The situation in Sichuan was far more complicated than Wu Chaoyue imagined, and the difficulties faced by the leaders of the Wu army such as Yang Wending and Cao Yanzhong were also more and greater than Wu Chaoyue imagined, and the final result completely exceeded Wu Chaoyue's expectations. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

For Yang Wending and Cao Yanzhong and other leaders of the Wu army, Wu Chaoyue's time of the incident was too unfortunate, originally with the strength of the Wu army's Cao Yanzhong Corps, as long as it was cleaned up in advance, it was easier to clean up the Chengdu Mancheng Eight Banners with only about 2,000 people than to pinch an ant to death, and at the same time, it could also guarantee that any Qing army around Chengdu would be easily suppressed.

However, it is unfortunate that because Wu Chaoyue had acquiesced to Zuo Zongtang's proposal to deliberately connive at Li Lan's thief army to go north and take the opportunity to annex Hanzhong, Zuo Zongtang also put it into practice, and deliberately let Li Lan's thief army flee north in the hope of annihilating Li Lan's thief army in the Yanchang area, and secretly instructed Cao Yanzhong to expel Li Lan's thief army and flee to Hanzhong, in order to take the opportunity to control the important town of Hanzhong on the northern line of Sichuan.

Therefore, when Wu Chaoyue's warning letter from Hubei was delivered to Chengdu on the night of the third day of the third month of March, the main force of Cao Yanzhong's corps, which had the strongest combat effectiveness and the most loyal and reliable Wu army, happened to be not around Chengdu, and the army that Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang could control in the Chengdu area was only two battalions of the elite of the Wu army and two battalions of Xiangyong. On the contrary, there are not only the Eight Banners of the Manchu Qing Dynasty Chengdu General Youfeng, but also the Sichuan Governor Hu Zhonghe and more than 4,000 green battalion soldiers, although the overall strength and combat effectiveness are still the advantage of the Wu army, but the Qing army has a strong city to rely on, and it is difficult for the Wu army to eat the entire Chengdu in one bite.

As a last resort, Yang Wending could only take Zuo Zongtang's suggestion, while making an excuse to let Cao Yanzhong's main force, which had already gone north to Jiangyou, temporarily stop advancing and be ready to retreat at any time, while loosening the guard outside and tightening the guard inside according to Wu Chaoyue's requirements, waiting for Wu Chaoyue's next instructions.

However, what Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang never expected was that after Cao Yanzhong's army stopped pursuing, Li Lan's thief army didn't know whether they heard any rumors, or they were afraid that the Shu Road in the north would be difficult and easy to be wiped out by the Qing army, so they suddenly killed a horse pistol, broke through successfully from the weak point of the Qing army's defense line, and took Zitong to kill back to Tongchuan Mansion, which was adjacent to Chengdu, which completely disrupted Zuo Zongtang's strategic deployment at once, and forced Zuo Zongtang to hurriedly dispatch Cao Yanzhong, Liu Changyou and Duxing'a to return to the division to encircle. In order to prevent the Sichuan Plain, which is a major grain producing area, from being seriously damaged by the war.

In such a complex background, when Wu Chaoyue's letter requesting the Sichuan Wu Army to be sent to Chengdu again, Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang certainly had an urge to vomit blood. If you want Lao Tzu to start an incident at this time, you want our lives?! ”

"Ji Gao, do you want to delay it?" Yang Wending hesitated and said: "Don't panic for the time being, let's annihilate the Li Lan thief army first, and then withdraw our main force, and then we will be much more sure of the matter." ”

"Wait for your first class! If you want to die, don't pull me! Zuo Zongtang scolded angrily: "You should have Feng, Hu Zhonghe are both deaf and blind? Once they know that your son-in-law who lacks virtue is in Hubei, can they kill you and me first? Still waiting for our main forces to free up their hands and turn back to clean them up? ”

Awakened by Zuo Zongtang's scolding, Yang Wending hurriedly nodded and said in a loud voice: "What Mr. Ji Gao said is reasonable, it can't be delayed, either don't do anything, or you can only do it quickly, and you can't delay." ”

With a gloomy face and sulking for a long time, Zuo Zongtang said to Yang Wending: "You decide, now you have two choices, the first is to take your grandson-in-law's letter to see Youfeng, show that you will continue to be loyal to the court, and from now on you will be cut off with your grandson-in-law." The second is to hurry up and gamble, if you win the bet, your granddaughter will be the queen of the main palace in the future, and your old Yang family will be the prince of Wandai from now on; If you lose the bet, you will be beheaded all over the house, and you will be connected by the nine clans! ”

Yang Wending certainly knows better than anyone what will happen if he fails to rebel with Wu Chaoyue, but Yang Wending also knows better in his heart that he can save his life by betraying his grandson-in-law at this time, but the career of himself and his only second son who is still alive is doomed, and no one dares to guarantee that the Manchu court will not settle accounts in the future. At the same time, after his own rebellion, no one dares to guarantee what Cao Yanzhong, who is loyal to Wu Chaoyue, will do, and when the time comes, there may be no need for the Manchu court to do it, and the lackeys of his son-in-law will be able to cut off his white head first!

