Zhu Heji and Zhuge Sanhe were half a horse away from each other. Under the protection of a large group of Chaozhou cavalry riding ocean horses, they headed all the way to the Chu Palace in Wuchang City. The two of them did not wear bright clothes, but were dressed in ordinary blue military uniforms, with flying saucer helmets on their heads, and heavy breastplates on their bodies. There was no one holding a flag behind them, and there was no iconic big wave. Ling followed.
The reason for this is of course that Zhu Heji was afraid of being shot in the dark!
In this city, not long ago there was a massive conflagration between Confucian and Confucian disciples! Although the Confucian disciples easily won with the support of the defected Fang family disciples, it was almost impossible to fully understand the hidden Confucian forces - those Confucian disciples did not have braided hair under their white hoods, but a black head. As long as their beautiful hair is combed into a bun and they put on common people's clothes, who would know that they are Confucian disciples?
Moreover, Zhu Heji also knew that the Qing Dynasty had imported rifled guns! Although there are not a large number of equipped troops, it is still very easy to get a few to carry out assassinations.
Even Zhu Heji, who was very courageous, had to be more cautious when facing the threat of Confucianism and rifled guns.
So now he and Zhuge Sanhe disguised themselves as ordinary guard cavalry officers, mixed in with the army entering the city, and headed towards the Chu Palace in the city.
The Prince's Mansion of Chu is located on the south side of Snake Mountain. It was built by Zhu Zhen, the sixth son of Zhu Yuanzhang. It is actually a royal city. It is surrounded by stone walls that are as high as two feet and nine feet. It is only two feet to one foot shorter than the city wall of Wuchang City. . However, the area of the Chu Palace is much smaller than that of Wuchang City. It is also a stone city and a small but strong fortress. It is a pity that the "Chu Mansion recruits" who guarded the castle had no intention of protecting the King of Chu and his relatives in the city, and directly opened the city gate and surrendered to Zhang Xianzhong.
And Zhang Xianzhong did not govern Huguang well. After having fun in Wuchang for a while, he went to cause harm to other places. Before leaving, he even burned down the palace of the Prince of Chu. However, although the palace was burned, the stone city wall remained. . Later, there were many years of war and chaos, and the walls of the Chu Palace became military camps and warehouses for storing military supplies. It was not until after Wu Sangui captured Wuchang City that he ordered people to repair the palace of the old Ming Dynasty King Chu. He probably used it as a base camp when he commanded the army in the decisive battle with Zhu Heji.
It is a pity that he did not wait for this day after all, and the Chu Palace City, which had been hastily repaired, fell completely into the hands of the Confucian disciples and Fang Guangchen's soldiers who turned against him after the "Wuchang Uprising" on May 10th. Now it has become the palace of Zhu Heji, the imperial commander who personally conquered the city!
The city of the Prince of Chu's Mansion had long been firmly controlled by the Ming army that had entered the city before. When Zhu Heji and Zhuge Sanhe rode their horses into the main gate of the Prince of Chu's Mansion to suppress the Chu Gate, they saw that the gate of the Prince of Chu's Palace was filled with a mixture of bricks and wood. , freshly painted building. A bluestone avenue leads directly to Chengyun Hall, the main hall of the palace.
Fang Guangchen, Fang Xueqian, Fang Xuefan, Fang Xueshi, wearing red, purple and blue official uniforms without embroidery, and wearing black gauze hats, as well as Guo Youde, the governor of Hubei appointed by the Ming Dynasty, and Zhuge Zhengyang, the former military admiral who led his troops to occupy the three cities of Wuhan. et al. They have all been lined up in the Zhenchu Gate according to their official positions to welcome the arrival of the Grand Duke and Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
The reason why they welcomed him inside Zhenchumen instead of outside Wuchang Prefecture was of course to keep it secret.
As soon as Zhu Hecai entered Zhenchumen, the musicians who had been waiting at the door began to play and beat, and several trumpets sounded at the same time. What I heard was that these civil servants and generals of the Ming Dynasty shouted in unison: "Welcome to His Majesty the Emperor!"
Zhu Heji and Zhuge Sanhe looked at each other, dismounted while smiling, and then Zhu Heji was in front, followed by Zhuge Sanhe, walking towards the civil servants and generals with their heads held high.
"Everyone is safe, everyone is safe... I have to ask you to work hard for this battle in Huguangdao!"
Zhu Heji's face was full of spring breeze, he greeted loudly to himself, and straightened up the bodies of the civil servants and generals who were about to bow to him. Zhuge Sanhe just followed behind, and when he met someone Zhu Heji didn't know, he introduced him - he actually came two days earlier than Zhu Heji, and he was already familiar with Wu Zhou's ministers headed by Fang Guangchen.
