In November of the second year of Longwu, because of the surrender of Liu Jinzhong, the general of the Western Army, the Manchu court was overjoyed. Send someone to issue a false edict: Zhang Xianzhong's previous disturbance, all the things of the Ming Dynasty, such as the time of the judgment of the sky, lead the people to return, since the excellent plus the promotion, the descendants of the generations, forever enjoy the wealth. If you wait and see, and do not surrender early, the army will come, and there will be no regret.

Although Zhang Xianzhong has been unable to get along with Li Zicheng all his life, one thing is still the same, he refuses to surrender. At this time, ordinary people have to kneel and kowtow when they see a county official, who dares to rebel if the bones are not hard. He tore up the edict, cut off the head of the person who carried the edict, and scolded: "Lao Tzu has money, change his name and hide to be a rich man, and he will not be a group of Tartar minions." "The Great Western Army is civil and military, embarrassed and speechless... Fortunately, Zhang Xianzhong often said such shocking words, and they were used to it.

At the same time, Hou Xuan, who got the news, wrote a letter and asked Emperor Longwu to recruit Zhang Xianzhong. Emperor Longwu overrode public opinion in the palace of the Forbidden City in Nanjing, and said to his ministers: "Zhang Xianzhong is different from Li Chuang, although he has done evil, he has not harmed my monarch father. If the Duke of Yue Guo can recruit this person, it will also be a great merit. ”

Zhang Xianzhong sent his adopted son Zhang Wenxiu to Huguang via Chongqing to interview Hou Xuanyan.

Hou Xuanyan sent a battalion of men and horses to meet him and informed Ma Gan, the governor of Sichuan, that he was not allowed to use swords and soldiers.

Ma Gan was originally a governor of Guang'an Prefecture, Zhang Xianzhong entered Shu, and the governor of Sichuan died in battle. The Sichuan military and civilians jointly elected Ma Gan to temporarily exercise the power of governor. Ma Gan also did not live up to the expectations of the Sichuan people and recovered Chongqing in one fell swoop. Zhang Xianzhong sent troops several times, but they were all repulsed by Ma Gan. Zhang Wenxiu, who came this time, was also his defeated general.

Ma Gan looked at Liu Ting in the Hidden Elephant Battalion, his old face was full of reluctance, he took off his official hat and held it in his hand, and his voice was surprisingly loud: "When Chongzhen was in the Dynasty, he surrendered several times, and none of them were not capricious, after all, Yue Guogong is young, don't fall for this old thief easily." ”

Liu Ting clenched his fists and bent over, and said: "Your Excellency, rest assured, the Duke of the Kingdom has already asked Your Majesty, and Your Majesty has also agreed to recruit Zhang Xianzhong." ”

Ma Qianleng snorted and said, "In that case, just let that Zhang Wenxiu go from here, and if I want me to say it, just let them fight Huguang." Zhang Xianzhong has so many soldiers and horses, and it is not too late to surrender when he goes out of the customs to take Xiangyang. ”

Liu Ting's face was embarrassed, but fortunately, Ma Gan also recognized it in disguise and agreed with Zhang Wenxiu to borrow Chongqing Mansion.

In mid-November, Hou Xuanyan led his troops to the front line of Jingzhou, guarding a bonfire and looking at the river with Plug Yinxi.

"Commander, Jingzhou fell last time, and the ships of the sailors fell into the hands of the enemy. Although we have requisitioned many ships, if we want to cross the river for a decisive battle, I am afraid that they will intercept the river. ”

Hou Xuanyan sighed, put his hand in front of the bonfire, and said: "The current situation is that the enemy is strong and I am weak. Although we are aiming for the Northern Expedition, we have to admit that we are still on the defensive. I thought about it carefully, and it was really unwise to cross the river for a decisive battle. ”

Du Yinxi sighed and said, "I'm afraid that if it drags on like this, people's hearts will change." Hundreds of thousands of troops, the daily salary is like the water on this river. The DPRK and China have long said that we are cowardly in fighting and that it is not a way to delay fighting. ”

Hou Xuanyan stood up, and in the camp behind him, the soldiers were shivering with cold. Although there are warm clothes transported from Jiangnan, it is still difficult to resist the winter of this Xiaoice River.

"It's better to let it go and fight again."

Plug Yinxi's face changed, Jingzhou was taken down by him with his old life, let it go and fight again, do you want to hand over Jingzhou?

Rao is plug Yinxi knew Hou Xuanyan's temperament, and he was a little skeptical, whether this young commander who had not tasted defeat had seen too many defeats in Jingxiang, which shook his mind. He persuaded: "Commander Xiaohou, victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, although we have won fewer battles and lost more than we have in several encounters, but we have never broken our muscles and bones, so it is a bit too early to give up Jingzhou." ”

Hou Xuanyan shook his head and said, "I'm not talking about retreating to Jingzhou, I'm saying retreating to Yuezhou, and even we can retreat to Changsha." ”

"What? Never! Du Yinxi's face was swollen and red, and he said: "It doesn't matter if we can't recover our homeland, how can we abandon the homeland, if so, you and I will become sinners for the ages." ”

As soon as Hou Xuanyan wanted to speak, a personal guard stepped forward and said, "Commander, Zhang Xianzhong's people are here, and they have already arrived outside the tent." ”

Hou Xuanyan said lightly: "I know, I'll go." After speaking, he turned to Du Yinxi, whose emotions had not yet stabilized, and said with a smile: "Let's go, let's meet Zhang Xianzhong's people first, and then discuss with you." ”

Du Yinxi said: "In any case, we can't retreat lightly, otherwise we won't be able to explain to these people, let alone Your Majesty." ”

Coming to the big tent, Zhang Wenxiu is one of Zhang Xianzhong's righteous sons, one of the more elegant. But it is also the appearance of a fierce general, which shows that Zhang Xianzhong's aesthetics are like this.

After Hou Xuanyan sat down, he said, "General Zhang has worked hard from afar, please take a seat." ”

When Zhang Wenxiu saw Hou Xuanyan, he couldn't help but be a little surprised. After a polite remark, he said: "My father-in-law sent me here, and I am willing to fight the Manchu Qing together with Governor Hou." ”

Zhang Xianzhong called himself the emperor, and Zhang Wenxiu naturally did not dare to call him his father in the Ming military camp.

Hou Xuanyan chuckled, and secretly said in his heart that Zhang Xianzhong may not want to be this emperor much. It's just that Li Zicheng is the emperor in Beijing, and Zhang Xianzhong hates Li Zicheng the most in his life, and he has to fight with him everywhere. Now that Li Zicheng is dead, his emperor is not very addicted, so it should be said that he can be moved.

"As the saying goes, the enemy of the enemy is the ally. Now that the Manchu Qing Dynasty is raging, we are all Han Chinese, and we hope that we can be sincere and united in fighting against the Manchu Dynasty. You see, this is the governor of Plug Yinxi, and the 200,000 horses under his command are all Li Chuang's men and horses in the past. If Ling Zun is willing to remove the emperor's title, I am willing to protect His Majesty and let him garrison Sichuan. ”

Du Yinxi's face turned red, and he was about to speak, but was kicked by Hou Xuanyan from the case.

Plug Yinxi turned to say: "Ahem.. This winter is quite cold, and my throat is a little uncomfortable, so please continue. ”