As mentioned before, King Fu Zhu Yousong and his party led troops to the border of Tianchang County and Yizheng County in advance, and spent a day waiting for news, which was almost the end of February.
It is not difficult for the viewer with the God's perspective to discover that at this time on the other side, Zhu Shuren had just received Chongzhen's will as relayed by Zhang Yan, and it would take another day or two before he could return to Nanjing to ventilate with Shi Kefa, and then go to Hefei to pick up his father-in-law. Where is King Lu?
Therefore, if King Fu really wanted to take the risk and enter Yizheng territory directly, then cross the river from Yizheng County and go south to Jingkou, then transfer to Nanjing, he could still arrive before King Lu.
However, if such a thing is carried out without a sufficient excuse, then there will be no way out. Once it fails, the general who led the troops will be punished by his clan, which is a serious crime of conspiracy.
Liu Liangzuo was not the kind of ruthless person who was willing to kill his whole family. If he had been so brave, in history, Duduo wouldn't have been the first traitor when he went south, giving up all his defense areas and surrendering to the enemy.
Therefore, after confirming that Shi Kefa had not welcomed King Fu in time, he had to quickly notify Ma Shiying again and let Ma Shiying make an idea, which took another day and a half.
Fortunately, Ma Shiying was not completely unprepared. Ruan Dacheng beside him was an expert in infighting and small tricks. When Liu Liangzuo was sent to lead troops to escort King Fu south, Ruan Dacheng had already anticipated that Shi Kefa might play tricks. Mao Ni, Ruan Dacheng made two preparations at the same time.
After these four or five days of liaison, Ruan Dacheng's second-hand preparation has now begun to take shape.
The day after Liu Liang's leftists asked for instructions, Ruan Dacheng came to the Tianchang County Army in person and conveyed a new order:
"Liu Junmen, don't be afraid. You can lead your troops into Yizheng and cross the river to escort His Highness to Nanjing! Governor Ma has already found a righteous name for you!"
Liu Liangzuo was still a little timid: "Foreign soldiers came to Beijing without being summoned. If there is disharmony in the end, it would be a serious crime... I wonder what excuse the governor used?"
Ruan Dacheng smiled sadly: "The day I learned that King Yong and King Ding might die for their country, I advised Brother Yaocao to immediately try to contact the two towns of Liu Zeqing and Xu Dingguo in Shandong to confirm whether the Chuang army had been relocated after they withdrew from Beijing. The army invaded south.
As I expected, after these four or five days of intensive contact and understanding of the enemy's situation, it can now be confirmed that three days ago, that is, the seventh day after the bandits withdrew from Beijing, Liu Fangliang, who broke into the South Road of the Army, had been forced by the Qing army. Withdraw from Baoding Prefecture,
Liu Fangliang slowly retreated south, and the vanguard turned to attack south, retaking Linqing and other places that Zhu Shuren had recovered two months ago when he went north to rescue him, and crossed the old route of the Yellow River south from Linqing!
On the other road, in the direction of Gui Bo, there are places such as Shangqiu in Guide Prefecture, which Zhu Shu people temporarily recaptured from Liu Fangliang when they went north to King Qin. When Zhu Shu people withdrew their troops, Liu Fangliang had no intention of going south again to capture them.
But now, the intruders cannot gain a foothold in Hebei and are forced to flee south. Liu Fangliang's partial division has also re-encircled Shangqiu and captured many counties in Guide Prefecture! Xu Dingguo has also withdrawn his main force from Shangqiu to Bozhou!"
The situation relayed by Ruan Dacheng is also very different from the original historical inertia - after Li Zicheng was defeated by Dorgon in Hebei, he did not even think about counterattacking on the spot and fighting to the death.
But in the history, after the Jin Kingdom was crippled by the Mongols, they always thought that "the part they lost from the Mongols would be recouped by invading the Song Dynasty from the south." Then Li Zicheng thought of continuing to squeeze the soft persimmons, and the south was still controlled by the Ming Dynasty. The land returns blood.
The Xu Dingguo mentioned in Ruan Dacheng's words was also a general who had been helping the imperial court for many years in Shanxi and Henan. Historically, he should have followed Hou Xun (Hou Fangyu's father, the former Minister of the Ministry of Finance), because he had been defeated in all the battles.
, Chongzhen was imprisoned in the fifteenth year of his reign, and his military power in the Henan battlefield was deprived of him.
