Lu Daqi originally joined forces with Zuo Liangyu in Jiujiang last year to dare Zhang Xianzhong and finally forced him into Sichuan. Then Zuo Liangyu broke into Wuchang behind closed doors to observe the situation and at the same time restrained Yuan Zongdi's troops who were entrenched in the Jingxiang area, and Lu Daqi Then he was stationed in Jiujiang to contain the Baiwang tribe who was entrenched in De'an County in the mountains.
De'an is in a lofty mountain, and it is easy to get in but difficult to get out. Zuo Liangyu went into the mountains several times to clear out the troops but failed. Anyway, he was defeated every time and finally threw this hot potato to Lu Daqi.
Zuo Liangyu couldn't defeat Zuo Liangyu because of the large number of people, and Lu Daqi didn't dare to act rashly alone. He could only act as a diversion to prevent him from going up the river to join Yuan Zongdi in the Jingxiang area. In this way, Bai Wang's tribe would be in De Anxian's land was divided into kings, and his life was extremely prosperous. Later, when he heard that Li Zicheng was sending troops to the east, he cooperated with him. He marched eastward to the Poyang Lake, then walked along the lake to the bank of the Yangtze River, and went down the lake mouth. Peng Ze , then Lu Daqi was shocked and led his troops to stop him, but it was too late.
Just like Li Zicheng did during the Eastern Expedition, Bai Wang took the refugees and civilians as soon as he arrived in the city. He claimed that his army of 200,000 men was so murderous that the states and counties in front of him were frightened by the news. His speed was unbelievable. At that time, Chang Yu was in the north to clean up the Qing army. He had just arrived in Wangjiang County, and now he had broken through Wuhu and was approaching Nanjing.
It’s the same routine!
Seeing that Lu Daqi was following behind him, he was extremely embarrassed. Every time the bandit army entered a city, they would leave hundreds of people behind. Even a city with hundreds of people would be extremely difficult to attack. Jun Zao had captured several more, leaving them far behind, and he did not dare to extend the battle line too long for fear that Jiujiang would make a mistake.
However, Lu Daqi had already seen through Bai Wang's mind at this time, and decided not to follow him and gnaw bones. Instead, he left his general to guard Jiujiang and led his own troops to take a shortcut and go around the front of the bandit army to Nanjing for help, allowing Xu Hongji to send troops to intercept. , because he knew that at this time Anqing Prefecture and Luzhou Prefecture Taiping Prefecture were empty of troops and unstoppable.
However, Xu Hongji and other nobles regarded Nanjing as their top priority and refused to send troops, leaving them angry and helpless.
It stands to reason that he is the governor of the four prefectures and Nanjing is also under his jurisdiction. However, without military power, he is useless and can only hope for trouble in the capital.
"At this time, the bandit army is very different from a few years ago. In the past, they mainly focused on looting. If they ran back to the mountains after looting, they were always thieves. But now, they mainly focus on establishing political power. After entering the city, they kill less and establish a puppet government. "Pseudo-officials." Lu Daqi smiled bitterly and shook his head: "They have ambitions and want the Ming Dynasty!"
"It's nothing new for wolves to have their ambitions exposed. Lu Shangshu will tell you some real facts about the bandit army." Chang Yu picked up the tea cup and took a few sips. Lu Daqi cleared his throat and continued: "The bandit army originally came down the east bank of the river. After all, they crossed The river is not easy, but there are tributaries in Wangjiang County with shallower river beaches. The bandits crossed some of their troops and horses and easily took Wangjiang, and then continued northward to Anqing. Maybe they were just crossing the border to plunder, but they didn't expect that Anqing would..." said He sighed and shook his head. If a city fell so easily, there must be something wrong there. The officials even opened the door and surrendered themselves.
"Perhaps the bandit army did not expect that they could easily take Anqing City. This is a Fucheng. Bai Wang personally led his elite troops into the city to run the business. At the same time, he sent his troops to continue north along the east coast, and then defeated Chizhou Fucheng and Tongling. After entering Wuhu, perhaps they did not want their troops to be too scattered. After capturing Anqing Prefecture on the west bank of the Yangtze River, they did not invade Luzhou Prefecture northward."
"That's Zhang Liang's work!" Chang Yu snorted. He commanded the two intelligence departments of Jinyiwei and Dongchang, and naturally knew more information than anyone here. Zhang Liang, the governor of Anlu, took advantage of the chaos to escape back to his house after Anqing fell. The state then organized some soldiers and civilians to counterattack Anqing, and then Bai Wang gave up his plan to move northward on both sides of the Taiwan Strait at the same time. He knew well that he could bite off more than he could chew. The war on the east bank was progressing so fast that it was approaching the outside of Nanjing, so there was no need to fight on the west bank. Wait, if we concentrate our forces and defeat Nanjing, will the surrounding small towns be important? They will all have to line up to surrender by then.
"In your opinion, how strong is the bandit army?" Chang Yu asked.
Lu Daqi pondered for a moment and said: "Two hundred thousand is more than enough." Everyone in the hall was shocked. Some of them looked at Chang Yu with provocative looks. They all said two hundred thousand. You still don't believe it. An army of 200,000, you are so awesome, go and fight.
