A strong northeasterly wind was blowing on the Xijiang River at this time. A huge fleet of hundreds of sand ships meandered southward, drawing white waves on the Xijiang waterway from Sanshui to Xiangshan. The banner of "The world is for one" and the The sun and moon flags symbolizing the Ming Dynasty are fluttering in the winter wind.
These are the heavenly soldiers of the Ming Dynasty's Jinyi army who marched to Xinhui in the west!
After Zhu Heji arranged for Huang Zhisheng to "send off" Shang Zhixin, he did not wait for news in Guangzhou. Instead, he immediately issued an order to send out troops in large numbers!
Five of the eight towns in Jinyi were ordered by Zhu Heji. Together with the minzhuang and sailors who accompanied the army, the total number of troops sent this time was as high as 30,000!
Although the last time Zhu Heji marched from Macau to Guangzhou, he attracted more men than this, but that was not a formal troop dispatch, and it was a bit meant to coerce the people into becoming rogue bandits, so the organization was very rough. Without the "heartfelt" support from the gentry and villagers in Shunde, Xiangshan and Nanhai counties, The tens of thousands of strong soldiers at that time probably had difficulty even eating!
But this time the large-scale troop dispatch is different. This is a very formal military operation. After several months of preparation, a plan was carefully formulated in advance...and this plan was formulated under the guidance of military expert "Black Fourth Uncle" Wu Sanwei, which is considered very professional.
In addition, the officers and soldiers of the Jinyi Army from the five towns sent out this time have also undergone several months of training and training, and have also been supplemented with a large amount of equipment - including the iron smelting and military industries of Foshan and Macao, plus Zhu He With the large amount of money seized in Guangzhou and Macau, it is really not difficult to replenish equipment.
However, Jinyi Bazhen is still a newly formed team after all, and it also has the disadvantage of expanding too fast. It is impossible to completely straighten it out without an actual battle or a large-scale exercise.
That's why Zhu Heji made an early plan to send a large number of troops to Xinhui... It didn't require so many troops to fight Xinhui, but Zhu Heji wanted his officers and soldiers to feel the orderly actual combat. what does it look like.
At the same time, he also wanted to test the results of the army building in the past few months, so he had this large troop dispatch.
And judging from the current situation, everything seems to be going very smoothly!
At this time, both sides of the Xijiang River are covered with picturesque green fields, without the desolation and desolation of winter in the north. In this eye-catching green, there are infantrymen marching in battalion units, marching in the wilderness under the jurisdiction of Xinhui County on the west bank of the Xijiang River.
These infantry troops also carried the flag of "The world is for the public" and the sun and moon flag. From time to time, there would be one or two groups of infantry, led by the guide, along the road in the fields, toward the plains scattered on the west bank of the Xijiang River. Go to towns and villages.
The situation in these townships and towns has long been clearly investigated by the spies from Fusi of Jinyiwei North Town and Yousi of the Military Advisor's Office... Many townships and towns also have internal agents from the Great Tomorrow Soldiers. Just wait for the heavenly soldiers to arrive, and they will open the door to welcome the surrender.
On the official road on the east bank of the Xijiang River, Ming cavalry would pass by at a fast pace from time to time. The knights on the cavalry were all clothed in red scarves and had flags embroidered with the word "order" on their backs. There are also bells wrapped around the horse's feet, making a jingling sound as it runs. When the people walking on the official road heard the sound, they would run away in time. They all knew that this was Tang Ma, a member of Jinyi's army, who was here to deliver news. The faster you run, the more important the news is!
Several ponies galloped over and stopped at a pier on the bank of the Xijiang River. Neighboring townships have received instructions from Xiangshan County and sent some villagers who are good at driving boats to wait at the dock in small boats. Just waiting for the knights who delivered the news to dismount and change ships, boarding the "flagship" on which Zhu Heji was riding.
"Sage, the Sanshui General Soldier's Office is reporting urgently!"
A knight who had boarded the "flagship" stood outside the cabin where Zhu Heji was, and respectfully handed over the box containing the seal with the words "Sanshui General Military Yamen".
The commander-in-chief of Sanshui was the brave Su Suyong. He commanded a town of Jinyi soldiers stationed in Sanshui, a strategic area to the west of Guangzhou. He was also the commander-in-chief of the Ming army to the west of Guangzhou.
In addition to the Sanshui General Soldier, there are now four general soldiers under the Guangzhou court: Dongguan General Soldier, Humen General Soldier, Macau General Soldier and Guangzhou General Soldier.
The Dongguan General is the commander-in-chief of the Ming army east of Guangzhou. The defense area includes Dongguan and Zengcheng, and controls the Dongjiang waterway. This position is currently held by Lin Ahu.
