The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 632 What a Li Dingguo!

Zhu Linmi raised her hand slightly, and said calmly, "Let's all get flat."

But He Tengjiao looked at him with eyes that were about to pop out, and said in a trembling voice: "You, you are the new emperor..."

"It's exactly me." Zhu Linmi is not quite used to the word "zhen", this is the first time she uses it, and in this occasion, she must be imposing.

"The new king has only been enthroned for a few days, how could he leave Beijing for Chu..."

Zhu Linmei smiled and said: "In this troubled world, those who still only know how to sit in the Forbidden City, I am afraid it will be difficult to be a wise king."

It is really the arrival of the emperor of the new dynasty!He Tengjiao clenched his teeth. Today, he came to test the tone of the court, but he was shocked one after another.

He had always been self-respecting before, and he only hoped that the imperial court would make Huguang strong and make him a duke or even a prince, just like Mu Tianbo's town of Yunnan, guarding Huguang for generations.

Unexpectedly, Meng Zheng sent the emperor to enter Chu suddenly, disrupting all his established strategies.At the beginning, he hesitated to welcome the emperor to control the court, but the little emperor abdicated before he even arrived in Wuchang, but Nanjing immediately sent heavy troops to besiege Huguang, making him lose rice instead of chicken.

Just now when he learned about the strength of the imperial army and horses, his heart became more and more frightened. Could it be that the only way left is to give up his power and surrender to the imperial court?It's just that he walked step by step this time, and he has already boarded the thief's boat. Even if he bows his head at this moment, he might not be able to save his family and his life...

Seeing that his father seemed to be wavering, He Wenrui hurriedly leaned into his ear and whispered: "Father, don't be fooled by him. As long as that is done, Wuchang will have an army of more than [-]. The imperial court’s military equipment is excellent, so we can’t do it for a year or so!”

He Tengjiao was so shocked that he almost forgot his previous deployment. After his son reminded him, he finally made up his mind.right!Even though the imperial court has enough soldiers and food, it will never guess that I have secretly moved from Linxiang to Chencang!
If Wuchang can persist for a few more months, the imperial court and the Jianlu side will be in a tight battle, and they will definitely compromise with me, and at least some family property can be preserved by then.

He Wenrui said again: "Let's chat with Zhu Lin for a while, father, you look for an opportunity to board the boat, and my son leads the navy to intercept the enemy ship. This place is less than one mile from the shore. I don't believe that strange-looking warship can catch you stop."

He Tengjiao let out a long breath, and was about to act according to his plan, when he suddenly saw a fast boat leaning against the Sky-watching Stone in the direction of Wuchang.Immediately, two messengers with red flags on their backs rushed out of the boat, gasped and touched the ground on one knee, "Report to Lord Dutang, Linxiang urgent report!" Then they handed a wooden box to He Tengjiao's personal guard.

"Linxiang?" He Tengjiao and his son looked at each other, and said happily in a low voice, "Maybe Liu Tiren's department has arrived!"

He hastily opened the letterbox and took out the secret report, and after only one glance, he almost fell to the ground as if struck by five thunders.There are only a few words on the paper: Liu Zongbing's [-] troops were ambushed by Li Dingguo's troops at the crossing in Linxiang, and nearly half of them were lost.

"This, how is this possible?!" He Tengjiao felt his mind go blank, "Li Dingguo's men were still near Changshui two days ago, how could they set up an ambush in Linxiang, a hundred miles away..."

Before he could figure it out, there was a second urgent report, which was still about the battle in Linxiang, but the content was much more detailed than Linxiang's request for help.Only then did He Tengjiao know what had happened.

A few days ago, he designed Hao Yaoqi's troops to lure the imperial troops in Changshui. Liu Tiren led [-] soldiers from Changsha to Yiyang quietly, took a boat northward on Dongting Lake, planned to land near Linxiang, and then rushed to Wuchang to help defend.But I don't know why Li Dingguo got the news of the mobilization of the army. He traveled hundreds of miles in one day and two nights, and arrived in Linxiang before Liu Tiren, and set up an ambush at the ferry.

When Liu Tiren's troops arrived in Linxiang and were about to go ashore, Li Dingguo's army suddenly rushed out from all around.The Changsha army was attacked by the halfway crossing, and immediately collapsed. The men and horses fled back to the ship in a hurry, and they took a detour to Matang to catch their breath.

However, the battle report claimed that Li Dingguo's army had 3000 troops, and He Tengjiao just learned from Zhu Linmi's court deployment map that Li Dingguo had only [-] troops, which is terrifying!

He was bitter in his heart, Matang was between Yuezhou and Changshui, very close to the two teams of Zhongzhen Camp, even if they sent troops to rescue them, they might not be able to get close, not to mention that he had no troops to mobilize... …

The strategy of darkening Chencang was broken, which means that Wuchang will have no reinforcements in a short period of time, and Liu Tiren's department will be lost, and Changsha will also be in danger.He Tengjiao instantly put aside the idea of ​​bargaining with the court, and only thought of how to save his life remained in his mind.

He looked at Zhu Linming in panic, but his heart was moved. Maybe the imperial court didn't want to kill him. Otherwise, with the strength of its troops, Wuchang City may have been destroyed now, so how could it make the Sichuan and Jiangxi troops who were besieging the city back twenty miles? Make room, and the new king's visit to Huguang in person - this is to show my favor...

Thinking of this, he didn't dare to hesitate any more, and hastily bowed down and kowtowed, "Sir, He Tengjiao, Governor of Huguang, pay homage to my emperor, long live, long live!" From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his son and his subordinates who hadn't recovered. He said loudly, "What are you still doing in a daze? Get down on your knees and pay homage to the Son of Heaven!"

After He Wenrui and hundreds of people around him knelt down and saluted together, He Tengjiao paused again and said: "The holy lord, I have always been very loyal to the imperial court, and I never dared to have second thoughts. This time, I was framed by traitors, so I had to order the soldiers to secure the city To protect myself, there is absolutely no other intention, just wait for the court to find out the truth, and the minister immediately withdraws the soldiers and horses, and impeaches himself for the crime..."

The imperial court had to make a big detour from Jingzhou to send the Linxiang army to Wuchang, so Zhu Linmi hadn't reported Linxiang's great victory yet, and he didn't know how drastic a change in He Tengjiao's mentality had just been.

He took a few steps forward, slightly bent down and said to the kneeling He Tengjiao: "It seems that He Dutang didn't gather troops until recently, did it?"

"This... Jianlu repeatedly violated Chu, and I had no choice but to lead Huguang's disciples to refuse..."

"Well," Zhu Linmi nodded, and said coldly, "Then why are you alone responsible for the appointment and removal of Huguang officials, and never report to the court for approval? Huguang soldiers entered Fujing, why was it delayed for so long?"

"All, all are thieves who are powerful, and have no choice but to follow the strategy of power... Please forgive me, forgive me..."

Zhu Linmi gave him a hard look, but didn't continue the topic. After all, this trip was to appease He Tengjiao and avoid the civil war in Huguang, so it's not appropriate to talk to death.

He said again: "You just said that you were framed, so I'll give you a chance to defend yourself. Tell me, what's going on?"

He Tengjiao's nose was close to the ground, and he said anxiously: "Back to the emperor, the former minister suddenly received a secret letter from Mengzheng, saying that he was bringing the emperor to the west by boat, and asked the minister to send sailors to meet him. I am afraid that the emperor will be lost. He ordered Zhao Guan to lead the warship to escort him, but only let the boat berth in Jiujiang area, and did not let him into Chu.

(End of this chapter)