On the north wall of Wuyin Temple outside the south gate of Tongcheng, Huang Wending looked at the city tower in the night with a gloomy expression.
Although the city tower was so dark that nothing could be seen clearly, Huang Wending clearly knew that there was a yellow flag with the word "王" flying there. Under the yellow flag was the constitution plate of Anchi Bingbei Road, and the gate of the city was covered with Bingbei Road Yamen signs.
A notice of peace of mind was issued.
When the yellow flag was originally raised, they didn't feel it was any different from the previous recruitment. Then news came that thousands of Chizhou soldiers had crossed the river, and some said they had arrived at Liantan Town.
What happened next made him dumbfounded. The subordinate officials of the Yamen who had taken refuge with them disappeared without a trace. After the news of Chizhou soldiers' arrival in Liantan was confirmed, the common people who followed them in groups not long ago also disappeared. It seemed that
In the blink of an eye, no one was optimistic about them anymore, and the good situation took a turn for the worse.
"Brother Huang, let's just divide the money and let's go our separate ways and settle down elsewhere to become rich."
Huang Wending glared at him. It was Zhu Zong again. After he slowly walked over, he slapped him with a round slap in the face. The slap made Zhu Zong spin around twice and fall to the ground.
Huang Wending pointed at Zhu Zong and said angrily, "Where are you going? The brothers here are all natives of Tongcheng. They have families and relatives, and their relatives and friends are here. If you ask everyone to leave their hometowns with money, you are taking advantage of green skinned people from other places. Everyone wants one.
A good place must be together to be a good place. If you think like you do, the trees will fall and the hozens will scatter in a moment, waiting to be arrested one by one by the Yamen and questioned."
Zhu Zong covered his face and said bitterly, "It doesn't matter, but we are so at odds with the Yamen, neither recruiting people nor running away, I always feel panicked."
Wang Guohua came over and said to Huang Wending, "Zhu Zong's words are somewhat reasonable. Such a dilemma is the worst thing. Wang felt that the Yamen's recruitment today was rather perfunctory, and only allowed everyone to return to his hometown and take care of his own livelihood.
, but did not say whether we can be exempted from the crime of murder and arson. How can we feel at ease if we are recruited like this? Wang Mou is even more worried about what their perfunctory purpose is. Could it be to delay the time and wait for the Chizhou soldiers to come."
Huang Wending waved his hand impatiently and said, "Their dog officials are perfunctory. I don't want to recruit them yet. Now my brothers and I have food and money, and we can live happily together in a stronghold. The king of heaven and I can't control us. Once the stronghold is dispersed, those dogs will
The government will definitely divide and destroy it, how can we live such a good life."
Wang Guohua lowered his head and sighed softly, "But this is not a long-term solution. The first thing we want to do when we rise is revenge. Now that the big revenge is over, recruiting peace is our retreat. Furthermore, whether recruiting peace or not, we must have a definite place to go.
If you want to get good recruitment terms, you need to spend money to find connections with various officials..."
"Those dog officials are delusional." Huang Wending shouted, "The tens of thousands of taels of silver here are earned by our brothers' hard work. How can we take advantage of those dog officials?"
The accomplices below agreed one after another, and some clamored for a share of the money.
Huang Wending waved his hands and said: "The silver has been divided once, plus what we each grabbed, the old brothers have one or two hundred taels, which is enough to settle their families. We won't divide the rest for now. We still need to make weapons and armor. As long as the armor is strong, the soldiers will be strong.
There is nothing anyone can do.”
Wang Guohua buried his head and waited for their voices to become quieter before saying, "Otherwise, give the money to the common people to share some. I haven't led the common people to plunder the big houses for a few days. When the Chizhou soldiers came, the people no longer supported them, so the yamen had the upper hand and gave it to the common people."
With some money, we can create some excitement in the city so that the Yamen can negotiate urgently."
Huang Wending laughed and said, "What advantage does the Yamen have? If the Chizhou soldiers hadn't come, both the prefect and the county magistrate would obey, and there would be no need for them to negotiate in a hurry."
Gu Xiaowu from behind echoed, "Those dog officials are the worst. As long as Brother Huang is here, we are not afraid of them and we will not give those dog officials a penny."
Everyone echoed again and praised Huang Wending, but Wang Guohua had no choice but to remain silent.
