The days when I ransacked the house in Jinyiwei

Chang Feng guessed Emperor Zhengde's intention.

Emperor Zhengde found a reason to delay the army's march south in order to give Prince Ning some time and allow the rebellion to spread like wildfire.

If it was just a small flame, I could put it out by just peeing. How could that show off my ability?

If it was a devastating fire sweeping across Jiangnan, it would be different if I personally went to put it out. My great feat of suppressing the rebellion would be recorded in history.

People are not pure black and white. This is the case with Emperor Zhengde. He was a monarch with great potential. He wanted to quell foreign enemies, settle internal strife, reduce the number of civil officials, and bring prosperity to the Ming Dynasty. This is his white side.

He is ambitious and sees the people as a number that can be counted or ignored. This is his dark side.

Emperor Zhengde found a lame excuse to postpone his march south and condoned Prince Ning's rebellion. He never thought that if the rebellion lasted one more day, how many more people would die in Jiangnan and how many more people would become refugees due to the war.

Chang Feng saw through this, but he couldn't tell Zhang Yong and others the whole story. He couldn't tell Zhang Yong and others that the emperor was a piece of shit, using the lives of the people in Jiangnan as a stepping stone to build his own career.

Since Yongle moved the capital, the elite troops of the Ming army have been on the northern border. The southern Ming army is composed of young soldiers who have not fought for a long time. If the army to suppress the rebellion temporarily postpones its march south, the momentum of the Ning Wang rebellion will be even more fierce. This seems to be a foregone conclusion.

Fortunately, there is Wang Shouren in Jiangnan, Wang Shouren!
In Jiangnan, Wang Shouren successfully deceived Prince Ning with a counter-espionage plan, causing the main force of the rebels to stay in Hongdu for more than ten days.

During this period, Wang Shouren actively recruited soldiers from Yuanzhou, Linjiang, Ganzhou and other places.

As the saying goes, it is not the quantity of soldiers that counts, but the quality. Wang Shouren did the exact opposite. No matter if they are old, lame, shorter than a wheel, or skinny, we, Old Wang, want them all!

Wang Shouren’s principle of recruiting soldiers was: more monkeys mean three more points of strength, and if the number of people is increased, the momentum will also be increased.

Within 15 days, Wang Shouren had gained more than 80,000 militiamen. With 100,000 bandits, 80,000 militiamen, and 3,000 Hakka "Baowu soldiers", the total number of Wang Shouren's troops to suppress the rebellion had exceeded that of Ning Wang's rebels.

But Wang Shouren knew clearly that he only had 3,000 Hakka soldiers who could really fight. The 100,000 bandits seemed loyal and brave, but in fact they were just fence-sitters. If the war went well, they would follow the Hakka soldiers to capture the city, but if the war failed, they would scatter like birds and beasts.

Of the 80,000 militiamen, at most 5,000 were fit for combat. The rest could only wave flags and shout slogans.

In July of the fourteenth year of Zhengde, sixteen days after Wang Shouren's plan of sowing discord, Prince Ning finally discovered that this old man Wang Shouren was very bad. I don't believe you at all!

King Ning made a decisive decision to leave Hongdu and attack Yingtian.

Yingtian was the place where the Ming Dynasty was founded, the Nanjing of the empire, and the place where Taizu's mausoleum was located. After conquering Yingtian, Prince Ning had the capital to confront the imperial court across the river.

King Ning selected 60,000 elite soldiers from the rebels and led them personally to attack Anqing, the gate guarding Yingtian.

Anqing only had one garrison with a full staff of no more than 5,000 soldiers. Why was such an important town guarded by only 5,000 people? This has to be mentioned. The eunuch guarding Nanjing understood the intentions of the great leader, Emperor Zhengde. The eunuch knew that the emperor wanted to see the rebellion in Jiangnan intensify. When the heavenly soldiers arrived, they would quell the large-scale rebellion, and the world would praise the great Emperor Zhengde for his bravery.
Therefore, the eunuchs guarding Nanjing transferred almost half of the troops in Jiangnan to Yingtian City.

