Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 246: Borrowing the Head to Gain Authority
Danchu stayed in Wuzhou for more than ten days and achieved several important things as he wished.

Du Yinxi was given a heavy reward and posthumously named Wen Zhong, and was given titles such as Shang Zhuguo, Tai Shi, and Duke of Liu.

The "Five Tigers" were pardoned. Liu Xiangke and Jin Bao were dismissed from their posts and sent to serve in the Red Army. Yuan Pengnian was dismissed from his post due to mourning, while Ding Shikui and Meng Zhengfa recovered the stolen goods and helped with the military expenditure.

Chen Bangfu was forced to aid Guangdong and no longer left troops stationed in Wuzhou. Wuzhou remained the imperial court, with only three divisions of the imperial camp stationed there. Xunzhen no longer sent troops to garrison Wuzhou to avoid interfering with the government.

Cen Danchu got what he wanted and was promoted to the general of the support and suppression. He was given the imperial sword and was ordered to station in Sanshui. In addition to commanding the Red Army and Liu Guochang of the Loyalty Camp, he would also command Ma Bao, Chen Qice and Zhang Yue.

Chen Qice, a native of Nanhai, Guangdong (now Guangzhou), was originally a minor official in Nanhai. He was awarded the title of garrison commander for his military merits. After Li Chengdong rebelled and returned to the Ming Dynasty, Chen Qice was awarded the title of general and was ordered to guard Lingyang Gorge and protect the imperial court in Zhaoqing. He was good at commanding the navy and had more than 100 warships under his command.

Zhang Yue, a general of Dongxun, was from Yuanshi, Hebei. When Li Chengdong rebelled and returned to the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Yue was granted the title of Boxing Earl.

At the same time, the imperial court tried to revive the situation and appointed Grand Secretary He Wuzuo to unify the command of the war to aid Guangdong and station him in Zhaoqing.

He Wuzuo, a native of Xiangshan, Guangdong, was a Jinshi in the 47th year of Wanli. Chen Bangyan and others were his disciples. In the second year of Longwu, he served as the chief minister in the Longwu Dynasty. In the Yongli Dynasty, after Li Chengdong rebelled, He Wuzuo stayed in his hometown to recuperate. Now that the situation in eastern Guangdong is urgent, He Wuzuo has come out again to lead the war to aid Guangdong.

On April 2, the Red Army broke camp and moved downstream along the Xijiang River. On the 5th, the vanguard approached Zhaoqing, and Li Yuanyin came to greet them in person.

Danchu was not very happy to see his old friend, so he invited Li Yuanyin to come aboard to discuss matters. After the greetings, Danchu noticed that Li Yuanyin was in a state of uncertainty, so he asked, "Brother, are you worried about anything?"

Li Yuanyin looked around and saw two personal soldiers standing in the cabin, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.

"These people are my confidants and they keep their mouths shut. If you have anything to say, just speak up."

Li Yuanyin had no choice but to take out a piece of imperial edict from his bosom and said, "Brother, please read this, this is the edict the emperor gave me."

Danchu's expression was stern. He took the imperial edict and saw only a few lines of red characters on yellow paper: Luo Chengyao, Marquis of Boxing, has ulterior motives and is plotting to surrender to the enemy, endangering the country. I hereby order Li Yuanyin, Earl of Nanyang, to eliminate the traitor for the country and serve as a warning to others.

Before they could fight the Qing army, the Ming army was about to start fighting among themselves. Danchu frowned and said:

"Luo Chengyao was ordered to guard Meiguan, but he retreated without a fight, allowing the Tartars to march straight in. He deserves his punishment. However, he is a general of Dongxun and has been conferred the title of Marquis. He must have a lot of troops under his command. Brother, you have been ordered to eliminate the traitors, but you should plan carefully before you act, and don't act rashly."

"That's right, big brother." Li Yuanyin said sincerely, "This is a serious matter, and I came here specially to ask for your advice. If we launch an attack, we will need the assistance of the Red Army."

After that, Li Yuanyin briefly recounted the whole story.

It turned out that Luo Chengyao was a coward. After the Qing army captured Nanxiong, Luo Chengyao abandoned Shaozhou and fled all the way to Zhaoqing. Li Yuanyin had always been on good terms with him. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Luo Chengyao wanted to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and went to Li Yuanyin to test his words.

Li Yuanyin was righteous and stern, and would never surrender. Luo Chengyao had no choice but to give up, but secretly sent his confidants to contact the Qing army, willing to seize Zhaoqing in order to win credit from the Qing court.

The matter was soon leaked. Li Yuanyin planned to kill Luo Chengyao and sent people to the imperial court to inform the Yongli Emperor and obtain his order.

Wow, this Li Yuanyin is really capable. Danchu stayed in Xingzai for more than ten days, interacting with all kinds of people, but he had never heard of the secret decree.

