Water transportation was extremely important for the feudal dynasty whose capital was in the north.
The previous dynasties, such as Tang, Song, and Yuan, all attached great importance to water transportation.
And in the current Ming Dynasty, this is even more true.
Since Zhu Di established his capital in Youzhou City, the Ming Dynasty has attached great importance to water transportation, because they need to rely on water transportation to handle millions of stones of grain for the capital and border troops.
In terms of water transportation, the water transportation from Nanzhili and Zhejiang is the most important, because the grain from Nanzhili and Zhejiang accounts for more than 60% of all grain.
As for the southern Zhili and Zhejiang areas, after careful calculation, Jiangnan and northern Zhejiang are the main areas.
After all, South Zhili seems to have many jurisdictions, but the Jiangbei area of South Zhili, that is, Fengyang Prefecture, Huai'an Prefecture, and Yangzhou Prefecture are not grain-producing areas.
In Fengyang Prefecture and Xuzhou, the local people are actually having a hard time due to flooding from the Huaihe River and the Yellow River.
After all, agriculture has always been dependent on the weather. If you are not careful, there will be floods and subsequent reductions in production. In places like Fengyang Prefecture and Xuzhou Prefecture, God generally does not give much face. Minor floods every year and severe floods every three years are the norm.
It’s good if the local area can feed itself, but there is no excess food to supply to other countries.
Yangzhou Prefecture and Huai'an Prefecture are also troubled by floods.
The reason why this place is relatively wealthy on the surface is purely because it produces salt and brings together a large number of salt merchants, creating abnormal pure consumption cities Yangzhou and Huai'an.
At that time, ordinary people in the local area were actually living very hard lives.
Yangzhou Prefecture and Huai'an Prefecture are very deformed places, with a large number of poor salt merchants and a very small number of wealthy salt merchants living together.
Otherwise, there would not be a large number of luxurious gardens and the famous Yangzhou Shou Ma.
How did the thin horse come about? The local poor people, such as Yanding!
Who is the thin horse sold to? Local salt merchants.
In fact, Jiangbei is not a good place these days. On the contrary, large areas are still remote and remote. This is why Wang Jiazhen did not recruit soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River before, but chose to recruit soldiers in the Xuhuai area to form a new standard army.
The poor and remote areas produce unruly people, but the poor mountains and rivers also produce elite soldiers!
For the same reason, later Li Hongzhang also chose to recruit troops to form the Huai Army in this area.
You know, Li Hongzhang was from Hefei. He did not go to his hometown to recruit soldiers, but went to the Xuhuai area to recruit soldiers. He just took a fancy to the young and strong people in this poor place, who were easier to recruit, and also had more reasons to work hard for a bite to eat. .
When I say this, I just want to say that Southern Zhili seems very big, but Jiangbei, which occupies a large area, is actually not a land of plenty, and it is difficult to contribute a lot of grain.
If the Grand Canal hadn't passed through this area, then water transportation would have been nothing to do with them.
The regions south of the Yangtze River and northern Zhejiang Province really supply large amounts of grain.
The grain supplied from these places every year often accounts for more than half of the country's grain.
These grains were collected through the Jiangnan water network in the Jiangnan section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and then transported to Zhenjiang through the canal, then crossed the Yangtze River from Zhenjiang to Yangzhou Prefecture, and then continued northward along the Yangzhou section of the canal.
Nowadays, Zhenjiang is occupied by the Chu army, which means that a large amount of grain from the south of the Yangtze River and northern Zhejiang cannot go north across the Yangtze River through Zhenjiang.
Half of the grain supply was cut off by the Chu army!
In addition, the Huguang and Jiangxi areas previously controlled by the Chu army also supplied a large share of grain.
Including this part, the Chu army has actually cut off more than 70% of the Ming court's grain share.
In the next few months, the capital and other large cities in the north that partly rely on grain from the canals will probably start to run out of food, and there will be a large area of food shortage.
This will make things even worse for Mingting, which is already experiencing hardships.
After the 7th Division joined the 15th Guards Division to capture Zhenjiang, they did not stop but continued to act.
They continued to advance eastward and captured Danyang without a single blow.
It's not right to say that we can win, because Danyang County surrendered on its own initiative.
Danyang City itself has no Ming army garrison, but only a few hundred guardsmen plus a group of temporarily recruited county brave men. Faced with the fall of Jinling City, the end of Zhenjiang, and the complete destruction of the situation in Jiangnan, Danyang County magistrate, Danyang County magistrate The county magistrate decisively chose to surrender to the city...
In a sudden change, he became the magistrate of Danyang County, Zhenjiang Prefecture of the Chu Empire. Well, his rank went up two levels, becoming the sixth rank.
After all, big bosses like Li Yuankui, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, had voluntarily surrendered. Not long ago, Shi Kefa, the governor of Anlu, and Jie Xuelong, the governor of Jiangxi, all surrendered to the Chu Empire.
It is normal for a Danyang County magistrate to surrender to the King of Chu!
Danyang County's voluntary surrender is not an exception in Jiangnan.
