Soon after the recovery of Guangzhou, the Ming army led by Zheng Jingtong conquered Songjiang.

This, of course, was due to the self-destruction of the Great Wall by the prefect of Songjiang.

Not only did he lead his troops to run away and take away the elite, but he also did not tell the government in advance.

Songjiang Tongzhi became a backstabber, and he could only meet the battle in a hurry.

Of course, nothing will be hit in this case, and Zheng Jing ordered his soldiers to attack Songjiang City with a devastating attack.

After taking Songjiang, Zheng Jing ordered people to count the heads only to find that the heads of the Qing army were only more than 5,000, that is to say, only more than 5,000 soldiers were defending the city.

No wonder this battle was so easy.

After taking Songjiang, Zheng Jing immediately ordered someone to send good news to Yangzhou.

The Son of Heaven is now in Yangzhou, and if the letter is sent urgently, it will be a few days' work.

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However, it was said that Zhu Youlang, who was in Yangzhou, was overjoyed to receive the good news from Zheng Jing and Zheng Chenggong.

After Li Shishi took Changzhou, Zheng's father and son connected Songjiang and Suzhou, and so far Yang, Chang, Su, and Song were all included in the Ming army.

This is the richest place in the whole of Nanzhili, and it is not much compared to Nanjing.

From the point of view of financial resources, the Ming army not only did not lose money but also made blood in this battle.

With this silver, the Ming army can continue to expand its army, and even give more rewards to the soldiers to keep their fighting spirit high and absolute loyalty.

Zhu Youlang learned the lessons of Emperor Chongzhen and was very lenient and generous in his treatment of his subordinates.

Soldiers will be rewarded for their meritorious service. If the soldiers make a mistake, they will be punished according to the situation, and they will not be beheaded in prison at every turn like Chongzhen.

Throwing the pot like that is to shake it clean, but people's hearts are also cold. Which courtier will willingly give you his life?

The biggest beneficiary of this expedition is Zheng Chenggong and his son.

Father and son go into battle together, and one door blossoms.

Even if it is rumored to go out, it is also a strange story.

It's just that Zhu Youlang is really a little embarrassed about how to reward Zheng's father and son.

The main reason is that Zheng Chenggong has been ranked as a prince, which is the same as the Zhu Ming clan.

How can Zhu Youlang be sealed even if he wants to?

You can only think of a way from the official position.

Seal a position of secretary of the military department?

It's not impossible to think about it.

After all, Wen Anzhi is now old and will have to retire sooner or later.

Zhu Youlang deliberately led Zhang Huangyan in the direction of the cabinet, wanting him to take over Wen Anzhi's position.

In this way, the position of Shangshu of the Ministry of War was vacant, making it reasonable for Zheng Chenggong to lead it remotely.

As for the specific affairs of the military department, it can be left to the squires.

There have been such examples in all dynasties and dynasties in the past.

Of course, Zhu Youlang also knows that this big victory cannot say many things. After all, the fighting spirit of the Qing army in Jiangnan has collapsed.

The loss of Huguang and Jiangxi, and the conquest of Nanjing made the Qing army in Nanzhili frightened, and the Ming army basically surrendered to the wind.

Even if he mustered up the courage to fight, it did not pose too much threat to the Ming army.

This further shows that Zhu Youlang was correct in choosing to blitz Huguang in the first place.

If Zhu Youlang hesitated at the beginning and finally chose to stick to Sichuan, how could he open up the situation and control almost the entire land south of the Yangtze River?

The current Ming Dynasty is no longer the same.

Not to mention 200,000 troops, it is not impossible to raise an army of 500,000 with Jiangnan's financial resources.

If Liangguang can be recovered, Fujian will raise millions of troops in the future, and there will be no pressure.

Zhu Youlang is still relieved by this.

At the beginning, Yuan Chonghuan, the supervisor of Yuan, boasted that he had been in Haikou for five years, which was a joke in hindsight.

It only took two years for Zhu Youlang to recover half of the country, and in terms of merit, he was not more than Liu Xiu, the Emperor of Guangwu of the Han Dynasty.

Of course, now is not the time for complacency, and the war is won, but it is equally important to recuperate and restore production and the economy.

Zhu Youlang felt that the Qing army would not take the initiative to attack again in a short period of time.

First, the Qing army also needed time to buffer and recuperate.

Second, the Qing army was beaten, and it was necessary to stabilize the mood to judge and analyze why the Ming army was so strong.

If you blindly respond to the battle, you will only follow the rhythm of the Ming army, and you will be very passive.

As for Wu Sangui, Shang Kexi, and Geng Jimao, these wall-head grasses will also not act rashly.

They are all unprofitable and unprofitable, and if they don't see rabbits and don't scatter eagles, if the Qing court doesn't give them enough benefits, they won't make a move at all.

And now what can the Qing court give them?

If you want a fief or not a fief, you want money but no money.

Of course, these three people will not easily defect to the Ming army.

This is, of course, because of their black history.

The three of them, including Wu Sangui, had betrayed the Ming Dynasty, Wu Sangui's nature was the worst, and the other two were not much better.

Unless Zhu Youlang issued an order to openly exempt the three from their crimes, the three of them would not even move their hearts.

It's still gratifying, where Zhu Youlang can continue to ask for some benefits.

After all, Shang Zhixin is in the hands of the Ming army, and if Shang Kexi is disobedient, his baby son will be in danger.

What Zhu Youlang needs most now is firearms.

Both guns and artillery are urgently needed.

In the window period for the development of firearms, Shang Kexi can fill this vacancy well and give support to the Ming army.

When the Ming Army's technology tree develops, Shang Kexi will have no use value, and he can kick it away at that time.

Now is the time to test Zhu Youlang's ability to handle internal affairs.

After the war, Jiangnan was devastated, and the appropriate policy of tax reduction and exemption could restore production well and make the people energetic.

Zhu Youlang is not as short-sighted as Chongzhen, blindly increasing taxes.

In fact, these taxes were not added to the landlords, but to the common people. This led directly to the bankruptcy of the already fragile homesteaders.

It is also the main reason for the peasant uprisings everywhere in the last years of Chongzhen.

Zhu Youlang's strategy was to add taxes to commercial taxes, and it was a way of exchanging benefits.

In this way, the merchants did not feel so uncomfortable, and the imperial treasury was replenished, which can be described as the best of both worlds.

The economy is the primary productive force.

Only when the economy develops can we have the energy to go on the Northern Expedition.

As far as the current strength of the Ming army is concerned, it is impossible to go on a northern expedition in a short period of time.

Zhu Youlang was not in a hurry.

As long as the Ming army controls Jiangnan, the longer it drags on, the more unfavorable it will be for the Qing army.

At this time, it is no longer the era of the Sui and Tang dynasties when those who have won the world have won the world.

Jiangnan is the economic center.

There is an army and money, and Zhu Youlang simply doesn't know how to lose.

Of course, there is still a risk, that is, the Ming army was stolen by the three feudatories during the Northern Expedition.

Therefore, whether it is the Northern Expedition after the pacification of the three feudatories or the Northern Expedition first and then the pacification of the three feudatories needs to think carefully.

Overall, the situation of the Ming army is much better than that of two years ago, and Zhu Youlang's hanging heart has also been relaxed.

In time, he will definitely be able to conquer the world and restore the Ming Dynasty.

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