Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 306 Loyalty
Shunqing and Li Dingguo rushed into the city with more than a hundred cavalrymen. Sun Kewang was overjoyed to learn that Li Dingguo and his men had returned, and immediately sent people out to greet them.

Before Li Dingguo and others left, Sun Kewang still felt that there were too many camps in the Western Army and it was difficult to command them. But when Li Dingguo and others really left, Sun Kewang suddenly felt stretched.
The Ming court won two great victories. Not only was Yang Wu, the general of the Central Army under Sun Kewang, captured, but also the three remaining commanders of the Five Armies of the Western Army, Wang Shangli, Bai Wenxuan and Feng Shuangli, were captured.

In addition to Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu, who were transferred away after they surrendered to the Ming court, almost all the generals who could take charge of the Western Army were transferred away by the Ming court.
After the capture of Tongchuan and Shunqing, the two prefectures and counties were adjacent to the Qing court and needed generals to govern and guard them. Sun Kewang soon found that the Western Army was short of manpower.

The Western Army was not short of brave generals, but it lacked generals who could stand on their own and fight both in the field and in battle. It was not until this time that Sun Kewang remembered the kindness of these old brothers.
At this time, Sun Kewang was overjoyed to find that Li Dingguo and others had returned.

In the lobby of Shunqing Prefecture, Sun Kewang, Ai Nengqi, Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu sat down, exchanged greetings, and soon reported their respective situations.
Sun Kewang felt a little depressed when he heard that Wang Shangli, Yang Wu and others were left in Yunnan Province.

The Ming court said that Yang Wu and others should stay in Yunnan Province, but in fact they wanted to separate Yang Wu and others from Sichuan Province and completely split the Western Army.

Li Dingguo and others were transferred back to Sichuan Province. They also understood that the imperial guards of the Ming Dynasty could not stay in Yunnan Province for a long time. The Ming army in Yunnan Province was insufficient. Therefore, even if the Ming Dynasty wanted to split the Western Army, it did not dare to leave all 6,000 Western Army in Yunnan Province. Otherwise, once the imperial guards of the Ming Dynasty left, there would be no one in Yunnan Province who could suppress the Western Army.

Sun Kewang thought of this and secretly thought it was a pity. It would be better if the Ming court only transferred the imperial guards back to the court this time.
In this way, when Gui Jianguo led his people to leave Sichuan Province, he could contact Li Dingguo and others in Yunnan Province and withdraw all the Sichuan West Army into Yunnan Province.
After the Western Army surrendered to the Ming court, although it temporarily obtained rice and grain and gained a chance to breathe, the situation it faced became increasingly worse.
Although the Western Army has occupied Shunqing Prefecture, the area it occupies is surrounded by the Qing Army in front and the Ming Army on the other three sides. If there is a choice, Sun Kewang would never want to stay in Sichuan Province.

If Li Dingguo and others could stay in Yunnan Province, Sun Kewang would be able to lead his troops to withdraw to Yunnan Province when the time was right.
By then, the imperial guards of the Ming court had already left, and Sichuan Province was threatened by the Qing army. As long as he submitted another memorial to admit his guilt, the Ming court would have no choice but to let it go.

As long as the Western Army can successfully join forces in Yunnan Province, the situation of the Western Army will change immediately. At that time, the Ming Army will be at the front, and the Western Army will rest and recuperate in the rear of Yunnan Province.
After they have accumulated some money in Yunnan Province for two or three years, they can revive the Daxi foundation in Yunnan Province.
It's a pity that there were also capable people in the Ming court who split up and transferred the Western Army of Yunnan Province in advance. At this time, there were only 3,000 people including Yang Wu in Yunnan Province. It was basically impossible to control Yunnan Province again.
Although the Ming court transferred 3,000 soldiers from the Western Camp back to Sichuan Province, it was clear that they had no good intentions either.
After Yunnan Province suppressed the rebellion, the Ming court must have seen the elite of the Western Army soldiers, but the Ming court obviously did not trust Li Dingguo and other Western Army generals, so it sent Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu and others back, preparing to take away the remaining soldiers and swallow up the thousands of elite soldiers of the Western Camp.

