Fu Shanhe

Chapter 319 Landing in Songjiang Prefecture

"Uncle, Yongzhou City has been taken. Do you want to go into the city and take a look?"

Li Mu asked.

The fighting in the city is still going on, but this does not affect the overall situation.

The morale of the army collapsed, and only some sporadic resistance remained, which could not last long.

After taking Yongzhou City, the next step is to recover the entire Yongzhou territory, which will be an easy task.

After the recovery of the prefecture, the Governor of Huguang finally had a place to use his talents.

"No need!

While the enemy is still not reacting, we should seize the opportunity to capture Hengyang."

Li Yuan resisted the temptation and refused.

For him personally, the recapture of Yongzhou City was indeed a landmark event with very important commemorative significance.

But for the overall situation, the city of Yongzhou alone was far from enough to satisfy his appetite.

The right thing to do is to take advantage of the enemy's lack of time to react and seize the opportunity to recover lost territory and expand your territory.

Just like the previous battle, while attacking Yongzhou, Li Mu also divided his troops and attacked Hengyang.

The battle here is over, and it's a good time to go over and lead the attack and defense of Hengyang.

It’s not that there are no people in the army, but they have to have these big guys go to the front line in person.

The main reason was that Li Mu’s prestige in the army was too high. As long as he arrived at the place, he could boost morale even if he did nothing.

By the way, you can also scare the rebels in Hengyang City.

When two armies fight, in addition to competing in strength, they also have to compete in the psychological quality of their commanders.

Once you are afraid, you will not be able to move freely on the battlefield.

Even if the opportunity to fight is right in front of us, we can only let it slip away.

"Pass the order down, leave 5,000 soldiers and horses in Yongzhou to deal with the aftermath, and the rest of the people board the ship and head to Hengyang."

Li Mu nodded and said.

Entering Yongzhou City, it is more of a political show.

However, after continuous wars, there were not many residents in Yongzhou City, and there was no need to appease the people in this way.

As for the imperial court, Emperor Yongning and all the officials only wanted to see the good news of recovering the lost territory, and everything else was just irrelevant.

……

"Governor, Songjiang Prefecture is ahead."

Looking at the land appearing in the distance, Jing Yifeng spoke up to remind.

"Oh!

We arrived so soon, it seems God is on our side.

Pass the order down, the entire army should prepare for landing.

Lao Qi, you have fought many battles with the rebels and have experience in landing operations. The next battle will be handed over to you to command."

Jing Guoliang looked at Songjiang Prefecture in the distance and said.

"The last general takes command!"

Jing Yifeng replied immediately.

Although they are brothers, they are still distant relatives.

Jing Guoliang, the head of the family, can treat him as a younger brother, but he cannot just agree to it directly.

Especially in a place with strict hierarchy like the military, more attention should be paid to identity.

If you want to have the qualification to have an equal dialogue, it will not be too late to hope for it after you are awarded a title for your military merits.

In fact, over the more than 270 years since Dayu was established, no duke has been born except for a few dukes who were canonized during the founding period.

The world is now in a state of chaos. If you can quell all the hidden dangers, you will be qualified.

However, most people cannot afford such a great achievement.

Even if you can do it, you have to find someone to share the burden with, otherwise you will be in trouble if you become too successful.

Choosing Jing Yifeng to land and fight is essentially a form of promotion.

For military generals, only on the battlefield can they gain enough military merits.

When they went south to Guangdong and Guangxi, Jing Yifeng and Li Mu were in the same team.

They are all lieutenant generals. There is a gap in strength between the Huai'an Camp and the Yangzhou Camp, but it is not too great.

Both of them have backgrounds in the court and had outstanding military achievements in their early development.

It developed to the limit and the two were separated.

It is true that Xu Wenyue recommended Jing Guoliang for the position of General of Guangdong, and Jing Guoliang also made great efforts behind the scenes.

I thought that with the help of Guangdong's abundant resources, my cousin would be able to continue his efforts and make further progress in the military.

As a result, fate played a joke on him. After serving as the general of Guangdong, Jing Yifeng only enjoyed a few days of glory in the early stage.

Before long, they were trapped in the predicament of lack of money and food, from which they were unable to extricate themselves.

At the same time, his own son-in-law was making rapid progress and became a leader of the younger generation of nobles.

The meat was all in his own pot, so Jing Guoliang didn't care, but the Jing clan couldn't stand it.

