I have a cornucopia

Chapter 196: For the sake of Ming Dynasty, let the gentry suffer a little longer!

Liu Zongzhou and others were indeed anxious.

The princess is clearly ready to give up by playing like this.

Sacrifice yourself for your country?

Yang Feng also left behind five hundred followers!

These followers only listened to Yang Guanguang's orders. If the Jianlu really crossed the river and Nanjing could not be defended, then Yang Guanguang said a word and these people would take the princess away directly. The princess's statement was useless. She was a little girl. What could she do if someone took her away by force? Anyway, as long as they left Nanjing, there would be a lot of boats waiting downstream. What's more, if that happened, Zheng Hongkui or Zheng Sen would be willing to escort the regent to Shandong and hand him over to Yang Feng.

Yang Feng had no choice but to be the regent, and he cared about the life and death of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.

But what about the gentry in Jiangnan? Should they follow the example of the gentry in Beijing and welcome the imperial teacher? Although it is not impossible, what about the Jianlu who shaved their heads and changed their clothes?
Even if they didn't shave their heads and change their clothes, they would have to ask the gentry in Jiangnan to pay heavy taxes and support them. Dorgon was not Chongzhen, so he couldn't fool them like he did in the past. Moreover, Dorgon wanted war. The north was now squeezed dry, and there was nothing left to squeeze. He could only squeeze the gentry in Jiangnan, so surrendering would only mean shouldering the heavy burden of the Jianlu and the north.

That was not what Yang Feng wanted. Dorgon alone had hundreds of thousands of iron-clad farmers to feed.

All the money had to be paid by the gentry in Jiangnan.

What's more, it is impossible for the Jianlu to allow them to live the carefree and happy life they have now.

Elders Association?

Apart from an extremely weak court like the Regent, which normal court would allow the gentry to treat local officials like dogs?

De facto local autonomy?

Is Dorgon stupid?

He is conquering the world for himself. He is here to be a conqueror, not to serve the gentry. If he lets the local elders take control of the places, wouldn't his conquests be in vain?

What's more, after surrendering to the Jianlu, what would happen if Yang Feng fought back?
Dorgon has not won yet, and he is still being beaten by Yang Feng, who has already launched a northern expedition. This means that Dorgon is not yet at the point where people can surrender with confidence. Once they bet on the wrong horse, Yang Feng will come back to confiscate his property, which he likes the most. It can be said that surrendering to the Jianlu is very unwise, at least for now.

and so……

"Your Highness, I think it is far from such a critical moment. The Jianlu moved south so quickly because the Huaihe River was frozen. This winter was very cold, and the Taihu Lake was frozen. All the rivers in the north of the Yangtze River were frozen, and the Huaihe River became a smooth road. This gave the Jianlu an opportunity to take advantage of it. But the Yangtze River still separates the north and the south. Even if the Jianlu can collect some ships, they can't match the navy. Zhang Gebu is still leading the Huaiyang army. As long as he attacks the Jianlu's flank, the Jianlu will definitely not dare to cross the river. The Jianlu went south with 40,000 people, captured 10,000 bandits in Fengyang, and about 20,000 surrendered enemies, which is no more than 70,000 or 80,000 at most. Even if they continue to increase their troops, it will hardly exceed 100,000.

If the Regent ordered all places to come to the rescue, more than a hundred thousand loyal and righteous people from Jiangnan would come.

I, an old minister, am willing to serve as regent."

Liu Zongzhou said.

At this time, there is no other choice but to lobby the elders' associations in various places and persuade them to fully support the regent in defending Nanjing. This is not difficult. It is just a matter of how much silver to pay. As long as the elders' associations in various places are willing to pay the money, it will be easy to find soldiers who are willing to fight for their lives.

It's just money after all.

"Your Highness, if that's the case, then please ask Mr. Jishan and his party to come. The Jianlu have not yet crossed the river, so we still have time. As for the civilians, you might as well evacuate them first. In any case, the elderly, the weak, women and children should evacuate if they can. Otherwise, it will be like the last time in Yangzhou, with tens of thousands of civilians killed and injured. That would be terrible."

Ma Shiying said quickly.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Jishan."

The princess bowed to Liu Zongzhou and said.

"I, as an old minister, will do my best to live up to your highness' trust."

Liu Zongzhou quickly saluted and said.

Ma Shiying smiled slightly...

Force it!

Just have to force them.

It would be useless to rely on Nanjing alone. These are tens of thousands of elite Jianlu. Up to now, the Ming Dynasty has not had an example of defeating tens of thousands of Jianlu without Yang Feng. What's more, Huang Degong is already finished. As for Gao Jie's fighting ability, the Jianlu can just send out Gushan and probably block Gao Jie in Yangzhou.

The rest are Zheng Hongkui, Wu Zhikui and others, who are actually not even as good as Huang Degong.

As for the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, just as the princess said, how many times in history has it stopped the enemy?
The navy is indeed strong.

But why do they have to cross the river in the section defended by the navy?
And state.

Wuhu.

Even Anqing.

