Yang Sichang was in a very bad mood. He boasted to Emperor Chongzhen that he would wipe out the bandits in Haikou in three months, then confidently arranged for an army of 120,000, and asked Chongzhen to increase taxes, causing chaos in the world. He launched an attack in all directions with high spirits, but he found that the situation was not as simple as he thought.
Although a large net stretching from all sides finally forced the bandits into Sichuan, Sichuan was full of mountains, making it extremely difficult to catch the thieves. Several groups of officers and soldiers surrounded them separately, but they still did not push the rebels to death. Zhang Xianzhong still had time to make up a children's song and sang it as he walked. The lyrics are: "There is a brake in front of me, who often come to dance in a group; behind there is Liao." Join the army and follow me if you don't want to fight; a good Yang Ge tribe is only three days away from me."
In this song, it is said that Shao Jiechun, the governor of Sichuan, always tried to intercept the rebels in front of them, so it was called "Chang Lai Tuan Dance". The latter line refers to Liao Daheng, the vanguard of the officers and soldiers, who chased the rebels but did not dare to fight. That¡¯s why it¡¯s called ¡°Let me go without fighting.¡± The last sentence refers to Yang Sichang. Because he was relatively slow and was always three days away from the rebels, he was dubbed ¡°three days away from me.¡±
Yang Sichang was furious and offered a reward of 10,000 taels of silver for Zhang Xianzhong's head. Unexpectedly, news came a few days later that Yang Sichang offered a reward of three cents for Yang Sichang's head. This moment made Yang Sichang so angry that he almost vomited blood, urging the generals to pursue him desperately, vowing to kill Zhang Xianzhong.
However, the gap between ideal and reality is too big. From the time he sent troops in October of the 10th year of Chongzhen to the spring of the 11th year of Chongzhen, he still failed to touch Zhang Xianzhong's butt.
It was then that he realized that he had gone too far. It was like a man saying to the woman he loved: "We are going to make out all night tonight." It only took three minutes. This man is not good anymore. There is really no suitable adjective to describe his feeling. Even with all the ink in the belly of Yang Sichang, a great talent, he couldn't find the right words.
The influence of the terrain is already very annoying, and the generals under his command are all arrogant and disobedient. The soldiers' ruffian nature is hard to change, and they harass good people everywhere The 120,000 soldiers are simply 120,000 naughty children who annoy him, making him have two heads.
Let¡¯s just talk about Zuo Liangyu. He had never heard of many orders given to him by Yang Sichang. When he was told to go east, he turned to the west. Tell him to chase the enemy and let him rest. Did you really tell him to rest? He went to rob good people. What do you think this is?
Yang Sichang was forced to write a letter to Zuo Liangyu himself. Advise him to work hard. Chasing Zhang Xianzhong. The letter said: "The most important thing in the holy will is to sacrifice one person. The four walls of the deep cave are so steep that it is difficult to escape. The general is there. The strict governor will search exhaustively, but he will definitely get it. I will lead the troops back on the 12th, why not?" If there is no grain and no food, it will be difficult to garrison the army. The general has no choice but to do this. Maybe Zhang Yingyuan and Wang Yunfeng can also do this, which is lucky. If not, and Ni Xian cannot escape, what will he do? The general will never do it again Draw the inevitable strategy, and do not ignore the correct words. If the troops come back, they must be stationed there to make arrangements and wait to capture the canal. Don't let the jealous people on the sidelines think that the thief is in control and let him run away again, which will cause trouble."
This heart-wrenching letter was delivered to Zuo Liangyu, but unfortunately Zuo Liangyu still said: "Lying high in the bamboo stream, unable to move despite repeated complaints, unwilling to cooperate and search deeply."
Yang Sichang was so depressed that he wrote to Chen Xinjia, Minister of War, and complained about Zuo Liangyu. For several days in a row, he could not sleep. He sat in the temporary marching tent every night, full of hope. He was waiting for the opinions on Zuo Liangyu to be sent back from the capital.
Tonight, the messenger finally came back. An urgent letter of 800 miles was delivered to Yang Sichang. He opened it and saw that Chen Xinjia had already forwarded his letter to Emperor Chongzhen. Chongzhen nodded and agreed to "Pingyang" "General Thief" was pulled off Zuo Liangyu's head and placed on He Renlong's headband.
