Chapter 373: Tao eats the pot of pulp and welcomes Master Wang
Just as Hua Rong's cronies guessed, their Governor Hu was furious when he heard the news. After all, he was slapped in the face just after he boasted about eating a pot of pulp. How could such an ignorant person not be severely punished?
Stop.
Arrange cannons to attack.
In the end, they struggled in Xiajiang until evening before completing the landing and gathering for the attack.
But that night, Magistrate Yu in the city simply abandoned the city and fled, taking nearly a thousand young men with him and disappearing into the mountains to the west of the city.
They never thought about holding on, they were just delaying time for Nanchang to prepare.
But their efforts were ultimately in vain. Even though Nanchang had already received the news when Governor Hu went down the river again the next day, what Governor Hu had in Nanchang was the basket of food he wanted.
As the core city of the Jiangyou family, the Nanchang gentry raised troops before he arrived. Together with several defected generals from the guard, they quickly took control of Nanchang City, while those officials in the city who were from the north and were from Xinke Jinshi, carried out small-scale insurrection.
After the resistance, it was determined that the situation could not be restored, so he immediately abandoned the city and fled with thousands of soldiers who were unwilling to rebel. They ran all the way to Nankang and then defended Nankang.
The Nanchang gentry welcomed Master Wang.
After learning of the situation, Master Wang did not bother to stop and moved forward directly with the armed forces assembled by the Nanchang gentry.
Soon Governor Hu came to Nankang with an army that swelled to 50,000. Although the people who evacuated to Nankang also made defensive arrangements, several aristocratic families in Nankang secretly opened the city gate that night.
Nankang also fell.
In the end, those soldiers and civilians who refused to rebel, led by several officials who had graduated from Wutai Mountain, a total of more than 5,000 people escaped from Nankang and entered Lushan Mountain.
It can be said that Governor Hu was ecstatic, and amid the cheers of the equally ecstatic gentry, he marched forward with great momentum and reached the entrance of the lake without much fighting.
At this time, the imperial court was still slow to respond.
Of course, this is no longer important. Jianwen's Wang Shi finally entered the Yangtze River.
Moreover, on the same day that Governor Hu sent his troops to Jishui, Wang Bi's army also moved northward, and the Changsha gentry and the generals of the guards turned against them. In fact, they moved forward without any resistance. The gentry and the generals of the guards turned against each other, as did the northern officials and the new imperial examination officials.
Fleeing, the few who could not escape went directly into the mountains to fight guerrillas. This army, which totaled 150,000 but was claimed to be 500,000, entered the Yangtze River with almost no blood, just like Governor Hu. However, the King of Chu did not welcome his father-in-law in the end.
Similarly, he gathered troops to defend Wuchang, and relied on his status to quickly suppress the rebellion of the Wuchang gentry, but mainly because he had his guards in Wuchang City.
This guard is different from the past. In the past, it was a guard of a military household. But when he wants to develop in the south, it is difficult for a guard of a military household to be willing to follow him.
Even if they are deceived by various means, not many of them will get away with it.
After all, he is not as attractive as his fourth brother.
So the King of Chu gritted his teeth and spent money to recruit 5,000 mercenaries. Since he could not return to Annan, he could only stay in Wuchang temporarily. Even his palace was used as a military camp. In the end, these 5,000 mercenaries and the old guards fought against each other.
His old love helped him quickly control the situation in Wuchang.
Then he blocked his father-in-law from upstream.
However, it only blocked his father-in-law and did not help the battle downstream.
After Governor Hu entered the Yangtze River, he went straight down the river, but what surprised him was that the capital's response was still slow, or maybe he was too fast. After all, it didn't take long to go straight down the river...
From the time he sent out troops to the time he entered the Yangtze River, it only took six days in total.
In short, when he came to Anqing, the Anqing Guard was not prepared for war. The commander of the Anqing Guard even led troops to reinforce Hukou. However, the reinforcement of Hukou did not go through the Yangtze River. Instead, he crossed the river and took the land route on the south bank. How was he going to bring it?
Leading a group of infantrymen to take a land route to block the fleet heading down the river? In the end, it took Governor Hu only an hour to easily capture Anqing. In other words, he entered Anqing amidst the welcome of the Anqing gentry eating pots of pulp, and then continued to move forward with unstoppable momentum. Three days later
His army had already arrived at Wuhu, but still encountered no real resistance. However, when he arrived at Dangtu, he finally knew the real reason for this strange situation...
Nanjing.
Great victory.
"Retreat to the city and stick to it. Did Zhao Sili drink too much again? What kind of random orders has he given in the past few days? While the princess is not here, he wants to die because of his addiction. We have no interest in messing around with him! If he hadn't given random orders
, asking the Anqing defenders to go to the south bank to reinforce Hukou, and not allowing the enemy to cross Anqing, they actually came up with the strategy of asking a group of infantry to abandon the fortress and intercept the enemy fleet by land. Even I know that Jie Jin made it clear.
