Southern Ming Rebel Army

A few days later, garrison commander Wang sent an order that Meng Jun should lead the Changshu camp to escort the baggage to Li Chengdong's army outside Jiaxing city the next day.

Meng Jun received the order and said goodbye to his mother Zhou. Although Zhou was worried, she also told Meng Jun to be careful on the way and she would pray for him.

On the second day, Meng Jun brought Meng Bian back to the military camp to receive supplies, and then began to lead the Changshu camp to leave the barracks and head towards Jiaxing.

Looking at the dozens of carts loaded with money, food, supplies and weapons, Meng Jun's thoughts never stopped. However, looking at the nearly one thousand soldiers in the Changshu camp and the indifferent look of one person, Meng Jun did not dare to reveal his thoughts no matter what they were thinking. Meng Jun turned his head to look at the scholar beside him. Ever since he placed the scholar in the camp, Meng Jun treated him as his aide, but the scholar was taciturn all the way.

Along the way, Meng Jun took a copy of the Art of War with him and studied it whenever he had time. Although he only had a vague understanding of many of its meanings, Meng Jun forced himself to study. After all, if one read 300 Tang poems, one would be able to recite them even if one could not write poems. There was no harm in reading more books. Occasionally, he also discussed the Art of War with the scholar, but although the scholar was talented, he was obviously not good at military affairs.

Meng Jun felt that although this scholar looked a little pedantic, he still had some talent. He could speak eloquently and quote historical allusions at will.

The speed of transporting baggage was extremely slow, and the journey in a day was only 25 li (about 12 kilometers in modern times). The march was boring and tedious. The entire book of Sun Tzu's Art of War had only words. Meng Jun had already read it over and over again in the past three or four days. So Meng Jun often chatted with the scholar. The scholar was not very interested and occasionally responded to Meng Jun. But at this time, the scholar suddenly became a little interested.

"This is Yangcheng Lake. The rice is ripe and the crabs in Jiangcun are fat. Their claws are like spears sticking out of the green mud. The Yangcheng Lake crabs are so fat and delicious that I tasted them with my friends a few years ago. It was really delicious."

"That's not difficult. This is Yangcheng Lake. There must be a store nearby. You can buy some if you want to eat," Meng Jun said to the scholar with a smile.

"Yangcheng Lake is still there, crabs are there every year, but the old friends are no longer here." After saying this, the scholar looked at Yangcheng Lake in the distance and murmured to himself, "The spring waves are green under the Sad Bridge, where the stunning figure once reflected his shadow."

Seeing that the scholar was in a low mood, Meng Jun changed the subject and said, "Yangcheng Lake also produced a strange man in the early Ming Dynasty. Scholar, do you know who he is?"

"I know the black-robed monk Yao Guangxiao," the scholar said calmly.

"So what do you think of Yao Guangxiao as a good or evil person? I read history books. Some people say he is a genius of his generation, while others say he is an evil monk."

"Whether it is right or wrong depends on the person. In the eyes of Emperor Jianwen, this man must be an evil monk, the source of chaos in the world. In the eyes of Emperor Chengzu, Yao Guangxiao is a master strategist, and getting him is like Emperor Gaozu getting Zifang and Emperor Taizong getting Fang Du. However, Yao Guangxiao assisted Emperor Chengzu in making various plans and winning battles thousands of miles away. At the critical moment, he helped Emperor Chengzu make critical and correct decisions." The scholar paused and continued, "In today's world, the Eastern Tartars are rampant. I don't know who can bring peace to the world today."

"Heroes are made by the times, and there are so many grassroots heroes in the world."

"Since the Battle of Sarhu, the government troops have won small victories and suffered heavy defeats against the Eastern Tartars. Now, they dare not fight. Liu Liangzuo and Liu Zeqing, the four commanderies in northern Jiang, had tens of thousands of troops, but they surrendered without firing a single arrow. Surrender has become a trend among officials at all levels. It is ridiculous, shameful and lamentable," the scholar said with deep sorrow.

