Late Ming Dynasty: Starting with the overthrow of the county magistrate, a rebellion was launched to

Since hearing the news that the attempt to suppress the bandits had backfired and the bandits had instead annihilated them, the main hall of the Xiangyang headquarters was dimly lit. The commander-in-chief, Yang Sichang, remained silent and paced around outside the tent. The atmosphere inside the tent was oppressive and suffocating.

The generals stood with their heads bowed, their armor frosted with dew, and every face was filled with shame. After all, this was an utter disgrace, and even the most valiant generals on the battlefield felt they could not lift their heads.

After a long silence, the general, fierce as a tiger, could no longer contain himself. His eyes flashing with menace, he stepped forward and began to volunteer.

"Commander-in-Chief! This humble general is willing to lead three thousand border troops to Baoqing overnight, and will surely capture this traitor and avenge this disgrace!"

Before he finished speaking, He Renlong, the Shaanxi General, also stepped forward with his hand on his sword.

"I will go with you! This bandit is merely relying on the city walls for a lucky break. We will lead our elite troops to attack him and wipe him out in one fell swoop, leaving no trace of future trouble!"

Zhang Yingyuan, Wang Yunfeng, and other generals echoed their sentiments, their calls for battle rising one after another, filling the hall with a palpable atmosphere of impending battle. Just as everyone was about to speak in unison, the sound of rapid hoofbeats suddenly came from outside the tent, and a personal guard shouted a report.

"Your Excellency, the Governor of Huguang, Lord Song, has sent another urgent confidential letter!"

The generals were in an uproar, their hearts sinking in unison.

Could it be that Zhang Da, after his defeat, is still not satisfied and wants to continue attacking Xinhua and Chengbu? Does this beast have such a big appetite?

Under the watchful eyes of his generals, Yang Sichang calmly reached out and took the letter, unsealing it and reading it carefully...

After reading only a few lines, Yang Sichang's lips twitched slightly, then he burst into laughter and cursed.

"Heh heh... You scoundrel, what a scoundrel! Heh heh heh..."

Yang Sichang, contrary to his usual behavior, let out a hearty laugh and curse as he read the letter.

The laughter contained arrogance, mockery, disdain, and suppressed regret... It was particularly jarring in the deathly silent hall.

After reading the letter, Yang Sichang laughed for a while before stopping. Looking at the puzzled expressions of the generals in the tent, he reluctantly handed the letter to his personal guard.

"Sharing happiness is worse than enjoying it alone—I share this belief with you generals."

Upon receiving the order, the guard stepped forward, presented the letter, and read it aloud...

The letter was written in crooked handwriting, with uneven ink, on rough paper and with poor pen. Some of the misspellings even made the guard hesitate for a moment before he understood the writer's intention.

However, although the handwriting was rather ugly and the writing itself rather poor, the entire text was unlike the ornate prose of the previous governor of Huguang. It lacked classical allusions, flowery language, complex sentences, and any attempt to use obscure or rambling language... The entire text was only a few hundred words long, so the messenger quickly finished reading it.

The letter contained very simple information:

First, Zhang Da complained and cried out that he had been wronged by corrupt officials, that his father had died and his family had been destroyed, and that he had no choice but to raise an army to eliminate the traitors, and that he did not dare to rebel against the court.

He also said that he had fought against the government troops a few days ago only to protect himself. As for killing and wounding officers and soldiers and burning grain supplies, he felt extremely ashamed and remorseful. He even wanted to die to atone for his crimes, but that was not enough to wash away his sins. Only by suppressing the bandits and eliminating evil in the future could he avoid going to the eighteenth level of hell.

Then, in his letter, Zhang Da earnestly begged Yang Sichang to be magnanimous and forgive him for his petty transgressions. He said that the greatest scourge of the world today was Zhang Xianzhong, a villain who slaughtered and poisoned thousands of miles, wreaked havoc on the people, defied the court, and committed all kinds of evil deeds... (Yang Sichang must have seen this sentence before he started to laugh and curse).

In the end, to dissuade Yang Sichang from his intention to besiege him, Zhang Da even said, "Although I am a lowly villager, I know the duty of loyalty to the emperor. Once the people of Shaoyang are pacified and the region is stabilized, I will lead my troops to surrender and await punishment. I am willing to be the vanguard and accompany the army to suppress the rebellion to atone for my past sins..."

This is the entire contents of the letter… If Yang Sichang had given Zhang Dagao a second glance before, after he wrote this servile letter… wait! There’s more content after this!

The guard pulled out another sheet of paper from the envelope and read it aloud. This time, it contained a prediction of Zhang Xianzhong's marching route!

"The rebels are trapped in Fang and Zhushan, and their food supplies are running out. They will not dare to stay any longer."

His troops are accustomed to traversing treacherous mountains, and will inevitably depart from Fang County, passing through Guanduping, Shangkan, and Jiudaoliang, heading towards Daning in eastern Sichuan, and then towards Wushan and Kuizhou, using the mountains of eastern Sichuan as a last resort to resist... I request that the Commander-in-Chief quickly dispatch elite troops to guard the three strategic land passes of Daning Pass, Baima Pass, and Tiemenkan, blocking their route into Sichuan. In this way, Zhang Xianzhong will be surrounded on all sides and can be captured without a fight. This is my humble opinion, and I humbly request the Commander-in-Chief's wise consideration..."

