Southern Ming Rebel Army

Meng Jun strolled in the army. All the generals were busy preparing for the decisive battle. Gao Yi was also selecting warriors from each town. Although the generals of each town were not prepared, they were well aware of the importance of heavy armored troops, so they did not stop him.

Following Yu Mengjun was Yu An, the deputy commander of the royal guard. Yu An held an umbrella over Mengjun's head. Despite the umbrella, the rain still splashed on Mengjun's clothes and armor, and soon his boots were soaked.

Meng Jun passed by a tent and heard a rough voice coming from inside, "It's raining so damn hard, everything is wet, my clothes can't dry at all"

"Alas, yesterday's battle was so tragic. Li Ji from the third squad was my good brother. He was shot in the eye by an arrow yesterday and died on the spot. I know his family. He has a little kid, an old mother, and a wife. Alas, how will this family live in the future?" said another person nearby.

"Who said it wasn't? The Tartars are ruthless, but aren't those Green Camp the government troops from before? Why didn't I know they were so good at fighting before?"

"Ah, yeah, I don't know if we can win this time. It's raining so hard and we don't have a boat. If we lose, we'll have nowhere to run."

"We will win this battle, you don't have to worry"

Just at this moment, Meng Jun opened the tent and entered. A strange smell hit him in the face, but Meng Jun remained calm and walked into the tent without paying any attention.

When the soldiers saw Meng Jun coming, they were all stunned. There was silence for a moment. The burly man with a rough voice said in surprise: "You are the Grand Commander. I have seen you before, at the New Year's Eve banquet."

The soldiers were startled and hurriedly stood up to salute. Meng Jun waved his hand and said, "No need for courtesy in the army. Come and sit down. Let's go and see our brothers."

The eleven people in the tent were all a little embarrassed when they heard this. The atmosphere was a little awkward and they didn't know what to say. Seeing this, Meng Jun smiled and said, "Everyone, sit down. We are here to listen to what the brothers have to say. In the army, we all eat from the same pot. If you have anything to say, just say it."

"It's nothing, everything is fine," a soldier said softly.

"Bullshit, we heard it all at the door. The discussion was so heated that we couldn't help but come in," Meng Jun said with a smile and cursed, and then asked everyone's names.

"Commander-in-chief, my name is Liu Si"

"I am Saturday"

"I am Qi Dong"

"My name is Zheng Wenbo, from Huai'an"

"Huaian people?" Meng Jun was a little confused. Most of the soldiers in the army were from Jiangnan. People from Huai'an came to Jiangnan to join the rebel army. Meng Jun then asked: "Why did people from Wenbo Huai'an come from such a long distance to join the rebel army?"

"Reporting to the Governor, if it were not for the Governor's uprising army, I would have arrived in Fujian by now," Zheng Wenbo said with a smile.

"Wenbo is a scholar," Meng Jun asked.

"I passed the imperial examination in the 12th year of Chongzhen, but unfortunately I failed. I am a useless scholar with little talent and knowledge." Zheng Wenbo smiled bitterly when he heard this.

"I remember that if you could read when you joined the army, you could enter the civil service."

"I only want to hold a sword, drink water on the battlefield, and die in my horse's hide, without regrets, but I don't want to be a clerk," Zheng Wenbo said firmly.

"Well, you have joined the army and have the ambition of Ban Chao," Meng Jun praised, and then said: "Wenbo, do you think that with the current momentum of our army, can we defeat the enemy in one battle?"

"Report to the Governor, we will win," Zheng Wenbo said confidently.

Meng Jun was stunned. None of the generals in the army dared to guarantee victory. Even he himself, although he showed full confidence, still couldn't help feeling hesitant.

Then he asked: "Why is Wenbo so confident?"

"General, I am a scholar and I don't know how to fight, but after serving in the army for several months, I can barely say that I know the military spirit. As the ancient saying goes, the weather, the terrain, and the people. The weather is not as good as the terrain, and the terrain is not as good as the people. Although the general's men are not proficient in skills, armor, and battle formations, they are willing to fight to the death for the general. The general defeated Li Chengdong, defeated Bai Yongfu, and defeated Ma Detian Xiong's troops who were besieging the city. All the soldiers saw it. The general did not indulge in sensual pleasures. Suzhou is a prosperous place with beautiful women, but the general still stayed in the army, sharing the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, and never retreated in front of the battlefield."

After saying this, Zheng Wenbo took a deep breath and continued, "As long as the people's hearts and minds are there, even if the governor orders us to fight the enemy in the rain tomorrow, all the soldiers will die for us. Therefore, I assert that we will win."

Meng Jun suddenly became enlightened. Zheng Wenbo's words were like a torrent, which lifted the hesitant Meng Jun's spirit. After a moment, Meng Jun said, "Wenbo is right. The world is in turmoil, and the people are against it. How can the barbarians have a hundred years of national destiny?"

Afterwards, everyone spoke freely, and the atmosphere was heated for a while. Some soldiers from the surrounding tents gathered together. Seeing this, Meng Jun said to Liu Si, the soldier who had said that no one was taking care of his brothers' families, "I will take care of the wives, children, and old and young of the fallen soldiers. I will set up a school, and all the children of the fallen will go to school. I will take care of them alone, and their wives and parents will definitely be compensated. I will never let the soldiers who died for the country have any regrets."

"Good!" The soldiers gathered at the door cheered. Meng Jun believed that these words would spread, so he shouted: "Yu An, remember this order and spread it to the whole army."

……

Just as Meng Jun was encouraging the troops, Meng Bian, who was far away in Huzhou, suddenly felt a tremor in his heart, as if something had happened. Meng Bian frowned and asked the guard beside him with some worry: "What happened?"

The guard was confused and scratched his head, saying, "Master, nothing happened."

Meng Bian shook his head and thought, maybe it's an illusion, why is Meng Bian in Huzhou? Meng Bian received the old lady's order to go to Hangzhou. In order to arrange people to investigate Zhao Yuner's background, he was delayed for a few days. When he was about to go to Hangzhou, a secret letter was sent back to Meng Bian in Suzhou, saying that there was an uprising in Huzhou and wanted to seize Huzhou. Meng Bian immediately realized that this was an opportunity and changed his route to Huzhou.

The only thing that made Meng Bian unhappy was that this news was still passed to Meng Bian through Zhang Zhe. Meng Bian was a little annoyed. Since the establishment of the Intelligence Department, it has taken no less than 60,000 taels of silver from the young master, but still has not accomplished anything major. The Intelligence Department had already been divided into four bureaus, namely, investigation, spy department, action, and training, but the four bureaus are still just a framework. The personnel of the South Guard and the North Guard are barely complete, let alone assassinations and rebellions. Even the layout of the points in various cities can only be said that Meng Bian can know any news on the street. As for specific confidential military reports, the Intelligence Department at that time was completely lacking in this level.

At this time, Meng Bian had entered a wonton stall in Huzhou City. Yes, this was the location of the Investigation Bureau. After all, Huzhou was not as important a place as Jiangning, and the staffing was completely incomparable.

"Lu Ping, have you heard any news about the rebels planning an uprising here? Where are they?" Meng Bian asked in a low voice.

Lu Ping frowned, and after a moment he said, "It seems not. My business is so busy, it shouldn't be..." Before he finished speaking, a customer at a table at the door shouted, "Why aren't my wontons ready yet? It's been so long!"

"Right away, just wait a moment," Lu Ping responded loudly, and then got busy.

Meng Bian: “………………”