In July of the twelfth year of Yongli, half a year before the Qing army collapsed on the Jiangxi battlefield, the Yongli court finally remembered three months after the death of Shu King Liu Wenxiu that Guizhou on the other side of the bed was already occupied by the Qing army. All the facts. Therefore, Yongli paid homage to the King of Jin Li Dingguo and ordered him to conduct special expeditions, control the county's civil and military affairs, mobilize officials and righteous troops to recruit the general marshal, pretended to be Huang Yue, and Shang Fangjian acted in an expedient manner, and ordered him to launch an operation to recover Guizhou.

According to Li Dingguo's plan, he personally led the main army to Guanling. The troops led by Feng Shuangli and Bai Wenxuan were concentrated in the Anshun area. Qi Sansheng and Li Rubi led more than 30 battalions of troops to reach Pingba. At the same time, he also led Yongli In the name of the imperial court, Luo Dashun was conferred the title of Long Pingbo and sent him to lead the troops to attack Xintian. Another envoy was sent to contact Wang Youjin, the Marquis of Ning who was stationed in Xuanwei Division in Youyang, Sichuan. Wang Guangxing, the Marquis of Jingchuan, led troops to attack Meitan from Sinan Prefecture. This was used to contain the Qing army in many ways.

Li Dingguo's first strategic goal was to regain Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou Province. By regaining Guiyang, he would regain a foothold in Guizhou, and then Wu Sangui, who moved from north to south, and the Eight Banners Army from east to west, would gradually drive out of Guizhou Province.

However, the Qing army's devastating offensive in Guizhou in July was already half a year ago. In other words, the Ming court had lost Guizhou for half a year!

In the past six months, after the Qing army captured Guiyang, it gradually eliminated the potential threats in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, especially the offensives again and again by the Kuidong Ming army against Wu Sangui's retreat. Subsequently, after eliminating these threats , the three Qing armies have strategically assembled towards Guiyang. During this long period of time, Li Dingguo seemed to have accomplished nothing except making Liu Wenxiu angry to death...

One side was fully prepared, while the other side responded hastily, and the outcome can be imagined. When Li Dingguo completed his strategic deployment and prepared to launch a large-scale attack on Guiyang, he suddenly discovered that he had missed the opportunity to regain the lost ground. On the contrary, The Qing army, after establishing a foothold in Guizhou, took the lead in launching an attack on Yunnan.

The original strategic attack quickly turned into a passive defense. Li Dingguo had to order Feng Shuangli to lead the troops to guard Guanling, and Qi Sansheng's troops to station on Jigong's back, echoing each other, and rely on danger to block the main force of Qingdoni's troops; Li Chengjue's troops were stationed in Liangshuijing, and Zhang Xianbi The troops were stationed at Huangcaoba to block the Qing army of Zhao Butai; Bai Wenxuan was ordered to lead troops to garrison at Qixingguan, a strategic location in Bijie, to block the Qing troops of Wu Sangui. He also sent Dou Mingwang to lead his troops to reinforce Liu Zhenguo and strengthen the defense of Anzhuang Guard. Strength; provided Luo Dashun with food and salary, and asked him to harass the Qing army's rear from Shuixi, while he personally led part of the army to station at Shuanghekou west of Beipanjiang River to coordinate the overall situation.

Li Dingguo's reaction was not unpleasant. However, the Qing army was no longer as exhausted as it was when it first entered Guizhou!

In November, when Zheng Chenggong and Chen Kai were fighting the Qing army on the southeast battlefield, Doni, the king of Xin County, led the main force of the Qing army to attack Anzhuang Wei, and guard Liu Zhenguo was killed. Subsequently, Doni took advantage of the victory to attack Guanling. Seeing the strength of the Qing army, Feng Shuangli had to move to Ji Gongbei to join forces with Qi Sansheng. However, he was trapped in food and grass and was forced to abandon the danger.

At the same time, Wu Sangui led his troops to the Qixing Pass. Seeing that it was easy to defend but difficult to attack, he tried to bypass the dangerous point by a small road and went straight to the Tiansheng Bridge, forcing Bai Wenxuan to abandon the natural danger of Qixing Pass.

At this time, the Qing army commanded by Zhao Butai had also sneaked across Luoyan Ferry and met with Li Dingguo's 30,000-strong army at the Zheyan River. At the beginning, the Ming army had the upper hand.

