The rebels' victory on the borders of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces shocked the imperial court. Emperor Jiajing was so furious that he urgently ordered all the troops to join forces, and ordered the admiral Zhang Zhen, the minister of Guangdong and Guangxi, and the commander-in-chief Pingjiang Bo Chen Gui to mobilize
Army. In February of the 41st year of Jiajing, Zhang Zhen asked for the secondment of 100,000 "Wolf Soldiers" from Guangxi to join the officers and soldiers of Guangdong, Fujian, and Jiangxi, and mobilized a total of 300,000 troops.
In June, the famous anti-Japanese generals Liu Xian and Yu Dayou were ordered to lead the army in six routes to encircle and suppress the "Feilong Kingdom" rebels. In July, Hu Zongxian took control of Jiangxi and learned that the Feilong Army had deployed almost all its troops to fight, and Baisong Pass
The base camp was empty of troops, so Yu Dayou was ordered to attack quickly.
Yu Dayou agreed with this decision and said: "It is better to use hidden troops to attack his nest and attack him to save him. How can tens of thousands of people wander away from one man?" (See "History of Ming Dynasty? Biography of Yu Dayou"). So Yu Dayou got married.
He led the main force of 15,000 men and quickly attacked, and climbed to the highest peak of Baisong Pass to observe the terrain. He saw that the rebel barracks were surrounded by mountains for several miles. In addition, the mountains were lush with vegetation, so it was suitable to attack with fire.
Yu Dayou can be ranked alongside Qi Jiguang, and enjoys the reputation of "Yu Long Qi Hu", so he is naturally not an easy person. He commanded the army to strangle various intersections down the mountain and set fire to the mountain. In an instant, the fire raged and hundreds of military camps were burned.
He was engulfed and the Yellow House in Zhucheng was reduced to ashes. Then he sent his troops up the mountain to kill the remaining rebel officers and soldiers and even the family members of the thieves.
Zhang Lian was informed that his base was lost and hurried back to the army for rescue. However, Yu Dayou had predicted this, so he was ambushed by Yu Dayou on the way back and was severely frustrated. After that, Feng Gaomo, the deputy envoy to the inspection department, used heart-attack tactics and sent officers and troops to various rebel camps.
, to shake the morale of the army by shouting, shooting leaflets, issuing condolences (vouchers of surrender), etc. After all, Ming Dynasty orthodoxy was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so this method was quite effective. Several mid-level officers (Jiang Manqing, Li Fengshi, Guo Yujing) quietly rebelled, and Yu Dayou
He was also ordered to return to the camp and serve as an inside line. Within a few days, Yu Dayou planned to lure Zhang Lian to fight. The rebels suffered heavy losses again, and more than 1,200 of the main forces of Zhang Lian's army were killed on the spot.
In the 42nd year of Jiajing's reign, Luo Pao once again led the rebels to attack Yongding County from Jianzhu Pass (on the pass). During the attack, there was heavy rain and the river swelled, making it impossible to cross. When they withdrew, they were surrounded and attacked by the army.
Another disastrous defeat.
Lin Chaoxi saw that the main forces of the two groups had been defeated and that more than half of his own strength had been lost, so he asked Huang Jishan, the leader of another rebel army in Heyuan, to counterattack. Huang Jishan was killed by the army. Later, Lin Chaoxi's remaining troops were led by Ming general Xu Fuzai in the Yinna Mountain area.
wipe out.
At this point, Zhang Lian's three rebel armies were all defeated under the powerful offensive of the Ming Dynasty's official army.
It stands to reason that since Zhang Lian was destroyed, his story should have ended here. However, what Liu Wei said next made Gao Pangshi realize that things seemed to be really tricky.
The key trouble lies in whether Zhang Lian himself was killed or escaped.
I don’t know if Liu Wei is less defensive about people, or if Gao Jingshi seems to be “harmless to humans and animals”, but without even thinking about it, he told Gao Jingshi what he would do if he had to go to court.
When the gang goes online, it can even involve the serious matter of "crime of deceiving the emperor".
Liu Ping had a worried look on his face and said: "On that day, all Zhang Lian's troops were destroyed. My father and Yu Gong both wanted to fight for the victory of capturing Lian. Both sides sent troops to search and count, but my father was a little far away from Zhang Lian's troops at that time.
, only a group of Zhang Lian's soldiers were captured, but Yu Gong claimed that Jiang Manqing, the rebel general he recruited in advance, captured Zhang Lian, and then Yu Gong "brought him to the market"... But there seemed to be something else involved.
Hidden secrets.”
