scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 297 Repaying Resentment with Virtue

The news that Fatty Lu rushed thousands of miles to Nanjing City, and successfully occupied Nanjing City with the cooperation of Neiying, spread and shocked the entire land of China almost at the speed of flying!Wherever the news went, everyone in the world was shocked. Fatty Lu, who was already notorious, suddenly pushed his reputation to the highest point, far surpassing ordinary governors and famous generals. Geng Jingzhong and Zheng Jing, the four big thieves, even surpassed Fatty Lu's direct relative, the father-in-law, Shang Kexi Shang, the old traitor! —— Ordinary people who have no information may not know that there is no rebellious Shang Kexi Shang old traitor, but it is impossible not to know that the Qing Dynasty, which captured one of the two capitals in the north and south of the world, harmed Fatty Lu!

The shock of the world is accompanied by the shock of the world, especially the anti-Qing righteous fighters who cherish the former Ming Dynasty. They also suddenly discovered that among the anti-Qing rebel army in the world, there is actually such a brave and resourceful leader of the rebel army as Fatty Lu. Neither did he open the Shanhai Pass to bring the Qing army in like Wu Sangui, an old traitor like Wu Sangui, nor was he so traitorous as Shang Kexi, an old traitor who didn’t even want his pants. Compared with Zheng Jing, who resolutely resisted the Qing Dynasty but settled on the isolated island of Taiwan, Fatty Lu had a lot more courage and strategy. He made a surprise attack on Nanjing City, the land where the Ming Dynasty flourished. After 28 years, he once again planted the flag of the Ming Dynasty in this thousand-year-old city. The head of the ancient capital!If you support such a person to lead the anti-Qing and restore the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't it be far better than the old traitor Wu, Geng Jingzhong, and Zheng Jing who are currently playing the banner of anti-Qing?

It is also because of this, and because Jiangnan is the place where the anti-Qing and Ming-dynasty warriors came forth in large numbers, so when the news of Lu Fatty's capture of Nanjing spread, there were countless people cheering from all over Jiangnan, and there were crying tears everywhere, discussing in secret. There are also quite a few anti-Qing righteous fighters who joined the fat man's army or directly responded to the fat man.And when Fatty Lu posted a recruitment list to gather talents, these anti-Qing righteous men and all kinds of civil and military talents immediately flooded into Nanjing City like a tide, and rushed in front of Fatty Lu, including Huang Zongxi, Wang Fuzhi, etc. , Zhu Shunshui, Zhu Da, Huang Luzhuang, and Gu Yanwu, who is currently living in his nephew's home in Beijing, are already very excited, trying to find out about Lu Fatty's aspirations and policies, and to determine whether Lu Fatty is his ideal anti-Qing leader Candidates.

Of course, the most violent reaction was the anti-Qing forces that have raised their troops. When the news reached the Zhejiang battlefield, Geng Jingzhong’s army, which had gradually turned defensive due to lack of stamina, immediately rushed to Jinhua, Jinhua, etc. like chicken blood. Ningbo and Shaoxing launched a fierce attack in an attempt to open up a land connection with Fatty Lu and enter the cornucopia of the south of the Yangtze River to make a fortune and enjoy it.At the same time, Zeng Yangxing, the commander of the Geng Army's Northern Expedition Army, also sent secret envoys to the north, in a whimsical attempt to instigate Fatty Lu's main force to go south, and joined forces with himself to attack the Qing army in Zhejiang, completely drove the Qing army out of Zhejiang, and completely opened up the land passage between the Geng army and the Fatty army.

There is also Zheng Jing from Taiwan. After receiving the news, Zheng Jing also jumped three feet high as if he had been beaten with chicken blood. While laughing wildly, God bless Ming Dynasty, while sending people to contact Fatty Lu to congratulate him, he also instructed Zheng Jun to go to the coast of Zhejiang frequently. Attack, ready to break through the sea blockade of the Zhejiang Qing Army Navy, get in touch with the Fatty Army by sea, and gain a foothold in the rich and prosperous Jiangnan.

