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

Chapter 44: Advancing into Yongan
Yangshuo is less than 60 miles away from Pingle by land. When the Ming army captured Yangshuo, the Qing army in Pingle was terrified and even the garrison commander sent a secret envoy to negotiate surrender.

Half a year ago, the Qing army had advanced to Pingle so smoothly that most of the Ming Dynasty defenders retreated without a fight. Now the situation has changed, and it is the turn of the Ming army to counterattack Pingle. The Qing Dynasty defenders dare not resist and are scrambling to surrender.

It is no wonder that the Qing army in Pingle was already isolated and helpless: the Guangdong rebel army rose up, Li Chengdong was content with the status quo and had no intention of reinforcing Guangxi; Jin Shenghuan in Jiangxi was similar to him, he was originally a general under Zuo Liangyu, although he had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he regarded Jiangxi as a forbidden delicacy; the strongest Qing army in Huguang had the Han army led by King Sanshun, but it had just experienced the defeat in Guilin, and it was even less likely that it would rescue Pingle.

The garrisons in Pingle Prefecture were unable to resist the Ming army and had to either surrender or flee. Some could surrender, while others could only flee.

Cen Danchu was deeply touched. If the army has no soul, it will have no morale, no discipline, and no fighting power. The generals only want to preserve their valuables and will not fight to the death. Once the enemy arrives and the battlefield situation changes, they will adjust their positions at any time, surrender or flee.

Chen Bangbo, the Marquis of Enen in the Ming Dynasty, and Tu Lie'ao, a general in the Qing Dynasty, were both such people. They were once the masters of Pingle Prefecture, but they did not dare to fight. When the enemy came, they surrendered. The armies of Chen Bangbo and Tu Lie'ao were vulnerable. In the pyramid of the Ming and Qing armies, they were roughly at the bottom, equivalent to rookies.

Jiao Lian's troops were clearly more capable than rookies. Even Zuo Xie's troops were well-equipped, had high morale, sufficient food, and strict discipline.

However, it must be admitted that the Du Biao was still a soulless army, obeying the personal authority of the commander-in-chief and struggling to survive in troubled times.

What is the soul of the army? The soul of the army should include many aspects: beliefs and values, discipline and loyalty, teamwork and professional ethics, morale and fighting spirit, culture and tradition...

In his spare time, Danchu would ask the soldiers: Why did you join the Du Biao?

The soldiers' answers varied, but they all fell into the following categories: serving as a soldier to earn food, to support their families, or because they were desperate. Occasionally, some would say that they served as a soldier to drive out the Tartars and restore the Ming Dynasty.

Another question that is often asked is: What are your plans for the future?
The soldiers' reactions were even more confused, and most of their answers were: strive to make merit, get promoted and make money; save money; follow them, wherever they go.

It is time to prepare to shape the soul of the army.

Although his current status is still low and not enough to form an independent town, but if everything goes well, according to the current rhythm of the war, Danchu only needs to make two more great achievements to be promoted four levels in a row, and is expected to become a general officer like Ma Qijiao, Bai Gui, and Zhao Xing.

The opportunity came soon.

On August 5, the Ming army launched a massive attack on Pingle. The Qing army held out for only one day before the defenders agreed to help from within.

On the seventh day, the Ming army broke into the city, and the Qing general Tu Li'ao led his troops to break through and retreat towards He County.

During this Eastern Expedition, Hexian was attacked by Lu Kezao, the governor of Guangxi. Jiao Lian thought that Lu Kezao's army was weak and planned to send troops to reinforce him.

Lu Kezao was competitive and was willing to lead his 3,000 soldiers to pursue the enemy at night. If he was unable to do so, he would ask Jiao Lian to send reinforcements.

Danchu offered a suggestion: "Li Zicheng is a tyrant. When he was at the peak of his power, he was said to have a million soldiers. Once he was defeated, he was helpless and died at the hands of the Jiugong Mountain militia. Tu Lie'ao is already at the end of his rope. We only need to send a few light cavalry to issue an order to the Hexian militia to easily kill him. Why bother sending troops to suppress him?"

Sure enough, not long after, news came from He County that the local natives attacked Tu Lie'ao, cut off his head, and sent it to Pingle.

Jiao Lian was very pleased, and he led his troops to Pingle and sent his generals to attack the counties of Pingle Prefecture.

Many generals fought for good land, and Lipu, Zhaoping and Gongcheng counties were the most popular. In the end, only Yong'an Prefecture was left, which was poor and remote, and no one was willing to seize it.

It turned out that although Yong'an Prefecture was a scattered prefecture, the prefect was of the fifth rank, but it was very poor, far inferior to Lipu and Yangshuo counties. The city was very small, with only three gates and a radius of only two miles.

Han people accounted for less than 30% of the total population, while Yao and Dong people accounted for more than 70%. Yong'an Prefecture was not far from Datongxia. The Yao people in the area were influenced by the Yao and Dong uprising in Datongxia, and they were fickle and often rebelled.

The city is surrounded by mountains, which makes it easy to defend but difficult to attack. The attackers cannot deploy their troops, and the defenders can rely on the terrain for defense. There is a small river plain outside the city, where food can be grown. The climate is changeable, with malaria rampant in autumn, and it is humid and rainy. The rain is abundant, and the rivers overflow.

In short, Yong'an Prefecture is famous for its poor, mountainous and water-restricted areas in Guidong, and most officials are afraid of it.

