Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 267
On the official road, in the morning, Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo and others, with more than a hundred cavalry guards, rushed towards Luomeng Pass.
Bai Wenxuan brought back the news of the Ming court's offer of amnesty two days ago. Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu immediately announced that they would go to the Ming court alone. Although Sun Kewang was still unwilling to accept the offer, he had no choice at this time.
Sun Kewang attacked Gui Province without authorization and suffered two defeats in a row. The Western Army in Bozhou City was in danger.
At this time, Li Dingguo and the other two declared that in order to find a way out for the Western Army, they were willing to risk their lives to go to the Ming court. If Sun Kewang still refused to go, he would probably lose the support of the Western Army.

Even if he wanted to lead the Western Army to evacuate Bozhou under the pretext of re-establishing the Great Western Empire, not many people in the Western Army would follow him.

Sun Kewang thought about it again and again, and finally agreed to go to the Ming court with Li Dingguo and others to participate in the negotiations.
Sun Kewang and his entourage arrived outside Luomeng Pass and were soon discovered by patrolling Ming army cavalry scouts.

Sun Kewang and his party were stopped on the official road. Soon, more than 2,000 armored cavalry came and surrounded Sun Kewang and his party. Then they escorted the Western Army to Luomeng Pass.

Although the Ming court called it an escort, Sun Kewang and others knew that this was actually the Ming court showing off its military power to them.
Sun Kewang looked at the red-armored cavalry around him, and the more he looked, the heavier his heart felt.

On that day, they were just looking from the top of the city wall and could not see the details of the cavalry. But now, following in the team, the situation of the Ming army was also visible to the Western Army.

These two thousand cavalrymen all rode Liao horses, wore cloth-covered iron armor, black iron helmets, and were equipped with bows and swords. At first glance, they were the elite among the elite.

In the heyday of the Great Western Empire, there were also 7,000 to 8,000 cavalry, but none of them could match the momentum of the cavalry before them. The two thousand sets of uniformly regulated armor alone were enough to overwhelm the Western Army.

According to Bai Wenxuan, the Ming army's cavalry was obviously far more than these. Although Sun Kewang had not seen anyone from the Ming court yet, his heart had already sunk to the bottom.

The group soon arrived outside Luomeng Pass. At this time, the area outside Luomeng Pass had become a military camp. There were camps everywhere under Luomeng Pass. Sun Kewang looked at the teams of elite soldiers passing by on the road and finally fell silent.

Bai Wenxuan was not lying. The Ming court actually sent tens of thousands of elite troops here. Sun Ke knew in his heart that the Western Army might have no choice but to accept the amnesty.

The Ming court was now in a position to crush them, just like when they besieged the Ming court's capital city, the city was about to fall, and even if the people in the city sent wine, food, gold and silver out of the city to beg for mercy, how could they give up?

Luomeng Pass, in the courtyard hall, Zhu Lang sat at the top, and all the ministers of the Ming court were in the hall at this time
On the left are Qu Shisi and Fan Yan, below them are military officials such as Jiao Lian and Ma Bao, and below them are civil officials such as Zhang Huangyan. The seats on the right are empty.

Sun Kewang and the others were quickly led into the hall. After entering the hall, they just bowed their hands in greeting, without paying homage. After the courtesy, they immediately looked up at the young man in the dragon robe.

Seeing this, Qu Shisi on the left snorted coldly. These Western bandits are really unreasonable.

Zhu Lang had no reaction to this. The two sides were enemies before. It would be strange if Sun Kewang and others came to pay their respects.
But these people can't hold out for long. Once they accept the banner of the Ming court, they will have no say in the future.
Zhu Lang looked at the four people below, thought for a moment, and then spoke

"Which one is Little Yuchi?"

Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu looked at each other below, and after a moment of silence, they stepped forward, bowed and said
"This is a nickname given by the soldiers in the army. Don't take it seriously. I am Li Dingguo, and I am honored to meet His Royal Highness Gui, the Regent."

Zhu Lang looked at the tall, silent young man below him, and a hint of curiosity flashed across his face. He looked at him for a while before continuing to speak.

"If you are not really brave and heroic, who would dare to call yourself Yuchi, Li Dingguo, Anbang Dingguo, what a good name"

Qu Shisi, Jiao Lian, Ma Bao and others below were all stunned when they heard this. Then they looked carefully at the tall young man in black arrow clothes in the hall.

To stabilize the country is not something that everyone can take on.

After Zhu Lang finished speaking, he looked at the remaining three people and said

“Who is Liu Wenxiu?”

"I am Liu Wenxiu, and your Highness Gui, the Regent, is here."

