When Zhu Guofan surrendered for the fourth time, Shen Wenzhong took back the capital city of Huzhou without bloodshed. Then he still appointed him as a co-president and did not stay in Huzhou for long. After entering the city that day, he suppressed and purged some traitors in the city who had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. , he took away some of the money and food he had collected for the Qing army, and then left.
Jin Gongyu and Bai Xiangfu were the left and right vanguards and marched into Changxing.
The two generals led the reorganized Huzhou soldiers. General Zhu Hongyu of the Huzhou battalion, nicknamed Baimao, was originally a carpenter. His wife and children were killed by the Tatars and his hair turned gray overnight. He could use a sword weighing forty kilograms. He took the lead and attacked the Qing army. At Hexi, he led his troops to kill seven hundred people. The Qing army there also surrendered some Ming troops and recruited some bandits. Unexpectedly, the Ming army was so brave that they were unprepared for the defeat.
Immediately afterwards, another Huzhou general, Zhao Liangbi, nicknamed Iron Whip General, armed with a heavy iron whip, known as forty-five pounds, led a battalion to attack the Qing army and killed another three hundred.
Huzhou general Shen Ziyi could lift eight hundred kilograms, Qu Liangfu could cross a Yang Yang with a hundred steps, and Zhou Zigai could fight wearing eight layers of cowhide armor. For a time, they were scrambling for the lead, and each led a battalion to defeat the Qing army.
The generals swept through Huzhou, and the Qing army retreated to Changxing.
Tan Zhicai, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Qing Dynasty, was originally a bandit from Shandong. He later surrendered to the Qing army and followed him all the way south. He was ordered to guard Changxing as a staff general. He was promoted to deputy general for his meritorious service in the previous battle to recapture Huzhou.
Unexpectedly, this defeat would be so disastrous. With the support of Lu Jianguo's Northern Expeditionary Army, who refused to help them all night long to find out the military situation, and behind the elite guard, the Huzhou local rebel generals who had been defeated by the Qing army all became extremely brave. , even the brave militiamen of the countryside have greatly increased their combat power after receiving some supplements of armor, bows, arrows, swords and guns.
The Qing army was defeated again and again.
Tan Zhicai still wanted to resist stubbornly and defend the city. Unexpectedly, this golden attack was supported by the firepower of the Shenji Battalion. He used artillery to bombard the city during the day and pretended to attack. At night, he secretly dug a tunnel to the bottom of the city wall, then filled the coffin with gunpowder and lit it. The city wall was blasted, and several gaps were blown out of the Changxing city wall, and the Ming army poured in.
Tan Zhicai was a thief in his early years and had considerable physical strength. However, when the Ming army entered the city, he wore an iron armor and a cotton armor, but he could not stop the attack of several warriors. Zhao Liangbi's heavy iron whip directly broke one of his arms, and Zhu Baimao hit him with a blow. The broadsword even cut off the head of his mount with one blow.
Ou Liangfu fired several arrows in succession, hitting him hard to the left and right, and finally had to kneel down and surrender.
After pacifying Huzhou, Shen Wenzhong and other tribes marched westward to Guangzhou.
Huzhou.
The patrol came to report, "Xie Zhen Hangzhou Deputy General Zhang Jie and Huzhou Deputy General Zhang Shiyuan each led five thousand troops and came to attack. Please quickly ask Shen Dujian and Jin General Bing to return for reinforcements."
The prefect, Dai Zhongdao, said, "Gather the people together and prepare to hold on to the city and wait for reinforcements."
As a result, fellow acquaintance Zhu Guofan stood up and said, "Sir, no."
"My lord, please step aside."
Dai Zhong looked bad. After retreating, he asked Zhu Guofan, "Do you still dare to have different intentions?"
"My lord, it's not a disloyalty, but an expediency. Didn't Superintendent Shen say before that our task is to maintain peace in Huzhou? Now that Wang Shi is going east, there are no soldiers in Huzhou, and tens of thousands of Tatars are coming to attack. , it’s impossible for us to hold on. It’s better to surrender.”
"Surrender?" Dai Zhong's expression changed drastically, and he pointed at Zhu Guofan with trembling hands, "You!"
