The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 214 The First Commander-in-Chief of the Ming Dynasty

"The Governor of Yansui? Chen Qiyu?"

Inside the Chongzheng Hall, when Zhu Youjian uttered this name, all the ministers present were stunned for a moment.

None of the ministers had a deep impression of Chen Qiyu.

All they remembered was that Chen Qiyu seemed to have been sent away from the capital quite early to take up a local post, and he didn't have much connection with the various factions in the capital.

Furthermore, this person seems to have had conflicts with the Donglin Party and the eunuch party during the Tianqi reign, and his reputation in the court was quite good.

For this reason, neither Zhou Yanru nor Wen Tiren could find a suitable reason to stand up and oppose it.

Chen Qiyu, courtesy name Yuxuan, was born in the 18th year of the Wanli reign (1580) in Baode Prefecture, Shanxi Province.

Influenced by his father Chen Jiajin, Chen Qiyu showed an amazing talent for test-taking at a very young age.

In the 40th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, Chen Qiyu, at the young age of 22, passed the imperial examination and became a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations).

Four years later, he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). Among his classmates was Hong, the pillar of the Ming Dynasty.

Logically speaking, Chen Qiyu's first half of life was smooth sailing, but his wasted years only truly began after he entered officialdom.

Since Chen Qiyu had neither a powerful backer nor a faction in the capital, the officials of the Ministry of Personnel simply assigned him to the Court of Judicial Review to oversee official duties.

It's called observing politics, but in reality it's just waiting for a job and sitting on the sidelines.

Chen Qiyu sat on the sidelines for several years before he finally understood.

Years of observing politics taught him a lesson: if you don't have money and want to wait for a vacancy, you'll probably have to wait until you're fifty.

Chen Qiyu immediately wrote to his father, asking the family to send money to bribe officials.

With the help of his family's money, he finally managed to secure a post as the magistrate of Luoyang County in Henan Province, right next to Prince Fu, Zhu Changxun.

Logically speaking, Chen Qiyu is quite fortunate to be able to live next to Prince Fu.

Everyone in the Ming Dynasty knew what kind of person Prince Fu was.

The people of Luoyang County have suffered from this for many years, living in dire straits.

Surprisingly, Chen Qiyu did quite well.

During his tenure, he dared to outwit and outmaneuver the officials of the Prince of Fu's mansion, and he secured considerable benefits for the local people.

In a short time, the conflict between officials and the people in Luoyang County was eased, the burden on the people was reduced, and the administration was renewed.

The Baode County Annals record that it "had many beneficial policies".

Thanks to this outstanding political achievement, Chen Qiyu was finally promoted and was transferred back to the central government during the Tianqi era.

Chen Qiyu was overjoyed, thinking that he was about to live a good life and rise to great heights.

But was the imperial court during the Tianqi era a place for good people?

The eunuch faction and the Donglin faction fought each other to the death, and even the emperor hid in the deep palace and became a carpenter.

How could Chen Qiyu, a Beijing official with no background, possibly get the better of him?

But Chen Qiyu is not one to follow the usual path.

He repeatedly switched between the Donglin Party and the eunuch faction, and by betraying members of the Donglin Party, he managed to rise all the way to the position of Right Vice Minister of Henan, a third-rank official, and became a powerful regional governor.

He was only thirty-eight years old that year.

Upon being promoted to Right Vice Minister of Henan, Chen Qiyu was also assigned the task of guarding Nanyang.

He seemed to be destined to be associated with the vassal kings, as the Tang king's family lived in Nanyang.

Unlike the Prince of Fu, the Tang Emperor did not harm the people; his family's only concern was harming their own people.

In order to elevate his youngest son to the position of heir apparent, the old Tang emperor Zhu Shuokang cruelly imprisoned his eldest son, Zhu Qisheng, along with his own grandson.

Later, she went even further and poisoned the crown prince Zhu Qisheng, leaving the young grandson to fend for himself in a dark and hopeless prison.

