Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 386: Just die like this?
"Forget it, I'll go. You're old and weak, and if something happens, I'm afraid you won't be able to escape."

Zeng Ying's words did not show any respect for Yang Zhan, the senior, but in reality, it was completely different.

In the final analysis, they both had doubts about the "defeat of the bandits", and the arrival of Liu Wenxiu seemed extremely incongruous.

With such an understanding, they would naturally be extremely wary of this meeting, hence the saying "I'm afraid I won't be able to escape easily".

However, with Yang Zhan's qualifications, he would certainly not let a young boy take risks for him.

After a few more arguments, he led thirty or forty riders to the meeting place, while Zeng Ying took on the task of picking them up from behind.

This arrangement is considered appropriate. If something unexpected happens, these thousands of troops will not be left without a leader.

However, for Yang Zhan at this moment, all these were secondary. What really concerned him was to find out the true situation in Guangyuan from this meeting.

About three or four hours later, the small group of Dashi Army finally appeared in Yang Zhan's sight. There was no need for further negotiations. After all the details were decided, Yang Zhan and Liu Wenxiu rode out of the team at the same time.

Since Zhang Xianzhong entered Sichuan, they have fought each other several times, but this is the first time they have met at such a distance.

"well."

"well."

After staring at each other for a moment, the two said hello to each other, and then for some reason they fell into silence again.

It is not difficult to imagine what Yang Zhan was thinking. Zhang Xianzhong had occupied the core areas of Sichuan for two years. Although he had taken some time to recuperate during this period, the killing he had committed had not decreased.

As a native Sichuanese, it is no exaggeration to say that he wants to eat their flesh and drink their blood, but it is extremely difficult for him to have a calm and peaceful talk with his generals.

"I have arrived as promised, why are you silent?"

Yang Zhan could see that Liu Wenxiu was in a very low spirit, but considering the current situation, his condition was nothing to worry about. Both sides were enemies, not friends, so he asked in a rather forceful manner.

According to common sense, since Yang Zhan had spoken first, as the one who took the initiative to invite, Liu Wenxiu should take this opportunity to explain his intentions in detail.

But who would have thought that after these words fell, Liu Wenxiu still looked as if she had lost her parents, which made Yang Zhan, who was already unhappy, even more anxious.

"You are such an ignorant person. You were the one who said you wanted to meet, and you were the one who kept silent. Are you doing this just to amuse me?!"

At this moment, Yang Zhan had already expressed his anger in his words. If Liu Wenxiu really had something important to say, he should have made all his intentions clear.

But when Yang Zhan stared at his face, this important general from the Great Western Empire, who was about the same age as Zeng Ying, still looked hesitant. Then a ball of unknown fire burst out from Yang Zhan's heart, and he turned his horse around and planned to leave.

Surprising.

There's something weird about every place.

First, Zhang Xianzhong suddenly turned from victory to defeat, and then Liu Wenxiu behaved inexplicably. No matter how the Guangyuan incident develops into, it must be complicated.

The rotation of his thoughts did not affect Yang Zhan's actions. While controlling the mount under his crotch, he kept paying attention to Liu Wenxiu's reaction. When the warhorse completely turned direction, he heard a plop sound behind him.

Ok?
Why is there such a noise?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but turn his head back slightly. When he saw the scene behind him clearly, he was stunned where he was.

At this time, General Dashi Funan was kneeling on the ground as if he was meeting Zhang Xianzhong. Not only did he raise his clenched fists high, but his head was also lowered to the point that it was about to touch the ground.

"The defeated general Liu Wenxiu begs to surrender to the Ming Dynasty!"

"Bah."

As the whip in his hand slipped, the already frozen Yang Zhan finally came to his senses, but the development of things to this point was far beyond his original expectations. Faced with such a situation, he, a lieutenant general, did not know how to deal with it.

"The defeated general Liu Wenxiu begs to surrender to the Ming Dynasty!!"

Another loud shout filled with humiliation and sorrow was heard. Yang Zhan was a little at a loss but he couldn't just stand there any longer.

Then he jumped off his horse and ran towards Liu Wenxiu in two steps.

"General Liu, what is this doing? How can a person like me deserve such a great gift?"

"I am bowing to ask for Ming Dynasty's acceptance, not to General Yang."

Compared with the extremely attentive Yang Zhan, Liu Wenxiu seemed quite cold. But at this time Yang Zhan was completely overwhelmed by the joy that came from heaven, so how could he care about such a small matter?

