Back to the end of the Ming Dynasty when the emperor

Chapter 234

De'an is now De'an County, Jiujiang City, and Chengtian developed into a Dazhou County in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. The government is located in the area of ​​Zhongxiang City, Hubei Province. Therefore, the west of Zuo Liangyu's actual control area is from today's east of Yichang, east to De'an in the southwest of Jiujiang, north to Suizhou and Xiangyang, and south to the north of Yueyang. It is much larger than the territory under the control of the four towns generals such as Huang Degong and Gao Jie.

The art of war says, know yourself and the enemy before you can fight a hundred battles without imperil.

Zhu Yousong has checked the ins and outs of this Zuo Liangyu more than once.Zuo Liangyu, whose name is Kunshan, is a big guy from Shandong. He is good at archery from left to right. He is good at archery from left to right. He is good at using big swords. He is brave and good at fighting. Wen Zhao went to war and made many military exploits.Later, he served under the command of Hou Xun, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs of the former Dynasty, when Zuo Liangyu accidentally threw four gold cups and committed a crime. He was the deputy general, Zuo Liangyu was grateful for his gratitude, and was promoted to the general of the army and the general who suppressed the thieves. After he was successful, he gave Hou Xun political asylum because Hou Xun belonged to the Donglin Party.

Zuo Liangyu has extraordinary physical strength and bravery in battle. The peasant army of the 36th Battalion has suffered from him. He once shot Zhang Xianzhong with an arrow and almost chopped the Daxi Emperor under his horse. He defeated Li Zicheng and was named by Emperor Chongzhen for his outstanding achievements For Ning Nanbo and Prince Shaobao.But ever since he became domineering and self-reliant, he refused to listen to the imperial court. During the battle of Xiangyang, he sat on the sidelines with a heavy army and waited and watched for selfishness.

It is said that he had more than 80 troops at the most, but he was defeated by Li Zicheng in the battle of Zhuxian Town, and his vitality was greatly injured. Kaifeng did not dare to fight, and Xiangyang did not dare to fight. After leaving Wuchang, he took the opportunity to occupy Wuchang.

Zhu Yousong had been enthroned in Nanjing for more than half a year. Zuo Liangyu didn't care about him as Emperor Hongguang at all. His hundreds of thousands of troops were not allowed to go east. He also wantonly expanded his strength without telling the court, and frequently dispatched troops. Zhu Yousong had to consider attacking him.

Zhu Yousong immediately passed on the purpose of holding an emergency military meeting in front of the imperial court in Wuying Hall, attended by Gao Hongtu, chief assistant of the cabinet and Minister of War, Wang Duo, a scholar of Jinshen Temple, Wu Weiye, minister of rites, Lu Daqi, minister of household affairs, and the governors of the five armies. Metropolitan Governor Zheng Hongkui, Commander of the Imperial Battalion Liu Zhaoji, Admiral Yan Yingyuan of the Beijing Camp, Admiral Xu Wenjue of the Caojiang Navy, Liu Kongzhao, Director of the Nanjing Military and Military Affairs Department, and other civil and military officials, together with the commander of Jinyiwei Zu Hai, the eunuch Lu Jiude and Li Guofu left Li Quan, who temporarily controls the East Factory in Beijing, has a total of eleven honorable ministers.

Zhu Yousong discussed the affairs of the country with them, and first listed Zuo Liangyu's criminal evidence to everyone. According to the usual practice, he decided to listen to the opinions and suggestions of his courtiers first.

Lu Daqi is equivalent to Zhu Yousong's Minister of Finance and Equipment. He first suggested that Zhu Yousong come to start the spring and then recruit left thieves. The expenditure was huge, and the livelihood of the people in the Ming Dynasty was in decline after years of wars, and the common people suffered unspeakably.

Zhu Yousong nodded after hearing this. This is the actual situation but he did not express his opinion. Gao Hongtu agreed with Lu Daqi's opinion. He believed that Daming had only half of the country left and could not support the third-front war.

