Fang Guoan was originally a general of the Zuo family's army, and Zuo Liangyu was ordered by Yang Sichang to enter Sichuan to pursue Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other thieves during the meritorious service, so he was awarded the chief military officer of Sichuan Town. However, when Zhang Xianzhong and other battalions returned to Huguang, he hurriedly followed out of Sichuan, so he had no time to manage his foundation in Sichuan.

After Hou Liangzhu's death, all Sichuan generals coveted the post of Sichuan commander-in-chief, and the open and secret battles never stopped. Fang Guoan, a guest general from the southeast, became the chief soldier only because of Zuo Liangyu's support, so it was naturally difficult to convince the public. Fang Guoan is also very clear about this, since Zuo Liangyu died, he knew that it was difficult to have a place to stand in Sichuan, where all forces were intertwined, so he had been fighting in Huguang, Henan and Nanzhili and other places, relying on local funding and looting to supplement military supplies.

Before the battle of Zhuxian Town, Fang Guoan's original plan was to rely on this battle exploits to find a reliable territory between Chu and Yu to take root. He lost his support again, and had no choice but to continue to rely on serving the Yamen of the Governor of Fengyang, the Yamen of the Governor of Henan, and the Yamen of the Governor of Anlu. But even such a difficult situation was shattered with Sun Chuanting's defeat and return to Shaanxi. Without the constraints of the field officers and the Kaifeng Prefecture, the Chuang army quickly spread throughout the province of Henan, and there was a tendency to advance to the Huai River valley. If the Huaihe River Basin falls into the hands of the intruding army, then Fang Guoan will lose the passage he relies on to travel around the country, and in order to make a living, he has to find a good way out for himself in advance. Previously, he was more inclined to Ma Shiying, the governor of Fengyang, but at the end of last year, the news that Huang Degong should be assigned to the Yamen of Huguang attracted his attention, and he also considered the possibility of defecting to Zhao Dangshi.

At the beginning of this year, there was a rebellion against Liu Chaotong, the commander of the army, and Wang Han, the governor of Henan, who had replaced the new official of Gao Mingheng, who had stepped down due to illness, was attacked and killed by Liu Chao, and Ma Shiying immediately sent troops and horses to suppress it. Fang Guoan also wanted to take the opportunity to perform, who thought that the generals under Ma Shiying, such as Mu Wenshou and Liu Liangzuo, did not want Fang Guoan to intervene in this matter and work together to exclude him, he was depressed and made up his mind to go west to Huguang, and it happened that Zhao Ying also sent someone to contact him, and they hit it off.

Fang Guoan's troops, Zhao Dangshi, had long noticed that his troops dared to fight when they were in Sichuan, and now there were 5,000 soldiers.

"As promised by Foreign Envoy Fu before, your army is subordinate to the Yamen of the Governor of Huguang and is stationed in Huangzhou Mansion."

Zhao Dangshi welcomed Fang Guoan and his party back to the Sanjun Mansion in Fanhe City, and after sitting down, a sentence directly calmed Fang Guoan's heart.

What Fang Guoan urgently needs at present is the word "territory", with territory, he will have a foundation, and he can continue to raise his soldiers and continue to be his officials. The only person who sat in the province and generously gave him a place was Zhao Dangshi. Compared with the fast-talking Zhao Dangshi, Fang Guoan had a headache when he thought of going to the Yamen of the Fengyang Governor's Mansion to negotiate back and forth.

Huangzhou Mansion is located in the north of Wuchang Mansion, and the two prefectures are opposite each other across the river, and Zhao Dangshi has his intention to arrange Fang Guoan there. Huangzhou Mansion is adjacent to the Ying and Huoshan Mountains, and there are many bandits, and Fang Guoan has experience in mountain warfare and can deal with it calmly. In addition, Huangmei, Macheng and other counties are even more arrogant, and local forces are staggered. For example, Macheng County has the right surnames of Mei, Liu, Tian, and Li, and the fierce teenagers in the clan form the "Liren Society", which is fierce and unreasonable, and the local government does not dare to control it. In view of such a situation, it is necessary to set up a special army to make all-out efforts to deal with it. Fang Guoan is thirsty for territory, although the Huangzhou Mansion has governance pressure, but the taxes are also quite good, he must regard it as a treasure and take care of it carefully, compared to Zuo Mengeng, who has already occupied Fengdu Dayi, he will be much more attentive. Zuo Mengeng guarded Wuchang Mansion and Fang Guoan guarded Huangzhou Mansion, and the two armies were sandwiched to control and defend the river, which could ensure the safety of the southeast of Chu.

