In the second year of Taichang, I saw it in July.
The remaining clouds bring summer, and the new rain brings autumn.
On July 15th, the Ghost Festival, the White Lotus Sect did not attack Qufu, but continued to attack Qingzhou.
Wendeng Camp and Weihaiwei were defeated one after another and suffered heavy casualties. The generals of Wendeng Camp were captured, Weihaiwei Tongzhi died in the battle, and nearly half of the counties in Shandong were captured by Xu Hongru.
When the news came back to Kaiyuan, Marquis Pingliao, who was gathering troops, immediately made a decision to lead his troops to assist Shandong.
Liu Zhaosun did not want to break up with the court immediately. Since Xu Hongru was unwilling to destroy Duke Yansheng, Marquis Pingliao had a reason not to attack Shanhaiguan.
On the 16th day of the seventh month, sentries and horses from Kaiyuan City went out in all directions at night, carrying the general of Ping Liaohou to Kuandian, Qinghe, Tieling and other cities.
General Liu ordered the city defenders to leave only a small number of soldiers to guard the city. The remaining troops all went south and met at the foot of Fushun City on July 30th.
After receiving the order, Yuan Chonghuan, Shao Jiechun and others immediately put down other matters in their hands, rectified their troops and horses, and rushed to Fushun at starry night.
Ping Liao Hou left two thousand soldiers to guard Kaiyuan, and personally led the main force of the military camp and cavalry camp, totaling 13,000 people, to go south to Fushun.
The storm is about to come and the wind is filling the building.
Before the Kaiyuan Army had completed its assembly, rumors began to spread throughout southern Liaoning that Ping Liaohou would take advantage of the birthday of his ancestor Chengxun Zu to lead the Liao troops into Shandong to sneak attack Guangning, assassinate Shanhaiguan in the back, and annex southern Liaoning in one fell swoop.
There are also rumors that after the Kaiyuan Army takes over southern Liaoning, it will force wealthy households to pay back their land taxes, and will also plunder farmers in southern Liaoning to farm in northern Liaoning.
The price of rice in Gaizhou, Guangning, soared, and thieves appeared in droves. Some wealthy gentry were afraid of being liquidated by General Liu, so they fled to Yongping Mansion.
The enclosure movement carried out by the Kaiyuan Army in northern Liaoning half a year ago was shocking to these powerful people in southern Liaoning. Everyone regarded Ping Liaohou as no different from the White Lotus thief leader in Shandong.
July 30th, south of Fushun City.
Liu Zhaosun summoned his civil and military officials to gather at Huxiao Pavilion in the south of the city.
In addition to Wu Aheng, who was in Ping'an Road, North Korea, supervising the construction of warships, Kang Yingqian, Qiao Yiqi, Yuan Chonghuan, Sun Chuanting, Shao Jiechun, Deng Changxiong, Wang Erhu and others were all present.
In addition to Ping Liaohou's 8,000 soldiers and 4,000 cavalry, Yuan Chonghuan and Shao Jiechun brought 2,000 soldiers from Kuandian and Qinghe respectively.
Including the more than 2,000 local soldiers in Fushun, the total strength of the Kaiyuan Army reached 20,000.
This is also the largest force Liu Zhaosun can currently mobilize.
Several city defenders arrived in a hurry. They originally thought they were going to mobilize heavy troops to attack Houjin or Liao Town, but they didn't expect that such a large number of troops would be mobilized just to deal with the White Lotus Sect.
After hearing about Xu Hongru's rebellion, Yuan Chonghuan and others looked incredulous.
No one would have thought that a group of rabble could defeat the Ming army.
I didn't expect that Xu Hongru would make such a big fuss, and General Liu would have to do his best to deal with it.
"The White Lotus Sect in Yanzhou is a bit difficult to deal with. Before we even took action, they started spreading rumors in Liaodong. The Intelligence Bureau has captured many White Lotus Sect spies in the past few days. It seems that Xu Hongru not only wants to be the emperor of Shandong."
When Liu Zhaosun said this, he looked up at the crowd and continued:
"The reason why I urgently summoned you here is to gather Kaiyuan's troops and give this Xu Hongru a thunderous blow! Don't let him massacre the people of Shandong again!"
