Guilin City, Guangxi, the winter rain is murmuring.

Chaotic crowds poured out from the West City Gate.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way, let the adults go first."

Heavily armed servants beat the battalions of their headquarters or other units with leather whips on their backs to clear the way for the generals and protect their daughters and children from rushing out of the city gates.

The civil officials who should have been brought by Eguanbo took off their official uniforms, changed into civilian clothes, and tried to blend in with their families. The rebels caught the civilian officials and killed them, snatched the women and dragged them to the side of the road, where they committed atrocities in broad daylight and covered them in muddy water.

Seeing that they couldn't leave for the time being, some of the rebels simply scattered into various neighborhoods to raid Guilin City for the last time.

The rebels are violent, the women and children are crying, and the mud dyes everything gray, just like this dim sky, which aptly interprets the current Ming Dynasty.

Guilin stayed behind Qu Shiyun to stand on the city tower, letting the rain wet his whole body, full of sadness.

"The court baited this generation with a high lord, and the people raised this generation with anointed blood, and they don't want to end up like this today."

Qu Shiyun Zhongjun Xu Gao pulled the sleeves of Guilin's remaining guards, his face full of anxiety.

"The Yudian camp and the Chu army have all collapsed, the cabinet department, the cabinet department, let's go too."

Qu Shiyun slowly but firmly broke free from Xu Gao's hand, "I am left behind in Guilin, the city survives and survives, and the city dies and dies." I have died since the March of Dinghai (1647), and today is the place to die. ”

Xu Gao fell to his knees and burst into tears, "The cabinet ......"

"Take my letter to Wuzhou and tell the Son of Heaven that I did my best."

Seeing that Xu Gao still couldn't get up, Qu Shiyun was so anxious that he stomped his feet, "Hurry up, no matter how late you are, you won't be able to leave!" ”

Xu Gao kowtowed three times to Qu Shiyun, and went down the city towards Wuzhou.

Since Kong Youde broke through Cao Zhijian's Zhenxia Pass in September, the Guangxi Ming army has been resisting in Guilin for nearly two months.

Kong Youde conquered Yangshuo through Guanyang, detoured to the southeast flank of Guilin, and cut off the water transport channel of the Guijiang River.

The Tatars on the front of the Yanguan were pressed slowly but firmly from the north, and the north, east, and south sides of the city of Guilin were surrounded.

The rout of the Yudian camp and the Chu army discarded their baggage, and after leaving the city, they went westward and rushed southwest on the only way of life, Guilin-Liuzhou. By evening, the vast provincial capital of Guangxi was almost empty.

Qu Shiyun tidied up his clothes and sat in the left-behind mansion, waiting for the last moment to come.

At night, Zhang Tongchang, the new governor of Liangguang, a disciple of Qu Shiyun Guanmen, and the great-grandson of Zhang Juzheng, withdrew from the east to Guijiang and handed over the remaining remnants of the army to his subordinates to command a breakthrough. Zhang Tongchang himself swam across the Guijiang River and entered the city of Guilin, intending to die with his teacher.

In the early morning of the second day, the brigade drove into Guilin with braided lightning rods, red tassels and white hats, and round-brimmed hats, and captured Qu Shiyun and Zhang Tongchang.

Nanming Optimus Prime collapsed.

Qu Shiyun's Chinese army Xu Gao failed to break through the siege and was captured by the Tatar soldiers.

King Jingjiang's father and son did not flee and were martyred with the government.

Kong Youde walked into the Jingjiang Palace, full of ambition and looking forward to himself. This place should be called Dingnan Wangfu in the future.

……

In November, the Yongli Emperor of Wuzhou received the bad news of the loss of the provincial capitals of Guangzhou and Guilin on the same day.

On the 11th of the same month, tens of thousands of palace concubines, court ministers, janissaries and family members hurriedly boarded the ship, hurriedly left Wuzhou, traced up the Pearl River, and once again turned to Nanning, where Gao Yigong and Li Laiheng were stationed.

