said that it was the sixth watch, and the first watch was presented first

3 years after the recovery of the Ming Dynasty, winter.

The successive wars in the Central Plains had exhausted this ancient land, not to mention the sudden rise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which had no experience in governing large areas of land, and could not integrate with the traditional gentry class, so the order in the Central Plains was quite chaotic - the effective rule of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was concentrated only around a few large cities in the Central Plains, such as Luoyang, Kaifeng, Nanyang, and Xiangyang, as well as the "Tuntian Eighth Army" near Beijing.

Therefore, the rule of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Central Plains is like a rootless wanderer, and it is even less solid than the foundation of the Manchu Qing Dynasty that they overthrown!

Moreover, now that the Central Plains has fallen into the hands of the Taiping army, those gentry of the Central Plains who are surviving under the butcher's knife of the Taiping army are looking forward to the king going north in order to restore the original social order. Even the heroes who have already divided one side are stretching their necks and waiting for Emperor Zhu's Northern Expeditionary Army, and they are all waiting to "drive forward for the king" to make a contribution.

Therefore, this time the Northern Expedition, which was not well prepared, was, to a certain extent, really desirable to the people.

According to the order of Huai'an Xingzai, the Northern Expeditionary Army was divided into three ways to attack:

The first road, from Xuzhou to the north, is the East Route Army, preparing to recover Shandong, led by Miao Peilin, the governor of Huaibei and the commander of military affairs, and the main force is Miao Peilin's Huaibei regiment training, with a total strength of about 70,000 people. In addition, Lin Zexu, who was trapped in Jinan City, was also under the unified command of Miao Peilin after the siege was lifted. In addition, Miao Peilin also mobilized 100,000 militia groups in Huaibei to accompany the expedition to help transport grain and grass. Although this Miao Peilin and his people do not have a big pattern, they are very good at managing the place, and they have taken care of Huaibei, where the people are poor and the wealth is thin, like an iron bucket.

Second way. Out of the two Huai. for the Western Route Army. Preparing to attack eastern Henan, it was personally led by Zhu Jishi, the son of the Great Emperor. The headquarters were the Ming Jinyi Guards, the Third Army, the Sixth Army and three Royal Guards Cavalry Brigades, all of which were underorganized by one division. There were more than 84,000 soldiers along the way, and nearly 100,000 soldiers and civilians accompanied them, carrying a large amount of grain and grass.

The third road, out of western Liaoning, attacked the world's first Xiongguan Shanhaiguan, for the North Route Army. The number of troops dispatched was only 26,000, which was the Tenth Army, which was not organized by one division - not to mention the small number of men and horses along the way, but it was not something that the Taiping army could break by concentrating several times its strength. Moreover, their offensive goal was relatively simple, that is, to approach Beijing along the western Liaoning corridor, and there was no task of dividing troops to garrison and pacify the localities. In addition, the two towns of Liaodong and Liaoxi also dispatched 50,000 Korean or Han Eight Banner people to accompany them.

If you count the people, these three people, even if you don't count the tens of thousands of forest training troops in Jinan City, there are 430,000 people! Bluff to the outside world as usual, claiming to be millions! Such a scale of troops. Compared with the previous plan of the General Staff, it is already nearly half smaller, but the military expenditure and food required. It's still an astronomical amount. Military spending was still within an affordable range, mainly because Zhu Ming seized the most prosperous and rich land in China, and initially established a set of modern financial reminders that the imperial court could raise huge sums of money by borrowing from the financial industry. However, HSBC can only lend a huge amount of money, but not rice.

If only the grain consumed by 430,000 officers and soldiers is not difficult to mobilize from the Jiangnan region, but the food shortage in Henan, Shandong, and Zhili is something that is about to happen, and there is no accurate data on the size of the specific gap, so the Ming court had to do everything possible to raise grain and transport it north to Huaisi for backup. And the once-abandoned canal water transportation has prospered again because of this war, which is probably a surprise, right?

……

"Zhu Jishi really moved, the troops were divided into three routes, and the troops were claimed to be millions, and the troops were directed at the three provinces of Henan, Shandong, and Zhili. The distance between the three armies was too large to echo, and his subordinates suggested that they be broken down individually. Yang Xiuqing, who had returned to the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, was a little sluggish, leaning on a warm kang covered with white tiger skins to listen to his subordinates report on the military situation.

"The subordinates also suggested concentrating their forces to break through the road first, Zhu Ming's Eastern Route Army is a rabble, and it can be destroyed first."

"The subordinates seconded the proposal, the east road should be broken first, and then the north road, so that the main force of the west road under the command of Zhu Jishi himself will retreat without a fight......

