The Great Rebel at the End of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 104 Undercurrents

More than two months have passed since the incident at Gushan Fort.

It has been quite some time since Zhou Lun left without saying goodbye and returned to Fugu on horseback.

Upon returning to Fugu, Zhou Lun said nothing, as if the incident had never occurred.

But Gao Guiying, who was his wife, clearly remembered that Zhou Lun's face was extremely gloomy the day he returned. He even locked himself in his room for a whole day, and only came out of the room the next day with red eyes.

Zhou Lun knew in his heart that he was lucky to have run fast, otherwise he probably wouldn't have made it back this time.

After this incident, he also realized that he and Li Wanqing, who were once as close as brothers, would become strangers.

With Li Wanqing having made up his mind, this elder brother is about to embark on another path, and once he does, the two sides will be enemies, not friends.

Although on the surface Li Wanqing is still considered Gao Yingxiang's subordinate and has not yet openly broken away from the rebel army, in reality, the independence of Gushan Fort and its defection to the imperial court are inevitable.

Not long after Zhou Lun returned to Fugu, he learned that Yang He had given Li Wanqing a formal official position, not only the title of Commander of the Garrison, but also the military rank of Guerrilla General.

When this news reached Gao Yingxiang's ears, he immediately became alert and summoned Zhou Lun for questioning.

When asked, Zhou Lun feigned surprise, as if he were hearing about it for the first time. He offered no further answers.

This was done out of consideration for their sworn brotherhood, deliberately covering for Li Wanqing. Li Wanqing also sent someone to inform Gao Yingxiang that he was also surprised by Yang He's move, but considering that the rebel army had nominally been pacified, he could not refuse and thus accepted the appointment.

These answers sounded normal, but Gao Yingxiang became wary and naturally didn't believe them entirely. Moreover, he was very dissatisfied with Zhou Lun's answers, and his attitude towards Zhou Lun changed slightly, a change that Zhou Lun himself could sense.

To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Gao Yingxiang quickly ordered Wang Er's garrison to be moved slightly south, and at the same time, Zhao Sheng and Liu Zhe's garrisons were rotated. He also sent Huang Long to lead a group of men to garrison the area south of Fugu City.

This arrangement was clearly a precaution against Li Wanqing of Gushan Fortress. Moreover, Zhou Lun's opinion wasn't even sought when this was done. By the time Zhou Lun found out, the adjustment was already complete.

The change in circumstances left Zhou Lun feeling quite helpless.

What worried him more was that Li Wanqing would completely turn against Gao Yingxiang.

If this happens, a clash between the two factions will be inevitable, and his position will be extremely awkward. Deep down, Zhou Lun absolutely does not want to face Li Wanqing on the battlefield.

Although the events at Gushan Fort disappointed him, and he was even more furious at Li Wanqing's disregard for brotherhood and his attempt to use the wedding as a pretext to harm him, the bond they shared from back then still remained. If it weren't for Li Wanqing's rescue, it's questionable whether he could have survived in this era.

Moreover, he believed that even if Li Wanqing did attack him, he wouldn't kill him. However, even so, this action still troubled him. Faced with this situation, even with his resourcefulness, he couldn't come up with a good solution.

With Li Wanqing effectively siding with the imperial court, the situation of Gao Yingxiang's troops in Fugu began to become delicate. Also, because Li Wanqing was stationed at Gushan Fort, for the sake of the overall situation, Gao Yingxiang made a series of adjustments but did not take immediate action, which made Zhou Lun secretly relieved.

Compared to Fugu, the situation in the south is more complex.

In the Battle of Hancheng, Hong Chengchou not only withstood the fierce attacks of the rebel army, but also led his troops in a night raid, inflicting a major defeat on the forces of Wang Zuogua and Miao Mei. After the great victory at Hancheng, Hong Chengchou's reputation for military prowess spread overnight.

On the imperial court's side, Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed upon learning of the great victory at Hancheng. He issued a special decree to commend and encourage the emperor, urging him to continue his efforts in cooperating with Yang He to suppress Wang Jiayin's forces and resolve the Shaanxi rebellion as soon as possible.

Although Hong Chengchou was determined to kill the rebels, he was simply unable to advance north to encircle and suppress them.

His victory in Hancheng was due to his meticulous pre-battle planning, skillful command during the battle, and the incentive of sparing no expense in terms of resources. Moreover, this was a defensive battle.

The rebel army came with great momentum and did not take him seriously at all. As the saying goes, pride comes before a fall. In addition, Hong Chengchou seized the opportunity, personally went to the front line to boost morale, and took advantage of the fact that Wang Zuogua and others did not expect him to have such courage to go out of the city to launch a surprise attack while he was trapped in the city. This led to his great victory.

In terms of actual troop strength, Hong Chengchou had less than two thousand soldiers capable of fighting. They could barely defend the city, let alone fight in the field, or even against a rebel army several times larger. He had no confidence at all.

Therefore, he did not obey the court's order to march north easily, but remained stationed in Hancheng to prevent Wang Zuo's troops from advancing south again. He could only adopt a defensive strategy and dared not easily start a war. Because he knew that if his side was defeated, the situation would deteriorate to an irreparable degree.

Not to mention Hong Chengchou, even Yang He did not have enough troops to rescue Yan'an Prefecture.

Yang He tried every means to find someone to connect with the Shen Yiyuan brothers, and took similar steps to make contact with them as he had with Gao Yingxiang.