When he was in Guangdong, the departments of the Yongli court were generally complete and could maintain the shelf of the imperial court. During the retreat, many courtiers were desperate and hung their seals, and the court has been scattered since then.

Ma Bao was unwilling to surrender, and did not follow the emperor to Nanning, and like most generals, he led the remnants of the army into the mountains to fight guerrillas, waiting for the opportunity.

Zhaoqing general Song Yukun surrendered to the Tatars with a city garrison, Li Yuanyin was unable to resist, and led the remnants of the army to evacuate Zhaoqing, catch up with the emperor's pace, and retreat to Nanning.

Dong Fangce, the general soldier of Deqing Prefecture, originally planned to lead his army into the mountains of Luodingzhou, make peace with Luo Chengji, a native of Guangdong, and continue to persist in the resistance in the mountains, but a letter from Hezhou made him change his mind.

Fang Yizhi stood on the top of the mountain, looking at the chaotic fleet on the river, full of sadness. The breeze blew through his monk's robes.

Fang Yizhi knelt down on his knees, kowtowed respectfully three times, said goodbye to Yongli, and turned to the south.

……

The southeast of Guilin City is 80 kilometers away in a straight line, and Pingle Mansion in the lower reaches of the Guijiang River.

The forward cavalry of Ma Jiaolin, the Tatar governor of Guangxi, had arrived at the periphery of Pingle.

Guangxi's last combat-ready local Ming army, Jiao Lian's Division, was stationed here to block the Tatar soldiers from moving south.

After Qu Shiyun and Zhang Tongchang were captured, Kong Youde treated this Nanming Wentianxiang-like figure more favorably at first. But Qu Shiyun was bent on death, he sent someone to send a letter to Jiao Lian, about to return to Guilin, and the letter was searched by Tatar soldiers when he crossed the city gate. Qu Shiyun and Zhang Tongchang sought benevolence and benevolence, and took justice in Guilin.

When Jiao Lian learned the news, he looked up to the sky and sighed, "Qu Gongjiao is a guest soldier, and he is light-hearted, and this disaster will eventually happen." ”

Zhu Minru, the chief soldier of Pingle, asked: "Xuan Guogong, what should we do next?" ”

Jiao Lian shook his head, "Zongchen, it's impossible to do anything, but we can't die now." ”

"Yes, Guogong."

"You take 3,000 soldiers to defend Pingle, and I will go back to Wutun Tuntian Qianhusuo (the city in Wuzhou Prefecture) to manage the troops, and watch your back road."

Zhu Minru smiled, "Guogong, in fact, it doesn't matter what the way back, I will live and die with Pingle City." ”

Jiao Lian was silent for a long time, and gently patted Zhu Minru's shoulder, "Good brother." ”

There is only half of the southern part of Guizhou left in the central part of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and there are 2 roads from the north to the south of Guangxi.

One is the waterway of the Xunjiang River, the main stream of the Xijiang River, and the other is the official road that passes through the Liuzhou Mansion to the Kunlun Pass.

Water transportation is the right road, and Kunlun Pass is the strange road. In the past dynasties, when attacking the Yongxun area, the main force of the opponent was sucked down the Guijiang River with a large army, and then the Kunlun Pass was sent down with a surprise army.

The west city wall of Pingle City controls the surface of the Guijiang River. From Pingle to the south of Wuzhou, there was no strong city to defend, Zhu Minru guarded Pingle, shielding off the main offensive axis of the Tatars, the longer he defended, the longer Yongli breathed in Nanning.

It was only a matter of time before Wuzhou was lost, and Jiao Lian retreated to Wutunsuo, stuck the main stream of the Xijiang River, and blocked the Tatar troops attacking from the direction of Guangdong.

In this way, coupled with the imperial Dian camp in Liuzhou and other places, the Chu army held the Kunlun Pass, and the Yongli Emperor could at least keep half of Guangxi.