"Thank you Mrs. Zhao for your kindness." Fang Guoan smiled and did not hide the joy in his heart, "The old Fang and the son of the Zuo family have an old friendship, and the generals on the left family's side are also familiar with each other, and they can take care of each other in the future." ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded, turned his eyes to look at the big man sitting on the other side, and said, "Yuan Dazhang plate, what are you going to do?" "Seeing each other outside the city in front of the head, Fang Guoan brought an unexpected guest, that is, this big man, named Yuan Shizhong, is now leading an army to wander in the northern part of Fengyang Mansion and Henan junction zone, called "Little Yuan Ying".

Where the army rose in Henan, the Henan bandits raised troops in response. Yuan Shizhong raised troops late, and his people were originally poor peasants in Huaxian County, Beizhili, and fled to the neighboring Kaizhou. In the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, there was a great drought in Henan, and the surrounding Kaixian counties were also affected, and the land was barren and there was no harvest. Yuan Shizhong because of his strong physique and wisdom, quite popular with the people, at the end of that year, he gathered poor peasants and hungry people to rebel, first Ke Kaizhou, and then swept through the counties of Slip, Jun, Changyuan, etc., and the soil and mine robbers and ants were attached, gathering tens of thousands, stronger than Zhukou.

In the early years, Lu Jiude, the eunuch of the Yongwei Battalion, and Zhu Dadian, the governor of Fengyang, had repeatedly suppressed the Xiao Yuan camp, but they failed repeatedly, and the Xiao Yuan camp became stronger and stronger. According to the latest military newspapers, Xiao Yuan's battalion is currently attached to nearly 100,000 people, and the main force of the old army also has 10,000 people.

Zhao Dangshi had heard of Yuan Shizhong for a long time, not because of the strength of his troops, but because his troops frequently traveled to various places, but they were able to do not kill the people indiscriminately, not plunder women, and even had the name of "Buddhist soldiers". Horizontal comparison of the current thieves and Ming troops in various places can be regarded as excellent military discipline.

"The villain doesn't dare to ask for land, but he just wants to survive." Yuan Shizhong's voice is like a bell.

Zhao Dangshi asked: "But I heard that you are controlled by Li Chuang, why?" Did Li Chuang treat you badly? "In March last year, following the Tukou Shen Wandeng and others who returned to Shun and broke into the army, there were rumors that Yuan Shizhong also bowed to Li Zicheng and obeyed his orders. Everyone in the world thinks that Xiao Yuan Ying is a vassal of the army, and the army is arrogant, but Yuan Shizhong said "survival", according to this inference, it can only be caused by the discord with Li Zicheng.

Yuan Shizhong frowned and said: "It's not just a disadvantage, it's a villain's life." ”

Fang Guoan interjected at this time: "Zhao Taibao, he is rebellious and unkind, greedy for the small Yuan camp and strong army, and has long had the intention of annexation. But Yuan Dazhang was unwilling to give in, so he had the will to break away from the situation, but he didn't dare to act because of the strong thieves and soldiers. ”

Yuan Shizhong sighed and said: "The villain has been sheltered by Lord Yufu Wang in this issue, and he has exchanged letters for more than a month. Who knew that the bad luck happened to coincide with the reinforcement of the general soldier Liu Chao to rebel against the army, but he killed Lord Wang. ”

Fang Guoan answered: "Yuan Dazhang was originally contacted by Lord Wang through my old Fang. Since my old man came to vote for Zhao Taibao, I also want to ask Zhao Taibao to also show Yuan Dazhang a clear way. He added, "The strength of Yuan Dazhang's plate is not bad, and last year's Tatar attack, many of them were folded in Yuan's hand. ”

At the end of October last year, the peace between the Ming court and the Qing state could not be resolved. In November, the Qing State once again divided its troops to break through the border and invade the Ming Realm, and quickly ravaged Gyeonggi, Shandong and other places.

Before Abatai and other Qing generals sent troops, Huang Taiji had told them to comfort the rogues in the Ming Dynasty, "Shen Jie soldiers, don't kill one or two of them by mistake, and cause evil." If he wants to send an envoy to see me, or if there is a book to play me, you will be allowed to convey it", trying to win over the rogues under the banner of Kuang Fu incompetent Daming Jiangshan.

