"Your Majesty, according to the news sent back by us pretending to be Wang Yuncheng's messenger, Zuo Liangyu has now divided his troops into three groups."
"The first group of troops, with about 80,000 troops, was commanded by his son Zuo Menggeng and fought against Yuan Zongdiyou in the Mianchi area."
"The second army is about 20,000 troops, led by Prime Minister Hui Deng. They are now lurking in a valley a hundred miles away from Taiyuan."
"The third army has about 50,000 troops. It is commanded by Zuo Liangyu himself, with Jin Shenghuan and Li Cheng as deputy generals. It has already arrived near Xibaipo..."
In Gong Yonggu's tent, Zhang Dabiao was reporting the latest information to Zhu Yuanzhang.
After Zhu Yuanzhang listened to his report, he said with some confusion: "It's not that Zuo Menggeng has no talent, why did Zuo Liangyu let him command the army? Is there any problem in this?"
Zhang Dabiao said with some embarrassment: "The general also finds this matter strange, so he has asked someone to investigate. I believe there will be news soon."
Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Zhang Dabiao was not a detective, and he tried his best to find out so much information. He nodded and asked, "Is there any new information from Wuchang?"
Zhang Dabiao shook his head and said: "Since Jiangnan Jinyiwei has been decommissioned for a long time, there is currently no useful news."
"I only know that Bai Wang returned to Wuchang on the way and confronted Du Yinxi and others. As for the specific situation, it is still unclear."
"However, Wu Tongzhi has been stepping up rectification, and there should be news in the near future."
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said: "Okay, you tell Wu Mengming to hurry up and rectify it. Don't be afraid of spending money. We must have the Jin Yiwei cover the entire Jiangnan in the shortest possible time."
After Zhang Dabiao bowed in agreement, he was about to leave when he heard Zhu Yuanzhang's voice again: "Also, let's confirm again about Du Yinxi."
"We must find out whether he has any dealings with Zuo Liangyu, and Shen Yunying..."
It turned out that according to the news from Wu Mengming, Zuo Liangyu wrote a letter to Jiangxi Governor Yuan Jixian asking for help before heading north.
In the letter, Zuo Liangyu said that he would mobilize all his troops to go north to King Qin, and asked Yuan Jixian to send people to assist his daughter Zuo Xianmei in guarding Wuchang after he left Wuchang, and named Du Yinxi and Shen Yunying to go to Wuchang for support.
After receiving Zuo Liangyu's letter, Yuan Jixian felt that although Zuo Liangyu was asking for help, he was actually giving orders, and he felt a little dissatisfied.
However, since Chongzhen once ordered him to governor the military affairs of Jiangxi, Huguang, Anqing, Nanjing and other places, Wuchang was also within his scope of responsibility. In addition, it was also Wuchang that he went to Wuhu to persuade Zuo Liangyu to conquer.
So even though he was dissatisfied, he still agreed to the matter, but he did not express his position on blocking Yinxi.
Unexpectedly, Yuan Jixian received a second letter from Zuo Liangyu not long after, saying that he had prepared everything and could march north only when Du Yinxi, Shen Yunying and others arrived.
Yuan Jixian became even more dissatisfied when he saw Zuo Liangyu forcing himself on King Qin.
It was just that Zuo Liangyu went north to King Qin for justice. He was worried that if he refused Zuo Liangyu and allowed the other party to take the opportunity not to go north, he might become a sinner of the court.
Therefore, although Yuan Jixian valued Du Yinxi and did not want him to take risks, he finally agreed to Zuo Liangyu's request and assigned a cavalry of 5,000 men to Du Yinxi.
After Du Yinxi learned about the situation in Wuchang, he asked Yuan Jixian for Yan Yingyuan.
Yuan Jixian felt guilty and saw that Du Yinxi only wanted a small official, so he agreed to him without hesitation.
Unexpectedly, such a humble official would shine in Wuchang, which surprised Yuan Jixian.
Zhu Yuanzhang was also quite shocked when he learned the news. He asked Wu Mengming to investigate the situation of Du Yinxi and the other three people, but no news has been received so far.
At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang remembered this matter when he heard the news about Zuo Liangyu, and emphasized it to Zhang Dabiao again.
Zhang Dabiao bowed in agreement and hurried out of the hall.
Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while, then looked at Kun Yutu on the case. He thought that Zuo Liangyu was still about 500 miles away from Yu County and was not a threat, so he relaxed a little.