Geng Jingzhong and Zheng Jing had a bloodbath. Li Zhifang, Governor of Qing Dynasty, and General Laita of Pingnan, who are currently in charge of the war in Zhejiang, vomited blood. Although the Qing army in Zhejiang relied on Suzhou and Hangzhou for a while, they had no worries about food and wages, but on the other side were the states in the south of the Yangtze River. The various governments urgently asked for troops and help. On the one hand, Niyahan sent a letter requesting a joint counterattack against Nanjing. The front line battlefield is in a hurry everywhere, how can the [-] to [-] troops in the hands of Li Zhifang and Laita be enough?
In desperation, Li Zhifang and Laita had no choice but to do their jobs well, block Geng Jingzhong and Zheng Jing with all their strength, and at the same time rush to Kang Mazi with [-] miles, and also asked Kang Mazi to show me what the Qing army in Zhejiang should do manage?Should we temporarily abandon Zhejiang and return to Jiangsu to join forces with Niyahan and Jieshu to attack Nanjing?Or should we temporarily abandon Jiangsu and try our best to block Geng Jingzhong and Zheng Jing from joining forces?
Compared with Kang Mazi, no matter how much Li Zhifang and Laita vomited blood, they were already very lucky. When Jinzhen, the prefect of Yangzhou, and Gao Degui, the prefect of Zhenjiang, rushed to send the news of Fatty Lu's capture of Nanjing. When we arrived in the capital, the price of grain in Beijing immediately tripled—everyone of the common people in the capital, who depended entirely on grain for their livelihood, was afraid that Fatty Lu would cut off the grain roads, so they all scrambled to buy and store grain, and fried the grain. It's so high.After reading the emergency memorial, Kang Mazi cried out on the spot, although he was mentally prepared and didn't vomit blood and faint, "The Qing Dynasty is in dire straits."

In the next few days, emergency memorials came like snowflakes, and state officials from all over the south of the Yangtze River reported that the local area was in danger, and they all asked Kang Mazi for help, because they were afraid that the Han people would retaliate against the bannermen who abandoned their officials and fled. There are countless people, and there are countless people who make national disasters and wealth under the pretext of rampant rebels. Kang Mazi's strategic decision to raise 200 million taels of military pay and 200 million shi of military rations in Jiangnan within two months to form a new army has completely failed because of this——Jiangnan The largest granary and the largest silver bank were taken over by Fatty Lu, and the water transport was under mortal threat.
"Lu Yifeng, dog thief! Country thief! Han thief! Barbaric thief! If I don't kill you, I swear I won't be human! If I don't cut you into pieces, I won't be able to get rid of my hatred—!"

After reading the emergency documents written by Li Zhifang and Laita, Kang Mazi didn't know how many times he yelled similar words in the past ten days. In front of Mazi, Kang Mazi would definitely chew and eat Fatty Lu on the spot - he didn't even need soy sauce!As for Kang Mazi's confidantes in the South Study Room, all of them looked like mourning concubines, with mournful faces and foreheads on the ground, helpless, and they didn't even have the courage to persuade Kang Mazi.

"I want to conscript Lu Yifeng with my own hands!" Cursing furiously, Kang Mazi uttered the words of imperial conquest again in a fit of despair, "Decree, I want to personally lead an army of [-] to go south, recover Nanjing, and regain the land." Take back my important place in the south of the Yangtze River!"

There was still silence in the South Study Room. Including Kang Mazi's personal eunuch Zhang Wanqiang, every one of Kang Mazi's confidantes dared not even take a breath. He roared: "You dog slave, are you deaf? Haven't you heard my will?"

"Return to the master, the servants heard it." Suo'etu raised his head tremblingly, and said boldly and cautiously: "The master's personal expedition will boost the morale of the army and the people. Of course the servants dare not object, but this [-] army..., The servants really can't get it out."

Kang Mazi was finally stunned, Ma's face was full of bewilderment and at a loss, and Suo'etu added boldly: "Besides, in the current situation, even if there are [-] troops in the capital, the servants will still come up with the [-] soldiers. The army's salaries...and food and grass."

Kang Mazi slumped back on the false dragon chair, and after a long while, Kang Mazi wailed in despair again, "Lu Yifeng, you thief, this time you grabbed my seven inches!"

Can't help that Kang Mazi didn't cry. The Qing court, let alone organizing a 6000 army to go south to counterattack Nanjing, basically couldn't get out even [-] troops. The Qing army around the capital, including Kang Mazi's private guard Shanpuying, was in Inside, there are already less than [-] people.As for the other armies, the largest Shaanxi-Gansu main force was surrounded by the old traitor Wu himself in Baoning. It is unknown whether he is dead or alive. The Baoyi Army is fighting in Xunyang with the Wu Army in Jingzhou. Geng Jingzhong had to guard against Zheng Jing, and the Qing army in Guangdong was attacked from three sides. Not to mention returning to the north to counterattack Nanjing, even if they gave up Guangdong and went north to break through, they would probably suffer heavy casualties and be unable to fight again.

Biting his smoky yellow teeth full of bad breath (Kang Mazi smoked), he thought for a long time, and after a while, Kang Mazi asked in a hoarse voice: "Then tell me, if I let Jieshu send troops from Luzhou, and Niyahan from Anqing Send troops, and the two armies join forces to counterattack Nanjing, how sure can we regain Nanjing and wipe out Lu Yifeng's lone army?"