Sun Kewang looked at Li Dingguo and the other man opposite him, sighed softly, and said

"The Ming court has always been untrustworthy. They promised that if we surrendered, they would return the 6,000 Western Camp soldiers to us. But after we surrendered, the Ming court directly withdrew our elite Western Army soldiers and took them away."

"Don't be angry, second and third brothers. If we run out of soldiers, we can recruit more. With our abilities, as long as we work together, we can accomplish something great."

Li Dingguo frowned slightly when he heard this and said

"Brother, you may have misunderstood. Our military power has not been taken away. After we returned to Sichuan, His Highness received all the generals of our West Camp. Now that the war in Sichuan is about to end, we are ready to follow His Highness back to Guangdong Province and serve as the imperial guards."

Sun Kewang was stunned when he heard this, and then he looked at Liu Wenxiu who was looking embarrassed, and a flash of understanding flashed in his eyes.

Liu Wenxiu was obviously unwilling to follow the Ming court back to Guangdong at this time. The Ming court was really on high alert against these Western Army thieves.

At this time, not only did they want to capture the Western Army soldiers, they would not even let go of generals like Li Dingguo!

The Ming court said that it was going to transfer Li Dingguo and others to serve as imperial guards, but in fact it was going to take Li Dingguo and others away and then defeat them one by one.
When Li Dingguo and his men returned to Guangdong Province with the Western Army, they would probably be devoured without leaving a single bone.
Li Dingguo has always boasted of his loyalty. At this time, the Ming court must have threatened the Western Army and promised the so-called Ming imperial army as bait, which made Li Dingguo and others submit.
Sun Kewang felt relieved when he thought of this and said

"Don't worry, my second and third brothers. You can just stay in Shunqing without worry. Although we had no choice but to temporarily submit to the Ming court, the situation is different now."

"Now that the Ming and Qing are at war, the Ming court needs our elite Western Army to stop the Qing army in Sichuan Province. The Ming court is asking us for help and will never force our Western Army. Brothers, you don't have to worry about the threats from the Ming court anymore."

Li Dingguo frowned when he heard this, and then he said

"Brother, you misunderstood. We have not been forced by the imperial court. I am now the commander-in-chief of the imperial army, and my third brother has been appointed as the governor of Yunnan Province. He will be in Yunnan Province soon."

"We followed the court back to Beijing voluntarily and have never been threatened by the court. We returned to Shunqing this time to say goodbye to my eldest brother."

Sun Kewang was stunned when he saw the serious look on Li Dingguo's face. After a moment, Sun Kewang looked stunned and couldn't help but say:

"Second brother, third brother, why are you so confused? Have you not seen the true face of the Ming court yet?"

"When we surrendered, the Ming court said nicely that they would release us as long as we surrendered. But what happened afterwards? The Ming court directly transferred our elite troops from the West Camp to Yunnan Province to help the Ming court suppress the rebellion."

"The West Camp army suffered heavy casualties and finally helped the Ming court suppress the rebellion in Yunnan Province. Now the Ming court is saying that they want to transfer you to the imperial court to serve as the imperial guards."

"Don't you understand? The Ming court wants to drive our Western Army soldiers to work for the Ming Dynasty. When our Western Army soldiers are almost wiped out and have no value to the Ming court, it will be the time for the Ming court to get rid of them."

"The Ming court said nice things, such as the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards and the governor of Yunnan Province, but these titles are just empty names. They can confer titles on you today and take them away tomorrow. To the Ming court, they are just a piece of paper."

"How can my second and third brothers be deceived by these false titles? How can we trust the words of the Ming court?"

Li Dingguo looked at Sun Kewang, who looked sad, and frowned, but spoke in a deep voice:

"Brother, we followed His Highness back to the capital this time, not for the high positions and generous salaries in the Ming court."

"We have followed our adoptive father in the Central Plains for decades. When he was in power, we enjoyed all kinds of power and wealth. If we wanted to enjoy wealth and wealth, why would we take it from the Ming court?"