The Li family, their ally, has two marquises. If they don't work harder, the Jing family, the first noble family, will lose its reputation.

It is obviously too late to train new people.

No matter how much resources you are willing to invest, your children must have good abilities.

It is useless to just read military books. Only after going through the test of war can we determine who the real talent is.

Jing Yifeng's performance was not as good as expected, that was the result of comparing with Li Mu.

In the entire noble system, Jing Yifeng's performance is still very eye-catching.

Since joining the army, I have never suffered a major defeat.

The main reason for failing to recapture Guangdong was the lack of money and food, not because of his poor military command ability.

Since he has training value, we should naturally create more opportunities for him to perform.

If we perform well, it is not impossible to recapture Nanjing.

Sit in a row and share the fruits.

This is the nature of the world.

The current group of nobles has essentially entered the era of the Big Four.

After obtaining the hereditary title of marquis, neither Li Mu nor Marquis Wuyang would expect to go further.

Whether you have more or less military merits, it won’t make any difference.

It is not impossible to be willing to trade political resources and give the opportunity to retake Nanjing to the Jing family.

To be precise, just make a deal with Marquis Wuyang.

The Jing family made great contributions to Li Mu's rise.

Not only did Li Mu owe a favor, the entire Li clan owed a big favor to the Jing family.

Otherwise, Li Mu would have been impeached countless times by the censors for the things he did privately.

For many things, it’s okay to do them quietly.

Once it comes to the surface, it will be a matter of life and death.

Thanks to the protection of the two regent ministers, Li Mu was able to avoid internal strife among his colleagues.

Including the subsequent title conferment, Jing Guoliang also made great contributions in the court.

These debts of favor all need to be repaid.

As long as Jing Guoliang asks, he can let Li Mu bring the army to help take Nanjing.

However, this level of support is obviously impossible.

If one is forced to a high position without matching his or her own abilities, it would be a disaster.

From the family's perspective, what the Jing family needs is influence in the military, not high positions and generous salaries.

"Rumble..."

The sound of gunfire broke the tranquility of Shanghai County.

"Enemy attack!" The port defenders issued an early warning immediately.

The news quickly spread to the Shanghai County Government, and the magistrate Chai Baopu was stunned when he received the news.

The situation of Songjiang Prefecture was special, as it was divided between the Wu and Chu countries.

In order to reduce the conflict, senior officials of the two countries are negotiating on land exchange.

Perhaps inheriting the tradition of the Dayu Dynasty, the top leaders did not keep this negotiation secret.

The specific outcome of the negotiations is unknown, but in order to show sincerity, neither side stationed heavy troops in Songjiang Prefecture.

Shanghai County is temporarily under the control of the Chu State, but everyone knows that the King of Chu wants to focus on managing Huguang.

Naturally, no one would attach much importance to a place that is destined to be abandoned.

"Are you sure it was the government troops that fought back, and not pirates who plundered?"

Chai Baopu asked nervously.

Deep down, he hoped that the people under him had made a mistake and mistook the pirates for government troops.

The pirates have limited combat effectiveness, and they will just rob and leave, rarely choosing to fight to the death for a city.

If we try hard enough, there is still hope to hold on to Shanghai County.

If the government troops fought back, the consequences would be much more serious.

It is not known whether the government troops can recapture Southern Zhili, but it will not take much effort to capture Shanghai County.

"Mr. County Magistrate, how dare we talk about such things?

While the enemy is just beginning to land, quickly ask for help from the general stationed in Songjiang!"

The middle-aged captain immediately urged.

The imperial court recovered the lost territory, and those who followed the enemy would not have a good ending.

The establishment of Wu and Chu did weaken the influence of Dayu, but weakening does not mean eliminating it.

Seeing the government troops attacking, few people would not be afraid.

"Okay, I'll write a letter right away!"

After saying this, Chai Baopu immediately ordered his maid to bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and began to write a letter asking for help.

The whole article was filled with nonsense, which made the middle-aged captain of the police very anxious.

Just as the letter for help was written, the sound of gunfire reached the county government office.

"Sir, I will take someone to deliver the letter for help right away. Please take care!"

After saying this, the middle-aged captain picked up the letter and went out.

From the sound of artillery fire, we can tell that the government troops are not far from the county town, and if we don’t leave now, we will be unable to leave.

If he wasn't worried about being held accountable by his superiors for escaping alone, he wouldn't have come here to ask for a letter of help.

