The Great Rebel at the End of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 087 Yang He's Wishful Thinking

"uncle!"

Zhou Lun strode to the county government office, entered the main hall, and bowed to Gao Yingxiang, who was waiting for him.

"You're here? Have a seat!"

Gao Yingxiang did not sit in the main seat, but casually sat in the chair to his left. When he saw Zhou Lun, he pointed to the side.

Zhou Lun sat down next to him naturally. Seeing that Gao Yingxiang didn't seem to have anything urgent to do, he felt a little relieved.

"My uncle sent me here...?"

Gao Yingxiang took out a letter and asked with a smile, "I received a letter today. Can you guess who it's from?"

Zhou Lun was taken aback. How could he possibly guess something so absurd? However, since Gao Yingxiang had asked, Zhou Lun couldn't be rude; he still had to provide for his boss's emotional needs. He immediately pondered for a moment and tentatively asked, "It's not a letter from Chief Wang in the south, is it?"

Gao Yingxiang shook his head. Then Zhou Lun mentioned several more names, including not only Liu Zhe, who was stationed outside, but also several leaders under Wang Jiayin.

Zhou Lun's guess was quite reasonable. Currently, their troops were in Fugu, with Li Wanqing, Wang Er, and Zhao Sheng stationed in the south, west, and northwest respectively, while only Liu Zhe's garrison was located in the east, near the Yellow River.

As for Wang Jiayin's troops, recent news indicates that their southward advance has been successful. They have not only recaptured Qingjian and Anding counties, but are also preparing to attack Yan'an Prefecture and Yanchuan, and have their sights set on Hancheng further south.

Because of the Battle of Gaohanling, when the news reached the south, the government troops that had already arrived at Qingjian were instantly terrified. In order to protect themselves, they took the initiative to abandon the two counties of Qingjian and Anding and retreated directly back to Yan'an Prefecture.

As a result, Wang Jiayin's troops advanced with unstoppable momentum. In addition, after the great victory at Gaohanling, the morale of the various rebel armies was high and their momentum was great, making their southward advance exceptionally smooth.

Zhou Lun guessed several times in a row, but Gao Yingxiang just smiled and shook his head.

"Not any leader of the rebel army." Seeing that Zhou Lun couldn't guess, Gao Yingxiang chuckled and revealed the answer: "This letter was sent by someone from the government. The writer is one of your 'old acquaintances'."

"An old acquaintance?" Zhou Lun was taken aback. Where did he get an old acquaintance from the government? After thinking hard, a person suddenly came to mind.

"Could it be Qiao Daonan, the magistrate of Shenmu County?"

"Hahaha! It's him!"

Gao Yingxiang clapped his hands and laughed, then handed the letter to Zhou Lun.

Zhou Lun took the letter and glanced at the cover, which indeed bore Qiao Daonan's name. He opened the letter, took out the cover, and examined it closely. After a couple of glances, his eyebrows involuntarily rose, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

The letter was rather long, and the content was written in a rather literary style.

After a few words of greeting and some casual conversation, Qiao Daonan pointed out in his letter that the rebels had revolted because local corrupt officials were harassing the countryside and forcibly oppressing the people. The court was already aware of this, and the emperor had issued an edict to investigate the matter thoroughly.

Qiao Daonan said that although there were reasons for the incident and the rebels were forced to rise up, it was still an inappropriate thing to do. How could the people do such an unwise thing in a fit of anger when they encountered difficulties?

You should trust the court and His Majesty. His Majesty is the wise ruler of the Ming Dynasty. All the previous events were the work of Wei Zhongxian and his clique of eunuchs. After His Majesty ascended the throne, he severely punished the eunuchs who had brought disaster to the country and the people, and even Wei Zhongxian, the chief culprit, was executed by His Majesty.

With such a wise and enlightened emperor, the Ming Dynasty will surely be able to restore order and allow the people to live in peace and prosperity. And although their rebel army has rebelled, they are, after all, subjects of the Ming Dynasty, and even more so, subjects of His Majesty!

Heaven cherishes life, and Your Majesty is a wise and enlightened ruler.

Given the current situation, the imperial court intends to give these people a chance to turn back. As long as Gao Yingxiang's troops can defect and raise an army to surrender to the court, the court will forgive and forget their past actions.

The Governor-General of the Three Border Regions, Lord Yang He, has arrived in Shaanxi and, representing the imperial court, has decided to pacify Gao Yingxiang's forces. If Gao Yingxiang and his various rebel leaders repent and reform, the imperial court will certainly not treat them unfairly.

Qiao Daonan also said that he wrote this letter at the behest of Governor-General Yang He, and on behalf of the imperial court. Furthermore, Qiao Daonan revealed that Yang He privately admired Gao Yingxiang and his followers, and that if Gao Yingxiang accepted the offer of amnesty, Yang He would not only issue Gao Yingxiang and his rebel leaders pardons in the name of the imperial court as a sign of sincerity, but would also recommend Gao Yingxiang and his associates for official positions.

Yang He couldn't guarantee the positions of General and Deputy General, but there was no problem with the positions of Lieutenant General and Guerrilla General. Furthermore, Yang He could vouch for Gao Yingxiang's continued command and garrison in the area. Not only Gao Yingxiang, but even the leaders of his subordinates all received official positions and rewards.

