In the face of Zhu Youdong's words, although everyone didn't know how sincere Zhu Youdong was, they couldn't refute it face to face now, so they had to follow Zhu Youdong's words one by one. Zhu Youdong said to Zhu Shenglang: "You have done a good job in organizing the containment team this time. It just so happens that Nanjing has also been captured, and we, the descendants of Taizu, are bound to worship Taizu when we enter Nanjing. ”

Zhu Shenglang, Zhu Ganyan and Zhu Qiling, they are all members of the Ming clan, and now they have come to the ancestral mausoleum, of course they should go to worship. But now he has a sensitive identity, and he can't go to worship abruptly. If Zhu Youdong hasn't gone to worship yet, you should go to worship first

What's going on? Do you want to say that the one who worships Taizu first is the Son of Heaven? This is a big trouble, so the three Ming clans don't dare to bring it up without permission, let alone go to worship first. But now that Zhu Youdong has proposed it, of course they have agreed to it.

Several people immediately agreed: "What His Highness said is reasonable, we, the descendants of Taizu, have let Taizu's tomb fall into the hands of Tartars for more than ten years. This is all unfilial piety. Now His Royal Highness Xingnai is a martial artist and has led the Ming army to fight back. If we have the opportunity to worship Taizu again, it is time to pay tribute. ”

Zhu Youdong didn't notice the cattiness in this, but said lightly: "By the way, now that the army is outside, it's not easy to arrange other things for a few people now." You should arrange the worship of the ancestors first, and then let you go to the local area or go to the army to do things after the ancestor worship is completed. ”

Zhu Shenglang and the others hurriedly said: "The matter of worshipping ancestors, His Royal Highness will hand it over to us according to the dispatch." As for the military or the localities, we don't go. We are all people who are only sparse and shallow, so don't miss the big things of Your Highness. Zhu Youdong also ignored the excuses of Zhu Shenglang and others. He knew that now he would say nothing in vain, after all, the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty, after three hundred years of captivity, suddenly let them participate in the court politics, they would definitely not be able to accept it for a while.

As for those nobles, Zhu Youdong did not return their titles because they gave their family property verbally. There is still only one meaning, that is, I want a knighthood and go to the battlefield to earn it. In the face of Zhu Youdong's resoluteness, these nobles had no choice but to leave in disgrace.

Then I don't know how they discussed, but the next day, there were really some young people who signed up to join the army. These people include Xu Wenjue and Xu Hongjue. But Zhu Youdong did not give them any special care, and also informed the generals in the army that they could not be given any special treatment.

On that day, the sailor carried the troops of Ma Bao and Yang Mingyu from the east of the Yangtze River outside Nanjing. On the night when Zhu Youdong entered Nanjing, Ma Bao and Yang Mingyu's troops landed in Gaozi Town. Then he marched all the way, wanting to attack Zhenjiang. However, the Qing army defending Zhenjiang found that the two armies had to rest in Gaozi Town for one night, and only came to Zhenjiang City the next day to prepare for a forcible siege.

Although the two armies even attacked the city, they did not break Zhenjiang. After all, it was Shi Huashan, the general of Jinghai, who was stationed in Zhenjiang, and he also carried three thousand Manchurian Eight Banners in his hand. This Shi Huashan is the son-in-law of Duoduo, the prince of Yu in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and was named a forehead. It was also last year that Zheng Chenggong attacked Nanjing, and in order to strengthen the defense of Nanjing, Shi Huashan was asked to bring 3,000 Manchurian Eight Banners to garrison Zhenjiang and defend Jingkou.

Shi Shanhua also did not live up to the expectations of the Manchu masters, and as soon as he arrived in Zhenjiang, he strengthened the defense of Zhenjiang. Sentinels were also sent to search for information. For a time, the anti-Qing activities near Zhenjiang were also suppressed by Shi Shanhua and there was no space. And Shi Shanhua also asked Liu Zhiyuan, the general of Zhenhai, to train sailors in Zhenjiang.

