stubborn thief

Sancha River.

Qianfeng Town, Liaodong.

Zu Dashou knew that there were enemies in the north. As soon as the news of the missing scout was reported back, the 19th Battalion of Qianfeng Town went into combat readiness.

The five scouts were a small matter; the key point was that the place where they disappeared was strange. It was called Aosi Niulu, a village established by the Jin Kingdom in the first year of the Tianqi reign.

Ao Simi Niulu existed for a very short time. After Nurhaci captured Liaoyang and Shenyang, he announced that they would shave their heads. The Liao people then rose up in rebellion, and the Niulu villages outside the border wall were successively cleared out by the Guanning Army.

Ao Si, a Jurchen noble who founded Niulu, also died in battle that year.

Because the land there was fertile, it kept changing hands between the Ming and Jin dynasties as the battle lines changed. When the Later Jin was strong, that place became a Niulu village; when the Guanning was strong, that place became a military settlement.

But at this time, all the Jurchen villages had retreated to within the border walls in accordance with Huang Taiji's decree, and the Eight Banners soldiers should not appear there.

If the Eight Banners Army appeared there, the most likely possibility was that they intended to bypass the Sancha River and attack Guangning and Jinzhou from outside the border wall.

Therefore, as soon as he discovered that the scout was missing, Xu Chengyou, the lieutenant general of the left camp of the vanguard, reported the news to the central army and led his troops northward in pursuit.

Then the camp was surrounded.

Guanning was the only regular military organization in the Ming army that had the ability to survive independently on the battlefield.

Zu Dashou's vanguard town had 34 battalions of garrison troops and 19 battalions of combat troops, a total of 53 battalions with 68,000 cavalry and infantry troops, with each battalion having just over 1,000 troops.

They are not just collecting empty salaries, their organization is just a small battalion of just over a thousand people.

Like Liu Chengzong's Huben Battalion, most of the officers were low-ranking but highly assigned.

Among the 19 battalions of combat troops led by Zu Dashou himself, four were Yi battalions similar to his personal guards, namely the Left and Right Battalions for Pingyi and the Left and Right Battalions for Jiangyi.

The remaining fifteen battalions were divided into five armies according to the vanguard, rear force, center, left wing and right wing. Each army was further divided into three battalions, left, center and right, led by two deputy generals and one lieutenant general respectively.

Among them, the three vanguard battalions have slightly more troops, totaling 4,500 to 600 people; the other three battalions each have 3,120 people.

This more powerful general and smaller organization was mainly used to deal with the 1,500-man Jiala-level troop of the Later Jin Dynasty.

There was only one general, Zu Dashou, in the entire army, and the military power was unified and the troops were sufficient.

But this time, they made a wrong judgment from the very beginning.

Xu Chengyou led the 1,500 cavalrymen of the left camp of the vanguard to pursue northwards in order to gather intelligence and fight with the infiltrating "Eight Banners Vanguard".

As a result, when they arrived at the place, they fought with the Marshal's Juntang Cavalry.

The fight was going on in front and the news was spreading backwards.

Following behind were two deputy generals, Yang Zhen and Wu Sangui, who were both surprised and delighted when they saw the intelligence.

Xu Chengyou said that those who went out to plunder were the fake Tatars and Mongolian flags of the Han army flag, and they would also use Tang soldiers to cover the battlefield.

Xu Chengyou also said that the Eastern Tartars had improved the horse breed from somewhere, and these people were riding tall horses, looking quite scary.

But it's not difficult to fight.

After all, they are Tang soldiers, not part of the regular army's combat sequence. The Guanning vanguard can drive them out of the battlefield with a little effort, but they are difficult to catch.

After a long time of effort, Xu Chengyou drove away the Tangqi and saw a scene by the river that he could never have imagined in his life.

There were several camps along the river bank, and some people were building bridges over the shallows of the river.

