It is precisely because of this psychology that Hong Chengchou also behaved very simply when receiving the decree during the day, kowtowing to thank him, shouting long live the mountain, and warmly entertaining the messengers who announced the decree. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info But after sending off the messenger, Hong Chengchou's smile quickly disappeared, and he locked himself in the study, reading the map, reading the newspaper, and didn't even care about dinner.

A young man in his early twenties walked into the study with a bowl of steaming rice porridge and two side dishes on a black lacquered wooden plate. I saw that this young man looked a little similar to Hong Chengchou between his eyebrows, and he was Hong Chengchou's eldest son, Hong Shiming.

"Father, eat a little bit."

"Let's put it down first, I have my own measure." Hong Chengchou didn't raise his head.

Hong Shiming, as the son of Hong Chengchou, inherited his father's reading talent when he was young. At this time, seeing the clouds on his father's face, he immediately guessed eight or nine points: "Father is worried about the situation in Huguang?"

Hong Chengchou didn't answer immediately, and after a while, he put down the newspaper in his hand, leaned back on the back of the chair, raised his head and closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then sighed lightly and said, "Why can't you do this?" Although I sometimes have to say a few inspiring words, some things are not as simple as just saying. Now that the situation in Huguang is so critical, most of the root causes are the thief Pang Yue, who can set off such a storm, how can this thief be easy to match? ”

Hong Shiming thought so, nodded and said: "Since the Battle of Jingzhou last year, Huguang officialdom has generally been filled with fear of Pang thieves. Now, in order to stabilize people's hearts, my father is in front of angels during the day, and it is not impossible to verbally show a little contempt for Pang Thief. But Pang Thief can not only make King Zhishun, Xu Shungong and other hundred battles fall on the battlefield. There must be something superior in the command and use of troops. It also looks at the places it governs, and raises soldiers in the fields, and so on. All of them are quite disciplined. From this point of view, Pang Thief is really a fierce enemy of our dynasty. You need to be careful. ”

Hong Chengchou shook his head: "This thief is indeed not very good at using soldiers, and the arrangement of troops is decent, and even slightly clumsy. As for governing the localities, raising troops in the fields, and so on, this is no more than that. In terms of the ability to command the army and use the troops, when today's good generals are better than this generation, not to mention the volume of vehicles, at least there are many people. The reason why Pang Thief is a Pang Thief is mainly because he has three other advantages. ”

"I don't know what three points my father said?" Hong Shiming's heart was suddenly full of curiosity.

"Eyesight, guts. Mind. Hong Chengchou was not in a hurry and said, "And among these three points, his eyesight is the worst." What is still incomprehensible to me is that this thief always seems to be able to see through the reality of my court, and he can act calmly. ”

Seeing that Hong Shiming was thoughtful, Hong Chengchou continued: "In this way, Sunrise (Hong Shiming Risheng), I might as well give an example. If you are in the position of a thief, when you faced the request for help from the traitor Wang Guangtai in Xiangyang last year. What are the first considerations? ”

"Naturally, we should first identify the situation of the enemy and us, consider whether the enemy will have a large number of follow-up reinforcements to support, and then decide whether to send troops."

"That's right, generals usually think about it first. Even if it is a person who is resolute and resolute. It will inevitably take some time. And after the long drive went deep into the enemy's territory, because of concerns, I didn't know when the enemy reinforcements would arrive. Often, they try to get a quick fix. When Hong Chengchou said this, a faint wry smile appeared on his face. But the Pang thief was the opposite, and he was resolute before sending out his troops. As soon as he came from Guangdong, he took the initiative to wave his army north, and after going deep into our realm, he swaggered again, even if he was frustrated under Jingzhou City, he was not in a hurry, and he was confident and bold to play his not clever tricks to lure the enemy. The only explanation for his ability to act in this way is that he has already seen that our dynasty does not have much energy to take care of Huguang for the time being, so he is so bold. If it could have been explained as a coincidence, his judgment had been confirmed more than once. From daring to sweep the two Guangxi with more than 10,000 men and horses, to now training troops in Chenzhou without any worries, this is not the case. The accuracy of his eyesight is truly extraordinary. ”

Hong Shiming also listened with a serious face, indeed, an enemy who can always see through your reality and reality, no matter how mediocre he is in other aspects, will bring you a mortal threat at any time. This kind of enemy is the most terrible.