In essence, Liu Wenxiu came to surrender, and judging by his words and actions, he made this decision only when he was left with no other options.

If he were in the other's shoes, Yang Zhan would be like this, so he couldn't ask for too much.

"That's right. We are just delivering a message for General Liu. If you really want to bow, you have to wait until you see His Majesty. Get up quickly, get up quickly."

It was because Yang Zhan was in peak physical condition. Although Liu Wenxiu was quite stubborn, she still stood up from the ground after being pulled by him.

According to common sense, Yang Zhan should have asked Liu Wenxiu why he came to surrender to the Ming Dynasty during the greetings. However, unexpectedly, when Liu Wenxiu was waiting for his question, Yang Zhan shook his hands vigorously behind him.

"There's another person behind us, but we can't miss him."

"As it should be."

After speaking to Liu Wenxiu awkwardly, Yang Zhan smiled awkwardly and started chatting with him. When a rider came galloping from a distance, he introduced him to the other person, saying, "Zeng Ying, who guarded Chongqing."

"He is a brave general."

To Yu Yangzhan, these four words not only contained praise for Zeng Ying, but also concealed his emotion about the impermanence of the world.

It wasn't that he wanted to embarrass Liu Wenxiu on purpose, but when faced with such an unexpected incident, even though he was experienced, he couldn't be completely at ease.

Even though this might make Liu Wenxiu uncomfortable, he couldn't care less in order to find out the gaps and fill them.

A moment later, the rider arrived in front of them. Yang Zhan then told them about Liu Wenxiu's plan to abandon the dark and join the light. Then, without caring whether Zeng Ying had recovered from the shock or not, he went straight to the point.

"General Liu, your majesty must be very pleased that you have turned from evil to good. However, it is not appropriate for us to report it without asking for the reason."

After the words fell, both Yang Zhan and Zeng Ying focused all their attention on Liu Wenxiu, and at this time, the General Funan of Daxi closed his eyes. Seeing this, Zeng Ying, whose mind was still in a mess, couldn't figure out what was going on, but when he looked at the old senior, he saw that the other party seemed to have realized something, and then a light flashed in his mind and he also waited quietly in the same place.

I'm afraid the Atlantis Kingdom is gone.

When his thoughts turned to this, all the strange things happening in the Dashi Army had a reasonable explanation. But when he was puzzled again, Liu Wenxiu had already opened his eyes.

"My Majesty has passed away. The Great Western Kingdom is gone."

As Liu Wenxiu's rather sad voice rang out, even Zeng and Yang, who had already guessed what was going on, could not help but be stunned for a long time.

Zhang Xianzhong was a major bandit who had started his rebellion in the third year of Chongzhen.

During these fifteen or sixteen years, he was beaten into a desperate situation several times, and made a comeback several times. In order to eliminate him, the imperial court not only mobilized a million-scale army, but also spent a huge amount of money.

But such a character suddenly disappeared.

Thinking of this, Zeng and Yang looked at each other. After Liu Wenxiu's emotions stabilized a little, Zeng Ying asked about the details.

Although Liu Wenxiu seemed a little sad because of Zhang Xianzhong's death at this time, this inquiry was reasonable. He adjusted himself a little and told all the causes and consequences.

According to him, the Dashi Army gained an absolute advantage due to two night attacks, but when Zhang Xianzhong was determined to take Qipan Pass in one go, the mountain road behind was completely blocked by falling boulders after a series of roars.

It was obvious that such a roar could only be caused by a huge amount of gunpowder. Although the Dashi Army did not know how the Qing Army did it, their morale dropped to the freezing point because of this.

What happened next is not difficult to imagine. The main force of the Qing army suddenly launched a full-scale attack on Shutengpu. After a fierce battle, not only were the elite troops of the Dashi wiped out, but even Zhang Xianzhong, Sun Kewang and Ai Nengqi also died in the chaos.

"I wanted to die, but I still have so many brothers who have fought with my adoptive father for many years."

As Liu Wenxiu finished her rather sad words, Yang and Zeng looked at each other and couldn't help but think in their hearts.

They were naturally happy to hear about Zhang Xianzhong's death. If Liu Wenxiu had not been around, they would have probably celebrated.

Liu Wenxiu only used a few words to describe this rather complicated process, but they had to suppress the joy in their hearts, adjust their emotions and continue asking questions.

"General Liu, please accept my condolences. The Eighth King was also a great man. It is not a disgrace for him to die in battle. But I don't know who cut off the retreat of the army? Has General Liu investigated?"

