Troop chariots, war horses Xiao Xiao. Zhao Yingjing and Guang Wenlu, the commander of the former battalion, walked slowly along the mountain road, and the soldiers who came and went around them were busy transporting heavy baggage. Not long after leaving, I saw three black characters of "Niu Xin Zhai" written on the gate of the walled city in front of me, and at the gate of the city, a round-faced general in armor also looked at it.

"Under the Xiajing Nanbo Standard, General Tian Xiong."

"Ning Nanbo's subordinate Jing and the former battalion control Guang Wenlu."

At that time, although Emperor Hongguang had ascended the throne, the news did not reach the front line in less than two days.

"Where are Liu Hongqi and the others?" Guang Wenlu asked.

Tian Xiong said: "Everyone cleans up the stockade." ”

After Hou Dagui and Huang Degong joined forces to capture the city of Runing Mansion, they immediately separated Tian Xiong's troops and horses to go south to assist Guang Wenlu in attacking Liu Hongqi and others who still occupied the villages of Tongbai Mountain. But Hou Dagui stepped up at the same time, sent a messenger to meet Liu Hongqi, and took advantage of the situation. Liu Hong was attacked by the enemy in the front and back, and after discussing with his two brothers Zhao Fawu and Mao Xianwen, he decided to abandon Shun and return to Ming. Tian Xiong climbed the mountain a little faster from the north, and he had already urged Liu Hongqi of Niuxinzhai to gather his subordinates and gather money and grain. Because according to Hou Dagui's instructions, the follow-up soldiers and horses of Liu Hongqi, Zhao Fawu, and Mao Xianwen will go north with Guang Wenlu and Tian Xiong, and find Chen Weifu's Changhong front camp, which has set off in advance, to pacify the eastern Henan region together.

"Give them a night's time, and be sure to clear the village. Before setting out the next day, he burned the walled city, leaving nothing behind. The people in the Walled City, I have already greeted the Huguang Commander's Yamen, and they will come to receive them and arrange for them to live in Fanhe City. Guang Wenlu said. Through the baptism of war in the past few years, he has long grown from a lonely and insecure young man in Sichuan to a resolute and decisive general.

Liu Hongqi and others have been operating in Tongbai Mountain for many years, and in addition to the soldiers, there are many people in the walled city who depend on them. In order to cut off the repeated retreats of Liu Hongqi and others, Guang Wenlu resolutely decided to burn all the villages. As a result, the people of the Walled City will lose their homeland and be displaced. Sending them to Fan River City is also a kind of compensation.

Guang Wenlu and Tian Xiong stood at the gate of the walled city and chatted for a while, and Guang Wenlu suddenly saw Zhang Guangcui, a Chinese officer who should have been stationed at the foot of the mountain, panting and rushing over, shouting in his mouth: "Control, big thing, big thing!" When he got closer, he supported his knees with his hands and snorted constantly, "Two days ago, King Dechang had ascended the throne in Fanhe City and rewarded his ministers. The lord became the king of Ningnan, and Jingnanbo also became the king of Jingnan...... Reign over you, you are crowned a ......"

Guang Wenlu said happily: "This is really a great thing! Looking at Tian Xiong, he was also overjoyed.

"The holy decrees and documents are all under the mountain, waiting for the system to receive them." Zhang Guangcui spoke quickly, but strangely, the sadness on his face was greater than the joy, "This is one thing, and there is one more thing ......"

Seeing his expression, Guang Wenlu had an ominous premonition. Asahagi smiled and said to Zhang Guangcui: "The specific reward, you don't have to say it in public, just talk to me in private." At the same time, he pulled Zhang Guangcui out of a few steps and said in a low voice, "Is there anything wrong?" ”

Zhang Guangcui said with a pale face: "Li Chengdong and Du Yonghe are reversed." ”

At this moment, Guang Wenlu also seemed to have suffered a blow to the head.

Zhang Guangcui said: "The garrison of northern Chu is all in Xiangyang Fucheng. Fanhe City was only garrisoned by the unity soldiers of Huguang and the Yamen. And among them, Dou Mingming, Gao Wengui, and Hu Maozhen have gone to the front line in Henan, and Li Chengdong and Du Yonghe have reversed each other, and the situation is critical. ”

"Where's the lord?"

