Chongzhen's holy decree was sent to Hefei, and it had to be delayed until the third day of the seventh month.

Then send it to Chongqing, but it will not be more than half of July - don't look at the straight-line distance between Chongqing and Beijing, it is only twice as far as Hefei from Beijing, but the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River is very slow to pull fiber upstream. Moreover, the road into the river is winding and winding, and it must not be estimated in a straight line.

However, even if the eunuch Wang Gonggong hurried to Chongqing on July 15, he still could not deliver the decree to Zhu Shuren, because Wang Gonggong was very sad to hear that Governor Zhu was not in Chongqing, but temporarily went north to Hanzhong!

It's a! The prince has been tired for most of the month, and he feels that he can finally rest, and he actually makes this play!

Didn't you say that the reason why you stayed in Sichuan was to pursue Zhang Xianzhong's remnants of the party, Sun Kewang! Didn't you say that Sun Kewang fled to the Daliang Mountains in southwest Sichuan! How could you go to Hanzhong again!

Of course, he also threw out this angry question without reservation, and questioned Zhang Huangyan, the Sichuan military commander who stayed in Chongqing and handled the affairs of suppressing thieves in southwest Sichuan on behalf of Zhu Shuren.

Zhang Huangyan invited the other party to eat and drink to entertain and relieve fatigue, while explaining with a smiling face:

"Father-in-law, you misunderstood, the matter of chasing and suppressing Sun Kewang in southwest Sichuan is indeed very important, before the governor left, he also took care of the supervision of the officials, and everything is going smoothly now. The Ministry of War demanded that Sun Kewang be solved within three months, and it should not be a big problem.

As for why the governor went to Hanzhong, it is actually like this: more than half a month ago, the governor learned from Cao Bianjiao, the former Taiyuan general soldier and the current Hanzhong general soldier, who had just arrived in Hanzhong, that there was a change in Guanzhong.

The thieves killed and returned to Guanzhong, and actually defeated the governor of Sun Chuanting Sun on the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu, and occupied Xi'an. There are also rumors that Governor Sun may have been martyred, and because our army is in Xichuan, the news is blocked, and it is difficult to verify it for a while.

Governor Zhu was afraid that the thieves would really sit big, and even took advantage of the situation to enter Fengxiang Mansion, Baoji, Dasanguan and other places, so that Sichuan would not be at peace in the future, and Hanzhong would always be under the threat of thieves.

He had no choice but to go north to inspect the defense, and by the way, he met with Cao Junmen to check and fill in the gaps. In addition, Governor Zhu also considered that although he had not yet received His Majesty's edict, after asking him to completely solve Sun Kewang, he would immediately turn around and deal with the thieves.

But for the sake of the country, he pondered that this matter must also be very important, and he had to arrange some measures in advance to avoid erosion on the northern front. The father-in-law can know that when Zhuge Wuhou invaded Guanzhong from the north of Sichuan, it was because the grain road was unsustainable and the Chencang crossing was occupied by the Wei people, which was repeatedly frustrated.

Now, if the thieves really occupy Guanzhong and occupy Dasanguan and Baoji, they will lose all the bridgeheads in the northern expedition of Sichuan and the grain points north of the Qinling Mountains in the future.

But if the imperial court can occupy Dasanguan and Baoji. In the future, Governor Zhu will go on a northern expedition to the thieves in the Guanzhong and Heluo regions, and he can also become the trend of Zhuge Wuhou Longzhong, and enter Qinchuan with the soldiers of Bashu, and use the soldiers of Jingchu to Xiang Wan and Luo, so that the thieves can't take care of each other——

Governor Zhu had a fearless conscience in this matter, and his only concern was that the military situation was like fire, and he did not have time to ask for an order, so he took it upon himself to deploy preparations for the crusade against the intruders. He also asked his father-in-law to speak truthfully and kindly when he returned to Beijing in the future to clarify Governor Zhu's difficulties. ”

Zhang Huangyan usually doesn't like to talk to people at length, but after all, the opposite side is to announce the decree on behalf of the emperor, and a round trip between the capital and Sichuan may take two or three months.

The information difference between the two sides is too serious, it is almost like a disconnection, and the amount of data that needs to be synchronized every time you reconnect is relatively large.

After listening patiently, the prince was stunned for a long time, and realized that he really did not blame Governor Zhu for this, and he was simply a model of diligence in the king's affairs.

Before Chongzhen gave the order, Governor Zhu was already on guard against Li Zicheng and was preparing for the subsequent maintenance of the Northern Expedition route.

If we don't make preparations, with the geographical blockade of Sichuan, if the north side of the Qinling Mountains falls into the hands of Li Zicheng and there is no bridgehead, then in the future, it will be the same as Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, and the grain will not be able to be transported.

And how poor Shaanxi has been in recent years, it is also known to the world, the cultivated land has been destroyed by a vicious circle to the point that it is impossible to plant, thousands of miles of red land, Sichuan officials and troops want to go on a northern expedition, and the military rations must be solved by themselves.

The prince had no choice but to admit this drudgery, saying that he would rest for a few days and then go north to Hanzhong to deliver the decree.

