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

Chapter 276 Either a Genius or a Madman

Jingjiang Prince Zhu Hengxun was kept in the dark and asked, "Old sir?"

Qu Shisi came back to his senses, with a painful look on his face, and said, "Your Majesty, please send everyone away."

Qu Gongmei, Jiao Ke and others left the pavilion, leaving only Zhu Hengxun, Qu Shisi, Lu Shouyi and Yan Wei at the table.

"Ah!" Qu Shisi sighed and said, "Cen Songpo plans to lure the enemy deep into our territory and give Guilin to the Tartars. When the Tartars occupy Guilin, they will surely divide their forces to seize Pingle and Liuzhou and eye Wuzhou and Nanning. By then, the Tartars' forces will be dispersed, and the Red Army will take the opportunity to counterattack and defeat the Tartars in one fell swoop."

This was simply unbelievable to Zhu Hengxun. Guilin City was so important, but he handed it over to the Qing army, allowing the Qing army to march straight in and threaten Nanning and Wuzhou. Anyone who dared to deploy the military in this way was either a genius or a madman.

He was skeptical and looked at Qu Shisi, then at Lu Shouyi and Yan Wei, as if seeking their opinions.

Yan Wei said, "That's right. If we want to annihilate the Tartars, we have to lure them to the south. Dorgon promised Kong Youde to establish a government in Guangxi. As long as we give up Guilin, he will become even more arrogant and occupy Guilin without hesitation. Then he will stay in Guilin and send troops to seize Wuzhou and Nanning."

The Prince of Jingjiang's Palace was the largest palace in Guilin. When Kong Youde led his army into Guilin, he would occupy the Prince of Jingjiang's Palace and replace it with the Prince of Dingnan's Palace.

Thinking of this, Zhu Hengxun wished he could burn down the palace immediately to prevent this great palace from being defiled by the Tartars.

"General Lu, I am confused. Why do you say that the key to completely annihilating the Tartars lies in Mr. Qu?" Zhu Hengxun turned to Lu Shouyi and asked.

Lu Shouyi looked stern and unfathomable, and said, "In fact, if we want to completely annihilate the Tartars, we need the cooperation of the old gentleman and the prince."

"Ah?" Zhu Hengxun was stunned at first, then he looked excited and said, "Not to mention annihilating the Tartars, as long as I can kill Kong Youde, I will be satisfied. Even if I have to go through fire and water and die immediately, I am willing to do so."

Qu Shisi's expression eased a lot. He looked at Lu Shouyi and motioned him to continue.

“If the old gentleman and the prince stay in Guilin, it will be a great act of kindness and righteousness, but it will be of no benefit to the overall situation, and it will also disregard the emperor and put the general in an unkind and unjust position.

"The old gentleman is the Grand Secretary of the Military Commission and the governor of Guilin, and the prince is the Prince of Jingjiang, who has the longest reign among the princes. The two of them have special identities and can command the support of hundreds of people. If they stay in Guilin and are captured by Kong Youde, Kong Youde will be very proud and will probably stop the army to rest and repair the defense line.

"It is better to leave the city quickly and make a big show. First, it can promote justice to the world, and heroes and patriots will follow. Second, it can confuse Kong Youde, who will definitely fall into the trap and rush to send troops to pursue. The Tartars have come from afar, and the longer the battle line is, the more loopholes there will be.

"The Red Army has been gathering strength for a long time. We will surprise the enemy and launch a surprise attack on Yanguan and Zhenxiaguan to cut off their escape route. The general will personally lead the army to press on Guilin and force the Tartars to a decisive battle. Then we can achieve great success!"

Zhu Hengxun was moved by what he said. He was not very cunning and laughed loudly, "Great, great! General Cen's plan is very good. If it really works, the Tartars will never return!"

Qu Shisi was quite worried. It was the duty of a frontier official to defend the territory. It was natural for him to die for his loyalty when the city was captured. This would also preserve his reputation after his death. If he left Guilin, he would be captured by the Tartars or killed by the rebels. His reputation would be greatly affected. The court was in a fierce party struggle, and someone would take the opportunity to make a fuss, attacking him for being cowardly and avoiding fighting, and escaping from the city without permission. He could not clear himself of this even if he jumped into the Yellow River. A hundred years later, it would be hard to say whether he was a virtuous or treacherous person.

Furthermore, although Cen Danchu is his son-in-law, he has acted out of line in the past two years, establishing the Red Army and the Military Government, and killing Chen Bangfu and Chen Zengyu, father and son, without authorization. His rebellious intentions are obvious.

