The envoy obviously didn't expect Li Guoying to be so pessimistic, and after hesitating for a moment, he reiterated again: "It doesn't have to be defeated, it's better to fight." ”

"The Empress Dowager wants to fight, what does she mean?" Li Guoying was completely confused.

"The first emperor was harmed by the Deng thief, if he could directly smash the Chengdu plough court and sweep the holes, it would naturally be the best, but the governor has already written to think that it is not possible, and the extermination of the Deng thief's henchmen can also be very happy; At least we must attack the Deng thief, otherwise the people of the world will think that the court does not even care about the hatred of the monarch's father. The envoy replied that he had come to Sichuan to shoulder the responsibility of encouraging the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, so he told Li Guoying: "The imperial court has ordered Shanxi Green Camp to go to the aid of Sichuan." Saying that, the envoy stretched out a finger: "10,000 armor, will set off on the same day, Shanxi will also provide 40,000 unarmored soldiers, food and salary will be allocated by the imperial court, no need to worry about the governor." ”

"Ten thousand armor," Li Guoying still didn't show any joy after hearing it: "I don't know who is in charge of the army?" ”

In Li Guoying's view, since it is to avenge his father, it is likely to send a certain auxiliary minister to the front line to supervise the war, Deng Ming is so difficult, so it is not impossible to send the prince to lead the army according to the custom.

However, to Li Guoying's surprise, the envoy told him that there would be no prince to lead the army this time, and the auxiliary minister would not go out: "This encirclement and suppression of Deng thieves is the green camp of Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Shanxi provinces. ”

There is no zài in the Sichuan Green Camp at all, so the so-called suppression of the four provincial capitals is Li Guoying's original strength plus Shanxi's 10,000 armor, which is not enough in Li Guoying's opinion. And just now, the envoy's tone was raised very high, saying that he wanted to avenge his father, but in a blink of an eye, it became the local green camp's own business, and the court didn't want to make a big fuss.

Although the Empress Dowager agreed to invade Sichuan, there has always been a dispute in the imperial court about how many Shanxi soldiers and horses to be transferred, and although the auxiliary ministers are reluctant to say it explicitly, no one is willing to transfer more than half of Shanxi's elite to Sichuan. Originally, there were 50,000 green battalions in Shanxi, but Hong Chengchou transferred more than 10,000 elite soldiers when he passed through the five provinces, and the remaining thousands of people after years of consumption are now in Guizhou. Although there are still 50,000 people in the green battalion in Shanxi, because of the lack of elite soldiers and strong generals, the combat effectiveness is not as good as before, if another 30,000 armor is transferred to Sichuan, once something happens in the northwest, the Qing court will be very embarrassed.

As for the selection of the commander, the auxiliary ministers are reluctant to let the prince take command, because once the prince wins, it is bound to be a big momentum, in case Deng Mingzhen is killed by the prince, the prince has the military power, high morality and respect, and also grasps the righteousness of avenging the first emperor, which is really a great threat to the young emperor, at least he has the capital to clean up the auxiliary minister; Of course, the auxiliary minister can stumble behind the back when the prince goes on the expedition, which is what many people did in the late Ming Dynasty, but the current Qing court has not developed to the Ming court in the Chongzhen year, and the auxiliary minister has not yet blatantly murdered the prince and tens of thousands of officers and soldiers for personal gain.

Before Li Guoying's recital was sent to Beijing, the royalists basically decided that Ao Bai would be the commander-in-chief, and Sonny would be in the center to maintain the stability of the government and provide logistical support. Ao Bai had gone to Sichuan to fight with Xiying before, and he was familiar with geography, and he had also built yì Shunzhi to attack Sichuan, so he was a more suitable candidate for commander.

However, when Li Guoying's recital arrived, the royalists realized that the attack on Chengdu would be more difficult than they had imagined, and immediately began to retreat -- if the auxiliary minister had returned without success, it would not only damage the interests of the royalists, but also further damage to the prestige of the imperial court. If the prince does not achieve results, the prestige of the court is more dangerous than that of the auxiliary minister to supervise the army, and let the prince control the army, the people in the court may not be able to sleep well.

The auxiliary minister can't go, and the prince can't go, so the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi can only be responsible, so that even if he can't capture Chengdu, it won't cause too much shock, and it can also gag the mouths of political enemies. Since there was no unbearable consequence, the mentality of the court officials was calmer, and in the end, although the court claimed to launch an attack on Chengdu, in fact, the goal of this attack was to deal a certain blow to the Ming army in Sichuan.

It is impossible not to send reinforcements to Li Guoying, and now everyone knows that Li Guoying's troops are not enough to deal with Deng Ming, and if not a single reinforcement is sent, it is impossible to achieve any results in the first place, and secondly, it will be attacked by political enemies -- in order to prove that they sincerely intend to exterminate Deng Ming and avenge the first emperor, the royalists also have to send some troops to Li Guoying.

"General Sun Sike Sun will rush to Shanxi, lead 50,000 reinforcements (10,000 armor, 40,000 without armor) to set off, and rush to Xi'an with food and wages. I heard that General Sun, General Zhang, and General Zhao all know each other, and the relationship is also good, and General Sun is a general, and he will definitely be able to help the Governor. ”

"Oh, it turned out to be General Sun." Of course Li Guoying knows Sun Sike, this person is a banner man, his father Sun Degong has been a banner man since the Nurhachi era, different from Li Guoying, who later carried the flag, and can already be called his own person in the Manchu Qing Dynasty: "I have long admired General Sun's name, and General Sun has come to Sichuan, what else do I have to worry about?" ”

"That's fine." The envoy smiled: "But what the Empress Dowager means is not to be greedy for merit, not to make any mistakes, it is better to fight steadily, don't let Deng."

