Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 602 Locking the river plan, people from the south of the Yangtze River
Wang Yan stayed in Jiangbei Camp for a few days, meeting with his generals from time to time to unite people's hearts, and even the generals from Chu were summoned one by one to consolidate forces. It was not until Wuchang heard that someone from Jiangnan had come to see him, and Wang Yan returned to the south bank by boat. .

Wang Yan went ashore from the pier, and was still escorted by cavalry into the city. The people along the way gave way one after another. When a scholar saw him, he stood on the side of the street, saluted with a long bow, and respectfully waited for Wang Yan to go far away, then straightened up and continued talking to the people around him. chat.

When he came outside the governor's office, the hundreds of household officials on duty hurried up to meet him and led the horse for him, "My lord, the governor has been waiting for a long time."

Wang Yan nodded, threw the whip to the guards behind him, and strode towards the front gate of the mansion, but saw Wuchang Zhizhou You Youlun head on, Wang Yan smiled and said, "Could You Zhizhou also come to welcome the truth?"

"Sanggong was joking." You Youlun bowed and saluted, "I was ordered to invite General Man. The supervisor and Du Futai are in the meeting hall, so I will not accompany you there."

"It's up to you to travel to Zhizhou." Wang Yan nodded, and strode towards the governor's mansion.

Not long after, he came outside the hall, and the guard at the door gave an announcement, and everyone in the hall immediately stood up to greet him. Wang Yan entered the hall, and everyone re-arranged their seats.

Wang Yan sat down and looked at the two strangers. Both of them were dressed as scholars, wearing Taoist uniforms, turbans on their heads, and nets. One was in his early forties, with a thin appearance, and the other was around [-]. , the look of excitement leaked from the face.

There were only five people in the hall including Wang Yan, so it must have been a confidential matter, and no other officials were invited to participate.

At this time, Du Yinxi stood up and introduced Wang Yan: "Xiang Wang, these two are righteous men from the south of the Yangtze River. The right servant of the Ministry of Rites of the imperial court, this is Sui Ben, a student of Danyang, styled Yunli, his father died in Songjiang in the first year of Yonglong Wu in the Ming Dynasty."

He Wangsheng and Sui Ben hurriedly stood up and saluted, "See Mr. Xiang."

Wang Yan nodded, smiled and raised his hand so that the two of them don't need to be polite. Sui was originally a person, and Wang Yan had no image. He Wangsheng read it in the mansion newspaper.

This character Zhou Jian, nickname Wudang, was born in Danyang County, Zhenjiang Prefecture, the son of He Shishou, the governor of Tianjin during the Chongzhen period, the head of the Ministry of Military Affairs, You Shaoqing of the Taipu Temple, Li Zicheng surrendered after defeating the capital, and served as the magistrate of the Temple of Horses. After the Qing army entered the pass, he fled south, but was designated as a follower by the Hongguang Dynasty, and he was listed as "the second-class person who should be the first to surrender and be executed".

After the Manchu Qing invaded the south, he offered to congratulate Wang Sheng to become an official in the court, but he refused. Instead, he has been secretly engaged in the restoration of Ming Dynasty.

Historically, he sent Sui Ben to the southwest to contact the Yongli court and invited Sun Kewang to join the Yangtze River. However, the matter was not confidential. He was betrayed by a traitor and was arrested by the Qing court. Nearly a hundred scholars in Jiangnan, including He Wangsheng and Sui Ben, were implicated and killed. There are countless exiles.

This case is the "Ping Yitong, He Wangsheng Restoration Case". In history, more attention has been paid to the efforts of Li Dingguo, Zheng Chenggong and other generals on the frontal battlefield to restore the Ming Dynasty, but the secret restoration movement in the areas under the Qing court was ignored.

During the decades when the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the anti-Qing uprising was raging, and the Fuming movement was undercurrent and surging.

In the past few decades, there have been many major cases of restoration of Ming Dynasty, such as "Li Huajing and Liu Zeqing's Anti-Qing Case", "Wang Daoist Gang Gang Case", "Wu Shengzhao and Gu Xian's Anti-Qing Case", "Five Gentlemen's Restoring Ming Case" and so on, countless, struggle It can be said that the servants have followed each other, and behind every major case is the blood of the righteous man, and how many epic deeds are contained in it!
It's a pity that such major cases were very sensitive in the early Qing Dynasty. Coupled with the severe literary inquisition, they were rarely recorded in historical records, complete records could not be found, and they were even deliberately obliterated.

Therefore, the world knows very little about these major cases, and the contemporary ethnic policy makes historians seldom dabble in the history of Nanming, so that these epic figures are not known to future generations at all, which is really regrettable.

