stubborn thief

Zhenjiang Prefecture.

On a ship on the Yangtze River.

Zhang Yichuan, commander of Gaoyou Guard, sat in the cabin, holding an official document sent from the north.

Han Wenjing, the prefect of Yangzhou, stood by and watched the emperor who had abdicated. He held the emperor's official document and read that the one who had appointed him as emperor had defeated another emperor outside the Great Wall.

Han Wenjing sighed helplessly, feeling that he was really unlucky.

His recruitment of Zhang Yichuan was originally a stopgap measure to delay time.

They couldn't defeat the enemy and the North didn't send any reinforcements. In order to prevent the pirate Zhang Yichuan from invading Southern Zhili, they sent him a letter of amnesty.

In fact, Han Wenjing didn't expect Zhang Yichuan to agree at all. At that time, he just thought Zhang Yichuan was a local bandit in Jiangbei, so he offered him an official position of commander to test the waters.

The situation in Fengyang at that time was that an old thief from Shaanxi proclaimed himself emperor, recruited surrenders and rebels in Fengyang, and appointed generals everywhere to local bandits. It was impossible for the commander to feed the people.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yichuan agreed immediately.

Han Wenjing thought, is there such a good thing? A commander dealt with a group of bandits. After thinking it over, he decided to meet Zhang Yichuan at the scene of the recruitment.

When the two met, he became bad and Zhang Yichuan became good.

Because Han Wenjing was also from Shaanxi, his ancestral home was Hongdong, Shanxi, and he was from Xianning, Xi'an Prefecture. He became a Jinshi in the fourth year of Chongzhen.

As soon as Zhang Yichuan opened his mouth and heard the familiar Shaanxi accent, Han Wenjing knew that he had recruited a terrible person.

But at that time, Han Wenjing really couldn't imagine that Zhang Yichuan was actually a fugitive emperor.

Therefore, Han Wenjing did not think too much about it. He just successfully completed the recruitment and invited Zhang Yichuan to stay in the Yangzhou government office for a few days to find out some intelligence information about his hometown in Shaanxi.

After all, they were separated by mountains and rivers, and Han Wenjing had a retired father and two younger brothers in his hometown. Since Liu Chengzong launched an expedition to the east and attacked Guanzhong, there was chaos and war along the way, and he did not dare to send anyone back. He could only exchange letters with his fourth brother Han Wenquan, who had passed the imperial examination two years ago and worked in the Henan Ministry of Justice. Both of them were very worried about the situation at home.

Little did he know that Zhang Yichuan, the eunuch in the Yangzhou government office, would give him a very cruel job.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Zhang Yichuan raised his hand and pulled out the "Emperor's Decree" from the Grand Marshal's Mansion from his arms, and pressed it on the tea table.

He patted his chest with one hand and pointed at Liu Chengzong's handwriting on the edict with the other, and told Han Wenjing: "I am the ancient Yuan Zhenlong Emperor, a loyal subordinate of the Grand Marshal. It is not a small matter for Lord Han to want to return to his hometown!"

Lord Han's blood rushed upward.

At that moment, the scene of the beheading in Xishi, Beijing, was already running through Han Wenjing's mind.

Let’s put it this way, there is no bandit in the world that cannot be pacified.

Even if a local official tried to recruit Liu Chengzong again, it would still be considered a meritorious achievement.

The only person who could not be recruited was Zhang Zhi, who burned the imperial mausoleum. This made it clear that he would definitely lose his head.

As soon as Zhang Yichuan saw Han Wenjing's expression, he knew what was going on. From his expression to his body movements, he instantly became arrogant.

There is no need to pretend to be a grandson. Even if Fengyang has already abdicated, I am still the emperor of Yangzhou!

The two people carry the same secret, and their relationship becomes strange.

On the surface, Han Wenjing is the prefect of Yangzhou, and Zhang Yichuan is the commander of Gaoyou; secretly, Zhang Yichuan is the rebellious false emperor, and Han Wenjing is the dog-headed military advisor.

There was no other way. Han Wenjing pretended to be nice at first, hoping that Zhang Yichuan would send someone to pick up his family from Xi'an Prefecture.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yichuan agreed very well and wrote a letter to the Marshal's Mansion, requesting Zhang Xianzhong to take good care of Han Wenjing's family and clansmen and keep them under strict supervision and not let any of them escape.

