Chapter 236: Suppression of the Five Provinces

"Bang!"

About half an hour later, Zuo Liangyu sat alone in the seat of honor, his expression as ugly as a deep black mud pit. He clenched his fists until they creaked, murderous intent written across his face, yet for a long while he could not utter a single word.

After a long pause, he rose and looked at the map hanging on the wall, snorting coldly to himself: "From Wuchang to Taiyuan, I'm ordered to take it by the end of the tenth month. Chen Qiyu is forcing my hand."

Wuchang to Taiyuan was at least several hundred li away. Ever since the defeat at Zhuxian Town, why did he run at the sight of Li Zicheng? Wasn't the reason simply this ragtag bunch of men under his command!

"If I can't take Taiyuan, not only will the prestige of my Left Camp be utterly destroyed, but Huguang and the Wuchang region will also fall entirely into the hands of the Daxi roving bandits. Ma Kuang, that fool—does he even know what he's doing!?" At the mention of Ma Kuang's name, the face of a rough, burly man appeared before Zuo Liangyu's eyes, and he ground his teeth in fury.

The Battle of Zhuxian Town was the first time Zuo Liangyu had firmly resolved to wipe out Li Zicheng for the court. But Li Zicheng was not so easy to destroy. In one fierce engagement, not only was the Left Camp utterly routed, but the elite troops Zuo Liangyu had accumulated over many years were scattered to the winds.

Li Zicheng also seized the opportunity to beat the dog while it was down, pursuing for over three hundred li until the Left Camp was thoroughly broken and routed before turning north. Even now, the fighting power of the Dashun army still left the generals of the Left Camp with lingering fear.

Rather than saying Zuo Liangyu had contracted "Li-phobia," it would be more accurate to say that everyone in the Left Camp, from top to bottom, had contracted Li-phobia.

Zuo Liangyu also understood that of the several hundred thousand men under his command now, people were privately deserting every day. He couldn't stop them all, and the law couldn't punish the multitude. To put it nicely, it was called an army of five hundred thousand; to put it bluntly, it was no different from the Dashun refugee camps.

Every time they drilled, the command flags of the Left Camp covered the entire mountainside, and the military appearance looked orderly. But the hearts of the officers and men below were not a single block of iron. At this time, to march north to Taiyuan—wouldn't that be walking straight into death?

Ma Kuang didn't understand a damn thing. He had fallen for those people's schemes, willingly coming out to be a shield, forcing his Left Camp to send troops to fight Li Zicheng to the death. At this moment, the situation had become like riding a tiger—hard to dismount. Even Zuo Liangyu had no choice but to obey the order and march north to assist in the suppression.

"Since that's the case, then north it is!" Suddenly, Zuo Liangyu slammed his fist on the table and rose, bellowing: "Send someone to Fengyang, tell Liu Liangzuo to march out of Gu Pass. If he dares not come out, then let him figure out the consequences himself!"

After the messenger bearing the order left, Zuo Liangyu let out a cold smile.

"If I can't have a good time, none of you will have a good time either. If we die, we die together; if we live, we live together. At worst, we'll all go down together. Either way, I won't be a lackey of the roving bandits!"

A few days later, Liu Liangzuo, stationed at the Fengyang camp, received this message and was so startled his eyes went wide.

"What! Marshal Zuo said that?" Liu Liangzuo couldn't believe his ears.

After the Left Camp's utter defeat at Zhuxian Town, they hadn't moved a single step from Wuchang even when the capital was in such peril last year. What kind of medicine had they swallowed now, dragging the entire official armies of Huguang and Shanxi off to seek death?

"You... you let me think about this a while longer." Liu Liangzuo found it hard to speak in front of the man from the Left Camp, so he just darkened his face and gestured for someone to make arrangements. But the Left Camp messenger refused to let it go, and as he left, he threw out a harsh warning:

"Marshal Liu, my master Marshal Zuo said that if you receive the message and don't move, then you can figure out the consequences yourself!"

Watching the man swagger away in triumph, Liu Liangzuo hadn't yet said a word when the Liu faction officers inside the tent erupted in a buzz of noise.

"That Zuo Liangyu goes too far!"

"Figure out the consequences? What can he do? Let him come—at worst we'll have a full-scale fight. Does our Liu faction really fear his Left Camp!"

"Brother, that's not how you should talk. The Left Camp has five hundred thousand troops. Remember how that surnamed Wang died last time? His city was breached, and Zuo Liangyu hung him from his own city gate tower for five whole days. The court didn't even dare fart a single sound."

"Provoke the Left Camp, and several hundred thousand troops will come marching over—are you going to stop them? Surnamed Han, don't stand around talking without feeling back pain. Among the official armies of the Central Plains today, who can stand against the Left Camp!"