"This time, my third brother and I returned to Shunqing to lead our Western Camp soldiers back to the court to assist Your Highness in expelling the Tartars, restoring the Central Plains, and reviving our Han Empire."

Sun Kewang stared at Li Dingguo, who looked serious, for a long while, and then suddenly his face was filled with anger.
"Li Dingguo, are you crazy? You actually want to take the soldiers from the Western Camp with you. Do you want to use the lives of my soldiers from the Western Camp to serve the Ming court?"

Sun Kewang looked at Li Dingguo, who was standing opposite him with a serious expression, and felt that it was absurd. They had followed the old Wansui to rebel against the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years, killing princes and officials, and even burning the imperial tombs of the Ming court. Now Li Dingguo was talking about assisting the Ming Dynasty and restoring the Central Plains.

Sun Kewang couldn't tell for a moment whether he was crazy or Li Dingguo was crazy

Li Dingguo's expression turned cold when he heard this. He stood up and shouted coldly:

"It's not me who's crazy, it's you"

"Brother, do you really think we don't know what you are thinking? But ask yourself, is what you are thinking really possible?"

"My foster father was a master of the world in the past, commanding hundreds of thousands of soldiers. He even led us to establish a dynasty in Sichuan Province. But how is it now? My eldest brother is only in control of two prefectures. There are threats from the Tartars in front of us, and the prefectures and counties around us are all controlled by the court. Can my eldest brother defeat the court or destroy the Tartars?"

"Brother, you should wake up. There is no such thing as the Great West nowadays."

"The Tartars took advantage of the war between us Han people and invaded the Central Plains. If we Han people continue to kill each other at this time, then the world will really be taken over by those barbarians."

"The Central Plains should belong to us Han people. How can we give it to those barbarians? We have fought for decades, killing people everywhere, and have enjoyed wealth and glory. It's time to do something serious."

"Brother, we brothers are now all dukes, what are you dissatisfied with?"

"I will give you one last piece of advice, Big Brother. Your Highness is not a man without faith. As long as Big Brother is loyal to the court, he will continue to receive titles and salaries. But if Big Brother still harbors delusions, he will surely bring about his own destruction."

In the hall, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo both stood up and refused to give in.

Sun Kewang looked at Li Dingguo and no longer held any hope for him. He didn't know what kind of magic potion the Ming court had given Li Dingguo. He was completely unreasonable.
Sun Kewang had a cold expression on his face and said directly

"You can leave, but the soldiers in the West Camp cannot move."

Li Dingguo's expression turned cold at this time, and he said

"The soldiers of General Anxi's Mansion are my Li Dingguo's troops, not your soldiers of General Pingdong's Mansion."

"I, Li Dingguo, want to take my people away. I want to see who dares to stop me!"

After Li Dingguo finished speaking, he no longer cared about Sun Kewang in the hall and turned around to walk out of the hall. Sun Kewang was blinded by delusions and had long been unreasonable. Ai Nengqi had not spoken a word since Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo started arguing. Seeing Li Dingguo leave in anger, he looked even more confused.

Liu Wenxiu, who was standing aside, looked at Sun Kewang, who had a gloomy expression on his face, and sighed softly. Then he bowed and chased after Li Dingguo outside the hall.
Half a month later, Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang and others completed the handover. Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu led 7,000 soldiers and left. The Western Army, which originally had more than 20,000 soldiers, was reduced to more than 14,000 after Li Dingguo and others left.

After Li Dingguo and his men returned, the two divisions of the Western Army were officially renamed. Li Dingguo's division was still called the Loyalty Camp, while Sun Kewang's division was renamed the Loyalty Camp. From then on, the Western Army was officially divided into two divisions.

In the hall of the Governor's Office of your province, all the civil and military officials from the southwest of the Ming court gathered in the hall.

