Hundreds of cavalry, surrounded by the King of Chu of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the general in charge of Hunan, and the general of Pingnan, Wu Guogui, were walking on the official road from Chenzhou, Hunan to Shaozhou, Guangdong.
Behind Mr. Wu were countless rolled dark red flags, followed by endless cavalry infantry and artillery dragged by mules and horses. Emperor Wu Sangui of the Great Zhou Dynasty finally played his trump card!
After Wu Guogui's death, in addition to the direct descendants of his father and son, there were also Li Benshen, the general manager of Guizhou, Zu Zeqing, the general manager of Chang, Li, Yong and Kuidong, and the governor of Jiangxi under Wu Guogui (who was in Jiangxi before Wu Sangui entered Jiangxi in a big way) Fighting against the Qing army) Wanji, as well as the 40,000 army sent by Wu Sangui to Wu Guogui under the general command of Wu Shifan, the grandson of the Emperor of Zhou Dynasty. Nowadays, the capital that Wu Sangui can still use, except for the five thousand personal guards, has all been under Wu Guogui's command. There are a total of 90,000 infantry and cavalry, and the ammunition, food and grass can be pieced together with all their strength, which can sustain more than a month of fierce fighting. In order to support this raid, Wu Guogui has invested all the income he earned from operating in Hunan for several years.
Although the capital invested is not small, every Zhou Jun soldier knows the wealth of Guangdong! Everyone's faces are full of desire and expectation, but behind this desire and expectation is a deep concern for the country and oneself. Bad news that Wu Sangui was seriously ill, the war in Jiangxi was critical, the Yangtze Navy was destroyed, etc. had long spread among the army. Everyone understands that this battle is already Wu Sangui's last ditch effort. If he wins, this capricious old emperor can still hand over a relatively stable empire to his descendants. If he fails, the country he founded will be in ruins!
The eyes of countless people were just following the figure of Wu Guogui who was walking in front. He was tall and burly, and his imposing body stood straight on the horse. Among Wu Sangui's three sons, the Third Master Wu, the Second Master Wu who is now staying in Shaanxi, and the Second Master Wu's son, the Young Master Wu, are all handsome men who can stand alone, and their past achievements are quite outstanding. But the old emperor didn't know what he was thinking. This time when he entered Jiangxi and went to the south of the Yangtze River, he actually left out the three most handsome men of the old Wu family and let the two idiot sons-in-law, Prince Wu Yingxiong and Xia Guoxiang and Hu Guozhu, play the leading roles.
In fact, everyone still knows a little about Wu Sangui's thoughts, which is that he is worried about the Xuanwu Gate and the Jingnan Campaign. In the final analysis, the old emperor is old and his days are numbered. The heirs behind him are all very capable and have developed their own powers. This situation is simply a replica of the three brothers Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin and Li Yuanji! That's why Wu Sangui was eager to support the prince Wu Yingxiong and help him establish his prestige. However, this arrangement was completely messed up, and Emperor Wu was severely hit. This gave everyone an ominous premonition in their hearts.
How long can Emperor Wu last? Once the old emperor is no longer around, will the Wuzhou kingdom he worked so hard to build fall apart because of the three sons' struggle for power?
At the front of the team, a group of knights came flying forward, holding a large flag with the word "Jia". They must have been looking for Wu Guogui's royal flag. The first rider was a fair-skinned young man in his twenties. He saw a man wearing a silver plate armor that combined Chinese and Western styles, and he was riding a long-legged Western horse. After Wu Guogui arrived, he immediately waved his followers to stop, and then flew to Wu Guogui himself.
Wu Guogui knew this young man and knew that he was Jia Hanfu's youngest son, Xingliu, named Guozhu. He was originally the son of Jia Hanfu's wife and was not in the banner. After Jia Han returned to the Han Dynasty, he took his son home and granted him the title of Yizhang County Magistrate. This Yizhang County Magistrate was not an ordinary county magistrate, but a hereditary and irreplaceable Yizhang County Magistrate. !
