Two years after the city of Nanjing was broken, a mighty fleet sailed into the port of Haicheng, and the port was already densely packed with welcoming people, waving and cheering at the fleet one by one.

On the Sea Dragon, which was the first to enter the port, Li Hongyu stood on the deck of the bow of the ship and waved to the crowd on the shore, and beside him stood Zhao Xin, who was dressed in women's clothes, and Sakurako Yamashita who was wearing a kimono.

Li Hongyu's arrival was a great encouragement to the people of Haicheng and even Shanghai County, and in the past two years, the Qing army had been in the south and had tried their best to suppress the local resistance forces, which made Haicheng also shrouded in an atmosphere of unease.

After the Qing army captured the city of Nanjing, it once sent people to attack Shanghai County, wanting to take Haicheng in one go.

However, the Qing army was blocked out of Shanghai County by the sailor soldiers, and the Qing soldiers tried the power of the sailor's firearms for the first time, and the sailor soldiers who used advanced flintlock muskets and breech guns caused the Qing army to suffer heavy casualties before they could get close.

The bullets fired from the musketeers' firing phalanx were not only dense but also coherent, so that the Qing soldiers could not get close at all, and even if some cavalry were lucky enough to rush in front of the guide, they were quickly swallowed up by the following bullet rain, they had never seen such a terrifying method of warfare before.

As for the archery skills that the Qing army's Eight Banners were proud of, they were inferior to the firearms of the Ming army in terms of power and range, so they naturally could not play an effective role.

The leading Qing generals saw that the situation was not good, and immediately withdrew their troops and retreated, even if they rushed to the front of the Ming army's musket array, it would be useless, because behind the musketeers there were also well-dressed sailor soldiers standing in a line with knives and guns, and the combat effectiveness of the sailor soldiers made the Manchus fearful.

Dolgon was taken aback when he heard the report, he originally thought that Shanghai County was not difficult to fight, and maybe the soldiers of the Navy Division guarding would surrender like those Ming Army Guard Troops, but he was caught off guard by the firearms of the Navy Division.

Fortunately, the number of firearms of the naval division was limited, otherwise it would definitely be equipped with other units of the Ming army, and it also had considerable limitations, otherwise it would not be prepared with soldiers with cold weapons to protect it.

Considering that there were still many places in the south of the Ming Dynasty waiting for the Qing army to conquer, Dolgon ordered the Qing army to avoid the territory of the Ming army's naval division and seize the place outside the territory of the naval division, so that the naval division could be trapped to death in the future.

Therefore, the jurisdiction of the Ming army and even the surrounding areas became a paradise for the people who took refuge, and many people fled to avoid it, so the sailors had to mobilize food from the South Seas to deal with it, only when they had a full stomach then the people who fled would abide by the law and discipline, and would not do those things that violated the law.

When Li Hongyu was forced to leave the Japanese country by Emperor Hongguang's words, the people of the Ming Dynasty all felt unjust, Li Hongyu's ability has already been verified, if the Emperor of the Apocalypse and the Emperor Hongguang trusted Li Hongyu, how could the Ming Dynasty reach this point, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty would not be able to cross the Yangtze River.

Now, Li Hongyu's return has greatly encouraged the people of Shanghai County and the surrounding areas controlled by the Navy, Li Hongyu is the nemesis of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, both Nurhachi and Huang Taiji are Li Hongyu's defeated generals, even Dolgon suffered Li Hongyu's big loss outside the pass ten years ago.

Li Hongyu did not disappoint the people, and the first thing he did when he returned to Haicheng was to aim at the former capital of the Ming Dynasty, and sent an army of 30,000 sailors and Korean soldiers to kill Nanjing City, and he wanted to use Nanjing City to announce his gorgeous return to the outside world.

Not only that, but almost at the same time, a full-scale military operation was launched in the area controlled by the naval division, launching a fierce offensive against the surrounding areas controlled by the Qing army.

Although the armies in those areas ruled by the Qing army were under the banner of the Qing army, the soldiers of the Jurchen Eight Banners, the Mongolian Eight Banners and the Eight Banners of the Han Army of the Qing Army combined were at most 200,000 people, which seemed to be quite a lot, but the territory of the Ming Dynasty was vast, and if it was scattered to various places, there would not be much.

