Chapter 486: Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting in action, the ruthlessness of Emperor Chongzhen
West of Dengfeng, at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain, on the banks of Yingshui River.

Lu Xiangsheng has returned from Kaifeng Prefecture and joined the main force of the Tianxiong Army.

He used a trick to seize Dengfeng City yesterday and successfully incorporated hundreds of thousands of soldiers under Gao Jie, greatly increasing the strength of the Tianxiong Army.

One of the four new towns in Jiangbei newly formed by the Ming Dynasty court: Xizhen has 1.5 million new army soldiers, led by Gao Jie and Liu Liangzuo as deputy commander.

It turned out that these two men were fierce generals under the rebel leader Gao Yingxiang.

However, this guy Liu Liangzuo is the black glove of the Hou family, a powerful family in Jiangnan, and the master behind the scenes is Hou Xun, the leader of the Donglin Party.

As early as when Chongzhen ascended the throne, Hou Xun, who realized that chaos was about to occur, began to make arrangements for his family’s backup plan and vigorously supported Zuo Liangyu and the bandit Liu Liangzuo, two chess pieces, one open and one hidden.

Unfortunately, the rapid rise of the Fuxing Army founded by Li Dingguo disrupted the original historical process to a certain extent, which invisibly affected Hou Xun’s layout and made his calculations almost useless.

Fortunately, both Zuo Liangyu and Liu Liangzuo were born with extraordinary luck and good fortune. With the strong support of the Hou family, they now control a town of new troops respectively, which greatly increases the confidence of the Hou family.

However, Zuo Liangyu, the general of the New Army’s Nanzhen, seems to want to disobey the Hou family and break away from the control of the Donglin Party represented by Hou Xun.

However, Zuo Liangyu was insidious and cunning. In order to continue to obtain a large amount of financial and material support from the Jiangnan families after taking control of the military power of Nanzhen, he still appeared to be obedient to the Donglin Party on the surface. He did not make a clear statement and loudly declared his independence. This was a typical example of how he wanted to take advantage of the other party’s continuous benefits.

Unlike Zuo Liangyu, Liu Liangzuo, who came from a bandit family, successfully instigated Gao Jie, a talented general of the rebel army who had cheated on Li Zicheng, to defect with his wife and hundreds of thousands of soldiers when he left the rebel army.

Then, the two bandit leaders Liu Liangzuo and Gao Jie, under the manipulation of Donglin Party bosses such as Hou Xun, successfully cleared their identities and were promoted to the powerful positions of chief and deputy general of the Xizhen New Army.

From these outrageous actions, we can see how much power the Donglin Party represented by Hou Xun controls behind the scenes.

They can easily confuse right and wrong and push their own agents to power, even if the other party is just a rebel who has surrendered.

After Li Dingguo’s rapid rise and rapid development, Liu Liangzuo, who had infiltrated the bandit army and gained a good position, did not develop as expected.

After the rebel alliance broke through Huangzeling, Liu Liangzuo instigated Gao Jie, and the two of them each led more than 100,000 rebel soldiers, quietly broke away from the rebel alliance and established their own regime, and then accepted the imperial court’s amnesty.

After the Ming Dynasty moved south, Liu Liangzuo and Gao Jie were strongly supported by the Hou family and were able to serve as the commanders of one of the four new armies in Jiangnan. They rose again with enormous power and became the dignitaries of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

Unfortunately, they were unlucky. When the Ming court’s water transport was cut off and they were forced to move south, Emperor Chongzhen unexpectedly had a miraculous encounter in the Qianqing Palace in the northern capital. He decided to revive the Ming Dynasty and prompted the revival army to start crossing the river and heading south ahead of schedule.

Neither Gao Jie nor Liu Liangzuo could have imagined that Lu Xiangsheng, a fussy and upright guy, would suddenly stab their Xizhen army in the back after leading his troops to decisively evacuate Luoyang City.

Because the Tianxiong Army’s backstabbing was quick and sudden, Dengfeng, an important garrison site in the western town, easily fell into Lu Xiangsheng’s hands.

The commander of the Xizhen New Army who was guarding Dengfeng City was suddenly killed by Lu Xiangsheng himself, and he successfully took over the hundreds of thousands of New Army soldiers stationed there.

After taking Dengfeng City, the Tianxiong Army not only solved the problem of rapidly expanding the number of soldiers and officers, but also obtained enough money and food for the army to use for a year. It was able to completely recover and swept away the decadence of voluntarily abandoning Luoyang City and retreating south, and the morale of the army was greatly boosted.

After Lu Xiangsheng quickly occupied Dengfeng City, he did not stay in the city for long because of the pursuit of the Fuxing Army.

According to the agreement with Sun Chuanting, he set out with his army from Dengfeng City the next morning and arrived at the Yingshui River near Shaoshi Mountain at noon, where they joined the large fleet that was transporting Prince Fu’s family.

“Brother, do we have to split into two groups?”

