PS: Through the feedback from book friends, the swordsman rewrote the chapters sent in the afternoon, deleted and added more than 1,500 words. The pen and fun and the pavilion www.biquge.info the left article has also been deleted.

When Zhu Youhua saw the account book of the money and grain sent by his cronies and eunuchs, he paced back and forth in the palace of the Qianqing Palace, forcibly suppressed his excitement, and turned around and issued a few orders.

First, take out one million taels of silver, two hundred thousand stone of grain, and thirty thousand pieces of cloth from the inner treasury, and reward them to the Jinyi guards and the soldiers of the imperial camp according to the size of their merits, so that each of them can receive a rich reward.

In addition, from the commander-in-chief of the army and the Jinyi guard to the ordinary captains and pro-soldiers, the amount of bereavement and condolences for the dead and wounded is stipulated, and special personnel are sent to count and make a book, and no omission is allowed.

This series of incentives really worked very well, the imperial camp and the Jinyi guard, up to the commanders Zhang Tanggong, Feng Kezong, etc., down to the military academy pawns, all of them were jubilant, their fighting spirit was high, and their morale was available.

Second, he took out another 1 million taels of silver, 200,000 stone grain, and 30,000 pieces of cloth, and rewarded the soldiers of the four towns in Jiangbei, Jingying, and the rest of the towns, and ordered them to reorganize their troops and stand by in place.

Third, the Ministry of Rites was ordered to quickly draft a document on the crusade against Zuo Liangyu to win the hearts and minds of the people and the army.

Fourth, order Zhongwu Town, Gongsheng Camp, and Yangtze River Sailors to be ready to go out to fight against thieves at any time.

The left soldiers are menacing, and the war is about to break out!

Zhu Youhua did not dare to slack off, and after making several holy decrees, he convened the Imperial Military Council of the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs of the third rank or more the next day.

After some secret discussions, the monarch and ministers unanimously decided to take the initiative to send troops to fight, and strive to annihilate the left soldiers on the way to Beijing!

It's just that there was a disagreement on the selection of the commander of the army, Zhu Youhua decided to drive the pro-conquest, and the pro-unification army crusaded against Zuo Liangyu, but the ministers headed by Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng strongly opposed it, they thought that the conquest was not trivial, the Son of Heaven was the body of ten thousand times, and the safety was related to the inheritance of the society. According to the old practice of the national dynasty, a minister can be sent to take command and conquer on behalf of the Son of Heaven as a superintendent.

Zhu Youhua also knew that the advice of Ma Shiying and others was the opinion of Lao Cheng to seek the country, but he looked at the entire central court, but he could not find a suitable candidate for commander. Although Gu Yinxi is good at strategy, he also lacks experience as a commander for the time being, and it is already very reluctant to send him as the governor of Jiangbei; Ma Xiong, Han Cheng and others are vulgar and unliterate, with high archery and riding skills, and they are absolutely fierce generals when they charge into battle, but unfortunately the pattern in their chests is too small, and their qualifications are not enough, let alone being commanders.

After thinking about it, only Ma Shiying and Zhu Dadian have been governors and led soldiers, and they can still be used, but one needs to sit in the center and stabilize the court; One needs to guard Jiujiang and curb the eastward pace of the left army. They all have a lot of responsibilities on their shoulders.

In Zhu Youhua's heart, at the turn of the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were only a few people among the Han people who had the potential to be famous and handsome, such as Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui, and Li Dingguo, but unfortunately two of them voted for the Manchu Qing Dynasty and became traitors.

The center lacks a qualified commander, and Zhu Youhua really doesn't dare to throw out the waves of more than 10,000 pro-army troops who have worked hard and worked so hard to cultivate, and the imperial camp army is the foundation of his survival! In case of loss, the consequences are unimaginable!

Therefore, he decided to drive the expedition in person, only by keeping the army firmly in his hands at all times, he could rest assured, without the loyal army of his lineage, his life would be lost sooner or later, and whether he stayed in the rear or not had little to do with the overall situation.

In order to achieve the goal of pro-conquest, Zhu Youhua directly issued a central decree and ruthlessly made a dictatorial decision, and Ma Ruan's ministers sighed when they saw that the opposition was hopeless.

None of them are Geng Zhizhong's ministers, they know how to change power, know how to advance and retreat, since the emperor has made up his mind, they will not die, but they are obviously not optimistic about the emperor's reckless and impulsive behavior.

After making the will to go to the army, Zhu Youhua discussed with his confidant Wenwu overnight about the transfer of troops and the raising of salaries.

There are more than 27,000 land divisions and more than 12,000 sailors in the center. Among them, 20,000 land divisions have not yet formed an army, and only 10,000 people from Zhongwu Town and Gongsheng Camp have formed an army, of which the second battalion of Zhongwu Town has arrived in Jiujiang with Zhu Dadian, the new governor of Jiangxi, half a month ago, and only more than 3,000 people from the A battalion and more than 1,000 people in Beijing from the artillery and cavalry teams directly under the town headquarters.

The combat strength of more than 10,000 people in the naval division is okay, and the chief soldier Zhang Mingzhen specially selected many water combat experts from the original Taizhou naval division battalion to train new soldiers. In particular, most of the 3,000 Zheng subordinates of the Zheng Chenggong Division, who formed an independent camp, were veterans and proficient in water warfare.

