Southern Ming Rebel Army

Just as Meng Jun led his troops to besiege Hangzhou City, Meng Bian, who was far away in Jiangning, was a little uneasy at this moment. Although he had made sufficient preparations, if something happened, he was afraid that he would have to flee Jiangning overnight, and it would be even more difficult to accomplish what the young master had asked him to do.

Meng Bian, holding Zhang Zhuo's business card and claiming to be Zhang Zhuo's nephew, visited Wu Weiye.

Wu Weiye, whose courtesy name was Jungong and pseudonym was Meicungong, was from Taicang, Jiangsu.

He was born in the 37th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, and became a Jinshi in the 4th year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty. He had served as an editor in the Hanlin Academy and a left scholar. He was known as one of the three great scholars of Jiangzuo together with Qian Qianyi and Gong Dingzi. The poem "The six armies all cried in mourning, and they lost their temper for the beauty" was written by Wu Weiye.

Wu Weiye had close ties with the Donglin Party's Fushe Society. His teacher was Fushe leader Zhang Fu, who met Wu Weiye several times.

After Meng Bian arrived in Jiangning, he investigated for half a month and learned that Wu Weiye was devoted to his homeland and was someone who could be won over.

In the morning, Meng Bian arranged his clothes and came to Wu Weiye's residence. "Dong...Dongdong"

"Coming," a response came from inside the door.

With a "creaky" sound, a person came out from the door. It was an old man with a well-proportioned figure, wearing simple and neat clothes, and his movements were calm.

Meng Bian hurriedly bowed and said, "Zhang Wenshui's (Zhang's pen name) nephew greets Mr. Wu."

The old man waved his hand and said, "Sir, I am not here. My master is in the inner hall. Please wait a moment while I report to him."

Meng Bian was stunned and said hurriedly, "Please go ahead, old man."

The old man closed the door gently, and then walked towards the inner hall slowly.

Meng Bian shook his head behind him, signaling to the others to be patient. Meng Bian was entrusted with an important task and would not dare to put himself in danger. Although he guessed that Wu Weiye would not inform on the secret, Meng Bian still arranged for several good fighters to hide around Wu's house. He also had a short blade hidden on his chest, so that he could still deal with it if anything went wrong.

After a while, the old man came out and greeted Meng Bian, saying, "Sir, my master wants to see you."

"Thank you, old man."

……

"Young Master is Wenshui's nephew," Wu Weiye asked after Meng Bian sat down.

"That's right, I am his nephew, Zhang An," Meng Bian stood up and bowed.

"No need to be polite, sit down, sit down," Wu Weiye waved his hand and said, "I heard that Suzhou has been occupied by Meng Jun. I wonder if the Zhang family is safe."

"The Zhang family is doing well. Commander Meng has strict military discipline and has never disturbed the people."

"Well, that's good." Wu Weiye nodded, and then the two chatted for a while. Seeing that Meng Bian hadn't gotten to the point yet, Wu Weiye asked, "I wonder if my nephew came to see me today for something important?"

"This is a letter from my uncle to you, sir." Meng Bian immediately stood up and took out the letter from his arms. Meng Bian knew the contents of the letter clearly. Apart from the reminiscence at the beginning, the most important part was this sentence: "Brother Jun Gong, Governor Meng is a man of great talent and strategy, determined to recover the country. Now the barbarians are heading south, leading beasts to eat people, shaving their heads and changing their clothes, and committing heinous crimes. I am willing to follow you until death. If that doesn't work, I would like to bring my whole family to the country in times of crisis. I wonder if you are willing to lend me a helping hand."

Meng Bian handed the letter to Wu Weiye, feeling somewhat uneasy as he did not know what choice Wu Weiye would make.

After reading the letter, Wu Weiye couldn't help but sigh, "Strong winds reveal strong grass, and turbulent times reveal loyal ministers. Brother Wenshui, you are more than a hundred times better than me!"