Originally, on the opposite side of Zhenjiang, there were Qing court's river water masters, so there was no need to train water masters alone. But Shi Shanhua considered that Zheng Chenggong could easily capture Zhenjiang at that time, and still insisted on training Zhenjiang's sailors. And this time, the army of Ma Bao and others can be found, and it also relies on the credit of the Zhenjiang Water Division.

When they got the news that the Ming army was coming to attack in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Shi Shanhua and others were shocked at first, and then they didn't believe it. If the Ming army can attack from the upstream, does the Ming army dare to leave Nanjing and attack Zhenjiang first? Shi Shanhua said: "If the Ming army does not attack Nanjing and comes straight to Zhenjiang, most of them want to escape to the sea." We can't let them get away with it easily. Immediately let the sailors intercept on the river, and send messengers to inform Suzhou and Chongming. ”

Liu Zhiyuan said: "General Shi, I think it is better to notify the Caojiang Sailor as soon as possible, and let Zhu Yizhu take the Caojiang Sailor to intercept it." After all, they have cannons in their sailors, and the sailors we train are mostly small boats, and there are no cannons at all. And Changzhou should also be notified, so that Jingjiang is also ready to intercept. They have shore defense artillery there, which can also play a role in blocking the enemy at that time, and the effect is much better than that of our sailors here. ”

Shi Shanhua said: "Of course, but we can't rely on them alone, we have to fight bravely ourselves." Even if we don't have artillery, we can make the Ming army completely defeated. ”

As soon as the two of them were talking, there was a messenger sent outside the door: "General, a large number of Ming troops have been found in the west of Zhenjiang City, and they are now coming straight to Zhenjiang, and it seems that they are going to attack Zhenjiang City." ”

Shi Shanhua couldn't believe it: "Why is there still a Ming army on land, doesn't it say that there is only a naval army?" The sentinel said: "The Ming army landed in Gaozi Town, and when we found them, they had already entered Gaozi Town. They had about 20,000 troops, and there were no defenders in Gaozi Town, so they could not stop the attack of the Ming army at all. ”

Liu Zhiyuan said: "General Shi, this is not right. Why did the Ming army have so many infantry troops in addition to the naval division, could there be something wrong with Nanjing? Shi Shanhua said: "Don't care about those now, first notify Mao Yilin, the prefect of Zhenjiang, and organize the people to prepare to defend the city." ”

Liu Zhiyuan also knew that the matter was urgent, so he didn't say much, so he immediately left to organize the sailors to fight. After Mao Yilin received Shi Shanhua's notice, he was also taken aback. Why didn't the pirates go for long, and now the Ming army is coming upstream. But before he had time to ask in detail, he was urged by Shi Shanhua to organize the people to defend the city.

Mao Yilin said: "General, it's not that I don't want to defend the city, there is no food in the city, how can I organize the people in the city to go to the city?" At the beginning, the pirates broke through Zhenjiang and looted the treasury silver in the treasury of Zhenjiang Mansion. In just half a year, there is no silver in the treasury of Zhenjiang Mansion. ”

Shi Shanhua said: "I can't take care of it so much now, you let people go to the city to inform." Let's just say that the order I gave was that anyone who dared not go to the city to defend would be punished by raiding his house. If we hold Zhenjiang, when the time comes, I will definitely cash in everyone's salary. ”

Then without waiting for Mao Yilin to explain, he directly said to his subordinate general, Jin Weifan: "You take 500 people and go with the prefect Mao to gather the people." Anyone who dares to disobey orders will be killed. Mao Yilin hurriedly said: "General, now is the time for these people to contribute, will it backfire to kill so much?" ”

Shi Shanhua said with a hideous face: "These untouchables, if you don't kill them, they won't obey orders at all." As long as we kill well, they will definitely help us defend the city. Jin Weifan also said: "Don't be afraid, Lord Prefect, when the time comes, let's take action." It will definitely not affect the reputation of the Mao Governor's Mansion, which is still an official who loves the people. ”

When Mao Yilin heard Jin Weifan say this, he immediately stopped blocking it. Then the whole city of Zhenjiang was boiling, and the screams and begs for mercy of the people were everywhere. Soon, Mao Yilin and Jin Weifan recruited more than 1,000 people, but these people showed sadness on their faces. Obviously, they didn't come of their own free will, and many of them had black scars on their faces.

