When Zhu Yuanzhang heard the report, he frowned and said, "Zhang Qing, how many remaining soldiers does Guo Sheng have in Shandong?"
Zhang Huangyan bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Guo Sheng originally had 50,000 people. In Weifang, he was beheaded by the last general and Ren Yibo to kill almost 5,000 people. Later, he lost more than 3,000 people in Linyi."
"Excluding the 4,000 cavalry who followed him south and the remnants of the troops we wiped out these days, the total number of rebels south of Linyi should be around 15,000."
"As for the rebels north of Linyi, I suspect that many have gone south, and it is impossible to estimate them at the moment."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he recalled Lu Zhenfei's remarks that the number of rebels in Shandong was no more than 10,000, and he couldn't help but glance at Zhang Huangyan.
Seeing that Zhang Huangyan's expression was as usual, he pondered for a while and then said, "Since you knew what was going on, why didn't you report it in time?"
Zhang Huangyan bowed and said: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Mr. Lu is an important minister of the imperial court, and the estimation method varies from person to person. In addition, Guo Sheng's army was in great power at that time, so the general was worried about affecting the morale of the army, so he did not say anything clearly..."
Zhu Yuanzhang's words were originally meant to be probing, but now he saw that Zhang Huangyan had considered the issue quite comprehensively, and he admired him even more.
After Zhang Huangyan finished speaking, he said in a deep voice: "Tell me, how should we deal with it now?"
Zhang Huangyan pondered for a while and reported: "Your Majesty, the general feels that whether there are 10,000 or 20,000 rebels in Shandong, they are just a lone army. Logically speaking, they should not be so high-profile."
"The general originally thought that their move was to support Guo Sheng, but now that Guo Sheng has divided his troops, the threat to Jiangnan is limited."
"But they are still sticking to Weifang. They probably want to use the incident in Weifang to hide other purposes..."
As he spoke, he glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang again. Seeing the calm look on his face, he continued: "The suspected soldiers sent by the last general were attacked again an hour ago, and it was the same soldiers and horses."
"Based on the previous situation, there should be two mysterious soldiers and horses, and they attack alternately, so the general suspects that the people behind the scenes in the south have already had differences."
"Judging from Guo Sheng's current whereabouts, he seems to have become a suspect, and the remnant soldiers in Shandong may be the main force."
"So I will make a bold guess that the remnant soldiers' attack on Weifang is fake. The real purpose may be in Nanliang, or even...in the capital."
After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he nodded slightly in his heart and then tried again: "As you said, the rebels south of Linyi only have 15,000 people. Now they have to defend Weifang and divide their troops to harass. The remaining troops should not many."
"In addition, Weifang is thousands of miles away from the capital, and our people are guarding us all the way. How can they get to the capital?"
"As for Nanliang, it is even more impossible, because Nanliang has been diverted to water routes and Weifang has lost its role. In addition, Henan has been recovered, and we can definitely transport grain through Henan."
Zhang Huangyan frowned and said: "The general is also quite puzzled by this. It is only because the rebels attacked the grain ship very fiercely in the past but stopped in the past two days that I came to this suspicion."
Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Zhang Huangyan was not lacking in intelligence, but that his information and experience limited his thinking.
He pondered for a while and said loudly: "Zhang Huangyan comes forward to listen to the order!"
Zhang Huangyan was stunned when he heard this, then he knelt down respectfully and said: "The last general will take the order!"
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhang Huangyan again and said in a deep voice: "Zhang Huangyan, we will grant you the title of Ping Nanbo and General Zhaowu!"
"Immediately order 10,000 troops and go north to Weifang to put down the rebellion!"
Zhang Huangyan was shocked when he saw that Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly made him an earl and awarded him the title of General Zhaowu beyond his rank. He hesitated and said: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that I will..."
"Zhang Qing, there is no need for you to refuse. With your merits, it is not an exaggeration to be granted the title of earl. Besides, we have an important matter entrusted to you!"
Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted Zhang Huangyan loudly before he could finish what he said.
Zhang Huangyan was shocked again when he heard that an important matter had been entrusted to him.
