Gu Yanwu's pen is still very powerful, it took a little time or two, he figured out the rhetoric, sent a few sets of statements to Shen Shuren to look at them first, and after getting approval, he polished them to be a little more down-to-earth, and then began to hand them over to the Shen family's henchmen, and began to spread them in disguise.

These things are done very secretly, and no one will be able to find out the source of the rumors. Fortunately, the war has caused a large population flow in Changsha Mansion and Hengzhou Mansion, as long as some of them spread to the ears of the thieves, and these thieves will return to the south, they can definitely eventually spread to Zhang Xianzhong's ears.

And at the last moment, Gu Yanwu also helped him do some "low-toxicity treatment" out of the idea of helping his old friend, anyway, he must have helped Shen Shuren reduce suspicion and share hatred.

Of course, Shen Shuren is also mentally prepared for the evolution of these rumors - he has used rumors several times, and the last time he used it was to squeeze Li Zicheng.

And the version that made Li Zicheng thunderous in the end has long been different from the initial version designed by Fang Ziling and Bian Yujing at the beginning.

Therefore, he knows very well that the rumors designed by Gu Yanwu will definitely be very different from the original version after the folk fermentation and evolution.

Rumors are like viruses, and the more frightening and self-consistent they are, like the virus variants that are most immune to escape, the more viable they are to spread. Natural selection, big waves and sands, the final version must be the version of the wisdom of the masses of the people.

The Shen Shu people have also prepared to adapt to the situation and deal with the immune escape hazards that may be brought about by the mutation of rumors, so as to ensure that everything is controllable.

At the same time as the rumors and tactics were implemented, the Shen family army also gradually advanced militarily, although the whole army did not go south for an expedition, but also took advantage of these five or six days to gradually restore and rebuild order in other counties under the rule of Changsha Prefecture, such as Xiangtan County and other places.

In the last few days of June, when Shen Shuren decided to continue to lead the whole army southward after listening to the progress and effect reports of the rumors and warnings ahead, another piece of news boosted his confidence.

On June 25, two days before Shen Shuren set out on another expedition, Shen Lian, the garrison of the Navy Division, sent 20 warships from Dongting Lake against the Xiang River to escort some local officials to Changsha.

A messenger reported in advance that it was Fang Kongzhi, the governor of Huguang, who came in person, and Shen Shuren also personally greeted him after learning about it.

Although he is now at the same level as Fang Kongzhi, the other party is a senior in officialdom after all, and he used to be his leader, so he still needs to be polite.

As soon as Fang Kongzhi saw Shen Shuren, he also expressed his shame and gratitude first, as the governor of Huguang, he also wanted Shen Shuren's guest army to serve as the main force in Huguang.

Shen Shuren was not hypocritical with him, and calmly accepted this gratitude, and also said by the way: "Uncle Fang Shi can come, we can also relax some of the burden, Changsha Mansion is ruined to this point, and the people's livelihood is complicated."

The feudal officials and gentry in this area were all killed, and the reconfirmation of the ownership of the borderless land and the recognition of the original tenant rights have not yet been completed. Uncle Shi is old in civil affairs, and he will definitely be able to help the people restore order and farm with peace of mind as soon as possible. The rest of Anmin's internal affairs are also thanks to Uncle Shi. ”

Fang Kongzhi also took the lead: "The governor has the responsibility of caring for the people, and the old man is ashamed that he is not good at fighting and suppressing thieves." Internal affairs and peace of mind, although the virtuous nephew can rest assured, just focus on the war.

Now it has been 20 days since Zhang Xianzhong raided Yuezhou and Changde, and the old man has only come to Changsha now, the governor of Huguang is really incompetent, so many vassal kings have been killed, and the people have been slaughtered, and the old man is afraid that he will inevitably be questioned by His Majesty by the imperial court. Before leaving, you can do some good deeds at the end, which is also considered to be a virtue. ”

Shen Shuren's heart moved, recalling that in the "History of the Ming Dynasty", Fang Kongzhi seemed to have been dismissed for a long time in the end, also because of the unfavorable reason for fighting Zhang Xianzhong in the Huguang region. In the end, it was Fang Yizhi who abandoned the official and went to Beijing to sue the emperor for revenge, and he was pardoned.

