In the yamen of the Marshal's Mansion in Lanzhou City, Liu Chengzong was entertaining Li Hongsi, who had rushed from Liangzhou.
Two days ago, Li Hongsi sent someone to deliver the letter of surrender to Cao Yao, who was guarding Gansu in the Marshal's Mansion. He originally thought that he would receive a warm welcome from the Marshal's Mansion. Unexpectedly, Cao Yao directly sent troops to Wuwei Oasis and coordinated with Feng Yubu's car camp in Gulangxia. They surrounded Liangzhou City.
The reason is that Li Hongsi's surrender demands are too many.
The Liangzhou Army surrendered due to the lack of food and grass, but it was actually very troublesome to surrender. After all, it still maintained combat effectiveness. Therefore, although Cao Yao was granted full power in Gansu by Liu Chengzong, he was still paralyzed by Li Hongsi's request.
Among those requests, such as relieving the people of Liangzhou and not plundering the city, Cao Yao could agree to it. Anyway, there was no money, money or food in Liangzhou. As for relieving the people, it was Liu Chengzong's consistent idea. There was nothing to say about it. of.
However, there were more than 10,000 troops in Liangzhou City earlier. After Cao Wenzhao transferred to Ningxia, there were still 7,000 troops in the city. There were 5,000 soldiers who followed Li Hongsi and surrendered to the Marshal's Mansion. There were another 2,000 people who wanted to leave. Li Hongsi also returned I hope the Marshal's Mansion will agree to let them leave with their armor.
Whether it is an army of 7,000 or an army of 5,000, it is not a small number whether it is an enemy army during war or a surrender after the war.
Recruiting, appeasing, resettling, stationing, and feeding troops are all troublesome matters.
Cao Yao sent a letter to Lanzhou, explaining the general situation of the surrender, and proposed that Li Hongsi should go to Lanzhou to have an audience first, while Gansu took this opportunity to get a thorough understanding of the surrender.
When Liu Chengzong saw this letter, he understood Cao Yao's complicated feelings of fear, joy and concern for this surrendered army.
It is normal to be afraid of the surrender of the army, and it is also normal to be happy about the surrender of the army.
With the surrender of this army, the whole of Gansu fell into the hands of the Marshal's Office, and it was quite popular... The five thousand troops left behind were all local border troops in Gansu, and the two thousand who were leaving were all guests from Shaanxi. Army, half of which came from Li Hongsi's headquarters.
Li Hongsi withdrew from Ganzhou to Liangzhou. He originally suffered a lot of losses in his troops. Some surrendered to the Marshal's Mansion, and some fell into disgrace and became horse bandits. In the end, he withdrew to Liangzhou, leaving not many of his troops left. , and now that some of them have been withdrawn, they will naturally become a deputy commander without their own troops.
Such people are relieved to surrender.
But it's not normal to attach importance to the surrender of the army. He has a defeated general, so why should he pay attention to it?
But after looking at the list sent by Cao Yao, Liu Chengzong felt: Well... it's not unreasonable to attach importance to it.
Among the 5,000 troops that retreated eastward during the entire Gansu War, the content of officers was too high. There were five generals including Zhao Zhirui, Lin Chengdong, Sheng Lue, Fang Maogong, and Li Changling. The remaining generals Qian and General were even more .
Liu Chengzong was stunned when he saw this number. There were four separate garrison generals in Gansu Town, namely Suzhou Counselor Zhao Zhirui, Ganzhou Counselor Lin Chengdong, Zhuanglang Counselor Lu Yunchang, and Liangzhou Counselor General during the war. He had fought against Liu Shaozong, the deputy commander-in-chief... No, he had not fought against Liu Shaozong, but he had written letters to Liangzhou City, so he had dealt with him.
Among them, Lu Yunchang was beaten away, and Liu Shaozong was besieged in the city. He was not on the surrender list at the moment, and he seemed to be planning to go to Ningxia. Also not on the list was Xiang Xiyin, who was also a veteran, and often He was a martial arts scholar from Puzhou, Shanxi Province who fought with Liu Shaozong.
