weaving

Chapter 1478 No, absolutely not!
On August 17th, the rebel army launched a fierce attack on Puyi Pass led by Liu Fangliang. Zhang Guangda, lacking firearms, was unable to resist and had no choice but to retreat to Jia County to rest.

On August 18th, a fierce battle took place in Lushan County, Ruzhou. Thorough and diligent farming...
Wei Zhice led the Tengshe Battalion soldiers to take advantage of the emptiness of Lushan County and recaptured the county in one fell swoop. Unexpectedly, they were counterattacked by Li Zicheng, the rebel king, who gathered tens of thousands of main force infantry and cavalry.

Faced with a large number of bandits, Wei Zhice had no choice but to lead his troops to break through the encirclement and retreat to Baofeng County to defend it. Lushan County once again fell into the hands of the rebels.

On August 20th, after receiving reinforcements from the old camp in Funiu Mountain, Liu Zongmin, a general of the rebel army, launched a counterattack on Song County.

Ji Zhiying and Zhang Ding's forces combined numbered less than ten thousand, and most of them were local militia who had followed Zhang Ding to surrender. They were good at robbing and looting on ordinary days, but when they faced the rebel army led by Liu Zongmin, they immediately became demoralized.

Fortunately, Ji Zhiying reacted quickly. He anticipated that he would be unable to withstand Liu Zongmin's offensive and withdrew from Song County in time, retreating northward. Although he was pursued by Liu Zongmin's cavalry, Zhang Guodong and Chen De arrived in time, and he managed to escape unscathed.

Ultimately, relying on the Yi River to establish a new defensive line in Minggao Town, they were able to stop Liu Zongmin's counterattack.

Apart from the aforementioned battles where the Yongyi Army suffered setbacks, everything else went smoothly, and no further major battles were encountered.

Although the bandit problem in Henan was not completely eradicated, the flames of war in various places were temporarily quelled. Most of the rebels retreated to Ruzhou, while a small number were active in the southwestern part of Henan Prefecture, south of Henan Prefecture and north of Nanyang Prefecture.

The entire Kaifeng Prefecture, Guide Prefecture, most of Runing Prefecture, as well as half of Henan Prefecture and half of Nanyang Prefecture have stabilized, and people are gradually returning home. Villages and towns are beginning to bustle with activity again.

For the people of the Central Plains who had long suffered from war and slaughter, this scene was something they had longed for. The weariness on each of their faces was tinged with happiness.

Of course, the most bustling area was within Kaifeng Prefecture, and many people from surrounding prefectures such as Henan, Ruzhou, Nanyang, and Runing also crossed the border to settle in Kaifeng. Even the people of Guide Prefecture did the same.

After all, there was a large number of Yongyi Army soldiers stationed in Kaifeng Prefecture, so the bandits dared not attack. Most importantly, there was porridge to eat—porridge was being distributed in various places in Kaifeng.

Although eating Yongningbo's porridge meant working for him, eating the porridge meant survival, while not eating it meant not having to work, but would inevitably lead to starvation sooner or later.

Another reason is "military settlements"—once you enter Kaifeng Prefecture, there will be people specifically responsible for registering households and then assigning you a place to live, and you will be immediately allocated houses and land.

Military settlements across the region were busily repairing canals and reclaiming wasteland. Numerous boats sailed on the rivers within Kaifeng's borders, bringing in loads of grain and farm tools, but taking away large sums of money.

In order to develop military settlements in Kaifeng Prefecture, the Earl of Yongning incurred a great deal of famine, and the guarantor was the increasingly prosperous Xuanda Trading Company.

While developing military settlements, the Earl of Yongning also vigorously promoted the "rent and interest reduction" movement in Kaifeng Prefecture and even the surrounding prefectures!
Although it would be of great benefit to stabilizing the current situation in Henan, calming the people's hearts, and restoring the province's strength, the local landlords and powerful families could not understand it.

After all, who would willingly give up money and supplies once they've got them?