"The Qing army entered the pass not because it was invincible, but because the court was weak, corrupt and factional, and the high-ranking officials were brave enough to consume internal resources but afraid of external enemies. If the court was not corrupt and incompetent, if Li Zicheng had not broken through the capital, if Wu Sangui had not opened Shanhaiguan, unfortunately, there are not so many ifs in reality. Li Zicheng broke through Beijing and Wu Sangui opened Shanhaiguan, but I believe that as long as we get rid of the current malpractices, train elite troops, and have sufficient food and grass, we can still do a lot in the world," Meng Jun said comfortingly.

When Meng Jun and the scholar were chatting by the lake, Meng Bian stood behind them. He couldn't help wiping his mouth and said, "Sir, I heard that the Emperor Longwu of Fujian has ascended the throne. The Zheng family of Fujian has thousands of ships and hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers. There are also Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Huguang and other provinces. The Prince of Zhejiang Lu has already been acting as regent in Shaoxing. Now, under the order to shave their heads, people are in a panic, and there are righteous actions in various places. If the government army marches north at this time, I think it will definitely succeed."

Meng Jun suddenly felt a little excited. It turns out that I am not alone. Since the Qing Dynasty entered the pass, they have been burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of evil. People have turned against them. Now they have shaved their heads and dressed differently. The people in Jiangnan have long been in a state of excitement. However, the rebel armies in various places are fighting independently. If there is one person who can unify the rebel armies in various places, there is still hope for them to march north to the Central Plains, not to mention the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains. At this time, Meng Jun suddenly felt that he had not paid much attention to Meng Bian. He didn't expect that he was well-informed and had such observation and thinking.

"Bi'an's words make sense," Meng Jun praised.

As the three of them discussed, the scholar was very excited. He even said to Meng Jun, "Your Excellency is not as good as us..."

Meng Jun waved his hand without waiting for the scholar to continue, saying, "I know what you are going to say, just keep it in your mind and talk about it later."

The scholar ignored Meng Jun's attempt and said generously, "Sir Meng, we have shaved our heads and worn strange clothes now. How can we face our ancestors in the underworld after we die? Rather than living in such humiliation, we might as well... rebel." The scholar emphasized the last two words "rebel."

When Meng Bian heard what the scholar said, he immediately retorted, "You are a scholar. How can we rebel in this situation? The government troops haven't even started the Northern Expedition yet. We are just a few hundred people. To put it nicely, we are an army, but to put it bluntly, we are just a group of civilians. How can we rebel now? Besides, 800,000 people were killed in Yangzhou, and hundreds of thousands of troops in the four towns in northern Jiangnan surrendered. These few hundred people are not enough to be killed by the Eight Banners Army. Young master, don't listen to this scholar's nonsense."

"Confucius said to be a martyr, Mencius said to pursue justice, you are a coward" The scholar looked at Meng Bian with contempt. Meng Bian was provoked by the scholar and his mouth twitched with anger.

"Okay, stop arguing, let me think about it carefully." Meng Jun stopped the quarrel between the two in annoyance.

"Da... Da... Da... Da... Da Da Da" At this time, the sound of horse hooves was heard. Meng Jun looked closely and saw an Eight Banners soldier riding a horse galloping towards him. The Eight Banners soldier came to Meng Jun and said arrogantly, "You rest here for a while. There are some rioters ahead. You can move forward after the army puts down the rebellion." After that, he turned his horse's head and galloped away without waiting for Meng Jun to reply.

Meng Jun looked at the Eight Banners soldiers leaving, thought for a moment and said to Meng Bian and the scholar, "Let's go to the hillside over there and take a look."

Meng Bizhi, Lin Shiqi and Song Jianping, who were nearby, saw Meng Jun and heard that the Eight Banners Army was suppressing a rebellion ahead. Meng Bizhi and Lin Shiqi immediately followed, while Song Jianping stopped to think for a moment and also followed.