What follows is a whole bunch of rambling. The article is well-written, but the only real points it makes are those mentioned above.

Therefore, this letter can be considered a letter of pacification from Qiao Daonan, in the name of Yang He, the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions, to Gao Yingxiang's troops. Qiao Daonan, as expected of a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), wrote quite well, and the wording was very sincere, but the content...

"What does Uncle think of this matter?" After reading the letter, Zhou Lun stuffed it back into the envelope, casually placed it on the table to his right, and then asked Gao Yingxiang.

"The words are sincere, and the conditions are quite good." Gao Yingxiang tapped the letter with his finger and said this with a smile. Then he added, "To be honest, the conditions sound generous, but no one can be sure how much of it is true and how much is false."

Zhou Lun agreed with Gao Yingxiang's words.

At this moment, Gao Yingxiang asked Zhou Lun for his opinion. Zhou Lun thought for a moment and said, "In my opinion, although this letter was written by Qiao Daonan, its meaning is actually Yang He's. Now, Chief Wang's power in the south is immense. After occupying Qingjian and Anding counties, he is preparing to attack Yan'an Prefecture. In the Battle of Gaohanling, the northern government army was annihilated. Yang He has just arrived in Shaanxi, and even though he is the governor-general of the three border regions appointed by the court, he is facing a very difficult situation. More importantly, Yang He does not have enough troops to fight against Chief Wang's southward advance, not to mention that my troops are entrenched in Fugu and control the surrounding area."

"That's absolutely right!" Gao Yingxiang agreed.

After the Battle of Gaohanling, Wang Jiayin had no more worries about his rear and did not need to consider the threat from the north, so he went directly south.

This was also the main reason for Wang Jiayin's unstoppable advance. Meanwhile, Gao Yingxiang's troops, now stationed in Fugu, had not only recovered from the damage inflicted by the great battle after this period of rest, but their strength had also increased further.

With the Battle of Yan'an about to begin, Wang Jiayin has simultaneously divided his forces to prepare for attacks on Yanchuan and Hancheng. If Gao Yingxiang's troops were to make a move in Fugu at this time, whether by continuing to wage war in all directions or by following Wang Jiayin south to reinforce... once Yan'an Prefecture falls to the rebel army, and Yanchuan and Hancheng are successively captured, then the entire Shaanxi province will be utterly devastated.

Under these circumstances, Yang He, who had just taken office, had very few troops at his disposal. He was unable to simultaneously contend with the two large rebel armies led by Wang Jiayin and Gao Yingxiang.

Moreover, since the uprising last year, more and more uprisings of all sizes have broken out in various parts of Shaanxi. Yang He not only has to suppress and pacify the local areas, but also has to deal with Wang Jiayin and Gao Yingxiang. He is not a god, and he can't conjure soldiers from beans. How can he do that?

Therefore, Yang He adopted a strategy of dividing and weakening the enemy while simultaneously attacking and winning them over.

"To strike" naturally refers to striking Wang Jiayin. Wang Jiayin is now eyeing Yan'an Prefecture covetously, and Yang He will absolutely not stand idly by and watch Yan'an Prefecture fall.

Judging from the current situation, Wang Jiayin's rebel army is currently the strongest and the one that needs to be dealt with the most.

"La" refers to Gao Yingxiang's tribe. Since occupying Fugu, Gao Yingxiang's tribe has not expanded outwards extensively, but merely stationed and rested in the Fugu area. In terms of aggression and destructive power, they are much better than Wang Jiayin's.

Therefore, Yang He decided to try to win over Gao Yingxiang's troops. As can be seen from Qiao Daonan's letter, if Gao Yingxiang could be won over by Yang He, it would not only solve the problem of the rebel army in northeastern Shaanxi, but more importantly, it would directly impact the current war situation in Yan'an Prefecture.

Imagine, what was once a safe rear area could become an enemy if Gao Yingxiang betrayed Wang Jiayin and defected to the imperial court. Although Gao Yingxiang's forces were smaller and fewer than Wang Jiayin's, they were currently the second largest rebel army after Wang Jiayin. If Gao Yingxiang were willing to march south and cooperate with the government forces to suppress Wang Jiayin, Wang Jiayin would be caught in a pincer movement.

Even if Gao Yingxiang refuses to send troops and remains in Fugu, it wouldn't be a bad thing for Yang He. After all, pacifying Gao Yingxiang's troops was already a great achievement, and it would also cut off Wang Jiayin's powerful ally.

Furthermore, with Gao Yingxiang in the north, Wang Jiayin in the south could not help but worry. In order to prevent Gao Yingxiang from defecting and then coming south to join forces with the government troops to deal with him, Wang Jiayin could not recklessly exert all his strength against Yan'an Prefecture and the surrounding areas.

It must be said that Yang He's plan was quite shrewd. Once successful, the pressure on him in Shaanxi would instantly lessen. He could then calmly deploy his troops, first eliminating Wang Jiayin to ensure the stability of Yan'an Prefecture and central Shaanxi, before turning his attention to other issues.