Zhu Lang sat at the top, with Qu Shisi, Fan Yiheng, and Liu Xiangke, three civil officials, on his left, and Jiao Lian, Ma Bao, Zheng Wenxiong, Gao Yigong, Li Dingguo and other military commanders on his right.
Zhu Lang read the letter from Li Chengzhi, thought for a moment, and then said

"Letter from Sichuan Province, please take a look at it"

Li Chengzhi took the letter and then passed it to Qu Shisi below. After Qu Shisi read it, he passed it to Fan Yiheng below. The letter quickly circulated in the hall.

Qu Shisi, Jiao Lian and other civil and military officials who had already known the inside story only frowned slightly after reading the letter. However, Fan Yiheng, Li Dingguo and others who learned about it for the first time were all stunned after reading the letter.

This letter was sent by Prince Su Haoge of the Qing Dynasty. The imperial court and Haoge were still in a standoff in Sichuan Province, but the letter from the Qing general was delivered to the central government of the Ming Dynasty.

Fan Yiheng confirmed the seal of Haoge at the bottom of the letter several times, but he still felt a sense of absurdity in his heart, and the content of the letter was even more shocking.
The purpose of Hauge's letter this time was very simple, which was to make a truce with the Ming court.
The Qing army was surrounded on three sides of Baoning Prefecture and was already at a disadvantage. The Ming court was certainly unwilling to cease fire at this time, but Hauge had other bargaining chips elsewhere.
Last year, Sun Shoufa, He Zhen and others besieged Xi'an, but were defeated by Haoge's army. Sun Kefa and others led the remaining troops to retreat into Hanzhong, and then joined forces with Liu Tichun's Shun army from Huguang to capture Xing'an Prefecture and other places in the east of Hanzhong.
After defeating the main force of Sun Shoufa and others, Hauge no longer had much interest in the remnant troops who had fled into the mountains. He simply ordered the governor of Qin Province, Meng Qiaofang, to lead his men to wipe them out. Hauge led the main force of the Eight Banners directly into Sichuan Province.
Under Zhu Lang's instruction, Du Yinxi deliberately inquired about the news of Liu Tichun's troops. In May and June, he finally contacted Liu Tichun's troops in Hanzhong and found that Liu Tichun's troops had already cooperated with Sun Shoufa and others.

After Zhu Lang received the news in Sichuan Province, he immediately sent an envoy to appoint Sun Shoufa as the general of Qin Province and Liu Tichun as the general of Hanzhong. At the same time, he gave Sun Shoufa and Liu Tichun the title of baron and ordered them to guard Xing'an tightly and not to leave the city to fight.

Sun Shoufa and his companions were originally trapped in the mountains, cut off from the outside world. When they found out that the imperial envoys had arrived, they were also extremely surprised. After learning that the imperial court had led the army into Sichuan, Sun Shoufa and his companions were naturally overjoyed.
Although these news are encouraging, they cannot change the situation of Sun Shoufa and others in a short period of time.
After Du Yinxi became the governor of Hubei Province, he also secretly transported some food and money from Yunyang along the Han River to Xing'an City through some extremely secret channels.

However, Yunyang and other places were still under the control of the Qing court at this time. Even if the secret channels controlled by Du Yinxi were quite powerful in Yunxiang and other places, they did not dare to be too blatant.
The amount of food and wages transported from the Han River to Xing'an was at least 100 dan per month, and at most only 200 to 300 dan. This amount of rice was basically a drop in the bucket for the more than 10,000 Ming troops in Xing'an City.

Although the Ming court's supply was small, the food and wages that were delivered from time to time every month helped Sun Shoufa and his men to boost their morale. Under the siege of Meng Qiaofang and his men, Sun Shoufa and his men managed to hold out for more than half a year.

