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

Chapter 589 Luzhou Guard

The battle was fierce and Gao Yingxiang had never expected that Lu Xiangsheng was even more powerful than Cao Wenzhao. He was beaten so badly that he almost couldn't take care of himself.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Gao Yingxiang sent all the old, weak, sick, disabled, women and children in his hands to stop Lu Xiangsheng in order to protect the main force. However, he turned around and ran with the main camp, leaving most of the troops behind. He ran more than a hundred miles to the south in one breath before he breathed a sigh of relief.

After leaving the battlefield, he gathered the remnants. At this time, not even half of his so-called 100,000 troops were left. However, his old camp did not suffer much loss. Most of the losses were ordinary volunteers and the civilians who were dragged along.

It was impossible to continue going north now. Gao Yingxiang couldn't even beat Lu Xiangsheng. Wouldn't it be asking for trouble if he continued going north? Gao Yingxiang was not stupid. He would have a brain problem if he went back. Therefore, he definitely didn't dare to go to northern Zhili or the capital again. This road was blocked.

However, Gao Yingxiang had another plan, which was to go to Shandong and then go south to Nanzhili. Gao Yingxiang had thought about this way out. In addition to the northern capital, there was also Nanjing. If he could take Nanjing, he could also achieve great things. Why did he have to fight with Lu Xiangsheng in northern Zhili?
As for Southern Zhili, although there were Ming Dynasty troops there, there couldn't be two Lu Xiangshengs in the world, right? Thinking of this, Gao Yingxiang did not hesitate and immediately led his troops from Northern Zhili to Shandong. As soon as he arrived in Shandong, he encountered Shandong's troops. At this time, Shandong Governor Xu Xiancheng had received the news and paid close attention to the movements in Northern Zhili. After learning that Lu Xiangsheng had defeated Gao Yingxiang south of Cheng'an, Xu Xiancheng judged that Gao Yingxiang was very likely to flee to Shandong.

In this way, Xu Xiancheng had gathered troops to guard Shandong. When Gao Yingxiang thought he had sneaked into Shandong without anyone noticing, he soon encountered Xu Xiancheng's troops. Xu Xiancheng's troops were quite powerful. Although they were not as powerful as Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army, don't forget that Xu Xiancheng's troops were equipped with a large number of firearms and cavalry.

When the two armies fought, Gao Yingxiang was beaten by Xu Xiancheng's troops and fled in a panic before he could even react. In this battle, he lost another 20,000 men. By the time he fled to Nanzhili, less than 30,000 of Gao Yingxiang's 100,000 troops were left.

Shanxi, Luzhou Wei.

Wang Rong was very nervous a few days ago. After Gao Yingxiang took over half of Zhangde, Luzhou Wei began to mobilize urgently to prevent Gao Yingxiang's troops from advancing westward from Zhangde at any time, because Zhangde was not far from Luzhou Wei, and they could reach Luzhou Wei by crossing Taihang Mountains from Henan.

Although Wang Rong looked down on bandits like Gao Yingxiang and didn't think they could accomplish anything, the problem was that Gao Yingxiang had too many people. After conquering Zhangde, Gao Yingxiang's army had more than 100,000 soldiers. With so many people, even if one person spitted at him, he could drown him.

As the saying goes, many ants can kill an elephant. Wang Rong was worried that if he couldn't stop Gao Yingxiang, everything would be over if Gao Yingxiang's troops took over Luzhou Guard.

You have to know that Luzhouwei is Wang Rong's territory. His family, relatives and subordinates are all here, and even Zhu Shenzui's wife and children are now in Luzhouwei.

So when the imperial edict had not yet arrived, Wang Rong began to prepare. Once Gao Yingxiang entered Shanxi, he would have to lead his troops to resist, and by then it would be either you or me.

