Chapter 209 The Empress Dowager Learned to Pick Peaches
Chapter 209 The Queen Mother also learned to pick peaches
"Your Majesty, Wu Sangui has a strong army, yet he allowed the bandit army to flee into the Dabie Mountains. It is really too incompetent.
Although there are only remnants of the bandit army left, once they are allowed to cross the Dabie Mountains, it will be difficult for the troops stationed in Huaixi to defend them. I invite you to go and encircle and suppress them, vowing to capture the bandit leader Sun Kewang alive!"
"Well, then I will ask Zuo Aiqing to go to Huaixi Province and take charge of encircling and suppressing the remaining bandits in the mountains."
Faced with Zuo Liangyu's invitation to fight this time, Zhang Yan nodded and did not refuse again.
If those thieves are not completely eliminated, they will indeed be a disaster. They might come out at some point and loot the village and town, which will definitely cause panic throughout Huaixi.
"I obey the decree!"
Zuo Liangyu was overjoyed that the opportunity to make meritorious deeds finally came.
The next day, he led 30,000 new soldiers and rushed toward Huaixi.
Zhang Yan was still very relieved about Zuo Liangyu's ability. She knew that as long as Zuo Liangyu was willing to work hard, it would only be a matter of time before the rebels in the Dabie Mountains were wiped out.
Therefore, they were not too worried about the remnants of Sun Kewang's troops who had fled into the mountains. Instead, they had some headaches about Xiangyang.
According to her wishes, the rebel army was actually willing to surrender. In order to ensure the safety of the people in Xiangyang City and reduce the casualties of the soldiers, it was not impossible to pardon the rebel army's crimes. Xun'er also left a bunch of imperial edicts when he left, but think about it
I'm afraid I won't let him off so easily due to his temperament.
So it's not easy to make decisions on your own at the moment, but procrastinating like this won't be a problem after all.
Even if Zhang Yan wanted to ask someone about this matter, neither the civil servants nor the military would dare to express their opinions.
In the end, Zhang Yan thought about it again and again, and issued a single decree, guaranteeing that the court would not kill Liu Wenxiu and others after they surrendered, and would plead with His Majesty for a lighter sentence.
As for the imperial edict, she would not use it unless absolutely necessary.
After the eunuch who delivered the order left, Zhang Yan turned her attention to the New Deal. Although she was also concerned about the war in the north, she could only provide some money and food.
Xiangyang City.
Liu Wenxiu did not kill innocent people indiscriminately after entering the city, and usually tried his best to restrain his subordinates. At this time, Xiangyang City was almost surrounded by Wu Sangui and Zuo Mengeng, and it became a dead and lonely city.
However, there is sufficient food and grass in the city, and with the 20,000 troops and horses in hand, it is not a problem to hold on for two or three months, so Liu Wenxiu is not worried about being surrounded at all.
The 20,000 troops were all informed of the truth, so they did not panic, but patiently waited for the news.
Liu Wenxiu originally thought that the little emperor had gone to the grassland, and it would take more than a month at least for the results to come out. Who would have thought that in just half a month, the eunuch delivering the order would come.
But what he wanted was the emperor's imperial edict, not the edict of the Queen Mother Zhang Yan, nor was it a plea not to kill him, but a pardon.
So when he saw the eunuch who came to deliver the order, his brows were all furrowed and he couldn't accept or refuse for a moment.
"General Liu, with the Queen Mother's guarantee, what worries do you have? Don't skip the toast or eat the fine wine. Listen to our family's advice and accept the order quickly to express gratitude. Otherwise, if the delay continues, the Queen Mother will be furious and report directly to Your Majesty.
, but the power of God is unpredictable.”
The eunuch who came to convey the order was the great eunuch Lu Jiude. Apparently he also saw what Liu Wenxiu was thinking, so he persuaded her earnestly.
"All right!"
Liu Wenxiu hesitated for a while, but finally nodded. He still understood the principle of giving up when he was ready.
They also knew that their only support was to die together with Xiangyang City, but the little emperor was an immortal hero. If it really took too long, once he was angered, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people might not be as good as ants in his eyes, but instead
It will be counterproductive.
