In the Jin army camp in Puzhou, Wu Sangui's reply was placed on Jiang Xiang's desk.

Jiang Xiang raised his head and smiled at Jiang Rang, Jiang Youguang, Li Jiantai and others, "Wu Sangui is coming!"

Everyone was relieved when they heard the words. If Wu Sangui didn't come, they would not be able to fight Zhao Ming alone.

Li Jiantai asked, "Wu Sangui is here, will Zhao Ming come?"

Jiang Xiang stood up, walked to the map, looked at it for a moment, and said certainly: "Zhao Zamao was worried that Wu Sangui would run away, so he would definitely go directly into Guanzhong."

In history, there are very few who can surrender their own regime calmly except for King Wu and Yue in the Northern Song Dynasty.

After all, it is much better to be a separatist, to be a king and a local emperor than to be a cow or a horse under someone else's roof.

The Jiang family has soldiers and money. They have been in Hedong for decades and have not been beaten by Zhao Ming, so they don’t accept it if they don’t fight.

"Then cross the river, wait for Zhao Zamao to come over and fight against the male and female." Jiang Rang and others clenched their fists and gritted their teeth, and made up their minds to give it a try.

Jiang Xiang asked, "Where are Wu Sangui's soldiers?"

The messenger who came back said: "When I came back, Wu Sangui had already left Chang'an, and he should have arrived in Huayin now!"

When Jiang Xiang heard the words, he stood up and shouted loudly: "I ordered the scouts to continue inquiries, the vanguard of the army crossed the river, and the soldiers entered the pass!"

"Here!" Many generals of Jin army clasped their fists together.

Pujin Ferry is a major transportation route connected to Hedong and Guanzhong. The Qin merchants in Guanzhong and Shanxi merchants all took this road to maintain trade and connection between the two places.

At this time, on the Pujin floating bridge, the Jin soldiers wearing cotton armor, iron helmets, and muskets on their shoulders lined up in neat rows, with their helmets scattered and bayonets undulating through the floating bridge.

The war horses dragged a field cannon and walked in the middle of the floating bridge. The vast army, like a huge python, slipped into Guanzhong from the east of the river.

After the army, there were also supplies and vehicles with Shanxi merchant flags, who followed the river and traded with the army, provided supplies to the Jin army, and also had military supplies.

In fact, the reason why Jiang Xiang decided to fight Zhao Ming was not only unwilling to give up easily, but also the status of the local emperor was related to the support and lobbying of the Shanxi merchants.

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Shanxi merchants suffered great losses, but after all, they once relied on the Qing Dynasty's military strength to successfully defeat Hui merchants, Qin merchants, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang maritime merchants, expanding their business territory to Jiangnan, and almost unifying the country's big merchant gangs.

With the help of the Qing Dynasty's military power, they looted countless wealth and have now shrunk to Hedong. However, the lean camel is bigger than a horse and still has a lot of money and materials.

It was their money and their efforts to lobby the civil and military forces of the Jin army that affected the Jiang Xiang group.

At this time, the mighty and well-equipped Jin army drove across the Yellow River, and a war that determined Jiang Xiang and the fate of the Shanxi merchants was about to come.

Luoyang City.

Faced with the Ming army's multiple attacks, Jiang Xiang chose to give up Luoyang, which he had just obtained, and withdrew his scattered troops back to Hedong.

After Zhao Ming arrived in Kaifeng, he led an army of 200,000 and advanced westward. He went to Hulao without any blood and surrendered to Luoyang, becoming the fastest-progressing route among the Ming army.

Of course, Zhao Ming made rapid progress throughout the journey, and Zhou army deliberately made this factor, but Zhao Ming held the strongest of the five armies in his hand, and was not afraid of the Zhou army's conspiracy and tricks.

No matter what tricks Wu Sangui and Jiang Xiang play, he will defeat him with his strength.

At this time, the majestic Luoyang City had a wide gate, and a group of local gentry in Luoyang stood outside the city to greet them.

Zhao Ming rode a tall white horse, surrounded by tens of thousands of soldiers, and walked through the city gate and the streets on both sides of the soldiers standing, and entered the temporary palace.

