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

Chapter 337: Managing Eastern Guangdong
The Red Army captured Guangzhou, and the three-month deadline had passed. The food and fodder brought from western Guangdong were about to run out, and they were no longer able to launch a large-scale war.

Fortunately, the Battle of Zhaoqing and the Battle of Guangzhou were both very successful encirclement and annihilation battles. The main force of the Qing army in eastern Guangdong was annihilated, and the Red Army then divided its forces to capture cities and territories, which reduced a lot of resistance.

The Qing court knew that the Red Army was ready, so it sent a secret order to the front-line generals: "Don't fight recklessly, move your troops to be conservative."

The remaining Qing troops "retreat in compliance with the order" and scrambled to withdraw from eastern Guangdong. One part, led by Geng Jimao, retreated to Ganzhou, Jiangxi; the other, led by Liu Wuyuan, the governor of southern Jiangxi, retreated to Zhangzhou, Fujian.

In May, the grass grows and the flowers bloom, and Guangzhou is at peace. The people cut off their braids and put on Ming Dynasty clothes again. The government offices are cleaned up, shops reopened, and the problem of lack of rice and wages is solved.

The ancient Tang Palace was first used by Shang Kexi as the Palace of the Prince of Pingnan, and then converted by the Red Army into the Palace of the Prince of Nanyue. After ten days of cleaning and repair, the Palace of the Prince of Nanyue was completely renewed and welcomed its new owner on the 20th.

In the lobby, the top leaders of the Red Army gathered together. While the leader was not here, they were chatting and boasting happily.

Wei Guosong, the commander of the First Town, who had the most seniority, said, "In my opinion, after we have rested and dealt with the prisoners, we should lead our troops north, pass through Meiguan, attack Jiangxi, and seize Jiujiang and Hukou before the West Camp. Then we can go down the river, conquer Anqing, and attack Nanjing. Jiangnan can be conquered by issuing an order."

The captain of the third team of the standard battalion at that time had only fifty cavalrymen under his command. But just five years later, he had risen to the commander of the first infantry regiment of the Red Army and commanded an army of fifty thousand.

Wei Guosong was satisfied with his current position and was grateful to Cen Danchu. However, he always felt that he was not worthy of his position and wanted to prove himself in front of the whole army.

The commander of the Second Regiment, Kuang, was not in Guangzhou at the time. He was ordered to lead the Second Regiment to conquer northern Guangdong and occupy Meiguan. Among the generals present, Wei Guosong had the highest status. As soon as he spoke, the others echoed him.

"In this war, the Green Camp soldiers in Jiangxi were the most enthusiastic and suffered the greatest losses. Liu Wuyuan, the governor of Southern Jiangxi, could not even return to Ganzhou, and actually fled with his troops to Zhangzhou, Fujian."

"In Jiangxi, only the remnants of the Jingnan vassal and the Eight Banners reinforcements led by Zhu Lama are capable of fighting. If our army sends a town of elite troops into Jiangxi, it will be enough to conquer Jiangxi."

"Liu Wenxiu was defeated in Sichuan. Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo are threatened from behind. They will not dare to move eastward. If the Western Camp attacks Huguang before us, we will attack Jiangxi before the Western Camp. As long as we capture Jiujiang before the Western Camp, Nanjing will still be ours."

He was so proud, so proud. How could he conquer the world in one go? He hadn't even occupied eastern Guangdong yet, but he was already thinking about Jiangxi, Nanjing, and Jiangnan. Isn't that too ambitious?

Cen Danchu hid behind the screen and listened for a while, and found it funny. Most of these generals were from the ranks of soldiers, having fought through battles, and they were not very experienced, but they had strong execution and worshipped themselves as gods.

Famous generals are all made through fighting. Although these people may seem rude, they are actually brave and careful. Given time, I don't know how many famous generals will emerge.

He walked to the main seat, and the generals stopped talking at the same time. Right Assistant General Yang Yuqi said, "Sir, all the military officers above the rank of assistant commander stationed in Guangzhou have arrived."

"Sit down." Danchu was very casual and said directly: "Today I summoned all the generals to tell you that this clan has decided that the First Town and the Nanyang Fleet will advance eastward at a certain date to occupy Chaozhou and Huizhou."

The generals felt quite disappointed that the Northern Expedition to Jiangxi was not as they had imagined.

Wei Guosong blurted out, "Lord, Huizhou and Chaozhou have already surrendered. Why should we lead the troops there? Why not lead the army north to attack Jiangxi?" "Go north? Our food and grass are almost gone." Danchu stopped smiling and said, "This vassal has decided that from today until the end of the year, there will be no more large-scale expeditions. The main focus of the Red Army's actions in Huizhou and Chaozhou will be military occupation and pacification. The Red Army must focus on resting the troops, expanding the army, and establishing a regime, and strive to gain a foothold in eastern Guangdong before the end of the year."

