"Shi Junmen, reinforcements have arrived, and three hundred cavalry have arrived!"
The one who shouted was of course Wang Zhongxiao, who was confident of winning!
At this time, he had already led the 300 cavalrymen who were marching cautiously and slowly to catch up with the 1,300 vanguard army led by Shi Lang and Cao Yin who were dominating a large town and feasting.
There were more than 1,300 people, and more than 100 tables were opened just outside this town. This banquet was a "labor army banquet" hosted by the local gentry with money. Wuxi cuisine was sweet and glutinous, including chicken, duck, and fish. Yes, there is also rice wine from Datan Datan.
The main table where Shi Lang was sitting was made up of four Eight Immortals tables. The dishes were all prepared by chefs invited from Wuxi County. Every plate was shiny and delicious. At the same table as Shi Lang, there were also the five dog officials of the Qing Dynasty brought by Wang Zhongxiao. Jingchuan, Zhang Jingke, Wang Shengming, Zhu Xu, and Jiang Zixu were all working on the table when they saw Wang Zhongxiao coming on horseback. , all stood up to greet him. Shi Lang looked fine, smiling and not panicking at all. He was indeed a famous general!
The five candidate counties looked like they were about to cry. They came to Jiangsu to be officials, but they were dragged to fight by Wang Zhongxiao!
That Wang Zhongxiao brought people to arrest. No, when he invited them, he said that there must be many tongzhi, tongpan, county magistrates, officials and officials in Suzhou who have fled or are "not involved in the king's affairs" (that is, let Ao Bai people were hacked to death!), they just went to fill the gap! He also said that those are all Suzhou’s shortcomings and can be filled without spending any money, which is a huge advantage!
But is this advantage so easy to take advantage of?
This guy is taking advantage of Obai! He will be hacked to death!
If they were not forced by the "family members, masters, and squad leaders" sent by their creditors, they would have escaped long ago.
"Shi Junmen, how's the situation out front?" Wang Zhongxiao got off his horse and strode to the banquet. Before he even sat down, he asked loudly.
"It's not good," Shi Lang tried his best to put on a worried expression, "Mu Fantai just sent someone to urge us to send troops. Now he has withdrawn to Xushuguan and collected hundreds of remaining soldiers, barely holding the place. close."
"Has all the city of Suzhou been lost?" Wang Zhongxiao asked.
Shi Lang shook his head: "No, not all was lost. The remaining three camps in the north of the city, Humble Administrator's Garden, Qimen, and Loumen were defended to the death by Fubiao Army Staff General Zuo Yuanyang!"
Jingchuan, one of the "Five Great Dog Officials", looked impressed. He raised his thumb and praised, "Oh, Zuo Yuanyang is so powerful. He can actually block Oboi!"
"It is a blessing to the country and the country to have such a general in the Qing Dynasty!" Zhang Jingke, another "dog official", also picked up Brother Thumb and agreed.
Chen Jian, who came with Wang Zhongxiao, also took the opportunity to make suggestions: "This is great! Now the third prince Zhu was captured alive by Mu Fantai, and the three gates of Gusu City and the three camps in the north of the city were captured by Zuo Shenrong. If we hold on, it seems that Obai is doomed. As long as our reinforcements arrive, Obai will definitely be defeated!"
Shi Lang said with a smile: "Wang Guard, I also think that Obai will definitely lose. How about we set off after dinner? We are already less than 150 miles away from Suzhou. We will continue to travel day and night and strive to win within two days. Come here. As long as we enter Suzhou before Obai captures the north of Suzhou City, we can force Oboi away even if we hold one city gate!"
"Okay! I listen to Shi Junmen!" Wang Zhongxiao nodded heavily, "After we finish this meal, we will set off to Suzhou to play Obai!"
Although he really wanted to trick Shi Lang, his plan couldn't keep up with the changes - he didn't expect that Jie Shu's guy from Beijing to Jiangning, which is more than 2,000 miles away, actually walked for almost a hundred days, an average of twenty miles per day. The result was that he was stunned It was Shi Lang who arrived more than a month after the departure time with a thousand Fujian soldiers. He didn't expect Chen Yonghua, Wang Dapao, and He Tianran to be so good at fighting! They casually launched a "Pingjiang Riot" and captured most of Suzhou City!
Now he couldn't stop Shi Lang from regaining most of Suzhou's merit. And he could share at least half of this merit! He is now a third-grade imperial guard. If he achieves another great feat, he will be promoted to a second-grade general soldier later on, right?
Then he started fighting with Wu Sangui. It would be much better for him to be a general soldier in a critical place than to be a spy in Beijing!