Gao Pragmatic also frowned and asked, "What's the secret?"
Liu Ling sighed and said: "I heard that after Jiang Manqing captured Zhang Lian, he intended to take credit for himself, and another rebel general Li Fengshi informed Duke Yu of Zhang Lian's capture, so Duke Yu sent troops to Jiang Manqing's stronghold.
Zhang Lian was kidnapped. At the same time, a fight broke out between the rebels and the Guangdong soldiers..."
Gao Pragmatic put his hand on his forehead, looking like he was "really screwed".
Liu Wei added: "The question here is, if Zhang Lian can be captured, according to the reward at that time, he can be rewarded with ten thousand gold and ten thousand households. After Jiang Manqing captured Zhang Lian, why didn't he immediately offer it to the army and stay in the village?
Robbery or even armed fighting between our armies? Judging from the situation at that time, all the officers and soldiers reported victory one after another in order to claim credit and receive rewards. Mr. Gao, countless people died in the war. Besides, neither the late emperor nor the ministers in the court had ever seen Zhang Lian. Even if
It is not impossible to catch a random person who looks similar to Zhang Lian, kill him, and then report it. Therefore, my father has always believed that this matter may be a false report of military exploits to a large extent."
Gao pragmatic frowned and asked: "Don't talk about that for now, brother Zishou, let me ask you, what does your father say when he reports victory? What does Yu Gong say when he reports victory?"
Liu Wei was slightly embarrassed, but he still said honestly: "My father's report of victory only said that he had captured and killed hundreds of Zhang Lian's soldiers. According to their statement, Zhang Lian had died in the rebellion, and his body and head were nowhere to be found;
I have just said that Yu Gong's reward for victory was to capture him through counterintuitive tactics and then kill him on Yu Gong's order."
Gao pragmatic frowned and said: "For such an important imperial prisoner, Yu Gong did not surrender the prisoner to the imperial court, but punished him in a canonical manner in the capital? How could Yu Gong make such a mistake after being a general for many years?"
Liu Ling spread his hands and said: "The problem is that because of the robbery of Zhang Lian, there was a fight among the officers and soldiers, and even internal strife. Therefore, Yu Gong's explanation was that he must be killed immediately, otherwise it might cause greater trouble. Later, the court seemed to also
I accepted this statement.”
Oh, this is indeed a reason, but the question is... was the Zhang Lian captured by Jiang Manqing at that time the real Zhang Lian?
Gao Pangshi has always been a conspiracy theorist, and he feels that this matter may not be simple. For example, if the traitor general Jiang Manqing is a double agent, he pretends to surrender to the army, but in fact he only acts as a cover for Zhang Lian and claims that he has captured Zhang Lian.
Yu Dayou wanted to persuade Zhang Lian, but he was actually deceiving the officers and soldiers with a fake product. Since no one in the officers and soldiers had seen Zhang Lian, they probably believed him to be true. In addition, the officers and soldiers later had internal strife. In order to calm the situation, Yu Dayou
, did not bother to carefully check whether this Zhang Lian was the other Zhang Lian, and killed him first before talking about it, then the truth of this matter would be lost in history forever.
In this way, Liu Xian's report was "Zhang Lian died in the rebellion", and Yu Dayou's report was "Zhang Lian has been executed", but no matter who they said was right and who was wrong, Jiajing was already in poor health at the time.
It doesn't matter to the emperor - since the rebels are dead on both sides, where exactly and by whose hands does it matter? What he wants is to wipe out the rebels, and what he wants is that Zhang Lian is dead!
However, as Liu Xian's eldest son, Liu Wei had obviously heard Liu Xian's version of the battle, so he knew that Zhang Lian might not be dead at all!
Gao pragmatic blinked and looked at Liu Wei: "Are you suspecting that Cao Gan is Zhang Lian?"
"That's not true. Although I don't know Zhang Lian's exact appearance, the officers and soldiers knew some of his characteristics at the time. For example, he should have triangular eyes, but Cao Gan had a pair of leopard eyes.
Eyes." Liu Wei said: "The reason why I felt something was wrong when he mentioned Zhang Lian was because of Cao Gan's accent!"
"Accent?" Gao Pragmatic recalled slightly.
Liu Wei was impatient, and immediately said: "You know, Mr. Gao, my father was originally from Nanchang, and I can also speak Jiangxi dialect. Although Cao Gan speaks a northern dialect, he always has a bit of Jiangxi flavor. If it were someone else, maybe
I can’t tell, but I happen to be from Nanchang, where my ancestral home is.”