Southern Ming Rebel Army

Su Guansheng had just received Li Yuanyin's order to defend the king and had just led his troops out of Meizhou when he heard the news that Tingzhou had fallen and Emperor Longwu had died. Su Guansheng was still in shock and led his troops to retreat to Guangzhou.

With the death of Emperor Longwu, the Ming Dynasty lost its emperor again. However, the country could not be without a ruler for a day, so Ding Kuichu and others discussed the matter of supporting Prince Yongming Zhu Youlang as regent.

Su Guansheng also agreed with this proposal and sent someone to contact him. However, Ding Kuichu had always looked down on Su Guansheng and "wanted to make all the decisions and refused to participate in the discussion." Lu Daqi also humiliated him because he was not a Jinshi and had little qualifications.

They also said that Su Guansheng "abandoned Meizhou, withdrew his troops and returned without permission, without being allowed to discuss the matter." Su Guansheng was furious, and then Yongming Prince Zhu Youlang, supported by Ding Kuichu, Qu Shisi, Lu Daqi and others, became the regent in Zhaoqing. Su Guansheng, who was ignored and humiliated, refused to pay homage to the new regent.

At the same time, he heard that the two kings, Tang and Deng, had sailed from Fujian to Guangdong. He suddenly had the idea of going against Ding Kuichu, and then he supported the King of Tang Zhu Youlang into Guangzhou City.

Su Guansheng then said to Tang Wang Zhu Youlang in grief: "I have received great kindness from you, and I cannot repay you even if I die. Now that his brother is here, why should I seek help from anyone other than you?"

Afterwards, Su Guansheng contacted He Wuzhuo, the governor Gu Yuanjing, the assistant minister Wang Yinghua, Zeng Daowei and others, and jointly requested Zhu Youlang to be the regent, and use the Dusi Office as the temporary palace. This move of Su Guansheng also caused different opinions. Among them, Chen Zizhuang fiercely opposed it, saying: "The Yongming regent has been issued, and the world knows that there is a new emperor. Now we are repeating the old mistakes of Jingjiang, which will quickly bring about foreign aggression. Two emperors have established their own internal roots within a 200-mile radius. After 300 years of national history, others have plucked their leaves while we have cut their roots. How can this not only be disadvantageous to the young king!"

Su Guansheng, who was determined to compete with Ding Kuichu and others, turned a deaf ear to them and insisted on doing what he wanted. Zhu Yulang then sent his chief official Chen Bangyan to Zhaoqing on June 20 to report the matter of the regent.

There were only five or six days between his arrival in Guangzhou and his announcement of his appointment as regent. It was so hasty that many things were not done in time. Zhu Youlang also felt like he was on a temporary basis and was in great embarrassment.

But even so, the regent ceremony was still held in Guangzhou, more than ten days later than the regent of Prince Yongming. Su Guansheng was unwilling to be outdone and was determined to speed up Zhu Youlang's steps to become emperor.

After serving as regent for only three days, Zhu Youlang, who was still catching his breath, ascended the throne in Guangzhou on June 23 with the support of his ministers. He held a more grand coronation ceremony and changed the reign title to the first year of Shaowu.

Zhu Youlang thus became another emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He conferred the title of Jianming Earl and Dongge Grand Secretary on Su Guansheng, and He Wuzuo, Guan Jiexian, Zeng Daowei, Gu Yuanjing, Wang Yinghua and others were all Dongge Grand Secretaries.

Because Zhu Youlang was proclaimed emperor in such a hurry, he had to make do with the official rooms, clothes and imperial procession. "Thousands of officials were removed, and the crowns and clothes were all borrowed from actors and actresses." Five days later, the news of Prince Yongming's proclaiming himself emperor came, and the Ming Dynasty once again fell into a situation of two emperors coexisting.

On the 28th, Zhu Youlang, with the support of Ding Kuichu, Qu Shisi and others, proclaimed himself emperor in Zhaoqing, and the reign was named the first year of the Yongli reign.

At this time, Emperor Yongli and his ministers had learned the news that Zhu Youlang had proclaimed himself emperor in Guangzhou. Grand Secretary Chen Zizhuang wrote to Qu Shisi, "requesting you to kill Guansheng with all your strength and drive the troops eastward" to abolish the Shaowu pseudo-dynasty.

Emperor Yongli said: "Send an official to warn them first, and when they refuse orders, it will not be too late to punish them."