"Master Futai, the governor has given you secret instructions before. As long as we don't act as a coward, don't kill the loyal and righteous people, and can inform the governor, even if we surrender, we will be surrendering according to the order."
"Despite this, how can we surrender without a fight? How can we know what to do if we don't defend for a moment? The king's division is not far away and can come back for reinforcements at any time. This is different from before."
"What's the difference? Can Huzhou really be defended? Look at the Northern Expedition of Jianguo, even during the Jiahu, Susong and other places, which city could you defend?"
"But..." Magistrate Dai still couldn't accept direct surrender.
"In this way, if Lord Futai does not want to surrender, you can take the people away and I will stay behind and surrender." Zhu Guofan said.
Dai Zhong looked at Zhu Guofan, and for a moment he couldn't see the man clearly.
"The days are long, sir."
"Okay," Dai nodded, "but since we are going to surrender, let's surrender together. If I leave at this time, I won't become a deserter."
after one day.
Zhang Jie and Zhang Shiyuan each led thousands of troops to the gates of Huzhou City. Dai Zhong and Zhu Guofan led the officials to open the city and surrender without any resistance.
Zhang Jie, the deputy general of Hangzhou in Xiezhen, smiled and said to Zhang Shiyuan, the deputy general of Huzhou in Xiezhen, "Your subordinate Zhu Guofan, a fellow governor of Huzhou, can be considered a talent. How many times has this surrendered?"
Zhang Shiyuan, like Zhang Jie, was originally a Ming general and a general in the four towns north of Hongguang River. After surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, he followed the Southern Expedition. Now he is in Xiezhen in western Zhejiang. After Boluo left Hangzhou, the strength of the Qing army in western Zhejiang declined sharply.
Fortunately, the Ming army did not move much in the Qiantang River. So far, they have only captured Fuyang and other cities in the north of the Yangtze River and west of Hangzhou. They have not yet threatened the city of Hangzhou.
Zhu Wu crossed the river and entered the territory of Jiaxing before, but was beaten by Li Yuchun and lost his armor. It was not a good idea. I heard that he had recently fled to Suzhou and even took the opportunity to briefly occupy Suzhou for a few days. This incident caused great confusion in Boluo.
angry.
Zhang Jie and Zhang Shiyuan took pleasure in the misfortune. Li Yuchun stole the show before and pushed them both to the ground and rubbed them. Bolo Tianxiong and others always used Li Yuchun to teach them about their inability to guard the place.
Now that something happened to Li Yuchun, they were certainly happy, but they were not happy for a few days. Suddenly, many bandit troops came out and caused chaos in Huzhou.
Governor Zhang Cunren, governor Xiao Qiyuan and admiral Tian Xiong, quickly ordered them to gather troops to encircle and suppress them. They also set a time. If they could not destroy them on time, they would be held accountable.
Fortunately, the advance went smoothly. We gathered people from all walks of life and fought all the way, and all the cities in Huzhou were recovered one after another.
Now Fucheng also surrendered directly.
Zhang Shiyuan stroked his beard and said, "This Zhu Guofan is really a damn talent. This is the third time he has been demoted to the Qing Dynasty. In the meantime, he has been demoted to the Pseudo-Ming Dynasty twice."
"People like this probably have weak knees."
"Hahaha."
"Kill?"
"It would be a pity to kill such a boneless guy, so let's keep him," Zhang Shiyuan said.
"That's right. It's really hard to find such a genius."
After regaining Huzhou, Zhang Shiyuan and Zhang Jie jointly reported victory and asked for instructions on how to deal with Zhu Guofan and other surrendered ministers.
Hangzhou received the report a few days later, and Governor Xiao Qiyuan and Governor Zhang Cunren negotiated together.
Hangzhou is an important town and governor of the same city. Both of them were officials of the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Cunren was originally the deputy general of Wu Sangui of Ningyuan. However, it was not that simple for the Qing Dynasty to arrange for these two to partner up.
The governor-general has the power to control the governor, but he does not directly command the governor. On the surface, the governor-general and the governor are of equal rank and each has his or her own duties. The governor-general focuses on military affairs, but Xiao Qiyuan, the governor, has the title of admiral, and has the right of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
He holds the title of Deputy Capital Censor and Minister of War, so he is also in charge of military affairs and also has his own title.
