I

There were more than 11,000 defenders, and the Tao and Zhang families combined had 5,000. There were 6,000 Tuanyong left, and more than 4,000 were captured by Li Zheng. After all, there was no way to escape once the city gate was blocked.

Kill all the regiment training gentry!

As for the ordinary regimental soldiers, the missionary officer slowly explained the policy to them. As long as they can memorize the policy, they will be allowed to return to their hometown immediately, and a bucket of rice will be given as a gift before leaving.

More than 4,000 prisoners will serve as more than 4,000 policy propaganda ambassadors after returning to their hometowns.

Three more days passed.

The prefect Wang Qisheng and the county magistrate Yang Guanji each finished their work and went to the government office.

The two happened to meet at the door, both looking a little embarrassed. It is such a wonderful fate to be a Jinshi in the same subject, an official in the same place, and a thief at the same time. The relationship will definitely become stronger in the future.

The difference in their official positions also intuitively reflects the officialdom rules of the late Ming Dynasty.

Wang Qisheng came from a wealthy family and was a native of Yixing, Changzhou Prefecture. He was one of the strongholds of the Donglin Party. He himself was a member of Fushe, building cities, embankments, and canals along the way, and was quickly promoted to prefect based on his political performance and connections.

Yang Guanji was born into a poor family and was a native of Zhao'an in Zhangzhou Prefecture. He was not popular just because of his geographical location. The Jinshi were sent to other places and did nothing. They were directly demoted to the rank of ninth-grade governor, and they are still a county magistrate even now.

These two people were named on the gold medal list in the same year and were released as officials at the same time!

"Brother Liqing!"

Yang Guanji took the initiative to bow and greet him, feeling a little relieved that he finally no longer had to look up at the other person.

Wang Qisheng raised his hand and returned the greeting: "Brother Ji, please!"

"Please!" Yang Guanji smiled.

The two walked into the government office side by side, which was Li Zheng's temporary office.

"Meet the general!"

Seeing Li Zheng, the two of them bowed in unison.

Li Zheng said with a smile: "The fires in the city were put out, and many official documents were handed over, all thanks to these two gentlemen. By the way, Governor Wang still doesn't want to surrender?"

Wang Qisheng replied: "I tried to persuade him, but he was scolded back. However, looking at his words and deeds, it is not that he is unwilling to obey, but that he is afraid of damaging his descendants."

Governor Wang Zhiliang had five sons, three of whom were already officials. It was impossible for such a man to be a thief.

He would rather die than save his son.

As for Wang Qisheng, although he was a neat thief, he was no weakling.

Historically, Wang Qisheng also raised troops to fight against the Qing Dynasty and spent all his wealth to train a navy. Lu Xiangsheng's younger brother Lu Xiangguan went to join him after the defeat. Unfortunately, Wang Qisheng's navy was also defeated by Hong Chengchou. The final outcome is unknown, but Wang Qisheng definitely did not surrender to the Qing Dynasty, and he probably went to live as a commoner incognito.

Wang Qisheng was willing to serve Zhao Han mainly because he felt that Zhao Han could achieve success.

Changsha City has been captured, and the entire Dongting Lake Plain is exposed to Zhao Han's military front. The southern Hunan region can be said to be within easy reach.

Occupying Jiangxi and southern Hunan, hegemony has begun!

Yang Guanji is similar, and has even less ideological burden. He was born in poverty, was honest and not corrupt, and his family had little land. After Zhao Han occupied Fujian, Yang Guanji's family might still be able to get land.

After chatting for a few more words, Li Zheng called his men and ordered: "Governor Wang would rather die than surrender. Send him back to Ji'an and hand him over to the main town to deal with him personally."

"Wait!"

Wang Qisheng suddenly stood up, cupped his hands and said, "General, you can tie this man up and send troops to escort him to various prefectures and counties. Now around Dongting Lake, only Xiangyin has three thousand defenders, and the rest of the cities have only hundreds or thousands of defenders. As long as the governor is tied up, If we go to summon the city, even if the two prefectures of Yuezhou and Changde do not say a message, they will definitely not encounter any decent resistance."

"No need," Li Zheng said, "The war on the northern front will end with the capture of Changsha City. This was decided before the troops were sent out."

