Chapter 219: Battle of Chengdu 9
"How did you get back?" Zhang Xianzhong looked at Sun Kewang, initially happy, then furious. He was happy that one of his right-hand men had returned alive, but also furious. Hadn't he assigned them to guard Zhonghe Gate? Why hadn't they fulfilled their duty? What had Li Dingguo done? A city survives, its people die.
"Father! I'm truly no match for them. We can't stop! Soon the flying monsters of the Ming army will catch up with us! Father! We have to keep running!" Sun Kewang knew what his father was thinking. But running was the most important thing right now. He had to get to a safe place first. He couldn't stay on the plains anyway.
"A flying monster? What flying monster? Is it a giant Kongming lantern?" Zhang Xianzhong asked. He had previously heard from Li Dingguo that the Ming army had a giant Kongming lantern, capable of carrying people and commanding from the sky. Could it be that it had grown larger now, capable of dropping cannonballs from the sky?
"Yes! Godfather! Let's run into the mountains first and avoid being chased by those Kongming lanterns! As long as we are in the mountains or the woods, they won't be able to see us clearly!" Sun Kewang said.
Zhang Xianzhong had previously spent time in the northwest, having seen hunters using hawks to catch prey. Upon noticing a hawk, some prey would immediately hide in a cave or under a tree to avoid the hawk's attack. Now, like the hawk's prey, they needed to find shelter in the mountains or woods.
Zhang Xianzhong said to Sun Kewang, "I'll settle your mistakes later! Be my vanguard, and together we'll fight our way out!"
"Yes! Godfather!" Sun Kewang said.
Sun Kewang immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He then considered whether to lead his small force and escape alone, without reuniting with Zhang Xianzhong, or to escape with him and risk being killed by Zhang Xianzhong. In the end, Sun Kewang felt that his chances of survival were greater if he escaped with Zhang Xianzhong, so he decided to return to Zhang Xianzhong with the last of his light cavalry.
Sun Kewang's choice was correct. If he had tried to escape alone, he would have been courting death. Not to mention the powerful Ming army, even the local landlords' armed forces could have driven them away.
Fortunately, Sun Kewang's plan was correct. Zhang Xianzhong thought that this was the time to use people, and there was no need to kill his adopted son to establish his authority. Let's all escape together first!
After running for several days, they finally reached a mountain. This mountain was called Wujia Mountain, and within it was a village called Wujia Village. The mountain was named after Wujia Village, and Zhang Xianzhong and Sun Kewang chose to camp there because it was densely forested.
When he finally had a chance to catch his breath, Zhang Xianzhong called in Feng Shuangli, Zhang Hualong and Sun Kewang.
Zhang Xianzhong said, "Now that Chengdu is lost, we need to find a place to go. Where can you tell me?"
Everyone was speechless. Where should they go? Where could they find a place to settle down? It was easy to go from simple to luxurious, but it was hard to go from luxurious to frugal! They had enjoyed the good life of owning land and becoming high officials before, but now they had to become bandits again. It was not easy to do their old job.
They've brought along quite a few scholars along the way, and while they're enjoying a peaceful life with you, it's fine. But if they were to face real hardship, none of them would be able to handle it! So now, there's no one left to discuss matters with! The rest are just clerks, and it's even less likely they'll achieve anything.
At this time, Sun Kewang said, "Father! Why don't we go find King Chuang? If we unite with him, maybe we'll have another chance in the future!"
Zhang Hualong on the side said, "Sun Kewang! Don't you know that a country can have two masters, and there can be no two suns in the sky? Who will be the emperor if you go there?"
Feng Shuangli said, "Even if we want to go, Li Zicheng may not be willing."
Li Zicheng was certainly unwilling to do so. They had originally started a business together, but later went their separate ways. Each of them became emperor and claimed to dominate a certain area.
Now you say you can't make it anymore and want to return to the gang, but who will accept you? Even if they accept you, the conditions are very harsh, and you have to be on guard against them killing you or swallowing up your people.
But Li Zicheng agreed to it, but asked to give up his title and be demoted to King of Daxi, and he would confer the title and the army would obey his orders!
When Zhang Xianzhong saw Song Xiance coming to the military camp, he felt mixed emotions.
Song Xiance came up to Zhang Xianzhong and said, "King of the West! Long time no see!"
"Military Advisor Song! How are you? I agree to all your conditions! Now I will tell you my conditions!" Zhang Xianzhong said.
"Okay! Please speak, King Xi!" Song Xiance said.
"Our team cannot be separated! But I obey the emperor! Food and grass must be provided to us! Although I only have tens of thousands of soldiers left now, these are elite soldiers. They are not a mob! In addition, I want to garrison in a prominent place!" said Zhang Xianzhong.
Back then, he and Li Zicheng had a falling out, and the two sides almost went to war. Each wanted to kill the other and seize the other's horses. Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong had to have a place where he could attack and defend.
"Okay! King Xi can write down the conditions, and I will discuss them with His Majesty when we get back!" Song Xiance said.
"Okay! Military Advisor Song, please come back soon! I'm still waiting for good news from the military advisor!" Zhang Xianzhong said.
At this time, in the Shu King's Mansion in Chengdu City, Zeng Ying and Fang Xinyu were arguing with each other, and Qin Yiming and Ma Wanchun were arguing with each other.
Fang Xinyu accused Zeng Ying of delaying the opportunity to capture Zhang Xianzhong and not following through on his orders. Zeng Ying, on the other hand, accused Fang Xinyu of exceeding his authority and causing the defeat.
Qin Yiming accused Ma Wanchun of not taking good care of his aunt, causing her to have a decisive battle with Li Dingguo, which resulted in his aunt Qin Liangyu being injured and now in a coma.
Ma Wanchun defended himself by saying that he had let his grandmother fight Li Dingguo out of filial piety, so that she could fulfill her regret. She had never lost a battle in her life, except to Li Dingguo.
Therefore, his grandmother wanted to kill Li Dingguo personally as a way to fulfill her filial duty. As for his grandmother's coma, Qin Yiming was afraid that he would not have the chance to inherit the throne, so he hoped that his aunt could take care of the Qin family.
But Qin Liangyu is unconscious, so the throne will be decided by the court! As for who the court will pass it on to, is there any need to think about it? Ma Wanchun is Fang Xinyu's father-in-law, and Fang Xinyu is the confidant of the Prince of Anqing. Therefore, the throne of the Prince of Chuan must belong to the Ma family.
When the briefing reached Nanjing, Zhao Xiaofei slammed his fist on the table. He thought, "Damn it! You're still trying to take credit now, thinking everything is peaceful now, right?"
"Li Zichu! Send someone to Chengdu and bring Zeng Ying back to me!" Zhao Xiaofei said angrily.
Zhao Xiaokun, who was sitting on the side, said, "No! This will disrupt the morale of the army! If you send the Jinyiwei to bring Zeng Ying back, what will those who are fighting for us at the front think? The Kenan Army alone can't hold up the entire Ming Dynasty!"
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