Hearing the report of the guards, the generals around him all showed surprised expressions, Wu Sangui's face was heavy, and he waved his hand to let the guards take the letter, he first carefully checked the envelope, and the words "open letter" were written on the envelope.

"What is an open letter?" Wu Sangui didn't quite understand, he thought about it for a while, then tore open the envelope and took out the letter and looked at it.

The generals on the side saw that their handsome faces were getting worse and worse, and when they saw the end of the letter, they were already in a state of rage, Wu Sangui suddenly rubbed his hands, and he was about to tear the letter with all his strength. But after a while, Wu Sangui stopped his hand again, opened the crumpled letter again, and read it again from the beginning, this time Wu Sangui read it very slowly, and when he finished reading the letter, his face also regained his calmness.

"He admitted that he did it, ambushed my men in Jianchang, then disturbed and destroyed in Dongchuan Mansion, and finally came to Kunming to set fire to and spread military orders." Without waiting for his subordinates to inquire, Wu Sangui told them the general contents of the letter. Wu Sangui paused while speaking, and finally tore the letter in half, and then tore it into four parts...... Wu Sangui spoke to the generals in a calm tone, and slowly tore the letter to shreds, without showing a trace of anger in his movements.

"Is it Feng Shuangli's person?" Someone asked.

"No, he didn't consider himself anyone's subordinate." Even if Deng Ming claimed to be a general's subordinate, Wu Sangui would no longer believe his words now, and would also seriously investigate Deng Ming's life history: "Besides, how can Feng Shuangli be virtuous, there will be such a powerful subordinate?" If he had this ability, would he run away to Jianchang like a wild dog? ”

Wu Sangui threw the fragments of the letter aside, and suddenly chuckled: "I, Wu Sangui, have respected heroes in my life, and I am a hero." It's a pity that such a talent doesn't know the overall situation and can't be used by me. ”

After sending this emotion, Wu Sangui ordered a letter to Li Guoying in Sichuan, asking him if he knew about this person who suddenly appeared; At the same time, he also asked people to chase the fleeing Xiying generals with his letters, although Wu Sangui knew that there was little hope, but he still tried to persuade them to return; The third thing Wu Sangui had to consider was how to explain to the Qing court, Kunming had suffered such a heavy loss, and the Qing court would definitely be furious when it learned about it.

But Wu Sangui needs Hong Chengchou's cooperation, Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong have both met with Deng Ming, the pass that Zhao Liangdong asked for him, and the arrow issued by Wu Sangui, when it comes to responsibility, neither of them can run. The two of them are now grasshoppers tethered to a line. Wu Sangui planned to conceal the true process from the imperial court, anyway, the southwest was so far away from běijīng, as long as Hong Chengchou was willing to speak in unison with Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong, he could still conceal some criminal responsibility.

However, Hong Chengchou has never been seen, and if Hong Chengchou is lost in the fire, Wu Sangui really doesn't know how to face the imperial court.

On the morning of the fourth day, the troops searching near the grain depot found several skeletons that had been burned to charcoal, and the Qing soldiers found a few arrows and a large seal from them, although these things were also burned to the point that they were illegible, but they could probably be seen to belong to Hong Chengchou. Only these could not be judged that the bones belonged to Hong Chengchou, but the soldiers at the scene also found a jade pendant and a jade wrench from the body of one of the corpses, and they brought these things to Wu Sangui and others to see.

Wu Sanguizai looked at the jade objects carefully, and his face was so pale that there was no trace of blood: "This is indeed a warp thing, and it is always carried close to you." ”

Wu Sangui really had an urge to draw his sword and kill himself at this time.

"Dashuai, Dashuai!" Zhao Liangdong pulled Wu Sangui to the side. Now Zhao Liangdong is also very anxious, although the arrow was given by Wu Sangui, but he asked for Deng Ming, and for such a big matter in Kunming, if Wu Sangui can shoulder most of the responsibility, then Zhao Liangdong needs to share the guilt less; If Hong Chengchou was burned to death and Wu Sangui wiped his neck, then Zhao Liangdong would have to bear all the anger of the Qing court alone.