Therefore, the Qing army remained in the local area to maintain law and order, basically the Ming army defected to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and after shaving their hair, they turned into the Qing army, and their combat effectiveness could not be compared with the Eight Banners of the Qing army.

In fact, for Dolgon and other high-ranking Manchu officials, they regarded the Eight Banners of the Han Army who surrendered to the Manchus outside the Shanhai Pass as their own, and as for the Han people who were recruited after entering the customs, their identity and status could not be compared with those of the Eight Banners of the Han Army, and they could not gain their trust.

In this way, it gave the sailor a great opportunity, in the face of the sudden attack of the sailor, the local Qing army did not have any psychological preparation, they maintained local law and order, and they could also compete with the local troops who resisted the Qing army, but where did they have the courage to fight with the sailor who made the Qing army's Eight Banners fearful?

For a time, the Ming army that surrendered to the Qing army fled, and the soldiers of the Navy Division took the city they attacked almost without bloodshed, which was warmly welcomed by the people.

Dolgon finally tasted the bitter fruit of the low combat effectiveness of the Ming army, he originally thought that he would have to fight no matter what, but the Ming army that surrendered to the Qing army was about to collapse, and he did not dare to fight with the sailors at all, so he could only watch those places be handed over.

The Qing army guarded Nanjing City was the Prince of Yu Duoduo, Duoduo originally wanted to stick to Nanjing City and wait for rescue, but after thinking about it, the Ming army had powerful firearms, and the walls of Nanjing City could not stop the water division at all, plus now the south has not been pacified by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the people were angry and resentful by the shaving order.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Duoduo felt that the withdrawal of the army would preserve his strength, so he led his headquarters to withdraw from Nanjing City and go north to Huai'an to temporarily avoid the edge of the water division.

Just when Duoduo evacuated, a large number of Ming generals and officials who surrendered to the Manchu Qing Dynasty turned against the arms of the sailors, and only those Ming generals and officials who had the blood of the Ming army and civilians had to follow Duoduo.

A series of actions by the Ming army's naval divisions immediately caused a huge sensation in the Ming Dynasty, and it was a great encouragement and encouragement to those armed forces that still resisted the Qing army.

Emperor Yongli was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately asked his subordinates to escort him to Nanjing, preparing to officially ascend the throne and become emperor in Nanjing City, so as to obtain the name of Ming orthodoxy.

Just when Emperor Yongli was halfway through, he suddenly received a shocking news that King Xiang of Xiangyang and King Chu of Wuchang jointly issued a reputation, supporting Li Hongyu as emperor on the grounds that the number of days had been exhausted, expelling Jiannu and bless the people.

The joint reputation of King Xiang and King Chu caused an uproar in the Ming Dynasty, if it was someone else who supported Li Hongyu as the emperor, it would be fine, but the people who did so were the two most powerful vassal kings in the Ming royal family, which made people feel incredible.

However, with Daming's current mess, who can be in charge of the overall situation except Li Hongyu?

As for the number of days in the Ming Dynasty, if it weren't for the people who were forced to rebel back then, why would the Ming Dynasty end up where it is now? How could the people be willing to return to the rule of the Ming Dynasty again?

Therefore, the change of dynasty can be said to be the will of the people, and those who are under the banner of "opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty" do not really want to restore the Ming Dynasty, but to call on the people to resist the Qing army.

With the release of the joint reputation of King Xiang and King Chu, Fang Yun, the governor of Fujian, Shen Bocheng, the governor of Guangdong, and Lu Kun, the political envoy of Guangxi, and other high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty who had military power to confront the Qing army responded one after another, persuading Li Hongyu on the grounds of the people of the world.

Not only that, but those local armed forces that fought against the Qing army also expressed their support for Li Hongyu's ascension to the throne in order to calm the world.

