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

Chapter 552 Going to war
Xu Xiancheng arrested Geng Zhongming and others by surprise without any hesitation. After the Jinyiwei escorted these people away, the other people present came to their senses and looked at Xu Xiancheng with extremely complicated expressions.

Xu Xiancheng and Li Xin suddenly attacked, but Sun Yuanhua, as the governor, did not show any attitude. He even sat there like a clay Buddha, not saying a word from the beginning to now. This situation was very abnormal.

Just as everyone was secretly guessing, Xu Xiancheng directly took out the royal flag and announced that from now on he would be responsible for all affairs of Leiden. Li Xin would temporarily serve as the military governor and take full charge of the defense of Dengzhou. As for the next command, Xu Xiancheng would also make the decision.

When they saw the royal flag, everyone suddenly realized what was going on. No wonder Sun Yuanhua didn't say a word. After all the fuss, this was the situation. Although Xu Xiancheng didn't publicly announce the punishment for Sun Yuanhua, judging from Xu Xiancheng's behavior of directly taking over Leiden with the royal flag, Sun Yuanhua had lost his power and could no longer exercise his authority as governor.

The Shandong generals naturally dared not disobey and immediately expressed their willingness to obey Xu Xiancheng's orders. However, the Portuguese mercenaries present were confused. They had no idea what the royal flag was, and they did not understand that Xu Xiancheng represented the imperial power. As mercenaries, they only knew that Sun Yuanhua was their employer. Now someone suddenly said that the original employer no longer had the final say and that Leiden was controlled by a new person. They could not wrap their minds around such a change for a while.

Two Portuguese captains immediately raised objections, saying that they were hired by Sun Yuanhua, and now the situation has changed, so can the original employment agreement continue? How can their interests be guaranteed?

In this regard, Xu Xiancheng also explained that no matter what, their employment agreement is still valid, and Sun Yuanhua is still the governor of Leiden, and his official position and status have not changed. It is just a temporary adjustment under special circumstances. Now the military and political affairs of Leiden have been transferred from Sun Yuanhua to Xu Xiancheng. If the Portuguese are willing, they can continue to fulfill the original agreement and assist the Ming army in combat.

Of course, if the Portuguese believe that this temporary change has harmed their interests, or if they are dissatisfied with the temporary change of their employer, Xu Xiancheng will not force them. He can terminate the cooperation between the two parties, let them come and go, and pay all commissions to date.

The Portuguese understood this answer and discussed it privately on the spot. Finally, they said that since Xu Xiancheng could protect their interests and was willing to continue the previous employment agreement, they were also willing to continue to be employed by the Ming government.

These Portuguese people came from Europe for this job. It was common for them to work on the edge of a knife. Similar situations had happened before in their mercenary careers. Since Xu Xiancheng could guarantee the benefits and their former employer Sun Yuanhua had no objection, it didn't matter who they worked for. As long as there was enough benefit, it was all the same to them.

In this way, these Portuguese accepted Xu Xiancheng's proposal and continued to assist the Ming army as mercenaries. Seeing that they agreed, Xu Xiancheng was also very happy. After all, although these Portuguese valued profit, they were all good fighters and were extremely proficient in the use of firearms. Otherwise, Sun Yuanhua would not have gone to great lengths to hire them at a high price.

With their help, Xu Xiancheng felt more confident in the next battle and was naturally happy.

Xu Xiancheng still followed Sun Yuanhua's plan for the next war. After all, there was nothing wrong with Sun Yuanhua's plan, but the people he used were unreliable.

Now that Geng Zhongming and others have been controlled, it is impossible for Xu Xiancheng to continue to use Liao general to lead the troops, so he plans to use trustworthy people to carry out the next front-line command.

Xu Xiancheng was not very confident about the current Shandong generals, not because he was worried about their loyalty, but because he was worried about their abilities. In fact, this was one of the reasons why Sun Yuanhua wanted to use Geng Zhongming and others to fight. On the one hand, Sun Yuanhua was confident that he could make the Liao generals obey his orders. On the other hand, compared with the Shandong generals, Geng Zhongming and other Liao generals had fought with Mao Wenlong for many years. It was not an exaggeration to say that they had experienced many battles. From the perspective of fighting skills, they were not comparable to those Shandong generals with insufficient abilities.

So after controlling Geng Zhongming and others, Xu Xiancheng really did not have the right person to lead the troops to fight. These Shandong generals were no problem for them to defend the city, but they were not capable enough to go on the expedition. So in the end, it was Li Xin who took the initiative to volunteer to lead the troops to fight.

Although Li Xin is a scholar, he is good at martial arts and is well-versed in military books. He is both civil and military, and he is absolutely reliable. He is indeed a good candidate.

If there is anything wrong with Li Xin, it is nothing more than that he has never experienced a formal battle. Talking about war on paper is one thing, and actually leading troops to fight is another. But now there is no time to worry about these. Xu Xiancheng believes that Li Xin is definitely not the boastful Zhao Kuo, and believes that he will not be disappointed with his ability. In this way, Li Xin became the commander of one of the two Ming armies to lead troops to fight, cooperating with the general Zhang Keda to fight. At the same time, one thousand Shandong troops and one thousand Liao troops were assigned to Li Xin for command, and two Shandong generals served as deputy generals to assist.