Now Zhao Liangdong knows that in order to save Wu Sangui for himself, it is still possible for the Qing court to make Wu Sangui guilty and meritorious service for the situation in Yunnan, if Wu Sangui is not guilty, then Zhao Liangdong probably will not be held accountable. In order to calm the anger of the Qing court, Zhao Liangdong gave Wu Sangui a suggestion: "Dashuai, this guy who pretends to be President Baoning Qian, we don't know who he is, it was recommended by Hong Jingluo to Dashuai and the last general, saying that talents are rare, we have only met once, and there is Hong Jinglue's Baoju, who would have thought that he was meticulous?" ”

Wu Sangui glared at Zhao Liangdong, knowing that the other party's intention was to let Hong Chengchou carry the biggest black cauldron, and the dead would not be able to speak for themselves anyway. If according to Zhao Liangdong's statement, it is that Hong Chengchou does not know anyone, and recommended a dangerous work to Wu Sangui, guided this catastrophe, and finally died in the Kunming fire whether he was afraid of crime or made up for his mistakes.

"It's the wronged boss." Wu Sangui let out a long sigh that sounded full of guilt, he had already agreed to Zhao Liangdong's construction, and this matter was also feasible, after all, everyone didn't know what was going on in Kunming, Hong Chengchou was dead, Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong could say anything to the court as long as they made a good confession.

……

The Xiying army that fled Kunming originally had no clear purpose, and only wanted to escape as far away from Kunming as possible. Three days after fleeing Kunming, the 30,000 Xiying army had a difference of opinion, and a considerable number of people were unwilling to go west to find the Yongli court and Li Dingguo, they were already desperate for the Yongli court, and this time they surrendered once, and the environment around Burma was very bad, and the army did not know how to make a living there.

Someone mentioned that yì went to Jianchang to find Feng Shuangli, and some rumors said that the Jianchang army was also going to surrender, but then there was no follow-up. And there are rumors that there is a fight again, but everyone thinks that Feng Shuangli can probably understand everyone's desperate mood. Moreover, Feng Shuangli is also an orphan raised by Zhang Xianzhong, although his status is far less high than that of the four princes of Daxi, Sun, Li, Liu, and Ai, but he can also be regarded as the righteous son of King Zhang and has prestige; Taking a step back, Feng Shuangli's status is not so high, not as strong as Li Dingguo, and there are not so many troops, everyone feels that it will be easier to talk, at least not to liquidate the surrender of everyone.

In this way, almost 17,000 people turned north to Jianchang, and at the same time took away as many auxiliaries and civilians as possible they met along the way - Yunnan seemed to be unable to stay, everyone knew that even if they went to Jianchang, they needed someone to farm, and population was the most important in troubled times. Xiying has been operating in Yunnan for many years, and the people are also related to each other, so it is not difficult to relocate the population.

After hearing that Wu Sangui was not good for the surrender army, some other places hesitated to surrender the Xiying army and rushed to join this main force. On the way, some remnants of the Ming army occupying the top of the mountain saw that so many Xiying troops had crossed the border, so they stopped fighting guerrilla attacks and went down the mountain to join them. The Ming army that went north to Jianchang did not refuse, and drove to Sichuan, they naturally ate the materials along the way cleanly, and took all the population away, so that even if Wu Sangui wanted to pursue, he completely needed to supply food and salary from the rear; Of course, after they tossed like this, it would be more difficult for the army of King Jin and the Yongli court to go to Jianchang, but these armies did not consider the life or death of the imperial court, and it was better for them that the imperial court did not go to Sichuan.

But Ma Bao and the others did not go along, and most of the 15,000 officers and soldiers left in the Xiying camp belonged to the Jin Wang line of the Xiying, Feng Shuangli could be regarded as both the Qin family and the Shu family in the Xiying, and it had nothing to do with the Jin family, Ma Bao and they were unwilling to go to Jianchang to be angry. These people have a good relationship with Li Dingguo, and after surrendering, they always felt sorry for King Jin, and now they are thinking about how to find the Yongli Imperial Court in order to make meritorious contributions.

These days, Kunming did not send troops to pursue the Western Army, but persuaded the envoys to surrender one after another, bitterly trying to persuade these Western Camp generals to go back, Wu Sangui's envoy swore that someone had falsely passed on the order from beginning to end, because of various reasons Wu Sangui could not tell the truth as it was, he could only repeatedly promise that there was absolutely no malice towards Xiying. However, the envoy's explanation was not accepted by the generals of the western camp, they felt that if it was not for Wu Sangui's instructions, the Qing army outside the city would not have rushed up to attack the south of the city to surrender the army, as for someone to fake an order or something, the generals of the western camp did not believe it.

