"Dad, you can't hesitate any longer! When grandpa just ordered Wu Yingxiong and Kong Sizhen to kill the adulterous couple, you should have listened to me and immediately sent troops south to fight against the rebellion. At that time, Wu Yingxiong had no power at all. Your troops and horses, and Dad, you have the majesty of a great victory over Kangxi, aren't you unstoppable? But you are afraid of being Yuan Tan, afraid that Qinglu and Zhu Ming will benefit. Now it's better, Qinglu and Zhu Ming are right We are not interested in the chaos in our family at all. But Wu Yingxiong’s methods are one after another... He has almost poached all our people!"
The speaker was Wu Shicong, who was standing angrily in front of his father Wu Yingqi and talking nonsense!
But Wu Yingqi was sitting there dejectedly like a primary school student who had made a mistake. Hearing his son talk about "poaching people", he finally couldn't help it anymore and muttered: "I will also try to poach people under Wu Yingxiong." Yes, but..."
It turns out that Wu Yingqi is not that honest. Although he hesitates on the surface, he makes many small moves in private.
He thought that since he had a hundred thousand troops and had the reputation of defeating Kangxi and seizing the Central Plains, there must be many officials and generals from Wu and Zhou who wanted to join him.
Moreover, Wu Yingxiong seemed a little afraid of his brother, who had a heavy army. Not only did he send Wang Shirong to speak softly, but he also sent his son Wu Shilin to Wu Yingqi's army.
Therefore, throughout February, Wu Yingqi felt very good and thought he could win without a fight, so he has been trying to win over Wu Yingxiong's powerful factions, such as Xia Guoxiang, Hu Guozhu, Guo Zhuangtu, Li Benshen, Wu Zhimao, and Zu Zeqing. .....Oh, and Sun Yanling.
Sun Yanling served as Wu Zhou's governor of Hunan on the recommendation of Wu Yingxiong. He originally had some remnant troops under him, and some old troops were detained by Zu Zeqing in Guangxi, and Wu Yingxiong also helped him get them. So after staying in Hunan for more than a year, Sun Yanling gathered some troops again.
He is considered a powerful person under Wu Yingxiong!
But this time Wu Yingxiong arrested his wife, and it is said that he asked Jiangling Prefecture Governor Lu Yifeng to torture her so hard that she was covered with bruises... On this day, the couple enjoyed a hundred days of grace!
So Wu Yingqi sent people to persuade Sun Yanling to raise troops.
Unexpectedly, the envoy he sent was directly kidnapped by Sun Yanling and given to Wu Yingxiong, and Sun Yanling also publicly announced his divorce.
Now Wu Yingqi's attempt to win over Sun Yanling completely failed!
After receiving letters from Wu Yingqi, the three sons-in-law of Wu Sangui, Xia Guoxiang, Hu Guozhu, and Guo Zhuangtu, wrote to Wu Yingqi one after another, urging him to make peace with Wu Yingxiong and telling him never to imitate Yuan Shang.
Moreover, the three people also vouched for Wu Yingxiong in the letter, saying that Wu Sangui would never be poisoned by Wu Yingxiong. They also said that the most likely person to kill was Kong Sizhen... because Kong Sizhen was originally the secret envoy sent by Bumbutai to the Wu and Zhou camp. She was loyal to the Qing Dynasty, so she poisoned Wu Sangui and Wu Yingxiong after deceiving them. Killed Wu Yingxiong.
The three people also told Wu Yingqi in the letter that Jiangling Prefecture Yin Lu Yifeng had found irrefutable evidence-no poison was found in the residual liquid of the bottle of allicin that Wu Sangui took, but it was found in the fish soup that Wu Sangui drank. There was a poison. Although Chen Yuanyuan cooked the soup, Chen Yuanyuan asked Kong Sizhen to look at it for a while.
Now the interrogation of Kong Sizhen has reached the final stage. Although this woman is very stubborn and refuses to confess no matter how hard she is tortured, she still cannot escape in the end.
Therefore, Xia Guoxiang, Hu Guozhu, and Guo Zhuangtu all advised Wu Sangui not to believe in rumors and do things that would hurt relatives and make enemies happy.
As for Zu Zeqing, Wu Zhimao, and Li Benzhen, their positions are not yet known because they are stationed far away. However, these people probably won’t come forward to take advantage of Wu Yingqi’s fire...
Therefore, Wu Yingqi's attempt to win over Wu Yingxiong's subordinates has completely failed!
At the same time, Wu Yingxiong was very successful in wooing Wu Yingqi's men! Including Wang Pingfan, Gao Qilong, Liu Zhifu, Zhang Zufa and other generals who guarded Nanyang, Runing, Ruzhou and Xuzhou, they successively accepted Wu Yingqi's official position in February and March.