Meng Qiaofang besieged Xing'an for more than half a year. Sun Shoufa and others in Xing'an were almost out of ammunition and food. However, Haoge suddenly returned to Hanzhong and sent troops to occupy various places in Hanzhong and plunder food and money.
Meng Qiaofang received intelligence from Xi'an and realized that Hauge was not doing the right thing, so he had to give up Xing'an City, which was about to be taken, and hurriedly withdrew his troops back to Xi'an.
After Hauge captured Hanyin, he did not attack Xing'an again to the east, so Sun Kefa and others in Xing'an City were inexplicably relieved.
Sun Shoufa and his companions were unaware of the situation, but they became more cautious. They took advantage of the time when the Qing army was relieved to quickly collect and store food and grass in preparation for the second siege by the Qing army.
The purpose of Hauge's letter at this time was to use Xing'an City as a bargaining chip for exchange. Hauge would not attack Xing'an and allow Sun Kefa and other troops to stay in the eastern part of Hanzhong. The Ming court would not attack Baoning again. Both sides would stop fighting.
Zhu Lang saw that all the ministers in the hall had read the letter, and regardless of the astonishment on the faces of Fan Yiheng and others, he spoke directly.

"I think this is feasible. Now Hauge has something to ask of the Ming Dynasty. It is better to let Hauge guard the Sichuan-Shaanxi border than to let others do it."

"Besides, Hauge has troops outside, which is also beneficial to our Ming Dynasty. We should not weaken Hauge too much at this time."

Qu Shisi frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and agreed directly, and Jiao Lian, Ma Bao and others were even more agreeable.

Although Jiao Lian and Ma Bao were also military ministers, they would always follow the lead of His Royal Highness the Regent on important matters.
At this time, the ministers on both the civil and military sides all nodded in agreement. Although Fan Yiheng and others still had some doubts about cooperating with Hauge, they had no right to object at this time.
The Ming court had already decided to withdraw its troops. Even if Haoge did not come, the Ming court was ready to stop fighting in Sichuan.
However, Hauge was too concerned at this time and wanted to exchange Xing'an City for a ceasefire between the two sides. The Ming court naturally agreed directly.

Zhu Lang decided to make a truce with Haoge, and then looked at Gao Yigong below and said

"General Gao, I asked your Loyalty Camp to recommend a governor for East Sichuan. Have you come up with a candidate?"

When Zhu Lang found out that Sun Shoufa and his men were trapped in Xing'an, he sent a message to Hanzhong, telling Sun Shoufa and his men to abandon Xing'an and retreat to Kuizhou in Sichuan Province if necessary.
After Sun Shoufa and his men were defeated in Xi'an, the main force of Hanzhong's troops that could fight were almost all soldiers from Shunying such as Liu Tichun, so Zhu Lang asked Gao Yigong and others to recommend a governor of eastern Sichuan to lead these troops and continue to harass Hanzhong.

Although Sun Shoufa and others defended Xing'an at this time, Zhu Lang did not change his mind.
Gao Yigong immediately agreed upon hearing this, and then presented the list he had selected after discussing with Li Guo and others from Huguang.

Gao Yigong presented three candidates, the first one was named Yang Jianlie, and the next two were An Xingmin and Gu Junen.

Among these three people, Zhu Lang only recognized Gu Jun'en. Zhu Lang still remembered the three major military advisors under the Shun Army, but he had no impression of the two people who ranked before Gu Jun'en.
Zhu Lang glanced at the names on the letter paper and said

"Where is Niu Jinxing? Isn't he the number one military advisor under your Shunying? Why didn't you recommend him?"

Gao Yigong was embarrassed when he heard this and said

"That Niu Jinxing... that thief Niu is greedy for life and afraid of death, but he has already surrendered to the Tartars"

"What about Song Xiance?"

Gao Yigong looked at the curious expression on His Highness the Regent's face and felt more and more embarrassed. However, since His Highness the Regent had asked him a question, Gao Yigong did not dare not answer it, so he had to bite the bullet and continue speaking.

"That Song thief... also surrendered to the Tartars"

Zhu Lang heard this and his face was full of emotion. He said

"It seems that not all of you in Shunying are heroes. Two of the three military advisors surrendered in one go."

Gao Yigong was ashamed when he heard this, but Zhu Lang just sighed and did not intend to mock Shunying. If we talk about the ministers who rebelled and surrendered, the people of Dashun would hardly be able to catch up with the Ming court.

