Chapter Seventy-One: Peaceful Settlement of Jiayuguan Chongzhen was extremely motivated

Jiayuguan is the west starting point of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty, and the reason why it is said that the Ming Dynasty is the east starting point of the Great Wall is because before the Ming Dynasty, the west starting point of the Great Wall is far to the west, at least as far as Shazhou (Dunhuang) and Yumen. Due to the weakening of the national strength of the Ming Dynasty, the Jiayuguan that is now retreated is already a little west of the central part of the Hexi Corridor. The Ming Dynasty held on to Jiayuguan and could no longer retreat. It is connected to Suzhou (Jiuquan) in the east, Yumen in the west, Montenegro in the back, and Qilian in the south. The Jiayuguan Guancheng is surrounded by mountains and rivers, guarding the canyon area about 15 kilometers wide from north to south, and the valley of the Zarai River in the south of the canyon constitutes a natural barrier for the defense of the pass. Jiayuguan near the beacon, pier platform criss-crossed, Guancheng east, west, south, north, northeast each road has a total of 66 piers, by the inner city, the outer city, the moat three lines of defense into overlapping and defending, the barrier is strict, and the Great Wall is connected as a whole, five miles a sui, ten miles a pier, thirty miles a fort, a hundred miles a city. The topography here is natural, on the Jiayu Mountain, the city wall of the two wings of the city pass crosses the desert Gobi, eight kilometers to the north and the Great Wall of Montenegro hangs, seven kilometers to the south, and the nearby Great Wall, the city platform, the moat, the beacon and other facilities constitute a strict military defense system, and is also known as "the first Xiongguan in the world". Jiayu Pass is the largest pass on the Great Wall and the largest pass in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Leading more than 10,000 people to garrison here, the mighty general Chen Gui is also full of pride.

During the Ming Dynasty, the defenders here fought many battles with the Turpan soldiers outside the pass, and the Ming army relied on Xiongguan to win. Chen Gui is a mighty general who has earned his military exploits, and he is also a very smart general. He came to Jiayuguan and knew that he had a great responsibility, so he inspected the defense system here in detail, pacified the surrendered Ming soldiers, trained soldiers, and prepared for war at any time, not daring to relax a little. But what he didn't expect was that he didn't wait for the Wara Mongols outside the pass to attack, but waited for the Yaogang people to attack from behind. Originally, he had a good relationship with Zhao Heng, the general of the Suzhou (Jiuquan) garrison, and the places they defended could support each other. When they found out that the Yaogang soldiers were in Ganzhou, the two also met and agreed to support each other. But later, when the two of them studied it, they felt that it was not good, because they knew that the firearms of the Yaogang people were very powerful, and the millions of troops of the prince were defeated by the firearms of the Yaogang people. They all decided to use the advantage of the city to fight against the Yaogang people this time, and not to go out of the city. Therefore, Chen Gui received the news that the Yaogang people were attacking Suzhou (Jiuquan) and did not go out of the city to support. What he didn't expect was that at noon the next day, Zhao Heng from Suzhou (Jiuquan) rode to Jiayuguan.

Zhao Heng rode a horse to the city of Jiayuguan, and the officers guarding the pass knew Zhao Heng, so they put down the drawbridge and let Zhao Heng enter the city.

Zhao Heng did not dismount and came directly to the general's yamen.

Hearing that Zhao Heng was coming, Chen Gui hurriedly came out with a suspicious face. Seeing Zhao Heng, he arched his hand, "Brother Zhao, why are you here at this time?" How is Suzhou? ”

"Alas! Go in and talk. Zhao Heng sighed and didn't answer.

Chen Gui hurriedly let Zhao Heng into the inner hall, Zhao Heng was not polite, he poured a bowl by himself with the teapot on the table, raised his head and drank it, and wiped his mouth.

Chen Gui asked again: "Brother Zhao, what's the matter with the injury on your head?" ”

"The night before yesterday, I fought bloodily all night, and I was blown up by my hand." Zhao Heng said.

