Although she was in the middle of the Northern Expedition, Da Meng still took some time out of her busy schedule to add some atmosphere to everyone. Early in the morning, she and her sister started preparing for a family dinner.
"Today I will take the opportunity of this banquet to invite the Supervisor to the banquet. It will be a good time for the three sisters and the Fourth Sister to meet with the Supervisor. If the Supervisor can take a look at it, this matter will be a matter of course." Meng decided on the menu.
I started to play drums for my two younger sisters who had just arrived from Shaoxing.
Previously, she and her husband talked about the lack of people around the prison and wanted to recommend her sister, so Feng Feng Huohuo immediately sent a servant back to Shaoxing to deliver a letter to her father to inquire about his attitude. At the same time, she also wrote to the younger sisters to inquire about their wishes.
Regarding this matter, neither Mr. Meng nor Meng's third and fourth sisters in the Shaoxing family objected. Even the two-year-old girl could not help but admire Lu Jianguo because she had heard too many heroic deeds recently.
After getting a reply of approval, Meng immediately sent someone to pick up his father and sister. Today's banquet, even if it is the last stage, if Lu Jianguo can take a fancy to the sisters, then it will be done.
Meng Sanmei was quiet, but Meng Simei was a little distracted. She held a comb in front of the mirror and kept chattering, "I heard that Your Highness is an excellent musketeer. He once shot down two wild geese with one shot, right, sister."
"I have never seen it with my own eyes, but I heard from your brother-in-law that His Highness is not only good at riding and shooting, but he is also really good at shooting muskets. He can even operate a cannon. He is in his twenties, resolute and strong, and is also in good health.
, now he is busy with the great cause of ZTE, and is focused on the Northern Expedition. There are few people around him, and I don’t know how many people are watching. This is a rare opportunity, so you must seize it."
Meng Sanmei held her chin and asked, "Your Highness is not a warrior who only knows how to ride and shoot, right?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? Your Highness is also very good at poetry and writing. He has even written several passionate poems in public. Your brother-in-law said that he has the legacy of Wei, Wu and Tang Zong."
"Sister, you spoke so well of His Highness, didn't you? He sounds more powerful than the four young masters." said the fourth sister.
Meng said with a smile, "The Fourth Young Master is only sought after by young scholars in the south of the Yangtze River, and even by the famous prostitutes on the banks of the Qinhuai River. They all come from well-known families, and they are indeed masters of writing. They even like to hang out in brothels. They are romantic
Seeds, but if you really want to talk about it as a sister, none of them can compare to His Highness, not even to your brother-in-law."
"The country is in danger, and men who really do practical things to save the country are the real heroes."
"By the way, today I also invited the four young masters of Fushe to come to court in Haiyan for righteousness. His Highness granted him the appointment and asked him to recommend talented people. The pretended young master then sent a letter to recruit all the friends of Fushe. Hou Fangyu,
Chen Zhenhui, Fang Yizhi arrived one after another, and Huang Zongyan, Tu Xiangmei and many other famous people in the society are also here. I have invited them all today. When you see it with your own eyes, you will know that the fourth young master praised by Shilin is actually not as good as His Highness.
That’s a lot.”
Meng Sanmei is a literary young woman who likes poetry and drama. She also likes to listen to the love stories of talented people and beauties in her boudoir, such as the love stories of Hou Fangyu and Li Xiangjun, Mao Pijiang and Dong Xiaowan, and even the love story of Wu Sangui who became a beauty in anger.
Ah, these all deeply moved the young girl who was pregnant with spring.
In fact, he was not very happy that his sister and father wanted to send her to the palace, but she did not have enough courage to object.
"Ah, will the fourth young master come too?" Meng Sanmei's eyes widened.
However, Meng Simei obviously prefers Li Xiangjun and Dong Xiaowan, world-famous women. "Are Sister Dong and Sister Li really so beautiful?"
Meng looked at her two young sisters and could only shake her head slightly. She also came from this age. "Third sister, just wear these pearl earrings today. Take off the other gold and silver jewelry. Your Highness now advocates frugality. I don't like it."
luxurious."
