more than 200,000 troops and dominates Wuchang and other places.
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but shook his head slightly when he saw this information in his mind.
He shook his head not because Zuo Liangyu's crime was so heinous, but because he thought Chongzhen was too extreme.
Because if Zuo Liangyu is really a timid person who is afraid of death and has no vision, there is no way he can stand out among the many generals and become the overlord of one party.
Maybe Zuo Liangyu is very bad, but as an emperor, you must not deny his strengths just because he is bad.
Especially for a king who holds the power of life and death, if he cannot analyze rationally and acts solely on emotion, it will only make things worse.
Sure enough, when Zhu Yuanzhang cleared up all these negative information, Chongzhen's memory reappeared that when Zuo Liangyu joined the army in Liaodong, he fought continuously at the foot of Songshan and Xingshan and achieved first success.
In the fifth year of Chongzhen, the peasant army entered Henan from Wangwushan with the intention of capturing Huaiqing. Zuo Liangyu was ordered to lead the army alone for the first time, but he won a complete victory. The peasant army was frightened and fled.
In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Zuo Liangyu saw through Zhang Xianzhong, who was pretending to be an officer and preparing to attack Nanyang. He killed the opponent and threw away his helmet and armor. Zuo Liangyu even shot Zhang Xianzhong in the shoulder with an arrow. If Zhang Xianzhong's subordinates had not saved them desperately, history might have been rewritten. .
...
After Zhu Yuanzhang checked the memories in Chongzhen's mind, his brows could not help but frown deeper.
Because judging from this information, Zuo Liangyu is not only not mediocre, but also quite strategic.
The current war situation is chaotic. If Zuo Liangyu really has different intentions, the danger level may not be lower than that of Li Zicheng.
But judging from the previous situation, Zuo Liangyu was disobeying orders for his own benefit at most, but why did he want to subdue Wu Sangui and annihilate Gong Yonggu and others now?
Are you inspired by Li Zicheng and others and want to be independent?
Or is the mysterious force in the south manipulating it from behind?
Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it and ruled out the possibility that Zuo Liangyu wanted to be independent.
Because Li Zicheng was openly rebelling, but Zuo Liangyu had always been loyal to the emperor and patriotic.
If he dares to openly rebel, not only the landowners who support him will object, but his soldiers may not obey either.
This can be seen from King Qin this time, because if Zuo Liangyu wants to rebel, he will not pay attention to King Qin at all.
But although Zuo Liangyu hesitated to move, he finally sent Ma Jinzhong and Wang Yuncheng to lead the army.
Although Wang Yuncheng came for another purpose, he still came to the king on behalf of Zuo Liangyu. This shows that Zuo Liangyu did not dare to risk the disapproval of the world.
The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang believed that Zuo Liangyu was instructed by the mysterious forces in the south, rather than that he himself was the mysterious force, was also very simple.
Because Zuo Liangyu was an orphan, he rose to prominence with military exploits after being appreciated by Hou Xun in Liaodong.
In the late Ming Dynasty, the tendency of emphasizing literature over martial arts was very serious. With Zuo Liangyu's identity and background, it was impossible for him to be recognized by the high-ranking civil servants and distinguished officials in the capital and the south.
Although Zuo Liangyu's nobleman Hou Xun was quite prestigious in the Donglin Party, it was not enough to make Wei Zaode, Guang Shiheng and others bow to him.
Furthermore, Zuo Liangyu has been fighting for more than ten years, and most of his soldiers are rebels who have surrendered, and their combat effectiveness is not strong.
Now an elite force that can fight Yuan Zongdi and Bai Wang's army suddenly appears, and it will never be cultivated in a short period of time.
So there is only one possibility, that is, the master of this elite group is someone else.
Moreover, this person's identity is very noble, so noble that as long as Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Cixun die, he can replace them.
"It seems that Hou Xun can be used again!"
After Zhu Yuanzhang determined that Zuo Liangyu had been instigated by someone else, he took up Hou Xun's idea again.
Because in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, in order to mobilize Zuo Liangyu, Chongzhen asked Hou Xun to replace Ding Qirui, governor of Baoding and other seven towns, as the minister of war, hoping to break the siege of the seal.