After everyone calmed down, Huang Wending turned and walked towards the temple gate, "They thought the Chizhou soldiers could scare me, but I was not satisfied with them. However, the mountain here in Wuyin Temple is too small and there is no danger to defend. We can't stay here. Tonight we
So I moved to Yunji Temple. There was only one mountain road there. I saw how the Chizhou soldiers could attack it. If I was afraid, they would talk slowly. Everyone worked hard for a long time and went to Yunji Temple to drink and eat meat!" (Note 1)
The crowd cheered and followed Huang Wending into the temple gate.
Wang Guohua frowned and looked at their backs, shaking his head slightly with a gloomy expression.
More than two hundred core members of the rebellion came down the mountain. Since they received a large amount of money, they recruited blacksmiths from all over the country and made a variety of weapons. At least what Pang Yu saw was snake spears, pumpkin hammers, hooks and sickles.
, two-handed swords, etc., but the most practical and cheap spears are rarely seen.
Pang Yu withdrew his gaze in the darkness. Opposite him was Gu Xiaowu. Since joining the vanguard general, Pang Yu had also obtained the rank of Zuo Shao Guerrilla among the thieves. He would come to Wuyin Temple to meet with Gu Xiaowu almost every night.
Some thieves also recognized Pang Yu.
Gu Xiaowu told Pang Yu, who had just arrived, on the roadside, "Brother Pang will have to work harder in the future. We are moving to Yunji Temple, which is about ten miles away, and there are still hundreds of steps to go."
Pang Yu felt his legs weak after hearing this. How could he go there every night, but he had to contact him every day to get enough information.
Just when he was wondering how to arrange it, Gu Xiaowu patted Pang Yu on the shoulder again and said, "Old brother is still reliable. The people from the yamen who took refuge a few days ago are no longer here. Only Pang Geer keeps his word."
At this time, Huang Wending happened to be passing by with a torch. When he saw Gu Xiaowu, he came over and held the torch in front of Pang Yu. Pang Yu suddenly felt the bright light and quickly covered his eyes.
Huang Wending said to Gu Xiaowu, "You are a good old brother. Even after the Chizhou soldiers came, they still reported to you every day. You are more loyal than those dog officials in the yamen."
Pang Yu hurriedly said, "That's all as it should be. Brother Xiaowu never forgot about me when he was in glory back then. How can you be a human being and forget your own righteousness and become a wallflower? Leader Huang is so complimentary."
Huang Wending laughed and slapped Pang Yu on the shoulder with such force that Pang Yu fell half a step forward.
Then he took out a ten-tael piece of silver from his arms and threw it to Pang Yu. Pang Yu didn't realize it for a moment. When he went to catch it, he failed to catch it and the silver ingot fell into the grass beside him.
When Pang Yu went to pick it up, Huang Wending had already left. Pang Yu quickly said goodbye to him. When Huang Wending walked onto the official road, Pang Yu squatted down and touched the silver ingot everywhere. Gu Xiaowu also helped touch it. Before he could find it, someone on the road
The sound of wheels.
When he raised his head, he saw seven or eight carriages passing by, with neat silver boxes placed on the carriages.
Pang Yu stopped and stared straight at the carriages, his eyes almost radiating green light in the night.
When the carriage passed by, behind it were oxen carts carrying grain, wine and meat. Pang Yu averted his eyes, lowered his head and searched silently on the ground for a moment, and finally touched the silver ingot.
Gu Xiaowu's eyes were a little moist, "Then I'll ask Brother Pang to run further away. Remember to tell me if there is any important news. There are only a few people who can get the news now. Pang Brother can get close to those adults, so the news will naturally be
The most well-informed. This will give me a lot of face with Alliance Leader Huang. This little money is not enough to repay me. When I have more glory in the future, I will definitely support Brother Pang."
Pang Yu agreed wholeheartedly. When Gu Xiaowu and others walked away, he rubbed the silver ingot in his hand and said softly, "This little silver is indeed not enough."
…
Five days later, the Chizhou military camp in Liantan town was reached.
Although the Chizhou soldiers were a ragtag group of people, Napan's guerrillas still had some skills. When setting up camp, they were forced to dig trenches and use sharp wooden stakes to build a layer of barriers. However, their tents were of various types and looked like a refugee camp.
.
Wang Gongbi stood on the trench wall, looking in the direction of Tongcheng, his eyes constantly changing. Standing next to him was an old man, who was a confidant sent by Zhang Guowei, the governor of Yingtian.
