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

Chapter 351 Meeting in Jinling
Zhang Huangyan looked more haggard than imagined. Although he was only 32 years old, he had many white hairs on his head, a thin figure, and dark skin. He probably spent many years drifting on the sea, often exposed to the sea breeze and the scorching sun.

When he saw Cen Danchu, he bowed and said, "The feudal lord is extremely brave and heroic, and has great achievements in both civil and military affairs. I have long admired your talents."

Danchu also respected Zhang Huangyan very much, and returned his greeting with a long bow, saying: "Xuanzhu has outstanding insights and fights against the invaders with great righteousness. I have also been fascinated by him for a long time."

The two sides sat down as host and guest, with Qian Bingdeng and Gu Yanwu accompanying them.

"Xuanzhu's trip was relatively smooth."

"Thanks to the care of the feudal lord, I took a sea ship and sailed south with the northeast trade wind. The pirates fled along the way and the sea was clear and smooth."

"That's good. Is Lu Fan in good health?"

Zhang Huangyan was a direct descendant of Zhu Yihai, the Prince of Lu. He fought side by side with Zhu Yihai for a long time and they formed a deep friendship. To be fair, although Zhu Yihai was not a powerful ruler, he was still much stronger than the Yongli Emperor Zhu Youlang. Unfortunately, fate played tricks on him. Zhu Youlang's bloodline was purer and he was supported by the vassal states as the orthodox of the Ming Dynasty.

"Since losing Zhoushan, Lu Fan has been depressed. After abdicating, he was given a surname and placed in Kinmen. His treatment was not as good as that of the generals of the surname Fan. He was even more lonely and suffered a great defeat not long ago."

"Ah!" Danchu sighed and said, "Although the Tartars have occupied Zhoushan, Lu Fan still has troops. Even if the title of regent is removed, why should he hand over the military power and let Cixing control him?"

This was said very frankly. Zhang Huangyan also felt the same way and said with a wry smile: "Lu Fan felt very guilty about the defeat at Zhoushan. He always felt that his deployment was inappropriate, which led to the capture and killing of the soldiers' families."

The Battle of Zhoushan dealt a heavy blow to the Lu Regent regime, and it was like cutting off the firewood from under the cauldron. The Qing army captured Zhoushan and directly destroyed the Lu Regent's lair. The civil and military officials, palace families, and military families who stayed in the city were either killed, captured, or surrendered.

The Lu vassal army had just experienced internal strife not long ago, and morale was low. Many generals surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and were unable to recover Zhoushan. The remnants drifted on the sea, with nowhere to go, so they had to surrender to Zhu Chenggong. Zhu Yihai was also disheartened, and he could no longer be a Taiping vassal king after giving up his title of regent.

Zhang Huangyan was reluctant to mention Zhu Yihai's predicament in Kinmen as he was a respected teacher. Danchu, however, intended to appease the old Lu Fan's subordinates and said, "I heard that Dingxi Hou is living in Zhongzuo and has had many conflicts with Cixing. If Dingxi Hou does not abandon him, please ask Dingxi Hou to sail to Guangdong. I will definitely treat Dingxi Hou well and discuss the plan of resisting the invaders."

Dingxi Hou is Zhang Mingzhen, and this title was conferred by Zhu Yihai. The titles of nobility in the Southern Ming Dynasty were in chaos, and since Zhu Yihai had already pledged his loyalty to Emperor Yongli, Danchu might as well recognize Zhang Mingzhen's title. Anyway, the Southern Ming Dynasty was already full of dukes, and the title of marquis was not a very prestigious title.

However, although Zhang Mingzhen's title was not high, he was highly trusted and relied upon by Zhu Yihai and was the pillar of Lu's regent regime.

Zhang Mingzhen, courtesy name Houfu, was born in Jiangning County, Yingtian Prefecture, Nanzhili, and was a member of the Jinyiwei in Nanjing. When he was young, he was upright, generous, strategic, and ambitious. He traveled around the capital and was treated as a distinguished guest by Cao Huachun, the eunuch of the East Factory. He also had close relations with the Donglin Party. In the last years of Chongzhen, Zhang Mingzhen served as a deputy general in Shipu, Taizhou. In the first year of Hongguang, Zhu Yihai claimed to be the regent in Shaoxing, and Zhang Mingzhen went there with his troops.

Zhang Mingzhen was a brave warrior with a great reputation. The Qing army in Zhejiang and South Zhili was very afraid of him and called him "the pirate leader".

When Zhu Chenggong annexed Lu Fan, Zhang Mingzhen was still a stubborn person and was unwilling to be incorporated by Zhu Chenggong. He had a delicate relationship with the Cixing Fan, being an anti-Qing ally while maintaining considerable independence.

Zhang Huangyan served as the military supervisor of Zhang Mingzhen, and the two had a close relationship. This time he entered Guangdong on the orders of Zhang Mingzhen to try to contact the Red Army to join forces on the Yangtze River.

"I am very grateful for your kindness. If the Marquis of Dingxi heard about it, he would be very pleased. However, the Marquis of Dingxi still has hundreds of warships and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. Instead of going south to Guangdong, why not go north to fight the enemy?"

"Hehehe," Dan Chu shook his head and laughed, without exposing Zhang Huangyan's big talk.

Since the defeat at Zhoushan, Lu Jianguo has lost most of his troops, and the remnants have either surrendered to the Qing or been incorporated into the vassal states. According to reliable intelligence, Zhang Mingzhen only has about a hundred warships, and his soldiers and their families are less than 5,000. "Does Xuanzhu plan to see the emperor?"

