Chapter 645 0640 [The Panic of the Traitors]
The elite troops of Hanzhong led by Yang Zhi went to Zhaozhou to join Guan Sheng, Zong Ze, Yue Fei and others.
A small number of the elite troops of Kuizhou under Li Bao were taken to Denglai by him, and most of them went to Shenzhou to be under the command of Zhu Ming.
In addition, the firearms troops that Yang Zhi had used to fight against Xixia had returned to the capital at the beginning of the year. Together with the firearms troops and heavy armored guards in the capital, they were transferred to Shenzhou and placed under the command of Zhu Ming.
Now Zhu Ming has 3,000 heavy armored infantry, 6,314 musketeers, 210 iron cannons of various types, 9,000 elite troops of Kuizhou, 7,200 Hebei Eight Character Army, and 6,000 temporary recruited local soldiers (local soldiers are mainly used to defend the city).
These are just combat soldiers, not including logistics auxiliary soldiers (all regular logistics personnel, and they also receive military pay).
All the musketeers are here, and Zhu Ming expects that there will be 5,000. Arsenals in various places were rushing to make more than a thousand muskets than expected while ensuring quality.
Don't think that the manufacturing speed of muskets is too slow, they are also making cannons at the same time. And the cannons are made first, and the navy and navy are equipped with many iron cannons.
Although the muskets are brand new, the musketeers have been practicing for half a year.
First recruit soldiers, two or three people use one gun, take turns to conduct shooting training, and wait for new guns to be delivered for equipment.
Some muskets have been fired too many times and even eliminated in advance.
In addition, since Zhong Xiang has been destroyed, 30,000 Huainan new troops and 10,000 Zhejiang new troops have been drawn northward, and are currently rushing north along the canal.
The leaders of the rebel army such as Cao Cheng and Yang Zaixing, as well as the pseudo-Chu surrendered generals such as Yang Hua, Chen Tang, and Li Herong. They were allowed to select 300 personal soldiers each, and incorporated them into the Huainan and Zhejiang troops as generals, and rushed to Hebei to fight without stopping - to put it bluntly, they were transferred away from their hometowns to facilitate the court to digest the Hunan territory faster.
The original generals who were replaced by them were transferred to the military officers of the local troops in Hunan to strengthen the court's control over Hunan.
"The Jin people have increased their troops again, and the general in charge is Wanyan Jiemu." Wang Yan held the intelligence he had just received with both hands.
Zhu Ming took it and looked at it, and smiled: "Excellent."
As the Ming Dynasty's troops in Shenzhou continued to increase, and they were swaggering and undisguised, the Jin Kingdom also increased the Yongning Army's troops accordingly, and even Wanyan Jiemu brought the Jurchens to reinforce.
In this battle, it is unclear whether the Jin Kingdom invaded the south or the Ming Dynasty court was fighting in the north.
The strength of the Ming Dynasty's army is obviously greater than that of the Jin Kingdom, and it is actively attacking in more than one place.
"Your Highness, an urgent letter from the Marshal's Office!" Bai Sheng came with a messenger.
After reading it, Zhu Ming said to Fu Zhirou: "Approved, I will use the seal after signing."
But a month ago, Yao Pingzhong led troops to reinforce Zhang Guangdao. Zhang Guangdao, who received the reinforcement of the troops, decided to change Zhu Ming's plan, requesting to actively fight in Shanxi, and explained his reasons.
When the general is away from home, he may not obey military orders.
Zhu Ming expressed his understanding of this, as long as the frontline generals report in time.
Compared with Li Bao's jumping, Zhang Guangdao is still very calm, and Zhu Ming is not worried about the situation in Shanxi.
After all, in addition to the elite troops of Sichuan and Yao Pingzhong's troops, Zhang Guangdao also has Guo Yaoshi under his command. The main cavalry of the Ming Dynasty is also with Zhang Guangdao. The heavy armored cavalry has been expanded to one thousand, and the armored cavalry has also been expanded to five thousand.
Why is the Ming Dynasty's treasury empty?
One is that the country and people's livelihood have been declining since it was inherited from the Song Dynasty, and the other is that too many troops have been expanded and they have been fighting all the time. The thousands of cavalry in Shanxi are always expensive, and a large number of firearms units must be added.
