The autumn and winter of the sixth year of Chongzhen's reign were particularly sensitive times.
The calls for the Eastern Expedition within the Marshal's Mansion became louder and louder. The three sides of Shaanxi Province in the Ming Dynasty could also feel the huge shock. The first person to be shocked was Hong Chengchou, who sat in the seat of the governor of the three sides.
Hong Chengchou was a genius from a poor family.
When Hong Chengchou was a boy, his life experience was similar to that of most poor children. His father and grandfather were all farmers in rural Fujian.
When it was his turn, he studied in a rural school for the first five years. After enlightenment, his family was too poor to support his studies. At the age of eleven, he dropped out of school to follow his mother in making dried tofu and selling it in the streets. If nothing unexpected happened, he would He will also spend his whole life as a farmer.
But at that time, a very accomplished person appeared in his family. His uncle Hong Qiyin was a young scholar. After passing the scholar examination, he set up a school at home and became a teacher while improving his knowledge.
Because there is a ditch in front of the door, this country school is called Shuigou Pavilion.
There are thousands of kinds of people in this world.
Some people have no ability but have opportunities and strive to get ahead, just like Emperor Chongzhen in the Forbidden City.
Some people don't strive to get ahead when they have no ability or opportunities, just like the children in the school who study but are eager to play.
There are also people who have the ability but no opportunity and strive to get ahead, such as Hong Chengchou, the peddler who takes out dried tofu from the school but listens through a wall.
Since he was of the same race and was smart and studious, Hong Qiyin took this smart and studious little merchant as his apprentice, exempted him from tuition, and educated him carefully for five years. Five years later, in the thirty-seventh year of Wanli, Hong Qiyin passed the exam and went to Shandong to teach. , recommended Hong Chengchou to study at Quanzhou County School.
In another five years, Hong Chengchou passed the examination as a scholar, and in the sixth year he passed the examination. In the seventh year, he was a hawker selling dried tofu at the age of 24. He left his hometown and went to Beijing to take part in the joint examination, and won the 14th place in the second place in the Bingchen Academy examination. He was given a Jinshi background.
As the saying goes, thirty old people can learn the classics, and fifty young people can become Jinshi.
On the threshold of Jinshi, Hong Chengchou was four years younger than Gao Gong, one year younger than Yan Song, and one year older than Zhang Juzheng.
After that, he successively served as a doctor in the Ministry of Justice, chief political counselor, governor of grain and political affairs, and governor of Yansui in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Shaanxi. At the age of thirty-nine, he served as the governor of the three sides.
Yuan Chonghuan is dead, so Hong Chengchou is the youngest feudal official in the world. This position does not depend on anyone's favor, but he can solve problems that others cannot solve, and he can solve problems that others cannot solve. He can kill the thieves who cannot be killed.
A crimson robe that was killed with a series of human heads.
There is still a big problem in Shaanxi that cannot be solved by others, and he wants to solve this problem.
Regarding the arrival of Hong Chengchou, Gansu Governor Bai Yiqing and Chief Military Officer Yang Jiamo did not dare to neglect. Even though they received unnecessary orders, they still led the Biao Battalion to the Gulang Guard Qianhu Station to welcome him.
From a distance, I could see the ceremonial banners of the governors on the three sides, as well as the soldiers of the standard camp who were cheering in front and behind.
When Yang Jiamo saw Hong Chengchou's posture, he frowned slightly unconsciously.
Both the governor and the governor had their own battalion to protect themselves, and the generals in the battalion were usually the governor's cronies. However, Hong Chengchou's battalion was unique. His chief soldier was Cao Wenzhao, who was punished for the defeat in Ningzhou, but Cao Wenzhao Zhao's Liaodong Army has been pursuing and fighting fiercely for the past two years, and there are not many left.
Therefore, the Biao camp was under the command of the camp commander Bai Guangen, and the main force was composed of traitors.
The flow of talents in Shaanxi is becoming more and more regular. The border troops defect to thieves, the thieves defect to the border troops, the border troops defect to thieves again, and the thieves are ordered to be safe again. It has become a normal development trend to surrender and rebel again.
