After leaving Chunhe Hall, Shi Kefa felt very tired.
The reason for the fatigue was the growing disappointment with the Nanjing court.
No matter what they do, these people fight overtly and covertly.
What can he do?
Compromise! Compromise! In the end, it’s still a compromise!
Is there a suitable candidate for the governor-general of the aid and suppression campaign?
Yes, Lu Daqi!
There is no one better suited than him.
He is in Nanjing, and if he rides a horse, he can reach Fengyang in two or three days at most!
But no one recommended him.
Shi Kefa originally wanted to recommend him, but after seeing the open and secret struggles among these people in the court, he gave up the idea.
Even if Lu Daqi became the governor-general of the aid and suppression campaign, he would still be defeated by Ma Shiying, Zhu Guobi and others.
If things go wrong, you might get captured or even killed.
"Why are you so sad, sir?"
Just as Shi Kefa was lamenting the chaos within the court, a young man's voice rang in his ears.
Shi Kefa turned around and found that the person who spoke was Zhang Huangyan.
Previously, in order to check and balance Ma Shiying's influence in the court, he promoted Zhang Huangyan, who was recommended by Qian Sule, the deputy director of the Ministry of Justice, to the position of Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.
Shi Kefa was very kind to him.
Zhang Huangyan saw that Shi Kefa looked worried, so he approached him and asked.
Shi Kefa smiled bitterly: "Your Highness asked me to find a way to raise money for military pay, what can I do?"
"So it's this matter..." Zhang Huangyan stopped, thought about it seriously, and then said: "Sir, I suggest that you go to Yangzhou to raise funds."
"Why?" Shi Kefa was a little puzzled.
The 25-year-old Zhang Huangyan chuckled: "Nanjing City is strong and has powerful artillery, and is guarded by elite soldiers. It can be said to be impregnable! The gentry and wealthy families in the city believe that Nanjing will not fall, so they are unwilling to donate money to help the court suppress the bandits!"
"But Yangzhou is different! Yangzhou is north of the Yangtze River and west of the Grand Canal! Li Chuang's attack was from the northwest. The natural barriers of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal not only did not serve as any defense, but would become an obstacle to their escape."
"Your Excellency only needs to spread the news in Yangzhou City, saying that Kaifeng, the ancient capital of eight dynasties, and Luoyang, the ancient capital of thirteen dynasties, were both conquered by Li Chuang. If you want to defend Yangzhou City, you must spend money to recruit soldiers and manufacture weapons."
"In this way, we will surely receive a considerable amount of money."
After listening to Zhang Huangyan's advice, Shi Kefa's mood instantly improved.
It seems that Zhang Huangyan does have some abilities.
He pondered for a moment and then discussed: "Xuanzhu (Zhang Huangyan's pen name is Xuanzhu), I am the Minister of War in Nanjing. At this time, the bandits are heading south and the court is in need of people. I cannot leave Nanjing."
"Why not..."
Before Shi Kefa could finish his words, Zhang Huangyan bowed deeply and said, "I am willing to go to Yangzhou to raise military funds for you, sir."
Shi Kefa was stunned for a moment, then he smiled with relief: "I was right about you! If only 10% of the officials in the Ming Dynasty were like you, the Ming Dynasty would not have ended up like this."
"Thank you for the compliment, sir!" Zhang Huangyan felt a little ashamed.
"You're welcome. I'll write to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and ask you to go to Yangzhou to raise funds."
......
Fengyang.
Ma Shiying looked at the newspaper in his hand with an expression as solemn as water.
He never expected that Li Zicheng would take the initiative to attack Fengyang.
Among the surrounding cities, Fengyang has the largest number of troops.
"Governor Ma, Li Chuang is attacking Guzhen County. Should we rescue him or not?" asked Lu Jiude, the eunuch who was supervising the army and standing next to Ma Shiying.
Lu Jiude was from Yangzhou. He was diligent, capable, and familiar with military strategies.
Although he was nominally a military supervisor, he actually did the work of a general. In order to please him, Ma Shiying naturally did not dare to say much and could only assign a part of the troops to him for command.
However, Lu Jiude did have a talent for leading troops, and the armies under his command won more battles than they lost.
Facing Lu Jiude's question, Ma Shiying did not answer directly, but asked: "Eunuch Lu, can you help contact Gao Jie and Liu Liangzuo?"
Lu Jiude shook his head: "That's tough, what's the matter?"
"Li Chuang is coming with such force that we can't hold him back alone. If Gao Jie and Liu Liangzuo lead troops to help us, our chances of winning will be greatly increased."
"Don't count on them," Lu Jiude continued to shake his head, "Your Majesty can't command them, let alone me. However... I can contact Liu Zhaoji in Huai'an, Servant Shan in Suqian, as well as Li Jiyu, Wang Zhigang, Xu Dingguo and others to attack Li Chuang thief from the north."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, sir."
"Governor Ma has not answered our question yet. Will we save Guzhen County?"
Ma Shiying hesitated again and again: "Save, send a small force, and test the strength of Li Chuang thief."
"Okay then. I'll be in charge of contacting the various departments, and you'll be in charge of rescuing Guzhen County."
After discussing, the two left.
Under Ma Shiying's arrangement, a deputy general of the Ming army led one thousand cavalry and two thousand infantry to rescue Guzhen County.
Guzhen County is less than a hundred miles away from Fengyang. After crossing the Huai River, the Ming army stopped.
joke!
Earlier news showed that there were 20,000 to 30,000 bandits besieging Guzhen County.
These three thousand people are not enough to fill the other side’s teeth!
But not going would be disobeying military orders.
The deputy general Wang Fei, who led the troops, was riding on his horse, hesitant.
Just then, dust was flying ahead and the scouts sent out came back.
"Sir, a group of bandits were spotted five miles ahead."
"Ah?" Wang Fei was surprised at first and then overjoyed!
The appearance of bandits here means that Guzhen County has been lost and he can return to the city to report.
"Wait, how many people are there on the other side?" Wang Fei, who wanted to retreat, suddenly asked.
"They have about the same number of troops as us, but mostly infantry, almost no cavalry."
Wang Fei became more excited.
He turned his horse around and faced everyone: "Everyone, Guzhen County has been lost! It's not that we were unable to rush to help, but that we lost it too quickly!"
"But according to the scouts, there are three thousand bandits ahead. Now that we are here, we have to fight with real weapons, otherwise we will not be able to explain ourselves when we return."
"Don't you think so?"
"yes!"
"Yes!" The soldiers responded one after another.
"Okay!" Wang Fei stretched out his hand and held the bow in his hand. "The infantry will immediately form a formation and move forward. When we encounter the enemy, we will block them head-on. The cavalry and I will go around and break up the enemy's formation."
"Yes, sir."
The three thousand Ming troops immediately divided into two and rushed down.
While the Ming army was deploying its troops, Li Laiheng, who was on the march, also received the news.
"How many soldiers does the Ming army have?"
"About 3,000, 30% cavalry and 70% infantry."
"Okay, order the army to retreat immediately."
"Ah?" The messenger's eyes widened, he couldn't believe his ears, "Sir, we have 10,000 soldiers under our command! Why are we retreating? If we retreat now, the 3,000 civilians who are exploring the way will be killed."
"You know nothing. Only by showing weakness to the enemy can you lure them into attacking."
"Those 3,000 civilians were not used in the war, but were given to the Ming army to kill!"
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