As a newly surrendered person, he did not catch up with the benefits of the rebel expansion and remained a low-ranking official.

The middle-aged captain of the police had no sense of belonging to the new Chu State.

Watching his subordinates leave, Chai Baopu suddenly realized something was wrong.

The armed forces in the county town are limited. When the enemy attacks, the first choice should be to recruit militiamen to defend the city.

The captain of the police, who was supposed to go out to recruit soldiers, actually had to take his subordinates to deliver a letter for help.

This is not delivering a letter at all, it is clearly an excuse to run away.

With his letter as evidence, even if the higher-ups hold him accountable, it will be him, the county magistrate, who will bear the responsibility.

"Son of a bitch!

Zhou Dabo, you dare to fool me.

This officer wants you to..."

Zhou Dabo, who was on the run, could not hear any of the endless cursing, so his efforts were doomed to be in vain.

The magistrate was incompetent, so there was no way he could defend the city.

The new regime was not fully staffed with officials, and he was the only magistrate in the entire Shanghai county.

Chai Baopu failed to perform his duties promptly, which directly led to the collapse of Shanghai County’s defenses.

When the government troops attacked, the guards at the city gate had already run away and didn't even bother to close the city gate.

The place was filled with people fleeing for their lives, and the flow of people directly blocked the city gates.

"Let these people get out of the way immediately. Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy!"

Seeing the scene in front of him, Jing Yifeng decisively gave the order.

I thought it was going to be a fierce battle, but I never expected it to end in a comedy.

The defenders did not cause him any trouble. Instead, it was the civilians who were fleeing for their lives who hindered the army's advance.

……

"General, we have captured the magistrate of Shanghai."

Looking in the direction where the voice came from, Jing Yifeng saw Chai Baopu who was escorted here.

"General, spare my life!
I was forced into submission. The rebels used the threats of the entire county's people to coerce me, and I was forced to surrender to the rebels.

Upon hearing that the royal army had recovered the lost territory, I immediately ordered people to open the city gates and wait..."

Chai Baopu's explanation caused Jing Yifeng to roll his eyes.

“Edit, keep editing.

If you make up a few more stories, maybe I will believe it.

Take this traitor away and hand him over to the Governor's Office for processing later!"

No matter how sufficient the reasons were, if an official surrendered to the rebels, he would be guilty of a serious crime punishable by death.

If you want to return to the imperial court, you have to make great contributions before you can be pardoned by the imperial court.

Simply not resisting the King's army can at most reduce some of the guilt, but those who should be held accountable still have to be held accountable.

If we don't severely punish the traitors, how can we be worthy of those ministers who died for their loyalty?

To commend loyalty and righteousness, rewards alone are not enough, and a punishment mechanism must be provided as well.

The system of the Dayu Dynasty was relatively mature and had a complete reward and punishment mechanism.

"General, I am truly wronged!
As long as you can spare my life, I will give you all the wealth I have accumulated.

......"

Chai Baopu, unwilling to give in, promised earnestly.

Reason told him that this was his last chance to survive.

If no one helps speak up for him, he will certainly lose his head once he appears before the governor.

“It doesn’t matter, I can arrange for someone to do it myself.

As long as your accumulated wealth is in the city, it can be searched out without much effort."

Jing Yifeng responded sarcastically.

Ever since he suffered from the shortage of money and food, he has been full of resentment towards corrupt officials.

If the official granary in Qiongzhou Prefecture had not been emptied, he would have been able to use the grain stored by the court as military rations for his troops.

As long as there is enough food, we can win the battle even if the military pay is in arrears.

At worst, we can wait until after the war and use the spoils to make up for it.

He and Li Mu had done similar things more than once when they were in Guangxi.

As long as the promises can be fulfilled in a timely manner, the soldiers are willing to buy it.

At that time, if we had won a few more battles, we would have made enough contributions in the battle to recover Guangdong.

When Marquis Wuyang served as the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi, he would not put most of the resources on Li Mu's troops.

With sufficient resources, the strength of the army under his command will inevitably increase dramatically, and he may even be one of the protagonists in the subsequent war to support the king.

If you are lucky, you will be granted a title and become an important figure in the noble family.

Unfortunately, there are not so many ifs in reality. His path to success was ruined by a group of corrupt officials.

Once you miss the chance to hitchhike, it's not easy to catch up again.

(End of this chapter)