The Humen Commander-in-Chief is the Navy Commander-in-Chief, responsible for the defense of Humenkou, Xinning County and Hong Kong Island. The post of Commander-in-Chief is held by the old man's adopted son Yu Xiaoqian.
The Macau General Soldier is in charge of the defense of Macau, Xiangshan, and Xinning, and is headed by Lin Rujiang.
The Guangzhou General Army is in charge of the three counties of Panyu, Nanhai and Shunde, and Zhao Zhongyi is in charge.
Among them, the three generals of Sanshui, Dongguan and Guangzhou each also led a town of Jinyi pro-army, the general of Humen was in charge of the navy under preparation, and the general of Macao was in charge of the "Aoi Regiment".
Hearing the voice of this report, the two people playing chess in the cabin trembled. Zhu Heji was still wearing a simple and simple "Confucius uniform". He only saw him pick up a chess piece and slap it hard: "General! Haha, Xiuqing, let's see what other tricks you have!"
As he spoke, he waved to a young soldier guarding the door of the cabin and asked him to get the sealed box.
Sitting opposite Zhu Heji, the person known as "Xiu Qing" was Yang Qilong. He was a bit dumbfounded at this time - Yang Xiuqing was obviously his pseudonym, but Zhu Heji said it smoothly, and it seemed that he couldn't change it.
He waited for a long time with a wry smile, and then he heard Zhu Heji burst out laughing uncontrollably: "This old boy Tu Hai finally couldn't help but send troops! Now I'm going to have Ci'er blackmail that old guy Wu Sangui!"
Hearing this, Yang Qilong was stunned, "Master Shizi, do you have people in Chaozhou who practice porcelain?"
"Of course, I have encountered it in the past..." Zhu Heji said casually.
What? Have you ever encountered Pengci'er when he was blocking the road? Yang Qilongxin said: "You must have met a blind man, right?"
At this time, Zhu Heji had already handed Su Yong's invitation to Yang Qilong with a smile, and said with a smile: "Commander Yang, how do you think this 'Porcelain' should be touched?"
Yang Qilong quickly took the invitation and said to Zhu Heji while reading it: "I'd better go there by myself... Zu Zeqing and I are old acquaintances. I'll go to his military camp and he will He will send an envoy to help us report the emergency to Wu Sangui. Chen Banfeng is still staying in Yunnan. As long as he gets the news, he will naturally go to Wuhua Mountain to urge Wu Sangui to send troops."
"Really?" Zhu Heji asked, "Is that Zu Zeqing reliable? He is Zu Dashou's son."
Zhu Heji didn't know that Zu Zeqing also had a bone in the back of his head! During the San Francisco Rebellion in history, he and Liu Jinzhong, one in eastern Guangdong and the other in western Guangdong, were both firm and active anti-Qing elements. He once raised troops to rebel against the Qing Dynasty twice, which angered Kangxi, so much so that Kangxi issued a special edict for Zu Zeqing and his son - they were not allowed to be appeased, they were not allowed to surrender, and they had to be captured alive!
Later, Zu Zeqing and his son Zu Lianggen were defeated and captured, and they were both taken to Beijing and executed in Lingchi!
Yang Qilong and Liu Xuanchu had lived together in Zu Zeqing's mansion in Guangzhou, so they were very familiar with Zu Zeqing. Moreover, Liu Xuanchu also told him clearly about Zu Zeqing's rebellion and the price!
"No problem," Yang Qilong said with a smile, "Master, you write a decree and promise Guangxi to Zu Zeqing. First make him a Guangxi general, and then agree to make him the Duke of Gui after he ascends the throne of the prison country, so that he can live forever. Zhen Guangxi. He will definitely help our Ming Dynasty!"
"It's no problem to let him control Guangxi forever," Zhu Heji said with a smile. "Guangxi is not in my hands now anyway... He has to get it by himself! In addition, Gaozhou and Leizhou in his hands have to be handed over to me. people."
In fact, Gaozhou and Leizhou did not belong to Zu Zeqing. Zu Zeqing was just the commander-in-chief of Gao Lei. The local officials of Gaozhou Prefecture and Leizhou Prefecture were appointed by the court, and the tax revenue could not go into Zu Zeqing's pocket. This is not the same thing as the "Forever Town of Guangxi" that Zu Zeqing wanted.
However, as long as Zu Zeqing ordered the two garrison camps stationed in Gaozhou Fucheng and Leizhou Fucheng to hand over the city to Zhu Heji's army, it would not take long for Zhu Heji to take over the territory of these two prefectures.
