According to Emperor Longwu's original intention, of course, he hoped that Zhu Yu, the king of the Tang Dynasty, would set off as much as possible and rush to Nanjing.

However, the king of Tang personally sent the labor army, and secretly undertook the important mission of coordinating the operations of various units of the Ming army, so he could not run over alone empty-handed. At the very least, the troops and materials that should be brought should be brought, and a set of basic honor guards should also be prepared, and how to deal with Zheng Chenggong and Zhu Yihai, the king of Lu, must be carefully explained to Zhu Yulu, so that after such a toss, at least two days will be obtained.

Tang King Zhu Yulu personally went to the front of the Nanjing Army, which was undoubtedly not in line with the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, but the Longwu court was very calm about this, even those officials who had always had a poisonous tongue did not jump out to say irresponsible remarks, at most muttered a few words in private. In the past few years, there have been too many things in the court that do not conform to the ancestral system, and even the prince with a different surname has been sealed.

Of course, Wang Gongxun's grandiose appearance on the front desk still made many civil officials feel unhappy. If in the peaceful era, "the Son of Heaven and the scholars rule the world together", is it tolerable for Wang Gongxun to intervene like this? The civil servants are desperate to get rid of this matter.

But now it is wartime, and the whole court is excited by the soap bubbles of the recovery of Nanjing, and whoever wants to jump out and make a big statement about the Tang King's envoy to Nanjing will definitely be sprayed to death by countless spittle stars, and slapped to death by Emperor Longwu and Wang Gongxungui, and the civil officials have no choice but to endure it, and they have to actively cooperate on the surface.

Unconsciously, the political structure of the Longwu court has changed dramatically, and the power of civil officials is getting smaller and smaller day by day, and they can only take a defensive position. But they are powerless to fight back, and the era when civilian officials controlled the government is gone forever.

With the strong cooperation of the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Rites. After two days of busy preparations, the mission to Nanjing was finally ready to go. With Tang King Zhu Yulu as the main envoy. Jin Yiwei commanded Ma Jixiang as his deputy envoy, plus the new Jiangnan governor Fan Wenqin, Yangshuo's deputy general Jiao Lian, and other accompanying civil and military officials, together with Emperor Longwu.

Emperor Longwu not only personally descended to see him off, but also changed his usual simple style, and held a grand send-off ceremony in the name of worshipping Emperor Taizu's filial piety, so as to save face for the mission as much as possible. With such a big fanfare, in the final analysis, he was worried that Tang King Zhu Yulu would not be able to suppress Wang Kefan, Zheng Chenggong and other leading generals. What if you don't want to fight Nanjing, you just don't want to cross the river?

Emperor Longwu didn't know what to do. His plan is too large and too risky, and it requires the cooperation of Wang Kefan, Zheng Chenggong, Wan Yuanji and others, and the possibility of success is very slim...... But no matter what, he still has to give it a try.

After the ceremony, Zhu Yuyi, the general of Zhenguo, and others represented Emperor Longwu and sent the delegation out of the city. Yangshuo's adjutant general Jiao Lian's 5,000 soldiers. And a convoy of baggage was already waiting here, everyone saluted and said goodbye, and the mission left Guilin on the road. (Zhu Yuyi is the fourth brother of Emperor Longwu and Tang King Zhu Yulu, after Emperor Longwu and Emperor Shaowu were martyred one after another in history.) He inherited the title of King of Tang and was killed by the Qing army in the thirteenth year of Yongli. ）

After the Tang envoy left, Emperor Longwu returned to the palace. I always feel restless, so I spread out a book and read it for a long time. There's still a lot of chaos in my head.

Suddenly there was a sound of footsteps outside the door, one light and one heavy, sounding familiar. Emperor Longwu knew that this was the arrival of He Wuyu, the first assistant of the cabinet.

He Wusu was on duty in the cabinet today, and compared with usual, his footsteps were obviously very fast, as if there was something important, and Emperor Longwu subconsciously raised his head and looked at it, feeling a little nervous. It must be an urgent military situation sent from the front, I don't know if it's good news or bad news.

With the eunuch's report, He Wuyu hurriedly walked in and said with a smile: "Congratulations, congratulations, Shen Zhixiang is dead!" ”

"Who? Shen Zhixiang? Emperor Longwu didn't react for a while.

"Shen Zhixiang, the Continuation of the Tartars! Plugging Yinxi and Li Guo sent an urgent report from Xiangyang, Shen Zhixiang, the chief general of the Qing army in Xiangyang, suddenly died five days ago! He Wusu took out a document, handed it to the eunuch next to him, and presented it.

"Shen Zhixiang, a traitor, also has today! Cheap him! Emperor Longwu didn't care about it, he slapped the table excitedly and stood up, and asked, "Since Shen Zhixiang is dead, what is the movement of the Qing army in Xiangyang City?" ”

The Ming army began to besiege Xiangyang from years ago, but because the city walls were thick, it was impossible to break the city for a while, Shen Zhixiang suddenly died, and the Qing army in Xiangyang City was leaderless, which was a good opportunity to break the city!

"Shen Zhixiang has a fake son named Shen Yongzhong, the son of his brother, and is now the head of the Qing army in the city......

"So what are you waiting for? It's time to surrender! As long as I sincerely return to the Ming Dynasty, I will definitely not blame the past, and I will reward Shen Yongzhong again! "Xiangyang is the gateway to Huguang, the Ming army occupies Xiangyang, can attack from the Nanyang Basin to the north, retreat can hold several state capitals in the west of Hubei, has a very important strategic value.