"Going back to master, I'm afraid it will be very difficult." Mingzhu replied hesitantly: "Prince Kang only has about [-] troops, Niyahan has only [-] troops left, and Lu Yifeng's dog thief has [-] troops. , even if Prince Kang and General Niyahan join forces, they are only as strong as Lu Yifeng's dog thief, and they are not sure. Moreover, Lu Yifeng's dog thief has Jiangning's strong city to rely on, and the food and wages are sufficient... So the slave thinks Only by mobilizing General Ben Ta's Zhejiang army to go north and joining forces with Prince Kang and Niyahan will we be able to take back Jiangning City."

"Easy to say." Suo'etu snorted coldly, "Let General Ben Ta go back to the north, what about Zhejiang? Geng Jingzhong and Zheng Jing, two rebels, will miss this god-given opportunity?"

"Not only is General Ben Ta unable to return to the army, but the army of Prince Kang and General Niyahan dare not move lightly." Mingzhu rarely refuted Suo'etu's sarcasm, and said helplessly: "Prince Kang is on guard against thieves and generals." Bao entered Anhui and went straight to the capital from Anhui. General Niyahan guarded against the bandits and Wu Yingqi went down the river, and reinforced Lu Yifeng's dog bandits to capture Jiangnan. The army has plenty of loopholes to take advantage of."

"My seven inches, my seven inches!" Kang Mazi wailed again, "Lu Yifeng is a thief, even if I kill you a thousand times! Cut you ten thousand times! It's still hard to vent my hatred! !"

"Master, this slave has a plan, which may save the situation." Suo'etu said cautiously again: "Master, since General Ben Ta's [-] army is mainly to prevent Geng Jingzhong from going north, why don't master try to appease Geng Jingzhong? Temporarily agree to his conditions of breaking the soil and sealing the border, and stabilize him for the time being, then General Ben Ta will be able to return to the north and take back the important town of Jiangning?"

"This..." Kang Mazi hesitated, and his heart began to flutter.

"Master, this must not be the case!" Mingzhu hurriedly stopped her and said, "Geng Jing is a loyal dog thief and a greedy jackal. If you recruit him at this time, he will definitely take advantage of the fire and rob him. Draw the river as a boundary with the master, and divide the south of the Yangtze River equally with the master! At that time, will the master agree or not?"

Kang Mazi was in despair again—with Geng Jingzhong being the best person, raising such a shameless condition was basically a sure thing. If he didn't agree to Geng Jingzhong's non-stop fighting, if he did, he would still lose half of Jiangnan, so he might as well not take it back It's Nanjing!Completely helpless, Kang Mazi could only sigh in despair, "Then what should I do? Is this how I want to watch my subjects starve to death and my army starve to death?"

Mingzhu and Suo'etu's foreheads touched the ground again, and they didn't dare to say anything.At this time, Gao Shiqi, who had the lowest official position present, suddenly spoke up, and asked very cautiously: "Master, I wonder if you have noticed? There is something very strange about Lu Yifeng's dog thief rushing thousands of miles to Nanjing City?"

"That's weird?" Kang Mazi asked dying.

"Old thief Wu Sangui!" Gao Shiqi said decisively: "Lu Yifeng's dog thief ran thousands of miles to attack Nanjing City. Although he succeeded, it was entirely due to luck. Such a crazy and risky action? Old thief Wu Sangui, who has always been cautious and conservative in using troops, why didn't he Stop it? Will you allow Lu Yifeng's thieves to do such a crazy and risky act?"

"The old thief Wu Sangui is in Baoning, Sichuan, thousands of miles away, what can we do to stop him?" Mingzhu shouted angrily.

"Then what about Wu Yingqi? Where's Hu Guozhu?" Gao Shiqi asked again: "The old thief Wu Sangui left Wu Yingqi in Wuchang to meet the rebels from all walks of life, and left Hu Guozhu in Yuezhou to let Hu Guozhu coordinate and command all parties. Bandits——Lu Yifeng’s dog bandit took such a risky use of troops, why didn’t they stop them? What’s even more strange is that after Lu Yifeng’s dog bandit rushed to Nanjing City with all his strength, why didn’t Wu Yingqi, who was close at hand, immediately send troops to take over Jiujiang City? Until five days later Hastily dispatched [-] troops to Jiujiang to reinforce and defend Jiujiang? Does this seem to be prepared?"

"Could it be that Mr. Gao meant that Lu Yifeng's act of a thief was likely to be done privately, and he didn't notify the leaders of Wu's rebel army beforehand?" Mingzhu finally came to her senses, and said pleasantly: "This is very It's possible, Lu Yifeng's dog thief left Nanchang alone, and sent troops from Jiujiang on the fourth day of April, ignoring food and roads, and went madly to Nanjing, but Wu Yingqi's dog thief didn't rush until the ninth day of April. It is completely unreasonable to send troops to reinforce the important town of Jiujiang! Ninety-ninety percent of Lu Yifeng's gangsters made the decision to attack Nanjing behind the backs of Wu's rebel army. They did not inform Wu's rebel army of anything beforehand one person!"