Whether it was a misunderstanding or not, Ma Bao knew that he must have no way back, and that night he rushed to the front and killed a guerrilla of the Qing army. Now it's really like Wu Sangui said, Ma Bao can only resist to the end, not to mention that he still doesn't believe what Wu Sangui said. After being elected as the temporary commander by the battalions, Ma Bao began to think carefully about the future of this western army, and after a day and a night of repeated weighing, Ma Bao summoned all the generals and proposed yì to go west along the avenue to attack the Qing army in the Tengchong area.

"The fire in Kunming was so big that most of the city's savings were swept away by the fire." Ma Bao's inference caused a chorus of approval, everyone saw the fire that day, and if there were still military rations in Kunming, they would send troops to attack the Western Army, and they would definitely not watch them wreak havoc around Kunming.

"Generally speaking, the deployment of the Tatars in Yunnan is now heavy on the outside and light on the inside." Ma Bao discussed his thoughts with the crowd.

In the past, the Qing army formed a defensive circle with Kunming as the center, and 100,000 troops were scattered in this circle to suppress and control the entire territory of Yunnan, and the surrendered Ming army was sent to Kunming, or sent to this circle to assist the Qing army in suppressing the work after reorganization, or gathered like Ma Bao and formed an expeditionary force to attack the Yongli court.

And Wu Sangui himself is sitting in Kunming, with 50,000 mobile troops stationed outside the city, and a large amount of grain and grass stored in the city, no matter where there is an emergency, Kunming's mobile troops can respond quickly. The local armies all need to rely on the material support of Kunming, and even if the surrendered Ming army is anyway, they will quickly fall into trouble again because they cannot obtain supplies; The main force of the Ming army under the command of Li Dingguo may have an advantage over a local Qing garrison, but these garrisons can be quickly supported by the mobile forces of Kunming; Moreover, even if Kunming does not support, the Ming army may not have the strength to besiege the local Qing army garrison in a defensive state for a long time; Even if you can besiege and take the city for a long time, you will not be able to capture much food and grass.

But now there is a problem in Kunming, and the mobile forces in Wu Sangui's hands suddenly lose their ability to maneuver, so that the troops in the entire Qing army's defensive circle appear to be scattered, and these Qing troops, who also need materials from Kunming, have also lost their ability to maneuver.

"Let's not just think about going to Burma to find the emperor and the king of Jin, let's fight the Nu River first, then attack Tengchong, and kill it from behind. As long as there are no reinforcements sent from Kunming, we can sweep the prefectures, warehouses, villages and towns along the avenue, so that the Tartars in the west do not have any food and grass supply, and then attack them with the King of Jin and wipe them out. "The farther away you are from Kunming, the more desolate the place becomes, and the more difficult it is to raise supplies. Since Li Dingguo had retreated to the Burmese border, the Qing army's surveillance and defense forces behind him had also penetrated deep into the uninhabited border areas, and Ma Bao felt that as long as he cut off the ferries on the Nu River and breached the warehouses in the Tengchong area, the supply situation of these Qing soldiers would probably be worse than that of Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan. Behind them, there are not many Qing soldiers guarding troops, and they will definitely not be able to resist a Xiying field force of up to 15,000 people.

……

At this time in Tengchong, the Qing guerrillas stationed in Tengchong received a letter from central Yunnan - this was the last letter sent by Ma Bao before he completely paralyzed the transportation system of the Qing army post station in this area. Judging by the label, it seems to have been issued by a personal guard of the king of Pingxi.

At this time, the Qing guerrillas did not know what was happening in Kunming, but only knew that there seemed to be some trouble on the rear communication line, as if there were a large number of western thieves wandering around and making trouble, and the military rations sent by the guide zhì Yunnan had not been able to enter the warehouse in time for several days. The guerrilla was surprised that there were still large-scale western thieves in the rear now, but he was not too worried about this, Wu Sangui's army near Kunming was worried that it could not find the main force of the western camp, since they dared to jump out, then Kunming would definitely set off to attack quickly, and now it may have been swept away.

"Read." The guerrilla threw the letter to the master.

"Open letter." Master read the words on the cover aloud.

"What is an open letter?" Guerrilla asked.

Master shook his head: "There is no such word, it is obviously a made-up word." ”

"Leave him alone, keep reading." Guerrilla waved his hand, there are too few educated people in these years, and a pro-soldier probably can't afford to hire a master, so it's not a big deal to make a few words.

