Paper Maker: This is the end of the Ming Dynasty in Liaozhai

Chapter 238 Encircling Nanjing City and Occupying Jiangnan

Hearing Liao Qing's words, Su Hao was not too surprised. Although he treated the rich and powerful families in Shandong kindly, but the rich and powerful families are rich and noble, and the nobles are nobles. The relationship between the former and Daming is not that deep, and there are people who have taken refuge in Daqi possible.

However, it is impossible for those nobles in Nanjing City to seek refuge with Daqi, because their status and status are all obtained by relying on their titles. If he has already destroyed the north, then those nobles in Nanjing City may surrender in order to save their lives. .

But now that Daming is still in the north, and reinforcements from other provinces are still coming, those people will never surrender to Daqi. After all, their wealth and life are tied to Daming, and the title is the basis for them to guarantee their own family fortune. .

Since ancient times, there is no good end for the remnants of the previous dynasty, not to mention that they still occupy a large amount of land and wealth in the south of the Yangtze River. Once they surrender, the land and wealth will be taken away by the officials of Daqi, even though he now promises to keep their titles It didn't work either.

Because titles must be combined with power to be useful, for example, the nobles in Nanjing can share the whole of Jiangnan with the wealthy families in Jiangnan because of Nanjing's defense and coordination and coordination.

And now even if those nobles in Nanjing surrendered, he couldn't let them retain their real power. After all, military power is such a thing that even Tang Xiangjin and the others raised the flag to rebel with him. He never let go, let alone a group of outsiders, so It is impossible for these nobles to surrender before reaching a desperate situation.

After thinking for a while, Su Hao said again: "Where is the navy at Liang Ping?"

Since he wanted to fight in the south of the Yangtze River, he would naturally not give up the huge river system in the south of the Yangtze River, especially the Yangtze River, which can directly reach Nanjing City, so if he wants to cut off the reinforcements from Nanjing City, he must first cut off the Yangtze River.

"Return to Your Majesty, the Navy has set off and will soon block the mouth of the Yangtze River."

Liao Qing clapped his hands back.

"Pass down the order and speed up the siege!"

After pondering for a while, Su Hao said, if he continues to delay, it will only make Nanjing City more fully prepared.

Liao Qing nodded and said, "I'm going now."

...

Soon, the soldiers of the Qi army assembled again, with the thunder of war drums, nearly [-] large and small tiger squatting cannons were pushed to the front of the formation, and then began to take aim.

At the same time, the siege ballista also moved forward slowly. In front of the ballista, a large number of Qi soldiers approached the city wall under the cover of wooden mantle chariots and shields, carrying sandbags, trying to provide the siege ladder and battering hammer , The arrow tower fills up the moat.

The gunners in the rear also aligned the muzzle of the Hongyi cannon one after another, and then lit the matchlock.

boom!boom!boom!
A series of loud bangs, more than 160 solid iron balls weighing [-] jins, under the action of gunpowder, turned into a small black dot with terrifying kinetic energy, quickly crossed the sky, and then flew towards the city wall.

boom!boom!
Some shells hit the wall, directly smashing a big hole, countless rubble splashed in all directions, some fell directly into the city, smashing down the houses, and some hit the city wall, smashing the bricks.

Although there were no soldiers on the walls of Huai'an Fucheng at this time, the power of the Hongyi cannon was still shocking.

At this time, a large number of Qi troops were only four hundred feet away from the city wall under the cover of wooden chariots and shields.

"Hurry up and defend the city!"

Seeing that the Qi army outside the city was almost approaching the moat, the soldiers of the commanders of the guards waved their whips and drove the guards to the city wall to defend the city. In a short time, a large number of guards were driven to the city wall.

boom!boom!boom!
At this time, the tiger squatting cannons on the Wengcheng began to show their power, and more than [-] tiger squatting cannons ignited at the same time, and thousands of stones and iron beads rained down on the Qi army outside the city.

However, for the well-trained Qi army, most of them had already hid under wooden chariots and shields, and there were no major casualties at all.

boom!boom!boom!
The tiger squatting cannons of the Qi army below the city also fired back. Nearly three hundred tiger squatting cannons threw countless stones and iron balls, completely covering the entire city wall. The guards on the city wall suffered heavy casualties in an instant. The sound is endless.

The guard soldiers who were frightened by this tragic scene fled the city wall one after another. Even if the soldiers of the guard generals drew knives and beheaded a few guard soldiers who fled first, they could not stop the guard soldiers from escaping.

At this time, the Qi army under the city threw sandbags into the moat one after another, and soon filled in the sandy roads, and the siege ladders behind rushed through the moat and leaned against the city wall.

boom!boom!boom!
The tiger squatting guns under the city fired again, and the stones and iron beads once again covered the city wall. This time, even the soldiers of the generals of the guards fled the city wall one after another. The ladder ascended the city wall.

At this moment, there was no suspense in the battle situation.