However, it backfired, the Qing army attacked the city in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and ran rampant, but a detachment was defeated in Haizhou in the first month of this year for the attack of Xiao Yuan's battalion soldiers and horses. Looking back, this Qing army detachment was actually not many in number at that time, and it was stationed outside Haizhou City to collect military funds, and did not expect Xiao Yuan's battalion to suddenly arrive. Because of adhering to Huang Taiji's policy of "harmony and exile", the local Qing soldiers were still wavering at first, and the fighting spirit was not strong and lost the opportunity, but the small Yuan battalion came prepared, and the numerical advantage was also quite brave, and the Qing soldiers could not resist it, and retreated to the city, and the small Yuan battalion retreated.

Although the scale of the battle of Xiao Yuan's camp was not large, it was the only two defeats since the Qing army's invasion - the Qing army's Duoduo Division, which was responsible for containing the Ming army in Liaodong, was also defeated by Wu Sangui, who was guarding Ningyuan, at the end of last year - Yuan Shizhong became famous through this.

"Yuan Dazhang robbed the rich and helped the poor, why did he still kill the Tartars?" Zhao Dangshi asked with a smile.

"We are Han people after all, and it is incumbent upon us to kill the Tartars!" Yuan Shizhong responded loudly.

Zhao Dangshi smiled and said hello, of course he knew in his heart that Yuan Shizhong's expulsion of foreign captives was a part of his heart, but he hoped to flatter the Ming court and sue for peace through the merits of killing Qing soldiers. Zhao Dangshi knew in his heart that such a thing was not humane, and he would not take the initiative to puncture it.

Fang Guoan said: "Yuan Dazhang has a loyal heart, I have heard that Zhao Taibao is benevolent and righteous, and his mind is like the sea. As he spoke, he glanced at Yuan Shizhong.

Yuan Shizhong followed his voice, immediately got up and knelt on the ground, and said earnestly: "If Zhao Taibao takes it in, my little Yuan Ying must be wholeheartedly for the country, and I dare not have two hearts." I am willing to break my bones for Zhao Taibao! ”

Zhao Dangshi hurriedly helped him up and said: "Yuan Dazhang is serious, we all have the heart of serving the king and the country, and we should work together to relieve the country's difficulties." Zhao, the name of your army's good fighting, has been admired for a long time, but he has no chance to get in touch. See you today, a great relief. When the national crisis is at hand, we will do our best to help. ”

Yuan Shizhong was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly bowed again, Zhao Dangshi smiled on his face, but secretly thought about the placement of Yuan Shizhong. After all, Yuan Shizhong was Li Zicheng's person, if he took refuge in himself, it would be equivalent to openly digging Li Zicheng's corner, Li Zicheng would definitely not give up, and the hard work of Jishan Dahongzhai would become a mirror, and it would not be cost-effective in the long run. But if he hadn't sheltered Yuan Shizhong under the wings of Zhao Ying, even if he won the imperial court for Yuan Shizhong, with Li Zicheng's temperament, he would not tolerate the continued existence of Xiao Yuan Ying, and nine times out of ten he would send troops to attack.

Sitting back on the seat, Zhao Dangshi was silent, Fang Guoan and Yuan Shizhong looked at each other, and they were all nervous. After a long while, Fang Guoan asked out loud: "Zhao Taibao, but what are your concerns?" ”

Yuan Shizhong gritted his teeth and said firmly: "Our little Yuan Ying's heart to serve the court can be seen every day, if Zhao Taibao can't trust the villain, the villain will also accept his fate!" As soon as he said that, he lifted his butt and wanted to leave.

"Wait!" Zhao Dangshi stood up with his big hand, "Yuan Dazhang misunderstood, and the matter of Zhao'an was wrapped up in Zhao." ”

Yuan Shizhong's face softened at this time, and he said respectfully in the hall: "Zhao Taibao wants to have any orders, but it doesn't hurt to say it." As long as it is within the reach of small people, there is no excuse! ”

Zhao Dang's face was like a mountain, Huo Ran got up, and looked at him oppositely, both of them were burly people, at this time, they were like two pine trees standing upright, which made Fang Guoan, who was five short figures, ashamed of himself, and did not dare to move when he sitted.

"Yuan Dazhang is a real hero, and I can trust Zhao." Zhao Dangshi said first, "Zhao said that Zhao'an can do it, then it must be possible, Yuan Dazhang put his heart in his stomach." ”

"The villain obeys." Yuan Shizhong bowed his head slightly.

"But if you want to follow Zhao's path, you must follow Zhao's charter." Zhao Dangshi said solemnly, "Huaishang is not a place to live for a long time, and if Yuan Dazhang wants to save his net worth, he must choose another place." ”

"Where to go?" Fang Guoan and Yuan Shizhong asked in unison.

Zhao Dangshi didn't answer directly, but raised his hand and pointed to the sky, his eyes looked over, but the direction was in the southeast.