Wang Zhiren was in a good mood these days, until the news that Zhenjiang Commander-in-Chief Jiang Yuntai was defeated and killed reached Suzhou two days ago!
He and Jiang Yuntai were not close, but because they were in similar situations, they felt sad. Although he has been in the army for many years and has reached the rank of commander-in-chief, he is different from the commander-in-chief of Gao Jie and Huang Degong who fought with swords and guns. He relied on the promotion of his cousin Wang Zhixin to rise step by step. He rose from a junior officer in the Beijing camp step by step. He was promoted to Commander-in-Chief Su Song.
Su Song was the richest man in the world, but there were no bandits or Tatars nearby. The only threat was Gu San Mazi, a water thief at the mouth of the Yangtze River.
However, water thieves like Gu San Mazi are "rich thieves", not the kind of vicious thieves. The goal of people's thieves is not to steal a good life from stuttering, but to block the river to collect money in the hope of recruiting people - first get rich, then become an official, and become Zheng Zhilong on the Yangtze River.
The thieves on this road will not come to break Suzhou Prefecture or Songjiang Prefecture. At most, they will harass the coast as a bargaining chip to recruit security.
Therefore, Wang Zhiren's job during Su Song's tenure was mainly to cover smuggling, and he also made money from big merchants like Zheng Zhilong and Shen Tingyang!
Will those big merchants give him money?
of course!
He is in charge of the defense of Susong's Second Mansion and guarding the mouth of the Yangtze River!
Whether it is porcelain from Jingdezhen, silk and cotton from Nanjing, Yangzhou, and Suzhou, or salt from Huaiyang Prefecture. As long as you want to transport goods through the Yangtze River Estuary, you have to pass Wang Zhiren!
If he was to be blocked and refused to pass, could Zheng Zhilong and Shen Tingyang send an armed fleet to fight? That would be a rebellion.
Therefore, he made a lot of money during his tenure as Commander-in-Chief Su Song. However, before the fall of Beijing in March of the 17th year of Chongzhen, many people wanted to share the money he made! Not much actually ended up in his pocket.
And after the fall of Beijing, no one really cared or asked! Not only can you pocket all the money you make, but you can also appoint subordinates and recruit troops by yourself, making you the overlord of one party. Even the two prefects of Suzhou and Songjiang, who were originally suppressing him, did not need to pay attention.
Let's all keep the same and let everyone make their own money!
Even after traveling south to Yangzhou, Wang Zhiren's good life remained unchanged. The imperial court outside Beijing no longer had the authority it had in the past, and there was also a confrontation between the imperial court and the Nanjing Garrison Department.
In the eyes of him and his cronies, this is the time to sell at a high price! Xingchao and Nanjing are trying to win over him, a big warlord who has troops and is entrenched in Susong, right? His requirements are not high, as long as he can profit from Su Song's territory for a few more years, he will be satisfied.
The Nanjing Garrison Department did do as he wished, and ordered him to guard Su Song, protect the territory and the people, guard against pirates, and not leave without permission. Just when he was waiting for the government to send someone to win him over, the bad news came.
The Xingchao stationed in Yangzhou suddenly dealt a cruel blow to Jiang Yuntai, the commander-in-chief of Zhenjiang!
Five thousand musketeers and 1,500 cavalry crossed the river from Guazhou, landed at Jinshan, and then attacked Zhenjiang City with great momentum.
Jiang Yuntai, the commander-in-chief of Zhenjiang, lost his mind in desperation and actually ordered his troops to resist behind closed doors!
As soon as his men closed the city gate, they were frightened by the murderous armored cavalry and fire gun soldiers. After a burst of firecrackers, the soldiers guarding the city fled and surrendered, and some opened their doors to welcome the surrender.
Jiang Yuntai, the commander-in-chief of Zhenjiang, had no choice but to escape with his family and wanted to hide in Wang Zhiren's territory. As a result, they were soon overtaken by the Crown Prince's cavalry, and the whole family was taken to Yangzhou... It was probably more serious than bad!
Wang Zhiren knew that Jiang Yuntai had also sent things to Xingzai, and like him, he wanted to sell them at a price between Nanjing and Yangzhou. Unexpectedly, the court made no bid at all, they sent troops!
And the soldiers sent out are soldiers who can really fight!
Just when Wang Zhiren was so anxious that he didn't know what to do, Tang Ma came from Zhenjiang and asked him to go to Baoshan Station to wait for his cousin Wang Zhixin.
Wang Zhixin is carrying the king's orders this time and is here to convey the order of Prince Fujun!
"You, you are confused! Who do you think you are? Gao Jie? Huang Degong? Zuo Liangyu? Their commander-in-chief was beaten! Your commander-in-chief came from our family for you. He can Is it the same? Speaking of which, Jiang Yuntai is a little stronger than you! So what happened? It was over in less than half a day, the house was ransacked, and everyone was taken to Yangzhou. Not a single male in the family could survive, and they were all killed. Head! Those who want to be beheaded..."
