Chapter 227: Letting the Tiger Go
Sun Jie knew that Zhu Xieyuan would definitely arrive faster than ordinary officials, but considering the old man's age, he still had an estimate of the date of the meeting. Unexpectedly, only on the fifth day after reading the Di newspaper, I got a report from the detective cavalry: Mr. Zhu and his party had arrived in Hanzhou (now Guanghan, Sichuan), and hurriedly brought a hundred personal guards to greet them.
Seeing Zhu Xieyuan with all white temples, Sun Jie, who was filled with mixed feelings, forgot to perform the worship ceremony for a moment. He stared at this kind old man blankly for a long time, his nose felt sour, and he said: "Sir, you are old."
Zhu Xieyuan also had mixed feelings in his heart. He took two quick steps forward, grabbed Sun Jie who had just remembered to salute, looked him up and down, and replied: "Guodong, you are fat."
Sun Jie blushed when he heard this. He raised his hand to scratch his head but bumped into an iron helmet. He was even more embarrassed and said, "Sir, if you wait any longer, I will be useless."
"It can't be abolished, it can't be abolished! You are busy this time."
Chengdu Prefecture.
"Guodong, how long do you think it will take me to capture Chishui Guard?" Zhu Xieyuan asked without looking up from the map.
"Return to my lord. This...it's hard to say. If we really want to fight, including the march, it should take about a month...but..." Changing from his usual style, this time Sun Jie hesitated in answering.
Sun Jie's answer surprised Zhu Xieyuan: "Oh? How do you say this?"
"Sir, you know that I once fought against Bijie and Chishui with General Luo Shen. Because the thieves were unexpected, both places were defeated in one blow. Unfortunately... there was no pursuit after the victory, and the She thieves and An thieves came back again. General Luo Shen's The spies reported that in order to guard against us, the walls of Chishui Guards were raised a lot after reconstruction, and many fortifications were built outside the city. The same was true for Bijie. The luxury thieves lost Yongning and have been operating Chishui as their home base for more than two years. , it cannot be said that it has been built into a copper and iron wall, and it is certainly not easy to attack. If it is a forceful attack, it will recruit 20,000 to 30,000 auxiliary soldiers and civilians, fill the trenches with soil and ants to attack, after all, it is such a palm-sized place, and it will not take more than ten or twenty days to fight. It can be taken down. However, if you fight like that, a lot of people will die...well, a lot of people will die. Sir, I am definitely not willing to die, but my soldiers are best at field battles. If they are killing thieves on the battlefield, they will certainly die well. If they are attacking, they will die. In the city, life and death all depend on luck. The bricks and stones thrown by a thief woman can take away the lives of elite soldiers! To waste it in vain, boy... I really can't bear to part with it." Relying on his extraordinary relationship with Zhu Xieyuan, Sun Jie simply told the truth.
"Well, what you said makes sense. Not to mention that you can't bear to part with your soldiers, I can't bear to part with the people who have been conscripted. If we fight like this, a lot of civilians, auxiliaries, and soldiers will also die, right?"
"Yes, sir," Sun Jie did a quick calculation in his mind, "I'm afraid it will cost seven to eight thousand people, including dead and injured. I'm afraid we'll need a battalion or even a battalion and a half of brothers here."
"There are more than 2,000 people here, including the general myself, and I will hand them over to Sun Shuai. If you don't want to, tell me! If you arrest thousands of people from all over the country, nothing will happen." It was Lao Shun who spoke up.
"We can't rely solely on human lives, so we have to find another way." Zhu Xieyuan shook his head decisively, "I'm going to be the governor of Guizhou. I'll go to Chengdu first. First, I'll discuss military affairs with you, and second, I'll pay a visit to the King of Shu, Qian Sui. Taking you all away, and then recruiting tens of thousands of people is unjustifiable. Besides, if that happens, the prince will be in danger, so how can he agree? But, alas, no matter what, we must first capture the Chishui Guards and eliminate the threat of the Yongning thieves. Only then can we concentrate on dealing with the Shuixi thieves."
"Sir, Commander Sun, General Lao, and General Lao have an idea," Luo Qianxiang suddenly interjected, "But we need to tie An Bangyan tightly in Guizhou so that he can't divide his troops. Well, that's it so."
"Tell me quickly!" Zhu, Sun and others said in unison.