At the gates of several camps, there were large flags of "Han Fanbu", "Qin Fanbu" and "Su Fanbu". The bridges on the shore were built by the "Xiangling" and "Leping" divisions, and the brigades below them also had flags of "Fuguo" and "Fengguo".

Xu Chengyou even saw that there were several soldiers holding swords and guns on guard outside, surrounding a horseman, and the man was wearing a dragon robe over his armor.

A group of Guanning soldiers who were trying hard to break through the Tangqi defense line were dumbfounded. They stretched their necks on horseback to look forward, with their mouths open and unable to close.

The Neiding cavalryman who was the first to react asked Xu Chengyou: "General, is this Donglu usurping the title so plagiarized? Even the name of the vassal state was plagiarized?"

Xu Chengyou didn't know what was going on. The dull expression on his face was just as much as that of the soldiers.

Hearing this, he couldn't help but raise his hand and scratch his weather-beaten cheek with his fingernails: "This is fucking weird, where did the royal family come from?"

He shook his head and muttered to himself, "Something is wrong. This is the vassal state of Shaanxi... What are those bastards doing building a bridge here? Report to General Wu immediately. This is not the Eastern Tartars!"

It's late.

They were still watching from afar, but an even more bizarre scene was approaching.

The Mongolian cavalry holding high the flag of the Northern Yuan Dynasty had dispersed into a sea formation, covering the entire river bank. The royal relatives on the shore also joined the sequence in their chariots, slowly approaching them.

Xu Chengyou felt a headache when he saw the words on the big banner.

He was completely confused and didn't know what kind of battlefield he was on.

Having defended the border for twenty years, Xu Chengyou never thought that one day he would be surrounded and attacked by the two great empires of Yuan and Ming.

At this moment, the general wearing armor and a dragon robe on the river bank came on horseback, with two soldiers behind him holding the "Qin Fanbu" flag and fearlessly heading straight for the position of the vanguard right camp.

When he got to the front, his military officer stepped forward and shouted, "Which camp are you from in Guanning? The prince of Qin Fan is here. Let the commander come out to see me!"

"General, be careful of fraud!"

The servant pulled Xu Chengyou, but Xu Chengyou didn't care and also led two riders forward.

He now understood that the troops appearing on the battlefield were the marshal's army of the northwestern rebel Liu Chengzong.

Because these vassal states were all in Shaanxi and had been conquered by Liu Chengzong, but a special camp was set up for the royal family, which was something Xu Chengyou never expected.

When he went out to meet the prince of Qin, he had no intention of talking. He just wanted to take the opportunity to capture the prince first and take the general hostage and return to Sancha River.

But since Prince Qin Fan dared to come to the front of the battlefield, he was not afraid of being held hostage.

As soon as Xu Chengyou walked to the Qin prince, the prince bowed and said, "I am Zhu Cunji, the Qin prince. I am only a captain in the Marshal's Army. General, don't try to hold me hostage. This is a letter from Qian Shisheng, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and the Minister of Rites, to Zu Zhen, the vanguard of Liaodong."

Zhu Cunji handed the letter to Xu Chengyou and said, "Retreat. The Grand Marshal has no intention of becoming an enemy of Guan Ning. Don't ask for trouble."

Zhu Cunji saw Xu Chengyou's eyes flickering, thinking that Xu Chengyou still wanted to arrest him, so he smiled and said, "I am the third son of the King of Qin. The Crown Prince was conferred by the Grand Marshal. The Crown Prince conferred by the Ming Dynasty is in the Xi'an Prison. If you can use me, I will not come here."

The clan camp, especially Zhu Cunji, were not afraid of the Ming army at all.

Zhu Cunji thought that only the Marshal could have been given the title of Prince of Qin. If it were in the Ming Dynasty, the Emperor would have had to find a way to give him the title of a Prince.

The two sides did not fight. After a brief conversation, the cavalry of the Northern Yuan camp gave up the southern passage to allow the Guanning Army to retreat.

