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

Chapter 67: Independent Town
With the help of Mrs. Qu, Danchu took off her golden armor, changed into casual clothes, and prepared to take her to meet the guests.

Danchu said, "Madam, when I was guarding Your Majesty at Gunni Pass, I was ordered by the Queen Mother to take Zhu Shulu as my concubine. This is against etiquette, but the circumstances were special at the time, so I hope Madam will forgive me."

Qu Xuanhui smiled slightly, without any sign of anger, and said, "Those who do great things don't pay attention to small details. Your husband should obey the Queen Mother's order. I don't think there is anything wrong with it."

Danchu smiled, pulled Qu Xuanhui to sit down beside the table, and said, "Although she was born in a distant clan, she is the adopted daughter of the Queen Mother after all. I think we should all respect her a little, and you two can call each other sisters from now on, how about that?"

This was her husband's first request, so Qu Xuanhui certainly couldn't disobey him. Even though she felt a little unhappy, she still said, "Only when wives and concubines are friendly can the family be harmonious. I wonder who is older, me or her?"

Is there any need to ask this? The wife is the elder and the concubine is the younger. Even if the concubine is older than the wife, she should at least call her sister. This is already a very polite address. Under normal circumstances, the concubine should call the wife "Madam", "Madam" or even "Grandma".

As soon as Danchu heard this, he knew that Qu Xuanhui was upset, and said, "What are you talking about, Madam? Of course she has to call you sister. From now on, all family affairs will be decided by Madam."

Qu Xuanhui smiled and said, "I'm not deliberately arguing about anything. It's just that everything has its priorities, and the family is no exception. My husband is a man who does big things, so it's inevitable that he won't be able to take care of the family affairs. As your legal wife, I have to help you take care of the family so that you can concentrate on your work and start your own business."

She was indeed a lady from a noble family, and she spoke in a reasonable and measured way, which made Danchu respect her. Judging from her appearance, she was a good match for a husband and children, and it would be a great help if she could also take care of the household chores.

Danchu couldn't help being happy, he held her hand and said with a smile: "Madam, you are right, I have found a good wife today."

He clapped his hands, and Zhu Shulu responded by walking through the main hall and into the bedroom. When she saw Qu Xuanhui, she knelt down and bowed, saying, "Madam."

Qu Xuanhui quickly helped her up and said, "Sister, please stand up. We are a family now, so we should call each other sisters. Although we are women, we must work together to assist our husband Yi Ming in destroying the enemy. Sister, what do you think?"

Seeing her sincere attitude, Zhu Shulu felt relieved and said, "Sister, you are very knowledgeable and what you said is true. I agree with you."

She was pregnant and had the advantage of being pregnant first, so she was looking for a chance to tell Mrs. Qu.

After drinking tea, Danchu led Madam Qu and Madam Zhu out of the house. A banquet had been set up in the courtyard. Jiao Lian sat at the main table and drank with his confidants Bai Guozhen and Jiao Ke.

The Danchu family toasted Jiao Lian first and introduced him to Madam Qu: "Madam, this is Marshal Jiao, who has been very kind to me. I have achieved a lot along the way, thanks to Marshal Jue's support."

Jiao Lian was a rough man. Although he had been in and out of the garrison many times, he had no impression of Qu Xuanhui. He smiled and said, "The girl is really pretty. She and Danchu are a perfect match."

Danchu introduced Bai Guozhen and Jiao Ke. When they were about to leave after toasting, Bai Guozhen leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Zhuoru, the Marshal will be back to Quanzhou soon. When you are done, come and see him."

Perhaps something important has happened again. Danchu's heart sank, and he nodded to Bai Guozhen, then looked at Jiao Lian, whose eyes seemed a little gloomy.

Today, the whole army was rewarded. Officers above the rank of sentry gathered in the courtyard and drank happily. When they were drunk, officers from all teams sang military songs together and competed with each other, which was quite interesting.

Danchu had something on his mind, so after toasting to all the tables, he went to see Jiao Lian. Madam Qu and Madam Zhu also went back to their rooms to rest, needless to say.

It was inconvenient to talk at the dinner table, so Dan Chu took Jiao Lian, Bai Guozhen and Jiao Ke to the study for a secret talk.

As soon as the door was closed, Jiao Lian said, "I went to see the emperor this morning and learned that Wuzhou had fallen. Li Chengdong sent troops to attack, but Chen Bangfu retreated without a fight. The news will be reported in the newspapers tomorrow."

