Most of the garrison soldiers who were brought and plundered by Yang Jiamo, numbering in the hundreds, took advantage of the chaos and fled back to their hometowns.
There were only a few dozen people, who belonged to the Nanchang Guard, and they ran back one after another to report the news.
There were seven of the first batch to go back. From mid-afternoon that day, they ran for their lives all the way until late at night. On the way, they were tired and hungry. They killed and drove away the people in the dark, ate some food and lay down on the bed to rest.
By the evening of the next day, Nanchang was almost closing its city gates, and the seven people finally rushed back to Nanchang Guard.
In fact, there was a merchant ship from Fengcheng Pier that day, passing the news to Nanchang. However, no details were provided. These guardsmen fled back and were immediately taken to see Governor Li Maofang by the Nanchang Guard commander.
Li Maofang asked: "Why was Mr. Yang chased to Fengcheng?"
A guard soldier replied: "Mr. Yang took us to the countryside to suppress bandits and ransacked the houses of several landlords who were thieves. Those landlords had a lot of money and food in their homes, and it took two hours to move them but they were not finished..."
"Shut up!"
Li Maofang was furious and urged: "Tell me about the war. I didn't ask you how to rob the gentry."
The guard soldier quickly said: "We were moving things when two to three thousand rebels came to kill us. Mr. Yang won the battle first and chased the rebels for several fields. The rebels ran fast and could not catch up with them.
We can withdraw our troops. As soon as Mr. Yang withdrew, the rebels came back and the navy who dragged the rebels arrived. Mr. Yang disembarked outside Fengcheng County and led his troops into the city."
"Escaped into the city?" Li Maofang asked.
"I didn't see it clearly." The guardsmen shook their heads. They were only focused on escaping for their lives, and they didn't dare to approach the county town. They didn't know what was going on over there.
Li Maofang asked again: "Why didn't you enter the city with Mr. Yang?"
The guard soldier looked mournful: "At that time, everyone was rushing to get off the boat. Mr. Yang was afraid that he could not run fast, so he asked his servants to kill us local Jiangxi soldiers because they blocked his way to get off the boat. We were not beaten away by the rebels, but by Mr. Yang
The town’s servants were killed and scattered.”
Li Maofang was speechless for a moment. He could imagine how embarrassed Yang Jiamo was at that time.
When Yang Jiamo fought in the north, he always abandoned the infantry to break up the rear. To put it bluntly, he let the infantry stop the enemy, and he took his servants to ride away. But when he arrived in Jiangxi, he couldn't ride horses, and his servants were wearing iron armor, so they couldn't run even if they wanted to.
Dong Xiangheng, the military commander of Jiangzhou, was training the navy at Poyang Lake.
Li Maofang sent someone to summon Dong Xiangheng, and also invited officials from the third division of Jiangxi Province to discuss matters.
Ding Kuichu, the envoy to the left, wanted money but not his life. In the end, he surrendered and his whole family was killed.
The right envoy Zhang Bingwen died a heroic death in history.
At that time, he was serving as the political envoy to the left in Shandong, and the Tatars entered the pass to attack Jinan. The eunuch Gao Qiqian held a heavy army and huddled in Linqing and did not dare to move. Zu Kuan came with reinforcements, but he watched and hesitated, afraid of the enemy and did not dare to fight.
Zhang Bingwen mobilized the people in the city and defended the city for half a month. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the city gate was breached. He also led the people to fight in the streets with the Tatars. He was outnumbered and died from arrows. More than ten of his wives, concubines, and maidservants threw themselves into the lake and committed suicide.
Jiangxi's Inspector-General is called Wu Shiliang. He is 85 years old this year. This old man was only awarded Jinshi at the age of 69. Historically, he also donated 100,000 taels of silver to recruit soldiers for the Southern Ming Dynasty. He resigned and returned to his hometown when he died of illness at the age of 97.
.
Jiangxi Dusi is temporarily vacant. He died of illness some time ago, and the court has not yet made a new appointment.
"The rebels attacked Fengcheng, and General Yang was besieged in the city," Li Maofang sighed, "please tell me, should we send reinforcements?"
Ding Kuichu said quickly: "Don't fall for the rebel bandit's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain. What if we rescue and the rebel bandit attacks Nanchang?"