After the letter was read, the hall fell silent for a moment, then suppressed laughter and murmurs arose.

"This guy is quite amusing. His handwriting isn't even as good as mine, yet he dares to talk about military secrets."

"It's just a delaying tactic, a ploy to trick our army into moving so he can seize the territory and become arrogant!"

After the guards finished reading it, the generals were still not satisfied and passed the crude letter around. The more they read it, the more ridiculous they found it. Their previous indignation subsided a bit. They thought that Zhang Da was a spineless coward who was afraid of being punished after winning a battle and was groveling for mercy. The so-called discovery of the traitor's whereabouts was nothing but a fabrication to gain trust.

Yang Sichang raised his hand to quell the commotion, his gaze sweeping over the generals, his tone calm.

"The letter states one request for appeasement and another for information about the enemy. Do you believe this is a genuine surrender, or a deliberate delaying tactic?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the tent immediately split into two factions.

He Renlong was the first to speak.

"Laugh as you may, this traitor is even more cunning than Zhang Xianzhong. He's just feigning weakness to take advantage of our army's focus on suppressing Zhang Xianzhong!"

Wang Yunfeng immediately chimed in, "General He is absolutely right! Zhang Xianzhong accepted pacification and then rebelled again; the lesson is still fresh in our minds. Zhang is even more cunning than we are; how can we trust him so easily?"

Meng Ruhu stroked his beard and pondered, then shook his head and said, "Commander-in-Chief, I believe that we cannot generalize. At present, our army is about to complete the encirclement. If we divide our forces to Baoqing, we may be attacked from both sides. We should temporarily restrain him, eliminate Xianzhong first, and then make our plans later."

Staff Officer Wan Yuanji stepped forward and said, "What Meng Gong said makes sense. Zhang Da's occupation of Shaoyang is somewhat different from that of the bandits. He is indeed greedy for official positions, but his rebellious intentions are not as great as those of Zhang Xianzhong... If we can get him to guard the key road to Baoqing and prevent Zhang Xianzhong from fleeing south to central Hunan, it will actually be of some benefit to our overall situation."

"Bullshit!" He Renlong slammed his fist on the table, his hair and beard standing on end. "This scoundrel is a wolf in sheep's clothing. He'll be offered amnesty today, but he'll surely rebel tomorrow! We can't let this happen again."

"If we let a petty grievance ruin the overall situation and cause Xianzhong to escape, who will bear the responsibility?" Even a tiger will not yield an inch.

The two factions argued incessantly, their voices echoing throughout the hall, causing the candlelight to flicker wildly.

In the chaos, Deputy General Zhang Yingyuan remained silent, walked quietly to the side of the tent, picked up the general map of the suppression of bandits in Huguang that Yang Sichang had previously thrown on the ground, and gently spread it on the table.

Following the words in the letter, he slowly moved his fingertips, from Fang County and Zhushan, all the way to Guanduping, Shangkan, and Jiudaoliang, then westward to Daning and Wushan in eastern Sichuan, finally stopping at three mountain passes.

As he looked, his expression suddenly changed, and he exclaimed in a low voice, "Damn it! This path is exactly the same!"

This exclamation instantly silenced the clamor in the room.

Yang Sichang frowned and stepped to the desk: "What did you figure out?"

Zhang Yingyuan raised his head, his expression filled with surprise and uncertainty. He pointed to the map and said, "General, please take a look! Zhang Xianzhong is trapped in Fang and Zhu. To the north, there are our heavy troops, to the east is the hinterland of Huguang, and to the south is the desolate Chen and Yuan. His only way out is to go west into eastern Sichuan."

The route Zhang Da described goes from Guanduping into Shangkan and Jiudaoliang Gorge. The mountains are high and the forests are dense, making it easy to hide and move stealthily. Once you leave the gorge, you will reach Daning, and then go down to Wushan and Kuizhou. Once you enter Sichuan, the mountains are crisscrossed, and it will be as difficult as climbing to heaven to encircle and kill them.

"The three passes he requested to defend—Daning Pass, Baima Pass, and Tiemenkan—are all vital land routes in eastern Sichuan, with sheer cliffs that can hold off ten thousand men! By defending these three places, the land route into Sichuan will be completely cut off, and Zhang Xianzhong will be trapped like a turtle in a jar!"

The generals gathered around, bending down to examine the map closely and verifying it against the text in the letter, exclamations of amazement rising and falling.

"As expected! This thief has been on the run for many years, and this Jiudaoliang route is precisely the shortcut he usually takes!"

"With three passes blocked, if he really tries to take this route... he wouldn't be able to enter Sichuan even if he had wings!"

"Yes, yes, only a thief can know a thief's true nature!"

The mocking voices from before vanished, leaving only heavy breathing in the hall. He Renlong stared at the map with wide eyes, remaining silent for a long time.

Yang Sichang leaned forward, his gaze fixed on the three passes in eastern Sichuan. After discussions among the underground generals, he finally realized that what Zhang Daxin had said probably did have some merit.

Since Zhang Da was able to defeat the government troops with the weaker forces... he must be a man of military knowledge, and he even adopted such a posture... perhaps he really can be used by me?