Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 62 Life and Death Depend on King Li Jin

At night, Li Dingguo's tent.

Zhu Cixuan relied on [Emperor's Tears] to bring back several thousand Ming soldiers who were about to follow He Jiuyi and boost their morale.

After everything was settled, he came to visit Li Dingguo.

"Is Prince Jin okay?"

The doctor leaned forward and said, "Your Highness, Prince Jin is fine."

"Prince Jin previously suffered from acclimatization problems, coupled with anxiety and depression, which led to blocked meridians, heat and cold constricting the lungs, and lung qi stagnation. He also suffered from qi stagnation and blood stasis."

"Through...through His Highness's skillful hands, the meridians were opened up and the blood clot was vomited out."

Li Dingguo also patted his chest to show that he was fine.

"In the past, I had only heard of His Highness's bravery, but today I know that His Highness is extremely brave and unparalleled in the world."

Li Dingguo, who had little education, thought for a long time before saying, "Your Highness the Crown Prince's military and literary skills are like those of the Second Ancestor, and comparable to Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin."

As he spoke, he sighed deeply, "In fact, after the reprimand from Prince Gongchang in Dali, western Yunnan, I already realized that I am not suitable for leading and commanding the imperial court and the Western Camp."

"Your Highness has taken on the heavy responsibility of state, which has made me feel at ease, without the worries and concerns I had before."

Zhu Cixuan nodded slightly and asked his attendant Nan Huairen to give the doctor ten gold coins.

Under Li Sixing's angry gaze, he greeted Li Dingguo.

After a while, after talking about Li Haiyue's recent situation in Ava City, Zhu Cixuan talked about the matter he had agreed with Jin Weixin to let He Jiuyi act as a spy.

Li Dingguo sat up, frowned and thought for a moment:
"In fact, if I were given 50,000 elite soldiers, I might be able to snipe the 100,000-strong Eastern Tartar army at Mubang Manmo."

"The geography of western Yunnan is well understood by me. By crossing the Three Xuan Passes, we can directly attack the Eight Passes of Tengyue and cut off their granary transportation."

Li Dingguo paused and said, "It's just that we may not be able to fight the Eastern Tartars in the field. To prevent Wu Sangui from advancing into Ava, we must move the imperial court and the imperial carriage to Xiahongsha."

Zhu Cixuan sighed, "I trust the Prince of Jin more than anyone else."

"It's a pity that we can't train the Hongsha soldiers into elite troops within half a year. Time doesn't wait for us."

"Venerable Wen died of depression. I don't want Venerable Lei, Venerable Fu, and the patriots who are still loyal to the Ming Dynasty to wait in vain."

Li Dingguo pursed his lips and said, "If your Highness follows your plan, Wu Sangui will surely lead an army of over 60,000 men, led by our former generals and soldiers from Daxi."

"We have over 40,000 soldiers and horses. As long as we hold on, we can definitely hold out until the weather gets hot. By then, the Han people in the army may not be able to fight, but the Hongsha soldiers can take advantage of the Eastern Tartars' fatigue and recapture the Three Xuans and the Eight Passes of Tengyue."

"Then we will slowly advance into western Yunnan. If Duke Mu Tianbo of Qian succeeds in southern Yunnan, the two armies can join forces and spy on Kunming."

Zhu Cixuan nodded: "This is exactly what I want. Before the end of the year, Yunnan and Yunnan will be restored, and the soldiers can celebrate the Han Chinese New Year in Kunming City."

"We have our own food and fodder logistics in Ava City, transporting rice from Hongsha and Siam to ensure peace of mind at the front."

Li Dingguo hesitated for a moment and said slowly:
"I know that Your Highness destroyed the country in March, and he is both civil and military, but the elite troops of Dai Qing are different from the Hongsha people who collapse at the first touch. Don't underestimate them."

"Two years ago, the King of Gongchang and I defeated over 100,000 Hongsha troops. Except for the mercenaries in Ava City, they were able to hold the city and fight."

"The rest of the Hongsha army is no different from the barbarians."

Zhu Cixuan said: "We have 20,000 old Daxi troops as the main force, so it should be no problem."

"If the soldiers of the West Camp could really deal with the Dai Qing army, with nearly 100,000 troops in Yunnan and Yunnan, how could they not be able to defend Kunming?"

Li Dingguo said sternly, "Your Highness, please do not underestimate Dai Qing and Wu Sangui."

"In Kunming, even though the emperor and the court wanted to move the imperial court, we retreated to western Yunnan because the dangerous passes in eastern Yunnan had fallen into the hands of the Eastern Tartars."

"Without strategic locations to defend, we truly cannot defeat Wu Sangui."

Zhu Cixuan was somewhat shocked: "The Eastern Tartars have been in the pass for over ten years now. Their famous generals are almost gone, and the Eight Banners are in decline. It's only natural that their fighting power has declined significantly."

Li Dingguo said seriously, "I have only fought the traitor Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan and Dai Qing Haoge. I have never fought against any other Dai Qing troops that entered the pass."

"In the battle in central Sichuan, Zhang Xianzhong was shot and killed, and the remaining troops of our West Camp fled Bashu in a panic."

"Even if they left Yunnan to fight against the Qing later, even if the Eight Banners' fighting power declined, they would still be defeated in Huguang and eastern Guangdong."

Zhu Cixuan felt increasingly uncomfortable.

