The erosion in Sichuan is difficult to return to, and it can no longer heal itself, so we must make up our minds to make up our minds to have the hope of eradicating the disease with a strong prescription. "The only one who can complete Sichuan, only the Chu soldiers", Zeng Ying, who has personally experienced several defeats with the Western Army and witnessed the annihilation of a large Western army led by the Chu soldiers, is convinced of this sentence.

The Chu soldiers' strategy of encircling and suppressing the Western Army is reasonable, and it will be effective in time, but the horizontal insertion of Long Wenguang and Liu Zhibo in Chengdu is likely to cause the advantages that have been accumulated so hard to be wasted.

Long Wenguang thought that as long as Wang Laixing was controlled, he could use the power of the Sichuan Governor Yamen to suppress the retinue armies of Santan, Shiqi and Majia in eastern Sichuan, so that they would obediently cooperate, and then control the Chu soldiers. As an insider, Zeng Ying had to secretly laugh bitterly at the fact that these Confucian officials who can only talk on paper are sometimes too whimsical and wishful thinking. If Long Wenguang's actions are put into practice and succeed, in Zeng Ying's view, it will only be a fluke in 12 out of 10. There is a possibility that Long Wenguang's reckless move will trigger a chaos with unimaginable consequences, and at a time when the western army in southern Sichuan is not extinguished and the military town in northern Sichuan is about to move, the blow of such chaos to Chengdu Prefecture and the surrounding prefectures and counties is immeasurable.

Zeng Ying raised troops, not for himself, nor for the Sichuan governor Yamen, he only wanted to ensure the safety of one side and protect the peace of one side. This is his principle, even if Chu Bing is a guest, and his principle is in line with him, he is willing to be driven by it; Even if the Chuanfu Yamen is the master and goes against his principles, he is unwilling to go along with it.

After transferring out of Chengdu Fucheng and returning to the Longquan Town Inspection Division, he immediately informed Wang Laixing of the information that Long Wenguang wanted to set up a Hongmen banquet. At that time, Wang Laixing was really cold, and the first thought that popped up in his heart was to immediately lead the troops back to Luzhou Mansion, and Xu Tu moved back, but Qin Qigong dissuaded him in time and put forward his own opinion. He believes that if the strategic goal of entering Chengdu cannot be achieved, the operation to enter Sichuan will be no different from failure.

The primary reason is military rations. In the past, half of the food and salary required by the army came from the stable grain line of the Kuizhou Prefecture, and half came from the treasury of the prefecture and county through which it passed. This complementary model worked in the short and medium distances, but is no longer applicable today.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was a proverb "from house to house, three hundred and five", which refers to the straight-line distance between an adjacent city and another city. For example, Fuzhou to Chengdu is 350 miles, and Kuizhou is 350 miles to Fuzhou, if you look at the twists and turns of the actual water and land routes, then the distance from Kuizhou to Chengdu is more than 1,000 miles. Taking the rear grain line to replenish the grain line in such a long distance is bound to consume a large amount of grain and grass on the way, and the efficiency is low. Therefore, beyond thousands of miles, the army usually mainly uses the local method of supply.

At present, the army has been stationed in the Longquan Town Inspection Division, which is adjacent to the Chengdu Fucheng, and the local government has very little grain in stock, and the military order does not allow the soldiers to sentry food, and they can only rely on the rich Chengdu Fucheng.

Secondly, in view of the encirclement and suppression of the Western Army, there are Shi Yan soldiers to control and choke the throat leading to the eastern Sichuan Luzhou Mansion and the main army of Longquan Town to respond, the Western Army will not survive in the barren southwest of Sichuan, and will definitely go north and fall into the Chengdu Prefecture, it can be said that the coalition army has made a relatively strict arrangement before.

If the army in Longquan Town temporarily retreats to Luzhou Prefecture or moves to another place, there will undoubtedly be a major breach in this defensive line, and the Western Army will seize the opportunity to see the needle, and all efforts will be in vain. The greater hidden danger lies in the fact that several places are disjointed, lose the ability to coordinate with each other, and are very easy to be divided and surrounded by the Western Army, and even disappear one after another.

Finally, the strategic location of Chengdu Prefecture is very important, as the core area of the vast plain, as long as Chengdu Prefecture does not lose a day, the control of the richest area of the entire Sichuan Province will not be dispersed. If Chengdu can be taken again, the heart of Sichuan, Chengdu, eastern Sichuan, southern Sichuan, and central Sichuan will be connected, and the foundation can be achieved, and the military towns in northern Sichuan and the western army will have the initiative and advance and retreat freely, and there will be enough time to adjust and maneuver.

