Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 72 Listening to slander, Hongguang fled

Hundreds of warships of the Ming army set fire to the guns, and then rammed into the large Qing army ships blocking the exit of the water village, finally loosening the Qing army's siege on the water village.

The warships of the Qing army were afraid of being hit by the fire boat, so they retreated to both sides one after another, making way for the Ming army warships in the sluice.

Seeing this, Wang Wei hurriedly threw the warship and followed the fire boat, hoisted the sails and rushed out of the water fortress, Zuo Maodi also hoisted the command flag to let all the warships take the opportunity to break through.

The large and small warships of the Ming army rushed out of the water stronghold, and the large ships of the Qing army turned around to pursue after avoiding the fire boats.

At this time, Zuo Maodi still had less than [-] warships under his command, and he was no match for the Qing army's navy at all. Go to the mouth of the Yangtze River.

The Ming army fleet fled eastward, and the Qing army warships naturally set sail to pursue them, but the Ming army ships were small and fast, and quickly opened up the distance from the Qing soldiers, but the fire boats that were rushing to the front slowed down at this time.

Some of the Ming soldiers on the fire boat dived into the water and were rescued, while others were shot or captured by the chasing Qing soldiers.

Zuo Maodi led the surviving navy of the Ming army and rushed down the river, until Wusongkou, before throwing off the navy of the Qing army.

At this time, it was getting dark, and Zuo Maodi was afraid that the Qing army would kill him overnight, so he didn't dare to let the fleet enter the Wusong River. Instead, he moored at Chongming Island at night, ready to flee again at any time.

One hundred thousand naval forces, more than 3000 large and small warships, after two defeats, Zuo Maodi has less than 1 people around him, and there are only five hundred warships left, which is really not one out of ten.

In the middle of the night, the warships of the Qing soldiers who were chasing the Ming army returned to Zhenjiang, took the captured Ming soldiers down on the warships, and waited for Duoduo to be released.

Most of these captured Ming soldiers were captured by the Qing army from the river after the fire boat sank, and there were many officers and scholars among them.

The Manchu Qing ruled China with a small clan facing a large clan. It was not enough to rely on the real Manchuria, and it also needed the assistance of the Han people to rule the world.

Now Duduo's 20 troops have crossed the Yangtze River, and control of Jiangnan is just around the corner. He urgently needs to find a group of Han scholars to stabilize Jiangnan for the Qing court.

Doduo had already crossed the Yangtze River with the army, and he came to the bank, ready to recruit the captives, but when he walked in front of the captives, the captives refused to bow down.

"Since you have been captured by this king, why don't you worship me!" Duoduo asked angrily.

After a big victory, Duoduo's depression of being surrounded by Yangzhou for a long time has been swept away, and a sense of arrogance suddenly arises in his heart.

If he wanted to recruit people, he should act like a corporal who respects and respects talents, but at this moment he already had pride in his heart, so he couldn't tolerate the captives not kneeling, so he became angry, and the surrender turned into an accusation.

After Wang Yuyong's boat was burned, he was unfortunately captured by the Qing soldiers and became one of a hundred captives. Hearing Duoduo's words, he couldn't help but sarcastically said: "How can a small country, the king of foreign barbarians, be raped?" *Worship from the scholars!"

"Who are you?" Duoduo asked furiously, pointing at Wang Yuyarrow with one hand, "Aren't you afraid of death?"

"Qing dog! Today I want you to know that I am a martyr! Wang Yuyao of Kuaiji is going too!" Wang Yuyao replied proudly, and without waiting for Duoduo's reaction, he turned and threw himself into the river, drowning in the rolling water.

Some posterity praised this and said: "Duoduo led the army to encircle the water camp during the battle between the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Zhenjiang. The righteous men were in danger of death, and the boat was burned with fire to fight for survival. He still scolded the captive dog until he died. Yuyarrow is worthy of the Han people."

Duo Duo couldn't help being dumbfounded when he saw Wang Yuyao committed suicide by throwing himself into the water.

Among the remaining captives, Yang Wencong, the censor of Youqian capital of Ma Ruan's party, followed closely after seeing this, shouted "Fortunately, the name of our ancestors is not insulted!", and threw himself into the river.

More than [-] people were captured, and more than [-] people died on the spot. Even the lowest ones were unwilling to surrender. They were killed by Duoduo and their bodies were thrown into the Yangtze River.

The rolling water of the Yangtze River can tell endless stories about the blood of heroes, endless tears of mountains and rivers, and endless stories about martyrs and martyrs.

