Chongzhen: Why is the emperor's head square?

Chapter 35 Capturing Gao Yingxiang, the Rebel King

"We cannot let His Majesty down."

Lu Xiang-sheng was naturally aware of this.

The money from this bandit suppression operation.

It was basically all paid for by the emperor alone.

Upon hearing this, Li Chongzhen quickly replied, "General, rest assured, if anyone cowers in fear and retreats, I will be the first to execute him!"

With the grand prize bread as an example.

The Ming army's combat strength suddenly soared.

In addition, Lu Xiang-sheng's own troops were already well-trained.

The battle was decided by noon the next day.

Hundreds of people were beheaded.

They captured the peasant army leaders alive, including Zilaihu, Yonghu, Gongshanhu, and Zhang Xin'er.

This was also a successful first battle.

Looking at Zilaihu and the others who were bound and kneeling on the ground, Lu Xiang-sheng said, "Tie these people up and send them to the capital."

I thought this battle was against Zhang Xianzhong, Gao Yingxiang and others.

Among the rebels, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong were in the greatest danger.

One was a daring general, and the other, Zhang Xianzhong, was very good at winning the hearts and minds of the people.

Wherever they went, after robbing wealthy households, they would distribute a portion of the looted money and food to the local people.

Rebels are not scary, nor is robbing the rich to help the poor.

What I fear most are rebels who rob the rich to help the poor.

He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world.

Lu Xiang-sheng quickly learned of this after defeating Ji Lai-hu's forces.

Gao Yingxiang, the rebel leader, and Li Zicheng, the rebel general, captured the southern city of Guangzhou.

Lu Xiang-sheng immediately led his troops in pursuit to Xinyang.

In the Queshan area, five hundred people were beheaded.

……

Wuying Hall.

Yang Sichang hurriedly entered the Wuying Hall, holding a memorial in his hands.

"Your Majesty! A great victory!"

Hearing Yang Sichang's excitement, Zhu Youjian immediately took the memorial and read it.

Just when Zhu Youjian thought he had captured either Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong.

He opened the report and took a look.

A great victory was achieved; Lu Xiang-sheng beheaded 500 people in Queshan.

Zhu Youjian remained silent. Well, he had been happy for nothing.

They thought it was a great victory, defeating 10,000 enemy troops.

I almost forgot.

In the Ming Dynasty's military merit system, beheading 120 people was considered a great victory.

The beheading of 500 people was indeed news that could excite the court and the public.

The criteria for determining a head are quite strict. It requires a complete head and verification through examination of the teeth, skin, hair, and other physical characteristics before it can be considered a head.

Moreover, beheading on the battlefield is quite difficult.

In particular, the enemies faced by the Ming Dynasty were somewhat special, such as the Jin army, which would steal corpses.

They are either peasant armies that would collapse at the slightest disadvantage.

This result is actually quite good.

Moreover, human bones cannot be broken with just one or two cuts.

Able to behead 500 people, it must be a confrontation with at least several thousand people.

The beheading of 500 people means that the enemy suffered at least a thousand casualties.

The fact that five hundred intact heads could still be severed amidst such chaos is enough to prove that the battlefield situation was one of overwhelming dominance.

Defeating a peasant army of several thousand could be considered a great victory.

"A draft edict was drafted in recognition of the great victory on the battlefield, ordering Lu Xiang-sheng to be posthumously granted the title of General Manager of the military affairs of Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces."

"At the same time, Lu Xiang-sheng stepped down from his post as Governor of Huguang and devoted himself to the task of suppressing bandits."

Lu Xiang-sheng was promoted from Governor-General of Five Provinces to Governor-General of Seven Provinces, with the addition of two more provinces.

Hong Chengchou was demoted from his original five-province administration to the governor-general of three provinces, with the administration of two provinces reduced to three.

……

In the blink of an eye, it was February of the ninth year of the Chongzhen reign.

After a two-month siege.

Good news kept coming from the front.

First, Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, killed Zhang Xian, one of the peasant leaders, in Shangluo, just one and a half months after taking office.

Meanwhile, Gao Yingxiang's troops were being surrounded and intercepted by Lu Xiangsheng.