Apart from these four, the rest are the generals of the generals and the governor's subordinates. But the general on Yang Jiamo's side is Chai Shihua, who has gone to the west. Even if Bai Yiqing's governor's battalion is included, there shouldn't be so many General.
It was not until Li Hongsi arrived in Lanzhou that Liu Chengzong solved this doubt.
"The three of them were generals in the past. They were all promoted to official positions in the past few years when they were fifty-five years old. They are all from Gansu. This time the commander-in-chief attacked eastward, the three generals recruited their old servants to serve in the army."
Li Hongsi talked about these three people with a feeling of regret, saying: "However, when they were effective, the commander-in-chief had already captured Ganzhou, and it was difficult to counterattack in Liangzhou, so he and I suffered nine months in the city. Sin, punished."
The Ming Dynasty's official appointment system, the earliest in the Yuan Dynasty was the age of seventy. In the Zhu Yuanzhang era, the age was relaxed to sixty, and in the Xiaozong era, the age was relaxed to fifty-five. The first was to increase the rank and upgrade, then to award the crown and belt, and finally to rely on it. The official salary will be given to those who are in the third rank or above, and those who are promoted to one rank below the fourth rank will be given the salary.
The so-called official status with a crown means that they still retain their official status after being appointed. It is a very honorable thing to increase their rank and upgrade. For example, if someone's epitaph says that he was a second-rank commander, he actually retired. The previous official position was most likely to be a third-grade commander or a general commander.
Therefore, Liu Chengzong's attack on Gansu was life-threatening for these three retired old men. They had to fight for their retirement wages.
One of Li Hongsi's very important missions when he came here this time was to ask the three of them whether the Marshal's Mansion was in charge of the old people who had become officials in the Ming Dynasty.
Liu Shizi was happy when he heard this. You have sacrificed your life and blood for the Ming Dynasty and worked all your life. Now you are going to get your retirement salary from me, right?
He was worried about food and grass. The 20,000 people in Liangzhou City had to take care of them. According to the disaster relief food standards of three dou per month for big mouths and one dou for five liters for small mouths, the supply would be enough for six months, which would be nearly 30,000 stone grains.
As for Liangzhou's 5,000 surrendered troops, even if they were supplied with half the rations of the auxiliary troops, the annual rations would cost 30,000 shi of rations. Moreover, with this low standard of rations, the physical quality of the soldiers would definitely be reduced a lot over the course of a year.
At this time, Li Hongsi came over to talk to Liu Chengzong about supporting the retired old man of the Ming Army, but Liu Shishi didn't want to talk to him.
"The salary of the three of them is enough for me to support three brigades of soldiers. If you have the ability, move your family to Hehuang and serve as a training officer for me. I am willing to give him the rank of Qian Commander and train several battalions in a few years." Soldiers." Liu Chengzong raised his hand and pointed to the sky: "After a few years of good weather, I will allow them to become officials of the third rank."
"If you don't have the ability, just rest at home as soon as possible."
When Li Hongsi heard this, he felt a little relieved and quickly clasped his fists in salute and said, "Then I would like to thank the Marshal for his kindness on behalf of the three old generals."
The three veteran generals who served in the army during the Wanli period must all be capable, and training troops is not a problem. He is just worried that Liu Chengzong will not care about them. Now that he has said that he will be awarded the post of General Qian, even if the official position is a little lower, it is still an official status recognized by the Marshal's Office. .
The most important thing is that there is no need to send troops to fight, but only to train military officers. This is the safest treatment for generals.
"You have to work."
Liu Chengzong waved his hand and turned to look at Li Hongsi: "Let's not talk about the three of them. You, Lin Chengdong, and Zhao Zhirui can continue to serve as officials and generals in Ningxia, so why don't you leave?"
These are all high-ranking generals who have traveled to Gansu Province. They are simply a talent reserve gift package given by the leader of Gansu Province.