In addition, as long as he thinks of it, he will do it decisively, which is his guts. Being able to take into account the overall situation and not compete with friendly forces for small profits is his mind. Since Pang Thief has these three advantages, although he is lacking in the use of troops, it no longer prevents him from becoming the great enemy of our court. And dealing with this great enemy will never be as light as I say in front of everyone. ”

"Then dare to ask my father if there is a good plan?"

"Fortunately, there is only one thief, and although it is a bit tricky to deal with, it is not without flaws. As long as the root cause is identified, this thief will not be defeated. Hong Chengchou straightened his waist, and his face softened slightly, "Pang Thief's biggest weakness at present is money and food, and he has nearly 40,000 soldiers and horses on land and water, and there is even a naval division in Guangdong, how can it be a small number every year?" Although the Hunan guards produced output, it was only to make the whole army barely satisfied. As for the ordnance and armor, the war carriages and ships, and the salaries of the soldiers, etc., the cost is very huge, and at present it is far from being able to raise by the Pang thief himself, and the allocation of the puppet dynasty is only a drop in the bucket. As far as I know, some of the money needed by the Pang Thief Army at present is from his looting, and most of it comes from Liangguang. His father-in-law is Liu Xiang, the former giant of the South China Sea, who has been neck and neck with Zheng Zhilong, across the sea for many years, and has accumulated immeasurable wealth. However, this is both the help of the thief and its biggest weakness. ”

Hong Shiming suddenly understood: "What my father means is that although the Pang thief is prosperous now, he has relied too much on Liangguang in terms of money and grain, and he is far away in Hunan and cannot take care of this place of wealth in time. As long as our dynasty can first attack Liangguang from Fujian or southern Jiangxi with lightning speed, and then press the border from Hubei with a large army, the Pang thief will be like a rootless duckweed, and he will be defeated without attacking? ”

The smile of relief on Hong Chengchou's face was fleeting, and he sighed: "It's a pity that the Prince Regent ...... in the secret letter to me."

Speaking of this, Hong Chengchou immediately realized that he had lost his words. How can the timing involved in the secret message be leaked even between father and son? And Hong Shiming is also very shrewd. Quietly changed the topic away: "So when is my father going to leave for Wuchang?"

"As soon as the first month passed, we set off immediately. As long as I'm gone. Naturally, your grandmother will go back to live in the old house. Hong Chengchou had a wry smile on his face, "When the time comes, you will do more filial piety for me." ”

Hearing this self-deprecating remark, Hong Shiming felt uncomfortable, and was about to say something but was stopped by Hong Chengchou: "Okay, I know what you want to say." I've never taken those things to heart, and you don't have to worry about them. It doesn't matter if others talk about it, or spit on our doorstep, just let them go. History. After all, it wasn't written by them. ”

Hong Shiming nodded and promised: "Yes, father."

After Hong Shiming put away the plate and left, Hong Chengchou was the only one left in the study, and after sitting for most of the day, he also felt a little uncomfortable, so he stood up and moved his muscles for a while, and then slowly paced in front of a large map hanging on the wall, thoughtful.

On the map, only Hunan, Guizhou, Liangguang, Yunnan, and a small number of southern parts of Sichuan and Jiangxi are still painted red with cinnabar. Although it has been in a corner. But it's still so eye-catching. After looking at it for a while, Hong Chengchou stretched out his right hand to cover Hunan, Gannan and Guangdong, and said to himself in an almost inaudible voice: "If there were no thieves, I'm afraid these places would have already been under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, right?" Let go of your hand at the same time. A sigh.

At this time, the content of Dolgon's secret letter resurfaced in Hong Chengchou's mind. The gist of it is: After Hong Chengchou takes office, he should immediately clean up the hearts of the people. Stabilize the situation in Huguang as soon as possible, whether it is people, money or goods. can be truthfully reported, and the court will give priority to allocation. Furthermore. Probably at the end of February or the beginning of March, the Yellow Banner Manchuria Gushan Ezhen Tan Tai and the White Flag Manchuria Gushan Ezhen He Luo will lead an army of Eight Banners to the south, and arrive in Wuchang after meeting the green camp in Jiangnan and other places, and march south again, striving to annihilate the Ming army Pang Yue and the rest of the camp in one fell swoop. After Hong Chengchou arrived, he needed to raise some grain and grass for the Southern Expeditionary Army in advance.

