In order to resist the Shun army, Zheng Sen repeatedly conveyed orders to Hao Shaoqi of Chengtian Mansion, ordering Hao Shaoqi to lead his troops across the Han River to attack Jingzhou, so as to relieve the pressure on Xiangyang. However, Hao Shaoqi was not moved at all, he just stood still and did not listen to Zheng Sen at all.

In terms of identity and status, Zheng Sen is the governor of Xiangyang and the official of Xinjiang, and the Zheng family is even more dominant in the southeast to control the sea routes.

Hao Shaoqi is just a thief general, and he was accepted by the Ming Dynasty by coincidence, although he has the title of Marquis of Annan, but he is just a prince who cannot be hereditary, and he is not in the eyes of everyone.

Zheng Sen was extremely angry at Hao Shaoqi's immobility, so he sent a note to the imperial court to impeach Hao Shaoqi.

At this time, Hao Shaoqi was at a difficult moment of choice. After the defeat of Jingzhou, there were only more than 40,000 people left in the original army of nearly 100,000, which made Hao Shaoqi feel devastated. For a general like him, the army in his hands is the capital to live and survive. If you lose the army, even if you have the title of Marquis of Annam, it will no longer matter.

The Ming army was defeated, the Shunxi coalition army went out of Sichuan, and the entire Huguang and Jiangxi were in chaos, even Hao Shaoqi could no longer see the direction of the future. From the point of view of momentum, the Daxi Army is extremely strong, with the trend of going straight to Nanjing to sweep the world, although the rest of the Shun army is broken, Yuan Zongdi, Gao Yigong, Tian Jianxiu, and Li Guo are also all powerful generals for a while, and there is no certainty of victory in the face of them Hao Shaoqi.

And Hao Shaoqi himself is from the Shun army, and most of his subordinates are originally Shun army soldiers, who have a natural connection with the Shun army, and they are unwilling to fight to the death with the Shun army from the bottom of their hearts.

Moreover, who belongs to this world? Can Daming hold on? Nothing is known. What Hao Shaoqi can do now is to grasp the little force in his hand to the death, and he does not dare to fight at will.

Although Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, was reappointed by the imperial court as the commander of the army and personally led the troops to Jiujiang, Hao Shaoqi, who knew the strength of the Western Army, did not know if Chen Yue's ability could withstand a thief like Zhang Xianzhong!

Zheng Sen is just a milky kid, although in front of a feudal official like the governor of Xiangyang, how can he order a fierce general like Hao Shaoqi?

Just when Hao Shaoqi was undecided, a leaf boat went upriver from the Jiujiang River, entered the Han River along the north side of the Yangtze River, and came to Chengtian Mansion to govern Zhongxiang.

Hearing that Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, had sent a messenger, Hao Shaoqi hurriedly went out of the city to greet him in person, and then saw Gu Junen in green clothes and Liu Neng with a smile on his face.

"Mr. Gu, Brother Liu!" Hao Shaoqi was stunned, but he didn't expect Chen Yue to send Gu Junen and Liu Neng to Zhongxiang together.

Looking at Hao Shaoqi, Gu Junen smiled, but his heart was full of emotion.

Once upon a time, when Gu Junen was dissatisfied with Li Zicheng's strategy of going east, he made every effort to recommend Hao Shaoqi to lead the troops to attack Huguang, so as to leave a way for the Shun army to retreat. It was with the help of Gu Junen that Hao Shaoqi was able to annex the rout of Tian Jianxiu and other troops, and jumped from a partial general to a festival envoy who guarded Wuchang.

Afterwards, Gu Junen's judgment was confirmed, Li Zicheng led the army to be attacked by the Eight Banners in the west of Jiujiang City, and the whole army was defeated, and he even died in Jiugong Mountain. Hundreds of thousands of Shun troops fled in defeat, and Hao Shaoqi's troops became the only fully formed army in the Shun army.

However, to Gu Junen's surprise, Hao Shaoqi did not become the mainstay of Dashun, but was easily persuaded by Liu Neng to surrender, and even changed his banner to take refuge in Daming, and led his army to capture Jiujiang, cutting off the back road of the Qing army. And in Hao Shaoqi's army, he also lost his freedom, and was even given by Hao Shaoqi as a gift to Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi.

One is a Wenchen strategist who is not valued by Emperor Li Zicheng of Dashun, and the other is a partial general who has no sense of existence in the Dashun court.

Different from Gu Junen's full of emotion, Liu Neng was full of smiles, used eight exquisite methods, and praised Hao Shaoqi repeatedly, praising him for being able to retreat when the vast army of Hu was defeated, and he was worthy of being a great general valued by the Duke of Qi.

Hao Shaoqi shook his head again and again when he was praised, his smile was full of bitterness, the reason why he was able to retreat with the whole army was just to abandon He Tengjiao, who was in a heavy siege and rout, when he saw that the situation was not good, there was no place to boast at all. However, from Liu Neng's words, he understood the mind of Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, and Chen Yue did not care too much about his past behavior. In other words, the defeat of Jingzhou and the annihilation of the 200,000 Huguang army, Chen Yue did not attribute the responsibility to Hao Shaoqi, which made Hao Shaoqi feel a lot more at ease.

