I

  Chapter 646 643【Straight to the gate of life】

   Li Dingguo's 10,000 troops did not go to the mouth of the Red River, and then went straight to Thang Long Mansion, the capital of Annan.

  Because the Red River estuary at this time is still in a semi-developed state, there are mangroves everywhere along the banks of the river. There is no big port for warships to berth, and it is very troublesome to change to the Red River by boat.

   Ten thousand troops, divided into two groups.

  The first route is to take a sea boat to the mouth of the Majiang River. There is no need to change ships. The navy can go directly to the outside of Tsinghua City.

  The second road is to take a sea boat to the mouth of the Lanjiang River. After entering the Lanjiang River, change to a small boat and travel for more than ten miles to reach the outside of Ngee'an City.

  Why do you want to fight these two cities?

  More than 80% of the top officials in the Zheng regime are from these two places!

  Majiang River Basin and Lanjiang River Basin are the earliest developed areas in Vietnam, and they are also the capitals of the Ding Dynasty and the former Le Dynasty in Vietnam.

   As long as these two cities are occupied, and then quickly control the surrounding villages and towns, Zheng's court officials will be dumbfounded, and a small half of Zheng's grain-producing areas will disappear.

   This is thanks to the secret agents and merchants, otherwise, how would the Nanjing monarch and ministers know? Most of them will attack Shenglong Mansion foolishly.

  After returning from Japan, Yuan Shizhong was finally promoted to deputy division commander and led 5,000 troops to attack Ngee'an.

  By boat to the mouth of the Lanjiang River, missionary officer Xu Xuechang walked out of the cabin, stood on the deck and bowed to the river.

   "Old Xu, who are you worshiping?" Yuan Shizhong joked, "Could it be your ancestors who lived here in Annan before?"

  Xu Xuechang sternly said: "It's not worshiping the ancestors, but the sages."

   "Which sage can be found here?" Yuan Shizhong asked.

  Xu Xuechang said with emotion: "Wang Zi'an in the early Tang Dynasty encountered wind and waves here, and the ship capsized and unfortunately died on the bottom of the sea."

  Yuan Shizhong was even more confused: "Who is Wang Zi'an?"

  Xu Xuechang said: "The sunset and the lone duck fly together, and the autumn water is the same color as the sky. You don't understand it. After this battle is over, I will teach you to recite "The Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng."

  Yuan Shizhong asked: "It seems to be a talented man from the previous dynasty, why did he come here by boat?"

  Xu Xuechang said: "During the Tang Dynasty, this was the territory of the Tang Dynasty."

   "Then we have regained the lost land, and we must leave a name in the history books," Yuan Shizhong suddenly became happy, and imitated Xu Xuechang, bowing his hands, "My old Yuan also came to pay homage to the sages, king... what is the king?"

  Xu Xuechang said: "The prince is taboo, and his name is Zi'an."

  Yuan Shizhong said while worshiping: "Mr. Wang is the spirit in the sky, and bless the victory of this battle. Come, bring wine!"

   Alcohol is not allowed in the army, but there is highly distilled alcohol for cleaning wounds.

  Yuan Shizhong poured three cups into the river, worshiped Wang Bo from a distance, and suddenly felt much better, although he didn't know what Wang Bo was doing.

  Naval warships encountered a sandbar shortly after entering the Lanjiang River. The sandbar divides the Lanjiang River into two, and large sea-going ships can't get through at all, so they can only put down small boats to transport supplies, while soldiers land and advance along the river bank.

   It is indeed the earliest developed area in Vietnam. The banks of the Lanjiang River are lush and green, and they are all seedlings planted not long ago.

  Xu Xuechang once again reiterated the military order: "Pass down to the generals and soldiers, don't trample on the crops, the cavalry is good at leading the horse and walking slowly!"

  The gentry and peasants along the river were all scared to hide in their houses when they saw the army coming from the sea, and only a few people were sent to investigate from afar.

  Pan Chunfu was a local rich man. He had a nephew who was a scholar of Dongge, and was responsible for transcribing the Imperial Academy's proclamation for Zheng Bing. He also has a younger brother who serves as the deputy commander-in-chief of Taiyuan Dao. Another son was sent to Liangshan Road as a supervisory censor.

