Things have reached this level, how come everyone can't see the double act between Liu Ruyi and Zhang Kejian? They couldn't help but curse Zhang Kejian in their hearts for being shameless!
But Zhang Kejian had spoken so straightforwardly that everyone's eyes were focused on Liu Ruyi, wanting to see what Duke Qi would say.
Liu Ruyi smiled slightly, glanced at everyone, then turned to look at Zhu Yiming, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the Caishi Army is a guest army after all. The matter in Huguang must be decided by the Prince and you! Besides, I, Caishi Army, have the final say.
Shi's army is not very strong in terms of military strength, so Ruyi will be in a difficult situation..."
Zhu Yiming's face turned blue and white for a while, but with the example of Wang Fu and his son in front of him, he really didn't have the courage to fall out with Liu Ruyi!
What's more, Liu Ruyi has handed over the great achievement of presenting the corpse of the thief and escorting it to Beijing. As the saying goes, eating people is short of mouth, and taking people is short of hands...
After being stunned for a long time, Zhu Yiming forced out a smile and said: "Qi Guogong, since the elders mean this, then you can't refuse anymore! The Huguang soldiers came quickly and were weak, and at this time Liu
The remnants of thieves have not yet been wiped out. For the sake of the livelihood of Huguang people, I ask you, Duke of Qi, to put the overall situation first!"
Liu Ruyi smiled, but frowned, "Your Majesty, you also know that the intruders in western Henan have not yet been wiped out, and the Tartars in the northeast are still eyeing them. Our Caishi Army's front line is already too long, even if we have to station troops in Huguang
, I’m afraid there won’t be too many people! Moreover, this military appearance, food and salary..."
When Liu Ruyi said that the garrison force would not be too large, Zhu Yiming couldn't help but be overjoyed. He couldn't care about anything else and said hurriedly: "Don't worry, Lord Qi. The Caishi Army saved 100,000 people in Xiangyang. How can we be so unreasonable?"
In addition to the 500,000 taels of silver that we have spent on the army this time, we, Xiangyang City, are willing to provide another 100,000 taels of silver every year for the military supplies of the Colored Stone Army!"
"This..." Liu Ruyi pretended to be embarrassed.
"What the prince said is true. Mr. Guo, we are willing to fund the colored stone military supplies!"
"I also ask the Duke of Qi to put the people of Huguang first!"
Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but express their attitude.
Liu Ruyi nodded in embarrassment, "Forget it! Since everyone is showing love to you, then Ruyi should be more respectful than obey orders! I will station 3,000 troops in Xiangyang City to ensure the stability of Xiangyang City!"
"The Duke of Qi is wise!"
"The Duke of Qi is mighty!"
The crowd couldn't help but burst into cheers.
The noisy banquet was gradually coming to an end because the Caishi Army's garrison was confirmed.
Zhu Yiming, Zhu Changfa and his son strongly invited Liu Ruyi to stay at the palace, but Liu Ruyi refused. He chose Chengtian Temple next to the palace!
After settling down in the Zen room of Chengtian Temple, it was already dark. At this time, the casualty statistics of the Caishi Army in this battle were also sent to Liu Ruyi.
In this battle, due to Liu Ruyi's advance planning and strange tactics, the Caishi Army suffered few casualties, with only more than a hundred people killed.
This would make the imperial court know that Liu Ruyi only paid the price of more than a hundred people to wipe out the traitors who had brought trouble to the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years. I wonder what Emperor Chongzhen's expression would be.
However, at this moment, Liu Ruyi was not very happy. His eyes had already focused on Yicheng to the east of Xiangyang!
~~~~~~
At this time, the military forces active in various parts of the Ming Dynasty can probably be divided into several factions.
One is Liaodong, with more than 50,000 Guan Ning troops under the command of Wu Sangui, who had just been canonized as 'Ping Xibo' by the imperial court.
Compared with other armies of the Ming Dynasty, the combat power of Guan Ning Army can be ranked at the forefront. The most important thing is that Guan Ning Army has a large number of cavalry, almost all of which are cavalry. In this regard, Caishi Army cannot compare with it.
The second one is Liu Ruyi’s Colored Stone Army!
Although the Caishi Army is not as large in number as the Guan Ning Army, and its cavalry is far inferior, the Caishi Army is well-trained, strong in execution, and has sharp firearms. Even if it is a duel with the Guan Ning Army, it still has considerable advantages.
The third one is Zuo Liangyu, who has been active in the Central Plains and Huguang areas for these years!
Different from Guan Ning Army and Caishi Army, Zuo Liangyu probably has no less than 100,000 people under his command at this time. However, there is a lot of water here. There are all kinds of soldiers and people. It can be said that there is a mixed bag!
But Zuo Liangyu has a gloomy temperament and is very good at winning people's hearts. He has many generals under his command, and their abilities are not weak. Even if their combat power is not as good as Guan Ning's army and Caishi army, they are still a force that cannot be underestimated.
strength.
Fourth, there is the Qin army led by He Renlong, Gao Jie, Fierce as a Tiger, and Hu Dawei!
In fact, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Zongmin, Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, Ai Nengqi, etc., and many generals in the late Ming Dynasty were all from Shaanxi.
It can be said to be a gathering of stars.
But what is different from the first three is that although the Shaanxi army is considered elite, it is relatively loose and fights independently. As a result, its combat power will inevitably be somewhat compromised.
Fifth, let’s count the camps that have shrunk to western Henan and southern Shaanxi!
After the battle in Luoyang City, Li Zicheng's newly built momentum was knocked back to its original shape by Liu Ruyi's stick. Within a few years, he would definitely be unable to breathe!