Soon, as a large number of soldiers of the Qi army poured into the city, within an hour, all the four walls fell into the control of the Qi army.

...

government office.

"Your Majesty, Zhu Dadian, the Governor of Water Transport, and Yu Zhixian, the prefect of Huai'an, have been captured. Your Majesty, please let me know."

Liao Qing led people to escort Zhu Dadian and Yu Zhixian to the front of Su Hao.

"Are you willing to surrender?"

After glancing at the two of them, Su Hao said calmly.

"The criminal minister is willing to surrender! The criminal minister is willing to surrender!"

Hearing Su Hao's words, Yu Zhixian, the magistrate of Huai'an, quickly said that although he would not be able to get back his money for running an official position, he still didn't want to risk his life, and his money for running an official position was all from the capital. Xungui borrowed it, as long as he took refuge in Daqi, he would not have to pay back the money.

"Yu Zhixian, you are deeply favored by the emperor, and you don't want to repay the emperor, but today you want to surrender a thief. Where is your courtesy, righteousness and shame?"

Before Su Hao had time to speak, Zhu Dadian who was standing beside him had to start shouting and cursing directly.

Being scolded by Zhu Dadian, Yu Zhixian's face flushed instantly, but he couldn't think of a reason to refute, so he could only turn his head aside.

"Detain Zhu Dadian and lock him up with Hong Chengchou and Chen Qiyu."

Seeing this, Su Hao waved his hands and said, last time in the battle outside Dezhou City, Chen Qiyu was arrested by Tang Xiangjin, and Hong Chengchou was arrested by him. For these captured officials of Ming Dynasty, he always only persuaded them to surrender once. If he surrendered, he would not persuade him again.

"Yes."

Liao Qing nodded in response, and then slapped Zhu Dadian on the back of the head with a golden nail, and Zhu Dadian also collapsed on the ground. Confucian practitioners such as Zhu Dadian and the others have strong spiritual cultivation, although it is difficult to deal with experts , but it is easy to deal with ordinary people. If they don't seal their souls, accidents will easily happen.

...

After Liao Qing took Zhu Dadian down, he returned to the lobby not long after.

Su Hao asked again: "How is the situation at Guo Hong's side?"

"Return to Your Majesty, Governor Guo and his troops are divided into three groups. Now they have captured Muyang, Haizhou, and Suqian, and they are converging here."

Liao Qing clapped his hands back.

Hearing this, Su Hao nodded his head and said, "Let them come here as soon as possible."

The battlefield is determined by the army, whether it is Da Ming or Da Qi, neither side will disperse its troops to various counties, because it will be defeated one by one.

"How's the situation in Fengyang?"

After a pause, Su Hao continued to ask, now there are [-] Ming troops in Fengyang Mansion, and there are only [-] troops in Ganyang. It is quite difficult to take Fengyang.

Liao Qing cupped his hands and replied: "Return to Your Majesty, Dudu Gan sent back the news that Guzhen has been taken down and is heading towards Fengyang Mansion."

"Let him play it safe."

Su Hao said in a deep voice, Fengyang Mansion is not particularly important, there are few Guanghe Rivers, it is impossible to support Nanzhili from there, after all, whether it is from Henan or Huguang, if you don't use the river , that at least have to travel thousands of miles.

Even if the army keeps on the road every day, it will take more than 20 days, plus the logistics, which consumes a lot, so if Huguang and Henan want to support Nanzhili, they can only rely on the Yellow River and Yangtze River waterways, so as long as they are blocked Living in these two places can cut off the reinforcements of Nanjing City.

He has already made preparations for a protracted battle in this battle. If the defensive will of Nanjing City is firm, it is not surprising that he will fight for three to five years. He is even prepared to retreat, because any fortified city It's not that easy to beat them down.

Even if Mongolia swept the world back then, he was still blocked in Xiangfan for so many years. This time he went south does not mean that he must take down the whole of Nanzhili. It is best to win. If not, then occupying the north of the Yangtze River is acceptable. .

...

Time passed day by day, and half a month later, Guo Hong brought more than 2 troops to Huai'an Fucheng, and the army went south again.

Soon the counties on both sides of the canal were captured one after another, and the army stopped outside the city of Yangzhou.

On the other side, Gan Yang also led an army of [-] to defeat the [-] Ming army in Fengyang Mansion.

.........

Nanjing City.

Guard the government office.

The faces of Wang Jia, Chen Guangyu, and Fan Jingwen were extremely gloomy. They never expected that not only the [-] troops of Huai'an Mansion were defeated, but also the [-] troops of Fengyang, the central capital, in just over a month. The imperial tomb fell into the enemy's hands again.

"My lord, what should I do now?"

Fan Jingwen sighed, the imperial tomb fell into the enemy's hands again, if the court convicts them, all three of them will lose their lives.

"Now we can only atone for our sins by defending Nanjing City."