Hong Chengchou was naturally in favor of the Southern Expedition, and he had no objection to the two main combat targets established by the Southern Expedition - Pang Yuebu and the Loyal Battalion, as long as these two obstacles were removed first, the rest of the matter would naturally fall into place. The only regret he had was that Dolgon said in his letter that the southern expedition would still use the area around Yuezhou as a breakthrough.

It's easier than easy! Hong Chengchou shook his head secretly at that time, this is good, in the face of a vicious wolf, instead of hitting its weak waist, it should be unwise to tear it face to face! Isn't the lesson of Prince Yu's southern expedition last year enough?

However, later, Hong Chengchou also quickly understood Dolgon's decision. If this year's southern expedition does not use a dignified array to find the face lost last year, but chooses to take a detour, then which soldiers and horses will dare to fight against the Ming army in Huguang Town in the future? In short, since he has encountered the enemy of Pang Yue, it will never be easy to deal with.

The world is about to be unified, but don't make any more mistakes! Hong Chengchou squinted at the striking red in the southwest corner of the map and muttered to himself.

…………

Nanchang Province, Jiangxi

The night sky was overcast, and there were no stars in sight, only the occasional rolling of thunder mixed with lightning made people's hearts palpitate. This day is the twenty-seventh day of the first month of the fourth year of Longwu in the Ming Dynasty (the fifth year of Shunzhi in the pseudo-Qing Dynasty, 1648 AD).

The cold night wind whistled up all kinds of debris in the streets and alleys, blowing chills all over the body. On the street near the south gate, there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves from far to near. Hearing this voice, the Qing army of Jin Shenghuan's headquarters, who was on guard near the city gate, was immediately alert, and after ordering the surrounding soldiers to prepare, a general officer shouted at the knights who came towards the south gate in the night: "What person? Hold it! ”

The neighing of the war horse sounded one after another, and the dozen or so knights stopped twenty or thirty paces away, and the leader arched his hand on the horse: "Brothers, I am the general manager of the Jiangxi political envoy Chi Da Da mark, I am in urgent need of a trip out of the city on the orders of the adults, there is a waist card and Chi Da Daren's order arrows here, please let you go!" ”

Unexpectedly, a cold voice came: "Lord Admiral has an order, no one is allowed to leave the city tonight!" ”

The leading knight couldn't help but be a little annoyed, and his voice raised a little: "I'm ......"

Before he finished speaking, he was once again interrupted by the cold voice on the other side: "Violators, shoot and kill!" ”

At the same time, the sound of pulling the bowstring behind the barricade was clearly audible.

In the face of this momentum. The leading knight did not dare to force it any longer, and led the team back with anger. After passing through the streets, I returned to the Yamen of the Jiangxi Political Envoy.

Back in the yamen. The lights were bright, and the Manchu Jiangxi political envoy Chi Bianlong, the inspector Dong Xuecheng, and the Hudong Daocheng Daye and other civil officials who were loyal to the Manchu Qing were all there. At this time, everyone's face was very nervous. Because judging from the various abnormal signs that have appeared in the city in the past two days, Jin Shenghuan is very likely to take a big move tonight, and the situation in Nanchang City will change drastically.

What's even worse is that Zhang Yutian, the governor of Jiangxi, who is the backbone, is not in the city at the moment, and he has not returned from visiting Ruizhou a few days ago. This also means that the "loyal ministers of the Qing Dynasty" are missing the extremely important decision-making core.

The situation is urgent, after consultation between Chi Changlong, Dong Xuecheng and others. It was decided to send the news out first, and to warn the garrisons in Wuchang, Nanjing and other places as well as Liu Wuyuan, another "loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty" in southern Jiangxi and the governor of southern Jiangxi, as soon as possible.

However, it backfired, and it didn't take long for the messengers who intended to leave the city through the north and east gates to be stopped. While everyone was anxious, the chief knight sent by Chi Bianlong to deliver the letter, that is, the leading knight who had touched the nail at the south gate, also brought back bad news.

"Lord Qiqi, the south gate is blocked by Jin Shenghuan's headquarters soldiers, and the number of people on guard is more than double or more than usual, and no one's orders and arrows are recognized."

At this time, the attempt to go out of the city to report the news can be said to have completely failed. It seems that Jin Shenghuan and Wang Deren have already made a careful plan.

