All major and minor matters in Wuchang have been properly arranged, and the situation in Jiangnan can no longer be delayed.

Two days later, Wan Jun led his men and horses out of Hanyang City and set out for the Jiangnan land mentioned in poetry.

Just like when they left Lucheng, Wan Jun was riding a tall horse, with a three-foot-long flag standing behind him, and Cui Ziyi rode his horse to follow.

Zhao Boyuan and his party stood on the east gate, while Xie Xiaoni, Wang Huan and others stood on the top of the building with the best view.

Wan Jun looked back in high spirits. This was so similar to when he set off south from Lucheng. Except that the slender figure was not there, Zhang Xiaoyan was thousands of miles away.

Wan Jun glanced at Wang Huan. Compared with the excited people around him, the girl's face looked lonely, and between her beautiful eyebrows and beautiful eyes, there was a hint of sadness that could not go away.

This reminded Wan Jun of a story. In the last year of the Western Zhou Dynasty, King You had a beloved beauty named Bao Si. The beauty was full of charms, but she was unhappy all day long.

King You of Zhou tried every means to make his beloved happy, so he sent an order to the world to reward his beloved Si with a thousand taels of gold if he could make her smile happily.

So someone proposed a method that has been passed down for thousands of years, lighting the beacon tower to defend the capital, ordering the princes of the world, and playing tricks on the world's heroes!

When the soldiers of the princes from all directions rushed towards the capital, thousands of troops and horses neighed under the city, panic and confusion, Bao Si finally smiled, and King You's country also came to an end.

Now that soldiers and horses are out in full force, red flags are rising, and everyone is filled with excitement, why is Wang Huan so lonely?

Just like Zhang Xiaoyan who was in tears when the Chinese army marched south from Lucheng, was Zhang Xiaoyan worried about the safety of Wanjun?

Wang Huan, what is she worried about?

As they went further and further away, the troops gathered their minds and galloped towards the front of the large group of soldiers.

Wan Jun and Cui Ziyi galloped forward for a while, and saw dozens of small boats carrying red flags heading downstream along the river.

Wan Jun sighed, "Our troops are still too weak after all. It is said that when Zuo Liangyu set out from Wuchang, there were as many as 700,000 or 800,000 troops and more than 10,000 large and small ships. The entire Yangtze River was covered with flags.

On that day, the fleet was dozens of miles in front and back."

Cui Ziyi smiled and said, "Sir, the strength of the soldiers and horses has nothing to do with the number. When we set out from Lucheng County, we only had a few thousand soldiers and horses. But we attacked Shangzhou Prefecture in the north and Wuchang City in the south. Now we have grown to

In such a situation, Zuo Liangyu cannot compare to this!"

The few soldiers following Wan Jun were all newly promoted. After listening to Cui Ziyi's words, they all realized that Lord Qidao was wise and mighty, and that the Chinese army was the strongest in the world.

Wanjun turned around and looked around at the generals, many of whom Wanjun could not name, but their eyes shone with the desire to make achievements.

When a person stands at a certain height, he is no longer himself.

Just like the Chinese army that came out of Laolong Mountain, the first few dozen people were just a group of bandits who had no way to survive and followed Wanjun in search of survival.

Just like any team that seeks peace for the common people in the world, in the end, they can still have some sanity amid the fame and power.

Wan Jun rode his horse forward in silence. Cui Ziyi saw that Wan Jun was silent and did not speak. He patted his horse and came over, and moved forward with Wan Jun. He asked, "Why are you silent, sir? Do you have something on your mind?"

Wan Jun let go of his worries and sighed, "Have you heard of something recently?"

Cui Ziyi said, "There have been a lot of things going on in Wuchang recently. I wonder which one you are talking about?"

Wan Jun said, "It's not Wuchang, it's Nanyang. Chen Xinmin wrote a letter saying that there are soldiers under his command who are surrounding the regiment headquarters and demanding military pay."

