Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 122 Making Friends with Dongxun
Looking at the young warrior in front of him, Li Chengdong couldn't help but frown. Who dares to talk nonsense in front of Dongxun?

"General Jue, this is Cen Danchu, the general of Zhaoyong. He holds the seal of the General who Conquers the Barbarians and is also the deputy governor. He is also the son-in-law of Lord Qu." Lu Kezao introduced.

"Oh!" Li Chengdong suddenly realized and said, "It turns out that he is the elder's son-in-law, a brave general under the command of the Marquis of Xinxing."

Jiao Lian had few soldiers under his command and his strength was not particularly strong, but most of his generals were brave and daring in battle, and were quite famous among the warriors in Lingnan.

There was also a young general behind Li Chengdong, who said, "You are too kind, General. The Duke of Yu and the Marquis of Jianwu are both brave and good at fighting, and they have no less than 200,000 elite soldiers under their command. Du Gebu and General He are nearby and can provide reinforcements at any time. Even if the Manchus arrive in Jiangxi, how can they easily take Nanchang?"

This person was none other than Li Yuanyin, also known by his courtesy name Yuanbo. His original surname was Jia, and he was a descendant of Confucianism. When he was young, he was abducted by Li Chengdong, who took him in as his son. He followed Li Chengdong through thick and thin, "read a little and understood righteousness," and "had a cunning mind and great ambition."

When Li Chengdong rebelled, his family and children were all in Songjiang, and were executed by the Qing court. Li Yuanyin became the closest person to Li Chengdong in the world, and was also regarded as Li Chengdong's successor.

Although this guy is young, he is quite loyal and intelligent. He showed outstanding talent in urging Li Chengdong to rebel and kill Tong Yangjia.

Danchu was not in a position to argue with him, so he just shook his head and smiled bitterly. Qu Shisi was interested in winning over Li Chengdong, so he couldn't act on impulse.

Li Chengdong, on the other hand, was quite sensible and quite different from what he had imagined. He said, "Governor, please tell the elders that I will definitely fight against Zhongcheng. The emperor will return to Zhaoqing and has sent people to build an altar in Zhaoqing to appoint me as the General of Yiming. After that, I will swear to lead my troops to the north to attack Zhongcheng."

Emperor Yongli also had to pay homage to the Xingling Mausoleum in Wuzhou before sailing down the river to Zhaoqing. The imperial carriage was full of people and horses, so the journey was slow. According to Li Chengdong, the Guangdong troops would not be able to set out until a month later at the earliest.

At that time, it was the end of August or the beginning of September, and the day lilies were getting cold.

Lu Kezao, Ma Qijiao and Cen Danchu looked at each other and felt quite disappointed.

Li Chengdong changed the subject and said, "Ma Jixiang is so arrogant that he promoted and demoted the nine ministers and ministers according to the emperor's orders, and conferred official titles arbitrarily, as if it were a child's play. His grace and power did not come from the emperor but from other channels. The prime minister could not hold the power to draft bills, and bandits were promoted arbitrarily and bribery was rampant.

"Everyone says that Emperor Ma is the real emperor. How can I not believe it? I abandoned my old mother and young son to do this, hoping that the country would be revived and not in vain. Now that I see the traitors like this, how can I help?"

Warriors are straightforward in nature. Li Chengdong relied on his large number of soldiers and generals. Seeing Ma Jixiang being so arrogant, he had the intention of submitting a memorial to impeach Ma Jixiang.

However, Lu Kezao had been immersed in the Yongli court for a long time and knew that Ma Jixiang had connections with eunuchs and officials outside, and was deeply trusted by the Yongli Emperor. He had reached the point where he could control his power. So he carefully advised: "Marshal, don't be reckless. The traitors are powerful. If you can't kill them with one blow, you will suffer from them."

Li Chengdong has a strong army, so it's not hard for him to kill a Jinyiwei commander. However, he has just turned over and claims to be loyal, so it's not convenient for him to kill people. Perhaps, he can bring Qu Shisi into the cabinet as the chief minister, who can not only serve as a strong support, but also replace the incompetent Yan Qiheng, and suppress Ma Jixiang, Pang Tianshou, Xia Guoxiang and other treacherous people.

"In order to support the founding fathers, Lord Qu stayed in Guilin and won three battles and three victories. Now that the major events in western Guangdong have been settled, it seems that Lord Qu should be called back to take charge of the central government."

After saying that, Li Chengdong glanced at Cen Danchu, hoping that Danchu would agree with him.

Danchu said without hesitation: "Marshal, although western Guangdong has been settled, the war in Huguang is in full swing. Lord Qu is stationed in Guilin to supply food and fodder to the front line of Huguang, and transport military equipment. He cannot leave Guilin for a day. If Huguang is lost, western Guangdong will be lost. If western Guangdong is lost, eastern Guangdong will be in danger, and then the Ming Dynasty will be in danger."

