In the tent of the commander of the Qing army's battalion, a bloody human head was placed on Azig's desk.Li Guo did not agree to Azig's appeasement, but instead killed the envoy he sent, saying that he would never surrender to the Manchus."
A tiger really says that?"
Azig's face sank like water.The Qing soldiers who came back with the head of the envoy said in fear: "Back to the prince, Li Guo did say that he would not surrender, even if he wanted to surrender, he would not surrender to the Qing Dynasty, but would take refuge in Zhao Zamao!"
”This reply made Azig not expect, but after thinking about it carefully, now Li Guo is trapped in the mouth of the old river, with Zhao Ming's sailors in the south and the Qing army company camp in the north, and Li Guo wants to seek a way to survive, in addition to surrendering to the Qing army, he can indeed take refuge in Zhao Ming in the south.Compared with defecting to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it is scolding to take refuge in the Zhejiang army of the same culture and species, which is indeed the first choice that Li Guo will make in a desperate situation.Thinking of this, Azig couldn't help but glance at Hong Chengchou, and really let this old dog say right, looking at Li Guo's attitude, the Zhejiang army and the Longwu court really have the possibility of reconciliation with the outside world.Azig would not admit that his decision-making was wrong, but he had to prevent Li Guo from really defecting to Zhao Ming."
Has the cannon arrived?"
Azig's face was gloomy.Tong Yangjia came out of the line to salute, "Returning to the prince, it has reached the end of the day, and it can be transported to the old Jiangkou early tomorrow morning." ”Azig stood up and immediately shouted the order, "Pass the order, the thieves are stubborn, prepare to attack, and annihilate the barbarian army at the mouth of the old river." ”"Wow!"
Many Qing generals saluted in unison.~~~~~~ south bank of the Yangtze River, the Zhejiang army camp.Zhao Ming stood in front of the sand table with his hands in his hands, listening to the statements of his subordinates."
Your Highness, the Qing army has been planning for a long time to go south this time.The Qing army gathered 200,000 troops in Xuzhou, and Azig threatened Huai'an with an army of 50,000, personally led an army of 150,000, crossed the river from Sizhou, and swept through the four prefectures of Fengyang, Chuzhou, Hezhou, and Luzhou, and the border army and the forbidden army in Jiangbei collapsed on all fronts. ”Tang Tong pointed to the sand table and said: "The imperial court has 200,000 soldiers in Jiangbei, and the Qing army is like a bamboo, annihilating and capturing tens of thousands of officers and soldiers, and leaving more than 100,000 officers and soldiers to surround the old Jiangkou and other places. ”Zhao Ming's face was gloomy, "Gu had expected that Azig would go south, and he also reminded Li Chengdong and Zhang Mingzhen to defend against the Qing army, but I didn't expect that the imperial court would be so vulnerable."
That Li Guo can also be regarded as a general, and he was defeated so quickly. ”Strategist Gu Yanwu said: "He Tengjiao was bent on dealing with us, and ordered Li Guo to pull all the elite soldiers on the Huaijiang front line to Yangzhou, resulting in the emptiness of the Huaijiang defense line, and the freezing of the Huai River, so that there was this defeat." ”Tang Tong continued: "According to the intelligence of the Heaven and Earth Society, this Qing army's large-scale invasion of the south was not decided by Azig without authorization, but led by the Manchu Emperor Fulin, the 150,000 people of Azig are just the forwards, and Mandahai, one of the five great kings of the Manchu Dynasty, has already led two red flags, as well as the green battalion soldiers of Shanxi Jiang Xiang and other departments, from the north to the south, and it will not take long to arrive in Jiangbei. ”When Zhao Ming heard this, he said in a deep voice: "If this is the case, I am afraid that Jiangbei will all fall into the hands of the Qing army, and even Jiangnan will face the threat." ”The Qing army moved south, which made the situation extremely complicated.Now Zhao Ming is also in a dilemma, and it will definitely not work to continue to attack Nanjing, and he wants to cross the river to the north to resist the Qing army, but he is pinned down by the soldiers and horses of the Longwu court.At this time, Zhao Ming was still entangled with Li Laiheng, Yuan Zongdi and others, in the eastern suburbs of Nanjing, and Zheng Chenggong, who obeyed the orders of the Longwu court, had already led his troops into southern Zhejiang, and the army was forced to Hangzhou, threatening Zhao Ming's rear, making Zhao Ming unable to resist the Qing army, and continuing to attack Nanjing would only make the Manchus profitable.If the current situation cannot be solved, Jiangbei will inevitably be occupied by the Qing army, and after the Qing army destroys the Ming army in Jiangbei, coupled with the split between the Zhejiang system and the imperial court, the comparison of strength between the world will immediately change, and it will become an extravagant hope to drive out the Tartars and recover the north.Zhao Ming suddenly asked, "What is Nanjing's reaction now?"
