"Have you fought with Hu Quancai and Li Shixun?" Deng Ming asked.

He Zhen nodded, he and Li Shixun fought many times, Li Shixun was his subordinate when Hu Quancai was governor of Yunyang in the past, Hao Shaoqi and He Zhen have fought against this person many times: "I have lost to Hu Thief and Li Thief many times." ”

He Zhen did not shy away from the defeat in the past, Hu Quancai had the full support of Hong Chengchou when he was the governor of Yunyang, and the old department of Kui Dongchuang was not only barren, but also suspicious of the Yongli court. Both the strength and the supply of the Qing army are far better than the Ming army in Kuidong, so although He Zhen and Hao Shaoqi repeatedly attacked the front line of Yunyang, Gucheng and Xiangyang, they have never been able to annihilate the Qing army in this area, even if the Ming army has caused some casualties to Hu Quancai, he can still get a steady stream of replenishment from Changsha.

The 3,000 soldiers He Zhen brought out from Daning are almost all armor soldiers now, and he is training these new soldiers when he asks the auxiliary soldiers to carry supplies these days, but he has only been working for a few days and is far from being trained. He Zhen's armor soldiers plus the soldiers left in Zhongxiang by others also had more than 3,000, which was about the same as the strength of the Qing soldiers' forwards, but Deng Ming felt that the training was insufficient, and it was estimated that it would be difficult to win in a head-on battle.

But He Zhen didn't see it that way, he pointed out that judging from the letters, Li Shixun was only a nominal commander, and the Qing army's 4,000 armor came from all over Huguang, and they were originally not under each other's control. Therefore, He Zhen advocated sending out a surprise attack on the vanguard of the Qing army, rather than sticking to Zhongxiang and waiting for other Ming troops to come back, and he also claimed to Deng Ming that he knew Li Shixun's Achilles' heel.

"Li Thief died when he saw small profits, and he will never let go of every opportunity to rob merit and be greedy and take advantage of more." He Zhen pointed out to Deng Ming that if Li Shixun made good use of this feature, it could bring a great advantage to the Ming army: "I have a plan to ensure that I can disturb the morale of the captured army. ”

He Zhen mentioned yì Deng Ming took Zhong Xiang's defenders to meet the Qing army head-on, and he hid on the side of the road with his headquarters, and when he saw Deng Mingshao Li Shixun, he would definitely launch a pursuit, Deng Ming could throw down his baggage to lure the enemy while being defeated, and after the Qing soldiers were scattered, He Zhen suddenly came out from the side and would definitely be able to defeat Li Shixun.

At He Zhen's strong suggestion, Deng Ming agreed to take the initiative. Even if He Zhen didn't say it, he felt that it would be a pity if he didn't take advantage of the movements of the Qing army.

Seeing Deng Ming's humble acceptance, He Zhen was very happy in his heart: he had received a lot of things since he set out on the expedition, but he would never have too much money; Now that Yuan Zongdi and Liu Tichun are not in the city, Hao Shaoqi is farther away in Xiangyang Mansion, although Deng Ming has sent a messenger to inform them, but He Zhen estimates that they will not be able to rush back in time. Annihilating the vanguard of the Qing army will definitely be able to capture a lot of supplies, He Zhen knows that Deng Ming will never take a lot, since the others did not participate in the war. Then just give a little meaning, and the rest will belong to him.

……

When Zhong Xiangming's army was actively preparing for the battle, the land and water army commanded by Hu Quancai also set off from Wuchang and hurriedly chased the footsteps of the forward.

Although Hu Quancai also knew the importance of the speed of the soldiers, but the governor of Huguang led his troops to conquer Zhongxiang in person, how could such a big event not alarm the whole city. When the Governor walked out of the Yamen and was about to leave Wuchang City, the officials and gentry of Wuchang Mansion sent them off, and countless scholars wrote poems on the spot, praising in advance the great achievements of the Governor in sweeping away the Anlu thieves. Most of the people were full of smiles, wishing Governor Hu a victory, ploughing the court and sweeping the caves, not only expelling Deng Ming, but also capturing Hao Shaoqi's nest in Fang and Zhu in one fell swoop; Some officials had tears in their eyes, saying that Governor Hu's tireless work for the king was really touching, and he was a model of loyal and filial piety in the world; A few people first said auspicious words with a smile, and then expressed their loyalty with tears in their eyes...... In the end, after more than an hour, Governor Hu finally came to the dock. On the side of his boat, a large number of Wuchang fathers and elders came to toast, neatly shouting, "The Governor has eliminated harm for the people, and Huguang Li Shu feels the same way." slogans...... In Hanyang Mansion, which is only a river away, Hu Quancai received another farewell of a comparable scale.