It is too dangerous to retreat, on the contrary, he gritted his teeth and went down with his grandson-in-law, and the future seemed to be brighter, after weighing the pros and cons, Yang Wending also gritted his teeth and made a decision, saying: "Weiting is not only the grandson-in-law of the old man, but also the benefactor of the old man, he raised troops for the side of the Qing monarch, crusading against the traitors in the court, and setting aside the chaos and returning the power of the court to the ministers appointed by the emperor. Yasukuni disaster! ”

"Bullshit Qingjun side! Obviously, your grandson-in-law wants to be the emperor himself, and Prince Gong's fools gave him an excuse to start an army in the name of righteousness! ”

Zuo Zongtang cursed again, and then said: "You just make up your mind, take advantage of the fact that Youfeng and Hu Zhonghe haven't had time to receive the news, quickly mobilize the army you can directly control, tell them your decision, promise them glory and wealth and high-ranking officials, and ask them to go with you!" Then just find an excuse to trick Youfeng and Hu Zhonghe into drinking with you, take them down at the banquet, and force them to hand over their military power and go with you! ”

Of course, Yang Wending can only be entrusted with such a delicate work, but fortunately, Zuo Zongtang has long been mentally prepared for this, and immediately summoned the main generals of the direct army for Yang Wending, and secretly informed them of Wu Chaoyue's decision to raise troops on the side of the Qing monarch, and gave him a heavy reward and promised glory and wealth, and unified his thoughts. Then he set up a Hongmen banquet, and invited Youfeng, Hu Zhonghe, the political envoy Guihai, the envoy Lu Daoen and the Chengdu prefect Weng Zulie to the governor's palace for a banquet, and forced these Sichuan civil and military forces to obey their orders by force.

After receiving Yang Wending's invitation, Hu Zhonghe, who was in charge of the army, obediently came to the yamen of the governor's palace to salute Yang Wending, and other Sichuan civil and military officials were also present, but the Chengdu general Youfeng happened to have official business, and only sent his deputy Rui Sheng as a representative to participate in the banquet.

Youfeng's failure to be present of course disrupted Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang's wishful thinking, but the arrow had been wound, and in the case that the news of Wu Chaoyue's army might reach Sichuan at any time, Zuo Zongtang could only give the order to do it, first took down all the Sichuan civil and military forces present, and then announced Yang Wending's decision to follow Wu Chaoyue's decision to raise troops on the Qingjun side, and asked the officials present to sign the army and issue a statement to follow Yang Wending's army.

Of course, Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang's shameless coercion was categorically rejected by the Sichuan political envoy Guihai, but the ruthless Zuo Zongtang didn't even blink his eyelids, and let his own soldiers shoot Guihai to death. Then, Hu Zhonghe, Lu Daoen, Weng Zulie and others had no choice, so they could only obediently sign their names on the army and express their willingness to follow Yang Wending to raise troops on the side of Qingjun. Only Rui Sheng, the representative sent by Youfeng, was still a little backbone, and while flatly refusing to sign, he also made it clear that he was not qualified to sign the document on behalf of Youfeng.

For various considerations, Zuo Zongtang did not order Rui Sheng to be executed, but on the contrary, he asked Rui Sheng to return to Mancheng with a letter from Yang Wending, persuading Youfeng Kaicheng to surrender and follow Yang Wending to raise troops on the side of Qingjun. Then Zuo Zongtang appointed Lu Daoen to take over as the political envoy in charge of the domain, and at the same time temporarily put Hu Zhonghe under house arrest, forced Hu Zhonghe to order the Qing generals outside the city to enter the city, and forced Hu Zhonghe's subordinates to play the banner of the Qing monarch side in the camp and accept Yang Wending's direct orders.