The letter was quickly handed over by Xu Chengyou to Wu Sangui, the deputy general of the right camp of the vanguard, who then went to Sanchahe in person to hand it over to Zu Dashou.

Zu Dashou had known for a long time that Liu Chengzong had sent troops, but he always thought that Liu Chengzong was in the Greater Khingan Range.

It was not until this time that they learned that Liu Chengzong's marshal army had arrived outside the Liaodong border and was building a bridge on the river bank, apparently intending to advance into Liaodong.

"It seems that Korchin is not enough for Liu Chengzong's thieves to eat."

Zu Dashou held the envelope and said to his nephew Wu Sangui before he even read it: "Tens of thousands of troops have wandered from the south of the desert to the border of Liaodong. They have been well fed and well fed... In the next two or three years, there will be a major war in the Central Plains."

Liu Chengzong's marching route and strategic purpose were very clear to Zu Dashou, and it was time for dinner.

After eating up all the land south of the desert, they ate up Khorchin. After eating up all the land south of the desert, they ate up Liaodong. Now they are eating up the heads of the Eight Banners.

The military strength of the Marshal's Office is fixed. If tens of thousands of troops do not eat in Shaanxi, there will be some grain left over in Shaanxi this year. What can Liu Chengzong, the leader of a rebel army, do with the leftover grain?

Let's fight.

As he spoke, Zu Dashou opened the envelope and his expression changed.

Liu Chengzong asked Qian Shisheng to write a letter, but he did not use letter paper. Instead, he used a piece of blue cloth - the cotton armor uniform cloth of the Guanning Army.

The content of the letter, even after Qian Shisheng's polishing, was still not very pleasant to hear.

"General Liu has come a thousand miles just to seek wealth. If Guan Ning defends Jinzhou, he will go to the suburbs of Shenyang to hunt for wealth. If Guan Ning's troops leave the Liaohe River, he will go to Jinzhou to plunder."

Zu Dashou just frowned and thought in silence.

Wu Sangui, who was delivering the letter, was so anxious that he almost jumped up: "Uncle, this is a thief, let's lead the troops to the north to meet him!"

"Okay!"

Zu Dashou glanced at his high-spirited nephew with a bad temper, put the letter aside, and said, "You didn't want me to cross the Liao River either, but now, great minds think alike. This fool from the northwest simply won't allow me to cross the Liao River."

Crossing the Liaohe River was Zu Dashou’s wish.

But not crossing the Liaohe River was the wish of all the generals in the Liaodong Vanguard Town.

The reasons are complicated.

The Guanning Army is the most healthiest army in the Ming Dynasty today. Firstly, its logistics are relatively sufficient, and secondly, its command is capable of fighting battles.

Although the Liaoxi defense line accounted for the bulk of the Ming Dynasty's military expenditures, the Guanning Army did not want to take the blame because they also owed wages from time to time.

Whether they could get the monthly silver of one tael and four taels and the monthly ration of one stone of millet depended on their luck.

In the year of the Ningyuan Rebellion, the Thirteenth Battalion of Guanning also mutinied over military pay.

The central finance of the Ming Dynasty was in an environment of constant conservation and expansion. If the war situation inside the Great Wall was difficult, the military pay outside the Great Wall would be paid later; if the war situation outside the Great Wall was difficult, the pay inside the Great Wall would be less.

The Guanning Army has been able to hold on in recent years, all thanks to the contributions of the Guanning leaders.

First, Jinzhou was set up for farming. Gao Huai rebelled against Liao and Nurhachi killed people. There were no people in Jinzhou and Guangning. Yuan Chonghuan recruited Mongolians to set up grazing and Sun Chengzong expanded the army to set up farming. After the defeat at Dalinghe, Guanning lost 20,000 people due to death and surrender, and there was no pressure for land annexation in the local area.

The military farms in western Liaoning produced 1.5 million shi of millet annually, stabilizing the price of rice at one shi for one tael of silver and the price of soybeans at one shi for four qian of silver.

The second is the transportation by officials and merchants within the Great Wall.