He Wuyu's eyes flashed, and he said: "Although Shen Yongzhong intends to surrender, he wants to attack Shen Zhixiang's lord, and he is willing to surrender only if he is the prince of the country. ”

"This ......" Emperor Longwu was stunned for a moment, a little hesitant.

Shen Zhixiang and his main generals turned out to be subordinates of Mao Wenlong on Phi Dao, who were also Ming officials at first, but later surrendered to the Manchu Qing Dynasty and became lackeys...... Surrendering and avoiding death is already leniency, and Shen Yongzhong also asked for the title of the Duke of the Kingdom, which is really excessive.

Even if you don't consider this issue, Shen Yongzhong's weight is not enough. If Shen Zhixiang surrendered, he would have been the Duke of Xushun of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and it was reasonable for the Ming Dynasty to give him a national duke, but Shen Yongzhong was just Shen Zhixiang's nephew and false son, trapped in Xiangyang City and cornered, and the generals of the defeated army still dared to bargain, is the prince of the Ming Dynasty really so worthless?

……

Because of the long distance, the Chu army was in the mountains of Ningzhen, and it took two days for Wang Kefan to receive the news that Shen Zhixiang had died violently.

He was holding a military meeting with the generals, and after receiving this urgent information, he hurriedly read it and couldn't help frowning slightly.

"You guys go on, I'll go out first."

Wang Kefan beckoned to Li Yuncong, went out together, and came to a military tent next to him.

He showed the information to Li Yuncong, and then said: "You immediately draw up a document, send it to Li Guojun, and let him immediately agree to Shen Yongzhong's conditions and take Xiangyang City as much as possible." Hmph, it's just an empty lord, can't the court still afford him? As long as Shen Yongzhong's military power is seized, it doesn't matter if he is crowned king. ”

In order to besiege Xiangyang, more than 20,000 Ming troops were dragged under Xiangyang City for a long time, and the mobile forces on the Hubei side were not enough, and the pressure on logistics and supply was also very great. Shen Yongzhong wanted to be crowned the Duke of the Kingdom, so he would be crowned the Duke of the Kingdom, and then sent to Guilin to be encircled as a pig, as long as his troops were collected and dismissed, there would be no trouble.

"Please think twice about the military gate, I'm afraid it's not appropriate to do this."

Li Yuncong persuaded: "Whether or not to make Shen Yongzhong a duke depends on how the saint decides, if the military gate is overstepping, he may not be able to win Shen Yongzhong's trust, and it will provoke hundreds of officials to attack him afterwards, and the saint is not good-looking!" ”

"Why doesn't Shen Yongzhong believe it? Do you still want an angel to go into the city to announce the decree, and only after getting the written documents of the feudal prince can he be willing to go out of the city and surrender? Hehe, you sue Li Guo, don't be too loyal, give Shen Yongzhong a deadline, either go out of the city and surrender, or start the siege, the army in Xiangyang City is in turmoil, and now he can't bear the siege, so if it drags on, something will happen. ”

"If Shen Yongzhong surrenders, and the court is unwilling to seal the duke, what should be done?"

"Then kill Shen Yongzhong, the soldiers are not tired of cheating." Wang Kefan suddenly showed a smile: "This matter should not be reported to Guilin, so that the saint is embarrassed." Just promise Shen Yongzhong first and take Xiangyang City, if the saint crowns him as the prince of the country, then everyone will be happy, if he is not willing to be named the prince of the country, Li Guo and Du Yinxi should be this wicked person. Hey, it's a pity that both of them are gentlemen who promise a lot of money and won't deceive people. ”

If Emperor Longwu is unwilling to crown Shen Yongzhong as the prince of the country, then he must be killed, otherwise, he is likely to recur again and rebel again with his army...... For a traitor with a bad record like Shen Yongzhong, when necessary, Wang Kefan is absolutely ruthless and ruthless.

"Li Guo is just upright and loyal, I can't think of this, this kind of ......" Li Yuncong was halfway through speaking, feeling that it was inappropriate, he swallowed back the word vicious and spicy, and smiled awkwardly at Wang Kefan: "Since the military gate has given the order, Li Guo will not shirk the blame, but blocking Yinxi and blocking the military gate, I'm afraid he won't agree." ”

"Blocking the military gate is the same as Li Guo, he is also an upright and loyal husband, and I respect him very much." Wang Kefan thought for a while and said: "Don't pull in this kind of pickled matter, sue Li Guo, he will carry this black pot himself, and find a way to hide the blocking of the military gate......"

After arranging this matter, Wang Kefan returned to the Chinese military tent and then held a meeting.

When he entered the door, the officers of the staff had just finished their military briefing.

Since nearly 10,000 Qing troops under the Zhumala Division were trapped in Yanling Town, Zilharang's movements were significantly accelerated. His army has not yet been assembled, Xuzhou only more than 30,000 Qing troops, in order to rescue Jumala, Jierharang has taken the more than 30,000 Qing troops south, along the Grand Canal to Huai'an Fu, is expected to cross the Yangtze River in a few days, other follow-up troops from Shanxi and other places are also speeding up to gather in Xuzhou, it is estimated that it will soon go south, becoming the second echelon of Jierharang's army.

In addition to Zilharang, Tan Tai also came.

Jumala is Tan Tai's general, of course he must save it. Tan Tai left a partial division in Quzhou Mansion, and cooperated with Tian Xiong to continue to attack Jiangshan County and Xianxia Ancient Road, and he himself led the main force to the north by boat, and then returned to Nanzhili and killed to the mountainous area of Ningzhen. (To be continued......)