The traitor, he actually obeys these guys, how can he be let go when the enemy invades the capital and continue to make him rich and prosperous?"
Tang Sheng, commander of the First Army of the Beijing Camp, said angrily.
Well, the reason why the capital reacted slowly was because the princess was not in the capital at all.
Five days before Governor Hu sent troops, she had already gone to Zhejiang for inspection. Zhejiang had just suffered a typhoon, and Zhoushan's canning industry was greatly damaged. The princess went to inspect this important fishing base of the Ming Dynasty.
If she is not in the capital, the Queen Mother will be in charge. But if the Queen Mother is in charge, her father will be in charge.
The current court is very different from before, because before there was a meeting with princesses to make decisions, and the cabinet acted as their secretaries, so all ministries were just obedient and doing things.
The military system is also different.
Now the commander-in-chief has the final say everywhere, and the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion has gradually become a decoration, just like Cao Guogong is just a decoration in the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion.
Titles including other governors, governor-general, and governor-general are also on the heads of the generals in various places.
Any orders are decided by the princess meeting, the cabinet drafts the decree, and the Ministry of War issues it directly to the commander-in-chief. In theory, it is sent to the governor's office of the fifth army. However, the commander-in-chief of each place is the commander-in-chief, so just issue it directly to them. This system is nothing more than
It is easy to form a feudal town, but with Yang Feng suppressing it, who would dare to become a feudal town? This model is undoubtedly the most efficient and the lowest cost, so it is like this now, but the problem is that trouble will occur if the princess is away, and the queen mother will replace her.
, the queen mother listened to the father of the country, and the father of the country listened to several civil servants around him who praised him, especially Xie Jin and others.
So the weird reactions of the imperial court so far are all caused by them.
At first, Zhang Xianzong asked the Beijing camp to immediately reinforce Anqing.
But he was rejected by the father-in-law.
Because Xie Jin and others said that Nanchang is loyal and there are two elite guards who are enough to hold on and then move troops south from Jiangbei.
It is not advisable to move lightly in the capital camp.
But when he said this, the Nanchang gentry was already welcoming Master Wang.
Then when he learned that Nanchang had fallen, Zhang Xianzong said that it would be difficult to hold on to Nankang, and he needed to immediately mobilize troops to reinforce Anqing to hold on to this last critical point.
But he was rejected again by the father-in-law.
Because Xie Jin told the state leader how to defend Anqing at Hukou, he asked the Anqing Guard to reinforce Hukou, and the speed of going up the Yangtze River was too slow, so he asked them to cross the river and go to the south bank at high speed. Tang Sheng, who heard the news, almost spat out blood.
Come out, it is said that they are planning to have a group of soldiers riding fast on the riverside. How to intercept the fleet flowing down the river? Are they going to bombard hundreds of warships with dozens of field cannons whose shells are no bigger than fists?
But he didn't care. In fact, when he learned the news, the order had already been issued.
Now they are actually asked to withdraw to defend the city?
"I have forts, warships, and everything I need here. Instead of defending here, I want to retreat to the city and defend it?
Tell the abbot that Emperor Taizu Gao defeated Chen Youliang here and now that he has abandoned the defense, Xiaoling Mausoleum is uneasy."
Tang Sheng said simply.
The officer who delivered the order immediately turned back.
The Beijing camp is actually not composed of four armies at present, because the third army follows the princess on patrol. Of course, the princess must have an escort army when she goes on patrol.
So there are currently three armies in the capital, one guarding Dasheng Pass, and the other two armies, one guarding the north of the city and the other guarding the south, that is, the line from Yuhuatai to Zhongshan. However, this does not mean that the capital has insufficient troops. In fact, the entire capital is basically All the people in the army are soldiers, and reserves can be called up at any time to quickly expand more than ten times. As for weapons and armor, they are piled up like mountains. Even if there is not even a single army in the capital camp, the capital does not have to worry about being breached by foreign enemies.
"There is something wrong with this matter. There is no doubt that Xie Jin and others are insiders. They obviously deliberately let the enemy troops to the capital, but the enemy troops will definitely not be able to open the capital. They should know this very well. If we withdraw to the capital and defend it, it will inevitably cause suffering in the city. After all, the shells must have fallen in the city, but with Hua Rong's tens of thousands of people, if they really wanted to storm the capital, they would all be stuck on the city wall in less than half a month. Xie Jin and others would not have known it.
Why did they let Hua Rong come to the city?
Do you think they died too slowly?"
His lieutenant, Geng Bingwen’s son and consort Geng Rui said.
He is Zhu Biao's son-in-law.
The generals of the six armies of the Beijing camp are all nobles, and this is inevitable. After all, they were during Zhu Yunxi's time. It can be said that the descendants of these nobles have commanded the Beijing camp since its creation.