After Ping Liaohou said this, everyone agreed.
Liu Zhaosun looked at Sun Chuanting and asked him about the military training in Fushun during this period.
Sun Chuanting, Beidao of Fushun, briefly reported to the Marquis of Ping Liao the situation of his army recruitment in the field for more than half a year. Some time ago, several conflicts and frictions occurred between Fushun and Liao Town, and they were properly resolved under his handling.
Liu Zhaosun was quite satisfied after hearing this and repeatedly praised Sun Chuanting for his meritorious service in governance.
Fushun is located in the middle of Liaoning, close to Shen and Liao, and is surrounded by the sphere of influence of Liao Town.
Sun Chuanting was originally sent to manage this enclave because he valued his governance skills.
Historically, Sun Chuanting ran Shaanxi and implemented the so-called strategy of "defending the land of Qin with Qin soldiers and supporting Qin soldiers with Qin pay".
During Sun Chuanting's stay in Shaanxi, he rectified the administration of officials, cleared out the villages and raised wages, and trained the Qing army (weeding out old and weak military households). The combat effectiveness of the Qin army increased dramatically, and they defeated the Li Chuangliu thieves many times.
In fact, Sun Chuanting was the only official during the Chongzhen period who actually implemented the clearing of farmland.
Marquis Pingliao admired this man very much and believed that he, like Yuan Chonghuan, had the ability to govern a state and county.
Sun Chuanting was in Fushun for half a year. He cleared more than 53,000 acres of farmland, trained 2,000 elite soldiers, and withstood several counterattacks from Liao Town.
"With Lord Sun here, Liaonan will have no worries!"
Marquis Pingliao praised Sun Chuanting loudly in front of everyone. Kang Yingqian listened and quickly agreed:
"I have read the article on Ping Liao Strategies written by Mr. Sun during the imperial examination in the capital last year. The words are exquisite and the writing is brilliant. I thought that Mr. Sun could only use pen and ink, but he turned out to be a talented person. Within half a year, It is rare to govern Fushun so that the house is not closed at night!"
Everyone agreed, and Sun Chuanting quickly stood up, clasped his fists at everyone, and praised them.
Liu Zhaosun raised his head and saw Yuan Chonghuan sitting next to him who seemed a little unhappy. After thinking for a moment, he said:
"Yuan Ducha cultivated land in Kuandian, ran a horse market, and competed with North Korean Yizhou for people. It is said that he has recruited more than a thousand North Koreans, and his contribution is not small."
Yuan Chonghuan quickly handed over his hand, but his face was filled with pride.
Yuan Chonghuan was three years older than Sun Chuanting. In the Capital Examination in the 47th year of Wanli, Yuan Chonghuan's ranking of the top three Jinshi was still one place ahead of Sun Chuanting. In terms of qualifications and ability, Yuan Chonghuan felt that he was one step ahead of Sun Baigu.
In the forty-seventh year of Wanli, Sun and Yuan defected to Kaiyuan at the same time. Yuan Chonghuan intentionally or unintentionally compared himself with Sun Baigu, who was of the same year.
Everyone wanted to congratulate Yuan Chonghuan again, but Liu Zhaosun interrupted with a wave of his hand and started to get down to business.
"In order to avoid suspicion, the original army did not pass through Shanhaiguan this time. They took the water route and landed directly from Wendeng. The lucky ships transporting soldiers, horses, food and grass left from Jinan Prefecture, Qingzhou Prefecture. When the army arrived there, there would be officials from Qingzhou Prefecture to meet them. If you need food and grass, they will provide it, and Zhao Yan promised that it will be supplied in full."
When Qiao Yiqi heard that the guest soldiers were supplied with sufficient food, he was surprised and said:
"These states and counties are actually willing to give us food. It's really like the sun is rising in the west."
Kang Yingqian was responsible for receiving officials from Shandong who asked for help. After learning more about the inside story, he explained to everyone:
"The White Lotus Sect is unstoppable, Yanzhou is in decline, Qingzhou Prefecture is about to lose its hold, Wendeng Camp and Weihai Guard are useless, and even General Chen Shen was captured by the White Lotus Sect. Ji Town and Liao Town are unwilling to contribute, except for our Kaiyuan Army, they Who else can Zhao Yan and Yuan Keli rely on? The powerful squires in Qingzhou Prefecture have long given money and food to the Bingbei Dao Yamen, and they are not short of money. It is also appropriate to give Kai Yuan a small share."