He also wrote two copies, one to send away and the other for Han Wenjing to read.

What could Han Wenjing say? He hated Zhang Yichuan so much that he just wanted to eat him up, but there was nothing he could do and he had to be controlled by him.

But to be honest, although Zhang Yichuan was a little crazy, walking on the streets of Yangzhou either wanting to burn this or rob that, but he was really useful when he returned to Gaoyou.

The two sides of the Yangtze River had not seen war for a long time and the soldiers were extremely weak. Bandits fled from Fengyang Prefecture to Yangzhou, and all places fought hard to defend their cities, and officers were killed in battle.

The main task of the Gaoyou Weiqi Army was to assist in the collection and transportation of grain.

But this Zhang Yichuan, he looks like an elite soldier from the Nine Frontiers.

First, he wiped out the water bandits in Gaoyou Lake, and then fought on land for three days with the bandits who had overflowed from Fengyang Prefecture to Yangzhou. He won eight battles in a row and wiped out all the bandits.

No matter how great the generals or marshals were, they could not last even half a day when they met his Gaoyou Banner Army. They either begged for mercy and were recruited or were killed on the spot.

I didn’t even know how to write the Korean version of the battle report.

Really, let him write it as it is, with the cavalry charging, the horses galloping and shooting, and the armored men trampling?
Or did Commander Zhang drive the boat to land and kill all the bandits?

Gaoyou was just a Neihu garrison. Which of these two statements would the ministers in the court believe?
Let’s just say, does this look like a navy soldier?
If we didn't mention that these were soldiers from Jiangbei, others would have thought they were soldiers from Guanxi.

However, Han Wenjing was not afraid that the court would suspect that Zhang Yichuan was Zhang Zhi.

After all, the people of Shaanxi are outdated and their information is half-truthful. They know nothing about the Ancient Yuan True Dragon Emperor.

The ancient Yuan Zhenlong Emperor was named Zhang Zhi, and later changed his original name to Wang Benren. His head has now been sent to the capital.

What's more, people subconsciously feel that Zhang Zhi is more like the name of a grassroots emperor than Wang Benren and Zhang Yichuan.

Wang Benren sounds like a small landlord with a mole on his face with a hair in the middle of the mole, who has no official title but still exploits his tenants and servants.

Zhang Yichuan sounded like a hungry refugee from Shaanxi, with Sanchuan following behind him. He had just buried Erchuan, and they were walking on the barren hills with their heads down, pulling lice from each other and eating elm tree bark.

It is a coincidence that Han Wenjing is nicknamed Yishui, his brother Han Wenfeng is nicknamed Ershui, Han Wenyao is nicknamed Sanshui, and Han Wenquan is nicknamed Sishui.

It is normal to have four waters and three rivers.

Zhang Zhi is different.

Verb, a banner of justice is unfurled.

How consistent with the style and temperament of Emperor Gu Yuan Zhenlong.

But to be honest, Han Wenjing now feels a mixture of love and hate towards Zhang Yichuan.

Zhang Yichuan has brought a lot of help to his work.

When the bandits attacked Fengyang this time, the foreign troops were slow on the road, and people from all over the place were reporting news of misfortune and asking for help. Either the county town had been destroyed or the place had been robbed.

Emperor Chongzhen even sent two imperial edicts to Nanjing in one month.

The first letter was relatively simple, saying that Nanjing's military preparations were in disrepair, and ordered Nanjing's Minister of War Fan Jingwen to work with the internal garrison to rectify the situation.

More than half a month later, still worried about the canal being cut off, he sent another imperial edict to Wang Daozhi, the Imperial Censor of the Yangtze River in Nanjing. The Imperial Censor of the Yangtze River evolved from the Governor-General of the Grand Canal, also known as the Admiral of the Yangtze River. It was originally a military position, but later it was concurrently managed by the Censorate and had supervisory responsibilities.

Wang Daozhi was a close confidant of Chongzhen and a Jinshi graduate. He was originally a seventh-rank magistrate of Baoding Prefecture. Because he opposed the construction of a shrine to Wei Zhongxian in Baoding, he failed to get promoted. When Chongzhen ascended the throne, he offered him the positions of prefect of Baoding and deputy censor-in-chief of Caojiang to choose from, and he was directly promoted to the fourth rank.

