The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Bang bang, bang bang"

The sounds of gunfire and artillery firing came one after another, and from time to time there were clusters of arrows sliding across the sky.

At this moment, a group of Ming troops retreated from the front. The leading general quickly ran to a general wearing armor and clasped his fists to report: "General Yu, there are too many fences in the Lianthief Wall across the way. Let's attack them and burn down two of them in one go." But there are still fences inside, and there are traps and traps in between. My soldiers were killed and wounded many times by the Lian thieves’ random arrows, so we really can’t defeat them.”

The general leading the army was Yu Dayou. It was reported at the beginning of the month that Zhang Lian's troops and horses had expanded too fast in recent months, reaching almost 200,000 people. However, as the number of people increased, the consumption of people eating horses and chewing increased.

In the absence of food and grass, Zhang Lian led his troops to attack Pinghe County in Fujian, hoping to seize the county's grain depot to replenish military supplies.

At this time, the magistrate of Pinghe County was dismissed due to the inability to resist the last rebel attack. The new magistrate had not yet been appointed. The governor of Pinghe County, Hu Qiheng, was temporarily in charge of county affairs. After a brief discussion with Dian Shi Tanyun, he sent people to convey military information to request reinforcements, and at the same time led the troops. The country soldiers came out of the city to fight.

They knew very well that the combat effectiveness of the soldiers in Pinghe County and Township was low, so they chose the stratagem of laying suspicion on the soldiers, bluffing, and beating drums all the way out of the city.

At this time, the army of Lian thieves was no longer as vigorous as last year. After the defeat in the attack on Jiangxi and Zhejiang, although they felt that they could not defeat the soldiers and horses of Zhejiang and Jiangxi, they could not defeat the Fujian soldiers commanded by Fujian Governor You Zhende, Commander Wang Hao, and the Guangdong and Guangxi capitals. The Guangxi wolf soldiers commanded by Yushi Zhang Gao were still able to fight and defeat them.

In particular, the wolf soldiers led by Zhang Gao were recruited and stationed in Fujian and Guangzhou. The guest soldiers caused harm to the local areas. "Everyone in the countryside for seventy or eighty miles suffered from them." Many people have defected to Zhang Lian, which is also the main reason why Zhang Lian's power has expanded significantly recently.

Hu Qiheng and Tan Yun naturally knew the current situation. Instead of flying the flag of the Fujian soldiers and horses, the thieves embroidered the name of Yu Dayou, the deputy commander-in-chief of Southern Jiangxi, on the military flag, making the rebel detective Ma mistakenly think that the soldiers and horses killed in Pinghe County were Yu Dayou commanded the troops and horses.

Zhang Lian's troops had fought several battles with Yu Dayou's army in Nangan before, but they were bound to lose. They no longer had the courage to continue fighting with them, so they were so frightened that they collapsed without a fight and were chased and killed by the local soldiers led by Hu Chiheng and Tan Yun.

Just when Zhang Lian led his troops to withdraw from Pinghe County to gather troops, Yu Dayou, who had received the report, signed a letter to the governor, and the commander-in-chief Liu Xian reported the military situation. Down.

However, when the army arrived at the lair and attacked for several days, they made little progress.

Zhang Lian's lair was laid out according to the mountain topography. Walls of various sizes were built on each hilltop, and then several layers of walls were connected with fences.

It was completely different from the siege battle that Yu Dayou had imagined. It would not end if the army broke through the city wall and entered the city. Instead, it was only after conquering several fortresses that they discovered that there were still many hilltop fortresses ahead.

He didn't know how much time it would take to pull down the fortresses one by one. Seeing the mountain peaks in the distance, Yu Dayou fell into deep thought.

In this way, it is really a bad idea to attack layer by layer like peeling off bamboo shoots without knowing that it will take years and months to completely level Zhang Lian's nest.

"Da da da"

The crisp sound of horse hooves sounded, and a scout from afar urged his horse.