As long as I can hold on to Yingtian until the Emperor arrives, it will be a great achievement.

As for other places, I'm sorry, I can't control that.

Fortunately, there were two other powerful men in Anqing City. One was Yang Rui, the commander of the Right Army of Nanjing, and the other was Zhang Wenjin, the prefect of Anqing.

After Yongle moved the capital, Nanjing not only retained the six ministries, but also the Five Military Governors' Office. The five military governors had no real power and were just a retirement position.

Veteran General Yang Rui, however, took his retirement position seriously. He patrolled and performed military exercises in various garrisons in the south of the Yangtze River, promoting his philosophy of leading troops: "If you can do anything, you can do it."

As luck would have it, Yang Rui went to Anqing for inspection this month. He encountered the rebellion of Prince Ning. Prince Ning knew how to win without fighting. He first sent an envoy into the city to persuade Old Yang to surrender.

Old Yang was possessed by Hannibal. Not the Hannibal of Carthage, but the Hannibal the cannibal in the American TV series.

Old Yang chopped off the head of the man who persuaded him to surrender, which was a routine operation. Then he patiently chopped the body of the man who persuaded him to surrender into pieces, roughly chopping "more than a hundred pieces", and then threw the pieces off the city wall one by one.

When Jimmy sees this guy at the dog farm, he calls him an expert.

Another prefect, Zhang Wenjin, was also a ruthless person. "He looked more like a vicious bandit than a civil servant."

The unlucky man who persuaded the surrender was chopped off. There were many relatives in Anqing. Magistrate Zhang arrested all the relatives of the unlucky man who persuaded the surrender, more than 50 people in total. They were all taken to the city tower and chopped off in front of the defenders on the city and the rebels outside the city.

More than fifty heads fell to the ground below the tower. Magistrate Zhang, with red eyes, shouted, "This is the fate of those who followed the thieves!"

The Anqing defenders were small in number and had low morale. After what Prefect Zhang did, they were all so scared that they gulped, "Oh my god. Let's just defend the city. Commander Yang, Prefect Zhang is too treacherous. We can't afford to offend him."

The low morale of the defenders was boosted by the inhumane and brutal actions of the two fierce men.

Next, let’s fight!
The Anqing army and civilians fought with the same spirit as the defense of Hongdu during the founding of the Taizu period. Regardless of casualties, relying on the strong city, 5,000 people blocked the fierce attack of 60,000 people for ten days.

Ji'an Prefecture.

Wang Shouren and his six generals - three prefects, a deputy prefect, a prosecutor, and a county magistrate - learned the news that Prince Ning was attacking Anqing.

Wu Wendi and others almost blurted out: "Please ask Governor Wang to send troops to rescue Anqing as soon as possible!"

Wang Shouren said nothing.

Wu Wendi was furious: "If Anqing falls, Prince Ning will attack Yingtian next! The consequences will be disastrous!"

Wang Shouren took a sip of tea and said slowly, "Why did the Ning Wang rebels capture cities and territories without encountering any resistance?"

Wu Wending replied: "Isn't it because those eunuchs who hold the military power randomly mobilized the main forces stationed in various places?"

Wang Shouren asked, "Where was he transferred to?"

Wu Wending replied: "Of course I will be transferred to Yingtian."

At this point, Wu Wendi suddenly realized.

Wang Shouren said, "Half of the troops in Jiangnan have been transferred to Yingtian. Even if Anqing falls, Yingtian will not be in danger. Moreover, I heard that the governor Yang Rui and the prefect Zhang Wenjin are stationed in Anqing. Even if Prince Ning is a vicious wolf, the two of them will break all his teeth."

Wu Wending asked, "What about us? Are we going to keep the 180,000 troops we just assembled standing still?"

Wang Shouren didn't say anything, but pointed his finger at a place - the Ning Wang's old nest, Nanchang!
Wu Wending exclaimed: "Besiege Wei to save Zhao?"

Wang Shouren smiled and said, "That's right. Nanchang is the rebels' lair. If we attack Nanchang, King Ning will have to retreat."

The drama of the scholar suppressing the rebellion alone is about to reach its climax. (End of this chapter)