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

Chapter 255: Pirates Surrender
At midnight, the sea tide rose, bringing with it gusts of cool breeze. Danchu was about to go to bed when the intelligence chief Feng Jiali asked to see him, saying that he had something important to tell him.

The Red Army attached great importance to intelligence work and spared no effort in collecting intelligence. Danchu always took Feng Jiali with him wherever he went. His late night visit must mean that there was something important going on.

As expected, it was good news. Feng Jiali could not hide his excitement and said, "General, Prime Minister Liang Biao sent a secret envoy, willing to surrender."

Liang Biaoxiang? Danchu remembered that this man was the leader of the Red Flag pirates. He was recruited by Shang Kexi and appointed as the deputy commander of the navy.

Feng Jiali had more comprehensive information and introduced: "Liang Biaoxiang, also known as Liang Xiulan, was from Dongguan. In the 17th year of Chongzhen, Liang formed a group of seven pirates with Shi, Ma, Xu, Zheng, Liu, and Zhong, and united with mountain bandits to cause chaos along the coast of eastern Guangdong, and they were called the Red Flag Army.

"After Chen Zizhuang started his rebellion, Liang Biaoxiang led his troops to join him and stationed at Baishui, Dongshan. After his defeat, he surrendered to Li Chengdong. After Li Chengdong rebelled, Liang Biaoxiang was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the navy and was under the command of Li Yuanyin.

"Liang Biaoxiang and other Red Flag Marines originally had seven surnames. Li Yuanyin had no way to control them, and the Red Flag Marines dispersed one after another. In March of this year, only Liang Biaoxiang, Liu Longsheng, and Xu Tulong were left in the Red Flag Marines. They rebelled and surrendered to the Qing army from Zhaoqing, becoming Red Flag Marine Bandits..."

In the chaotic times of the late Ming Dynasty, there were many fickle warriors. Because of the changing times, only a few warriors remained loyal and steadfast, and most people could change their stance at any time in order to protect themselves.

Liang Biaoxiang had been a subordinate of Chen Zizhuang and personally experienced the uprising of the "Three Loyalists of Lingnan". He must have been influenced by them. Danchu was not surprised by Liang Biaoxiang's rebellion and asked, "What about Liu Longsheng and Xu Tulong?"

"Shang Kexi used all means to win over Liu and Xu. They were both vicious and stubborn, and Xu Tulong was even more daring and even killed our detective."

The Red Army scouts were deep behind enemy lines, which was extremely dangerous, so they would take revenge and believed in "an eye for an eye". In recent years, the Intelligence Bureau has become famous and the enemy is terrified. Even if they caught a scout, they would not dare to kill him easily. Xu Tulong was born a pirate and was ignorant of the world. He dared to kill the Red Army scout. The Intelligence Bureau will not stop until this revenge is taken.

"Yes. This time, your intelligence agency went deep into the enemy camp and persuaded Liang Biaoxiang to surrender, which was another great achievement. With him as an insider, our army is enough to annihilate the two bandits Liu Longsheng and Xu Tulong."

Danchu has decided to attack the Red Flag pirates, but is not yet fully prepared. This is because naval warfare is different from land warfare, and often a single battle can determine the outcome. For this reason, careful planning must be done before the battle.

The Red Flag pirates were all born as pirates, and they had many ships under their command, so they should not be underestimated. The Red Army Navy had small ships and few people, and Chen Qi Ce was a newly joined army. If he wanted to strike a fatal blow, he had to unite with Du Yonghe's navy.

The general who supported the suppression could nominally control all the towns, but the navy was the weak link of the Red Army. Danchu's command of the navy of other towns was not smooth, and it was far from being as easy as commanding the Red Army.

There was a lot of preparation work, such as coordination, unification of flags, careful planning, hydrological surveys and route surveys, so the Red Army delayed launching a naval battle. Liang Biao was on the contrary, and the Red Army was more confident in dealing with the Red Flag pirates.

"However, this matter is of great importance, and pirates are fickle. You have to pay close attention and beware of Liang Biaoxiang's deception." Dan Chu was worried, so he instructed Feng Jiali.

"Yes," Feng Jiali replied, "I will send someone to contact Liang Biaoxiang tomorrow and ask him to send his son as a hostage to see how he reacts."

He paused and said, "There is another situation that needs to be reported to the general. Shang Kexi executed Feng Yao and released Feng Yao's followers."

