Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 399: Will Definitely Inflict Heavy Damage on the Enemy
Those who kill will be killed, and those who plot against others will also be included in the various plots.

When Wu Sangui wanted to capture Hauge and others by cutting off the army's retreat, he fell under the enemy's butcher knife due to uncontrollable reasons.

After all, he was blinded by the huge benefits and difficult situation, and did not realize the true mentality of the Ming and Qing parties.

For Zhu Cilang, killing the Qing army was certainly the top priority, but on the one hand, he did not know what had happened in Jinniu Road, and on the other hand, forcing a group of powerful enemies into a desperate situation was not an appropriate choice.

Therefore, if the Qing army did not come out from the Jinniu Road, he would not be able to take the initiative to fight a large-scale battle, and following the Qing army and fighting some piecemeal battles became an inevitable result.

Zhu Cilang, who was in an advantageous position, was so conservative, and Hauge, who was at a disadvantage, had to be even more conservative.

At this point someone might say that the Qing army clearly had an absolute advantage in terms of manpower, and even if the two flags of the defeated guards were removed, they would not be at a disadvantage.

But from Hauge's point of view, the twists and turns in the prisoner exchange process were one thing, but the key point was that the bright yellow figure had been fighting in the formation and was clearly someone impersonating him.

Not only was he unaware of the enemy's plot, he was also unprepared for any countermeasures. If he rashly left the Jinniu Pass, he would fall into the enemy's trap.

Under such circumstances, his goal changed from capturing the Emperor Ming to protecting his troops, and he also had to end this inexplicable battle as soon as possible.

In the end, most of the Qing army retreated into the Jinniu Road with Hauge personally covering their retreat, while the Ming army was unable to expand their victory due to depletion of ammunition and terrain reasons.

However, when Li Guo and other generals apologized for missing the opportunity to fight, there was always an indescribable expression on Zhu Cilang's face.

"It's okay. The Tartars retreated too quickly. It's understandable that you couldn't catch up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

Seeing that His Majesty had no intention of blaming them, Li Guo and others expressed their gratitude and stood up from the ground.

But whether they blamed him or not, it was an indisputable fact that they missed the opportunity to expand the victory because of being late. So when Li Guo and others stood up, they still looked extremely dejected, and it was obvious that they had not revealed the matter.

This is not surprising. Although the specific results of the battle have not yet been counted, anyone who sees the battlefield littered with the corpses of Qing soldiers can make a rough judgment.

If Li Guo and his men could arrive in time, it would not be an exaggeration to add another one or two thousand battle results.

You have to know that these one or two thousand are all genuine Eight Banners soldiers, and their value is far beyond that of ordinary Qing troops.

Knowing this truth, how could Li Guo easily forgive himself?

not to mention.
After standing up, Li Guo looked at Zeng Ying and Yang Zhan and then stepped aside. When he saw the deep resentment in their eyes, he felt even more frustrated.

Honestly speaking, he had fought in battles for nearly half of his life, and although he didn't lose more than he won, he was still far from being a victorious general.

After all these years, if we were so depressed after a defeat, we would have been unable to live like this long ago.

No matter how many words are said, this battle is not only his first battle after returning to the Ming Dynasty, but it is also commanded by His Majesty himself. Now it has turned out like this.
Hey~~~~!

With a heavy sigh in his heart, Li Guo thought about how to make up for it, but before he could find any clue, he heard the voice of His Majesty.

"Li Qing, you and Liu Wenxiu can be considered old acquaintances, right?"

When Li Guo heard these words, his heart suddenly tightened.

Although he knew that Liu Wenxiu's attack on the emperor's carriage had no bearing on him, as a "newly" surrendered general who had missed the opportunity to fight, he really didn't want to have anything to do with him.

But then again, can we just avoid any connection if we don't want to?

At the beginning, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng were not only leaders under the old King Chuang, but they also joined forces several times to fight against the Ming army.

If he really denied these things at this time, he would probably be charged with the crime of deceiving the emperor.

"Your Majesty, I am not familiar with him, but I have had some dealings with him. I wonder if Your Majesty has any orders for me?"

Li Guo's answer was quite good. He reversed what he said first and what he said second. The denial in his words immediately faded a lot, and his credibility was naturally much higher.

However, at this time Zhu Cilang's mind was focused on other things, and he did not pay attention to the key point in this sentence. After listening to his words, he nodded slightly and spoke directly.

