At the west gate of Zhending City, after everyone exchanged greetings, Gao Qiqian took Lu Xiangsheng's hand and both entered the city. Behind them, the generals and Zhending officials were divided into two rows, and they all followed him into the city.
The city of Zhendingfu is known as the "Flower Direct Dingfu". Although it was in the troubled times of the late Ming Dynasty, it was still the first gateway to Taiyuan Prefecture in Shanxi Province after it entered the Jizhong Plain. The city is still prosperous, with various business houses gathered, especially various merchants.
Shops selling wood and woodware are the most popular. What you see on the street are all kinds of high-end brands and pretexts.
On the way to the Zhending Governor's Yamen, the streets were crowded with people in the city cheering to welcome him.
These people gathered spontaneously, just to have a look at General Xuan who fought against the Tartars, and to take a look at the little hero Zhang Cheng who dared to shoot the slave chief Dorgon with an arrow.
Seeing how popular Lu Xiangsheng and others were, Gao Qiqian's eyes flashed with an imperceptible coldness, and then he pointed out various places in the city to Lu Xiangsheng with a smile on his face.
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Today, Gao Qiqian actually just invited Lu Xiangsheng and other generals to a banquet on the pretext of discussing military affairs together. He just wanted to take the opportunity to show that he had the overall situation in mind, and it was just a superficial act. He did not want to discuss anything with Lu Xiangsheng.
military affairs.
The banquet was held in the lobby of the governor's yamen. The lanterns were turned on, and under the candlelight, the lobby was very bright. The dishes at the banquet were very sumptuous. All the generals in Xuanda were eating and drinking. At the banquet, people were constantly toasting to Zhang Cheng.
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Zhang Cheng was already a rising star in the Ming Dynasty's military circles. He was promoted to a guerrilla position at the age of twenty-two. He was also highly regarded by ministers Yang Sichang, military supervisor Gao Qiqian and other famous figures in front of the emperor. Everyone looked up to him.
During the banquet, only Lu Xiangsheng was thinking about the displaced victims outside the city. Many people wanted to eat but could not get it. The banquet here was so luxurious that he felt a little displeased.
If Gao Qiqian's intention was to follow, this banquet would have lasted until late at night. However, Lu Xiangsheng had no intention of eating. After seeing that Xuanda's generals had also eaten and drank enough, he led the generals to leave the banquet and hurriedly left.
Return to camp.
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After Zhang Cheng returned to the camp, while he was patrolling the camp, some soldiers came to report it. The commander-in-chief of the army, Gao Gonggong, sent someone to see him and said that he had a letter written by Gao Eunuch and asked Zhang Cheng to sign it personally.
Zhang Cheng returned to the military tent to wait for him. After a while, Chen Zhong led the visitor into the military tent. After the man and Zhang Cheng greeted each other, he motioned to Zhang Cheng to dismiss the others and talk alone.
After Chen Zhong and others exited the military tent, the man announced his intention to come.
It turned out that it was General Director Jun Gao Qi who secretly saw Zhang Chengying's bravery and was highly praised by the emperor, so he wanted to take him under his command. He even promised that as long as Zhang Cheng followed him at this time, he could guarantee Zhang Cheng's promotion within three to five years.
Staff generals, deputy commander-in-chief, and even commander-in-chief of a town are no exception.
Zhang Cheng called Chen Zhong in and asked him to send Gao Qiqian's confidants away from the camp.
Outside the military tent, Zhang Cheng looked at the back of Gao Qiqian's confidant and couldn't help but sneered.
So who is Gao Qiqian, and he alone is worthy of wooing her?
He actually hinted that he had abandoned Lu Xiangsheng and joined his command. Not only would he have plenty of money and food, but he would also be guaranteed to serve as a general, deputy commander, or even commander-in-chief?
How could I care about his money and grain?
He rises and falls, so how can he know whether he can control his own appetite?
Huh, what else are you talking about: general, deputy general, and chief soldier?
How could he have secured the security he recommended?
On a cold night, Zhang Cheng stood in the cold wind and thought of the deeds of rising and falling in history.