”Gu Yanwu said: "It is said that He Tengjiao strongly advocates moving the capital to Wuchang!"
”Zhao Ming frowned, and suddenly said to Gu Yanwu: "Sir, please enter Nanjing once!"
”The city of Nanjing, inside the Imperial Palace.The Zhejiang army approached Nanjing, and the Qing army broke through the Huaijiang defense line, defeated the Ming army in Jiangbei, and surrounded more than 100,000 forbidden troops in the narrow area of the old river estuary, which made the Longwu court fall into a huge crisis.At this time, as the Qing army approached the Yangtze River, the people in Nanjing were panicked, and those who advocated fleeing Nanjing had the upper hand again.Early in the morning, outside Zhu Yujian's dormitory, nearly 100 officials knelt down.He Tengjiao knelt on the ground and kowtowed, and said loudly, "Your Majesty, the rebels are coming to the city, and the Qing army is going south again.Nanjing has been unable to hold on, and the ministers are willing to ask Your Majesty to move the capital to Wuchang for the sake of the Ming Dynasty. ”Zhu Yujian was wearing the dragon robe of the Ming Emperor and wearing a crown of wings, standing in the palace, hearing the sound from outside, his face was cloudy.He Tengjiao continued: "Your Majesty, moving the capital to Wuchang is an expedient measure.Your Majesty is in Nanjing, once Nanjing is breached, the Ming Dynasty is destroyed, the minister implores His Majesty to evacuate Nanjing, move west to Wuchang, then the Qing army will compete with the rebels for the south of the Yangtze River, when the traitors and the Tartars are both defeated, the imperial court can recover Nanjing~~~~~ "Now, Zhao Ming raised troops and played the banner of the Qing monarch's side, to reduce He Tengjiao's party, so that He Tengjiao's faction is facing a huge crisis.The Qing army tore up the peace talks, invaded the south on a large scale, and gave He Tengjiao a heavy hammer.This indicates that the strategy of negotiating peace between the north and the south and cutting down the feudal domains pursued by the Lord-peace faction has all failed.Now that the Longwu court is facing such a crisis, it must need someone to bear it, and the lord and faction are worried, Zhu Yujian is facing internal and external pressure, in order to resist the Qing army, reach a reconciliation with the rebels, and agree to the rebels' request to remove the lord and faction, so He Tengjiao and others led hundreds of officials into the palace, intending to force Zhu Yujian to move west to Wuchang to resolve the crisis faced by the lord and faction.Huguang is He Tengjiao's base camp, his protégés have been all over for a long time, he holds the military and political power of Huguang, and when he moves the capital to Wuchang, He Tengjiao can control Zhu Yujian, so that Zhu Yujian can't easily abandon him.In addition, after the imperial court moved its capital to Wuchang, the threat of the rebels and the Qing army to the Longwu court was greatly reduced, and the rebels would have to fight with the Qing army, and it was impossible to continue to advance westward, and the Qing monarch's side could not be realized.Moreover, once the Longwu court moved westward, it was equivalent to throwing the burden of resisting the Qing army to Zhao Ming and the Zhejiang army, and when the Zhejiang army and the Qing army fought and the strength was contained, He Tengjiao could order the Ming army in Fujian and Jiangxi to attack Zhao Ming from behind, and with the help of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, eliminate political enemies.In this way, He Tengjiao can continue to control the government, and the Lord and faction will not be liquidated.Outside the palace, hundreds of ministers of the lord and faction bowed to the ground and supported He Tengjiao, saying that the Longwu court could only survive the current crisis by moving west, otherwise it would be defeated by the rebels and the Qing army.In the dormitory, Zhu Yujian saw so many officials outside the palace and advocated moving westward, and his heart was also shaken.Zhu Yujian understood that the consequence of the imperial court's westward move was that the Ming Dynasty fell into division again, the world would be scattered, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty would gain the initiative from the beginning, but if it did not leave, Nanjing would probably fall sooner or later.~~~~~~()