Wang Jia said, but he sighed in his heart. Chen Guangyu and Fan Jingwen could redeem their crimes for defending Nanjing City, but his status in Zhu Youjian's mind could not be restored. The only eunuchs they could rely on were the emperor. If Zhu Youjian doesn't trust him anymore, then he will be finished.

"Mr. Chen, there are not many grain reserves in the city right now. I hope that Mr. Hou can raise more."

Hearing Wang Jia's words, Fan Jingwen looked at Chen Guangyu on the side. Nanjing City is the territory of nobles. If they want to raise more food to defend the city, they can only rely on nobles like Chen Guangyu.

"I'll ask others to help."

Hearing this, Chen Guangyu nodded. To defend Nanjing City is to protect their own family property. Now there are 10 soldiers and horses in Nanjing City, of which 4 are their temporary recruits.

These [-] soldiers and horses would need millions of shi of grain a year, and this time it might be a long time to defend the city, so it was necessary to store enough grain for several years.

...

Here, Wang Jia and the three of them are struggling. On the other side, the Qi army has already captured the capital city of Yangzhou. There are not many soldiers in the capital city of Yangzhou. In addition, the soldiers in the guard basically do not have much morale and fighting spirit. In a few days, Yangzhou The city was captured.

After capturing Yangzhou Fucheng, Su Hao led his troops along the river to attack Nanjing City. At this time, Liang Ping also entered the Yangtze River with more than 500 large and small warships.

.........

Outside the city of Nanjing, there are many army formations and flags flying.

Outside the camp, Su Hao looked at the majestic Nanjing City Wall in the distance, and a strange look flashed in his eyes. Nanjing City was built by Zhu Yuanzhang's order. The outer city wall is seventy miles long, the shortest city wall is four feet two high, and the tallest city wall Seven feet eight, much higher than other cities.

If Dongchangfu City is easy to defend and difficult to attack by taking advantage of its geographical advantages, then Nanjing City is a natural barrier built abruptly. If this kind of natural barrier is piled up by human lives, I am afraid that 30 to [-] people may not be able to pile it up.

After thinking for a long time, Su Hao asked, "Where is Liang Ping?"

If you want to capture Nanjing City, the best way is to besiege it. As long as Nanjing City is trapped without food and water, then Nanjing City will be destroyed by itself. However, it is not easy to trap Nanjing City to death. The city is backed by the Yangtze River. If you want to trap the city of Nanjing, you have to seal the Yangtze River.

"Return to Your Majesty, Governor Liang has led the navy to station at Xijiangkou."

Liao Qing on the side clapped his hands and replied.

"Let him closely monitor the Yangtze River, and never allow any ships to pass through the Yangtze River."

Su Hao opened his mouth and said: "In addition, order Liaodong to mobilize [-] troops to Jiangnan, and then mobilize [-] troops from Yanzhou Fucheng, Jinan Fucheng, and Dongchang Fucheng to sit in Xuzhou."

"Sir, go here."

Liao Qing clasped his hands in agreement, then turned around and went down to make arrangements.

"Guo Hong, you lead [-] troops to Luzhou Mansion, and you must take Luzhou Mansion."

After Liao Qing left, Su Hao looked at Guo Hong who was beside him.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Guo Hong hastily clapped his hands in response.

"Ganyang, you lead [-] troops to Zhenjiang Mansion, and you must take down the four mansions of Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, and Songjiang."

Su Hao then ordered that these four mansions are along the canal, and can be said to be one of the most affluent areas in the south of the Yangtze River. Taking these four mansions means that he can collect more taxes and recruit more troops.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Gan Yang on the side also clapped his hands and said that he didn't think it would be difficult to take down these four prefectures, because the soldiers and horses of the entire Nanzhili were in Nanjing City, and at most there were only a few temporarily recruited township braves left in various places. Relying on these township bravery to deal with Daqi's army is simply a fantasy.

Not long after Gan Yang left, Liao Qing came back.

"Order the prefects of Huai'an Mansion, Fengyang Mansion, and Xuzhou to immediately count all the fields and shops of the great Ming nobles within their jurisdiction, and confiscate all of them into the treasury."

Su Hao ordered: "In addition, let Hao Yi recruit recruits in these three places. The recruitment treatment will be first-class, and one hundred thousand recruits will be recruited."

The enlistment treatment was divided by him according to the previous enlistment treatment in Shandong. The first class was the highest, with three taels of Anjia silver, two taels of personal silver, two mu of land, exemption of three persons from corvee, and exemption of ten mu of land tax.

Now that he has just won these three places, if he wants to recruit soldiers, he can only rely on heavy rewards. It is to occupy the south of the Yangtze River, not to grab it and leave, so the hearts of the people are very important.

As long as 200 recruits can be recruited in these three places, then these three places will be considered stable. After all, there are at least one or two million relatives of these [-] recruits, accounting for a large part of the population of the three places.

(End of this chapter)