Although there was no success in the end, Zuo Liangyu not only came under the order, but also fought with all his might, which shows Hou Xun's influence on him.
Just when Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking about how to use Hou Xun, Zhang Dabiao came in and reported that Gong Yonggu and Huang Nilu were outside seeking an audience.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard that Huang Nilu was coming, he was also shocked and hurriedly asked Zhang Dabiao to bring them in.
"Huang Qing, why are you here?"
Although Zhu Yuanzhang saw that Gong Yonggu looked worried, he still asked Huang Nilu first.
Upon hearing this, Huang Nilu bowed and said: "Your Majesty, due to the rumors circulating in the capital, the Crown Prince and Lord Shen discussed it and asked me to bring twenty red cannons, first to show that the capital is safe, and secondly to Help the Western Marquis suppress the rebellion!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and asked, "How is the situation in Beijing now?"
Huang Nilu said: "People in the capital were originally panic-stricken, but after the prince increased the supply of grain in the capital, and Lord Zuo Maodi explained the matter of southern grain from the perspective of water transportation, sea transportation, etc., it has gradually calmed down."
"It's just that Duke Dingguo and others are still publicizing the matter, and the rebel spies took the opportunity to spread rumors, so the situation is not yet completely under control."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard that Zuo Maodi was willing to stand up and share Zhu Cixi's worries, he couldn't help but feel a little changed about him.
Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a while and said: "Okay, Huang Qing, since you are here, you will be responsible for the firearms in the army. We must defeat the rebels and make you famous!"
When Huang Nilu heard this, he didn't even dare to say so, and his expression became more respectful.
Zhu Yuanzhang took the opportunity to ask about news about Li Guozhen and others. Seeing that Huang Nilu didn't know about it, he let him leave.
Then he looked at Gong Yonggu and said, "Ping Xihou, what happened again?"
Gong Yonggu was a little anxious before, but just now he saw Zhu Yuanzhang was calm and calm when handling affairs in the capital, and he had adjusted his emotions.
When asked, he bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I have just received news that after Ma Chongxi's defeat, he joined forces with Liu Zhong who was guarding Changzhi, Liu Rukui who was guarding Zhangde Mansion and others to attack Jingnan Bo."
"It is said that the fighting was very fierce. I am worried that Uncle Jingnan and others will not be able to arrive on time, and the plan to besiege the rebels may have to be adjusted, so I came here to ask for your Majesty's instructions."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Uncle Ping Xi, you are worrying too much. Li Ruolian and Huang Degong have a total of 70,000 or 80,000 troops. Although Liu Zhong and Liu Rukui are guarding one side, their troops are only about 10,000 at most."
"Even if Ma Chongxi's remnant troops are included, the total strength is only 30,000 or 40,000. How can they fight a fierce battle with Huang Degong's army?"
Gong Yonggu was stunned and said: "Your Majesty, Ma Chongxi's men originally had sixty or seventy thousand men. Even if there are some losses, there should still be forty or fifty thousand men. If Liu Zhong and others' troops are added, the number will not be as large as that of Liu Zhong and others." Uncle Jingnan is so young!"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and shook his head and said: "Ping Xihou, Huang Degong originally only had 40,000 to 50,000 people. Do you know why he and the Xing family suddenly had 70,000 to 80,000 people?"
Hearing this, Gong Yonggu was a little surprised and said: "Your Majesty, do you mean that Uncle Jingnan has surrendered the rebels?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "It's not Uncle Jingnan, but Mrs. Xing. It seems that this woman is not simple!"
"But this is fine. Letting Ma Chongxi and others contain her will be more conducive to Li Ruolian's journey north. Then..."
After listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's analysis, Gong Yonggu felt relieved.
At this time, he heard Zhu Yuanzhang's voice again: "Ping Xihou, do you have any news about Wuchang?"
Gong Yonggu nodded and said: "I have just received news that Wuchang has not been lost. However, because it is hearsay, it has not been verified, so I have not reported it to His Majesty."
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but frowned when he heard this.
In fact, it was not only Zhu Yuanzhang who was frowning at this moment, Li Zicheng in Li Guo's camp was also frowning. His calloused hands kept making gestures on the Kun and Diagram, deducing Zuo Liangyu's marching route.