The officers in the Liu faction's tent each wore different expressions—some were terrified and at a loss, some were furious and wanted to match the Left Camp in a contest of strength, and some watched coldly from the sidelines, waiting for Liu Liangzuo to speak.

"Everyone, quiet down." Liu Liangzuo thought for a long while, then said: "In the current situation, the Left Camp can be considered the dominant power in the Central Plains. Provoking Zuo Liangyu would be troublesome. That man is petty and holds grudges fiercely."

"In my view, Zuo Liangyu isn't necessarily sincerely helping the court recover Taiyuan." Assistant Regional Commander Han An said: "I've heard that Zuo Liangyu was set up by Ma Kuang and Chen Qiyu working together, and now he's on a tiger he can't dismount, so he has no choice but to send troops. His sending someone now should be specifically to drag our Liu faction into the water. From this, his intentions are clear!"

Liu Liangzuo had also heard of this matter, and he snorted coldly: "This Chen Qiyu is no ordinary man. In earlier years he nearly wiped out Li the Dashing and the Bandit Xi'an in one fell swoop. If not for his overconfidence, there would be no Dashun or Daxi today."

Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, neither confirming nor denying.

The current Governor-General of the Five Provinces, Chen Qiyu, held great prestige among the generals. Even the officers of the Liu faction deeply acknowledged this. But prestige was only one aspect. In the past, there had also been governors-general with great prestige, yet the generals wouldn't obey their orders. The reasons were nothing more than two points.

First, the court would hamstring them—an army supervisor would usually be sent to share power, lowering the governor-general's standing, so the effectiveness of their orders naturally diminished. Second, and most importantly, those former governors-general had no troops.

Chen Qiyu was different. For one, he enjoyed the deep trust of the current Emperor, possessing the Imperial Sword that allowed him to execute first and report afterward. For another, the newly established Northwest Grand Camp had no eunuch army supervisor appointed—Chen Qiyu had complete authority over it himself.

With such a prestigious governor-general, combined with the Northwest Grand Camp and the Imperial Sword, when his orders and dispatches arrived in hand, they could no longer be brushed aside like the orders of those former governors-general.

Most importantly, there were also Xuanfu Regional Commander Gao Jie and Datong Regional Commander Bai Guangen.

These two great commanders of the Nine Border Towns were now utterly loyal to the court, obeying every order from Chen Qiyu without exception. What military officer would dare openly defy his dispatches?

Speaking of it, there were actually quite a few powerful military officers loyal to the court these days. Besides Gao the Barbarian and Bai Guangen, there was Shandong Regional Commander Mou Wenshou, Zhou Jingwu, the Governor-General of the Divine Martial Army in Nanjing, and the newly appointed Commissioner-in-Chief of the Tianjin Coastal Defense—all of these were genuinely committed.

Beyond these, there were many who supported the court on the surface. Zuo Liangyu was the best example. Although the Left Camp was reviled by everyone, they were still official court troops. There was also the Zheng clan of Fujian—though they were wealthy enough to rival a nation, with war vessels numbering in the thousands by the dozen, even they openly expressed their obedience to the court.

Under such circumstances, Liu Liangzuo alone would never dare to be the bird that stuck its head out first.

In fact, before Zuo Liangyu's message had arrived, Liu Liangzuo had already received Chen Qiyu's orders. But after all, Fengyang was far away in South Zhili—even if he accepted the orders and wanted to provide support, he had countless ways to delay.

Now that Zuo Liangyu's blunt words had arrived, Liu Liangzuo had to think much more carefully before acting.

About three days later, within the Liu faction's camp at Fengyang, troops began to mobilize. Liu Liangzuo, citing the orders of Governor-General of the Five Provinces Chen Qiyu, personally led his forces north toward the Taiyuan region.

Interestingly, even Li Zicheng hadn't expected Chen Qiyu to have such ability. The various regional warlords who could never be moved before had all watched from the other shore in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, yet now even Zuo Liangyu and Liu Liangzuo were both unusually eager to come forward.

After the Dashun army's eastern expedition this year, the official troops had mobilized very quickly. All the surviving official forces in the Huguang and Shanxi regions were roused, following Zuo Liangyu out of Wuchang, heading straight for Taiyuan.

Before long, a portion of the Shandong and Fengyang troops, under the command of Mou Wenshou, Liu Liangzuo, and others, also voluntarily formed a royal rescue army. Judging by their direction, they too were heading for Taiyuan.

Since Zhuxian Town, the Ming official army and the Dashun army seemed to be brewing another great battle.