Zhang Bingwen asked: "How many available troops are there in Jiangxi?"
Li Maofang replied: "There are only one or two thousand soldiers who can fight, and the rest are newly trained soldiers. The navy suffered heavy losses in the summer, and I am afraid it is no match for the rebel sailors. Mr. Yang has hundreds of soldiers in his hands."
The elites are all warriors from the north."
"Only one or two thousand soldiers to fight?" Ding Kuichu was so shocked that his vest went cold.
Li Maofang sighed: "There are more than 10,000 new soldiers, and they have only been trained for two or three months. The Luling Zhao thieves are notorious, and these new soldiers may not dare to fight with them."
Zhang Bingwen suddenly said: "Zhang Yinggao, the prefect of Guangxin, has five thousand soldiers in his hands and is currently suppressing the bandits in Nanfeng County. He can be ordered to send troops to attack Jishui and go straight to the rear of the Zhao bandits. This will have the miraculous effect of encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao."
"This plan is feasible," Li Maofang asked Wu Shiliang again, "What does the old gentleman think?"
Eighty-five-year-old Wu Shiliang, sitting there seemed to be about to fall asleep. He half-squinted his eyes and said: "When we find out the truth, are the hundreds of soldiers in the hands of Mr. Yang still there? If they are, Fengcheng County must
Rescue. If they are not there, there is no point in rescuing them. Those hundreds of soldiers are the key, they are the only elite soldiers in Jiangxi! Without those soldiers, Nanchang will be in the pocket of the rebels. When will they be taken away?
It just depends on Thief Zhao’s mood.”
This truth made everyone speechless for a moment.
"Poof!"
Zhang Bingwen suddenly slapped the table: "Yang Jiamo, this thief, is so good, he went to rebel against the thief's territory and plundered it, and turned the situation into this!"
At this moment, the governor's attendants stood at the door.
"Commander Fu, urgent military situation."
"Come in and talk."
The attendant bowed into the room, bowed his hands to everyone, and said, "A messenger from Fengcheng County has come to report, and there is also a gentleman named Wang Tingxuan who wants to see you."
"Bring them all in." Li Maofang said.
Not long after, Wang Tingshi and the messenger entered the room together, and all the officials stood up and bowed.
Wang Ting tried to salute in return and said excitedly: "My lords, I heard that the rebels have surrounded Fengcheng. My Wang family's property is all in Nanchang. Please allow the governor and the princes to allow me to pay for the recruitment of two thousand soldiers to guard Nanchang City."
Everyone was overjoyed.
Li Maofang took Wang Tingshi's hand and said, "With the public's help, Nanchang will be worry-free."
Wang Tingshi said righteously and solemnly: "It's just your duty to defend Sangzi."
Although Wang Tingshi resigned from office and lived idle, he was a local gentry and was willing to recruit two thousand soldiers to help fight the war, so he was immediately regarded by many officials as one of their own.
Wang Tingshi stayed to observe such an important meeting.
Li Maofang asked the messenger: "How did you get out of the city?"
The messenger replied: "The county magistrate rewarded me with twenty taels of silver and sent more than a dozen messengers to go out of the city in baskets at night. I didn't know about the other messengers. I swam quietly across the moat and went to the riverside day and night.
I spent five coins on the way to Nanchang by boat."
"Is Mr. Yang's servant still there?" Wu Shiliang suddenly asked.
The messenger replied: "Some damage has been done, but there are still three or four hundred left."
The messenger handed over the letter, and the officials carefully inspected it and found that it was indeed the seal of the magistrate of Fengcheng County.
The messenger knelt down and kowtowed: "Masters, please quickly send troops to rescue Fengcheng!"
…
Fengcheng County, city tower.
Yang Jiamo, the commander-in-chief, and Xie Longwen, the county magistrate, were sitting across from each other in the city tower eating.
No matter what the grudge is, they are all grasshoppers on the same rope, and they have temporarily reached cooperation.
How to cooperate?
Write a letter to trick the governor into bringing troops to rescue him!
If the governor is told that Yang Jiamo's retainers have been destroyed, the governor will definitely not send troops. Only if the retainers are still there, the governor will have the motivation to rescue, because he will have to rely on those retainers to fight in the future.