Eastern Guangdong is ten times richer than western Guangdong, but the Red Army has not yet completely occupied eastern Guangdong, let alone established effective rule in eastern Guangdong.

The Dashi Army sent battalion officers to the villages to implement the camp-farming system. The Red Army established township governments below the prefecture and county levels and implemented the tenancy system. The camp-farming system and the tenancy system were similar in purpose, both aimed at reducing the exploitation of the landlords over the tenants and extracting as much financial resources as possible from the villages.

However, the Yingtian system was simpler and cruder, with a stronger military color. The tax payment by tenants required the township government to supervise and implement it, which required higher organizational capabilities of the government, and was more complicated and slow to implement, but it was obviously more lasting and effective.

"Eastern Guangdong is rich, and western Guangdong is fierce. The two Guangdongs are enough to be our base. Our Red Army will seize the two Guangdongs, use the wealth of eastern Guangdong to support the soldiers of western Guangdong, and have enough soldiers and food. The future is promising. What this vassal wants is not Jiangxi, not Nanjing, not Jiangnan, but the whole world.

"But before we seize the world, we must build a strong base, such as strengthening western Guangdong as we did in Nanning, and strengthening eastern Guangdong as we did in western Guangdong. Otherwise, our Red Army will be like duckweed in the water, drifting without support. Once we are in trouble, we will be as embarrassed as the vassal states, unable to even guarantee food and rice."

Wei Shizhong, a deputy government official, also came to Guangzhou. He was born as a boatman and rose from a household clerk to the position of governor of Yong'an Prefecture. The first city occupied by the Red Army was Yong'an Prefecture. Wei Shizhong knew the time and followed the dragon, and was recognized by Cen Danchu. Now he has accumulated merits and has risen to the position of deputy government official of the Nanyue government.

He was born as a civil servant, without any official title, and was not only ignored but also discriminated against in the Ming Dynasty. Cen Danchu was not rigid in employing people, which made it easier for him to get Wei Shizhong to serve him.

Wei Shizhong was in charge of rebuilding the government in eastern Guangdong, especially the township government below the prefecture and county. He said, "What the king said is absolutely right. If you want to seize the world, you must first have a base and build a strong government. If you only rely on appeasement, what about people like Huang Yingjie and She Shangjiu who are fickle?"

In the first year of the Yongli reign, Huang Yingjie and She Shangjiu began to occupy Huizhou and Chaozhou, and it has been five years since then. Both of them were former generals of Dongxun, who only knew how to preserve their territory, but had no long-term strategy or management talent. In fact, they only controlled a small number of counties around the prefecture.

As for the remote counties far from the prefecture, including coastal counties and garrisons, they were basically controlled by local tyrants and pirates. For example, in Chaozhou Prefecture, the more powerful ones included Huang Hairu and Xu Long from Chenghai, and Liu Gongxian from Jieyang; in Huizhou Prefecture, there were Wu Liuqi from Haifeng and Su Li from Jieshi.

There were many warlords in eastern Guangdong. If Li Chengdong was a big warlord, Huang Yingjie and She Shangjiu were small warlords, and Wu Liuqi, Liu Gongxian and others were small warlords. If the warlords could not be pacified, how could the Red Army establish its rule in eastern Guangdong and how could the army be organized for the Northern Expedition?

"May I ask your Majesty, if Huang Yingjie and Hao Shang continue to resist in the city for a long time, what will we do?" Wei Guosong asked.

"Huang and Hao are inconsistent and unclear. This vassal will send Li Yuanyin to negotiate peace and promise Huang Yingjie and Hao Shangjiu the positions of commanders and allow them to preserve their troops. If the two are unwilling to open the gates to surrender, they will be treated as enemy troops and the city can be attacked."

Huang Yingjie has no great strategy, and he is only interested in preserving his wealth and power, so he will certainly open the gates to welcome the surrender. As for Hao Shangjiu, it is really hard to say. Fortunately, Li Yuanyin is the son of Li Chengdong, with a special status, and he is also the sworn brother of Cen Danchu. Danchu sent him to Huizhou and Chaozhou to negotiate, so Hao Shangjiu would not be so unwilling to give face.

"Will the three pirates Wu Liuqi, Suli and Xu Long be allowed to surrender?" asked Chen Qice, commander of the Nanyang Fleet.

"Su Li and Xu Long agreed to his surrender, so we might as well give him the position of commander. Wu Liuqi has committed many evil deeds, and he deserves to be killed without mercy. This vassal should contact the Cixing vassal to jointly attack Wu Liuqi's navy and flatten the sea in eastern Guangdong."

(End of this chapter)