Yang Guanji also hurriedly advised: "General, the counties around Dongting Lake are the essence of southern Hunan. We should take advantage of this opportunity and seize it quickly, and we cannot leave the government time to breathe."

"There are not enough officials." Li Zheng explained.

Wang Qisheng couldn't understand it at all: "As long as we capture the city, are we still worried about not having enough officials? Even if we don't have enough officials, let's capture the city and seize the land first!"

Li Zheng smiled and said: "If you don't understand, you can go to the countryside and observe how the missionary groups and farmers' associations divide the fields."

Wang Qisheng and Yang Guanji looked at each other and felt that Li Zheng was too rigid. How could they stop their troops with such a good opportunity?

Of course Li Zheng would not stop his troops, but the route would be different. He and Huang Yao would fight westward next. Instead of occupying the rich Dongting Lake Plain, they captured relatively poorer places such as Xiangxiang, Xinhua, and Shaoyang.

The reason why Changsha City was captured was purely because Changsha was a strategic location.

Based on defensive considerations, occupying Changsha would be equivalent to dividing southern Hunan into two and completely cutting off the connection between the Dongting Lake Plain and the south. If the officers and soldiers in the north want to attack, they must first capture Changsha. As for Zhao Han, he only needs to send a small number of troops to garrison, so he can free up more troops and expand in the south very comfortably.

If it is based on offensive considerations, after the south is consolidated and a large number of troops are transferred back, Changsha can be used as a place to dispatch troops. At the same time, the Jiangxi Navy went up the Yangtze River, and together with the soldiers from Changsha, they attacked the Dongting Lake Plain from north to south!

Well, after saying so much, there are actually only three words: not enough soldiers!

According to the established battle plan, Zhang Tieniu and Liu Zhu were going to fight all the way to Guangdong.

In Guangdong, there is Shen Youlong, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. His soldiers have been suppressing bandits for more than three years. Regardless of military discipline, their combat effectiveness is definitely stronger than that of Tuan Yong. They are all battlefield veterans who have seen blood. How could Fei Ruhe eat Guangdong by himself? Zhang Tieniu wants to fight all the way to meet him!

But Huang Yao was in Xiangtan. When he heard that Li Zheng had conquered Changsha, he immediately led his troops westward. They occupied Xiangxiang and Xinhua one after another without encountering any decent resistance at all.

The three cities of Changsha, Xiangxiang, and Xinhua completely blocked the north-south passage. Even if the prefectures and counties surrounding Dongting Lake recruit troops again, they can't even think of fighting southward because mountains are blocking them everywhere.

…

Jingmen.

Fang Kongzhen, the governor of Huguang, was competing with Xiong Wencan in a battle of wits and courage.

The northwest bandits entered a low ebb at this time, and only a few thousand of Li Zicheng's men fled into the mountains. While hiding in the mountains and not daring to come out, Li Zicheng took the opportunity to marry his wife, who was pregnant at this time.

As for Zhang Xianzhong, he settled in Gucheng after being injured, reorganizing his troops and learning the art of war.

At this time, troops can be sent from Xiangyang and Yunyang to launch a north-south pincer attack on Gucheng. Xiong Wencan actually recruited Zhang Xianzhong!

Fang Kongzhen sent six seals in a row, asking the emperor to send troops to suppress the bandits, but unfortunately they all ended up in the sea. Not only that, he was thrown back to garrison at Jingmen, holding a heavy army but far away from the center of the battlefield.

Just when Fang Kongzheng was writing his seventh memorial, a battle report was handed to him.

Changsha fell, and the life and death of the governor of southern Hunan was unknown.

Fang Kongzheng suddenly turned pale, as if he saw a big pot falling from the sky.

At this time, Huguang was essentially divided into two war zones: Hubei and Southern Hunan. In the Hubei War Zone, there are many gangsters including Zhang Xianzhong; in the Xiangnan War Zone, it is naturally Zhao Han's group who are causing trouble.

As the governor of Huguang, Fang Kongzhen was incompetent and had no energy to manage Zhao Han. But Zhao Han captured Changsha, but Fang Kongzhen had to take the blame!

what to do?