When the Sixth Division of the Chu Army reached Liyang, the local civil and military officials surrendered simply. Even the local gentry and wealthy people learned the lesson and surrendered completely. The Chu Army soldiers had not yet arrived. A large amount of money and food had been prepared in advance to reward the army.
With such a situation in the south of the Yangtze River, in fact, the Chu army's continuous operations in the south of the Yangtze River were not hindered too much by the cold winter.
Because the local Ming army did not organize an effective resistance at all, they either fled, surrendered on the spot, or simply surrendered in advance and became officials of Da Chu and soldiers of Da Chu.
This winter offensive in the south of the Yangtze River, which the Chu army's top brass predicted would be relatively slow, turned into an out-and-out winter march in the south of the Yangtze River...
Wherever the Chu army went, they encountered no actual resistance at all.
Even in the big cities of Changzhou City, Suzhou City, and Songjiang City, they did not encounter much resistance.
The first division reached Changzhou Fucheng, which was when Wu Jin entered the city. The more than 3,000 local defenders only put up a symbolic resistance and then quickly surrendered.
In Suzhou City, the Chu army had not yet killed them. They were full of internal conflicts. They wanted to surrender on the one hand, but on the other hand they wanted to resist. As a result, they started fighting. When the Chu army finally arrived, there were not many recalcitrant troops left in the city. .
When they hit Huating County, the capital of Songjiang, in December, they were also clean and tidy.
At this time, the first division's eastward strategic mission was almost completed, and they successfully reached the seaside.
As for the remaining county towns, market towns, etc. that have not yet been captured, they will slowly be put under control, but basically there is no need to worry about any further actual resistance.
And these finishing touches will naturally be done by the 15th Defense Division and the newly formed 16th Defense Division.
The 16th Garrison Division is a new garrison division that was reorganized during the eastward march based on the troops dropped from Zhenjiang Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, and Songjiang Prefecture. Its strength is temporarily insufficient, with only more than 7,000 troops. But cooperating with the 15th Guards Division is enough to initially control the four areas.
As for the First Division, as the core force of the Chu Empire, they were naturally busy with tasks. After taking Songjiang Prefecture, the First Division continued south without stopping and headed straight to Jiaxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.
The eastward march led by the First Division went smoothly, and the southward war headed by the Sixth Division was also relatively smooth.
After taking Lishui and Liyang with favorable winds and waves, they then captured Yixing, and finally arrived at Guangzhou.
In fact, there was no large-scale battle with the Ming army during the attacks on the above-mentioned places. The local Ming army either fled or surrendered and basically put up little resistance.
They just continued south and reached Huzhou Prefecture in northern Zhejiang, but they encountered stubborn resistance from the Zhejiang army.
Zhejiang has built a defense line in the Huzhou City area early. The defenses are thick, and there are new standard troops in the garrison, with many guns and artillery.
Because of the cold weather and snow in the area, and the difficulty of the Sixth Division going south to supply supplies on land, the Sixth Division suspended its offensive after a slight attack failure and prepared to let the soldiers and mules who had been marching for many days continue. The horse has a good rest, and the most important thing is to wait for the subsequent supplies, especially the ammunition supplies to arrive.
They don't need to be too anxious anyway.
Now for the Chu Empire, most of the strategic goals of the eastward campaign have been achieved, and even Jiangnan has now moved south.
Although there is still one North Zhejiang left in the follow-up, it doesn’t matter if it’s earlier or later, it can be won sooner or later anyway.
What's more, the Sixth Division is still preparing to wait for the First Division.
The first division is now fighting towards Jiaxing Prefecture.
By the time the First Division reaches Jiaxing Prefecture, the Zhejiang Army will be in trouble. Their strength is limited.
According to the information provided by the Chu Army's Military Intelligence Department, the number of new standard troops under the governor of Zhejiang is only four to five thousand.
In addition to the new standard troops, there are not many ordinary guardsmen under the Zhejiang governor. Even if they are transferred from everywhere, the Zhejiang governor can only draw about 20,000 guardsmen.
Let’s not talk about the quality of personnel and the level of equipment. The military strength alone is seriously insufficient.
You must know that the Chu army that entered northern Zhejiang had two main divisions with a total strength of more than 30,000.
Not to mention, there are still several garrison divisions behind that can join the battle at any time to reduce the pressure on the main division.
Now that the Sixth Division has contained a large number of Zhejiang troops in Huzhou City, it is enough to create opportunities for the First Division on the eastern front.
Now in Huzhou City, there are at least more than 14,000 guardsmen and more than 3,000 new standard troops, with a total strength of about 18,000.
Well, without this total of 18,000 troops, they couldn't stop the fierce Sixth Division, even if the Sixth Division was just a tentative attack!
The Sixth Division is not an empty force, but a main force of the Chu army with a strength of more than 14,000.
Even if the weather is bad and the distance is too long, supply will be difficult.
Even though Huzhou City's city defenses are good, the nearby terrain is also good.
The Sixth Division was allowed to fight timidly, but its basic combat effectiveness was there. If Zhejiang did not pile up more than 18,000 troops on the front line of Huzhou City, it would be impossible for them to withstand the Sixth Division's early tentative attack.