Although Geng Zhongming and others have been controlled, there are still Geng Zhongming and others' confidants in the Liao army, especially the servants of these generals have not been resolved. This problem must be solved as soon as possible. Xu Xiancheng held the king's flag and issued an order to rectify the Liao army. This task was handed over to Li Xin. At the same time, Jinyiwei and Shandong Army assisted in the internal elimination of the Liao army. All the confidants and servants of the Liaodong army were controlled. Anyone who disobeyed would be killed without mercy! To be on the safe side, Xu Xiancheng also asked the Portuguese mercenaries to assist. Although the number of these mercenaries was small, they all held elite firearms. With them, once Geng Zhongming's diehard subordinates rebelled, they could also suppress them.

Half a day later, all the confidants and servants of the Liaodong general in the Liao army in Dengzhou City were controlled. These people added up to more than 300 people. Because the attack was sudden, they had no idea that Geng Zhongming and others had been captured. Li Xin led his men to catch these people off guard. Except for a few people who intended to resist and were suppressed on the spot, everything else went smoothly.

After solving these hidden dangers, Xu Xiancheng sent people to appease ordinary Liao soldiers. These ordinary Liao soldiers were basically no problem. They were not the generals' confidants, nor were they their diehards. To these Liao soldiers, they were just the official troops of the Ming Dynasty.

After explaining and appeasing the soldiers, he also allocated a sum of silver as reimbursement of military pay, and opened the granary to take out food so that the soldiers could have a good meal. The Liao soldiers' original uneasiness instantly faded away, and they were so excited that they had no other thoughts.

Not only the Liao soldiers, but also the Shandong soldiers were the same. In this situation, Xu Xiancheng would not be stingy with food and wages. The war was imminent, and morale was the most important. If he still cared about the lack of food and wages at this time, it would be extremely disadvantageous in the next battle. Xu Xiancheng was very clear about this.

After working until midnight, the news that came in one after another finally put Xu Xiancheng at ease. At present, the hidden dangers of the entire Dengzhou City have been basically eliminated. Geng Zhongming and his people, including their forces in the army, have almost been wiped out. Even if there are fish that slip through the net, it will not have any effect. Now Dengzhou City has no internal troubles, and can focus on dealing with the upcoming external troubles.

Xu Xiancheng's series of arrangements did not escape Sun Yuanhua, who was very angry about his actions. In his opinion, Xu Xiancheng's actions not only showed his extreme distrust of the Liao generals and the Liao army, but also his distrust of himself.

Sun Yuanhua was an extremely arrogant person, how could he bear such an injustice? Moreover, Xu Xiancheng and Li Xin were his good friends. As good friends, treating him like this was clearly not giving him any face.

How could Sun Yuanhua be nice to Xu Xiancheng in this situation? He watched coldly as Xu Xiancheng issued orders one by one, arresting all the Liao generals he valued, their cronies, and servants. He was even more displeased with Xu Xiancheng no matter how he looked at him.

But he had no choice now, because Xu Xiancheng had the royal decree in his hand. Form was stronger than man. Although he, the governor of Leiden, had not officially resigned, he had lost all real power and had no ability to oppose.

Xu Xiancheng saw Sun Yuanhua's attitude, and he certainly understood the resentment and anger in Sun Yuanhua's heart. However, no matter how much explanation he gave, it would be useless at this time. Sun Yuanhua believed that he was right and Xu Xiancheng was wrong.

So Xu Xiancheng did not intend to explain anything to him, because he would use facts to tell Sun Yuanhua who was right and who was wrong next.

The next day, the messenger who sent Zhang Keda returned to Dengzhou and brought Zhang Keda's reply.

After receiving the order, Zhang Keda began to prepare for the dispatch of troops. When the messenger returned, Zhang Keda left garrison troops in Laizhou and set out with his most elite Shandong troops. According to Sun Yuanhua's arrangement, he rushed to the south of Dengzhou overnight.

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiancheng had a plan in mind and immediately called Li Xin to tell him that he could lead his troops out of the city. According to the previous arrangement, Zhang Keda's Shandong army would hold back Kong Youde's approaching army in the southwest, while Li Xin's troops would go straight to Laixi from north to south, then detour to Pingdu to directly cut off Kong Youde's retreat, and then the two armies would attack from both sides and eliminate Kong Youde's rebels in one fell swoop.

Li Xin took the order and led his troops out of Dengzhou City quickly, heading directly to the south of Dengzhou. At this time, Kong Youde's rebels had passed Changyi and were not far from Laizhou City, but his target was not Laizhou City, but Dengzhou City. His troops did not go northeast, but headed east to Pingdu, then along Pingdu to Laixi, and then directly to Dengzhou via Zhaoyuan.

(End of this chapter)