"Looking at the general trend today, guarding the north of the river to protect the south of the river, everyone said. However, from Cao and single crossing, the Yellow River is not dangerous; Since Ying, into the phoenix, Si Keyu: still or said that there is the Yangtze River moat in the ear. If so, upstream? How to defend the sea lane? It's not just melons, instruments, Pu, and picks are the gateways to the south of the Yangtze River! Fu begging and plate plan, set the speed of the line; The great cause of Zhongxing is considerable. ”

——The head of the four towns in Jiangbei, Xingping Bo Gaojie

Nanjing, Longwan (Xiaguan), the former home port of Zheng He's Xingcha fleet.

A group of Guizhou soldiers marched in two columns, cleaned up the idle people on the dock, and set up a position outward, separating the people.

A full set of ceremonial guards sounded the gong to open the way and arrived at the riverside. Two Yipin Wenchen wearing seven beams and a virtuous crown walked out of the sedan chair and stood side by side, and the cloud crane brocade ribbon swayed gently in the river breeze.

The river swept eastward and flowed to the sea.

Ma Shiying had an urge to compose poetry, and the words lingered around his mouth several times, but he couldn't get out of his mouth after all.

Shi Kefa had a trace of worry on his face, "Old Ma Ge, Nanjing must not be chaotic. ”

The Great Compassion Case, the Fake Prince Case, and the Child Concubine Case, one after another, are full of treachery behind the scenes.

Ma Shiying showed a hint of a smile, "Elder Shi Ge, rest assured, the official has already made arrangements, and he will soon transfer Li Guofu to go to the cloud and mist to log wood, and the two eunuchs of Han Zanzhou and Lu Jiude will not be able to turn over the tricks." Donglin doesn't need to worry, Yue Qijie has already appeased Qian Qianyi. ”

Li Guofu, the celebrant and eunuch, was a disciple of Han Zanzhou, the eunuch of the Nanjing garrison, and the ministers of Nanjing regarded him as Zhang Yong. Lu Jiude was born in the Fu Domain. These two great eunuchs joined forces and messed up Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa's plan to support King Gui.

Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa are recognized as two talented civil officials in the last years of Chongzhen, after the death of Chongzhen's emperor, the two most powerful ministers in the south formed an alliance to support King Gui who was far away in Guangxi, and the men and horses sent to pick up King Gui have already set off. However, Lu Jiude, the great eunuch who led the Yongwei Battalion, Huang Degong's two Praetorian Guards, and Liu Liangzuo's army, quickly withdrew from the front line fighting the peasant army and supported King Fu to ascend the throne in Nanjing. beat Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa by surprise.

Luwang is actually not competitive, it is just the wishful thinking of a small number of Donglin parties. The competition was always between King Fu and King Gui, and the civil officials and eunuchs who held military power supported different candidates, and the strength of the descendants of the two Shenzong far exceeded that of King Lu.

was robbed of the opportunity by the eunuchs, and Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying could only reluctantly admit the reality.

The eunuchs and the warlords of the four towns joined forces, which led to a series of problems that led to the chaos of the central political situation in the first imperial court of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and also led to the fact that the four towns of Jiangbei, who had the ability to make decisions, did not listen to the orders and did not lose their tails, so that Ma Shiying-Shi Kefa, the civilian-official alliance divided between the inside and outside, was also the most promising political group in the Southern Ming Dynasty.

But this game has just begun, and being pressed by the eunuchs, how can Ma Shiying endure it. After the Four Towns Mutiny, Ma Shiying felt the importance of effectively controlling the military power, and he slowly arranged, first transferring 3,000 Guizhou soldiers from Guizhou and stationed them in Jiming Mountain to deter the eunuchs. Then, Yue Qijie was assigned to serve as the governor of Henan, and Tian Yang was appointed as the governor of Caoyun, controlling the two major fronts in the east and west. Du Wenhuan's sons Du Hongyu and Bian Qiguang and others controlled the three major battalions of the Fifth Army, Shenji, and Shenshu. After Ma Shiying completed the deployment, Lu Jiude and Li Guofu now only had the Yongwei Battalion in their hands, and Ma Shoufu was going to take the eunuch party.

Ma Shiying's ability to clean up people is not bad, Shi Kefa mentioned another hidden danger, "After I leave, please ask Ma Ge Lao to complete the deployment of the Yangtze River towns as soon as possible. ”

Ma Shiying said: "Zhenjiang Huang Binqing has 100 large ships and 5,500 elite soldiers, and I plan to let him go out of Jiujiang to prepare for the upstream." ”

Shi Kefa felt that it was not enough, "Zuo Ningnan has more than 100,000 troops, and only Huang Zhen may be difficult to resist." ”

Ma Shiying frowned, "Wu Zhikui is stationed in Wusong to prepare for Haikou. Zheng Hongkui was responsible for the defense of the river from Jingkou to Wusong for hundreds of miles, Zheng Caitong led the Yongwei Battalion to fortify Pukou, Zhang Tianlu was stationed in Guazhou, and Zhang Shiyi was stationed in Wangjialou. All the naval divisions are at the critical point, and it is difficult to transfer soldiers. The military commission is really insufficient. ”

"Jiang Liu Kongzhao?"

