Chapter 260 Nanjing’s Decision
As early as seven days ago, Xu Hongji reported Chen Cao's capture of Suzhou to the capital, and the newly arrived Nanjing garrison eunuch Cao Huachun was also rushed there.
As Chongzhen's confidant, Cao Huachun was different from other eunuchs guarding Nanjing. This eunuch was upright and not greedy for money. He came to Nanjing this time more because Chongzhen valued Chen Cao, a rebel.
Accompanying Cao Huachun in bringing Nanjing was the imperial edict of Emperor Chongzhen. He restored the Duke of Wei, Xu Hongji, to guard Nanzhili, and the governor of Nanzhili responded with an army. It was necessary to eliminate Chen Cao's rebels in Suzhou and Song Dynasty.
But today's meeting was particularly bad. In the lobby of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, civil and military officials at all levels from the southern Zhili territory, headed by Xu Hongji, were sitting. There was only one thing to discuss: the rebel Chen Cao's army was advancing on Wuxi. , Wuxi city was broken, the county magistrate surrendered, and Jingjiang Island, an important place at the entrance of Nanjing to the sea, fell into Chen Cao's hands.
Nanjing is in danger...
"The military report from Eunuch Gao who was guarding Zhongdu in Japan revealed that King Fu's army had conquered Huaiyuan City and marched to Fengyang City. Before our arrival, His Majesty had ordered the mobilization of guards from Luzhou, Xuzhou, Huai'an, Anqing and other places to rush to the city. Going to Fengyang, as long as Eunuch Gao can hold on, when reinforcements from various places arrive, King Fu's rebellion will be disintegrated..."
After Cao Huachun finished speaking, Xu Hongji set the tone: "At present, people from the Fengyang Left-behind Division have come to ask for help. However, the traitor Chen Cao's army is currently in Changzhou Prefecture. If we mobilize the capital camp to rush to Fengyang, I will I’m worried that Chen Cao will take advantage of me.”
This sentence is not only Xu Hongji's, but also the thoughts of all the nobles in the hall. Not only are civil servants responsible for guarding their land, but if the nobles left in Nanjing lose the city of Nanjing, their titles will be over. Most of them Some of them had their titles renewed, which was hard-won.
The best strategy is to support Nanjing with troops. Although Xu Hongji does not have enough knowledge about military affairs, there are many generals in the palace who are victorious, and all of them have led troops to retreat. Naturally, they are much better than him in looking at military operations. .
The guards recruited by the emperor from various prefectures all belonged to the Southern Zhili garrison, while the troops in Nanjing City were composed of the Five Military Camps, the Shenji Camp, the Three Thousand Battalions, and the Beijing Camp, with a total of up to 100,000 soldiers;
The Zhongdu Remaining Division can also be considered as the formation of the Southern Zhili garrison. Excluding the guards of various Southern Zhili prefectures, there can be a total of 400,000 troops.
This is a huge number. Even Chen Cao's five armies combined do not have 400,000 troops. However, these are all guard troops, and their combat effectiveness is open to question.
Now, there are only 100,000 troops left in Nanjing that can be mobilized. All other guards troops have now received orders from the imperial court and rushed to Fengyang Mansion for support.
"Ning'an Counselor Zuo Liangyu requires the payment of back pay before mobilizing troops."
I don't know who made a bold statement at this time, which made Cao Huachun immediately unhappy: "Zuo Liangyu is very courageous, he actually dares to sit on the ground and bargain."
Xu Hongji looked at Qi Boyu: "Master Qi, what did you say to Zuo Liangyu?"
Qi Boyu said coldly: "This official only knows about this matter. In my opinion, it is better to remove him from his post."
Zuo Liangyu is now a general of the four prefectures of Ningguo, Chizhou, Anqing, and Huizhou. He has considerable power, but he only has a small number of soldiers, only 8,000 people in total.