Chongzhen spoke very freely to such confidants.

"The military preparations of the Southern Capital have been neglected for a long time. The warships are dilapidated, the weapons are rusty and blunt, and the soldiers are mostly incompetent. The river is vast and treacherous."

"You will go over and meet with Li Hongji, the minister of the army, and the two departments of internal and external defense, household, and military to discuss and work together to boost the situation."

"Southern officials have always been paid for their salaries, but now they must work hard and break all ties to be worthy of their appointments. The South is also most troubled by false accusations, so it is best to stop the disputes and settle the people's hearts. I have already told you this in person, but I am afraid you have forgotten it, so I am repeating it again, please do not take it lightly."

Wang Daozhi was also an upright minister, who was highly valued by Chongzhen. He did not give face to anyone and strengthened the military equipment, which scared the Yangzhou Guard, Taizhou Station, and Xinghua Station so much that they peed their pants. They all asked the prefect Han Wenjing for help, either asking for weapons and armor, or asking for warships to be made quickly, and even asked Yangzhou Prefecture to recruit troops.

Only Zhang Yichuan's Gaoyou guard remained silent.

Han Wenjing thought something had gone wrong and was afraid that Zhang Yichuan was planning to rebel again.

But upon asking, it turned out that Gaoyou Wei under Zhang Yichuan's rule had everything it needed.

The soldiers recruited to suppress the rebellion and surrender the bandits were overstaffed. Although the armor and equipment did not meet the full standard of a guard, there were more than a thousand full sets of armor and more than four thousand war horses, donkeys and mules.

Not to mention Nanzhili, there are few garrisons in the world that can match the storage of weapons and equipment, as well as the level of elite soldiers and sufficient food - the benchmark of Nando!
What's more, if there is a war, Zhang Yichuan will really fight.

As the prefect, he didn't even need to beg for help from everyone to transfer the position.

In Yangzhou, as soon as they heard that the city was robbed, half an hour after receiving the news, the Yangzhou guards were still transporting guns and cannons to the city wall, while the Gaoyou guards' six or seven hundred cavalry had already rushed over.

Get on the horse and chase, beat them when you catch up, and win when you beat them.

Even when it comes to disaster relief, people are very enthusiastic.

This is also the most difficult thing for Han Wenjing to understand. Logically speaking, Zhang Yichuan is a traitor. When he heard that Zhenjiang was hit by a snowstorm in June, Han Wenjing would be thankful that he did not cause trouble.

So when he heard that Gaoyou Wei had volunteered to provide disaster relief, although Han Wenjing did not dare to stop him, he still followed him throughout the process, for fear that Emperor Gu Yuan Zhenlong would give him another big blow.

Of course, on the other hand, it was impossible to get a large number of cotton-padded jackets in Nanzhili at this time. The season was abnormal and it was cold everywhere. Every household and every person needed cotton-padded jackets.

Only Zhang Yichuan has it, and not only that, but a lot of it.

Han Wenjing never expected that Zhang Yichuan was really here to provide disaster relief. He drove the warship very seriously, filled the cabin with cotton-padded jackets, and even brought food, all the way to Zhenjiang.

Although he was a bit stubborn and insisted on providing disaster relief himself and did not allow the Zhenjiang government to interfere, the disaster relief procedures were formal and skillful.

After providing disaster relief, Zhang Yichuan did not waste any time and did not do anything else. He went straight back home to Gaoyou.

On the return boat, Han Wenjing asked the question in his heart: "Are you really here to provide disaster relief?"

"Otherwise, I came from Shaanxi wearing a cotton-padded jacket. The worn-out cotton-padded jacket would take up too much space if thrown in a warehouse. It can help the disaster victims and prevent people from freezing to death. It's a good thing."

Zhang Yichuan was sincere about this matter.

He is a disaster victim in Shaanxi who cannot afford to eat, a sweeping king who wants to clear away all the dirt in the world, and the ancient Yuan Zhenlong emperor who usurped the throne.

Although he had quickly cleared the rebel career line with the abdication.

But the emperor's sense of responsibility still drove him - he couldn't just watch his people suffer from the cold!
"That cotton-padded jacket belongs to you, so you don't want to wear it anymore?"

Zhang Yichuan burst into laughter when he heard this.

