weaving

Chapter 1216: Li the Thief is so rebellious

"Zuo Liangyu ran away?"

Three miles south of Xincheng, all the officers and generals under the command of Yongning Earl gathered in the central military tent to discuss how to deal with the sudden change in Shuipoji.

"Not only Zuo Liangyu, but Ding Qirui, Yang Wenyue and others have also escaped."

"Hasn't a letter been sent asking them to hold out for three more days?"

"These bastards are so weak, how could they just run away like that?"

Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng waved his hand to stop the discussion, turned his head and looked at Zhang Fuzhen, Bian Yongqing, Fang Zhenghua and others who were also sitting at the top, and then said: "Now is not the time to scold Zuo Liangyu and his men. Shuipoji has collapsed, and it is our turn to face the enemy army directly."

Zhang Fuzhen, as the governor, sat at the top seat side by side with the Earl of Yongning. Originally, Zhang Fuzhen showed his humility and wanted to sit at the bottom seat, but Zhang Cheng kept inviting him so much that he reluctantly sat next to Zhang Cheng.

As the military supervisor of the Yongyi Army, it was understandable for Bian Yongqing to sit on the left side of Zhang Cheng. Besides, Fang Zhenghua was also a military supervisor, so he sat on the right side of Zhang Fuzhen.

"Governor Zhang, the situation is clear now. Without the containment of Shuipoji, the bandits will surely head north with all their strength within three days. How should we respond? Does Governor Zhang have any countermeasures?"

Zhang Fuzhen had already held the principle of "not seeking merit but avoiding mistakes" in his heart, and he also knew that the front line was destined to be dominated by the Yongyi Army, so he smiled and said to Zhang Cheng: "Yongning Earl is a model of the army personally appointed by the emperor. He suppresses bandits at home and resists Tartars abroad. In terms of his strategies, I am ashamed of myself."

Seeing how modest he was, Bian Yongqing smiled without saying anything. However, Fang Zhenghua's eyes were quite intriguing. He didn't even look at Zhang Fuzhen, but kept looking at Zhang Cheng and Bian Yongqing, as if his envy was mixed with a hint of jealousy that was barely perceptible.

When the Earl of Yongning asked Zhang Fuzhen for instructions on military affairs, he was actually just pretending. After all, Zhang Fuzhen was his old superior and the current Governor-General of Baoding. He had a high reputation among the civil officials, and it would never be wrong to show him some respect.

"Everyone already knows about the defeat of the government troops at Shuipoji, so I won't waste any more words."

Zhang Cheng's expression straightened up, and he said loudly: "I didn't expect Zuo Liangyu, Ding Qirui and others to hold on, but I didn't expect that they would be completely defeated in just one day. It was really beyond my expectation!"

"In my opinion, this is quite good."

Zhang Guangda suddenly said, "I just don't believe it. Could it be that the bandits are all made of iron and are more ferocious than the Tartars outside the Great Wall?"

He was a well-known brave general in the Yongyi Army. Although everyone felt that what he said was not entirely reasonable, no one would refute him at this time. Instead, there were some voices of agreement.

"The bandits just have more people. Their core is still the elite of the Old Eighth Team, which has no more than 10,000 men at most."

Chen Zhong was more familiar with Li Zicheng than the others. He just continued, "Although Li Zicheng's army still has more than 100,000 newly recruited soldiers, they are only used to fighting in favorable situations. Once they encounter setbacks, they will definitely waver."

As the Lieutenant Commander of the Yongning Marquis, Zhang Chengfang is now in charge of the intelligence work of the entire Yongyi Army. He also said, "According to rumors, the Li thief and the Cao thief seem to be in harmony but not in harmony. They are now cooperating but also guarding against each other. No one wants the other to become bigger and stronger."

Chen Zheng also said: "This is normal. As the saying goes, 'There is no room for two tigers in one mountain'. The bandits are rampant in Zhongzhou and rarely meet opponents. Now Li the bandit has the momentum to become the leader of all the bandits. How can Cao Cao accept this?"

"It's more than 'two tigers in one mountain'!"

Zhang Chengfang once again interjected at the right time: "According to intelligence, Li the thief seems to have the ambition to conquer the world, and he has been dreaming of becoming an emperor all day long. Even if Cao the thief has no intention, I am afraid Li the thief will find it difficult to tolerate him."

There was a crisp sound of "pop"...

