On June 17, the thirteenth year of Chongzhen reign in the Ming Dynasty, in the East Pavilion of Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
Emperor Chongzhen was sitting on the dragon chair behind the imperial case. He pointed to a memorial on the case and said to Chen Xinjia, who was standing beside him: "What kind of thief dared to break into Yongning and kill the deputy chief soldier of a town? You I have been to Xuanzang for a long time, please tell me."
Chen Xinjia couldn't help but tremble. He thought for a moment before replying softly: "Your Majesty, Governor Xuanda has reported that this thief is a giant bandit from the east. Zhang Guowei has also attacked many times before, but has been unable to do so. Execute him, and that is what caused this catastrophe.
I would like to send General Zhang Cheng of the North Road to the east road of the town to wipe out the Dongshan bandits as soon as possible, stabilize Xuanzang Town, and garrison the fields to conduct troops, in order to serve the country on the battlefield, suppress the rogue bandits internally, and defend the Tartars externally. "
As soon as Chen Xinjia mentioned Zhang Cheng, Emperor Chongzhen's anger subsided a bit. He looked deeply at the roof of the East Pavilion and said lightly:
"Hmph, the deputy commander-in-chief of the town was unable to exterminate the stubborn local thieves and ended up dead at his hands. Zhang Guowei was also a mediocre person, and his death was a dead end. However, last time Zhang Cheng was good at killing criminals, I A decree has been sent to demote him to Kaiping Guards to command Qianshi. How can he be promoted since he has not seen any military achievements?"
Chen Xinjia bowed his head slightly and humbly said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I would like to ask Zhang Cheng to lead the army into the East Road to exterminate the Dongshan bandits. This can also test the strength of the troops he has commanded. If the Dongshan bandits are successfully exterminated, then we can proceed again." It’s not too late to mention his merits and promotions.”
Emperor Chongzhen slowly closed his eyes and leaned back on the back of the dragon chair, looking deep in thought. After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Okay, let's handle it accordingly."
"I obey the decree!"
"Is there any news from Yang Sichang?"
"Returning to your majesty, I just reported to the capital just now. The Yangge Division Supervisor suppressed the bandits and achieved a series of great victories. The bandits are at the end of the road. They have been trapped in the Fish Belly Mountain and are sluggish. The situation is excellent."
Emperor Chongzhen and Chen Xinjia talked about the military affairs of suppressing bandits in Huguang again.
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At this time, Chen Xinjia had already entered the cabinet, and Xue Guoguan had just been promoted to the chief minister of the cabinet at the beginning of the 13th year of Chongzhen. However, Emperor Chongzhen was dissatisfied with his affairs and was dismissed from his post on June 23rd.
It was during the period when Chen Xinjia was deeply appreciated by Emperor Chongzhen that Zhang Cheng used some money to open up connections between all parties, from the officials and generals on the East Road to the generals and governors of Xuanzang Town, and to the Governor of Xuanda.
Zhang Guowei, the deputy commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen, was guarding the East Road. He used troops for many years and wasted money and food. He was unable to exterminate the stubborn thief Dongshan Tianbawang under his rule. Instead, he was slaughtered by him. He really brought the blame on himself.
In fact, Zhang Guowei is the deputy commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen. After many years of management, he also has quite a lot of connections and connections in the town and the court. However, he is already dead when he leaves, so who else will honestly argue for him? .
What's more, regarding this matter, everyone from the governor of Xuanda, the commander-in-chief, to the officers and generals of Yongning all reported in general. In the court, Chen Xinjia, a cabinet minister and his own soldier, tried his best to defend it. Even if there was some noise, it would not help.
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On July 14, the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, the giant bandit Luo Rucai fought with the general Sun Yingyuan and others in Fengyiping, Xingshan. More than 2,300 people were killed by the officers and soldiers, and more than 500 people were captured. Luo Rucai had no choice but to fight. He led all the thieves to flee to Baiyang Mountain and joined forces with Zhang Xianzhong's thieves.
At this time, Cao Wei, Guo Tianxing and other rogue bandits also wanted to cross the river, but were blocked by Ming officers and soldiers. Just as Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai arrived, all the bandits camped together again.