"Li Chengdong, the thief, obviously calculated the right time, and only waited for the lord to go to Shaanxi before he suddenly attacked." Zhang Guangcui said anxiously, "Now only Li Benshen is guarding the city, thinking that the emperor and the lord's family are all in Fanhe City, once something goes wrong, the consequences are unimaginable!" ”

Guang Wenlu gritted his teeth and said: "Li Chengdong is a white-eyed wolf, if it weren't for the lord to protect him, how could he survive in the world!" "At the beginning, Gao Jie made a riot in Nanyang Mansion, Li Chengdong and Li Benshen were all accomplices, and they should be punished for their crimes. They successively took refuge in Zhao Ying, but it was Zhao Dangshi who sent people to the capital to deal with them, so that they were cleared of their guilt, so that they could see the light of day again under their real names, and even be awarded official positions in the future, which can be described as a generous move regardless of previous suspicions. Li Chengdong didn't want to repay the favor, but took a bite, which was really wolf-hearted.

Li Benshen and Li Chengdong are old friends, and I heard that Li Chengdong and Du Yonghe were besieging the city while persuading Li Benshen to surrender. Li Benshen was unfathomable, and Mr. Dazhi Zhengchang sent people to rush over and ask our battalion to quickly turn back and support! ”

Hu Guangti led the regiment under the yamen to train 5,000 soldiers, and Li Chengdong and his old general Du Yonghe and the two posts together had 10,000 people, and it was difficult to support Li Benshen for a long time alone. There are two armies of the Zhao battalion headquarters that remain in Huguang, one Wuya battalion is a pure water army, stationed in Hanyang Mansion, and it must be too late to rush to help, and the other national security battalion needs to defend Xiangyang City without Zhao Dangshi's military order. It seems that the closest mobile force to Fan Hecheng is only the 3,000 people in Guangwenlu in Suizhou.

Tian Xiong saw that Guang Wenlu and Zhang Guangcui were uncertain, and exclaimed strangely: "But what difficulties do you want to help?" ”

Guang Wenlu immediately replied with a smile: "It's okay, Brother Tian don't worry." "The change of Fan Hecheng is too much to do with it, and at this delicate moment when Liu Hongqi and others are attached, it must not be spread, otherwise people's hearts will change instantaneously, and I am afraid that it will set off unexpected waves. Tian Xiong is not a descendant of Zhao Ying's troops, and he also needs to take precautions.

"You immediately go down the mountain to reorganize the troops and wait for me." Guang Wenlu patted Zhang Guangcui's back, then turned around and pretended to be an understatement to Tian Xiong, "Brother Tian, Xiangyang has sent a temporary order." ”

"What command?"

"There is a small group of thieves and remnants of soldiers wandering around the Chu-Yu border to kill people and set fires, and the higher authorities want me to lead troops to pacify."

"That's disgusting." Tian Xiong sighed, "A thief is a thief after all, and robbing a house is an old business." "The war in Henan has been repeated, and many troops have been scattered and wandered without owners. The Shun army and the Doma army come and go quickly, and it is not surprising that they are flowing around.

"The battle of Tongbai Mountain is over, and tomorrow I will lead the troops to Pingbao first. Brother Lao Futian was in charge of this matter and took Liu Hongqi and others to the north. Guang Wenlu smiled and said, "I envy Brother Tian for having the opportunity to go to eastern Henan to make contributions." "The main force of the Henan Shun army can be described as falling apart after several major battles, eastern Henan is empty, and the soldiers and horses must be invincible in the past.

When Tian Xiong heard this, he was happy in his heart, and he said nonchalantly on the surface: "It's just a matter of picking up some small credits, where is it as happy as Brother Guang's solid annihilation of the thief army." "Secretly, he has actually begun to think about whether he can take this opportunity to win some rewards in the new dynasty and seal his wife and son.

Guang Wenlu pretended to be relaxed and laughed a few words, praised Tian Xiong very comfortably, and then said goodbye and went down the mountain. Tian Xiong didn't have any doubts about how to get Fan Hecheng, and he sent Guang Wenlu back a few steps and urged the soldiers energetically.

"Whew-" Guang Wenlu let out a long breath, and strode down the mountain road with a strong sense of self-stability. His heart was on fire, and he walked faster and faster, until later, he ran almost regardless of the steepness of the mountain.

