When he returned to Xiamen, he knew that Lu Zhenfei had returned from the Guangdong Dynasty to meet Yongli and was waiting for Zheng Chenggong.

Zheng Chenggong met with Lu Zhenfei and others in the middle hall and asked about Zhaoqing and the alliance with Li Chengdong.

Lu Zhenfei shook his head and said, "General, the situation in Zhaoqing is not very good?" ”

Lu Zhenfei told Zheng Chenggong about his meeting with Emperor Yongli.

November 20, the second year of Yongli, Zhaoqing, Guangdong.

Ganzhou was defeated, Nanchang was trapped, and the Tartars were able to conquer Nanchang at any time, and once again went south to attack Guangdong, and the clouds of war shrouded the whole city.

The people in the city could not afford to go out, and the streets were deserted, and it was difficult to see pedestrians except for patrolling soldiers.

Years of war have made the people feel numb to the killing and bloodshed.

in the main hall.

"Your Majesty, according to the detailed report, there is a large-scale transfer of troops and horses in Nanchang......"

"What?" Before Li Chengdong finished his report, Emperor Yongli looked frightened and hurriedly said, "Li Aiqing, can Nanchang still be held?" ”

The battle of Ganzhou was lost, and Nanchang was surrounded and suppressed by the Qing army, which made Emperor Yongli a frightened bird.

Li Chengdong knew that Emperor Yongli was timid and afraid of death, and at this time, in order to appease him, he could only open his eyes and say lies: "Your Majesty, don't worry, Nanchang is an important town in Jiangxi, the city is high and the walls are thick, plus Jin Shengheng can fight well, the Qing army will definitely not be able to conquer Nanchang!" ”

"Ho~~!" Emperor Yongli relieved his heart and asked with a long sigh, "Then when is Li Aiqing ready to go north again to rescue Nanchang?" ”

Li Chengdong took the opportunity to say: "Your Majesty! Ganzhou was defeated, and now whether it is Xinfeng or Nanxiong, the troops are only enough to guard, and if they want to attack, they will not slack off, and Weichen wants to implore His Majesty to send Zhaoqing's soldiers and horses to support the two places. ”

"Hui Guogong's words, I dare not agree!" University scholar Qu Shiyun objected and said, "If the guards of the palace are all transferred, who will protect Your Majesty's safety!" ”

Li Chengdong sighed and said, "Guangdong is still under the control of Weichen. There are no thieves around Zhaoqing, and the adults don't have to worry about their own safety. Besides, if there are no more than 100 famous Ding Zhuang men in each family, if you organize it, you can have three or five thousand soldiers and horses to defend Zhaoqing and protect the saint! ”

Qu Shiyun retorted, "How can those families compare with the regular army, and Ganzhou is still in the hands of the Qing army." What if the Qing army sent a partial division to steal Zhaoqing and had no guards? The old minister absolutely did not agree that Zhaoqing's guards would be dispatched. ”

Without soldiers and horses, how to rescue Nanchang?

Li Chengdong argued on the basis of reason, but unfortunately the timid Emperor Yongli himself did not agree to transfer Zhaoqing's guards away.

For a time, the court was caught in a quarrel.

Since returning to the Ming Dynasty anyway, Li Chengdong has to work hard for the war, and he also has to guard against dealing with the infighting of Qu Shiyun and others who do not know the current affairs. So much so that Li Chengdong often regrets what he did anyway.

Since taking refuge in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the invincible subordinates have been busy building mansions and increasing their official ranks. Indulged in the land of fireworks, they now have little combat power, so that the Qing army has been defeated again and again.

At the same time, under the internal friction, Li Chengdong's invincible opponent who fought for the Qing court from the north to the south never appeared again.

But the arrows that opened the bow did not turn back.

It's useless to say anything now, it's impossible for me to take refuge in the Manchus anymore.

Just as the court was still arguing over where to transfer troops to rescue Nanchang, suddenly the shouts of the guards came from outside the lobby.

"Report, Zheng Chenggong, the Duke of Zhangguo, sent an envoy to meet the saint!"

