Shang Yi is now the Tongzhi of Shandong Province and the garrison general of Dengzhou. He is only temporarily settling in Muling Pass. Moreover, he also plans to establish a base in the Yangtze River Basin. Therefore, there is no need to invest more money in Muling Pass. construction.
But Shang Yi knew that the Ming Dynasty actually had less than a year left, and this result was probably unchangeable. After the Qing army entered Beijing again, it would soon attack Shandong. Although Shang Yi planned to open a remote area in the south, New base area, but do not intend to give up the Shandong area easily, because it poses a great threat to Beijing from both land and water routes. Therefore, do not give up unless it is absolutely necessary. Even if only one login is retained, Prefecture is fine too. At least we can have a foothold on the Shandong Peninsula.
In this case, the status of Muling Pass became apparent. It is located in the middle of Shandong, connecting the north and south of Shandong. The terrain is difficult, easy to defend and difficult to attack. If it can echo with Dengzhou and use Muling Pass as a stronghold, Combining guerrilla warfare and city defense warfare in the Yimeng Mountains is a very good choice. Therefore, it is completely necessary to strengthen the defense of Muling Pass.
After careful consideration, Shang Yi finally decided to build Muling Pass into a purely military fortress, which would later become a stronghold of the merchant army in central Shandong. The scale of the pass did not need to be expanded, but the city wall had to be rebuilt. It doesn’t need to be too high, just over three feet. However, the European prismatic city wall structure will be adopted, supplemented by forts, watchtowers and other city defense structures.
At the same time, Shang Yi also decided to dig four tunnels in Guancheng leading to the outside of the city. On the one hand, it was to prevent the Qing army from contacting the outside world and obtain supplements and support after the siege. The soldiers in the city also have a safe way to retreat.
Of course, others did not think as far as Shang Yi, and they could not have imagined that Yi Jing of the Ming Dynasty would not live long. However, they did not object to strengthening the wall of Muling Pass. After all, this time they were dealing with the Qing Army's invasion of the pass. , it all depends on the fact that Muling Pass can be defended. Therefore, they all believe that if the Qing army attacks again, Muling Pass will still come in handy.
But for the prismatic structure of the city wall designed by Shang Yi, everyone was once again confused by Shang Yi's whimsical idea. Because China's city walls, unless restricted by terrain, must be boxy. I understand why Shang Yi designed the city wall to look so weird.
Although Shang Yi explained in detail to everyone the advantages of building the city walls into a prismatic structure, it was still a bit difficult to accept because Tang Zhen proposed that if he wanted to achieve the function Shang Yi mentioned, he would just build a horse face on each city wall. There is no need to make it sharp and angular.
Of course Shang Yi knew that the so-called horse face means that the walls of large cities usually have several protruding parts like gears, which are about a shot apart, thus forming a three-way blow to the attackers. In fact, it can reach the edge. The effect of the structural city wall.
However, compared with the prismatic structure city wall, if the horse surface is built too small, it will not play much role. If it is built too large, it will increase the cost of building the city wall and the number of troops defending the city. The most important thing is that the horse surface is also square. , will also leave a siege area for the siege side. Although this siege area is not large, there are also not many troops that can be stationed on the city, and it is relatively easy to be defeated. Although the foothold after capturing the horse surface The point is not big, and the defending troops can easily counterattack and recapture it, but after all, it leaves a loophole for the siege troops to take advantage of. You must know that in battle, any small detail can be fatal.
However, there are no obvious loopholes in the prismatic structure of the city wall. Even if the enemy only attacks the sharp corners, the companions on the other side can still support it. Therefore, when rebuilding the city wall, Shang Yi still chose the prismatic structure of the city wall.
In fact, Shang Yi's explanation was not completely convincing to Tang Zhen and others, but based on their habitual belief in Shang Yi, they still agreed with Shang Yi's opinion. And the existing city wall was not demolished, just outside the existing city wall. , began to rebuild, so that Mulinguan became a double city wall structure, and the defense was naturally stronger.
However, just when Shang Yi and the craftsmen were preparing to survey the terrain and determine the scope of the city wall, the official document urging him to send troops was sent to Mulingguan again. And this time not only the official document came, but also Chongzhen's imperial edict. Of course, in the imperial edict, Chongzhen did not blame Shang Yi, but praised him for his past achievements. He also said that the current national situation was critical and there was no need to delay, so he asked Shang Yi to send troops as soon as possible.
It turned out that on May 29th, Zhang Xianzhong captured Wuchang Mansion. The Chu King Zhu Huakui who lived in Wuchang was put into a cage by Zhang Xianzhong and sank into the river to his death. All members of the Chu royal family were also beheaded. It is said that at that time, from the parrot From Zhouzhou to Taoist Lao, the river was covered with floating corpses, a miserable scene. And the millions of taels of gold and silver and 200,000 shi of grain stored in the Chu Palace were all owned by Zhang Xianzhong.
Before that, Li Zicheng marched from Nanyang to Huguang in the eleventh month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen (1162). He defeated Zuo Liangyu who was stationed in Hubei, and retreated to Jiujiang, not daring to approach Hubei at all. One step. As a result, it only took more than three months for Li Zicheng to capture Xiangyang Prefecture, Jingzhou Prefecture, Chengtian Prefecture, Hanyang Prefecture, De'an Prefecture, Huangzhou Prefecture and other places. The entire vast area north of Huguang was occupied by these two Each of the bosses of the peasant army divided up half of it.
After Li Zicheng captured most of Hubei, he established his own political power in Xiangyang. Although he had not yet proclaimed himself king or emperor or established a country, he established himself as the Civil and Military Marshal of Fengtian, changed Xiangyang to Xiangjing, and established official positions. Later. Yi Jing began to compete with the Ming Dynasty.
