After the victory in the Battle of Laihu'er Yangtze River, in addition to sending Zheng Chenggong north to capture Yanziji, he spent most of his time reorganizing Nanchen's surrendered soldiers, because most of these descended soldiers were formerly private soldiers of certain families. If this is the case If you collect them all at once, unexpected situations are likely to occur.
In order to weaken the influence of the Jiangnan gentry in the Nanchen surrendered army, Lai Huer did not hesitate to use the bloodiest method. He massacred nearly forty Jiangnan gentry descendants, disrupted the entire Chen army, and reduced all officers to pawns. Re-select based on talent. It was precisely because of this that the troops that had always been deployed to protect the children were delayed for eight days.
Eight days later, Lai Huer led an army of nearly 60,000 men in a mighty march northward and entered the Yanziji camp, which had recently been captured by Zheng Chenggong.
As soon as he entered the camp, Zheng Chenggong reported to Lai Hu'er that Chen Shen, the Emperor of Nanchen in Jinling City, had written a surrender form and sent it to him. However, because of his humble official position, he had no authority to handle such a major matter, so he had to wait for Lai Hu'er to arrive.
After listening to Zheng Chenggong's words, Lai Zheng, who was behind Lai Hu'er, had a flash of disgust in his eyes, "These wallflowers, how fast they can change their homes!"
Zheng Chenggong snorted coldly and said: "These aristocratic families have always been like this. However, when the general took down the Yanziji camp under a lowly position, he also captured one person. He claimed that he was the envoy sent by Nanchen to ask for an audience with His Majesty. His attitude when he was first captured alive was Extremely arrogant, unless he is an envoy, let us let him go to see His Majesty, and when he is emotional, he calls His Majesty by his name!"
"How bold!" Lai Zheng snorted angrily, "If these thieves had bumped into me, they would have been stabbed to death by my sword!"
Zheng Chenggong smiled sinisterly, "Come to the sixth general to appease his anger. Although the last general didn't stab him to death with a sword, he still gave him a good greeting. He still can't walk!"
Laizheng laughed and said, "Well done, success!"
Although there was a smile on Lai Huer's lips, he still suppressed his smile and asked: "Then success, did he say what he was going to see His Majesty for?"
Zheng Chenggong put away his smile and said: "This guy looks tough on the surface, but in fact he is just a weakling. I didn't use any punishment on him and he did it all. He said that he was ordered to visit His Majesty half a month ago to show that the Jiangnan nobles are willing to He surrendered to the wishes of the Sui Dynasty and proposed to abolish Zhang Juzheng's Qingtian Division. However, this guy had a very good relationship with the Yanziji camp guard. The two met and had a banquet. They were hungover for four or five days, so they missed the date. journey!"
"Abolish the Qingtian Division, huh, these nobles are really unrepentant!" Lai Hu'er snorted with extreme disgust, "Why are there so many rebellions in our Sui Dynasty? It's not all because of these shameless guys, greedy and crazy To occupy land, farmers will rise up in rebellion when they can no longer survive. How dare you put forward such conditions? These losers don't even know what they are capable of?"
"call--"
Lai Hu'er took a deep breath and said attentively: "Success, you and Zheng'er will lead the army to stay here, and I will personally lead the army to Jinling!"
Zheng Chenggong felt bad when he heard this, and suddenly an unpleasant thought came to his mind, and he stammered: "General, you...what are you going to do?"
Lai Hu'er took a deep breath and said: "People in Jiangnan are not attached to them, and the nobles are too selfish. If they are not suppressed with thunderous means, it may be difficult to maintain long-term peace. If Jiangnan is unstable, it will be difficult for Your Majesty to make a northern expedition to revive the Sui Dynasty."
"But General..." Zheng Chenggong endured it for a long time and finally said: "The crime of massacre of thousands of nobles is enough to condemn you to death. Even if His Majesty spares your life, you will be drowned in the spit of the nobles. I'm afraid It’s hard to make a difference in your life.”
"Eat the king's salary and share the king's worries!"
Lai Hu'er said eloquently: "Jiangnan is the land of plenty, and it will be the first granary of our dynasty in the future! If there is internal instability, it will definitely affect your Majesty's Northern Expedition. Once time goes by, the world will once again fall into the north and the south. In the current situation of division and constant war, in order to repay Your Majesty’s kindness to me, I will bear the infamy for Your Majesty!”
"What's more, there is someone to replace me now. I am already fifty-seven years old this year. I have been on the battlefield for more than thirty years. I am tired and it's time to retire! Success, your talents are far better than mine. , I left you and Zheng'er in Yanziji, hoping that you would not have anything to do with this matter. After I leave, you must train this navy well, fulfill my unfulfilled wish, and promote the prestige of the Sui Dynasty. Beyond the world!"
With tears in his eyes, Zheng Chenggong cupped his hands and said, "I will obey the general's teachings!"
Lai Huer then turned to look at Lai Zheng, "Liu Lang, among my father and several sons, you are the only one who is both civil and military, and the most like me to my father. I will leave the future of my home to you!"
"My child... obey your father's orders!"
Lai Huer gave some more careful warnings, summoned the generals of the army and announced: "Brothers, I have obtained reliable information. Although the puppet emperor of Nanchen Chen Shen offered to surrender, this is just a treacherous plot by the traitors of Nanchen. . These thieves are extremely vicious and plan to take the opportunity to poison the wine of the rewarded troops after our army enters Jinling to kill us all. The emperor has the foresight to let me know their plot in advance. Now I am ordering, The whole army rushes to Jinling City and wipes out all the enemies who are stubbornly resisting!"
"Kill, kill, kill!"
After hearing what Lai Huer said, the generals of the Sui army were all filled with indignation. They raised their arms and shouted loudly to vent their anger. They wished they could kill all the Jinling City immediately and kill all the traitors who were trying to harm them!
Lai Hu'er waved his hand and said in a deep voice: "Come here, Zheng Chenggong, I will give you 10,000 troops to garrison Yanziji to prevent the Nanchen army from sneak attack. The rest of the generals will follow me into Jinling to destroy the traitors. Remember, We are here to get rid of thieves, not to burn, kill and loot. Anyone who dares to take advantage of the chaos and disturb the people will be beheaded in public display!"
"I will obey the order!"
Lai Hu'er led nearly 50,000 elite troops to attack Jinling City like tigers and wolves. The defenders of Jinling City already knew that their emperor had surrendered, and they did not expect that Lai Hu'er would lead his army to attack the city. They were caught off guard. The soldiers who were killed were defeated. The Chen army in the two city defense camps outside the city gate could only hold out for less than half an hour before the entire army was wiped out. More than 20,000 people were captured. Lai Lai left behind a general and 5,000 soldiers to protect his children. The horses guarded the prisoners, and the main army quickly launched a fierce attack on Jinling City!
The defenders in Jinling City bought some time due to the resistance from the camp outside the city, organized some decent resistance, and barely managed to block the first wave of sudden attacks by the Sui army, but they also suffered heavy losses.
The originally majestic Jinling City now seemed to be crumbling in front of the Sui army, which had a huge advantage!