The generals were proud of their achievements and knew that they would gain nothing by going to Yong'an Prefecture, so naturally no one wanted to capture Yong'an.

When Danchu heard the news, he volunteered to Jiao Lian and was willing to lead less than 500 soldiers from the Left Army to help the governor capture Yong'an Prefecture.

No matter how bad Yong'an Prefecture is, it is still a piece of land. Although, with Danchu's reputation and strength, he cannot control a county alone, so he might as well lead the army to Yong'an Prefecture for a tour, first to increase experience, and second to understand the local county politics.

After all, even a mosquito leg is still meat. Although Yong'an Prefecture is small, it is still a scattered prefecture. Historically, the first city captured by the Taiping Army was Yong'an, and they also established a system in Yong'an and divided the kings. Although Jiao Lian hesitated, he still agreed to Danchu's request.

On August 12, Cen Danchu led the Left Association of the Supervisory Flag to leave Pingle, arrived in Lipu on the 13th, and arrived in Xinwei in the afternoon of the 14th, only 20 miles away from Yong'an Prefecture.

Guangxi has seven mountains, one river and two fields, and most cities are built along the water. In addition to cities, commercial ports and towns are also mostly built along the water, often called "wei" or "xu".

During the Ming Dynasty, many inspection offices, river and lake offices, and delivery offices were set up at key water and land junctions. Xinwei also had an inspection office under the jurisdiction of the prefect of Yong'an Prefecture.

I thought the people from the Inspection Office had already fled. But I didn't expect that a group of officials from the Inspection Office had already been waiting for me. They had cut off their braids, changed into Ming Dynasty official uniforms, and went out to greet me early.

The leader wore a double-beam crown, a silver leather belt, a medicinal jade pendant, a yellow, green and red ribbon, a magpie flower brocade, and a green silk net underneath. He led everyone in bowing to the ground.

He held the Yellow Book and the Fish Scale Book in his hands, and seeing Danchu riding over from a distance, he shouted, "Wei Shizhong, the governor of Yong'an Prefecture, greets the commander."

This outfit shocked Danchu. He had seen the official uniforms and casual clothes of Ming Dynasty officials, but he had never seen such a crown and clothes.

He Yun was a gentry from Changshu, and had become Danchu's staff member. He approached him and said:

"Zhuoru, this is court dress, used for important occasions such as grand sacrifices, celebrations, and memorials. It is not usually worn. The prefect wears it like this to show that he is being serious and formally asking for your surrender."

This prefect is so humble. Danchu couldn't help but look down on him and said expressionlessly, "Stand up."

Wei Shizhong stood up and was surprised to see Danchu was so young. He said:

"The day before yesterday, I received a letter from Marshal Jiao, and I decided to grow my hair and change my clothes to go out of the city to welcome the Marshal. I dare to ask, is the Marshal the White Horse General Cen who captured the flag and killed the general in the Battle of Guilin?"

Danchu smiled, thinking that the prefect seemed to be of some quality, and was quite good at flattering others, and did not look like someone who had come from a legitimate academic background, so he said, "It is me."

Wei Shizhong pretended to be surprised and said, "You are indeed a man of noble bearing and a rare talent. It is a blessing for the people of Yong'an that the general has come to Yong'an."

He Yun took the Yellow Book and the Fish Scale Book, which was considered as his acceptance of Wei Shizhong's surrender.

Danchu asked with a smile: "Are your Yellow Book and Fish Scale Book accurate?"

The population records in the Yellow Book are extremely inaccurate and have no reference value at all. However, due to ancestral rules, the government still has to update the Yellow Book regularly.

After the early Ming Dynasty, the population was dispersed in large numbers, and the government was unable to control the grassroots, so officials had to forge the Yellow Book. The easiest way was to extend the age of the people and keep the other things unchanged. Therefore, in the Yellow Book of the Ming Dynasty, there were often people over 100 or 200 years old.

The Fish Scale Book records the conditions of cultivated land and is an important basis for the government to collect land taxes. It is more accurate than the Yellow Book.

However, the rich families could hide their farmland. The clerks in the county government's household office, who passed down the books from father to son, also regarded the fish scale books as a secret. The fish scale books held by the household clerks were often different from those in the county government.

Wei Shizhong glanced at Danchu and said, "I dare not hide it from you, Commander. The Yellow Book is not worth reading, and the Fish Scale Book is not worth reading too deeply."

Interesting. Danchu glanced at Wei Shizhong, and seeing that the sun was setting in the west, he changed the subject and asked, "What about the Qing captives in the city? Did they escape or surrender?"

Wei Shizhong's eyes flashed with cunning, and he said, "I dare not hide it from you, Marshal. There were not many Qing invaders in Yong'an to begin with, and more than a hundred guards have already fled. The remaining guards are all local soldiers, and they have already changed their clothes and surrendered."

It was late, so the Ming army could not enter the city to avoid being ambushed. Danchu decided to camp in Xinxu and enter the city tomorrow, so he said to Wei Shizhong: "I will not enter the city tonight. You, the county magistrate, and the chief clerk stay and chat with me."

Wei Shizhong did not dare to refuse, nor did he dare to persuade Danchu to enter the city, so he said, "Yes. I have a cook and ingredients here. May I ask the commander whether we can ask the cook to prepare wine and food?"

He Yun winked at Dan Chu, who understood and said, "No need. The firemen in my army will prepare the wine and food tonight."

This prefect is quite interesting. He is not a true gentleman, but more like a real villain.

(End of this chapter)