weaving

Chapter 1323 Silver Medal

On June 22, the 15th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, Ji Zhiying had a very pleasant conversation with Zhang Nai in Pingfengzhai.

Zhang Ding clearly expressed his willingness to surrender to the Earl of Yongning. Ji Zhiying could use the money and food in the various forts under his command at will. Even the soldiers and men under his command were willing to accept Ji Zhiying's command and could cooperate with the Earl of Yongning's army in battle at any time.

On the same day, Yuzhou.

Zhang Guangda, general of the Suzaku Camp of the Yongyi Army, met with the envoys sent by Han Jiadi of Xuzhou and Liu Xuan of Xiangcheng.

Han Jiadi made it clear to Zhang Guangda that his heart would always be with the court and that he was willing to accept the control of the Earl of Yongning, and that his manpower and material resources could be deployed at will.

However, Liu Xuan's attitude was somewhat ambivalent. His envoys were evasive in front of Zhang Guangda. Although they expressed their welcome to the arrival of the royal army, they did not give any substantial support. They kept stating their own difficulties and hardships, and they seemed to be unwilling to help either side and were willing to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between tigers.

"Humph."

Zhang Guangda was also extremely angry about this: "Liu Xuan, this kid, actually bet on both sides, what a piece of shit!"

The military officer Gu Zhide persuaded him, "General, for now, it's good that he doesn't cause trouble for us. After we defeat Li the thief, we can deal with him later when we have time."

However, Zhang Guangda also received two unexpected guests in Yuzhou, one was Liu Hongqi's younger brother Liu Hongdao, and the other was Shen Wandeng's cousin Shen Wanqing.

……

Liu Hongqi was originally a private salt dealer in Xiping County, Ruzhou Prefecture. He used to live a decent life, but as drought and locust disasters occurred year after year, the people could not even get enough food. When bandits rose up in various parts of Henan, he could not help but lead his brothers Liu Hongchao and Liu Hongdao, as well as his cousins ​​Liu Hongxun and Liu Hongli, to build a stronghold to protect themselves, and eventually became bandits in southern Henan.

Because he often sent people to steal horses from other bandits at night, the bandits were quite afraid of him and gave him the nickname "Liu Biantou".

However, Liu Hongqi was, after all, a former private salt dealer and had long been dealing with the government, so he knew how to use the government's power. Since he started the rebellion, he tried his best to avoid becoming a direct enemy of the government, and even tried his best to curry favor with the government.

Finally, in the 13th year of Chongzhen, he was given the title of Xipingdusi, and was ordered by Yang Shengwu, the then Henan Provincial Censor, to go to the two counties of Biyang and Wuyang in Nanyang Prefecture to eliminate local bandits such as Guo Sanhai, Zhang Wuping, and Hou Luyu, and take over their followers.

It was with the help of the court's righteous name that he was able to legitimately wipe out the surrounding rebellious strongholds. As a result, his power increased rapidly, and he eventually became a big bandit leader who dominated Xiping, Shangcai, Suiping in Runing Prefecture, as well as Wuyang, Biyang, and Tang County in Nanyang Prefecture.

This is exactly the brilliance of Liu Hongqi. His force is active in southern Henan, and his followers number tens of thousands. He is a force that neither Li Zicheng nor the imperial court dares to ignore.

Shen Wandeng was another powerful local bandit in Runing Prefecture. He was originally from Xiayangzhuangdian, Zhenyang County. His ancestors had lived here for more than a hundred years. Although he was not a big local merchant, he had no worries about food and clothing.

Yangzhuangdian is located on the west bank of the Ru River. Taking advantage of water transportation, it is a commercial market connecting the upper and lower reaches. The Shen family started out as peddlers, and by the Chongzhen period, they had no worries about food and clothing.

However, Shen Wandeng was not good at studying, but he was good at martial arts and was even more fond of doing chivalrous things. Therefore, most of the people he made friends with were of this kind, and he was also well-known as a chivalrous man in Zhenyang County.

In the seventh year of Chongzhen, Sheng Zhiyou gathered people to start an uprising in Yuecheng Town, Runing Prefecture. Shen Wandeng was unwilling to be left out, so he also gathered people in his hometown to respond, calling himself "Shunyi King". After that, under the continuous suppression of the court, Sheng Zhiyou and other bandits were successively eliminated. Shen Wandeng saw that the situation was not good, so he surrendered to the court. At the beginning of this year, when the rebel Li Zicheng captured Runing Prefecture, he appointed Shen Wandeng as his mighty general, hoping to win him over.

……

Both Liu Hongdao and Shen Wanqing took the initiative to express their intention to surrender to Zhang Guangda. Although they were also bandits, they were truly on the side of the imperial court.

Especially Liu Hongqi, Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, also appointed him as a mighty general in order to win him over, but Liu Hongqi refused to accept it. He even built a fort on the Xixia Mountain west of Suiping County to prevent Li Zicheng from sending troops to attack him.

Although Shen Wandeng was also loyal to the court, his performance was slightly inferior to Liu Hongqi!

Like Liu Hongqi, Shen Wandeng occupied Suiping, Xiping and Wuyang counties after the army of King Chuang retreated, and became a warlord. Shen Wandeng took the opportunity to occupy Zhenyang, Xincai, Xixian, Luoshan and other counties south of Runing Prefecture, and his tentacles almost reached the entire Runan area.

It was precisely because of these practical interests that although Shen Wandeng was loyal to the court, he was reluctant to leave the counties he had already occupied and went into the mountains again to avoid the pursuit of Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion. That is why he pretended to accept the position of the mighty general conferred by Li Zicheng.

Before this, both of them had placed their hopes on Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu, but who could have imagined that hundreds of thousands of government troops could not even hold out for a month? Before they could even wait for a reply from Ding and Zuo, they had already seen the defeated soldiers fleeing.

Just when they were feeling anxious, they suddenly heard that a government army under the command of Earl Yongning appeared in Yuzhou. They sent people to contact Han Jiadi in Xuzhou and Liu Xuan in Xiangcheng, hoping to cut off the bandits' food supply and launch a surprise attack on their old camp in Funiu Mountain.

Although in their eyes, Earl of Yongning did not seem to be as famous as General Zuo Liangyu, who suppressed the bandits, but at the moment they were desperate and could not care less. They sent their trusted men to Yuzhou to express their intention to surrender and to find out about Earl of Yongning's background.

.........

"Before I left, Earl Yongning gave me ten silver medals for rewarding merit."

As Zhang Guangda spoke, he waved to the personal soldiers waiting on the side. A moment later, a personal soldier came over with a wooden tray in his hand. After the center general Gu Zhide lifted the red cloth on it, several silver reward medals appeared.

"Before this, I have already presented the first silver medal of reward to Xuzhou Han Jia on behalf of Earl Yongning."

Zhang Guangda raised his hand and took down two silver medals for commendation, and handed them to Liu Hongdao and Shen Wanqing respectively, saying: "From today on, Liu Hongqi will be the Xiping guerrilla, and Shen Wandeng will be the Zhenyang guerrilla."

Liu Hongdao and Shen Wanqing took the silver medals with trembling hands and immediately knelt on the ground to express their gratitude: "Thank you, General Zhang, for taking us in. We will immediately bring troops to help you in the battle after we return."

Zhang Guangda said in a cold tone: "You don't need to thank me, thank Lord Yongning instead!"

When he said this, he bowed in the direction of Kaifeng, and then continued: "It was the Earl of Yongning who took you in and gave you the silver medals for your merit."

Liu and Shen kowtowed again and said, "Thank you, Lord Yongning!"