The common people and soldiers learned war in the war, received regular army formations and endurance training from the official army, and had enough food and drink to develop long-distance training abilities from the rebel army.
In the end, if you die in fierce battles one after another, or if you are lucky enough to survive one training after another, you can reach the pinnacle of transformation.
As people move towards higher ground and rebel against the road, the situation develops and changes dynamically. No one can change this trend that the rebels are weak and the officers and soldiers are short of food.
But Hong Chengchou interrupted this trend. As long as Hong Chengchou surrendered, it would be difficult to rebel again because of the surrender.
It is easy to surrender. Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides, has always accepted surrender, but don't imagine surrendering like Yang He and then disbanding and returning to the countryside. To surrender, you have to become a soldier. If you want to return to the countryside, you don't need to surrender. Therefore, those who surrender to the countryside are fake surrenders and are captured on the spot. kill.
And if you surrender and want to become a soldier, that's fine. I won't accept your surrender for now, but attack the rebel army, take the head of the rebel leader, and get an official title and reward.
Hong Chengchou knew that the Shaanxi thieves had three bases. The first was the Qinghai Marshal's Mansion in Xining, and the second was the Yan'an Mansion... But the Yan'an Mansion was impenetrable. Hong Chengchou knew something was wrong there, but since the big bandits behind the scenes had not been revealed, Hong Chengchou took Yan'an Mansion. Put the government last.
Third, is Iron Horn City.
Tiejiao City, located north of Huachi in Xichuan of Ziwu Mountains, was the largest rebel nest since the first year of Chongzhen.
As early as the era of Liu Wu and Liu Liu, the Tiejiao City surrounded by mountains was divided because of the high mountains and the distance between the emperor and the emperor. When Liu Chengzong left west, the Shen brothers became the leaders of the rebels on the western front and completely captured Tiejiao City. .
In order to relieve the siege after the death of his brother Shen Yiyuan, Shen Yikui colluded with the northern barbarians. On the day the alliance was reached, the entire army shaved their hair and changed their clothes. Later, the Mongolian braided hair became the symbol of the northern Shaanxi rebels, who would attack the city and seize the stronghold. The heads of all the captives were shaved.
It was not until He Chongwei and Hao Lin'an, the flying gods, that they occupied Tiejiao City that the city returned to normal, with a population of over 100,000, and the land was divided for farming and pasture.
However, those who are good at fighting have no great achievements. No matter how well He Chongwei and Hao Lin'an managed Tiejiao City, they did not go through a single round in the hands of Hong Chengchou and became the traitor Bai Guangen's surrender.
In fact, Hong Chengchou's certificate of surrender is the same as Shen Yikui's shaving his hair and changing clothes. They are both symbolic.
Shenyikui's soldiers shaved their Mongolian braided hair. The braided hair was just a means. The purpose was to let everyone know that it was a Northern prisoner when they saw it. The officers and soldiers knew that it was a head when they saw it, and naturally they could no longer surrender.
And Hong Chengchou's surrender letter is just a means. The purpose is to tell the world that the rebels who work for me, Hong Chengchou, each have the blood of the rebels on their hands, and they have a blood feud with each of you.
In other words, Hong Chengchou believed that the official army at this time was unreliable, because the official army might surrender to the rebels at any time, and only the surrendered rebels stained with the blood of the rebels were reliable.
Because it was difficult for them to surrender to the rebels, and the serious generals who were their colleagues looked down on them, they could only rely on Hong Chengchou, and they must win the battle and capture the attack, otherwise if they failed, the end would be disastrous.
Bai Yiqing and Yang Jiamo welcomed Hong Chengchou into Gulangsuo and garrisoned the Biao camp to rest.
Gulang is a small place named after the Gulang Gorge. It borders the Wushaoling Mountains of the Qilian Mountains to the south and the Tengger Desert to the north. The complex terrain is a microcosm of Gansu.
Specifically, Gulang Gorge, which is twenty miles long from south to north, is the most convenient place for north-south transportation. The widest place is 200 steps and the narrowest is only 65 steps.