Li Hongsi shook his head, his face remained as usual, but his heart felt bitter. He opened his mouth and paused before saying: "Gansu, it's too far."
He fought for the Ming Dynasty all his life, conquering east and west, and never considered surrendering. Even though Liu Chengzong was unstoppable in Gansu, he never thought about it. Because his military career was too busy, people would die if he was not careful, and he had no chance to think about it. West.
Until he was trapped in Liangzhou for nine months, nine months was too long, so long that grass grew in people's hearts. Even he couldn't help but think about the way forward - naturally he didn't think about the results, and the future was very slim.
He surrendered to the Marshal's Mansion not because his army rations were exhausted, but because he was the only one left in Gansu's general and deputy generals. If he really died in this war, there might be another emperor who could set up an altar to offer sacrifices. , but if we go back alive, we will definitely have to carry the blame for the fall of Gansu on our shoulders, and life will be worse than death.
Zhao Zhirui, Lin Chengdong and others had different reasons for surrendering to the Marshal's Mansion.
In order to fight against Liu Chengzong, they were defeated again and again, and so many people died. They retreated to the solid walls of Liangzhou City and endured hunger for nine months. Killed them all and waited for the imperial reinforcements to launch a counterattack: for what?
Because Liu Chengzong was a rebel and an enemy; and because Governor Hong Chengchou said that they were holding Liangzhou and would counterattack this spring.
No matter how far away Gansu is, it takes more than 270 days. Even if we only travel fifteen miles a day, even if the reinforcements are in Fujian, they should have arrived.
Well, Gansu is too far away and there are no reinforcements.
But last year, after the Jin Dynasty invaded and invaded, the Marshal's Mansion sent out troops. They sent out troops at the invitation of the imperial court. They sent troops through Ningxia without any surprise or danger.
Until He Huchen went to Liangzhou City to invite them to fight against the Donglu, no one in the city believed it. Gansu is so far away that the imperial court's reinforcements can't get through. How could you go to Xuanda?
But they did go. The reinforcements from Qinghai went to the Xuanda defense line, and the reinforcements from Jizhen also went to the Xuanda defense line. The whole counterattack was very beautiful, but what does that have to do with Gansu?
To be honest, even Liu Chengzong couldn't bear to hear the words "Gansu is too far" spoken by Li Hongsi himself. Of course he knew what it meant: Gansu was too far away from Beijing, and they were the ones who were abandoned. Even the one who was betrayed.
"The imperial court uses troops everywhere, and it coincides with the invasion of the Eastern Han Dynasty, so it doesn't care about Gansu... Sigh."
This was not said by Li Hongsi, but by Liu Chengzong. He sighed and said: "The world is difficult. I am not comforting you, and I can't comfort you. Many Gansu generals are willing to defect to me. I am happy before it is too late. I just don't want to lie." you."
Liu Chengzong said to Li Hongsi: "The Ming army fought with my Monan Governor's Mansion outside Xuanda. They also fought several battles in Ningxia. They are not betraying you."
Li Hongsi was still in a low mood before, but when he suddenly heard what Liu Chengzong said, he was immediately amused. It was really hard for him to guess what kind of identity Liu Shishi was trying to comfort him. He couldn't help laughing, and then he stopped his smile and said seriously: "Commander, there is no need to comfort me. I am a guest from Shaanxi, and they are from Gansu."
It was precisely because Li Hongsi was a visiting army that he saw more objectively the emptiness and weakness of the imperial court in the northwest, and... in the eyes of the imperial court, the northwest could not be compared with Northern Zhili and Liaodong.
Thinking of this, he shook his head helplessly, and then he picked up his energy and said to Liu Chengzong: "Commander, I have a request, and I hope you will grant it."
"You speak first."
"The commander-in-chief also knows the current situation in Shaanxi. Can the commander-in-chief allow the two thousand soldiers who want to leave to leave with Liu Shaozong and their armor?"