But now, when Zhu Shuren went north to King Qin, he briefly recovered the Guide Mansion that Liang Yizhang and others had lost before. Zhu Shuren could not stay for long, so the imperial court set up a new general soldier on this newly recovered land in Henan to replace the former commander-in-chief.
The guilty Xu Dingguo was released and used again. Anyway, it was in ruins and it was impossible to establish an effective rule. It was just a cat or a dog that could fend for itself.
When Liu Liangzuo heard about these urgent military situations, he naturally looked worried. After all, he was still a pure military general with little education.
He heard that the friendly forces at the front were retreating steadily and losing land. As the commander-in-chief of the defense of Fengyang and Huai'an, it was very likely that he would be pushed to the front line of resistance again. He really couldn't figure out why Ruan Dacheng could put these things together.
The bad news was told with such joy.
Could it be that Ruan Dacheng is a wolf-hearted guy? My Ming Dynasty lost its land, and you are still so happy?
Ruan Dacheng saw that such vulgar warriors had no political sensitivity and did not understand the tricks of intrigue and internal power fighting. He was quite disdainful, so he had to speak clearly:
"Liu Junmen, think about it, if the intruders don't attack Liu Zeqing and Xu Dingguo, we will directly send troops to send His Royal Highness Prince Fu to Nanjing, but it will be a desperate move with no way out!
But things are different now. The intruders have given us a perfect excuse! As the vassal king closest to the late emperor by blood and moral integrity, His Royal Highness Prince Fu will naturally receive the key protection of our Ming Dynasty court!
Many prefectures and counties in Huaibei have fallen to Liu Fangliang's new round of attacks. Fengyang is already the place pointed by the bandits and bandits. We are escorting Prince Fu south at this moment. This is not because the imperial court has not summoned foreign troops from other vassals to enter the capital without permission.
, but to help the court escort King Fu to relocate! To prevent King Fu from being in a war zone again! With such a righteous name, even if it fails in the end, there is still a talisman!
I have persuaded Brother Yaocao to further express his goodwill to Liu Zeqing and Xu Dingguo. As long as they cooperate in supporting His Royal Highness Prince Fu, when things are done in the future, their sins of losing ground in Shandong after losing ground to Bo Bo will be wiped out!
They can also follow suit and be conferred titles on the meritorious ministers of Conglong! In the future, when King Fu secures his position, he can also transfer them from the front lines of the Anti-Chuang Dynasty and let them lead troops in the rich areas of the south. The money and money will be better than staying in the cold and cold places of Shandong and Henan.
many!
When the time comes, let those stubborn thorns go to the front line of the anti-Tatar resistance! Let those generals who don’t know how to behave and serve Wang Fu Wangwan suffer hardships and die, and we will enjoy the success later!"
Liu Liangzuo was analyzed by Ruan Dacheng, and his eyes lit up and his spirit was lifted.
That's right! We are now escorting His Royal Highness Prince Fu to avoid Liu Fangliang's southern invasion again! It's because the Nanjing court was too procrastinating and incompetent. There was obviously a vassal king who was closest to the late emperor, but they forgot to let him retreat in time and protect him well. We
This is helping those wastes in Nanjing find and fill their gaps!
After thinking about it, Liu Liangzuo could not help but admire him from the bottom of his heart:
As for the internal fighting among civil servants, a villain like Ruan Dacheng is indeed the most powerful! With such skills, it is absolutely impossible to react so quickly without someone who has been professionally calculating his own people for 20 or 30 years!
Now that he had a name to protect his body and a way to retreat, why did Liu Liangzuo have any hesitation? He ordered his troops and horses that day, plus hundreds of cavalry brought by Ruan Dacheng, Xu Dingguo, and Liu Zeqing's scout cavalry, and headed south together.
Yizheng!
Xu Dingguo and Liu Zeqing were the people Ruan Dacheng had previously asked Ma Shiying to inquire about the military situation in the north. After getting in touch, he asked the Second Town to send them quickly and treat them as if they had surrendered.
Xu Dingguo and Liu Zeqing were also very cooperative. They gave one man and two horses. Regardless of the lack of cavalry in his own army, he asked these men to travel hundreds of miles a day to cooperate.
Liu Liangzuo did not need the actual number of troops provided by these people, but only a status. With these hundreds of people, it was not Liu Liangzuo who left alone, but the three towns in Jiangbei jointly under the call of Ma Du
If we join in a righteous act together, our momentum and status will be different.