Danchu was shocked. Wuzhou is the eastern gateway of Guangxi, and its geographical location is extremely important, located at the intersection of Guijiang River and Xunjiang River. Starting from Wuzhou, you can go up the Guijiang River to Pingle and Guilin, and go up the Xunjiang River to Xunzhou, Nanning and Liuzhou. Jiao Lian has taken Pingle as his territory and sent General Ma Qijiao to Pingle. If the Qing army attacks Guilin on a large scale, Zhaoping County of Pingle Prefecture will bear the brunt. Yong'an Prefecture is less than a hundred miles away from Zhaoping County, and it is closely related to Zhaoping.

Danchu's heart tightened, and he asked, "Will the Qing invaders attack Guilin?"

"It's hard to say," Jiao Lian said, "Chen Bangyan, Chen Zizhuang, and Zhang Jiayu were all defeated, and the Guangdong Volunteer Army gradually fell into decline. Therefore, Li Chengdong sent troops to attack Wuzhou. But the Qing court was quite suspicious of him and appointed him as the governor of Guangdong. Li Chengdong was quite dissatisfied and was not enthusiastic about attacking Guangxi."

Since the Ming Dynasty, the highest official in Lingnan was the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. Li Chengdong conquered Guangdong by himself and thought that the post of Governor-General was his.

At the beginning of the year, he captured and killed Ding Kuichu, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and kept the official seal of the governor privately, often enjoying it in private. Unexpectedly, the Qing court thought that Li Chengdong was quite suspicious, so they only appointed him as the governor of Guangdong, and gave the post of governor of Guangdong and Guangxi to Tong Yangjia.

Tong Yangjia followed Li Chengdong to pacify Guangdong, but his contribution was far less than Li Chengdong's. However, because he was born into the Tong family, he was appointed as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. Li Chengdong was very resentful and was not enthusiastic about attacking Guangxi.

Danchu regained his composure and said, "Since Li Chengdong is the governor of Guangdong, he should not be concerned with Guangxi's affairs. In May, the three rebel kings surrounded Guilin, but Li Chengdong did not send a single soldier. Our army just won a great victory in Quanzhou, and Li Chengdong would never provoke a war without authorization."

"Yes," Jiao Lian nodded and said, "I think so too. However, Wuzhou fell, and I left Quanzhou lightly. Hao Yongzhong, Zhao Yinxuan, Lu Ding and others might have different intentions. Therefore, the elder ordered me to return to Quanzhou overnight to reassure everyone."

Hao Yongzhong was born in the Dashun Army. Although he fought bravely, his military discipline was bad and he was hated by Qu Shisi. His family was settled in Guilin, but his troops were in Quanzhou.

Zhao Yinxuan was recommended by Hu Yiqing and Wang Yongzuo to be the chief general of the Yunnan Camp because of his age. In fact, he had neither the talent nor the virtue of a chief general.

Lu Ding was originally a military supervisor in Zuo Liangyu's army, and was promoted to the chief general by his subordinates Bai Liangfu and Wu Ziqiang. However, he was a civilian official with no military achievements, so Bai Liangfu and Wu Ziqiang looked down on him.

These generals were all unreliable and were under the unified control of He Tengjiao, who was notorious for his inability to accomplish anything and his frequent failures.

Danchu didn't want to follow him back to Quanzhou. There were so many military commanders there that even though he was the general, he was constrained in everything and couldn't do anything.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Jiao Lian guessed what he was thinking and said, "Since you are the commander-in-chief, you should be an independent town. Let me ask you, do you want to lead the governor's flag or guard Yong'an?"

In this situation, Danchu was not modest and said, "General, I am the general of Yong'an and I should guard Yong'an."

Jiao Lian was slightly disappointed, but said, "Of course it should be so, especially since you are newly married. According to the rules of our army, a general can take his troops with him if he becomes an independent town, but the old soldiers from northern Shaanxi can only take one team with them.

"You and I have an unusual relationship. You have expanded my command and trained me with guns and artillery, which is a great contribution. I will allow you to lead two teams of veteran soldiers from northern Shaanxi. You can choose your own."

Danchu had been the captain of Team 3 and had the deepest feelings for Team 3, so he would naturally not hand over Team 3. Team 1 was as strong as Team 2, but Captain Wei Guosong had a better relationship with Danchu.

If they want to surrender, they can only surrender the second team. Danchu has made up his mind and said, "Commander Jue, I am willing to lead the first and third teams to garrison Yong'an."

"Well," Jiao Lian patted Danchu's shoulder and said, "The general is the commander of a town. I will give you an extra team of veteran soldiers from northern Shaanxi as a wedding gift. You must live up to everyone's expectations and train a powerful town force as soon as possible."

Outside the house, the military songs continued. Danchu was full of confidence and replied, "Yes."

(End of this chapter)