"Zhang Xianzhong and Ai Nengqi have already died in the chaos, and Sun Kewang is only half dead," Zhu Cilang paused for a moment, letting Li Guo and the others digest the information before continuing, "Since you and him are old acquaintances, go and talk to them about it."

When Li Guo first heard this, he was a little surprised, but after a moment he seemed to have thought of something, and his doubts were immediately resolved.

On the surface, Liu Wenxiu was not only a general under Zhang Xianzhong, but he also pretended to surrender to attack the emperor at night. However, all the blame for harming Sichuan could be put on Zhang Xianzhong, and the false surrender was just a matter of serving each other.

Under such circumstances, if Your Majesty wants to investigate, Liu Wenxiu will certainly not escape death. If Your Majesty still has a love for talent, can his crime be greater than forcing the late emperor to death?
With this in mind, Li Guo planned to accept the order and leave, but when he was about to bow and accept the order, he saw that his Majesty seemed to have something else to say.

"He had told me something before, but he was interrupted halfway through. If he hadn't been sad for a while, he would have said that I had something to ask him."

"I know."

Having said this, Li Guozi had a full understanding of his mission. He then responded and turned to leave, while Zhu Cilang could not help but think about it.

After this battle, the danger in central Sichuan was temporarily resolved. Even though Hauge was not seriously injured, it would take several months for him to go south again.

If we follow common sense, since the war is over, he, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, should set off to return to Yingtian and leave the affairs in Sichuan to Fan Yiheng and others to handle.

But after thinking it over, he still felt that he should stay a little longer.

As he traveled all the way here, Sichuan was an extremely special place.

Although places like Huguang, Yunnan and Guizhou had also fallen to varying degrees, the ruling structure of the Ming Dynasty was still basically intact. As long as a few more people were added, the basic functions of the government could be restored without spending too much effort.

Sichuan was first occupied by Zhang Xianzhong for more than a year, and then suffered heavy losses in the tug of war between the two sides. At this time, it was difficult to set up a complete government office, let alone a basic team.

Of course, there are ways to deal with such a situation.

After all, Zhang Xianzhong still has some manpower. As long as the generals in Sichuan are settled in various places and monitored, some functions of the yamen can be restored.

But there is a problem here. The local officials of Daxi who surrendered here are bound to be in a disadvantaged position, and Fan Yiheng has a close relationship with the generals in Sichuan. If time passes for a long time, will this place be governed by civil officials or military generals?
Will the military generals who control the local government lead to a situation close to separatism?

This does not mean that Zhu Cilang was suspicious of the generals in Sichuan and did not trust Fan Yiheng's ability and character.

At its core, human nature simply cannot stand the test.

As long as there is a loophole, someone will take advantage of it. Instead of rushing back to Yingtian and causing trouble on the front line of the enemy, it is better to keep an eye on it from the beginning and try to nip in the bud.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Cilang finally decided to stay in Sichuan for a while. Then, seeing that there seemed to be nothing to do here, he turned his horse and headed for the military camp outside the city.

As time went by, the work of cleaning the battlefield gradually came to an end. About half a day later, a detailed summary of today's battle finally appeared in front of him.

In this battle, more than 6,000 Qing troops were killed, of which more than 2,000 were guards of the two blue flags, and the rest were of complicated subordinates.

According to his original idea, the imperial guards in the center, which were responsible for protecting the flanks, would face considerable pressure. However, who would have thought that the Qing cavalry would flee directly after being shot at only three rounds, and did not even touch the edge of the center.

In this way, the more than 6,000 enemies were killed entirely by the rear guards.

"Your Majesty, you are too kind. If it weren't for your planning and the central army protecting the flanks, our rear army would be in danger of being overwhelmed by the enemy even if we had the most powerful firearms. I dare not take all the credit for this."

After hearing Zhu Cilang's praise, Mei Chun immediately knelt on the ground. After seeing his expression, Xiang Rensheng smiled and said, "It is a fact that your rear army killed 6,000 enemy soldiers with 5,000 soldiers. Even if Your Majesty does not value the heads, your rear army will still be credited with the first merit."

After the words fell, although Yang Zhan and Zeng Ying laughed a few times, they could not hide the envy in their eyes.

You have to know that the enemy in front of them was not bandits, but the elite of the Eight Banners. Even if the rear army achieved such results because of its powerful firearms, killing 6,000 enemies with 5,000 troops was still an extremely exaggerated number.

"Get up, the contribution of the rear army is indisputable, and the other troops have also made contributions. Haoge suffered a great loss in this battle. I will have a drink with you when we reward you in a few days."

