Ma Shiying was right to hear Ma Cheng say this, and said after a moment of silence: "Cheng'er, what you said is very reasonable, is this good?" Huang Degong, who was stationed in Chuzhou immediately for his father, moved to Tongling, and Huang Degong's department was brave and good at fighting, and he would definitely be able to resist Zuo Liangyu. ”

Ma Cheng was in a hurry when he heard Ma Shiying say this, didn't he take the old road of history again? Huang Degong, who was originally used as a barrier in Nanjing, was transferred away, so what should be done to the west of Nanjing? Do you rely on the unreliable Liu Liangzuo?

"Dad, Huang Degong must not be mobilized, if Duoduo captures Tongguan and eliminates Li Zicheng, he will definitely take Fengyang from Luoyang to attack the southern capital, and then only Liu Liangzuo will be left in Fengyang, and it will be difficult for him to resist Duoduo!"

Ma Shiying saw that his son had to go to Henan, and scolded angrily: "Cheng'er, don't think that you can run rampant in the world with a few days of soldiers, although Liu Liangzuo's combat effectiveness is not strong, but after all, he has been fighting against Liukou in Henan for many years, isn't it as good as the more than 20,000 recruits you recruited?" ”

Ma Cheng heard Ma Shiying say this, and said secretly in his heart: You are really right, Liu Liangzuo's waste is really not as good as me.

"Let me tell you the truth, the princes of the imperial court have already paid attention to the war situation in the north, and in November, Shi Xianzhi has already written to the imperial court, ready to take advantage of the emptiness of Shandong and Henan to lead troops to subdue the northern homeland. All the princes of the court have reached a consensus on this matter, and the emperor has also agreed, but your position is too low to know! ”

Ma Cheng was stunned when he heard Ma Shiying say this, Shi Kefa wants to lead people to recover Shandong and Henan? Why is it not said in the history books? No, such a big event can't be recorded in history, is it because of a mistake in the history of your relationship?

"Dad, what the hell is going on? Tell me about it! "Ma Cheng relies on being familiar with history, and now that history has changed, Ma Cheng is naturally very anxious.

Seeing Ma Cheng's anxious appearance, Ma Shiying snorted: "Hmph, don't think that the princes of the court are inferior to you!" ”

It turned out that when Zuo Maodi went north, he passed through various prefectures and counties in Shandong, and found that this place basically belonged to the anarchic zone, and each place played its own banner, most of which still supported the orthodoxy of the Ming Dynasty, so Zuo Maodi's suggestion to the imperial court was that since there was no one to manage it in Shandong, it was better to send troops to recover the Shandong area.

Zuo Maodi's twists and turns still had some effect, although the ministers of the DPRK and China fought to the death for power, but they were still able to maintain consistency against the Manchu Qing who resisted the common threat. The occupation of Shandong has many advantages, politically it can show that the Southern Ming Dynasty is orthodox, do not forget to recover the homeland, and militarily it can expand the Huaibei defensive circle and increase the reaction time. Therefore, with the joint efforts of the Eunuch Party and the Donglin Party, the imperial court decided to take action against Shandong.

This specific implementer is Shi Kefa of Yangzhou, Shi Kefa immediately began to prepare after receiving the order of the imperial court, and as the main force in the north is Xingping Bo Gaojie.

This was the first large-scale military operation since the founding of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and if this military operation was successful, basically the Manchu Qing Dynasty would be confined to Beijing and a corner of Shanxi, and the Southern Ming Dynasty had great hopes of turning the tables.

As soon as the cannon sounded 10,000 taels of gold, it would cost money to fight, and the imperial court would naturally need money to prepare for war, so the household department prepared 3.2 million taels of silver for the four towns of Jiangbei, and at the same time, in order to appease Zuo Liangyu in Wuchang, he also allocated 2.4 million taels of silver military salary.

Ma Cheng was speechless when he heard Ma Shiying say this, this time the imperial court arranged flawlessly, the most effective in the four towns of Jiangbei is Gao Jie Huang Degong, now Gao Jie is going north to sneak attack the back road of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Huang Degong stayed in Chuzhou to guard against Zuo Liangyu, this kind of military arrangement is not something that the stunned young Ma Cheng can think of.