Upon hearing this, Liu Wenxiu also stepped forward and bowed. Zhu Lang looked at the elegant young man in front of him and spoke again.

"Gentle and elegant, yet brave and strong, both civil and military, a good name"

When Qu Shisi and the others heard this, their expressions calmed down and they stopped looking at the two people in the hall.
After a brief thought, everyone understood the intention of His Royal Highness the Regent.

They had also read the internal situation of the Western Army reported by the Jinyi Palace. Among the Western Army, Sun Kewang was the eldest son and the most powerful. He was also the most unruly and extremely resistant to the court's appeasement. The sudden attack of the Western Army this time was forced by this man.
Why did His Highness skip Sun Kewang and go directly to Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu? It was because these two were the ones who were more inclined to accept the appeasement among the four generals of the Western Army.

If Your Highness does not praise these loyal people at this time, how can you praise Sun Kewang, the rebellious person?

However, Qu Shisi's thoughts were deeper. His Highness's praise would certainly not make Li Dingguo and the others loyal to the court.

But at this time, His Highness ignored Sun Kewang, the nominal leader of the Western Army, and instead praised Li Dingguo and the other two, which would inevitably leave a thorn in Sun Kewang's heart.
Once the Western Army surrenders, the imperial court can simply make a slight difference in the treatment of Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo. The two sides will probably no longer be united, and the imperial court can also take advantage of the situation to disintegrate the Western Army.

When Qu Shisi thought of this, a hint of admiration flashed in his eyes. His Highness made it difficult for the Western Army to unite with just a few words. His methods are really becoming more and more sophisticated.

The eyes of court officials such as Qu Shisi flickered slightly, thinking about how to completely disintegrate the Western Army in the future, but Zhu Lang did not think so much.
He deliberately skipped Sun Kewang. Although he also wanted to criticize him, he was more interested in Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu.

Li Dingguo is needless to say. Liu Wenxiu also devoted himself to the Ming court in his previous life and died for it.

In his previous life, Liu Wenxiu helped Li Dingguo defeat Sun Kewang. Li Dingguo took charge of the government, while Liu Wenxiu went out to govern Sichuan.
Sichuan and Shu prospered under Liu Wenxiu's governance, but Li Dingguo began to doubt Liu Wenxiu.
At that time, Sun Kewang was in power and Li Dingguo was away from home. Now, Li Dingguo is in charge of the court and Liu Wenxiu is away from home. The two are so similar that Li Dingguo is naturally afraid.
Li Dingguo finally summoned Liu Wenxiu back to the court in the name of Yongli. Liu Wenxiu was not an ambitious person after all, so he finally chose to obey the imperial edict and return.
After Liu Wenxiu returned to the court, his military power was immediately taken away, and Sichuan and Shu also suffered a setback after losing Liu Wenxiu's control.
After Liu Wenxiu was stripped of his military power, although he still had the title and a high position in the court, he was no longer able to access real power.
Seeing the situation of the Ming court deteriorating under Li Dingguo's rule, Liu Wenxiu eventually became ill due to worry and anger and died in Kunming.
Before his death, Liu Wenxiu left a will suggesting that the court leave Sichuan and return to Qin. He also donated all the 160,000 gold in his cellar to serve as military pay for the Northern Expedition, contributing his last bit of effort to the Ming court. However, all this was ultimately in vain.

Sun Kewang was also very capable. He was able to raise hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a small corner of Yunnan Province and fight against the Qing Dynasty that controlled the entire Central Plains. Needless to say, his ability
But Zhu Lang saw this man's behavior and felt that he was probably not someone who would be willing to be inferior to others. Kings, princes, generals and ministers are all of a certain type. Once ambition grows, it will probably be difficult to curb.
Sun Kewang's most outstanding ability is his ability to govern a place, but Zhu Lang has an orthodox position in the Ming court, and what he lacks the most is civil officials who are good at governing.
If Qu Shisi is not enough, there is Yan Qiheng. If Yan Qiheng is not enough, there is Du Yinxi. Later, Zhang Jiayu, Zhang Huangyan and others can also be used. Zhu Lang is not too concerned about Sun Kewang. What Zhu Lang needs most now is a military official who can stand on his own.
Ai Nengqi moved his feet, waiting for the Gui Regent to come and ask his name, but Zhu Lang boasted to Liu Wenxiu for a few words, and did not care about the remaining two people, and directly ordered the four Western Army soldiers to take their seats.

Seeing that the Regent Gui ignored him, Ai Nengqi snorted coldly. Seeing that the Regent Gui was so blatantly splitting up the Western Army, Sun Kewang also had an unpleasant look on his face.

