weaving

"What... did Cao the thief run away?"

Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng had an expression of disbelief on his face, and asked anxiously, "Is this news true? Who brought it back?"

Zhang Mingyuan, the middle officer, immediately replied, "Father, it was Yu Shanhu, the commander of the Imperial Guards Cavalry Division, who brought back the news."

He looked very excited, and added: "Captain Li Changsheng has personally led a second investigation. I believe there will be a more detailed report soon."

"My Lord, if Luo Rucai really escapes, Li Ni will be unable to hold on alone, and the situation in Zhongzhou may improve greatly!" Sun Shixiang also seemed very excited.

Hu Yiwen was a little different. He asked Zhang Mingyuan very calmly, "Captain Yu, can you tell me where Luo Rucai went?"

Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to Zhang Mingyuan. He said nervously, "It is reported that Luo Rucai led his troops eastward through Chenliu and then headed south along the Sui River."

"Map..." Zhang Cheng said as he strode towards the map of Zhongzhou hanging on the left side of the military tent and looked at it carefully.

After looking at the map for a while, he asked again: "Where is Yu Shanhu now?"

"Replying to Father, I am waiting outside the tent."

"pass!"

A moment later, Yu Shanhu arrived at the military tent. He strode forward, bowed and said, "I am Yu Shanhu, the commander of the Imperial Guards Cavalry Division. I pay my respects to the general."

"Get up and talk."

Yu Shanhu immediately stood up as ordered and stood firmly in place, waiting for Earl Yongning's questions.

"Did you see it with your own eyes?"

"Yes. I saw it with my own eyes."

"How many troops are there?"

"From what I have seen, there are about 30,000 to 40,000 of them, mostly elite infantry and cavalry, with almost no old, weak or dependents."

"No family?"

Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment before asking, "How many infantry and cavalry are there?"

"From what I have seen, there are about 5,000 cavalrymen, and the rest are infantrymen."

Yongning Bo frowned and said, "Li the thief has 30,000 cavalrymen. Although Cao the thief is not as good, his number should be more than 5,000..."

Sun Shixiang also thought of this and said, "There must be another cavalry unit ahead, and the rest of the team has not been seen."

Yongning Bo nodded to show his agreement with his view, and then asked: "When Cao thief left, how panicked you were?"

"From what I have seen, Luo Rucai's bandits are led by infantrymen, with cavalrymen following behind. Although they do not appear to be panicking, they are very anxious, and there seem to be many wounded soldiers among the cavalrymen who are following behind!"

"Are there any wounded soldiers?"

Zhang Cheng asked him again with a puzzled look on his face: "Have you seen the pursuers?"

"I don't see any pursuers following me."

Zhang Cheng stared at Yu Shanhu and asked, "Can we investigate the way he came from?"

"When I saw Luo Rucai leading the bandits westward, I was suspicious and worried that he might have some plan, so I sent a group of brothers to follow him and observe where he was going. I also sent another group of brothers to investigate the way he came to see if we could find the battlefield and investigate the scale of the battle. As this matter was of great importance, I did not dare to delay and came back to report in person." "Well. How long has Li Changsheng been gone?"

Zhang Cheng was obviously not asking Yu Shanhu. Xu Jinyong, the deputy general of Weiyuan Camp, stepped out and replied, "Marshal Jue, Li Changsheng will be away from the camp in less than two quarters of an hour."

Zhang Cheng nodded, and calculated in his mind that this moment was equivalent to fifteen minutes in the future, so it seemed that Li Changsheng had been gone for less than half an hour.

He looked at Xu Jinyong and said, "Send more scouts to find out where Cao thief has gone. It would be best if we could catch a few informants and find out why Cao thief left."

"Here."

Zhang Cheng turned to look at Zhang Mingyuan and said to him, "You must pay close attention to Daguantou, Xianggong Temple, and Liuzhuang. If there are any changes in the military situation, report to me immediately."

"Here!"

"As for Wang Pu and Li Fuming, tell them to be alert and not to be careless. They must always be prepared to move camp and act as soon as they receive the order!"

"Here."

At this time, the guerrilla Chen De, who had been silent all this time, stepped forward, clasped his fists and saluted to the Earl of Yongning, saying, "My Lord, Chen De requests your order to lead the troops to investigate the whereabouts of Cao the bandit."

He was afraid that he would be rejected by the Earl of Yongning, so he immediately said: "Although our soldiers are not as elite as the Yongyi Army, they have been stationed in Kaifeng for a long time and are very familiar with the terrain and villages here. It will be more convenient for us to go for scouts."

Zhang Cheng nodded and said, "Okay. Uncle Ben approves!"

"Yes." Chen De happily accepted the order loudly.

The reason why Chen De came to Xinchengji was very simple and clear, that is to hold on to the big tree of Yongning Earl, so as to win a title for his wife and children, and achieve success and fame in the future!

Because of this, he naturally had to perform well in front of Earl Yongning to show his sincerity, but he had never been valued by Earl Yongning, which made him feel very uncomfortable. Now he finally had such an opportunity to show his ability, and of course he would not let it go.

Now that he had received the favor of Earl Yongning, he had a chance to display his talents, so he was naturally delighted!

In fact, what Chen De didn't know was that Earl Yongning was not unwilling to accept him, but he cherished him too much and didn't want to put him in danger easily. After all, Chen De had Henan General Chen Yongfu behind him, so Chen De could almost represent the entire Henan general family.

It is precisely for this reason that Zhang Cheng was unwilling to let Chen De go into battle rashly. He also needed Chen De to set an example for the generals of Henan in order to lead the entire Henan generals to truly side with him.

Finally, Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng instructed Zhang Mingyuan: "Tell Zhang Guangda that he doesn't need to wait for orders in Kaifeng anymore, and lead his troops to Xincheng as soon as possible to wait for orders."

"Here."

…………

Ever since Ding Qirui, Yang Wenyue, Zuo Liangyu and others were defeated in Zhuxian Town, news from all sides and secret reports from the parties involved were delivered to Beijing one after another and presented to the desk of Emperor Chongzhen.

As expected, Ding Qirui, Yang Wenyue, Zuo Liangyu and others all made secret reports. They first reported the reasons and process of the defeat in Zhuxian Town, and naturally they included the words "bowing their heads and apologizing for the crime", but then they also completely pushed the blame for the defeat onto others.

Of course, it was not surprising that everyone praised the number of soldiers and horses of the two bandits Li and Cao in their secret reports, implying that the defeat of Zhuxian Town was not due to war, but because the bandits were too powerful.

After fleeing for several days, General Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue finally reunited in Runing Prefecture. Although there were some conflicts between them, they immediately attributed the cause of the defeat to Zuo Liangyu.

It was even pointed out in secret reports that Zuo Liangyu was suspected of secretly communicating with the thief Li Chuang, which was also an important reason for the defeat of Zhuxian Town!
After reading the secret report they presented, Emperor Chongzhen cursed them angrily and sighed to himself: "Since the death of Yang Sichang, all that remains are mediocre talents."

But despite scolding them, Emperor Chongzhen still did not dare to punish them too severely. After all, the court was in need of people. If he killed them all, who would help him suppress the bandits?
Finally, Emperor Chongzhen issued an order to "dismiss Ding Qirui from his post and wait for his replacement", while Yang Wenyue was completely stripped of his military power, arrested and imprisoned, and deported to Beijing to await investigation at a later date.

But for Zuo Liangyu, the brave general, he was only "severely reprimanded" and ordered to defend Xiangyang, reorganize the troops and fight again to make up for his previous mistakes. (End of this chapter)