Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 271 Central Plains hinterland
Shaking his head, Li Jing smiled and said, "Brother Cao, you are worrying too much. Do you think Mr. Li is a person who doesn't know how to measure? How could Mr. Li do such a thing of self-destruction of the Great Wall? Let Mr. explain this matter to you. Bar!"

Yuan Keli twirled his beard and laughed, "General Cao, do you know why we came here for the news about the Eastern Captives?"

Cao Wenzhao was startled when he heard this, but after thinking about it, he suddenly realized something.

Yuan Keli laughed and said: "These news came back from the merchants who traded with Donglu. Based on these news alone, these merchants have contributed to the Jishi Army. However, they bribed officials and bought salt privately, which violated the law. And the amount Enough to beheaded.

These people are very useful to us, and we must not kill them just because of this.This case was tried by me, and I also judged it. I ruled that all the family property of officials in this case should be confiscated.

But these businessmen still need money to continue doing business, so Jimin and I discussed in private, lending them a sum of money in the name of the bank so that they can continue to do business, and at the same time promised that as long as they can do business properly in the future, the past things let bygones be bygones.

Because these people are still in business, those whose property has been confiscated have complaints from the hearts of the people, that's when rumors spread, General Cao doesn't need to care. "

Cao Wenzhao got up suddenly when he heard this, and said angrily: "Damn it, the commander spared their dog's life by extrajudicial kindness, and they dare to slander the commander, so I will lead someone to cut off their dog's head! "

Li Jing hurriedly grabbed Cao Wenzhao, waved his hands and said, "Brother Cao, don't be angry, let them talk if they like, we can't accuse sinners. What's more, I did something wrong. Use favoritism and pervert the law!"

Cao Wenzhao said anxiously: "How can this be the same? The general is focusing on the overall situation. In fact, these idiots should be grateful to the general. If the general did not care about the overall situation, how could they survive to this day!"

Li Jing patted Cao Wenzhao's hand lightly and said, "Brother Cao, it's good if you can understand. The overall situation, everything must be based on the overall situation, what is the overall situation? Anything that involves the safety of our Ming Dynasty is the overall situation.

Now that the Ming Dynasty is in turmoil, and Donglu is looking at the Central Plains, if I want to use troops against Donglu, how can I not grasp Donglu's movements?For this reason, what's the point of my reputation being affected?
What's more, Li's merits and demerits can be judged by later generations, but these people can't decide with one word. "

Cao Wenzhao nodded slightly, while Yuan Keli beside him stroked his beard and smiled.

On the fifth day of June in the sixth year of Chongzhen, Cao Wenzhao's troops attacked the rogues in two ways. One was led by his nephews Cao Bianjiao and Ma Ke to go north to Taiyuan from Pingyang Mansion, and the other was led by him personally to Wang Ziyong's troops from Yuanqu to Jiyuan. Attack.

Equipped with the latest weapons, Cao Wenzhao's fighting style changed greatly. Instead of jumping on the rogues like a wolf seeing a sheep, he approached slowly and bombarded them when he was far away. Shoot with a gun as close as possible, and only start the assault when the enemy army is routed.

Once this tactic was used, the rogues couldn't stand it at all, and Wang Zi used tens of thousands of troops and was defeated in one battle.

For someone like Cao Wenzhao, defeat is not enough, killing is necessary.Cao Wenzhao pursued closely all the way, giving full play to the maneuverability of one man and two riders, biting the ass of Wang Ziyong's main force, chasing and beating fiercely, and defeated Wang Ziyong's team seven times in a row in three days.

Most of Wang Ziyong surrendered, and a small part was killed. Wang Ziyong rushed out under the escort of his personal guards.

It may be that he was sick in Zezhou, or he was injured in battle, or he was disheartened seeing his tens of thousands of troops being wiped out by Cao Wenzhao. It didn't take long for Wang to get sick after escaping.

Wang Ziyong: Born in Suide, Shaanxi (one is Yichuan), also known as Monk Wang, named Zijinliang, was a subordinate of Wang Jiayin during the first year of the Chongzhen uprising against King Huntian.

After Wang Jiayin's death, Wang Ziyong was promoted as the leader of the 36th Battalion, and led more than [-] rebels in many counties in Lianke, Shanxi, to attack Taiyuan, and then occupied the Qinshui area of ​​Zezhou.

In the summer of the sixth year of Chongzhen, he was completely defeated by Cao Wenzhao, died of illness, and withdrew from the stage of history.

After receiving the news of Wang Ziyong's death, Cao Wenzhao ordered a group to escort the captives back to Shanxi, while he himself led his troops eastward to Anyang, where he and Sun Meng's troops in the Zhangde Guard Office formed horns, locking the passage for the rogues to go south. As long as Gao Yingxiang's troops enter Wu'an, they are ready to catch them all.

Just as Cao Wenzhao was advancing towards Anyang, Cao Bianjiao led his troops to Taiyuan, and then Ma Ke attacked Yushe, Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng's troops where Wuxiang was located.

Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng suffered consecutive defeats and dared not love to fight, so they hurriedly led their troops southward, but when they were halfway there, they suddenly turned west and entered Taiyue Mountain, this move was unexpected by Li Jing and others.

Taiyue Mountain covers part of Qinyuan County, Anze County and Qinshui County, and occupies a very large area. In addition, there is almost no flat land here, and the cavalry cannot enter at all. Please ask for instructions.

Cao Wenzhao didn't know what to do when he received the news, so he had to ask Li Jing for instructions on the next move.

Li Jing didn't know the purpose of Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng, so he couldn't make up his mind for a while.

