There was a folk song circulating in Jiangnan at that time:

Whoever summons the harrier to come, the boy is not harmonious. The sword soldiers were raised on the flat ground, and the lady came to suppress the village. Kill the old matchmaker, go to the river and go to Huai. My emperor was drunk and drunk, and he didn't pay attention to it.

It means that Gao Jie, the harrier who turned over the mountain, died, and Sun Yingyuan came out to mess around. Gao Jie's widow, Mrs. Xing, came out to suppress the village, Shi Kefa pitifully mediated conflicts like an old matchmaker, and Emperor Hongguang indulged in wine and didn't care about anything.

It can be said to be a true portrayal of Shi Kefa's situation.

Ma Shiying also plummeted because of long-term infighting with the Nanjing bureaucrats.

Seeing that the situation was still moving in favor of Shi Kefa, he didn't think about the reason at all, and actually let the rookie Liu Liangzuo go north to return to Defu, temporarily monitor the rest of Gao Jie, and then let Lu Jiude, who successfully prevented Sun Yingyuan from going to Guazhou, go to Yangzhou to supervise the army.

Lu Jiude is alone, plus Yangzhou has a history of law, of course he has the courage to go to Yangzhou.

Liu Liangzuo is different, he is self-aware, and he knows that he is looking for death when he goes to Guide Mansion.

In the end, he simply resisted and refused to obey the decree and still stayed in Shouzhou.

After Ma Shiying's tossing, Gao Jie's six generals were suspicious of each other, and at the same time did not trust the Hongguang court.

Shi Kefa, who seemed to be a pastemaker, could only barely maintain the peace on the surface and avoid the early collapse of the Hongguang regime in the internal strife.

Bigger troubles, one might even say catastrophe, are coming.

Yang Chengying led the army to the south.

On October 16, Yang Chengying bid farewell to his family, entrusted state affairs to Fan Wencheng and others, and immediately left Beijing.

He personally led the 1st Mountain Division to the south, and planned to join Wu Sangui and Yue Yu to go south along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to eliminate the Hongguang regime and unify Jiangnan.

On the vast land, goshawks hovered in the sky, and guards carrying handsome flags and Qingluo umbrellas stood on the highest point in the area.

As the drummers walked, they beat the war drums with their bows left and right, and the infantry marched neatly from north to south.

The cavalry was on the left and right flanks of the infantry, with the rhythm of the drums, fast or slow, in a neat and orderly manner.

Under the umbrella, Yang Chengying rode a white war horse, held a telescope, and looked south.

A signal soldier flew up the mountain with the consent of the guards:

"Report! There is an emergency military situation."

"Bring it." Yang Chengying was still holding the binoculars.

He rode his horse to the signal soldier, took the newspaper from the signal soldier, and returned to Yang Chengying's side.

Yang Chengying put down the binoculars, took the newspaper, unfolded it, and sighed.

Then he said: "Li Zicheng actually gave up Tongguan and returned to Xi'an."

"It seems that Hong Chengchou put a lot of pressure in the north, forcing Li Zicheng to retreat to Xi'an to keep his roots."

The person who spoke was the future governor of Liangjiang, Lang Tingzuo.

Lang Tingzuo was a native of Bac Ninh Province, and was captured by the Later Jin Dynasty along with his father Lang Xizai, and became an official student of the Eight Banners. Yang Chengying eliminated Houjin, and Lang Tingzuo was appointed by Yang Chengying as a bachelor of literature, and then participated in the examination and entered the official career.

Starting from the county master book, step by step, he became the prefect, and Yang Chengying was already a governor before entering the customs.

"It's an expedient measure, but it's also a self-defeating measure."

Yang Chengying handed over the report to the guards and calmly analyzed: "Without Tongguan, it is only a matter of time before Li Zicheng evacuates from Xi'an."

"Do you want to send someone to tell Kong Youde to take advantage of the victory to pursue and expel Li Zicheng from Xi'an, so that he will be forced to flee south to Xiangyang."

