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

Zhang Shikang's expression froze when he heard this.

I think the Jiangnan rebel group's helper in the north is Hong Chengchou, but judging from Hong Chengchou's performance, he will not be involved in this matter again.

The Imperial Household Department had already reported that Hong Chengchou had really handed over the military power to Sun Chuanting and went to the capital alone to report on his work.

This surprised Zhang Shikang at the time. He thought that he was really a bit mean and wanted to take advantage of others.

Come to think of it, although this guy's later behavior was very despicable, those things had not happened after all. As a high-ranking official of the dynasty, Hong Chengchou had no reason to rebel unless there was a life-and-death crisis.

He probably had some understanding of Hong Chengchou.

There is no doubt that this is a smart person. Strictly speaking, this is a smart person who would choose to live at the critical moment of life and death.

If this guy had not been forced to choose between life and death, what happened later would never have happened.

After figuring this out, Zhang Shikang immediately wrote a letter to his brother Chongzhen, recommending Hong Chengchou to take charge of the northern taxation system, land reform and other matters, and to serve concurrently as the right governor of Shandong Provincial Administration.

Smart people are like this, they can do anything. In short, forget about commanding a military force in the future. Since you are a civil servant, you should just make good use of your remaining energy in the country.

After receiving the letters from Zhang Shenyan and Qian Qianyi, Hong Chengchou immediately took advantage of the situation and replied that he would cooperate with them at the right time. Until this time, Xu Hongji and others still thought that they still had powerful helpers in the north.

As for the west, Zhang Shikang knew with his prostate that this group of bastards must have secretly contacted Zhang Xianzhong or Li Zicheng to contain Qin Liangyu and Cao Bianjiao.

Based on this point alone, it is not excessive to exterminate all three clans of these bastards.

However, Zhang Shikang had great confidence in Qin Liangyu. In October last year, Zhang Xianzhong ordered Sun Kewang to attack Shiqu with more than 10,000 troops. Qin Liangyu repelled Sun Kewang with only the Shiqu city defense and 3,000 veteran white-flag soldiers.

Even if Cao Bianjiao has diverted some of his troops, Qin Liangyu's men along the Shiqian line will have 30,000 troops available, so it shouldn't be a problem if they only use it for defense.

Ten days later, Cao Shangfei and Chuangtatian formally accepted Zhang Shikang's amnesty in Anqing, but Zhang Shikang did not promise any official position to anyone.

Instead, they took out a portion of the materials looted by the two bandits, gave each person three taels of silver as severance pay, and sent everyone back to their hometowns to wait for the distribution of land.

This can be considered a happy ending for everyone, and the three tribes of Song Lao in Anqing Prefecture quietly crossed the river one night a few days ago.

At the end of May, Zhang Shikang ordered Qi Dazhu to lead 10,000 troops to garrison Wuwei Prefecture in Luzhou Prefecture, and Niu Gang to lead 10,000 troops to garrison Huaining in Anqing. He himself led the remaining 40,000 troops to Jiangpu City in Yingtian Prefecture.

At this time, Cao Bianjiao led 10,000 troops to station in Chengtian Prefecture in Huguang, and Huang Degong led the Yongwei Camp to garrison in Yangzhou. The five armies formed a defensive line that could be attacked and defended.

Zhang Shikang was in the middle, making it difficult for Xu Hongji and others to figure out where he was going to cross the river.

At the same time, Zhang Shikang selected two thousand elite soldiers from the factory guards in Southern Zhili and crossed the river in plain clothes as civilians.

The task Zhang Shikang assigned to them was not complicated. Through all means, including but not limited to verbal and personal instruction, and distribution of leaflets, they were to publicize the court's new national policy to the grassroots people, and at the same time collect some information from various parts of Jiangnan.

Of course, the recruitment of ships was also carried out in full swing, but most of the boats recruited were fishing boats along the river. Not only were these boats of different models and sizes, they were also useless for transporting troops.

However, Zhang Shikang still gathered more than 200 ships of various types that he had collected at Guabu in the north of the Yangtze River in Yingtian Prefecture.

In order to prevent sneak attacks by Xu Hongji's navy, Zhang Shikang deployed artillery batteries along the Guabu line.

On the second day of June, the Zheng family transported the first batch of 100,000 shi of military grain to Yangzhou Prefecture by sea. The person in charge of the fleet was Zheng Zhilong's fourth brother Zheng Zhibiao.

