The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 209 The Queen Mother Also Learned to Pick Peaches

"Empress Dowager, that Wu Sangui has a strong army in his hands, so he let the bandit army flee into the Dabie Mountains, it is really incompetent.

Although there are only remnants of the bandit army, once they are allowed to cross the Dabie Mountains, it may be difficult for the troops stationed in Huaixi to defend against them. The minister asked Ying to go to encircle and suppress the bandit leader, and vowed to capture the bandit leader's grandson Kewang alive! "

"Well, then Lao Zuo Aiqing will go to Huaixi Province to take charge of encircling and suppressing the remnants in the mountains."

Faced with Zuo Liangyu's challenge this time, Zhang Yan nodded and did not refuse again.

If those thieves are not wiped out completely, they will indeed be a disaster. They might show up at any time and loot the village and town, which will definitely cause panic in Huaixi.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Zuo Liangyu was overjoyed, the opportunity to make meritorious service finally came.

The next day, they rushed towards Huaixi with [-] new recruits.

Regarding Zuo Liangyu's ability, Zhang Yan is still very relieved, she knows that as long as Zuo Liangyu is willing to work hard, it will be a matter of time to wipe out the rebels in the Dabie Mountains.

Therefore, he was not very worried about the remnants of Sun Kewang who had fled into the mountains, but instead had some headaches about Xiangyang.

According to her idea, the bandit army was willing to surrender. In order to ensure the safety of the people in Xiangyang City and reduce the casualties of the soldiers, it is not impossible to pardon the bandit army. I'm afraid he won't let her off so easily.

So it's not easy to make a decision without authorization for a while, but it's not a problem after all to procrastinate like this.

Even if Zhang Yan wanted to ask someone about this kind of matter, no matter whether he was a civilian or military officer, he would not dare to express his opinion.

In the end, Zhang Yan deliberated over and over again, and still only issued a decree, guaranteeing that the court would not kill Liu Wenxiu and the others after they surrendered, and would plead with His Majesty for a lighter punishment.

As for the imperial decree, she will not use it unless it is absolutely necessary.

After the eunuch who delivered the decree left, Zhang Yan put her mind on the New Deal again. Although she was also concerned about the war in the north, she could only provide some money and food.

Xiangyang City.

After Liu Wenxiu entered the city, he did not kill innocent people indiscriminately, and usually tried his best to restrain his subordinates. At this time, Xiangyang City was almost surrounded by Wu Sangui and Zuo Menggeng, and it became a dead city and an isolated city.

However, there was enough food and grass in the city, and with the [-] troops in hand, it would not be a problem to persist for two or three months, so Liu Wenxiu was not worried about being surrounded at all.

The [-] troops were all told the truth, so they didn't panic, but patiently waited for the news.

Originally Liu Wenxiu thought that the little emperor went to the grassland, and it would take at least more than a month to get results. Who would have thought that in just half a month, the eunuch who delivered the order would come.

But what he wanted was the imperial decree of the emperor, not that of the empress dowager Zhang Yan, and it was not a pleading not to kill, but a pardon.

So seeing the eunuch who came to pass the decree, his brows were all wrinkled into Chuanzi, and he didn't accept it for a while, nor did he refuse.

"General Liu, with the Queen Mother's guarantee, what concerns do you have? Don't toast and refuse to drink, take fine wine, listen to our family's persuasion, and accept the order to thank you quickly, otherwise, the Queen Mother will be furious and ignore it, and report directly to Her Majesty , but the might of Heaven is unpredictable."

The eunuch who came to deliver the decree was Lu Jiude, the chief eunuch, who obviously also saw Liu Wenxiu's thoughts, so he persuaded him earnestly.

"All right!"

Liu Wenxiu hesitated for a while, but finally nodded, he still understood the principle of accepting as soon as it is good.

I also know that their only reliance is to burn together with Xiangyang City, but the little emperor is not a hero. If he really delays for too long, once he is angered, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people are probably not as good as ants in his eyes. will backfire.