Ma Shiying said hatefully, "The nobles are all waste, why should Shi Ge Lao mention them." ”

Shi Kefa thought about it for a while, "Ma Ge Lao, Huang Fei and other soldiers from several towns are now in Miaowan, and the strength of Shandong Jiannu is not strong, so Liu Zeqing doesn't need to put so many soldiers there." ”

Miaowan is Shi Kefa's jurisdiction, since he is willing to support, Ma Shiying naturally smiled, "Adjust Huang Fei and Xiang Mingshi two departments into the river, and leave Zhang Pengyi, Cao Youyi, and Ma Denghong to guard the Huai River, what does Shi Ge think?" ”

"Yes."

Shi Kefa took the initiative to reinforce, which made Ma Shiying very grateful.

"Old Shi Ge, you insult from the outside, and I provoke from the inside. The world is tied to you and me", Ma Shiying gave Shi Kefa a deep look, "Enter the Central Plains, please ask Shi Ge to be old." ”

"It's man-made." There was a hint of determination in Scove's tone.

Ma Shiying stood by the river, watching Shi Kefa's ship disappear into the light mist.

Ma Fu walked up to Ma Shiying and reminded, "Father, it's time to go." ”

Ma Shiying's thoughts were interrupted, he snorted, and looked at his son, "You are ready to take over the Yongwei Battalion." ”

——————

In Jiangbei, Shi Kefa got off the boat and rode a war horse.

General Zhuang Zigu urged his mount and followed in a few steps, "Cabinet Department, shall we go back to Yangzhou?" ”

"No, I'm going to move Xingyuan to Xuzhou." Shi Kefa pulled the horse's head, "Uncle Xian, I will promote you to deputy commander-in-chief and go to Xuzhou to assist Li Chengdong, are you willing?" ”

Zhuang Zigu: "The last general will be dispatched by the cabinet department, just to be able to worry about the cabinet." ”

Shi Kefa showed a smile on his face, there are not many generals he can trust, except for Liu Zhaoji, it is Zhuangzigu.

After Hongguang Tianzi ascended the throne, Shi Kefa made every effort to establish a continuous defense line in Jiangbei.

Liu Zeqing guards Huai and Hai, stationed in Huai'an, and has jurisdiction over 11 prefectures and counties;

Huang Degong guards Chu and He, stationed in Luzhou, and has jurisdiction over 10 states and counties;

Liu Liangzuo guards Feng and Shou, stationed in Linhuai, and has jurisdiction over 9 prefectures and counties;

Gao Jie guards Xu and Si, stationed in Surabaya, and has jurisdiction over 14 prefectures and counties.

Within the jurisdiction of the four towns, the civil officials of the prefecture and county listened to the moderation of each town, which was tantamount to dividing the feudal domains. In order to save the central government's financial expenditure, all towns can collect commercial taxes within their jurisdictions, and all grain and rice production belongs to the towns.

Zuo Liangyu, the upstream Chu town, is of the same nature as the four towns in Jiangbei, but Zuo Ningnan has a higher political status and a larger territory.

It is the common choice of the major dynasties to divide the feudal generals and feudal domains in troubled times, and the effect is particularly poor without exception. The Song and Jin are both lessons from the past, the warlords are the most undisciplined creatures, and most of the military generals who have been divided into feudal areas have the first choice of surrendering when a strong enemy enters the army, rather than defending the territory. But even if you know that this is to quench your thirst, everyone has no other choice, no money and no food. The Hongguang Imperial Court had to spend 7 million taels a year on military salaries, while the total revenue of the central government in Nanjing was only 6 million taels, so the army could only figure out its own way.

After the separation, Shi Kefa faced two almost irreconcilable contradictions.

First, the people of Jiangbei Prefecture and County are dissatisfied with the territory that has become a feudal town, and this problem is most serious in the Gaojie Defense Zone. Gao Jie's troops were originally stationed in Shanxi, and returned to Huainan after a long march that spanned half of China. According to the original deployment, Yangzhou was originally allocated to Gao Jie's territory, but the people of Yangzhou resolutely refused Gao Jie to enter the city, and killed the officials who persuaded peace and Gao Jie did a battle.

Second, the rich and poor in the districts under the jurisdiction of each town, Liu Zeqing monopolizes Huai'an, it doesn't matter; Liu Liangzuo played soy sauce and was powerless to compete. The trouble is the strongest Gao and Huang Erzhen. Gao Jie has strong combat effectiveness, Huang Degong's department is the forbidden army of Chongzhen Tianzi, no one looks down on the other party, and the two arms have been merged several times in order to grab territory.

It is difficult to deal with human feelings, and the bureau is divided. Shi Kefa simply carried this mess with superhuman energy, and worked hard to barely maintain the balance between the four towns and establish a continuous line of defense.

