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

Chapter 310: Massive Invasion
"Where is Wu Liuqi, the general of Raoping? Send him in to answer the question."

Zhang Cunren suddenly mentioned Wu Liuqi, which surprised everyone. Wu Liuqi was a surrendered general of the Ming Dynasty, of humble origin. I wonder what kind of talent he had that could attract the attention of the governor?
A member of the army, Goshha, walked out of the hall and said in a loud voice, "Send Wu Liuqi, the general of Raoping, to come in and report."

"Yes!" A burly middle-aged man stepped out of the line, strode into the lobby under the envious gazes of everyone.

"General Wu Liuqi pays respect to the Marshal."

Zhang Cunren was very pleased to see that he was a tall and strong man and that he kowtowed in a very standard way. He said, "Please stand up, please stand up."

Wu Liuqi looked up at Zhang Cunren with sharp eyes, and was secretly shocked to find that he looked old.

Zhang Cunren stroked his beard, looked at the map hanging on the wall, and said, "I heard that Raoping is not in Huizhou, but in Chaozhou. Where is it exactly?"

Two Goshahas brought an easel with a map of the five provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang drawn on it, which were exactly the areas that Zhang Cunren was ordered to manage.

Wu Liuqi walked to the map, pointed Raoping to Zhang Cunren, and said:

"Please look, sir. Raoping is located by the sea, southeast of Chaozhou Prefecture, and borders Fujian. This place is extremely important, and it faces Nan'ao Island across the sea. With Raoping, there is Nan'ao Island. With Nan'ao Island, we can control the shipping lanes, protect Guangdong in the west, and Fujian in the east.

"Due to the rebellion of Japanese pirates, the Ming Dynasty specially set up a general in Nan'ao, called the 'General of Nan'ao Town of Fujian and Guangdong', in charge of the coastal defense of Fujian and Guangdong provinces. This was the only coastal defense general in the Ming Dynasty who used an island as a flooding ground."

Wu Liuqi was from Haifeng County, Huizhou Prefecture. After returning home from Zhejiang, he gathered local militia and dominated the village. Later, he was recruited by the Yongli Dynasty and was named General of Raoping. Raoping is in Chaozhou, and Wu Liuqi's old camp is in Huizhou. It was obviously inappropriate for the Yongli Dynasty to appoint Wu Liuqi as General of Raoping. Perhaps it was at the instruction of Dongxun to transfer him away from his old nest to weaken his power.

Zhang Cunren saw that Wu Liuqi was amazing and had a dignified attitude. He was delighted to see his talent and said, "I heard that you submitted a proposal on 'maritime ban', which was discussed by court officials and the emperor also appreciated it very much."

The notorious "sea ban" policy was a well-known bad policy of the Qing Dynasty, and the initiator was Wu Liuqi. He suggested "relocating the border and banning the sea" in coastal provinces such as Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangnan. Civilian sails were not allowed to enter the sea, and coastal residents were moved inland 30 to 50 miles. Borders were set up for defense and crossing was strictly prohibited in order to block the Southern Ming navy.

After hearing what Zhang Cunren said, Wu Liuqi knew that his bet was right, and said, "The navy of the southern invaders is strong, and the navy of the Celestial Empire is weak. If we don't move the border and ban the sea, we can't cut off trade, and we can't defeat the southern invaders."

"Yes." Zhang Cunren nodded, and said nothing. In fact, he did not agree with "relocating the border and banning the sea". It was just that the Manchu nobles praised "relocating the border and banning the sea", and Zhang Cunren was unable to object, so he simply agreed against his conscience.

These so-called "virtuous ministers" are just like this. They have only a name for themselves and only do what the Qing court wants without considering the lives of the common people.

Bashan echoed, "Mr. Jianbo is loyal to the country and does not shy away from rumors. The court highly commends him."

Wu Liuqi smiled slightly and said, "General, you are too kind."

Zhang Cunren's heart moved, and he said, "Wu Liuqi, this department is willing to recommend you as the admiral of the Guangdong Navy, with the title of Left Commander-in-Chief, to unify and control all the naval forces in eastern Guangdong. Are you willing?"

There were dozens of generals in East Guangdong, and seven or eight generals in the navy. Wu Liuqi was greatly excited to be promoted from a general to an admiral, and he saluted Zhang Cunren and said, "Thank you, Marshal."

This was a big deal, and Zhang Cunren acted arbitrarily without consulting Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao beforehand, and he obviously didn't take Shang and Geng seriously. He was able to force Geng Zhongming to death and become the governor of five provinces, which was incomparable to ordinary people. Although Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao were unhappy, they had to obey and praised Zhang Cunren for his ability to judge people.