A large number of Eight Banners troops including Military Academy Sele, Protecting Military Academy Jian Tai and others. Then the north wind suddenly picked up, artillery fire ignited thatch, and wildfire smoke blew into our faces. The Qing army took advantage of the situation to attack hard, and the Ming army was defeated. Li Dingguo's adopted son Li Yuan, his generals Chuan Shide, Wang Kangfu,

More than 30 people including Xiao Yizan, Long Mingfeng, Li Shizhu, Liu Jianyuan, Nie Yushun, Qiu Zixin, Ni Kai, Bao Youjue, Wang Lian, Yan Tianxi, etc. were killed in the battle, resulting in countless losses of troops and horses. Later, Zhao Butai defeated Li Chengjue again.

More than 10,000 people in the army were stationed in Liangshuijing. The Ming army's Liangshuijing camp fell. Li Puxing, the crown prince of the Jin Dynasty, was captured and died unyieldingly.

All three defenses were defeated, and Li Dingguo had no choice but to completely abandon Guizhou and lead his army to retreat to Yunnan. However, the Qing army did not give up. After discovering that Li Dingguo had burned down the chain bridge on the Beipan River, the Qing army immediately organized manpower to cut down bamboo and wood and form rafts.

Crossed the river and quickly defeated Feng Shuangli's troops who were in charge of the rear.

By late December, when Zheng Chenggong was about to launch a decisive battle against the Qing army in Quzhou, Wu Sangui crossed the river from Wusa Prefecture into Yunnan, passed through Yizhou, and reached Luoping by crossing the river, where he met the two groups led by Duni and Zhao Butai.

The Qing army converged. Then, the main force of this three-in-one Qing army strode towards Kunming, where the Yongli court was located.

On the ninth day of December, Li Dingguo, who had already realized that something was going wrong, sent an envoy back to Kunming to ask for help, suggesting that the Ming court should temporarily avoid the spotlight. The Ming court was naturally greatly shocked by this. This was not only due to the treatment they gave to Li Dingguo.

The high hopes, and more importantly, since the Shadingzhou Rebellion, Yunnan has been at peace for more than ten years. Under Sun Kewang's governance, the local people live and work in peace and contentment, and the market is prosperous. It can be called a unique pure land in the troubled times at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Now Sun Kewang

The rebellious ministers and traitors had just been defeated and could only escape for a while. Now Yunnan will not be able to defend it. It is really unimaginable.

In addition to being shocked, the important officials of the imperial court also had to consider the move suggested by Li Dingguo. At this moment, the Qing army came from the northeast, and the only direction the Ming court could move was to enter Sichuan to the north and retreat to Chuxiong to the west.

, Yongchang, or go southeast and detour through Chenjiang Prefecture, Guangxi Prefecture, and Guangnan Prefecture to enter Guangxi and Guangxi, and meet up with Guo Zhiqi, the governor of Guangxi, and Chen Kai, the governor of Guangdong and Jiangxi based in Guangdong.

The courtiers had different opinions, but Emperor Yongli, after being silent for a long time, suddenly expressed that he wanted to listen to the opinions of the two groups of people from the north and the west. Apparently, he had already rejected the plan to retreat to Guangdong and Guangxi.

"Your Majesty, this..."

Among the courtiers, Wen'an Hou Ma Jixiang, who was now the chief minister, coughed slightly and immediately stopped his son-in-law, Yang Yu, the Minister of Rites, from whispering behind him.

It was at this time that the representative figure who advocated going north, Hanlin Academy lecturer Liu Chan, took the lead in seizing a favorable position: "I heard that now Sichuan is completely victorious, and the town of Xun is like a cloud, and King Gongchang's entire army is following Yi. If Shu is lucky,

To promote prosperity is a sure-fire strategy!"

Liu Han attracted the attention of Emperor Yongli as soon as he opened his mouth. Next, he talked eloquently about the previous words. In his words, the province of Yunnan, to the west, south or northwest, is either a vassal state or a vassal state.

Chieftain, now that the Qing army is coming from the northeast, if it moves to the vassal state, there will be no civil and military officials to follow. Even if it can escape, without these civil and military officials, the court will inevitably "sit down in the miasma."

In comparison, Jianchang Prefecture in northern Yunnan has been operating for many years, with good harvests year after year, and grain and grass are piled up like mountains. If we take the false route to Xiangling, Jiading, and approach Jiayang, we can catch thousands of ships in one fell swoop in an instant. This way we can follow the current.