Because the two states of Jia Fuhan were vassal territories, it was Kangxi who granted him the title, and he took it with him. The magistrates of these two states and the county magistrates below them all have the surname Jia! Either Lao Jia’s son or his grandson!
Moreover, Lao Jia had made a will early. After his death, he would divide the counties under these two states among his six sons, and they would be passed down from generation to generation.
Although this system of hereditary county orders was not officially approved by the Ming court, before Li Fuchen went north, he had issued an edict in the name of the Southern King of the Ming Dynasty, allowing the old Jia family to inherit the two states and retire with the country.
However, this matter approved by King Nan was revoked by King Nan's daughter-in-law in the name of the Crown Prince of England. All the Jia family members were recalled to Guangdong and handed over to Li Jizhen for "care". Only Jia Guozhu was a martial arts lecturer in Guangdong. He was a college graduate and had been leading troops in the Guangdong army (he, as a hereditary county magistrate, could be appointed as acting official). He was very familiar with Wu Xiaotuo and had served as the captain of the guard of the British Palace for a period of time, so he was sent by Wu Xiaotuo to recruit Jia Hanfu. of the Hunan Army, and then let him garrison Shaozhou.
Jia Guozhu was also very familiar with Wu Guogui. When he was the captain of the British Royal Guards, he sent gifts to Wu Guogui many times on Wu Xiaotuo's orders. The horse Wu Guogui is riding now, the armor he is wearing, and the flintlock guns used by Wu Guogui's soldiers were all sent to Changsha with the help of Jia Guozhu. Every time Wu Guogui would summon Jia Guozhu and ask him about the situation in Guangdong and the Guangdong National People's Army.
But no matter how good the relationship is, it may not be able to withstand the test of confiscating the territory, right?
In fact, recovering feudal territories has been the national policy implemented by the Ming Dynasty after Li Zhongshan became the general!
Even vassal kings like Li Zhongshan and Zheng Jing have already "returned their books", let alone a small lord of the Jia family's level? However, after Li Zhongshan and Zheng Jing "returned their copyrights", they could also obtain more benefits by controlling the real power of the Ming court and local governments. It was not really cut off from the tribunals, but became part of the central government. However, vassals of the Jia family's level are not treated so well. After being expelled from the vassal, they can only become a rich man. As a "little six son" born from a concubine, Jia Guozhu even wants to be a rich man. . Even if his father could still get a duke, it would not be his turn to become a duke.
In addition, the Jia Xiang army also suffered heavy losses in this incident of reducing the vassal state. Because Jia Hanfu had no military pay to give to his subordinates, his army could only become completely feudal! He divided the land in Guiyang and Chenzhou into two to three thousand "villages", and then granted them to the soldiers of Jia's Xiang Army. These "villages" directly provided the soldiers with food, clothing and equipment. In fact, these "villages" were turned into fiefdoms of soldiers!
Therefore, in Guiyang and Chenzhou, people call these soldiers of the Jia Xiang Army "Ten Households". Although there are only ten households and a thousand acres of fiefdom, this is an ancestral inheritance. Where is the Guangdong People's Army? How many military salaries can be compared?
Therefore, all these "ten households" who followed Jia Guozhu to Guangdong were dissatisfied with the Mingying Palace!
Driven by these people and deprived of his own interests, it was very reasonable for Jia Guozhu to resolutely abandon Ming and join Zhou.
Moreover, Wu Guogui did not let his hard work go in vain, and had promised to seal the entire Chenzhou to him immediately! When Guangdong is conquered, Nanxiong Prefecture in Guangdong and Nan'an Prefecture in Jiangxi will be granted to the Jia family!
Now seeing Jia Guozhu coming as promised, Wu Guogui smiled and waved to him: "Six sons, come here quickly, come here quickly. My father's imperial edict to confer you the title of Duke of Guiyang (Chenzhou's ancient name was Guiyang County) is here!" From now on, Chenzhou is yours!"
"Really?" Jia Guozhu was surprised when he heard this, and he got off his horse and knelt down to receive the imperial edict.
Wu Guogui waved his hand and said: "This is not a place to receive an order, this is a canonization edict!"
