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

Military camp outside Nanjing.

Zhang Shikang had just looked over the various materials submitted by the factory guards.

Today, most of the imperial guards are still in Jiangbei, busy investigating and punishing the Donglin Party, gentry, and landlords. The work of measuring and redistributing land is also in full swing.

Although nearly half of Jiangnan and other places have been recovered, they are still in a period of turmoil and there are not enough people to deal with them for the time being.

There was no way. The territory of the Ming Dynasty was already vast. Whether it was tax reform, land reform, or punishing corrupt officials, none of them could be handled quickly.

It is said that during this period alone, dozens of factory guards fainted due to being too busy, and some officials died of illness during the busy work...

There were only two thousand factory guards in the Jiangnan region, and they were mainly responsible for collecting and transmitting information.

For example, today, Zhang Shikang saw the Jinyiwei report on the trial record of Qi Dazhu, deputy general of the Beijing camp, in Jiangxi, which made him laugh and cry.

In order to prevent public outrage, Zhang Shikang had to order the affairs of the state capitals to be transferred to temporarily elected acting officials.

It is really outrageous that an illiterate military general is trying a case. Professional matters should be left to professionals.

In the military order, Zhang Shikang ordered Qi Dazhu to move to Zhejiang, and then to Fujian and Guangdong.

The reason why only Qi Dazhu was sent was because there was almost no combat power available in the south, and Qi Dazhu's trip was nothing more than a formality.

In addition to controlling the situation, it is also to let the people everywhere know that there is no Southern Army, all the rebels have been killed, and you just have to wait for the land to be divided.

Zhang Shikang also knew about the battle of Shiqu. Qin Liangyu did not disappoint him and really resisted Zhang Xianzhong's attack.

However, the battle report details mentioned that the final key point of this war was the guerrilla warfare of the White Spear Soldiers, which burned Zhang Xianzhong's food and grass.

When guerrilla warfare was mentioned, Zhang Shikang's eyes lit up, although the report did not give any details.

But Zhang Shikang still realized that this was no different from the guerrilla warfare in later generations, and he couldn't help but become a little interested in the girl named Ma Lingqi.

After all, the proposal of a tactic is sometimes like a technological breakthrough, separated by a thin layer of window paper, but sometimes it just takes many years.

In order to prevent Zhang Xianzhong from attacking Shiqian again, Zhang Shikang ordered Cao Bianjiao, who had already conquered Huguang, to return to Sichuan for assistance.

However, Zhang Shikang was quite surprised by the report from Sun Chuanting. Li Zicheng led an army of 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers, but he just strolled around Hanzhong Prefecture and then withdrew his troops.

What exactly does Li Zicheng want to do?

But nowadays, the busiest people in Jiangnan and Jiangbei are probably the officials of the Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of Revenue. On the contrary, Zhang Shikang has suddenly become free recently.

It was definitely unwise to rely on a brute force attack on a fortress like Nanjing. Zhang Shikang, who originally wanted to take his time and do things carefully, only rode his horse around Nanjing once before giving up the idea of shelling it.

The artillery he has now are nothing more than French cannons and red cannons, and their power is not satisfactory.

If we rely on this thing, even if we destroy the gun barrel, we probably won’t be able to break through the city wall of Nanjing.

Fortunately, Zhang Shikang was not in a hurry. The sweep of Jiangnan was progressing steadily and there was no need for him to participate in person. All he needed to do was wait.

Waiting for something unexpected to happen in Nanjing city.

Before this, Zhang Shikang had deployed two thousand Jinyiwei in Jiangnan, many of whom were in Nanjing city.

Although the news cannot be transmitted now because the gates of Nanjing City are closed, all necessary arrangements have been made and we just have to wait.

Now that the Southern Army is doomed and its lair is under siege, Zhang Shikang doesn't believe that anyone would not have other thoughts.

Although the city of Nanjing is strong, the strongest cities in history have always been breached from the inside.

Zhang Shikang can wait. Even if the unexpected change does not happen, he can afford it.

The Zheng family's second batch of military rations has already arrived in the capital by sea, which will hopefully alleviate the pressure of food shortage in the north.

Apart from dealing with the reports from various places on a daily basis, there was nothing else Zhang Shikang could do.

Of course, Zhang Shikang was still very busy at night, and Chen Yuanyuan always wore men's clothes and acted as his personal guard.

It is really close-fitting. It should be said that men's clothing has a unique flavor.

The ninth day of September is the Double Ninth Festival.

Zhang Shikang had nothing to do, so he took Chen Yuanyuan to a mound in a proper manner, got a handful of dogwood, and prayed for his parents.

It is said that dogwood should be planted in a high place, but there is only a small mound around the military camp.

After Zhang Shikang finished praying, generals such as Sun Dasheng and Xu Wenyuan followed suit, and the small mound was filled with dogwood that day.

The accident happened on the night of September 16. On that day, Zhang Shikang had just completed a huge import and export transaction and was hugging the soft Chen Yuanyuan tenderly.

But I heard Sun Dasheng shouting outside:

"Brother! Brother! There's movement in the city!"

As he spoke, a head popped out from behind the curtain of the tent, and then quickly shrank back into the tent.

After a while, Zhang Shikang walked out of the tent wearing his clothes.

"How many times have I told you this: this is what is called a position in the military camp?" Zhang Shikang glared at his brother.

Sun Dasheng chuckled when he heard this.

"Brother, listen, there are shouts and cries of killing in the city."

……

Inside Nanjing.

"Brothers, staying in Nanjing will lead to death!

We shouldn't die here with those corrupt officials. Follow me and fight for our lives!"

Lieutenant General Wu Gang, holding a sword in his hand, chopped and killed while speaking to his subordinates around him.

The words Li Wen said that day have taken root and sprouted in Wu Gang's heart like seeds over the past few days.

The rebellion was instigated by the Jiangnan gentry and the Donglin Party. Gao Jie participated in the rebellion without consulting anyone. Wu Gang was merely dragged into it.

Now they are hiding in Nanjing City, which is tantamount to waiting for death.

You are the ones who started this trouble. You want me to die with you? No way!

Originally Wu Gang was planning to endure it a little longer, but three days ago, the military camp actually started to implement a military food rationing system.

He hadn't heard from his superiors that there was a shortage of food in the city, but now they had to let them starve in order to survive for a few more days.

What made him even angrier was that Gao Jie's direct subordinates and personal soldiers actually had white rice to eat every day, and they were not within the scope of the military ration system!

I have been patient again and again, and now I can no longer endure it. There is no need to endure it anymore!

After seeing that the rations allocated to him were getting less and less, and were all moldy and inferior rations, Wu Gang kicked the rations away on the spot and rushed out of the military camp with several thousand of his men.

He had informed his brothers earlier these days, and his men were just waiting for his order.

His purpose was very clear. He headed straight for the west gate of Nanjing City. As long as he captured the city gate, opened it and lowered the drawbridge, everything would be over.

……