"It's not easy to force him when the war is approaching. After all, Ningguo Mansion is separated from Suzhou by Taihu Lake. Guangzhou in the middle is still under the jurisdiction of Ningguo Mansion. After the siege is lifted, I will go to Ningguo Mansion in person to ask this guy. It means several things."
As soon as he finished speaking, a school captain hurried over and whispered a few words in a general's ear as he walked away.
"My lord, news just came that Zuo Liangyu led an army of 30,000 people into Changzhou Prefecture."
Xu Hongji didn't challenge him: "This guy still has some courage..."
"Where did he get all these troops?"
Cao Huachun immediately asked in a sharp voice that the number of soldiers under the jurisdiction of the four prefectures of Ning'an, including Zuo Liangyu's private soldiers, could not exceed ten thousand at most. Thirty thousand people suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, which was not a small number.
"Is it this guy?"
Qi Boyu didn't explain clearly. Although he was now the Minister of War in Nanjing and was ordered to assist Xu Hongji, he was not the leader, so he simply looked at Xu Hongji.
"Elaborate?"
"The general doesn't know the specific situation. I heard that Zuo Liangyu recruited many remnants of the Guard Army along the way and temporarily assembled 30,000 people. They have arrived in Yixing."
"Master, this is an opportunity..."
A general said: "Zuo Liangyu dared to enter Changzhou Prefecture because he planned to block the rebel Chen Cao's army in Changzhou. My Lord only needs to order 10,000 or 20,000 people to be stationed in Zhenjiang Prefecture. Chen Cao would not dare to act rashly. ..."
Xu Chengqing, the commander-in-chief of the Beijing camp, is Xu Hongji's confidant: "Zuo Liangyu's abacus is very good..."
When Xu Hongji saw his confidant speaking, he asked, "What did General Xu say?"
"That guy didn't want to offend Prince Fu, nor did he want to offend His Majesty, so he led the army to Changzhou Mansion." Xu Chengqing said and looked at Xu Hongji: "My lord, please order me to mobilize 50,000 troops to garrison Zhenjiang to take precautions." Zuo Liangyu suddenly rebelled..."
Xu Chengqing's words were shocking and frightened everyone present. Many people felt that Xu Chengqing was a bit unfounded and was a bit mean in his treatment of Zuo Liangyu.
"Zuo Liangyu was originally an official under Bi Zisu, but at the beginning of the year Bi Zisu committed suicide due to the Shandong incident. He was dismissed from his post after being convicted. After returning to Beijing, he followed Hou Xun's path. Not only was he not demoted, but he became a Ning'an military commander. .”
Cao Huachun knew about this and thought out: "This guy has some abilities, and he might be able to fight Chen Ni's rebels. Why did General Xu say so?"
Xu Chengqing knitted his brows together: "It's not that the official is being alarmist. Zuo Liangyu's reputation in Ning'an and other places is not very good. This time he suddenly violated His Majesty's order and did not go to Fengyang for rescue. Instead, he turned around and went to Changzhou Mansion. See Seems to be loyal, but actually harbors evil intentions;
Moreover, that guy is arrogant and arrogant. He has repeatedly suppressed the local garrisons in the four prefectures and won the hearts of the people by relying on his achievements in the Liaodong border army. He can recruit 30,000 people, and it is impossible to recruit 100,000 people. There must be more in the prosperous land of Ningguo Prefecture. His confidants stayed behind, and now that Chen Ni's army was strong, the fall of Suzhou may have given him an opportunity, but not necessarily. "
As he spoke, Xu Chengqing raised his hand towards Xu Hongji: "Master Wan Wang, think twice, Zuo Liangyu has to be on guard."
Qi Boyu said: "Zuo Liangyu's behavior is certainly abominable, but it is not wise to doubt the general before sending troops."
Xu Hongji was now in a dilemma, how to choose?
...