Zhu Lang took another look at the list in his hand, and a hint of understanding flashed in his eyes. The list sent by Li Guo, Gao Yigong and others was not arranged according to the status of these people in the Loyalty Camp, but according to the closeness of their relationship with the Ming court.

These three people all served in Shunying. Yang Jianlie was a Ming Dynasty Jinshi, so he was ranked first, and An Xingmin was a Ming Dynasty Juren, so he was ranked last.

Gu Junen can basically be considered a pure thief, so Li Guo and others did not hold much hope for him and listed him at the end.

Zhu Lang put down the letter in his hand, thought for a moment, and then said

"Who among these three has the best relationship with Liu Tichun?"

Gao Yigong heard this and hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"It should be Gu Jun'en"

Yang Jianlie and Yang Jianlie were both Ming court officials who joined the Shun army when it swept across the country. They had only been in the Shun camp for two or three years. Liu Tichun was a veteran of the Shun camp, so he was naturally closer to Gu Jun'en.
Zhu Lang thought for a moment and then said

"Then appoint Gu Jun'en as the governor of East Sichuan and order him to enter Sichuan immediately."

In the current system of the Ming court, the governor is not allowed to command the army unless there is a special order from the court. Even if Gu Jun'en is appointed as the governor of East Sichuan, the actual military power is still in the hands of Qin Yiming, the general of East Sichuan.

Zhu Lang ordered the Loyalty Camp to recommend someone to elect the Governor of East Sichuan. On the one hand, this was to convey goodwill to Li Guo and others, and on the other hand, it was to use this Governor of East Sichuan from the Loyalty Camp to guarantee the supply of food and wages to Liu Tichun's troops in Hanzhong.
Sun Shoufa and Liu Tichun's troops are the only fulcrum of the Ming court in Hanzhong. This group of troops will be able to play a big role at the right time.
Now in the Ming court, the military governors of various places have complicated origins. Although Zhu Lang doesn't care, even Qu Shisi still regards Shunying and Xiying as bandits and is not happy with them.

Even Qu Shisi was like this, not to mention other ordinary ministers.
If a minister from the Ming court was in charge of the logistics supply of Liu Tichun's troops, these people would inevitably come up with a drama to force Liu Tichun to surrender with food and money. Zhu Lang did not want to let this army suffer unnecessary losses.

Xing'an Prefecture isolated Hanzhong and could not solve the food and salary problem on its own. As long as the imperial court controlled the food and salary supply, these troops would have to obey orders obediently. There was basically no need to worry that these troops would become independent.

After deciding on the candidate for the governor of eastern Sichuan, Zhu Lang discussed with Qu Shisi and others the matters concerning the garrisons in various parts of Sichuan Province.
Fan Yiheng was appointed as the governor of Sichuan Province, in charge of all the civil officials and food and salary affairs of Sichuan Province. Zheng Wenxiong was appointed as the admiral of Sichuan Province, responsible for coordinating and commanding the war in Sichuan. The two were stationed in Chongqing.

Zhan Tianyan was appointed as the governor of western Sichuan, and Yang Zhan was appointed as the general of western Sichuan, stationed in Chengdu

Wang Yinglong was appointed as the governor of Sichuan and Sun Kewang was appointed as the general of Sichuan, stationed in Shunqing

Gu Jun'en was appointed as the governor of East Sichuan, and Qin Yiming was appointed as the general of East Sichuan, stationed in Kuizhou, and was also responsible for providing food and salary support to Xing'an City in Hanzhong.
Zheng Wenxiong led his troops to guard the rear of Sichuan Province, while Yang Zhan and other three Ming armies surrounded Baoning Prefecture where the Qing army was located on three sides, basically ensuring the stability of Sichuan Province.
The Ming court decided to garrison Sichuan Province and sent a letter to Haoge to agree to a ceasefire. Both sides stopped fighting and Sichuan Province returned to peace. Zhu Lang also withdrew his troops and began to prepare to lead his troops back to the court.

(End of this chapter)