On the ninth day of June, after preliminary preparations, Guan Ning's army set off from Shanhaiguan to Shandong.
The troops on this road were led by Jin Guoqi as the commander, Gao Qiqian as the military supervisor, and Li Maogen as the food supervisor. There are also famous generals under his command such as Le Guochen, Zu Dabi, Zhang Tao, Yang Guozhu, Chen Keli, Jin Liangdong, Dong Keqin, Wang Xian, Zu Kuan, Wu Xiang, Wu Sangui and so on.
Although there were only four or five thousand people, they gathered all the expectations of the Ming Dynasty.
The soldiers and horses did not move very fast this way, just because the troops were dispatched in a hurry and there was not enough food and grass.
Although Gao Qiqian killed Lu Xiangsheng, he suffered a lot of infamy. But there is a saying that Gao Qiqian was very conscientious when he rushed to Shandong to quell the rebellion.
He and Li Maogen worked hard to prepare food and grass, so as to ensure the stability of Guan Ning's army.
Guan Ning's army slowly moved south while gathering reinforcements from all walks of life. When they arrived in Texas, their strength had grown to more than 7,000.
At this time, the news also reached Laizhou City.
"How about... let's withdraw."
Within the rebel army, many people were a little frightened when they heard that Guan Ning's army was coming.
Even though Dongjiang Town and Guan Ningjun have been feuding for a long time, Dongjiang Town is still very afraid of Guan Ningjun's combat effectiveness.
Geng Zhongming was the first to not want to fight.
Kong Youde also had some doubts, but he felt that he now had tens of thousands of troops under his command, and it would be too embarrassing to run away without fighting.
Li Yingyuan strongly opposed it.
"Two uncles, now our army has strong soldiers and horses, and there are so many firearms. Even if it is Guan Ning's army, what should we fear?"
Li Yingyuan had long been instructed by his father Li Jiucheng and understood the true purpose of this rebellion.
In his opinion, the bigger the fuss becomes, the more benefits Houjin will be able to reap from his merits.
But the trouble in Dongjiang Town is not big enough now.
Kong Youde expressed his doubts.
"It's not that we are afraid of Guan Ning's army, it's that Laizhou City is like a awning on our backs and we must be on guard against it."
Laizhou has been fighting for more than half a year, but it is still impregnable. Kong Youde was afraid that when fighting Guan Ning's army, Laizhou's soldiers and horses would rush out and make Dongjiang Town vulnerable from both sides.
Li Yingyuan gritted his teeth and grew evil.
"Guan Ning's army is still far away, so we might as well use a strategy to see if we can win away from Laizhou City."
After listening to Li Yingyuan's plan, Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and others also felt that this method was good.
They invited Qu Yiyang, who was staying here, and respectfully offered him the first seat.
"Master Qu, we have been informed of the court's sincerity. Please return immediately and convey our surrender to Xie Zhongcheng."
Qu Yiyang was overjoyed when he heard that Kong Youde and others were finally willing to accept recruitment.
At this time, he had just received a message from Liu Yulie and learned that Guan Ningjun was coming.
Once Guan Ning's army arrives on the battlefield and the main battle is irreversible, they, the main support faction, will be completely defeated.
For credit and profit, Qu Yiyang had to take risks.
"I have learned all about your intentions. Now that you have made up your mind, the only way to save yourself is to withdraw your troops and control yourself."
Kong Youde even claimed that it was true and ordered the withdrawal of troops in front of Qu Yiyang.
Seeing this, Qu Yiyang became even more excited. He returned to Laizhou City and deliberately concealed the news of the arrival of reinforcements, but only tried his best to publicize Liu Yulie's order.
At this time, Laizhou City was already on the verge of collapse.
Not to mention the people, even the defenders had not had food for three days.
Since last month, the people have had to eat each other to stay alive. If we persist, both the officials and the defenders will have no choice but to rely on cannibalism to defend the city.
Without reinforcements for such a long time, Xie Lian and Zhu Wannian were a little desperate.
At this time, Qu Yiyang insisted on appeasement, and they had no choice but to follow the good example.
Only Yang Yufan remained stubborn and refused to negotiate.
But this time, Xie Lian and Zhu Wannian ignored him.
That afternoon, seeing the rebels withdrawing as expected, both Xie Lian and Zhu Wannian firmly believed that the rebels were truly ready to be recruited.
Especially in the evening, artillery shells suddenly hit Laizhou among the rebels. After a period of chaos, Xie Lian and Zhu Wannian at the top of the city saw with their own eyes that Kong Youde personally escorted a soldier to the outside of the city, cut off the man's ear with his own hands, and then knelt down to worship at the top of the city.
This is to show that the artillery fire just now was just the initiative of the soldiers below, so it is a punishment and a demonstration of sincerity.
Seeing this, Xie Lian and Zhu Wannian celebrated with each other, feeling that something great had happened.