"What's the use of talking about it now?" Kang Mazi said angrily, "Now that Nanjing City has been captured by Lu Yifeng's dog thief, is that old thief Wu Sangui willing to punish him?"

"Master, even if the old thief Wu Sangui can't cure Lu Yifeng's crime, he probably won't be happy to go there, right?" Gao Shiqi cautiously asked back: "The Lu Yifeng thief took crazy risks privately, who would be his boss?" , I'm afraid you won't feel comfortable in your heart?"

"Master, this slave thinks that Mr. Gao is right." Zhang Ying, who has always been taciturn, suddenly said, "I think that if Wu Sangui heard about this, not only would he not be happy about Lu Yifeng's dog taking Nanjing. On the contrary, they will be extremely dissatisfied with Lu Yifeng's dog thief, and even be wary and jealous!"

"Master, this is very possible, and it's human nature." Suo'etu quickly echoed: "Since ancient times, those who have made great achievements have almost never died well, and Lu Yifeng's dog thief is known as a capable minister. Now he Capture Nanjing, steal the city and live away from the control and command of the old thief Wu Sangui, the old thief Wu Sangui must have suspicion in his heart!"

"What do you mean, now I have the opportunity to separate Lu Yifeng's dog thief and Wu Sangui's old thief?" Kang Mazi finally came to his senses.

"It's not just alienation, the servant even thinks that this is a good opportunity to recruit Lu Yifeng's dog thief!" Suo Etu, who had once received the favor of Fatty Lu, said: "If the master can send an envoy to Jiangning south to send Lu Yifeng the dog thief It shows that it is powerful, plus Wu Sangui's old thief is wary of Lu Yifeng's thief, Lu Yifeng's thief may not be tempted."

"This...is it possible?" Kang Mazi asked hesitantly.

"Master, this slave thinks it's worth a try." Mingzhu agreed: "At present, the imperial court can't bring out soldiers and horses to suppress the rebellion and take back Nanjing. Why don't you try to move Lu Yifeng with reason and affection, and then bestow high-ranking officials with generous salaries? Don't be afraid of him being tempted by the noble beauty. If this move is successful, not only will Jiangnan return to the master's hands immediately, but the master will also get a wise and brave general, and [-] invincible soldiers who have experienced many battles!"

"Really?" Kang Mazi moaned, and couldn't help muttering: "If Lu Yifeng's bastard is really willing to abandon the dark side and turn to the bright side, and serve me, I would be willing to give him a prince."

"Master, you should give it a try." Zhang Ying said in a deep voice, "There are three reasons, one is that the imperial court can't come up with soldiers and horses to recover the south of the Yangtze River, the other is that even if the surrender fails, it can make the old thief Wu Sangui even more suspicious of Lu Yifeng, and the third is to appease Lu Yifeng. Once successful, the benefits are endless.”

"At the same time, we can hurry up and prepare for the war." Suo'etu added: "Master Pan of the Ministry of War wrote a letter last month, suggesting that the master allow the local gentry to organize a regiment to fight against the bandits, and the master has already approved it. Now that the matter is over, the master can try to appease the thieves." Lu Yifeng, while buying time, let the local gentry loyal to the Qing organize a regiment and work together to suppress the thieves."

Kang Mazi was silent. After thinking for a long time, Kang Mazi gritted his teeth and said, "Let's give it a try. As long as Lu Yifeng is willing to abandon the dark side and turn to the bright side, and come back anyway, I will make him the Prince of Zhennan and set up a vassal in Jiangxi! Also, Not only did I let Shang Kexi return his first wife, Shang Wanyi, but also my younger sister and Princess Shuoduanmin, so I can marry him too!"

"Master Shengming." Suo'etu kowtowed together with Mingzhu and the others, and said in unison: "Master is like the grace of heaven. Lu Yifeng must be very grateful when he hears about it, and he will return anyway."

"I hope so." Kang Mazi sighed again, and asked again: "Then, who do you think I should send to recruit Lu Yifeng?"

"If I give you one person, I will surely succeed." Mingzhu and Suo'etu said in unison: "This person has a life-and-death relationship with Lu Yifeng, if you send him south, you will definitely succeed..."

"Needless to say, I know who you are talking about." Kang Mazi interrupted with a wave of his hand, and said weakly: "He is indeed the most ideal candidate, he is loyal to me, and has a deep friendship with Lu Yifeng's thief, so I send him to , should be able to grasp a little more."

(End of this chapter)