"It must be Liu Jinzhong, the garrison commander of Dazhou. I don't know how he got in touch with the Tartars."

"Dazhou garrison commander?"

"Ah."

After getting confirmation from Liu Wenxiu again, Zeng and Yang linked their experiences to Zhang Xianzhong's defeat.

Zeng Ying's first stationing place after heading north was near Dazhou. Before Yang Zhan arrived, he was even hesitant to take any action because he was unsure of the movements of the Dazhou garrison.

What Liu Wenxiu said at this time not only solved the doubts that had been bothering him for a long time, but also made the credibility of Zhang Xianzhong's death much higher.

"Do you two know him?"

“It’s not that”

When Liu Wenxiu asked, they told him everything about the inexplicable disappearance of the Dazhou garrison. Liu Wenxiu was silent for a long time, and finally could only say very sadly.

"So that's how it is. So that's how it is. If I hadn't been focusing on the front, how could this traitor... Your Majesty!!"

"General Liu, please don't be like this. The Tartars are very scheming, and the traitors are also very deliberate. This is not your fault. Don't blame yourself too much."

"Yes, General Liu, you have to avenge the Eighth King yourself. Don't blame yourself too much."

Maybe it was because the two rough men didn't know how to comfort others, Liu Wenxiu, who had been trying hard to suppress the sadness in her heart, howled loudly after hearing their words, and the two of them were so confused that they just stood there at a loss.

Liu Wenxiu knew his limits, and the wailing only lasted for seven or eight breaths before he stopped. Then he raised his red and swollen eyes and looked at Yang and Zeng, and they hardened their hearts and continued asking questions.

"I wonder if the body of the Eighth King has been recovered?"

"I don't know what Guangyuan is like now."

As the words came out, they both glared at each other at the same time, obviously thinking that the other party's question was a little too much.

However, Liu Wenxiu didn't know whether it was because of his drastic emotional fluctuations or because he would be living under someone else's roof, he didn't show that he cared too much about these things. He just wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand and answered.

"I don't know how much gunpowder the traitor used. Except for a few scattered soldiers who escaped from the mountains, the traffic on Jinniu Road was completely cut off. The army's morale was already broken, and it was difficult to defend the city. I..."

Liu Wenxiu's words were full of guilt and regret. At the end he stopped talking as if he didn't want to recall the past.

Although he only said these words, Yang and Zeng found the answers they wanted. After thinking about it for a while, they roughly understood the situation at that time.

Since the Jinniu Road was cut off by a large amount of fallen rocks, it would be difficult for them to snatch Zhang Xianzhong's body from the Tartars with only a small road wide enough for a few soldiers to pass.

At the same time, for the same reason, it was difficult for the Tatars to take advantage of the great victory to advance into Guangyuan, and Liu Wenxiu was able to lead his defeated troops to escape from Guangyuan.

You are the only one who should worry about your own affairs.

At this time, Liu Wenxiu was filled with guilt and remorse over Zhang Xianzhong's death, but Yang and Zeng's attention was focused on Guangyuan City.

As native Sichuanese, how could they not know the importance of Guangyuan City?
At this time Liu Wenxiu had already withdrawn from the city, but the Tartars were still blocked in the Jinniu Road. If they could take advantage of this opportunity to occupy Guangyuan, wouldn't it be possible to stop this war?

just
"General Liu, how many troops do you think the Tartars have left? How long will it take to reopen the Jinniu Road?"

"After two night attacks, the surrendered troops must have been completely dispersed. If we count the last battle, the Tartars have at most 30,000 or 40,000 troops." Liu Wenxiu paused for a moment, and then he seemed to recall the situation in Jinniu Road. After he came to a conclusion in his mind, he hesitantly said, "About five or six days."

"Five or six days? That's enough!"

As Liu Wenxiu finished speaking, Zeng Ying shouted excitedly. Then Yang Zhan pulled him aside with an apologetic look on his face. After a few whispers, the two returned to Liu Wenxiu.

"General Liu, Guangyuan is of great importance and cannot be abandoned lightly. We need to go there quickly," Yang Zhan paused for a moment, and then continued after taking a breath, "Stay here and wait for His Majesty to send someone to contact us."

As soon as the words fell, Yang and Zeng exchanged blows and then mounted their horses and returned to the camp, while Liu Wenxiu stayed where he was, his eyes flickering and no one knew what he was thinking about.

(End of this chapter)