"Hand **?" Chen Gui didn't understand.

"It's the ** voted by the kiln soldiers." Zhao Heng is also a newly heard noun, "It's just that you don't need to light a fire, there is a rope on the wooden handle, and it will catch fire when you pull it." Much more powerful than ours. One guy can blow us up. ”

"Tell me how Suzhou is?" Chen Gui was in a hurry.

At night, the kiln men secretly opened the south gate and lowered the drawbridge, and then a large group of people rushed into the city. We fought all night, more than 3,000 people died, and more than 1,000 were wounded and captured. Zhao Heng lowered his head and said, as simple as possible.

"Then Brother Zhao, are you?" Chen Gui was a little alert.

"I was wounded and hid in the sheepfold, and I was captured at dawn." Zhao Heng looked at Chen Gui and said.

"Then you ....." Chen Guiyi stood up excitedly.

"You don't have to worry, I was sent by General Ningde of Yaogang to persuade you to surrender," Zhao Heng knew that Chen Gui would react like this, "I told General Ningde that I am not sure to persuade you to surrender." But you can get me done. ”

"Brother Zhao, you, you better don't say it." Chen Gui was a little excited, "Are you so worthy of Lord Chuang?" ”

"Is Lord Chuang worthy of us?" Zhao Heng was also very excited, "He left hundreds of thousands of our brothers and left by himself." What's the use of us all dying? I looked at the corpses everywhere in Suzhou City, and the blood flowed like a river, and I thought bitterly, is there any use for such a result? I came here because I wanted the brothers in Jiayuguan not to die like this again. Can more than 10,000 of you die that can change anything? If you can't change it, why don't you leave a way for the brothers to live? ”

"We said that with the fortified city, we can fight." Chen Gui was still unwilling.

"Can you fight, won't the prince fight? Can you fight, can the five guards of Ganzhou descend together? Zhao Heng said, "The millions of troops of the prince were all brought back from Shanxi, and the people of Yaogang did not arrive in Xi'an, so he left from Shangyu Ancient Road." According to the people of Yaogang, it was General Li Yan who sent a letter to King Chuang in advance and let him go. Otherwise, the prince will not be able to leave. ”

Chen Gui took a breath and asked, "General Guoyi of Ganzhou also surrendered?" ”

He led 5,000 cavalry to ambush the Yaogang army, but in less than an hour, they were all killed. He was also seriously injured and is still unconscious in the Yaogang Hospital. It is said that he made everyone surrender before he fell unconscious. Therefore, the mighty generals of the five guards of Ganzhou have all surrendered. Now their demand is to send their families to the kiln. Yaogang has promised to build houses for their families. The children all read. Zhao Heng replied.

"I don't believe it, with more than 10,000 of us in Jiayuguan, we can't fight." Chen Gui was unwilling.

"Hey! I can't fight this battle, or I wouldn't have come. Zhao Heng said, "Each of the kiln soldiers has an automatic rifle, and each one can be loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition at a time." If they are happy, they can pull the trigger and shoot thirty rounds together. A person gets a bullet and goes in a small hole from the front, and a large hole goes out from the back. One of the ten of us couldn't get close to them. Ten of them took the battle, and hundreds of us couldn't get close. And you said that your Jiayuguan is strong. You don't see their chimney-like cannons. That kind of cannon can blow a big hole in the city wall with a single shot. And the hit is particularly accurate. General Wang Yi of Zhuang Lang saw the Yaogang people surrender after a cannon. ”

"I said how do you command other people's ambitions!" Chen Gui was angry.

"I'll just finish what I need to say, I don't care what you think." Zhao Heng was also angry.

"I also know that we can't change the whole situation on our own. But the prince of Chuang handed over this Xiongguan to us, and we can't hand it all over without fighting, right? Chen Gui is still stubborn.