Yang Sichang was overjoyed immediately, but after he was overjoyed, he became worried again: Is it reliable to change generals before the battle? What if the morale of the military is shaken because of this? Moreover, compared with Zuo Liangyu, He Renlong is inferior in terms of strength and reputation. I am glad that he has been replaced now. It would be uneconomical if it delays the plan of suppressing bandits.
He thought about it, thought hard, and finally sighed, and wrote back a letter to Chen Xinjia, asking him to help intercede in front of Emperor Chongzhen and take back his life. This general it is better not to change.
He did not expect that news about Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong was spread throughout the army. The letter and the reply he received were quietly spread by the guards around him in less than half a day.
He Renlong was immediately dissatisfied after hearing this: You first took the initiative to lift me up, and then took the initiative to pull me down? Is there anyone like you? Can't help but hold a grudge.
On the other side, when Zuo Liangyu heard the news, he was naturally even more dissatisfied: You, a scholar, have nothing to do after you have enough to eat? If you play with me in different ways, if you don¡¯t look good to you, I won¡¯t call you Zuo Liangyu.
The thoughts of some big guysHe was not happy at all, and his teeth made a rattling sound.
When a strange atmosphere filled the camp of officers and soldiers, a spy suddenly ran into the camp and rushed outside Yang Sichang's tent. Without warning, he shouted inside: "Yang Ge Department, Something big happened. There was an internal conflict between the Baishui Zhuba tribe and Li Zicheng¡¯s tribe. The two armies fought fiercely in the mountains and forests south of Guangyuan, and they fought fiercely"
"What?" Yang Sichang jumped up: "Really?"
The spy said: "Really, several spies have seen it"
Sure enough, as the spy's words faded, another voice sounded outside: "ReportBaishui Zhu Ba's tribe and Li Zicheng's tribe are fighting, and they seem to be fighting for territory"
Yang Sichang was so excited that he shouted: "Come quickly, call all the generals!"
After a while, the officers and generals gathered together. Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong naturally also arrived. Both of them looked ugly, and they were still worried about the change of generals. Yang Sichang said to the generals: "I have just received the news that the thieves are fighting among themselves. Baishui Zhuba and Chuang Wang Li Zicheng are fighting"
As soon as he announced the news, the faces of the generals suddenly changed. The faces of generals like Liao Daheng flashed with joy, and the faces of generals like Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong flashed. There was some inexplicable smell on his face.
Liao Daheng asked: "Master Yang, how could these thieves get into a fight at this time? Are they all brainless fools?"
Yang Sichang pondered for a while, seeming to be thinking about some important issue, and then said after a long time: "I can think of why they started fighting among themselves at such a critical time. Although Baishui Zhuba started the incident early, he has never joined the Thirty Sixth Battalion, that is to say, he is not in the same group as Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others. According to the intelligence provided by Scorpion Block, Sweeper King and others who were bribed in our thief army, this Baishui Zhuba always likes to guard his Territory. Don¡¯t let other rebels enter. This time we chased Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong into despair and fled to Zhu Ba¡¯s territory, so it is reasonable for him to fight with Li Zicheng. "
He said these words. Not bad. All the officers, soldiers and generals thought it was reasonable. Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong both nodded and said, "As far as I know, Zhu Ba is indeed such a person."
Yang Sichang said: "We have been chasing bandits for a long time, and we have never encountered such a good opportunity. The thieves are killing each other, and we sit on the mountain and watch. This is the best time to catch them all."
All the generals said: "Yes!"
The officers and soldiers immediately broke out of camp and hurriedly chased north. The children's songs compiled by Zhang Xianzhong are quite good. Yang Sichang was exactly three days away from Li Zicheng's buttocks. The officers and soldiers drove anxiously for three days along the mountain road and finally arrived at a battlefield reported by the spies. They saw that within a few miles of here, there were everywhere. You can clearly see the traces of the battle. There are many marks of knife and gun wounds on the rocks and trees on the roadside. You can also see dried blood on the ground, broken clothes, broken weapons There is a soldier still in the grass. I picked up a complete set of armor.
Liao Daheng said: "It does seem like there was a war here, but I didn't see a single body. What's going on?"
Yang Sichang also felt strange, and suddenly heard a spy shouting in the distance: "Sir, a big tomb was found behind the mountain"
The generals hurried over and saw that there was indeed a large tomb in the mountain. It seemed to be a new tomb. It occupied a very large area. It looked like at least several hundred people were buried inside. A wooden sign was inserted in front of the tomb with crooked writing on it. A few words: The martyrs of the Breaking Army are buried here.