Outside Suzhou's Changmen, there is a ten-mile long street, a prosperous and wealthy place that is one of the first and second-class in the world. Now it is both desolate and lively. It was desolate because there were not many water boats left in the river in the middle of the long street. All of them disappeared overnight and they ran really fast. The liveliness was due to the shopkeepers and clerks of the shops who couldn't leave the "temple" and were not doing business today. They were all standing outside the shops beating gongs and drums and eating pots of pulp to welcome Master Wang!
Oh, they welcomed the King's Division, of course they welcomed the King's Division of the Qing Dynasty led by Wang Zhongxiao and Shi Lang who were about to become "tired as a dog"! The entire army of the Ming Dynasty had been gone for two days. They left from Changmen and took four "heavy" watercrafts. Under the banner of the "Ming Dynasty Northern Expeditionary Army", they slipped along the river into Taihu Lake. . The merchants here on Shili Long Street have all seen it with their own eyes!
However, the fact that the King of the Ming Dynasty has left is currently hidden from everyone. This is the cleverness of Zuo Yuanyang and Zuo Shenrong!
Now the governor-general, governor, military sect, and Wang Zhongxiao, the great spy chief Nianganzhang, led three thousand elites from Jiangning day and night to perform meritorious deeds! It’s not a trip in vain!
The chaos in Suzhou this time was too ugly. The third prince Zhu and Obai didn't have many people. They sneaked into a provincial city quietly, and then launched a sudden attack. They captured most of the city with almost no effort, and also took down most of the city. Almost all the yamen were taken down, looted, burned down, and ran away by boat with the property snatched from the yamen.
And Zuo Yuanyang, the general of the Fubiao Central Army with thousands of troops, did not dare to fight when Prince Zhu San and Ao Bai made a big fuss in Suzhou Prefecture, and did not even dare to pursue Zhu San and Ao Bai when they retreated majestically. Chai, who has been hiding in the Humble Administrator's Garden eating, drinking and having fun with Wu Sangui's "daughter" and now has the nerve to go and regain the lost ground alone?
If he dares to do this, Duolong, the governor of Liangjiang, Ma Hu, the governor of Jiangsu, and Wang Zhongxiao, the chief of Niangan, will immediately make him suffer. Can't you defeat Obai? Well, next time we fight Wu Sangui, you will be the first to die as a vanguard general!
Fortunately, Zuo Yuanyang was a smart official. Although he had known that Prince Zhu San and Ao Bai were gone, he not only did not report it to the superiors, but also kept reporting for help, asking Duolong and Ma Hu to come to Suzhou to rescue them. ! Moreover, he also exaggerated the number of troops of the third prince Zhu and Obai by twenty or thirty times, saying that they were thousands of insurrectionary troops!
All in all, he defended the northern part of Suzhou City with only a thousand men, and withstood the attack of thousands of men commanded by Obai, and persisted until reinforcements arrived. He was so loyal and brave.
In addition to working with his Shaoxing master to study how to write reports to deceive his superiors, Zuo Yuanyang has been actively contacting chambers of commerce inside and outside Suzhou these two days - he needs to raise money to reward the heavenly soldiers!
Although the "thief soldiers" of Prince Zhu and Ao Bai were "no criminals in autumn" before and did not rob the city of Suzhou (many businesses were still robbed, but it was not the work of rebels), the number of people who came back was 3,000. Qingtian soldiers!
If the rewards are not in place, the Heavenly Soldiers will let the merchants of Suzhou know what the Heavenly Soldiers are invincible!
"Shi Junmen, Wang Shiwei, Cao Wei, and various chambers of commerce in Suzhou have raised two hundred thousand taels of silver to reward the heavenly soldiers. This is to reward all brothers. Duozhijun, Ma Futai, and General E have also raised Thank you very much!" Zuo Yuanyang, who was ten miles out of the city to greet them, was currently introducing the enemy situation in Suzhou City while accompanying Shi Lang, Wang Zhongxiao and others leading the army into the city.
The enemy situation looks very serious!
"The rebels in the city?" Wang Zhongxiao continued to ask about the enemy's situation.
"The rebels. The rebels still occupy most of the city!" Zuo Yuanyang said, "But they are gone. They will be wiped out as soon as the heavenly soldiers arrive!"
"Oh" Wang Zhongxiao was a little worried, "They, they still occupy most of the city?"
Why is this different from the plan? Shouldn't they escape into Taihu Lake? Could it be that Chen Yonghua had bad intentions when he saw that Suzhou City was doing well? It shouldn’t be!
"You don't have to worry, Guard Wang," Zuo Yuanyang said with a smile, "The rebels are really almost finished. We only have Duo Zhijun, Ma Futai, Shi Junmen and the three thousand heavenly soldiers led by Guard Wang!"
