On May 20th, Cao Bianjiao stood on a pier by the Yangtze River on horseback, looking at the scenery across the river with a telescope.
Dimly, Cao Bianjiao could see some Jiangbei Army soldiers standing on the opposite bank of the river, looking alertly.
Cao Bianjiao took a breath and said, "I didn't expect the gentry in Jiangnan to be so tenacious."
After Cao Bianjiao defeated the Chu army in Xiangyang, the rebel army in Huguang basically collapsed. Li Zicheng fled to Sichuan, with only tens of thousands of soldiers and horses left, which is nothing to mention. Ai Nengqi's entire army was wiped out and was defeated by Cao Bianjiao's fire gun soldiers.
He was beaten to death. Li Dingguo fled in panic, and finally went east to surrender to Li Zhi.
The hundreds of thousands of thieves who had been wreaking havoc on Huguang for several years, especially in the northern part of Huguang, were all wiped out in one day.
However, this does not mean that the emperor can control Huguang from now on.
After the rebels were defeated, the gentry of Huguang Province naturally celebrated. However, after being happy, they did not repay the emperor's new army for expelling the traitors. Instead, they all flattered the Jiangbei army.
The reason is simple. If the emperor's new army comes in, they will soon carry out reforms. The privileges of exemption from taxation that the gentry rely on for survival will be deprived, and the blood-sucking needles of the gentry who are parasitic on the people of Huguang will soon be cut off.
The gentry all have great families and businesses, but if their wealth is cut off, what will they eat and drink? This is a fatal matter.
However, the Jiangbei Army is different. The Jiangbei Army is the support of the gentry. The Jiangbei Army has been at odds with Li Zhi over the years. Although it has been defeated again and again, its ambition is commendable. The regiment training organized by the gentry themselves is far inferior to that of the Jiangbei Army, and the confrontation
The emperor's important task of reform obviously can only rely on Jiangbei Army.
Although Ai Nengqi has been active in southern Huguang, there are few people after all. In southern Huguang, which is later Hunan Province, the rule of the gentry is still very solid and stable. In fact, Li Dingguo has been active north of the Yangtze River. As soon as he crosses the Yangtze River,
The damage caused by thieves is very small.
When these gentry who ruled the villages and cities saw the New Army's defeat of the rebels, their first reaction was to welcome the Jiangbei Army from Nanchang Prefecture to fight against the New Army.
As a result, the Beijing camp finally defeated the rebel army, but only controlled Huguang north of the Yangtze River. In terms of area, the area controlled by the New Army was probably only one-third of Huguang.
Cao Bianjiao was very unhappy about this.
Cao Bianjiao held up his telescope to look at the other side and asked, "Huang Degong, how many soldiers and horses are there on the other side of the Jiangbei Army?"
Huang Degong was stunned when he heard this. Cao Bianjiao was concerned about the number of soldiers and horses of Jiangbei Army. Could it be that he wanted to attack Jiangbei Army?
Huang Degong cupped his hands and said, "Uncle, it doesn't matter how many soldiers and horses the Jiangbei Army has on the opposite side. If my uncle attacks, the 90,000 Jiangbei Army will definitely come over to cover them up."
Cao Bianjiao put down his telescope and looked at Huang Degong.
"Huang Degong, you are very afraid of the Jiangbei Army."
Huang Degong's face sank and he said: "Uncle, now that we control the north of Huguang, this is already a great achievement. In a few years, based on seniority and merit, uncle may be able to become a marquis. It's better to give up when it's good and stay close to the river.
This is the hard-won north of Huguang."
Cao Bianjiao frowned and said, "How does this uncle compare to Wu Sangui?"
Huang Degong was stunned for a moment, then raised his hands and said, "Wu Sangui is a shameless young man. How can he compare with General Xiao Cao, who is brave and good at fighting and is famous all over the world?"
Cao Bianjiao said calmly: "Then why do you think that I am not Wu Sangui's opponent if we are also running a new army?"
Pointing to the opposite side of the river, Cao Bianjiao said: "The main force of the Jiangbei Army is in Nanchang Prefecture to guard against the Tianjin Prince. There are only 30,000 people in Huguang at most. How can they be the opponent of our 50,000 people in the Beijing camp?"