Fang Kongzhen could not move the troops in his hands. Once he went south to conquer Zhao Han, Zhang Xianzhong would immediately rebel in Gucheng.

Fang Kongzhen quickly wrote a letter, requesting Chongzhen to quickly order the suppression of the bandits. If Zhang Xianzhong is killed early, he can move his troops south and concentrate on fighting Zhao Han.

What kind of recruitment is this? Zhang Xianzhong put tens of thousands of people there, restraining more than 100,000 officers and soldiers and unable to move. The officers and soldiers could not attack yet. Anyone who dared to attack Zhang Xianzhong would be "sabotaging the recruitment plan." The former governor of Yunyang is still in jail.

Because of what Xiong Wencan did, the officers and soldiers could not fight or retreat, so they stupidly watched Zhang Xianzhong's military training.

What's even more ridiculous is that Zhao Han, who was recruited by Xiong Wencan, had obviously surrendered and rebelled again, but Xiong Wencan himself was not punished because he was helped by Yang Sichang.

Chongzhen trusted Yang Sichang unconditionally!

Fang Kongzheng's memorial had just been delivered to the capital, just as the Manchus entered the country again.

Wu Aheng, the governor of Jiliao, and Lu Zongwen, the commander-in-chief of Jiliao, were both defeated and died. Zheng Xizhao, the eunuch and supervisor of the army, actually managed to escape.

The Qing army marched straight in, stationed troops in Niulan Mountain, and plundered towns and villages.

Chongzhen urgently ordered Lu Xiang to ascend to the capital, gave Shang Fang a sword, and commanded reinforcements from all over the world.

Qianqing Palace.

Chongzhen smashed out the Huguang battle report and became angry at Yang Sichang for the first time: "This is your plan, to kill the rogue bandits, the Fu Zhao thieves, and the Tatars. The rogue bandits were not killed, and the Zhao thieves surrendered and rebelled again, and the Tatars were unwilling to do so. Peace talks. Will you fight or not?"

Yang Sichang quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, although the Zhao thieves have rebelled again, they have not sent troops to the Jiangnan mansions. Otherwise, half of the world's wealth will be lost."

"Should I still be grateful to Zhao for not attacking Jiangnan?" Chongzhen laughed angrily.

Yang Sichang avoided the topic and said: "Except for Li Zicheng's tribe, all the northwest bandits have been recruited..."

"You also call that Zhao'an?"

Chongzhen was probably provoked by Zhao Han and the Tatars. He took out Fang Kongzhen's seven memorials and threw them to Yang Sichang and said: "Zhang Xianzhong has surrendered for several months and refused to disband his army or leave Gucheng. He will definitely rebel again in the future." . Capture Xiong Wencan and put him in prison, find someone who can fight, and immediately encircle and suppress Zhang Xianzhong. After destroying Zhang Xianzhong, send heavy troops south to fight against the Zhao thief!"

"Your Majesty..." Yang Sichang still wanted to stick to his point of view.

"Comply immediately, otherwise I will change the Minister of War," Chongzhen said angrily, "Go to Xiangyang yourself and wipe out Zhang Xianzhong quickly!"

Yang Sichang said: "But here in the capital..."

Chongzhen scolded: "There is Lu Xiangsheng here in the capital!"

Zhao Han finally brought about huge changes. Xiong Wencan was jailed early, Yang Sichang left Beijing early, and Lu Xiangsheng might not be tricked to death.

As for Zhang Xianzhong, he could no longer train his troops with peace of mind and had to flee with his troops again.

Chongzhen has always been wary and uncertain. Zhao Han expanded wildly in Huguang and forced Chongzhen to the main battle side. If the front line continues to lose, Chongzhen may be inclined to advocate peace. Anyway, he does not have the perseverance to persist to the end.

Li Zheng's capture of Changsha stirred up too many things.

Especially in the counties around Dongting Lake, the officials were timid and the gentry were frightened. The reputation of King Zhao could stop children from crying at night in every county.

Moreover, the reputation of King Zhao Tian spread throughout the world, and everyone knew that there was such a giant bandit.

It is one thing to monopolize Jiangxi, but it is also necessary to occupy Huguang. Everyone knows that the situation in the south has changed.