Early the next morning, Xie Lian and Zhu Wannian walked out of the city under the escort of the army and came to the trench.
On the other side, Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and other rebel generals also came to the trench.
The two sides launched the first round of negotiations across the trench.
Zhu Wannian came up aggressively.
"Are you willing to surrender?"
Kong Youde and others saw that there was no chance to take advantage of them, so they all knelt on the ground and were extremely respectful.
"I wish to surrender."
Xie Lian asked: "What is your wish?"
Kong Youde took the opportunity to ask for prices.
"The guilty ministers and others were originally people of the Liao Dynasty, and they have lived in peace for generations. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty invaded, the criminal ministers and others have been favored by the emperor and protected their homes, and they have fought bloody battles with the Tartars. However, the traitors in the court have been repeatedly persecuted. From Commander Mao down, Everyone in Dongjiang weeps with blood. May the angel tell you long live that I will not change my original intention and will always be driven by the imperial court. I only want to live in Dengzhou. I will respond to the imperial court's call and dare not shirk the responsibility."
Xie Lian frowned and scolded: "In the past, I ordered you and others to reinforce Liaodong, but you were delayed and slacked off. The imperial court is fully aware of all the crimes. The matter of Dengzhou will never be mentioned again."
Dengzhou is the most important area in the rear area of Liaodong. Xie Lian thought that it was impossible for the imperial court to cede Dengzhou to the rebels in any case.
How did he know that the imperial court had given up the idea of recruiting, and Guan Ningjun was on the way.
Kong Youde didn't really want to cede Dengzhou, he was just asking for an exorbitant price.
"I would also like to ask you, sir, to take pity on our Liao people's hardships, and always ask us, Liao people, to guard the island. Only then can we survive with the convenience of trade."
He settled for the next best thing and came up with a new plan.
Dongjiang Town still went back to guard the Liaodong Islands, but hoped to obtain trade rights with the inland.
After all, the island is barren and has little output. If food and other materials are not obtained through trade, the people in Dongjiang Town will starve to death as before.
Xie Lian and Zhu Wannian looked at each other and said, "Don't be impatient for a moment. Let me give you a reply after discussion."
Kong Youde took the opportunity to increase his stake.
"All we ask for is one life. As long as you, your lords, agree, we will retreat to Dengzhou on the eighth day of the lunar month to express our friendship."
This sentence shocked Xie Lian and Zhu Wannian, and they trusted Kong Youde and others a little more.
The first negotiation between the two sides ended here, and Laizhou City felt that it understood the rebels' intentions.
After returning to the city, Qu Yiyang strongly asked Laizhou Civil and Military to agree to the rebels' request and put an end to the war.
Yang Yufan once again had a big fuss with Qu Yiyang, Xie Lian, Zhu Wannian and others, and simply returned to the military camp, out of sight but out of mind.
On the seventh day of the lunar month, Zhu Wannian, as a representative, entered the rebel camp and started the second round of negotiations.
Kong Youde led all the generals to personally greet him outside the camp. As soon as they saw Zhu Wannian, all the rebel soldiers fell to their knees with an alarming momentum.
It happened to be noon when Zhu Wanlai came, and the rebels were lighting a fire to make food. He took the opportunity to observe and found that the pot cooked by the rebels was sparsely populated, with not many grains of rice at all.
This made him completely convinced of the sincerity of the rebels.
Zhu Wannian represented the city and agreed in principle to the rebels' request. When Kong Youde and others sent him away, the rebels were already packing their bags and seemed to really want to return to Dengzhou and wait for appeasement.
Xie Lian and others have been waiting anxiously for Zhu Wannian's return.
"Master Zhu, have Kong Youde and others agreed?"
Zhu Wannian looked confident, pointing to the rebel camp being demolished outside the city, and said with a smile: "Congratulations to Mr. Zhongcheng, for this achievement, your name will go down in history."
Xie Lian was also a little confused and asked: "Do the generals of Dongjiang have any requests?"
Zhu Wannian said sternly: "Kong Youde has decided to return to Dengzhou tomorrow. He hopes that the Lord can personally give the letter so that he can convince Li Jiucheng after he returns."
Xie Lian did not doubt that he was there, nodded and said: "This is the right reason."
On the second day, Xie Lian, Zhu Wannian, and Qu Yiyang went out of the city hand in hand, preparing to go to the rebel barracks.
Seeing Yang Yufan standing aside with a cold face, Qu Yiyang felt very happy and deliberately asked: "Will Mr. Yang not go with me?"
Yang Yufan's eyes were bloodshot and he shouted: "I only know how to be loyal to the country and kill thieves to serve the country. I don't know what it means to care."
The three of them made a fuss, ignored Yang Yufan, ordered the city gate to be opened, put up the king's order flag, and headed for the rebel camp.
Behind them, Yang Yufan stood at the top of the city and kept beating the battlements.
"The people in power are so ignorant that the great situation has been ruined!"