When Wu Sangui's most trusted adviser Fang Guangchen was introduced to Zhu Heji, the smile on Zhu Heji's face was almost out of space. He smiled and said: "When I was dormant in Danan Mountain, Guangdong, I heard about Fang Guangchen. Mr. Fang, I finally got to see you today... I also heard that Mr. Fang was responsible for the military system of Juntian Prefecture in Hubei Province. This matter is not easy! Mr. can handle such a big thing, He is truly a genius in governing the country. Wu Zhou had a genius like you to assist him. If it weren’t for brothers fighting against each other, how could they have been defeated today? And if I have Sir, Huguang will be able to achieve great success!"
He said this with a bit of complacency, as if he had already eaten up this piece of fat meat in Huguang!
Of course, in Zhu Heji's concept, the "big meat" of Huguang has almost been obtained - he has already captured the three towns of Wuhan in Hubei and the Changsha-Zhutan area in Hunan!
Aren’t Hubei and Hunan just these two “new front lines”?
After winning these two "new first-tier" cities, is it not a matter of time before other "third-, fourth- and fifth-tier" cities are established?
In his opinion, Wu Yingxiong, a coward, didn't dare to fight with him at all. He just packed up some belongings and people from Huguang and ran to Sichuan or simply returned to Yunnan to enjoy himself for a few more years.
And Zhu Heji is not in a hurry, he can let Wu Yingxiong take care of things slowly... After taking down the three towns of Wuhan and Changzhutan, he can claim a complete victory.
So now he plans to return to the imperial court and officially become the emperor!
However, Fang Guangchen was not as optimistic as Zhu Heji, and he was not very happy in his heart - he was actually loyal to Wu Yingxiong, but all nine of his nephews in the family defected to the Ming Dynasty. He could only "loyalty and filial piety cannot have both" and be a Twenty-five filial piety is a good father and a good uncle.
But he couldn't help but wanted to prick Zhu Heji with his words, so he said with a smile: "It's a little early for Your Majesty to tell Hu Guangda... I have just received the news, Wu Yingxiong He had formed an alliance with Kangxi and was preparing for a decisive battle with the Ming Dynasty in Huguang. Moreover, Wu Yingxiong had also worshiped Wu Guogui as the president's military general and the governor of all the troops east of Jiangling.
In addition, Wu Zhou has already sent a large number of troops to Yuezhou. Yuezhou is a land and water fortress that Wu Sangui worked hard to build. It is the gateway to Jiangling and the key point of Huguang, comparable to Chibi during the Three Kingdoms period! And now that Wu Zhou and Qing Yao have joined forces to fight against the Ming Dynasty, the armies of the three parties will hunt on both sides of the Yangtze River in Huguang... Don't your Majesty feel that it is a bit like the Chibi War? "
Zhu Heji came all the way by boat and was not well informed, so he did not know about Wu Zhou's alliance with the Qing Dynasty or Wu Guogui's worship as a general.
He glanced at Zhuge Zhengyang, who hurriedly said: "Long live, everything Mr. Fang said is true. I have just received the news and have already reported it to the marching division office."
Zhu Heji's marching division has not entered the city yet. It is estimated that Yu Xiaoqian will formally report this matter to Zhu Heji this afternoon.
Zhuge Zhengyang's words continued: "Long live, according to the investigation, Yuezhou has been managed as the key point of Huguang since it was occupied by Wu Sangui. At present, Yuezhou City, Linxiang City, Chenglingji, Bailuo City have been built. The interlocking defense system of seven fortresses including Ji, Luoshan, Xindiba and Junshan Island, as well as the Dongting Lake Navy, is indeed very difficult to deal with. If the Wu Zhou army uses Yuezhou as a stronghold to resist to the end, Qingyao will be stationed in Xiangyang can go south to attack Hankou and Hanyang at any time...The Battle of Yuezhou is indeed a bit like the Battle of Chibi!"
Chibi!
Zhu Heji looked back at Zhuge Sanhe and said in his heart: "You Zhuge Military Advisor should know best how to fight the Battle of Chibi!"
Thinking of this, Zhu Heji smiled and asked, "Prime Minister, what do you think?"
Zhuge Sanhe laughed and said: "The Qingyao has arrived at just the right time! The battle between Huguang and Guangdong will determine the world, which is indeed the meaning of the Battle of Chibi! But this time Zhuge's military advisor will borrow the west wind for the Cao family's millions of soldiers!"