There is a larger grave behind the grave of the intruder soldiers. Judging from the larger area, it could probably contain thousands of dead people.
Yang Sichang pointed to the simple wooden sign and said with a smile: "It seems that Li Zicheng won the battle and Baishui Zhuba retreated. Then Li Zicheng cleaned up the battlefield and buried all the dead here. This tomb with the sign belongs to Li Zicheng." Man, the one without the sign is the one who buried Zhu Ba."
The generals all nodded together: "His advice is from the Yang Ge Department." In fact, this is not a great idea. Anyone who is not stupid can see it, but on such a trivial matter, everyone will not lose anything by flattering him.
Yang Sichang smiled and said: "It seems that the casualties in this fierce battle between the two groups of thieves exceeded 2,000. This is a great thing. It would be best if the thieves all fight each other to death, which saves us a lot of energy." He pulled one over. The spy asked: "Where did the thief go after he finished his fight?"
The spy reported: "Going north."
Yang Sichang nodded and said: "Yes, Li Zicheng defeated Zhu Ba, so he naturally has to move north to occupy Zhu Ba's territory, hehe let's continue heading north, that's right."
The officers and soldiers were about to continue their pursuit to the north when they suddenly saw mountains to the north.Suddenly an army emerged from the cave. The people in this army were all wearing purple military uniforms. At first glance, they were Bai Shui Zhu Ba's people. But the difference between them and ordinary Zhu Army soldiers was that the weapons in their hands were all the same. A long spear with a black shaft, a hook at the front and a ring at the back.
Yang Sichang immediately recognized it. This was what the spies had said, Baishui Zhuba's "Black Rod Soldiers". It is said that this army has been the vanguard of Zhu's army since entering Sichuan. The leading general seemed to be called a generalissimo.
The officers and soldiers were startled. They didn't expect the enemy to touch such a close place. They quickly warned. The sirens in the mountains and forests were heard one after another, but they saw the soldier raised his hands and put the black gun on his head. Go up and wave your hand, which clearly means surrender. Yang Sichang couldn't help but wonder: Surrender before fighting?
I saw an envoy from the rebel army running over. He knelt down in front of Yang Sichang and said, "Is the person coming from the Yang Ge tribe?"
Yang Sichang snorted and said: "I am the official, what can you say?"
After hearing this, the envoy quickly put on a frightened look and said respectfully: "I've heard the name of Yangge tribe for a long time, and it's like thunder to my ears. I can't wait to see it in person" He flattered him first, and then said: "My The boss, the eldest marshal, has long had a good heart, but he has been controlled by the thief Zhu Ba and cannot escape. Now he finally took advantage of Zhu Ba's defeat to escape. He wanted to return to the embrace of the imperial court and asked Mr. Yang Ge to Yes."
Yang Sichang was overjoyed when he heard this. He was not like Hong Chengchou who liked to kill and surrender. He heard that there were thieves who were willing to surrender. Naturally, he was very willing to do so. He quickly said: "Call Dayuanwellhis name is not very good." Take it out and call him. Ask him to come over and meet you."
The messenger returns. After a while, he saw a general coming out of the bandit army, followed by a group of confidants, and arrived in front of Yang Sichang. The visitor sang a promise. He said loudly: "Xu Renjie has come to pay homage to Lord Yangge."
Yang Sichang took a closer look. The person who came here was of average appearance, not very tall and had no muscles at all. He has a philistine look on his face and cannot be said to be a great hero, especially his lively and changeable eyes, which always give people an impression of being ungrateful. He was not happy in his heart, but then he thought again that the thieves were originally a mess of people with different religions and religions, so it was good to look like this, so he suppressed his likes and dislikes in his heart and said to this person: "Why are you willing to abandon the darkness and turn to the light?"
Xu Renjie quickly said something nice, and then talked about why he came to surrender. It turned out that three days ago, Zhu Jun fought with Chuang Jun here, but Zhu Jun had only a few soldiers, only more than 20,000, while Chuang Jun had 50,000 or 60,000. After the first battle, Zhu's army was dispersed. Xu Renjie had long wanted to defect to the imperial court, so he took advantage of the opportunity of the army being dispersed to break away from Zhu Ba's control and took a thousand black pole soldiers to hide in the ravine. Just wait for the officers and soldiers to come and surrender.