At this time, when the two sat down, Wang Yan said: "You two are here in Wuchang this time, what are you talking about?"

Sui Ben listened to Wang Yan's question, got up excitedly and said: "Reporting to Mr. Xiang, Wan Sheng and his benefactor, this time I was entrusted by Mr. Mu Zhai to offer advice."

"Qian Muzhai?" Wang Yan straightened his body after hearing this. Zhao Zhilong, the honored official who held Nanjing's military power, surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Qian Qianyi, as a leader in the literary world, also surrendered in Nanjing. He was not reused, and his disciples and old friends devoted themselves to the anti-Qing cause. After resigning from office and returning to his hometown, he also became enthusiastic about the anti-Qing cause, raising military rations for the rebels, and was repeatedly arrested by the Qing soldiers and thrown into prisons. come out.

Sui Ben bowed again and said: "Master, Mr. Muzhai has contacted His Royal Highness King Lu, and sent people to go to Zheng Guo's surname, together with Xianggong's soldiers, gather three naval divisions, then the Yangtze River can be cut off, and the south of the Yangtze River can be settled." .”

At this time, Du Yinxi said: "Prince Wang, just now I have discussed with He Du for a while. Although Qian Muzhai is in captivity, his heart may not miss the dynasty. From my perspective, his planning situation is still more than enough." The soldiers of Lu Jianguo are currently stationed overseas in Chongming by appointment. If my navy goes eastward, and then Zheng Guo’s navy goes northward, the three families join forces to defeat the Jiangnan navy of the Qing court. Once we cut off the Yangtze River, The Qing soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River will inevitably fall into turmoil, and they can also cut off the water transportation of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, so that the Qing court will not receive food and salaries in the south of the Yangtze River, and the south of the Yangtze River will not be supported by the Qing Dynasty."

The south of the Yangtze River was an important source of taxes for the Qing court. Although the Qing army fought and robbed, most of the finances fell into the pockets of the generals. The Qing court still needed money to operate. The Manchu nobles themselves would not pay for the operation of the Qing court. The Manchu Qing court had to bear the military and food expenses, so the land in the south of the Yangtze River was extremely important to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

If the Ming army cut off the water transportation, the taxes and taxes in the south of the Yangtze River would not be transported to Beijing, and the Manchu Qing would not be able to manufacture equipment in the north and recruit troops to prepare for the war. Although the south of the Yangtze River had money and food, but under the siege of the Ming army navy, people's hearts would inevitably be turbulent. Hong Chengchou Even if money is spent to recruit soldiers, the effect will certainly not be as good as that in the north, and the anti-Qing forces may infiltrate the green battalion.

"If the Yangtze River can really be cut off, it will only take a year. In truth, we will rectify the people of Chu and Jiangxi, go down the river, and seize Jinling. It will definitely not be a problem." Wang Yan said after thinking for a while.

"Master also agrees with this strategy!" Sui Ben said happily.

"The two sides are playing a game, and the situation is changing. The Yangtze River is broken by the navy. The Qing court has people in the north of the river who have no money, and the south of the river has money but no one. It is bound to be disadvantageous in preparing for war. , This one goes up and down, Qing gets weaker and I get stronger. When the time is right, the prime minister supervises all the masters of Chu and Jiangxi. Going westward, the imperial court called on the loyalty of the three Wus from afar to rise up together, so there is no reason why the south of the Yangtze River should not be inferior." Wang Yan said with a smile: "Qian Muzhai's plan to join forces with the Yangtze River is very feasible, and I absolutely agree with it."

Seeing that Wang Yan agreed, He Wangsheng and Sui Ben were overjoyed that they had fulfilled their mission.

At that moment, Wang Yan asked about the details of Qian Qianyi's and others' planned contact, and found that even Beijing, Shandong, and Shanxi had Chinese members involved.

Wang Yan only felt that this big net involved too much, so he quickly told him to keep it secret and cooperate with Tiandihui.

While negotiating, You Youlun brought Man Dazhuang to the lobby, and Wang Yan immediately ordered the Dongting navy to go east and join forces with King Lu to block the Yangtze River.

(Thank you for the reward every day is the last day, and thank you for the book friends who voted monthly. The book has been written to 130 million words, and it has been serialized for a year. Looking back, it is really not easy. The results are far from those of the great masters. Fortunately, I have been slowly improving between half-dead and alive, which gives me the motivation to continue writing. I am especially grateful to the book friends who support the genuine version, rewards, subscriptions, monthly tickets, recommendations, and comments.)
(End of this chapter)