Gao Yingxiang and his group had no choice but to enter Shaanxi again.

……

Xi'an.

Upon learning that Gao Yingxiang, the rebel leader, had entered Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, discovered that Gao Yingxiang had entered the province.

After being besieged in the Yunyang mountain area.

Overjoyed.

The peasant armies in the Shaanxi area were all low-class bastards.

He was still thinking about how to wipe out the main force of the peasant army led by Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong.

Unexpectedly, Gao Yingxiang and his group actually came to our door.

Without hesitation, Sun Chuanting immediately prepared to send troops, joining forces with Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangshan to completely crush the rebel leader Gao Yingxiang in Shaanxi.

As time went on.

Under the relentless pressure from Lu Xiangshan, Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, and others.

Gao Yingxiang intended to escape to Shu through the Ziwu Valley.

I don't know.

Sun Chuanting had already anticipated that Gao Yingxiang might escape to Hanzhong through the Ziwu Valley and then enter Shu from Hanzhong.

Therefore, he deployed a large force early on, ambushing Gao Yingxiang and his men on their inevitable route.

……

Ziwu Valley.

Sun Chuanting gazed into the distance, his hand slowly resting on the sword at his waist.

They arrived as expected.

Not far away, a peasant army was seen rushing towards them.

He had been waiting for several days, and finally it happened. He had thought that Gao Yingxiang had noticed the ambush.

I won't take this path.

It seems that Gao Yingxiang has run out of options, given the extensive web of traps he's facing.

The only option was to risk entering Sichuan through the Ziwu Valley.

Clearly, Gao Yingxiang has taken the wrong path.

Looking at the peasant army getting closer and closer.

Sun Chuanting slowly drew his sword from his waist, his sharp gaze fixed on the banner bearing the character "闯" (chuǎng, meaning "break through" or "storm").

He shouted, "Kill!"

At Sun Chuanting's command, the peasant army instantly collapsed and fled in all directions.

Gao Yingxiang looked at this scene with a sense of utter despair.

He hadn't expected there to actually be an ambush there.

Lu Xiangshan and Hong Chengchou's troops were chasing after them.

It's impossible that they circled around and ambushed us.

Therefore, the troops in front of us are very likely local troops from Shaanxi.

But wasn't Gan Xuekuo, the governor of Shaanxi, a cowardly and timid man?!

Why would he set up an ambush here?

It was because the Shaanxi governor, Gan Xuekuo, was an incompetent man that he took the risk of fleeing through the Ziwu Valley.

It's because they're betting that Gan Xuekuo won't dare to send troops.

In retrospect, I made the wrong bet.

The ambush caused the already demoralized peasant army to completely collapse.

No matter how Gao Yingxiang organized it, it was all in vain.

After several hours of fierce fighting.

All of Gao Yingxiang's personal guards were killed by the Ming army, and he was already exhausted.

Looking at the Ming soldiers before him, Gao Yingxiang felt unwilling, but he no longer had the strength to pick up his sword.

As Gao Yingxiang exhausted himself, he loosened his grip, and the knife fell to the ground.

The Ming army swarmed forward and captured Gao Yingxiang alive.

Ultimately, Gao Yingxiang, the rebel leader who had dominated Northwest China for seven years, was defeated and captured.

Gao Yingxiang looked at Sun Chuanting walking towards him with some surprise.

"Aren't you Gan Xuekuo?"

Sun Chuanting laughed and said, "Gan Xuekuo was dismissed by His Majesty long ago because he let you escape. I am Sun Chuanting."

Upon hearing this, Gao Yingxiang gave a bitter smile.

Gan Xuekuo was actually dismissed from his post? And immediately after his dismissal, a new governor was appointed.

Seamless integration.

The emperor was truly efficient.

Ultimately, I failed because I was out of the loop.

"I lost."

After capturing Gao Yingxiang.

Sun Chuanting immediately reported this to Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou was overjoyed when he learned of this.

It should be noted that the peasant army of the rebel leader Chuang Wang was the strongest, followed by Zhang Xianzhong's.

Capturing Gao Yingxiang meant disintegrating the peasant army led by the rebel leader Chuang Wang.

Next, the pressure from peasant armies that the Central Plains region would face would be greatly reduced.