Sun Kewang looked at Gui Jianguo above him and said in a deep voice:

"My second and third brothers are all brave and valiant officers in the army, but our Western Army may not necessarily accept the Ming court's offer of amnesty at this moment. Your Highness may be praising us too early."

Zhu Lang chuckled when he heard this, and looked at Sun Kewang who looked serious below, and said

"If you don't want to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, are you planning to surrender to the Tartars? If you don't want to accept the imperial court's offer, why did you come here today?"

Sun Kewang's expression froze when he heard this, and he could only reply:

"The Tartars and our Western Army are mortal enemies, so there is no way our Western Army will surrender to the Tartars."

The Western Army sat down on the right. Sun Kewang glanced at the Ming court officials in the field, was silent for a moment, and then bowed and said

"The Tartars entered the pass and occupied the capital, slaughtering the people of the prefectures and counties of the Ming Dynasty. They are truly beasts and barbarians. The Tartars and my Western Army have a life-and-death feud. The Tartars are our common enemy. In this case, my Western Army is willing to form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty."

As soon as Sun Kewang finished speaking, Qu Shisi's face turned cold, and Fan Yan on the side spoke directly

"It's a call for appeasement, not an alliance. You wait for the Western Army..."

Fan Yan was halfway through his words when he was suddenly stopped by Zhu Lang, who was standing above him.
Zhu Lang looked at Sun Kewang below with a calm expression on his face and said

"If Zhang Xianzhong were still alive and the Western Army had not been defeated in Xichong, the Western Army would indeed be qualified to form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty. But now you and these remnants of the army are not qualified to negotiate terms with me."

Zhu Lang looked indifferent. Sun Kewang looked at the indifferent young man above him, and his heart suddenly sank.

Just from Gui Jianguo's reply, Sun Kewang had already discovered that Gui Jianguo of the Ming court was arrogant and overbearing, and was probably not prepared to negotiate with them.
Sun Kewang wanted to refute, but he didn't know how to start. The Western Army had just been defeated and couldn't win on the battlefield. No matter how much you said, it would be useless. Sun Kewang and others were born as bandits, but they understood this principle better than anyone else.

There was silence in the hall for a while. Zhu Lang did not speak, and Sun Kewang was unwilling to give in.

There was silence for a while, then a figure on the left side of the hall suddenly spoke

"General Sun, do you still remember me?"

Sun Ke looked across the street and saw a middle-aged man in a Qilin military uniform, gesturing in this direction.
Sun Kewang looked at the middle-aged man and found him more and more familiar. Then he looked surprised and couldn't help but said:

"You are Gao Yigong, General Gao... Why is General Gao here?"

Gao Yigong was Li Zicheng's brother-in-law, while Sun Kewang and others were Zhang Xianzhong's most capable confidants.

Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had joined forces to attack many times. Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo and others knew Gao Yigong. Sun Kewang looked at Gao Yigong's robe and was shocked, but he had already guessed it in his heart. Sure enough, the next moment, Gao Yigong spoke.

"It is Gao. As for why I am here?"

"We, the Shun Camp, have now surrendered to Your Highness and have been named the Loyal Camp by Your Highness. This time, we are accompanying Your Highness to personally lead the expedition into your city."

Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu were also shocked when they saw Gao Yigong, who was wearing a bright red official robe, sitting opposite them.
That was Shunying. Before Zhang Xianzhong proclaimed himself emperor, he even surrendered to Li Zicheng. But now even the remaining troops of Shunying have surrendered to the Ming court.

Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu were originally hesitant about surrendering to the Ming court. After all, they were Western bandits, and no one knew the Ming court's true attitude towards them.
But at this moment, the two of them suddenly felt relieved. If Lian Shunying was safe and sound after surrendering, then their Western Army would naturally be fine. They did not kill the emperor of the Ming Dynasty!

Gao Yigong saw the four people looking shocked and continued to speak

"After our Shun Camp was defeated and fled to Huguang, the Tartars also offered us high positions and generous salaries to persuade us to surrender, but none of the generals in our Zhongzheng Camp were willing to surrender."

"Although our Loyalty Camp was once a bandit, we also know the righteousness of the world. Those who are not of our race must have different hearts. These Tartars are the greatest threat to the world."

"The Tartars are invading the south and are encroaching on the Central Plains. This is just like the old days of the Song and Jin dynasties. Although we are not as good as Yue Wumu, the barbarians are spying on us and the Han Dynasty is in danger. How can we, the Han army, continue to kill each other here?"

"The four generals are also heroes in the army. If they can serve the court, drive out the barbarians for our Han family, and protect the people, it will not be difficult for them to leave their names in history in the future."

