At noon, Emperor Chongzhen gave a banquet on the platform to make a trip for Yang Sichang.

Yang Sichang was led all the way to the platform apse by the eunuch Fang Zhenghua, Guanglu Temple has set up a feast in the hall, Yang Sichang entered the table after bowing, and sat facing Emperor Chongzhen to the north.

In the sound of drums, Fang Zhenghua brought a glass of imperial wine to Yang Sichang's banquet, and shouted in a sharp voice: "His Majesty the Emperor will give Yang Sichang, the assistant minister, a glass of imperial wine." ”

Yang Sichang was sincerely frightened, hurriedly left the seat, knelt and took the golden cup in the tray, brushed his sleeves in front of him, raised his head and drank the wine, and then respectfully put the golden cup back on the tray, kowtowed and thanked: "Thank you!" ”

"Aiqing is flat, I specially wrote a poem last night to practice for Qing." Emperor Chongzhen motioned for Yang Sichang to get up, then held the imperial cup, and whispered with a smile: "Yanmei is going to be a dry city today, and the general is majestic and willow camp." Sweep away the atmosphere of Kou from now on, and return the period of education and people's livelihood. ”

Yang Sichang listened, prostrate on the ground, crying and worshipping, choked and speechless for a long time.

Although the platform banquet is grand, but it is just a formality, to be removed from the feast, only Emperor Chongzhen and Yang Sichang are left in the hall, Chongzhen walked to Yang Sichang, holding his hand and earnestly entrusted: "Qing is far away to Xiangyang, and the burden of thousands of catties is tied to Qing's body, and I have great hopes." ”

Yang Sichang was so moved that he bowed again and said: "The minister is the emperor's grace, and he is terrified, but he can only do his best and die." ”

In the early morning of the next day, after entering the palace and resigning, Yang Sichang took a sedan chair and went straight out of Guangning Gate, and the first assistant Xue Guoguan led the civil and military officials above six grades in the capital to practice it on the outskirts of the city.

In the sound of three salutes and drums, Yang Sichang got off the sedan chair and returned the salute to the first assistant, the cabinet ministers, the six Shangshu and the waiter, and the imperial history of the left and right of the Imperial Palace.

Immediately afterwards, Xue Guoguan, the first assistant, toasted three glasses to Yang Sichang on behalf of all colleagues, Yang Sichang took the wine glass, drank the wine in one go, and then put the wine glass on the tray, and boarded the sedan chair without looking back, embarking on the road of no return.

At this time, with the collapse of Wang Zhilun's Ministry in Tangjiaba, Fang Guo'an's Department, which originally formed horns with it, instantly became a lone army.

Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai had more than 100,000 troops, so naturally they would not take this more than 1,000 Sichuan troops in their eyes, in order to open up the passage into Sichuan, Zhang Xianzhong ordered Zhang Kewang to lead 5,000 troops as the vanguard to attack Fang Guoan.

Fang Guoan learned that the Xiying Rebels were coming, so he laid an ambush on the Three Peaks, and when Zhang Kewang entered the encirclement, the officers and soldiers in ambush on both sides released arrows together, intercepting most of the Xiying Rebels.

Taking advantage of the chaos of the Xiying Righteous Army, Fang Guoan ordered the soldiers to shout in unison, accompanied by the echo of the valley, Zhang Kewang didn't know how many ambush soldiers there were, he didn't dare to fight in panic, turned around and fled, Fang Guoan took advantage of the situation to lead the army to cover up and kill, and the five thousand Xiying Righteous Army were all wiped out, and Zhang Kewang was only spared.

Repelled Zhang Kewang, Fang Guoan knew that Zhang Xianzhong would definitely not give up, so he sent a hundred soldiers to camp in the upper reaches of the Heishui River, filled the sand with sacks, and used them as a dam to block the water, while the rest of the soldiers retreated across the Heishui River and ambushed again in the valley on the other side of the river.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for Zhang Kewang to lead another 5,000 men and horses to kill them violently.

Seeing that there was a river blocking the way, Zhang Kewang asked the scout to test the depth of the river, and after a while, the scout came back to report that the river was only three feet deep.

With the lesson of the last time, Zhang Kewang walked extremely cautiously along the way, but he didn't expect that he didn't even encounter a shadow of an official army, Zhang Kewang was relieved, and he expected that Fang Guoan's troops were weak, and he must have taken advantage of the victory to retreat, and immediately ordered the whole army to cross the river and continue to march.

After crossing the river for about two or three miles, he suddenly heard the sound of artillery, and the officers and soldiers who were lying in ambush on both sides of the valley suddenly came out and fired rockets together, igniting the dead grass arranged on both sides of the road in advance, and the flames rose into the air and filled the smoke.

