After this setback, the three divisions were ordered to retreat south to Andongwei to rest and hold on.

Wu Zheng strictly ordered that Wu Songwei, Feng Lei Cai, and Shen Zhiyuan were not allowed to leave An Dongwei without receiving an order.

Although this order limited the offensive momentum of the Northern Expeditionary Army, Andongwei was the ground in Qingzhou, and in fact, the Northern Expeditionary Army had broken through the boundary and entered Qingzhou.

This played a great role in the subsequent negotiations to force the Qing court to make concessions in some important aspects.

The three battlefields in Jiangbei were merged into two battlefields at this time.

And these two battlefields, with the recovery of Fengyang City and the setback of Jiacang Town, gradually stabilized.

Whether it was Azig who led the army to flee west, or Yue Le and E Shuo, who were waiting in the direction of Rizhao, the Qing army had no strength to fight back for the time being.

With the remnants of the Qing army in Fengyang Mansion swept away, Xia Wanchun Jianyangwei invaded Anqing Mansion and Liao Zhongping's left camp occupied Shucheng in Luzhou, Wu Zheng's initial goal of launching this war has been achieved.

Originally, the two sides should have set a date to sit down and negotiate the aftermath.

But to the west, the Great Western Army in the direction of Huguang suddenly made a big move.

On the seventh day of the first month of October, 80,000 troops from the direction of Macheng in the north of Huguang poured out of their nests, and their troops were divided into two routes, launching attacks from six directions: Baisha Pass, Muling Pass, and Loess Pass in the west, and Changling Pass, Songzi Pass, and Lizi Pass in the east.

After a day and a night of fierce fighting, the Lizi Pass, which was close to the direction of Luzhou, was the first to be broken by the Great Western Army because the Qing army in Luzhou was swept away by Liao Zhongping's left battalion, and the rest of the passes were continuously broken through.

In just two days, Mall, Gwangju, and Luoshan were successively captured by the Great Western Army, which means that in three days, the Qing court lost half of the Runing Mansion.

The Qing court and the opposition were shaken, if the Northern Expeditionary Army's triumphant advance on the southeast coast only tore a hole in the heavy defenses set up by the Qing court, then the sudden attack of the Great Western Army into the Henan border was equivalent to tearing another opening, and this opening shook the foundation of the Qing court.

Because the heavy troops deployed by the Qing court on the southeast coast were almost all troops and generals under the control of the imperial court.

However, in the territory of Henan, although there are also descendants of the Qing court such as Kakhamu, there are more Qingming troops led by Wu Sangui.

Once the situation is eroded and the Qing army changes its flag again, then the Qing court may really have to go back and forth from there.

Under pressure, Jierharang, who originally did not need to go south to negotiate in person, was forced by the pressure of public opinion to go south from the Grand Canal by boat, and wanted to negotiate with Wu Zheng, who would coordinate the war in Henan with the Great Western Army.

But on the night that Zilharang left Suncheonfu, another major event that was enough to affect the situation happened out of thin air.

……。

A civil uprising occurred in Xuzhou.

In just one day, tens of thousands of people gathered in the city, and the people rushed to the government and many yamen in the city in anger.

The 20,000 troops of Dolbo stationed in Xuzhou City and outside the city immediately suppressed the people.

At the beginning, the methods were quite conservative, only blocking with shields and sticks, but later, they were out of control, and they shot arrows and shots directly.

As a result, more than 10,000 people were killed in the city that night, but it also caused Dolbo's army to be dragged into the huge civil unrest vortex in the city, unable to easily escape.

In fact, Wu Zheng was the initiator of this civil unrest, and Wu Zheng dug the pit for Dolbo in his early years.

At that time, the Northern Expeditionary Army invaded Xuzhou and shot Dolgon, and before the two sides negotiated to return Xuzhou, Wu Zheng issued an order - to fight the local tyrants and divide the land.

This kind of anti-trend method is too radical, and it is conceivable that at a time when the people's wisdom is not opened, it is inconceivable to use their fists to force and change the way in which the interests of the class are distributed, and its impact and consequences are so great that they cannot be described.

Even hundreds of years later, this approach led to a fierce class conflict and a revolution that swept the world.

Even Wu Zheng himself said that he would not dare to do this in his own jurisdiction in Jiangnan anyway.

But Xuzhou, don't care about it, you have to let it out anyway, regardless of the flood.

This order was faithfully carried out by the Northern Expeditionary Army, and countless wealthy merchants and nobles were confiscated of their wealth, driven out of the city, and even killed, and their land, houses, and wealth were distributed.

The real people subconsciously resisted, they thought it was a banditry, which was contrary to the consciousness formed by their small fighting, but the tangible interests quickly changed their concepts, and since then, they have become vested interests, and they have also become Wu Zheng's most loyal supporters.

In other words, north of the Yangtze River, the people who welcome the Northern Expeditionary Army the most are probably the people of Xuzhou.

Later, the Northern Expeditionary Army withdrew, and the Qing army took over Xuzhou, and at first the Qing court also wanted to maintain peace and did not subvert the established facts.

But as the wealthy merchants and nobles who had been driven out returned with the news, the situation became worse and worse.

Can these rich businessmen and nobles easily give up, knock out their teeth and swallow them in their stomachs?

Naturally, it can't, and the scene of the counterattack appeared immediately and intensified.

So, will the people have no power to fight back?

Not really.

In fact, Wu Zheng had already thought of this at the beginning, so within a month before and after the occupation of Xuzhou, Chang Linwei set up and developed a "self-help association" in Xuzhou to deal with this possible scene.

But the Self-Aid Society is an unarmed organization that cannot compete with the military.

They could defend against the homes of wealthy merchants and nobles, but they could not resist the attack of the army.

The day before, several wealthy families joined forces, bribed the Xuzhou garrison, and took revenge on the eleven people in the city.

This incident aroused the anger of the people in the city, and under the secret organization of Chang Linwei, more and more people participated in this incident, which directly led to the flooding of all the official yamen in Xuzhou City.

Mass events often start out with moderation, and later, even the initiators can't control them.

And the addition of the Xuzhou garrison directly led to bloodshed.

Can the people not suffer?

Since Wu Zheng had already thought that there would be such a day when he was digging the pit, could it be that he only arranged Chang Linwei to organize it secretly, and there was no other backhand?

Although Wu Zheng could not predict the exact time of occurrence of this kind of event, Wu Zheng knew the inevitability of its occurrence.

Therefore, Wu Zheng naturally had an arrangement.

Where did Jiang Quanyi and his 3,000 men, who had a brief appearance in Sizhou City, go?

After the Battle of Sizhou, Wu Zheng had already set his sights on Xuzhou.

Since Zilharang didn't want Azig and Dolbo to return to Beijing to hinder him, Wu Zheng naturally wanted to meet Jilharang's "request", and Wu Zheng was very satisfied with this kind of request, the more the merrier.