Although Li Jing has an army of tens of thousands, it is very difficult to get Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng out of Taiyue Mountain. What's more, his troops are now scattered everywhere. From Henan, Cao Wenzhao took away 8000 people, from Taiyuan, Cao Bianjiao took 5000 people, and Ma Ke took 8000 people, and the remaining troops in his hands were no more than 2 people.

The current situation is that if Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng are not forced out, it is impossible to launch an attack on the rogues in the direction of Wu'an, because once the attack starts, all the troops must be sent out, so there will be no mobile troops in Shanxi to deal with Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng. Once these two people seized the gap and escaped, it would not be so easy to surround them.

In fact, Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng's original purpose was indeed to prepare to open up the front line of Lu'an Mansion and join Zhang Xianzhong and other troops in Wu'an. Li Jing attacked them.

Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng have not dealt with Li Jing for a day or two. They have suffered so much at Li Jing's hands, and it is impossible not to have a long memory.

Li Jing never blindly pursues a war, and he will set up an ambush somewhere. Judging from the current situation, Li Jing must have arranged a team waiting for them in the direction of Lu'an Mansion. Once they enter Lu'an Mansion, they will There is a danger of being surrounded. At that time, Ma Ke's troops will block the road going north, and then you will be unable to run if you want to.

The only way to get rid of Li Jing's siege is to run into the mountains, and at present only the Taiyue Mountain in the west is the closest, so Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng discussed it and led their troops into Taiyue Mountain.

Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng led their troops into Taiyue Mountain, which made Li Jing's plan go bankrupt. There are only two options for the present plan. One is to mobilize all troops to block the exits of Taiyue Mountain to various places, trapping Gao Yingxiang to death.

The other is to let Gao Yingxiang go and attack the rogues in the direction of Wu'an.

He was also embarrassed about how to choose Li Jing.

Of these two choices, the one that is most in line with Li Jing's interests is undoubtedly the first choice, because Mount Taiyue is located in the central part of Shanxi, facing Taiyuan to the north, Huozhou and Pingyang Mansion to the west, Zezhou to the south, and Lu'an Mansion to the east , can be described as extending in all directions.

Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng have a combined force of nearly 5 people. If they break up into parts and harass the local area, it will annoy Li Jing to death.

Therefore, Li Jing's best choice is to remove the thorns of Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng first.

But once Li Jing transferred Cao Wenzhao's troops back, the bandits in the direction of Wu'an could not be surrounded.

Among all the leaders of the rogues, Li Jing hates the Eighth King Zhang Xianzhong the most. This man acts viciously. When attacking the city, he always drives the people to attack the vanguard. , killing more than the other rogues combined, Li Jing had long wanted to get rid of this scourge.

If there is a gap in the direction of Henan and Zhang Xianzhong is allowed to escape, I don't know how many ordinary people will be killed by Zhang Xianzhong.

Moreover, Henan was hit by a disaster last year and has not yet recovered. Once the rogues entered the hinterland of Henan, under the coercion, countless victims of the disaster would join the rogues.

Henan is the hinterland of the Central Plains. It has been called Zhongzhou or the Central Plains since ancient times. It is adjacent to Shaanxi, Shanxi, Zhili, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Hubei provinces.Once there is chaos here, the whole world will be affected.

Although Li Jing intends to break up and then build up, he never wants this country to be devastated.

Li Jing's destruction is a limited destruction, which destroys the original system of the imperial court, rather than letting the common people destroy their homes.

The current situation in Daming is relatively chaotic. The common people rebelled, killing corrupt officials, local tyrants and tyrants, this is something Li Jing can tolerate, but there is a problem of degree, not all corrupt officials deserve to die, some corrupt officials just want to support their families To make ends meet is just petty greed, and the crime does not deserve death at all. In addition, there are some honest officials, and these people don't deserve to die.

But in the eyes of the rogues, all officials should be killed and killed, which violated Li Jing's wishes.

What's more, where the rogues went, they basically robbed and displaced countless innocent people. Li Jing would never allow such a thing to happen.

Originally, Li Jing planned to control the rogues in a certain area, control a certain number, and when the time is right, they will be incorporated and resettled, but a plague broke Li Jing's layout. Fleeing down, Li Jing couldn't control it, so he attacked them.

Now that Wang Ziyong was destroyed, Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng fled into Taiyue Mountain, immediately putting Li Jing in a dilemma.

If all the soldiers and horses of the imperial court are assembled in place, Li Jing will naturally not hesitate, and will immediately order Cao Wenzhao to attack Zhang Xianzhong and other ministries.But the soldiers and horses of the various ministries are not yet in place, if they attack rashly, the bandits will inevitably flee in all directions.

In fact, the leaders of the rogue bandits are not fools, especially Zhang Xianzhong is very cunning, he will not be surprised by the mass gathering of officials and troops, and he will not fail to find out.Having been rogues for so many years and fighting against the government and army for so many years, if even the scouts and spies didn't know how to equip them, these people would have died long ago.

But the reason why rogues are called rogues is because they have no strategic goals, let alone a strategic direction.For a long time, the rogues have been fighting wherever they go, and they will go to other places after this place is over, or they will change places when they are forced to have no choice but to be forced by the officers and soldiers.

Right now Wu'an is a relatively safe place, the rogues had just won a few battles against the officers and soldiers in Wu'an, and for a while they felt complacent, thinking that the officers and soldiers were nothing more than that, and felt that even if the officers came, they could repel them.Therefore, during this period of time, the bandits have been active in Xingtai, Wu'an, She County, and Ci County, which gave the court enough time to mobilize troops.

If Cao Wenzhao launched an attack on them, the rogues would naturally be unable to resist, and would flee in all directions. At that time, they would chase them all over the mountain like catching rabbits.

(End of this chapter)