The Xiying Righteous Army suffered another defeat and retreated all the way to the Heishui River, Zhang Kewang was worried that he would be caught up by the official army, so he held a horse whip and urged the whole army to cross the river as soon as possible. For a time, the riverbed was densely packed with rebels crossing the river.

Seeing that the Xiying Righteous Army began to cross the river, Fang Guoan stood on the high place of the hill, waved the flag, and the 100 officers and soldiers guarding the upper reaches immediately pulled up the sacks and broke the embankment to release water.

The water roared and rushed from the upstream, and in an instant, thousands of Xiying rebels who were crossing the river were scattered, and only more than 200 people were left alive to escape back to the other side.

"You useless thing, you have lost your troops twice in a row, and you still have the face to come back? Where is the axeman? Drag it out and cut it for Lao Tzu! The two defeats lost 10,000 soldiers, Zhang Xianzhong was furious, and impulsively, he wanted to behead Zhang Kewang on the spot to show the public.

Zhang Kewang was tied up by the knife and axe hand and dragged out of the gate, only to see him drooping his head, kneeling on the ground without saying a word, and the knife and axe hand next to him saw that the time had come, and raised the ghost head knife high, and the blade of the knife looked particularly dazzling in the sunlight.

At this critical juncture, someone suddenly shouted: "Keep people under the knife!" ”

The knife and axe hand looked at the voice, and it turned out to be Zhang Dingguo. Dingguo walked quickly to the sword and axe hand, and bowed his hand and said, "Please wait for a while, brother, wait for me to find the Eight Kings, and ask him to take back his fate!" ”

The knife and axe hand didn't want to kill Zhang Kewang, but the military order was difficult to disobey, but now that Dingguo stepped forward, he couldn't ask for it, so he immediately nodded and agreed.

"Second child, save me!" Seeing Dingguo, Zhang Kewang seemed to have seen a savior, and shouted at him busily.

"Big brother, don't worry, I'm going to ask my father for mercy!" Dingguo leaned over to comfort Zhang Kewang, then turned around and rushed into the Chinese army camp.

Although Zhang Xianzhong had a strict order, all seekers were not allowed to enter the account, but all the guards recognized Dingguo, and when they saw that he was coming, naturally no one stopped him. Dingguo went straight into the big tent of the Chinese army, knelt down in front of Zhang Xianzhong with a plop, clenched his fists, and said anxiously, "Please take back your father's life, the eldest brother can't be killed!" ”

In fact, as soon as the words came out, Zhang Xianzhong had already begun to regret the impulsive decision just now, but the military order is like a mountain, if the order is changed overnight, it may be difficult to convince the public in the future.

At this moment, suddenly seeing Dingguo hurriedly coming to intercede, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but secretly rejoice in his heart, but his face did not show anything.

Zhang Xianzhong sat behind the handsome case, stared at Dingguo who was kneeling in front of him, and pretended to be angry: "Zhang Kewang lost his troops and broke his generals, and he has his own military law to deal with it, how can he not be killed?" ”

Dingguo raised his head and replied cautiously: "Father, the commander is angry, as the so-called thousands of troops are easy to get, and it is difficult to find a general, and the official army has taken advantage of the time and place this time, so it can win by luck." Although the eldest brother used his troops with dignified strength and was invincible in the charge, he was not his forte, so he accidentally fell for Fang Guoan's tricks for a while, and asked his father for forgiveness so that he could atone for his sins. ”

"Hearing you say that, it's my old Zhang who didn't use people properly? Should Lao Tzu be pushed out and beheaded? Zhang Xianzhong slapped the handsome case and stood up.

"The child doesn't dare." Seeing that Zhang Xianzhong was angry, Dingguo hurriedly buried his head.

Zhang Xianzhong stretched out his hand and pointed at Dingguo, glaring angrily: "Don't dare? Lao Tzu sees you as bold! ”

Dingguo lowered his head, although he didn't look at Zhang Xianzhong, but his voice was like a bell: "Father is angry!" I think that my Xiying has experienced countless defeats since the incident, but why can I be defeated again and again, and the more frustrated I become, the more courageous? This is all because every time we lose a battle, we can learn from the experience in time and sum up the lessons! If we kill the generals as soon as we lose the battle, and we don't need the official army to suppress them, in less than half a year, our Xiying will be all finished! “

Dingguo's words made Zhang Xianzhong's tone gradually soften, and he saw him stroked his long hair lightly, and said to himself: "It's not unreasonable to say this, then Li Zicheng was beaten in Tongguan Nanyuan to only 17 horsemen, and now he is still alive?" ”