Li Dingguo, who defeated two famous kings and made the greatest contribution to the anti-Qing war before Zheng Yanping conquered the southern capital Minhai, actually said that he could not defeat the Qing Dynasty's Gulun.

"Prince Jin, you have defeated the Eastern Tartars in Guilin, Hengyang, and even at Mopan Mountain. Your Western Camp should be comparable to the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, right?"

Li Dingguo stood up and said solemnly, "I hope Your Highness will know that I have won several victories since leaving Yunnan."

"But King Liu Wenxiu of Shu in Sichuan and the traitor Sun Kewang in Huguang were both defeated and retreated to Yunnan and Guizhou."

"As for my two defeats of famous kings, in western Guangxi, I attacked and killed a general, beheading Kong Youde without damaging his main force. Kong's army of nearly 10,000 retreated to eastern Guangdong, and then a few months later counterattacked Guilin and occupied northern Guangxi Province."

"Killing Nikan in battle was also a trick to lure him away from the main force and go deep into the enemy territory, where he could behead the general."

"Everyone in the world knows that I defeated two famous kings, but I am the only one who severely damaged the Qing army of 20,000 in Jingzhou."

"If we could really resist the Dai Qing army, the Western Camp wouldn't have to abandon Changsha and Guilin and retreat to Yunnan and Guizhou."

"I was also ambushed at Mopan Mountain. Although there was a traitor who reported it, Wu Sangui and I were both injured. This was still a situation where we had the advantage of location and people."

Li Dingguo said solemnly, "The reason I agreed to Your Highness's proposal to defend against Wu Sangui at Manmomubang is because of what Your Highness said about building a wall and stationing troops there. By March or April, when the time, place, and people are all favorable, we will be able to plot a victory over Wu Sangui."

Zhu Cixuan seemed to be thinking about something.

Li Dingguo just said that he could fight against a hundred thousand with only 50,000 men, but that was also a matter of fortifying the city and clearing the countryside, relying on a small group of elite troops to cut off the enemy's food supplies.

It seems that although the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty had fallen into decline, they were still a top-tier force thanks to their system and the remaining prestige of the founding of the country. It is estimated that it would take another ten or twenty years, until the Three Feudatories Rebellion, for their true decline to occur.

Unfortunately, Li Dingguo didn't know that Zhu Cixuan was cheating.

The targets are the elite.

……

The next day, He Jiuyi was sent away first, and then Li Dingguo was sent away to return to defend Manmo.

Zhu Cixuan gathered his troops.

[Emperor's Tears] Hou He Jiuyi only brought more than a thousand people with him, and the main force was still there.

Li Dingguo took away 8,000 Han Ming troops and 5,000 Hongsha auxiliary troops.

He brought 5,000 Han troops and 15,000 Hongsha soldiers with him to garrison Mubang.

Zhu Cixuan waved his hand and said, "Clear the Mubang."

"Build a wall! Build a wall!"

the other side.

Li Dingguo marched slowly with his troops.

The second son, Li Sixing, was still furious: "Father, why did you give all our money to the prince just because he gave you a poem?"

"That's your twenty years of savings, father, and what you stole from Sun Kewang."

Last night, Zhu Cixuan and Li Dingguo slept on the same bed, which really scared Bai Wenxuan and Ma Bao.

Even Li Sixing himself was a little dazed.

They didn't know that Zhu Cixuan felt safest with his father.

I just felt that it was the aura of a ruler that only appeared in storytelling books.

This courage and composure are just like Liu Bei and Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Sun Kewang did not dare to sleep with Li Dingguo just after punishing him.

Emperor Yongli would even run twenty miles away before he felt safe.

The prince even composed a poem on the spot, which spread throughout the military camp overnight.

He has traveled thousands of miles and once held up half the sky with one hand.

The ruler and his subjects get along well with each other and trust each other.

It's simply that one is Liu Bei and the other is Wu Hou.

Li Sixing also let go of his prejudice.

But he heard that his father had entrusted the prince with hundreds of thousands of taels of gold that his family had hidden in Kunming.

Li Sixing was still indignant:
"That's our family's money."

Li Dingguo was still a little dazed while riding on the horse.

He thought that if the prince could be like Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng, he would be extremely grateful.

But who would have thought that he was even more Liu Bei than Liu Bei.

Now I can only die for the Ming Dynasty and the prince.

In the past, it was a lonely loyalty forced by the situation.

Now it is a matter of loyalty to be trusted by the ruler and not to let him down.

After Li Sixing repeated it twice, Li Dingguo came back to his senses and glanced at his son.

"Of course, this is also for our own family."

"If the Crown Prince is like this, there is hope for the restoration of the Ming Dynasty. When we succeed, we will become nobles who will live and die with the country. Why should we care about this little money?"

Li Sixing scratched his head and said, "What do you mean by a little money? That's hundreds of thousands of gold, millions of taels of silver."

After his eldest brother died, he was the head of the Li family.

That's his money.

The prince didn't even leave him one million taels.

Li Dingguo waved his whip and took the lead by several steps: "You forgot your sister, she is in the East Palace, and may become the Queen of the Ming Dynasty in the future."

"This money can be used as a subsidy for her to wear the phoenix crown."

After that, he turned around and smiled, "Besides, you are wrong. It's not one poem, it's two poems."

Li Dingguo rushed forward on horseback, his hearty laughter floating in the air.

After reading the broken stele, I called out to the heroic ghost, saying that life and death all depended on King Li Jin.

Although it's a bit unlucky.

But how could he not die for the prince?

(End of this chapter)