On June 17, the 13th year of Chongzhen reign in the Ming Dynasty, in the East Pavilion of Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
Emperor Chongzhen was sitting on the dragon chair behind the imperial case. He pointed to a memorial on the case and said to Chen Xinjia, who was standing beside him: "What kind of traitor is this? How dare you break into Yongning and kill the deputy chief soldier of a town? You It has been a long time since I announced the town, please tell me about it."
Chen Xinjia couldn't help but tremble. He thought for a moment before replying softly: "Your Majesty, Governor Xuanda has reported that this thief is a giant bandit from the East Road. Zhang Guowei has also attacked many times before, but has been unable to do so. Execute him, and that is what caused this catastrophe.
I request you to dispatch Zhang Cheng, the commander of the North Road, to go out to the east road of the town to wipe out the bandits in Dongshan as soon as possible, stabilize Xuanzhen, and garrison the fields to conduct troops, with a view to serving the country on the battlefield, suppressing the rogue bandits internally, and defending the Tartars externally."
As soon as Chen Xinjia mentioned Zhang Cheng, the anger in Emperor Chongzhen's heart subsided a bit. He looked deeply at the roof of the East Pavilion and said lightly:
"Humph, the deputy commander-in-chief of the town was unable to exterminate the stubborn local thieves and ended up dead at his hands. Zhang Guowei was also a mediocre person, and he would be dead if he died. However, the last time Zhang Cheng was good at killing criminals, I A decree has been sent to demote him to Kaiping Guards to command Qianshi. How can he be promoted now that he has not seen any military achievements?"
Chen Xinjia bowed his head slightly and humbly said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I would like to ask Zhang Cheng to lead the army into the East Road to exterminate the Dongshan bandits. This can also test the combat strength of the troops he has commanded. If the Dongshan bandits are successfully exterminated, then we can proceed again." It’s not too late to describe his merits and promotions.”
Emperor Chongzhen slowly closed his eyes and leaned back on the back of the dragon chair, looking thoughtful. After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Okay, let's handle it accordingly."
"I obey the decree!"
"Is there any news from Yang Sichang?"
"Returning to your majesty, I just reported to the capital just now that the Yangge Division Supervisor suppressed the bandits and achieved a series of great victories. The bandits are at the end of the road. They have been trapped in the Yubelly Mountain and are sluggish. The situation is excellent."
Emperor Chongzhen and Chen Xinjia chatted again about the military affairs of suppressing bandits in Huguang.
…………
At this time, Chen Xinjia had already entered the cabinet, and Xue Guoguan had just been promoted to the chief minister of the cabinet at the beginning of the 13th year of Chongzhen's reign. However, Emperor Chongzhen was dissatisfied with his affairs and was dismissed from his post on June 23rd.
It was during the period when Chen Xinjia was deeply appreciated by Emperor Chongzhen that Zhang Cheng used some money to open up connections among all parties, from the officers and generals on the East Road to the commander-in-chief of Xuan Town, the governor, and the governor of Xuanda.
Zhang Guowei, the deputy commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen, guarded the East Road. He used troops for many years and wasted money and food. He was unable to exterminate the stubborn thief Dongshan Tianbawang under his rule. Instead, he was massacred by him. He really brought the blame on himself.
In fact, Zhang Guowei is the deputy commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen. After many years of management, he also has quite a lot of connections and connections in the town and the court. However, he is already dead when he leaves, so who else will honestly argue for him? .
What's more, regarding this matter, everyone from the governor of Xuanda, the commander-in-chief, and the officers and generals of Yongning all reported in general. In the court, Chen Xinjia, a cabinet minister and his own soldier, tried his best to defend it. Even if there was some noise, it was of no avail.
…………
On July 14, the 13th year of Chongzhen, the giant bandit Luo Rucai fought with the general Sun Yingyuan and others in Fengyiping, Xingshan. More than 2,300 people were killed by the officers and soldiers, and more than 500 people were captured. Luo Rucai had no choice but to He led all the thieves to flee to Baiyang Mountain and joined forces with Zhang Xianzhong's thieves.
At this time, Cao Wei, Guo Tianxing and other bandits also wanted to cross the river, but were blocked by Ming officers and soldiers. Just as Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai arrived, all the bandits camped together again.