Because Kong Fanhao surrendered to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he was named a Yan Shenghou by Yang Xiuqing, so he also had to participate in the "court meeting" of the East Prince's Mansion, standing at the end of the class, crying and listening with a sad face. In his heart, he scolded the ancestors of more than 70 generations of Qufu Tuanlian - the backbone of Qufu Tuanlian is surnamed Kong, and all of them are the descendants of Confucius, who are their 70 generations of ancestors?

However, Kong Fanhao still has a reason to be angry, because those descendants of Confucius can't help but fight (nonsense, the descendants of Genghis Khan were all beaten down by the Taiping army, and it is strange that the descendants of Confucius can withstand it) - so strong Qufu fell in a few days under the full onslaught of the Taiping army. When the city fell, Kong Fanhao was still preparing to flee in makeup and go to Ying Tianfu to join Zhu Jishi, but who knew that Lu Dao was betrayed to the Taiping army by a certain Kong clan who had taken refuge in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After being captured, of course, there is only surrender, when will the Kong family have loyal ministers of the two masters? Anyway, he Kong Fanhao is already a second minister, and now he will be a third minister.

But the question is, how can the master of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom look so unreliable? actually defeated Miao Peilin, and even the siege of Jinan was solved after a while! How nice it would be if I was still in Qufu......

Kong Fanhao sighed in his heart.

"Kong Fanhao." Yang Xiuqing suddenly named Kong Fanhao, "Although you are now a marquis, you have no errands to do, I will send you a governor of Zhili." ”

Hearing that Yang Xiuqing had sent him a governor of Zhili, Kong Fanhao had no choice but to refuse: "His Royal Highness the King of the East, his humble talents and virtues are shallow, and it is really difficult to be the governor of Zhili. ”

"Oh?" Yang Xiuqing narrowed her eyes, "Why didn't you say that you were shallow when Zhu Jishi appointed you as the governor of Shandong?" ”

"His Royal Highness the King of the East......" Kong Fanhao cried bitterly in his heart, Yang Xiuqing was going to roast him, the Yan Shenghou, on the fire! The governor of Zhili is all imaginary, and it is impossible to have real power. However, in the eyes of the gentry of Zhili, Confucius's descendants have all taken refuge in the Kingdom of Heaven, and their thoughts of confrontation will definitely be much lighter, and there may be many people who are willing to be used by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

"What? Kong Fanhao, don't you believe that this king can defeat Zhu Jishi? Yang Xiuqing's questioning was straight to the root.

Yang Xiuqing's voice was faint and there was no joy or anger, but it was terrifying to Kong Fanhao's ears, and as soon as his feet were weak, he knelt down: "His Royal Highness the King of the East, the minister...... The minister is willing to serve as the governor and swear to follow the king of the east to the death! ”

"That's right!" Yang Xiuqing laughed, "Kong Fanhao, your second daughter is good-looking, virtuous and virtuous, this king wants to be accepted as the queen's mother, don't shirk." ”

"...... minister" Kong Fanhao looked up at Yang Xiuqing, and saw that the other party's face was slightly gloomy, and his heart trembled, and he hurriedly responded, "It is her blessing that the courtier can serve the king, and the minister ......can't ask for it."

"It's not right to ask for it, as long as this king defeats Zhu Jishi, this world will be the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!" Yang Xiuqing touched his beard and said with a smile.

But can you win? Kong Fanhao only plays drums in his heart, where can he dare to have the slightest dissatisfaction on his face?

"Reuse" Kong Fanhao is also a last resort, he really tried his best to implement the "Heavenly Dynasty Tianmu System", but unfortunately the effect is quite insignificant! This time the decisive battle with Zhu Ming, although he has always claimed that it is a battle to determine the world, but he also understands in his heart that Zhu Ming can determine the world if he wins, and his victory is just to maintain the situation of the five northern provinces, just like the result of the Battle of Chibi, Daming still has an overwhelming advantage in national strength. If the territory in the north continues to be chaotic, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom may not be able to maintain it for a few years. Therefore, winning over the gentry and making them the pillars of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has become a top priority second only to the Battle of Zhili.

After arranging his marriage with the Kong family, Yang Xiuqing no longer paid attention to his father-in-law, and continued to discuss the decisive battle in the Central Plains with his generals. The battlefield of the decisive battle is, of course, on the Central Plains, facing Zhu Ming's three-way Northern Expedition army, Yang Xiuqing's tactic is "I don't care how many ways you come, I will only go all the way", concentrate all the elite main forces at hand, first break Zhu Ming's first road, and then force back the other two roads. It's just that who to fight along the way must be carefully considered. (To be continued......)