Wang Gongbi frowned and asked, "Mr. Ma, did you say that the one who first reported the matter of Tongcheng to the emperor was neither the governor of Yingtian nor the governor of Yingtian?"
"Exactly, Zhang Dutang also just got the news. Admiral Cao Jiang, Ma Shiming, reported the chaos a few days ago. The governor's office and the governor's office were extremely embarrassed. According to what I spent a lot of money to find out, Cao Jiang
The admiral even reported the names of those killed, Wu Bing and Yin Deng."
Wang Gongbi looked moved and said, "How could Ma Shiming know so clearly?"
The old man shook his head, "I don't know what Ma Shiming's plan was. Originally, Zhang Dutang and the Inspector Li had a tacit understanding, and they both planned to retaliate after the chaos was quelled. Who would have thought that Ma Shiming had taken the lead, but now time has not waited for us, and Wang Daotai cannot do it.
Stay here and wait for changes."
The Tongcheng Civil Rebellion had already shaken Southern Zhili, and defenses were being strengthened everywhere from Anqing to Nanjing. However, because of the long distance from the capital, the imperial court in the capital had not yet learned about it.
Wang Gongbi understood what the old man said. The idea of Governor Zhang Guowei and Inspector Li Tuanyou should be the same, that is, to quell the rebellion first and then report it, because Southern Zhili was the top priority of the Ming Empire. If the chaos was not settled before it was
The emperor learned that the anxiety in the emperor's heart was conceivable. Under this abnormal and anxious mood, the emperor was likely to impose excessive penalties, which would be detrimental to the governor. And the first report was
If the chaos has been calmed down, the emperor will already have confidence in his heart, but it is just a matter of watching the process, and there is no punishment.
Therefore, neither the governor's yamen nor the inspector's yamen reported the chaos, and kept waiting for Anqing to pacify or quell the chaos. Every time the Anqing government applied for details, it said that the recruitment was about to be successful, and sometimes it even said that the pacification had been completed, but the final verification found that the chaos was still there
In Jiezhai, even greater changes may occur at any time. After such a delay, Ma Shiming, the admiral of Caojiang, took the lead, making Zhang Guowei very passive.
Turning around to look at the group of soldiers and horses, there were thousands of people crossing the river from Chizhou. Many of them were gangsters, beggars, helpers and the like who were brought here to make up the numbers. Hundreds of them fled on the way and stayed at Liantan.
, Pan Keda deliberately dug trenches to prevent mobs from attacking the camp and to prevent soldiers from escaping. Even so, there were only five or six hundred people left.
The old man knew the combat power of Chizhou soldiers. Wang Gongbi was actually not completely sure that he could defeat the rebels. Because of the existence of those replenishing troops, these people often only harmed the people and had only negative effects on the battlefield. The Ming army was there.
On the battlefield, it is often not a defeat, but a collapse before it is touched. The larger the scale, the more disastrous the defeat.
The old man did not intend to be considerate of Wang Gongbi, and said seriously, "Zhang Dutang has strictly ordered that Wang Daotai cannot be delayed, and troops and horses must be deployed carefully to exterminate the Tongcheng rebels as soon as possible. The time is the number of months since the chaos began. I am in Anqing."
Just wait until the 23rd."
After he finished speaking, without waiting for Wang Gongbi's reply, he turned around and left the camp gate. Several attendants waited for him to get on his horse and headed towards Anqing.
Pan Youyi saw the old man walking away and came to Wanggong Bishen.
Wang Gongbi said coldly, "Pan Youqi, tell me the truth, are you sure you can defeat the Tongcheng rebels?"
Pan Keda hesitated and said, "Sir, according to what the spies said, Huang Wending's group actually has less than two hundred people. The only people in my camp who are good at fighting are the fifty or so warriors. In addition, there are twenty or thirty people who are very tall and strong.
We can use it, and the rest can only obey the restrictions. With nearly a hundred elites, we should be fully confident in defeating the chaos in the plains, but if we want to attack Yunji Temple, I'm afraid..."
Wang Gongbi cursed in his heart. The five prefectures of Nanzhili were equipped with troops, but in the end, there were only less than a hundred soldiers and horses capable of fighting. Nanzhili has always followed the guard system. Because of its inherent institutional flaws, the guard system
It has been on the road of collapse since the early Ming Dynasty, and by the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to collapse. For example, the more than 5,700 military households of the Anqing Guard have long since disappeared, and it is impossible to assume the defense function.