In the end, he was dismissed from his post and idle for a while, about a year or more, and at the end of Chongzhen's sixteenth year, because the local governor had suffered too many casualties and no one was available, he was reactivated and let him go to Shandong to supervise the division.

It's just that before Fang Kongzhi took office, Chongzhen died, and he didn't have to go to Shandong, and finally stayed in Jiangnan and died.

Now that the butterfly effect has changed a lot, there are Shen Shuren helping in the battle in Huguang, and Fang Kongzhi has been working for several months longer than the same period in history. But this time, as the governor of Huguang, he must be guilty, and it only depends on how he defeats and kills the enemy in the follow-up to make up for it.

Shen Shuren thought for a while and comforted: "With the strictness of His Majesty's majesty, it is inevitable that he will be held accountable. But Uncle Shi is also diligent, and the rebellion in southern Hunan is not an improper deployment, but it is actually caused by the surrender of Yin Xianmin, the chief soldier of Changsha, and He Yide, the chief soldier of Hengzhou, without a fight.

As long as we defeat Zhang Xianzhong, strive to kill or capture Yin Xianmin and He Yide, and send them back to the capital to ask for the guilt, Uncle Shi will naturally be able to stay in office, and at most he will be transferred, and he will not be questioned.

However, Uncle Shi went south this time, and the little nephew didn't think that you were late, but felt that you were a little risky - Liu Wenxiu is still in Changde, Sun Kewang is still in Zigui, and the soldiers and horses they have at hand may also move at any time. Uncle Shi left Jingzhou Mansion, isn't he afraid that Jiangling will lose? ”

Fang Kongzhi: "Before the old man left, he had already discussed with Cangshui Xian's nephew, and asked him to stay in Jingzhou temporarily in case of danger. ”

Shen Shuren thought about it, but he didn't find anything wrong. Before he transferred Zhang Huangyan from Huangzhou to Wuchang to sit in the town, he was also afraid that after he led his troops to the battle, there would be chaos in internal affairs and defense.

However, now it seems that the front has advanced further to the west and south, and there will be no military crisis around Wuchang Prefecture and Hanyang Mansion, so it is also possible to vacate Zhang Huangyan and relocate to Jiangling, which is further forward.

As for the internal affairs of Wuchang, it can be handed over to Fang Yizhi, the prefect of Wuchang. Fang Yizhi is also a generalist in arts and sciences, and after several years of training, he just doesn't know how to soldier, but he is quite proficient in internal affairs.

And as far as the other party Kong Wei is concerned, his own son helps him take charge of internal affairs, so naturally there is nothing to worry about. For Shen Shuren, there is nothing uneasy about changing from his cousin Zhang Huangyan to his old friend in the imperial examination.

"That being the case, the little nephew will rest assured, and tomorrow the little nephew will lead the troops south. In the past few days, Zhang Xianzhong has also stopped a little, and he has not continued to attack everywhere, it should be that the little nephew's run has worked, and it is estimated that between Hengshanwei and Hengzhou, he can force the thieves to fight a decisive battle. ”

Shen Shuren finally explained a few words, then went back to rest, and quickly prepared the next day, so he sent troops to continue south.

……

At the same time, in Hengzhou City, Zhang Xianzhong's army, which had been repaired here for seven or eight days, also recovered a little.

The wounded soldiers received a certain amount of recuperation and nutritional supplements, and the soldiers at all levels relied on the huge wealth found in the Guiwang Mansion to spend all their time drinking and drinking, which was very erosive.

Zhang Xianzhong soon wanted these people to fight to the death, and even abandoned some of the new annexed troops as outcasts, so they must also be allowed to enjoy themselves before they are willing to use their lives.

The rumors spread by Shen Shuren had also been quickly exposed to him, and he learned that "continuing to kill the vassal king in Huguangliu will only lead to Fang Kongzhi to govern the place more favorably in the future."