A nation, is it great!

It does not depend on how many achievements he has made when he is high-spirited, whether his force is strong, or whether his territory is vast, but on how many people with lofty ideals are willing to die for him when he is in danger!
The scene by the river made Duoduo feel uncomfortable, and he couldn't help but slowly suppress the arrogance in his heart.

In the evening, all of the 20 Qing troops crossed the Yangtze River. The hundreds of thousands of Ming troops near Zhenjiang disappeared, and the city of Zhenjiang also fell into the hands of the Qing soldiers.

This time, Duoduo learned the lessons from just now and Yangzhou, and barely suppressed the desire to slaughter the city in his heart. Instead, he ordered the soldiers to drive the people out of the city, and then led the troops into the city, galloped around, and robbed property.

After this battle, the Qing army won a great victory. Not only did they defeat hundreds of thousands of Ming troops, they also completely controlled the Yangtze River waterway and cleared the obstacles to taking Nanjing from the west.

In the city of Nanjing, the Hongguang Dynasty received Ruan Da's pleading report on July [-]rd, saying: "The aid to Yang failed, the navy suffered heavy losses, and the defense of the river may not be guaranteed. Please the court quickly take countermeasures."

The Donglin Party, after hearing that they had failed, did not realize the seriousness of the situation. On the contrary, they thought it was the best time to overthrow the Ma Ruan Party. Chaos, in one fell swoop to determine the Ding dynasty situation.

Before dawn on July [-]th, many Donglin ministers had already gathered outside the palace gate, waiting to go to court, but they waited until the sun was up, and the palace gate did not open.

Just as the people in Donglin were discussing about this, suddenly an eunuch came out to report that the emperor was discussing important matters with Ma Fu and Minister of War Ruan Dacheng, and it would not be early today.

The people in Donglin couldn't help being surprised when they heard it, they all wondered why Ruan Dacheng returned to Nanjing, but they couldn't figure it out, so they had to go back and send someone to inquire.

It didn't take long for the people to learn that Ruan Dacheng only led hundreds of defeated soldiers to the outside of the city last night, and went to the palace to face the saint overnight.

At this time, Zhenjiang fell, and news of Zheng Hongkui's death spread slowly in Nanjing. The Donglin Party and the entire Hongguang court suddenly fell into panic.

In the palace, Emperor Hongguang sat on the dragon chair, his face was already pale, and he didn't even notice that Ruan Dacheng had finished his report.

The news that 20 Qing troops crossed the Yangtze River and hundreds of thousands of Ming troops disappeared in Zhenjiang City scared the mediocre emperor's mind to a blank.

Seeing this, the eunuch Lu Jiude reminded him a few times in a low voice before Hong Guang came back to his senses.

At this time, Hongguang was disheartened, and he didn't have the intention to punish Ruan Dacheng who buried hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Instead, he waved Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng to retreat together.

Because of his meritorious support, Lu Jiude gained a high position and became the top chair in the inner court, the eunuch who was in charge of etiquette and Bingbi.

Just now he listened to Ruan Dacheng's words, he was afraid and unwilling to stay in Nanjing to take risks, so he decided to instigate Emperor Hongguang to flee.

When the ministers left the palace, Lu Jiude saw the emperor lost his mind, he had no way to deal with it, and felt that the opportunity was rare, so he said, "Your Majesty! Nanjing has no soldiers to defend, why not follow the example of Emperor Gaozong of Song Dynasty and enter Zhejiang to take refuge!" "

Hong Guang listened to his words in a daze, instinctively his eyes lit up immediately, but then he was sad for a while. There was no emperor who escaped in the Ming Dynasty, and Emperor Hong Guang suddenly hesitated.

"Your Majesty!" Seeing this, Lu Jiude knew that the emperor had already been tempted, and he continued to instigate: "Back then when the Jin people invaded the south, Emperor Gaozong of Song Dynasty avoided disaster at sea several times, and finally he was able to rule across the river and continue the country for a hundred years. Your Majesty, if you enter Zhejiang Province, if there is danger, you can follow the example of Emperor Gaozong of Song Dynasty by sailing into the sea, and then recruit all kinds of soldiers and horses to help, and the 270-year foundation of the Ming Dynasty can be preserved. If the ministers think about it, even if the Emperor Taizu is in the sky, he will agree with His Majesty's decision!"

　Thank you for your support, because of time constraints, the author can only update at night in the future.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)