At this time, Gong Yonggu came in to report that Gao Wencai had taken advantage of the people's hatred of the Jurchens and successfully triggered a conflict between Niu Jinxing and Li Yan.
Just letting Niu and Li fight each other failed, because although Gao Wencai ignited Li Mou's anger through Li Yan's generals, he was finally stopped by Liu Fangliang, which also led to the failure of Wu Sangui and others' sneak attack.
However, Wu Sangui and others also completed their mission and successfully sacrificed two thousand Guanning cavalry.
Gong Yonggu has also sent a truce and peace treaty to Li Zicheng, and he believes that Li Zicheng will launch an offensive against Yu County soon.
After Zhu Yuanzhang listened to his story, he nodded and said, "Okay, is there anything unusual about Wu Sangui and Wang Yuncheng this time?"
Gong Yonggu shook his head and said: "Wu Sangui performed very bravely in this battle, and Wang Yuncheng was also very honest. Even when Wu Sangui asked his soldiers to pretend to be Guan Ning's cavalry, he did not raise any objections."
"If Your Majesty hadn't discovered that he had evil intentions, I might have mistaken him for a loyal minister!"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Okay, remember: he must be captured alive and brought back to the capital!"
After Gong Yonggu agreed, he said worriedly: "Your Majesty, are you going back to Beijing?"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "The overall situation on your side has been decided. We believe that with the abilities of you and An Guogong, we can conquer Shanxi, so we don't need to stay here anymore."
"In addition, there has been no news from Li Guozhen and Jin Xuan in Liaodong, and the capital is in panic because of the Nanliang incident. It's time for us to go back and deal with it!"
When Gong Yonggu heard him mention the matter of southern grain, he said with a worried look on his face: "Your Majesty, I will defeat the rebels as soon as possible, and then send troops south to cut off the pirates for you and ensure the smooth flow of southern grain!"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Ping Xihou, you don't have to worry about Nanliang. We have already..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw Zhang Dabiao hurried in again. He couldn't help but frown and asked, "Dabiao, what news is there?"
Zhang Dabiao nodded and said: "Your Majesty, the general has just received news that Jingnan Bohuang Degong was not only defeated by Ma Chongxi yesterday, but also captured more than 20,000 people by the opponent. He has now fled to the Hengshui area."
Hearing this, Gong Yonggu was stunned and said with some surprise: "Didn't I say that Uncle Jingnan and Ma Chongxi were equally matched yesterday? How come there is such a big defeat today?"
Zhang Dabiao shook his head and said: "This matter was reported by Wu Tongzhi, saying that it was a strategic transfer proposed by the Xing family. The specific situation is not clear."
Gong Yonggu looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said: "Your Majesty, I think there is something wrong with this matter. Although Uncle Jingnan's move can keep Ma Chongxi and others away from Yu County."
"But if Guo Sheng of Shandong attacks from behind, I'm afraid Jingnanbo's army will..."
As he spoke, he suddenly stopped and said with some surprise: "Could it be that Mrs. Xing wants to repeat the same trick?"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "It is possible, otherwise no matter how incompetent Huang Degong is, he would not have allowed the other party to capture more than 20,000 people."
"It should be that the Xing family has tasted the sweetness of surrender, so she faked defeat and asked Ma Chongxi to stay away from Li Zicheng. As long as her people succeed in instigating rebellion, they can turn defeat into victory."
Gong Yonggu said with some confusion: "Even if the Xing clan wants to recruit surrender, they shouldn't go to Hengshui. After all, Guo Sheng in Shandong has tens of thousands of people."
"If Guo Sheng goes west, those rebels who want to surrender may also have doubts, which will actually affect their recruitment!"
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "No, Hengshui should be the safest place now, because we have secretly ordered Shi Kefa to attack Shandong by sea."
"The rebels are not strong in Shandong. If everything goes well, Shi Kefa may have captured most of Shandong by now."
"It's just that this matter is extremely secretive. How did Mrs. Xing know about it... It seems that we underestimated her before."
When Gong Yonggu heard this, he understood why Zhu Yuanzhang was not worried about Nanliang being robbed. It turned out that he had already considered this, and he couldn't help but admire him even more.
Then Gong Yonggu saw that Zhu Yuanzhang was still frowning, and he couldn't help but feel a little confused.