At this moment, he did not move his troops and allowed the Qing army to attack Guilin. Was he brewing a big plan or was he just waiting and watching the situation? He refused to reinforce Jiao Lian after his defeat. Qu Shisi had no soldiers and the imperial seal had been returned to the court. If something went wrong, would Cen Danchu help him?
There have been rumors in Guilin recently that rebellions have broken out in Nanning, Xunzhou, Yulinzhou, etc. It is also said that the Red Army sent troops to aid Guangdong, taking advantage of the situation to seize Leizhou, Qiongzhou, and Lianzhou from Dongxun. The people in the three prefectures are not loyal to them, Li Mingzhong's old subordinates are ready to make a move, and the pirates newly recruited by the Red Army are also uncertain about their allegiance.

In short, people's hearts were floating in the turbulent times. Qu Shisi and Cen Danchu had not seen each other for a long time and no longer dared to trust the Red Army. Seeing that the Prince of Jingjiang was very enthusiastic, Yan Wei struck while the iron was hot and said, "For the sake of the world, for the sake of the great plan of western Guangdong, and for the safety of the emperor, please don't be too fussy about the details. The old gentleman can raise the banner of the commander-in-chief and rush to Liuzhou in the southwest. The prince can raise the banner of the Jingjiang vassal and rush to Wuzhou in the southeast.

"Outside Guilin City, there are still troops stationed by Suining Earl Pu Ying and Ningwu Earl Ma Yanglin. When they hear the flags of the governor and Jingjiang, they will definitely lead their troops to escort. The general has also sent elite troops to ensure the safety of the old gentleman and the prince.

"Soon, Kong Youde will hear that the old gentleman and the prince have escaped. He will be furious and send troops to pursue them. As the saying goes, an arrogant army will be defeated. If our Red Army takes advantage of their unpreparedness, Kong Youde will not be able to retreat in time and will surely die."

"Okay! I believe in General Cen. We will leave the city for Wuzhou this afternoon!" Zhu Hengxun was straightforward, unlike Qu Shisi who was hesitant.

Qu Shisi was still hesitating, but could not resist the instigation of the three men and finally agreed to leave the city and go to Liuzhou to attract Kong Youde to come south.

After a brief discussion, everyone reached a consensus. Yan Wei followed Zhu Hengxun and went to Wuzhou via Pingle. Lu Shouyi followed Qu Shisi and went to Liuzhou via Yongfu and Luorong.

Zhu Hengxun's face flushed with inexplicable excitement. He raised his glass and invited everyone to drink. He said, "Old sir, let's say goodbye on Duxiu Peak. When I return victorious one day, I will hold a banquet on Duxiu Peak to entertain you all."

The plan was decided, and the worry on Qu Shisi's face finally dissipated. He smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I will wait until the day of victory, and then go to Duxiu Peak to ask Your Majesty for wine."

Everyone stood up, drank another glass of wine, and said goodbye to each other.

Qu Shisi first sent Qu Gongmei home to burn the confidential letters and pack up the ancestral tablets. Then he put on the imperial robe, rode a tall horse, paraded through the streets, and went out of the south gate.

After serving as the governor of Guilin for four years, Qu Shisi had a good reputation. He was followed by a group of elite Red Army soldiers, and the guards at the South Gate did not dare to stop him, let alone rob his luggage.

The body of Yu Yuanye, the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Guard, was still left in Yuecheng, and his underwear was stripped off, revealing his naked upper body.

Yu Yuanye tried his best to curry favor with the Yunnan division commander Zhao Yinxuan and became a relative of him. He also made friends with Emperor Ma "Ma Jixiang" and was promoted to the commander-in-chief and grand secretary. He repeatedly competed with Qu Shisi for power, but ended up like this.

The dead are the most important. Qu Shisi sighed, stopped his horse and ordered the guards to bury Yu Yuanye.

The gatekeeper came over to pay his respects, and Qu Shisi asked, "I will go to Liuzhou to recruit soldiers to fight against the Tartars. Are you willing to go with me?"

Most of the soldiers guarding the city in the Ming Dynasty were locals, hereditary, and had little combat effectiveness, so they rarely fought to the death with the enemy. Since the soldiers from various towns had already fled, the soldiers guarding the city would not make unnecessary sacrifices.

When Kong Youde arrived, the gatekeepers had to surrender, and then they continued to guard the gates and take advantage of the travelers. In times of war, if they encountered a rich but immoral person like Yu Yuanye, they could take the opportunity to rob and kill him and make a fortune.

Therefore, when Qu Shisi asked this question, the soldiers guarding the South Gate looked hesitant, and only four or five of them were willing to leave their homes and follow him.

The gatekeeper declined, saying, "Sir, my family is still in the city. I will pack my bags tonight and head south to catch up with you tomorrow morning."

"Well, very good, very good." Qu Shisi knew that what the gatekeeper said was untrue, but he still praised: "You are a loyal and righteous man. You can go out of the south gate tomorrow and head southwest. I will go to Liuzhou to recruit soldiers. In the future, I will definitely lead troops to counterattack and recover Guilin."

(End of this chapter)