Therefore, Emperor Yongli had to stop on the way, wait and see the development of the situation, his emperor was originally unjustifiable and self-reliant, and there was no foundation, if it wasn't for the local vassal king of the Ming Dynasty who was almost dead now, it would not be his turn to hold the orthodox banner of the Ming Dynasty to claim to be the son of the Great Tomorrow.

It is worth mentioning that on the eve of Li Hongyu's return to Haicheng, the Manchu regent Dolgon wanted to raise troops with the King Heng and King Jing of the Ming Dynasty who lived in Beijing, and beheaded Emperor Hongguang and Zhu Cunji, King of Qin, Zhu Xianxuan, King of Jin, Zhu Changshu, King of Lu, Zhu Cixuan, King of Jing, Zhu Youli, King of De, and Zhu Youdi, King of Heng, who were exiled to Beijing, and almost destroyed the local vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty.

For King Xiang, King Chu and Fang Yun and others to support Li Hongyu as the emperor's move, those who follow Emperor Yongli are naturally lonely, if Emperor Yongli can rule the world, then they are the heroes of Conglong, but now they have no way to face Li Hongyu who has gained support, do they want them to confront Li Hongyu?

Since it was the two vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty who still retained their territory and power, even those pedantic scholars and doctors could not blame Li Hongyu.

After all, now King Xiang and King Chu represent the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, and Emperor Yongli, who was driven out of the fief by the Qing army, cannot occupy the height of righteousness in front of the two at all, and belongs to the exiled vassal kings, and the decision of King Chu and King Xiang is enough to represent the choice of the royal family.

With the support of King Xiang, King Chu and Fang Yun and others, the commanders of the three fleets of the Navy Division unanimously persuaded Li Hongyu, hoping that Li Hongyu would ascend the throne and succeed to the throne with the common people of the world as his mind, lead the army and the people to expel Jiannu, and return the world to a peaceful and prosperous era.

In the face of the persuasion of all parties, Li Hongyu naturally could not avoid vulgarity, and he must not agree at the beginning, otherwise he would not have become a rebellious minister and thief who coveted the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the drama of persuasion by all parties in turn was staged, and Li Hongyu chose to turn a deaf ear to this by choosing to keep the door out, and secretly felt funny in his heart, and felt ridiculous about his own desire to cover up.

It wasn't until Ran Xingrang and Princess Shouning came to the door together to persuade him to come in that Li Hongyu stepped out of the door and accepted everyone's support "helplessly".

In order to stabilize the people's hearts and enhance the cohesion and centripetal force of the military and civilians in various places, Li Hongyu chose to ascend the throne as emperor in Haicheng on the first day of the ninth lunar month, and changed the name of the country to the "Chinese Empire".

According to Li Hongyu's customization, the first day of September is the first year of Huaxia, and the descendants of future generations will take "Huaxia" as the standard, and will no longer change the era name separately.

With Li Hongyu's ascension to the throne, the Huaxia army, with the naval division as the main force, quickly launched a fierce offensive in the south towards the occupied area of the Qing army, and the local people even raised their voices, causing the Qing army to suffer heavy losses and have to retreat north one after another.

At the same time, Man Gui led 30,000 troops to the west to enter Jiayuguan, and with the cooperation of the Shaanxi Xingdu Division, he gathered 50,000 troops to launch an offensive in the northwest occupied by the Qing army, and the Qing army, which had not gained a firm foothold in the northwest, retreated one after another.

The Mongol successor Great Khan Bahat led 80,000 Mongol troops from Moxi to Monan, and along the way, he rushed from the steppe to Liaodong, sweeping away the Mongol tribes who had defected to the Manchus.

Not only that, 50,000 Korean troops crossed the Yalu River under the cover of night, and in one fell swoop annihilated the 30,000 or 40,000 Qing Army Eight Banner soldiers left in the Yalu River by Dolgon, and quickly advanced to Shengjing, the old capital of the Manchu Dynasty.

For a time, the Qing army's defense line completely collapsed, and Dolgon and the generals of the Qing army never imagined that Li Hongyu would hold such a powerful military force in his hands, and he was caught off guard, and the whole line was in an emergency, and the originally good situation was reversed in an instant.

(End of chapter)