In a house within the territory of Baoshan Institute, Wang Zhixin saw his fainted cousin and scolded him with threats.
"Brother, don't scare me." Wang Zhiren was still able to keep his composure, and he was really a bit brave. "There are so many ministers from all over the world who are as good as me. Qiantose Master won't kill them all, right?" "
"You, you..." Wang Zhixin was retorted by his brother, and his face turned a little blue with anger, "You idiot! Of course it is impossible for Qiantose Master to kill them all! But his five thousand army is... Drive over to Su Song. If you dare to resist, you will be the chicken that kills the chicken to show the monkey! Do you want to be a chicken or a monkey? "
Be a chicken or a monkey? This is a problem!
Wang Zhiren thought about it seriously and replied: "Then I'll be a monkey!"
"Then quickly pack up the navy and servants, and come with our family to Yangzhou to plead guilty!" Wang Zhixin said, "Let Qiu Futai take over Suzhou and Songjiang."
Qiu Yu, the governor, has a lot of power, and he also manages the army and the people! These are extraordinary times, and when it’s time to delegate power, we must!
Therefore, the governors he appointed, including Su Guansheng, Lu Zhenfei, Fang Gongyue, and the incoming Qiu Yu, all had full power to manage the military and the people. However, their jurisdiction is not as big as a province, in fact, it is two prefectures.
Su Guansheng was in charge of the second mansion of Denglai, Lu Zhenfei was in charge of the second mansion of Huaiyang, Fang Gongyue was in charge of the second mansion of Zhenchang, and Fang Yu was in charge of the second mansion of Susong. The territory is not large, but the authority is very high. They are both governors and chief towns! At the same time, he also knew a mansion.
Of course, although the governor and the chief town are both held by one person, these two positions belong to two systems. The governor is a civil servant, and above him are the six ministries of the cabinet. The headquarters is the military attache, that is, the commander-in-chief, and the superior is the Generalissimo's Office of Fujun. The subordinates of the governor are the chief envoy, the inspector-general and the prefect. The subordinates of the general town are the guards under its jurisdiction and the navy and land corps attached to the general town department.
By the way, the Huaiyang regiment training that Lu Zhenfei pulled up will later be adapted into the Huaiyang Navy, the First Division of the New Army to overcome difficulties, and the Huaiyang Patrol. Among them, the First Division of the New Army to overcome the difficulties, which has more than 8,000 people, will be under the direct jurisdiction of the Generalissimo's Mansion. It is the sixth division after the five divisions on the left, center and right of the New Army to overcome the difficulties.
Wang Zhiren, who was about to lose his military power, was unwilling to accept it. He looked at his brother and asked: "Then my money..."
Wang Zhixin glared at his brother: "Children doesn't want your money, and he doesn't want your life either. Chitose only wants your military power! But every acre of the land you occupied in Susong must be handed over!"
...
At the same time that Wang Zhiren handed over the military power of Su and Song to Qiu Yu, Huang Binqing on Zhoushan Island in Ningbo was also facing the same problem.
Lu Zhenfei and Zheng Sen took a sand boat from the Sand Boat Gang and arrived at Shenjiamen Port on Zhoushan Island. The two of them came to persuade Huang Binqing to hand over his military power and then go to court to serve as the commander of the naval guard.
The naval guard commander is not a small officer, but his actual power is not great. Even worse than Wu Xiang and Cao Youyi, because there is no "navy" in the troops directly under the jurisdiction of the Generalissimo's Mansion. The "Navy" of Beiyang Governor Shen Tingyang was chartered and not under the control of the Navy Guard. Therefore, there are only two inland river fleets under the Navy Guard, the Yangtze River Navy and the soon-to-be-established Huaiyang Navy.
The strength of these two fleets is of course very weak. The Huaiyang Navy only has cannon ships. As for the Yangtze River Navy, in addition to canoes and sand ships, there were only two centipede ships brought by Gu San Mazi that had combat effectiveness.
Even if Huang Binqing is willing to hand over his 800 boatmen and two centipede boats, the Yangtze River Navy will only have four centipede boats and 1,600 elite sailors with real combat effectiveness.
And the firearms on these four centipede ships plus one, that is, 8 12-pound Hongyi cannons and 160 turtle-dove-foot fire cannons.
But Huang Binqing did not dare not to hand over military power, because Zheng Sen had arrived, and he was also the senior brother of Prince Zhu Cihong, who was his confidant!
Huang Binqing might be able to resist Zhu Cihong alone, but if Zheng Zhilong, the overlord of Nanyang and East Asia, was added to the mix, he would not dare to resist.
Moreover, Zheng Sen also offered Huang Binqing generous terms on behalf of Zhu Cixiang to serve as the commander of the naval guard of the Generalissimo's Palace!
