Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 549 Decisiveness
After learning the news that Kong Youde had rebelled, Sun Yuanhua hurriedly began to make arrangements. After the rebellion, Kong Youde did not go to the capital, but turned around and headed straight for Dengzhou. His intention was very obvious.

Although Sun Yuanhua employed the wrong people and made mistakes as governor, he was still quite capable in military affairs, otherwise he would not have been appointed as governor of Leiden by Emperor Chongzhen.

The Shandong Peninsula is located in the Bohai Bay. To the west is Zhili, to the southwest is Henan, to the south is Nanzhili, and across the sea to the north is Liaodong.

Kong Youde's army was not large, totaling more than 3,000 people, but the combat effectiveness was not weak. Most of them were cavalry, and they also carried various firearms. After Kong Youde rebelled, he knew that whether he entered Zhili, Henan, or went south to Southern Zhili, it would not be a good place. If he entered Zhili, it would not take long to reach the capital. After the Jisi Incident, the capital was well defended and guarded by the elite troops of the court. Although Kong Youde could fight, he could not hold out for long once he was surrounded.

As for entering Henan, it was not a good choice either. Henan was the Central Plains, and the imperial court had many troops in Henan. Not to mention Nanzhili, if Kong Youde's 3,000 men went south, not to mention the complex climate and terrain in the south, which was not conducive to cavalry combat, and the military strength of Nanzhili was not weak at all, Kong Youde had no confidence at all.

After much thought, it was more appropriate to attack Dengzhou. On the one hand, Dengzhou was the closest to Kong Youde, only a few days' journey away. On the other hand, Kong Youde was very familiar with the situation in Dengzhou. In addition, his sworn brother Geng Zhongming and other old brothers were stationed in Dengzhou.

If they could quickly take Dengzhou, Kong Youde's rebels would have a place to stay. Dengzhou not only had the military food supplies stored by Leiden, but also the Dengzhou Fortress. With these, even if the imperial army came, Kong Youde was confident that he could hold out for some time.

Besides, there were ships in Dengzhou. If Dengzhou could not be defended, Kong Youde could still take a ship across the sea to the north and go directly to Liaodong. As for whether he would go to Pidao to join his old brothers after arriving in Liaodong, or simply join Jiannu? Kong Youde himself had not made up his mind. After all, as a subordinate of Mao Wenlong, he had fought with Jiannu for many years, and the two sides had a deep hatred for their country. Kong Youde would not make the final choice unless he was desperate.

After receiving the news, Xu Xiancheng and Li Xin hurried over. Seeing them coming, Sun Yuanhua looked embarrassed and hesitated to speak. After all, not long ago Xu Xiancheng and Li Xin had persuaded Sun Yuanhua to pay attention to the situation of the Liao generals and expressed concerns about the arrangements he had made. However, Sun Yuanhua patted his chest and assured them that there was absolutely no problem with his use of people.

But such a big incident happened just a few days later. Kong Youde's rebellion was like slapping Sun Yuanhua in the face with the sole of a shoe, making Sun Yuanhua's old face burn with pain.

Without caring about Sun Yuanhua's current expression, Xu Xiancheng asked Sun Yuanhua directly about his next arrangements when he met him.

Sun Yuanhua sighed and told Xu Xiancheng that he had already made arrangements and deployments. When he learned that Kong Youde had rebelled and was heading straight for Dengzhou, he immediately issued a combat order.

Sun Yuanhua reacted quickly. He had issued orders to Zhang Keda, the general stationed in Laizhou, asking Zhang Keda to send troops to reinforce Dengzhou as soon as possible. At the same time, he was preparing to let the troops in Dengzhou leave the city to deploy defenses and make arrangements in advance.

When Kong Youde's rebels arrived, Sun Yuanhua's two troops would be able to form a pincer attack, first cutting off Kong Youde's retreat route and then annihilating the rebels in one fell swoop.

"Don't worry, my two dear brothers. It would be fine if the rebel Kong Youde doesn't come. But once he comes to Dengzhou, I will make sure he never returns!" Sun Yuanhua said confidently, with a hint of anger on his face. He believed that he had not treated Kong Youde badly, but now Kong Youde had betrayed his trust and done something worse than pigs and dogs. The good-tempered Sun Yuanhua rarely got so angry, but this time he really couldn't help it. Once Kong Youde was caught, he would ask him in person why he chose to rebel.

Xu Xiancheng did not care about Sun Yuanhua's idea, but only focused on his military deployment. He immediately continued to ask Sun Yuanhua about the deployment of the army and the selection of generals. When he learned that Sun Yuanhua was going to use Zhang Tao to lead the Liao soldiers from Dengzhou to go out of the city to cooperate with General Zhang Ke to fight, and Geng Zhongming would be the central army to defend the city, Xu Xiancheng's face suddenly changed.

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Brother Chuyang, the rebel Kong Youde is a member of the Liao army. Now the rebels are about to reach Dengzhou. You actually sent a Liao general to lead the Liao army to fight Kong Youde. What on earth were you thinking of this arrangement?"

"What's wrong with this?" Sun Yuanhua was stunned for a moment. After a little thought, he understood what Xu Xiancheng was worried about. He smiled and said, "My dear brother, are you worried about the Liao generals and Liao troops in Dengzhou? There is no need to worry about this! Kong Youde is Kong Youde, and others are others. You can't be angry with others just because of Kong Youde's rebellion, right? Although they are all from the Liao army, the Liao army is also the army of the court, the official army of my Ming Dynasty! If you don't trust others just because of your colleagues, won't this chill the hearts of the soldiers?"