At this time, the consequences of the serious lack of preparation of the Wu army in Sichuan were soon exposed, even if Hu Zhong and the two deputy generals under his command were ordered to play the banner of the Qing monarch's side, the army under his command was not reliable at all, and Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang did not dare to transfer them into the city to listen to them. At the same time, the subordinates of the political envoy Guihai who were killed also refused to obey, and met with the soldiers of Wu who went to take over the yamen of the political envoy, forcing the soldiers of the Wu army to kill again to suppress the rebellion.

What worries Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang the most is the reaction of Feng's side, if Feng openly resists or even directly sends troops to fight with the Wu army, then the matter is much easier to solve, and the Wu army in the city is ninety percent sure that it can defeat the Eight Banners, and then take the opportunity to incite the green battalion soldiers and the people of Chengdu to kill the city and make a fortune, which not only solves the hidden danger of the city, but also gives the Sichuan green battalion soldiers and the people of Chengdu a chance to vote. But Youfeng came to a city that neither fought nor fled, and received the news that he only closed Chengdu Mancheng in the southwest corner of the city as soon as possible, and at the same time replied to Yang Wending to give him a little time to think about it, and then there was no news, forcing Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang to only divide their troops to monitor Mancheng, build fortifications to prevent the Eight Banners from suddenly attacking out of the city, and carefully maintain the confrontation situation with Mancheng.

On the other hand, because the three armies of Du Xing'a, Cao Yanzhong and Liu Changyou acted separately, the three armies were stationed in one place, and Zuo Zongtang had no way to let Cao Yanzhong use the method of Hongmen banquet to clean up Duxing'a, so he could only send a letter directly to persuade Du Xing'a to follow Yang Wending and raise troops on the side of Qingjun. As a result, Du Xing'a not only categorically rejected Yang Wending's request, but also took the Manchu and Mongolian troops under his command and a part of Eyong brought from Hubei to defend Yulong Town on the east bank of the Zhanghe River, and at the same time actively sent people to contact Youfeng and took the initiative to accept Youfeng's orders.

At the same time, Li Lan's thief army did not know where he heard the news of the great change in Chengdu, and immediately took the initiative to send someone to contact Cao Yanzhong to assist the Wu army in raising troops on the Qingjun side, asking the Sichuan Wu army to recognize the Shuntian puppet regime established by Li Lan's thief army, and also whimsically asked Wu Jun to allow them to establish a country at the junction of Sichuan and Yunnan.

In addition, of course, Li Lan's thief army had to let out a word, if the Wu army did not agree to their conditions, they would go to the Qing army to negotiate and help the Qing army fight the Sichuan Wu army!

Li Lan Thief Army's threat found the wrong person, even Yang Wending was a little shaken, and felt that he could negotiate with Li Lan Thief Army a little bit to bargain. However, Zuo Zongtang was furious, and he had to be angry, and roared: "Fight! Destroy this army of thieves first! And then go back to deal with Youfeng! ”

Yang Wending's cautious objection was categorically rejected by Zuo Zongtang, and Zuo Zongtang even threatened that if Yang Wending did not agree with his decision, he would go to Mancheng to join Youfeng! As a result, Yang Wending had no choice but to order Cao Yanzhong and Liu Changyou to go all out to overthrow Li Lan's thief army first, and then turn around and clean up the garrison in the city.

Knowing that time is precious, Cao Yanzhong and Liu Changyou did not hesitate after receiving the order, and immediately launched a crazy attack on Li Lan's thief army, breaking Li Lan's thief army twice in two days, and also used a grenadier to kill Li Lan's leader Li Short Tartar, the other two leaders of Li Lan's thief army, Lan Dashun and Lan Ershun, couldn't parry, so they simply sent an envoy to Youfeng to ask for surrender, while fleeing to Yulong Town to seek help from Duxing'a. Cao Yanzhong and Liu Changyou also had to submit an ultimatum to Du Xing'a, demanding that Du Xing'a must not accept Li Lan's thief army, otherwise even Du Xing'a would fight together!

On the one hand, there is Li Lan's thief army, who can be a helper, and on the other hand, he is a former comrade-in-arms and now an enemy, and Du Xing'a, who is in a dilemma, is of course in pain. Fortunately, just when Li Lan's thief army was about to enter the defense area of Duxing's army, Youfeng finally sent a letter order, clearly explaining Duxing's attitude and position towards Li Lan's thief army. As a result, when he saw Youfeng's order, Du Xing'a was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but scream......

"How is that possible?!"

…………

"How is that possible?!"

At the same time in Chengdu City, Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang also exclaimed almost at the same time, and what shocked Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang so much was that Youfeng, who had been silent for many days, not only walked out of the city in person, asking for peace talks with Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang, but also brought Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang the head of Li Lan's thief army as a gift.