The two men were stationed in the same city and had many overlapping functions. This was a balancing act deliberately devised by the Tatars in order to control these demoted officials and strengthen their control over the local area.
Originally, there was no need for Zhejiang Province to have both a governor and a governor, but the Tatars just set it up like this. The governor had the title of admiral and an admiral, so the provincial governor, governor, admiral, plus the generals stationed at the Eight Banners, etc.
, a bunch of heads.
Fortunately, Xiao Qiyuan and Zhang Cunren get along well. After all, only three prefectures in Zhejiang have been captured now, and there are five prefectures in eastern Zhejiang under the control of the Ming army. It is not easy to fight among themselves at this time.
"I think this Zhu Guofan should be rewarded." Xiao Qiyuan expressed his opinion, "Buying horse bones with a thousand gold coins will help us regain eastern Zhejiang."
After Bo Luo left Hangzhou with his army, Zhang Cunren and Xiao Qiyuan were under great pressure. The three prefectures in western Zhejiang were not yet stable, let alone the five prefectures in eastern Zhejiang that had not been recovered. Now Lu Jianguo's prestige is getting higher and higher.
, their pressure is also increasing, and rebellions are happening everywhere. At this time, a Huzhou Tongzhi who has been able to surrender to the Qing Dynasty three times is indeed worthy of being commended as a typical example.
"Then he should be promoted to the prefect of Huzhou?"
"Zhu Guofan was only a Gongsheng student, not a Jinshi."
"What do you care about at this time? It's rare for Zhu Guofan to be so knowledgeable about current affairs, so he still needs to be rewarded. I think he can be made the prefect. It turns out that the prefect was not just a recommendation official before? It's better to be reduced to a fellow magistrate, both of them.
Please change positions."
Xiao Qiyuan said, "I think Zhu Guofan is so aware of current affairs that it would be a bit unfair to be the prefect of Huzhou. Why not transfer him to Hangzhou?"
When Boluo first arrived in Hangzhou, there was a lack of local officials, so he appointed Gu Mingbiao, a member of the Shengyuan who actively surrendered, as the magistrate of Hangzhou. It turned out that this guy was bold and greedy. He dared to embezzle the eight hundred taels of silver that King Lu had given him as soon as he took office. The appointed promotion officer Wei Shaozhuang was even more so.
Search pawnshops and extort good people.
Bolo was so angry that he beheaded the two of them.
Later, Yan Zhengju was appointed as the governor, and Lei Yongzuo was appointed as the replacement officer. However, these two people were incompetent and equally corrupt. Originally, Hangzhou was the governor, and he was the governor of the same city. There were also three divisions and county magistrates in the same city. This official was the most difficult to be.
You can see even the slightest error.
"Summon Zhu Guofan to Hangzhou and have a look. If he is really capable, let him serve as the governor of Hangzhou."
·····
Kunshan.
Li Chengdong cursed and worked hard for a long time, but when he saw the duck flying out of his mouth, he couldn't help but feel angry.
After hard work and hard work, the prefectures and counties in Su and Song were gradually pacified, but it had nothing to do with him. Yan Wogong, the pacifier of Zhejiang, led a group of green battalions from western Zhejiang to the territory of Songsu and recruited surrenders and rebels everywhere.
The Ming army was either routed or defeated and surrendered.
On the contrary, he, the commander-in-chief of Songjiang, did not get any credit.
However, Suzhou was still lost. Governor Tu Guobao ruthlessly involved them, and none of the admiral Wu Shengzhao, the assistant minister Li Shutai, and the commander-in-chief Li Chengdong escaped.
Boluo also sent people to recruit him, scolded him bloody, and demoted him one level, changing him to the title of deputy commander-in-chief of Jiading, Xiezhen, and commander-in-chief of Songjiang. He was given the title of being in the limelight this time.
Li Yuchun, the former Jiaxing deputy general.
"Gao Jinzhong of Chongming has asked me to surrender, and Zhang Guozhu of Taicang also successfully recruited Zhang Shiyi. This is all my credit. How can I say that there is no merit and no guilt?"
"I don't accept it!"
Several generals could only persuade him to calm down first, and then appeal to Borobeile. They did not believe that he could conquer the sky with his own hands.