Seeing that Ma Cheng was speechless, Ma Shiying smiled and said: "Boy, don't think that all the princes of the court eat dry rice, although we may not be harmonious, but for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, we can temporarily put aside the contradictions." ”

Ma Cheng knew the general trend of history, but the details were not clear, and he couldn't figure out whether there was this military operation in history. In Ma Cheng's memory, Gao Jie died, and Huang Degong went to guard against Zuo Liangyu, so he let Duoduo take advantage of the situation to occupy Yangzhou. But now that history has completely changed, Shi Kefa did not stop in Yangzhou, but prepared to counterattack, which made Ma Cheng have no idea.

"Okay, Cheng'er, you still have to train your new army, it's just a few days before the New Year, you stay for the New Year, and wait for the New Year to go out of the city after the New Year!"

Ma Cheng was still afraid that Shi Kefa was unreliable, so he thought for a while and said, "Dad, why don't you let me go to Yangzhou?" It just so happened that Gao Jie and they went north, Yangzhou was defenseless, wouldn't it be right to let his son go? "Hot search

Ma Cheng is also preparing to do double insurance, what if Shi Kefa and they fail? Yangzhou is an important town in Jiangbei, the core of the Jianghuai defense line, and Yangzhou does not have to defend Nanjing if it loses it.

Ma Shiying saw that Ma Cheng was endless, and said angrily: "Okay, won't you go to Yangzhou to make Shi Xianzhi feel cold?" I thought the old man didn't trust him, the old man was tired, you go out! ”

Ma Cheng had no choice but to bow down and retreat, and out of Ma Shiying's study, Ma Cheng stood in the courtyard in a daze, and now the situation is weird, and he can't see what the future looks like. Ma Cheng thought about it, it seems that he has no choice but to do so, anyway, Yangzhou is very close to Nanjing, and it is really impossible to lead the troops to the rescue by himself. Yangzhou is a number of strong cities in the world, Shi Kefa is in the waste, can't he keep it for a few days?

Now that the imperial court has already prepared, what else can Ma Cheng do? Ma Cheng could only obey Ma Shiying's arrangement at this time. It is now the end of December, and Ma Cheng is not ready to return to the barracks, this is the first New Year that Ma Cheng has crossed over, Ma Cheng has not seen the traditional Chinese New Year, and the New Year of later generations has become neither Chinese nor foreign.

Ma Cheng spent the New Year at home, but Shi Kefa in Yangzhou was not idle, the imperial court had already set a strategy for using soldiers, and he naturally had to implement it as the governor of Yangzhou. The imperial court prepared a large amount of money and food for this military operation, and Shi Kefa was also full of confidence in this operation, believing that he could achieve good results. But he didn't expect that this military operation, which took Shi Kefa half a year's hard work, was aborted because of Gao Jie's death.

Gao Jie was originally Li Zicheng's right-hand man, nicknamed the Mountain Harrier. At that time, Li Zicheng had a little wife, Xing's was not only beautiful, but also very smart, because he had done small business in the past and knew some words, so Li Zicheng let Xing's take charge of military resources.

Because Gao Jie is a general in the army, he must have something to do with the Xing family, Gao Jie is young and handsome, and the Xing family is as beautiful as a flower, so that the two dog men and women will get together.

Gao Jie started with Li Zicheng, but he knew that Li Zicheng was a murderer, and he definitely couldn't do well with his little wife. Therefore, under the persuasion of Xing, Gao Jie took Xing and a group of soldiers to surrender to the Ming general He Renlong in the eighth year of Chongzhen, and was awarded the position of guerrilla.

Traitors have always been the most ruthless, Gao Jie later participated in the pursuit of the peasant army many times, and was promoted to the general soldier. At the beginning of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng crossed the river to the east, but Gao Jie led his troops from Shaanxi to escape to Shandong through Shanxi and Huaiqing in Henan. At this time, Ma Shiying learned that Gao Jie's subordinates had 30,000 elite cavalry, and immediately wrote a letter to solicit them: "The general promises the country with his body, and he should lead the country." At the same time, let Gao Jie's department be stationed in Xuzhou and obey his own moderation.