But here comes the problem. When Yu Sixun, the governor of Zhejiang, transferred a large number of troops to Huzhou City to resist the Chu army, there were naturally fewer defenders in Jiaxing Prefecture...
Ever since, the First Division, which had just taken Songjiang Prefecture, turned south and went straight to Jiaxing Prefecture, and took Jiaxing City directly with overwhelming force...
The gates of northern Zhejiang were wide open, and the city of Hangzhou was directly exposed to the Chu army's front.
At the same time, and more importantly, the more than 18,000 defenders in Huzhou City are also facing a huge risk of being attacked from both front and rear.
When the situation has reached this point, it can be said that northern Zhejiang has been moved south by the Chu army.
And this is indeed the case. On December 23, the First Division continued to advance from Jiaxing. They did not go to Hangzhou, but towards Huzhou City, and joined forces with the Sixth Division to encircle and annihilate the stubborn Ming army in Huzhou City. .
Yu Sixun, the governor of Zhejiang who led his army to fight stubbornly in Huzhou City, sternly rejected the Chu army's several surrenders when the city was breached, saying: "I would rather cut off my head than distort my ambition to do it."
After saying this, he was attacked and killed by his generals and died.
His head was immediately sent to the Chu division's camp as a writ of surrender.
The city of Huzhou was completely captured by the Chu army. Of the 18,000 Ming troops in the city, more than 2,000 were killed, and more than a thousand fled. The rest were all captured by the Chu army.
Four days later, it was the eighth day of the first lunar month in the tenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty and the third year of Chengshun in Chu.
The Sixth Division of the Chu Army entered Hangzhou City, which had only two to three thousand troops, and captured this Zhejiang provincial capital.
At this point, the Chu Empire has fully achieved all strategic goals of the eastward strategy: comprehensively occupying the northern and central areas of Jiangxi, the southern Zhili Jiangnan area, and the Zhejiang and northern Zhejiang areas.
At this time, the situation is exactly that of the Nine Cauldrons of China, with Chu holding the sixth.
The news that the Sixth Division had captured Hangzhou came back to Jinling City a few days later. Luo Zhixue was overjoyed and immediately held a banquet for all the ministers.
He also ordered Xu Jian, commander of the Sixth Division, to be promoted to lieutenant general of the army and concurrently serve as commander of the Zhejiang Garrison Command.
Cao Hongsheng, commander of the First Division of Jin Dynasty, was an army lieutenant general and concurrently commander of the Jiangnan Garrison Command.
A number of other generals were also promoted at the same time.
Not only has the military rank been improved, but the title has also been improved.
Even some civil servants were awarded titles because of their military exploits during the Eastward Campaign.
While the Chu Empire was rejoicing because they had captured Hangzhou and completed the entire eastward campaign, the Ming court in the north fell into sorrow.
Although the news of the fall of Hangzhou had not reached the Forbidden City so quickly at this time, the news of the fall of Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, Songjiang and other places had been successively delivered to the Forbidden City.
After these bad news were sent to the Forbidden City one after another, Chongzhen was in a state of rage every day.
Moreover, he is furious and a little nervous, constantly doubting this and that, and then wants to arrest this and kill that...
Well, he didn't just think about it, he actually did it. In the past few months, there have been at least a dozen ministers who have been killed by Chongzhen's order, and even more have been arrested and imprisoned. They are all from the capital. Important officials from Beijing...
In order to protect themselves, many court ministers have written letters begging for the remains.
Although being an official is important, life is even more important. Chongzhen kills and arrests people like this every day, who can withstand it?
The vast area south of the Yangtze River completely fell into the hands of Chu thieves, which dealt a huge psychological blow to Chongzhen who had worked hard and frugally to maintain the situation in the past ten years.
Why is it that even though I have worked so hard, the situation is still getting worse day by day?
Not to mention Dongli, the number of bandits in Shaanxi increased year by year. Starting from the second half of the eighth year, the momentum of the bandits was finally suppressed. In the ninth year, Gao Yingxiang was caught.
As a result, more ferocious Chu thieves emerged from the south, and in eight years they occupied the north of Chu.
In the first half of the ninth year, they occupied Chunan, and in the second half of the year, they moved eastward and occupied Jiangxi and Jiangnan!
Chongzhen had worked hard for so many years, but instead of getting better, the situation worsened, even to the point of national subjugation.
This can't help but make Chongzhen confused!
Why did this result occur today?
Am I not working hard enough?
No, I have worked very hard, but there are always people in the court who hold me back. Those civil servants and military generals, every one of them, should be killed!
Chongzhen, who was a little nervous because of the continuous bad news in the south, couldn't help but write: "All ministers in the court can be killed when reviewing the memorial!"
The eunuch next to him was frightened to death, so he persuaded Chongzhen to burn the written text.
If this spreads out and the ministers outside know about it... that would be terrible!
When the Chu army reaches the capital in the future, it is estimated that there will be people from outside the city all the way to the palace to help the Chu army open the city gate and clear the way...
By that time, Chongzhen really had no choice but to hang himself.
