Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 215

Outside the city of Jingzhou, Wang Yan set up a camp, ordered people to set up artillery, and bombarded the city day and night, causing the Qing soldiers in the city to panic.

At that time, Wang Yan didn't have enough soldiers and horses to besiege the four gates, and Geng Zhongming still had three thousand cavalry, which was enough to seize the gates and escape.

Li Xifeng from Jingnan Daotai said: "Now the army is newly defeated. The enemy has heavy artillery. The city cannot be defended for long. Why don't you retreat before the rebellion arrives. If a tiger arrives, it will die!"

Geng Zhongming refused, and sighed: "This king has lost a lot, and if he abandons Jingzhou again, Changde will be in danger. If the two offenses are punished together, I will die! Now I can only defend the city with all my strength and wait for Baylor's support. You don't need to say anything more!"

When everyone saw Geng Zhongming's determination, Li Xifeng and other officials had to retreat in panic.

Jingzhou is a big city in Chu. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it has been built very tall. By the time of the Ming Dynasty, it was already a magnificent city with a circumference of twenty miles and a height of about three feet.

"Jiangling County Chronicles" records: "In the 16th year of Chongzhen, the thief Zhang Xianzhong fell into Jingzhou and Yichengyuan".

A big city like Jingzhou is not easy to attack, but after Zhang Xianzhong destroyed the city, the situation changed. Although Li Xifeng, the Jingnan Daotai of the Qing court, and Zheng Siwei, the guard, rebuilt the Jingzhou city wall according to the old foundation of the Ming Dynasty, they suffered another attack during the period. The city was besieged by the Shun army, but the city has not been fully restored.

Facing the Shun army that lacked siege equipment, Zheng Siwei could barely support it, but facing Wang Yan and the trembling Ming army artillery that bombarded the city every day, his confidence was completely lost without knowing it. up.

On this day, Wang Yan was processing paperwork in the account, tapping on the horses, armor, weapons, food and other supplies he had obtained before, but his personal guards came in to report, saying: "Report to the Duke, Mr. Wang and Shunjun Li came outside the camp. .”

Hearing this, Wang Yan was overjoyed immediately. He didn't have time to straighten his clothes. He rushed out to meet Wang Fuzhi. ?”

Holding his hand, Wang Yan sighed: "Yan has been studying with his brother since he was a child, and the father is my brother and my teacher! How dare you compare yourself to a famous prince!"

Wang Fuzhi was very moved when he heard the words, and saw that his clothes were disheveled, knowing his sincerity, he couldn't help but think back to the days when he took young Wang Yan to visit mountains and visit friends, and taught him his thoughts.

But now time flies, the little boy who used to follow behind him has become a stone pillar of the country, and he also has gray temples, which is really admirable.

At this time, Wang Fuzhi was slightly stunned, and Wang Yan looked at a young general next to him, and said happily: "This general must be a famous tiger known all over the world, General Li Guo."

Li Guo is Li Zicheng's nephew, a native of Shaanxi, he was tall and mighty, his face was cut like a knife, with sharp edges and corners, he looked like a mighty general.

"Little general, I'm here to thank the duke for saving me!" Now that Dashun is dead, Li Guo lowered his posture when facing Wang Yan.

Wang Yan waved his hands again and again, "General, you don't need to be too polite. From now on, you and I are ministers in the same hall, and we should support each other. Come here~ This is not a place to talk, and we will talk with the governor after entering the account."

At that moment, Wang Yan held the other in each hand and brought them into the account.

Seeing that Wang Yan was so enthusiastic, Li Guo felt relieved, at least he would not crowd out and suppress them like He Tengjiao.

In the tent, after a few people were seated, they exchanged some pleasantries, and Wang Yan went straight to the topic, "General Li must also know that the imperial court's act of resisting the Qing Dynasty was admonished by the governor. Today, the general will join forces with Dufutai , is to be willing to belong to my Ming Dynasty. As the Minister of Recruitment appointed by His Majesty, I assure General Li that the governor agrees with the agreement reached between Futai and Shunjun, and will never suppress Shunjun in any way. .”