"Alas, my official career has come to an end." Xie Longwen sighed.
Even if he can win the battle by writing a letter asking for help and deceiving the governor, he will definitely be hated by Li Maofang, and impeachment on any charge will make him lose his official position.
Yang Jiamo sneered and said, "Save your life first."
Suddenly, there was a commotion on a section of the city wall in the north. They thought there was a rebellion, so they quickly put down their chopsticks and ran to check.
It was Xie Longwen who spent money to recruit soldiers, and the enlistment fees of the city defenders were withheld. At the same time, the previously recruited local warriors also took the opportunity to make trouble because their monthly rations were also withheld.
Yang Jiamo went straight to the county government office, hacked the master to death with a knife, and came back with his head raised and shouted: "I have killed the person who deducted military pay, and he will be paid in full tomorrow!"
When the county magistrate, Dianshi and the chief registrar saw the master's head, they were trembling with fear.
Because of the deduction of military pay, the three of them were also involved.
That night, the three of them gathered for a secret discussion.
"How about surrendering?"
"The three of us have done evil... we have a bad reputation, and I'm afraid we'll be tried by the traitor."
"Dedicating the city is a meritorious service, and the merit can be offset by the crime. If the city is breached by rebels, it will inevitably die."
"Last time Huang Yao entered the city, he only looked at the head of the county magistrate, and asked us to help maintain law and order. Rebellious thieves are reasonable, and they will definitely be able to get rid of their merits."
"Yes, yes, General Huang Yao is very reasonable. He is also outside the city this time."
"This city cannot be defended. Sooner or later it will be captured by the rebels."
"How many confidants can Lao Liu mobilize?"
"More than forty."
"Then Yang Jiamo is very skilled in martial arts, so he must be killed in a plan."
"Who can get the poison?"
"let me try."
"..."
Yang Jiamo and Xie Longwen did not wait for reinforcements from the governor. Instead, Zhang Yinggao, the prefect of Guangxin, and Cai Bangjun, the prefect of Fuzhou, received letters from Li Maofang to besiege Wei and rescue Zhao.
Cai Bangjun was promoted very quickly. He became a Jinshi in the first year of Chongzhen and became the prefect in the fifth year of Chongzhen.
This old man did nothing else and concentrated on cultural and educational work. He also recruited scholars to compile "Fuzhou Prefecture Chronicles".
Until the Nanchang religious bandits made such a fuss that they occupied the county seat, he finally recruited local warriors to suppress the bandits and invited Zhang Yinggao to cross the government to help in the suppression.
Just a few days ago, Zhang Yinggao led more than 4,000 troops, and Cai Bangjun led more than 2,000 troops. They finally wiped out the Nanfeng sect bandits, and only a few dozen esoteric believers fled into the mountains.
"Dan Ru Gong, do you want to send troops?" Cai Bangjun felt guilty, because the Luling Zhao thief was too famous.
Zhang Yinggao sighed and said: "The general army is under siege, so we can't just sit back and watch. What's more, we are not going to fight the main force of the rebels, but to lead the troops to raid Jishui County. The purpose of sending troops this time is not to attack the city, but only to enter the jurisdiction of Jishui County."
, just force the main force of the rebels to withdraw from Fengcheng."
"Let Dan Rugong make the decision in everything." Cai Bangjun didn't know how to fight at all. Without Zhang Yinggao's help, he would not have dared to annihilate the religious bandits by himself.
Zhang Yinggao actually had a huge headache. Li Ruolian, who was framed and demoted by Li Maofang, was the elder brother of his classmate and friend. They grew up together, and Zhang Yinggao and Li Ruolian were brothers and sisters. In terms of personal feelings, Zhang Yinggao wanted to strangle Li Maofang to death. Even in terms of public feelings, Zhang Yinggao wanted to strangle Li Maofang.
, Zhang Yinggao also wanted to impeach Li Maofang, but the governor was really such a bastard.
However, he can only help now, otherwise Nanchang will be in danger!
Officers and soldiers from Guangxin and Fuzhou prefectures sent out together by waterway, down the Chongren River, turned into the Wujiang River on the way, and penetrated Jishui County from behind.
Surround Wei and rescue Zhao.
(I have something to do this afternoon, so there are only two updates.)