Zhu Ming led his army to the south bank of the Tang River to camp, facing Wanyan Jiemu's army across the river.
He stationed troops here, and was not in a hurry to cross the river, because he had to wait for Li Yanxian's cavalry to arrive.
If there are not enough cavalry in hand, you can only defeat the enemy, and you can't annihilate the enemy's living forces in large numbers.
In late September, the decisive battle in Shanxi was about to break out, and Li Yanxian finally brought 5,000 cavalry.
All were brave cavalry, all Gansu and Qinghai horses.
The composition of the troops was relatively complex, with more than 3,000 Han people from Shaanxi, the rest were Tubo and Uighur ethnic groups in the Hehuang area, and even more than 200 Xixia surrendered soldiers.
Their armor weighed about 40 kilograms, and the war horses also had simple leather horse armor.
The Shaanxi cavalry who came from afar rested for three days. Zhu Ming was about to cross the river to besiege the city, and the scouts who had crossed the river before ran back.
They also brought back a bloody messenger, who was barely breathing and said: "Wanyan Zongwang is here...Yan Tongpan, Li County Magistrate... and many officials were killed..."
Zhu Ming said expressionlessly: "Take them down for treatment."
He opened the letter and read it. It was a handwritten letter from Li Chi, the magistrate of Boye County.
The first half said that there was a traitor who informed on Wanyan Jiemu, who was tracking down the insider. The second half says that Wanyan Zongwang personally led troops to reinforce, and the elite Jin soldiers were ambushed in the mountainous area on the border between Qizhou and Yongning.
It seems that the Jin people are slaughtering Yongning army officers and officials. Not only are the righteous men who contacted the Ming Dynasty in danger, but they are also likely to kill and implicate many innocent people.
Zhu Ming's face was not angry, and he only said to Bai Sheng: "Send a message to Zhaozhou, tell them not to defend the city anymore, and try to send troops to attack the pseudo-Song capital. Wanyan Zongwang may be on my side, but he may go back at any time, so let them use their troops boldly and be careful."
After that, he issued another order: "Send a message to the main force in Shandong, let them cross the Yellow River immediately and attack the cities in Hejian Prefecture."
...
Zhending Prefecture, the pseudo-Song capital.
Prime Ministers Huang Qianshan and Zhang Bangchang are discussing in secret.
They seem to have tested each other long ago, and now they speak without scruples.
After making sure that no one was eavesdropping nearby, Huang Qianshan sighed: "This Wanyan Zongwang is still a barbarian, no matter how much he reads Confucianism. He issued an order to shave off hair and make people easy to obey. We tried hard to persuade him, but we had to force countless people to rebel." Only the people are willing to give up. Nowadays, in order to fight the war, even the rural gentry wants to betray their money. How can these practices last? "
Zhang Bangchang said: "I have said before that the official family of the Song Dynasty is still there, how can we establish a new court? If you don't listen, you will create a Song Dynasty in this Zhending Mansion."
"You are blaming me now?" Huang Qianshan said angrily, "His Majesty was captured at that time, and the Supreme Emperor was in the southeast. What else can we do if we don't establish a new king? Is there a place for us in the new Ming Dynasty? The Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, Shangshu, Most of them have grudges against you and me!”
Zhang Bangchang said: "I am going to Hangzhou to join the Emperor. You must persuade me to stay in Zhending!"
"What's the use of surrendering to the Supreme Emperor? The Southeast Small Court disappeared last year." Huang Qianshan replied.
"It's all nonsense to say that now," Zhang Bangchang said anxiously, "Wanyan Zongwang left with his elite troops, and only Liu Yanzong was left to lead the troops in Zhending Mansion. His subordinates were all Han soldiers, Xi soldiers, and Bohai soldiers, and they were definitely not as good as the Jurchen soldiers. If the Ming army attacks, can it be defended? "
Huang Qianshan muttered: "If we don't go out to fight, Zhending City is impregnable and we should still be able to hold on. I'm afraid that Liu Yanzong will be arrogant and go out to fight with the Ming army. If he loses, he will be in danger of destroying the city."