"I'm just afraid that you have such an idea," Zhao Heng said, "Like us, even if you are worthy of the prince of Chuang, there are more than 3,000 brothers, and the city is full of dead corpses and rivers of blood!" How many deaths do you have to die to be worthy of King Chuang? ”

"This ......," Chen Gui also hesitated.

"Brother, if you know you can't do it, you won't do it. You and I both came out of the pile of dead people, and we are not afraid of death. But we have done what we have to do, and now we should think about our brothers and our families. Zhao Heng said, "General Ningde of Yaogang said it well. He said, 'It's not that we can't beat Jiayuguan, it's that I don't want to die too many more.' How good it would be to leave the brethren to deal with the Mongol Tartars. Why are we all exhausted? ’”

"Is that General Ningde from Tongguan?" Chen Gui was a little tempted.

"Exactly."

"That's a good thing!" Chen Gui said, "Brother Zhao, you and I are not others, you let me think again." You'd better take a look at your family first. ”

"If you don't go back, I'll wait for your decision." Zhao Heng didn't want to leave, he was afraid that Chen Gui wouldn't be able to think about it, so he wavered again.

"Hey, hey!" Chen Gui smiled bitterly twice and asked, "How is General Li Yan doing in the kiln now?" ”

"The people of Yaogang are unwilling to let General Li Yan come to fight our Dashun army, so let him fight the Ordos Mongols. Now he has defeated the entire Ordos Mongols, and captured their prince in the kiln. Zhao Heng said.

"General Li Yan made an extraordinary move, and those Mongols are not easy to deal with." Chen Gui said, "Yaogang people are really good at employing people." did not embarrass General Li Yan. Otherwise, General Li Yan will not be able to do anything to us. ”

"Humph! The Mongol cavalry was invincible. However, General Li Yan settled the battle and directly solved Ordos. Zhao Heng said, "By the way, General Ningde said that after solving the Jiayu Pass, he will have to deal with the Mongols outside the pass." ”

"Huh! Brother Zhao, you are forcing me! Chen Gui understood what Zhao Heng meant.

"It's not me forcing you, there are two paths in front of you. One is that everyone is happy, and the other is that the kiln gang people have laid down Jiayu Pass, if you don't die, see if the kiln gang people will accept you? Zhao Heng said.

"You were defeated and the kiln gang people accepted you, why do I have to see if the kiln gang collects it or not?" Chen Gui was surprised.

"Humph!" Zhao Heng snorted twice with his nose and said, "That's because I still have the use to persuade you." At your point, who else can you persuade to go? ”

"Haha!" The two men laughed at each other.

"I have what I said, you also put forward a condition to send all your family members to Yaogang. Our two families have a companion and let them enjoy themselves. Zhao Heng said.

Chen Gui said: "There are also caravans from Jiayuguan coming back from Lanzhou. Some of them were in Lanzhou and saw people who had been in the kiln. Those people simply said that the kiln gang was like heaven, and I don't know if it was true. ”

"The condition of the five guards in Guanzhong is to send their families to Yaogang." Zhao Heng said, "They don't suffer. ”

"Alas! I'm really unwilling. Chen Gui said, "If it falls, I won't have the face to see the prince again in the future." ”

"Do you think King Chuang can come back?" Zhao Heng said.

Chen Gui didn't speak, shook his head.

Zhao Heng said again: "King Chuang can't even keep people like General Li Yan around him, how can he fight the world?" ”

"Hey! Anyway, no one in the twelve guards of Hexi can defend it, and our Jiayuguan will be reluctant to make it difficult. I listen to Brother Zhao. Chen Gui said, "I'll go to Suzhou with you now." ”

After Zhao Heng left Suzhou for Jiayuguan, Ning De asked Wang Yi: "Do you think Zhao Heng can convince that Chen Gui?" ”

"I don't think General Zhao Heng is full of words, but he is a steady person, and I estimate that I am eighty percent sure." Wang Yi replied.