At this time, Zhu Shenzhui had not returned yet, but Wang Jinwu was in Luzhou Wei. Wang Jinwu was not as nervous as Wang Rong. After all, he had fought many battles with the Mongols when he was on the grassland. In terms of combat experience, Wang Jinwu was much stronger than his father Wang Rong. Moreover, even the fierce Mongols were not his opponents. How could he take a bandit like Gao Yingxiang seriously?

What's more, Wang Jinwu has a trump card in his hand, which is the new army in Yangtou Mountain and Zhaowuling. Although Zhu Shenzui has a new army in Guihua City, since the Tenger tribe replaced Bu Shitu as the leader of Tumed, Zhu Shenzui has transferred most of the new army back to the territory of Daming, and is currently stationed in Yangtou Mountain and Zhaowuling.

With this new army in hand, Wang Jinwu believed that Gao Yingxiang's troops were nothing to be feared. However, to ensure that everything would be foolproof, Wang Jinwu and Wang Rong discussed and transferred this new army from two places to Luzhou Wei, and directly stationed it in Pingshun area. Once Gao Yingxiang's troops entered Shanxi from Henan, Pingshun would be the first to be hit and would inevitably be the first battlefield.

After Wang Jinwu made the arrangements, Wang Rong was relieved. But he still did not dare to be careless. On the one hand, he made preparations for the war, and on the other hand, he contacted the governor's office and other guards to prevent the upcoming war.

This went on for more than ten days until Zhu Shenzui rushed back from the grassland and went directly to Luzhouwei. Gao Yingxiang's troops still did not come to Shanxi. News from the east said that Gao Yingxiang had gone to northern Zhili, which made Wang Rong completely relieved.

"I'm sorry to have caused you worry these days, uncle." Zhu Shenzhui said gratefully when he saw Wang Rong.

When Wang Rong learned that Gao Yingxiang had crossed the Qishui River, he immediately made arrangements, especially to bring Zhu Shenzui's wife and children, including sister-in-law Zhang, to his own garrison command center. After all, compared to other places, Wang Rong's place was the safest. Once the war broke out, even if Gao Yingxiang did not break up the Luzhou Garrison, the city would be in chaos and it would not be safe for women and children to be left at home.

"We are all family. Don't think I can't take care of my own family?" Wang Rong waved his hand. He not only brought Zhu Shenzhui's family over, but also sent people to Zhu Shenzhui's Yue family to protect them, so that nothing could go wrong.

If it weren't for the fact that Luzhou Wei was not absolutely safe and was too far away from Taiyuan, Wang Rong would even have planned to send the two families to Zhou Anmin in Taiyuan.

"Have you made arrangements for your return to the north this time?" Wang Rong asked Zhu Shenzhui in a low voice, as there were no outsiders around. Although he was in the Ming Dynasty, Wang Rong knew something about what happened on the grassland, especially the news of the battle between Tumed and the Dorgon brothers and the Chahar tribes had reached the Ming Dynasty, and Wang Rong, as the commander, naturally heard about it.

"It has been arranged. There won't be any major incidents in Tumed for at least a few years."

"That's good, that's good..." Wang Rong nodded, and at the same time said with lingering fear: "When the news from the grassland came, I was really worried for you. The Jiannu are not easy to deal with, not to mention the coalition forces of the Chahar tribes and Khorchin."

"But I never thought that you could defeat the Dorgon brothers and inflict heavy damage on the Jian Nu. When I learned of this result, I was quite surprised and relieved!"

Wang Rong smiled at this nephew who looked a bit like his sister. The boy back then has now grown into a man in his thirties. Wang Rong still clearly remembers the difficulties in his family after Zhu Shenzhui's father and brother passed away, and the time when Zhu Shenzhui found him and discussed with him the proposal to sell illegal salt.

At that time, Wang Rong did not think much about it. He just wanted to help Zhu Shenzhui. After all, he was his uncle. When his mother was not around, his uncle was the closest elder. If he, as an uncle, did not help his nephew, how could this be justified?