Zhang Huangyan had no feelings for Emperor Yongli and said, "I plan to discuss the anti-Japanese strategy with the vassal lord first, and then go to the emperor to meet him."

"Yes." Danchu said, "Xuanzhu, please speak. I am all ears."

"Although Qian Muzhai had violated his integrity, he felt remorseful and made great efforts to unite the resistance against the invaders. His book "Three Games of the Qiping Table" was widely circulated. I deeply agree with this. The foundation of the Central Plains lies in the south of the Yangtze River. If we can restore the south of the Yangtze River, we can advance northward to attack the Central Plains, or retreat to establish a separatist regime in the south.

"The feudal lord had hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, defeated two famous kings, and killed Nikan in the Dingguo battle array, which shocked the whole country. This was the greatest victory since the Wanli reign. The Jiangnan righteous army was excited, and the gentry and common people were eagerly waiting for the royal army.

"For the sake of the overall situation of the country, we can order the West Camp to fully recover Jing and Xiang, to control Han and Mian in the upper part, and to shake Wuchang in the lower part. The vassal lord will march north to Jiangxi, conquer Jiujiang and Hukou, and aim at Anqing and Nanjing. The Marquis of Dingxi and the vassal with the surname Ci will lead the navy north to Chongming, first conquer Zhenjiang and cut off the grain transport. The two armies will meet in Nanjing, and the south of the Yangtze River will be under our control.

"After Jiangnan was settled, the treasury gradually increased, and the foundation was solid, then the Northern Expedition was launched, one route to Shaanxi and Gansu, one route to Shandong, and one route along the coast to Tianjin, and the world could be settled. Emperor Taizu Gao established his capital in Nanjing, and the army headed north, and the Tartars fled back to the northern desert. This was the result of the mission."

Qian Muzhai is Qian Qianyi, who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty during the Hongguang period. The story of "the water is too cold" may be fabricated, but it is an indisputable fact that he shaved his head and kept a braid because of "itchy scalp".

He was the leader of the Donglin Party and the leader of the literary world, and had a huge influence among the gentry in the world. Qian Qianyi's surrender to the Qing Dynasty had a very bad impact, which could be regarded as the collapse of the spiritual pillar of the gentry class in the Ming Dynasty.

Qian Qianyi was deeply regretful and gave up his intention to serve the Qing Dynasty. He returned to his hometown to contact the righteous army and secretly resisted the Qing Dynasty. It has become an open secret. The Qing Dynasty once arrested him and put him in prison, but Qian Qianyi's reputation was too great, and his students and former officials were all over the world. Even the Qing court was very afraid of him and had to release him.

Gu Yanwu was from Kunshan and was familiar with the situation of the Jiangnan Volunteer Army. He said, "Xuanzhu is right. People all say that Jiangnan is weak, but the Taihu Volunteer Army is elusive, and the Cao Gang crisscrosses the Grand Canal. Although Qian Muzhai was disloyal, he also actively contacted the Volunteer Army to rescue anti-Qing patriots. This shows that the people of Jiangnan are clear-minded. If the army can recapture Nanjing, Jiangnan will surely be conquered by a proclamation."

Although Qian Qianyi held no official position, he had great influence, and when Gu Yanwu was arrested for resisting the Qing dynasty, Qian Qianyi helped him out.

The idea of ​​meeting in Nanjing was a good one, and the prospect was extremely attractive. The problem was that this strategy was too grand, involving the Dashi Army, the Red Army, and the Zheng family. The Southern Ming court had no prestige and could not organize such a large action. If they wanted to meet in Nanjing, they had to rely on the tacit understanding between Sun Kewang, Cen Danchu, and Zhu Chenggong.

Historically, Zhang Huangyan had entered the Yangtze River three times and made unremitting efforts to join forces in Nanjing. However, the Dashi Army and Zheng's navy never met in Nanjing. Li Dingguo made a second choice and led his army into Guangdong to join forces with Zhu Chenggong in Guangzhou, but still failed.

Although the Southern Ming was weak, it had many opportunities to turn the tables. However, due to the selfishness of the warlords, the Manchus eventually took control of the country.

"Meeting in Nanjing is certainly a great plan to recover Jiangnan." Danchu said, "However, the Red Army, the Western Army, and the Zheng Army are not affiliated with each other and have no control over each other. It will be difficult to meet in Nanjing."

To resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the internal affairs. Danchu has already realized that if the Red Army wants to recover Jiangnan, it must compete with the Dashi Army and the Zheng Army before it can be assured of the Northern Expedition. Sun Kewang and Zhu Chenggong are both heroes, and the future struggle will be a matter of life and death. Just like Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who took the four warring areas of Nanjing and could not be assured of the Northern Expedition to the Mongols without eliminating the heroes.

The troubled times are so cruel. Being in the chaos, Cen Danchu has no choice. Seeing that Zhang Huangyan was a little disappointed, Danchu comforted him:
"I also want to recover the Central Plains, but because the Tartars are so powerful and the various vassals are not on the same page, it will take some time to plan for the meeting in Nanjing. Xuanzhu and Dingxi Hou are both loyal and brave, so why not go to the Yangtze River first to test their strength. After the Spring Festival, I will lead the Red Army over Dayuling Mountain and march north to Jiangxi to prepare for the meeting in Nanjing."

Influenced by Zhang Huangyan, Danchu decided to launch the Northern Expedition to Jiangxi ahead of schedule, and the time was set after the Spring Festival, which was less than two months away.

Huang Yan was greatly excited. He stood up, bowed, and said, "Zhang, on behalf of the Marquis of Dingxi, respectfully shoots the feudal lord."

(End of this chapter)