Not only the military supplies to Beijing, but also part of the military supplies to Guanning came from private merchants.

Third, it depends on the generals to find a solution themselves.

Jinzhou's specialty is jade, and it also has a relatively prosperous jade processing market.

Zu Dashou had been collecting jade and distributing it to the generals of each camp as military expenses. The generals then sold the jade to merchants in exchange for military supplies.

The purpose of military farming is not to directly supply the troops, but to ensure that there is grain in the local market so that the price of grain will not soar to an outrageous level. Once the price of grain goes up, the army will collapse sooner or later even if the imperial court does not owe them wages.

However, this troop with the healthiest ecology had long been alienated from the inside from top to bottom.

Wu Sangui was speechless for a moment after hearing Zu Dashou's words. He paused and said, "Uncle, these are two different things. We don't want you to lead the troops across the Liaohe River because we are afraid that the court will do something wrong. Have you forgotten about General Sun?"

"We are building Dalinghe City, but the people inside the pass are constantly hindering us. We are almost done, but the emperor sent us an imperial edict for further discussion, and we need to stop the construction and withdraw the troops. Hong Tai is here with his troops."

"In the end, the battle was lost. Uncle knew what happened to General Sun. The officials inside the pass impeached him for causing trouble and bringing disgrace to the country."

Wu Sangui was a successful and courageous man at a young age. His subordinates were different from his father Wu Xiang's old Liao soldiers and Zu Dashou's old Yi Ding. They were all young refugees from Liaodong. They fought and died in the front every time against the Eight Banners. The 28-year-old deputy general spoke naturally with a tough attitude.

It is okay to say that the defeat resulted in the loss of troops and humiliation of the country, but it is too much to say that it is an invitation to provocation.

The Jin Kingdom massacred the Liao people and was the mortal enemy of the Ming Dynasty. How could it be provocative or not? Would the Eight Banners disappear on their own if the city was not built?

"They didn't treat us as their own people inside the pass!"

"okay!"

Zu Dashou said angrily, "Do I need to tell you whether you are one of us or not?"

Zu Dashou actually relied heavily on his nephew Wu Sangui, even though Wu Sangui was incredibly young.

Because he was a very simple person. When he was young, he followed his father to fight with Li Chengliang, and also went to Korea to fight the Japanese.

But those battles back then were much easier to fight than the wars we fight today.

After his father retired, Zu Dashou became the assistant commander of Ningyuan Guard, but he lived a life of mediocrity. He once went out hunting, which resulted in the plunder of Xindi by the Mongolian army. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong, he was sentenced to death with a reprieve.

During the Battle of Guangning, Zu Dashou even planned to lead the remaining troops to join the Mongolian nobles who were grazing outside the border.

He had been following orders for most of his life and was extremely capable, but lacked backbone. He was always confused and slow to realize things when faced with major events. It was Yuan Chonghuan who saved him from danger, promoted him, and commanded him, making him a general stationed at the forefront of the Guanningjin Defense Line.

During the Ji Si Rebellion, he led his troops back to Jinzhou. In fact, it was not entirely because of Yuan Chonghuan or fear, but because his army had become alienated from the court.

His army stayed outside the city for half a month and fought several battles. After winning the Battle of Guangqumen, they wanted to go into the city for repairs, so they sent a few soldiers to the foot of the city to shout. As a result, the militiamen on the Beijing city wall said that the Liao generals and Liao people were all spies, and threw bricks at them, killing three of them.

The three Liao soldiers were named Xie Youcai, Li Chaojiang and Shen Jingyu.

The selected soldiers in the city went out, drew their swords and attacked the camp, killing six Liao soldiers, Liu Cheng, Tian Ruhong, Liu Yougui, Sun Defu, Zhang Shigong, and Zhang Youming.

As soon as Yuan Chonghuan was captured, he ran away.

Zu Dashou knew better than anyone that the military, civilians and officials inside the Great Wall truly treated their troops stationed outside Shanhaiguan as outsiders.