Now that Zhang Yan has agreed to intercede, I think the little emperor will not make his concubine look bad and kill her as soon as possible, so Wu Sangui will not dare to mess around.
Immediately, Liu Wenxiu ordered people to open the city gate and led 20,000 Western troops outside the city to surrender to Wu Sangui.
Sure enough, even Wu Sangui wanted to kill all 20,000 people and skin Liu Wenxiu and cramp him to get rid of the evil spirit in his heart.
But Liu Wenxiu had Zhang Yan's instructions, so he had to disarm them all and take them into custody, suppressing the anger in his heart.
"General Wu, the Empress Dowager ordered that Zuo Liangyu be responsible for encircling and suppressing the remnants of the bandit army. You are ordered to lead your army back to the north immediately and are not allowed to stay. As for these surrendered troops and generals, we will deal with them ourselves."
Lu Jiude was obviously disgusted and repulsed by Wu Sangui and these Northern troops, so he said in a somewhat harsh tone.
"I sincerely obey the Queen Mother's decree!"
Wu Sangui cupped his hands in the direction of Nanjing, his face twitching for a while. Seeing the Queen Mother rushing people away like this, he felt depressed in his heart.
After all, the traitor army in Xiangyang City was surrendered by the Queen Mother. Sun Kewang, who fled into the Dabie Mountains, obviously did not have his turn.
After working hard for so long, none of the three thieves were caught, and not much credit was gained. However, the responsibility for the fall of Xiangyang cannot be escaped.
Not to mention how uncomfortable I feel.
But the army entered Huguang, which meant that it was controlled by Zhang Yan at the same time. Now that the Queen Mother told him to get out, he really didn't dare to stay here and continue to encircle and suppress Sun Kewang.
Knowing that Huguang was definitely out of luck, Wu Sangui pinned all his hopes on Chuang Wang in the northwest.
The next day, he hurriedly led his army to cross the Han River north, and at the same time ordered all the former troops scattered in various places to withdraw to Henan.
In fact, Wu Sangui really didn't want to stay in Huguang. If he stayed in Huguang, he would not only have to be restrained by Zhang Yan, but he would also be easily jealous of His Majesty. How could it be as satisfying as returning to Henan and becoming a general who sticks to his word?
If Xiangyang was not under the control of the South, he would not need to report it at all and would have the full right to make the decision on his own. He could also pursue Sun Kewang without any worries, but Zuo Liangyu would take the credit away in vain.
After crossing the Han River, Wu Sangui felt a lot more relaxed as soon as he got off the boat, as if the shackles on his body were gone.
Lu Jiude also took Liu Wenxiu and other generals back to Nanjing. As for the ordinary soldiers, they were taken to Wuchang in batches for custody.
Five days later, all the former army battalions returned to Nanyang, and Wu Sangui led Zuo Mengeng towards Tongguan to kill.
Liu Zeqing and Gao Jie had been attacking Tongguan for nearly half a month. The tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers under them were almost defeated, and they still could not break through Tongguan. Seeing that Wu Sangui was about to return with his army, the two of them were anxious for a while.
"Brother Liu, we must not let Wu Sangui's grandson take away the credit for defeating King Chuang. Think of a way quickly."
"Brother Gao, why aren't you in a hurry? But Tongguan is easy to defend but difficult to attack. I'm afraid it will be difficult to break through with those soldiers. For the current plan, we can only borrow the road from Shanxi."
"Is...is this too risky?" Gao Jie hesitated.
"What a damn thing to be afraid of. The intruders are at the end of their rope. As long as our army marches into the northwest, people's hearts will be agitated and they will be the first to surrender!" Liu Zeqing said disdainfully.
"Okay, then please ask Brother Liu to sit in Tongguan, and I will lead the troops around Shanxi to attack Chang'an."
"Alas! Brother Gao has an old relationship with the intruder after all. It will be embarrassing when the time comes, so let me go."
"No, no, no, brother Liu, I have a big feud with King Chuang!"
The two of them suddenly got into an argument, each wanting to lead his troops to take a detour to Chang'an and capture the intruder alive.
Who would have thought that before the two of them could reach a conclusion, Wu Sangui's order came, telling them to stop attacking and stay where they were, waiting for the arrival of the army.