Ma Bao and Yang Mingyu originally wanted to sneak attack Zhenjiang, but now that they have been discovered, they can't sneak attack. I had to rest for a night in Gaozi Town, and then collected some siege equipment. As soon as the morning dawned, he led the army to Zhenjiang City. Looking at Zhenjiang City, which was already heavily guarded in the city, Ma Bao and Yang Mingyu both smiled a little bitterly.

Now that things have been like this, they have no choice but to attack. When Ma Bao was about to give the order to attack the city, several soldiers of the Restoration Army brought a person. He looked very embarrassed, and there was only a set of underwear left on his body, only the boots on his feet could tell that he was an official.

Ma Bao said: "Looking at your appearance, you should be a military attaché, how could you appear near our barracks?" The soldiers of the Restoration Army who escorted him here said: "General, they were not caught outside our barracks. It was our sentinels who found them in the mountains outside the town of Gaozi this morning. At that time, they still wanted to run, but they were chased all the way by our sentry. As a result, they may have been on the road for the night and did not run away. ”

Yang Mingyu had a flash of inspiration and said, "Rushed for a night? You're coming from Nanjing? "The military general is Zheng Xuan, the general who came out of Nanjing City and wanted to go to Zhenjiang for help. Now that he heard this general, he revealed his origin in one bite. Suddenly looked at Yang Mingyu in surprise and said, "How do you know?" Yang Mingyu was overjoyed and said: "Sure enough, it seems that Your Highness has already attacked Nanjing City." ”

Ma Bao said: "It's a pity, we are now going to be blocked out of this Zhenjiang City, His Royal Highness easily captured Nanjing, but we couldn't take Zhenjiang, at that time we all wanted His Highness to promise." ”

Yang Mingyu said: "I'm afraid of his ball, I don't believe that this Zhenjiang City can be more difficult to play than Nanjing." General Ma, the two of us took turns to attack, and we didn't believe that we couldn't attack Zhenjiang. Ma Bao sighed and said: "It's just like this, I just don't know how many Qing soldiers there are in Zhenjiang City." ”

Then Ma Bao patted his head and said with a smile: "I'm also confused, there is a Qing army general here." Then he said to Zheng: "Well, you are surrendering now." Or do you want me to send you directly to the Netherworld and serve your Manchu master? ”

Now the city of Nanjing has been lost, and tens of thousands of troops have come to attack Zhenjiang. Zheng Xuan also thought that now that the Ming army had returned from a large-scale counterattack, where would he dare to resist and not surrender. Zheng Xuan hurriedly said: "I am willing to surrender, I said." In Zhenjiang City, there are 2,000 defenders and 3,000 people from the Eight Banners of Manchuria. The generals include Shi Huashan, the general of Jinghai, and Liu Zhiyuan, the general of Zhenhai. There is also the capital of the Golden Domain. ”

Yang Mingyu said: "In this way, there are not many defenders in Zhenjiang." It is not necessarily impossible to attack, but there are 3,000 Manchurian Eight Banners to be careful. Zheng Xuan said: "General, don't be careless, Shi Shanhua is a ruthless person." There are more than 200,000 people in the city, if he mobilizes the people to defend the city, the general, your tens of thousands of troops, I am afraid that they will really not be able to capture Zhenjiang. ”

Ma Bao and Yang Mingyu had both been in the Qing army, and of course they knew how the Qing army mobilized the people to defend the city, and they both frowned. At this time, the defenders of Zhenjiang City were also observing the Ming army under the city. Pointing at the Ming army under the city, it seemed that they were discussing something.

Ma Bao said: "No matter, if we can't break through Zhenjiang City, then His Highness will blame us at that time." Let's try to attack the city first. Yang Mingyu also said: "Yes, we haven't fought yet, so we're here to discuss whether we can fight or not." If we let the other generals know, they will laugh at us too. ”