Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

"Is this information reliable?" asked a Nanjing official.

Duke Wei Xu Hongji glanced at the man without answering, which was a question about his ability to command troops.

"After Huang Degong occupied Sizhou, he led his troops to Huai'an. Liu Zeqing, the general of Huai'an, requested support and hoped to move to Yingtian."

After Xu Hongji finished speaking, he handed the letter in his hand to Zhang Shenyan and others.

The lobby suddenly became quiet.

Especially the group of people who had just boasted about the powerful army of the three towns in Jiangbei, they suddenly fell silent.

In fact, they did not fail to try to win over Huang Degong, the general of Luzhou. On the contrary, Qian Qianyi and others first tried to win over Huang Degong.

For this purpose, Qian Qianyi also wrote a personal letter of thousands of words, enumerating the crimes of Zhang Shikang, Marquis of Guanjun, and praising Huang Degong's achievements. He hoped that Huang Degong would listen to the will of the people and join in this event of clearing the court and eliminating traitors. Duke of Wei Xu Hongji also wrote a letter.

The reason why Huang Degong was valued so much was not only because the more than 10,000 soldiers led by Huang Degong were imperial guards, but also because of Huang Degong's own military achievements and character.

Among the four towns in northern Jiangbei, Gao Jie and Liu Liangzuo were both surrendered soldiers. Together with Liu Zeqing's troops, although the three groups had a large number of troops, they did not have any outstanding battle records.

Not only that, the three tribes also had a very bad reputation in the local area and often allowed their subordinates to plunder the surrounding areas.

On the other hand, Huang Degong was not only brave in combat but also had strict military discipline, and was also very popular among the local people.

Comparing goods will lead to throwing them away; comparing people will lead to death. Xu Hongji, Qian Qianyi and others certainly refused to give up on winning over Huang Degong.

However, all their efforts were in vain. No matter how hard they tried, Huang Degong ignored them by giving them money, fertile land, and even women.

Huang Degong was quite polite to the envoy the first time, but he treated him coldly the second time. On the third day, the envoy did not even enter the gate of the military camp.

On the fifth day, Huang Degong chopped the sacrificial flag of the envoy with a knife, and then led his imperial guards to launch a surprise attack on Gao Jie's troops, catching Gao Jie off guard.

After reading the letter, Zhang Shenyan, Qian Qianyi and other Donglin scholars all looked unhappy.

Because looking at Liu Zeqing's anxious attitude, it seems that he has no confidence in defending Huai'an.

However, the Donglin people are good at quoting classics and discussing scriptures. When it comes to military affairs, they are at a loss.

Everyone looked at Duke of Wei Xu Hongji. Xu Hongji frowned and thought for a moment before saying:

"The troops of the garrison are still being mobilized and cannot form a fighting force for the time being. The troops of the three towns in northern Jiang are still our greatest support.

Huang Degong only attacked by surprise. Although Gao Jie was defeated, his casualties were not heavy and he did not suffer any serious injuries.

I think that there is no strategic location to defend north of the Yangtze River, and we still need time to mobilize troops. In order to preserve our strength, it would be better to transfer all the troops from the three towns to the south of the Yangtze River.

Given the danger of the river, Huang Degong only has more than 10,000 troops and would not dare to cross the river easily.

We just need to wait for the old lady to mobilize her troops and the people to support us. We can achieve our goal in one fell swoop and smash the traitor to pieces!"

Xu Hongji spoke with confidence, which made the people present regain their confidence.

“But what I am more worried about is the west. Qin Liangyu and Cao Bianjiao still have more than 30,000 soldiers and horses.

I have written to these two people to win them over, but have received no response. We should pay more attention to them."

Xu Hongji said with a hint of worry.

The Qin and Cao rivers control the river valley. Although the possibility of dividing the troops is small, after all, the walls of Nanjing are high and the moats are deep, and it is not easy to attack.

But if Qin and Cao took the risk and took advantage of the fact that they were marching north and their rear was empty to block their food supply, that would be very bad.

Hearing this, Zhang Shenyan and Qian Qianyi looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, sir, don't worry. Leave this matter to us. We will not let these two people take advantage of any opportunity." Zhang Shenyan said.

"Oh? What brilliant idea does Lord Zhang have?" Xu Hongji asked somewhat puzzled.

However, Zhang Shenyan and the other man did not say it explicitly. They just told Xu Hongji not to worry about Qin and Cao. After all, Xu Hongji was mature and he knew their plan after just a little thought.

Although it seems a bit absurd, I can't care too much about it at the moment.

Their current behavior, to put it nicely, is to purge the emperor's side, but to put it bluntly, is no different from treason and forcing the emperor to abdicate.

"There is one more small matter that I would like to inform you of." Qian Qianyi took over the conversation and said:

"Some time ago, in order to oppose the imperial court's tax reform, the gentry in Jiangbei and other places secretly supported the refugees, hoping to put pressure on the imperial court."

"I know about this matter. It seems that students from the county school and the prefectural school have joined in. This is a good thing. We must let the current emperor know what a wrong decision it is to impose additional commercial taxes." Xu Hongji said.

"But..." Qian Qianyi hesitated, but he didn't dare to hide it, and continued:

"But the situation seems to be getting out of control. The refugees, with the support of the gentry, have turned their fake play into reality!

They smashed the provincial government office, looted the granary, and threatened the local wealthy families to hand over their money and grain. Many wealthy families were robbed by them. "

This was not good news, indicating that Zhang Shenyan and Qian Qianyi had not told Xu Hongji about it before, and only dared to say it after Xu Hongji formally expressed his intention to join this operation.

"What? Why are you telling me now?" Xu Hongji immediately slammed the table. He felt like he had fallen into a trap.

Zhang Shenyan quickly explained:

"Sir, please calm down. We just learned the news. There are only two groups of refugees out of control.

One group was in Luzhou Prefecture. The leader seemed to be named Song Laosan, a refugee who fled from Shandong to Nanzhili.

Under pressure from Huang Degong's reputation, this group of refugees smashed the local government office and then fled to Anqing.

The other group was in Yingzhou. They occupied the county seat of Yingzhou, killed all the local wealthy people, and caused chaos.

After saying this, Zhang Shenyan and Qian Qianyi remained silent, waiting for Xu Hongji to express his opinion on the matter.

After all, it was the first time for both of them to start a rebellion. If it came to writing an article to impeach someone or using underhanded tactics to stir up internal strife, both of them were able to do it with ease. It was no exaggeration to say that they were experts.

But when it comes to specific matters, there will always be omissions. Giving these refugees money and food will only make them cause trouble, which will let the court know how unpopular it is to impose commercial taxes.

They never imagined that these damned unruly people, after taking the money and food, would immediately become rebellious and start to bite their master.

Xu Hongji pondered for a long time, knowing that he had already boarded the pirate ship no matter what, so he could only say:

"This is not all bad. Since we are ready to give up Jiangbei and leave this mess behind, let Huang Degong and that traitor worry about it.

Everyone, since we have decided to start a rebellion, we should be aware of the dangers of this matter. The victors are the kings and the losers are the bandits, it has been like this since ancient times!

Only if we unite as one can we achieve success.”

"Unite as one, fight to the death!" everyone echoed in unison.

……

The fifth day of the second month of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Beijing.

Emperor Chongzhen put down the report delivered by the personnel of the Eastern Investigation Bureau from the front line in Jiangbei. A look of shock appeared on his face and his hands were shaking slightly.

"Misfortune...Misfortune!

Wang Daban, hurry up...bring Chuanshi Kang to the palace!"

……