However, southern Zhili has been at peace for a long time, and military equipment everywhere is lax. It lacks the urgency of northern border defense. All the central tax revenue of the Ming Empire was used for the northern nine borders. This is also the financial basis for the nine borders to convert from a guard system to a recruitment system.
Every time the imperial court deploys troops, most of them can only be deployed from the nine sides. It is not that only the north can send out strong troops, but it is also closely related to the pattern of financial distribution.
Excluding the low administrative efficiency factor of the Ming Empire itself, this kind of financial allocation is also an important reason for the extremely weak defense of the mainland. The limited military expenditures have to be deducted layer by layer, and the generals have to eat some empty soldiers' blood, so the princes and officials are dignified.
Only when the army is well prepared will there be only a hundred soldiers ready to fight.
Fortunately, the thieves were not very powerful, and Wang Gongbi did not intend to pay attention to Pan Keda's difficulties. He was under tremendous pressure from the governor, and he had to pass the pressure on to the generals. He then said coldly, "Zhang Dutang strictly ordered Keqi.
To quell the chaos, Pan Guoqi, do you have any good ideas?"
Pan Keda was silent for a moment and then said, "It is difficult for the lower officials to annihilate the rebels alone, but they can join forces with the Tongcheng squires. The Jiang Chen who came yesterday was ordered by Fang Xiangguan. According to his wishes, their strength alone is not enough."
Put an end to the chaos.”
"But the rebels are now gathering at Yunji Temple. It's easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even with combined efforts, we may not be able to defeat it."
"Our army can pretend to retreat. As long as some of the thieves have left, I will lead the more than a hundred combatable soldiers to attack Yunji Temple. The squires can also effectively encircle and suppress the remaining troops. In this way, our army will not enter Tongcheng.
And chaos can be brought to an end."
Wang Gongbi pondered for a moment. He knew that Pan Keda's goal was not only to quell the chaos, but also to obtain the tens of thousands of taels of silver in Yunji Temple. Huang Wending's group had less than two hundred people, but Yunji Temple only had one mountain road, and it was indeed easy for them to guard the road.
It is difficult to attack. If we can disperse some of them, Chizhou soldiers will be more confident in attacking Yunji Temple.
"Liantan is still nearly seventy miles away from Tongcheng and sixty miles away from Yunji Temple. How can we know the movements of the rebellious people in time?"
Pan Keda said in a low voice, "Xiaoguan caught a thief. This person is a native of Liantan. When he returned to his hometown, he was reported to someone, and Xiaguan just captured him. This person was originally a gangster.
Seeing our Chizhou army coming, I wanted to join Xiaguan and get some rewards. I could ask him to return to Yunji Temple to find out the news, and then our army would pretend to withdraw to Anqing, but in fact, Xiaguan would lead elites to lurk nearby. Once the rebels dispersed, he would come immediately
Report."
Wang Gongbi thought for a long time and finally said, "Don't tell the Tongcheng Yamen, the subordinate officials there are unreliable. Let Jiang Chen go back and just tell the Tongcheng squires that I will only wait until the 20th of the eighth month. If the Tongcheng civil uprising is still not over by then, I will
The officials will not only send troops to Yunji Temple, but also go directly to Tongcheng County to clean up and suppress the remnants of the rebellious people."
...
Fang’s study room in Fengyili, Tongcheng.
After Fang Kongzheng heard the news brought back by Jiang Chen, he had been silent for half a quarter of an hour. Fang Zhongjia, Sun Lin, Jiang Chen, Jiang Zhihuai and others in the room did not dare to disturb him.
There was a soft pop on the wick of the oil lamp, and a small oil flower exploded. Only then did Fang Kongzheng raise his eyes.
"Zhongjia, are all the recruiters here?"
"Only forty people have arrived. The original plan was to have seventy people, but since Wang Daotai's strict order, we can't wait any longer. I estimate that forty people plus my servants and the healthy servants in the mansion can defeat Huang Wending in the plains.
A group of people."
Fang Kongzhen turned to the scholar Jiang Chen, "Did the Chizhou soldiers only attack Yunji Temple and not enter Tongcheng County?"
