Southern Ming Rebel Army

In a slightly larger house in Tongxiang Town, Bolo stared at the messenger in front of him with a gloomy face. This person was the messenger sent by Ma Degong to report. Bolo could never have thought that he had only been away for three days and had just defeated Fang Guoan, but the camp in the rear was easily broken by Meng Jun!

When he thought of this, Bolo was so angry that he trembled all over. He couldn't help cursing: "Bai Yongfu, that bastard! I must cut him into pieces and let him taste the pain of a thousand arrows piercing his heart! And that Ma Degong and Tian Xiong, they are all useless idiots!"

His voice echoed in the room like thunder, frightening the messenger so much that his face turned pale and he dared not even breathe. Boro's anger was uncontrollable. If he did not need to know more from the messenger, he would have killed him with a sword.

After hearing that Kong Youde had left all the artillery in the camp and that all the baggage and supplies were taken by Meng Jun, Bolo could no longer suppress his anger and shouted "Get out!"

Tulai, Nikan and others frowned, not daring to dissuade them easily. Only Bai Yingtu bowed and said, "General, don't be angry. Our Eight Banner warriors are still brave, but storming a city is not our forte. This time we easily defeated the Zhejiang army. Meng Jun is just a bandit and dared to hide in Suzhou City. Now that Zhu Yihai's army has been defeated, Zhejiang is within our grasp. Jiangsu and Zhejiang are certain, so Suzhou is just a small place, which is not worth mentioning."

After the Eight Banners defeated Fang Guoan, the defeat under the city of Suzhou disappeared, and the confidence that the Eight Banners were invincible once again emerged in everyone.

After hearing this, Bo Luo sighed and said, "Now that things have come to this, let's go to Hangzhou to rest for a while."

In Hangzhou City, Bolo frowned slightly, looked at Zhang Cunren with suspicion, and asked, "Governor Zhang, why are there so many families setting up mourning halls in Hangzhou City?"

Zhang Cunren shook his head and said, "When the Regent ordered people to shave their heads, some sour scholars in Hangzhou did not understand the court's painstaking efforts and resisted shaving their heads, so they jumped into the river or hanged themselves from the beams. The most cases were over a hundred people a day. It has slowed down a bit recently, but there are still people jumping into the river from time to time."

Bolo suddenly felt a little uneasy. Although these civilians were like ants in his eyes, Bolo could feel the restless atmosphere in Hangzhou city.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan and the North were like two different worlds. The North was full of refugees and suffered from famine for years, while Jiangnan was prosperous and the singing of the Qinhuai River was mesmerizing. If you were only in Nanjing, you would think that the Ming Dynasty was still a prosperous era. However, it was precisely because the people in Jiangnan were richer than those in the North that the South resisted the order to shave their heads more resolutely.

Just when the Bolo army was taking a temporary break, the court of King Lu in Shaoxing was in an uproar. Fang Fengnian, Zhang Guowei, Qian Sulue, Li Changxiang and others strongly demanded that King Lu move to Ningbo first to avoid Bolo's attack.

Fang Fengnian was the first to speak, "Your Highness, General Fang's troops were defeated in Tongxiang, and less than 40% of them fled to the Qiantang River. Your Highness and the court are staying in Shaoxing, which will surely make the front-line soldiers have concerns. It would be better to move the emperor to Ningbo, which is the safest strategy."

Qian Sule also nodded and said, "In the past, Emperor Yizong wanted to move south, but when he mentioned this idea, many ministers opposed it. Emperor Yizong died for his country, and the country collapsed day by day."

Zhang Guowei heard this and sighed, "In the past, the old ministers suggested that we invite the prince to Nanjing to supervise the country first, and select important ministers to assist the prince, but Guang Shiheng, the military official, strongly dissuaded us and even suggested that the prince go south. What do the ministers want to do? Do you want to follow the example of Emperor Suzong in Lingwu? As a lesson from the past, Your Highness the Regent should not stay in a dangerous place for a long time, or you may do something unspeakable. You should go to Ningbo as soon as possible and wait for the right opportunity."

Everyone was talking about it and all agreed to leave Shaoxing. Those who disagreed were scolded and regarded as the second Guang Shiheng.

Zhang Huangyan was silent at this moment, as if he was completely immersed in the thrilling battle. His eyes were empty and confused, and he seemed to be able to see the land stained with blood.

Especially when he thought of his close friend Zhang Mingzhen, he felt an irrepressible grief. They had fought side by side, shared life and death, but now they were separated by the Yin and Yang. The departure of Zhang Mingzhen was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Zhang Huangyan, and he fell into deep pain.

However, Zhang Huangyan knew that he couldn't stay in sorrow forever. He had to be strong.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huangyan stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, the war is fierce and dangerous. I wish to defend Shaoxing to the death like Suzhou did. Please move your Highness to Ningbo."

Zhu Yihai, the Prince of Lu, said helplessly, "In this case, let's move to Ningbo first." Zhu Yihai did not agree with Zhang Huangyan to defend Shaoxing and insisted that he stay by his side. As for Meng Jun, who was still besieged in Suzhou, the Prince of Lu had to pretend that he didn't know, even if he wanted to, he was powerless.

Subsequently, the court of King Lu decided that Fang Guoan would lead his troops to guard the Qiantang River defense line, Shen Tingyang's navy would patrol the river, and Wang Zhiren would lead his troops to accompany King Lu for protection.

As for Meng Jun, the messengers he sent were shuttling through the streets and alleys like birds. They were running non-stop in all directions. Among these messengers, most were heading to Songjiang, and their haste was astonishing.

Meng Jun knew that time was running out and there was no time to waste, so he made a prompt decision and ordered Zhao Yongping to immediately prepare for the navy, requisition civilian ships, and recruit craftsmen to work on the manufacture of weapons.

Just as he was busy, Gao Yi came in and interrupted Meng Jun, saying, "Governor, there is a man outside the hall who claims to be Gu Yanwu and wants to see you. I said you are very busy and don't have time to meet anyone. That Gu Yanwu said he is also the leader of the rebel army and wants to join you. Do you want to meet him?"

Meng Jun was stunned. Gu Yanwu! Then he said happily, "See you, why not? Come in, please."

Then Meng Jun stood up, looked around, straightened his messy clothes, seemed to remember something, and threw one of his shoes away.

When there was a sound outside the door, Meng Jun immediately pushed open the door and saw that the man was as thin as a bamboo, with a thin face and a long beard on his chin, which fluttered gently in the breeze. The beard was as black and shiny as ink, and the whole person revealed a kind of extraordinary and uncontested temperament.

Meng Jun stepped forward quickly, held Gu Yanwu's hand tightly and said, "Mr. Gu, I look forward to you as much as the stars look forward to the moon."

Gao Yi beside him had an unnatural look on his face. He seemed to have just said this to Bai Yongfu. Moreover, the governor had clearly put on his shoes just now, so how come one of them was missing?