In late August of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Yang Sichang, a cabinet minister and supervisor, moved from Xiangyang Prefecture in Huguang to Shu to supervise the war.
At that time, before this, the Superintendent Yang Sichang had ordered the supervisory army and Dali Youpingshi Wan Yuanji to go to Shu first, and coordinate the Shu army generals to strictly guard Ba, Wu and other dangerous places, and ordered the Shaanxi Qin army generals He Renlong and Li Guoqi and Huguang generals Zhang Yingyuan, Wang Zhifeng, Zhang Zuokai and others were dedicated to chasing Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai.
On the sixth day of September, the Ming army fought with Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan, but was defeated by Guanyin Rock. As a result, Zhang Xianzhong broke through Jingbi, and Dachang fell into the hands of the Xian thieves. Eventually, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai's tribes fled into the hinterland of Sichuan. This also caused Yang Sichang to be dissatisfied with Shao Jiechun, the governor of Sichuan.
After Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai captured Dachang, they advanced to Kaixian County. Zhang Ling, a famous general in Shu, led his troops to guard Zhujunping. They offered their thieves to divert the invaders. Zhang Ling fought hard with them for a long time, but in a melee, he was hit by a stray arrow and died. , the Ming army under his command was defeated and retreated.
Zhang Ling was a famous general in Shu. He had been in northern Sichuan for a long time. Although he was more than seventy years old, he could still use a five-stone crossbow immediately. Anyone who hit it would definitely pierce his chest. He was known as the "God Crossbow General" in the army. He was defeated and died today. , all the armies in Sichuan were seized by it.
Soon thereafter, the Xianthief army successively attacked Kaixian, Jianzhou, Baoning, and finally entered Hanzhong. They defeated Sichuan Governor Shao Jiechun's troops in Peijiang and captured Mianzhou. The commander-in-chief Yang Sichang was shocked to hear that the Shu army was defeated and imprisoned Sichuan Governor Shao Jiechun. .
…………
On the tenth day of October, after a fierce confrontation in the court, with the persistence and hard work of Emperor Chongzhen and Minister of War Chen Xinjia, Zhang Cheng finally agreed to Zhang Cheng's request.
On October 17, official documents from the Ministry of War were also delivered to Yongning City. Due to Zhang Cheng's outstanding political achievements under his rule, the number of farmland and military households increased. After suppressing bandits and putting an end to the rebellion, Zhang Cheng was promoted to the rank of Commander-in-Chief of the Wandu Division. He served as deputy commander-in-chief of the Xuanzhen branch garrison, stationed in Yongning, and supervised the military affairs of the Yongning Guards and Baoan Guards on the East Road of Xuanfu, and the Kaiping Guards and Longmen Guards on the North Road.
In addition, Zhang Cheng wrote many memorials on August 17th, mentioning many things, which are also mentioned in the official documents of the Ministry of War.
First, Zhang Cheng requested that Dushikou garrison be set up to strengthen the defense against the northern barbarians. The Ministry of War approved it in writing, and appointed Sha Zhongwang, a Qianhu at Dushikou Fort, as the garrison officer of Dushikou Fort at Zhang Cheng's request.
Secondly, Zhang Guodong, the former Kaiping Guard commander and comrade, was promoted to Kaiping Guard commander and guerrilla general; the commanders Chen Zheng and Zhang Guangda were also promoted to Yongning Guard commander and guerrilla general; for Wu Zhizhong and Wei Zhice, they were just He was promoted from the commander of Kaiping Guards to the rank of commander, but was not appointed as a guerrilla general.
Third, Gao Jinggong, the former guard of Longmen Station, was transferred to Chicheng garrison to replace Zhang Guodong; Xu Jinyong, a former Dishuiya Qianhu household, was promoted to the guard of Longmen Station to replace Gao Jinggong.
In addition, there was also a message from the Ministry of War to mobilize troops. As the bandit situation in Henan was fierce and increasingly difficult to control, Zhang Cheng, the deputy commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen, was specially assigned to lead his elite troops to assist Henan in wiping out the bandits and stabilizing the place.
Due to the urgent military situation, Zhang Cheng's official uniform, waist badge and other belongings have been sent to Yongning. He was also told that he does not need to go to Beijing to express his gratitude. After the army is prepared, it will go to Henan as scheduled to suppress bandits.
After seeing this letter, the generals understood why the Ministry of War so readily agreed to all the things Zhang Cheng had requested in his previous memorial. It turned out that they were first given a sweet date, promoted to military rank, and then sent to serve the imperial court. Work hard.
Zhang Cheng warmly entertained Zhang Ruoqi, the head of the Staff Department of the Ministry of War, who came to convey the order, and even stayed with him in Yongning for two days. The two seemed to hate each other for a long time, and they talked very much.
…………
The reason why the imperial court urgently transferred Zhang Cheng to Henan was because of the opinion of Chen Xinjia, Minister of War.