Jiang Chen cupped his hands and said, "They asked your Excellency to set a time. The Chizhou Soldiers Brigade will pretend to retreat, so that the thieves will relax their guard. As long as we lead the thieves down the mountain, they will take the thieves' nest in Yunji Temple to prevent the thieves."
Fu Chi. If Mr. Fang can defeat all the way down the mountain, Chizhou soldiers will not enter the county."
Fang Kongzheng nodded and breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "In this way, we can not only quell the chaos, but also avoid suffering from military disasters. For the sake of the people of Tongcheng, we must try our best to win."
Several people in the room straightened up. As Fang Kongzheng made up his mind, the long-planned operation by the Tongcheng gentry to quell the rebellion was about to be carried out.
Fang Kongzheng stared at Fang Zhongjia, "According to our plan, the next step is to lure the rebels out of the mountain. Has Zhang Bingcheng agreed to the strategy we decided last time?"
"He has agreed. As long as you give the order, brother, he will introduce Zhang Ru into the county in the name of recruitment negotiations. Zhang Bingcheng is the head of Zhang Ru's family, and Zhang Ru will not be on guard. As long as Zhang Ru is caught by then, the Yunji Temple thieves will think that Chizhou
The soldiers have left, so they must be emboldened, and they don't know that we are well prepared, so they must enter the city to rescue them."
Fang Kongzheng patted the table lightly, "We will ambush in the city and catch Huang Wending off guard. The most important thing in this matter is to attack him unprepared, and we must not let any news leak. Especially the subordinate officials in the yamen are unreliable, not even a few adults.
Tell me that we will ask Magistrate Yang for help when it is time to take action. We, the gentry, have been favored by the country for generations, and it is our responsibility to quell the chaos and protect the people. It is time for us to work hard to serve the country."
Several people stood up to express their opinions, and the atmosphere in the room was warm.
Fang Kongzheng looked calm and told them one by one to keep the information confidential and not to leak the information. After several people made repeated promises, they left.
After a few young scholars left, the study became quiet, with only Fang Zhongjia still there.
He said to Fang Kong Zheng, "Now that the Central Plains is in turmoil, the most important person in the imperial court who knows the military is the most important person. This time we all rely on the eldest brother's planning. If the chaos is quelled smoothly and the old friends in the court express their feelings, eldest brother will surely rise again."
Fang Kongzhen smiled slightly. His term of service had long expired, but the imperial court did not reinstate him. However, the Tongcheng civil uprising was a great opportunity for him.
As long as his contribution in quelling the rebellion is recognized by the local government, it will appear in the documents describing his contribution to quelling the rebellion, which will go directly to the cabinet, or even to Tianting, and when he is strongly recommended by old friends in the court and China, he will get twice the result with half the effort.
But there was still a flaw at the moment. Fang Kongzheng put away his smile and asked in a deep voice, "Did that person respond?"
"That man has promised to capture Huang Wending, but the rebels are now following Huang Wending's lead. He will look for an opportunity to take action. I'm afraid we can't wait for him to slowly look for an opportunity."
Fang Kongzhen said softly, "You must think of a way to tell him that if he wants to redeem himself through meritorious deeds, he must do it as soon as possible. If there is no substantial merit, no one can help him. You must force him to take action in advance, but you must not tell him the specific time. To prevent him from pretending to be a defector and get the news."
Fang Zhongjia agreed, then hesitated and said, "What if that person doesn't find the opportunity, fails to capture Huang Wending, and fails to intercept the silver..."
Fang Kongzheng walked half a circle in front of the desk, put his left hand on the table and tapped it lightly, "Then he must not be left alive." (Note 2)
…
Note 1: Zhang Guowei's "Fuwu Caoshu": (after Chizhou soldiers crossed the river) the evil party gathered in Yang and dispersed, harassing the villagers in Yunji Temple.
"Tongcheng County Chronicle": Yunji Temple is located in the trailer river. It was built by Baoyan in the Song Dynasty, rebuilt by Monk Yuguan in the Ming Dynasty, and destroyed by the army. It was rebuilt in the fifth year of Shunzhi
Note 2: "Tongbian Rilu": Guohua was a cunning person, and he was known by a certain gentry in the city for his bravery with fists... The thieves used to caress the important gentry, and the gentry used to caress the foolish thieves, and occasionally used the Guohua Picture and Wen Ding to redeem themselves.