After completing the preliminary reorganization of the defensive line, Shi Kefa immediately took several positive actions. Through some small-scale contacts in the early stage, Shi Kefa found that although Jiannu was pulled from the sea to Cao and a single line in front of the Ming army, its combat effectiveness did not seem to be strong. He used the governor of the left capital, and Li Chengdong, who was stationed in the town of Xuzhou with the general of Xu, to attack southwest Lu and establish combat contact with the Tartars; Liu Zhaoji reinforced Liu Zeqing and led the troops to cross the Huai. Li Chengdong recovered Xiapi and Pei County, and Liu Zhaoji recovered Suqian. The results of the two combat contacts confirmed that Haoge, the prince of Jianzhou Su, who was sitting in Jinan, was unable to attack southward.

While obtaining several support points north of the Huai River, Shi Kefa pulled Gao Jie's main force of nearly 20,000 people from the defensive line, resumed maneuvering, and went west to reinforce Henan. The south direction of Henan is the weakest link of the Ming Dynasty's Jiangbei defense line, and it is also the main route of the southern dynasties to face the invasion of the north and the south - the ancient canal, that is, the offensive axis of Kaifeng-Guide-Bozhou. After Gao Jie left, Shi Kefa used Liu Liangzuo to prevent Xu and Pi, and transferred Huang Degong's department to move north. In any case, the Huang Ministry, the forbidden army of the Chongzhen Son of Heaven, is still a relatively reliable force in the four towns of Jiangbei.

————

South Zhili, Huai'an Mansion, Miaowan Town.

The northern retreat was to the Ming army's assembly area.

Huang Fei hugged his fists to Cao Youyi, Zhang Pengyi, Ma Denghong, Gao Jinzhong and others, "The Son of Heaven has an edict, and this official will go to aid Jiangnan." The Huai River front is up to you, brothers. ”

Nanjing sent orders, and Huang Fei led the headquarters and the water division of Juehua Island in Liaozhen to reinforce the Yangtze River in the Ming Dynasty. Cao Youyi, the chief soldier of Tianjin Town, was promoted to the governor of the capital, supervising the defense of the Huai River, and Zhang Pengyi, Ma Denghong, and Lin Qingye were controlled by Liu Zeqing. Zhang Pengyi was originally the chief soldier of the Shanhaiguan Naval Division, and before Wu Sangui surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he led his headquarters to retreat directly south to Miaowan and did not go with Huang Fei. Gao Jinzhong is the deputy commander-in-chief of Liu Zeqing's subordinates and one of Liu Zhen's main forces.

Looking at Huang Fei, who was full of joy because he was about to go to Jiangnan, Cao Youyi was a little worried. The Son of Heaven promoted him to the next level, but he still couldn't be happy. The general army of Miaowan is the weakest in Cao Zhen. He returned to the camp and found Zeng Ying to complain.

Zeng Ying smiled, "Don't worry about friendship, I plan to go to Nanjing with Huang Fei." I still have some friends in Nanjing, and when the time comes, I will definitely transfer you to Jiangnan. ”

Cao Youyi's troops were insignificant to the Huai River defense line, and Zeng Ying felt that as long as he arrived in Nanjing, it would not be difficult to find someone to help Cao Youyi. This is also helping himself, Wenchen also needs reliable generals, and they can only do things with each other.

The Tianjin soldiers, the Dongjiang soldiers and the Guanmen soldiers continued to stay in Miaowan. The Dengzhou soldiers and Liao soldiers packed up their bags, and a total of 20,000 family members of the soldiers boarded the ship according to the battalion again. There is no need to take the dangerous sea route of the Yangtze River estuary in Miaowan, go up the Huai River, and transfer south to Yangzhou in Huai'an. Huang Fei left all the big boats that couldn't go through the canal to Zhang Pengyi. Before leaving, Huang Fei sent a fast horse to send a letter to Huang Degong. Because the families of the soldiers wanted to pass through the Gaojie defense area, Huang Fei couldn't believe Gao Jie's military discipline and asked Huang Degong to send troops to respond.

————

Chongming Island, Shou Xiang looked at the completed walled city with satisfaction. An ammunition depot and a grain depot were built in the center of the wall. In the middle of the two-meter-high wooden wall is a half-meter-thick wall, which is neither high nor thick. The defense of the walled city relied mainly on four cannon-fired turrets. Equipped with a few tiger squat cannons of the Ming army, it was enough to deal with some low-intensity battles. Orderliness pays more attention to the health of soldiers. Spring is approaching, stationed on Chongming Island, for Chen Zhijun's northern soldiers, the first thing to pay attention to is to control the spread of the epidemic. In order to facilitate drainage, the foundation of the walled city was heightened. Stockpile enough firewood for soldiers to drink boiling water. The health service detachment was left in order to help and popularize the health regulations to the soldiers of Chen Zhijun and others.

After settling down in the Chongming camp, the mixed fleet of oars and sails raised their sails and went upstream.