When Jiao Lian was still a young general, he rescued the Yongli Son of Heaven who was still the king of the county from Zhang Xianzhong, and he was regarded as an old acquaintance of the emperor's mansion. Yongli and Jiao Lian have a very deep relationship, and Jiao Lian is also the only foreign town general that Yongli really trusts.

For this kindness, Jiao Lian was ready to repay him with death. It's a pity that because of the armed fight with the Yudian camp, two of Jiao Lian's three brave generals died at the hands of the Ming army's own people, and his combat effectiveness was not as good as before.

……

Yongli's fleet sailed against the current and arrived at Xunzhou City at the end of November.

In the evening, Chen Bangfu, the prince of Ming Qingguo, climbed the north city tower, and the soldiers of the brigade were draped all over their bodies and ran over the city wall, and the people brought ammunition and piled it up next to the gun emplacement.

The emperor's guard of honor on the river and the flag of the Praetorian Guard's Yongwei battalion hung on the mast, and Chen Bangfu sneered a few times.

"Lord Dingnan is waiting for our good news. Open the cannon, open the cannon, and smash the emperor. ”

The soldiers and men lowered their heads, silent, and no one dared to do anything.

Chen Bangfu was furious, kicked the gunner away, and personally fired an iron cannon.

"Smash the emperor's imperial ship, reward 1,000 taels of silver, bombard him."

Inspired by the silver, the "Ming Army" loaded and fired at the flotilla moored at the Xunzhou wharf, and the bullets rained down.

Hundreds of river boats gathered in a heap, and there was no need to aim at all, and Xunzhou shells fell into the pile of boats, and almost every shot could take away several lives.

1 ship caught fire.

10 ships caught fire.

100 ships caught fire.

The emperor's own army was in chaos, untied the ship cables, scattered and fled, colliding with each other, and staging countless ship accidents.

The corpses of the soldiers, family members, boatmen, and civil and military courtiers of the Ming Army floated all over the Xun River, floating and sinking in the waves, and drifting downstream.

Ma Jixiang, Pang Tianshou, Li Yuanyin, and Lin Shiwang escorted the imperial ship through hardships and broke out of the encirclement and escaped from the Xunzhou Shura Field. Jiao Lian failed to escape, and the whole family was captured by Chen Bangfu. Chen Jiao and the two are sons and daughters, Chen Bangfu has no mercy, and Jiao Lian's family has become a meeting gift for Kong Youde.

Li Yuanyin's army is mainly in the rear, and this will be all over. Looking back at Xunzhou City, Yuan Yin looked up to the sky and howled, "Chen Bangfu, I'm going to pick your skin!" ”

The bleak Yongli court continued westward, stopping at Nanning Mansion.

Yongli inspected the remnants of the army, and his face was pale.

There were only more than 3,000 people left in the nearly 10,000 troops with him, among which the remnants of the Yongwei battalion of Lin Shiwang, a native of Liaodong, were relatively complete.

Lin Shiwang is Huang Degong's subordinate, and he was born in Chongzhen's forbidden army Yongwei battalion.

The old Yongwei battalion Hong Guangnian disintegrated in the Wuhu camp, Pang Tianshou took the Portuguese soldiers as the backbone of the Yongwei battalion, and Lin Shiwang recruited his own troops to join it.

For Ma Jixiang, who controlled the imperial court, this force was not reliable.

Ma Jixiang set up a Hongmen banquet, invited the unsuspecting Lin Shiwang to be a guest on the boat, hacked Lin Shiwang to death during the banquet, and seized the power of the forbidden army.

Li Yuanyin became more and more cold, he and Ma Jixiang were political enemies, and it would be difficult to escape death if they stayed any longer.

Yuan Yin bid farewell to the emperor, took the last 200 remnants of the army, went south over the watershed, and entered the sphere of influence of the Ming army in Hainan.

