The Great Rebel at the End of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 106 Crossing the Sea to the East

Although Hequ was a fortified city, after Wang Guoliang left, only the old, weak, sick and disabled remained in the city. The number of people was small and their fighting strength was not strong at all.

Moreover, after Gao Yingxiang crossed the Yellow River to the east, he exerted almost all his strength to capture Hequ.

Wang Er, who was in charge of the vanguard this time, was particularly eager to fight and personally led his troops in a fierce attack.

In just half a day, Hequ was already teetering on the brink of collapse and was on the verge of falling.

Just then, a mutiny suddenly broke out in Hequ City.

A sergeant saw that Hequ City was truly indefensible. Once the city fell, not only would his own life be in danger, but his family in the city would also suffer.

This commander, in a moment of desperation, led his men to defect at the critical juncture of defending the city, actually opening the city gates and letting the rebel army into the city.

Thus, Wang Er's army seized the opportunity to storm into the city, and Hequ fell in the blink of an eye. That evening, Gao Yingxiang, riding a tall horse, led his troops into Hequ City.

After capturing Hequ, Gao Yingxiang seized a large amount of supplies stored there by Wang Guoliang. With these supplies, the rebel army temporarily relieved its worries about insufficient resources.

That's not all. After losing Hequ, Baode, which was nearby, knew it couldn't escape unscathed. Before Gao Yingxiang could even attack, the city itself was already in chaos.

To protect themselves, the centurion stationed in Baode killed the county magistrate and surrendered to Gao Yingxiang with his head in hand. In just five days, the two cities that had once blocked Wang Jiayin, causing the famous "King of the Horizontal One-Character Formation" so much suffering and even resulting in the loss of his good brother on the other side, fell easily into Gao Yingxiang's hands.

After capturing Hequ and Baode, Gao Yingxiang's troops continued to launch attacks in various places.

Within half a month, Yangmianbao, Tangjiahuibao, Lougoubao, Sanchacheng and other places fell into our hands one after another.

In this way, the entire area within hundreds of miles around Hequ became Gao Yingxiang's territory.

Furthermore, due to the change of hands of several military fortresses along the Hequ River and the Great Wall, Gao Yingxiang also gained an important source of supplies—warhorses.

Warhorses were extremely scarce in the Ming Dynasty. Especially after the Battle of Sarhu in Liaodong, in order to contain the Jurchens, the court sent almost all of its warhorses to the Liaodong battlefield. This was also the main source of warhorses for the Ming Dynasty's only elite cavalry force, the "Guan Ning Iron Cavalry".

Warhorses were a scarce resource in the Ming Dynasty, but they were nothing special on the northern grasslands. For the Mongols, horses were the most common thing. However, throughout the Ming Dynasty, the court and the Mongols were always at war. Even during periods of peace, they were mostly hostile.

Now that these towns and fortresses have been captured, especially Tangjiahui Fortress which is right next to the Great Wall, Gao Yingxiang will naturally not miss this great opportunity to acquire warhorses from the Mongols.

Just as Gao Yingxiang was pondering how to trade with the Mongols, several Shanxi merchants approached him.

Two of these merchants had previously cooperated with Gao Yingxiang. In Fugu, Gao Yingxiang used them to exchange gold and silver for a considerable amount of grain to make up for the army's shortages.

Upon hearing the news that Gao Yingxiang had crossed the Yellow River and captured Hequ and Baode, these merchants rushed over like cats smelling fish.

Their arrival was exactly what Gao Yingxiang wanted. After taking these places, he reaped a great harvest. Putting aside the food and equipment he needed for the time being, he still had plenty of gold, silver, and valuables in his hands, after distributing some to his subordinates.

In addition, just as Gao Yingxiang was figuring out how to contact the Mongols, these Shanxi merchants emerged. The two sides hit it off immediately, and Gao Yingxiang took out a large amount of gold and silver to have these merchants help him purchase warhorses and cattle and sheep from the Mongols, and also find a way to get some grain from the south to supply the army.

For a businessman, what is more important than doing business?

Gao Yingxiang was indeed a traitor, but the money he earned wasn't marked with the traitor's name.

If two silver ingots are placed together, who can tell which one was earned from Gao Yingxiang?

Besides, merchants are always driven by profit. Let alone someone as insignificant as Gao Yingxiang, even Huang Taiji of Liaodong would do business. As long as there's plenty of money to be made, whether someone is a rebel or not is completely irrelevant.

With the cooperation of these merchants, Gao Yingxiang not only secured a source of warhorses but also acquired a considerable amount of grain. This instantly broke the deadlock he had previously faced while confined to Fugu. His sphere of influence now encompassed not only the original Fugu region but also the areas surrounding Hequ and Baode, significantly increasing his power.

When news of Gao Yingxiang's arrival in Shanxi reached Shaanxi, Yang He was stunned.

He never expected that Gao Yingxiang would take this opportunity to cross the Yellow River and enter Shanxi, and then successively capture Hequ and Baode.

This change meant that his previous plan to win over the people had failed.

