Zuo Mengeng looked at Huang Shu and his breathing became rapid.
Huang Shu said: "Although He Tengjiao is a civil servant, he is not a loyal person. In the past two years, he has done a lot of things to support the troops and respect themselves! As far as I know, when he first took charge of Hunan, he worked with Fu Shangrui, Yan Qiheng, Zhang Kuang, and Wu Jinxi. , Zhou Daqi, Chang Yanling and other Hunan local officials conspired to separate the regime, made alliances, divided up the territory, recruited soldiers and horses privately, and withheld taxes. What they did was like a measure of control!"
It turns out that He Tengjiao is not a well-behaved governor, and he often does extraordinary things these days. Among them, the most outrageous ones were He Pianyuan's military commander Fu Shangrui, Zhi Baoqing's Wu Jinxi, Zhi Changde's Zhang Kuang, Heng Yong's military commander Yan Qiheng, Hunan's chief envoy Zhou Daqi and Hunan's commander-in-chief Chang Yanling and other officials, who swore an alliance. , and then each recruited troops to defend the Hunan territory.
Now He Tengjiao controls Changsha Prefecture, Fu Shangrui garrisoned Chenzhou, Baojing, Jingzhou, Yongshun and other places in the Yuanshui area, Yan Qiheng garrisoned Hengzhou, Zhang Kuang controlled Changde, and Zhou Daqi set out to garrison the eastern part of Yuezhou Prefecture (beyond Dongting Lake). East), Wu Jinxi controlled Baoqing Mansion.
Chang Yanling, the nominal commander-in-chief of Hunan, controlled Yongzhou, Chenzhou, and Guiyang Prefecture, Linwu County, Lanshan County and Ningwusuo in the south of Hengzhou, which was the territory bordering Hunan and Guangdong.
In addition, Yuezhou, adjacent to Jingzhou Prefecture, was controlled by the Zuo family army who had escaped. The current territory of the Zuo Army is most of Jingzhou and Shizhouwei in Hubei and Yuezhou in Hunan.
In other words, Hunan is now divided into at least eight parties, with He Tengjiao and Zuo Mengeng being the two most powerful parties.
If these two parties can join forces, it will be enough to become a decisive force on the battlefield in Huguang!
Huang Shu went on to say: "Moreover, it has been a long time since Zhu Cixi led his troops to Wuchang. He Tengjiao is in Changsha and he has not gone to see him. It is obvious that he has second thoughts!"
Zuo Mengeng shook his head: "He is just loyal to the emperor...but what's the use? Military advisor, how many people have we sent in the name of King Chu these days to contact Huang Degong, Gao Jie, Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi? Can anyone respond? "
Huang Shu smiled and said: "Young General, those people are all dissatisfied with the prince, they just don't want to be the leader."
Zuo Mengeng frowned: "We are the ones who stand out? Is that possible? Don't let the Crown Prince kill you with a shotgun!"
Huang Shu sneered and said: "Of course we can't succeed by raising troops to serve the king, but we can still get He Tengjiao to defect to King Chuang together!"
Zuo Mengeng frowned and asked in a low voice: "Military advisor, do you think King Chuang can defeat the prince?"
Huang Shu said, "Young General, King Chuang and Zhu Cixi are now evenly matched...no one can do anything to the other. And the Young General has an army of 100,000 and is in Jiangling. Once he takes the King of Chu and He Tengjiao hostage, he will take the land of Hunan." After turning his back and surrendering, even if Zhu Cihong can hold on to Wuchang Mansion, he can only watch as the land of Hunan is owned by the Major General."
Zuo Mengeng remained silent, still hesitating.
Huang Shu knew that his proposal was a bit taken for granted, but now that the situation was forcing him, there was no other way. He gritted his teeth: "Major General... You can't compare with He Tengjiao, Huang Degong, Gao Jie, Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi! At most they just drink to relieve their military power, and there are always rich families from the southeast. You can be a general, but once you lose power as a general, you will have to travel a thousand miles!"
you do not say! Offending Zhu Cixiang wasn't that serious, it was just a matter of supporting the troops and respecting oneself. That's the true nature of a warlord. What's the big deal? Moreover, Zhu Cixiang's control ability was limited when he first arrived in the southeast, and even Southern Zhili could not fully control it. Zhu Cixiang delegated power to his subordinates for areas that were beyond his reach and let them manage them themselves.
Therefore, although He Tengjiao and others are warlords, and they may have conflicts with Zhu Cihong, they are not irreconcilable.
But Zuo Mengeng is different! He wants to support the King of Chu as emperor...
Huang Shu went on to say: "The young general must continue to stop, for fear of causing trouble to Xiao Qiang. Isn't there anyone in Jiangling City who wants to exchange the young general's head for a lifetime of wealth?"
"This, this..." Zuo Mengeng took a breath, this is the most terrifying thing!