Li Yuanyin showed the emperor's edict to the defenders, saying that he would go to Qinzhou to reorganize the army and enter Qinzhou City. Qinzhou is now almost an empty city, and all the people have been removed.

When Li Yuantai, the fifth brother of Yuanyin, heard the news, he led an army from the Sino-Vietnamese border in Taiping Province to make peace with the righteous brothers. This small unit sent a few years ago assisted the local Ming army and Tusi to repel the invading army of the Mo clan in Gao Ping, Vietnam, and the reinforcements came at this time, which was no less than a long-term drought for Li Yuanyin. Yuan Yin collected the Tusi soldiers of Taiping Mansion in Qinzhou, and the army recovered slightly.

After a period of time, Zhou Jin, who stayed in Zhizhou, Hainan Province, handed over the Qinzhou Great Seal to Li Yuanyin, "Our general system said that Nanyang Hou fought hard all the way, and we gave up Qinzhou City to the general for the general to raise soldiers." ”

Li Yuanyin received this gift in a desperate situation, and he was so excited that he was almost speechless.

"Zhou Taishou, oh no, where did Zhou Bingxian leave the state city?"

Zhou Jin smiled, he stepped down from Zhizhou and was promoted to Guangdong according to the inspection of affairs, and Qinzhou was prepared for the road.

"The Fourth Army of Qinzhou, it is not suitable for Zhou to be stationed in any part, and the general system ordered me to go to the castle at the mouth of the Dafeng River to live."

Dafeng Fort is located at the mouth of the Dafeng River in the southeast of Qinzhou, isolated from the mountains of Qinzhou City, and is an independent cape. Zhou Jin's direct army consisted of only 200 people, and he was ordered to allocate dozens of villages and 45,000 people in the Haijiao area to him as direct territory to raise troops.

"There are four soldiers in Qinzhou? Fangcheng and Longmen Port have Deng Yao, Lingshan has Zhu Tongjian, Qinzhou is Benjue's, which one else? ”

"Your lord's old acquaintance, Dong Fangce, the defender of Deqing, will also come to Qinzhou, and we will place him in Pingyin Fort in the east of the state city."

Li Yuanyin sighed and said, "Xuan Pingbo is also here?" There are not many deceased people left behind by his father, so he asked Bingxian to tell Xuan Pingbo, and Benjue welcomed his arrival. ”

"The lower official must tell me. In addition, I want to tell Nanyang Hou a good news, An Subo (Li Jianjie) is on the way, and the three brothers will be reunited soon. ”

A long-lost smile appeared on Li Yuanyin's face, there is nothing more joyful than a reunion of family and friends in troubled times.

Zhou Jin bowed down and clenched his fists, "Nanyang Hou, there are many garrisons in Qinzhou. Please reorganize your troops, appease your soldiers, and don't clash with the surrounding friendly forces again. The Ming Dynasty only had this little bit of soldiers left, and it really couldn't be used for internal friction anymore. ”

Li Yuanyin was originally also a little prince of infighting, and the blood of the friendly troops on his hands was no less than that of others, and his face turned red when he heard this, "Rest assured, Bingxian will try his best to suppress it." If there is a slight friction...... He also asked the military constitution to intervene. ”

"This is an official matter." Zhou Jin should accept it and continued, "There is still some grain in Qinzhou City, enough for your subordinates to eat for several months. We moved away the people of Qinzhou, and the land was vacated, so please arrange for military families and displaced people to reclaim and raise troops as soon as possible. ”

"It's natural, Benjue will handle it immediately."

Zhou Jin nodded, "So the official has taken his leave, please stay." ”

Li Yuanyin insisted on sending Zhou Jin to the city gate, and took the families of the soldiers to live in exile, and finally there was a state city to live temporarily, Li Yuanyin was really grateful.

A few days later, Li Jianjie and Dong Fangce came to Qinzhou one after another. Li Yuanyin's troops were scattered under the city of Xunzhou, and one of them followed the brigade to pour into the mouth of the Beiliu River and was contained by the Hainan Ming army.