From here to the north, the vast oasis of Liangzhou suddenly opens up.
Therefore, the Gulang Gorge, where the post road leads to Sanfu and the gorge gate controls Wuliang, is a pass between tigers and wolves. Since it was included in the territory of the Han Dynasty, it has been a battleground for military strategists to ensure that Longyou leads to the Western Regions.
At the Yamen of Gulangsuo, Hong Chengchou did not wash away the dust of Zheng, so he summoned Bai Yiqing and Yang Jiamo to the Yamen to discuss matters.
What is discussed is the repair of the fortress. In the past, Gulang was a peaceful borderland and has always been a place rich in frontier poems. However, in the Ming Dynasty, Gulang has become a peaceful mainland and the border fortress has not been repaired for a long time. Hong Chengchou came here for this matter. .
He said to the governor-general: "I have discussed in detail with Brother Yuxuan of Shaanxi Province before. When Shaanxi and Gansu join forces to defend against the enemy, Gulang is the key point for thieves. It is advisable to transport troops, food, guns and artillery into the city to guard the dangerous pass in case of unexpected events."
Hong Chengchou had a huge network of connections behind him. As early as when he was serving in Zhejiang, he arranged a marriage between his newborn son and the daughter of Lin Yuji, the former Minister of Rites from Jinjiang who had returned home on leave. His eldest daughter was also married to Chen Liangcai, the Zhejiang inspector at the time. The grandson is engaged.
And Yuxuan is Chen Qiyu, the current governor of Shaanxi. He and Hong Chengchou were Jinshi in the same year, and they have a very close relationship.
Bai Yiqing asked: "The army also believes that there will be a battle in the coming year?"
"Brother, please call me Hengjiu."
Hong Chengchou came from a humble background and achieved success at a young age. When he was in the officialdom, he had never seen any superiors younger than himself, but he had seen many situations where his subordinates were older than him, and he was very skilled at it.
He first smiled and cupped his hands, and then said: "It's not us who have the final say when the war will happen, and it's not Liu Chengzong who has the final say."
He raised his hand and pointed to the bracket above his head: "God has the final say. There will be no snow in Xining and Lanzhou this year. If there is no rain in spring, no one can avoid this battle."
Bai Yiqing thought so too. He cupped his hands and said, "To tell you the truth, I once asked Hehuang for help, but so far I haven't heard of the news that those people were used by the Liu thief. There is no information coming from the west, but I guess it will be later." When the marriage is completed and the angel returns, news will come from the west.”
"Have a room?"
Hong Chengchou raised his brows unconsciously, nodded cautiously and said: "Great, I heard that the Qinghai Sea has been inaccessible in the past few years, and no news has come back from Hehuang. The information Hong knows about Liu Thief has only been in a few years. Old news from before.”
The so-called knowing yourself and the enemy means that he knew that sooner or later the imperial court would go to war with Liu Chengzong, so he paid special attention to collecting intelligence, but this work was very difficult.
Things are a bit paradoxical when you think about it. Liu Chengzong was clearly the first leader to come forward, achieve success, and separatist rule. However, the news about him was a mystery to Hong Chengchou.
Because there are too few people who have seen Liu Chengzong and the Lion Army.
Most of those people were brought into Qinghai. Even if they were not brought into Qinghai, they became big leaders in the local area. They either died in the war or ran out of Shaanxi and were out of reach of Hong Chengchou.
In order to collect intelligence, he even sent people to Pingliang to find King Han twice.
Pingliang Mansion has always been unrest. The first envoy sent by Hong Chengchou was kidnapped by rogue bandits before they even entered Pingliang City.
The bandits were particularly arrogant and wrote a letter demanding ransom directly to the Trilateral Governor's Mansion, and it was signed to the name of King Jin Chanzi.
At that time, Hong Chengchou almost had a cerebral hemorrhage when he saw this signature. His troops had killed six golden cicadas in two years, and Cao Wenzhao killed two of them alone.