"Go and fight Wusha! An Xiaoliang of the Shuixi Army is the most powerful, and he is the chieftain of Wusha. He asked An Qijue to be the chieftain, and An Bangyan couldn't live without it, so he had no choice but to rescue him. Chishui is empty, so shoot it down! Well, that's it so."
"Good idea!" Sun Jie, who had been with Luo Qianxiang for a long time and had already learned a lot of the inside story of the chieftain tribe from him, was the first to understand. Then he explained to Zhu Xieyuan: "Sir, there are many chieftain tribes involved in the She'an Rebellion. Among them, apart from the two She'an thieves, the most powerful one is An Xiaoliang, the chieftain of Usa. An Xiaoliang's eldest wife is An Wei's sister, and his little wife His name was She Bai, and he gave birth to a son, An Qijue. An Xiaoliang had a good relationship with An Wei, so he didn’t like An Qijue very much. An Wei’s sister was jealous of She Bai’s birth of a son, and always bullied She Bai’s mother and son because of her status in the An family. . This time An Xiaoliang publicly rebellious, because he was afraid that An Xiaoliang would be killed if An Xiaoliang left, so he took his son and hundreds of buddies and ran into the mountains, so he can be considered not involved in this matter. If the boss An Qijue can be appointed as chieftain. It happens that Usa is empty and he sends part of the army to attack. How can An Xiaoliang be willing to abandon his old nest? He must come back to rescue him. But he is the main force of the Shuixi Army. If we launch a simultaneous attack in Guizhou The offensive made him unable to leave. In order to appease him, An Bangyan had no choice but to turn to She Chongming, who was nearby. As long as the main force of She Ni left Chishui, the empty city would be easy to fight. Moreover, by taking down its lair, our army could not only If we set up an ambush when they return in a hurry, we can even drive their remnants to the west of the river - the thieves are scattered all over the country to take advantage of the geographical advantages. Although it is difficult for us to spread our troops everywhere, they can rescue each other; if they are driven to one place, we Come and surround us from all sides, just in time to cook a big pot of dumplings!"
Luo Qianxiang nodded seriously: "Well, that's it!"
Zhu Xieyuan was overjoyed when he heard this. In the past, although Luo Qianxiang's strategy was clever, it was difficult to implement: because it required mobilizing the forces of the three provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou to cooperate with each other; but now it is not a problem at all - Zhu Xieyuan is the Minister of the Ministry of War and the governor of Guizhou. The military affairs of the five provinces of Guizhou, Guizhou, Sichuan, Huguang, and Guangxi are under the control of Lord Zhu alone!
That's it!
Everyone discussed for a long time, discussed all the details they could think of, and worked out a complete military action plan. Oh, well, a rough plan - in an era without instant communication, any unexpected change would require generals. of adaptability.
"Guodong, send me some guards, and I will set off for Guizhusi (that is, Guiyang) immediately. Then everyone will split up and act according to plan."
"As you command, my lord!" the generals responded loudly.
Hearing that Zhu Xieyuan was back, She Chongming had been restless these days. King She is actually not that afraid of Governor Zhu, he is afraid of Sun Jie. Sun Jie is like a vicious dog. Oh, no, a vicious dog can still fight with determination. Even if it is bitten and bruised, it still has a chance of survival. Then Sun Jie is like a resourceful tiger - unable to escape. If you take it off, you can't win, let alone beat! Zhang Heming is here, and this tiger is tightly tied to the gate of Chengdu Mansion by a thick iron chain. As long as you don't get dizzy and bump into the tiger's mouth, you can stay at ease. The arrival of Zhu Xieyuan means that the iron chain that ties the tiger It has been released, and it will only be a matter of time before it pounces on him and bites him to death. Therefore, She Chongming came up with the idea of attacking Zhu Xieyuan - as long as this bad Han official was killed, the new Han official might put the chain on Sun Jie again!
If Zhu Xieyuan wanted to go from Chengdu to Guizhou to take up his post, he would inevitably take the waterway. After Yanluo River reached Luzhou, it turned eastward and entered Dajiang (Yangtze River), then drove southward from Hejiang River to Anle River and took the road of Renhuai (now Chishui, not today's Renhuaiha, details below), turned to Chishui, and entered Guizhou from Bozhou.