After Yuan Chonghuan, no one dared to mention the recovery of Liao, and after Sun Chengzong, no one dared to mention the advance. The only army with the ability to survive independently lost its initiative and stayed in Jinzhou.

It seems that the areas outside the Great Wall were just battles of the Guanning Army, and Liaodong was never the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Others saw Zu Dashou as a great general at the border of the Ming Dynasty who only obeyed orders and not declarations. The Ming Dynasty could not control him, and the evil forces could not seduce him. He was a man who influenced the world situation with his own strength and enjoyed unlimited glory.

But I feel sad and helpless, and I have no control over my own situation, just as much as others.

Zu Dashou knew that he had done many stupid things. He Kegang was his close comrade-in-arms, but he killed him in Dalinghhe; Huang Taiji trusted him, but was fooled by him; his family and relatives surrendered to the Jin Kingdom with him, and Zhang Cunren, his good subordinate, was left in the Jin Kingdom as a surrendered general.

The moment he fled back, Zhang Cunren's surrendered generals and his family and nephews might have been killed by the Later Jin to vent their anger.

So these people now wish they could cut him into pieces and eat his flesh.

Now he felt sorry for the people who were eaten to death in Dalingh River, sorry for his comrades-in-arms, sorry for his subordinates who were left behind in the Later Jin Dynasty, sorry for his clan members and nephews in Shenyang, and even sorry for Huang Taiji, with whom he sympathized with.

It would be even more unfair to myself. If I wasn't afraid of death, why did I surrender at Dalinghe? If I was afraid of death, why did I run back and continue fighting?

Only he can be worthy of the Ming Dynasty court and the emperor.

"Don't worry about what he said in the letter. Think about why he asked the Grand Secretary to write this letter..."

Zu Dashou said this, looking away in annoyance, muttering to himself, "This is really weird. Why would the emperor send the Grand Secretary to such a den of thieves?"

Wu Sangui said, "Let's not ruin his plans. Guan Ning, Liu the thief, and Dong Lu, any one of the three will be in danger of being attacked from both sides if they move lightly. He wants to move first, and he doesn't want to be attacked from both sides, so he sent this letter."

After that, Wu Sangui said angrily: "You can't even say nice words, and you still want to do great things."

Zu Dashou thought that it was useless to say nice things.

Liu Chengzong and the Guanning Army had new and old grudges.

Among the generals and troops of the Guanning Army that were dispatched into the interior, except for Li Chongzhen and Zu Dale from Yunyang, Cao Wenzhao and Zu Kuanke were all killed by Liu Chengzong.

Cao Wenzhao was lucky. Liu Chengzong at least treated him as a hero who served his master. After he died in battle, he collected his body, put it in a coffin and sent it to Shanxi. He also submitted a memorial to the court in a dignified manner, publicizing Cao Wenzhao's bravery in being loyal to the king.

Liu Chengzong was very targeted at Zu Kuan.

Zu Kuan was a Hu boy who grew up under the care of Zu Dashou, and was also one of the most outstanding generals in the Zu family.

Not only has he been Zu Dashou's attendant since childhood, he is also the source of Zu Dashou's power over the army. He is also a symbol of Zu Dashou's willingness to let the court dispatch his confidants to the pass to quell the rebellion.

Died. During the battle in Guanzhong, he was shot seven times by Liu Chengzong and died along with his horse.

After his death, his head was cut off and dirty water was thrown on him. A report was sent out saying that Zu Kuan was the leader of the rebellion and that he had to wait in Xi'an for officials from the Ministry of War to examine the body.

Although Liu Chengzong was the number one traitor in the Ming Dynasty and his official documents sent to various places often contained private messages, the court truly believed what he said.

Not only Chongzhen believed it, but all the central officials of the court believed it.

Because although Liu Chengzong's words were sometimes confusing and confusing, his values ​​were more positive than Chongzhen's.