Yuan Chonghuan said: "Shandong officials are really rich. I don't know how much money it will cost to transport 20,000 troops across the Liao Sea!"
Qiao Yiqi said: "If the White Lotus Sect is allowed to cut off the canal, countless cavalry soldiers will lose their livelihoods. Shandong will be finished, the capital will be finished, and prices in Liaodong will also take off. These White Lotus Sect members who have killed thousands of people deserve death!"
Everyone was talking, but only Sun Chuanting and a few officers remained silent.
Liu Zhaosun knocked on the table, interrupted everyone, looked around, and continued.
"Before August 6, the army must gather in the south of Jinzhou and cross the Liaohai Sea as soon as possible. Qingzhou Prefecture cannot last long. This White Lotus Sect is more hateful than Jiannu. If Xu Hongru is allowed to occupy the entire territory of Shandong, Kaiyuan's The good days are coming to an end. So this time, we have to cooperate with the court to destroy this White Lotus demon."
~~~~~
Xu Hongru, the white lotus demon described by Marquis Ping Liao, was sitting leisurely in the lobby of the Yanzhou magistrate's office. Next to him, several maids were wiping the tables in the lobby of the government office.
He looked up at the few lines of large characters written on the couplets in front of the lobby, shook his head and said:
"Eat the food of the people and wear the clothes of the people. Don't say that the people can be bullied. You are also a common people. It is no honor to win an official position. It is not humiliating to lose an official position. Don't say that an official is useless. The whole place depends on an official."
The short and fat eunuch standing next to him wiped his tears and whispered:
"It is wrong for the Emperor to live in such a dirty place. The servants are frightened. Otherwise, they should ask the palace maid to deal with it."
Xu Hongru waved his hand and shouted:
"Eunuch Cao, how many times have I told you that women are resources and should be used efficiently. Just let them serve the congregation well. Anyone who refuses to obey the allocation of resources will be killed. This is called survival of the fittest."
Eunuch Cao was confused. He always heard many words from the emperor that he had never heard before.
It's no wonder that the Emperor is the Holy Mother of White Lotus who descended to earth and was reincarnated by the ancestor Chen Tuan to preach on behalf of heaven and man and to save believers.
If you don’t understand, that’s right.
"My slaves know this and will kill all the women who don't sleep with the congregants."
Xu Hongru looked at the eunuch with pity and said coldly:
"When the Divine Cult regains Jinan, I will set up the imperial palace in Jinan. Just keep it as it is. Tomorrow I will go to Yishui to supervise the battle. I heard that Liu Zhaosun is coming. I must occupy Denglai quickly and give this old friend a surprise."
Eunuch Cao mustered up his courage and asked:
"Do you know the Emperor and Thief Liu?"
"Hahaha!"
Xu Hongru laughed heartily.
There was a crisp crash.
The maid who was wiping the vase next to her suddenly took her hands off and the vase fell to pieces on the ground. The maid's eyes were full of horror, and she knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly to beg for mercy.
"Waste! Do you know how much this bottle is worth? This is a shameful waste!"
Xu Hongru suddenly pulled out the short gun from his waist. He didn't know whether it was a pistol or a flintlock gun, but there was only an explosion.
The maid's head disappeared.
Eunuch Cao standing next to him had his teeth chattering.
"Where did you just talk about?"
Xu Hongru carefully wiped the barrel of the gun without raising his head.
"Say...the emperor mentioned that he and Liu Zhaosun are old acquaintances."
"Hahaha!"
The eunuch trembled all over and pretended to have a charming smile on his face.
Xu Hongru looked at the sky, his expression became ferocious:
"I brought the bandit to Ming Dynasty. I wonder if he wants to thank me."
"I left the bouquet of flowers, jumped into the wormhole, and died only a few seconds later than him. I was so efficient, but I didn't expect that I came half a year later than him!"
"Eunuch Cao, tell me, I'm so efficient, why am I still half a year late? Is there any natural reason for this?"
Lewen