It is also helpless to say that Hanzhong is far from Beijing, and the theoretical distance is of course much closer than Chongqing. When I went to Chongqing, I actually took the wrong road.

But even if Chongzhen sent the messenger to deliver the decree, he already knew that Zhu Shuren went north to Hanzhong, it would be impossible to go straight to Hanzhong to deliver the decree.

Who let the middle Guanzhong be occupied by Li Zicheng, there are three roads to Hanzhong, either from Guanzhong to the deep valley that crosses the Qinling Mountains to the south, or from Bashu to the Golden Bull Road and other Shu Zhongshan Road to the north.

The last one is from Xiangyang through Yunyang against the Han River, shuttling between the north and south branches of the Qinling Mountains - during the Three Kingdoms period, after Zhuge Liang's death, Jiang Wan, who was succeeded by Ji Han, considered going down the Han River from Hanzhong to capture Shangyong and other eastern three counties and threaten Xiangyang. The mediocre land of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty was the Yunyang Mansion at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Theoretically, after Guanzhong was defeated, the imperial court envoys went to Xiangyang first, and then took Yunyang to Hanzhong, which was the most time-saving. But this road is still not completely cleared.

Yunyang can also be regarded as a place where thieves have been raging for many years, and Luo Rucai's forces have been entrenched there for many years. After Luo Rucai was killed by Li Zicheng, the main force he brought to Henan was annexed, but some scattered thieves who stayed in Yunyang were leaderless and occupied the mountain as kings.

Fortunately, these thieves don't play a banner to toss against the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty has so many more difficult thieves who can't be eliminated, so they turn a blind eye, and let them go first when these guys are ordinary thieves.

This move harmed Chongzhen and cut off another channel of communication between him and Zhu Shuren, so that in the end, he could only get in touch in a big circle.

There is really an urgent three long and two short, and it is really impossible to find anyone for two or three months.

And Zhu Shuren obviously did not intend to break through Guanzhong and let Hanzhong regain direct contact with the capital through Guanzhong for some reasons that should not be described. He didn't plan to completely sweep away the remnants of the bandits in Yunyang, and felt that this matter was not a high priority.

If the envoys of the imperial court dare to take risks and take the Yunyang Road to pass the decree, there is a high probability that they will be intercepted and killed by the bandits.

……

In this way, the imperial envoy delayed for more than half a month, and it was not until the beginning of August that Zhu Shuren was found.

And before they found Zhu Shuren, from May to August, Zhu Shuren was not idle.

Before June, after Zhu Shuren would go around Changde, he would first return to Chongqing, and then try to find a way to deploy a siege against Sun Kewang.

His approach is also more ingenious, belonging to the kind of "no head, no waist, only tail" style of play, at most occasionally "blocking" the waist to induce Sun Kewang's steering direction.

He didn't want to fall into the grip of a thief, so it was impossible to contact Sun Kewang directly by letter. At most, he only publicized Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu on a large scale, and they are still in prison to reform well, and they have not suffered.

In addition, in the process of Sun Kewang's migration and maneuvering, he will beat it in a targeted manner.

For example, throughout May and June, when Sun Kewang passed through the Daliang Mountains in western Sichuan, if he attacked those familiar barbarian Tusi who had long been loyal to the imperial court and were more inclined to accept the tasks of the imperial court, then Qin Liangyu's troops would chase more closely.

Once he catches up with the rear army that Sun Kewang has left behind, he will immediately pounce on it and annihilate it, and he can also capture a batch of dirt that Sun Kewang has just robbed but has not had time to digest.

After suffering one or two losses, Sun Kewang did not dare to stay, almost crossed the entire Daliang Mountains, at the end of May, when he arrived near Huichuanwei, because of the lack of materials, he could not cross the Jinsha River without grabbing a handful.

So Sun Kewang tentatively slaughtered a barbarian tribe that was originally more ferocious and never obeyed the dispatch of the imperial court, and it is said that he also followed Yang Yinglong's Banzhou Rebellion, and later participated in the Qianguimiao Rebellion during the Apocalypse.

This time, the reaction of the officials and soldiers suddenly slowed down a lot, of course, Zhu Shuren also knew that the old general Qin Liangyu was very ruthless, and he didn't want to tell Qin Liangyu his true thoughts, after all, people are hardcore Ming Zhongliang, and they have been loyal and righteous all their lives, so why bother to pull down the bad people's evening festival.

Therefore, when encountering this kind of pursuit link that requires relatively low effort, Zhu Shuren will excuse "General Qin has been chasing for a month, it is already too hard, it is time for the troops to change guards", and then let his cousin Zhang Huangyan chase after some of the foreign soldiers brought by Huguang.

They also tried their best to select soldiers from Hengzhou, Changsha and other places, and even from the source of troops in Xiangxi, because these soldiers were more adapted to the subtropical climate in the south and originally lived in the land of Wuling in the south, so they were also relatively adapted to the summer environment on the Sichuan-Guizhou border.

This is the hottest time in May and June of the lunar calendar, when Zhuge Liang went south to capture Meng Shu seven times, they were all "crossing Lu in May and going deep into the barren", and when he hit the Yunnan-Guizhou border, the resistance to military action will naturally become greater and greater.