The Huguang battlefield was related to the overall strategic situation. The Yongli court had always been in the western part of Guangdong, and it was finally safe because Du Yinxi, He Tengjiao and others insisted on resisting the Qing in Huguang. Li Chengdong also understood the pros and cons and turned to discuss Chen Bangfu. This was the reason why Qu Shisi approached Li Chengdong, and it was also the key factor in maintaining the two small groups of Qu Shisi and Li Chengdong.

"May I ask, Marshal, there are rumors that the Duke of Qing offered money to surrender. Is this true?"

Speaking of this, Li Chengdong was filled with indignation and said, "Chen Bangfu sent Shen Yuanwei to present the land and military records to ask for surrender, and also to take the emperor as a surrender gift. I rebelled, and Chen Bangfu took the hunting as his own achievement, and deceived me as a three-year-old boy. I will avenge this vengeance."

A warrior will always seek revenge if he is wronged, and Li Chengdong is no exception.

Lu Kezao was also filled with righteous indignation, and said, "Marshal, have you ever heard that Chen Bangfu wrote to the court and said, 'We will guard Guangxi for generations, just like the Mu family in Yunnan'?"

Li Chengdong sneered and said, "I rule Guangdong, with dozens of times more soldiers, money, food and population than Chen Bangfu, but I still don't dare to ask for hereditary protection. He is just a Chen Bangfu, who has never seen an enemy in his life and has no military achievements. He only flatters his superiors, and yet he dares to protect Guangxi for hereditary protection!"

Speaking of Chen Bangfu, everyone was indignant. Ma Qijiao also said: "Chen Bangfu has been entrenched in Guangxi for a long time, controlling the Han areas of Nanning, Taiping and other seven prefectures, setting up officials and collecting tributes.

"The troops were fighting bloody battles on the front lines and were short of food. Qu Ge Lao collected food from Liuzhou and Xunzhou, but Chen Bangfu disobeyed his orders. During the three battles in Guilin, Chen Bangfu did not send any troops. During the counterattacks in Quanzhou and Yongzhou, Chen Bangfu did not send any troops or food.

"During the emperor's visit to Nanning, Chen Bangfu insulted court officials and beat Wang Zhu, the head of the Ministry of Revenue, to death. That year, Liu Chengyin also beat up officials. Liu Chengyin surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, so why didn't Chen Bangfu surrender as well?"

Cen Danchu added fuel to the fire and said, "The emperor has appointed me as the general of the expedition, and the imperial edict has been issued, but Chen Bangfu has been reluctant to hand over the seal. The military governors are arrogant and disobedient, and the imperial court's orders are not effective. If this continues, how can we survive?"

Qu Shisi had always been concerned about the seal of the General of the Barbarian Expedition. Lu Kezao also knew that this seal was of great importance, so he took the opportunity to say:
"The soldiers of Guangdong are powerful, and their cavalry are like clouds. Tomorrow, you may want to gather all the generals, either for a banquet or a competition of archery. Chen Zengyu is just a fool, and we can humiliate him then. Chen Bangfu knows that you have a strict army and that our two armies are in harmony, so he will not dare to be arrogant again."

To protect the emperor this time, Chen Bangfu sent his son Chen Zengyu to lead the team, probably hoping that he would accumulate merit so that he could be promoted to marquis.

Li Chengdong had an idea in mind and said, "Our dynasty attaches great importance to archery ceremony. Tomorrow I will hold an archery ceremony as an excuse to gather all the generals. Then I will humiliate Chen Zengyu and avenge his father's arrow shot."

Although he was a warrior, Li Chengdong was also bold and careful. He said to Danchu, "I will definitely help you with the matter of conquering the barbarians and obtaining the seal of the general. If Chen Bangfu knows what's best for him, he won't dare to disobey your orders."

Li Chengdong despised Chen Bangfu very much. He helped Danchu get the seal of the General of Conquering the Barbarians. This not only gave Qu Shisi a great deal of face, but also helped him to befriend Jiao Lian. It was a matter of killing three birds with one stone.

Danchu was delighted and stood up to thank him, "Thank you, Marshal Jue, for your help."

Li Chengdong smiled and said to Cen Danchu and Li Yuanyin, "You two are about the same age. When I was your age, I was only a sergeant. Now, one of you is a general officer and the other is a commander of the Jinyiwei. You can be said to have achieved success at a young age. The court is very kind, and we should be determined to serve the country and plan for its revival!"

Cen Danchu and Li Yuanyin smiled at each other and replied, "Danchu will remember the Marshal's teachings in his heart."

(End of this chapter)