Although there was a delay of some time, this kind of farewell still made Governor Hu happy, which proved that the scholars of Wuchang and Hanyang still supported him. Before this expedition to Zhongxiang, Hu Quancai was also worried that the local staff would not participate in the expedition one after another, and if the officials and scholars of Wuchang and Hanyang really confronted Hu Quancai, the governor of Huguang would still feel very troubled, and he estimated that if the people of Wuchang and Hanyang could not make contributions to the recovery of Zhongxiang, they would try their best to belittle the significance of this military operation.

And now they are all perfect, although the soldiers and horses of Wuchang and Hanyang stayed behind to defend, but the local staff members all went out with them, and these scholars will also be highly praised by Hu Quancai in the meritorious recital to the imperial court afterwards - he also knows that it is most unpopular to allow foreign soldiers to rub oil in Wuchang and Hanyang, but for the sake of military morale, Hu Quancai is also a last resort, and if he has the opportunity afterwards, of course he will make every effort to mend the relationship - since the scholars of Wuchang can share the credit, of course they will not say the strange words of the governor of Huguang.

Even the troublesome basket Zhou Peigong, the table of the past two days made Hu Quancai very satisfied.

Originally, Hu Quancai had already made up his mind, and after recovering Zhongxiang, he reported to the imperial court that this Zhou Juren had begged the bandit leader for mercy after being captured, and even secretly talked to Deng Ming in private, and after returning to Wuchang, he spread rumors and rumors, and his behavior was extremely suspicious. Seeing Zhou Peigong running around today to advocate Hu Quancai's wisdom and martial arts, Governor Hu sneered in his heart: "Now you know that you are afraid?" It's late! ”

Having said that, Hu Quancai also had a little shaken in his heart, if he followed his original plan, Zhou Peigong would definitely not be able to escape a Ling Chi, let the Huguang people take a good look at what would happen if they offended the governor of Huguang; But now that Zhou Peigong has to be so tame, if Hu Quancai is still so ferocious in revenge, it may make others feel that Governor Hu is a person who will be revenged, so that if someone unintentionally offends him in the future, he can offend him to the end.

"Maybe it's almost enough to let him fall into a question, right? Let people know the old man's means and the prime minister's belly. Hu Quancai glanced at the staff beside him, Zhou Peigong was still spitting and praising Hu Quancai's fortitude and courage, he pondered in his heart: "That's it, let's see what happens to him later, if you really know and understand, you will be exempted from his fame." ”

The crowd of Wuchang standing on the shore, looking at the banner of the governor of Huguang and walking far away, the Qing army generals of the Wuchang horse army and his father-in-law were among them, and the guest army followed the governor of Huguang away, and now Wuchang is the world of local soldiers again.

……

Two days later,

"What did King Xiaofu say?" When the gentleman saw his son-in-law coming to visit, he immediately asked what had happened.

The envoy only came back this morning, and the admiral of Ma Jun immediately came to report to his father-in-law, and said: "The journey is safe, Deng Ming gave him a good meal of wine and food, and rewarded him with five taels of silver, and asked him to bring back a message, indicating that the court has written down this reward first, and if Taishan wants to get it, he can go and get it." Deng Ming also asked the messenger to pass the message, asking if any of his cronies were wrapped around the Shanxi Yankees, and if they met him in the future, they would be treated. ”

"Hmm." Jin Shen pondered for a moment and shook his head: "If you give a name, you will fall into the handle, and Zhou Juren said that King Xiaofu actually does not have many soldiers and horses in Zhongxiang, and it is estimated that the retreat will be larger." ”

The other son-in-law of this gentleman followed Hu Quancai to the expedition, and the gentry in Wuchang and Hanyang and the soldiers in other places in Huguang still had some incense, but in the past two days, the soldiers from other places have extorted money in the city, which made the Wuchang scholars hate them, and they wished that they were unlucky with Hu Quancai. Although this gentleman had similar thoughts, if Hu Quancai's army was defeated, his son-in-law in the governor's shogunate would also be in danger, so he could not continue to report the military situation to Deng Ming.

"Be prepared." The gentleman thought for a while, and felt that the palms and backs of his hands were full of meat, and Zhou Peigong's prediction was not necessarily accurate, so he asked Admiral Ma Jun to send someone to Zhongxiang again, saying that most of the Wuchang scholars had great wisdom in their hearts, and hoped that the king would be like a pure child. If they meet the young scholars of Wuchang, they hope that King Xiaofu will let them go for the sake of their fathers.

