I will be the prince at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 54
"My prince? You are..." Cai Jiuyi was startled.

"Bold, this is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Daming, and you still don't kneel down to pay respects." Mu Zhongliang pressed the embroidered spring knife and shouted.

"Chen Chengxuanwei Cai Jiuyi sees His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Cai Jiuyi knelt on both knees, kowtowed respectfully.

He looked down and saw that Hong Xiguan was still standing aside stupidly, slapped Hong Xiguan on the crook of the leg, slapped Hong Xiguan to his knees on the ground, and shouted in a low voice: "Hurry up and pay your respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Hahaha..." Zhu Cixuan laughed loudly and said, "Cai Aiqing, please hurry up, there's no need to be like this, Xiguan is still a child."

"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince." Cai Jiuyi and Hong Xiguan kowtowed and stood up.

After talking, Zhu Cixuan learned that when the Ming army attacked the city yesterday, Cai Jiuyi and his disciples took advantage of the chaos and killed some Tartars. After the Ming army entered the city, Cai Jiuyi and his disciples hid back home to observe the situation. The army did not commit any crimes in the city, and even sent troops to maintain order in the city. Early this morning, they went to the government office to meet the general who commanded the army.

But he couldn't figure out which part of the Ming army entered the city, so he hesitated and lingered in front of the government office. The guards saw him acting suspiciously and were arrested as Tartar spies.

"Cai Aiqing, at present, our Ming Dynasty is launching a counterattack against the Tartars. The entire territory of Yunnan has been recovered by our Ming Dynasty. The army led by Gong He of Guangguo has recovered most of Sichuan, and King Gongchang has led his troops to recover most of Guizhou. The Crown Prince and King Jin Leading troops from Kunming, most of Guangxi has been recovered, Zhaoqing was taken today, and Sukesaha, the imperial envoy of the Tartars, was also crowned yesterday.

The king of Jin led the troops out of the city just now, and I believe that the whole of Guangdong will return to my Ming Dynasty in a few days. At that time, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Guangdong will all be restored. Now is the time when my Ming employs people. I don’t know if Cai Aiqing is willing to wear it again. Armor, drive the Tartars out of Shanhaiguan. After finishing speaking, Zhu Cixuan looked at Cai Jiuyi with piercing eyes.

"Sir, I am willing." Cai Jiuyi was so excited, she clasped her fists and saluted.Thinking that Cai Jiuyi won the champion of martial arts in the capital, it was to serve the Ming Dynasty. Unexpectedly, Hong Chengchou was defeated in Songshan and surrendered. He was so angry that he was the Chengxuan official under Hong Chengchou's command. He took off his battle robe and went to the Shaolin Temple in Songshan, Henan.After eight years of painstaking training, he returned to his hometown Zhaoqing with a copy of "The Secret History of Shaolin Boxing", taught his apprentices, and secretly organized people to fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty. Now he can put on his armor again and fight against the Tartars.

"Okay, Cai Aiqing, you will temporarily take the position of Qianhu under the crown prince's command, and then you will be granted the official seal after the crown prince reports to the sage."

"Thank you, Your Royal Highness." Cai Jiuyi hesitated for a moment and said: "I have also organized a group of my great Ming warriors. I don't know if they can join the army."

"Of course they can. They can all join the army and return to Aiqing's command. Aiqing can continue to recruit people. Is the number? Tentatively set at [-]." Zhu Cixuan said.

"Yes, His Royal Highness."

"Zhongliang, take Cai Qianhu to the treasury to collect weapons and armor for 1000 people." Zhu Cixuan said to Mu Zhongliang who was beside him.

"Yes." Mu Zhongliang took Cai Jiuyi to the treasury to get the armor.

On the night of May 21, Li Dingguo sent someone to send news that he had wiped out the three prefectures of Guangzhou, Shaozhou, and Luoding to aid the Tartars in Zhaoqing.

On May 23, Li Dingguo recovered Guangzhou.

On May 26, Huizhou Prefecture was restored.

On May 27, Gongchang Wang Bai Wenxuan recovered the entire Guizhou.

On the first day of June, Sichuan was recovered by the Duke of Guangguo.