Gao Yigong looked at Sun Kewang and the other three opposite him with an enthusiastic look on his face, but his clenched hands in his sleeves were already full of sweat. He had been practicing this speech for two consecutive days, and fortunately, he finally did it right.
Gao Yigong secretly glanced at His Majesty the Regent above him, and found that His Majesty the Regent was also looking at this place with admiration on his face, with a moved look, without any flaws.
Gao Yigong couldn't help but sigh in his heart, otherwise how could he say that someone else was the Regent?
After Gao Yigong finished speaking, he sat back in his seat and silence returned to the place.
At this time, Sun Kewang saw that everyone in the field was feeling pressured. Gao Yigong's personal testimony had forced them into a corner. Before Sun Kewang could figure out how to respond, Gui Jianguo above him had already spoken.

"General Gao is right. The Tartars are now the biggest enemy of the Han people. This is why I am trying to pacify all tribes in the world."

"The conditions I offer you in the Western Army are the same as those in the Loyal Camp. The rewards for your generals will remain unchanged. If you are willing to follow the court's orders and allow the court to send military supervisors to the camp, then the court will be responsible for all logistics and food supplies for the Western Army in the future."

"If you do not want the military supervisor to enter the camp, the court will give you 2,000 shi of grain for the West Camp every month, but you will also need to send soldiers to the court to serve. You can choose which method you want."

Sun Kewang's face relaxed slightly after hearing this. After thinking for a moment, he said:

"We need to transfer soldiers to the court for service, and also to protect the court in Bozhou from the Qing invaders. Two thousand shi of grain is too little."

Zhu Lang looked at Sun Kewang below, and a flash of understanding flashed through his mind. Sun Kewang was indeed a hero. At this time, he did not think twice and directly chose the second way of appeasement, doing everything possible to maintain the independence of the Western Army.

Zhu Lang had completely given up the idea of ​​recruiting Sun Kewang. His face was calm as he spoke.

"When did I ever tell you to stop the Qing invaders? Besides, you can't stop the Qing invaders!"

"The one who entered Sichuan this time is Prince Su Haoge of the Qing Dynasty. You met him in Xichong. You couldn't stop him in Xichong, and you won't be able to stop him in Bozhou either."

"Why do you think I came to Sichuan this time? It was to deal with this group of Tartars in Sichuan Province."

"After you pacify the Western Army, you can withdraw from Bozhou. The imperial guards will be stationed in Bozhou. The Tatars in Sichuan Province will also be dealt with by the imperial guards. You can just assist them."

Sun Kewang's expression froze when he heard this. It was obvious that Gui Jianguo looked down on their Western Army, but Sun Kewang was unable to refute it.
The main force of their Western Army had just been defeated by the Tartars in Xichong. They were no match for them even in their prime. How could they dare to say that they could stop the Tartars now?

Since they could not resist the Tartars, it would be difficult for them to bargain with the imperial court.
Although Zhu Lang belittled the Western Army, in fact, these people in the Western Army were extremely important in Zhu Lang's plan.

Zhu Lang had other plans for the Western Army, but he couldn't tell them the truth at this time, otherwise Sun Kewang would probably wait for an opportunity to raise the price.

Sun Kewang glanced at the three people below and found that Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu looked calm. He knew that these two people might have decided to accept the conditions of the Ming court.
Sun Kewang felt helpless, knowing that it would be difficult to oppose this matter at this time. Sun Kewang was silent for a moment, then he said

"Since the Western Army has surrendered, please release the generals detained by the court back to the Western Army camp."

"Can"

Sun Kewang saw that Gui Jianguo above agreed and continued to speak.

"The soldiers who retreated to Bozhou are all elite soldiers of the Western Army. Please ask the court to release them so that the Western Army can recover its combat effectiveness as soon as possible and serve the court."

“I can allow you this.”

Seeing that Gui Jianguo agreed to these two conditions so easily, Sun Kewang was moved. He originally thought that even if the Ming court agreed to these two conditions, it would probably take a long time to tangle with them. Sun Kewang himself was not sure how many soldiers he could get back in the end.

But at this time, Gui Jianguo agreed so readily, which was beyond Sun Kewang's expectations.
Sun Kewang's eyes flickered, and he wanted to propose some conditions to test the Ming court.

But before he could speak again, Qu Shisi above him suddenly snorted coldly and said

"General Sun, the court recruited you and other Western troops to gather the strength of all parties to drive out the Qing invaders, not because the court is helpless against you Western troops. Don't push your luck any further!"