Emperor Yongli heard the busy shouting: "Hurry up and catch up with the messenger!" ”

Lu Zhenfei walked into the hall, bowed to Emperor Yongli who was sitting on the throne, and shouted: "Weichen knocks on the saint, may my emperor live long live!" ”

Yongli helped him and said, "Lu Aiqing, please get up, I don't know what happened when the Duke of Zhangguo sent you?" ”

Lu Zhenfei stood up and arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the Duke of Zhangguo heard that the war in Jiangxi was not going well, so he sent Weichen here, hoping to join forces with Li Chengdong, the Duke of Huiguo, to rescue Nanchang." ”

When Emperor Yongli heard that Zheng Chenggong was willing to send troops to rescue Jiangxi, he was immediately overjoyed and said: "Duke Zhangguo is indeed worthy of being a loyal minister, I am worried about how to rescue Jiangxi, I didn't expect that Duke Zhangguo would come to solve problems for me, okay!" Li Aiqing, with the support of Zhang Guogong, now you don't have to worry about running out of soldiers and horses. ”

Li Chengdong hurriedly arched his hand when he heard it and said: "Rely on the Holy Hongfu more!" ”

Emperor Yongli waved his hand and said, "I'm also tired, so I'll go back to the palace first." Li Qing's family will discuss with Lu Qing's family about sending troops to rescue Jiangxi! ”

When His Highness's people heard this, they hurriedly bowed their hands and drank: "Congratulations to Your Majesty!" ”

After Emperor Yongli left, Li Chengdong invited Lu Zhenfei to his mansion to discuss the matter of sending troops.

In the study, the host and guest sat down and had tea.

The situation was urgent, Li Chengdong did not say anything more, and asked directly: "To rescue Nanchang, how many soldiers and horses can Zhang Guogong send?" ”

Lu Zhenfei replied: "Our army can send 30,000 troops!" ”

Only 30,000 soldiers and horses!

Li Chengdong feels a little less? This time, the Qing army besieged Nanchang and dispatched 20,000 Eight Banner cavalry and 130,000 Green Camp troops.

Just after the defeat of Ganzhou, coupled with the refusal of Emperor Yongli to mobilize the 40,000 soldiers and horses guarding Zhaoqing, the Guangdong side could dispatch 80,000 troops at most, and the two armies combined were only 110,000.

Li Chengdong said: "Zhang Guogong can't send more people? ”

Lu Zhenfei shook his head and said: "There are still tens of thousands of Qing troops in northern Fujian, and the counties under the rule of Zhangguo Gong also need to leave the necessary guards, and 30,000 is the largest number of soldiers and horses that my lord can dispatch." But please rest assured that these 30,000 soldiers and horses are all elite soldiers. ”

Hearing that Lu Zhenfei was 30,000 soldiers and horses, all of whom were elite soldiers, Li Chengdong didn't believe it at all.

When he attacked Fujian, he also fought a few battles with the Zheng family, and he didn't know what the Zheng army was doing, it was just a group of rabble.

Now in the hands of Zheng Chenggong, how powerful can Zheng Jiajun be?

Otherwise, it would not have occupied only one province along the coast by now.

Zheng Jiajun is also a decent sailor, and he can get into Li Chengdong's eyes!

If there are more people, Li Chengdong still has hope for the rescue of Nanchang.

But after hearing that Zheng Chenggong could only send 30,000 troops, Li Chengdong had no hope at all, and his attitude towards Lu Zhenfei, the messenger sent by Zheng Chenggong, was not so enthusiastic.

Say a few casual words and send him away.

In order to rescue Nanchang faster, Lu Zhenfei urged Li Chengdong to send troops as soon as possible.

But Li Chengdong didn't believe in Zheng Jiajun's strength at all, he believed in his subordinates even more.

In order to gather enough soldiers and horses, Li Chengdong also went to the court three or four times to ask Emperor Yongli to transfer all the soldiers and horses guarding Zhaoqing to rescue Nanchang.

For the sake of the guards and horses, the Yongli court fell into endless quarrels, and time and opportunity were wasted in this useless party struggle.

When Lu Zhenfei saw this situation, he was also disappointed in the Yongli Imperial Court.

Lu Zhenfei tried his best, but he only let Zheng Chenggong and Li Chengdong form an offensive and defensive alliance - defensively, once the Qing army attacked Zheng Chenggong or Li Chengdong, the other side needed to provide military assistance and rescue;

On the offensive, the two sides agreed to send troops together to rescue Nanchang. It's just that the specific time of the attack, Li Chengdong has not given a clear answer.

After listening to Lu Zhenfei's story, Zheng Chenggong was very helpless.

If there was no Li Chengdong's army to contain the Qing army head-on, Zheng Chenggong would never have been able to fight the Qing army head-on.

I hope that Li Chengdong can realize that Nanchang is not only a matter of one city and one place, but also related to the situation of the entire Southern Ming Dynasty.

Li Chengdong did not move, Zheng Chenggong could only wait patiently, step up the training of soldiers, and be ready at all times.