On the tenth day of the third month of the third year of Shaowu in the Ming Dynasty, the army of King Lu, which had been repaired in Suzhou for half a year, finally gathered and began to advance along the two lines of the canal, and the first target of this march was Changzhou Mansion, which was more than 100 miles away from Suzhou.

After Zhu Daguan, the governor of Changzhou Prefecture, learned that King Lu's army was about to attack Changzhou, he was frightened and hurriedly wrote a letter for help to Ma Cheng, who was stationed in Zhenjiang, hoping that Ma Inspector would send a large army to save him.

The letter that knew that Zhu Daguan was like a mud cow entering the sea, and there was no news at all. Zhu Daguan waited here in Changzhou for half a month, but the reinforcements did not come, but waited for King Lu's army.

On March 24, the vanguard of King Lu came to the city of Changzhou, Changzhou City does not have a strong city wall like Suzhou and Hangzhou, Zhu Daguan only has more than 200 inspection divisions in his hands, and the strength is completely unequal, in order to avoid the war in Changzhou, there is no choice but to open the city and surrender.

Zhu Daguan opened the city gate and led the officials of Changzhou and Wujin County to kneel on the ground to welcome the governor Qi Biaojia into the city.

It stands to reason that surrendering officials like Zhu Daguan should be locked up, but Qi Biaojia came to Zhu Daguan, dismounted and helped Zhu Daguan up, and then said: "Zhu Governor, get up, this governor has sealed the emperor's holy decree this time to crusade against the rebellious Zhu Lunkui, and it has nothing to do with officials!" I wish the prefect a good reputation, so let's stay in office! ”

Zhu Daguan is a native of Fujian, although he is not from the Donglin Party, but he has a good relationship with the Donglin Party.

Qi Biaojia thought very well, but he didn't expect Zhu Daguan not to appreciate it, but said coldly: "Lord Qi, Xiaguan didn't want to return to Shun Lu this time, but was afraid that more than 100,000 people in Changzhou would be ruined!" So please don't be polite, Lord Qi, just put the lower official in prison! ”

was Zhu Daguan gave two sentences, Qi Biaojia's face was a little ugly, he eased his mood and said: "Zhu Governor, now that the governor is leading the army to the city, he will be able to sweep away Nanzhili in a few days, Ma Cheng'er is just a clown jumping beam, how to compete with the governor's army?" I hope that the prefect will release the will of heaven and respond to the will of the people, and do not go further and further on the wrong road! ”

"My emperor is extremely upright, and this official is deeply favored by the emperor, and he will never surrender and rebel! The army of the general system of Ma is in Zhenjiang, and it will be able to advance eastward in a few days, how can the tens of thousands of troops of Lord Qi be the opponent of the general system of Ma, I hope that Lord Qi will know his way back and return to my emperor! ”

Qi Biaojia heard Zhu Daguan say this and sneered: "Zhu Lunkui has a humble background and an estranged bloodline, how can he inherit the throne?" There are also Ma father and son who control the court and block the way of speech, what else do such emperors and ministers have to be loyal to? ”

"Two years ago, the southern capital was besieged, and millions of people in the city were about to be destroyed. Where is King Lu? It's not that my emperor ascended to the top and shouted, so he led tens of thousands of tigers to resist the northern captives, as for what kind of bloodline, was Emperor Taizu Gao born high back then? Please don't say more, Lord Qi, this official swears allegiance to my emperor! ”

Zhu Daguan is right, after Zhu Lunkui ascended the throne, he sent an edict to the southern provinces, hoping that the provinces would organize an army to Qin Wang, but there was no news at all when he knew that the edict mud cow entered the sea. Now that the Manchu Qing Dynasty has been repulsed, you King Lu and King Lu have come out one by one to fight for power and profit, and the people of Jiangnan will definitely not agree.

