I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 673: No one can escape as long as I am here!
The first guard had already run up the river bank, panting and reporting: "Sir, the Governor, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and the Director of the Cultural Construction Committee, Mr. Zhang, together with the Deputy Chief Clerk and Director of the Cultural Committee, Lingshi Shen Yikuan, have rushed to Sha Town and requested to pay a visit to the Governor."

Wang Yi'e asked in surprise, "How could Zhang Siwei run so fast? He ran from Xiangyang to here in less than ten days? Where did he come from?"

"In reply to the governor, Lord Zhang and his party disembarked at Xiantao Town in Mianyang and took a straight road to Sha Town. The roll says that Lord Zhang fasted for ten days on the way, disembarked at Zhongxiang, and paid homage to Xianling. Then he went down the Han River."

Wang Yi'e smiled. "The successor of Xu Shaohu is not Zhang Taiyue, but Zhang Fengpan. He is very versatile and considerate, like a glass bead."

The second guard rushed up the river bank with sweat on his forehead, "Governor, urgent report from Chenxi, fighting broke out in Sinan City. Here is also a confidential document from the Governor-General's Clerk Li Mingchun."

"Give it to me, give it to me quickly." Wang Yi'e stretched out his hand impatiently, took the urgent message and confidential document, and opened the urgent message first.

"On March 26, the wolf soldiers of the Yang family who were returning home were waiting for the boat to go up the Wujiang River to Bozhou in Sinan City. They started a riot and intended to rob Sinan City. They were suppressed by Zhang Yong, the chief officer of the Shuidejiang Chief Officer Division, and An Yue, the chief officer of the Manyi Chief Officer Division.

The news reached the Shiqian Miao People's Division and Yang Zhaolong, the military commander of the Bozhou Xuanwei Division, accused Sinan City of malicious slander and tried to stop the Bozhou soldiers from returning home.

On the 30th, Yang Zhaolong suddenly ordered troops to be dispatched. Four thousand soldiers from Bozhou left Longquanpingsi and crossed Yingwu Pass on the third day of April, heading straight to the northwest of Sinan City.

Six thousand Bozhou soldiers left Miaominsi and on April 2nd, they went down Wujiang River, passed Tongkoupu, and went directly to the southwest of Sinan City. Three thousand Bozhou soldiers left Shiqiansi and on April 4th, they passed Tangtoupu and went directly to the south of Sinan City.

At this point, 13,000 Bozhou soldiers surrounded Sinan City.
In addition, Bozhou Huangpingfusi and Bainisi gathered 6,000 soldiers and horses and advanced towards Pianqiaosi, a strategic pass in the northwest of Zhenyuan Prefecture.

"He sent out 20,000 soldiers and horses. Great! Yang Yinglong has spent all his wealth."

Li E said excitedly: "Governor, Yang Yinglong has only about 30,000 troops in total. Now he has deployed 20,000 troops in the east alone, leaving the rest of the troops empty."

Wang Yi'e glanced at him and said nothing.

Li E also immediately shut up and said no more.

"Let's go to Shazhen." Wang Yi'e fell down the river bank. "Li E, go tell them the results of the secret inspection of the river bank. I am waiting. If there are any omissions or concealments, I will throw them into the river as a sacrifice."

"Yes."

The carriage was running on the official road leading to Sha Town. Wang Yi'e was sitting in the carriage, looking at the secret document written by Li Mingchun in the sunlight outside the window.

"At noon on March 25, a thousand Bozhou soldiers who were returning home arrived at the Chantoupu on the east bank of the Wujiang River in Sinan City.

The two chief offices in Sinan sent people to deliver pigs, sheep, wine and rice, and told them that the chief office was raising enough boats so that they could take the boats, go up the Wujiang River, pass Shiqian, and enter Bozhou from Yuqingsi.

That night, Yang's spies lurking in Sinan City found the leader of the Bozhou local soldiers and conveyed Yang Yinglong's secret order, asking them to cause chaos in Sinan City, wait for an opportunity to rush into Sinan City and occupy various places.