Cui Ziyi said angrily, "These bastards, they were starving to death. We recruited them and gave them plenty to eat, but now they want military pay."

Wan Jun waved the riding crop in his hand and said calmly, "This is not unexpected to me. I have been thinking that many of the soldiers and horses we have recruited are no longer hungry people. They are fighting as soldiers to protect their homes and the country.

Military pay must definitely be issued, and this matter must be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise it will affect the combat effectiveness of our army, but this reminds me of another thing."

Cui Ziyi said, "What did you think of, sir?"

Wan Jun said, "You are an old man I know. You also know that at first, the Huaxia Army had only six teams and less than a hundred people. Now the army has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses. It is no longer the small village it was at the beginning. When we founded the Huaxia Army,

The purpose of an army is to fight for the world, but when a force grows to a certain extent, individual goals are no longer equal to group goals."

Cui Ziyi said, "I don't quite understand what you mean."

Wan Jun said, "One person can move forward for a goal, but now we have hundreds of thousands of people, and more of them just want to eat, get military pay, or for rights. The Huaxia Army promotes peace for the people.

How many people are fighting for this goal!"

Cui Ziyi smiled and said, "Your Excellency, you are worrying too much. Although this is true, there are some things that you cannot think of like that."

Wan Jun said, "Then tell me!"

Cui Ziyi pointed at the advancing Chinese army and said, "Look, sir, so many people are heading towards Jiangnan. Many of them will die in the battle of Jiangnan, but they are still moving forward according to your orders. Maybe they want to

They only have food and money, but nobility is not the only reason. Human life is composed of seven emotions, six desires, and five grains. How can everyone be noble and selfless? They move forward according to our instructions, even if they have humble thoughts in their hearts, as long as

If they are moving forward on a noble path, then they are noble."

Cui Ziyi's words swept away all the doubts in Wan Jun's mind, "I didn't expect that you, a crooked Taoist priest, think very clearly. I understand."

Cui Ziyi said, "I have a lot of feelings when getting along with adults. The path of life is like cultivating the Tao. Sometimes you are too persistent in getting the Tao, but you get nothing, and sometimes you get the Tao by taking detours. Hua

The purpose of the Minghui is to seek peace for the common people in the world. These Chinese soldiers who are asking for military pay are not asking for their own peace. If they get peace, the world's peace will not be far away."

Wan Jun nodded and smiled, "Taoist Master Cui, I was deeply touched by what you said!"

The two chatted and laughed, and followed the soldiers and horses forward.

The army left Wuchang City and headed east to the famous Dabie Mountains. The Dabie Mountains are the watershed between the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River. They lie between Wuhan and Nanjing. They have great strategic value and are home to the famous Thousand Mile Leap into the Dabie Mountains.

Going southeast along the Dabie Mountains, you will see autumn leaves all over the mountains and beautiful scenery.

Wan Jun and others led their troops to join forces with Chen Bajiao and others in Luotian, where Wan Jun received the latest battle report from Jiangnan.

Just like in history, Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Ming Dynasty's Jiangnan defense line collapsed completely, Emperor Longwu's life and death were unknown, and the fate of Ming Dynasty was deplored by everyone.

Zhu Yujian, Emperor Longwu of the Ming Dynasty, was also an ambitious man. In the ninth year of Chongzhen's reign, the Qing army entered the pass and looted the country. Zhu Yujian ignored the national rule that "the vassal king does not control the army" and recruited thousands of troops to go north from Nanyang to Qinwang.

Later, the Qing army withdrew from the pass, and Emperor Chongzhen deposed Zhu Yujian as a commoner and imprisoned him in Fengyang Imperial Prison. After Emperor Hongguang was captured by the Qing army, Nan'an Bo Zheng Zhilong and others supported Zhu Yujian in

Fuzhou proclaimed himself emperor and changed Yuan Dynasty to Longwu.