While building the political power, Li Zicheng also launched bloody methods to eliminate dissidents, so as to monopolize power and establish his own absolute authority in the military. At that time, Li Zicheng's army actually consisted of three forces: Li Zicheng, Luo Rucai, Ge, and the Zuo Fifth Battalion. Although Li Zicheng was the most powerful, the other two groups should not be underestimated. So in March of the 16th year of Chongzhen (1163), Li Zicheng trapped and killed Luo Rucai and Ge, He Yilong, leader of the fifth left battalion, Ge, and the fifth left battalion. Another leader, Ma Huihui, fled to Hunan. Li Zicheng incorporated Luo Rucai's part and the other three battalions of the Gezuo Fifth Battalion. Then Li Zicheng sent troops to eliminate the Xiaoyuan Battalion operating in Henan, and the leader Yuan Shizhong was killed.
At this point, Li Zicheng owned the land of Henan and Hubei, had more than 500,000 troops, and had monopoly power, thus having the strength to conquer the world.
Although Zhang Xianzhong was not as powerful as Li Zicheng at this time, after capturing Wuchang, he incorporated some of Luo Rucai and Ge, the old troops of Zuo Fifth Battalion, which greatly increased their strength. He also followed Li Zicheng's example and established his own regime in Wuchang. Come. And he went one step further than Li Zicheng. He called himself the King of the West, took the Prince of Chu's Palace as his palace, and called the Ming Dynasty the Zhu Dynasty. At the same time, he was also quite arty, and he also played the game of opening up schools to get scholars, and even admitted students. He won the first prize, Jinshi, and was awarded an official position.
The two bosses of the peasant army began to develop in the direction of regularization. Under such circumstances, Chongzhen naturally could not sit still. At this time, the governor of Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting Shangshu, took the initiative to ask for war, and wanted to lead his troops eastward out of Tongguan and enter Henan.
There was no one available in Chongzhen. It was rare that Sun Chuanting took the initiative to ask for help. Naturally, he was overjoyed and immediately issued an edict to mobilize Sun Chuanting to go out and quell the invaders.
However, there are many officials in the court who believe that Sun Chuanting's departure from seclusion is a risky move, because Sun Chuanting's ministry is almost Chongzhen's last property. Once something goes wrong, not only is the seclusion in the pass unsafe, but it will also endanger the overall situation. Therefore, Sun Chuanting should stay temporarily.
Shaanxi is different. It depends on the results of Superintendent Wu Gong before making a decision.
However, Chen Yan, the chief assistant of the cabinet, strongly advocated Sun Chuanting's departure. However, he, Wu Di, and Zuo Liangyu formed a north-south attack, which was expected to defeat Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in one fell swoop. Of course, Chen Yan's actual purpose was to gain a share of Wu Di's power.
Credit.
But Chen Yan's idea was exactly what Chongzhen wanted, because at this time, Chongzhen was like a gambler who had lost all his money, putting all his money on the line as a last-ditch effort. Therefore, Chongzhen ignored everything else.
The minister objected, so he immediately issued an order to join Sun Chuanting as the Minister of Rites, and was changed to the supervisor, taking charge of the military affairs of Shaanxi, Sichuan and Henan. He was given Shang Fang a sword and led the troops out of the customs to join the war as soon as possible.
At the same time, Chongzhen ordered Wu Zong to garrison Luzhou and immediately begin to attack Li Zicheng. He also ordered King Zuo Liang to immediately return the army from Jiujiang to the west to attack Zhang Xianzhong. They worked together to suppress the bandit rebellion, and at the same time issued an imperial edict to Muling Pass.
He urged Shang Yi to send troops.
Moreover, in order to successfully annihilate the bandits this time, Chongzhen made many gestures. He once again issued the "Edict of Sin" and announced that Henan's five prefectures would be exempted from taxes for three years. However, in fact, Henan was no longer under the control of the Ming Dynasty at this time.
.And he also promised a reward: whoever captures Li Zicheng alive will be rewarded with ten thousand gold and a noble title; whoever captures Zhang Xianzhong will be awarded a top official position and will be hereditary commander of the Imperial Guard.
After Shang Yi learned the news, he couldn't help but sigh. This time Chongzhen really spent a lot of money, and the scale was much larger than in another time and space. Of course, if these three people can cooperate sincerely, they can do their best.
Although it may not be possible to wipe out Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in one fell swoop, it is still possible to ease the situation and allow the Shu Dynasty to survive for a few more years. But Shang Yi knew that he wanted Sun Chuanting and Wu Di to
Zuo Liangyu, the three of them work together, which is something they can't do with Ben.
It was already June 12, the 16th year of Chongzhen. The situation had developed to this point. Shang Yi also knew that it could not be delayed any longer and that it was time to send out troops. The date for dispatching troops was set on the 15th day of the sixth lunar month. Therefore, he informed the court
, the date of dispatching troops by oneself, while mobilizing troops and preparing to set off.
In fact, all the preparations in Muling Pass were almost completed at this time, and troops were fully ready to be dispatched. According to Shang Yi's plan, the second and third regiments, the cavalry battalion and two reconnaissance companies were dispatched first, with additional troops
There are one thousand auxiliary soldiers and fifty lieutenants, totaling about nine thousand people. They carry three thousand stones of food, each musketeer is equipped with one hundred and twenty rounds of ammunition, and each artillery is equipped with eighty rounds of ammunition, solid bullets and loose ammunition.
The fourth regiment will take half of the ammunition. Fifteen days later, the fourth regiment will set off on the road with supplies.
On the 15th day of the sixth lunar month, Guancheng also held a grand welcome ceremony for the departing team. Then the soldiers bid farewell to their relatives and embarked on the journey south.