That night, the palace hall.

Zhao Ming stood in the spacious hall and sighed quite emotionally, "Shang Kexi, Geng Zhongming has been in Luoyang for more than ten years, and the palace in Luoyang is still well built."

"This Luoyang City is tall and has a wide moat. If the Zhou army defends, they can stand at least for a few months, but they give up." Zhang Jiayu said.

"Wu Sangui wants to escape but does not want to defend, so he handed over Luoyang to Jiang Xiang. Jiang Xiang is not stupid. When he saw that he sent troops, he was unwilling to serve as a shield for Wu Sangui, so he gave up Luoyang." Zhao Ming smiled and said, "So, for the court and the country, it is still necessary to centralize power and crack down on local separatist forces, otherwise it will be difficult to accomplish great things. If the interests of the local and central governments reach their end, it will be fine, once they have different differences, they will hinder and destroy each other. Although the Zhou State is nominally dominated by Wu Sangui, it is actually a split. Before, they wanted to fight for the world and expand outward together, and they can still be together. Now Wu Sangui wants to run away and Jiang Xiang wants to fight, which is naturally in chaos."

Zhang Jiayu and others nodded, thinking that Zhao Ming had a thorough analysis.

Grand Secretary Gu Yanwu said: "But Jiang Xiang is also smart enough. He actually thought of getting out of Luoyang and forcing Wu Sangui to fight, and reorganizing Zhou Guo."

Zhao Ming asked in a deep voice: "Do you think Wu Sangui will fight?"

Zhang Jiayu shook his head, "It's hard to say. But no matter whether he fights or not, this battle will definitely win the Ming Dynasty."

Zhao Ming nodded slightly. At this time, Wang Shuang hurried in and bowed to report: "I report to the Regent and report in detail. Jiang Xiang led 80,000 troops to cross the river from Pujin and arrive in Guanzhong."

When Zhang Jiayu and others heard the words, they hurried to the map to check, and then said in a deep voice: "Regent, Jiang Xiang crossed the river in Pujin Pass. It seems that he wants to introduce us into Guanzhong, let us go deeper alone, and then fight us in a decisive battle. Regent, should we wait for the other routes, or should the army continue to move forward?"

Now Zhou is weak and bright, and the war is going on within the territory of Zhou. If it is delayed for a long time, the Zhou army and the Jin army will definitely not be able to consume the strong Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Jiang Xiang intends to seek a decisive battle to defeat Zhao Ming, and the rest of the Ming troops retreat. If Zhao Ming cannot be defeated, then Hedong will perish.

Now it seems that the envisioned battlefield should be near Tongguan, with the intention of leading Zhao Ming to go over and fight to the decisive battle.

Zhao Ming narrowed his eyes and did not hesitate too much, so he said loudly: "What are you afraid of the 200,000 army of the Lone King? The army will continue to move forward, enter Guanzhong, and annihilate Wu Sangui."

Regardless of whether Jiang Xiang and Wu Sangui fight or flee, Zhao Ming's strategy will not be affected, so he will quickly enter Guanzhong to prevent Wu Sangui from escaping.

For Jiang Xiang, he needed to defeat Zhao Ming's main force, scare away the other Ming troops, and maintain a separatist state, and need to have a decisive battle with Zhao Ming.

For Wu Sangui, it also needed a battle to delay time so that he could connect Yongliang and contact the Western Regions.

Zhao Ming needed to invade Guanzhong as soon as possible, meet with Li Yuanyin, and annihilate Wu Sangui.

In this way, a battle is inevitable.

When everyone heard the words, they looked serious and saluted: "Please give an order from the Regent!"

Zhao Ming then ordered loudly: "Secting the Military Office, record my military orders, and order the routes to intensify their fierce attacks, quickly break through the enemy's blockade, and advance according to the predetermined strategy. Order Shousu is the vanguard, immediately set off the camp, seize Tongguan, and order the soldiers of all units to rest overnight, and advance westward tomorrow, and the troops enter Guanzhong."

Military orders were issued, the military officers recorded them, and issued them quickly.
Chapter completed!