Regarding the defeat of Jingzhou, Hao Shaoqi thought that the responsibility was not on himself, it was He Tengjiao's arrogance that did not perceive the rout caused by the ambush of the western thieves, and it was He Tengjiao's incompetence, and the army of more than 100,000 people could not even withstand the attack of 50,000 western thieves, which can be described as incompetent. But he withstood the fierce attack of Li Guo and other troops for more than half a month in Jingzhou to protect Jingzhou, and after He Tengjiao arrived in Jingzhou, he also led his troops out of the city to flank the Shun army, but He Tengjiao was defeated too quickly, and he was helpless.

Therefore, after the defeat of Jingzhou, Hao Shaoqi asked himself what he could do, and the responsibility was not on himself. But the problem is that he is just a general, but He Tengjiao is a provincial governor, and his status is completely unequal. Now that He Tengjiao is dead and he is still alive, will the Ming court put all the responsibility for the defeat on its own head and make an example of it!

In this regard, Hao Shaoqi was suspicious, which was also the reason why he did not listen to Zheng Sen's dispatch to support the troops and respect himself. If it really doesn't work, he raised troops to break away from the Ming court, and with the army in his hands, where can he not go to the world? It's a big deal to return to Dashun or defect to Zhang Xianzhong's Great Western Army. This is Hao Shaoqi's inner thoughts.

And now, Gu Junen and Liu Neng came together, but Hao Shaoqi felt Chen Yue's sincerity, it turned out that Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, still trusted himself!

After entering Zhongxiang City, after everyone greeted each other, Liu Neng sent Chen Yue's handwritten letter.

Looking at Chen Yue's affectionate greetings to himself in the letter, Hao Shaoqi felt a warm current in his heart. As for Chen Yue's instructions, he immediately expressed his obedience, and was willing to obey the orders of the Duke of Qi and act according to Chen Yue's orders.

"I will immediately lead the troops to leave Zhongxiang and march towards Hanyang!" Hao Shaoqi said solemnly.

"There's no need to be in a hurry, Changsha soldiers are preparing to block Yinxi and send troops to capture Changsha Yueyang, and the western thief Zhang Dingguo is dealing with the army of blocking Yinxi, will it go down the river from Wuchang for a while and a half, and there is time to prepare." Liu Neng said with a smile.

"Understood." Hao waved the flag and said, of course, it is better to have enough time to prepare.

"Brother Liu Neng, Mr. Gu, I don't know if the Duke of Qi went out of the mountain this time simply to relieve the danger of the Ming court, or?" Hao Shaoqi asked tentatively.

More than half a year ago, Chen Yue annihilated the Manchu and Qing armies, but because his father left the imperial court because of his father's filial piety, the situation was reversed in a short period of time, and the Pingnan army and a number of forces subordinate to the Duke of Qi were hit hard. Although Hao Shaoqi was implicated, he was assigned to Jingzhou and even the defeat of Jingzhou, it is difficult to say that there is no relationship between the two.

For the civil and military generals of Chen Yue's lineage, whether Chen Yue has a foothold in the court is related to their future and even their lives, and they do not want to see Chen Yue once again put on hold.

"The disease of the Ming Dynasty is terminally ill, and only the Duke of Qi can clean up this broken world. Set aside? Not to mention what Qi Guogong thinks, you have to ask the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians on Dongfan Island whether the 100,000 soldiers under Qi Guogong agree or not! Liu Neng put away the smile on his face and said proudly.

Chen Yue went out of the mountain this time to bear the heavy responsibility of saving the world again, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty and the people of the world naturally saw in their eyes, who rescued the Ming Dynasty from the danger of death again and again. As long as the Western Thief is annihilated, even Emperor Chongzhen, Chen Yue will no longer be able to idle this time. And after experiencing it again and again, how can Chen Yue's heart be the same as before?

"That's good, that's good." Hao Shaoqi nodded again and again, no longer worrying in his heart.

"Mr. Gu, now that the Jiujiang military affairs are in full swing, a strategist like Mr. Gu is needed to give advice to the Duke of Qi, and the matter of the order can be passed on by Brother Liu Neng, how dare Mr. Lao Gu take the time to come!" Hao Shaoqi asked Gu Junen's intention again.

"The old man is naturally not here for you, General Hao, but for other tasks." Gu Junen shook his head and said, "I have a letter here, I bother General Hao, you send someone to the Shunjun camp and hand it over to General Li Guo." ”

"Ahh Hao Shaoqi was stunned for a moment, and was suddenly a little surprised.

......

In Yicheng, the residence of the Chinese army of the general of the Great Shun system, a lieutenant officer hurriedly came in and handed Li Guo a letter.

"The general of the Great Shun system, the Marquis of Bo personally opened, and the government servant Gu Jun'en respected", looking at the letterhead and the payment on the envelope, Li Guo stood up suddenly.

"Who sent the letter, and where did it go?" Li Guo hurriedly asked.