"How's that okay?" Chi Changlong's courage was obviously not as tough as his name, and his face had turned pale, "Jin and Wang have more than 20,000 soldiers under their command, once there is chaos. I'll wait...... What should I do? ”

It is not too late to become a dragon. According to the Manchu green battalion military system, only the governors, governors and admirals of each province had a standard battalion under the name. There is no governor in Jiangxi, and the admiral happens to be Jin Shenghuan. Therefore, the army in Nanchang that was relatively loyal to the Manchu Qing Dynasty was only 1,500 people in the standard battalion of Zhang Yutian, the governor of Jiangxi. And when Zhang Yutian went out to patrol Ruizhou a few days ago, he took all the 300 cavalry in the standard camp away, and the only formed army that could be used to fight against Jin Shenghuan was only 1,200 green battalion foot soldiers. Even if you add a small number of personal soldiers from Chi Changlong, Dong Xuecheng and others, it is only fifteen or six hundred. More than a thousand dozen more than 20,000. Chi Bianlong and other "loyal ministers of the Qing Dynasty" did not have the strong self-confidence of the Manchurian masters.

Dong Xuewei was also frightened when he came, but as the situation became more and more serious, he calmed down a lot, a trace of resoluteness flashed in his eyes, and he gritted his teeth and said: "The matter has come to this, and we can only prepare for the worst." Even if Jin Shenghuan really wants to rebel, I will sacrifice my life for the country. But this letter still has to be sent, since the city gate is blocked, then don't go through the city gate first, you can find a few reliable people to dress up, and wait for Jin Shenghuan to make a mess and then mix among the people and go out of the city! Dong has decided to live and die with Nanchang, who wants to go to this news? ”

"The next official is willing to go!" An official stood out proudly. When everyone saw it, it turned out to be Liu Tongchun, who served as the palm print capital.

"Good!" Dong Xuecheng nodded approvingly, "Lord Liu's sincerity can show the sun and the moon!" After you leave the city, immediately go to Jiangning (i.e. Nanjing) to report the news, and arrange for reliable people to rush to Ji'an Mansion to warn Lord Liu! ”

"Huh!" Liu Tongchun quickly took the order and left.

Dong Xuecheng, who gave several orders on behalf of the world, quickly realized the pleasure of being a governor, and for a while, the pride and ambition in his chest unexpectedly overwhelmed the previous fear, and said impassionedly to everyone present: "Colleagues, the so-called wind knows the strength of the grass, and the board knows the loyal ministers!" The more critical we are at this critical moment, the more we must stick to our duty as courtiers, and we would rather die than be thieves! When the Manchurian soldiers arrive, the rebellious ministers and thieves will be broken into pieces, and I will wait for ......."

Before he finished speaking, three cannons suddenly rang out in the city, piercing the silent night sky, and Dong Xuecheng's face, which was originally full of red light, turned pale again in an instant.

The earth-shattering shouts, thunderous horses' hooves, and footsteps sounded in many places in the city at the same time, and it didn't take long for them to spread to the vicinity of the Yamen of the Political Envoy. Immediately after that, there were fierce shouts and the sonorous sound of the collision of swords and soldiers, like a tide, surging through the courtyard of the deep mansion and piercing people's eardrums.

"Jin Shenghuan is really ...... It's really the other way around...... "The "loyal ministers of the Qing Dynasty" present were almost all colorless, and the tea bowls were knocked over to the ground.

"Quick, everybody, get out the back door!" Dong Xuecheng still retains the last trace of escape.

But this last hope was soon dashed, and one of the guards stumbled to report: "Qi Yu...... Lord Qiqi, there are thieves everywhere around the yamen! ”

The fighting in the front yard soon ended, and the chaotic footsteps accompanied by bursts of shouts poured into the back office.

"Bang! Boom! ......" The door panels were kicked open one after another, and a group of soldiers armed with torches and covered in blood rushed into the hall, slashed down the few guards present, and put the bloody blades on the necks of the "loyal ministers of the Qing Dynasty" who were like earth.

Immediately afterwards, two military generals dressed in full body swaggered into the hall surrounded by their own soldiers, it was Jin Shenghuan and Wang Deren. Under the light of the torches, the faces of both of them were full of pleasure and a hint of hideousness after raising their eyebrows.

Jin Shenghuan sneered: "Ladies and gentlemen, it's been a long time! ”

Wang Deren shook the blood droplets on the waist knife, squinted his eyes and glanced around, and after seeing Dong Xuecheng who was stunned, he immediately laughed: "Patrol your lord, is the crotch still dry?" (To be continued.) )