Lu Xiangguan said to Lu Xiangsheng in front of him, “I think the large fleet that Prince Fu’s family is on should be escorted south to Nanjing by a lieutenant general leading a team of 10,000 people.”

“There is no need to mobilize a large army. We should dispatch 50,000 soldiers and have Hu Dawei lead them to Nanjing.”

“We can take a boat south from Yingshui River. There is no obstruction to both land and water. We can directly reach the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and then go down the river to Jinling. There is no need to worry about Prince Fu’s family being in danger.”

“Today, the areas on both sides of the Yangtze River are under the control of the Ming Dynasty. With the support of Prince Fu, safety can be guaranteed.”

He really couldn’t understand why his elder brother attached so much importance to Prince Fu’s family.

The brothers had already completed their mission by escorting Prince Fu and his family here safely.

Even if Prince Fu and his men encountered an accident on their way south to Nanjing, they could only blame it on their bad luck.

The Fuxing Army’s pursuers are behind them, and the crisis faced by the Tianxiong Army has not been resolved yet. In addition, they have to annex Gao Jie’s troops next. This is the time when they need people, but now they are transferring 50,000 soldiers to serve as guards for the Prince Fu’s fleet. Isn’t this a waste of manpower?

“This……”

Lu Xiangsheng was in a dilemma when he heard this. “Prince Fu is your majesty’s uncle. If anything happens on the way south, we brothers will be blamed.”

“The safety of Prince Fu and his family is extremely important. Now that we have brought them here safely, we might as well send them off to the west and complete the beginning and the end.”

His personality is a bit like Yue Fei during the Southern Song Dynasty, which makes people admire him but also speechless.

Can’t tell whether it’s good or bad.

“General, I think Xiang Guan is right. No matter how important the safety of Prince Fu’s family is, there is no need to send 50,000 soldiers to escort them south, right?”

Yang Guozhu said, “Not only do we have to kill Gao Jie and Liu Liangzuo, but we also have to face the enormous pressure of the million-strong Fuxing Army and do our best to fulfill His Majesty’s trust.”

“Choose the lesser of two options. We should not dilute our forces now.”

These generals were quite impressed by Lu Xiangsheng, but some of them did not agree with his old-fashioned and loyal character.

“That’s…ok.”

“Everyone is right. I was making a big deal out of nothing.”

Lu Xiangsheng thought about it and decided to adopt everyone’s opinion. He called a trusted general and allocated 10,000 Tianxiong Army soldiers to lead the general to escort Prince Fu and his family south to Nanjing with the large fleet.

After the large fleet quickly disappeared downstream, he immediately ordered the army, which had already formed up, to march out and rush towards Ruzhou City in the south.

We must race against time to kill Gao Jie and Liu Liangzuo, who are entrenched in Ruzhou, before they discover any abnormality, and take over the more than one million Xizhen officers and soldiers to help Your Majesty’s plan.

……

Northwest of Fengyang Prefecture, outside Bozhou City, a dusty army, advancing by land and water, had just arrived at the large wharf on the south bank of Feishui. Sun Chuanting’s 300,000 troops evacuated from Kaifeng Prefecture, escorting the Zhou King’s family, without stopping for a moment, directly passed through Guide Prefecture and entered the Bozhou territory of Fengyang Prefecture.

Since they had to capture and clear out a large number of towns in the Central Plains, the Fuxing Army could not advance recklessly like Sun Chuanting did. They could only watch as Sun Chuanting escaped from their pursuit and led 300,000 Jin troops and one million soldiers, and with the help of a large fleet he had raised, left Henan unscathed.

Except for Sun Chuanting himself, and a very few people such as Lu Xiangsheng, Huang Degong, and Lu Jiude, no one could have imagined that Sun Chuanting’s target would be directly aimed at Liu Zeqing’s troops in Yangzhou.

To resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the internal situation. This was the purge plan formulated by Emperor Chongzhen.

In order to eliminate internal troubles, Chongzhen decided to burn his bridges this time and spare no effort to regain military power.

Anyway, with the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, even if we lose the vast territory north of the Yangtze River, it will be worth it as long as we can take back the military power of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

“Commander.”

Sun Jian, a fierce general under Sun Chuanting who was in charge of intelligence reconnaissance, rode a fifth-level peak spirit bird, a peacock, and landed in front of Sun Chuanting. He reported respectfully, “Three days ago, General Huang Degong, who was stationed in Luzhou and Chuzhou, led 1.5 million soldiers of the East Town New Army to Nanjing, preparing to cooperate with the Yongwei Battalion led by Zhou Yuji and Lu Jiude to launch a major cleanup of Nanjing City in order to fully control the Jiangnan region!”

“Intelligence from all sides shows that Zuo Liangyu, who is entrenched in the Huguang region, has not made any moves so far. He seems to be indifferent to the great changes that are about to take place in Jiangnan.”

“As long as Zuo Liangyu, who now has two million soldiers, does not get involved, your majesty’s plan will surely succeed.”