The master tore open the envelope and took out the open letter, and read out the beginning of the letter in a loud voice: "General Han's name worships Wu ......, the former general of Shanhaiguan"

The master's voice quickly became very low, and it was almost inaudible when he read the word "Wu" at the end, Deng Ming's words were quite polite, but as soon as this kind of title came out, it was meaningless to be polite.

However, his proprietor was not angry, and after understanding what the owner of the letter was saying, the guerrilla let out a sneer: "Which fanatic who doesn't know the height of the sky?" Read on. ”

At this time, the master had already looked down again, and his face became pale at this time, and he did not respond to the guerrilla's command for a while.

"What's wrong? Read. Guerrilla looked at the master strangely.

"Boss, it's not good!"

……

In Guiyang, after receiving the open letter, the governor of Guizhou, the yamen, and the governor of Guizhou lost their voices together. The things said in the letter were too bizarre, and the person who claimed to be the name of General Han confessed to Wu Sangui in his heart: The generals sent by the general to Jianchang were annihilated by me with nineteen cavalry; The general's army deployed in Dongchuan Mansion was also dispersed by me and these nineteen horsemen; The general's city of Kunming was also set on fire by me and seventeen other men; The general's 100,000-strong army stationed outside the city was still caused by me to send a false order to them to fight among themselves.

Although ......the governor of the yamen and the admiral were all experienced civil and military officials, they were still at a loss after seeing this letter, and although there were only a few words about the introduction of the form shì on the letter, everyone couldn't help but be shocked. Although the yamen soon ordered secrecy, such astonishing news quickly spread throughout the city of Guiyang. While sending people to refute the rumors, the governor and the admiral quickly sent their cronies to Kunming to inquire about the situation.

However, their cronies had just been sent out, and the nearby prefectures and counties had also reported that they had received an open letter of rebellion, and the governors of various places said that they did not believe a word of what the traitor said, but still hoped that Guiyang could officially refute the rumors, so as to stabilize the people who had been bewitched by the rumors.

After receiving this news, the governors and admirals who were busy refuting the rumors in Guiyang City breathed a sigh of relief, they were afraid that this open letter would only be sent to themselves, so if the news spread, maybe Wu Sangui would be angry with himself. But the person who wrote this letter was obviously very knowledgeable and knowledgeable, and wrote many identical letters and distributed them widely, so that even if the matter was true, Wu Sangui would not be held accountable to himself if he was ashamed and angry - the matter had developed to this point, and everyone in Guizhou felt that the content of the letter was true, and as for who the person who wrote the letter was sacred, there was also a lot of discussion inside and outside the yamen.

……

Before the news was transmitted back to Kunming, Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong were still trying their best to conceal their losses, and they planned to try to blow the wind to the imperial court and the surrounding provinces, and then report the bad news of the destruction of the arsenal and grain depot bit by bit, the burning of Kunming, the dispersal of half of the army, and the death of the emperor in the sea of fire. Of course, the first to report was that Hong Chengchou didn't know anyone, and recommended a fine work to them as a subordinate.

In the blink of an eye, all the efforts of Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong to cover up the truth came to naught, and the yamen who received the open letter sent urgent envoys to Kunming, and it was impossible to completely cover up such a big matter, and some of the news that had been revealed was suddenly spread.

Now even Wu Sangui's subordinates knew the entire contents of the letter that King Pingxi had torn up. In Dai Jianxiong's camp, his master took a copy of an open letter and read it to the owner and other officers: "...... Although it is said that "the big husband fights wits but not strength", but my actions are not done by a righteous gentleman, and now after returning to Sichuan, I have been a cāo practice soldier, and strive to win a decisive victory with General Wu in the field as soon as possible - the name of General Han will be worshipped again. ”

After the master finished reading the letter, Dai Jianxiong and the others were silent, and Deng Ming was in this tone of neither humility nor arrogance in the whole letter, and even had a modest attitude of being a junior, but this attitude seemed to bring a greater sense of humiliation. After a long time, General Dai said softly: "This is a provocative war letter." ”

……

In the city of Kunming, Zhao Liangdong and Wu Sangui scolded Deng Ming together, and this time Deng Ming pitted them too badly. When the two of them struggled to get out of this quagmire, Deng Ming stomped on their heads again, and Zhao Liangdong was filled with righteous indignation as soon as he remembered the so-called open letter: "It's obviously a letter to the marshal, but it's actually spread around, is this a letter or a message?" What a despicable and shameless villain! ”