Southern Ming Rebel Army

The news that Han Xiong in Nancheng had rescued some refugees soon reached Meng Bian's ears, and Meng Bian quickly sent people to maintain public order. Zhang Bo saw that the scene was in chaos and the onlookers were shouting and killing, so he had no choice but to send someone to ask Meng Jun.

Meng Jun received the news and rushed to the Confucius Temple in Suzhou. As soon as he arrived outside the temple, he heard a heart-wrenching cry. Several little kids were standing behind the door crying. Several elders who were surrounding the temple were still cursing, "Your body and hair are given by your parents. You dare not damage them. If you damage them, you are disloyal and unfilial. Your head can be cut off, but your hair must not be shaved. You all deserve to die."

As soon as he got here, Meng Jun asked Zhang Bo next to him, "Ji Kang, what's going on?"

Zhang Bo said, "Just now, a group of villagers were chased by the Tartars outside the South City. Han Tongzhen, who was guarding the South City, lowered a hanging basket from the tower to rescue them. However, many of them had shaved their heads. The people in the city were afraid of spies, so they all said that those without hair should be beheaded."

Now in various parts of Jiangnan, many villagers have no choice but to shave their heads in order to survive. This is an unavoidable fact. At this time in the Southern Ming Dynasty, the Qing army pursued the brutal act of keeping the hair but losing the head. If the rebels also responded by shaving their heads, it would be a dead end.

For example, in a township, when the Qing army came, those who kept their hair were killed. In order to survive, most villagers had to shave their heads, so those who shaved their heads survived. Then the anti-Qing army or the Southern Ming government army came and killed those with braids as Tartars. In this way, all the villagers had to die, regardless of whether they had hair or not. However, as the Qing army was powerful, those who shaved their heads still accounted for the majority, and more people shaved their heads than kept their hair. If all those who shaved their heads were killed, then this would undoubtedly push them to the Qing court. Meng Jun would never tolerate such an extreme thing happening.

Meng Jun thought of this, stood on the steps of the Confucius Temple, and said loudly, "Those with hair are righteous people, and those without hair are refugees. As long as we find out that they are not Tartar spies, we can cut off our braids and grow our hair. We should not kill them indiscriminately. We are all citizens of the Ming Dynasty. How can we fight against each other and kill each other?"

The elders around wanted to refute, but they were trembling and couldn't speak.

After the incident, Meng Jun said to Zhang Bo, "Record this. Those who are given gifts are righteous people, and those who are not given gifts are refugees. This order should be passed on to the entire army."

"Yes, Governor." Zhang Bo then took the order and left quickly.

After finishing this emergency, Meng Jun came to the Military Equipment Bureau again and met the cannon casting master again. Three months had passed. When Mi Shun saw Meng Jun, he knelt down and said, "My humble servant has seen the Grand Commander."

Meng Jun hurriedly helped Mi Shun up and said, "Master Mi, get up quickly. You are not allowed to kneel when you see me again." After that, Meng Jun looked at the ten cannons placed in the square, walked quickly forward, and stroked them with his hand. Although they were cold, Meng Jun was obsessed with them as if he was stroking his lover.

"Commander-in-chief, this cannon is six feet six inches long (about two meters long), with an effective range of more than five hundred steps, and a range of one thousand meters at a high elevation angle. This cannon weighs one thousand one hundred kilograms," Mi Shun introduced to Meng Jun incessantly.

"The ten cannons we're making this time can be deployed in the north city to fight against the Qing army's artillery. We're no longer powerless to fight back," Meng Jun said happily.

"Governor, two of the cannons have air holes and the clay in the molds is not yet cooked. They need to be sent back to the furnace for remaking," Mi Shun said hurriedly.

"Yeah, eight-door will do." Meng Jun stayed for a while, looking at the cannon, touching it left and right, feeling so excited that he couldn't contain himself. After a long while, he ordered Meng Bian to transport the cannon to the north city and place it there at night, ready to give the Qing army a sneak attack.

Meng Jun then left the cannon foundry and came to other artisan workshops. Unlike the cannon foundry, the arrow manufacturing and sword and armor areas were crowded with people. As soon as he walked in, a strong heat wave surged over him, and the noise of clanging was endless. Zhu Tu shouted to Meng Jun on the side, "Governor, we have enough manpower now, but the Tartars are besieging the city, and the iron materials and charcoal cannot be replenished. At the current forging speed, I'm afraid the inventory will be used up in less than a month."

