Chongqing government office, wing room.

Yang Sichang was in a daze holding the imperial newspaper in his hand.

Song Xuezhu, the former governor of Shandong, was transferred to the Ministry of War as the right minister of the Ministry of War, and Cheng Shiyi, the former right minister of the Ministry of Industry, was appointed as the governor of Shandong.

A seemingly ordinary adjustment disrupted Yang Sichang's mind.

On the surface, Song Xuezhu has been promoted and can serve as the right minister of the Ministry of War as the governor of Shandong. Everyone is satisfied. As for Cheng Chiyi, who can go from the Ministry of Works of Qingshui Yamen to serve as the governor of Shandong, everyone is also happy.

But Yang Sichang sensed a crisis.

Although he left the capital and became the commander-in-chief of the army, responsible for exterminating the bandits, Yang Sichang was still aware of all matters in the capital, and all of Yang Sichang's memorials were given directly to the emperor. If there was any news from the court, the emperor would also know it.

They tried to inform him of Yang Sichang in various ways, but this time the governor of Shandong was adjusted to Song Xuezhu, and Yang Sichang did not receive any news.

Song Xuezhu's identity is somewhat special.

Zhu Dadian, the former governor of Shandong, had great prestige in Shandong and stabilized the local situation. Especially when the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty entered the pass to fight, swept through Northern Zhili, and planned to enter Shandong, Zhu Dadian joined forces with Wu Zongrui, the governor of Jiliao, to forcibly

He defeated the Houjin Tatars and forced them to evacuate the pass and return to Shenyang. This is a huge achievement.

Unfortunately, the emperor was worried about the growing strength of the Denglai New Army, so he adjusted Zhu Dadian, who was close to Wu Zongrui and the Denglai New Army, and appointed Song Xuezhu, the censor of Shandong Province, as the governor of Shandong.

Yang Sichang knew very well that the purpose of the emperor's reuse of Song Xuezhu was to limit the continuous growth of Denglai's new army. Song Xuezhu was a chess piece of the emperor, specially used to deal with Wu Zongrui.

Before Yang Sichang left the capital, when he was in charge of the Ministry of War, he saw many memorials to impeach Song Xuezhu. However, the cabinet, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel suppressed these memorials. Many dignitaries in the cabinet, including the Minister of Personnel, knew that the emperor

With his attitude and the role of Song Xuezhu, no one would translate these memorials.

At that time, Yang Sichang fully supported the emperor's decision and secretly expressed support for Song Xuezhu.

There was no grudge between Yang Sichang and Wu Zongrui, and he was not familiar with Wu Zongrui, but he knew very well that Wu Zongrui's strength continued to grow, and he did not obey the orders of the emperor and the court. There was a hidden danger here. Over time, Wu Zongrui would definitely become uncontrollable.

The vassal town was the most worrying matter for the emperor, and it was also the source of the instability of the Ming Dynasty.

With this idea in mind, Yang Sichang supported Song Xuezhu several times. When Song Xuezhu was impeached, he also clearly supported Song Xuezhu, directly helping Song Xuezhu control the situation in Shandong, and intervening in many affairs in Dengzhou and Laizhou.

matters.

After leaving the capital, Yang Sichang was also concerned about the situation in Shandong and whether the governor of Shandong, Song Xuezhu, could really interfere in the affairs of Dengzhou and Laizhou, and whether he could really handle this important matter for the emperor and the court.

In his heart, Yang Sichang didn't care about the choice of governor of Shandong. He just understood the emperor's thoughts and expressed support for Song Xuezhu. In doing so, Yang Sichang could stabilize his position and control power for a long time.

Song Xuezhu suddenly left Shandong and entered the Ministry of War as the right minister, which touched Yang Sichang's sensitive nerves.

Through some means, Yang Sichang found out why Song Xuezhu was reorganized, because Fu Zonglong, Minister of the Ministry of War, disclosed many memorials about Song Xuezhu's impeachment. The Ministry of Personnel expressed support for this, and the cabinet proposed to the emperor based on the suggestions of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel.

Adjusting the suggestions of the governor of Shandong, the emperor accepted the cabinet's opinions.

Strictly speaking, although Song Xuezhu was impeached, he was transferred to the capital to serve as the right minister of the Ministry of War and was promoted and reused. The emperor still insisted on his decision in this regard and did not treat Song Xuezhu badly.

Fu Zonglong, Minister of the Ministry of War, was directly recommended by Yang Sichang. On such a major matter, there was no letter and no notification of Song Xuezhu's adjustment, which made Yang Sichang feel a crisis.

Yang Sichang was still a cabinet minister. As a cabinet minister, he also served as the commander-in-chief of the army. But after all, he was far away from the capital and did not know the affairs of the capital. He did not know many matters of the cabinet and the Ministry of War. Although the emperor had edicts and letters, they could not be fully displayed.

Cabinet posture.

If you stay far away from the center and don't know the affairs of the DPRK and China, you will definitely be squeezed out and unable to participate in any affairs of the DPRK and China over time.

This was the matter that Yang Sichang was most worried about, and the Minister of War, Fu Zonglong, whom he personally recommended, also changed his attitude and did not report such a major matter.

What's more important is that Your Majesty, Yang Sichang, who is a cabinet minister and military commander, knows nothing about such an important matter. What does this mean?

This forced Yang Sichang to reflect on why such a situation occurred.

Perhaps the instability of the situation in the Central Plains is the biggest reason.

Yang Sichang was unwilling to do too much analysis, or even to guess whether someone in the cabinet was trying to plot against him. The emperor's ambiguous attitude was a strong dissatisfaction with the chaos in the Central Plains.