"Long Wenguang has the heart to plot against me, but he is afraid that with normal means, it will be difficult for our army to step into Chengdu Fucheng." Wang Laixing said worriedly. One mountain does not tolerate two tigers, Long Wenguang refused to cooperate, he could escape the Hongmen banquet, but it was difficult to ask the Chengdu government for help, which was very unfavorable to the follow-up action of the army.

Qin Qigong's face sank like water, and said: "Salute first and then soldier, Long Wenguang is going to break the rules and break the plate, so we don't have to be polite to him." The Sichuan affair is imminent, and our army has no other choice. Long Wenguang set up the Hongmen banquet, and we just pushed the boat down the river and took him into an army. With his ill-intentioned heart as the truth, he captured the city of Chengdu. ”

"Take the city of Chengdu?" Wang Laixing couldn't help but be surprised.

"Yes, although those who offend my Zhao Ying will be punished from afar, our army is strong but Chengdu is weak, Long Wenguang comes to attack me, and our army doesn't have to swallow his anger. As long as he wants to set up a bureau to make me, even if he turns over the old account theory in the future, I won't care about the loss. ”

"This ......" Wang Laixing thought of Zhao Dangshi's previous advice to him to "be careful in everything", and he was still hesitant.

Qin Qigong said firmly: "The reason why our army has entered Sichuan is that it is moving forward because of its momentum. If Long Wenguang does not accept it and gives up, the momentum will inevitably be damaged and the morale of the army will inevitably be weakened. Not to mention the three reasons mentioned earlier that must be taken from the Chengdu Mansion. Zeng Ying came to report the news, that is, he saw that our army's momentum was better than that of the Sichuan Fu Yamen, our army hesitated, the soldiers were cold, and the Sichuan affairs were difficult to decide. ”

As soon as he heard the words "Sichuan affairs are difficult to decide", Wang Laixing weighed the pros and cons, and resolutely said: "It's okay, Long Wenguang is unkind, don't blame me for being unjust." The big thing is important, and if you really want to be held accountable in the future, I will take it. "The inability to control the Chengdu Prefecture will inevitably affect the whole army, and Zhao Dangshi's plan to entrust him to pass through Sichuan will also be shelved. The lesser of two evils, Wang Laixing knows that Zhao Ying's military strength is strong, and his political strength is not what it used to be, and the game may not fall behind when he returns to the court level, so he has a little more confidence.

Qin Qigong said: "To take Chengdu Mansion, the key is in a strange word. The premise is to pretend to come and go with Long Wenguang and others first, so as to slack off their hearts, and then attack them unprepared, and take them by surprise. He added, "Long Wenguang's banquet, the chief manager can't go in person, so he has to choose another person to replace him to confuse the public." However, it is easy to show the stuff when you send a person who is not familiar with the power to change, and you must choose a character who is articulate and bold and careful to deal with the situation. ”

Wang Lai knew what he meant, and said with one hand on his chin: "I have a good candidate." Then Ma Bao's name was reported, "He is the same age as me, and he is known as the nickname of 'two skins' in the army, he is sharp and skillful, and he is also familiar with the affairs of our army, and Long Wenguang can't see the clues." ”

Qin Qigong admired Ma Bao's recent performance, nodded and said: "This person is thoughtful, wise and brave, and more eager and enterprising, let him go to the right place." ”

In this way, it is based on Ma Bao's trip to the palace of the king of Shu in Chengdu by pretending to be the king.

Long Wenguang originally claimed to be a plan, but he was shocked to hear that Ma Bao revealed his identity, and he was stunned with Zhu Zhishu, Liu Zhibo and others. Liu Zhibo reacted quickly and shouted: "Where is Zeng Ying?" ”

Liu Jiayin replied: "I bumped into Zeng Ying in front of my head, and he said that he was entrusted by the military gate to go out to deal with important matters, so he let him go." ”

When Long Wenguang heard this, he paused his ears and sighed: "Wow! This is irreversible! ”

Zeng Ying went, and galloped to the Qingyuan Gate of Xicheng alone, and ordered the soldiers guarding the city to open the door. There are many soldiers guarding the city who admire Zeng Ying's prestige, and they know that he is an officer under the Sichuan Fu Yamen, and they do not doubt him, and they obey the order to open the Qingyuan Gate, and Zeng Ying's department, who has been waiting outside the city, immediately entered the city and quickly took over the defense of Xicheng.