And Fang Kongzhi is not afraid of Zhang Xianzhong's guilt caused by the fall of the city, because he can put all the blame on the Changsha General Army and the Hengzhou General Army, it is the surrender of these two general soldiers without a fight that led to Zhang Xianzhong's erosion. And among the Ming army, whoever can kill the second general soldier and abandon the darkness and surrender to the Ming will be pardoned by the imperial court, and he can also be promoted in turn."

The conscience of heaven and earth, this rumor is really not the original version that Shen Shuren wanted, and Shen Shuren did not mean to frame Fang Kongzhi to help him take the blame.

But the version that Gu Yanwu has polished has become like this when it is passed on, and Shen Shuren can't help it.

Moreover, the evolution of rumors will not only evolve in the direction of the other party's disadvantage, but also whitewash the Shen Shuren. It will also be unfavorable to Zhang Xianzhong and shake the direction of Zhang Xianzhong's military heart.

Zhang Xianzhong learned that if he continued to wander around and kill the vassal kings, he would only cheapen these two people, and it was even easy for his own people to wonder if "the eight kings have reached a tacit agreement with some governors in the official army, what are we killing and killing for the sake of something?"

What's more, some rumors also began to spread: "Zhang Xianzhong killed the vassal king indiscriminately and abandoned the Changsha defender Liu Jinzhong, this is clearly planning to go to Huguang to grab a handful, and then take the descendants of the army over the mountains and mountains to escape with gold and silver treasures."

This kind of thousand-mile flow will definitely not bring too many people, so the newly recruited new annex army in the Huguang area will definitely be abandoned by him as soon as he runs out of use! When cannon fodder breaks! Cover the retreat of his old battalion in Shaanxi and Henan! ”

After hearing all this, Zhang Xianzhong of course couldn't sit still.

For the sake of the morale of the army, in order not to make people suspect that he was just "reaching a tacit understanding with the governor, taking what he needs, and finally running away", he had to search for camps many times, especially to strengthen the supervision of the new annexed army in Xinla, Huguang area, and as soon as he heard that someone was spreading rumors, he immediately killed him.

At the same time, he was also forced to fight with the Shen Shuren, proving that he "didn't just want to use the locals to help him steal money, and finally he ran away with the money and his descendants privately".

After some anxiety, Zhang Xianzhong was forced to choose the battlefield between Hengzhou City and Hengshanwei - he made a deployment, so that Wang Shangli, who had previously slaughtered Guiwangfu and Hengzhou City, led an army alone, mainly to lead half of the new annexed army to the west of Hengshanwei.

After the official army broke through Hengshanwei and went south to Hengzhou City, they would kill it in the oblique stab, hide back in Hengshanwei, and cut off the food route of the official army.

At the same time, Zhang Xianzhong himself took all the main forces of the old battalion in Shaanxi and Henan, as well as the remaining half of the new attached army, and with the assistance of other generals, stayed around Hengzhou City to wait for the emergency Shenshu people.

If the Shen Shuren have strong combat power, Zhang Xianzhong will defend the city, and then let Wang Shangli cut off the grain route of the official army, and in the basin south of Hengshan, the official army will be consumed until the veteran soldiers of the division are tired, and then find a decisive battle!

When the time comes, there is a strong city in front and Hengshan in the back, even if the Shen family soldiers are elite and well-armoured, relying on the loss of geographical advantages, they will definitely be able to reverse the trend of strength and weakness!

If you really can't beat it like this, then run away with the old camp brothers!

In such a tense situation between the two sides, the Shen family army marched south from Xiangtan County, Changsha Prefecture on June 27, and arrived at Hengshanwei on the first day of July.

After a not fierce camp offensive and defensive battle, the official army recaptured Hengshanwei within two days, and divided troops to protect this place, and the remaining main force continued to move south, and arrived safely under the city of Hengzhou on the fifth day of the seventh month.

In terms of numbers, the number of officers and soldiers is far less than that of Zhang Xianzhong's army in Hengzhou City, but the momentum of the officers and troops is not lost at all, and they dare to put on a posture of attacking one side.