Then Wu Weiye looked at Meng Bian and said self-deprecatingly, "If I want to, I am just a scholar. I have neither the strength to lift a tripod nor the strategy to stabilize the country. What can a mediocre scholar do to help?"

Meng Bian hurriedly said, "Sir, please don't be modest. Your strength is equal to tens of thousands of people."

Wu Weiye was stunned and asked, "Why do you say that, nephew?"

Meng Bian thought for a moment, organized his words, and said, "Mr.'s teacher is Zhang Bo, the leader of the Fushe Society. He has a wide network of contacts and knows the situation in the world. This is Mr.'s greatest advantage."

Wu Weiye smiled and said, "I see. Okay, I accept. Even though I am only a firefly, I wish to illuminate these mountains and rivers."

Meng Bian was overjoyed and said, "Sir, you are so kind. I thank you on behalf of Governor Meng."

Wu Weiye waved his hand and said, "Don't do that. My dear nephew can arrange for someone to live in Wu's house. He can be called my distant nephew. If there is any news that you need me to find out, just let me know."

Meng Bian nodded and said, "Sir, you are right."

…………

After returning to the base in Jiangning, although Meng Bian was carrying a huge sum of 20,000 taels, he could not spend it recklessly. He had just come to Jiangning to investigate and wanted to buy a brothel, but after inquiring about the market, he gave up the idea reluctantly. Not to mention that he needed connections, even the investment was far beyond what these 20,000 taels could accomplish. Meng Bian never expected that the prices in Jiangning were so high. In Changshu, 20,000 taels could at least open two brothels.

In desperation, Meng Bian bought a teahouse in a remote place as a place for intelligence liaison. In the teahouse warehouse, Meng Bian said to a man, "Chang Yuanding, from today on, you will be called Wu Ding, the distant nephew of Wu Weiye. Remember, every time there is an emergency, you can put a red flower on the door of Wu's house, and you don't need to put a flower when there is no emergency."

Chang Yuanding was originally a soldier in the army. When Meng Bian was selecting personnel, he saw that he was smart and chose him. Chang Yuanding was a native of Suzhou, and his parents, wife and children were all in Suzhou city. The people selected by Meng Bian all had families and careers and could be controlled.

Chang Yuanding then asked, "What if you need to contact me?"

"Well, when something happens, an oil seller will come to Wu's house and ask if you want oil. The oil is fresh," Meng Bian continued. The two discussed the details with each other, and then Chang Yuanding left the teahouse and rushed to Wu's house.

"Sir..." Liu Guquan said as Meng Bian just walked out of the warehouse, but before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Meng Bian angrily, "How many times have I told you to call me Young Master outside?"

Liu Guquan patted his mouth and said, "Master, blame me, blame me. There is no one around."

"Okay, what's the matter?" Meng Bian said unhappily.

"Young Master, let's leave it at that for the Jiangning matter. I'll go back with you and leave the teahouse here to Liu Mazi," Liu Guquan said to Meng Bian.

Meng Bian thought about it for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, you stay here first. I will transfer you back after a while when everything is stable."

The matter in Jiangning was finally settled. Meng Bian packed up his luggage with six followers and set off on his journey home. They left the prosperous city of Jiangning and headed for home.

Along the way, Meng Bian was in a good mood, chatting and laughing with his followers. However, he was also secretly thinking about the various matters he would have to face after returning to Suzhou.

Under the city of Hangzhou, the battlefield was filled with a suffocating atmosphere of tragedy. Looking around, the ground was littered with corpses, and the air was filled with the strong smell of gunpowder and blood. Dust was flying all over the sky, as if a thick veil was cast over the entire battlefield. The sound of fighting resounded through the sky, and at the same time, the artillery made a deafening roar, like thunder in the ears, and the sound of drums and horns rose and fell, passionate and high-pitched, and countless infantrymen were consumed in this bloody battlefield.

They carried the towering ladders and advanced forward with difficulty. Along with the ladders were huge siege towers. Everything on the battlefield seemed so intense and fierce that there was no chance to breathe.