After Zhu Yujian proclaimed himself emperor, he had the heart to march north to the Central Plains and restore the Ming Dynasty. However, he was ignored by Zheng Zhilong. Huang Daozhou, who was the Minister of Rites at the time, led his army to fight the Qing army in Huizhou. Zheng Zhilong of Fujian Province did not even send out a single soldier or pay. Instead, he

Secretly negotiated surrender terms with the Qing army.

He Tengjiao was willing to cooperate with Huang Daozhou to launch the Northern Expedition, but although he had thirteen generals, no one could command him. Only the troops of Li Laiheng, the surrendered general of the Shun army, obeyed the order, and they were severely defeated by the Qing army.

Later, He Tengjiao's prestige was greatly affected. The Ming army under his command, originally sent for the Northern Expedition, instead started fighting among themselves. The Shun army surrendered to Yuan Zongdi's troops, while Hao Yaoqi's troops and the Zuo army surrendered and fought in Ganzhou and Ji'an, resulting in heavy casualties.

.

He Tengjiao had no choice but to retreat to Changsha, leaving Yuan Jixian to stay in Nanchang.

At the end of August, Zheng Zhilong reached an agreement with Duduo and officially announced his surrender to the Qing Dynasty.

The only loyal minister of the Zheng family was Zheng Sen. Emperor Longwu gave Zheng Sen the name Chenggong, and appointed him as the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Forest Army and the Commander-in-Chief of Yitong Prince Consort. With the assistance of Zheng Chenggong, Emperor Longwu evacuated from Fuzhou with thousands of Ming soldiers and successfully arrived in Yanping.

.

Later, Li Chengdong led the Qing army, marched all the way to Fujian, and captured Jianning. Emperor Longwu was overtaken by the Qing army in Tingzhou, and his life or death was unknown.

As the entire Zhejiang and Fujian fell into the hands of the Qing army, the Ming Dynasty's Jiangnan defense line completely collapsed.

According to historical development, from now on, the Ming court could only rely on its former enemies and the peasant army that submitted to the Ming court to resist the Qing army.

However, most of the Shun Army has now been absorbed by the Huaxia Army. Although the Daxi Army has gone north to fight against the Qing Dynasty, it has not had a big impact on the situation.

No one can say whether there is really destiny in this world, but in the late Ming Dynasty, everything seemed to have lost its destiny.

With this wave of blows, the Ming Dynasty has no hope of salvation. If it wants to save China, it must start anew.

Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty's troops and horses are weaker than in history. Next, the main target of the Qing army must be the Chinese army.

Rather than waiting for the Qing army to gather enough energy to attack the Chinese army, it is better to take advantage of the initial stability of Jiangnan and launch an active attack when the situation is unstable.

When the Chinese army marched from Jiangbei to Jiujiang, they found that all the Qing troops in Jiujiang had withdrawn.

The Ming army in Nanchang was still south of Mahuiling, while the navy in Poyang Lake was cruising around the mouth of the lake.

After receiving the news from the Chinese Army, Yuan Jixian hurriedly sent troops to march north to occupy the northern Poyang Lake area.

After a short rest in Jiujiang, the Chinese army left Jiujiang and headed straight for Anqing.

As the Chinese army marched toward Anqing and Nanjing, Prince Duduo of the Qing army, who received the news, made up his mind to stop all military operations in the south of the Yangtze River and assembled his main force of 400,000 to head for Anqing.

The Qing army, known as a million-strong army, was well prepared in Anqing City, intending to fight the Chinese army here.

In less than two years, the Chinese army has grown so rapidly that it will definitely be the biggest threat to the Qing Dynasty in time.

Duduo, who felt threatened, used all his strength from the beginning. The Longwu regime in Fujian had been destroyed. As long as he attacked the Chinese army with all his strength, Jiangnan would belong to the Qing Dynasty.

As the four divisions of the Chinese Army advance eastward along Taihu County, Anqing City is within easy reach.
Chapter completed!