He praised Ju Sirang and Zuo Maodi for their excellence, saying that they were the best officials, and that they were the best officials in the world.

Yang Jiamo went through fire and water, Cao Wenzhao was defeated and killed, Duan Fuxing died of exhaustion, and he built tombstones and presented memorials for them one by one.

Never mind that Yang Jiamo was forced to go through fire and water by Liu Chengzong, Duan Fuxing's entire family was killed when he was besieged in the city, and several of Cao Wenzhao's brothers and nephews were killed. He said that they were loyal ministers and good generals, and they were loyal ministers and good generals.

Whenever he made a petition, Chongzhen would go to the Taimiao in the Forbidden City and cry to his ancestors.

Because Chongzhen did not feel sorry for those generals who were defeated and surrendered, and Liu Chengzong did not say a word - Liu Chengzong did not think they were good people.

On the contrary, people like Yang Jiamo, Cao Wenzhao, and Duan Fuxing beat Liu Chengzong to death and tried to kill him. In the end, they were forced to death by him. He even submitted a petition to the court with great heartache. These people were truly loyal to the court. What a pity.

After he said this, Chongzhen felt even more distressed and cried loudly.

In this situation, Liu Chengzong said that Zu Kuan was the leader of the rebellion. What would the court do?

The imperial court has not yet provided any compensation to Zu Kuan and the Liao soldiers under his command.

It was precisely because of Zu Kuan's incident that Guan Ning Zu Dashou and his men were extremely disgusted with Liu Chengzong of the Marshal's Office.

As for Wu Sangui, two days ago he was at Sancha River trying his best to persuade his uncle not to cross the Liaohe River. In case of defeat, officials in the court would accuse him of provoking trouble and humiliating the country, and Zu Dashou could not afford it.

Almost one-third of the military and civilians in Jinzhou are now Mongolians recruited by Yuan Chonghuan and Zu Dashou over the years. The strong and healthy ones joined the army, and the old and weak settled in the fields. This group of people only recognize Zu Dashou.

If Zu Dashou were to be killed, Jinzhou would be doomed.

Now, just because of a letter from Liu Chengzong, Wu Sangui was so angry that he wanted to lead his troops to the north to fight with Liu Chengzong.

"He knows that it's no use saying nice things, so he just raised his foot and aimed at our vitals."

Zu Dashou sighed. Just Qian Shisheng's words made him realize how powerful Liu Chengzong was.

Apart from anything else, this vision is really poisonous.

Without this letter, Zu Dashou might have been persuaded by his generals not to cross the Liaohe River. With this letter, the Guanning Army would not have been able to cross the Liaohe River before Liu Chengzong took action.

Because Jinzhou was their lifeline, if they crossed the Liaohe River to Liaodong and Liu Chengzong kicked Jinzhou away, the Guanning Army would explode on the spot.

"As for what you said about leading the troops north to compete with Liu Chengzong, that's even more nonsense."

He said to Wu Sangui: "If we take it slow, things will be better. No one will just sit there and watch the three armies fighting in Liaodong. If we fight Liu Chengzong, do you think Hong Tai will just sit there and watch?"

Zu Dashou shook his head, impossible.

Of course, once the Marshal's Army and the Guanning Army started fighting, it was clear that the Eight Banners Army was unlikely to join the battle.

But once Liu Chengzong's power declined, Hong Tai's Eight Banners Army would definitely help him. It was even possible that they would send out all their troops to defeat both armies at the critical moment.

It’s like when Liu Chengzong fought against the Eight Banners Army, Liu Chengzong was in a weak position and Zu Dashou could only help him with a pinch of his nose.

"He was the first to take action. He seemed reckless, but in fact he was unwise. The fact that he wrote this letter to me may not mean that he is intelligent, but it is probably because he was forced by the situation - food and fodder."

Zu Dashou thought for a moment and said, "Don't rush to write him a letter. He can't wait. We can just stay by the Liao River and keep an eye on them." (End of this chapter)