Vow to die at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 269
When they received the imperial edict, Shang Kexi, Geng Jimao, Jin Li and the others felt overwhelmed.But unlike them, Hong Chengchou, who received the edict to retreat back to Jiangbei, was relieved.

In the past two years, Hong Chengchou wrote letters to become an official almost every month, using excuses such as eye disease, old age and infirmity, but the court refused.It is estimated that there is really no unlucky ghost to replace him.The south has become a mess. At this time, no one from the Eight Banners who enjoys the glory and wealth in the capital is willing to take over this mess.Although Jiangnan used to be a place that everyone yearned for, but now it is almost synonymous with going to death.

In the past few years, the imperial court has deployed hundreds of thousands of troops in the south of the Yangtze River, and even the princes have died a few times.However, in the south of the Yangtze River, there are endless rebels, from Wu Shengzhao to the three brothers Wang Guangen, Wang Guangtai and Wang En to Jin Shenghuan, Wang Deren, and Li Chengdong.These people are all surrendered and rebelled. Before, they were living on the salary of the imperial court.In addition, the Remnant Resisting Forces also suffered repeated defeats and battles. Lu Wang, Longwu, Yongli, and Xia Yunyi, Xia Wanchun, Chen Zilong, Zhang Mingzhen, Zhang Huangyan, Zhu Chenggong and others who regarded them as Zhengshuo.Recently, the Daxi Army no longer resides in the Southwest, but frequently attacks, sweeping the land of Guangxi and Hunan, and the remnants of Xinshun also raised troops in Hubei, and Wu Sangui, the rebel, turned back, and the bandits who successfully attacked Jiangning led to today's situation , this land in the south of the Yangtze River is simply chaotic.Several provinces in the south have been smashed into a pot of porridge.

This situation is no longer something Hong Chengchou can understand, nor is he able to calm down.So Hong Chengchou really didn't want to do it any more, he just wanted to stay away from here, and it was impossible to return to his hometown. Geng Jimao and Zhu Chenggong were fighting in full swing in Fujian, so let's return both.

Of course, Hong Chengchou knew in his heart that the southern heroes were not of the same mind. If the court really pulled away, then these heroes would definitely fight each other, so that the court could sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and enjoy the benefits of the fisherman.Moreover, Shandong and Shanxi are too close to the capital, and if the two groups of bandits entrenched there are not dealt with, the court will have trouble sleeping and eating.

"Come here!" After putting down the imperial edict, Hong Chengchou seemed to straighten his back, and the heavy pressure was relieved, making him look younger.

"Your subordinate is here, what orders does your lord have?" A subordinate walked in.

"Send the order, immediately recruit vehicles and recruit civilians, load all the treasures of the treasury into vehicles, and the army will return to the north immediately!"

"Hey. May I ask my lord, what about the people here?" the subordinate asked boldly.

The meaning of the subordinates, Hong Chengchou, was clear in his heart, that is to either move these people away, or simply kill them all.However, there were 10 people in Anqing Mansion and Lu'an Prefecture. If they were all killed, Hong Chengchou couldn't bear it too much.But if these people are left here, they will strengthen the strength of the bandits, and they will be armed by the bandits to deal with the court.

At this moment, Hong Chengchou hesitated.I think back then when he was young, he was also a ruthless person who killed a lot.It's just that now that I'm old, I want to accumulate more virtue for my children and grandchildren.Finally Hong Chengchou hesitated.

"Confiscate all the food from the people, and don't leave a single grain of rice to the bandits."

Since the people in this prefecture and state have not been slaughtered, but they must also increase the pressure on the gangsters, lest they will follow and attack themselves.

Now Hong Chengchou has less than [-] troops under his command. Obai Tan Tai and others have already been dispatched to Hubei, and Nikan has also gone.Those who stay in Anqing now are Wang Fuchen, Zhao Liangdong, Sun Sike and others.There is a shortage of generals, and young generals are still growing. Hong Chengchou has also struggled in the past two years, trying to maintain the situation.If it weren't for the energy of the bandits to go eastward, I wouldn't be able to persist.