Chen Qiyu had just taken office in Nanyang when he heard about this messy affair involving the Tang royal family.

When he went to offer his condolences, he specifically "reminded" the old Tang king that the crown prince's death was shrouded in mystery, and if the grandson were to die as well, it would be difficult to explain to the court.

Not only would Zhu Shuokuang be punished, but the Tang vassal state might even be abolished, as a warning to the old Tang emperor not to do such heinous things again.

Thus, under Chen Qiyu's secret protection, the lineage of the Tang family was finally preserved.

The grandson he saved was named Zhu Yujian, who later became the Longwu Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty and was one of the few wise rulers in the entire Zhu family.

When the emperor's decree of appointment was delivered to Yansui by fast horse, Chen Qiyu was overjoyed.

He changed into his court robes and respectfully kowtowed several times in the direction of the capital.

Chen Qiyu rose from a mere town governor to the governor-general in charge of military affairs in five provinces in one fell swoop.

Chen Qiyu secretly vowed in his heart that he would use all his knowledge to wipe out the bandits in the world and repay the emperor's grace!
After assuming command, he immediately mustered two thousand border troops from Yansui and swiftly stationed them in Xi'an Prefecture.

Upon assuming office, the first thing he did was to convene a military conference, gathering all the generals, governors, and brigade commanders from the five provinces who were fighting independently.

The first issue to be unified is ideology.

The others were fine, the only one with a problem was Deng Qi's troops in Sichuan.

Deng Qi's troops lingered around Hanzhong, going through the motions but not putting in any real effort, appearing quite unruly.

Chen Qiyu immediately called Deng Qi back, first comforting him and then reasoning with him and appealing to his emotions, finally rekindling Deng Qi's "enthusiasm" for suppressing bandits.

Subsequently, Chen Qiyu dispatched Lian Guoshi, the governor of Shaanxi, to lead troops with Deng Qi to garrison the area around Xixiang County in Hanzhong Prefecture, guarding the key water and land routes.

While the various rebel armies were gathered in Yunyang Prefecture to prepare for winter, Chen Qiyu quietly began his military deployment.

A massive encirclement of the bandits in the Central Plains was thus laid out.

He first ordered Hong Chengchou to lead the main force to garrison the Lantian and Meixian areas, blocking the enemy's route north to Shaanxi;
He then ordered Xuanmo, the governor of Henan, to garrison Lushi County to prevent the rebel troops from returning to Henan and Shanxi.
General Zuo Liangyu was stationed in Xichuan County as the main force of the eastern route;

Tang Hui, the governor of Huguang, was stationed in Nanzhang County to block the enemy's southward advance.

Lu Xiang-sheng, the military commissioner of Daming, led the Tianxiong Army to garrison Zhushan County;

Wang Laipin, the newly appointed martial arts champion and deputy commander-in-chief, led the troops from Jizhou to garrison in Pingli County.
Thus, a total of 80,000 troops from five provinces of the Ming Dynasty gathered in the Yunyang area of ​​Huguang from all directions.

We must completely annihilate this band of roving bandits who have wreaked havoc on several provinces in the towering mountains and deep valleys of Jingchu!

As for Jiang Han, the notorious bandit who had been entrenched in the Long'an Prefecture of Sichuan, Chen Qiyu planned to deal with him last.

In his view, although the rebels were formidable in combat, they were now like a trapped beast entrenched in the Sichuan Basin.

Sichuan is located on the frontier, so Jiang Han's rebel army could not roam around and wreak havoc on various provinces like the bandits in the Central Plains.

Therefore, Chen Qiyu only issued two orders:
He first ordered Zhu Xieyuan, the governor-general of the three provinces, and Hou Liangzhu, the general of Sichuan, to immediately lead troops back from Yunnan and station them in the Chengdu area to keep a close watch on Jiang Han.

He then ordered Zhang Zongheng, the governor-general of Xuanfu and Datong, to guard the several plank roads leading from Sichuan to Hanzhong, so as not to give Jiang Han a chance to break out of Sichuan.

