The Nishan Mountains, which harbored the most White Lotus Sect thieves, were the fastest to be eliminated.
There are three main reasons for this.
First, the main force of the new army was deployed and the offensive was fierce.
In the previous battle, the New Army deliberately let the enemy go, which is why the White Lotus Sect was able to persist for so long. Facts have proved that once the new army starts to take it seriously, the level of the White Lotus Sect thieves is not even that of a mantis.
Second, the White Lotus Sect rebels were scattered in various places, and their strength was not unified enough. As a result, they could not stop the new army's full attack in any direction.
Third, it is naturally the divisions and calculations within the rebels.
"Criminal Wang Jun has committed many crimes in the past. With the forgiveness of the general, he can turn back. I am very grateful."
Wang Jun and his men knelt in front of Zuo Mengeng, feeling uneasy in his heart.
Zuo Mengeng laughed, stepped forward personally, and helped Wang Jun up.
"I have heard about the deeds of the Nine Mountain King for a long time. He is a good man, what crime is he guilty of?"
Hearing what he said, Wang Jun couldn't help but feel warm in his heart, but he still said humbly: "The guilty people have no law, and they have also looted and killed..."
Zuo Mengeng said firmly: "The court is unfair and the people's lives are worse than death. What's the use of such a king's law enforcement? As for killing people, you, Wang Jun, kill corrupt officials. Have you ever killed a poor person?"
Wang Jun was so excited when he was told that he patted his chest on the spot and said proudly: "No, not one. Although the criminals are illiterate, they also know where loyalty lies and have never attacked poor people."
Zuo Mengeng showed admiration.
"This is why I am tolerant to you, King of Nine Mountains. I hope you will uphold your original intention and remain a good man who stands upright."
This Wang Jun is a famous anti-Qing hero in history and the main reason for Zuo Menggeng's surrender.
"Brother Wang Jun, what's going on? I didn't coax you, did I? My family is different from the imperial court. From now on, we brothers will have a lot to do."
Ren Qi grabbed Wang Jun's arm and took the opportunity to invite Zuo Mengeng.
It was Ren Qi's effort that could recruit Wang Jun this time.
Li Qingshan and others were old acquaintances with Wang Junnai, and had even joined forces together. Therefore, Ren Qiyi took action and Wang Jun surrendered so happily.
Zuo Mengeng was also very sincere and said in public: "Now the Yimeng Mountain is undergoing great changes, and there are people everywhere. If you are willing to settle down, you can go to the counties. Even if you do whatever you want, you will not be able to do anything in the future. If we are short of food, better days are yet to come. With the help of a few leaders, we will make proper arrangements here."
Wang Jun and others had already learned from Ren Qi what it would be like after the surrender, so they knew what was going on and didn't panic at all.
"But you will have your life by virtue of your ginseng seat."
The battle against bandits in Yimeng Mountain is now over.
The three major bandit leaders, Wang Jun surrendered, Dong Dacheng was killed, and Zhao Si disappeared.
The biggest impact was that the entire Yimeng Mountain area, one state and seven counties, fell into the hands of the new army. It is also connected with Jiaozhou Bay, encompassing the entire southeastern part of Shandong.
Once the land is occupied, the next step is to manage it.
The Administrative Committee took action immediately and sent a large number of officials to the Yimeng Mountain area.
Hou Xun, Li Banghua, Chen Zhi and others came together and will sit here for a long time in the future to personally complete the construction of the political power.
In Mengyin County, Zuo Menggeng held a military-political joint conference and formally informed his strategic vision.
"Currently, we own two pieces of land. One is Linqing, Dongchang, and Anshan Lake, and the other is the southern area of Yimeng Mountain, Qingzhou Prefecture, and Laizhou Prefecture. In the middle of these two pieces of land, there are Laizhou, Qingzhou, Jinan, Yanzhou and other big cities.”
When he sketched it out on the map, a clear concept formed in everyone's mind.
Zuo Mengeng continued to explain: "Through the White Lotus Rebellion, the small and medium-sized landowners in Shandong suffered a devastating blow. However, the large landowners were hiding in these big cities and remained unscathed. And these large landowners are the biggest obstacle to our development. . Therefore, the next strategic goal is to eliminate these big landowners."
Seeing that Li Banghua seemed to have something to say, Zuo Mengeng understood what he meant.
"Of course, the influence of these big landowners is very important. One move can affect the whole body. If one of them is not done well, we will become the public enemy of the world. Therefore, to eliminate these big landowners, we cannot do it ourselves. My idea is to prepare to use Dongjiang Town The rebels accomplished this goal.”
Li Banghua's worries turned into joy, and I couldn't help but applaud his wisdom.
What is a big landowner?
King Heng, King Lu, King De and...
the Kongs.
After several years of war, they were the only remaining stubborn feudal forces in Shandong that could hinder the development of the new army.
As a descendant of the vassal king and Kong Sheng, if you attack them, the impact will be very terrifying.
Especially the Confucius family, who are looked up to by the whole world, are the gods in the hearts of countless scholars.
The Kong family must be attacked, but the New Army cannot do it themselves.