It was obvious that Zhu Cilang was in a very good mood. On the one hand, this battle achieved its original purpose and caused a considerable weakening of the Eight Banners' vitality. On the other hand, Zhang Xianzhong's accidental death made him completely free of worries about accepting the Dashi generals.

However, all kinds of twists and turns are always unexpected. When he was chatting with the generals, he saw Li Guo and Liu Wenxiu appear outside the military tent.

"The general will pay homage to His Majesty."

"The defeated general greets His Majesty."

There was nothing strange about Li Guo's appearance. After all, he had accepted the task of appeasing Liu Wenxiu, and he should come back to report no matter what the outcome was.

But Zhang Xianzhong had only been dead for half a day. Judging from Liu Wenxiu's previous behavior, he should be extremely sad. But now he actually followed Li Guo to pay a visit. I'm afraid there must be some inside story.

Although his thoughts were constantly turning, they had no effect on Zhu Cilang's facial reaction.

When the two arrived, Zhu Cilang first asked them to stand up and talk, and then he started talking after they entered the big tent.

"Don't worry, Wenxiu. Although I have never met the Eighth King, I admire him very much. You just need to rest for the next few days. I will order Minister Fan to take care of the Eighth King's affairs."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for letting bygones be bygones."

"It's okay. When a person dies, it's like a light goes out. Father was deceived by those people in Beijing." Zhu Cilang seemed to realize that there was something wrong with his words. After Shengsheng stopped talking, he continued, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Wenxiu, just take a good rest."

In these days, everyone attaches great importance to what happens after death, so Zhu Cilang thought that Liu Wenxiu came to him to ask for a lavish burial for Zhang Xianzhong. But after he finished speaking, Liu Wenxiu just bowed heavily three times on the ground, and then continued: "Your Majesty is merciful, and a defeated general should not make any more requests, but just..."

Seeing Liu Wenxiu hesitating like this, Zhu Cilang thought that he was going to make another request.

Honestly speaking, since Cao Cao was able to be open and sincere to Guan Yu back then, he could certainly do the same to this person who had lost his master. However, people's nature can be seen in every detail. Liu Wenxiu kept making requests, and he seemed to be somewhat hesitant. Naturally, Zhu Cilang began to be wary of this.

"Just say it directly. As long as it does not violate the law, I will agree to it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Wenxiu felt as if a huge stone had fallen from his heart. After bowing again, he stated his request.

"Your Majesty, my brother Sun Kewang has a high fever due to his injuries. I beg Your Majesty to save his life!"

High fever won’t go away?

I am afraid that you are judging a gentleman by your own villain's standards.

After hearing these words, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but feel a little self-deprecating.

After receiving the news from Sun Kewang, he ordered the military medical officer to do his best to treat the patient. Afterwards, he was busy with other things and had no time to inquire about the situation.

Now that Liu Wenxiu has come this far, he can naturally figure out the key.

After all, Zhu Cilang showed great patience and tolerance towards Liu Wenxiu, but in the eyes of the Ming army, Sun Kewang was just an ordinary bandit.

Moreover, medicines that can treat such high fevers are already precious. How could the medical officers use them on such people?

"It's okay. The mustard greens marinade is not rare. It's just that it's difficult to make, so we have to be more cautious." After briefly explaining to Liu Wenxiu, Zhu Cilang said to the outside, "Didn't I say that we should do our best to treat Sun Kewang? There's no need to be so stingy with a few medicines."

As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier went to deliver the order. After seeing that the Emperor was so decisive, Liu Wenxiu, who was originally very nervous, immediately knelt on the ground again.

"Your Majesty has been so kind to me that I cannot repay you. From now on, I only hope to be a small servant by your side to repay you for even a tiny bit of your kindness!"

Faced with Liu Wenxiu's kneeling, Zhu Cilang was naturally quite delighted. After expressing his feelings and praises, he was planning to say something else, but who would have thought that the other party spoke first.

"Your Majesty, do you remember that I mentioned earlier that there is a way to alleviate the loopholes in the defense?"

"Yeah, remember."

"Your Majesty, my adoptive father had four adopted sons. In addition to Ai Nengqi, who died, there was another son named Li Dingguo."

As soon as the words fell, Zhu Cilang felt curious, but before he could think about it, Liu Wenxiu's voice came again.

"Dingguo was sent to Hanzhong by my adoptive father. If we can capture this city, we will be able to inflict heavy damage on Haoge!"

(End of this chapter)