Wang Duo and Wu Weiye thought Gao Xiangguo was right and agreed.But Liu Zhaoji, Yan Yingyuan, Liu Kongzhao, Xu Wenjue, including Zu Hai and Li Quan, all these military generals said that only His Majesty will follow the lead, that the leftist thieves have committed a heinous crime and cannot be punished.

Zhu Yousong nodded approvingly, and asked Gao Hongtu: "Gao Aiqing, how many soldiers and horses are available in the capital?"

Gao Hongtu knelt down and saluted: "Qizou Your Majesty, including the soldiers from the capital camp including the Caojiang navy and the 12 imperial soldiers, there are [-] soldiers and horses near the capital of the Ming Dynasty. There are less than [-] troops capable of dispatching the left bandits, and the nearby Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Chuzhou, Hezhou, and Wuhu can mobilize some of their troops, adding up to about [-], and the rest of the troops cannot be counted on.”

"Well, 80 is already quite a lot. The soldiers are good but not many, and the generals are planning but not brave. Back then, the Sun and Liu families combined did not have as many troops as we did, but they defeated Cao Mengde's 60 troops in Chibi. Cao A was almost killed because the entire army was wiped out. Today Zuo Liangyu’s old man has no more than [-] or [-] horses, and most of them are mobs. It is more than enough for my soldiers and horses to deal with them. By the way, Liu Aiqing, how is the training of my imperial soldiers? "

Liu Zhaoji hurriedly got out of the shift and knelt down, "Return to Your Majesty, after two months of intensive training, the combat power has been greatly improved, especially the firearms battalion has quick response, strong mobility, accurate aim, and ruthless strikes, ready for His Majesty to command at any time." .”

"Very well, Aiqing has worked hard." Zhu Yousong comforted Liu Zhaoji with a few words, and let Gao Hongtu and Liu Zhaoji return to work.

After hearing these civil and military political opinions, Zhu Yousong knew that Zuo Liangyu would openly raise the flag to rebel three months later in history, so of course he couldn't wait. I know that in recent years, Zuo Liangyu has relied on meritorious deeds and is domineering and self-respecting. He stopped listening to the imperial court when the late Emperor Chongzhen was in power. During the Xiangyang War, he and the He Renlong Department were on the sidelines, which led to the failure of the imperial court's plan to encircle and suppress the thieves. , The court soldiers and horses suffered heavy losses, which gave the trespassers and thieves a chance to breathe. When I ascended the throne, he pretended to be deaf and dumb, and turned a deaf ear to it. Now the left thief is ignoring the court's laws, covering up the remnants of the Donglin Party, Hou Fangyu, and privately expanding the army. Secretly colluding with trespassers, the heart of disobedience is becoming more and more obvious, which is tolerable and unbearable! It is true that my Ming Dynasty is now riddled with holes, struggling to move forward, and the third-line battle is full of difficulties. The reason for not sending troops to fight. However, I must not take care of the legacy of the carbuncle, and just live in peace. Looking at the overall situation, it is urgent to kill the left thieves. Now the intruders and the Eastern captives are fighting in Tongguan. If we wait until the spring of next year, there may be some changes in a few months. Decided to go on a personal conquest, and vow not to move the army until the left bandits are wiped out!"

Zhu Yousong spoke impassionedly, as firm as iron.As soon as Zhu Yousong finished speaking, all the eleven civil and military personnel present stood up, "Your Majesty, you are wise, we will obey your orders!"

Zhu Yousong said again: "But I always believe that the army of Ming Dynasty will not fight against the army of Ming Dynasty. As long as the left thief is willing to surrender and accept the imperial court's reorganization, I can be lenient and lenient just like the generals of the four towns. Zuo Liangyu's principle of using troops is that those who surrender will not die, and those who resist in the corner will be wiped out on the spot!"

PS: I just came back from overtime work, the first thing I did when I entered the door was to update my friends, I kept you waiting for a long time, thank you.

(End of this chapter)