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, only to see that the table in front of Baoding's military supervisor Fang Zhenghua was covered with water droplets, and the teacup was still shaking. Fang Zhenghua himself was furious, and shouted in a sharp voice: "He is a traitor. How could Li the thief have such a rebellious idea?" He stared at Zhang Cheng and said in a sharp voice: "Yongning Earl, this thief Li is really a traitor. He dared to covet our Ming Dynasty. You...can't just ignore it!"

Zhang Cheng raised his eyes and glared at him, but did not respond. Instead, he asked, "Mr. Fang, what you said is not right. Blind Li has been a rebel for more than ten years. How could he have rebelled today?"

"But...but he..."

Fang Zhenghua was speechless for a moment and even began to stutter. His face turned red as he angrily said, "He was just a thief when he rebelled before, but today he has such treasonous thoughts. This cannot be tolerated... cannot be tolerated!"

…………

In fact, Fang Zhenghua was a breath of fresh air in the extremely polarized reality among eunuchs in the late Ming Dynasty.

Compared with eunuchs like Gao Qiquan who killed Lu Xiangsheng and Du Xun who opened the door to welcome King Chongzhen, Fang Zhenghua was much nobler than them. His loyalty to Emperor Chongzhen and the Ming Dynasty was no less than that of Wang Chengen who died with Emperor Chongzhen.

However, although Wang Chengen was the chief eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, he did not make any achievements in the chaotic times at the end of the Ming Dynasty. He was just loyal. When Li Zicheng invaded Beijing during the Jiashen Rebellion, he hanged himself on Coal Hill together with Emperor Chongzhen.

Although Fang Zhenghua was also a eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, he was slightly different from Wang Chengen. He was actually a very capable eunuch.

According to the "History of Ming Dynasty", Fang Zhenghua was a native of Wendeng County, Shandong Province. He entered the palace during the Tianqi period. During the Chongzhen period, he was gradually promoted to the eunuch in charge of the Silijian.

In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Fang Zhenghua was appointed as the "eunuch in charge of the imperial horse supervisory in Zhenbao, Zhuoyi, Longgu and other places". This was Fang Zhenghua's first time to go out to govern the local area, and he happened to meet Huang Taiji leading his troops to invade. When all the cities in Zhili fell, only the capitals of Baoding and Zhending guarded by Fang Zhenghua were not lost.

Later, in the 15th year of Chongzhen, the Qing army once again invaded the interior of the country. Fang Zhenghua was once again responsible for supervising the military forces of Baoding and Zhending, assisting in the defense of Zijing Pass, Daoma Pass and Longquan Pass, and also managing the mining affairs of Shanxi, and also made great contributions to defending the city.

Finally, in the 17th year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen sent Fang Zhenghua to the south for the last time to garrison Baoding Prefecture. He and Tongzhi Shao Zongyuan and others climbed the city walls to defend it, and eventually died in battle in Baoding City.

In addition to Fang Zhenghua and Wang Chengen, four other eunuchs who died in the late Ming Dynasty included Gao Shiming, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, Li Fengxiang, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, and Chu Xianzhang and Zhang Guoyuan, the eunuchs in charge of various bureaus. During the Hongguang reign of the Southern Ming Dynasty, a temple was built to commemorate the martyrs, with Wang Chengen as the main deity, and eunuch Fang Zhenghua and others as secondary deities.

However, Zhang Cheng knew nothing about Fang Zhenghua’s deeds. Although he was a person from later generations, it was impossible for him to know the deeds of everyone in the late Ming Dynasty.

Among this group of nobles in the inner court, he only remembered a few people such as Cao Huachun, Gao Qiquan, Wang Chengen, Du Xun, etc., and he had no impression of most of the others.

However, Zhang Cheng had already placed his own spies in the capital, and he naturally collected information about the interests, preferences, and deeds of imperial eunuchs like Fang Zhenghua so that he could use them in the future.

Therefore, although he did not have much affection for Fang Zhenghua, he did not dislike him very much either. It was just based on his current status and the fact that he was also building his own prestige, so he put on a condescending attitude.

…………

Zhang Cheng said to him calmly, "Li the thief is extremely evil and cannot be forgiven. I know the limits of this matter."

As he spoke, his eyes stopped at Fang Zhenghua, and he added, "Lord Fang is in charge of the Baoding army. Lord Bian is in charge of our Yongyi Army and Xuanda Army. As for the military affairs of Henan Province to suppress bandits, I will discuss them with Governor Zhang. Lord Fang should stay out of it!"

"This……"

Fang Zhenghua looked embarrassed, his face turned blue and red, and he didn't know what to say.