At this time, the soldiers came to report, "General Guo Yi is awake!" ”

Ning De smiled and said, "Hehe! It's useless if he wakes up or not! But let's see what he does. ”

Ning De and Wang Yi came to General Guo Yi's bed, and General Guo Yi was already very calm. Seeing Wang Yi, he nodded. The military doctor had already told him about his situation and situation. He couldn't move even when he was weak.

Wang Yi saw that General Guoyi was very sober, so he stepped forward and said, "General, you are awake, in order to save you, the military doctor gave you the best medicine." ”

General Guo Yi nodded and did not speak.

Wang Yi introduced General Guo Yi and said: "This is General Ningde of Yaogang. ”

Ning De came over and said, "General, you have a good life!" I haven't seen my intestines come out and come back to life. Don't think about anything now, take care of your injuries! You also did your part for King Chuang. King Chuang can't blame you here. ”

General Guo Yi's eyes were a little moist and nodded.

Wang Yi said: "General, you can rest, I will come to see you again when I have time." ”

After the two came out, Wang Yi said: "The kiln people are amazing! It is no wonder that he can be so generous and win the hearts of the people. ”

"You say, what will General Guo Yi think now?" Ningde asked.

"He's very weak now, he's narrowly escaped death, he's dreaming big, and he hasn't had time to think about anything else." Wang Yi said, "However, he was lucky. did not lead the crowd to surrender, which is worthy of the king of Chuang. Now he has been treated well by the people of Yaogang, and he has been rescued from the dead, and it is only natural that he will go to Yaogang when he is sick. Isn't there any delay? ”

"Haha!" Ning De laughed when he heard this, "It's really yours, it's a little interesting!" I don't know what happened to the general in Jiayuguan? ”

"How can it be? No one can return to the sky, but they all need a reason to surrender! Wang Yi saw it too clearly.

"Then you say, what kind of reason does the one from Jiayuguan need?" Ningde asked.

"Actually, it's also true," Wang Yi said, "to find a way for the brothers to live." General Zhao Heng really felt that it was really undeserving that so many brothers had died in Suzhou. I think he will tell Chen Gui about the situation here. ”

The situation was just as the two of them said, but they didn't expect that Chen Gui would follow Zhao Heng to Suzhou that night.

When Chen Gui arrived in Suzhou, everything was easy to say. The little request he made was not a problem. Although the issue of the treatment of these generals has not yet been decided. But Zhao Heng and Chen Gui both saw that the food of the brothers they surrendered was obviously much better. Ningde: They took out the silver and bought a lot of cattle and sheep for everyone to improve their food. In fact, the cattle and sheep here are really cheap, due to the war, no one buys the cattle and sheep on the grassland, and now some people buy them with white flowers and silver, which is also a big problem for them to raise cattle and sheep. With this silver, they were able to buy other things.

In the evening, the people of Yaogang entertained Chen Gui well. Zhao Heng and Chen Gui are both very interested in the affairs of Yaogang, and they always have endless questions. Especially when they hear the sound on the radio, they like it even more. Zhao Jinli said to them: "In the future, you will all have this thing at home." You don't have to be in a hurry. ”

"How much silver does this thing cost? Can we afford it too? Chen Gui asked.

"In the future, your treatment in the Yaogang army will not be too low, and your military salary will not be too small. It's not a problem to buy this thing. Zhao Jinli explained to them.

"We can also pay a lot of military salaries?" Zhao Heng asked.

At this time, Zhao Jinli remembered that the reason why the Dashun Army was able to raise a lot of troops was because it never paid military salaries. Wherever they went, they hit some rich officials to get some silver. There is no fixed military pay. Zhao Jinli said: "Not only our officers have military salaries, but also our soldiers have military salaries. ”

The next day, Ningde and their brigade followed Chen Gui to Jiayuguan. Before arriving at Jiayu Pass, Chen Gui said to Ning De: "General Ning, I will go to the city and organize everyone to go out of the city and surrender." ”

Ningde said, "No need. You go to the city and make arrangements with the brothers, and organize the surrender in the camp in the city. ”

Chen Gui rode to the city of Jiayuguan and shouted to open the city gate and entered the city.