The third sister said, "I heard that His Highness used to like luxury. He owned eight hundred pairs of nail polishes, including gold, jade, ivory and tortoiseshell."
"That was in the past. Your Highness now wears the same clothes and eats with the soldiers. He is very simple. There is not even a piece of gold or jade on his body."
This pair of pearl earrings looks good when worn. It not only adds to the temperament of the third sister, but does not look tacky.
She also picked out some silver jewelry for her fourth sister, not a single piece of gold or jade. The fourth sister was young, cheerful, and innocent, but with a few silver jewelry on her body, she looked even more innocent and cute.
I also tried my best to choose clothes that looked more elegant.
"If the supervisor has any questions, just answer them. Don't be too restrained."
"I know." Fourth sister smiled.
······
After the imperial meeting, Chen Qianfu came over and invited Zhu Yihai to a family banquet. "As soon as Jia Yue came from Shaoxing, Zhuo Jing organized a family banquet to welcome the news. I boldly invited His Highness to the banquet."
Zhu Yihai smiled and said, "Okay, your father Meng Gong is a loyal country squire, and I would like to thank him personally."
Mr. Meng was a wealthy man in Shaoxing. He not only used money to recruit troops and horses for his son-in-law to help defend Qiantang, but he also spent a lot of money on several occasions to pay for the army. When Chen Qianfu went north, he paid another 10,000 taels of silver.
And this time when Mr. Meng came, he generously took 20,000 taels. Although Mr. Meng actually had some selfish motives, for example, he risked his life and went north because he wanted to be the father-in-law of the prison. At the same time, he also wanted to give a few sons.
Find a career with your brothers and nephews.
However, compared with the stinginess of Chongzhen's father-in-law Zhou Kui, the emperor's son-in-law only borrowed a few thousand taels of money, and even withheld the money the queen gave him. This old man Meng was undoubtedly a rare person.
Zhu Yihai then invited King Deng, academicians Xu Shiqi, Shen Chenquan, and the four new governors, as well as Yu Dafu, Shen Wenzhong and Zhu Chenggong to attend the banquet.
Chen Qianfu and his wife also invited Mao Pijiang, Huang Zongyan and other prominent figures in Fushe.
Yulin Chief Officer Yang Boxing, Jinwu Chief Officer Zhang Mingyang, and Banner Battalion Chief Officer Zhang Quan each led a team of elite men to escort them to a mansion where Chen Qianfu and his wife lived temporarily.
Meng was still busy preparing the banquet.
It was still early, so Zhu Yihai and Chen Qianfu sat in the courtyard enjoying the cool air.
"Your Highness, I have received a tip that Li Chengdong, the general of the Tatar Su Song Army, is gathering troops and horses to prepare to attack Chongming."
Zhu Yihai was not too surprised when he heard the news.
The Yiyang kings in Chongming were actually the navy that had broken down from Nanjing, together with local civil servants and generals. Although they were quite powerful at the beginning, they were just a motley crew, plus that
Although King Yiyang was the king of the Zhou vassal, he had neither ability nor courage. He was pushed to this position because there was no other clan to support him at that time.
Originally, the main force of the Qing army went south to Hangzhou, and Sanwu was empty. It was a good time for them to develop, but these people wasted precious time in vain. On the one hand, these generals were fighting for power internally, and on the other hand, they were plundering.
common people.
These rebel armies were despised by the people and were not as famous as the Northern Army.
Later, under the advice of Xia Yunyi and Chen Zilong, they reluctantly formulated a strategy to deal with the Qing army along the coast of the lake. However, Xia Yunyi and others were only scribes, Tian Yang and others were also civil servants, and Jing Benche, Shen Tingyang and others were against the military. It makes no sense that Huang Fei, Wu Zhikui and other generals were all defeated generals, and not many of them were sincere in resisting the Qing Dynasty.
This strategy was so unrealistic that before they even regained control of the Sanwu Land at their doorstep, they were already thinking about reaching out to control Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, Jiangxi, Huguang and other places.
