Southern Ming Rebel Army

Xia Wanchun accepted the task of writing the memorial. On the way home, he kept considering the wording of the memorial. After all, this was an important matter that had to be reported to the emperor. Although the governor did not seem to take it seriously, this was the first job he had accepted since he joined the governor.

On the way back, he saw a white-haired scholar coming to the recruitment office with great enthusiasm. He had the dream of serving his country, but he was ruthlessly rejected.

The recruiting clerk looked at his white hair, shook his head, and said in a cold tone: "You are too old and not suitable for joining the army." A trace of disappointment flashed in the scholar's eyes, but he did not give up.

He stood up straight and said firmly: "Although I am old, my ambition has not diminished!"

The official smiled helplessly and said, "War requires strength. At your age, can you still wear armor? Can you still hold a sword or a gun? You should go back."

The scholar showed an unwilling expression on his face. He clenched his fists and said in a hoarse voice: "In the past, Lian Po was old, but he could still eat a bowl of rice and ten pounds of meat. Although I am a scholar, I am willing to follow his example."

But the clerk still shook his head and refused to recruit. Finally, the white-haired scholar turned around and left silently. His figure looked particularly lonely and desolate in the sunlight.

At this time, Xia Wanchun saw that the scholar was a little desolate, and couldn't help but chased up and said, "Old sir, please wait a moment."

The scholar looked back at Xia Wanchun with some confusion, not knowing why the young man was calling him, and then asked, "Sir, why do you want to call me?"

"Master, you are already gray-haired, why do you still want to join the army?" Xia Wanchun asked the scholar.

The old scholar was rejected for joining the army, and he was already angry. The young man rubbed salt into his wounds, and he said in a defensive tone: "Boy, although I am old, my heart to serve the country is not old. Why do you despise my old age?"

Xia Wanchun waved his hands and explained: "Master, please don't blame me. I dare not mock your age. I am just a little confused. Since you can't join the army, there are other ways to serve the country. You can also enter the governor's office or become a clerk."

The scholar shook his head and said, "I don't want to be a clerk."

"That's wrong. Going into battle is naturally to serve the country, but being a clerk in the Governor's Office is not useless either. The army's expedition, or the recruitment of strong men, the allocation of food, horse feed, bedding, tents, gunpowder, vehicles, medicines, etc., are all huge and tedious tasks. Without the many clerks in the Governor's Office, how can the army function?" Xia Wanchun said seriously.

"This..." The scholar hesitated. Seeing this, Xia Wanchun asked, "Old sir, have you ever achieved any honor?"

The scholar smiled bitterly and said, "I have been doing nothing. I have already reached the age of 50, but I am still just a scholar. I am young and reckless, and I rushed to Suzhou. I wanted to follow Governor Meng and fight the national crisis together. I didn't expect that even as a commoner, I am not qualified for the job."

Xia Wanchun hesitated for a moment, then said: "If you don't mind, you can go back with me and settle down first. I will make some inquiries and then make a decision."

…………

But Meng Jun was a little worried at this time. Just when the Governor's Office was doing its best to prepare supplies and make preliminary preparations for the army to go on the expedition, Emperor Shaowu in Guangzhou sent someone to inform him that Zeng Daowei, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, was holding the title of Governor-General of the Five Provinces in the South of the Yangtze River and was going to inspect Suzhou and Songjiang, so he asked Meng Jun to be prepared to welcome him.

Zeng Daowei, courtesy name Yuanlu, was a native of Nanhai County, Guangdong. He was a Jinshi in the 38th year of the Wanli reign and was appointed as the Director of the Ministry of Justice. He was later transferred to the position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Justice and successively served as the Deputy Envoy of Changzhen, the Deputy Envoy of Qingzhou, the Deputy Envoy of Wude, and was promoted to the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Shandong. He resigned from his post due to illness and returned home.