However, he knew that he could no longer shirk at this moment, let alone hesitate, and immediately responded loudly: "This body was given by Your Majesty, but according to His Majesty's instructions, even if I go up the mountain of swords or go down the pan of oil, I will complete your Majesty's mission." Order."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and helped Zhang Huangyan up and said, "Okay, he is indeed our good minister."
After he finished speaking, he hesitated for a while and said, "Do you know Zuo Xianmei?"
Zhang Huangyan bowed and said: "The last general has heard someone mention that she is the daughter of Uncle Ning Nan."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Yes, but now she is not only Zuo Liangyu's daughter, but also the head of Wuchang County..."
After Zhu Yuanzhang told the story of Liaocheng in detail, he looked at Zhang Huang and said, "This woman is very cunning. We suspect that she was the secret instigator of what happened to Li Chengdong."
"Actually, our request for you to go to Weifang this time is just a pretense. The real purpose is to hope that you can capture this woman."
Zhang Huangyan saw that although Zhu Yuanzhang said that he had captured Zuo Xianmei, his expression was obviously different when he said this.
Then he remembered that Zhu Yuanzhang had said that Zuo Xianmei could be allowed into the palace, and he said with some hesitation: "Your Majesty, the Lord of Wuchang County has a noble status. If she refuses to come, the general will..."
"That's why we named you Uncle Pingnan!"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and interrupted Zhang Huangyan's words. He pondered for a while before continuing: "Don't worry, as long as you capture her, we will decree a marriage and you will become husband and wife..."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Huangyan's expression suddenly changed, and he hurriedly knelt down and declined.
Zhu Yuanzhang also guessed Zhang Huangyan's thoughts, helped him up again, and said in a deep voice: "Uncle Ping Nan, don't be too worried. This woman is very talented. I think only you can control her."
"In addition, you have to help us get Wuchang back, do you understand?"
Only then did Zhang Huangyan understand Zhu Yuanzhang's intention, so he had no choice but to bow down and agree, while thinking about a way to have both ends.
Zhu Yuanzhang gave Zhang Huangyan another warning and asked him to order troops and set off overnight.
Then Zhu Yuanzhang took out Kun Yutu and continued to deduce the current battle situation.
After some analysis, he felt more and more that what happened in Xi'an was a ruse.
Because the dispute between Gao Yigong and Li Guo for the heirloom is false, then Li Zicheng still has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in Shaanxi, and it is estimated that there are about 100,000 capable warriors.
Calculated in this way, even if Jierhalang had Niu Jinxing secretly helping him, more than 10,000 Jurchen soldiers and horses would not be enough to force Li Zicheng to leave Xi'an.
Although Zuo Liangyu and Gao Jie had many troops, they were not very powerful and could not pose much of a threat to Li Zicheng.
Furthermore, Zhu Yuanzhang suspected that he was coming to Yi, and the rebels should have known about it. Therefore, Guo Sheng only divided his troops after the attack on the city failed, and he probably wanted to use the incident in the south to hold him back.
In addition, not long ago, Li Ruolian sent someone to deliver news that the rebel generals Li Yutian and Ma Ke had a conflict with Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan.
Although the two sides did not fight a war, they were still at war with each other.
This also shows from the side that Li Zicheng is confident in the current situation, otherwise he would not be so tough on Zhang Xianzhong.
Of course, it is not ruled out that Li Zicheng wants to enter Sichuan.
It was Zhu Yuanzhang's consideration and the fact that he had always had doubts about Li Yan that he decided on Zhang Huangyan's plan to marry Zuo Xianmei, so as to prevent Li Zicheng from really going south and letting Zuo Liangyu become powerful.
Then he thought that although Gong Yonggu was loyal and brave, his intelligence was slightly lacking, especially because he cared a lot about reputation.
In order to avoid the loss of Gong Yonggu, he originally wanted Liu Wenbing to go to Datong to defend the city, but he thought that Gong Yonggu had always been in charge of Datong, and a temporary change of generals would not be good for the overall situation.
So he wrote another letter to Gong Yonggu, telling him again that he could only hold on to the city and never go to war rashly.
Some people died, but not completely...