Ningde and they waited for an hour, and Zhao Jinli was a little anxious, "General Chen Gui has been in the city for too long, right?" ”

Zhao Heng said: "General Zhao, don't worry. When General Chen Gui left Jiayuguan, the officers and soldiers in the city were preparing for battle. General Chen Gui entered the city and asked everyone to surrender at once, and he needed to talk about it. ”

Ning De also said: "Commander Zhao, don't worry, General Zhao Heng is right. There are more than 10,000 elite soldiers in Jiayuguan City, and if they surrender at once, they need to be reasoned through. ”

After waiting for a while, Ningde and the others found that the soldiers on Jiayuguan City were gone. Ning De smiled and said, "Hehe! This time, it's time for General Chen Gui to come out. ”

Sure enough, when the city gate opened again, Chen Gui rode out on horseback. Chen Gui came to Ning De and said, "General Ning has been waiting for a long time. Now the city is ready. Please go into town! ”

Ningde and they led a cavalry regiment to follow Chen Gui from the east gate of Jiayu Pass to Jiayu Pass.

After they entered the city, they saw that all the soldiers in Jiayuguan were concentrated in the camp, and all the weapons were neatly stacked.

Ningde ordered all weapons to be taken away first. Then accept their surrender.

Zhang Zhimu was overjoyed when he received the news from Ningde in the command center that Jiayuguan had been resolved peacefully. Hurry up and get the radio broadcast on the breaking news. The news was broadcast. Because this marked the end of the Yaogang army's westward expedition and major military operations.

When Li Zicheng from Xiangyang heard the news, he stood up and walked around the room and sat down. He really didn't want to hear the news like Yaogang, but he couldn't control himself, so he had to listen to it. Whether it was the bloody battle of Yaogang to fight a place, or the defenders in the city surrendered the city, Li Zicheng felt very uncomfortable. Those cities fought in bloody battles made Li Zicheng very uneasy. Because he fled in such a hurry, the brothers did not know what to do, and they held on to their original orders until they were killed in battle. Li Zicheng felt ashamed of his brothers. Those who surrendered the city, Li Zicheng would feel very angry. He didn't expect that so many people in his army would surrender. He always thought that only the defenders of the Ming Dynasty would easily surrender, but he did not expect that his army would encounter a strong enemy. In any case, leaving tens of thousands of troops in Shaanxi made Li Zicheng feel very remorseful. He felt that he should be sure of his own judgment, and not listen to the advice of Niu Jinxing, the prime minister of the city, and Song Xian, the military advisor, in that case, he could withdraw the army as soon as possible. But now I don't have the face to see my generals again. However, Jiayuguan is gone, and Li Zicheng is a little relaxed. Because although it is a matter of time before I know that Jiayuguan is a kiln gang, it is always a matter of time before I lose it. Now completely liberated. Shaanxi is completely a kiln gang person, and it has nothing to do with itself.

Emperor Chongzhen, who was in the Forbidden City, heard the news and also walked around the house. But he was happy. Jiayuguan was the westernmost point of the Great Wall in the north of the Ming Dynasty, and now the whole of Shaanxi has finally been cleared of the forces of the thieves. However, he was a little uneasy in his heart, and at the same time, the Yaogang people had expanded their sphere of influence. They also wouldn't let the court interfere with the places they had taken back. But the ministers of the court and the central government now have some ideas. Because three years have passed, Shanxi can collect tax money. It stands to reason that there is no reason for the kiln people not to let the imperial court officials return to their posts. But now the court lives on the silver of the kiln people. If the kiln people agree to send someone back to collect the tax money, then they will no longer lend the silver to the imperial court. Shanxi's little silver is not enough to do anything. During the stable years, Shanxi will also be able to collect hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. It's harder to collect now. This made Emperor Chongzhen very embarrassed.

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Mt. Fuji erupted, Japan was earthquaked. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".