Feng Yao, the general of Fuchuan, was the hereditary commander of the rear guard of Guangzhou. After Emperor Yongli fled to Wuzhou, Feng Yao led his troops to escort him from Fuchuan, Guangxi to Wuzhou. The small court was desperate and sought medical help, trying to persuade Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao to surrender, and conferred Shang Kexi the title of Beiping Marquis and Jingbei Marquis. Shang Kexi was already the Prince of Pingnan in the Qing Dynasty, and Geng Jimao was also expected to inherit the title of Prince of Jingnan. How could they be interested in the title of Marquis of the Southern Ming Dynasty?
The court officials knew that the situation was bad and they were unwilling to act as envoys. Feng Yao was nearly 70 years old and knew that he didn't have much time left, so he volunteered to go to Guangzhou to carry out the imperial decree.

When he arrived in Zhaoqing, Grand Secretary He Wuzuo and General Cen Danchu hosted a banquet to retain him, and advised him not to go there to die, but to stay in Zhaoqing and call on his old subordinates.

Feng Yao said, "If I don't go, I will deceive you. Now I only know that you can't be deceived, but I don't know that the enemy can't be persuaded." He drank several buckets of wine, and was very proud. He said, "From here, one mile out of the suburbs, it is the Tianshan Mountains and the desert. I am old, and I can use my three-inch tongue to declare the power of heaven. As long as the Dingling surrender, why should Su Wu survive?"

When Feng Yao entered the Qing camp, he met Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao, but did not perform the greetings. Instead, he announced the imperial edict, "Immediately transfer the troops coming from the south, and soon the troops will be sent to the north to fight."

Shang and Geng were furious, but they admired his courage and asked Feng Yao to go to Guangzhou to persuade him to surrender. Feng Yao refused and rebuked him harshly. Shang Kexi ordered him to be killed. The executioner wanted to take off his crown, but Feng Yao said, "My head can be cut off, but my crown cannot be taken off." He went to his death with a sense of honor.

After hearing this, Danchu sighed and said slowly: "It can be seen that justice never fades and loyal people always exist. The Tartars are powerful, but they are barbarians from outside the territory, cruel and inhumane. As long as we are united, the Tartars will never be able to seize our country."

It is early summer, frogs are croaking everywhere, and cicadas are chirping occasionally.

Feng Jiali said: "Feng Yao was sent as an envoy to the Qing camp, with a deputy envoy and two followers. Shang Kexi wanted to kill all four of them, but Jin Guang tried his best to persuade him and saved the lives of the remaining three.

"General, Jin Guang is Shang Kexi's strategist, and he deserves our attention. Last time, two of our scouts disguised themselves as merchants and went to the Tartar camp to gather intelligence, but were captured by the Tartars. One of the scouts took poison and committed suicide, and the other was tortured and was about to collapse. Upon hearing the news, Jin Guang secretly let the scout go..."

Shang Kexi led his troops to attack Guangdong, and his deployment of troops was remarkable. On the one hand, he was a famous general, cunning and wise; on the other hand, he had a capable strategist - Jin Guang.

Jin Guang, whose original name was Han Cai, whose courtesy name was Gong Xuan and whose pseudonym was Tian Zhu, was from Yiwu, Zhejiang. In the first year of Chongzhen, Jin Guang went to the capital to take the imperial examination but failed. He went to Dengzhou, Shandong to visit a friend and met Shang Kexi by chance. They hit it off immediately.

From then on, Jin Guang became Shang Kexi's strategist. After Shang Kexi surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Jin Guang was unwilling to serve the Qing Dynasty and escaped many times. The Manchu Qing government tried to capture Jin Guang several times, but he was rescued by Shang Kexi every time. For this reason, Manchu and Han officials repeatedly impeached him, but Shang Kexi continued to do his own thing and protected Jin Guang.

"I heard that Shang Kexi cut Jin Guang's tendons?"

"Yes," Feng Jiali said, "When Jin Shenghuan rebelled, he invited Jin Guang to help him. Jin Guang wanted to surrender, but Shang Kexi sent people to bring him back and cut his tendons.

"After Jin Shenghuan was defeated, Shang Kexi teased Jin Guang, saying that if he had accepted Shenghuan's invitation, he would have died without a burial place. Jin Guang responded that if he really went to assist Jin Shenghuan, Jin Shenghuan would not have failed. Shang Kexi did not take it as an offense, and trusted him as before, and would always consult Jin Guang on major military and political plans. The relationship between the two was roughly like this."

If we talk about persuading Shang Kexi to defect, it is a fantasy. But if we talk about persuading Jin Guang to defect, it seems feasible. The enemy's weak spot is often hidden inside. If we can persuading Jin Guang to defect, it will undoubtedly be a fatal blow to Shang Kexi.

"Keep an eye on Jin Guang, find a capable detective, and find a way to get close to him."

(End of this chapter)