He robbed a large amount of gold and silver in Henan and Fengyang. At this time, his brothers were frantically buying silks, satins, brocade hats and sable furs in Nanjing. Every household in Gaoyouwei, Shaanxi, was eager to put up a self-ringing clock. Who would still wear a cotton-padded jacket?
The emperor was too lazy to answer this question.

Instead, he held the official document sent from the north and shouted outside the cabin, "Please come in, King Yong!"

Not long after, Liu Yiyong, the chief instructor of the Henan Fifth Battalion, came in.

Han Wenjing felt scared when he saw Liu Yiyong, who had a baby face.

In fact, at the beginning, Han Wenjing discovered that Zhang Yichuan's troops were actually controlled by several young officers of the Liu and Yi generation in the camp, led by Liu Yiyong.

They were all orphans of war, and the oldest of Liu Chengzong's adopted sons in the children's camp was only 22 years old.

They led a division of 100 men from the Marshal's Corps.

There were veterans of the Marshal's Army from four branches of the military, including infantry, cavalry, artillery and engineering, as well as Sibing who maintained the ordnance, Hehuang militia officers who were responsible for training the militia, professional Tangqi, and even twelve Daqi who were specifically responsible for protecting the six adopted sons.

On the first day that Zhang Yichuan ascended the throne as emperor, the six adopted sons of Liu Chengzong were conferred the title of king.

Although these six Wangs with the surname Liu are from the same group as Zhang Yichuan, they often do not give Zhang Yichuan face.

For example, at this moment, Liu Yiyong came in with a stern face, and the first thing he said was to ask Zhang Yichuan not to call him Wang in the future.

When Han Wenjing didn't know that Zhang Yichuan was the Ancient Yuan Zhenlong Emperor, he realized that they were not united. At that time, he even thought about instigating Zhang Yichuan to kill these adopted sons of Liu in order to completely control this recruited army.

But it failed.

He didn't know why at that time.

Until it was discovered that Zhang Yichuan's true identity was an abdicated emperor.

Although Zhang Yichuan was annoyed that Liu Yiyong and others did not give him face and often criticized him for some of his outrageous behavior, he did not dare to confront Liu Chengzong at all.

In fact, this army experienced a series of major events in a short period of time, including the expansion of military power, the usurpation of the throne, the granting of official weapons, the emperor's abdication, and the acceptance of amnesty. Its ideological state did change greatly, and the risk of internal strife increased sharply.

But the question within the army was not when Zhang Yichuan would kill Liu Yiyong, but when Liu Yiyong would kill Zhang Yichuan.

Because they trained the soldiers and formulated the tactics, and most importantly, their surname was Liu, and they were the adopted sons of the Grand Marshal.

If we kill them and things go well, who will lead the army to victory? If things go badly, who will lead the army back to Shaanxi?

On the contrary, Zhang Yichuan is useless.

But Zhang Yichuan couldn't help but say, "Although I no longer want to be the emperor appointed by the Grand Marshal, I have not resigned from my position as the General-in-Chief of Henan appointed by the Grand Marshal!"
People then remembered that, yes, Zhang Yichuan was also an official appointed by the Grand Marshal, and it would be difficult to explain if they killed him.

"Look, the commander is beating the Eastern Tartars outside the Great Wall. In my opinion, the emperor is about to abdicate!"

Zhang Yichuan was used to Liu Yi's scolding, so he didn't take it seriously. He handed over the document and said, "Look, you have to do what I say. Find a way to mention your military achievements. Prefect Han should also make an effort to let Nanzhili set up another camp in Yangzhou."

"Maybe the Grand Marshal will cross the Yellow River someday. It would be meaningless for us to raise an army and conquer Jiangnan to set up a small court."

Zhang Yichuan shook his head and said, "Why not follow the story of Yan'an Prefecture? I will go out as a lieutenant general, Yi Yong will be the commander, and we will contact a few trustworthy Shaanxi merchants and Fengyang leaders to specifically attack their competitors. The leaders will be responsible for robbing and we will be responsible for suppressing. We will get all the trade, spoils, and military merits."

"We are building warships, training soldiers, and distributing spoils of war. We are just waiting for the commander-in-chief to cross the Yellow River. We will issue a proclamation in Jiangbei and take the case!" (End of this chapter)