Meng Jun nodded and said, "Don't worry, focus on making equipment, and focus on making more arrows for now." Meng Jun just said one sentence, and felt that his voice was a little small, so he repeated it loudly to Zhu Tu. Zhu Tu nodded and then said, "Commander-in-chief, it's too noisy here, let's go outside first."

After leaving the Military Equipment Bureau, Meng Jun exhaled a breath of foul air and said helplessly, "It's too noisy, and the working environment of these craftsmen is too poor."

Zhu Tu said helplessly, "Don't even mention the craftsmen. Even the people living near the Military Equipment Bureau, those who can afford it have all moved away. Only some poor families still live nearby. Even the housing prices in this area have fallen."

When they returned to Suzhou government office, Zhang Bo was already waiting in the hall. Meng Jun saw his expression and knew that Zhang Bo had something to ask, so he hurriedly said, "Ji Kang, let's talk in the study."

After entering the study, the two sat down. Zhang Bo said without waiting for Meng Jun to speak, "Commander-in-chief, the Intelligence Department has received news that His Royal Highness Prince Lu has decided to send 100,000 troops to Suzhou to lift the siege of Suzhou City."

Meng Jun was stunned. This was different from what he remembered Nanming doing. Was the Prince of Lu so fierce? He went all in and attacked with his entire army? However, Meng Jun was very happy about this. As long as the Zhejiang soldiers arrived at the city, they would be able to resist the attack from both inside and outside.

Meng Jun then asked in detail, "How many troops will the Prince of Lu send? How many infantry, cavalry, and navy will he send? Who will lead the army? Has the army assembled? How many days are expected to arrive in Suzhou?"

Zhang Bo shook his head and said, "The exact number of soldiers has not yet been determined, but it should be no less than 80,000. The leader is General Fang Guoan, the Southern Army. The Zhejiang Army has not yet completed its assembly, and the date of arrival is unknown."

"Yeah," Meng Jun nodded, and after a while he asked again, "What kind of person is this Fang Guoan?"

Zhang Bo then said, "Fang Guoan, courtesy name Panshi, was from Zhuji, Zhejiang. He served as a soldier under Zuo Liangyu in suppressing bandits and made many military achievements. In the 16th year of Chongzhen, he was appointed as the vice governor and general of Pingman. He fought against Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in the south, and both sides won and lost.

During the Hongguang reign of the Ming Dynasty, Fang Guoan attached himself to Ma Shiying, held the seal of the General of Zhennan, and stationed in Jiangpu. Later, Ma Shiying had a feud with Zuo Liangyu, so he moved his station to Chikou to prepare for Zuo Liangyu. When Zuo Liangyu was purging his entourage, he led his army southward, and Fang Guoan hurriedly led his army eastward.

When the Qing army marched south, Fang Guoan led his troops into Zhejiang. His military discipline was corrupt, and the people suffered greatly. The people were not loyal to him. Zhu Changxun, the Prince of Lu, surrendered to the Qing in Hangzhou. Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng later surrendered to him. When the Prince of Lu surrendered to the Qing, he led more than 10,000 troops to retreat from Hangzhou to the east bank of the Qiantang River, and together with Wang Zhiren's troops, they formed the main force of the anti-Qing armed forces. His Royal Highness the Prince of Lu promoted Fang Guoan to the Duke of Yue, and built an altar to appoint Fang Guoan as a general to control the troops.

After hearing Zhang Bo's eloquent introduction, Meng Jun had a preliminary understanding of Fang Guoan. Damn, he was born as a subordinate of Zuo Liangyu, and his military discipline is poor. Isn't he just another military leader who attacks when the wind is favorable and escapes when the wind is unfavorable? Meng Jun shook his head. He had a hunch that it was not known whether Fang Guoan would arrive in Suzhou after waiting for half a year.

But Bolo outside the city did not stop for a moment. There had been constant noise in the Qing army camp in recent days. This time the Qing army regrouped and built more equipment, a large number of ladders, siege towers, and cave houses. Looking down from a high place, there were huge numbers of heads, like waves. The contest between the two sides was about to begin again, and this time the scale was larger and more brutal.