Southern Ming Rebel Army

For more than half a month, all the time was spent on the march, with only a small battle in Lijiazhuang. Meng Jun originally thought that a fierce siege would be launched under Songjiang City, but he did not expect Li Chengdong to run away directly. If he had known this, Meng Jun thought that he might as well stay in Suzhou City to prepare for the war, and he had wasted this month's precious time in vain.

When Meng Jun received the news of the fall of Jiangyin, he suddenly felt confused. Now that Jiangyin had fallen, where would the tens of thousands of Bolo troops besieging Jiangyin go next?

There is no doubt that Suzhou would be Bolo's first target. As long as Jiangnan was pacified and the rear was stable, the financial resources of Jiangnan could be used to support the huge Eight Banners and Green Camp. Whether it was the Prince of Lu in Zhejiang, the Emperor Longwu in Fujian, Zheng Zhilong, Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan, or He Tengjiao in Huguang, the Qing court could pacify them one by one.

The north was in ruins and the Qing government had just occupied the north. The money, grain and materials seized could not meet the huge military expenditure. Jiangnan was now the top priority of the Qing government. Since the shaving order was issued, Jiangnan had resisted so fiercely that there had been endless debates in the Qing court. For Dorgon, the promoter of the shaving order, it was already a difficult situation. The decree he had just issued was taken back, which would seriously undermine his prestige. You must know that the Qing court was not united.

Prince Su Haoge was eyeing the throne covetously, and the struggle for the throne shifted from the open to the dark. In particular, most of the generals of the two yellow flags directly controlled by Huang Taiji had advocated supporting Haoge to succeed the throne. Turge, Sony, Tulai, Xihan, Gong Adai, Aobai, Tan Tai, Tazhan and other important officials of the court successively expressed their support for Prince Su to be the emperor.

Even the highly respected Prince Zheng Jirgalang, who controlled the Bordered Blue Banner, was inclined to support Hauge to ascend the throne. In terms of strength, Hauge had the support of the three banners of the Plain Yellow Banner, the Bordered Yellow Banner, and the Bordered Blue Banner, plus the support of the generals of the Plain Blue Banner he led, which gave him an absolute advantage in military affairs. The most prestigious person at the time was Huang Taiji's second brother, Prince Li Daishan, who believed that Hauge was "the eldest son of the emperor and should inherit the throne." In the fight for the throne, Dorgon and Hauge were evenly matched.

The battle for the throne began on September 1643, , the eighth year of Chongde (the sixteenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty). Both sides refused to give in. The Qing court was full of gunpowder. If they were not careful, a war might break out. In the stalemate between Hauge and Dorgon, after many days of repeated consultations, the two yellow flag ministers wore swords and went to the palace to say: "The late emperor was very kind to us. If you don't establish the late emperor's son, we would rather die and follow the late emperor in the underworld!"

The two yellow flag ministers were important officials of the Qing court and representatives of the armed forces that Huang Taiji personally controlled during his lifetime. At the critical moment when the struggle between Dorgon and Hauge was inextricable, they proposed a new plan for the prince to inherit the throne. After more than ten days of competition, the Supreme Council made the final decision. The six-year-old Fulin succeeded to the throne, and Prince Zheng Jirgalang and Prince Rui Dorgon were regents. Jirgalang was a supporter of Hauge, and most of the high-ranking officials in the court had no objection. In this way, Hauge lost the precious opportunity closest to the throne. Although Hauge did not win the throne, Hauge's military strength has always been a thorn in Dorgon's side, making him feel deeply uneasy.

Dorgon entered the pass against all odds, easily defeated Li Zicheng, captured Beijing, and the entire northern China surrendered. His own brother Dodo went south and easily captured Nanjing, overthrowing the Hongguang regime. Dorgon's reputation was now at its peak. If he went back and forth on the issue of the shaving order, it would inevitably undermine his reputation. Therefore, Dorgon urged Bolo several times to capture Jiangyin as soon as possible and wipe out the anti-Qing forces in Jiangnan, especially Suzhou, which was a thorn in Dorgon's side.

After receiving the news, Meng Jun felt that the situation was critical, so he ordered Han Xiong to arrange all matters in Songjiang City and lead his troops back to Suzhou as soon as possible. He himself was accompanied by only a hundred knights and rushed back to Suzhou at full speed.

"What! The Grand Commander has returned to Suzhou?" Yu An asked again in shock.

After getting confirmation from his subordinates, Yu An felt a little disappointed. He was the captain of the personal guard of the Grand Commander, although he was the deputy. However, the Grand Commander left without letting him follow him, which really made Yu An, a personal guard, a little depressed.

"Boss Yu, this is a letter from the Grand Commander." The subordinate fumbled in his arms for a while, then took out an envelope. Yu An opened the envelope and there was only one sentence on it: "Take the silver back to Suzhou."

Yu An touched his head and sighed, "To bring the silver back, we must travel slowly with the army. It will take another half a month. Sigh."

The subordinate looked at Yu An's lazy figure, and suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly shouted, "Boss, what should we do with that woman?"

Yu An turned around and asked in confusion, "Woman?" Then he suddenly realized, "Oh, that woman. Ask her if she has any relatives to rely on, and then give her some money to send her away."

The subordinate nodded and turned to go out. Yu An was still thinking about the silver. Just after sitting down, Yu An suddenly remembered the surprised expression on Meng Jun's face when he first saw this woman a few days ago. As a close friend of the governor, although the governor did not say it, should he think more about it? If he let this woman go, what if the governor came to ask him for help? Thinking of this, Yu An stood up suddenly. No, he couldn't let this girl go. He had to take her back to Suzhou. Even if the governor didn't want to do so, she could be a maid for the old lady.

Yu An hurriedly ran out, anxious to call his men back...

A few days later, Meng Jun and his entourage rushed back to Suzhou City, exhausted. Yang En was shocked. He did not expect Meng Jun to come back so quickly. Meng Jun asked Yang En to arrange for someone to settle the subordinates who followed him back, and he rushed to the backyard.

When Meng Jun came back, his face was exhausted. He asked the servants to prepare meals, washed himself hurriedly, ate something casually, and then lay down on the bed and fell asleep. After days of traveling, eating wind and drinking dew, Meng Jun's buttocks and thighs were burning with pain.

The next day, in the study, Yang En was discussing with Meng Jun.

"Governor, look, this is the record of the defense of Jiangyin," Yang En said and handed the document in his hand to Meng Jun.

Meng Jun took it and opened it. After a moment, he sighed and said, "It is a moving poem. Yan Yingyuan, the prefect of Jiangyin, is a man of courage, knowledge, wisdom and bravery. He is better than many generals and commanders. They all tried their best to capture Jiangyin."

After hearing this, Yang En said in a long voice, "Strong winds reveal strong grass, and turbulent times reveal loyal ministers. Yan Yingyuan has defended Jiangyin for so long, which is indeed admirable. Governor, there are countless people who are doing good deeds now. Although Jiangyin was defeated, the great deeds you have done in Suzhou have spread throughout the world. Heroes and righteous men from all over the world have come to surrender, and the people's hearts are evident."