Qi Biaojia was robbed of two sentences by Zhu Daguan, there was no way, what people said was reasonable, no

Qi Biaojia had no choice but to order his own soldiers to detain more than a dozen Changzhou government officials led by Zhu Daguan to prison.

Qi Biaojia immediately sent a scout to investigate the news of Zhenjiang after occupying Changzhou Mansion, but to Qi Biaojia's surprise, Ma Cheng's 100,000 army was still outside Zhenjiang City, and he didn't move half a step, as if he didn't know that Changzhou had been occupied.

Seeing this, Qi Biaojia was also very suspicious, what did this Ma Cheng want to do without moving? Do you want to defend the main road of Zhenjiang and have an offensive and defensive battle with yourself?

In the Ming Dynasty, the territory of Nanzhili was very large, in addition to the eight prefectures in Jiangbei, there were ten prefectures in Jiangdong (Jiangdong refers to the area of Nanjing, which was called Jiangdong from the Three Kingdoms period). Among them, the richest are Changzhou, Songjiang, Suzhou and Huzhou and Jiaxing in Zhejiang, which were collectively known as the Taihu Lake Economic Circle in later generations.

This Taihu Lake Economic Circle has been the land of fish and rice since the Tang Dynasty, and in the Ming Dynasty, it contributed two-thirds of the world's taxes. The topography of the Taihu Lake basin is very special, the terrain of Changzhou and Suzhou in the north is flat, and it is composed of the alluvial plain of the Yangtze River, but Huzhou in the south is close to the mountainous area of northern Zhejiang, coupled with the dense water network, Huzhou and Guangde are not suitable for the movement of large corps at all.

Therefore, from Nanjing to Hangzhou, the best way to take is not to enter Zhejiang from Guangde, but to take Zhenjiang, through Suzhou to bypass Taihu Lake, and enter Zhejiang, although this road is much farther than Guangde, but it is much easier to walk.

Ma Cheng and Qi Biaojia are both commanders who lead more than 100,000 troops, and it is naturally impossible to take the rugged mountainous areas of northern Zhejiang, so both of them chose the marching route in the area of Suzhou, Changzhou, so that the location of Zhenjiang is much more important.

Zhenjiang is an important node of the Grand Canal on the south bank of the Yangtze River, where the Yangtze River is in the north and Taihu Lake is not far from the south. Qi Biaojia saw that Ma Cheng was not moving, and naturally thought that Ma Cheng wanted to wait for work and use the city in Zhenjiang to block him.

Qi Biaojia thought that he had found the vein of Ma Cheng, and was secretly happy in his heart: It is said that this Ma Cheng is like a god with soldiers, and now it doesn't seem to be very good. Zhenjiang is an important town, but where can Zhenjiang be compared with Nanjing? Ma Cheng's 100,000 horses are already more than the population in Zhenjiang City, so many people want to hold on to the city, how to solve this food?

When Qi Biaojia learned that Ma Cheng was still in Zhenjiang, he immediately thought of besieging Zhenjiang and then starving Ma Cheng's army. However, Qi Biaojia didn't think right, Zhenjiang is close to the Grand Canal, and the ships of the Yangtze River can come directly to Zhenjiang City, and they can't besiege it at all, it seems that there is still a fight.

Since it was decided to fight, how to fight and how to fight became a problem. After discussing with his generals, Qi Biaojia decided to use Lucheng Town, thirty miles outside the city of Changzhou, as the main battlefield. The terrain here in Lucheng is flat, close to the Grand Canal, and it is a good place for a decisive battle.

After choosing the location, Qi Biaojia wrote a letter to Ma Cheng, the content was very simple, that is, Ma Cheng, didn't you brag about how good you were before? What Xiang Yu reborn Yue Fei is alive, praising himself like a flower, this governor sees you as a vain, golden and jade, and ruined! Now that Ben Dou is leading an army of 100,000 to fight you to the death, do you dare to fight? Do you dare to lead 10,000 guards to a decisive battle, as the letter says?

