Dominate the Country

[I heard that starting point is always recommended by Wednesday~~~]

Wuchang, Hubei Governor's Office.

Seeing the memorial sent by Wu Heqing before his death, Huguang Governor Ding Chang was shocked. Some were sad about Wu Heqing's death, but more were angry about the rampant Chen family army and the cowardice of the Wuchang garrison camp. "Once the city of Yunyang is lost, the land of Yunyang will be in danger. If the enemy soldiers march straight in... What can we do!" He walked back and forth in the signing room with small steps, sighing from time to time.

Ding Chang's health was indeed very bad, his face was grayish green, and it was not a normal color at first glance.

"It's all because of Yongrui's uselessness, the loss of troops and generals, and the deep betrayal of the court's kindness!" Dingzhang said in his heart, pushing all his resentment onto Yongrui, but forgetting that he had done the same mess, deploying the only troops in Xiangyang and Yunyang separately, but it was useless...

Now Yongrui has been escorted to Beijing, and the Hunan Green Camp is still being summoned, and it is impossible for him to come to Hubei now. He really has no one to block the exit in the east, unless he is willing to take the risk and use Xiangyang's troops to go west to Gucheng and Guanghua.

Dingzhang really wants to find another famous general, or a capable general, otherwise there is the ability of Shi Liang [Guarjia clan], the left deputy governor of Jingzhou in Xiangyang City, and Dingzhang really doesn't trust his ability.

The Hubei Green Camp was defeated too badly in the previous round, and Dingzhang couldn't think of a suitable person after thinking about it. At first, he wanted to "promote" his deputy commander Paul, thinking that a tiger father will have a dog son. Paul is the second son of Guarjia Fude. The latter was a meritorious official in the pacification of Xinjiang during the Qianlong period. He was awarded the first-class Jingyuan Chengyong Marquis for his merits, and was granted the title of Imperial Minister and Minister of the Lifanyuan. He was imprisoned for two serious crimes, but was pardoned by Qianlong. It can be said that Jian was in the emperor's heart.

But mud can't be plastered on the wall. When Paul was asked by Dingchang to replace Shi Liang to supervise the battle in Xiangyang, his chubby face turned as white as paper. He couldn't get up from the chair and his legs were weak. Dingchang really couldn't find anyone comparable to Shi Liang. Xue Shiyan, the general of Yichang Town, participated in the battle of pacifying the big and small Jinchuan that year [the first time], and his trust in Dingchang was higher than that of Shi Liang, a playboy. But Yichang Town was also preparing troops to go north, and Xue Shiyan couldn't quench his thirst. Unless he wanted Xue Shiyan to parachute into Xiangyang.

Dingchang didn't have a suitable candidate in his mind.

He sighed and sat back in his chair. On the document in front of him, he had reviewed documents and reports for four years. Thousands of documents were issued and countless decrees were written. Here he could feel the taste of power, so even if he was seriously ill, he hoped to get better as soon as possible, instead of writing this begging letter to Beijing. Now, this document representing the highest power in Huguang still belongs to him. But he wanted to slap himself. It would be better to just submit a memorial and leave when he was seriously ill in the summer. At most, he would continue to serve the court after recovering.

Since the early Ming Dynasty, the top officials in the court have had ups and downs. Who doesn't have a father and mother? When the parents die, they have to wear mourning clothes for 27 months. This is an unshakable rule. If you are lucky enough to have a direct ancestor, you have to do it again. Dingchang himself has come this way. What's wrong with going home temporarily to recuperate? He now regrets his decision.

Now that the disaster was imminent, it was too late for him to retreat.

In Yichang, Shinan and other places west of Hunan and Hubei, the Green Camp soldiers were recruited very slowly. The news of the defeat of the Qing army's encirclement and suppression had spread throughout Huguang. The people used blackmail to spread rumors, and some of the news was very outrageous, which directly affected the morale of the Green Camp soldiers and the speed of the team's assembly. In addition, during the Green Camp's recruitment process, some Green Camp soldiers had lax military discipline, which caused a lot of public resentment, which made him very annoyed. It also made his copybook pile up with various reports from all over the country every day, as well as reports from the Green Camp complaining about the lack of cooperation from local officials, like a small mountain. Especially the documents from Xinyang, Xiangyang Prefecture, and Yunyang Prefecture [the post of Henan Governor was vacant, and Xinyang was occupied by remnant soldiers from Hubei]. The documents from these places either reported the serious indignation of the people, excessive plundering and labor, or reported the riots of Chen Ni and local bandits, the tragic war; or how the bandits broke into some prefectures, counties, towns, and markets, burned and looted, how many young men, carriages, and supplies were captured, and how some local officials fled or died in the city. Such documents were full of shocking words, and he wanted to kick the documents over.

Now Wu Heqing is dead, the Tongzhi and the teaching instructor of Yunyang Prefecture are all dead, and only the Tongpan who settled in Zhushan is still alive. Dingzhang's mind is particularly heavy. He did not immediately check the memorials, but looked down at the incense burner on the small table in his left hand.

After all, Wu Heqing was also a prefect!

A maidservant walked into the study room with a peony-shaped silver tray in both hands. On the tray was a blue and white covered bowl with bird's nest soup and a silver spoon. Another maidservant took the covered bowl and silver spoon from the tray and placed them on Dingzhang's left hand, then opened the lid, and a faint fragrance floated out. Dingzhang woke up from his trance, looking a little tired. He took a look at the bowl of bird's nest soup, then picked up the bowl and the silver spoon and drank a few sips slowly.

As if he was nourished by the bird's nest soup and had some energy, Dingzhang took another urgent report from Xiangyang, saying that Wu Heqing was dead, and the entire Yunyang Prefecture was in a mess. Many places had rebels rising up, and the rebels had joined Chen Ni's men. Shi Liang came to report that Chen Ni's main force had exceeded 10,000 people. Shi Liang was asking what to do?

The decree from Beijing was that the emperor was going to ensure that Yunyang was safe, but now Yunyang Prefecture had been captured by Chen's army. It was reasonable that they were going to block the road back to the east from Yunyang, but with only 7,000 green camps and civilian warriors in Xiangyang, could they stop the powerful Chen Ni?

Regarding this matter, Shi Liang also proposed that the remaining soldiers in Xinyang should return to the south quickly. If Xiangyang really wanted to send troops, then let the Xinyang soldiers and Xiangyang soldiers meet together to fight Chen Ni together. There is also the navy camp of Hanyang Association, and then the remaining parts of the Fu Biao and Du Biao, and as many as there are, they should all come to Xiangyang for reinforcement.

Ding Chang, on the contrary, could not make up his mind. The navy camp of Hanyang Association is the only navy in Hubei. His governor's flag and the governor's flag of Fan Shishou have a battalion head, as well as the middle camp of Wuchang City Defense Camp. These are the only three battalions of officers and soldiers left in Wuchang Hanyang area. If they all go to Xiangyang, and Shi Liang is defeated again, then Chen's army will go all the way to Wuchang, and he will be unable to do anything except die.

Dingzhang picked up the urgent report and read it again, but still couldn't make a decision. Shi Liang didn't write in the document how he planned to resist Chen's army, so how could Dingzhang feel at ease?

Shi Liang wanted all the troops in northern Hubei and southern Henan.

Dingzhang thought about it and put down the pen in his hand for a long time. He couldn't act rashly. He needed to discuss this matter with Fan Shishou.

Fan Shishou, the governor of Hubei, the grandson of Fan Wencheng.