The most important thing is that the rise of refugee armies like Li Zicheng relied on natural disasters and "chaos." Only the chaos of the Ming Dynasty could he have a chance to make a comeback!
But at this time, Xian Thief, Luo Rucai, Liu Zongmin and many other big bandits had been wiped out by the Caishi Army.
His momentum has been weakened by three points.
As for the other armies of the Ming Dynasty, such as the Xuanfu Army, the Ningxia Army, the Miyun Army, the Shanhaiguan Army, and Huang Degong of Luzhou, including Liu Zeqing who was huddled under Zuo Liangjun at this time, and Liu Liangzuo who was huddled under the camp, they can only be regarded as small
Fish and shrimp, at this moment, cannot make any waves.
At this time, Li Zicheng had been beaten to the ground, and Lao Huihui, King Huntian, King Sweeper, and Gezuo tribe were like rats crossing the street, with no chance to exert their strength in a short period of time!
The seeds of rebellion within the Ming Dynasty gathered among these officers and soldiers!
In fact, since the Battle of Songjin, the weakness of the imperial court has also made all the armies under its command clearly see the powerlessness of the imperial court!
By this moment, the imperial court had already lost control of these main generals.
Wu Sangui, Zuo Liangyu, He Renlong, Gao Jie, including Liu Ruyi himself, no one would really take the imperial court's order seriously again!
At this time, the confrontation between the Zuo Army and He Renlong's tribe in Yicheng provided an opportunity for Liu Ruyi...
~~~~~~
The night passed quietly!
But this night was not peaceful!
First of all, in the direction of Yicheng, Zuo Jun and He Renlong's troops each received news that Liu Ruyi had wiped out the Xian thieves in Xiangyang.
Then, news will soon reach Huguang, Central Plains, Nanjing, Shandong, and even the capital!
The destruction of the Xianthief Tribunal was like dropping a huge bomb into a calm lake, destined to stir up waves of loyalty in the Ming Dynasty!
At this time, Yicheng He Renlong is stationed!
Looking at the Xiangyang battle report handed over by his own soldiers, He Renlong's hands were trembling!
He didn't understand why, why Liu Ruyi suddenly entered Huguang, but he didn't get any information from his side. This...
Thinking of the 200,000 taels of silver Liu Ruyi gave him before, as long as he held his position, but now he...
"No, we must not let things continue like this! Come and prepare your horses, I want to go to Xiangyang immediately!" He Renlong hurriedly called his soldiers and hurried towards Xiangyang City.
~~~
On the other side, Zuo Liangyu also received the news.
"Commander Father, Liu Ruyi, he, he actually killed the thief. This, this... what should we do?" In Zuo Liangyu's tent, Zuo Mengeng was already panicking, terrified.
He looked at his father.
Zuo Liangyu's face was also extremely gloomy. He never thought that Liu Ruyi would take action so quickly and decisively, killing him with one blow just after the war in the Central Plains!
this……
The imperial court had hundreds of thousands of troops, spending tens of millions of taels of silver, and had been encircling and suppressing them for more than ten years, but they still could not wipe out the Xian thief tribe. But at this time, Liu Ruyi took action and defeated them easily!
Zuo Liangyu couldn't help but take a deep breath, "The rain is about to come, the wind is filling the building!"
"Father, what should we do now? Liu Ruyi is in Xiangyang City now. Should we go and visit him?" Zuo Mengeng said hurriedly.
"Go! How can you not go? Not only do you want to go, but you also have to prepare a generous gift!"
Zuo Liangyu stood up and looked into his son's eyes, "Geng'er, you and I, our father and son, were old to Liu Ruyi back then. As long as we keep our posture low enough, he will not embarrass us too much!"
The Ming Dynasty has reached this stage, and Liu Ruyi's momentum has become! Alas~! Even as a father, I am afraid I will have to succumb to his power!"
"..." Zuo Mengeng was speechless. He didn't expect that his father, who had always been strong, would actually bow to others.
But since his father had said it, he had no choice but to do it!
~~~~~~
Xiangyang City, Chengtian Temple.
In Liu Ruyi's temporary residence, He Renlong and Zuo Mengeng rushed to Liu Ruyi's room.
"Brother Liu, this, ah... It's all my fault that I was so angry that I failed in your trust. It's really, ah..." He Renlong sighed, like a rooster that had lost a fight.
On the side, Zuo Mengeng also hurriedly explained: "Qi Guogong, this matter is really a misunderstanding! My father-in-law has always heavily defended important towns such as Wuchang, Suizhou, Anlu, Macheng, etc., but he never thought that the traitor would be so bold.
To actually attack Xiangyang City, this, this is really..."
Liu Ruyi glanced at the two of them lightly, but she also felt a little resentful in her heart.
The Ming Dynasty is in the current situation. It is not that there are no soldiers or generals, but everyone's energy is focused on internal friction. Facing the Manchu, it is like a mouse meeting a cat. No one is willing to fight to the death. This is another
How can you win?
However, the internal consumption contradiction was more harmful than the Manchu Qing Dynasty!
Just like at this time, although there was no real conflict between Zuo Jun and He Renlong, the seeds of hatred had been planted between the two armies!
Sooner or later, it will inevitably lead to a larger-scale conflict!
The tension between the two sides will inevitably make the people of Yicheng lose confidence in the government and army!
Once people's hearts are broken, the consequences...
Taking a deep breath, Liu Ruyi tried her best to calm down her emotions, and said slowly: "Brother He, Brother Zuo, I don't want to ask about the bad things between you, and I don't want to know! I just want to ask you one thing,
Where are you going to endanger the hundreds of thousands of people in Xiangyang City who are acting so recklessly?"