Zhang Bangchang said: "It's better... it's better to contact Zongze secretly and say that I am willing to serve as an internal response. Then secretly contact some officials. If Zhending Mansion cannot be defended, we will use fire as a signal to help the Ming army attack the city."
Huang Qianshan shook his head and said: "It's too dangerous. You can't connect indiscriminately. If the news leaks out, you and I will die. What's more, even if it helps the Ming army break the city, I'm afraid there won't be a good end for you and me. Just this Zhending Fucheng, I don’t know how many people are looking forward to killing you and me.”
Zhang Bangchang gritted his teeth and said fiercely: "When the city is defeated, we can persuade the Imperial City guards to capture the young emperor and sacrifice it to the Ming Dynasty! Sacrificing the false emperor, this great achievement is enough to save his life."
"You must also be prepared," Huang Qianshan said. "If there is a chance to escape, protect the little emperor and escape. Whether you escape to Yanshan Mansion or to the hinterland of the Jin Kingdom, as long as the Jin Kingdom is immortal, you and I will still have it. Exploit value.”
The two of them had a simple idea, just to save their lives.
To put it bluntly, I am afraid of death. Living is more important than anything else. I can put my family, country and world aside.
Moreover, they all despised the barbarians of the Jin Kingdom and were willing to dissuade them from outrageous political orders, such as preventing them from shaving their hair and changing clothes. But it was just a casual advice, and I didn't dare to say anything, for fear of offending the Jin man and putting his life in danger.
Generally speaking, they spend most of their time just lying around and getting by just by making a little money.
The one who really actively committed a traitor was Liu Yu. Historically, this man lured Guan Sheng to surrender to the Jin Kingdom, and later became the puppet emperor of Qi.
In this time and space, because Ju Ming besieged Tokyo and Shandong was full of bandits, Liu Yu was trapped in Hebei and did not abandon his official position and escape. He was the punishment envoy of Hebei at that time. When the Jin people supported the puppet emperor, he surrendered to the Jin Kingdom without any psychological burden. He currently serves as the Privy Council envoy of the puppet Song Dynasty.
In order to please the Kingdom of Jin, Liu Yu actively promoted various political decrees.
The Jin people asked him to shave his hair and change clothes, so Liu Yu took the initiative to shave his own hair and asked his officials to set an example by shaving their hair and changing clothes.
The Jin people requested to recruit soldiers and grain, so Liu Yu ordered the local officials of the Song Dynasty to recruit rural soldiers and collect grain and grass within a limited time.
He also married his daughter to a Jin man as a concubine, and asked a Jin woman to be his wife.
Today, both father and son are officials in the Puppet Song Dynasty, and their actual power has exceeded that of Huang Qianshan and Zhang Bangchang.
"Father, can this golden soldier win?"
Ever since Wanyan Zongwang left with the main force, Liu Lin had become restless.
Mainly because the Ming Dynasty's fighting power was too strong. First, it forced Wanyan Zongwang to retreat, and then he invaded Kaifeng and established a new dynasty. Half a year later, they defeated Xixia and destroyed Song Huizong one after another. These were far beyond the expectations of both father and son.
Until now, they still don't know that Zhong Xiang is gone.
According to the assumptions of Liu Yu and Liu Lin, it would take at least three to five years for the Ming Dynasty to pacify the south. The Jin soldiers are powerful and can go south at any time. The Ming Dynasty is bound to be defeated if it is attacked on three sides.
When the time comes, Liu Yu, as a die-hard traitor, will be able to kill Huang Qianshan and Zhang Bangchang, and secure his position as prime minister of the puppet Song Dynasty.
Liu Yu was not sure at all, so he comforted his son and said, "Don't panic. The Jin soldiers are invincible in the world. This time they are marching southward with the whole country. They will defeat Prince Zhu very soon. When the time comes, we will return to Zhending and go south to conquer Zhaozhou." , all the counties north of the Yellow River."
Liu Lin hesitated to speak. With what his father and son had done, they would definitely die if caught by the Ming Dynasty.
Huang Qianshan and Zhang Bangchang may both survive, but they and his son are not lucky enough. If they actively promote shaving their hair and changing clothes, they will die a hundred times.