At the beginning, he was a eunuch in charge of rituals. Because he was squeezed out by the great eunuch Wei Zhongxian, he was transferred to the direct palace supervisor. After Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, Wei Zhongxian and other powerful eunuchs were eradicated. Gao Qiqian, Cao Huachun, Wang Dehua and other talents began to come to the fore.
Later, he gradually won the favor of Emperor Chongzhen and served as the eunuch of the palm. In the fifth year of Chongzhen, he was sent from the palace to monitor the generals of Dengzhou, and later he was changed to monitor Ningyuan and various towns in Jinzhou.
Gao Qiqian claims to know the military and is good at military affairs, but in fact he is timid and dare not fight. He only kills people and takes credit for his achievements. Looking at the results of his work, he is a typical rat with insufficient success and more than enough failure.
In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign, Li Zicheng broke into the capital and approached the capital. Gaoqi lurked and went to Ningqian Road, abandoning the pass and leaving. King Fu of the Southern Ming Dynasty summoned him as the admiral of the capital camp, and later surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.
Zhang Cheng sneered, how could such a thing be worthy of his trust?
Thinking of Bai Liri's cold, sweaty and smooth palms, Zhang felt a chill in his heart.
Zhang Cheng actually had no prejudice against eunuchs. Among the eunuchs, he admired the eunuchs Cao Huachun, Wang Chengen and others.
On the other hand, looking at eunuchs like Gao Qiqian and Du Xun, I can only despise them.
Although Zhang Cheng is not talented, he does not bother to associate with this generation.
At this time, the problem in the late Ming Dynasty was an overall problem. The royal family, literati, warriors, eunuchs, and merchants, these major social classes, all bear unshirkable responsibility for the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
No matter which class they belong to, Zhang Cheng admires those who serve the country loyally and righteously, and despises those who do not.
I would rather lead a hero's horse and ride on it than be the father of a coward.
Of course, Zhang Cheng refused Gao Qiqian's bribery tonight rather tactfully. He only said that he was under the command of Lu Duchen and was not an independent battalion at present. He was still under the control of Zhang Yan, the counselor of the Xuanfu.
General, if you don't have your own troops, how can you rely on him?
But even if he said this, Gao Laojun would definitely hate himself to the core after learning the news that he rejected him.
The soldiers will block it, and the water will cover it with earth. Zhang Cheng doesn't care about it.
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Sure enough, when Lu Xiangsheng led the Xuanda generals into the city to discuss matters the next day, Zhang Cheng was keenly aware that Gao Qiqian was still smiling at him.
However, there was an extremely cold look in his eyes.
Zhang Cheng had a smile on his face, his expression was calm, and he looked at him without fear, which actually surprised Gao Qiqian.
The discussions that day were fruitless.
During the discussion, Lu Xiangsheng proposed that the two armies join forces to attack in one place to build momentum.
Gao Qiqian said, "Lu Duchen has achieved great successes one after another, and his troops are as strong as clouds of elite soldiers. The captives are frightened, so they are attacking in separate lanes in order to expand the results of the battle."
He still insisted on each leading his own army and dividing his troops to fight against the captives.
This discussion ended unhappily again. When Lu Xiangsheng mentioned the issue of food and salary for Xuan Dajun, Zhending Governor Zhang Qiping only dealt with it on the grounds that the government was short of money and food and was struggling to raise funds.
As soon as he returned to the Xuan Dajun camp, Lu Xiangsheng received an urgent message from Gao Qiqian, saying that a message from the Ministry of War on troop deployment had arrived in Beijing, and Lu Xiangsheng was required to come and discuss the matter of advancing troops.
It turned out that the cabinet minister Yang Sichang, in view of the right-wing Qing army under Yue Tuo, had already passed through Hejian Prefecture, crossed Jingzhou all the way, attacked the old city, and continued to advance southward, with the potential to approach Linqing, an important water transport town.
Therefore, he proposed, "My soldiers happened to steal from the side roads unexpectedly. They took up positions in Linqing and stored grain in the warehouse. I will wait for work and hunger, and then I will have the chance of victory."