His troops arrived at Yizheng that night, and then asked King Fu to rest for the night while Liu Liangzuo raised a ferry overnight.
The next day, early in the morning on the third day of March, Liu Liangzuo hurriedly led his troops onto the ship at Guazhou Ferry and led his troops straight to Jinshan Temple on the other side, intending to land at Jingkou.
…
One day back in the timeline, on the day when Ruan Dacheng persuaded Liu Liangzuo to send troops, Shi Kefa in Nanjing City also learned of the changes in the Jiangbei local army - after all, the territory of Yangzhou Prefecture was under the direct control of Shi Kefa, the Minister of War, Fengyang
Governor Ma Shiying's troops were not eligible to enter Yangzhou.
Therefore, when Liu Liangzuo's army entered Yizheng County, the defenders of Yizheng County immediately sent people 600 miles away to send a message to Shi Kefa, and it was delivered that night. At that time, Liu Liangzuo was still collecting ferries in the north of the Yangtze River.
Shi Kefa only had one night to react and deploy.
Shi Kefa knew very well that he had just reached an agreement with Zhu Shuren yesterday to send Zhu Shuren to Hefei to pick up Prince Lu. Counting the days, if nothing was done to stop him, Prince Lu would be able to return to Nanjing at least three days later than Prince Fu!
Once Prince Fu, who is closest to the late emperor by blood, enters Nanjing and is escorted by soldiers and horses, everything will be uncertain! Moreover, for the sake of his righteousness and to win over Zhang Yan, the "late emperor's oral message before his death" that Zhu Shuren obtained only said:
In order to let King Lu supervise the country and wait for the king to be appointed, King Yong returned south, but he did not say that he would pass the throne to King Lu!
This kind of edict, which only supervises the country but does not pass on the throne, can still stabilize the situation if King Lu arrives in Nanjing first. If King Fu arrives first, there will be a chance to get in the way and mess around!
Shi Kefa wanted to understand these truths, but blood rushed to his head. Then he asked his military officers all night: "Of the other soldiers and horses in other towns with naval forces, where is the one closest to Nanjing now?"
His staff member Yan Ermei was nearby at the time. He was also proficient in business and knew the information about the deployment of troops and horses. He responded:
"In addition to the soldiers and horses guarding Nanjing, the closest naval forces from the outer town are on the other side of Wuhu County at the junction of Taiping Prefecture and Luzhou Prefecture. They are the troops of Governor Zhu of Huguang."
Shi Kefa geared up and thought for a while: "Liu Liangzuo has arrived in Yizheng. He will definitely be able to find enough boats to cross the river tomorrow morning at the latest. Now that he has notified the soldiers and horses from Wuhu to come to help, it is too late to stop him from crossing the river...Help me find Shen Butang of the Ministry of Household Affairs immediately.
Come and discuss matters!”
Yan Ermei immediately went to do it. Within half a quarter of an hour, Shen Tingyang from the household department was found.
Shen Tingyang obviously got news from Yan Ermei along the way and knew what Shi Kefa wanted from him, so he got straight to the point when they met:
"Does Xianzhi need to dispatch the navy to intercept Liu Liang's left crossing of the river? Although I have Zhang Mingzhen's troops to protect the canal, they can be used in emergencies!"
After several years of construction, Zhang Mingzhen's department now has 20,000 to 30,000 naval troops. Not all of them are stationed in Nanjing, but at least tens of thousands of them are stationed at key docks around Nanjing.
Strictly speaking, his troops are not local garrison troops, but escort water transport, so wandering around Nanjing is considered legal - if you want to escort supplies, money and grain from various places to Nanjing, you must have troops to escort you, right?
Even when the capital was in Beijing, the convoy troops under the Governor of Water Transport could be stationed as far as Tongzhou.
When it's time to transport grain, you can follow the canal fleet all the way to Jishuitan Wharf in Beijing (Shichahai). That place is only separated by a coal mountain from the place where Chongzhen hanged himself in history.
Therefore, as long as Shen Tingyang and his direct descendants do not enter the city of Nanjing, even if they stay at the dock at the mouth of the Qinhuai River on the Yangtze River, there will be nothing wrong with them.
Zhang Mingzhen may not be able to defend against the enemy approaching Nanjing via land from the south, but it can definitely be used to prevent the Northern Army from crossing the Yangtze River.