On June [-]th, Li Dingguo recovered the whole territory of Guangdong.So far, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and the entire southwest of Guangdong have been recovered by the Ming army. For a while, the morale of the Ming army soared, and people from all over the country joined the army enthusiastically.

During this period, Zhu Cixuan recruited troops in Zhaoqing, and the strength of the troops directly under Zhu Cixuan reached 15000.Under the leadership of Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Cao Xing, and Cai Jiuyi, he stepped up training.

Emperor Zhu Youlang's imperial decree also arrived in Zhaoqing, and Zhang Liao and Gao Shun were appointed as the commander-in-chief, each commanding [-] troops.Cao Xing and Cai Jiuyi were enfeoffed as thousands of households, and each commanded a thousand troops.Mu Zhongliang commanded three thousand troops to protect the prince.

On June [-]th, Li Dingguo led his troops back to Zhaoqing and brought news of Yanping Wang Zheng Chenggong.

Zheng Chenggong, king of Yanping, arrived in Dinghai, Zhejiang Province on April 28. After two days of fierce fighting, he wiped out the Qing army guarding the place, captured Dinghai Paocheng, and burned more than [-] ships of the Qingshui Division.In this way, not only the worries of the future were relieved, but also the false appearance of attacking Ningbo Prefecture in Zhejiang was created, attracting the Qing troops from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to come to aid.

On May [-]th, Zheng Chenggong led his army to Wusongkou. Zheng Chenggong sent someone to secretly contact Ma Fengzhi, the admiral of Su Song of the Qing Dynasty who guarded the place.Ma Fengzhi stood still, in fact he was waiting and watching, and decided to make a public statement depending on whether Zheng Chenggong could capture Nanjing.

On the first day of June, Zheng Chenggong's troops entered Jiangyin, and the civil and military officials of the Qing Dynasty guarded against the city.Zheng Chenggong accepted the advice of the generals, and led his troops to the west because the county was small and did not attack.

Attacked Guazhou on June [-], defeated the Qing guerrilla Zuo Yunlong, defeated thousands of Manchu and Han soldiers, cut off the "Rolling River Dragon" that was linked by iron chains and ships to the Qing, and burned the Qing army's river. Three Shangfu camps (also known as Mucheng) captured dozens of cannons from Tanjiazhou, which completely disintegrated the Jiang defense fortifications that the Qing side had painstakingly managed.

On the same day, Zheng Chenggong's army conquered Guazhou, Qing Caojiang Governor Zhu Yizhu surrendered, and Zheng Chenggong ordered Liu You, the town after the suppression, to guard the city.

On June 22, Zheng Chenggong led his troops to defeat the reinforcements sent by Qing Jiangning Governor Jiang Guozhu and Admiral Guan Xiaozhong in Yinshan, Zhenjiang.

Zheng Chenggong ordered Zhou Quanbin, the right military guard, and Huang Zhao, the Houchong town, to enter the city to defend.Feng Chengshi, an engineer, was also appointed as Changzhen Road, and Dai Kejin was still in charge of the magistrate.

Zhu Cixuan looked at the news brought by Li Dingguo, and suddenly remembered the Battle of Jiangning (Jinling) that took place in July.

On the seventh day of July, Zheng Chenggong's main force arrived at the Guanyin Gate in the north of Jiangning City by boat.Guanyin Gate is located near Yanziji, some distance away from the main city of Jiangning.

On the ninth day of the lunar new year, Zheng Chenggong's military ships moored at the riverside outside Yifeng Gate in the northwest corner of Jiangning City.

On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, Zheng Chenggong's brigade went ashore and camped outside Yifeng Gate.Soon, Zheng Jun successively camped outside the gates of Guanyin, Jinchuan, Zhongfu, Yifeng, Jiangdong, Shence, and Taiping in the inner and outer city walls of Jiangning, with a total of 83 camps.

Cannons were installed in various camps, and siege equipment such as ladders, rattan tablets, bamboo baskets, shovels, and chisels were prepared.Zheng Jun camped outside Yifeng Gate on the 10th day of July, and did not attack Jiangning City for the next [-] days.