Now, all that's left is to deal with the bandits in the Huguang region, so he can gather a large army and completely surround Jiang Han's rebel army in the Sichuan Basin.

With a single order from the first Commander-in-Chief of the Ming Dynasty, this massive encirclement and suppression campaign officially began.

It was the end of the first month of the sixth year of the Chongzhen reign.

After Wang Ziyong, Gao Yingxiang, and other leaders had enjoyed a prosperous New Year in Yunyang Prefecture, they were surprised to find that there seemed to be many more government troops around them.

"Master! Something terrible has happened!"

Inside the Yunyang government office, a scout from the militia rushed in.

At this moment, Wang Ziyong and the leaders of other camps were gathered around a map, discussing how to proceed with their military campaigns.

"What are you yelling about? Did a dog bite you, you son of a bitch?"

Wang Ziyong cursed impatiently.
"Speak slower!"

The scout, panting heavily, said urgently:
"The east side... Xichuan County in the east has already been occupied by government troops!"

"Brothers, look! The leader is carrying a large banner with the character 'left,' and there's a huge, dark mass of government troops—I estimate there are several thousand of them!"

"They...they are marching in a grand procession towards our Yunyang Prefecture!"

This government army was none other than Zuo Liangyu's troops.

Although Zuo Liangyu had suffered a defeat and lost many soldiers in Shanzhou, the imperial court quickly replenished his forces with three thousand Changping soldiers.

With the reinforcements, Zuo Liangyu became even more diligent in pursuing and suppressing the peasant army.

He was the one who spearheaded this five-province encirclement campaign.

Zuo Liangyu's task was to drive the rebel soldiers out of their comfortable home in Yunyang Prefecture.

Upon hearing the scouts' report, the leaders present were startled.

It's only been a short time since the New Year, and many places are still frozen. I didn't expect the imperial court's pursuers to arrive so quickly!
Gao Yingxiang looked at Wang Ziyong with a solemn expression:
"Master, we need to break through."

"The government troops will arrive near Yunyang soon. If we get surrounded then, we won't be able to escape!"

At this time, Wang Ziyong was still the nominal leader of this rebel army. According to the rules, he had to give the order and guide the army in the direction of breaking out.

He stared at the map for a long time, and finally, he pointed to the location of Zhushan County.

Although government troops were also stationed in Zhushan County, according to intelligence, the general in charge was just a civil official, and his troops numbered only a mere five thousand.

"In my opinion, we should attack Zhushan County!" Wang Ziyong said confidently.

"After conquering Zhushan, we will head south all the way to the prosperous Jingzhou Prefecture."

"The intelligence says that there are only 5,000 government troops in Zhushan County."

"The commander is named Lu Xiang-sheng, and he's a civil official. He should be easy to capture!"

At this time, the name "King Yama Lu" had not yet made a name for itself within the rebel army.

Previously, Lu Xiang-sheng had been suppressing bandits in the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains and had basically never fought against the main force of the rebel army.

Therefore, Wang Ziyong and his group of leaders subconsciously believed that this government army led by civil officials would be a breakthrough point.

Although Wang Ziyong and others did not know how powerful Lu Xiangshan was, Tuo Yangkun, the Scorpion Claw, and Zhang Yingjin, the Chaos King, who had suffered greatly before, did.

Upon seeing this, the two men quickly stepped forward to dissuade Wang Ziyong, and vividly described to everyone the scene when Lu Xiang-sheng went into the Taihang Mountains to search for and annihilate them.

"Master, although Lu Xiang-sheng is a civil official, his personal bravery is no less than that of an ordinary military general. We must not underestimate him!"

However, the earnest advice from Tuo Yangkun and others was interpreted differently by Wang Ziyong.

In his view, Tuo Yangkun and Zhang Yingjin were just two small forces at the time, with a combined force of no more than a thousand people.