Not long after, the men and horses were approaching. The scout dismounted and ran to Yu Dayou. He kneeled on the ground and reported: "Report to the general, the rebel Zhang Lian has learned that our troops are attacking the nest. The rebel troops have left Pinghe County in four groups and are returning. here."

"The troops are divided into four groups?"

When Yu Dayou heard the scout's report, he asked in surprise, "Do you know where Zhang Lian is?"

"General, Zhang Lian's traitor flag has not been raised on several routes, so we can't tell."

The scout replied hastily.

After receiving such an answer, Yu Dayou was a little numb.

The terrain in southern Fujian is complex and is all mountainous. Most of his troops are soldiers and horses mobilized by the Jiangxi Guards, as well as reinforcements from Guangdong and Guangxi. They are not familiar with the terrain in this area, not to mention that he has to put most of his energy into it. In terms of how to control these people, the natural choice is to concentrate the troops on one route and try to wipe out one of the enemy forces at once.

As for which group of people to choose, even a fool knows how to capture the thief and capture the king.

But now we don’t know where Zhang Lian is, so it’s difficult to handle.

After calling the scouts over and asking them about the direction of the four bandits, Yu Dayou quickly outlined the route of Zhang Lian's troops on the map.

There isn't much time left for him.

Decisively choose the defeated troops in the far north. They are the farthest troops from his unit. I hope Zhang Lian will choose this team for safety.

After that, based on the traveling speed of the bandits reported by the scouts, Yu Dayou began to calculate the marching time of both sides and choose the most suitable ambush point.

Fighting this group of thieves is entirely a matter of luck. The next step is to issue orders and deploy troops to set up an ambush.

In recent days, the most sensational news in the capital is the news that Yan Song, who has been the chief minister of the cabinet for fourteen years, has become an official. Yan Shifan, the elder of the small cabinet, has been imprisoned, and the Yan family has collapsed.

With the issuance of the imperial edict and a foregone conclusion, officials from the Yan Party felt that they were in danger and began to look for a way out, hoping to successfully land ashore before the storm came. They did not want to sink with the Yan family.

Although he was very disdainful of these people, Yan Song naturally did not let these people go to waste when he accepted them. Many of them have been promoted to some important positions in the Sixth Department, so whether it is Xu Jie or Prince Yu's Mansion, in his heart Still hope to accept some of them.

Wei Guangde originally didn't want to go out to socialize, but after all, he was from Prince Yu's Mansion, so he could only accept invitations to eat and drink with him these days.

"Everyone, this is the news I just received."

Just as Wei Guangde was communicating with Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng about yesterday's harvest, Li Fang walked into the room with a smile.

"What are you so happy about?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously, reaching out to take the note from Li Fang's hand as he spoke.

After browsing briefly, Wei Guangde also had a smile on his face, "Yes, it looks like the Fujian thieves have been broken by the officers and soldiers, and the annihilation of Zhang Lian and his group of rebel thieves is just around the corner."

"Oh? Fujian had a great victory?"

Yin Shizhen asked in surprise.

"Brother Zhengfu, let's take a look."

While talking, Wei Guangde handed the note he copied to Yin Shizhen.

Faced with Zhang Juzheng and Tang Ruji's probing glances, Yin Shizhen simply read out the contents transcribed on the note.

"Fujian Newspaper reported that in mid-March, Guangdong Sanrao thief Zhang Lian led an army to attack Pinghe County, Fujian Province. The governor of the prefecture, Hu Qiheng, was in charge of the county affairs and Dian Shi Tanyun led the rural troops out of the city to fight. Fang proposed to suppress and mobilize Fang. The thieves were not gathered to detect Pinghe Danxu. Therefore, there was a sudden attack and he was not afraid of his ability. When he saw his drums beating very sharply, he thought that a large army was coming. He was frightened and ran away. Yun used all his speed to attack, captured five thieves, and beheaded thirty-two people. Lu Wen, the censor of the southern Jiangxi capital, I heard that the admiral Zhang Gao, the censor of Guangdong and Guangdong, also reported that it was time to capture the bandit leaders Wang Ziyun, Chen Fubao and other 25 people."