Shi Kefa had no other choice. After getting to know Zhang Mingzhen's situation, he immediately requisitioned the escort team under the Ministry of War in the name of the Ministry of War, completed the process in the name of the cabinet, and asked Zhang Mingzhen to stop Liu Liangzuo immediately.
.
…
The next day at dawn, on the Yangtze River between Guazhoudu and Jinshan Temple.
Dozens of patrol ferries on Liu Liang's left side, carrying nearly a thousand vanguard soldiers, took the lead in opening the way and starting the southern crossing.
There was still only a little bit of light in the sky, so the operation was very secretive, making it difficult to be discovered by the defenders on the other side. It also allowed the soldiers coming from the north to see the terrain in front of them clearly, so as not to lose their way.
However, not long after Liu Liang Zuobu took action, he saw that as the sky grew brighter, there were more patrol warships in the center of the river pulling nets back and forth to search, and it seemed that these ships were more powerful than the ships Liu Liangzuobu had temporarily recruited.
It is much more elite and lighter, and at first glance it looks like a carefully built professional warship.
"Stop the ship! Fengyang Prefecture troops are not allowed to enter the capital without being summoned! You want to rebel, but you can't!" Zhang Mingzhen's troops asked a group of scolding soldiers to go ahead with wooden trumpets and shout to stop the opponent from advancing.
Liu Liangzuo did not expect that such a big change would occur when he was stranded in the middle of the night looking for a ship, so he could only bite the bullet and let the vanguard shout:
"The trespassers have already crossed the river! Two palaces in Huaibei have fallen! Governor Ma cannot let His Royal Highness Prince Fu be in danger, so escort him south first! Prince Fu is the late emperor's cousin, how dare you stop him!"
Naturally, Zhang Mingzhen's subordinates did not show weakness. They were all told by Shen Tingyang: "The vassal king is not allowed to enter the capital unless he is summoned! Just stay in Yizheng to avoid the enemy! The late emperor died for the country, and who will supervise the country will be his own, as reported by Queen Yi'an
The late emperor's edict and the cabinet confirmation vote! You who cross the river are committing treason! Go back quickly and forget about the past! If you go forward, the gun will be fired!"
Seeing that the arrow was on the string, Liu Liangzuo was a little unwilling. He decided to take a gamble, pretended not to hear clearly, and let the vanguard continue to test.
Who would have thought that Zhang Mingzhen, who was opposite him, looked like a goddamn god to him, that he actually had such an elite large-scale warship, capable of mounting Hongyi cannons on board.
Zhang Mingzhen aimed directly at the position nearly a hundred paces in front of Liu Liang's left vanguard, and let the two gunboats fire with their bow guns. Four shells weighing more than ten kilograms crashed onto the river.
】
Due to the aiming error, the farthest cannonball landed directly in front of Liu Liang's left vanguard, less than thirty steps away, which was fifty or sixty steps away from the pre-aimed position. Liu Liang's left vanguard was frightened.
The general jumped up.
"If you don't retreat, you won't be looking at the bow of the ship to warn you next time!"
Under the full force of Zhang Mingzhen's troops, there was a brief exchange of fire and friction between the two sides. Liu Liang's left troops had to retreat hastily because they were not used to water warfare and did not have professional warships.
Fortunately, Zhang Mingzhen didn't want to provoke a civil war among the Ming army, so he didn't pursue more casualties and gave up when he saw the opportunity.
Liu Liangzuo immediately reported the situation to Ruan Dacheng, who also had blood rushing to his head.
"What should I do? This time I have completely broken up with each other. If I can't cross the river, even if I return to Fengyang, won't the queen be able to settle the score if King Lu becomes powerful in the future?"
——
ps: New Year's Eve is tomorrow...please take a few days off for the New Year.
I haven't asked for leave during the Chinese New Year for many years. This year, since it's January, I've lost all my attendance and commission. I've been absent for five days, and I don't feel itchy due to the lice.
I'll take leave from New Year's Eve to the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, with one update on the third day of the Lunar New Year. Everyone is busy anyway, so we won't have to rely on reading to relieve boredom during the New Year.
This year I will accompany my wife back to her hometown in Northern Jiangsu to stay for a while longer...there will be a lot of social activities. I have been controlling this for three years, and there are a lot of relatives who are going to leave after the release this year...