  As for other types of petty officials, there are more than twenty in the Pan family.

  This shows the background of the great clans in Ngee An and Thanh Hoa. Whether it is the lord of the Li Dynasty or the Zheng family, the powerful ministers, they all relied on the nobles of the two places to raise their troops.

   "My lord, the Han soldiers didn't come here, they just walked west along the Lanjiang River." Pan Gui, the servant, rushed back to the house to report.

  Pan Chunfu murmured: "Going west, this is going to attack Yi'an City. Didn't they loot along the way?"

  Pan Gui shook his head: "There is no looting, and the crops are not trampled. It is much better than the military discipline of the officers and soldiers (Zheng Jun)."

Pan Chunfu suddenly understood, and said: "If the Han soldiers don't plunder the people or trample on the crops, then they want to rule and stabilize the South. Lord Zheng returned after a big defeat, and the defeated troops passed through Yi'an a few days ago, which caused great harm to Yi'an. The domestic military strength is empty, this time Annan is afraid that he will destroy the country."

  Pan Gui asked: "Master, what shall we do?"

Pan Chunfu said: "The Zheng family is unpopular, and it will be destroyed sooner or later. Emperor Li is weak, and he is not the wise king who can turn the tide..." Immediately, Pan Chunfu said generously, "Yi'an was originally the homeland of the Han family, and my Pan family has always passed on poetry and etiquette to the family. But today the soldiers have arrived, so I will serve the king’s master as food. Hurry up and kill the pigs and goats, catch up with the boats and reward the heavenly soldiers!"

   This is the correct route to march!

  If troops were sent from Guangxi and Yunnan, not to mention crossing mountains and ridges along the way, even if they beat them to pieces, the Vietnamese gentry and nobles would not feel distressed.

   From the sea, they went straight to Ngee An and Thanh Hoa, and went directly to the headquarters of the Vietnamese nobles, including the old nest of the Zheng family. Not to mention siege of cities and territories, even trampling crops with horses is as uncomfortable as cutting the hearts and minds of Vietnamese nobles.

  When the Datong Army was about to arrive at Ngee Ann City, Pan Chunfu had already caught up with him by boat, and was soon brought in front of Yuan Shizhong.

   "Neighborhood Pan's Pan Chunfu, I pay my respects to the Great General of the Celestial Dynasty!" Pan Chunfu knelt down and kowtowed.

  Yuan Shizhong was very surprised. He led his troops to kill him. Why did the Vietnamese gentry welcome Wang Shi?

  Yuan Shizhong asked: "Your ancestors were Han people?"

Pan Chunfu said: "Ngee'an has been the land of China since ancient times, and the people are also the people of China. Although the Pan family lived in Ngee'an, their ancestors were Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty examination, and they went to the Chief Secretary of Fujian for counseling. For hundreds of years, I, Pan Heir to his family of poems and rites, he has studied the Book of Songs for generations."

  Yuan Shizhong understood that this guy was just a piece of grass, and he was still very discerning.

  Pan Chunfu said: "My lord, the grass people have prepared some wine and food..."

   "No need, marching is important." Yuan Shizhong interrupted immediately.

  Pan Chunfu was about to say something, but he saw that Yuan Shizhong had continued on his way, and the whole army did not covet what he brought.

Pan Chunfu was startled, and murmured to himself, "I don't plunder, I don't destroy farmers, and I don't like money, goods, wine and food. How can the remnants of the Zheng family stand against such a strong army?" He turned around and shouted, "Hurry up and send someone to deliver the letter. Tell the disciples of the Pan clan everywhere, don't resist when encountering Han soldiers, it is best to dedicate the city and make meritorious service!"

  Pan Chunfu's most worried brother is now serving as the deputy general of Taiyuan Dao.

  What if the younger brother of the clan resisted stubbornly and angered the Chinese general, and the Han soldiers easily wiped out the Pan family?

  90% of the Pan family's shops and land are located here, and it is impossible to move them away. It has long been a fish on the chopping board.

  To tell the truth, if the officials of the Zheng court heard that Ngee An and Thanh Hoa were occupied. In order to keep the family, they probably surrendered faster than the other, and opened the gate of the capital every minute to welcome the king.

