Ten days after Zhao Dangshi left Keishan, the Chuang army gathered forces and attacked Yang Wenyue's official army who had retired to Runing Mansion. After several field battles and a three-day fierce siege battle, the city of Runing Mansion was broken by the Chuang army, Yang Wenyue, Kong Zhenhui, Fu Ruwei and other officials all died, and Chongwang Zhu Youqiao and his relatives in the palace were also captured by the Chuang army. Soon, Hou Sui, who was a new official, was also decisively dismissed by the imperial court because of the crime of Kaifeng Mansion being flooded.

Sun Chuanting was defeated and returned to Shaanxi, Yang Wenyue was martyred in battle, and Hou Sui stepped down again, and the suppression and encirclement network that had been pinned on by the imperial court came to naught. Moreover, the impact of the defeat of the imperial court was extraordinary, and several successive defeats almost exhausted all the main field forces of Henan's official army, and only a few official armies such as Bu Congshan, Chen Yongfu, and Liu Zeqing were left to fight separately, and it was difficult to pose a big threat to the invading army. In addition, the effect of Kaifeng Mansion to stop thieves no longer exists, and the army is actually no longer hindered in Henan, so it can be said that the entire territory of Henan is basically under the control of the army.

At the beginning of November, Li Zicheng, who was complacent about his ambitions, proclaimed himself "King Xinshun" in the Third Army of the Xuzhou Conference, and concurrently served as the "Generalissimo of Fengtian Advocate Righteousness and Civil and Military Affairs" in the army, and formally set about establishing political power. Internally, there are six government offices in the central government, such as Lang Lang, Langzhong, and Engaged; Externally, there are defense envoys, governors, and state pastors in the areas under their control. The construction of houses and camps in various localities and the cultivation of land by officials obviously have long-term aspirations.

Compared with the smooth sailing of the army, the Ming Dynasty in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen is about to enter the end of the time period, it is not too much to describe the words "internal and external difficulties". In the past two months, due to the secret sabotage of the first assistant Zhou Yanru and others, the Ming court secretly negotiated peace with the Qing State and leaked the rumors, and Emperor Chongzhen blamed Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department who acted in the secret edict, and executed him as a scapegoat to stuff the mouths of the ministers.

The Qing Emperor Huang Taiji, led by Duoluo Raoyu Belle Abatai and the Minister of the Interior Turge, led a total of more than 100,000 people from the Manchurian headquarters and the Mongolian tribes of the outer domains to invade the Ming Realm, and asked Duoduo, Adali and other troops to go to Ningyuanwei to set up a camp and garrison to contain the Ming army in Liaodong. At the same time that Li Zicheng was gathering troops in Xuzhou, the left and right flanks of the Abatai army destroyed the border wall from the border ridge pass and attacked Shanxi, and the Beijing division was shaken.

In the face of such a sinister situation, the embarrassed Ming court could only save itself and make new arrangements as soon as possible under the new situation.

Both the north and south lines are struggling. The northern front did not need to be mentioned, and it was just to resist the Qing soldiers with all its might; On the southern front, Sun Chuanting's defeat in Jiaxian was pardoned and ordered to redeem himself. In addition, the most important and sensational is the appointment of Zhao Dangshi, the chief soldier of Yunxiang Town.

On November 15, the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the imperial court decreed that he arrived in Fanhe City, Xiangyang Prefecture, Huguang, and took Zhao Dangshi as the commander of the Qincha Governor Huguang and other places to rebel against the chief military officer, the former military governor of the Zuo Governor's Mansion, and the prince Taibao, a son of Enyin, and gave Shang Fang a sword, a number of silk and silver coins. In addition, in order to ensure that Zhao Dangshi could better coordinate the military operations of the official army in Huguang and its surroundings, the two armies of Zuo Mengeng, who was currently stationed in Wuchang Prefecture, and Huang Degong, who was stationed in Yingzhou, were both under the control of Zhao Dangshi, the governor of Huguang—the Zuo and Huang divisions were very close to Zhao Dangshi's army, and they were also the main official and military components that the imperial court intended to recruit and suppress.

The meaning of the imperial court is obvious, the army is strong, and the stragglers of the official army will inevitably be broken by each of them in the face of the crowd, and only when they are coordinated and twisted into a rope can they be effective. Now that Zhao Dangshi is the governor of Huguang, then together with Sun Chuanting, the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, and Ma Shiying, the governor of Fengyang, the three imperial armies can re-assemble a new encirclement network around the invasion army.

On whether to let Zhao Dangshi and Wufu hold local power, there was a fierce debate between the government and the opposition at that time.