Shou ordered Li Zhen's soldiers to be selected and handed over to Li Jianjie to take to Qinzhou.

Li Yuanyin's army was restored to 2,500 men and reorganized, and many stragglers and displaced people in the northern Guizhou region entered the Qinjiang Valley. Spring ploughing is imminent, Yuan Yin appointed some civil officials, and seized the time to resume production.

……

Beiliu River Estuary, Teng County.

The whole army of Hezhou Town and Xiaoyuan Battalion withdrew to Beiliujiang.

After the occupation of Zhaoqing, the Tatars in Guangdong may have rested and regained their strength and stopped their march. After Emperor Yongli left Wuzhou, the area was in a state of anarchy for three months.

Hezhou Town and Xiao Yuanying took the opportunity to empty Wuzhou and take everyone with them.

In Teng County, Hezhou Town encountered part of the Yongli Janissaries and the remnants of Jiaolian Town, and several waves of people gathered together. The old and weak loaded the ship, the young and strong walked, and the southward retreating crowd forwards crossed the Ghost Gate Pass, and the rear team was still at the mouth of the Beiliu River.

He Huchen led 1,500 troops to hold the county seat, set up artillery to block the river, and ensured the safety of the Beiliu River.

Xie Yuanbian, the former Hezhou soldier, said goodbye to He Huchen, "Deputy General He, originally I wanted to guard Teng County with you, and wait for the refugees to evacuate." But Qiongzhou appointed me as the governor of Qinlian, and Lianzhou's affairs were critical, so Xie had to leave first. ”

He Huchen didn't care about the authentic and said: "Even if Zhongcheng goes, Teng County has me, and there will be no loss." ”

The Beiliujiang and Nanliujiang retreats, and the counties along the Jiangzhou are evacuated together, with a total of more than 200,000 people in the plan, and the entire army of immigrants. There are more than 1,000 river boats running day and night on the two rivers, and it may take one year to complete all of them. During this period, Tengxian must not afford to lose.

Xie Yuanbian boarded the boat, traveled from Tengxian County to Beiliu County, crossed the Ghost Gate Pass, and went down the Nanliu River. Half a month later, we arrived at Lianzhou Beihai Port.

Shou Xuan gently scraped off the foam in the tea with a tea lid, and said to Xie Yuanbian: "Liang Ye, I plan to give Lianzhou, Bobai, Xingye, one government and two counties to the Zhongzhen Battalion, and Yulin to the newly arrived Chu army." These soldiers and horses in the Nanliujiang area will be handed over to you to supervise the army. ”

"The subordinate officer takes the order."

"This governor's errand is not easy to do, so he should be cautious."

"The main difficulty is in the loyalty camp, and the subordinate knows it."

Shou Xuan got up, "The Guantouling Beihai District and this castle are your direct territory, and they are garrisoned by your Fu Biao soldiers, and I will be equipped with a sailor, so make good use of it." ”

"The subordinate officers must rectify the ranks of all military units, urge the soldiers to fight, and protect the western fence of Hainan."

Shou Xuan nodded, "Zhou Jin is in charge of the Qinjiang and Phoenix River, and you are in charge of the Nanliu River." He is a soldier, you are the governor, although you are a senior official, but the two of you still cooperate first, and discuss more in case of trouble. ”

"Remember."

Shou orderly waved his hand and left the North Sea Fort.

After half a year of repeated persuasion and contact, Gao Yigong, Li Laiheng, and Dang Shousu gave up their plans to go north to Kuimen and agreed to move to Lianzhou Mansion.

Some of their family members were sent to Hou Jiang Wan (Sihanoukville Bay). The territory of the Loyal Camp is in the northwest of Houjiang Province, surrounded by a hilly area, and its location is relatively independent. Dang Shousu took people to run this territory, and Gao Yigong and Li Laiheng stayed in Lianzhou Mansion.

