Chang Yu had a lot of dreams that night, but he couldn't remember any of them when he woke up. But something he never imagined happened when he got up early in the morning and opened the door. He saw Li Yanzhenghou waiting outside to greet him.
"General Li, when did you come?" Chang Yu was surprised and happy.
It is nearly a hundred miles from Dongliu Town to Anqing, and it takes half a day, but taking the waterway can save nearly half of it. Yesterday afternoon at noon, Chang Yu sent someone to send a message to Li Yan. When it got dark, the news was sent to Anqing, and Li Yan set off immediately. Due to a slight delay due to going upstream, he arrived in the early morning. The guards at the gate all knew him and opened the door to welcome him into the city. When they arrived at the Yamen, they learned that Chang Yu had gone to bed, so they did not disturb him and came to say hello early in the morning.
Knowing that Li Yan had only rested for less than an hour, Chang Yu asked him to get enough sleep first, but Li Yan declined: "Hold on, military affairs are important."
After the two washed up, they had breakfast in the hall. Li Muxian, who had always been inseparable from Chang Yu, was also missing. Since Chang Yu ordered him yesterday, the Taoist priest has become more cautious. He knows that Li Yan and Chang Yu must have something. I don't know what's going on, I will call him if I need him.
Chang Yu first talked about Bai Wang's conferment. Li Yan had learned about it yesterday and couldn't hide the joy on his face. He said that the overall situation of going south to suppress the bandits was decided. Chang Yu then asked about the military affairs in Anqing. Li Yan's details were detailed one by one. Having said that, many details were similar to Gongziying's report, which showed that he had nothing to hide.
"What happened to Liu Zeqing's men?" This was what Chang Yu was most worried about. Liu Zeqing was assassinated and his men would never give up. As expected, Li Yan's face was solemn: "The crowd is furious, but the general will eventually bring those murderers to justice." It is difficult to appease the public's anger even though it is brought to justice."
"What do they want?" Chang Yu knocked on the table casually. Li Yan shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Kill the prisoners and let Cheng Niandong die to apologize! I will report this matter to the governor and temporarily suppress it to prevent them from causing trouble. Gao Jie was ordered to be on alert when he arrived. If there is any abnormal movement... suppress it!"
Chang Yu hummed, raised his head and glanced at Li Yan: "How do you plan to deal with it?" Li Yan breathed out, stared at Chang Yu and said: "The last general promised to keep Cheng Niandong alive, so he surrendered the city."
Chang Yu put down his bowl and chopsticks, stood up and walked to the door with a concentrated frown. He looked up at the sky, which was cloudy.
"Is it necessary to protect him?"
Li Yan was shocked, "Lord Governor, if the last general breaks his promise, I'm afraid his troops will be in chaos and the consequences will be disastrous."
Chang Yu nodded: "I know this, but what do you think is more important between Liu Zeqing's ministry and Cheng Niandong's demotion? Putting aside these things, leaving Cheng Niandong to still lead the old ministry will bring too many variables."
Li Yan's face became solemn and he sat down slowly: "This... Rong Mo will think about it again." Chang Yu's meaning was obvious. Even without Liu Zeqing, Cheng Niandong couldn't keep him.
Chang Yu saw his expression: "Is it possible that General Li is in such a difficult situation because he is worried about proving the truth?" Li Yan smiled bitterly and shook his head: "That's not the case. Soldiers never tire of deceit. For the sake of overall stability, he will not hesitate to break his promise and be criticized by people. The general will not care about that. It’s a false name, but the current situation is complicated and I don’t know how to start at the moment, and one mistake will cause military chaos.”
Chang Yu snorted and suddenly asked: "The person who killed Liu Zeqing was actually Cheng Niandong's close confidant, right?"
Li Yan nodded slightly, and Chang Yu chuckled: "Is it possible that Liu Zeqing doesn't have a few close friends around him? Since you promised Cheng Niandong not to kill him, but you didn't promise him that others wouldn't kill him, Liu Zeqing's men must take revenge. thing".
The words awakened the man in his dream, and Li Yan suddenly became enlightened, but he also became more and more in awe of the little eunuch. This man's conspiracy was really unparalleled.
"This matter should be handled with caution to avoid chaos." Chang Yu patted Li Yan on the shoulder and sat down again to pick up the bowls and chopsticks: "Yesterday, General Li was ordered to send troops westward to recover the land of Wangjiang and Pengze. I wonder who General Li sent? "
"Liu Wenbing of the Guards and Liu Liangzuo's troops," Li Yan said hurriedly. Chang Yu snorted, "I thought you would use Cheng Niandong." Li Yan smiled and said, "I don't dare to use it for the new generals. The general will not have a governor." Your Majesty's ability has made Wang Tizhong so obedient and dedicated."
Several honorable men traveled south for thousands of miles, and we couldn't let them return empty-handed. These few people were not capable of fighting a big battle, but they could still clean up some corners. As for Liu Liangzuo, he was familiar with mountain warfare and could not get out of trouble with his help. As for Li Yan Chang Yu was still very satisfied with the arrangement, not to mention that he had always wanted to take the opportunity to weaken Liu Liangzuo's power.
Chang Yu then told Li Yan that he had ordered Lu Daqi and others to send troops from Chizhou to the west to regain the lost territory and go straight to De'an, the rebels' lair.