  In Ngee Ann City.

  Wu Anguo had already received the news that the Datong Army had killed him, and he was on pins and needles, not knowing what to do.

  Annan's local administrative system is divided into roads, houses, roads, towns, states, counties, and societies.

  Dao is similar to the province of Ming Dynasty, with the capital division, Cheng division, and Xian division, which correspond to the capital commander division, Chengxuan political division division, and inspection division in Daming.

  Wu Anguo's official position is Zuo Chengzheng of Yi'an Road, that is, Zuo Buzheng.

   "Brother Bangyan, don't hesitate, quickly recruit troops to defend the city!" You Chengzheng and Chen Fan urged.

Wu Anguo said anxiously: "The king of Qing took the two chief soldiers away this time. I heard from the remnant soldiers who had fled from the defeat that General Wu had already died in battle, and General Fan was missing. , were all taken to Shenglong Mansion by the King of Qing Dynasty. The outskirts of the city have already been conscripted once, if they force soldiers to be recruited again, I am afraid that the peasants themselves will rebel!"

  King Qing is the title of Zheng Yi.

  This product also has an honorary title, referred to as Yiwang, and the full name has 134 characters. That is: Dewei, Enxin, Ruiwen, open-minded, Tianzhunshi, Zhaoshan, filial piety... Chongxun, Guangye, Xianmo, Chenglieyiwang.

   Zheng Song's father, Zheng Song, is even more powerful, and his title has 192 characters. He dared to throw any words into his honorary title, such as great talent, integrity and honesty, courage to build a world, and any words.

  The Hanlin scholar who gave the father and son the honorary title, probably has gray hair. Because Zheng Bing’s grandfather also has a title, a total of 234 characters, the previous generation has used it, and the future generations cannot repeat it. In ancient times, there was no electronic dictionary. Where can I think of so many good words?

  Chen Fan said: "You can't recruit soldiers in the suburbs, so you can recruit soldiers in the city. Tell the people in the city that once the Han soldiers break through the city, they will kill all the people in the city!"

  Wu Anguo did not respond positively, but said: "Since the Han soldiers have arrived in Ngee An, will they still go to Qinghua?"

  There are more nobles in Thanh Hoa!

  Wu Anguo and Chen Fan are both from the Qinghua clan.

   "This..." Chen Fan was suddenly speechless.

  In case the Han soldiers really captured Qinghua, if I resisted in Ngee An and caused losses to the Han soldiers, wouldn’t my hometown be wiped out?

  Wu Anguo said: "The Han soldiers even came to Ngee'an, how could they not go to Qinghua?"

  It is more convenient for the Datong army to send troops to Qinghua. Not only is the distance shorter, but there is no need to change ships. The navy warship can directly sail to the city.

  Chen Fan was also restless at this time, defending his family and the country, he was in a dilemma.

  If you choose to defend the country and defend the city, you will definitely not be able to protect your home. If you want to protect your family, you have to surrender in Kaesong.

  The two of them thought about it, and they both felt that Ngee Ann City could not be defended.

  However, they dare not surrender.

   In case the Han soldiers leave after looting, Zheng will come to his senses and will definitely liquidate the surrenders.

  Then... don't fight, don't surrender, don't leave, just pretend nothing happened.

  The two Chengzheng officials sat in the Chengsi Yamen like this. They declined all visitors, and only sent officials to inquire, so as to get news of the Datong Army at any time.

   After waiting for a while, officials ran in in a panic: "Deng Xiansi is recruiting troops to defend the city!"

  This Deng Xiansi can be understood as the inspector of Ngee Ann Road, who is usually in charge of the judiciary and prisons of the whole province.

Wu Anguo turned pale in shock, stood up in a panic and said, "Deng Xiansi misunderstood me! I am the chief officer of Nghe An, and if he recruits soldiers to defend the city, it is the same as my recruitment to defend the city. Go out and stop it, the city cannot be defended, at least it must be defended." Make it clear to the Han soldiers that we are not the soldiers recruited by the two of us!"

   "Yes, yes, go and stop it." Chen Fan was also terrified.

  (end of this chapter)