The Dongjiang Town rebels who are causing trouble in Shandong are the best scapegoats.
However, the time had not yet come, and the new army that had just finished the Yimeng Battle had to be reorganized. Zuo Mengeng lurked again, waiting for the opportunity.
Facing the increasingly serious situation in Shandong, the Ming Dynasty had to use all its strength. In an effort to maintain the situation, a reinforcement force of 25,000 men was finally cobbled together.
This support force is mainly composed of Baoding and Tianjin soldiers, which is equivalent to emptying the defense forces near Gyeonggi.
The commander-in-chief of this support army is also very interesting. He is Liu Yulie, the right minister of the Ministry of War.
As for Liu Yulie, he actually didn't know how his official position should be calculated.
Let’s say he is the right minister of the Ministry of War, but before he served as the commander-in-chief of the reinforcements, he was clearly the censor of Youqiandu and the governor of Liaodong.
Let's say he is the governor of Liaodong. There are three governors of Liaodong.
During the Battle of Daling River, Chongzhen was very dissatisfied because of Qiu Hejia's ineffective rescue, so he decided to appoint Xie Lian as governor of Liaodong.
As a result, before Xie Lian took office, some people in the court objected, thinking that it was inappropriate to change generals before the battle, so the court ordered Xie Lian to be temporarily stationed in Shanhaiguan, but Qiu Hejia in Jinzhou was not relieved of his duties.
As a result, there were actually two governors in Liaodong at the same time.
Later, as the situation in Daling River worsened, the imperial court became anxious and appointed Liu Yulie as governor of Liaodong.
I don’t know whether the officials forgot about it or did it on purpose. In short, the strange situation of three governors coexisting was formed.
Liu Yulie rushed to Shanhaiguan and took a look, OK.
Are you also the governor of Liaodong?
Luckily, so am I.
As a result, Liu Yulie and Xie Lian stayed in Shanhaiguan, hundreds of miles away from the Daling River, doing nothing all day long.
What’s even more funny is that after the Battle of Daling River, Xie Lian and Liu Yulie were punished despite not participating at all.
There was a censor who impeached Xie Lian and Liu Yulie for doing nothing. At that time, Chongzhen happened to be looking at the battle report of Liaodong and his mind ached. When I saw that he was the governor of Liaodong, he had a PSTD attack, but he didn't find out the truth and punished him.
It happened that the Wuqiao mutiny broke out, and the court thought of Xie Lian and Liu Yulie again, so they asked them to perform meritorious service.
Xie Lian succeeded Sun Yuanhua as the governor of Denglai and is now trapped in Laizhou City.
Liu Yulie became the reinforcements coach and went to reunite with Xie Lian under the guise of a hapless man.
This time, in order to rescue Denglai, Chongzhen was also bleeding profusely and took out six red cannons.
Liu Yulie was not moved at all by Chongzhen's ardent expectations.
You said that I am a good military official. At this time, I should be sitting in the yamen, drinking tea, and staying up until the end of my shift to go home and have a beautiful wife and concubine. Why did I go to the battlefield?
It’s not okay if I don’t come.
He was inexplicably blamed for the battle at Dalinghe, and he had to atone for his sins.
Although he didn't know what crime he was guilty of.
What's more important is that he came here under orders.
He is Zhou Yanru's disciple. Zhou Yanru asked him to come, so he had to come.
Zhou Yanru had only one task, and that was to find ways to appease the rebels in Dongjiang Town.
Dongjiang Town has repeatedly played the trick of pretending to be fostered before, so why does Zhou Yanru still advocate for fostering?
Because only by recruiting the rebels can Sun Yuanhua be proven innocent.
Only by proving Sun Yuanhua's innocence can we prove that there is nothing wrong with Zhou Shoufu.
Therefore, being able to recruit rebels is not a military issue or an IQ issue, but a political issue.
At present, the main war faction and the appeasement faction in the DPRK are fighting at an equal level. The real purpose is not to deal with the rebels, but to deal with the enemies in the DPRK.
Adhering to Zhou Yanru's instructions, Liu Yulie delayed as long as he could.
Except for arriving at Shahe Town and winning the initial battle, and capturing the rebel general Chen Wencai and others, the reinforcements never advanced further.
Liu Yulie did not strictly interrogate the captured rebel generals, but released them on the spot, and asked Chen Wencai to go back and send a message to Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng to discuss their recruitment.
Chen Wencai was very happy to be able to survive, and immediately conveyed Liu Yulie's meaning to Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng.
"How do you think these ministers in the DPRK are so smart? The war has reached this point, can we still surrender?"
Kong Youde was puzzled, and at the same time he no longer had any respect for the Ming Dynasty.
Li Jiucheng sneered.
"I would say that the Ming Dynasty is at the end of its tether, and you and I deserve to be famous and become marquises and prime ministers. Since Liu Yulie wants to recruit him, we might as well sing a play with him."
Kong Youde's mung bean-like eyes kept turning.
"What's the fun of just singing and acting? We have to add some acting to him."
The rebel generals laughed wildly and did not take the court's reinforcements seriously.