"Yes, yes, to your Majesty, I have prepared camps and ships in Lechang. Your army can be stationed immediately. We will rest for two days, and then we will take the ship south and take the Wujiang River to Beijiang. It will take less than ten days. The soldiers can enter Guangzhou!"
Upon hearing this, Wu Guogui nodded with satisfaction and asked, "How is the situation in Guangzhou? Are you prepared?"
"Of course Guangzhou is on guard," Jia Guozhu replied with a smile, "but in such a hurry, the princess has no place to mobilize an army that can resist a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers. This matter must be done quickly! Otherwise, all the people in Guangdong will wait until When activated, two hundred thousand musketeers can be pulled out!"
"Two hundred thousand?" Wu Guogui was startled, "That many?"
"Of course!" Jia Guozhu replied, "Foshan Town alone has no less than 200,000 craftsmen! One-third of them already have Chinese identity. And most of them are proficient in using flintlock guns! After all, flintlock guns The gun was made by them!"
The mobilization capacity of a military-industrial center city is of course far beyond the imagination of feudal warlords like Wu Guogui. After all, the population density of a handicraft city is very high, with many young and middle-aged people, and handicraft production also pays attention to discipline and precision. If the products of this city If it happens to be flintlock muskets, bronze cannons, gunpowder, bullets, and cannonballs, this is simply an Eastern version of the "Old District of Paris"!
However, Wu Guogui still did not intend to give up. He nodded heavily and said: "I understand, Liu Zi, lead the way. Let's go to Guangzhou and Foshan together!"
"okay!"
When the 90,000-strong army led by Wu Guogui followed Jia Guozhu and marched into Guangdong, they went to raid Li Zhongshan's Guangdong lair. His good brother Wu Yingxiong has been surrounded by a group of Ming troops who "changed their clothes" in Jiujiang City.
"It's not good, uncle, something serious is going to happen."
An old servant who had followed him all the way from Beijing flew into the study room of Prince Wu Yingxiong and startled Wu Yingxiong who was having a conversation with his father-in-law Guo Zhuangtu.
"What? What's wrong?" Wu Yingxiong looked at this older servant and asked quickly, "Is it my father?"
"No, no" the old servant shook his head, "it's the Ming army and the others arrayed outside the city!"
"Hey, what's the matter?" Wu Yingxiong breathed a sigh of relief, not afraid at all, "Li Datou is my son-in-law, what's there to be afraid of? I'm just not showing up now. If I show up, he will definitely let me go. .”
Wu Yingxiong had made some calculations during this period, and felt that Li Zhongshan would not kill him or arrest him no matter what. Not to mention how close the relationship between the two parties was, killing him would make Wu Zhou's scattered sands gather around Wu Yingqi, and Li Zhongshan would not He can do this!
Moreover, Li Fuchen, Li Zhongshan and the Wu family were actually two small hills under the same big gang. Not only were they intermarried, but many people also had experience in both hills. Therefore, the two sides only decide who is superior and who is superior, not life or death.
Even if Wu Yingxiong is caught by Li Zhongshan, his life will not be harmed and his prosperity and wealth are still guaranteed!
As for Guo Zhuangtu, he was even less worried. He and Li Fuchen and Li Zhongshan were old acquaintances, and they were still relatives. They could still serve as officials in the Li family camp.
So at this moment, he was still smiling and begging Wu Yingxiong, "Prince, please go out and meet Wang Datou. You are Xiaoxian's father. Please tell him not to push too hard."
"That's right," Wu Yingxiong said with a smile, "I am Xiaoji's father, and I am also Xiaotu's uncle!"
"Prince!" The old slave suddenly interrupted, "Don't think about the Ming army changing clothes outside!"
"Change clothes?" Wu Yingxiong was stunned, "What clothes do you want to change into?"
"The red scarf and red robe were replaced by a blue robe and a white hat. The white hat is the white Fan Yang felt hat!"
Wu Yingxiong still didn't understand: "The Ming army changed their uniforms? Aren't they the Red Scarf Army?"
