Da Ming started to ascend the throne

Chapter 720 National Backbone
At the end of the year, Zhang Mingzhen died suddenly.Before he died, he said:

"I have not repaid my favor to the king and mother. If my mother's body is not found, I will not accept my remains."

At the end of the speech, he got up and sat up, hit the bed and passed away. He died without looking at his eyes, but he was still alive.

He was later buried in Nan'ao Village, Gou Mountain, Putuo.In Zhang Mingzhen's original will, Zhang Huangyan commanded his army.

But Zheng Chenggong ordered Chen Liuyu to take over.

The next year, the Qing army occupied Zhoushan again, and Chen Liuyu was killed in battle.

Under the support of the soldiers, Zhang Huangyan became the main leader of the army of the former Lu Jianguo system, and continued to fight jointly with Zheng Chenggong.

In the 15th year of Shunzhi (12th year of Yongli, 1658), Emperor Yongli named Zheng Chenggong the king of Yanping County, and Zhang Huangyan was the left servant of the Ministry of War.

In the same year, the Qing army marched to Yunnan and Guizhou, and Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Huangyan marched into Zhejiang, conquering Yueqing (now Yueqing, Wenzhou, Zhejiang), Ninghai (now Ninghai County, Ningbo, Zhejiang) and other places.

In the typhoon at Yangshan, more than [-] giant ships were lost, more than [-] soldiers were lost, and they were forced to withdraw to Xiamen.

In the 16th year of Shunzhi (the 13th year of the Yongli calendar, 1659), Zhang Huangyan and Zheng Chenggong, together with Zheng Chenggong, led the rebel army into the Yangtze River to fight again in order to contain the Qing army that was aggressively attacking the Yunnan-Guizhou area.

First, the rebel army arrived and occupied Chongming.Zhang Huangyan suggested to Zheng Chenggong:

"Chongming, the gateway to the river and the sea", it is advisable to "set camp here" for the rebel army first,
Take a short break to make sure that the rebel army "has a basis for advancing and retreating."

But Zheng Chenggong did not listen.At that time, the Qing army stationed on the Yangtze River set up iron chains to block the river (commonly known as "Rolling River Dragon") between the Jin and Jiaoer Mountains in Guazhou, and placed Western cannons all over the banks of the river, making the defense quite solid.

However, Zhang Huangyan led the rebel army to take [-] boats to vigilantly and skillfully destroy the defense line of the river. With the cooperation of the backup Zheng Jun, they "crossed the river" and captured Guazhou in one fell swoop in June.

After conquering Guazhou, Zhang Huangyan suggested to Zheng Chenggong to capture Zhenjiang with all his strength.

However, Zheng Chenggong worried that the Qing army stationed in Jiangning (Nanjing) would rush to support him.

Zhang Huangyan, on the other hand, advocated sending a boat force to attack the North Gate of Jiangning, that is, the Guanyin Gate, so that "the Qing army in Nanjing will have no time to send help."

At the same time, he also suggested that this navy should go up the river and go to the Wuhu area to prevent the Qing army from blocking the river and Chu.

Zheng Chenggong adopted the opinion and ordered him to attack in the direction of Nanjing.

At this time, the number of generals in the rebel army led by Zhang Huangyan was less than [-], and the boats crossing the river were less than [-], but he still led the army westward resolutely.

Soon, Zhang Huangyan conquered Yizhen and marched into Liuhe. Along the way, he was warmly welcomed by the people along the river.

"The territory of Yizheng, officials and people is about fifty miles away."

After learning that Zheng Chenggong conquered Zhenjiang, Zhang Huangyan wrote to Zheng Chenggong again, saying that after "pacifying Jiajiang counties and counties first", he would march by land and take Nanjing directly.

But Zheng Chenggong did not adopt his suggestion, "actually entered from the waterway".

As a result, the favorable fighters were lost instantly, and the Qing army in Nanjing was able to breathe and receive backup to consolidate the city defense.

On June 28, Zhang Huangyan's army went straight to the river outside the Guanyinmen Gate in Nanjing. After staying for two days, Zheng Jun did not arrive.

He had to send other generals to lead a water army with dozens of light boats to "attack Wuhu straight (west)", while he himself led the army to station in Pukou.

After Zheng Chenggong led the "naval division" to arrive, Zhang Huangyan rushed to Wuhu on July [-]th.

Here, he "reined in all the armies", divided the rebels into four routes, attacked the city and seized the territory, and "moved to the counties and counties" along the way, posting proclamations.

Many old officials from the Ming Dynasty who came to the Qing Dynasty turned their backs one after another when they saw the proclamation.

"So Taiping, Ningguo, Chizhou, Huizhou, Guangde, and all the counties under their jurisdiction all asked to surrender," and the rebels quickly recovered four prefectures, three prefectures, 24 counties, and nearly thirty cities.