Now that Zhang Yan agreed to intercede, the little emperor would not make his aunt embarrassing and kill them all, so Wu Sangui would not dare to mess around.

Immediately, Liu Wenxiu ordered people to open the gate of the city, and led [-] Western troops to the outside of the city to surrender to Wu Sangui.

Sure enough, even if Wu Sangui wished to kill all these 2 people and skin Liu Wenxiu to get rid of his anger.

But Liu Wenxiu took Zhang Yan's order, so he had no choice but to disarm them all and put them under custody, suppressing his anger.

"General Wu, the Empress Dowager ordered that Zuo Liangyu be in charge of the encirclement and suppression of the remnants of the bandit army. I ordered you to lead the army back to the north immediately and not stay. As for the surrendered troops, our family will deal with them."

Lu Jiude obviously disliked Wu Sangui and these northern troops, so he said in a harsh tone.

"I would like to obey the Queen Mother's order!"

Wu Sangui cupped his hands in the direction of Nanjing, and his face twitched for a while. Seeing the queen mother rushing away people like this, he felt depressed.

After all, the bandit army in Xiangyang City was recruited by the queen mother, and Sun Kewang, who fled to Dabie Mountain, was obviously not in his turn.

After working for so long, none of the three thieves were caught, and the credit was not much, but the responsibility for the fall of Xiangyang cannot be escaped.

Don't mention how uncomfortable it is.

But when the army entered Huguang, it meant that it was restrained by Zhang Yan at the same time. Now that the queen mother told him to leave, he really didn't dare to stay here and continue to encircle Sun Kewang.

Knowing that Huguang must be dead, Wu Sangui pinned all his hopes on King Chuang of the Northwest.

The next day, he hurriedly led the army north across the Han River, and at the same time ordered all the former troops scattered in various places to withdraw to Henan.

In fact, Wu Sangui really didn't want to stay in Huguang. Staying in Huguang would not only be subject to Zhang Yan's restraint and restraint, but also be easily suspected by His Majesty. How could he return to Henan to be a general who promises everything?
If Xiangyang is not under the jurisdiction of Nanfang, he doesn't need to report it at all, and he has the right to make decisions on his own. He can also go after Sun Kewang without any worries, and Zuo Liangyu will take the credit for nothing.

After crossing the Han River, Wu Sangui felt a lot more relaxed when he got off the boat, as if the shackles on his body were gone.

And Lu Jiude also brought Liu Wenxiu and other generals back to Nanjing. As for the ordinary soldiers, they were escorted to Wuchang in batches for custody.

Five days later, all the battalions of the former army returned to Nanyang, and Wu Sangui took Zuo Menggeng to kill Tongguan.

However, Liu Zeqing and Gao Jie had been attacking Tongguan for nearly half a month, and the tens of thousands of soldiers under them were almost defeated.

"Brother Liu, the credit for defeating King Chuang must not be taken away by Wu Sangui's son-in-law. Quickly think of a way."

"Brother Gao, why are you not in a hurry? But Tongguan is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It may be difficult to break through with those soldiers. For the present plan, we can only borrow from Shanxi."

"This...is this too risky?" Gao Jie hesitated.

"I'm afraid, trespassing is the end of the road. As long as our army enters the northwest, people's hearts will be fluttering, and they will rush to surrender first!" Liu Zeqing said disdainfully.

"Okay, then please invite Brother Liu to sit in Tongguan, and I will lead the troops to go around Shanxi and go straight to Chang'an."

"Hey! No matter how you say, brother Gao has an old relationship with the intruder. It will be embarrassing at that time. Let me go."

"No, no, Brother Liu, I have a big grudge against King Chuang!"

The two of them started to argue for a while, both of them wanted to take a detour to Chang'an with troops and capture the intruder alive.

Who would have thought that Wu Sangui's order would arrive before the two could reach a conclusion, ordering the two to stop attacking and stay where they were, waiting for the arrival of the army.

This undoubtedly made the two of them furious.

(End of this chapter)