Sun Kewang glanced at Qu Shisi above him. The old man was wearing a crane-shaped official robe and could sit in the first seat. He should be the Ming court official Qu Shisi that the envoy mentioned.
Sun Kewang glanced at Gui Jianguo above him, only to find that Gui Jianguo was also sitting quietly on the chair, no longer speaking. Sun Kewang also knew that this was probably the bottom line of the Ming court.

Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo and others looked at each other, then nodded slightly, and the four of them stood up and saluted.
"We, the Western Army, are willing to be recruited by the imperial court, serve Your Highness, and drive out the Tartars together."

Zhu Lang looked at Sun Kewang who was bowing his head below, and a smile finally flashed across his face.

Although he promised to return the captured soldiers to the Western Army, he did not say that he would hand them over to Sun Kewang, nor did he say where to hand them over.
Zhu Lang asked the four people to stand up and sit down. His eyes turned and he spoke

"Since you have joined the court, you are my people. I can tell you some things."

"The court came to the southwest this time, not only to deal with the Tartars in Sichuan Province, but also to solve the chaos in Yunnan Province."

"The rebellion of Sha Dingzhou, the chieftain of Yunnan Province, has disturbed the peace of Yunnan Province. At this time, the court must concentrate its energy on Sichuan Province, but it needs the assistance of the Western Army to quell the rebellion in Yunnan Province."

Sun Kewang was moved when he heard this and said

"Yunnan Province is in rebellion? The imperial court wants to send our Western Army to Yunnan to quell the rebellion."

"It is to assist the imperial court in suppressing the rebellion. The imperial court will send the imperial army to Yunnan to suppress the rebellion, and the Western Army will send some personnel to assist."

Zhu Lang had a dull expression on his face. At this time, Yunnan Province was in chaos because of Sha Dingzhou. Many prefectures and counties were slaughtered by Sha Dingzhou.

Whether it is the ordinary prefectures and counties or the chieftains of various tribes in the province, they all hope that someone can come forward to defeat Sha Dingzhou and restore peace to Yunnan Province.
In his previous life, Sun Kewang entered Yunnan under the name of the imperial court and was still supported by all parties in Yunnan Province. In this life, Sun Kewang is already a genuine official soldier. If Sun Kewang is really allowed to enter Yunnan under the name of the imperial court, it will be a disaster.
Zhu Lang led his men in Sichuan to resist the Tartars, but Sun Kewang wanted to hide in the rear in Yunnan Province to recuperate and restore his strength. What good things did Sun Kewang have in mind?
According to Zhu Lang's arrangement of the Western Army, Sun Kewang may never have the chance to enter Yunnan again in this life.

Zhu Lang thought of this and said

"The Western Army has just surrendered, but the camp needs a commander. This time, General Li and General Liu will lead the troops into Yunnan and follow the imperial army to Yunnan to quell the rebellion."

Sun Kewang thought for a moment, but suddenly stopped talking. He turned his head to look at Li Dingguo and the other person below, and everyone's eyes also fell on Li Dingguo and the other person.
Li Dingguo and the other man looked at the crowd, their expressions changed slightly, and seeing that Sun Kewang remained silent, they stood up and responded after a moment of silence.

The imperial court does not allow the entire Western Army to enter Yunnan, so there is no possibility for the Western Army to get involved in Yunnan Province. In this case, let Li Dingguo and the other two go. Don’t these two want to surrender to the Ming Dynasty? Then let them have a taste of surrendering to the Ming Dynasty.

Sun Kewang sneered in his heart. Helping to suppress the rebellion?

Once they enter Yunnan Province, Li Dingguo and his soldiers will probably become cannon fodder for the Ming army. There will always be casualties in suppressing a rebellion. If Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu want to be loyal subjects of the Ming Dynasty, then let them go and he will not get involved.

Li Dingguo and the other man stood up to respond. Zhu Lang then discussed with Sun Kewang and others about sending troops and withdrawing from Bozhou, and then everyone left.

Sun Kewang and his men had reached an agreement with the Ming court on the matter of appeasement, but they did not dare to stay for long. All the armies in Bozhou City were waiting for news from the four men. If they returned too late, they were afraid that some trouble would arise.

Even sending a message back would not work. If they sent someone to send a message back, it would probably cause more chaos. Only if the four of them went back in person could the troops in the city be reassured.
Sun Kewang and his companions entered the city in the morning, and in the afternoon they left the city and returned to Bozhou, along with a thousand dan of rice, which was a token of sincerity from the Ming court.
The four Western Army soldiers returned to the city to report to the Ming court about the rebellion. The officials in the Ming court also began to arrange to enter Yunnan to quell the rebellion.

(End of this chapter)