Last year, the regiment bandit that he was at loggerheads with changed his coach, and Zhang Liansheng replaced Zhang Chengwu as the commander of the Fifth Battalion.Since Zhang Liansheng came to Luzhou Mansion, although there have been no major battles, small battles have continued.This made Hong Chengchou exhausted from working on government and military affairs every day. Now that he can finally go back to rest, Hong Chengchou feels very relaxed.

Three days later, Hong Chengchou's troops caused a lot of commotion, and finally alarmed the Fifth Battalion of the Security Regiment. Lin Jiawang, the captain of the May [-]st Brigade stationed in Lujiang County, Luzhou Prefecture, was ordered to lead the army into Anqing Prefecture to investigate.

A large number of villagers had fled to Lujiang before, and Lin Jiawang learned from them that the Tartars were collecting a large amount of grain, and there was not even the peasants' rations left.This made Lin Jiawang very puzzled. He didn't know whether the Tartars were going to fight or choose to escape.So Lin Jiawang was careful all the way, for fear of being ambushed by the Tartars.

The villages are fine, the villagers have a certain amount of grain hidden, which is difficult for the Tartars to plunder, but it is different in the cities.When Lin Jiawang led his men all the way to Anqing City, he found that the city gate was closed and the city was empty.After sending out a small team to make a tentative attack, there was no enemy attack on the top of the city.

When the team climbed to the top of the city with a ladder, they found that there was really no one on the city wall, and the whole city seemed lifeless.The team leader quickly ordered people to go down to the city to open the gate, and lowered the drawbridge.

After Lin Jiawang entered the city, he was also full of surprises. The city seemed to be too quiet.When the dull footsteps of the members of the security team came to the houses on both sides of the road, a door opened with a pause, and a weak man came out, and fell to the ground after walking a few steps.Seeing this situation, several regiment members stepped forward to check, and finally found that the hungry hair had fainted.After eating a few mouthfuls of food and drinking water, the man regained his energy, and Lin Jiawang also learned from him why there was no one in the city.

It turned out that the Tartars had plundered all the grains of the people in the city three days ago, because the Tartars had started to implement food control before, and the residents in the city received grain once every three days, and three days at a time.So when the Tartars started to search for food, the big guys couldn't get the food, and the little leftovers in the family were also searched.The gates of the city were closed tightly, and the residents could not escape even if they went out, so they could only starve at home.Day by day, people are really hungry.This morning, the Tartars finally left, but the big guy was too hungry and weak.In addition, I was afraid that the Tartars would leave and come back, so I was suffering at home.

This person also heard footsteps on the road, he struggled to look through the crack of the door, and saw that it was the security team coming, so he came out.

After learning of this situation, Lin Jiawang hurriedly asked people to collect all the dry food they carried with them, and then knocked on the door of each household to distribute a little food, and broke in when no one opened the door.At the same time, Lin Jiawang also hurriedly reported to his superiors and mobilized food to Anqing.

As for the plan of chasing the Tartars, it can only be shelved, and saving people is the most important thing.This also achieved the goal of the Tartars, otherwise the Tartars would have burned down the Anqing City.The reason why Hong Chengchou didn't kill people and burn the city was that on the one hand, he really couldn't bear it, on the other hand, he wanted the hundreds of thousands of hungry people to restrain the bandits' pursuit, and burning the city would also expose his escape plan prematurely. .In this way, Hong Chengchou escaped from Anqing smoothly with tens of thousands of people.

Because the Tartars abandoned Anqing and Lu'an, the security regiment finally unified Jiangnan Province.Of course, the security regiment's unification of Jiangnan Province does not mean that the headquarters of Jiangnan Province is unified. Now Yingzhou, Fengyang, Sizhou, Huai'an, and Xuzhou are still in the hands of the first battalion, while Haizhou is in the hands of the second battalion.

But in name, the security regiment finally occupied a whole province, and its prestige was greatly shaken.

(End of this chapter)