The discipline of the rebel army was strict, and wherever it went, it "had never committed any crime" to the people.Zhang Huang said that every time he "passes through counties and counties, visits the Confucius Temple, sits in the Minglun Hall, enters the senior officials, and inspects deposed officials, it is a bit like the story of the Xingbu Xingbu, which responds from far and near."

As a result, there was an unprecedented grand occasion of "the elders competed to hold cattle and wine to reward the teachers, hold sticks and burn incense, see the clothes and crowns, and shed tears, thinking that they had never seen it in 15 years".

And "small boats along the river, carrying fruit and stalks to trade like weaving", gave great support and encouragement to the rebels.

However, this great situation quickly took a turn for the worse because of Zheng Chenggong's failure to attack Nanjing City.

When Zhang Huangyan recovered Huizhou, he heard about Zheng Chenggong's defeat in Nanjing, so he "returned troops to Wuhu and hoped to unite with Guazhou and Zhenjiang (rebel) armies as a defense plan", looking forward to a favorable opportunity before making other plans.

Soon, Zhang Huangyan got the news that Zheng Chenggong's army had abandoned Guazhou, Zhenjiang and other places and returned to sea.

As a result, the rebel army led by Zhang Huangyan was in a dangerous situation of being in a dilemma and facing the enemy, and was soon defeated.

At this time, Lang Tingzuo, governor of Liangjiang in the Qing Dynasty, on the one hand dispatched a navy to cut off the waterway for Zhang Huangyan's rebel army to retreat eastward, and on the other hand wrote a letter to persuade Zhang Huangyan to surrender.

Zhang Huangyan "rejected" the letter of surrender. At the same time, in order to get rid of the predicament, he led "the remaining soldiers to flourish and seek to enter Poyang Lake" to develop in Jiangxi.

When the rebel fleet arrived in Tongling, they encountered a large number of Qing army sailors from Huguang who came to aid them, fought fiercely with them and were defeated.

In the end, Zhang Huang said, "There are only a few hundred disabled soldiers, retreating and doing nothing, burning the boat and landing."

From Tongcheng by land, via Huoshan and Yingshan, when they arrived at Dongxiling, it happened that the Qing army "chased the horses, and all the followers dispersed."

Zhang Huangyan managed to break out of the encirclement, so he had to "change his clothes and walk at night, to Gaohubu, where his father and elders knew him, and hid at home for several days, leading his emissaries to cross the river and walk among the chaotic mountains of Jiande and Qimen".

At this time, Zhang Huangyan was suffering from a malaria attack and could hardly walk, but he still tried his best to walk despite the pain.

After arriving in Xiuning, "got to go to Yanzhou by boat".After landing, he went back to the mountain road, passing through Dongyang and Yiwu in Zhejiang Province, "reaching Tiantai and reaching the sea".

After going through all kinds of difficulties and dangers, after being defeated, he detoured and sneaked for more than [-] miles, narrowly escaped death, and finally returned to the coastal areas of Zhejiang.

After that, he "collected the old department" and prepared to make a comeback.

After Zheng Chenggong got the news that Zhang Huangyan had survived, he also put part of his troops under his command, which made the rebel army grow slightly.

Zhang Huangyan stationed the rebel army in Changting Township, "building ponds to defend the tide, and clearing up fields to support the army" required military pay.

At the same time, Zhang Huangyan sent an envoy to report the news of his defeat to King Gui.

After King Gui learned about it, he expressed his consolation and condolences in the imperial edict, and at the same time gave him the title of "Shangshu of the Ministry of War".

In the 18th year of Shunzhi (the 15th year of the Yongli calendar, 1661), in order to eliminate the anti-Qing forces in the southeast coastal area, the Qing government issued the "Moving Sea Order" and "Ting Shun's relocation of sea residents" to cut off the "relief" of food and salaries for the rebels.

The rebel army "had no income", so they had to "open the southern fields for self-sufficiency".

When Zheng Chenggong led his army to recover Taiwan from the Dutch colonists, Zhang Huangyan did not understand the great strategic significance and value of this move, and wrote to Zheng Chenggong, "moving a book to stop it".

Soon, the Qing army went straight to Yunnan, and finally brought down the Yongli regime in Nanming.

At this critical time, Zhang Huang said "send his guest Luo Lun to Taiwan" and urged Zheng Chenggong to send troops to southern Fujian.

On the other hand, the Qing army can also be contained to relieve the danger of the Yongli regime.

However, Zheng Chenggong refused on the grounds that "Taiwan has decided that it cannot be done".

Therefore, Zhang Huangyan had to send envoys to Yunyang Mountain in Hubei to persuade the "thirteen soldiers" to fight.

The "Thirteen Soldiers" were originally the remnants of Li Zicheng's uprising army, led by generals such as Hao Yongzhong and Liu Tichun.

They took Kuidong Maolu Mountain as their base and persisted in the struggle against the Qing Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)