His words were very different from the information obtained by the officers and soldiers. Yang Sichang immediately believed 70% of the information, and immediately ordered Xu Renjie to be admitted, and promised to help him report to the court and get him a thousand-household official.
Xu Renjie's face was full of gratitude, and he whispered to Yang Sichang: "Yang Ge Department, since I have come to surrender, of course I have to show some sincerity. I know where the bandits are gathering now, and I am willing to lead the way for the officers and soldiers. Go straight to the top of the mountain where the thief is hiding."
As soon as he said these words, Yang Sichang was overjoyed and asked anxiously: "Where is the thief hiding now?"
Xu Renjie pointed to the north mysteriously and said: "Agate Mountain!"
Yang Sichang said happily: "Then what are you waiting for? Lead the way, let's go straight to the Agate Mountain." He was so happy that his breathing became rapid. Just now, he thought Xu Renjie was not good-looking, but now he feels that he is very pleasing to the eye. Moreover, he had no doubt that what Xu Renjie told was a lie. You must know that there are countless examples of the thieves' young leaders surrendering to the government and then leading the way for the officers and soldiers. This is not a very unusual thing. In fact, they do not lead the way. Seems rather strange.
Xu Renjie said: "It's not good for Yang Ge to pursue us so brazenly. The thieves are not blind, so why not run away when they see us? Why don't we let the officers and soldiers change into thieves' clothes and let me lead us there?" The thief definitely didn't check, and thought it was the defeated general who had been collected by the villain. When he got to the foot of the mountain, he surrounded the mountain without anyone noticing and attacked the general, leaving the thief with no way to escape."
Yang Sichang said "Eh": "I didn't realize it, but you are very clever. Okay, let's do it like this, put on the clothes of a traitor and go there"
Two days later, Zuo Liangyu, the thief general, led 10,000 elite men, put on the burlap clothes commonly worn by thieves, and held messy and deliberately old weapons in their hands. They followed Xu Renjie's black-pole soldiers and headed toward the enemy. Agate Mountain is coming. Far behind this army, two more officers and soldiers of He Renlong and Li Guoqi followed quietly, totaling more than 30,000
Although Yang Sichang already has great trust in Xu Renjie, Zuo Liangyu??So careless, he is a bit cunning and cunning, he cherishes feathers very much, and he is not willing to take risks easily. He followed Xu Renjie with great vigor. It is not that he just believes what Xu Renjie says. , but strictly adhere to the key points of the march and fully conduct reconnaissance before moving forward.
Fortunately, nothing happened along the way. Xu Renjie didn¡¯t seem to be playing any tricks, but was leading the way honestly. After walking for a long time, you can see the shadow of Agate Mountain in front of you.
Zuo Liangyu called Xu Renjie and asked, "You said the thief is on that mountain?"
Xu Renjie nodded and said: "Yes, if we go forward, we will encounter the thieves' scouts. General, please feel free to leave it to me to deal with it."
The officers and soldiers continued to move forward, and sure enough, they ran into several waves of scouts not long after they walked. Zuo Liangyu, dressed in coarse linen clothes, followed Xu Renjie with his hand on the handle of his knife, just waiting for Xu Renjie to play tricks and kept slashing him. Death, but Xu Renjie didn't play any tricks. When he met the scout, he waved a big flag embroidered with "Zhenxi General Zhu". The scout looked at the army for a while and couldn't see anything strange, and they seemed to He also recognized Xu Renjie and let him go.
Zuo Liangyu became less and less suspicious of Xu Renjie. That evening, the army finally reached Agate Mountain. Zuo Liangyu looked up at the top of the mountain and saw a large flag flying on the top of the mountain with the words "Eight Kings of Xiying" written on it. The flag faced the setting sun and was very flamboyant.
Zuo Liangyu was overjoyed and asked: "So Zhang Xianzhong is stationed on this mountain?" Yang Sichang once wrote a letter urging Zuo Liangyu to pursue Zhang Xianzhong, but Zuo Liangyu never obeyed the order, which led Yang Sichang to write to the Ministry of War Believe me, I almost changed coaches. Although he didn't have much dealing with Yang Sichang, how could he not be happy if he could catch Zhang Xianzhong and finally show his face to the emperor?
Xu Renjie nodded and said: "It's Zhang Xianzhong. I brought the general to kill this guy. This is a great gift to the general."