In the first year of the Tianqi reign, he was appointed as the Right Governor of Jiangxi. However, he refused to take the position because Wei Zhongxian wanted to use him. During the Chongzhen period, he was again appointed as the Governor of Huguang. Until Emperor Longwu ascended the throne, he was promoted to Minister of Revenue and Grand Secretary of Dongge. With Shaowu's ascension to the throne, Zeng Daowei entered the cabinet for his contribution in supporting him and concurrently served as Minister of Revenue.

Zeng Daowei's decades of official career made him loyal to the court. Under this premise, Zeng Daowei went to Suzhou as an important official of Shaowu. Meng Jun knew with a little thought that after the threat from the Yongli court gradually subsided, Emperor Shaowu had set his eyes on the fruits of victory achieved by Meng Jun.

Zeng Daowei wanted to emulate the story of the Southern Song Dynasty. Guangzhou was too remote, and the ruler and ministers of Shaowu wanted to move the court to Hangzhou. They even thought that if they could regain all the generals under Meng Jun's command, then the revival of the Ming Dynasty would be in sight. Zeng Daowei's trip was on the one hand to test Meng Jun's attitude, and on the other hand he also wanted to win over the generals under Meng Jun.

It turned out that Lu Wang's military supervisor Xiong Ruolin hinted to Meng Jun implicitly that Xiong Ruolin was originally a minister of Lu Wang's regime. With the support of Zheng Cai in Fujian, Lu Wang had re-established his regime in Fujian. Although it could not be compared with Shaowu Yongli, it had gradually recovered its strength. However, Xiong Ruolin did not return to Fujian, but insisted on staying by Meng Jun's side.

For a moment, Meng Jun was a little overwhelmed by this. If this old man came to Suzhou and relied on his status as a minister to give orders to Meng Jun and the Meng army, this was something Meng Jun could not tolerate.

After all, these remaining ministers and officials of the Ming Dynasty were more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything. Apart from their admirable act of expressing their loyalty to the king in times of national crisis, they were of no use at all. There were even a large number of officials and gentry who surrendered at the critical moment of their lives.

In this chaotic situation, Meng Jun actually longed for a staff officer who could be entrusted with important tasks, who knew military affairs, understood the situation, and understood the overall situation, and who could think of things he could not think of and do things he could not do. Although Yang En was talented, he was still lacking in military affairs and the overall situation. But Meng Jun also knew that such talents were hard to come by.

Lu Zhenfei said to Meng Jun: "Although the governor is famous throughout the world, he still considers himself a wise minister. Now that the Emperor of Shaowu has sent a minister, we should treat him with courtesy and not humiliate him."

Liu Zhongzao, Liu Kentang, Lu Zhenfei and other old officials of Longwu were more inclined to support Emperor Shaowu than Emperor Yongli, after all, he was the younger brother of Emperor Longwu.

Although Meng Jun was worried that Zeng Daowei would make irresponsible remarks about the affairs of the Governor's Office when he heard about his upcoming visit, he could not really refuse his coming.

Zhang Zhuo entered the Governor's Mansion in the evening and said to Meng Jun: "Governor, I received a letter from my close friend in Guangdong, saying that Zeng Daowei fiercely impeached the Governor in the court, saying that the Governor privately appointed officials and arbitrarily changed the military system. His actions were just like Zeng Daowei's words to the emperor. I am willing to sacrifice my body to make Meng Jun change his ways. If that doesn't work, I would rather die in Suzhou."

Meng Jun was stunned and asked in confusion: "How could anyone in the court object to such behavior?"

"Yes, Minister Yang Guoting said that if we push him too far, he might rebel against the governor, but Zeng Daowei said this with full confidence." At this point, Zhang Zhe hesitated and did not continue.

Meng Jun said in a low voice: "Go ahead."

"Zeng Daowei said that the governor killed so many elite Manchu and Mongolian soldiers. Even if he wanted to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, I am afraid the Qing court would not accept it. He also said that if the military men are not controlled, the people will suffer," he said with a somewhat unpleasant face.

"No one in the court objects?"

"There were some who opposed it, but Su Guansheng acquiesced, and the emperor was also somewhat tempted," Zhang replied to Meng Jun.

"Hehehehe" Meng Jun snorted coldly when he heard that!