Although all the bandits had been defeated, Zhang Xianzhong still had strong thief spirit. He immediately stood by the river with a sword, and killed anyone who was timid. The bandits should be brave, and the officers and soldiers did not dare to advance. Zhang Xianzhong then led his troops to cross the river.
Stationed in Wanqing Mountain.
After that, Zhang Xianzhong and other thieves jumped out of the border of Hubei, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces. He took advantage of the contradiction between Sichuan governor Shao Jiechun and Yang Sichang, stormed Xinning defended by Shao Jiechun, broke into the hinterland of Sichuan, and began to implement the new strategy of "conquering the enemy by walking".
strategy.
On July 27, the angel from the capital came to Chi Castle and read out the imperial edict, ordering Zhang Cheng to immediately lead the army into the territory of the East Road to wipe out the East Mountain bandit Kou Tianbawang.
However, the generals in Yongning failed to take precautions, and the bandits broke into the city and burned down the deputy general's office. They killed Zhang Guowei, the deputy general in charge of the branch, and even had their heads chopped off. All the officers and generals were demoted by two levels and retained.
Liu Zhongshi, the branch guard general, was transferred back to the town.
…………
On July 29, in the official hall of the Central Hall of the Chicheng General Office, all the generals from the North Road gathered together.
Zhang Cheng had anticipated such an outcome before and had already transferred Cui Shijie's left wing of the Dushi Infantry Battalion to Chicastle. Chen Zhong's rangers arrived at Chicastle on the night of May 29 and stayed there.
Stay here.
Now Zhang Cheng's two infantry battalions are equipped with three troops. Cui Shijie on the left of Dushi Infantry Battalion, Song Shanquan on the right, and the new army in the middle was formed in May. Qianzong Tian Mingyu.
The Chicheng infantry camp consisted of Chen Dakuan on the left and Jin Yong on the right. The middle section was also composed of new brave men who had completed three months of training. Qian was always on the same page as Zhou Ping.
In early February, more than 4,000 new troops were recruited. After completing three months of training, each of the two infantry camps was assigned a new army, and the remaining nearly 2,000 troops were assigned to Wei Zhice's car camp.
Zhang Cheng's Central Military Department has not yet been formally established. His idea is to select loyal and brave veteran sergeants from each battalion in the future and gradually enrich his Central Military Department.
Because, in his mind, he regards the Central Military Headquarters as his core strength. Currently, there are only more than 400 escort troops, plus 500 sergeants under Wu Zhizhong. Although he only has the strength of about a thousand headquarters, its equipment and
The combat power is the strongest.
In the official hall, looking at the generals gathered together, Zhang Cheng felt extremely proud in his heart.
Previously, he had made a dangerous move, sneaked into Yongning, and killed the deputy commander Zhang Guowei in one fell swoop. Afterwards, he was still panicking. His current strength was not enough to fight against the imperial court and influence the situation of the imperial court.
The reason why he acted like this was that Zhang Guowei was really too much. He dared to offend himself and even threatened his wife and uncle. His sinister intentions were obvious and he could not be tolerated.
Secondly, in order to quickly rise to power, the overall situation of the North Road has been decided, and he urgently needs to expand his living space. The East Road is bound to be won, and Zhang Guowei is blocking his way forward, so he must get rid of it!
Fortunately, there was no danger and everything went as planned. Although some people have doubts about this, what can be done to Zhang Cheng without real evidence?
We can't just watch Zhang Cheng's glory all the way. For example, Yongning guard Tong Shouxin. He knew what Zhang Cheng did, but he could only take refuge in Zhang Cheng's command. There was no other way.
But there was one thing that Zhang Cheng did not expect. Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuan Town, was wary of Zhang Cheng from then on, but Liu Yongzhao, the governor of Xuan Mansion, changed his view of Zhang Cheng because of this.
Previously, he believed that Zhang Cheng had a loyal heart and was one of the few loyal and good generals among military men. Therefore, he had always cared for and loved Zhang Cheng very much. However, after this incident, many rumors spread to his ears.
There is real evidence, but he also has doubts about Zhang Cheng.