The Yongli Emperor was very patient and did not leak any information. It can be seen that the Yongli Emperor was not as mentally retarded as people thought. He was also very resourceful. It was probably because of his cowardly character that he failed to accomplish anything. From now on, we should not take him lightly.

After learning that Li Yuanyin had successfully killed Tong Yangjia and Yang Dafu, Danchu also looked at him with new eyes. Li Yuanyin might not be very good at leading troops and fighting, but he was really good at planning murders. "Brother, Tong Yangjia was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Yang Dafu was the commander of Wuzhou, both of whom were successfully killed by you. Luo Chengyao is not as strategic as Tong Yangjia, and his troops are not as good as Yang Dafu, so it should be no problem to kill him. What plans do you have? Let me hear them, and I can give you some ideas."

Out of caution, Danchu sent the guards away and only had a secret conversation with Li Yuanyin.

"Tong Yangjia has no soldiers, so it's easy to kill him. Although Yang Dafu has soldiers, the main force of his troops is in Wuzhou. The emperor summoned him to Zhaoqing, so we can take action. This Luo Chengyao is guilty and usually stays in the military camp, so it's quite difficult to kill him.

"I plan to lure Luo Chengyao onto the ship under the pretext of a banquet and kill him on the spot. What I am worried about is Luo Chengyao's army. If Luo Chengyao dies, his troops will mutiniate and surrender to the Tartars, which would be disastrous."

Zhaoqing borders Wuzhou to the west and Guangzhou to the east, and its geographical location is quite important. The city is surrounded by rivers on three sides, with Beiling Mountain and Dinghu Mountain overlooking the north city, and Lanke Mountain spanning the West River, forming the Lingyang Gorge, making it an easy-to-defend but difficult-to-attack city.

The Ming army gathered in Zhaoqing, and it was impossible for all of them to be stationed in the city. If they wanted to station outside the city, they would have to camp near the Xijiang River to facilitate water and boats. Luo Chengyao had 7,000 soldiers and horses under his command, and they were stationed in the east of Zhaoqing City, near the north bank of the Xijiang River.

"Does Lord He know about this?"

"I wrote all the memorials myself. No one else knows about it except you and me."

Li Yuanyin was careful in his actions, so Danchu was confident. He had just arrived, so he could use Luo Chengyao's head to establish his authority, so he said:
"If we don't get rid of Luo Chengyao, we can't go east with peace of mind. People are in turmoil now, and Chen Bangfu was kidnapped by me and has no intention of fighting. If we join forces to kill Luo Chengyao, we can also deter the villains and unify the military orders."

The next day, Li Yuanyin invited Luo Chengyao to a banquet and prepared to sail eastward to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the West River and inspect the defense of Lingyang Gorge.

The boat floated in the middle of the river, the river breeze was blowing, the prostitutes in the camp were dressed in gorgeous clothes, drinking and singing, and they were very happy. Luo Chengyao drank a few glasses of wine and felt a little dizzy. It happened that there was a rope bed tied on the deck, which swayed with the boat from time to time.

He grabbed a new prostitute he had just met and sat on the rope bed together. He groped around with his hands and a lewd smile on his face.

Li Yuanyin laughed loudly and came to Luo Chengyao to persuade him to drink. Luo Chengyao was caught off guard, took the cup, and was about to drink it.

It was too late, but it was too fast. Li Yuanyin took out a sharp knife from his boots and cut Luo Chengyao's throat. Blood spurted all over the ground, and everyone was shocked. The prostitute was also scared and pale.

Luo Chengyao dropped the wine glass, subconsciously covered his throat, his face full of hatred, and walked towards Li Yuanyin.

The guards rushed out, pushed Luo Chengyao down, and hacked him to death. Luo Chengyao brought a few trusted men on board, but because of the haste and lack of preparedness, they were all controlled by Li Yuanyin's guards and dared not move.

Li Yuanyin took out the imperial edict from his arms without panic and said with great righteousness: "There is an imperial edict to execute Cheng Yao."

Only after seeing the imperial edict from Emperor Yongli did everyone feel relieved. Luo Chengyao's cronies did not dare to resist and their weapons were disarmed by Li Yuanyin.

A personal soldier had already fired a rocket as a signal that the mission was accomplished. Upon hearing the news, Cen Danchu ordered his cavalry to rush to Fengmen'ao, east of Zhaoqing City.

Fengmen'ao is located between Dinghu Mountain and Lanke Mountain. It is a long and narrow valley. Li Yuanyin stationed troops here, but the troops were not numerous. The Red Army stationed in Fengmen'ao was enough to cut off the retreat of Luo Chengyao's troops.

After the deployment was completed, Cen Danchu, Ma Bao, and Li Yuanyin surrounded Luo Chengyao's camp and summoned Luo Chengyao's subordinates, showing them their heads and imperial edicts. The generals had no choice but to obey, and Cen Danchu, Ma Bao, and Li Yuanyin successfully annexed Luo Chengyao's troops.

(End of this chapter)