The arrival of the loyal battalion allowed the guard to fill the last vacancy in the western defense line of Shangyue.

It is now impossible for the Federation to commit an army to the mainland, and if it wants to maintain the source of the population, it must rely on China's own army to maintain order. The Loyal Battalion, as the leader in combat effectiveness, is certainly the most important force.

The Ming army and the loyal battalion are getting weaker and weaker because their resources are too small, and the last remaining soldiers in the Southern Ming Dynasty must be soldiers with a relatively high degree of loyalty, they can get less military salaries, but it is too difficult to replenish arms and ammunition. How many times did the Ming army lose because the stockpile of gunpowder was depleted.

There is no shortage of equipment, including knives and guns, military uniforms, shoes, and medicines. A strong army like the Loyalty Battalion declined in poverty.

Sun Kewang's Western Battalion was far worse than the Loyal Battalion back then, but they owned Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces, and now their strength is not the same.

Defend the order and try its best to provide a minimum supply to the armies, help them recover part of their combat effectiveness, and do not require to reach the level of Li Dingguo, at least hold the city.

March 1651.

The Yongli court rested in the Nanning area for more than two months, and quarreled countless times without a reason. Nanning is the last piece of land of the Yongli court, here, Yongli is still an emperor, and Ma Jixiang is also a powerful minister.

Zhu Minru stubbornly defended Pingle Mansion, and Kong Youde did not open the road to the south, so he had to enter Kunlun Pass in Liuzhou. If Kong Youde is the whole army going south, Nanning will not be able to hold it. Most of the ministers suggested that Yongli go south to Qinlian and defect to Hainan Island, which was perhaps the most reasonable choice.

But Ma Jixiang controlled the Praetorian Guards, and he was adamantly opposed to going south to Hainan. Ma Jixiang and Pang Tianshou had already taken refuge in Sun Kewang, and under the leadership of Ma Jixiang, the Xiying general He Jiuyi led 5,000 elite cavalry to Nanning Mansion, killed the first assistant Yan Qihuan, and controlled the imperial court.

Qiongzhou Mansion, Inspector Yamen.

Zeng Ying sat opposite the order, reading the letter from Nanning, Zeng Ying took off her reading glasses tremblingly.

"You said before that you wanted to kill Ma Jixiang, just to eliminate the possibility of the Son of Heaven entering Hainan?"

Orderly was silent.

"Are you admitting it?"

"Old sir, we didn't send troops to stop the emperor."

Zeng Ying slapped the letter on the table, collapsed in the rattan chair, and said weakly, "Whatever you want......

"Old man, Sun Kewang's soldiers are here, and the emperor is not in danger. We should focus on the Tatars. ”

Shang Kexi stayed in Guangzhou, and Geng Jimao's army arrived in Gaozhou and came to Jianjiang.

Zeng Ying closed her eyes, "You go back to do your business, and I'll go to Haibei again." ”

"Old gentleman。。。。。

"Needless to say, it's my job. When you return to China, you must bring enough grain, and more than one million soldiers and civilians in Qiongzhou, western Guangdong, are all counting on grain from Nanyang. ”

Shou Xuan took a deep look, "I will definitely do my best." ”

"How is Prince Hui doing?"

Shou Xuan was stunned for a moment, and thought back slightly, "It should be teaching in my territory." “

"Take care of Prince Hui."

"I see."

Orderly boarding and leaving Qiongzhou.

There are 1.6 million migrants on the island and on the way, and the number is growing.

The autumn grain harvested last year has not yet been eaten, and it can generally last until the south wind rises this year.

Hainan adopts a rationing system, giving priority to the supply of soldiers, and reducing the supply of staple food for the elderly, women and children.

Increase fishing and hunting, collect wild oil plant fruits, and bring oil palm fruits from the South Seas.

All methods have been exhausted, but the food shortfall is still as high as 800,000 stones.

There are only two ways to do this: to transport the surplus population to the South Seas, and to transport grain from the South Seas to Hainan.