What's wrong?

There are tens of thousands of Jianlu in the upper reaches, and they are nothing more than Yang Tinglin's Jiangxi militia. However, he is a civil official and has never fought a war before. It is unrealistic to expect him to stop the Jianlu. Unless He Tengjiao sends reinforcements, the Jianlu will inevitably reach Anqing.

Especially when the Jianlu used the method of persuading the enemy to surrender, it was even more unsafe. The gentry in Hefei failed to resist Gong Dingzi's persuasion, but the gentry in Tongcheng, Lujiang, and Anqing could resist the persuasion of their own relatives and old friends? In the final analysis, who doesn't know who?

Besides, will it be useful if the navy is strong?
This is on the Yangtze River. Whoever controls the upper reaches has an absolute advantage. Once the upper reaches of the Jianlu open Chaohu Lake and then go out of Yuxikou, even if they keep setting fire to the lower reaches, it will be enough to force the navy to retreat. It can be said that as long as the Jianlu want to cross the river, they will definitely be able to cross the river, and the city of Nanjing is just a bunch of miscellaneous militias that cannot fight. Those who can fight are all in the north of the river, and most of them are in the hands of Shi Kefa. As a result, he had a great defeat of more than 100,000 people, all of whom were left in the north of the river, and even 40,000 to 50,000 surrendered to the Jianlu.

Liu Zongzhou's number has not been updated. The latest estimate obtained by Ma Shiying is that at least 40,000 to 50,000 enemies surrendered.

In fact, there is definitely more than that.

People like Liu Liangzuo's subordinates and Zuo Liangyu's subordinates who were recruited by Shi Kefa were originally fickle-minded. It was a miracle that they did not surrender to the Qing army. Therefore, although Ajige led 40,000 Qing troops, in fact, it had expanded to at least 100,000 at that time.

Under such circumstances, the only way to save Nanjing was for Zhang Guowei to take the initiative to attack.

That is, the new army and militia in his hands, totaling about 25,000 people, relied on the advantage of firearms to actively attack Ajige, forcing the latter to give up the attempt to cross the river and attack Huaiyang with all his strength, and then use the defense of Yangzhou to hold him back. As long as Ajige can be held back for a month, Yang Feng will arrive. Of course, this must be approved by the elders in Zhejiang, Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou and other places, including Zhang Guowei's new army, and the military pay is also paid by them. This new army is actually essentially a Zhejiang militia, but it is labeled as a new army of the governor of Zhejiang.

The military pay was raised by the Zhejiang Elders Association.

The militia in Xudu was mainly composed of gentry from eastern Zhejiang.

"Whose ships are these?"

The princess said as she looked at the warships that were still bombarding the Qing army.

Led by three large warships, and with dozens of smaller ones, they were lining up on the river, firing continuously at the north bank. Although the Qing army had already fled the dock, the cannons on these warships still had enough range, so they were still bombarding. There were already many dead bodies of Qing soldiers on the north bank dock. Of course, this bombardment could only boost morale at best, after all, one could not expect the solid bullets of the naval guns to have a high hit rate.

But it is enough to boost morale.

At this moment, the soldiers on the city wall were cheering continuously.

"Your Highness, this is the Fujian Royal Navy led by Zheng Sen, son of Zheng Zhilong, the Fujian General."

Yang Guanguang said.

"Is that the one that Zhuguo brought into the palace last time?"

said the princess.

She had met Zheng Sen.

Of course, there is basically no special impression.

"Exactly."

Yang Guanguang said.

"Tell him that if he can defend Nandu, I will ask my father to give him the name Success."

said the princess.

Then she held up the telescope and continued to look at the warships...

She really understands this! When Yang Feng was in Andongwei, he took out a model of the Victory. Yang Ying happened to see it and took it away. Of course, Yang Feng explained that it was a warship of the Western Navy, given by the gods, and boasted about its combat effectiveness. It was just a model, and she had no feeling at all. But today, looking at the three much weaker warships of the Zheng family, which were only in embryonic form, it reminded her of that.

"If there were a hundred or so of these huge ships, the Yangtze River would truly be like a natural moat."

She said.

Ma Shiying quickly agreed.

But he also felt somewhat emotional, it was obvious that Her Royal Highness the Princess had finally begun to grow up.

This is also normal.

After all, this reality also forced her to grow up.

This is her family's kingdom after all, and she has to protect it for her father and brother. Yang Feng can't always be by her side, as he is a married man. At least before Yang Feng breaks off the engagement, she still has to learn to face this chaotic world on her own. She is just young, but not stupid. As long as she studies hard, she will eventually grow up and learn to be a monarch. The performance of threatening Liu Zongzhou and others just now already has some flavor of a real monarch. Although it must be Yang Guang's teaching, being able to act well is already her first step towards becoming a real monarch.

"Your Highness, you must be careful. I am worried that Dorgon will send the crown prince here this time."

Ma Shiying said in a low voice.

The princess was stunned immediately.

“Your Highness, we cannot welcome the prince back like this.

Your Majesty's decree cannot be disobeyed.