But Wang Rong never imagined that his nephew would be so capable. In just a few years, he made the private salt business flourish. Not only did he solve the family's difficulties, but he also made huge profits for the people of the entire Wangjia Village.

Then, Wang Rong watched Zhu Shenzhui grow up step by step, from the initial private salt business to the current level. Although Zhu Shenzhui is just an ordinary member of the royal family, his real achievements are amazing. Not only does he control strong financial resources within the Ming Dynasty, but he also has a complex network of relationships. In addition, both Zhaowuling and Yangtoushan have troops that Zhu Shenzhui has cultivated with great effort, and their combat effectiveness is extremely strong.

Apart from the Ming Dynasty, he was even more powerful on the grassland. His son was already the leader of Tumed, commanding the entire Tumed, with tens of thousands of elite Mongolian cavalry under his command, not to mention if war was mobilized.

Moreover, this time Zhu Shenzui unexpectedly defeated the Eight Banners of Jiannu, which was known to be invincible, and made Dorgon brothers flee in disgrace. The coalition forces of Khorchin and Chahar were directly defeated, and their leaders and generals were captured in large numbers.

This battle was simply incredible, and it showed how strong Zhu Shenzhui was now. Wang Rong was surprised and happy when he heard the news. He was happy that his nephew had achieved such an achievement, and he was very happy as an uncle. But he was surprised that what Zhu Shenzhui had done was so huge that it took him by surprise.

"That battle was just a fluke. Thanks to the brave soldiers under my command and a bit of luck, otherwise it would be hard to say." Zhu Shenzhui replied modestly.

Wang Rong shook his head: "On the battlefield, victory is victory and defeat is defeat. There is no such thing as luck. It's a good thing that you fought with great power in this battle, but you must know that this battle has completely exposed your strength. I'm afraid there will be a lot of trouble in the future!"

"Uncle said yes. I thought of this as well." Zhu Shenzhui nodded. Wang Rong's concerns were exactly Zhu Shenzhui's concerns. Since that battle, Zhu Shenzhui had some concerns, but now it seems that the problem is not serious, and he gradually feels relieved.

"Just be aware of this. I'm old now, and you'll have to make your own way in the future." Wang Rong was relieved to see that Zhu Shenzhui was not as arrogant as he had imagined. He said earnestly, "What are you going to do next? Think twice before you act. You must know that haste makes waste. Do you understand?"

Standing up and bowing to Wang Rong, Zhu Shenzhui sincerely thanked his uncle for his teachings and said that he would keep his words in mind and asked his uncle to rest assured.

Seeing this, Wang Rong laughed, asked Zhu Shenzhui to sit down, patted his shoulder and encouraged him. In fact, he knew that his nephew was arrogant and had his own plans, but what did it matter? The world was originally the world of the Zhu family, and his nephew was a member of the Zhu family. Since the descendants of Zhu Laosi could rule the world, why couldn't his nephew? In terms of bloodline and legal principles, Zhu Shenzhui, who was born in the lineage of the legitimate son of the King of Jin, was much more orthodox than the descendants of Zhu Laosi, so Wang Rong naturally supported him.

But what he was afraid of was that Zhu Shenzhui was young and full of energy, and with his current achievements, he would get carried away and make the wrong choice regardless of everything. Once he made a wrong move, he would be doomed. This was the real reason why Wang Rong reminded him, and now Zhu Shenzhui's attitude made him very relieved, because Zhu Shenzhui was clear-headed and knew what was the most appropriate thing to do.

Just as Zhu Shenzhui and Wang Rong continued to chat and talk about other things, someone suddenly came to report that Wang Jinwu from Pingshun had sent an urgent report. Upon hearing the news, the two were shocked and hurriedly asked someone to fetch the urgent report.

Originally they thought that this urgent report was about Gao Yingxiang's troops, but after reading it, the uncle and nephew realized that it had nothing to do with Gao Yingxiang at all. However, the content surprised them very much. For a moment, they looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

(End of this chapter)