Dingguo immediately hit the railway while it was hot: "Father is handsome and wise!" The eldest brother has always been loyal to you, and this time he will be ashamed and brave after this humiliation, and please let the eldest brother go and leave it for use in front of the battle! ”

Zhang Xianzhong pretended to think about it for a long time, and then finally relented: "Dingguo, since you open your mouth to intercede for him, it is okay, I will sell you face today!" However, Zhang Kewang's death penalty crime could be avoided, and the living crime could not be escaped, and he was stripped of his clothes and armor and whipped fifty times to set an example. ”

Dingguo was overjoyed, and hurriedly kowtowed and thanked: "The child is handsome for the eldest brother!" ”

punished Zhang Kewang, Zhang Xianzhong found Xu Yixian to discuss countermeasures, Xu Yixian thought that Fang Guoan in front of him was a hard bone, although the troops were not many, but they occupied the geographical advantage, I am afraid it will be difficult to win for a while, rather than wasting in this empty space, it is better to return to Huguang, take advantage of Zuo Liangyu's new defeat, and then kill him back to the carbine.

After hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong thought so, and immediately ordered the whole army to prepare to return to Huguang.

Hearing that Xiying was going to return to Huguang, Luo Rucai hurriedly came to Xiying and persuaded Zhang Xianzhong to continue to enter Sichuan according to the original plan. However, Zhang Xianzhong had made up his mind, and the two quarreled for a long time, but no one could convince anyone, so they simply parted ways, Luo Rucai continued to enter Sichuan from Baishui Biyukou, and Zhang Xianzhong returned to Huguang from Xiaojiapo in Hejiang.

In order to open the passage back to Huguang, Zhang Xianzhong let the main army protect the old camp and continue to march slowly, while he took Zhang Kewang and Zhang Dingguo to lead 5,000 elite cavalry to attack Yun Xia day and night, and the defenders in the city were caught off guard, and the whole army was annihilated.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Xianzhong took Baitu Pass non-stop, and before he had time to capture the city, suddenly there was a scout Pegasus to report, saying that there were tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of Zuo Liangyu, killing here from four directions, among which the nearest road was only less than five miles away.

Seeing that the situation was precarious, Zhang Xianzhong urgently summoned all the soldiers and raised his fists and shouted: "Everyone! Since the breakout of Gucheng, we have fought thousands of miles, experienced dozens of battles, and repeatedly defeated the officers and soldiers! However, today, the enemy is outnumbered, the enemy is sharp and I am tired, it is the time of critical survival, we can only fight to the death with the determination of the shipwreck and the cauldron, in order to have a glimmer of life, otherwise we will be prisoners under the Zuo Liangyu steps! Brothers, death is death, and the death of other mothers at the hands of the ink officials is better than dying on the battlefield in a dignified manner! If you don't want to be embarrassed, you can all follow me to kill the enemy! ”

When everyone heard this, they all rushed bloodily, and responded in unison: "I am willing to serve my life!" ”

"Father, the child is willing to be a pioneer to atone for his previous sins!" Zhang Kewang took a step forward and roared with his fists clenched.

Zhang Xianzhong patted Zhang Kewang's shoulder with relief, and immediately shook his head and refused: "No need!" Today is our battle of life and death, and I am the pioneer myself! ”

After that, Zhang Xianzhong stepped on the stirrup, jumped on the war horse quickly, pulled out the "heaven-sent flying knife" from the scabbard, shouted to kill the enemy, and took the lead in rushing out of the battle array.

Seeing Zhang Xianzhong taking the lead, the soldiers of the Xiying camp were all brave, and everyone was brave and competed for the first. Although some companions fell from time to time, when I looked up, I saw that Zhang Xianzhong was still charging forward, and Xiying Daxu was still standing tall, all of his blood was swollen, and none of them retreated.

Under the leadership of Zhang Xianzhong, the Xiying Righteous Army did not avoid arrows, like a pair of scissors, and instantly tore a hole in the encirclement of the officers and soldiers.

In the face of the iron cavalry of the righteous army that pounced like a tiger, the officers and soldiers gradually couldn't support it, and their positions moved slightly. A general of the officer and army rode on his horse and shouted: "Don't mess around! Form a battle formation! Form a battle formation! ”

Dingguo saw it from afar, immediately pulled the reins of "two buckets of gold", jumped the horse with a spear and took the enemy general, saw Dingguo kill in front of him, the enemy general also hurriedly patted the horse to meet, the battle could not be a few rounds, Dingguo found a flaw in the opponent, and stabbed it under the horse with a shot.

As soon as the enemy general died, the officers and soldiers were suddenly in chaos, and they scattered and fled, trampling on each other and countless people died, and in just one hour, more than 10,000 officers and soldiers were killed in battle, and the rest were scattered as birds and beasts.