"Actually, the remnants of the bandit army can be dealt with only by the men of Liu Wenbing and Liu Liangzuo. The governor also sent Lu Shangshu and others to help in the battle. I'm afraid it's not just for De'an's den of thieves... Could it be Zuo Liangyu from Wuchang?" Li Yan's seven orifices are exquisite and can be accessed with just a click, and his tacit understanding with Chang Yu is unparalleled. At this time, after hearing the words and pondering for a while, he knew the deep meaning behind them.
"General Li is the one who knows me." Chang Yu chuckled: "Zuo Liangyu is actually a thorn in the flesh of this governor, but there is nothing you can do about him at this time. What does General Li think of him?" After saying that, he put all his concerns in his heart. out.
Li Yan listened carefully and said in silence for a long time: "Zuo Liangyu used to wait and see with troops, but the imperial court was in turmoil. Now, with the Lord Governor expelling the Tatars and wiping out the thieves, we have won a series of great victories. Our Ming Dynasty is stable. In addition, Bai Wang has already Except, Zuo Liangyu has made up his mind at this time, and he dare not resist the order."
"That's not necessarily true." Chang Yu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Taiyuan, outside the customs, and the area from Gyeonggi to Shandong, the national power has been depleted to the extreme after several wars. This time, the money for the southward campaign to suppress bandits was entirely dependent on deceit and abduction along the way. Fortunately, Nanjing still has The remaining grain, otherwise this time... Hehe, how could Zuo Liangyu not know about this kind of thing? He also knew that even if he resisted the order and disobeyed the order, there was nothing the governor could do to him. Although the governor had soldiers and generals in his hands, it was difficult for a clever woman to do anything. There is no rice for cooking, let alone how can I spend my troops on him... What worries me is that he disobeys orders and orders, what should I do?"
Li Yan thought for a while and said: "The governor has already had a countermeasure in his mind. Although it is not perfect, it is the best he can do at the moment. If Zuo Liangyu is ordered to attack Jingxiang, even if it is just a pretense, it will show If his attitude is determined, the governor can withdraw to recover Xi'an. If he refuses to stay in Wuchang, Lu Shangshu will lead an army to Jiujiang to put pressure and monitor him. The governor can still attack Xi'an first or call off the war to rest and recuperate. After a while, the governor ordered Lu Shangshu, Zhao Zhilong and others to lead their troops. Isn't this why?"
Chang Yu sighed: "This is a helpless move. This is the only thing I can do after racking my brains, so I invited General Li from Anqing to discuss and see if there is any good strategy."
Li Yan smiled bitterly: "The continuous battles in the past few months have become a barbaric force. At this time, the national treasury has been exhausted, the food and grass are exhausted, and the morale of the army is exhausted. Although the governor's move is helpless, it is the best strategy at the moment. There is no other way." .
Chang Yu sighed again: "Now that the matter is over, we have to consider the long term. What does General Li think we should do next?" Li Yan thought for a moment: "Why don't we call the Taoist priest to discuss it together?" Chang Yu hummed and asked someone to bring Li Muxian Called over, the three of them were drinking tea in the lobby, sometimes frowning and sometimes smiling.
It was drizzling near noon, and the three of them had reached a conclusion after their deliberations. Except for the offensive troops sent out, the remaining soldiers and horses were stationary in various places to recuperate, including Chang Yu himself, who was also waiting in Dongliu County. He wanted to wait for the results.
Waiting for two results, first, whether the attacking troops can regain the lost ground and approach the thieves' cave, and second, Zuo Liangyu's reaction after receiving his letter.
If Zuo Liangyu disobeys the order, he will send a large army to advance and put pressure. If Zuo Liangyu goes down the slope, Chang Yu will return to the court to rest and recuperate while making preparations to regain Xi'an.
"At this time, Bai Wang is the leader and Anqing surrenders. General Li should take the leader of the bandits, Cheng Niandong, as the leader. As soon as he shows up, the bandits in Wangjiang, Pengze and other places will surrender without hesitation. With this, he can defeat the bandits all the way." De'an, the old home, even De'an surrendered without spending a single soldier." Li Muxian made a suggestion, but Li Yan rejected it: "The Taoist priest didn't know something. Cheng Niandong was forced to surrender. Using it at this time will let the tiger return to the mountain. There is potential danger, and if he leaves the camp at this time, neither his subordinates nor Liu Zeqing's subordinates will agree, and one mistake will cause military chaos."
Li Muxian didn't understand. After all, he didn't know much about what was going on here. But Chang Yu knew very well that if Cheng Niandong was allowed to go to the battle, in addition to the possibility of letting the tiger return to the mountain, his subordinates would think that Li Yan deliberately His subordinates wanted to kill him, but Liu Zeqing's subordinates thought that Li Yan would let him go on purpose, and neither group would agree.
At noon, when the three of them were having dinner, the guards came to report that they had detected troops passing by the river. They were undoubtedly the troops of Liu Wenbing and Liu Liangzuo sent by Li Yan for the Western Expedition.
The two men marched together by water with less than 5,000 troops. Chang Yu originally wanted to cross the river to express condolences, but finally gave up due to heavy rain. After a rest after dinner, Li Yan invited him back to Anqing. After all, the situation there was complicated and there was no A fuel-efficient lamp can cause chaos with just one mistake. Although he asked Zhang Qingzhen to take charge of military affairs when he came, he could not control Huang Degong and Gao Jie, not to mention the furious Liu Zeqing.