So She Chongming decided to set up an ambush near Xuanwei Siyong Town Station in Bozhou (this is today's Renhuai) and kill Zhu Xieyuan in one fell swoop! This location was chosen because it was located in the middle reaches of the Chishui River. The Yongning army that was attacking could move down the Chishui River and come and go like the wind. Moreover, Zhang Fang of Zunyi had been chopped into dozens of pieces and buried in Xiongsu Zexi River. The defense force there was extremely empty, and it was easy for a surprise attack force of one or two thousand people to sneak in and hide without anyone noticing.
There was no sense of confidentiality in the Ming Dynasty. Even if the Governor's itinerary was not posted all over the streets, many people still knew about it. After roughly counting the days, Sheyin set off with more than two thousand people with full confidence.
She Chongming didn't expect that She Yin came back earlier than expected, and returned empty-handed. Zhu Xieyuan didn't have time to form any Fubiao, but that guy brought all the troops of the evil star Sun Jie to Guizhou. ! Looking at the endless procession with flags fluttering on the official road, as well as the hundreds of large and small ships in the river with gleaming swords and guns, She Yin knew at a glance that the old dog's guards and auxiliary soldiers were full of people. Fifty-six thousand people! Even if it was an ordinary guard army, She Yin would not dare to take action rashly with a huge difference of one to eight between the two sides, not to mention the two-foot-high general flag with the word "Sun" written on it! This flag made such a deep and tragic impression on the She family father and son that even if they saw it in their dreams, they would wake up covered in cold sweat... Use these two thousand people to intercept? I'm afraid it won't be enough to fill the gap between the hungry tiger's teeth!
After listening to She Yin's narration, She Chongming breathed a sigh of relief: Fortunately, the evil star left Sichuan Province and ran to Guizhou, and the huge sense of oppression that had been suffocating his heart all of a sudden disappeared without a trace! Now only Luo Beigou is left entrenched in Yongning. He only has seven or eight thousand people in his hands, and he still has some left in Shuinao's lair. Well, let's count him with five or six thousand people. It seems that he can kill She Sheng. The opportunity for Jia Laozhai has arrived!
So, King She sent someone to send a message to An Bangyan, telling him that the evil star Sun Jie had gone to Guizhou and that he must, must, must be extremely vigilant. He could only rely on the location to outsmart him and never fight head-on; at the same time, he started planning and doing Preparations for heading north to attack Yongning.
However, not long after, the proclamation issued by Zhu Xieyuan, Minister of the Ministry of War, Governor of the Five Provinces and Governor of Guizhou, in Luzhou not long ago also spread throughout northern Yunnan, southern Sichuan and western Guizhou:
1. An Qijue was loyal and talented, and he accepted the post of the Xuanfu envoy of Wusha. The official seal and notice were delivered to him on the same day. After conquering Wusha Mansion with the imperial army, he would go to the capital to meet the emperor.
2. When the Heavenly Master destroys the bandits, the first evil will be eliminated. Anyone who captures or kills Sheshe for rebelling against his father and son will be exempted from the crime of rebellion, and he will be allowed to take the position of Xuanfu envoy of Yongning.
3. This is how to capture and kill those who are rebellious.
4. To capture and kill other rebels, assign them to the Recruitment Division, the Appeasement Division, and the Chief Justice Division. Their merits will be ranked according to the amount of their achievements and their superiority and inferiority!
5. Those who are rebellious and follow the banners of thieves but are enlightened and lead the people to be cared for will be demoted to one level and half of their land will be lost. Others will be forgiven!
Looking at Zhu Xieyuan's announcement, She Chongming felt a cold air rush from the soles of his feet to the door: if he captures or kills his father and son, he can get the position of Yongning's Xuanfu envoy; if he leads the people to surrender, his original position will only be reduced by one level, and he will be free of crime... …Which of these village leaders is reliable and which one might be tempted?
Zhu Xieyuan, an old dog, has such a vicious plan!
No, we can't just sit back and wait for death. We must fight a big battle. On the one hand, we must frustrate the old dog, and at the same time, we must get some new blood on the hands of the leaders, so that we can work together with determination to find a way out!
Fight Yongning! Anyway, since the evil star is not here, we should capture Yongning first. If the An family brothers are defeated, there will be an extra retreat north to Sichuan Province. At this point, only by making things big enough to annoy the Han emperor can we finally have a chance to negotiate.
That was also his only chance of survival.