"I don't know if it's too late." The gentry had been plotting with his son-in-law for a long time, and they estimated that the advance of the two armies might have come into contact now, and it would be more dangerous to send the letter this time, so instead of writing a letter, they would just let the messenger bring a message.

However, this gentleman has a son-in-law accompanying the governor of Huguang, which does not mean that other gentlemen have sons and nephews in the army. When his intercession messenger came to Zhongxiang again with a message, Deng Ming and He Zhen had already left Zhongxiang with their troops and went straight to the vanguard of Li Shixun's Qing army. In the past two days, they received many anonymous letters, reporting to the Ming army the latest movements of the governor of Huguang, and in several letters, they also gave Deng Ming advice and put forward various strategies to defeat Hu Quancai.

In these letters and the mouths of the envoys who brought them, Deng Ming had heard many requests to intercede for the Wuchang and Hanyang scholars, and Deng Ming naturally agreed to all these requests. There is also a special request from the envoy, which is to ask Deng Ming to open up the net to the Jiangling soldiers. According to Zhao Tianba's analysis, the source of this gentleman is likely to be in the Jiangling army, and he may also be from Jiangling. At that time, if it is found that a certain Jiangling army will break away from the governor of Huguang and hide behind, it is most likely the information provider of the anonymous letter owner.

"If you were only extorted a few taels of silver, most of them would not hate it to this extent," Deng Ming has recently learned some of what happened in Wuchang through the envoys and spies, and probably guessed the reason why Hu Quancai lost the hearts of the people: "It may be that they were beaten by the soldiers, and they may even have burned a house and destroyed the courtyard by the rebels, but the soldiers had the support of the governor of Huguang and couldn't help them, so they had to find us to stand up for them." ”

The horse scouting report has found the vanguard sentinel of the Qing army. Deng Ming ordered the formation of troops.

The Ming army in the formation was mainly auxiliaries, as well as Zhong Xiang's left-behind troops, and one side was swinging sideways against the Han River. He Zhen's headquarters was hidden a little further back on the other side of Deng Ming's army formation, and the Ming army in the formation could effectively cut off the Qing army's scouts and ensure that He Zhen's strength and position would not be exposed. After the Qing army fell into chaos, He Zhen would lead the troops to touch forward and launch a fierce attack on the Qing soldiers from the flank.

After seeing the Ming army waiting for the battle, the Qing army was very surprised. They hurried all the way, but they didn't see a few spies of the Ming army, and they were even more sure that they didn't let the spies of the Ming army get close to the main force behind them, and they thought that they had hidden their strength well and could catch Zhong Xiang off guard.

When the Qing army stopped and turned to report to the main force behind him, He Zhen was standing beside Deng Ming, looking at the movement of the enemy army on the opposite side. Before leaving Zhong Xiang, He Zhen prepared a large number of copper coins and small pieces of cloth, which, according to him, were more effective in luring the enemy than throwing silver on the ground.

Treasure in large quantities, rather than of being too valuable, can quickly throw enemy rosters into chaos and last longer. However, copper coins alone are not enough, He Zhen also asked Deng Ming to prepare silver crumbs, ready to throw them on the ground with copper coins and cloth.

"When the enemy soldiers see copper coins and cloth everywhere, they will certainly lean down to pick them up, and even if they are not too greedy, they will not help but pick up their companions when they stuff copper coins into their pockets one by one and pick up one good cloth after another; As for the broken silver, it must be worth more than copper coins, but it is small and many are found, and many of them are trampled into the earth, and the enemy soldiers will keep turning over and turning over to find another piece to come out.

He Zhen's experience is that the things used to lure the enemy must be many and small, otherwise it will not be effective if it is picked up all at once, and the value should not be too high, and it is too little for the enemy soldiers to pick it up.

"I have used this ploy to defeat Li Shixun twice." He Zhen said confidently: "General Hao also defeated him with this trick. ”

"You've used it at least three times?" Deng Ming was taken aback, this is what He Zhen didn't tell him in advance: "Do you still expect Li Thief to continue the scheme?" ”

"Yes, he's been tricked three times, which means it's working." Seeing that Deng Mingbiao was so surprised, He Zhen was very puzzled.

Deng Ming stared at He Zhen twice, he felt that even if it was a dog, he should recognize that stick after being beaten twice with the same stick, if Li Shixun was tricked again, would he still be a primate?