"No, I believe Kong Youde has his own judgment. We just need to speed up our march, and after joining up with Wu Sangui, we will expel Gao Jie's old troops first."

Yang Chengying picked up the telescope again and continued to look south.

Judging from the map, the Guide garrisoned by Gao Jie's old army is located on the flank of the army and must be eliminated.

As for Xuzhou, it is on the node of the canal.

Going south along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, you can save a lot of distance and enter the south of the Yangtze River before Li Zicheng.

Strategically complete the encirclement of Li Zicheng.

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a young man galloping on his horse.

because

He was a guard, and the other guards did not stop him, allowing him to ride in front of Yang Chengying.

"Your Highness, there is an urgent military situation ahead, and Li Benshen has run away!"

The guard took out a newspaper from his arms and handed it to Yang Chengying: "Wu Sangui and Yue Zhenzheng led the troops to Guide Mansion, but they got news on the way that Li Benshen heard that our army was coming, so he directly abandoned Guide Mansion and fled south."

"He's running fast!"

Yang Chengying was surprised after reading the newspaper.

He ordered the two armies of Wu Sangui and Yue Zhi to expel Li Benshen and Li Chengdong first, occupy the most important Xuzhou, and then rest on the spot, and wait for him to lead the army to Xuzhou with supplies before marching.

Unexpectedly, before the two-way army arrived, Li Benshen ran away.

"According to the person who sent the newspaper, Li Benshen, who had 30,000 troops, was beaten by a regiment of our army in Suiyang and lost his armor, so when he heard that our army was attacking him, he was terrified."

The young guard explained.

"It's not surprising that it's so hard to beat one of my regiments, let alone two armies. His run must have attracted the attention of Nanjing."

Yang Chengying thought for a moment and called the paperwork.

"You write a war letter, and then send an envoy to Nanjing." Yang Chengying said, "I don't care about the specifics, you only grasp the following principles."

The clerk holds a brush and a book in one hand to record carefully.

But everyone, including him, was surprised after listening to Yang Chengying's principles.

Lang Tingzuo said, "Your Highness, the battle book should be the first priority to divide the enemy, how can you do the opposite?"

The army that attacked the imperial court was famous for its division, and it would generally leave the monarch aside and only mention the "Qing monarch's side".

However, Yang Chengying not only wrote about the crimes of Emperor Hongguang at the beginning of the document, but also included Ma Shiying, Qian Qianyi and others in a list.

He also said that he would punish the people on the list and eliminate the evil.

"I have never recognized King Fu, how can I respect it," said Emperor Hongguang."

Yang Chengying glanced at him and said with a smile: "As for Ma Shiying, Qian Qianyi and others who have misled the country and the people, they must be killed."

"Isn't it inappropriate to push the Nanjing bureaucrats to the opposite side?" Lang Tingzuo persuaded tactfully.

"Eliminate the evil, Ma Shiying is certainly doing nonsense, Qian Qianyi and others are not good birds, I am 'detoxifying, of course I have to start a little heavier.'"

Yang Chengying still felt that it was not enough, so he added a pen to the book of war: "This king's law is strict, those who have merit are rewarded, and those who have faults are punished." Rewards and punishments for merit and demerit are all based on whether the person works hard or not, not on his status."

Lang Tingzuo pondered the taste, and couldn't help but smile: "It turns out that His Highness wants those people in the south to 'move', instead of waiting for surrender."

"If you want to give *** a life, you have to do it." Yang Chengying also smiled, "I want to sit back and wait for the fruits of victory to come to my mouth and dream of his Spring and Autumn Festival!"

"The same can be said of the army in the south, such as punishing only the head of the army, and not harming the other soldiers." Lang Tingzo suggested.

"No, this should be changed to, only kill the 'obsessive and unenlightened evildoers, not kill' soldiers who have awakened to their senses."

Yang Chengying has only a four-word policy for these large and small military leaders in the south, combined with historical lessons and lessons-cutting the grass and eradicating the roots.