Gao Jie, who guarded Xuzhou, had always coveted the wealth of Yangzhou and demanded that his subordinate soldiers be placed in the city. But was rejected by the people of Yangzhou, Gao Jie was annoyed and angry, and ordered the siege of the city on the seventh day of the first month of June. At the same time, he also sent troops to rob women everywhere outside the city, rape and rob, and did all kinds of evil. Yangzhou Jinshi Zheng Yuanxun mediated in the middle, went out of the city to discuss with Gao Jie, and agreed to only let the families of officers and soldiers be placed in the city, but not to garrison troops in the city. Unexpectedly, as soon as Zheng Yuanxun returned to the city, the people of Yangzhou were furious and killed Zheng Yuanxun on the spot.

Gao Jie was furious when he saw the messenger killed, and ordered the siege to be intensified. At the same time, the gentry of Yangzhou urgently asked for help from the Southern Ming Dynasty, and Shi Kefa, a supervisor and university scholar, personally came to Gao Jie's military camp outside Yangzhou City, and repeatedly persuaded him, but unexpectedly provoked Gao Jie to be furious, and once put Shi Kefa under house arrest.

Gao Jie's wife, Mrs. Xing, was witty and resourceful, and Mrs. Xing saw that Shi Kefa was sincere, and she was kind to protect her, and persuaded Gao Jie to return to her heart. Although Gao Jie was unruly, he was obedient to Mrs. Xing, so he began to salute Shi Kefa. Gao Jie is the strongest and most difficult to control among the four towns in Jiangbei, Shi Kefa was overjoyed after Gao Jie returned to his heart: "I am honest and tamed, and the big things are gathered." ”

After repeated consultations, Gao Jie agreed not to insist on stationing in Yangzhou, and Shi Kefa finally decided to use Guazhou, near Yangzhou, as a place for Gao Jun to settle down. At this point, Shi Kefa completely subdued the unruly Gao Jie, but what happened next, no one on either side expected.

On the tenth day of the first month of the first year of Hongguang, because he was preparing to cross the river, Gao Jie led the army to Suizhou with Yue Qijie, the governor of Henan, and Chen Qianfu, the governor. However, Xu Dingguo, the chief soldier guarding the place, had secretly colluded with the Qing side, and took his son as a hostage in the Qing military camp according to Haoge's request.

Xu Dingguo and Gao Jie had a feud in the past, when Xu Dingguo heard that Gao Jie was coming, he was panicked, and immediately sent someone to cross the river, asking Huang Taiji's eldest son Hao Ge to send troops to support, Hao Ge refused Xu Dingguo's begging on the grounds that "he did not dare to cross the river because he did not give orders". After Xu Dingguo was rejected by Hauge, he had no choice but to take risks. On the one hand, he went out of the city to meet Gao Jie, pretending to be respectful, and secretly planning a way to deal with it.

On the twelfth day of the first month, Xu Dingguo held a feast in Suizhou City, nominally to pick up the wind and wash the dust for Gao Jie and others. His subordinates advised Gao Jie not to enter Suizhou City lightly to prevent accidents. Gao Jie is a martial artist, honest and upright, thinking that he has many soldiers and is powerful, and Xu Dingguo will never dare to act rashly. In order to show his sincerity in encircling Xu Dingguo, Gao Jie deliberately only brought 300 personal soldiers into the city for a banquet, but it was a pity that he spent the belly of the villain with the heart of a gentleman.

Xu Dingguo ambushed the army in advance, used prostitutes to persuade him to drink, and drunk Gao Jie and others. In the middle of the night, the ambush broke out, Gao Jie had no weapons in his hands, and he was captured. Xu Dingguo said hatefully: "In the past three days, the humiliation of you has been exhausted, what is the decision now? Gao Jie was not afraid at all, laughed and said: "I am counted for the erection, call for wine, and drink to death." So he was killed.

Shi Kefa heard the news of Gao Jie's death halfway through, and cried loudly: "The Central Plains cannot be restored!" So he had to return to Xuzhou, and the first and last military operation of the Southern Ming Dynasty was completely shattered.