After the Jiashen year, Wang Yan rose rapidly, from a member of the first class to the current state prince, ranking among the best. It was precisely because he was promoted so quickly that Li Guo didn't know him very well.

In the face of major events, Chinese people often believe in respected elders, but for young people, they "have nothing to say and can't do things firmly."

Although Wang Yan had already grown a beard, he was still too young in Li Guo's eyes. He heard Wang Yan's words, and he realized that the young Duke in front of him was actually the leader in recruiting.

"Guogong~" Li Guo clasped his fists, "During August last year, the rest of our East Route Army wanted to cooperate with Governor He, but they were repeatedly excluded. Later, the East and West Route Army joined forces in Jingzhou to block Futai in a righteous way. Inspired, I decided to be loyal to Daming at will, but I have not made up my mind on how to recruit. Originally, I wanted to conquer Jingzhou, make some contributions to the imperial court, and then discuss specific strategies in detail. I didn’t want Jingzhou to fight, but the whole army was defeated. Today The Duke of the country is in charge of recruiting, I don't know how to arrange for me?"

After Li Zicheng's death, the Shun army had nowhere to go. They believed that they were of the same culture as Daming, so they took refuge in Daming. However, the experiences of the past few months made them doubtful. After the defeat in Jingzhou, this doubt disappeared. become thicker.

Hearing this, Wang Yan smiled slightly, took out a memorial from his sleeve, and handed it to Li Guodao: "This is the memorial written by the governor to His Majesty, General Li will read it first."

Li Guo was slightly taken aback when he saw this, he quickly got up, took it respectfully, and then returned to his seat to watch.

Minister Wang Yan of Guangdong General Town pays homage.

It has been half a year since my minister admonished to recruit Fu Shunbu in August last year.Today, I am entrusted by the holy order to enter Chu to fight against the Qing Dynasty. Every time I think about the foreword, I feel that my Majesty Zhongxing is doing this.

Shun generals Li Guo, Gao Yigong and others originally guarded the northwest, admired the hero, repented and surrendered, fought thousands of miles, and killed more than ten thousand captives.

The present minister and Shunbu have a meeting in Jingzhou. I implore Your Majesty to break the mediocrity and quickly issue an imperial edict to recruit him with the nobles of the Marquis. With one piece of paper, we can recruit tens of thousands of elites.

Your Majesty Chen Fuqi, thinking of the difficulties of the country, the good opportunity is no longer there, and if you agree with the minister's proposal, the minister is willing to invite a supervisor to swallow Jingchu for your majesty, and join Jinling.

After reading it, Li Guo couldn't help but feel his heart move, his face flushed a little.

The Dashun Army forced Emperor Chongzhen to death, and many courtiers of the Ming Dynasty were hostile to the Shun Army. Jiang Dejing, Lu Zhenfei, Lin Zengzhi and other cabinet scholars in the court were extremely dissatisfied with recruiting the Shun Army. In Unforgiveness, his party will worship you?"

When the Dashun Army joined forces with He Tengjiao, Tian Jianxiu, Yuan Zongdi, and Liu Tichun, the generals who were conferred the title of marquis in the Dashun Dynasty, were only awarded the title of general, not even the title of general.

Li Guo didn't expect that Wang Yan would invite them to be named Marquis, his heart was suddenly moved, he quickly returned the memorial, and then saluted, "The last general thanked the duke for his kindness!"

Wang Yan stepped forward, lifted him up, and then said: "In addition to the title, the Governor will also make up for all the money and supplies needed by the Shun Ministry. However, General Li should also know the current situation. Since the Shun Army accepts To recruit from Ming Dynasty, to accept the treatment of an official, you have to accept the command and adaptation of the governor."

(End of this chapter)