Then he went down, passed through Chongqing, and arrived at Kuidong. When the generals in Kuidong heard that the Holy Emperor had arrived, they would be delighted and march up the Jiajiang River to welcome him.

"Taking advantage of this powerful spirit, I can attack the weak points in Jingxiang and Xiangxiang as easily as I can!"

As expected of a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy, in just a few sentences he redefined the escape route as taking a detour to Huguang to seize the Qing army's retreat. In the end, it seemed that as long as this was done, the Ming Dynasty would have a chance of reviving the ZTE.

Already.

Of course, from a rational point of view, although what Liu Han said is somewhat exaggerated, going north to Sichuan is indeed a very good plan - the right way is that the three armies have not moved, and food and grass must go first. Liu Wenxiu had been running Jianchang Mansion for a long time.

It was originally used as an advance base to enter Sichuan again. When the imperial court arrived in Jianchang Mansion, they could use the food and grass there to provide a material basis for the next step. They could also use the waterways of the Jinsha River and the Yangtze River. Especially the latter, they can do it tomorrow.

Go down the river and reach Kuidong. Once there, once it joins the Ming army in Kuidong, the Ming army that fled Yunnan will definitely get a qualitative improvement in overall strength. By then, whether it is going to Huguang to clear out the

In the rear area of ​​the main force of the army, changing families with Hong Chengchou, or following Liu Wenxiu's last words, marching north to invade Shaanxi, and changing families with Wu Sangui was a path that the Ming court could try. At the very least, it would be better than being trapped to death.

It is much stronger in Yunnan.

As expected, Liu Han's revolutionary optimism influenced Emperor Yongli, who was sitting on the dragon throne. After hearing this, the emperor, who had always been very soft-eared, simply didn't bother to listen to other plans. It was serious.

We discussed the details with the Shu faction.

During this period, Ma Jixiang, as the chief and assistant minister, did not say a word, and was as silent as if he did not exist. It was not until a long time later that his son-in-law Yang Zai could no longer hold himself back, and he said quietly: "

No matter how happy they are now, the Emperor must still listen to His Highness King Jin."

Sure enough, after the court meeting was over, Emperor Yongli immediately sent a trusted Jin Yiwei to seek Li Dingguo's opinion. Li Dingguo also agreed with this. When he rushed back to Kunming on the 13th of the twelfth lunar month to summon the emperor, he even pointed out

"If you want to move to Jianchang at this time, you must pass through Wuding. But Wuding is desolate, so you must go all the way to Binzhou, where the common people can only have food and grass." From this, the route to Sichuan was directly determined. (Note)

The Emperor and the King of Jin finalized the matter, and immediately sent an order to Gong Yi, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Wang Yinglong, the Minister of Industry, to prepare food and grass, and sent Pingyang Marquis Jin Tongwu to escort them. They planned to set the departure date two days later, which is the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Set off before the Qing army approaches Kunming.

The move was a matter of life and death, and the Yongli court started preparations with unprecedented efficiency. At the same time, Ma Jixiang, who had been watching the situation for several days, invited his brother Ma Xiongfei and son-in-law Yang Zai to his home.

"The emperor listened to the nonsense of those Sichuan rats and insisted on moving to Sichuan. If the imperial court really goes there, aside from other things, that old man from Wen'an will definitely come to greet him. That old man is a shujishi.

Before he left Zhenchuan Hubei, he was the first assistant, and he was definitely not comparable to the likes of Fu Gang and Lei Yuelong. Even if there were not those who follow the lead of the rebels, I would inevitably have to retreat and give way to others. If I were to give way to the first assistant, this first assistant would be the first assistant.

It will be impossible to pass on the position to a good son-in-law in the future."

Just as Ma Jixiang said, Wen Anzhi was a scholar in the second year of Tianqi. He was famous in both Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties. Although he was not called many times later, when it came to life and death, this gray-haired man

However, the old man still resolutely accepted the appointment of the Yongli court and personally went to the most difficult Kuidong area to contact the intruders who were feared by the world.

At that time, Wen Anzhi immediately entered the cabinet as soon as he entered the court. According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, those who entered first had a higher status and were ranked higher than those who entered later. At that time, the first assistant was Yan Qiheng, and the second assistant was Wang Huachenghe.