However, Wu Yingxiong did not let these men send troops to attack Wu Yingqi. Instead, he asked them to lead his troops south and return to Hubei. At the same time, more than 40,000 households that voluntarily evacuated were moved from Nanyang Prefecture near Xiangyang. It was also announced that these people would be moved to sparsely populated Luzhou, Xuzhou Prefecture, Jiading Prefecture and Zizhou in Sichuan. Wang Pingfan, Gaoqi Fan Long, Liu Zhifu, Zhang Zufa and other four people will be granted the title of Marquis of Luzhou, Marquis of Xuzhou, Marquis of Jiading, and Marquis of Zizhou, and they will be able to eat the soil of the people, and they will be hereditary!
In other words, one person is a real Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!
As soon as these four general soldiers left, Wu Yingqi immediately lost 40,000 soldiers and horses, leaving only 60,000 troops. More than 10,000 of them were added after the Battle of Zhuxian Town, and his strength has been greatly weakened.
But Wu Yingqi still has the power to fight!
But at this time, Hong Shiming, Wu Yingxiong's envoy who "the president stayed behind" came to Kaifeng Mansion with a decree to confer Wu Yingqi as the King of Henan.
According to this edict, Wu Yingqi can obtain Henan Prefecture, Kaifeng Prefecture, Nanyang Prefecture, Ruzhou, Xuzhou, and Shaanxi Prefecture, a total of three prefectures and three prefectures. They can also bring food to the people and protect them forever. Moreover, the troops led by Wu Yingqi, Wu Shicong, Ma Bao, and Wu Guogui all stayed in the territory of the King of Henan and were arranged by Wu Yingqi.
In addition, Kong Sizhen can also be taken to Kaifeng Mansion and left to Wu Yingqi's disposal!
Now Wu Yingqi began to hesitate again.
When Wu Shicong heard the news, he was reorganizing his army and preparing to fight back to Jiangling. So he didn't even have time to take off his armor, and flew straight back to Wu Yingqi's camp from the school grounds in Kaifeng Fucheng.
"Shi Cong," Wu Yingqi saw his son's murderous look and had no choice but to comfort him, "the top priority now is to avenge your grandfather... My father wanted to wait until Kong Sizhen arrived in Kaifeng and execute her Ling Chi. Then march to Jiangling."
Wu Shicong was almost angry at his father, "Dad! Do you think Wu Yingxiong said so many soft words because he really doesn't want to fight with us? He is stalling for time so that he can poach us!
The current situation is that we have soldiers but no money, and he has money but no soldiers!
But our soldiers also have to be coaxed with money! We haven't paid our wages for two months. If this continues, even Third Uncle and Manager Ma will have to seek refuge with Wu Yingxiong, and we will be in trouble by then! "
"Isn't this the land of three prefectures and three states in Henan?"
Wu Shicong stamped his feet, "How can we support our army with such a ruined place, which has just been destroyed by the Qing Dynasty? And who of the two of us can manage the territory well?"
What he said was correct. Wu Yingqi and Wu Shicong and his son were both fierce generals, but they did not know how to manage territory.
While the two father and son were arguing, there was suddenly a rush of footsteps outside the door, and then Liu Xuanchu's voice was heard: "General, General Jinwu, there are guests coming to Kaifeng Mansion."
"Mr. Liu, please come in."
Wu Yingqi quickly invited Liu Xuanchu to come in.
This Liu Xuanchu is now the think tank of the Wu family. But this think tank was a principled think tank and refused to persuade Wu Yingqi to send troops to kill his brother... This was fratricide!
Liu Xuanchu saluted Wu Yingqi and said, "General, General Jin and Wu, this is a distinguished guest who has returned. You must come out to welcome us."
"Dignified guest? Who is it?" Wu Yingqi asked, "Do you need me to pick him up in person?"
Liu Xuanchu said: "General, there are two groups of distinguished guests coming this time. One group is Zu Zepu, Zu Yonglie, Zuo Chunqiu and others."
Wu Yingqi asked: "Zu Zepu and Zu Yonglie? Are they envoys of the Qing Dynasty?"
Liu Xuanchu shook his head, "No, they are Zhu Ming's envoys!"
"Zhu Ming?" Wu Yingqi was stunned, "Who else is there?"
Liu Xuanchu said: "The other group of people are Li Guohan's son Sang'e and the first-class bodyguard Alani...their envoys from the Qing Dynasty."
"Sang Er... this is also an acquaintance of ours!" Wu Yingqi thought for a moment and said with a bitter smile, "It seems that both parties have put their best efforts into it. I really have to go out in person to pick up the guests!"