The thief is even more arrogant. ”

"Understood, understood." Li Guoying nodded again and again. Although he was born as a military general, and his sense of smell is not very sensitive, even those who are dull can understand Beijing's meaning. This is obviously just a show, the battle must be fought, but just shout fiercely, Beijing does not expect any results, this is obvious from the dispatch of Sun Sike. Sun Sike's only previous experience was to participate in the conquest of Yunnan, when his role was only to monitor Wu Sangui for the imperial court, and he did not command the troops.

"Sun Sike was sent to monitor me, this time with the reinforcements from Shanxi, I will have 100,000 troops in my hands, how can I rest assured that the court will not send an eye and ears?" Li Guoying pondered in his heart, now there are 5,000 armor in Chongqing; Zhao Liangdong has been training in Shaanxi for more than half a year, and he has more than 5,000 armor available; In addition to the necessary stays, it is not difficult for the border guards in various parts of Gansu and Shaanxi to transfer out 10,000 armor, and Sun Sike's soldiers and horses have a total of 30,000 armor. Such a large army can completely attack Wanxian while covering Chongqing--Li Guoying felt that the Ming army in western Sichuan had a strong naval division, and it was better to stay away. He planned to attack Wanxian after harvesting the crops, and if he couldn't defeat it, it would be good to grab some of Yuan Zongdi's grain. Anyway, Li Guoying will not besiege Wanxian for a long time, and he will definitely withdraw before the arrival of reinforcements from western Sichuan. Since it could not be transported by water, and all of it relied on land transportation, the Qing army would not have been able to hold out for a long time.

After telling the envoy about this idea, Li Guoying felt that the other party was also very satisfied, and the two sides decided on the plan. Although the envoy could not make a decision for the imperial court, it was very likely that he would sue Li Guoying and the imperial court to agree to this plan.

When the envoy was about to leave, Li Guoying suddenly called out to the envoy again: "Please also ask the Empress Dowager and the auxiliary political lords, if you really want to fight Chengdu, you must concentrate all your strength, gather 80,000 armor and 300,000 troops, and press them on all sides; If you are not in a hurry, then do not go to war. ”

Li Guoying didn't intend to say these words, but seeing that the envoy was leaving, he finally couldn't hold back. In Li Guoying's view, attacking Chengdu may have the effect of calming people's minds, but the price to be paid is really not small, not only will the Ganshan Green Battalion, which is being trained, go south, but Xi'an will also have to spend a huge price to provide supplies for these tens of thousands of armor - the imperial court promised to pay for it, but this kind of expenditure will definitely disrupt the Qing court's timetable, and their real attack on Chengdu will become far away.

Li Guoying's words stunned the envoy, and after a while, he forced a smile and said: "What the governor wants, the villain will tell the truth." ”

"I'm tired." Li Guoying didn't know if his last words were useful, and he still looked like he was in a state of despair after the envoy left.

"The owner." One of Li Guoying's cronies finally couldn't help it, and he reminded the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi: "The imperial court has made up its mind, why should the proprietor bother himself? ”

Li Guoying's last words were undoubtedly very unwise, the imperial court had already made a decision, since it was useless to oppose it, then the slave should carry it out, instead of jumping out to show his own difference. The auxiliary ministers of the court would feel that Li Guoying was making fun of them, regardless of their faces, and if something went wrong in the attack, the ministers would hate Li Guoying even more, and think that the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi was deliberately showing his own foresight - and they might even speculate that Li Guoying had absolved himself of responsibility in advance, and put him in a place of right and wrong.

"There is no time to make a living for the country." Li Guoying sighed, his face was gloomy, and after a long time, he said slowly: "In the previous dynasty, this governor was just a general under Ningnan (Zuo Liangyu). Since the first emperor Yuyu, he has been trusted, not only raising the flag and becoming a naturalized citizen, but also making me a governor of one side and ranking in the feudal territory. I only hate to be shallow in learning, and I can't pacify the thieves for the court and dominate the world; It is difficult for the first emperor to come, and I hate that I can't avenge the first emperor. Today, for the sake of some illusory people's hearts, the imperial court throws away the baggage and troops, and the revenge of the first emperor is not even more distant? Alas, do your best and obey the destiny of heaven, I hope that my advice can move the heart of heaven. ”

All the staff members were also speechless, and after a while, another person asked, "Is the defense of the Jialing River going to continue?" ”

Deng Ming was reluctant to let the sailor enter the Jialing River to take risks, and Li Guoying also did not dare to take risks, he had already ordered to sink ships in the river and seal the river with iron chains. Now that the imperial court has ordered an attack, the staff asks if they still need to arrange defenses.

"Continue, of course." Li Guoying replied without hesitation that if the Western Sichuan Naval Division broke through to the Jialing River and destroyed the Qing Army's Naval Division, then Chongqing's 20,000 soldiers and horses would fall into the net.

"I wonder if you're going to build a fort?" Li Guoying thought about it, he once thought that sooner or later he would be able to suppress Yuan Zongdi by the sailors, so he had considered building a fort by the river and casting large-caliber artillery. However, casting cannons and building forts cost a lot, and the efficiency was not as good as intercepting them with a fleet, so Li Guoying gave up this plan. Not long ago, after seeing the prestige of the Western Sichuan Water Division, Li Guoying was worried about retreating, and naturally he would not consider this plan again. Now it seems that the imperial court may not give up Chongqing, and building artillery to intercept the ships of the Ming army has become an alternative plan. With the current military technology, it was almost impossible to block the river with fixed turrets, and the damage that artillery bombardment could inflict on Ming ships was limited. But the sailors are destined to not be able to fight the Ming army, and it is better to have artillery than nothing.