At the same time, in addition to Zhao's Ronggui troops staying in place, the Zhao Ying training camp, Jinghe Hou Camp and the soldiers and horses of the Santan Department who set out from Longquan Town also arrived outside the Zhonghe Gate in Nancheng. In order to intimidate the soldiers defending the city, Wang Laixing ordered Zhang Dang to discharge the cannon first, shoot into the sky, and shoot several rounds in a row, shaking the ground. The soldiers defending the city were frightened and were in a panic, when the news of the loss of the West Gate came, and they no longer had the intention of defending the city in a panic.

Zhang Dare to see the opportunity first, selected more than ten warriors to climb first, just on the city, the soldiers defending the city were frightened away, there was no resistance, Wang Laixing took advantage of the situation to enter the south gate and meet Zeng Yingbu in the City God Temple. At this point, Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, fell into the hands of Zhao Ying in less than half a day.

Wang Laixing asked the three Tan brothers to control the gates of Chengdu Mansion respectively, and asked Zeng Ying, who had always been famous in Chengdu Prefecture, to spread a message: "I come to comfort your people, don't panic." Just use yellow paper to write the words 'good people' and paste them at the head of the door, that is, they are fine" and other words are used to appease the people in the city, and lead the training camp and Jinghe Houying camp to the palace of the king of Shu.

At present, most of the original defenders in the city surrendered, and only Liu Jiayin, the chief soldier of the Zhenyuan battalion, and Hao Xiwen, the instructor of the Shaanxi Battalion, took a small number of soldiers to hide in the mansion of the king of Shu. Wang Laixing was able to attack the city of Chengdu, but could not attack the palace of the king of Shu, so he ordered the hereditary commander of Nanwei, who had surrendered, to join the guerrilla Lu Yinchang to enter the palace to persuade him to surrender, but was expelled by Long Wenguang's stick.

The situation was under control, Wang Laixing was not in a hurry, and ordered the training battalion to control the streets and alleys, cut off the internal and external traffic of the Shu Wangfu, and split the Jinghe Houying to take over the many storage arsenals in the palace. He carried a small Mazha by himself, sat in front of the closed Xiao Wall of the Shu Palace, and peeled water chestnuts to eat.

Long Wenguang had nothing to do, Liu Zhibo volunteered and went out of the house to ask Wang Laixing what he wanted. Qin Qigong stepped forward and debated with him outside the door. The three armies stood solemnly, only listening to the two of them fighting with each other, and you came and went fiercely without swords and soldiers. Speaking of the later, it was the Sichuan Governor Yamen who was the first to lose, and Qin Qigong had the upper hand, refuting Liu Zhibo's face crimson, speechless. Seeing this, Wang Laixing immediately shouted and cheered for the soldiers, cheering as if he had just won a big victory in the battle array. Liu Zhibo was ashamed, hid his face and walked quickly, and when he arrived at the door, he thought that he had no face to return to the house, and he came up fiercely, and actually jumped into the Jinshui River with angry eyes, and died in his mind.

Wang Laixing hurriedly ordered someone to salvage the unconscious Liu Zhibo, send him to another place for detention, and continue to send people into the house to lobby. Long Wenguang didn't dare to respond anymore, just pretending to be deaf and dumb.

After three days of siege, Wang Laixing set out to rectify the military and political affairs of Chengdu Fucheng, and sat outside the door every day to persuade him. On the evening of the third day, Wang Laixing summoned all the musicians in the city to beat gongs and drums around the mansion of the King of Shu, harassing them endlessly. Zhu Zhishu, the king of Shu, was unbearable, and knew that Long Wenguang was gone, so he secretly sent someone to contact Wang Laixing without him. Wang Laixing took advantage of the situation and promised to obey the Shu domain afterwards, Zhu Zhishu immediately changed the court and stood on the side of Zhao Ying.

On the fourth day, Zhu Zhishu talked to Long Wenguang and mercilessly threw out the eviction order. Long Wenguang lost his last supporter, and if he was struck by lightning, he no longer resisted stubbornly, and ordered Liu Jiayin, Hao Xiwen and others to disarm. Zhu Zhishu smiled, opened the door, and personally welcomed Wang Laixing into the mansion.

At this point, Wang Laixing really ate the reception banquet set by the King of Shu, but this time at the banquet, Long Wenguang was depressed, and Wang Laixing was full of spirits.

Ten days after the seizure of Chengdu Mansion, the situation in the whole province slowly stabilized, but during this period, three pieces of news were sent to Wang Laixing's hands, and the turmoil in Sichuan was far from subsided.