"Besides, this battle is also a good opportunity for them to prove themselves. As long as they put down the rebellion and capture Kong Youde, the rumors will naturally be broken. After the war, the court can also see the loyalty of the Liao army to our Ming Dynasty. In addition, it can also ease the contradictions between the Liao people in Shandong and the local areas. It is a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. It couldn't be better..."

Xu Xiancheng couldn't believe his ears. Even Li Xin was stunned. The two looked at each other in surprise. How could Sun Yuanhua still be so naive? They couldn't understand Sun Yuanhua's brain circuit. He shouldn't have arranged the Liao generals, Liao army and Liao people in this way. From the beginning, Sun Yuanhua didn't think carefully about the impact of his behavior. That's fine, because the influx of Liao army and Liao people has led to the intensification of local conflicts in Shandong. There are still ways to ease this. But now Kong Youde has led the Liao army to rebel. Sun Yuanhua still trusts other Liao generals and Liao army so much, and even entrusts them with such an important task. It's incredible.

In terms of ability, Sun Yuanhua was not bad. From a military perspective, he was quite insightful. Moreover, Sun Yuanhua did not have the bad temper of other civil officials who looked down on military generals. Instead, he treated people sincerely and was good at listening to the opinions of his subordinates. From these points of view, Sun Yuanhua was a good official.

Unfortunately, Sun Yuanhua is not suitable to be the top leader. Someone with his personality will have no problem being the second-in-command. Assisting the top leader, he will definitely be able to arrange everything properly and can also be pulled out to take charge at critical moments.

But it was different when he became the top leader. Sun Yuanhua was too idealistic and too trusting. Such a top leader had good sides as well as bad sides. Especially when the latter encountered complex situations, Sun Yuanhua's ability was not enough to solve them.

Just like now, at this time, Sun Yuanhua still unconditionally trusts other Liao generals and Liao troops, and uses these reasons to excuse them. To put it bluntly, it is because of Sun Yuanhua's anger at Kong Youde's rebellion and his worries about his previous decision. Until now, Sun Yuanhua still does not want to admit that his original decision was wrong, and still feels that everything he did is right.

He did this, on the surface, to let the Liao generals and Liao troops in Dengzhou prove their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty and the court, but at the same time, wasn't it Sun Yuanhua who wanted to prove himself? If he could use these people to solve Kong Youde's rebellion, wouldn't it also prove that his previous decision was not wrong? Kong Youde's rebellion was just an accident, and there was nothing wrong with the decision he made at the beginning, and his choice was also correct.

In other words, Sun Yuanhua was gambling, betting that his vision and sincerity would lead to his sincerity. But this was no small matter. What if he lost the bet? Perhaps Sun Yuanhua had never considered the serious consequences of losing the bet, or he did not want to think about it. It was not an exaggeration to say that he was deceiving himself. As the governor of Leiden and the highest military and political leader in the Leiden area, Sun Yuanhua was obviously incompetent.

Taking a deep look at Sun Yuanhua, who was still immersed in his reverie, Xu Xiancheng could not help but feel sad for his good friend. Moreover, he knew very well that Sun Yuanhua's arrangement was too risky and it was very likely that something bad would happen.

Although Sun Yuanhua promised, how useful is this promise? If the promise was useful, Kong Youde would not have rebelled. Moreover, Xu Xiancheng, who was sober-minded, did not dare to gamble at all. Even if the probability of losing was small, what if it happened?
If the situation really develops towards the worst, a major incident will occur in the Leiden area. Not only will Kong Youde and others occupy Leiden and increase their strength, but Sun Yuanhua, including Xu Xiancheng, Li Xin and others, will also become prisoners of the other side.

"No! We can't let Chuyang go on like this!" Xu Xiancheng made a choice in an instant. He couldn't watch Sun Yuanhua continue to make such a big mistake, nor could he sit idly by and watch the situation get out of control.

Xu Xiancheng stood up immediately, looked at Sun Yuanhua sternly, and shouted, "Sun Yuanhua, the governor of Leiden!"

Sun Yuanhua was stunned. Before he could react, Xu Xiancheng took out a bronze medal from his arms. When Sun Yuanhua saw the bronze medal, his pupils tightened and he quickly stood up.

"Governor of Leiden Sun Yuanhua!" Xu Xiancheng continued to shout.

"Your servant...Sun Yuanhua is here..."

"Do you recognize this thing?"

"I recognize it..." Sun Yuanhua replied with his head down. How could he not recognize this thing? He had seen it several times at Yuan Chonghuan's place.

The bronze medal that Xu Xiancheng took out was none other than the "medal" in "The King's Flag Medal".

The so-called royal command flag is actually two things, one is a flag, the other is a badge. The front of the flag is embroidered with the words "Royal Command", and the back is a big "Order". As for the badge, it is a round copper plate similar to a waist badge, and the words on it are similar to the flag. The combination of the two is the "Royal Command Flag". This thing was invented after the founding of the Ming Dynasty. It was used to give local governors or imperial envoys certain powers. This power represents the imperial power. Holding the royal command flag is equivalent to being on behalf of the emperor. In special circumstances, the emperor can exercise his power to act at his convenience, and even has the power to kill.

(End of this chapter)