Chen Wu, Wang Chaoxian, Huang Binqing and other powerful generals also took the opportunity to go south, saying they were going to the governor's place. In fact, they wanted to stay away from Sanwu and the Qing army, and at the same time they wanted to seize territory.
As a result, the strength of King Yiyang and others became more and more dispersed.
These are all ways to die.
The strategy of capturing Su Song first, then attacking Hangzhou, and then recovering Nanjing was previously decided. However, there has been no movement. Huang Fei and other groups are also procrastinating and have been unable to act according to the plan. They have not yet completed the attack on Suzhou. of gathering.
In comparison, the Qing army responded faster.
Based on the military information he had, Li Chengdong, the commander-in-chief of Su Song, planned to capture the thieves and capture the king. He would first destroy the Chongming thieves' nest and capture King Yiyang, the puppet superintendent of the country, and then defeat the Ming troops in various parts of Su Song.
He even deliberately waited for Huang Fei and other generals to gather to besiege Suzhou. After all, it would be troublesome to encircle and suppress them one by one, and it would be more convenient and faster to defend the Ming army from a fortified city. Li Chengdong was also an experienced general and knew how to use these defeated troops to defeat the Ming army. Strength, the more people and horses there are, the weaker the combat effectiveness will be and the easier it will be to defeat.
Now Li Chengdong wants to start the strategy of changing his family and let Huang Fei and others besiege Suzhou, but he leads his elite to attack Chongming. He is very confident that Suzhou can hold on until he breaks Chongming and comes back with the power of victory.
"How strong is this Li Chengdong?" Zhu Yihai also knew Li Chengdong's name, but mainly because in history, he once became the leader of the Dongxun Group of the Yongli Dynasty, controlled the Guangdong area, and once defeated the Qing army in a very embarrassed manner. .
However, Zhu Yihai didn't think that Li Chengdong was very powerful, because the Qing troops he defeated were mainly the Green Camp after the surrender of the original Ming army.
"Some people say that Li Chengdong was originally an old subordinate of Gao Jie? Was he also a gangster?"
Chen Qianfu is in charge of military intelligence. Now that the Northern Expeditionary Army has quietly entered Su Song's territory, he has been doing a lot of research and gathering intelligence on Li Chengdong, the general of Su Song.
He shook his head, "Li Chengdong was indeed a subordinate of Gao Jie, but he was not a bandit. In fact, it was just a rumor. Li Chengdong was originally a frontier army in Ningxia, and was later transferred to Henan Zhenbiao guerrillas, and also participated in the Battle of Kaifeng , because of his meritorious service in the Battle of Kaifeng, he was promoted to deputy commander-in-chief and transferred to Zhili."
"After Emperor Lie was martyred, he ran from Shanxi to Nanzhi before joining Gao Jie. His relationship with Gao Jie was average. After all, he only served under him for more than a year."
"Li Chengdong was not outstanding when he was under Gao Jie. After Gao Jie was killed, the one with the highest status and the strongest strength among his subordinates was Gao Jie's nephew Li Benshen, who was promoted to Prince Shaobao in Nanjing and given the post of Governor of the Left."
"However, after Gao Jie's death, the imperial court did not maintain the town of Gao Jie. Instead, it divided Gao Jie's town into seven. Li Benzhen was stationed in Guide, Yang Chengzu was stationed in Xiayi, Tang Yinghu was stationed in Yucheng, Miao Shunfu was stationed in Dangshan, and Li Xiangyun was stationed in Shuangyun. Gou, Hu Maozhen, Guo Hu are stationed in Sizhou, and Li Chengdong is stationed in Xuzhou."
Zhu Yihai heard that although Hongguang had set up four towns in Jiangbei when he came to the throne, he was actually very wary of these disobedient towns. As soon as Gao Jie died, Nanjing immediately took the opportunity to dismember Gao Jie's town and divided them into seven.
Not subordinate.
At this time, Li Chengdong also took charge of his headquarters and garrisoned in Xuzhou, and he was considered to have established his own business.
