Late night, Tongzhou.
Liu Wenyao, the Left Commander-in-Chief, finally met with Feng Yuanyang, the Governor of Tianjin. He brought 2,000 men, and Feng Yuanyang also brought 2,000 men. With 4,000 men in hand, they were much more confident than before.
After bowing, Feng Yuanyang asked carefully, "Your Majesty, you have worked hard on your journey. Which car are your Majesty and the Crown Prince in? I would like to pay my respects to you."
He didn't know yet that Chongzhen was defending Beijing, and thought he was in a carriage behind.
"Your Majesty, stay in the capital. We will escort the Crown Prince and the princes and ministers to Nanjing."
Feng Yuanyang was stunned. He didn't expect this to be the case.
The emperor defended the capital?
How many soldiers and horses are there in Beijing? How many artillery and muskets are there? Are the army and the people united?
He doesn't know.
All I know is that the emperor is determined to remain a king.
Feng Yuanyang dismounted from his horse, bowed solemnly in the direction of the capital, and looked at Liu Wenyao with red eyes.
"Left Commander, may I see the Crown Prince?"
Liu Wenyao shook his head slightly: "The prince has caught a cold and is not convenient to see anyone. I will be responsible for all matters."
"Governor Feng, where is the boat?" asked Gao Wencai, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, holding a torch.
He always followed Feng Yuanyang closely, firstly to facilitate communication, and secondly so that if he found that he had any ulterior motives, he could capture him immediately.
"The seagoing ships are huge and have a deep draft. They cannot go through the canal. We can only board the ship at Zhigu, which is more than 200 miles away from here."
Liu Wenyao frowned.
After Li Zicheng captured Taiyuan, he divided his troops into two groups. One group first headed north, and after reaching Xuanfu, went to Juyongguan to cut off the emperor's route to the north.
Another route headed north and then east, attacking from Baoding Prefecture south of the capital, trying to cut off the emperor's route to the south.
According to the news, the bandits in the south just captured Hejian Prefecture yesterday. Hejian Prefecture is more than 200 miles away from Tianjin.
It took one day for the news to reach Hejian from Beijing, and two days for the cavalry from Hejian to Tianjin.
In contrast, their team migrating south would need three days to reach Tianjin even if they traveled day and night.
The time for both is about the same.
No, we have to speed up.
"Captain Gao, the bandits captured Hejian Prefecture yesterday. We must speed up to shake them off. Notify everyone to ride as fast as possible."
Gao Wencai knew this too. He said helplessly, "Commander-in-chief, the road is muddy. If the carriage goes too fast, it will easily overturn. And these horses are good at endurance, not running. They can only walk slowly."
Liu Wenyao looked at the huge army and thought for a long time while sitting on his horse.
This is not a solution.
If the bandits sent a light cavalry unit to rush from Hejian Prefecture to Zhigu, they would still have enough time.
After the two sides encountered each other, if the opponent's commander still had some brains, he would not use cavalry to charge the formation, but would just surround the convoy and shoot arrows at it in turns.
In the eyes of the cavalry, these carriages were sitting ducks.
By then they won't be able to catch up or escape, and after a long time they will be dragged to death.
After thinking about it, he made a bold decision.
"Governor Feng, Captain Gao, I have a plan."
Feng Yuanyang raised his head and said, "Please speak, Governor."
"It only takes one night for the news of the prince's migration from the capital to reach Hejian Prefecture, and it takes two days for cavalry to get from Hejian to Tianjin. At our current speed, it will also take two days to reach Zhigu."
"I mean to have Captain Gao lead two thousand men on fast horses to the outskirts of Wuqing City, and rest there after arriving. If the bandits send light cavalry to kill the prince, the place they choose will definitely be near Wuqing. If they come, Captain Gao can just resist them. If they don't come, wait for the convoy to arrive and then go to Zhigu together to board the ship and go to the sea."
"how?"
Feng Yuanyang took out the map, and Gao Wencai held a torch, looking at it and calculating.
After a moment, Feng Yuanyang nodded: "I think this plan is feasible."
"I think it's okay." Gao Wencai said without any hesitation.
Liu Wenyao was about to give orders when he suddenly felt something was wrong.
Although the emperor entrusted him with all matters concerning the migration to the south, it would be better to discuss such a big matter with him.
He brought Feng Yuanyang and Gao Wencai to the prince's carriage and briefly described the plan.
After a long silence in the carriage, a hoarse voice was heard: "This matter is entirely up to the Left Commander."
Liu Wenyao no longer hesitated. He said to Gao Wencai, "Captain Gao, take 500 Jinyiwei, 500 factory guards, and 1,000 people brought by Governor Feng, and head to the outskirts of Wuqing City immediately."
"Yes, sir!" Shen Fei turned his horse around and galloped away.
......
Early morning, Hejian Prefecture.
The huge Shun flag and the white Liu general flag fluttered in the wind on the city wall.
Li Zicheng's trusted general, the Left Battalion Commander General Liu Fangliang, sat in the lobby of the government office with his eyes closed to rest.
Last night, scouts brought news that Chongzhen ordered the Crown Prince to move south, while he himself would defend the capital.
Liu Fangliang didn't believe it and thought Chongzhen would escape with the convoy moving south!
"Report!"
The messenger rushed in from outside the door and knelt on one knee.
"Read." Liu Fangliang said without raising his head.
"General Gu (referring to Gu Kecheng) sent his subordinates to report that General Guoyi Zhang Neng and General Guoyi Tian Hu allowed their troops to plunder and the people in the city are full of resentment." The messenger said stiffly.
If Zhang Neng and Tian Hu knew about this behavior of spreading bad things behind people's backs, he would lose more than ten lives. If it weren't for General Gu's order, he would never do such a thing.
Liu Fangliang frowned and asked, "Are they robbing civilians or wealthy people?"
"At first, they only robbed the wealthy, but as time went on, the situation got out of control."
Liu Fangliang sighed, somewhat helpless. Since the beginning of the Northern Expedition, the emperor (referring to Li Zicheng) has repeatedly ordered that the people should not be disturbed.
He knew that when the emperor said not to disturb the people, he meant not to rob ordinary people.
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