Isn't it normal that we can't defeat the government troops?
Now, all this enthusiastic praise of this man surnamed Lu might just be an attempt to salvage some face after his previous crushing defeat.

Wang Ziyong cleared his throat and said arrogantly:

"Brothers, there's no need to panic."

"We now have more than a dozen joint ventures and a force of 100,000!"

"Even if this guy surnamed Lu is a good fighter, how many can he take on by himself?"

Seeing that Tuo Yangkun and the others still wanted to exert their power, Wang Ziyong suddenly waved his hand:

"I've made up my mind!"

"The army will set off immediately after dawn tomorrow and march towards Zhushan County!"

"I want to see if this guy surnamed Lu really has three heads and six arms!"

Seeing that they couldn't persuade Wang Ziyong, Tuo Yangkun and Zhang Yingjin could only exchange a glance, helplessly shut their mouths, and accept the arrangement.

Wang Ziyong was full of confidence, but soon, Lu Xiangshan dealt him a heavy blow.

The rebel army set off from Yunyang Prefecture, marching in a mighty force straight towards Zhushan County.

Upon hearing that the enemy troops had come out in full force, Lu Xiang-sheng was overjoyed.

He had no intention of relying on the city for passive defense; instead, he laughed loudly at his soldiers:
"The enemy soldiers have come to their deaths; how can we not take them?"

"Gentlemen, follow me out of the city to meet the enemy!"

He immediately opened the city gates and personally led 5,000 main force troops to charge towards the 100,000 bandits.

The vanguard of the rebel army consisted mostly of starving civilians who had been coerced into joining the uprising. They were no match for the rebels. With just one charge, Lu Xiang-sheng routed the starving civilians, who scattered and fled in all directions.

Confident in his bravery, Gao Yingxiang personally led his troops forward, intending to intercept Lu Xiang-sheng.

But when he actually faced Lu Xiang-sheng, Gao Ying-xiang found that he couldn't even last ten rounds against that "civil official"!
Lu Xiang-sheng swung his broadsword with great force, cutting Gao Ying-xiang so hard that he couldn't defend himself at all. His hand was split open and his arm went numb.

If it weren't for Zhang Xianzhong and Ma Shouying, who sensed the danger and immediately led their men to his aid, Gao Yingxiang would probably have met his end at Lu Xiangshan's hands today.

Lu Xiang-sheng struck successfully, giving the enemy soldiers no chance to catch their breath.

He fixed his gaze on a corner of the battle formation not far away, where banners were fluttering, presumably the location of the enemy's central army.

Without saying a word, he led his soldiers and charged towards Wang Ziyong's central army.

Wang Ziyong, standing under the general's banner, was utterly terrified.

Seeing the government troops leading the routed soldiers as they charged forward, he had no will to resist.

"withdraw!"

At the command, Wang Ziyong immediately turned his horse around, intending to flee.

In the chaos, he accidentally fell off his horse.

Fortunately, his loyal guards risked their lives to rescue Wang Ziyong from the chaos of battle.

Even so, Wang Ziyong was still seriously injured and unconscious.

With their commander injured and unconscious, the morale of the rebel army collapsed instantly.

Lu Xiang-sheng, however, gave the enemy soldiers no chance to regroup.

He led 5,000 government troops in a relentless pursuit, chasing them for a full day, covering nearly 80 miles, beheading thousands and capturing tens of thousands.

It wasn't until dusk that he sounded the retreat and headed home.

Just as Gao Yingxiang and his men were fleeing from pursuit with their remaining troops, another piece of bad news came from the central command.

The leader of the righteous army, Prince Zijin Liang, died due to severe injuries.

This battle directly cemented Lu Xiang-sheng's reputation as "King Yama Lu"!

Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and others no longer dared to covet Zhushan County, which was guarded by Lu Xiangsheng. They could only lead their remaining troops and flee westward in a sorry state, preparing to find another place to break through the government army's encirclement.

However, as the rebels fled westward, they encountered increasingly formidable opponents.