After chasing a few times, Zhu Shuren's side realized that the summer combat losses were too great, and they also slowed down the pursuit just right, just having an excuse to drag the hottest time over.

And Sun Kewang's side, after summing up the rules, also knew that in the future, he could no longer casually attack those tribes who supported the reform of the land and returned to the stream, and could only pick those who resisted the change of land and return to the stream to kill and rob, so that they would not be retaliated against by the Zhu Shuren.

After two months of friction, the two sides did not have direct communication, but they also established a tacit understanding through actual combat experience, and there was no handle or flaw at all.

In addition, although Sun Kewang can always kill and rob assassins, his life is really not good, and as time goes by, the remnants of the thorns in his army who stubbornly hate the Ming court are becoming fewer and fewer.

The reason is also very simple: a considerable part of the Huguang troops sent by Zhu Shuren are not adapted to the hot summer climate on the border of Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan, and even give birth to tropical diseases. Among the troops brought by Sun Kewang, there are still many backbone soldiers from Shaanxi in the north, and those Shaanxi people are naturally even more unsuitable for the scorching tropical rainforest.

Without the help of the official army, Sun Kewang's troops were exchanged for blood at a rate of about 10% per month in midsummer, and the old thieves in northern Shaanxi died of illness in batches, and the strong men who were forcibly pulled by Yungui were re-replenished into the troops. After the summer, the mortality rate of the Shaanxi people may drop a little, but by that time, the composition of the bandit army has already changed by half.

As the hatred of Sun Kewang's remnants towards the imperial court became less and less firm, and there were fewer and fewer diehards, they finally had to surrender, which was already an inevitable trend, and the difference was only a matter of time.

If Zhu Shuren doesn't do anything, I believe that by the time he comes next summer, Sun Kewang will definitely surrender - it can be guaranteed that in this difficult environment, next year and then in the most scorching summer, it is estimated that there are few Shaanxi people left to survive in the Yunnan-Guizhou tropical rainforest, and if the Shaanxi people are almost dead, they will naturally vote.

And if Zhu Shuren does something, everyone can speed up the process, then there is no need to wait for the heat again.

……

In May and June, Zhu Shuren personally deployed in Chongqing to restore Sichuan's post-war order, restore production, and pursue Sun Kewang. By mid-June, he had actually gone north to Hanzhong.

Because he had already received the bad news that "Sun Chuanting was defeated and Xi'an fell" around the tenth day of the first month of June, there was no official news at that time, and it was not confirmed whether Sun Chuanting himself was dead or not.

After learning this, Zhu Shuren of course had to make some arrangements to ensure the northern gateway of Sichuan, and keep a bridgehead that could be used for the northern expedition to Guanzhong at any time in the future.

So there are some things that Zhang Huangyan later relayed to Wang Gonggong.

After getting the news on the tenth day of the first month of June, he went non-stop, only a few thousand troops, and went to Hanzhong to find Cao Bianjiao.

Because they are patrolling in a stable defense area, they don't need too many troops, and a few thousand people are definitely enough.

Speaking of which, a year and a half ago, Cao Bianjiao relied on the rescue of the Liaodong Army Grain Fleet arranged by Zhu Shuren to get back a life from Xingshan, otherwise he would have been directly sent away by Hong Chengchou in history.

Cao Bianjiao also knew this situation in his heart, and kept thinking about Zhu Shuren's goodness.

However, compared to Li Fuming, Cao Bianjiao's kindness was not so profound - after Li Fuming was rescued for the first time, he was still placed near Shanhaiguan and stationed in Funingwei, Yongping Mansion. This year, he fought with the Tartars again, and after being seriously injured, he was once again picked up by Zhang Mingzhen's fleet from outside the gate.

Cao Bianjiao was only rescued once, then returned to Shanxi, and later transferred to Hanzhong. However, after hearing that Sun Chuanting was defeated and died, Cao Bianjiao was also a little afraid, and even more regretful.

What I am afraid of is that if Zhu Shuren did not ask the emperor to transfer him to Hanzhong, then he would stay near Linfen, and sooner or later he would be recruited by Sun Chuanting to participate in the decisive battle against the thieves.

In that case, if Sun Chuanting is still defeated, he may not be able to escape with his life. Cao Bianjiao and his uncle Cao Wenzhao have been fighting with two generations of thieves for more than ten years, and their hatred is very deep.

And what he felt sorry for was that if he could fight side by side with Sun Chuanting at that time, Sun Chuanting might not be defeated. But with the tenacity of a thief and his ability to escape, even if he defeats Li Zicheng, he will temporarily retreat, and then try to make a comeback, hoping that he will kill Li Zicheng in a battle, which is almost impossible.

It was in this complicated mood that Cao Bianjiao learned that his former behind-the-scenes life-saving benefactor, Governor Zhu, was going to come to Hanzhong to inspect, so he attached great importance to it and put the defense under his command very tightly.

It was the first time he had seen Zhu Shuren with his own eyes, and he had only been famous for a long time before.