"Then, then, isn't that the dress of King Chuang's army?" Guo Zhuangtu had already jumped up, accidentally knocking over the chessboard, and the black and white chess pieces fell to the ground.
"What? Li Chuang?" Wu Yingxiong became anxious now and stood up immediately, "Quickly, let someone make it easier for me to wear armor! I want to go to the city to watch the formation!"
"yes!"
In the south of Jiujiang City, at the foot of Mount Lu, there is already a world of white felts!
Fifty or sixty thousand "white felt hats" have formed fifty or sixty battalion square formations, forming a vast expanse of white. In front of this expanse of white, hundreds of bronze artillery pieces have been placed. There are still many cavalry standing in the gaps between the artillery groups!
Right in front of the large formation composed of these "white felt hats" stood two large flags, one with a large "Chuang" character embroidered on it, and the other with the word "Fengtian" embroidered on it.
Between the two big flags, a horse stood, also wearing a white hat and green clothes, with white beard and hair, and only one eye, looking at the city wall in the distance with a burning gaze.
This old man is, of course, Li Zicheng. When he saw the disturbance of flags and banners on the city wall, he thought it was Wu Sangui who was coming. He opened his throat and shouted: "Wu Sangui inside heard this, you have been surrounded by people. Come out quickly and surrender without losing your dignity." If you hold the position of a feudal lord, you will only die if you resist to the end. This time, there will be no Manchu Tatars coming to save you, an old traitor! Hahaha."
As soon as he finished shouting, the tens of thousands of troops below also shouted together: "Wu Sangui inside heard this, you have been surrounded by people, come out and surrender quickly."
When tens of thousands of people shouted, Wu Yingxiong on the top of the city was dumbfounded.
How did the good Li Zhongshan turn into Li Zicheng in the blink of an eye? Isn't this life-threatening? Li Zhongshan is easy to negotiate with, but Li Zicheng will not let him go! Li Zicheng and Wu Sangui are sworn enemies and will never stop fighting! The kind that you have to fight even if you die!
Wu Yingxiong did not dare to surrender to Li Zicheng. If he surrendered, he would die!
Thinking of this, Wu Yingxiong almost cried. Two days ago, when Li Zhongshan was still there, he sent someone to negotiate. If he had shown his head at that time, it would have been saved.
Well now, it’s Li Zicheng’s turn to claim his life!
"Fire! Fire! Fire quickly." Wu Yingxiong knew he couldn't run away, so he gritted his teeth and ordered to fire, "Hit me hard and kill Li Zicheng!"
"boom"
Several red cannons mounted on the walls of Jiujiang City had already been loaded with ammunition. The gunners heard Wu Yingxiong's order and started firing without saying a word. However, Li Zicheng was still a little far away from the head of Jiujiang City, so it was impossible to hit accurately with the red cannon.
However, Li Zicheng was not interested in being used as a target. After laughing a few times, he galloped back and returned to his main formation of the Chinese army.
As soon as he retreated, the artillery in front of Li Zicheng's formation also roared!
These cannons are not all light artillery that Li Zicheng pulled out from Mubu Mountain. A considerable number of them are twelve-pound cannons that Li Zhongshan transported by waterway. They are sharp weapons that can be used to destroy city walls!
For a time, the city of Jiujiang was filled with smoke!
The Battle of Jiujiang has officially begun!
At the same time, on an official road going south to the west of Mount Lu, large groups of infantrymen carrying muskets and wearing red scarves and robes were taking great strides, marching southward as fast as they could fly. Li Zhongshan, whom Wu Yingxiong missed so much, is now among the musketeers of this brigade.
And the reason why he hurried in such a hurry was because he was worried that his father Li Fuchen would fall into Wu Sangui's scheme. Because Wu Zhou's army surrounding Nanchang suddenly broke up and retreated towards Yuanzhou!
This is obviously Wu Sangui's attempt to lure Li Fuchen to the Hunan-Kiangxi border to lay an ambush!
Li Zhongshan didn't want a large group of second generations of the Li family to lose their father, so he quickly took two model towns and a part of the cavalry, marched lightly, and rushed to Nanchang to find his father.
(End of chapter)