Sun Jian is a servant of the Sun family. He is loyal to Sun Chuanting. His bravery is not inferior to most of the geniuses of the same level. He is also good at both civil and military affairs. He is one of Sun Chuanting’s most trusted generals.

“That’s good!”

“The best news is that Zuo Liangyu is keeping his troops on hold.”

“This guy is the military pillar of the Donglin Party on the surface. I think he has long had ulterior motives and is ambitious. Sooner or later, he will escape the control of those Jiangnan families.”

Sun Chuanting, who looked haggard, perked up after hearing this and let out a long sigh, “God has mercy on us! God will not let down those who work hard!”

“Your Majesty has been working hard to govern the country for the past year. If the great things you have painstakingly planned are successful, even if our Ming Dynasty loses the entire Jiangbei region and gives it to Li Dingguo’s Fuxing Army, there will still be great hope for our Ming Dynasty to rise again in the future.”

“At worst, Your Majesty can govern across the river from the Restoration Army, start over, and revive the prestige of the Ming Dynasty.”

Although Sun Chuanting was cruel and ruthless, his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty was evident to all and could not be questioned.

China is too vast. Even if the Ming Dynasty can only dominate the Jiangnan region in the future, it still has vast territory, abundant resources, and many entrances, and there is great potential for development.

Of course, the prerequisite for the Ming Dynasty to rise again is to eliminate the cancer of the Jiangnan aristocratic families within the dynasty and quickly and stably restore internal order and people’s livelihood.

Although it is extremely difficult to achieve your Majesty’s goal, judging from the current development of the situation, the chances of success are high and it is totally worth taking the risk.

“Ajian, go to the city and inform the governor of Bozhou that our army will not enter the city to rest. After replenishing some food and supplies, have the soldiers immediately re-board the ship and go straight down the Yangtze River, then use the convenient waterway to bypass Yangzhou and capture Liu Zeqing’s troops in one fell swoop!”

Sun Chuanting’s face turned grim, and a fierce light flashed in his eyes. “If the officials and gentry along the way don’t cooperate and cause trouble for us, their houses will be confiscated!”

His reputation as “Sun the Barber” was not gained in vain, but was built on the bones of many officials and gentry families.

In the past few years, he has ordered many officials and gentry to have their properties confiscated and their families exterminated, and he has a great notoriety.

At the critical moment of the rise and fall of the country, Sun Chuanting will show no mercy to anyone who dares to trip him up.

He has expanded his elite army to 500,000 people, which is not comparable to ordinary officers and soldiers. He can be compared with the world’s strongest armies such as the Tianxiong Army and the White Spear Army.

If they can’t deal with the aggressive Fuxing Army, can’t they deal with those Jiangnan aristocratic families who are disunited and each cares about their own business?

“Yes! Commander!”

Sun Jian excitedly took the order and left, then led an army of 100,000 into Bozhou City, using both soft and hard tactics to collect military supplies and food from the officials, gentry, and wealthy merchants in the city.

Under the high pressure of Sun’s army, as long as those officials, gods and wealthy businessmen were not stupid, they would not dare to openly disobey orders. They could only swallow their anger and raise a large amount of food and supplies to “consolation the troops” and swallow their anger.

There was no way out. Sun Chuanting had a bad reputation. As long as they didn’t dare to rebel, they could only sacrifice their money to save their lives.

Half a day later, the Sun family army, having replenished its military supplies, boarded the treasure ship and continued to sail south amid the forced smiles of the Bozhou officials and gentry who came to see them off, leaving behind a chorus of curses.

……

“Wang Chengen!”

In the Imperial Study Room of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Chongzhen Emperor, who had just come out of confinement, looked indifferent as he ordered his confidant, “Go and cooperate with Lu Jiude. Within three days, clean up the Imperial City thoroughly for me!”

“Especially Wang Dehua, Che Yingkui, Wang Yongzhao, Gao Qiqian, these traitors, don’t spare any of them!”

Chongzhen, who had suddenly come to his senses and gained powerful military force, went from one extreme to another.

He had had enough of the filthy imperial city.

Now that the time has finally come for action, he will not be soft-hearted.

“We will obey your order!”…

The divine sense detected the unfathomable aura emanating from Emperor Chongzhen, which made Wang Chengen, Lu Jiude and others feel a chill in their hearts, and they quickly obeyed the order in a respectful voice.

Although they did not know why His Majesty had suddenly risen up recently and his cultivation had become so powerful, this was definitely a good thing for them who were loyal to him.

Zhou Yuji, who had received the secret decree earlier, had led 100,000 soldiers from the Yongwei Camp to tightly blockade the entire imperial city, so that not even a fly could fly out!
It has to be said that Chongzhen’s decision to start with the eunuchs and palace maids in the imperial city was undoubtedly correct.

In the past, the imperial city was full of leaks and was infiltrated by civil and military officials like a sieve. There was no secret at all.

If one wants to take control of the entire Jinling City, the first place to be cleansed is inside the imperial palace.

Only by eradicating these scoundrels can we launch the next big plan.

(End of this chapter)