This thing will obviously be reincarnated, because as far as he knows, the earliest Jin Chanzi was a blacksmith, and disappeared after only one day of the incident; the second generation Jin Chanzi was the brother of the King of Han named Zhu Danyu, and the officers and soldiers have not found him yet He, the third generation Jin Chanzi, hit the tip of Cao Wenzhao's sword.
The third and fourth generations of golden cicadas are all skewered on the tip of Cao Wenzhao's knife. They should be crispy when fried.
The fifth generation entered Yan'an Mansion and was sent to the sky by the villagers using small mines; the sixth generation Jin Chanzi was a god of war and led five little brothers to defeat Yang Qi's 1,200 army, and was finally killed by Yang Qi himself.
The seventh generation entered Tiejiao City and died in an internal conflict with Hao Lin'an; the eighth generation was killed by Pingliang soldiers, and the ninth generation ran far away and ran into Shanxi, where he collided with Fu Renxi, the general of Pingyang Prefecture who had just taken office. Face to face.
General Fu Renxi is also a rising star. He comes from a good family who has been guarding the border for four generations. His status in Pingyang Prefecture is equivalent to that of Yang Yanchang, the God of War in Yan'an Prefecture. He has defeated Shaanxi thieves such as Zhao Sheng and Bu Zhanni one after another. The only time The failure was that he failed to catch up with the giant bandits who looted Pingyang Mansion and captured a box of gold.
Hong Chengchou has been thinking about when the imperial court will hand over the military power of Shanxi to his hands. At that time, Yang Yanchang of Shaanxi and Fu Renxi of Shanxi will attack in two directions and beat the rogue bandits until they cry for their fathers and mothers.
The ninth generation Jin Chanzi was unlucky to meet Fu Renxi and died on the spot.
After all, the person who wrote the ransom letter should be the tenth generation Jin Chanzi. Does Hong Chengchou think there is a possibility that the person who wrote him the letter was really named Xuanzang?
Hong Chengchou also learned the lesson, and the second envoy he sent to Pingliang Mansion was Cao Bianjiao. He said to himself that General Cao under my command was brave enough to be worthy of ten thousand men. If you, Jin Chanzi, are promising, tie him up!
Of course Cao Bianjiao would not be kidnapped. He got his wish and met with Jiang Yingchang, the prefect of Pingliang, and then went to the palace to see King Han.
It's a pity that King Han is like a confused person who doesn't know anything about anything. He has completely forgotten Liu Chengzong and has no interest in political affairs at all.
However, he was very interested in Cao Bianjiao, and tried his best to persuade Cao Bianjiao to stop making great contributions and stay in the Han Dynasty as his son-in-law, so that he could have more cubs who could be beaten. Maybe when the emperor died, he would promote you as his consort.
Xiao Cao was so frightened that he fled.
Hong Chengchou didn't think much about it. The vassal king just had the virtue of eating and waiting to give birth to cubs.
Fortunately, Bai Guangen surrendered. This was a small leader who had followed Huntian Monkey in his early years. He had observed Liu Chengzong at close range and had the experience of marching together. He knew the status of the Lion Army very well at that time.
But Hong Chengchou had no idea about the current Marshal's Mansion.
Moreover, the Hehuang War has proved that there is no benefit in starting a war with the Marshal's Mansion in Hehuang, so the battlefield in his heart is Liangzhou.
"If there is a war in the coming year, you must know that the Western bandits are different from Guanzhong. They are better than horses, mules and artillery. They come and go like wind and invade like fire."
Hong Chengchou informed the two of the characteristics of the Western bandits that he knew, and said: "Therefore, the two brothers should strengthen the defense of Gulang City to consolidate the foundation. At the same time, they should loosen the outside and tighten the inside of the Qilian Mountains to lure the enemy over the mountains to Liangzhou to plunder and attack. .”
"Removing the advantage of its artillery, mules and horses, blocking the enemy's retreat with ancient waves, guarding Qilian, making it the turtle in the urn of Gansu, annihilating its elite soldiers in one fell swoop, and then taking advantage of the victory to march from the east and north to Qinghai, it will be easy. "
After saying that, Hong Chengchou stretched out his hand: "We will work together to achieve immortality!"
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Good morning!
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