The rebel army first ran into the Jizhou troops led by Wang Laipin in the Pingli County area of ​​Xing'an Prefecture.

Wang Laipin, as the newly appointed martial arts champion, was enjoying the emperor's favor.

Zhu Youjian placed high hopes on him and promoted him fourteen ranks beyond the usual ranks, from a commoner to the position of deputy commander-in-chief.

This led Wang Laipin to be extremely grateful to the emperor, and he was always thinking about how to repay the emperor's kindness.

Unlike civil officials who have so many cunning schemes, military men are much simpler in their minds.

He would do anything for anyone who treated him well, even sacrificing his life, especially since that person was the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Although Wang Laipin's ability to lead troops was average, as a martial arts champion, his personal bravery was unparalleled in the entire army.

Upon learning that the bandits were heading towards Xing'an Prefecture, Wang Laipin immediately led his Jizhou soldiers to meet them without hesitation.

Clad in gleaming silver armor and carrying a heavy Guan Dao (a type of halberd), he rampaged across the battlefield as if it were empty!

As a martial arts champion, he could not withstand more than three rounds against Wang Laipin's bandits. He would cut them down with a single stroke, killing both men and horses!
Wang Laipin, with only twelve personal guards, dared to charge straight into the midst of a massive army, managing to pierce through Gao Yingxiang's ranks.

Upon witnessing this scene, the jaws of many leaders on the battlefield dropped in astonishment.

This fellow is in no way inferior to that "King Yama Lu"!
Gao Yingxiang and his men dared not fight back, so they could only lead their troops in a frantic escape, turning towards Hanzhong.

Meanwhile, in the direction of Hanzhong, Deng Qi and Lian Guoshi had been waiting for a long time.

The two of them completely blocked all the plank roads in Hanzhong, so that not even a fly could get through.

Seeing no hope of breaking out of Hanzhong, the rebel army had no choice but to turn north, hoping to return to their hometown in Shaanxi.

The rebels were very familiar with the terrain and people of Shaanxi. As long as they could reach Shaanxi, they could escape the government troops' pursuit.

However, blocking their way was the elite border army led by Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three border regions.

He Renlong and Cao Bianjiao, those two madmen, pursued the rebel army relentlessly for eight days and nights without removing their armor or saddles.

Finally, in the vicinity of Shanyang County, they caught up with the bandits, beheaded thousands, and returned in great victory.

After two or three months of repeated failed breakout attempts, the morale of the rebel army had plummeted to rock bottom.

To make matters worse, their food supplies were running out.

It must be said that Chen Qiyu, the commander-in-chief of the suppression headquarters, really knew how to deal with bandits.

He not only imposed a military blockade on the rebel army, but also viciously imposed an economic blockade.

He had already sent letters to various prefectures and counties, calling on nearby landlords and gentry to recruit militia and build fortified villages for self-protection.

This directly led to a sharp increase in the difficulty for the rebel army to obtain food and supplies.

The rebel army was known for its speed and mobility, and its ranks were mostly made up of horses.

Their mobile warfare mode meant they couldn't carry large numbers of artillery or other siege equipment.

Therefore, when faced with the fortified strongholds of local officials and gentry, which were surrounded by high walls and deep moats, the rebel army often had to spend many times more time to capture them, and suffered considerable casualties.

Many times, they hadn't even captured the fortified village when the government troops were already on their way.

Left with no other choice, the rebels had to abandon their grain-gathering efforts and turn back to flee.

Thus, under Chen Qiyu's heavy blows of military and economic blockade, the once massive rebel army that swept across the Central Plains was gradually reduced in number.

In less than two months, the rebel army lost more than half of its old camp troops;

Meanwhile, the starving civilians on the outskirts, who had been coerced into surrendering without any will to resist, surrendered without a second thought.

The once mighty army of 100,000 was reduced to less than 20,000 in the blink of an eye.

Moreover, the government troops' encirclement was gradually tightening, determined to completely annihilate Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and others.

(End of this chapter)