Since Zhang Xianzhong rebelled in Gucheng around the Dragon Boat Festival in the twelfth year of Chongzhen, it was convenient for Luo Rucai, Li Zicheng, Ma Shouying, Lin Chengcheng and other thieves to respond to each other at the right time and come and go and conflict between Hubei, Henan, Sichuan and Shaanxi. .
Later, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other thieves gathered their troops and broke into the hinterland of Sichuan. However, for some unknown reason, Li Zicheng sneaked into the Yubelly Mountain alone. He was unable to support himself, and the thieves under his command were also in difficulty.
Many of Li Zicheng's men surrendered to the army. Even he himself almost wanted to commit suicide, but was dissuaded by his adopted son Li Shuangxi. Liu Zongmin, a huge thief in his tribe, actually killed his wife and children and vowed to follow Li Zicheng to the death. When the rest heard about it, many of them killed their wives to swear the oath.
In mid-September, taking advantage of Zuo Liangyu's Ming army's camp moving into Sichuan to intercept Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, he personally led the Laoba Brigade to find a gap and rush out of Wuguan, passed Yunyang, and entered Henan.
After Yang Sichang heard the news, he hurriedly ordered Xing'an Dao soldiers to prepare for the attack. Governor Zhang Jing led generals Liu Hongqi, Wang Guangen and Hu Congyao to join forces with the governor of Henan to suppress it.
However, Henan has been experiencing severe drought for three consecutive years, especially this year. It has also been plagued by locusts all over the fields. Thousands of miles of bare land, countless hungry people. Villages have been starved to death, and many people in the city are killing people and eating each other. It is extremely cruel.
As soon as Li Zicheng entered Henan, he was like a fish in water. He first attacked the inner countryside and rested temporarily while waiting for the brigade and his family members to arrive to rendezvous. Then he successively destroyed the forty-eight forts in Xiong'er Mountain, supplemented military supplies with the food and grass from the local powerful, and recruited and coerced them. The hungry people in the surrounding areas regained their momentum.
At that time, after hearing the news, thieves such as Lao Dangdang and Yi Dougu, who had been operating in the border areas of Sichuan and Shaanxi, also led their troops to the meeting. In addition, Juren Niu Jinxing from Baofeng, Henan, entered the bandit camp and persuaded Li Zicheng to "ban Li Zicheng was overjoyed and "introduced him as the mastermind".
The news of bandits from Henan spread to the capital, causing shock to both the government and the public. None of the ministers could find a way to control it. However, Chen Xingjia, the Minister of War, strongly recommended Zhang Cheng from Xuanzhen to enter Henan to fight against the bandits, and sent a section of the Beijing camp to Henan to help.
…………
On October 18, Zhang Cheng immediately dispatched troops and generals at the General's Office in Yongning City.
First of all, it was determined that Wu Zhizhong would stay in Yongning City, and the right part of Song Shanquan, the Qian Commander of the Dushi Infantry Battalion, was moved to Yongning City. They were combined with more than a thousand people from the former Deputy General Soldier Battalion to form one battalion, and were temporarily placed under Wu Zhizhong's command.
Secondly, Chen Zheng was ordered to lead the central battalion of the Dushi Infantry Battalion to move to Chicastle, and take over the central New Army battalion under Zhang Guodong to stay in the Chicastle Battalion to intensify training.
Finally, the arrangements for the expedition were made. Zhang Guangda led the cavalry camp of more than 1,800 men as the vanguard, Wei Zhice commanded two carriages and one chariot, and combined with Lin Fangping's escort troops to form the central army.
Zhang Guodong led the infantry battalion as the rear team, which included Qian Commander Cui Shijie's left, Chen Dakuan's middle, and Jin Yong's right, totaling more than 3,000 infantry troops.
In this expedition, Zhang Cheng led three troops with a total of 9,000 troops. It can be said that they were all elite. In the eyes of others, Zhang Cheng might have made a fuss out of a molehill.
But he himself knows that the intruder at this time has been defeated repeatedly, and the more he fights, the braver he becomes, and he has the potential to be reborn. If he is not careful in fighting against him, he will be doomed!
But the North Road and the East Road are the foundation for him to settle down in this world. Therefore, Chen Zheng was left in Chicheng to guard the North Road, and Wu Zhizhong was left in Yongning. He had three purposes.
The first is to train the more than a thousand troops of the auxiliary camp so that they will be both capable of fighting and loyal to themselves in the future; the second is to guard the nail that he planted on the east road; the third is because Zhang Cheng once again raised the banner of recruiting brave soldiers, and Wu Zhizhong was already an expert in this regard.
Nothing was going right, so Zhang Cheng stood up and said loudly: "The strategy has been decided, everyone, please rise up. Five days later, on October 23, the army set off for Yu Province."