Although all the bandits had been defeated, Zhang Xianzhong still had strong thief spirit. He immediately stood by the river with a sword, and killed anyone who was timid and disobedient. The bandits should be brave, and the officers and soldiers did not dare to advance. Zhang Xianzhong then led his troops to cross the river. Stationed in Wanqing Mountain.
After that, Zhang Xianzhong and other thieves jumped out of the border of Hubei, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces. Taking advantage of the contradiction between Sichuan governor Shao Jiechun and Yang Sichang, he stormed Xinning, which was defended by Shao Jiechun, broke into the hinterland of Sichuan, and began to implement the new strategy of "conquering the enemy by walking". strategy.
On July 27, the angel from the capital came to Chi Castle and read out the imperial edict, ordering Zhang Cheng to immediately lead the army into the East Road territory to wipe out the East Mountain bandit Kou Tianbawang.
However, the generals in Yongning failed to take precautions, and bandits broke into the city and burned down the deputy general's headquarters. They killed Zhang Guowei, the deputy general in charge of the branch, and even had their heads chopped off. All officers and generals were demoted by two ranks and retained, except for Liu Zhongshi, the branch guard general, was transferred back to the town.
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On July 29, in the official hall of the Central Hall of the Chicheng General Office, all the generals from the North Road gathered together.
Zhang Cheng had anticipated such an outcome before and had already transferred Cui Shijie's left wing of the Dushi Infantry Battalion to Chicastle. Chen Zhong's rangers arrived at Chicastle on the night of May 29 and stayed there. Stay here.
Now Zhang Cheng's two infantry battalions are equipped with three troops. Cui Shijie on the left of Dushi Infantry Battalion, Song Shanquan on the right, and the new army in the middle was formed in May. Qianzong Tian Mingyu.
The Chicheng Infantry Camp consists of Chen Dakuan on the left and Jin Yong on the right. The middle section is also composed of new brave men who have completed three months of training. Qianzong is Zhou Ping.
In early February, more than 4,000 new troops were recruited. After completing three months of training, each of the two infantry camps was assigned a new army, and the remaining nearly 2,000 troops were assigned to Wei Zhice's car camp.
Zhang Cheng's Central Military Department has not been formally established yet. His idea is to select loyal and brave old sergeants from each battalion in the future, and then gradually enrich his Central Military Department.
Because, in his mind, he regards the Central Military Headquarters as his core strength. Currently, there are only more than 400 escort troops, plus 500 sergeants under Wu Zhizhong. Although he only has the strength of about a thousand headquarters, its equipment and The combat power is the strongest.
In the official hall, looking at the generals gathered together, Zhang Cheng felt filled with pride.
Previously, he had taken dangerous risks, sneaked into Yongning, and killed the deputy commander Zhang Guowei in one fell swoop. Afterwards, he was still panicking. His current strength was not enough to fight against the imperial court and influence the situation of the imperial court.
The reason why he acted like this was that Zhang Guowei was really too much. He dared to offend himself and even threatened his wife and uncle. His sinister intentions were obvious and he could not be tolerated.
Secondly, in order to quickly rise to power, the overall situation of the North Road has been decided, and he urgently needs to expand his living space. The East Road is bound to be won, and Zhang Guowei is blocking his way forward, so he must get rid of it!
Fortunately, there was no danger and everything went as planned. Although some people had doubts about this, what could Zhang Cheng do without real evidence?
We can't just watch Zhang Cheng's glory all the way. For example, Yongning guard Tong Shouxin. He knew what Zhang Cheng did, but he had no choice but to surrender to Zhang Cheng. There was no other way.
But there was one thing that Zhang Cheng did not expect. Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuan Town, had been wary of Zhang Cheng since then, but Liu Yongzhao, the governor of Xuan Mansion, changed his view of Zhang Cheng because of this.
Previously, he believed that Zhang Cheng had a loyal heart and was one of the few loyal military generals, so he always cared and loved Zhang Cheng very much. However, after this incident, many rumors spread to his ears. There is real evidence, but he also has doubts about Zhang Cheng.