Huang Degong and Yang Guozhu looked at each other and felt that the situation was a bit tricky.
Cao Bianjiao won again and again in Shaanxi and Huguang, his vision became higher and higher, and he was actually ready to challenge the Jiangbei Army.
Yang Guozhu cupped his hands and said: "Admiral, I think you cannot cross the river to challenge the Jiangbei Army. If defeated, Shaanxi and Huguang, which I have fought so hard to conquer, will be lost. I am afraid that is not only that, if the new army is defeated, the emperor will have nothing to rely on, and the civil servants will
They will make a comeback, and there may be big changes in the court."
Seeing that both Huang Degong and Yang Guozhu strongly opposed his attack on the Jiangbei Army in the south of the Yangtze River, Cao Bianjiao fell silent.
Taking a breath, Cao Bianjiao stroked his sword and looked at the Jiangbei Army sentry soldiers on the other side of the river in silence.
After a long time, Cao Bianjiao said: "The emperor has been working hard to build up his troops. Now there are 120,000 new troops in the capital camp."
"There are more than 50,000 soldiers available for this battle."
"At this time, a fighter opportunity is rare, and it is a pity to lose it. This matter is not something we can decide. I will be the emperor, and I will ask the emperor to make your decision!"
When Huang Degong and Yang Guozhu heard this, they did not dare to refute, and bowed their hands to Cao Bianjiao.
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In the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Zhu Youjian looked at the memorial sent by Zhang Guanghang himself with a somewhat excited look on his face.
"The Jiangbei Army actually tried to stop our Beijing Camp New Army with 30,000 people?"
With a wave of his hand, Zhu Youjian said loudly: "Wang Chengen, get the map."
Wang Chengen sang loudly and trotted into the study. He quickly took out a map of the country. He called four eunuchs and spread out the ink-and-wash map in front of Zhu Youjian.
Zhu Youjian pointed to the position of Huai'an and said: "The former Jiangbei Army and the Huben Army fought and were completely defeated. One hundred and sixty thousand people were defeated, and only 90,000 people fled back to the south of the river."
Zhu Youjian pointed to the location of Nanchang Mansion in Jiangxi Province and said: "In order to defend against the Tiger Army of King Tianjin, the Jiangbei Army has deployed 60,000 troops here."
Then pointing to the Yangtze River in Huguang, Zhu Youjian said: "Now the gentry in Huguang wants the Jiangbei Army to defend the Yangtze River. The Jiangbei Army once again divided its forces and deployed 30,000 troops in Huguang."
Wang Cheng'en looked at the emperor's fingers, his eyes lit up, and he raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, now our new army has trained fifty thousand people. Even if twenty thousand people are left to defend the capital, we can gather a hundred thousand troops to go south to attack the Jiangbei Army in Huguang.
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"With 100,000 new troops fighting 30,000 Jiangbei troops, there is no way they can't defeat them."
Zhu Youjian looked happy and stood in front of the map to observe the mountains and rivers of Huguang.
He looked at Zhang Guanghang and asked, "Zhang Qing, if we defeat the Jiangbei Army, what will be the situation in the world?"
Zhang Guanghang cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, if we defeat the Jiangbei Army, I am afraid that the whole world will know the Holy Majesty's authority, and no one in the entire Jiangnan will dare to oppose the emperor's reform. Not only will the taxes of the provinces in Jiangnan no longer be in arrears, but they will also be increased by 20% to supplement the tax."
Warehouse. It will not be difficult at all to increase the number of new troops to 200,000 to 300,000."
"At that time, the world will be shocked and issued with orders and prohibitions. I am afraid that even the Prince of Tianjin will be convinced. Ten years later, the Holy Emperor will take advantage of the situation and use the name of the Emperor to entrust the subordinates of the Prince of Tianjin to various places to serve as officials. Tianjin will be destroyed without any attack. Tianjin County will
The king can only be an ordinary Xiaoyao County Prince, and I, the Ming Dynasty, will no longer have to worry about losing my tail."
"At that time, the Holy Master's civil and military skills will be buried in the annals of history. I am afraid that the Tang Zong and Han Wu will be nothing more than this."
After hearing Zhang Guanghang's words, Zhu Youjian stroked his long beard gently, and his eyes gradually lit up.