Many people believe that Zuo Liangyu and He Ren Long Yinjian are not far away, and it is extremely risky to entrust Zhao Dangshi, who was born as a rogue, to take on a big responsibility, and the best way is to put Zhao Dangshi under Sun Chuanting. But this argument was quickly rejected by Emperor Chongzhen and Shoufu Zhou Yanru.

Emperor Chongzhen's idea is very simple, Zhao Dangshi has been awarded the general army of Yunxiang Town by the grace of the mighty heaven, and he married the lord of Huaqing County of Rui Domain, these are either from his instructions or his approval, if he stands on the opposite side of Zhao Dangshi at this juncture, it is completely an act of slapping himself. He wouldn't do that kind of thing.

Since Zhao Dangshi accepted Zhao'an, he has observed Zhao Dangshi for a long time, and has never heard of Zhao Dangshi's violation of law and discipline, which is not easy in today's season. For example, Yang Sichang, a cardinal who was once in charge of local military affairs in Huguang, had a good evaluation of Zhao Dangshi, and local officials in Huguang, such as Yan Yueyu, the former governor of Nanyang Prefecture, and Fan Juan, the current governor of Xiangyang Prefecture, also praised Zhao Dangshi's loyalty and bravery. Even the eunuchs who were sent to make secret visits several times also praised Zhao Dangshi's humility and courtesy. Moreover, rescuing Xiangyang, recovering Nanyang, and destroying Hui, Cao and other thieves are all real achievements, and they can't be fake. With all the above evidence, Emperor Chongzhen still believes more in the feedback from the local transmission and the information he has obtained from a letter of enclosure than the court officials who have never been to the place and only rely on the imagination of gossip.

Another point, Emperor Chongzhen does not like Sun Chuanting, who likes to go toe-for-tat with him, although he is forced to use Sun Chuanting helplessly, he does not want to send Zhao Dangshi over to make Sun Chuanting's power too great. Therefore, similar to the original efforts to defend Yang Sichang, Emperor Chongzhen had a good impression of Zhao Dangshi in his heart, and felt that this person was reliable, once this idea germinated in his mind, it would be difficult for others to influence him.

The reason why Zhou Yanru helped Zhao Dangshi speak was mainly because Zhao Dangshi clearly expressed his intention to stand in line when he asked him to do Zuo Mengeng's affairs before. From ancient times to the present, there is internal help and external aid, Zhou Yanru, as a court official, no matter how powerful he is, he is a literati who has no power to restrain the chicken. The world has been in turmoil for a long time, especially in this Ming Dynasty's internal and external pressure season, today I don't know what will happen tomorrow, Zhou Yanru is also eager to find a powerful faction in the local area to attract Austrian aid, and Ma Shiying, the governor of Fengyang, is actually also supported by him. If Zhao Dangshi is set up again, he will undoubtedly have more confidence to stand in the court.

Zhou Yanru's defense was mainly based on the war on the northern and southern fronts. He pointed out that the current situation can be described as the urgency of the southern front and the urgent urgency of the northern front, and at this juncture when the invasion of the Qing army is chaotic in, it is difficult for the imperial court to support the large-scale war on both fronts at the same time, so the demand for the southern front is only to seek stability. If a new encirclement network cannot be quickly constructed on the southern front, which will cause further turmoil on the southern front, it will inevitably affect the situation of the imperial court on the northern front to deal with the Qing army. After careful analysis, it is undoubtedly the quickest and lowest cost measure to promote Zhao Dangshi to condense the officers and troops around Huguang.

As for Zuo Mengeng and Huang Degong's attribution to Zhao Dangshi's moderation, half of it is due to Zhao Dangshi's efforts in advance, and half of it is attributed to practical factors.

The imperial court kept Zuo Menggeng's army, and the intention was to continue to deal with the Chuang army, so even if he is stationed in Wuchang Mansion now, he still has to think of ways to get to the north to serve in the future, and it is only appropriate to piggyback on him with him according to Zhao Dangshi's appointment. After all, Zuo Menggeng's identity as a thief general is a little embarrassing, and it is impossible for the imperial court to let him stay out of the matter for a long time and take advantage of Wuchang's inaction. But everyone can see that his relationship with Song Yihe has stiffened because of the move to Wuchang Mansion, but he has a good relationship with Zhao Dangshi, and it is the best choice for him to follow Zhao Dangshi.