This time Ma Cheng's reply was very fast, and three days later, Ma Cheng's news was sent to Changzhou, and the letter was very simple, just eight words: April 15, the decisive battle of Lucheng!

Seeing Ma Cheng's reply, Qi Biaojia was overjoyed, everyone said that Ma Cheng was the god of war, and it didn't seem to be very good. What god of war would dare to abandon the base camp and dare to come with 10,000 men to fight a decisive battle with 100,000 enemies?

Qi Biaojia said with a smile after reading the letter: "It seems that this Ma Cheng is just a brave and unscrupulous martial artist!" ”

Qi Biaojia's general Fang Guoan has always been skeptical, he doesn't believe that Ma Cheng is a brave and unscrupulous martial artist at all, but thinks that this is Ma Cheng's trap.

Fang Guoan asked suspiciously: "Lord Commander, Ma Cheng didn't lead the troops on the first day, he fought with the Northern Captives in the Southern Capital for two years, didn't he have any bearing at all?" How could he be angered by a letter from the chief ruler? ”

Qi Biaojia listened to Fang Guoan's reasoning, the way of life and death of a soldier cannot be careless. Qi Biaojia asked the other generals under him, "What do you think?" ”

The generals under him are probably divided into two factions, one faction is similar to Fang Guoan, with a cautious attitude. The other faction is just the opposite, thinking that Ma Cheng is not famous at all, the results of the Battle of Nanjing are very watery, and there is no conspiracy at all in this decisive battle.

Although Qi Biaojia agreed with the opinions of the latter faction, he could not relax his vigilance against Ma Cheng, and while preparing himself, he also sent more people to strengthen the investigation of Zhenjiang's army, and he must not let go of the slightest abnormality.

After deciding on the strategy, Qi Biaojia immediately started to act, leaving 20,000 people here in Changzhou Mansion to guard his logistics base. The remaining 100,000 people were divided into three armies, left, center, and right, and the left army of 20,000 people was led by Fang Guoan.

The 30,000 people of the right army were led by Chen Keli, the chief soldier of Hangzhou, and were stationed along the first line of the canal to prevent Ma Cheng from sending troops to attack his flank.

The 50,000 Chinese army is led by Qi Biaojia himself, which is the main force of the decisive battle, including all the soldiers who can fight, among which Qi Biaojia has 3,000 cavalry in his hands, which is the elite of the elite.

While Qi Biaojia was assigning tasks, he did not forget to pay attention to Ma Cheng in Zhenjiang. However, Ma Cheng's side was very unexpected, before the tenth day of the first month of April, there was no movement in Ma Cheng's army, and the soldiers in the army did what they should do. It was only on the tenth day of the fourth month that the Malay newspaper discovered that Ma Cheng's army had begun to move.

Knowing that there was news in Ma Cheng's army, Qi Biaojia thought that Ma Cheng was finally going to leave, and Qi Biaojia wondered if Ma Cheng had died of some serious illness.

In fact, Qi Biaojia thought about it almost the same, not that Ma Cheng was seriously ill and was going to die, but that Ma Cheng had been tossed by Gu Miaoyin enough in the past few days, and he had lost more than 20 pounds, and he was recovering his energy in the past few days.

In order to get pregnant as soon as possible as she wants, Gu Miaoyin has had to talk to Ma Cheng Dunlun several times a day in the past month. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as ploughed land, only tired cattle. Ma Cheng has been squeezed enough by Gu Miaoyin this month, his cheeks are deep, and his eyes are black and blue, just like a tuberculosis ghost.

At the end of March, Ma Cheng really couldn't stand it, let alone the recovery of China if it went on like this, it was very likely that he would die before he could get out of school. There is no way for Ma Cheng to send Gu Miaoyin back to Nanjing regardless of whether the time is up or not, as for how Gu Miaoyin will go home and let go of Lai, it is not Ma Cheng's responsibility.