"Oh" Wang Zhongxiao understood a little bit, "Then can we catch Oboi? Please give me a guarantee."
"It's a bit difficult." Zuo Yuanyang shook his head, "Obai may have run away!"
Totally got it! Chen Yonghua and the others ran away long ago! It's just that Zuo Yuanyang will be an official and will not "take all" the credit! Yes, yes, he is a good official of the Qing Dynasty! The bigger such an official becomes, the faster the Qing Dynasty will die!
Wang Zhongxiao asked with interest: "How many rewards can I get?"
As he spoke, he made a beheading gesture.
Zuo Yuanyang stretched out a slap: "Five hundred!"
"Five hundred is quite a lot!" Wang Zhongxiao said as he thought: You're such a leftist person! He actually killed five hundred people and took credit for it? Doesn't your conscience hurt?
Zuo Yuanyang explained: "Some of them were killed by the lower officials when they attacked the Humble Administrator's Garden, the stronghold of Prince Zhu III. The rest were either rebels killed when suppressing the ground, and some were picked up from the ground." Cut from the corpse."
That's not bad. Wang Zhongxiao nodded and said: "The emperor should be satisfied if the five hundred heads are doubled. Shi Junmen, how many do you want?"
"Fifty," Shi Lang smiled and stretched out his hand, "I'll give you less, fifty is enough."
The heart is not dark yet
Wang Zhong said filially: You treacherous sycophant, wouldn’t you want more? If you want so little, my master and that careless Governor Mayu won't target you!
"That's okay!" Although Wang Zhongxiao was dissatisfied, he still nodded and agreed, "Then give me three hundred points. It's not me who wants it, but the supervision cavalry team and the Fubiao cavalry team below."
"That's three hundred and five, and there are still six hundred and five left." Zuo Yuanyang said with a smile, "Xiaguan will divide the two hundred and five. Xiaguan's Fubiao Chinese Army suffered a lot of losses in this battle. If they gain too little, they will not be able to win." Good reward."
"How much did you lose?" Wang Zhongxiao asked.
Zuo Yuanyang stretched out his hand and pinched the number "six", "More than 600 casualties!"
"Six hundred? That's so much." Wang Zhongxiao was shocked at first, then suddenly stopped his exaggerated expression, looked at Zuo Yuanyang and asked, "Zuo Shenrong, can you settle the account?"
Zuo Yuanyang smiled and said: "It's a bad rule in the army. There are 2,500 soldiers in charge of the subordinate officers. With so many officers, a total of 20% of the quota will be empty."
"Oh, then you are an upright official!" Wang Zhongxiao smiled and nodded, "I gained six hundred and lost five hundred to you. My master's supervision will definitely have to settle the account. Shi Junmen, how about you?"
"I, I don't have this rule in Fujian," Shi Lang smiled bitterly and shook his head, "We live near the sea and eat from the sea."
"Yes, yes," Wang Zhongxiao nodded, "Shi Junmen, you are the admiral of the Fujian Navy, so your losses this time are not small!"
"That's right!" Shi Lang looked regretful, "If I had known now, why bother in the first place!"
Shi Lang was originally a good naval admiral, and he also said that his ancestors were smugglers, and he was familiar with the people and the roads, so he could make a fortune just by lying down. If he hadn’t been bent on avenging his family and clamoring every day to train 20,000 to 30,000 naval troops to level Taiyuan Island, he would not have let Geng Jimao and Liu Zhaolin (Governor of Fujian) team up to trick him - Taiyuan Island would be destroyed If the situation is settled, how can others support the bandits and make money through smuggling (in fact, you can still make money, but no one can predict it)?
"Shi Junmen, then report a few fewer casualties. Report fifty!" Wang Zhongxiao said, "Just change the name later and recruit them back."
"Okay!" Shi Lang smiled, "I'll just listen to you, Guard Wang!"
Wang Zhongxiao calculated again, "That means a gain of six hundred, a loss of more than a thousand, and the capture of the third prince Zhu. Considering that the opponent is Obai, the emperor should be very happy. By the way, where is the daughter of King Pingxi? "
"He committed suicide by throwing himself into a well!" Zuo Yuanyang replied, "The body has been soaked in the well for several days and has turned white and smelly. Do you want to see it?"
Have a look? Let Wu Xiaotuo come and see it? Wang Zhongxiao thought to himself: Let's forget it. It's an ugly death. Don't scare the little dodder. How timid the little dodder is!
"It's nothing," Wang Zhongxiao shook his head, "Just report it to the police as the daughter of King Pingxi. Have you searched the Humble Administrator's Garden? Is there any evidence to prove that Wang Yongkang is the third prince Zhu?"
Zuo Yuanyang shook his head and said: "How can we do a search? However, the hands and feet of the people down there are always unclean."
