weaving

Chapter 1202: The Blind Man's Nemesis

Kaifeng guerrilla Chen De, following the orders of his father Chen Yongfu, led a thousand elite cavalry to support Zhang Cheng.

Although he said so, deep down he was thinking of taking advantage of this opportunity to gain some foundation for his son's advancement, and at the same time he could show his goodwill to Earl Yongning. It would be killing two birds with one stone, so why not do it?

After some conversation, Zhang Cheng ordered Chen De and his thousand cavalry to set up camp on the west side of his central camp, and to guard the left and right wings of the central camp respectively with Chen Zhong of the east camp.

Although Chen De led a thousand elite cavalry, the actual number of his troops exceeded fifteen hundred, and the number of horses and mules exceeded two thousand, because they brought some auxiliary troops and food with them.

"When the bandits first surrounded Kaifeng, Chen De had the honor to fight the bandits with Master Bo. Since then, he has always missed Master Bo's heroic figure. Today, he can fight the bandits with Master Bo again. How dare Chen De not fight bravely?"

Zhang Cheng looked at the young general in front of him and liked him. He also had the intention of winning over Chen De. He smiled and said, "My biggest regret is that I was unable to recruit you, Chen De, into my army!"

After hearing this, Chen De immediately knelt on one knee and said, "Chen De is willing to follow the command of Yongning Earl. Whether it is to suppress bandits or kill slaves, I will never hesitate. I will fight bravely and will never bring shame to Yongning Earl."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng with a hopeful look on his face, but he saw that Zhang Cheng just smiled faintly and said, "The name of Li Zicheng's 'Chuang Xiazi' is given by you. You are the nemesis of Chuang Xiazi. Which general would not love a young general like you who is brave and courageous?"

Zhang Cheng showed a hint of hesitation on his face. After a moment's hesitation, he continued, "I love and cherish talents. If you were under my command, you would be at least a deputy general now. But... I don't know if General Chen is willing to let you go!"

Ever since they witnessed the bravery of Zhang Cheng and his soldiers when the rebels first besieged Kaifeng, Chen De and his son had been intentionally or unintentionally trying to get close to Zhang Cheng, and they had been exchanging letters for more than a year.

In particular, Chen De gets along very well with Chen Zhong. The two of them visit each other very frequently and have even developed into a relationship like brothers. They have an all-round cooperative relationship in all aspects, including soldier training and intelligence exchange.

Of course, the reason why Chen Zhong did this was not only because of his admiration for Chen De, but also because of the instructions of his own commander-in-chief Zhang Cheng. Chen Zhong's Yanhe Camp was both a sharp knife inserted by Zhang Cheng in northern Henan and the intelligence network center stationed by Zhang Cheng in Henan.

"Please rest assured, Lord Yongning. My father has always admired your might and has mentioned it to Chen De many times. I hope to have the opportunity to follow you and gain experience."

Chen De clasped his fists and bowed deeply, then continued: "Chen De is willing to follow the Earl of Yongning to fight in all directions, to quell the scourge of bandits at home, to resist the threat of the Jiannu abroad, to achieve meritorious deeds, to report the emperor's great grace, and to protect the well-being of the people of the Ming Dynasty, in the hope of bringing glory to the Chen family."

Zhang Cheng thought Chen De's initiative to surrender was within his expectations, and he was naturally happy to see it happen.

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Since coming to this parallel world, Zhang Cheng first solved the problem of survival. Secondly, he has been carrying out various struggles and preparations in order to expand his own power.

He is different from the Liaodong star Wu Sangui. In addition to the network of connections of his father Wu Xiang, he also has a good uncle Zu Dashou. No matter whether it is the current emperor Chongzhen or the glorious officials in the court, let alone now, even if they are given another twenty years, they will not be able to touch Wu Sangui at all.

Deeply rooted, powerful, and with a very complex network of relationships, they have included all the Liaodong soldiers and generals, and almost half of the civil officials, military generals, and relatives of the emperor. Unless they do not want Liaodong to be a barrier for the capital, otherwise - as long as Wu Sangui is not guilty of treason, he is destined not to be punished.

On the other hand, Zhang Cheng's situation is different...

  Even in Xuanfu Town, their Zhang family is not a prominent family in the local area, so naturally they do not have any complicated power. For him, everything today started with military merit, and will end with military merit in the future!

Therefore, Zhang Cheng was determined to eradicate the chaebol forces in the three towns of Xuanda at all costs in order to establish his own forces and cultivate them to grow further.

Although there were still many gentry and local officials, this violent crackdown was enough to deter these scoundrels from making any rash moves.

  What's more, Zhang Cheng has taken advantage of the crackdown on slave traders to control almost all the military forces of the three towns of Xuanda. Even if they want to make some plans, how can they be faster than the butcher knife in Zhang Cheng's hand?

It was precisely in order to expand his own power that Zhang Cheng had been sparing no effort to plant nails everywhere, had already laid countless foreshadowings, and tried his best to win over the powerful factions in various places...

For example, when he married Yang Liying as his second wife in Mangshan, wasn’t the purpose to use Mangshan as the background of the Yang family?

Of course, Yang Liying herself is also a great beauty. If she had an appearance that would make men stop in their tracks, even if the power behind the Yang family was very strong, I'm afraid Zhang Cheng would not give in.

Now, Chen De's father is the commander-in-chief of Henan. As a young military general who is the son of an official, Chen De himself is brave and good at fighting. If he is trained properly, he can not only become his arm in the future, but also help him further control the local armed forces in Henan.

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"Okay."

Zhang Cheng's expression instantly relaxed, and he continued with a smile: "In this case, Chen De, you will temporarily serve as a guerrilla and lead your cavalry to join me. I will immediately write to the Ministry of War and ask for the imperial court's order to mobilize troops!"

"Chen De, meet the Marshal."

As he spoke, he took a step forward, knelt on one knee, and bowed with his fists clasped. Seeing this, Zhang Cheng rushed forward and helped him up. He looked very happy and said, "Great. With you, Chen De, here, there's no need to worry about not being able to defeat the intruders!"

Chen Zhong has had the most contact with Chen De in the past year. They are of similar age and have similar temperaments. They both feel that they have met too late and have long become good brothers who can talk about anything.

Seeing that Chen De had joined the Yongyi Army as he wished, they would be real brothers in the future. He was even happier than Chen De. He hurriedly stepped forward, raised his hand and punched Chen De on the shoulder, smiling and said, "Great. Brother Chen, we will be closer from now on!"

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Although Zhang Cheng didn't know at the moment that Li Zicheng was more decisive than he imagined, the coalition forces of Chuang and Cao had already defeated the Baoding army stationed outside Shuipoji. Yang Wenyue and Hu Dawei's troops were completely defeated and no one knew where they fled to...