He also said that Yang Zhaolong would provide support at the Miaominsi. If something happened here, they would send troops immediately, and in two or three days they would arrive at Sinan City along the Wujiang River and join forces.

This was just as the governor had expected. According to the captured spy chief, Yang Chaodong, the nephew of Yang Yinglong.

Yang Yinglong needed to find an excuse to send troops to Sinan City. He actually didn't care about these 3,000 local soldiers, he just hoped to take advantage of the opportunity of the local soldiers returning to Bozhou to cause chaos.

The court arranged for local soldiers to return from Zhenyuan to Bozhou, so he took the opportunity to cause chaos in Zhenyuan and then took advantage of the chaos to swallow up Sinan; the court arranged for local soldiers to return from Sinan to Bozhou, so he caused chaos in Sinan and then took up Zhenyuan.

By swallowing up Zhenyuan and Sinan, the connection between Guizhou Provincial Administration and Hunan was cut off. Yang Yinglong could then act recklessly and take advantage of the situation to occupy Guiyang Prefecture, Duyun Prefecture and Anshun Prefecture of Guizhou Provincial Administration. He could then divide the Shuixi Xuanwei Prefecture with Yongning Xuanfu Envoy She Xiuzhong, and establish his own regime as the King of Yelang.

But the Yangs never expected that the governor had already anticipated their evil ambitions and was planning to take advantage of them.

Of the 1,000 Bozhou native soldiers, only 300 were real Bozhou native soldiers, all of whom were loyal to the imperial court. The remaining 700 were Xiangxi native soldiers, with Zhenxiang soldiers as the core, led by Zhu Jue, the commander of the Second Division of Qianzhong Dusi.

When Wang Yi'e saw this, he smiled knowingly and felt very contented.

He made this plan himself, anticipating that Yang Yinglong would do something to these 1,000 soldiers.

In fact, there was a secret plan. Even if Yang Chaodong had not brought spies to instigate them, these one thousand soldiers would have "rebelled" in Sinan City.

Then the Sinan Tusi soldiers took advantage of the situation to quell the rebellion and issued a document publicly accusing Bozhou. How could Yang Yinglong hold back when he had so many troops in Shiqian and other places?
Anyway, no matter what method is used, Yang Yinglong's main force must be lured out from Bozhou and taken to the "away field" that he has prepared for the battle.

Once you get out, it’s not easy to go back.

As long as he sticks to these troops, Yang Yinglong, the ambitious wolf, can be led by the nose.

Wang Yi'e continued to read Li Mingchun's confidential documents.

"We created a riot, and Commander Zhu led the troops of this reinforced battalion, cooperating with the Sinan local soldiers, eliminated the officers and leaders who were loyal to the Yang family, and captured more than 50 Bozhou spies lurking in Sinan City.

We strengthened the city defense and were ready for battle. On the second day of April, local soldiers from Bozhou who came down from the upper reaches of the Wujiang River arrived at the city. On the third and fourth days, local soldiers from Bozhou from Longquan and Shiqian arrived at the city one after another.

The commander of the army was Yang Yinglong's younger brother Yang Zhaolong. On the fourth day of the first lunar month, he ordered the siege to begin. The reinforced battalion brought a thousand Wanli Yuan-style rifled muskets. The soldiers were high up on the city wall, and they could shoot anyone within 150 meters.

Wanli Yuan-style rifle, Wang Yi'e witnessed its power.

Engineers from the Bureau of Artillery said that they used a boring machine to draw four rifling grooves in the barrel, and combined with new lead bullets, the accuracy was very high.

They demonstrated that the new lead bullet was a long cone with a conical hole at the tail (Miné bullet). When the gunpowder was ignited, the tail of the lead bullet instantly expanded and adhered tightly to the rifling of the gun. The bullet body rotated along the rifling and continued to rotate after leaving the muzzle. It would not fly around in the air like a smoothbore lead bullet, and its accuracy was very high.

