In the Chicheng Castle Counselor's Office, Zhang Cheng discussed military affairs with the officers and generals. Yan Qingrong, Chen Zheng and others first reported the affairs of the North Road when Zhang Cheng went to the East Road.
Zhang Cheng spoke again: "Yang Ge's Ministry has repeatedly made suggestions to His Majesty, asking him to transfer our troops to Huguang and Sichuan to help suppress the Xian bandits. However, at that time, our army was poorly trained and found it difficult to fight, so I declined many times.
But today the intruders broke into Henan Province, and our soldier Chen Gelao urged me again and again, but the commander could not delay, so he hurriedly mobilized his troops. However, our northern army has just been formed and has not been tempered by the war. This time Good or bad is yet to be determined.
As the saying goes, before you think about progress, think about retreat first. In everything, you must reserve a way out. The North Road is where I started and where my foundation lies. Now I ask you all to protect it for me. You all must work together. "
"Don't worry, Deputy Commander. We will work together to protect the North Road and wait for the Deputy Commander to return victoriously!"
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It turned out that when the cabinet minister Yang Sichang went to Huguang to supervise the army to suppress the bandits, he had privately sent a message to Zhang Cheng, asking him to step up training, and he might be required to lead the army to the front line of Huguang to participate in the battle to suppress the bandits.
However, the cabinet minister Yang Sichang also went smoothly after supervising his division to suppress the bandits. He once forced Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, Li Zicheng and other giant bandits to imminent defeat.
But history always repeats itself. Every time when the thieves are about to be defeated, there will be a turning point. It has become a law that after a great victory for the government and the army, there will be a great defeat.
Originally, when the situation was improving, Yang Sichang was very high-spirited and did not want to mobilize Zhang Cheng to lead the army. However, as the situation turned sharply and the officers and soldiers suffered repeated defeats, it was difficult to control the thieves. So he repeatedly asked Zhang Cheng to lead the army to help. .
He blamed the defeat on the front line on the useless Sichuan troops and the Qin army's extortion of pay. In the end, Shao Jiechun, the governor of Sichuan, was dismissed from his post and interrogated. He was finally found guilty and abandoned the next year. Zheng Chongjian, the governor of Shaanxi, was also dismissed and replaced by Ding Qirui. Successor.
In fact, from the twelfth to the first half of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, the situation in Huguang's suppression of bandits was extremely optimistic, so Yang Sichang felt that it might be possible even if Zhang Cheng was not dispatched. But now the situation of the war has taken a turn for the worse. He looked around, Perhaps only Zhang Cheng has the ability to save the critical situation of the war.
Therefore, he hurriedly reported to the court several times, requesting the Ministry of War to immediately dispatch Zhang Cheng to send troops. However, Zhang Cheng always declined on the grounds that the army had not completed its training and should not be moved lightly.
But now the situation is different. Li Chuang unexpectedly broke into Henan Province, and his momentum was growing, threatening to seal the important territory of the vassal. The court was shocked, and his own soldier Chen Xinjia wrote to Zhang Cheng several times in person, asking him to send troops to Henan.
Zhang Cheng was also in an urgent situation and could no longer delay. In fact, in his heart, he also wanted to send troops to Henan to fight against the rogue bandits.
After all, in the late Ming Dynasty, the army was first, but military merit was second. But only by achieving military merit could one enhance one's prestige and military position. Only in this way could one legitimately expand its territory and expand its strength.
Earlier, if he had followed the order and sent troops, he would have fought in the hinterland of Sichuan. In this way, he would be too far away from his base, and there would be too much uncertainty during the war. Once defeated, everything he had worked hard for the past two years would be in vain. The clouds and smoke passed by, like a dream.
But sending troops to Henan was different. He had the intention to control Datong and Shanxi, and Henan was connected to Shanxi and not too far from Xuanzhen, so he could still take care of it in the future.
What's more, now Li Zicheng is having a good time there, but his real strength is far from as terrifying as when he invaded the capital of the Ming Dynasty a few years later.
At present, he is only very popular, but his combat power is still debatable. He is the best candidate for him to test his troops. What's more, at this moment, the down-and-out Juren Niu Jinxing has joined the army of Li Zicheng.
This caused Li Zicheng's rogue team to show political intentions that they should not have. This was the root of the panic in the court. It can be said that Zhang Cheng sent troops to Henan at this time, and he almost had the right time, location, and people!
valley…………
In fact, there is another main item on today’s agenda, and that is “famine”.
Since this year, except for a few rare places such as Xuanzhen North Road and East Road, it has rarely rained in provinces and prefectures such as Damingjifu, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi.
There is no harvest due to severe drought. Nowadays, the cost of rice is thousands of dollars. Ordinary people peel bark, sawdust and chaff to eat, or dig up the white mud in the mountains for food. Looking at the villages, the bark of the trees has been peeled off, and hungry corpses are everywhere.
Especially the migratory locusts that cover the sky after a severe drought are even more difficult to control. Wherever they gather, all the grass seedlings and reeds are gone, and even the weeds are gone.
It just so happens that blessings come unparalleled, but misfortunes never come alone. There is a severe drought in the north and floods in the south!
In May of this year, Suzhou, Songjiang, Huzhou and other prefectures on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the world-famous land of fish and rice, experienced torrential rains day and night. Floods surged, houses collapsed, and a bucket of rice cost three or four cents.
As the saying goes, after a major disaster there will be a major epidemic!
After every major disaster, there will definitely be a plague. Those people who are lucky enough not to die from the disaster will once again face the threat of death from the plague. It is difficult to survive, and even the whole village, the whole town, the whole city will die. Not a few either.
Drought also hit the East Road, but the North Road was less affected. This was mainly due to the fact that Zhang Cheng called on everyone to actively repair various water conservancy facilities and field ditches when he first arrived on the North Road.
There was also a lot of snow on the North Road last year, but the snow on the mountains melted slowly. This allowed the water in the streams to be maintained, basically ensuring the irrigation needs of the fields along the North Road.
But the East Road does not have these conveniences. Most of the farmland and cultivated land on the East Road are in plain areas. Although the drought is not that serious compared to Henan, the harvest has been greatly reduced.
But it was still possible to maintain the situation without starving the people. What's more, at this time, Zhang Cheng's forces had entered the East Road, and a large number of refugees were led by him to the North Road.
Moreover, he also mobilized grain from the North Road to the East Road, using the old method of providing work for relief, so that the hungry people on the East Road would build roads, build canals, and reclaim wasteland, and in turn exchange for food to survive.
Because of this, Zhang Cheng was praised as a living Bodhisattva by some soldiers and civilians!
Moreover, although the Xuanfu side was also affected by the locust plague, it was far weaker than that of Henan and Shanxi. What's more, the organization of locust extermination was more efficient than that of Henan and Shanxi.
It is precisely because of this that the soldiers and civilians on the East Road are very convinced of Zhang Cheng, and they have unparalleled trust in the disciplined North Road army. This also makes Wu Zhizhong's recruitment of bravery on the East Road smoother.
Yan Qingrong opened his mouth and reported: "Deputy Commander, thanks to the canal construction and water storage the year before last, the harvest of this year's crops is guaranteed. Our North Road is the least affected in Xuan Town."
He continued with a proud look on his face: "According to the instructions of the deputy commander, last year I took advantage of the good harvests everywhere to purchase a large amount of grain from the North Road. Now the harvest is good again, and the warehouses in each fort are full. of."
