Southern Ming Rebel Army

Meng Jun had already made preliminary preparations. The troops going into battle included 40,000 regular soldiers from the four towns of Changlin, Kewu, Wuning and Wuxing, 5,000 reconstruction soldiers, 2,000 cavalry from Bai Yongfu, 1,000 scouts from Huang Cheng, 1,000 personal guards, 1,800 armored soldiers, 20,000 auxiliary soldiers, and 10,000 able-bodied civilians.

Meng Jun originally intended to take only the small cannons on the city walls of Hangzhou, but after searching the four city walls, he could only find sixty small cannons that could be used, and they had a short range and low power. However, it was really hard to pull the twenty-three large cannons. Faced with such an embarrassing situation, Meng Jun could not help but fall into deep thought...

Finally, it was Han Xiong's words that reminded Meng Jun, "Governor, if you don't take them away, what good is it to stay in Hangzhou? If you win, no matter how hard it is, it doesn't matter. If you lose, everything is over."

After careful consideration, Meng Jun finally made a decision. All the artillery pieces had to be taken away, even if they had to be carried on shoulders or pulled by horses. Hundreds of carriages were also reinforced by soldiers to make them more secure.

As for food, fodder, bows and arrows, and weapons, they were being stockpiled at an intensive pace. The whole city seemed to be in a hurry, as if it never stopped for a moment.

Just as Meng Jun was preparing for war, Bolo had already entered Shaoxing. Just like a few months ago, the two armies were separated by the Qiantang River, but the roles had been reversed. Back then, it was easy for Bolo to conquer Shaoxing from Hangzhou, but now it was not known whether the road from Shaoxing to Hangzhou was smooth. Did the Eight Banners soldiers have to attack the city again?

After receiving Zhang Cunren's urgent letter, Bolo hurried as fast as he could. Unexpectedly, when he arrived in Shaoxing, the news from Hangzhou made him feel dizzy and he almost fainted. Bolo's face was gloomy and he refused to enter Shaoxing City, preferring to stay in the camp outside the city. Zhang Cunren and Li Chengdong had no choice but to leave Shaoxing City and go to the camp to meet Bolo.

"Marshal, although the thief Meng has only occupied Hangzhou for a short time, we don't have many Green Camp soldiers. Should we wait for General Pingnan's army to join us before attacking the city?" Tulai saw that Bolo's face was filled with murderous intent and seemed ready to attack Hangzhou again. Tulai gritted his teeth and persuaded him in a low voice.

"Hehe" Bolo did not answer, but laughed, but the laugh was so cold. Yes, when Lekedehun comes, how will the Eight Banners look at me? I actually fell twice at the head of a Han Chinese from the south. Even if I have pacified Zhejiang, it cannot cover up my defeat at the city of Suzhou. As for the loss of Hangzhou, no one will blame Zhang Cunren, but will put the pot on myself. However, Bolo cannot really force the Eight Banners soldiers to climb the city of Hangzhou. If that happens, he will have to roll back to Beijing in a few days.

Thinking of this, Bolo became more and more irritated and could hardly sit still. At this time, the guard came to report that Zhang Cunren and Li Chengdong had entered the camp.

As soon as the two entered the military tent, Bolo couldn't help but speak first, "Governor Zhang, you defended the city well."

Zhang Cunren's face turned red and white after being choked by this remark. After a long while, he said, "The Green Camp in Hangzhou is useless. The Eight Banners have too few people. The Meng thieves are attacking from both sides..."

"Okay, I just want to ask you one question. Now that your Governor Zhang has escaped, what about the two thousand Manchu warriors in Zhumala?" Bolo interrupted Zhang Cunren and asked angrily.

Seeing that Bolo was questioning him without any hesitation, Zhang Cunren also got angry and said, "I, Zhang Cunren, have been following Emperor Taizong since the fifth year of Tiancong. In the past twenty years, I have made many contributions, including attacking Taiyuan City and pacifying Henan. If you think that I, Zhang Cunren, should be killed, you don't need to wait for the imperial order. You can behead me in the army now."

Li Chengdong was sweating profusely as he listened to what was said nearby. He did not dare to look up at Bolo at all. Not only Li Chengdong, but all the eight banners generals in the army looked down at the ground. It was already a cold winter, and the temperature in the tent seemed to have dropped a little.

Bolo finally spoke at this time, his voice was a little hoarse and a little hollow. "Governor Zhang has worked hard and made great contributions. How dare I, Bolo, kill an important official without authorization? Governor Zhang can return to Shaoxing City. I will immediately write to the Regent about the matter here."

Zhang Cunren was not polite at all and just casually bowed his hand, then left the tent without looking back. Li Chengdong naturally did not dare to stay and quickly followed Zhang Cunren out of the camp.

"Asshole, you deserve to die, you deserve to die!" Boro kicked the table in front of him furiously. Seeing that the generals were still bowing their heads, Boro sat down again and said, "Everyone, go down!"

The generals of the Eight Banners bowed and left the tent. Bolo slumped in his chair, looking at the ceiling, feeling like crying but unable to cry. No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't catch up. Zhang Cunren claimed to have followed Emperor Taizong, but he had a military career of more than 20 years, but he couldn't even defend Hangzhou for ten days.

…………

After Meng Bian returned to Suzhou, he saw that the whole city was jubilant. He learned that Meng Jun had led his army to conquer Hangzhou City. He was overjoyed and wished he could rush to Hangzhou immediately. However, the first thing Meng Bian did when he returned to the city was to go to the mansion to pay a visit to the old lady.

"Bi'an, Jun'er has captured Hangzhou, and the food in the army must not be very good. You should go there in a day or two and take good care of Jun'er. If Jun'er comes back thinner and darker, I will hold you responsible," said Old Mrs. Zhou slowly, holding the Buddhist beads in her hand.

"Yes, old lady. I will go over to take care of the young master right away." Meng Bian nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

"Well, then go. Amitabha. When Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva practiced the deep Prajna Paramita, he saw that the five aggregates are empty and was able to overcome all suffering. Sariputra, form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Feeling, thought, action, and consciousness..." The old lady no longer paid attention to Meng Bian and continued to recite to herself.

After listening for a while, Meng Bian felt his scalp tingling and hurriedly retreated. At this time, he saw a woman followed by several maids. Her belly was slightly bulging. If you didn't pay attention, you wouldn't know that she was pregnant. Meng Bian hurriedly stepped aside and said, "Madam, how are you?"

Zhao Yuner smiled and said, "You are Bi'an, right?"

"Yes," Meng Bian said hurriedly.

"Are you going to Hangzhou? If so, could you please take this amulet with me?" After saying that, Zhao Yuner took out a small bag from her waist and handed it to Meng Bian.

Meng Bian hurriedly took it with both hands and said, "Yes, ma'am."

Zhao Yuner nodded, then walked away slowly. Meng Bian looked back at Zhao Yuner, then walked away quickly.

Snooping inside the company

Meng Bian has slowly opened the brocade bag. There is nothing inside except a talisman. Meng Bian carefully restores it to its original state.

After a while, a man came in. He knelt down and said, "Your subordinate greets the commander."

In the dark room, only a faint oil lamp was flickering, shining a gloomy light on Meng Bian's face. After a moment, Meng Bian said, "Zhou Zhuo, take a few people to check Zhao Yun'er's background and all the news about Li Dayuan. I want to know everything."

Zhou Zhuo replied in a deep voice, "Yes, sir," and then quickly left the room.

"We must always be on guard against others," Meng Bian said slowly as he looked at the brocade bag in his hand.