In the big battalion under the mountain, the Jinghe front battalion, which was already in a state of combat, had already been on standby under Zhang Guangcui's mobilization. Guang Wenlu did not delay, and with an order, 3,000 soldiers and horses flipped their flags and went west.

"The whole army is forcib, and by tomorrow evening at the latest, it must rush to Fan River City!" Guang Wenlu said in a solemn voice, his hands in front of the saddle trembled slightly. Now that the army has been deployed, all he can do now is to pray silently for Fan Hecheng from the bottom of his heart.

Van River City is indeed at its most dangerous moment.

Li Chengdong prepared for this raid for half a month. Previously, as the earliest and most combat-effective outpost in the regimental training, he should have gone to the front line in Henan like Hu Maozhen and them at this time, but he tried his best to shirk it and was finally able to stay in Fanhecheng. During this period, he also falsely claimed that the army's ordnance was old, and obtained a number of artillery guns from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which greatly increased the army's firepower. In terms of combat effectiveness alone, Huguang is incomparable to the other five posts of the Yamen. This is also one of the reasons why he and Du Yonghe can completely suppress Li Benshen.

"Zhao Dangshi, the shame you brought me, I will pay back tenfold!" Li Chengdong looked at the city in front of him that was constantly being shelled, and thought coldly. When Zhao Dangshi had not yet made his mark, he followed Gao Jie to break away from Li Zicheng and surrender to He Renlong, and almost died due to Zhao Dangshi's pursuit. Later, in Nanyang Mansion, Zhao Dangshi lured Gao Jie to mutiny, killed him back, and he had to die again. originally wanted to vote for Zhang Xianzhong, but was intercepted by Ma Weixing's brothers, and the five flowers were tied up and sent to Zhao Ying. At that time, he really felt that Zhao Dangshi was his fate, and even moved the idea of dying. Who knows, Zhao Dangshi actually released him and gave him a position. However, such a move made him even more angry.

Li Chengdong, who has always been pretentious, cannot tolerate the pity of his enemies. Zhao Dangshi's tolerance was no different from naked contempt in his eyes. Especially when he received the appointment to lead the unity soldiers, he felt like he had been slapped in the face and felt deeply insulted.

"With my ability, I am far better than Hou Dagui, Guo Ruke and others. They can lead the soldiers on the way, how can I not do it? Li Chengdong was indignant, "If he puts me under house arrest, he will be idle, but he has to pretend to buy people's hearts." What is it for me to bring solidarity soldiers? Do you think I'm only worthy of such a recruit, or do you deliberately give me a good look and fold my face? ”

The righteous son Li Yuanyin persuaded: "It is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years, Zhao Dangshi is like the sky, and he cannot be defeated." It's better to take this opportunity to live, and then find another opportunity to take revenge in the future. ”

At that time, Li Chengdong accepted Li Yuanyin's suggestion and decided to wait for the opportunity. To his surprise, this opportunity soon came to his door.

"When the new monarch ascends the throne, the world will respond, and General Li will not lose his decision!"

Soon after Li Chengdong became a regimental training sentry officer, someone came to his door to make an unannounced visit. At that time, he didn't know who the "new king" was in the mouth of the visitor, and he didn't even know the origin of the other side at all. However, when he heard the last sentence of "no mistake in making a decision", he agreed to cooperate with the visitor almost without thinking. Now he knows that the informant he met and contacted for a long time is actually the envoy of He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, and what he participated in will be the major event of King Gui's accession to the throne that will determine the situation in the world.

"Zhao Dangshi set up a puppet emperor in a vain attempt to manipulate the government, which is also the enemy of the country. For the sake of the country, there is an urgent need for a loyal person like General Li. ”

A few days after Emperor Hongguang ascended the throne, Li Chengdong met with He Tengjiao's envoy again.

"What does King Gui want me to do?"

"Take Van River City."

He Tengjiao's idea is very simple, there are not only Emperor Hongguang who live in Fanhe City, but also the families of Zhao Dangshi and many important ministers of Zhao Ying. After taking Fan Hecheng, he was quite able to choke the seven inches of Zhao Dangshi, a poisonous snake, not only holding the initiative in the abolition of Emperor Hongguang and the judgment of the legal system, but also being able to contain Zhao Dangshi, so that he did not dare to act rashly.