The Son of Heaven naturally could not take away all the soldiers with him, Zhongwu Town, Gongsheng Camp and the Yangtze River Naval Division were the main forces of this expedition, and Huang Degong's 30,000 horses and horses accompanied the army to assist and support at any time. Jiangbei Governor Plug Yinxi led the remaining three towns to move to Anqing to defend and rushed to Shangjiang to block the palace. Huang Binqing, the general soldier of Jiujiang, and Zhang Tianlu, the general soldier of Wuhu, listened to the control of Zhu Dadian, the governor of Jiangxi, and guarded Jiujiang.

The 20,000 imperial battalion land divisions and the Beijing battalions of Liu Kongzhao and Zhao Zhilong who had not yet formed an army were responsible for guarding Nanjing, and the imperial battalion troops staying in Beijing were led by the chief instructor Liu Zhaoji, who was sent by Ma Shiying, the first assistant.

In addition, the supply of military rations for the pro-conscription army was handed over to Ma Shiying and Zhang Huangyan, the envoy of the imperial camp, to coordinate and be responsible, and it was necessary to ensure the timely supply of military rations.

At the same time that the monarchs and ministers of Nanjing urgently dispatched troops, Zhu Dadian, the governor stationed in Jiujiang, was also mobilizing the people of the state city to clear the walls and actively prepare for war.

As early as half a month ago, Zhu Dadian, who had obtained the secret decree, began to order the repair of the four walls of Jiujiang City in a planned manner, organize and train the armor, mobilize the army and the people to immediately complete the construction of the enemy tower, settle the artillery mounts, carry the masonry, configure the oil, arrange the antlers, the thistle terrestris, dig the stuffing military pit, clean the moat, the outer trench and other defensive matters.

The two important towns of Jiujiang and Anqing are stuck between Wuchang and Nanjing, and they are the top two military towns on the Yangtze River waterway.

In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, November 24, Zuo Liangyu led an army of 60,000 (about 30,000 soldiers, and the rest was a strong Ding Lifu) to advance by land and water, approaching Jiujiang with the momentum of Mount Tai.

The villages encountered along the way, after a period of sweeping, unexpectedly achieved the "total rape" feat, they not only killed all the men, but also plundered a lot of women, food, gold and silver, the left army was proud, and burned the houses and villages along the way, along the way blood and rain flying, the people cried endlessly.

……

Under the city of Jiujiang.

One after another black and oppressive crowds of people flooded over like a tide, and one hundred and ten city gate guards who maintained order were rushed to the ground, and the gatekeepers who led the team squeezed out of the crowd with sweat profusely, jumped on a big rock next to the city gate, waved his arms vigorously, and shouted loudly: "The military gate has said, everyone can enter the city, don't crowd, don't rush, the rebels are still far away!" ”……

His shouts did not last long before they were drowned out in the cries of the people, hearing that the rebels were about to hit Jiujiang, many people outside the city helped the old and the young, carrying some valuable household goods, desperately poured into the city, just to squeeze into this fortified city, to save their own lives and the lives of their families.

Jiujiang City is located in northern Jiangxi, at the confluence of rivers, lakes and rivers, choking the throat of the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake corridor, backed by Jiuling Mountain, is one of the few fortified cities on the Yangtze River, if there is a place on both sides of the Yangtze River that can block the rebel sweep, it is only here.

The cries and wails of the people affected by the war, one by one, rose up and clearly reached the city, and an old man with a solemn face was standing on the battlements of the city gate, looking at the miserable state of the people fleeing under the city, and his heart was heavy.

He had a wide mouth, thick eyebrows, a cloth robe, his hair covered with a scarf, and three strands of beard floating under his chin.

The sound of footsteps, Yan Yingyuan, the general of the second battalion of Zhongwu Town, hurriedly walked up to the city with a sword, stood still behind the old man, bowed, frowned and said: "Yujunmen, the price of grain and flour products in the city remains high, and the standard has transferred 3,000 stone grain from the treasury to stabilize the price of grain and noodles according to your instructions, but it still has little effect." It's obvious that profiteers are obstructing it, please make a quick decision from the military gate! ”

"Humph!" The old man turned around, and it turned out that he was the squire of the military department, Zhu Dadian, the governor of Jiangxi.

Zhu Dadian looked at Yan Yingyuan and said coldly: "Change into regular clothes and go down to the city with the old man to have a look." ”

Yan Yingyuan's eyes were blazing, he clenched his fists in response, and his voice was low and powerful: "Obey." ”

Walking on the side of the street, I saw a foot shop on the side of the road steaming steamed buns, surrounded by many people, salivating at the steaming steamed buns in the steamer, and hesitating whether to buy them.

Zhu Dadian was dressed in cloth clothes, his appearance was not obvious, and he did not receive much extra attention, he squeezed into the crowd with Yan Yingyuan, and asked casually: "Shopkeeper, how much is a steamed bun?" ”

"Thirty wen apiece, how much does it cost to be an outsider?"

"How is it thirty wen? Isn't it a penny? ”

"Yo, what you said was the old emperor's calendar before the rebellion of the left thief, and now the price of grain and noodles in the city is expensive, so I still lose money and make money!"

Thirty wen a steamed bun can catch up with the price of a liter of noodles on weekdays, who can afford it?