On the eighth day of the seventh month, Emperor Shunzhi, who had calmed down, sent General Annan Dasu, Gushan Ezhen Suohong, Commander of the Guard Laita and others to lead the Eight Banners Army southward from Beijing to Jiangning for reinforcements.Yang Jie, the governor of Jiangxi, was also appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Jiangnan Left Route, and Liu Fang, the commander-in-chief of Ningxia, was named the commander-in-chief of the Jiangnan Right Route. They each led their troops to Jiangning from Jiangxi and Ningxia.

But for the Qing army in Jiangning City, these troops were far away from water and could not quench their thirst.The only thing that can be counted on is the Qing army in Jiangnan and Zhejiang.

For more than 10 days when Zheng Chenggong came to the city, the air in Jiangning City was tense.Kakamu, the commander of the Eight Banners, was worried that the people in the city would act as internal support for Zheng Chenggong, and wanted to kill him to avoid future troubles.

After being dissuaded by Lang Tingzuo, Governor of Liangjiang, he gave up this crazy idea.At that time, the doors and windows of every household in Jiangning City were tightly closed, and even the sound of chickens crowing and dogs barking could not be heard, and there was a utter silence.The price of grain in the city skyrocketed, and the people were afraid to go out to buy rice. Some people even starved to death at home.

The Jiangning Qing army was eagerly looking forward to the arrival of reinforcements from all over the country, and at the same time strengthened the city defense construction.

First of all, Lang Tingzuo, the governor of Liangjiang, ordered the houses outside the city near the city wall to be burned to clear the field of view and shooting range, and all the residents within 10 miles of the city were moved into the city.Secondly, Lang Tingzuo and others posted notices to calm the hearts of the people, and at the same time forced businesses to sell food to stabilize the mood of the people.

The people were allowed to enter and exit the two city gates of Shuiximen and Hanximen to buy grain and firewood and transport them into the city.Third, send troops to closely investigate and visit, eliminate internal responses, and severely punish those who take the opportunity to steal and loot.Fourth, step up the storage of grain and grass, buy weapons, collect and repair ships.In addition, add oars, ropes and other items, recruit helmsmen and sailors, and prepare for future land and water counterattacks.

In mid-July, reinforcements from the Qing army arrived in Nanjing one after another.Liang Huafeng, the commander-in-chief of the Suzhou Navy, set off from Chongming with 28 soldiers on June [-], joined up with Governor Jiang Guozhu's Fubiao soldiers in Suzhou, and entered Danyang on July [-]. In the evening, he received four consecutive transfers of troops from Governor Lang Tingzuo Aid to Nanjing's Yu Shu.

Knowing that Nanjing was in danger, Huafeng marched overnight. On the morning of the [-]th, he arrived at Jurong County, where he had paid Zheng Chenggong and surrendered.

After Zheng Chenggong's troops gathered under the city of Nanjing, they were satisfied with the surrender of nearby counties and counties, and did not send troops to cut off the way for the Qing army to come to aid.

During the twelve days of the "siege", not only Minister Liang Huafeng drove straight into Nanjing, but also Qing troops stationed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places. The name reaches Jiangning.

Another Fuchen Jiang Guozhu dispatched Admiral Su Song to supervise Biaoxia to attack Xu Dengdi with 150 horse infantry, Jinshan battalion general Zhang Guojun led [-] horse infantry, navy right battalion garrison Wang Dacheng led [-] horse infantry, and garrisoned Hangzhou. Five hundred officers and soldiers including Ya Tali and others arrived in Jiangning.

Zhao Guozuo, governor of Zhejiang and Fujian, and Kekui, who were stationed in Angbang, Zhangjing, sent [-] armored Manchurian soldiers in the garrison of Hangzhou, led by Tong Haonian, who was stationed in Gushan with Huanghuang Banner, and Tong Haonian, who was stationed in Hangzhou. In order to help, the Qing troops stationed in the upper and lower reaches of Nanjing also arrived one after another.

When Zheng Chenggong was immersed in the dream that the Qing army defending the city was about to surrender, the Qing side continued to mobilize reinforcements, and the balance of power gradually changed.

(End of this chapter)