Although Gu Junen's status in the Dashun Imperial Court is not as good as Niu Jinxing Song Xiance, in the eyes of Li Guo and others, Gu Junen's ability is far above Niu Song. And now, Niu Song has surrendered to the Manchu Dynasty, but Gu Junen, whose whereabouts are unknown, suddenly appeared, which made Li Guo not surprised. You must know that the remnants of the current Shun army are in a period of confusion, and they urgently need a strategist like Gu Junen to point out the way forward.

"The letter was sent by a subordinate of Zhongxiang's traitor Hao Shaoqi, and the man was detained outside the mansion." The lieutenant replied.

It turned out that Gu Junen was in Hao Shaoqi's army, Li Guo sat down all of a sudden, and slowly opened the envelope, he wanted to see what Gu Junen wrote.

......

After a long time, Li Guo put down the letter, closed his eyes and thought deeply, and then opened his eyes again, "Come on, please General Bai and General He come to discuss the matter!"

Yuan Zongdi, Liu Tichun and other generals led troops to be stationed in Nanzhang, Gucheng, and in addition to Li Guo, there were two generals Bai Wang and He Zhen who stayed in Yiyang.

Soon, Bai Wang and He Zhen arrived at the Chinese military mansion and met Li Guo.

showed the letter to Bai He and the others, and Li Guo asked what the two meant.

"Bo Hou, Gu Shilang has not heard from him for a long time, but he suddenly appeared in the traitor Hao Shaoqi's army, he must have taken refuge in the puppet Ming court, and this invitation to meet you is likely to be a trap, so I have to guard against it." Bai Wang said to Li aisle.

"When we meet on the edge of Hanshui, the two sides only need to bring two people with us, Gu Junen is just a literati, as long as we are careful, there should be no mistakes. Gu Junen said in the letter that he could help our army break through Xiangyang and go to the Central Plains, but he could meet him for a while and listen to what he had to say. He Zhen said.

In fact, when his subordinates invited He Zhen Baiwang to come, Li Guo had already made up his mind. Gu Junen was an important minister of Shunying in the past, and he kept saying that he could help the Shun army get out of trouble, and he needed to meet him in any aspect. Li Guo called Bai Wang and He Zhen to arrange for him to leave Yicheng temporarily.

"Since Gu Junen said that he can help us get out of the predicament, what does it matter if I see him once. After I left, General He led his headquarters to continue to occupy the four villages, collecting food and salaries while putting pressure on the Ming army in Xiangyang. General Bai was in charge of the defense of Yicheng and continued to gather carpenters to build ships. Li Guo arranged.

The reason why the Shun army has no way to take Xiangyang is because there is no water army, if there is a huge water army, it will definitely not be so difficult to attack Xiangyang.

He Zhen and Bai Wang took the order and went separately. Li Guo ordered a thousand soldiers to accompany him and went south along the official road.

The place where Gu Junen invited was forty miles away from Yicheng, and it took a day to arrive.

On the morning of the second day, Li Guo led his subordinates to the junction of Xiangyang Mansion and Chengtian Mansion, and the Han River rolled down from the north, bypassing Xiangyang and flowing through Yicheng Zhongxiang, and flowing into the Yangtze River from Hanyang.

A thousand soldiers stopped on the bank of the Han River, and when Li Guo looked at the horse, he saw that the Han River was wide and mighty, and the banks were lush and covered with reeds, but the water surface was calm and waveless.

"Marquis, there's a ship on the other side!" At that moment, a soldier shouted pointing to the water. Li Guo looked intently and saw a flat boat coming from the other side of the Han River, and the purpose of the trip was about two miles away from the location of his garrison.

Li Guo ordered his troops to stand in place, and he led one of his men to gallop towards the shore where the ship was docked. Wearing thick armor and being skilled in military formations, Li Guo is not afraid of the upcoming meeting.

Riding on the horse and getting closer, I saw a scribe in green clothes standing quietly on the boat, which one is it not Gu Junen?

"Mr. Gu, don't come unharmed!" Riding on the horse, Li Guo said to Gu Junen on the boat.

Looking at the former Shunying generals, Gu Junen also sighed.

"I don't know if Mr. Gu will meet at the end of the appointment, do you have any advice?" After greetings, Li Guo directly asked Gu Junen's intention. The matter is already very obvious, Gu Junen has taken refuge in the pseudo-Ming, and there is no need to reminisce about the past.

"The Duke of Qi of the Ming Dynasty ordered Gu to come to see the Marquis of Bo and convey the goodwill of the Duke of Qi. Qi Guogong knew that the Shun army was now blocked in Xiangyang, and the Duke of Qi asked Gu to tell Bo Hou that he could order the Xiangyang defenders to abandon Xiangyang and let the Shun army enter the Central Plains safely. Gu Junen said indifferently.

"Oh? So Chen Yue is so good? I don't know what I need to do? Li Guo said coldly, he didn't believe that Chen Yue had such good intentions.

"Of course, the price is that the Shun army must pass through Xiangyang with the whole army, and not a single soldier is allowed to be left in Huguang. And afterwards, Xiangyang must be returned to the Ming Dynasty, that is, it is just a loan to you. Gu Junen explained.