Zhang Shikang personally met with Zheng Zhibiao and had a secret conversation with him for a full hour.

After that, the two sides of the Yangtze River fell into a quiet standoff, which lasted until mid-June. At first, Xu Hongji and others thought that Zhang Shikang was helpless and laughed at Zhang Shikang's idea of transporting troops by fishing boats, which was a fantasy.

Although there were more than 200 fishing boats, they were of different sizes. Even if the useless facilities on the fishing boats were removed, they could only carry two to three thousand people at a time.

Even if two or three thousand people were all elite, they would not be able to withstand the impact of their large army.

Xu Hongji specially assigned thousands of night scouts for this purpose. These scouts patrolled along the river day and night. Once they found Zhang Shikang crossing the river, they would report it to the nearby garrison camp as quickly as possible.

Xu Hongji, Zhang Shenyan and others have been improving the city defenses in various parts of Jiangnan, especially Nanjing, where 80,000 troops were stationed.

Seeing that Zhang Shikang couldn't even cross the river, they were full of confidence in this great undertaking.

But this confidence lasted until mid-June, when Xu Hongji gradually began to become suspicious.

"Yes, I have been feeling something is not right lately. I heard that you have also been studying military strategy recently. Given the current situation, can you see any clues?

Jiangbei is too quiet.”

In the residence of Duke Wei in Nanjing City, Xu Hongji said to Qian Qianyi, Qian Qianyi's name is Shouzhi.

Zhang Shikang sent factory guards to serve as scouts in the south of the Yangtze River, and Xu Hongji of course also had his own scouts in the north of the Yangtze River.

Judging from the news that came in, just as he said, Jiangbei has been too quiet recently.

Zhang Shikang has not been seen since the division of his troops. It is said that he still lingers in Yangzhou's brothels and went there several times in just one month.

"Oh, that bastard is just over twenty years old, full of vigor and vitality. I think this is his first time coming to Jiangnan.

The Yangzhou skinny horses are well-known in our Ming Dynasty. How many men can resist such soft and fragrant horses?

This bastard has been used to eating the dregs of the north. Now that he has tasted the chaff, how can he get rid of it in a short time?

I think you are worrying too much, sir. Now we are ready to fight at any time and will not give that bastard any chance. He is helpless."

Qian Qianyi picked up the tea and took a sip. The premium Mingqian Longjing tea made him intoxicated.

"If I am really worrying too much, then it is naturally a good thing." Xu Hongji said without comment.

"I heard that the cannon foundry in Guangdong has shipped over twenty more cannons?" Qian Qianyi asked, putting down his tea bowl.

"Yes, there are twenty-eight of them, all of which are heavy artillery for city defense, and a large amount of gunpowder and other items were also delivered.

Thanks to the financial support from you, Lord Gao, another 20 guns will be delivered next month," Xu Hongji replied.

"With the support of these artillery pieces, Nanjing City will surely be impregnable."

As the second capital of the Ming Dynasty and the jewel in the crown of the prosperous Jiangnan area, Nanjing City’s defense is of course of paramount importance.

There were 130 cannons installed in the 13 gates on the four sides of the city wall alone. With the addition of the newly cast 28 cannons, the artillery on the Nanjing city wall was already saturated.

There are 80,000 troops stationed in the city, so it is no exaggeration to say that it is impregnable.

"Alas, we are here in the name of clearing the emperor's court, and now we are just defending Jiangnan, which is morally unacceptable.

Recently, rumors that came from nowhere have been spreading in order to justify the court's new policies, causing many people to have different opinions.

This won't be a good thing in the long run." Xu Hongji sighed.

“Don’t worry, sir. Those who achieve great things are all able to endure temporary pain.

We just need to send more people to arrest those who spread the rumors as a warning to others.

After all, that bastard is young. We just need to wait for him to show his weakness and then we can take the opportunity to march north.

Besides, Jiangnan is a prosperous place, and we have sufficient troops, money and food. What does it matter if we endure it for a while?

As for the imperial court, how long can it last without the grain transport from Jiangnan?

We just need to wait for changes." Qian Qianyi analyzed.

Xu Hongji thought it made sense, so he temporarily put aside his worries, drank a sip of tea and said with a smile:

"I heard that you have been visiting Liu Rushi a lot recently and renamed your home's 'Banye Hall' to 'Ru Wo wen'.

I wonder if I can get close to her?"

After Xu Hongji finished speaking, a smile that only men could understand appeared on his face.

……