He finally made up his mind and gritted his teeth and said, "It seems like this is the best thing to do!"
Huang Shu breathed a sigh of relief. Zhu Cihong couldn't spare Zuo Menggeng, and he couldn't spare Huang Shu either!
Huang Shu quickly said to Zuo Mengeng: "Major General, my subordinates will leave for Hanyang immediately. No matter what, I will take the imperial edict from King Chuang for the Major General."
"Okay, then it's time to work!"
Huang Shu added: "Nowadays, the people in Jingzhou City are unpredictable. The young general must not trust others easily, let alone reveal the whereabouts of his subordinates, otherwise a big disaster may happen at any time!"
"Okay," Zuo Mengeng said, "the military advisor will just leave quietly. I will tell the outside world that I will send the military advisor to Chongqing to contact Ma Shiying and stand in front of the army to enter Sichuan."
Huang Shu's worry was not unreasonable, because at this time, there were also several hills within the Zuo Family Army.
Zuo Mengeng is of course one of them, and the three thousand servants left behind by his father are absolutely loyal to him. Even though there are only three thousand people, it is the most capable army in the Zuo family army system.
Jin Shenghuan, the original garrison commander of Chengtian Mansion, was also a big man. Although he didn't have many core servants, he was able to count on having a large number of troops because of the regiment training he had brought under him when he was guarding Huaiyang. Moreover, when he was guarding Chengtian Mansion, he also made many big deals with Li Zicheng, but he made a lot of money, and now he has enough military expenses on hand. Therefore, Zuo Menggeng also guarded against Jin Shenghuan and did not dare to let his army enter Jiangling City. Instead, he sent him to Yiling to garrison.
In addition, father and daughter Qiu Lei and Zuo Mengmei are also considered to be on the same level. Although Qiu Lei didn't have many servants, he couldn't stand his daughter Zuo Mengmei in front of the home of Chu King Zhu Cizhao.
The King of Chu, Zhu Cizhao, was also a "real" vassal king, and was theoretically the lord of Jingzhou. In fact, although it cannot control the entire Jingzhou Prefecture, Jiangling and Gong'an counties are under the control of the Chu Palace. With the population and territory, the guards of the Chu Palace were naturally strong. Based on the soldiers and horses that Qiu Lei brought to Jingzhou Palace, three guards on the left, middle and right were built. Each guard had a strength of 5,600 people. There are sufficient personnel and excellent equipment. The weakness is that the team was established for too short a time, has insufficient training, and has not fought any tough battles.
In addition to these three big hills, the army left by Zuo Liangyu also included Li Guoying, Lu Guangzu, Xu Yong, Hao Xiaozhong, Zhang Yong, Ma Jiaolin and several other small hills. Among them, the four generals, Li Guoying, Lu Guangzu, Xu Yong, and Hao Zhongzhong, were all from the Liao Dynasty. They were considered direct descendants of Zuo Liangyu before, and now they are also close to Zuo Mengeng. Zhang Yong and Ma Jiaolin were both from Shaanxi, so of course they were close to Jin Shenghuan.
In general, Zuo Mengeng, the major general, still has some advantages in the military group left by Zuo Liangyu, so he is still the leader.
Whether it is Jin Shenghuan, Qiu Lei, or Zuo Mengmei, they all support Zuo Mengeng in terms of face. But beneath the surface calm, of course, there is an undercurrent that is constantly surging.
Although Huang Shu quietly left Jiangling City under the cover of night, how could he avoid the eyes and ears of the feudal prince's palace and the Jingzhou magistrate's office?
So the day after Huang Shu quietly left Jiangling, a father and daughter began to plot something in the heavily guarded palace hall.
"The spies from Jingzhou Prefecture have also returned. Like the spies from Wangfu Town Fusi, they all followed Huang to the outside of Jingmensuo City. Huang first went west, then turned back to the north when he reached the edge of Zhang River, and now he entered If we take the territory controlled by rogue bandits, we are afraid that we will betray the young prince! My daughter, what should we do? Although the palace guards have more than 16,000 people, they have never fought a tough battle after all. If Li Zicheng's people were invited by Huang Shu , we are finished..."
Qiu Lei was talking with a sad face, while Zuo Mengmei was listening without saying a word, her voice and expression were still, and she didn't even move the ornaments on her head. Because Chu King Zhu Cizhao was full of rebellious spirit, Zuo Mengmei was in a very dangerous situation. Zhu Cizhong obviously couldn't tolerate her and Zhu Cizhao. Zuo Liangyu was originally the couple's backer, but now that the old man is dead, Major General Zuo Menggeng is a fool, so he knows how to escape and is secretly communicating with Li Zicheng.
If Zuo Jiajun voted for Li Zicheng, Zhu Cizhao and Zuo Mengmei would not end well!