Gao Yingxiang's actions had completely severed ties, making him no longer a viable ally. At this time, Li Wanqing also sent a letter to Yang He, informing him that it was no longer appropriate for him to continue garrisoning Gushan Fort after Gao Yingxiang's entry into Shanxi. Gao Yingxiang's forces were rapidly expanding, and Yang He, with his own small force and few generals, would certainly be unable to stop them in a fight. At this point, staying at Gushan Fort was pointless. Li Wanqing suggested moving the garrison to Shenmu to ensure the stability of that area, which would be far more prudent.

Looking at the letter, Yang He felt helpless.

Gao Yingxiang has rebelled again, and he can't help but understand Li Wanqing's predicament. Li Wanqing is clearly panicked, fearing that Gao Yingxiang, riding high on his victory, will turn around and attack him. It's only natural that he's unwilling to stay in Gushan Fort.

To appease Li Wanqing, Yang He thought long and hard and only gave him the reply of "do as you see fit," neither agreeing nor disagreeing, meaning that he should do what he thought was best.

After all, if Li Wanqing also goes back on his word, he will have no backup plan in the north. He must hold on to him no matter what, even if he cannot be used for his own purposes for the time being, he cannot let him defect to the rebels again.

But to everyone's surprise, shortly after the letter was sent out, another piece of bad news arrived.

The brothers Shen Yiyuan and Shen Yikui, whom they had previously pacified, also rebelled, just like Gao Yingxiang.

Because the Jurchens had reached the capital, troops from all over the country were eager to come to the emperor's aid, creating a military vacuum in Shaanxi. Yang He, who was already short of troops, was now even more stretched thin.

In addition, aside from verbally promising official positions, he couldn't offer much in terms of tangible benefits.

The Shen brothers originally had similar plans to Gao Yingxiang, only wanting to gain some benefits and never thinking of sincerely pledging allegiance to the imperial court.

As the situation changed, they realized they had taken almost everything they could, and Yang He had nothing left to offer. Furthermore, the government forces in Shaanxi were currently weak, and Gao Yingxiang from the north had already crossed the Yangtze River into Shanxi. How could these two possibly remain idle?

The brothers discussed it and decided, "Fine! Let's just break off all ties."

Without saying a word, he killed all the men Yang He had sent to monitor him, raised the banner of rebellion again, and announced his return to Wang Jiayin's forces.

When the news reached Yang He, he was thunderstruck and completely dumbfounded.

He never expected that Gao Yingxiang's rebellion would trigger such a chain reaction. Gao Yingxiang was one thing, after all, he had already fled to Shanxi, which was outside his jurisdiction. But the Shen Yiyuan brothers were right under his nose.

Their sudden reversal rendered all their previous efforts futile. Even worse, no sooner had the two rebelled than they turned and, before he could even prepare, led their troops to capture Heshui.

With the loss of Heshui, Qingyang Prefecture lost its eastern shield, and the dignified Governor-General of the Three Borders became the direct target of the enemy's attack.

Yang He panicked instantly, no longer caring about anything else. Without Heshui and with few troops at his disposal, he had no chance of defending Qingyang Prefecture. Upon receiving the news, Yang He led his men and fled Qingyang Prefecture overnight.

With his escape, the morale of Qingyang Prefecture to defend it was completely shattered. In less than ten days, Qingyang was captured by Shen Yiyuan's troops. The loss of Qingyang created a power vacuum in the heart of Shaanxi. Furthermore, with troops drawn from other regions to defend the emperor, it became even more difficult to contain Wang Jiayin's forces as they rampaged through Shaanxi.

Leaving aside the rapidly deteriorating situation in Shaanxi, let's turn our attention back to Hequ in Shanxi.

After crossing the Yellow River, Zhou Lun's troops, the most elite force in the rebel army, were not put to much use.

Wang Er was the vanguard, and Zhao Sheng and Huang Long's troops were responsible for taking down several forts afterwards.

Nominally, Zhou Lun, who served as the central army's bodyguard, still seemed to be Gao Yingxiang's confidant, but he knew perfectly well what was really going on.

Since Li Wanqing's incident, Gao Yingxiang has become clearly wary of him. Even Gao Guiying has become somewhat disliked by Gao Yingxiang because of Zhou Lun.

Despite the stark contrast, Zhou Lun didn't complain. Putting himself in Gao Yingxiang's shoes, he might have acted similarly.

Moreover, after this incident, he himself came to a complete understanding: although Gao Yingxiang was a man of great talent and vision, his weaknesses in character were also very real. Continuing to work for such a boss would inevitably lead to being ostracized and alienated in the future.

In fact, even before crossing the Yellow River to the east, Zhou Lun had already planned to break away from Gao Yingxiang.

However, we still need to wait patiently for the right opportunity to decide how and when to do this.

It would be inappropriate to leave now; doing so would only arouse Gao Yingxiang's suspicion and potentially lead to unpleasant actions. Therefore, he had been keeping a low profile these past few days, doing whatever Gao Yingxiang asked without revealing anything unusual. But in his heart, he was secretly making preparations.