An average shooter can hit a target at 150 meters with training. An excellent shooter can hit a target at 200 or even 300 meters.

Due to the low yield rate of rifling, the production of Wanli Yuan-style rifles is not high, and they are currently allocated to soldiers above the rank of sergeant major and above.

There are one or two soldiers in each squad. They will not line up and shoot at the same time like ordinary soldiers during combat. They will walk beside the team and hunt valuable targets, such as officers, generals, cavalry, messengers, etc. They are also called hunters.

"The Wanli Yuan-style rifles were very useful when we were defending the city. The 1,000 soldiers of the Qianzhong Fourth Division were all veterans, and their marksmanship was amazing. When the Bozhou local soldiers attacked Sinan City from above and assembled under the city, their officers and leaders were killed by our hunters, and their morale dropped greatly.

The next day, their officers and leaders were dressed in the same clothes as the soldiers, but they had to command the troops after all, so they were still recognized by our hunters and hunted down.

After the fourth day, the Bozhou native soldiers lost less than a thousand men, and only two or three hundred officers and chieftains were killed or wounded. They had about fourteen thousand soldiers, but only a few officers and chieftains.

I quickly found Division Commander Zhu Jue and stopped the hunting. If we continued to fight like this, the Bozhou soldiers might be scared away and retreat back to Bozhou before our troops reached their respective positions.

Division Commander Zhu Jue thought it made sense. After discussing with Commanders Zhang Yong and Anyue, he ordered the reinforced battalion of the 4th Division to withdraw first and be on standby at all times, allowing the local soldiers from Sinan to take over first.

So from the fourth day, the Sinan native soldiers and the Bozhou native soldiers began the offensive and defensive battle. Compared with the battles of the previous three days, everyone felt that it was just a fight between weaklings, but they all agreed that this was a normal war.

Seeing this, Wang Yi'e was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Indeed, the Bozhou native soldiers were definitely not as good as the Zhenwei Army that was gradually reformed after the 41st year of Jiajing in terms of training, equipment and combat experience, and they could not even beat the Yingwei Army. The only thing they relied on was the rugged terrain.

Once they gave up this advantage and were exposed to the powerful firepower of the town guards who had the advantage of terrain, it would definitely be a one-sided massacre.

Wang Yi'e was glad that he had put Li Mingchun in Sinan City.

He knew his own thoughts and strategic intentions best. If he left others in Sinan City, they would be so excited that they would fight Yang Zhaolong's troops to death, and they would be scared and retreat. That would be a big trouble.

Li E, who was sitting opposite, watched Wang Yi'e put away the confidential documents with a look of joy on his face, and asked, "Governor, is Sinan doing well?"

"Yes, we have caught a big fish. Now we will start to collect the nets. I hope we won't scare them. I also hope Deng Zilong, Chen Lin, Wu Guang and others can move faster.

This Governor has taken great pains to mobilize the main force of the Yang Family, and we cannot return empty-handed."

"Governor, Commander Deng, Commander Chen, and Commander Wu are all veterans who have fought in many battles. They should be able to take this matter lightly. Once the battle starts in Sinan, they will definitely act with great speed and strike Yang Yinglong in the weak spot."

"Yes, so I am still relatively relieved. You write to Ling Futai and Hu Fansi. Now that the war has reached the most critical moment, the logistics must not go wrong.

If they miss the opportunity to fight, I can forgive them, but the emperor cannot."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"Yes, when we arrived at Shazhen, I immediately wrote to the governor and governor of Hunan in the name of the headquarters."

Li E paused for a moment and then asked, "Superintendent, Lord Feng Pan came here in such a hurry this time, is it really to save You Qi?"

"Haha, You Qi is not his father, so he won't take it that seriously. He did this just to show Zhang Xiang that he tried his best."

Li E smiled, "This Lord Feng Pan is really good at dealing with people. What about You Qi's life or death?"

Wang Yi'e smiled faintly and said nothing.