After the Yongwei battalion lost power by Lu Jiude and Liu Yuanbin, all the soldiers and horses were returned to Huang Degong. In addition to Zhao Dangshi, Huang Degong also has two places to go, Song Yihe, the governor of Huguang, and Ma Shiying, the governor of Fengyang. It's just that Song Yihe's ability is obvious to all, and he can only clear out some water bandits and bandits, which is useless to Shang Lao Kou. Good steel has to be used on the blade, and the imperial court is now gradually weak, and every account has to be calculated carefully, and he is unwilling to let Huang Degong go to Huguang Yamen to make a living. And Ma Shiying is not a good choice - Ma Shiying himself can't even hold Liu Liangzuo down, Shangshu has complained several times, and one more Huang Degong will turn the sky upside down? Looking at it, you have to count on Zhao Dangshi.

Feng Yuanbiao, the new secretary of the military department, is a ghost, and when he saw the chaos of the court, he simply couldn't get sick. Although the court officials talked endlessly, they couldn't withstand the double pressure of the emperor and the first assistant, and Zhao Dangshi's appointment was confirmed.

The appointment of the imperial court was timely for Zhao Dangshi. As the commander of Huguang, Zhao Ying's soldiers and horses controlled all parts of Huguang more justifiably, and he also had no scruples about deploying troops. More importantly, it was mentioned in the imperial edict that Zhao Dangshi's authority was not limited to Huguang, and the surroundings of Huguang could also act at the opportunity, and the sword of Shang Fang was given, which contained this truth. To put it into practice, it is the moderation of the two armies of Huang Degong and Zuo Mengeng.

Not counting the local discipline maintenance personnel under the Yamen, the total number of Zhao Ying's current army is 35,000. Huang Degong's soldiers were about 15,000, and Zuo Mengeng also had 10,000. Therefore, the total available force under the command of the Huguang Admiral Yamen of Zhao was about 60,000.

These 60,000 people are the troops that Zhao Dangshi has used to build a foundation in the new stage.

Li Zicheng became the "new king of Shun", and Zhao Dangshi secretly sent people to congratulate; Zhao Dangshi was appointed as the governor of Huguang, and Li Zicheng also sent people. However, in addition to the congratulatory message, Li Zicheng's people also brought Li Zicheng's message.

The content of the message is a summary of the content of the private meeting between Li Zicheng and Zhao Dangshi on the day of the meeting.

First, Zhao Ying and Chuang Jun are not to blame for the past, regardless of what happened in the past. The sphere of influence is bounded by Nanyang Mansion and Runing Mansion, with Chuang Jun in the north and Zhao Ying in the south.

According to the map, the Nanyang Mansion and Runing Mansion in the south of Henan were divided into two, and Zhao Ying gave up the four places of Yuzhou, Wuyang County, Nanzhao County, and Ye County north of Baizhong Mountain in Nanyang Prefecture, and exchanged the army for Xinyang Prefecture, Xi County, Luoshan County, Guangshan County, Gwangju County, Shangcheng County, and Gushi County south of Runing Fucheng. It seems that Zhaoying occupies a large area, but for example, Gwangshan County, Gwangju County, Shangcheng County, and Gushi County were not actually occupied by the invasion army, and the invasion army only needed to make verbal promises. And Yuzhou in Nanyang Mansion is really a key pass in the north of the province, and its strategic significance is extraordinary, but Zhao Ying's occupation of the southern part of Runing Mansion also covers the three passes of Yiyang, so it can only be said that both sides have taken advantage.

Second, the Zhao battalion promised not to interfere with the follow-up military of the invading army in Henan and the areas north of it, and the invading army also promised not to disturb the areas covered by the Zhao battalion's forces.

This was a long-standing consensus between the two sides, and now it is only more detailed.

Third, Zhao Ying also needs to be responsible for controlling Huang Degong and Zuo Menggeng's troops from making it difficult for the intruding army.

According to the estimates of Zhao Dangshi, Gu Junen and others, the Chuang army could not go south to Chu, and the direction of development in the near future would change to Shaanxi and Nanzhili. Huang Degong was stationed in Yingzhou and was fighting with Yuan Shizhong's thieves, and Zhao Dangshi was ready to transfer him to the southern part of Runing Mansion to defend it. Zuo Menggeng of Wuchang Mansion in the south is still in case Jiang takes the lead. Generally speaking, Zhao Ying does not have any intention of going north in the short term.

The three articles of Article Chen are equivalent to the three chapters of the agreement between Zhao and Chuang, and they are the agreements made by Zhao Dangshi and Li Zicheng for the alliance. If one party breaches the contract, the other party can abandon all agreements and fight against it.

The general trend of the world is beginning to emerge, but under this clue, the situation in the Central Plains is still confusing.

Li Zicheng, Sun Chuanting, Ma Shiying, the remnants of the Henan official army and Yuan Shizhong's thief camp, whether they are friends or enemies, strong or weak, are all rivals of Zhao Dangshi, and it is not yet known who will die.