On July 3, Peng Yao and Chen Jiamo, two officials from the Ministry of War, went to Guangzhou to announce the imperial edict to Zhu Youlang, ordering him to abdicate and return to his fiefdom.

Su Guansheng was furious and killed Peng Yao and Chen Jiamo. He then ordered, "Gather troops to Zhaoqing today" to fight a decisive battle with the Yongli Dynasty.

The killing of the envoy by Emperor Shaowu caused great indignation in the Yongli Dynasty. Originally, the emperor and his ministers of the Yongli Dynasty regarded the Shaowu Dynasty as a self-serving and usurping power and harming the country, and they had long wanted to raise an army to punish the culprit and carry out a conquest. After this incident, they no longer hesitated.

While Bolo was still in Fujian stabilizing the situation and preparing to deal with Zheng Zhilong, the Qing army had not yet arrived in Guangdong, but the Ming army in Guangdong was about to start fighting among themselves.

While the war was raging in Fujian and Guangdong, Meng Jun had already returned to Suzhou. The long period of military life had made Meng Jun's skin rough, and calluses had unconsciously grown on his palms.

After returning to Suzhou, Meng Jun immediately ordered the opening of the treasury, rewarded the soldiers with generous rewards, and arranged for the soldiers to take turns to take leave so that they could return home and reunite with their families. This move made the entire Suzhou city suddenly become bustling and commercial activities were extremely prosperous, as if it had entered a golden age.

Meng Jun looked at the bustling scene in front of him with a gratified smile on his face. He knew that these soldiers had been exhausted physically and mentally after months of bloody battles, and needed some time to rest and regroup.

Then, Meng Jun also returned home to visit the old lady. When Zhou saw Meng Jun who had returned from a long journey, she couldn't help but shed tears. She thought of the fair and delicate Meng Jun, who had become vicissitudes of life now. After a moment of silence, the old lady sighed deeply: "I watched Bizhi grow up. I saw him during the Chinese New Year. He was still so strong at that time. Who could have expected... Alas! Jun'er, on the battlefield, swords and knives are blind. You must be extra careful..."

With Meng Jun's patient consolation, the old lady gradually calmed down, and then the topic changed to Zhao Yuner. Zhou said confidently that Zhao Yuner didn't look pregnant from behind, and she would definitely give birth to a boy. After saying that, Zhou's eyes sparkled with anticipation...

Meng Jun then rested at home for a few days to relax his tense nerves, but military operations were temporarily stopped and political affairs came up again.

As the meeting began, after everyone sat down, Yang En spoke first: "Governor, Zhejiang has just been settled, and there are vacancies for officials in various places. Should we select some scholars?" Yang En looked at Meng Jun and asked.

"No, the Duke should submit a report to the court after recovering Zhejiang. How can he grant an official position privately? Isn't this the behavior of a vassal state?" Before Meng Jun could say anything, Xiong Ruolin refuted him first.

Since the disappearance of Prince Lu, Xiong Ruolin was depressed for a while, but after Prince Lu was rescued by Zheng Cai, Xiong Ruolin regained his spirits again. He often followed Meng Jun, asking him questions indirectly and talking about stories of loyalty to the emperor. Meng Jun did not take it seriously and just followed the old man.

Meng Jun heard this and asked, "The imperial court is thousands of miles away, and there is also Fujian in the way. Not to mention the long journey, let's ask whether we should ask the Emperor of Shaowu or the Emperor Yongli. Do they have the time to manage Jiangnan, or do they want to manage it?"

As soon as Meng Jun's words came out, Xiong Ruolin was stunned on the spot, as if time had frozen. After a long time, Xiong Ruolin finally sighed deeply, closed his mouth silently, and stopped talking, but his eyes revealed an unspeakable helplessness and loss.

Even Meng Jun was confused by the actions of the Guangdong officials. Zhaoqing was so close to Guangzhou, but they had two emperors at the same time. They were so stupid to compete for the credit of following the dragon. I'm afraid that before the Qing army invaded Guangdong, the two small courts would have to fight a war on their own. Whenever Meng Jun thought of this, he was full of anger. Therefore, when he heard Xiong Ruolin's words, Meng Jun couldn't help but refute him on the spot.

There was a dead silence in the meeting room. Everyone's face was as gloomy as water. They had given up on the Ming Dynasty's bureaucratic court. Gu Yanwu was filled with righteous indignation and said: "How can such a narrow-minded and short-sighted minister have the wish to restore the world?"