When Chen Cao got Zuo Liangyu's 30,000 troops and entered Changzhou, he was stunned for a long time. He thought about it and couldn't figure it out, so he asked Huang Chunyao for questioning.
"Why don't you send someone to contact him first to see what his direction is?"
Zuo Liangyu had a bad reputation in the late Ming Dynasty. The Southern Ming Dynasty hated him so much that even the Manchu Qing Dynasty was unwilling to cooperate with him. It can be imagined how poor Zuo Liangyu's personal moral character was.
In view of the historical records of later generations, Chen Cao was a little confused when he heard this. He was really unwilling to contact him. According to Huang Chunyao, he wanted to accept this person for himself.
Obviously Huang Chunyao also saw the obvious change in Chen Cao's expression, so he changed his mind again: "If the father-in-law doesn't like Zuo Liangyu, he can also use a trick to drive away the tiger and devour the wolf."
Chen Cao raised his eyebrows and laughed suddenly: "You are such a hateful scholar who kills you..."
Huang Chunyao laughed, and Chen Cao said again: "It is feasible to drive the tiger and swallow the wolf, but after hearing the report from Nanjing's spies, Xu Hongji sent General Xu Chengqing to lead 30,000 troops to station in Zhenjiang. It seems that not only me, but also Xu Hongji Don’t worry about Zuo Liangyu’s sudden arrival.”
"That guy is not a good person..."
As soon as Zhao Xin entered the lobby, he heard Zuo Liangyu's name, and he directly interjected: "The four prefectures of Ning'an despised Zuo Liangyu. That guy was greedy and secretly expanded a lot of troops. This time I heard that he He should have led the troops north to Fengyang, but they ended up in Changzhou Prefecture."
After listening to Zhao Xin's words, Chen Cao looked at Huang Chunyao with great interest and said: "Send someone to contact Zuo Liangyu and see what he means. If it is clear that he is targeting us, then there is no need to be polite."
"The students will make arrangements now."
After sending Huang Chunyao away, Chen Cao looked at the map and sighed: "I will still be your enemy in the end..."
..
Zuo Liangyu has some abilities, but he is a bit narrow-minded. This sudden change of carriage and horses to Changzhou Prefecture was a last resort.
Inside the Chinese army's commander's tent, Zuo Liangyu's close guerrilla Ma Wenyu whispered: "General, the people sent met the staff of Liang Guogong's tent halfway, and they happened to be looking for us."
Zuo Liangyu turned around and said, "Oh, could it be that Chen Cao intends to win over us?"
Ma Wenyu shook his head: "It's hard to say. Although they have captured Suzhou now, the imperial army in Nanzhili is at least 400,000 people, not counting the soldiers and horses in Zhejiang and Jiangxi. If the text reaches Zhejiang and Jiangxi, they will be mobilized. The ground troops marched north to Nanjing, and under attack from the north and south, the total number was no less than this."
Six hundred thousand people is not a small force. Even Chen Cao's entire firearms force can crush them all with human lives.
Zuo Liangyu looked serious: "So, we are now waiting for a price to sell?"
"Why don't we wait until they come and talk to someone?"
Zuo Liangyu nodded in agreement: "That's fine. Send the order and put my soldiers in position to greet them."
..
"Xu Chengqing, the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp, led 30,000 troops to Wujin County, the capital of Changzhou. More than 3,000 troops from the original Changzhou Prefecture garrison were stationed in Jiangyin, forming a horned force;"
Huang Chunyao pointed at the map: "I heard that the magistrate of Jiangyin was recruiting young men in the local area, preaching that our army was a traitor, and recruited nearly 10,000 soldiers based on the original 3,000 soldiers."
"The Navy's naval guns can penetrate into Jiangyin City. We will ignore this force for the time being. How is Zuo Liangyu?"
Faced with Chen Cao's inquiry, Huang Chunyao's expression rarely changed: "My lord, this student is so incompetent that he let Zuo Liangyu fool him."