Zhu Tianlin. These three were all veterans of the Yongli Dynasty, and they had made many achievements. But once Wen Anzhi entered the cabinet, they immediately abdicated and made way for others. No matter what, they wanted Wen Anzhi to be the first and assistant minister. Those cabinet elders who were born as Jinshi

In this way, Ma Jixiang is a royal guard, and he is not even a civil servant by birth. By then, such a person who only stole the position of chief minister with the support of Li Dingguo will be despised by the people of the world and will be punished even if he hesitates a little bit.

With the criticism from powerful factions from all over the world, the throne of the chief minister will immediately turn into a blazing furnace. No matter how thick-skinned he is, he doesn't mind being scorned by the people in the world. How can the emperor and his ministers allow him to continue to occupy the manhole without shitting?

?

After many rebellions, he finally got the position of chief minister. Ma Jixiang would never let go of this power easily. What he said here was true, and the same was true for Ma Xiongfei and Yang Zai.

Hearing this, everyone nodded repeatedly, especially the latter. Hearing that his father-in-law was still thinking about passing on the position of chief minister to him in the future, he was grateful and looked like he shared the same hatred.

"Besides, once they enter Shu, Cheng Yuan and his group of Sichuan rats will definitely occupy important positions in the court. At that time, Jin Shilang and others will restrain the Shu people, and the King of Jin will check and balance the intruders. You, my brother, and Weng's son-in-law will surely fall.

We are in a desperate situation of being isolated and helpless. And those Sichuan rats will definitely bring up the old story of our attachment to Sun Kewang. Without the protection of King Jin, I am afraid that not even one of us will end up well!"

The Cheng Yuan official who Ma Jixiang mentioned was the minister of the Ministry of Liturgy, and he was the leader of Sichuan officials in the Yongli court. Liu Fan, the Hanlin Academy lecturer who had earlier campaigned for the northward expedition to Sichuan, probably followed his wishes.

In fact, when the Qin Palace took over the power, this person, like Ma Jixiang, was dependent on Sun Kewang. But when Emperor Yongli regained his freedom with the support of Li Dingguo, this person began to secretly alienate Sun Kewang's civil and military officials.

Relying on this merit, I can continue to hold the high position of minister.

However, despite having similar experiences, Cheng Yuan wrote a letter to expose Ma Jixiang's various serious crimes. This was not as simple as a personal grudge. There were many civil servants with orthodox imperial examination backgrounds who excluded Ma Jixiang, a lucky person like him.

There was also a lack of conflicts between the Jin vassal and the Shu vassal to fill the power vacuum after Sun Kewang's defeat, and there was also a lack of regional disputes between the Sichuan provincial bureaucrats and the Yunnan-Guizhou bureaucrats behind Ma Jixiang.

As for the outcome of this matter, it was Ma Jixiang who hugged Li Dingguo's thick leg. Not only was he not convicted for this, but he also bit back in the court and reclassified Cheng Yuan, a high-ranking official who had just equaled his merits and demerits, into the Sun Kewang usurper.

Among the remnants of the National Group gathered together, Cheng Yuan was so angry that he simply closed the door and thanked the guests.

The two have long been at odds with each other, and Ma Jixiang burst into tears when he mentioned this. Regarding this, Yang Zai was silent, while Ma Xiongfei burst into flames: "It is about the life and future of our family, and there must be no hesitation at all."

.Tonight I will go find Jin Weixin, only he can persuade His Highness Prince Jin, and the Emperor only listens to His Highness Prince Jin!"

As soon as they left, the three of them set off late at night to see Jin Weixin, who had been promoted to the position of left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. But before they could express their intentions, Jin Weixin took the lead and asked Ma Jixiang: "Brother Ma, what do you think the emperor thinks?"

Yes, you can obviously go to Guangdong and Guangxi, where Governor Guo and Chen Zhijun have been running the business for many years, why did you just listen to one sentence in the court and then directly deny it?"

Note: What is quoted here is Liu Fan's "Chronicles of Hunting Myanmar". The so-called Binzhou is actually Binchuanzhou, located in Dali Prefecture. This is because a word was omitted when the historical materials were copied.

Also: Suodan, the forward guard killed by the Ming army in the Battle of Zheyan River, was Garbush Xianchaoha, an officer of the forward battalion of the Manchu ace force. The forward guard was the fourth grade, and there were only eight people in the entire forward battalion.

, not a guard of some Manchu noble.

()
Chapter completed!