The rogue bandit Li Zicheng had been attacking Luoyang Fucheng for some time. Documents obtained by Yang Sichang showed that Li Zicheng slowed down his attack on Luoyang Fucheng. This should be because Li Zicheng was not strong enough to capture Luoyang Fucheng.

The situation in Luoyang made Yang Sichang slightly relieved.

The situation in Sichuan made Yang Sichang crazy. The terrain in Chongqing and Kuizhou Prefecture was too complex, with numerous mountains and steep terrain, which was not conducive to the army's operations. Although Zhang Xianzhong had taken measures to attack Chongqing Fucheng, he had not yet launched an attack on Chongqing Fucheng.

Attack, which made Yang Sichang, who was guarding Fucheng in Chongqing, anxious.

Only by completely defeating and annihilating Zhang Xianzhong could Yang Sichang move to Henan and annihilate Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai.

The situation of being unable to advance or retreat made Yang Sichang angry, but he had nowhere to vent.

The white-pole soldiers under Qin Liangyu had already stationed in Chongqing Fucheng. Qin Liangyu also provided a lot of food and grass to ensure the expenses of Yang Sichang's army. However, Qin Liangyu did not agree to send troops to pursue and encircle Zhang Xianzhong. After all, the terrain in Chongqing and Kuizhou Prefecture was too

It's complicated, and if a large army goes to encircle and suppress it, it may not necessarily have a good effect.

Qin Liangyu has been in Shizhu County for a long time, and most of the sergeants of the Baigan Army are locals. They are familiar with mountain warfare and know the hardships of fighting in the mountains and forests. Qin Liangyu believes that the army may not be able to win if they attack to annihilate Zhang Xianzhong and his bandits.

Fighting in these places is very difficult to supply food and grass, and consumes a lot of money. It is better to stay in Chongqing Fucheng, wait for Zhang Xianzhong to attack, and seize the opportunity to completely defeat and annihilate Zhang Xianzhong.

Qin Liangyu's suggestion was completely correct. Yang Sichang could not overturn or refute it, so he could only wait for the opportunity.

...

Two days later, an urgent document arrived in Chongqing Fucheng again.

When Qin Liangyu entered the wing, he saw Yang Sichang, whose face was pale.

"General Qin, this is the document I just received. Zhang Xianzhong and his bandits are preparing to leave Sichuan and head towards Huguang..."

Qin Liangyu was stunned for a moment, then looked at Yang Sichang with a comfortable smile on his face.

"I would like to congratulate you sir. Zhang Xianzhong must have been impressed by your majesty and did not dare to attack Chongqing Fucheng. He had no choice but to flee to Huguang."

Yang Sichang was not in the mood to listen to such compliments. He looked at Qin Liangyu and spoke directly.

"General Qin, Zhang Xianzhong has more than 100,000 rogues under his command. The team is huge. Since he fled to Huguang, I must catch up with him. I hope General Qin can support him and go to Huguang together with me to encircle and suppress Zhang Xianzhong.

..”

Qin Liangyu did not hesitate, clasped his fists at Yang Sichang and spoke.

"Your Majesty's orders must be obeyed by my subordinates. I have a suggestion. Chongqing Fucheng needs sergeants to garrison it. The troops in the towns in Sichuan are not enough. I will leave some sergeants to temporarily garrison Chongqing Fucheng to protect Chongqing Fucheng."

Yang Sichang looked calm. He believed that there was no need to garrison many troops in Chongqing Fucheng. If the imperial army left Chongqing Fucheng and Zhang Xianzhong heard the news and took the opportunity to besiege Chongqing Fucheng, he could lead the army to rush to help quickly, which would instead be able to surround Zhang Xianzhong's main force.

Completely annihilate it.

"General Qin, I think that Chongqing Fucheng does not need to leave too many soldiers to garrison. After such a long time, I actually hope that Zhang Xianzhong can attack Chongqing Fucheng, so that the imperial army can fight Zhang Xianzhong face to face and surround the rogue bandits.

I and General Qin have led the army to leave Chongqing Fucheng and want to publicize it vigorously. It is best to let Zhang Xianzhong know the news, so that I may be able to seize the opportunity to completely wipe out Zhang Xianzhong and the bandits under his command."

Qin Liangyu quickly understood Yang Sichang's intention.

"Your Excellency's suggestion is very good. I have never thought that while your Majesty led the army to be stationed in Chongqing Fucheng, Zhang Xianzhong delayed launching an attack, and now he plans to flee to Huguang. Your Excellency simply evacuated Chongqing Fucheng and leaked the news.

Go out and lure Zhang Xianzhong to attack Chongqing Fucheng, so that your Excellency can lead a large army to come back for reinforcements and be able to surround Zhang Xianzhong..."

Yang Sichang nodded. In front of Qin Liangyu, his plan had nothing to hide.

"General Qin, this is what I mean. We will lead the troops to pursue Zhang Xianzhong to see if he really wants to leave Sichuan and enter Huguang. If Zhang Xianzhong is going around in circles with us, then we will look for opportunities to completely annihilate Zhang Xianzhong and his family.

The bandits under his command."

...

In just one day, the entire army was assembled.

When leaving Chongqing Fucheng, Yang Sichang looked back at the tall city walls. When he led the army to rescue Chongqing Fucheng, it was actually the intention of the emperor and the court. Now it seems that the decision of the emperor and the court was wrong. If there is a future battle, the emperor and the court will

If the imperial court wants to get involved, it will really be a big trouble.
Chapter completed!