After Yin Shizhen finished reading the message copied on the note, his face was still full of joy. Tang Ruji on the side was also beaming at this time, as if he had won a battle.

"Eunuch Li, have you ever told His Highness this good news?"

Yin Shizhen asked at this time.

"Your Highness hasn't gotten up yet. I'll go over and take a look later and tell His Highness the good news."

Li Fang said cheerfully, "Hey, why is uncle looking like this?"

At this time, Li Fang, who was speaking, noticed that Zhang Juzheng had a strange expression on his face, as if he had something to say.

"Uncle, you don't think this report is untrue, do you?"

When Yin Shizhen heard Li Fang's question, he looked at Zhang Juzheng and noticed the expression on his face, so he asked.

"No."

Zhang Juzheng's answer was very straightforward, but the hesitation on his face disappeared after a moment. After thinking for a moment, he said: "I just feel that this matter is weird."

As soon as Wei Guangde heard this, he knew where Zhang Juzheng's suspicion came from.

In fact, he noticed it from the beginning and guessed that there might be something concealed in the report and did not report the truth. However, Lu Wen, the censor of Southern Gansu Province, confirmed that Pinghe County won the battle and there was no lie.

For civil servants, it is understandable that they have some considerations when it comes to finally winning military honors such as defeating Zhang Lian's thieves.

As for what they concealed, Wei Guangde did not intend to go into detail. If he thought of writing a letter to Yu Dayou later, he would naturally know the inside story.

What he saw from this news was that, as he himself said, the Lian bandits had been killed by the army.

Now that the Fujian thieves have been expelled from southern Jiangxi by Yu Dayou, the defenses of Guangdong and Guangxi have also been strengthened. Judging from recent news, although the Lian thieves are still growing, they have lost their courage and can only toss in Fujian. This It is a sign of destruction.

Strangely enough, Zhang Lian's troops had been losing consecutive battles with the government troops recently, but the number of subordinates who surrendered to him was increasing, leaving Wei Guangde a little confused.

This is also because Wei Guangde’s so-called leading troops before, and the soldiers he had the most contact with were actually from the important towns of Jiubian in the north. The only battle he conducted with the Jiujiang Guards in the south of the Yangtze River was also because it was in South Zhili and not far from Nanjing City. The soldiers of Jiujiang Guard did not let Wei Guangde see what it means to "pass through thieves like a comb, and fight through soldiers like a grate".

Therefore, Wei Guangde never imagined that a large number of guest soldiers gathered around Fujian to encircle and suppress Zhang Lian's tribe, which would instead become a catalyst for strengthening Zhang Lian's tribe.

For these things, until something serious breaks out, local officials will try their best to cover up the past. Even the history books will not record it, and only a few words will be recorded in local annals.

Therefore, although he knew that Fujian was hiding something, Wei Guangde didn't take it seriously, as is human nature.

But if he knew that they had achieved this military success under the banner of Yu Dayou, would Wei Guangde still think so.

At the moment, the attention of everyone in the room was attracted by Zhang Juzheng's words, and they were also thinking about where the "weirdness" in Zhang Juzheng's words came from.

"Are you saying that when the local soldiers attacked, the enemy thought there were large soldiers and they were so frightened that they ran away?"

Tang Ruji asked at this time, breaking the moment of silence in the room.

"That's right. A city or country soldier can frighten Zhang Lian's troops. How strong must this soldier be?"

Zhang Juzheng said: "Previously, Shandai said that Zhang Lian's troops were broken by officers and soldiers. This is the reason, but I always feel that there is something very strange about it."