The pillars of state will certainly oppose it. If we submit to the Jianlu in order to bring back the prince, we will lose all our righteousness and admit that we are an enemy of the Jianlu, just like the Song and Liao dynasties. From then on, the whole north will be a foreign country. The three hundred years of hard work of Emperor Taizu Gao will be wasted, and we will also bring disaster to our descendants, so that they will still be cursed thousands of years later, and we will not be able to face the Xiaoling Mausoleum. In the future, there will inevitably be people who write about Zhang Hongfan, the one who destroyed the Song Dynasty, on Yashan Mountain. "

Old Ma said in a low voice.

The princess frowned, this was a bit beyond her scope.

"Your Highness, you only need to submit it to His Majesty for judgment. You don't need to worry about anything else. This matter is not something the Regent can decide."

Yang Guanguang said quickly.

Obviously he was aware of this problem too.

And at this time.

Jizhou.

"Submerge?"

On the Yingliu Bridge, Yang Zhuguo looked at the Jizhou City not far away with great interest.

On the ice of the Ji Canal on both sides, the knights of Confucius and Mencius and their followers were passing by. They walked on the bridge just to get a feel for it. In this season, the Ji Canal was so crowded that even a car could drive directly across, let alone cavalry. However, there were riverbanks on both sides of the Ji Canal, so it was not so easy for cavalry to pass through, and vehicles transporting supplies certainly could not pass through, so they still had to walk on the wooden bridge under his feet.

This wooden bridge is only used in winter. The bridge planks must be removed in spring to facilitate the passage of ships transporting military supplies to the north.

Not far to the south is the official warehouse.

That is the upper warehouse.

The canal ships entering from Beitangkou took the Ji Canal to Baodi Bailong Port. Originally there was a warehouse there, but later it was changed to be closer upstream, so it was called Xiacang.

The rest was transported from the official warehouse to Jizhou by small boats.

Of course, at that time, you had to take a boat to cross the river.

We left Yuyang Posthouse in the evening, facing Wuli River to the south. The water was so deep that we could make a crossing, and the broken bridge had become a whirlpool.

It was written by a North Korean official who paid tribute to the country.

and so……

This place is only five miles away from Jizhou City.

"Is it possible to sneak through this place?"

Li Zhifang said as he looked at Jizhou City, which was actually less than five miles away in a straight line.

"Why can't we dive? Aren't we already diving?"

Yang Feng said.

Then the two of them looked at the dozens of scouts outside Jizhou City and laughed at the same time.

They came from Yongping Prefecture City. Not only did they not engage in any battles along the way, but they actually increased the number of battles. The gentry in Fengrun and Yutian simply fled, while the poor in the city welcomed the imperial army. Yang Feng still used the same method, distributing the food of the gentry in the city to them, and then letting them do with the rest. However, many poor people still chose to follow Yang Zhuguo. As for horses, it was simple. If they could find a horse, they would ride a horse. If they couldn't find a horse, they could ride a donkey, a mule, or even a cow.

For those poor people, it is better to follow Yang Zhuguo and give it a try rather than staying here and being slaves to the gentry and being killed as people without food one day.

As for combat effectiveness, if you can't beat the Jianlu men, can you beat the Jianlu women?

So Yang Feng's subordinates have expanded to eight thousand.

The gentry of Jizhou obviously did not intend to stop them.

Of course, they didn't have the ability, but they didn't think they needed to run away because of their strength. Besides, Yang Feng's target was the capital, and it was impossible for him to attack Jizhou. In this case, they should not provoke him and just watch his army pass by from the city wall of Jizhou.

As for how to explain to Dorgon...

Dive!
They are sneaking in.

"Diving, yes, diving!"

Li Zhifang said with a smile.

Then he urged his horse forward, quickly rushed across the Yingliu Bridge, and then urged his followers on the ice.

Yang Feng looked at the scouts, who were still watching from more than a mile away. Behind them, a large number of flags could be seen on the walls of Jizhou City, which were abnormally numerous. It was probably because the gentry in the city were bluffing. There were not many defenders here, just local gentry who were registered as officials, and they brought the Eight Banners Han Army with them. Of course, they were the new Eight Banners Han Army. In fact, the Qing army did not regard them as the real Eight Banners.

They were given a nickname, Green Flag, of course, it was just a nickname.

Yang Feng immediately urged the camel on.

Soon he approached them under the horrified gaze of the opposing scouts.

"Go back and send some wine and meat, or I'll spend the night in the city!"

Yang Feng shouted.

The leading green flag officer quickly dismounted, then knelt down and kowtowed obediently.

"Please wait a moment, sir. I will go get it for you right away."

He said with great fear and trepidation.

"Hurry up!"

Yang Feng said.

The officer quickly got up, mounted his horse and returned to Jizhou City as quickly as possible.

Yang Feng and others behind him were laughing together.

Of course, the other side was still very efficient. After only half an hour, hundreds of people poured out of the city, carrying food boxes and even wine, to serve these infiltrating enemies.

(End of this chapter)