The reason for the disintegration of Gaojie Town was not only that the imperial court took the opportunity to dismember Gao Jie after his death, but also because Gao Jie's troops were very mixed. He himself was General Li Zicheng, but he later surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. The main generals under his command were Li Benzhen, his nephew, and Hu Maozhen.
The old brothers he brought from Li Zicheng, Guo Hu, a general of the Qin army, Yang Chengzu and even Luo Rucai's old army, most of these people are from Shaanxi. Li Chengdong is from Ningxia, so although he is an official and soldier, he can also integrate into this circle
.
However, compared to most of Gao Jie's subordinates who came from the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region, Li Chengdong's close relatives are basically from Henan. Although he is from Ningxia, he really started his career in Henan. For example, Du Yonghe of the Chinese Army is from Tongxu, and Wu Wenwen
They are also from Tongxu, Yin Zhirong is from Shangqiu, both from the vicinity of Kaifeng, and Yang Dafu is also from Henan.
After the Qing army went south, Li Chengdong led his troops to surrender in Xuzhou. He was still the commander-in-chief and did not receive much attention from the Qing army. After all, even among the seven tribes after Gao Jie's death, he was still a marginal affiliate.
After being surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Li Chengdong worked very hard in the battle against Yangzhou and gained some points. Then he crossed the Yangtze River and headed south. He always acted as a vanguard and was very ruthless in dealing with his former colleagues in the Ming Dynasty.
Later, he followed the local national treasure to wipe out the rebel forces in Changzhen and other places. Because of his hard work, he was awarded the title of Commander-in-Chief of Susong and was moved to Susong so that he could continue to play his role.
Historically, it was during the tenure of General Su Song that Li Chengdong crazily suppressed the soldiers and civilians of the Three Wu Uprising, and created the astonishing Jiangyin Massacre, Jiading Massacre, Kunshan Massacre, etc. With the blood of countless compatriots, his own blood was dyed red.
Dingzi, then went south to Zhejiang and Fujian with Boluo, made new achievements, and then invaded Guangdong, and was finally promoted to the admiral of Guangdong.
In the end, because he felt that he had made great contributions, but the Qing Dynasty did not allow him to be the governor, he was very dissatisfied, so he started a rebellion against the Qing Dynasty.
Of course, in addition to the uneven distribution of the spoils and feeling that the Qing Dynasty had treated him poorly, it was also related to the situation in Lingnan at that time. After Jin Shengheng in Jiangxi rebelled, a wave of anti-Qing waves quickly broke out in Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong and other places. Many places rebelled, and Lu
Wang Zhu Yihai also took advantage of the situation to launch a wave of offensives in Fujian at that time and captured many places.
Li Chengdong was almost surrounded, and Guangdong became an isolated island. Seeing that he could not protect himself, he simply turned against him.
However, even though he rebelled, Li Chengdong's historical performance did not show that he had truly reformed and sincerely supported Nanming, but that he had other plans.
Although in the first few years of the Nan Ming Dynasty, Li Chengdong seemed to be the nemesis of the Nan Ming army, invincible and unstoppable, but in fact, upon closer inspection, it was not that Li Chengdong could not fight in the Ming Dynasty, but he became the God of War in the Qing Dynasty, but that he fought from the south of the Yangtze River
When we go to Guangdong and Guangxi, we are actually dealing with the second-tier and even local warriors, just ordinary people.
It was precisely because he mistakenly overestimated himself that he was later defeated and died in battle.
But now that Li Chengdong is preparing to fight against Chongming, he is sure to win, because he has won historically. Jing Benche, the governor of Zhejiang Province Navy appointed by King Yiyang of Chongming, does not know how to fight at all. He cannot even control the troops. He recruits
The military discipline of our army is the worst, and it is already terrible around Chongming.
Later, he fled to Zhoushan, but Huang Binqing killed him on the pretext of setting up troops to plunder the people, and then devoured his ships and men.
"By the way, Zhang Guozhu, the former general under Chen Wu, has now joined Li Chengdong." Chen Qianfu added.
Zhu Yihai was silent.
"Are we going to save Chongming?" Chen Qianfu asked.