After Yang Feng took power, he didn't bother to change it. After all, he had a good relationship with Xungui.
Tang Sheng was able to control the country because of his aunt's special relationship with Yang Feng.
"Let him go, let's hold the Dasheng Pass. They can't do anything they want."
Tang Sheng said.
He is a great defensive player.
This is a complete defense system. There are small bastion forts in Sanshanji, heavy artillery blocking the Yangtze River, and many military camps such as Niushou Mountain behind it. There are even counterattack cavalry, which is enough to block the entire upper reaches of invading enemies and ensure the outer city wall of the capital behind. Covering the security of the area. Therefore, no matter what conspiracy Xie Jin and others have, they must first let Governor Hu and Hua Rong's army pass their level. Otherwise, they will not even be able to reach the outer city wall. As for bypassing Dasheng Pass from Dangtu A land attack was simply unrealistic. When they pushed the heavy artillery and moved slowly, the cavalry had already trampled over them.
However……
Unravel the house.
"Tang Sheng refused to withdraw into the city."
Xie Jin said solemnly.
"Then what should we do? If they don't withdraw, Hu Zhongchang will not be able to get outside the city at all. The thousands of people in our city are no different from committing suicide. We must let them cross the outer wall before we can take action inside the city and control a city gate for them. Then Until they arrive, this gate can only be Yifeng Gate or Dinghuai Gate."
Jin Youzi in front of him said.
Of course, Jin Youzi was actually an imperial member of the Jianwen Dynasty, but he came to the capital secretly. In addition to him, there were also three thousand elites who also entered the capital secretly as business travelers. In order to ensure their loyalty, they were all collected in Guangzhou and other places with some special talents. Military households. Originally there were quite a few in Guangdong and Guangxi, and several thousands of households in Guangzhou. And there was no need to worry about the language problem. They were just military households stationed in Guangzhou. Many of them were originally from the north, and their language had not changed completely. At least they could There are still many people who speak the northern dialect, and the rest are those who come to Beijing on business trips. At present, industry and commerce are booming, and various places, especially road guides, are basically useless. Even if there are no road guides, you only need to register when you enter the capital.
After all, industry needs people.
There are so many factories in Beijing that need to be filled by refugees.
In fact, the population of the capital has skyrocketed for a long time. Not only the surrounding people are working in leisure, but also many young people from other places come here for high wages. They can basically be regarded as full-time workers. There are not even enough houses in the city, and a large number of them have overflowed to the outer cities. Especially those factories that require hydraulic machinery, and factories that have to go outside because of serious pollution. Residential areas have formed around each factory. The area along the river in the south of the city has become densely covered with chimneys and water wheels.
In this case, it is easy for thousands of people to hide, and they will not attract the attention of the government at all.
"We can't all rely on them. Zhao Sili can't command the Beijing camp at all. The Beijing camp only listens to the princess. It depends on whether they are willing to listen to the Queen Mother's words. Since Tang Sheng refuses to withdraw into the city, it is impossible to withdraw. It’s no use even if they give orders.”
Xie Jin said.
"Where's Li Jinglong?"
Jin Youzi said.
"He is just a decoration, no one listens to him.
Now that the big thing is done, we can't delay it any longer. Since Tang Sheng won't retreat, it may be difficult for Hu Zhongchang to attack Dasheng Pass. There are fortresses along the river. Hu Zhongchang can only let Hu Zhongchang go north from Dangtu and let them attack Shangfang and other gates. The walls are just earthen city walls, which can be easily blown open with heavy artillery, and then we can fight to kill some soldiers. As long as they can hit the inner city wall, it will be easy for us. Tell Hu Zhongchang, success or failure depends on this one move, don't think about relying on his You can open it bit by bit by clicking on people. The capital city cannot be opened. It can only be opened by them from the inside. Don't be afraid of death. For the sake of justice, no matter how much we die, it is worth it.
This is also our only chance. The princess happens to be not in the capital. We just need to break into the capital, capture the queen mother, and ask her to issue an order to invite her majesty to the capital.
Even if the princess is in Zhejiang, she cannot escape our grasp.
At that time, the army went over to trap her, forcing her to acknowledge the Queen Mother's edict, and then used her as a hostage to negotiate with Yang Feng.
After talking for a year and a half, as long as His Majesty extends his kindness and win over the general soldiers and gentry from all over the country, including King Yan and others, Yang Feng can almost be forced to leave the Ming Dynasty. Since he likes to go elsewhere so much, then what will happen in this world? Give him whatever he wants outside of the Ming Dynasty. If he wants America, give him America. If he wants Nanyang, give him Nanyang. If he wants Western Region, give him Western Region. He does not call himself Daxia. He can build his Daxia in these places. country."
Xie Jin said.
Jin Youzi nodded, that was all he could do now.
Then he left the house and walked towards the city gate with a waiter like an ordinary businessman.