However, at this point, all the preparations were ready, the soldiers had been repeatedly explained, and there was no way to modify the plan, so Deng Ming had to pray silently, hoping that Li Shixun's memory and intelligence would be on par with that of reptiles.

The main forces of the Qing army arrived one after another and set up a position in front of Deng Ming. Seeing that the Ming army was alone, a large number of Qing army generals jumped to the front, intending to rush up and kill the Ming army on the opposite side. But their commander, Li Shixun, twisted his beard, looked at the banner of the Ming army on the opposite side and was silent, refusing to give the order to attack.

The Qing army generals around him who were eager to make meritorious contributions urged him again and again, Li Shixun groaned, and finally began to explain to everyone why he was so serious: "This general has been fighting with the Hao thieves and Daning He thieves in Fang County for many years, and these two thieves are very scheming and must be guarded against." ”

Although he didn't see Hao Shaoqi or He Zhen's banner, Li Shixun suspected that an old opponent might be hiding behind the Ming Array. He had been defeated twice by He Zhen and Hao Shaoqi each by luring the enemy, and the atmosphere on the battlefield today was very suspicious, and Li Shixun was almost sure that the other party wanted to repeat the old trick.

"What if we storm this Ming army, and they not only do not fight, but immediately turn around and flee, and at the same time throw down copper coins, cloth heads, and broken silver from small horns?" Li Shixun was embarrassed to tell his colleagues around him that he had been defeated by this tactic four times, but his questions were very powerful, and he asked his colleagues around him speechless.

"If I am the enemy general, I will ambush the main force on the flank beforehand." Li Shixun casually pointed to the side of Deng Ming's position, even he didn't know how accurate his prediction was, and pointed at the position of He Zhen's ambush soldiers and horses: "When our soldiers are all over the ground to pick up copper coins and cloth, rummaging in the soil for broken silver and have no time to raise their heads, when they fight for these treasures, the thieves will suddenly come out from the side and kill us by surprise." ”

Although everyone felt that Li Shixun's opinion was indeed reasonable, he could not confront the Ming army without moving. The strength of the Qing army was obviously much stronger than that of the Ming army on the opposite side, and it was impossible to consume the ambush troops that might be saved indefinitely. Li Shixun also felt that it was indeed inappropriate not to take action, and at least to launch a tentative attack to confirm that the Ming army was not bluffing.

Li Shixun left half of the armor, including the soldiers and horses of his headquarters, under his banner, and ordered the other generals to lead the remaining half to attack with the auxiliaries. In this way, even if he had fallen into the enemy's tricks, half of his armor in his hands - and half of the sharper and more trained - Li Shixun would not have fallen into a desperate situation where he could do nothing.

Those meritorious generals quickly adjusted their formation, the Qing soldiers beat the war drums, shouted to attack Deng Ming, and after seeing the Qing soldiers rushing over, the opposite general flag waved, and the Ming army, which was still in strict formation, turned around and ran away without saying a word.

Seeing that the enemy in front of them was so unbearable, the morale of the Qing soldiers who launched the attack was greatly boosted, and everyone moved forward bravely. Li Shixun, who was watching the battle from afar, frowned even more tightly when he saw this, and the ominous premonition in his heart became heavier.

After hearing the sound of war drums from the other side of the Han River, He Zhen, who had returned to the army, sneered at the success of his plan, waved his hand silently, and began to tiptoe forward with the men and horses. The cries of killing and the smoke and dust on the battlefield will well cover up the actions of the Ming army, and after touching forward for a while, He Zhen's army will go to the Han River together, cut off Li Shixun's general flag, and wipe out the Qing soldiers who were picking up property.

Seeing that the Ming army was running without looking back, Li Shixun's heart shook violently, and he also got up from the saddle and tried his best to look at the battlefield.

The Qing army that was chasing at the forefront saw the copper coins and fabrics thrown by the Ming army everywhere, and they all bowed their heads to pick them up, colliding with their companions who couldn't hold back their footsteps behind them, and rolled into a ball. When the Qing soldiers who came up later saw the belongings of a place, they didn't care about chasing after them, and hurriedly carried them into their arms.

"Then it's time to scatter the silver, I'll know!" Li Shixun knew that after the Ming army began to scatter the silver, the soldiers would look for it all over the ground. He hurriedly ordered the whole army to turn, so that half of the armor that was still under control faced the original flank, and shouted anxiously: "The thieves are about to come out of here, and they are ready to fight!" ”