"Dad, do you really want to turn against Zhao Dangshi?" Li Yuanyin once asked Li Chengdong worriedly, "To tell the truth, Zhao Ying treats me well, and if he acts like this, do you repay virtue with resentment." ”

"Shut up! I have never returned to Zhao Dangshi, how can I go against him? What virtue does he have to me? Li Chengdong said angrily, "Just ask, a robber ransacked your house, but took the initiative to give you some entanglement to survive afterwards, would you still be grateful to him?" This time, the new emperor ascended the throne, and Lao Tzu didn't get half of the reward, and he deceived people too much! He added, "Even if Zhao Dangshi is fake benevolence and righteousness, and has never embarrassed you and me, but it is all a small favor and a small righteousness." It is righteous to obey King Gui's enthronement and command the world. At the moment of righteousness, who else can I be! ”

Li Yuanyin knew Li Chengdong's temperament, and it was useless to persuade him, so he said: "Fan Jing has three whistles, and I am afraid that this post is not stable enough." ”

"I'm not the only one, Du Yonghe is my confidant, and I have hated Zhao Dangshi for a long time, I have tested him, he and I have the same heart." Li Chengdong said confidently, "I don't know about Li Benshen, this kid, but he has a grudge against Zhao Dangshi for killing his uncle, unless his conscience is eaten by a dog, he will never fall to Zhao Dangshi." ”

"Yes......" Li Yuanyin could only nod.

"Early tomorrow morning, you and Lao Hao will lead an army and raid Fan Jing. Fan Jing's garrison is loose, once he succeeds, the raw rice is cooked and matured, and Du Yonghe and Li Benshen will not bow their heads! ”

Even though Li Chengdong is full of confidence, things are still a little different.

Yesterday, Li Yuanyin and Li Chengdong's subordinate general Hao Shangjiu was ordered to lead troops to attack the city, but the soldiers came to the city, but found that there were already defenders stationed in the city. And those defenders are Li Benshen's troops.

"His grandmother's, who leaked the news!" Li Chengdong, who was waiting for the good news to come, heard this, and was furious and drove his horse to the city.

Hao Shangjiu, who was arranging soldiers to prepare for the siege of the city, said: "Fan Jing is Zhao Dangshi's old nest, and there are a lot of spies, I'm afraid that the wall has ears." ”

Li Chengdong grimaced, cursed a few words, and then stiffened his neck, full of disdain: "It's okay, Fan Jing has no reinforcements from far and near, and the city will be defeated within three days, and the momentum is still mine!" Speaking of this, he raised his whip and pointed, "Order, Li Benshen has the wrong intentions to hold the new monarch hostage, and our army is ordered by the king of Ningnan to attack the city and save it!" ”

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Note: The purpose of the Hongguang Dynasty's knighthood is to appease local forces and settle people's hearts as soon as possible. Although it did not play a decisive role in winning the refuge of local forces, in most cases, a high title showed the attitude of the regime itself, and it could still exert a thrust on the wavering people. The standard for awarding the first rank of Wang Jue is an important military strength that is enough to influence the regional situation, such as Sun Chuanting, who is not particularly outstanding in terms of military strength, but compared to Ma Shiying, who temporarily favored Fengyang, his army is currently in a pivotal strategic position in Longyou, and it should be focused on accepting it, so as not to suddenly appear a loophole in the entire strategic situation. The standard for the award of the first rank of marquis is the local powerful faction or independent faction mountain, such as Zhou Yuji, although he served in the Zhao camp, but on behalf of the Nanyang dependent Ming army, including Zhou Jin and Min Yiqi. Another example is Tan Hong, who represents the local heroes in eastern Sichuan. They are all typical examples of a certain political and military group, and they have the role of pointing to them, rewarding these people, calming people's hearts, and their specific strength is secondary. As for the title of Zhao Ying's civil and military affairs, in the name of Emperor Hongguang, it is slightly inappropriate to rush to give Zhao Ying's own generals a large reward, and it is very likely to confirm Zhao Dangshi's intention to coerce the Son of Heaven for his own benefit, and it is premature to have no disadvantages to support the political intention to be realized by the new monarch. When the time is ripe for the follow-up, Zhao Dangshi will not treat the old brother badly. Hongguang succeeded to the throne, focusing on the aftermath, and the follow-up news reached the Quartet, each with its own waves, and book friends are invited to continue to pay attention!