Li E also tactfully stopped asking.

When they arrived at Sha Town, Zhang Siwei, Shen Yikuan and his group stayed at the inn in the town. When they heard that Wang Yi'e had arrived, they went to the door to greet him early.

"Wang Duxian, I'm sorry to bother you. I'm sorry to have you running around so much."

As soon as they met, Zhang Siwei bowed and apologized.

"Mr. Feng Pan is now the director of the Cultural Construction Committee. This time he came to inspect the cultural construction work in various places. It's official business. When he arrives in Huguang, as a landlord, Mr. Wang must open the bed to welcome him.

But now we are entering the flood season, and the Yangtze River has become a battlefield. I dare not be careless, and I apologize for not coming to meet you in person."

Wang Yi'e exchanged a few polite words with Zhang Siwei.

"This is Li E, the chief clerk of the Governor-General's Office. His given name is Yunying."

"So you are Governor Wang's chief steward. This is the deputy chief clerk of the Cultural Construction Committee's Experience Department and the director, Shen Yiguan Shen Buyi."

"Shen Buyi, I heard that you are in the same class as Li Ziming and Shen Qianhe."

"I am truly honored that Governor Wang knows my humble name."

After entering the room, the four of them sat down and Zhang Siwei went straight to the point.

He knew that when dealing with someone like Wang Yi'e, he had to be straightforward. If you beat around the bush, he would just say a few polite words and walk away, too lazy to bother with you anymore.

"Lord Wang, I'm sure you know why I came here this time."

"Did Taiyuegong write you a letter?"

"Yes, when Prime Minister Zhang received the urgent letter from Jiangling City, he immediately wrote me an urgent letter, which was also sent to me at an urgent rate of 800 miles. He asked me to come to Hubei to understand the situation, just to see what is going on with You Qi's involvement in the case."

Wang Yi'e thought for a moment and replied, "It just so happens that this governor came from Wuchang City a few days ago and learned about You Qi's case. Lord Feng Pan, this governor might as well explain it clearly."

"Zijian, please speak frankly."

"From some indications, You Qi may have fallen into someone's trap and was lured into a trap. If someone really set up this trap, it must have been very complete, with witnesses and evidence.

According to the interrogation process of the procuratorate, the court and the magistrate, it is very likely that You Qishi was punished with one life for one life. "

Shen Yikuan's brows twitched.

Wangfa?

Haha, that's for ordinary people. Who cares about that stuff when they are really powerful?

In the case of You Qi, Zhang Siwei's attitude was to do his best. He made every effort, but whether he could save the person was not something he could guarantee.

Shen Yiguan was different. He felt that this was an opportunity, a great opportunity to curry favor with Zhang Juzheng.

He also found a way to understand You Qi's background and knew the position he held in Zhang's mother's heart. So he made up his mind to find a way to save You Qi and make a great contribution to Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Siwei stroked his beard and said, "Vice-General Wang, I am an official appointed by the court, and I will never do anything that is biased for personal gain or violates the law. I came here because Prime Minister Zhang asked me to understand the situation.

Zhang Xiang wrote to me, "You Qi is a man who has committed many minor offenses but never committed any major offenses. He probably doesn't have the courage to commit a major crime."

Wang Yi'e said without comment: "I am not familiar with You Qi. I am not interested in understanding his character. But I will ensure that he will be interrogated fairly and impartially."

Zhang Siwei's eyes turned, and he quickly followed Wang Yi'e's words and said, "With Governor Wang's words, I feel relieved. Okay, I will write back to Prime Minister Zhang and tell him that with Governor Wang in Huguang, no one dares to frame You Qi."

Wang Yi'e laughed, "That's right. As the governor sitting here, I will definitely supervise the prosecutors and judges and the magistrates to judge You Qi's case fairly and impartially based on evidence and the law."

Shen Yi Guan couldn't help but said, "Wang Duxian, you just said that You Qi might have been framed. Do you want to send someone to investigate further?"

There was silence in the room.

(End of this chapter)