"It doesn't matter, just don't search it!" Wang Zhongxiao said, "As long as you search carefully, you can always find clues, right?"
As he spoke, Wang Zhongxiao glanced at Shi Lang and Zuo Yuanyang - the ironclad proof that Wang Yongkang was the third prince of Zhu was carried by Wang Zhongxiao with him! As long as Shi Lang and Zuo Yuanyang stay out of the way, that's fine.
"That's right, that's right." Shi Lang nodded immediately, "Wang Guard, you are the stick leader and you know your stuff. You have to do this!"
As long as this Shi Lang is not involved in "killing the Zheng family", his mind is quite clear.
Zuo Yuanyang also nodded in agreement: "That's right, as long as Guard Wang searches for it, he will definitely find the ironclad evidence. As long as there is ironclad evidence, then everyone will have a way out!"
This person is even more sober. He is a bannerman. He followed Zuo Menggeng and joined the Zhenghuang Banner of the Han Army. Can you still understand the things of deceiving the superiors and concealing the truth?
Moreover, if you want to get to the bottom of the battle in Suzhou, you will find that the truth this time is that the third prince Zhu and Ao Bai led people into the city, and then killed and looted, burned many government offices, and chopped them down along the way. Many officials and soldiers died, then some official warehouses were robbed, many government offices were set on fire, and finally everyone disappeared. No matter how you look at this, the imperial court has failed!
And the only most reliable way to turn defeat into victory is to package Wang Yongkang into the real Prince Zhu!
As long as Prince Zhu San is captured, the battle in Suzhou can be whitewashed as a victory, and officials at all levels involved can be promoted and make a fortune.
Wang Zhongxiao laughed loudly and said: "If you search carefully for evidence, there will always be some!"
When Wang Zhongxiao and Shi Lang "attacked" Suzhou City, a 1,400-strong army led by Duolong, the governor of Liangjiang and Mahu, the governor of Jiangsu, had already arrived at Xushuguan in the north of Suzhou City.
Xushuguan is not a military pass, but a bank pass, which is a tax collection pass. It was established in the early Ming Dynasty. It has been 300 years now and has developed from a bank pass into a prosperous city. town.
After the unlucky Mu Tianyan withdrew from Suzhou City, he retreated to Xushuguan and continued to "stand firm and wait for help." Xushuguan was the bottom line, and he could no longer retreat! Because Mu Tianyan, the chief envoy of Jiangsu, and some big businessmen doing business in Xushuguan had "old ties", he could still raise a life-saving sum from them.
If Xushuguan cannot be saved, then Mu Tianyan has no money left to save himself.
Today, we finally got the "strong reinforcements" from Duolong and Mahu, both of whom were ashen-faced!
Duolong and Mahu were tricked by Mu Tianyan this time! Of course they would not give him a good look. Neither of them wanted to see him after they arrived at Xushuguan. Later, Mu Tianyan was cruel and gave all the money he had raised, and then he got the opportunity to meet them.
Although he saw Duolong and Ma Hu, Mu Tianyan didn't know how to beg for mercy, "Duozhijun, Mafutai, humble duty, humble duty this time."
"Don't talk about those useless things!" Seeing Mu Tianyan's hesitant look, Duolong waved his hand impatiently, "Just one, is Wang Yongkang the real third prince Zhu?"
"Yes, yes, yes, is he really the Third Prince Zhu?" Ma Hu also asked anxiously, "Tell the truth!"
"This." Mu Tianyan shook his head with a sad look on his face, "It's a humble position. Even a humble position doesn't have confidence in him. He won't admit it!"
"What does it matter whether he admits it or not?" Duolong's eyes widened, "This matter must have irrefutable evidence, and it must be confirmed by the two guards, Wang Shikai and Cao Yin!"
"That's right," Ma Hu nodded repeatedly, "If they don't recognize each other, we'll all be in trouble!" He pointed at Mu Tianyan, "When the time comes, you go to Caishikou, and I'll go to Ning Guta!"
"But, but" Mu Tianyan looked at Duolong, "Duozhijun, Guard Wang is your beloved disciple, why can't you say a word?"
"Is this what I can say in one sentence?" Duolong glared again, "Have you ever thought about how relevant this matter is? How is Suzhou doing now? Has everything been recovered?"
"about there."
Duolong said: "Then hurry up and take Wang Yongkang to the city to discuss with Wang Shikai to see how we can settle the case!"
As he spoke, Duolong glanced at Ma Hu again. Governor Ma understood what he meant and quickly stood up and said: "Duo Zhijun, Mu Fantai and I will go and talk to the king's guards!"
"Okay, bring my film and talk to Shikai!"
(End of chapter)