However, some landlords and powerful families were more open-minded and supported the policy of "rent and interest reduction".

It was this "rent and interest reduction" movement, which was beneficial to local stability, that once again pushed the Earl of Yongning to the opposite side of the local powerful families in Henan, and made him a "wolf and tiger" in the eyes of the Henan landlords.

Or rather—the kind that can never be fully satisfied!
However, in the hearts of the people of Henan, the Earl of Yongning became a savior, like a bodhisattva who saves people from suffering.

However, the Earl of Yongning was the one who had set a trap for Young Master Li Yan, so he knew the intricacies of the situation better than anyone else. How could he not take precautions?
To the outside world, the Earl of Yongning always claimed that the "military settlements" were for the stability of Henan and to ensure the survival of the people. As for the charitable act of "distributing porridge," he claimed that it was done by imperial decree, and that all people had to kneel and bow in the direction of the capital before receiving the porridge, shouting "Long live the Emperor!" three times.

Of course, no matter what he does, he cannot escape the framing by the vested interest group.

The Earl of Yongning was at ease about this. He couldn't just stop doing things to avoid being framed and attacked by those with vested interests!
His mindset was no longer what it was when he first arrived, when he only thought about protecting himself and living a comfortable life.

Now we live in a chaotic world, with bandits roaming the country from within and the Jurchens eyeing us covetously from without. If we are not careful, this once glorious Ming Dynasty will be renamed and renamed.

Li Zicheng?
Dorgon?
The Earl of Yongning didn't fancy either of these two people!
The glorious empire of the Ming Dynasty must not be handed over to any of them.

No, absolutely not!
…………

On August 21, the Earl of Yongning led his guards back to Kaifeng.

Xuzhou City was where Chen Zheng led the White Tiger Battalion soldiers to garrison, controlling the surrounding counties of Yuzhou, Xiangcheng, and Linying.

Meanwhile, Wang Pu, the general of Datong, led his troops to the area of ​​Ye County and Wuyang in Nanyang Prefecture, but did not venture deep into Nanyang Prefecture. Instead, he temporarily stationed his troops between Ye County and Wuyang to rest and reorganize.

Li Fuming's Shanxi troops have withdrawn to Zhuxian Town, leaving Li Jiyu alone to garrison in Shangshui County, controlling the south of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Jiang Mingwu led his troops to garrison in Taikang County to guard against any unusual movements by Luo Rucai's troops in Guide Prefecture. After all, Luo's troops had not yet been fully reorganized, and he could not completely trust them.

Within the territory of Henan Prefecture, Zhang Guodong led the Qinglong Battalion to garrison the area.

Zhang Guodong's main camp was set up in Luoyang City, controlling the surrounding counties of Yiyang, Mianchi, Xin'an, and Dengfeng.

Yanshi County was firmly controlled by the Mangshan militia, with Yang Shibin, the brother-in-law of the Earl of Yongning, personally in charge.

Chen De led his 1,000 elite cavalry, along with Ji Zhiying and Zhang Ding's troops, plus two infantry commanderies from the Qinglong Camp, to garrison the front line of Minggao Town and defend against the threat of Liu Zongmin's bandit army.

Ruzhou, as the front line against the rebel army, was commanded by Wei Zhice and Zhang Guangda.

Wei Zhice led the main force to garrison in Baofeng County, while Zhang Guangda was stationed in Jia County. Although sporadic battles still occurred from time to time, major battles had ceased.

…………

It seems that Li Zicheng, the rebel leader, had his bottom line in Lushan County.

He left only 500 bandits to garrison in Lushan County. Although it seemed like there weren't many bandits, there was something interesting about it—the Yongyi Army didn't attack Lushan County, so Li Zicheng didn't launch a major offensive against the Yongyi Army.

The two sides seemed to have reached a strange tacit understanding for the time being, and each side took a break to rest and recuperate. Although there were occasional skirmishes between the scouts, the overall situation was close to a truce.