After coming to Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang with a calm expression, Youfeng said directly: "I already know about the fact that you let the city go and don't fight, and fight Li Lan's thief army first, and I also rely on this to persuade the Manchus in the city to agree to surrender, but we have three conditions, if you agree, we will immediately lay down our arms and surrender the city." ”

"The first condition, you must give us half a year's food and salary for the people of the city, so that our Chengdu people have time to learn the means of making a living, so that they will not starve to death."

"Second, to ensure the safety of the lives and property of our banner people, to allow us to keep the house to live in, to issue a title deed, and to allow us to buy, sell and rent the house in which we live."

"Third, allow each of our households to keep a knife for self-defense, and if the Han kill us, they must be punished according to the law. Of course, if we break the law, we will also be punished according to the law. ”

"There is also an additional condition, which allows me to return to the capital, and also allows the Manchurians who are willing to return to the capital to go with me."

After listening to Youfeng's relaxed conditions, Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang looked at each other, and they couldn't believe it was true for a while. On the other side, Lu Daoen, who participated in the negotiation, said timidly: "Yang Zhitai, Master Zuo, he is a good person when he has a military family. There are almost 20,000 banner people in Chengdu City, but only 1,600 people can receive food and salary, and the rest of the soldiers who can only receive one or two or five dollars of silver every month are less than 2,000. ”

"I can testify to this, there is a military sect and he has indeed been trying to find ways to make a living for the banner people." Hu Zhonghe also said: "When the emperor was still alive last year, in order to let the poor banner people in Chengdu have something to eat, he came to me to discuss, and wanted to organize the poor banner people in Chengdu into the Sichuan Green Battalion as soldiers to eat food and participate in the counterinsurgency. It's a pity that the imperial court didn't agree, so the bannermen in the city are still starving. ”

Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang found that they had misunderstood Youfeng and were still behind, and Youfeng himself took the initiative to say: "Actually, after Ruisheng brought the news back to Mancheng that day, I was already tempted to surrender to you, but I was worried that you would slaughter Mancheng like Changmao in Jiangning, so I didn't dare to agree." Later, when I heard that you would rather fight the Li Lan Thief Army first than send the main force back to fight us, I believed that you would not slaughter the city, and persuaded my subordinates to make up their minds together. ”

After that, Youfeng knelt down on one knee to Yang Wending, hugged his fists and said: "Yang Zhitai, please, give the banner people of Chengdu a way to live, their ancestors have done something sorry for you, but they haven't done it, all over the city of the Qing Dynasty, there are the least conflicts between the Mancheng banner people and the Han people in Chengdu, I hope you will have the virtue of a good life in heaven, and also read that I have ordered Du Xing'a to help you exterminate the Li Lan thief army, and leave a way for the Mancheng banner people in Chengdu!" ”

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PS: Regarding today's plot, in addition to wanting to avoid some sensitive content, the pure wolf also wants to commemorate the Chengdu general Yulu during the Xinhai Revolution. Before the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, in order to maintain the rule of the Manchu Dynasty, the comprador Sheng Xuanhuai sold the Sichuan-Han Railway to foreigners to trigger the Sichuan Road Protection Movement.

Later, when the revolutionary army came to the city of Chengdu, Yulu not only refused to send troops to fight with the revolutionary army again, but also rescued the leader of the revolutionary army, Yin Changheng, from the knife of Zhao Erfeng, the governor of Sichuan, a hardcore traitor, and first led the Chengdu Eight Banners army to surrender to the revolutionary army, helped the revolutionary army enter the city of Chengdu, and successfully forced Zhao Erfeng to surrender, so that the people of Chengdu were spared the disaster of war, and also made Chengdu Mancheng avoid the doom of slaughtering the city.

Pure Wolf does not have much information about Youfeng, but one of them does record that Youfeng made a living for the poor bannermen in Xianfeng for ten years, and asked the Manchu court to allow the bannermen to enter the green camp as soldiers to eat food and participate in the counterinsurgency operations in Sichuan.

There is no reason to accuse Youfeng of the decision to suppress the Han Chinese at that time - remember that the time is in Sichuan in the tenth year of the ninth reign of Wild Boar Pi Xianfeng, and it took more than a year for Shi Dakai to enter Sichuan with the Taiping army.

Therefore, thinking about General Youfeng's heart, I also put a high hat on him, and asked him to replace General Yuyu's exploits in advance, hoping that my friends would not feel ridiculous.