Following Zhang Juzheng's words, everyone else's eyes shifted to Wei Guangde. After all, Wei Guangde was the only person in the room who had ever led a soldier.

"I can't tell what the reason is, but I can understand the reason why Hu Chiheng and Tan Yun reported it like this. They just didn't want to share the credit. As for the inside story, it's not important. What's important is that they actually won the battle."

Wei Guangde could only laugh.

"As long as we win the battle, it will be fine. If this continues, Zhang Lian's troops will soon lose the power to fight. By then, it will be a matter of course for the government and the army to dispatch to destroy them."

Li Fang also said that he completely agreed with Wei Guangde's words. Whether they defeated the enemy openly or used conspiracy to win, winning was the last word. King Yu would be happy when he saw it, and he would be happy if King Yu was happy.

Very simple and simple truth.

"Uh-huh."

When Zhang Juzheng heard this, he also knew that he was thinking too much. Although what he thought was definitely right, it was indeed inappropriate to say these words when he was happy.

"It's just that the Ministry of War is going to have a headache."

At this time, Wei Guangde suddenly smiled.

"Why?"

Zhang Juzheng asked in surprise.

"Previously, Yang Shangshu had made a plan to attack the rebel nest. As a result, Yu Dayou went to Jiangxi. In two months, he defeated the rebel rebels in southern Jiangxi. Before they even had time to attack the rebel nest, the rebels retreated and gathered together. , wouldn’t the Ministry of War’s strategy be scrapped?”

Wei Guangde explained with a smile.

"Haha, exactly."

Zhang Juzheng agreed and smiled.

Some time ago, everyone's attention was naturally attracted by the battle between Xu Jie and Yan Song. Only Wei Guangde was still paying attention to the military situation in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, including the troops led by Wang Gao and others outside the Liaodong border to invade Dongzhou Fort, Fushun Walnut Mountain and other places. , the internal strife between Tushe Handian, the deputy chief of the official division of Rongshan, Bozhou, Sichuan, and Tushe Zhangwen, the chief officer, led their troops to attack each other, etc.

Wei Guangde also paid considerable attention to the progress of the suppression of bandits in Fujian. What's more, this was the time when the Japanese pirates were coming to the west. After Yan Song left the capital, it was estimated that the court's attention would soon be attracted by the Japanese affairs along the Jiangnan coast.

While everyone was still laughing and talking about the prospect of Fujian's victory, a hundred miles away from Phoenix City in Liaodong to the north, a Ming army was heavily surrounded by captive chiefs and barbarians.

The Ming army had been surrounded here for nearly two days, and their medicine, arrows, food and grass had been exhausted, and the only fate left was to be annihilated.

"General, we can only break out of Phoenix City with all our strength. If we can get out, we might still have a chance to survive."

Lieutenant General Li Si made Commander Tian Geng half kneel on the ground and reported to Liaodong Deputy Commander Hei Chun.

A few days ago, Heichun led his troops to reinforce Yangzhan Fort and encountered the Tuman tribe. After a fierce battle, the Tuman tribe was repulsed.

In order to achieve greater results, Heichun led his troops in pursuit. Unexpectedly, he fell into an ambush by the Tuman tribe and was surrounded in the Daughter-in-law Mountain near Phoenix City.

"Slaughter the injured horses, and after a feast, the whole army breaks out towards Phoenix City."

At this time, Heichun no longer had the high spirits he had when he defeated the Tuman two days ago, and he issued the order with a hint of decadence.

The captives attacked Liaodong again, but failed to attack Phoenix City and diverted to Yangzhan Fort. Deputy Commander-in-Chief Hei Chun led his troops to counterattack. The captives pretended to be defeated and took advantage of the victory. Chun pursued the victory and fell into an ambush. The captives knew how heavy the encirclement of their generals was. Chun and the guerrilla Li I want to kill the general Tian Geng and others for two days and nights.