Chang Yu, the only one in the entire lobby, looked as usual, gently stroking the tea cover and smiling lightly: "Lv Shangshu must include those refugees."
Lu Daqi nodded: "What's the difference between being threatened by a thief and being a thief?"
Chang Yu hummed: "There is no difference, but the difference is huge." Everyone was puzzled, and he continued: "Although he acts under the coercion of thieves, he is no different from thieves, but when it comes to fighting, he is simply vulnerable. !”
Everyone whispered in low voices, and Chang Yu looked around: "When the governor was besieged by bandits in Taiyuan, there were 400,000 to 50,000 people, but his main force was only 40,000 to 50,000 troops, and the rest were just waving flags and cheering, but So what, just cut it down and destroy everything."
Four to five million! Xu Hongji and others looked horrified again. It was rumored that there were millions of thieves besieging Taiyuan City. The little eunuch also became famous in that battle. Although he knew it was wrong, he thought about the scene of hundreds of thousands of people besieging the city and couldn't help but beat him. A thrilling spirit.
"It's just a bluff" Chang Yu joked coldly and then looked at Xu Hongji: "How many troops and horses are there in Nanjing?"
"More than sixty thousand," Xu Hongji spat out, and Chang Yu knocked on the table: "I'm asking about the actual amount!"
"That's the actual amount. Could it be that Eunuch Chang thinks that we..." Xu Hongji was a little excited. Chang Yu laughed before he finished speaking: "The most important thing for me at the moment is to suppress chaos and suppress thieves rather than to investigate corruption." You are living on empty wages, could it be that the Duke of the State is forcing this governor to investigate now? Is it so difficult to tell the truth?"
Xu Hongji still wanted to be tough, but Chang Yu raised his hand and pointed at Zhao Zhilong: "You also know the inside story of helping to guard Nanjing. I will give you a chance to tell the truth, otherwise don't blame me for being merciless when I check the accounts in the future!"
I...Zhao Zhilong was startled and quickly glanced at Xu Hongji. Seeing that his face turned blue, he licked his lips: "Don't talk about Nanjing, look at the whole Ming Dynasty, where is there a real person?"
"Don't talk about it elsewhere, how much is the real amount of Nanjing City now?" Chang Yu said sharply, and Zhao Zhilong was shocked: "It must be thirty or forty thousand." Chang Yu turned to look at Lu Daqi and saw him nodding slightly: "Throw away the old and the weak. For the sick, disabled and vacant, you can still make up for 40,000 yuan."
"The remaining 20,000, I guess everyone here has a share." As soon as Chang Yu finished his words, he immediately aroused the anger of the crowd: "This is unreasonable, it is just a slander." Even Chang Yanling also frowned, maybe because of Chang Yu Although he provoked public outrage, he still wanted to defend himself.
"Eunuch Chang, you came up indiscriminately and offended the entire Nanjing city. Why?" Xu Hongji, who had always said little and hid behind to use others as guns, finally couldn't sit still: "Everything must be done." Evidence, although you have made great achievements in taking charge of Dongchang, but you humiliate us with such arrogance, then we really have to seek justice from the emperor."
"Justice is in the heart of the people!" Chang Yu smiled slightly: "If you don't do evil things, don't be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door. Since you know that the governor is in charge of Dongchang, you should also know that it is not difficult for Dongchang to investigate such a small matter. As long as the governor wants to , we can find out everything clearly within a day. I am really not afraid of how big the implication will be. I will uproot him if he is ruthless. Dongchang can do this, and I think you all agree with it."
Threat, Chi Guoguo's threat.
There is no royal land in the world, no matter who you are, no matter how awesome you are, but as long as it is in the three-thirds of an acre of Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen is the boss, and Dongchang is his sword. If he wants to kill someone, he only needs to catch you. You can do it with the handle.
Regardless of whether you are a duke or a vassal king, are there not many people who have been demoted, had their titles reduced, or even been executed for their crimes? Coupled with Wei Zhongxian's experience, it will not be difficult for Dongchang to bring down anyone. Chang Yu's words also make it clear, I am not afraid of you, even if you come together! Unless you fight to the death and kill me first, but in the end, you will just wait for your family to be destroyed one by one.
"The military situation is urgent. The top priority is how to retreat the troops and quell the thieves. The investigation of corruption will not be mentioned for the time being." Liu Kongzhao came out to smooth things over again. Everyone agreed. Chang Yu chuckled. The counselor was indeed very thoughtful after that, so he looked at Liu Kongzhao said: "Based on your sincerity, how should we defeat the enemy?"
"Uh, this... I haven't led an army before and I don't dare to talk nonsense. Please ask Eunuch Chang for advice." Liu Kongzhao was very open, so Chang Yu stopped hiding it. He stood up and walked around with his hands behind his back, looking around the crowd: "Forty thousand soldiers." If the horse can scrape together the food, then the food and grass should also scrape together.”
Come, come, Xu Hongji and Zhao Zhilong looked at each other. As expected, he came to Nanjing just for food and grass.