"Leave with armor?"
Liu Chengzong pondered for a moment and shook his head slowly.
Upon seeing this, Li Hongsi quickly said: "They left their guns and cannons behind, and they only brought armored soldiers, bows, swords and six arrows. Commander, you must bring something with you."
Leave the guns behind?
Liu Chengzong couldn't hold it back and turned around and couldn't help but smile. The ancestor of Liu Shaozong was Liu Sheng of the Yanshan Guard Baihu during the Yongle period. He was awarded the title of Marquis of Anyuan for his merits and established the world's first standing gunnery unit, the Shenji Battalion.
Asking the army he led to leave behind guns and cannons meant that they were leaving behind everything belonging to their ancestors.
However, Liu Shizi didn't care about these things. With the development and expansion of the Riyueshan Arsenal, the newly-made ordnance has met the needs of the field camps of the Marshal's Mansion, and the installed guns have also been separated from the Ming army's standard firearms. The captured guns have a great impact on him. It's just better than nothing, it allows new recruits to carry more firearms during training.
In comparison, the armor was more useful, but the two thousand soldiers who left with Liu Shaozong were not large in number, and they did not carry many armors, so they were also dispensable to him.
He did not allow these two thousand troops to carry armor. In fact, he just wanted to save their lives or the lives of others.
Liu Shishi thought this matter very clearly. If the defeated soldiers did not surrender to him, he would have only two choices: either follow Liu Shaozong to Ningxia, or leave the army and return to Shaanxi.
To go to Ningxia was to surrender to the enemy. The maximum Liu Chengzong could tolerate was to let them go to Ningxia empty-handed and let Hong Chengchou prepare armor and rations for them. When defeated soldiers deserted and returned to Shaanxi, they could not bring their armor with them.
He clearly remembered the Ming army's defeat in the Hehuang Battle, and how he and his armor were hunted and killed by the common people in the Hehuang Valley.
Weapons and armor are very attractive to rural people. Without weapons, there is no murderous intention. If there is no murderous intention, they will choose a safer way home, or simply choose to go to Ningxia.
On the other hand, if there are soldiers and a team of twenty veterans, they can drive away dozens or even hundreds of bandits and civilians. There are almost no people in Shaanxi. No matter who kills whom, this is a situation that Liu Chengzong is not happy to see. .
These defeated soldiers who lost confidence in Liangzhou stayed in the army in Ningxia and dragged down Hong Chengchou. This was the best choice in Liu Chengzong's eyes - so they could not carry weapons.
Therefore, he said seriously: "There is no need to talk about this matter anymore, so the weapons and weapons will be left behind. I will give them food for ten days, and I will do my best to be kind and righteous."
"But Marshal, if you don't have weapons to defend yourself, you can eat any beast you encounter on the road."
"Beast? Mr. Li, our Ming Dynasty has a lot of shortcomings, and there are indeed many officials who are doing nothing, but you are looking down on our Ming army."
Liu Shizi looked at Li Hongsi and said with a smile: "They have no problem. They can kill trees and turn them into soldiers without letting beasts eat them. In this way, for the sake of the township party, I asked Governor Cao to give Liu Shaozong two hundred spears." , one hundred guard bows and six hundred arrows, enough for them to return home safely."
Li Hongsi had nothing more to say. Liu Chengzong made his meaning very clear. Two thousand people were given two hundred spears and one hundred guards' bows, which clearly told him that he would not provide any fighting force to that army. s things.
The ones above one foot are spears, which are used for large-scale battles. The ones below one foot are spears. The postmen and soldiers in post stations and express delivery stores have standing weapons. It is more convenient to move around and fight alone, but it is more convenient to get into the army formation. Damn it; the bows used by the guards are actually bows made by the flag army's bowsmiths themselves. The power of the bows is generally about forty pounds. Even if two thousand people are equipped with these two things, they will not be able to pull them out to fight.
At this moment, Zhang Yichuan came.
good afternoon!
(End of chapter)