"The navy is extremely important along the coast of eastern Guangdong. Wu Liuqi, you are the commander of the Guangdong navy. You need to defend against the Red Bandits in the west and Zheng's pirates in the east. The burden on your shoulders is not light."

Wu Liuqi had also suggested in his proposal to build up the fleet, pacify the pirates, and expand the navy. Today, in front of everyone, he couldn't say much, so he could only say in general terms: "Wu has received a generous reward from the court, and I will do my best until my death."

"Well. You can leave now." Wu Liuqi accepted the order and was about to leave. Zhang Cunren said, "You don't have to leave the hall. Just stay in the hall and obey me."

This is a kind of courtesy. Wu Liuqi was secretly delighted and stood at the end of the hall.

"The Red Bandits defeated Dingnan and occupied the entire western Guangdong. The situation is set. Next, our army's number one enemy is Cen Danchu, followed by Zhu Chenggong. Cen Danchu is best at deceiving people and holding Yongli hostage for his own dignity. We cannot take him lightly. He will have a decisive battle with us soon. Zhu Chenggong came from the sea of ​​pirates and is determined to preserve his wealth. He is close to Yongli and will only watch from the sidelines, waiting for our army to fight a decisive battle with the Red Army so that he can reap the benefits and seek the grain-producing areas of Chaohui. Therefore, our army's main attack direction is in western Guangdong, not eastern Guangdong."

Although Zhang Cunren was old, he had a sharp vision and was able to accurately identify the real enemy of the Qing army as soon as he opened his mouth, which was impressive.

"Using troops in western Guangdong, striking down the Red Bandits, and inciting the old members of the Dingnan Frontier to revolt is the top priority for our army. Du Yonghe of Qiongzhou, Li Mingzhong of Gaozhou, and Li Yuanyin of Luodingzhou are all former members of Dongxun, standing between the Red Bandits and the Heavenly Army. These three should be suppressed and appeased at the same time. You see, who will surrender? Who won't surrender?"

The Qing army had already started to recruit Li Mingzhong. Li Mingzhong had served Mao Wenlong and was old acquaintances with Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming. Geng Jimao sent people to recruit Li Mingzhong, using the courtesy of a son and nephew, but Li Mingzhong beheaded him and burned his books. Geng Jimao said unhappily, "It is basically impossible to recruit Li Mingzhong."

"Oh?" Zhang Cunren was surprised and asked, "What did he say?"

Geng Jimao replied: "Li Mingzhong's original words were, 'When your father and I parted ways on Pi Island, we were willing to surrender and head north. Now that we have established a vassal state, how can we say that?'"

Bashan was dismissive and said, "In this case, we should attack Gaozhou and massacre the people in the city to frighten them."

"Where are Li Yuanyin and Du Yonghe?"

"Du Yonghe may surrender, but Li Yuanyin is not one who surrenders."

The situation was worse than expected. Zhang Cunren sighed secretly, but he didn't want to lose heart in front of the generals, so he said:
"Since entering the Pass, the Heavenly Army has been invincible and has never suffered a major defeat, which has led to the current situation. The battle in western Guangdong should also be the same as before, and we should win every battle. All generals, listen to my orders!"

Everyone was shocked and could not help but hold their breath and listen to the orders from their superiors.

The middle officer immediately produced a military order and deployed the attack.

General Bashan of Jingnan, Geng Jimao, Lord of Jingnan, and other troops led by him, with a force of about 60,000, left Zhaoqing to attack Wuzhou.

Shang Kexi, the King of Pingnan, Hu Yousheng, the General of Nan Gan, and other troops, with about 40,000 men, marched out of Guangzhou to attack Gaozhou, and then divided their forces to attack Leizhou, Yulinzhou, and Lianzhou, threatening Nanning.

Li Qifeng, the governor of Guangdong, led more than 20,000 troops and stationed in Guangzhou to ensure the supply line from Guangzhou to Meiguan and to intimidate Huang Yingjie of Huizhou, Hao Shangjiu of Chaozhou and other former subordinates of Dongxun.

Wu Liuqi assigned the navy to escort the land army into battle.

Zhang Cunren was stationed in Zhaoqing and was in charge of coordinating the operations.

The reinforcements drawn from border towns and inland areas were unified and gathered in Zhaoqing, and were under the command of Zhang Cunren.

At the end, Zhang Cunren said: "February 2 is an auspicious day, which is conducive to going on an expedition. I have decided that the army will move out on February 2 and launch a large-scale expedition to western Guangdong. I hope you will serve the country enthusiastically and make achievements on the battlefield."

(End of this chapter)