After paying a considerable price and making numerous promises, the Shen brothers, Yiyuan and Yikui, finally relented and agreed to accept the offer of amnesty, which stabilized the precarious Heshui line.

Good news also came from Li Wanqing's side. Lin Tongpan, whom Yang He sent, reported that Li Wanqing was willing to sincerely pledge allegiance to the imperial court, which made Yang He overjoyed.

To this end, he guaranteed that he could secure an official appointment for Li Wanqing from the imperial court. At the same time, he sent a private letter instructing him not to fall out with Gao Yingxiang for the time being, and to continue to garrison Gushan Fort to block the passage from Fugu to the south.

As long as Li Wanqing is in Gushan Fort, Gao Yingxiang will have to pass through his defenses if he wants to go south. In this way, Li Wanqing becomes an obstacle to Gao Yingxiang's southward advance. Once Yang Heteng has dealt with Wang Jiayin's troops in the south and completely wiped out this rebel force, it will be much easier to turn north and join forces with Li Wanqing to deal with Gao Yingxiang.

It must be said that Yang He's plan was very well executed. From a broader perspective, it was the best choice possible.

Unfortunately, he never expected that Yan'an Prefecture would be lost so soon.

Yan'an Prefecture, which had been besieged by Wang Jiayin for a long time, ultimately could not be defended.

On the day the city fell, the defending generals Du Wenhuan and Ai Mu, along with the prefect Zhang Nian, led their remaining troops in a desperate breakout and fled in disarray. Yan'an Prefecture thus fell into the hands of Wang Jiayin.

After capturing Yan'an Prefecture, he controlled almost the entire central Shaanxi region, greatly increasing his prestige. Du Wenhuan and his men, who had fled in disarray, finally breathed a sigh of relief after rushing all the way to Qingyang Prefecture, where Yang He was located.

The loss of Yan'an Prefecture further worsened the situation in Shaanxi. Yang He had no better solution. After all, he didn't have enough troops, and even if he wanted to suppress the bandits, he was powerless. He could only hope for the effect of appeasement, trying his best to win over the rebel leaders who agreed to be appeased, such as the Shen Yiyuan brothers who had recently relented.

In order to stabilize the situation and even to gain the trust of the Shen Yiyuan brothers, Yang He not only took in Shen Yiyuan's son-in-law who came to negotiate, but also took care of him like an elder, even eating and living with him in a very friendly manner.

In addition, he went to Heshui and personally met with Shen Yiyuan, Shen Yikui and others.

In his capacity as the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions, he first gave them a warning, then produced a pre-prepared pardon document, telling them that as long as they sincerely accepted the offer of amnesty, all their past transgressions would be forgiven. He assured them that if they served the court diligently in the future, wealth and honor would be within their grasp, far better than becoming rebels.

Yang He's actions made Shen Yiyuan, Shen Yikui, and others appear extremely sincere.

They knelt and kowtowed before Yang He, swearing to the heavens that they had gone astray before, but thanks to Lord Yang's guidance, they had turned back to the right path and would surely repent and be loyal to the court.

This attitude greatly pleased Yang He. He chuckled and helped the two men up, offering them words of comfort and reassurance. He felt that their allegiance was tantamount to cutting off one of Wang Jiayin's arms. Coupled with Li Wanqing's troops in the north, he now possessed a force capable of stabilizing the situation. Once the border troops mobilized by Gansu and Ningxia arrived, the balance of power would be completely different. At that point, he could calmly deal with and annihilate Wang Jiayin, his most pressing threat.

Unfortunately, Yang He never expected that his actions would anger Du Wenhuan, one of his generals.

Yang He's kind treatment of the Shen Yiyuan brothers and his forgiving attitude towards past transgressions infuriated Du Wenhuan. His anger wasn't due to the loss of Yan'an Prefecture; after all, victory and defeat are common occurrences in battle, and he couldn't blame anyone else for his defeat.

The problem was that, on their way to Heshui, the brothers Shen Yiyuan and Shen Yikui captured several fortresses, including Xin'an, Ningsai, and Liushujian. After taking these places, they carried out a large-scale massacre of local resistance fighters, many of whom were relatives of Du Wenhuan.

In other words, Du Wenhuan harbored an irreconcilable hatred for Shen Yiyuan and Shen Yikui. Nearly a hundred of his relatives had been slaughtered, their bodies barely cold, yet he was now to be serving in the same court as them, seemingly forgetting all their past grievances? How could Du Wenhuan possibly do that? How could he so easily let go of the hatred for the murder of his own family?

Facing his enemy, Du Wenhuan's eyes were practically spitting fire with rage, making any attempt to shake hands and make peace out of the question.

If Yang Heqiang hadn't restrained him, he almost would have drawn his knife and attacked someone on the spot.

In the end, he could only swallow his anger and felt extremely dissatisfied with Yang He. To prevent Du Wenhuan from retaliating against Shen Yiyuan and the others, Yang He specifically ordered the garrison commander Wu Hongqi to lead men to protect them, which made Du Wenhuan even more grief-stricken.

Without saying a word, he left with his men, not even giving Yang He any face.

Yang He was equally furious upon seeing this. If it weren't for the fact that he needed the man, he would have arrested Du Wenhuan and subjected him to military law without hesitation, given his temper. But in the end, he didn't do that. He simply sent someone to appease him and then put the matter aside.

In his view, the most important thing now is to try to win over the Shen Yiyuan brothers and use them for his own purposes. As long as the chaos in Shaanxi is completely resolved, it will not be too late to settle scores later.