The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 599 Battle of Jiujiang
On March 18th of the first month of the Guangde reign, Grand Secretary Qian Qianyi and Hanlin Academy editor Zhang Pu received the imperial edict from the retired emperor and prepared to go to Jiujiang Prefecture to persuade Yuan Jixian, the pseudo-Ming governor of Huguang, to surrender.

Zhang Pu had no hope for this trip. He had heard that Yuan Jixian was a man of integrity and would never curry favor with the powerful. He was afraid that he could not make him submit to the court with just a few words. If he was not careful, his life would remain in Jiangxi.

However, Qian Qianyi was full of confidence in occupying Jiujiang without bloodshed. He and Yuan Jixian were old friends. During the early Ming Dynasty, they served as officials together in Nanzhili and had a deep friendship.

More importantly, the five major corps of the Qi army went down the river to the east and quickly occupied Huangshi in Ezhou, getting closer and closer to the Jiujiang city.

Zuo Liangyu had become a lost cause, only caring about "clearing the court" and not daring to turn around and fight a head-on battle with the Qi army.

Under such circumstances, Yuan Jixian, who was stationed in Jiujiang City, actually had no other way out. Not only was the Qi army going to attack him, but Zuo Liangyu's subordinates were also coveting the prosperous Jiujiang City.

Zhang Pu was a sixth-rank official. His primary duty was to compile the Veritable Records, recording the words and deeds of the retired emperor. He would occasionally lecture the young emperor on classics and history, acting as his tutor. He hadn't expected to be assigned this daunting task, having just been transferred from Liaodong to Huguang. He blamed himself for being too talkative and insisting on being in the spotlight.

On the 19th, Qian Qianyi and Zhang Pu boarded the ship at Hanyang Gate Wharf and prepared to depart.

To protect Qian and Zhang, the Imperial Guards sent three people, together with four elite night warriors, a total of seven people.

The leader of the seven-man group was Wu Xiao, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard. Li Zicheng had just returned from Korea. After the emperor asked about the details of Korea, he asked Li Zicheng to go with him to Jiangxi to gain some experience. After conquering Jiangnan, Li Zicheng would be in charge of a region.

Wei Zhao, Wu Xiao's deputy, also went along.

Among the four accompanying men who were not to be collected at night, in addition to Xu Jing and Wan Shao who had just made great contributions in the Battle of Jiangxia, there were two from the First Corps of the Emperor's direct line. Both of them were from Jiangxi and had followed Liu Jing to fight in Sarhu.

It was noon when the river was thick with fog. Pei Dahu and Lin Yu came to the dock to see Wu Xiao off.

Before leaving, Pei Dahu stopped Wu Xiaoxia and told him:
"Jiujiang is dangerous. Although the upper reaches of the river are under our control, Zuo Liangyu will inevitably become desperate. It is not certain whether Yuan Jixian is a friend or an enemy. You must be extra careful. The emperor said that Jiujiang is the key to retaking Jiangnan. If the two ministers can convince that Yuan, it will be great. If not, you must protect yourself. Remember, when you get there, contact the Yebushou front in time. At a critical moment, those people can save your life..."

"I know, I know! Can you stop rambling? Let's go to Jiujiang, to Donglin Temple on the western foot of Mount Lu, to find a monk named Jing'an, and talk to him about Buddhism! Right? I can recite all of this!"

Pei Dahu smiled awkwardly.

The reason why Wu Xiao was asked to go to Donglin Temple first was certainly not to let him preach Buddhism.

Master Jing'an was a secret agent left in Jiujiang by Shen Lian during his lifetime. He used to have a single line of contact with Shen Lian. After Captain Shen's death, this person had no contact with the Suoyi Guard anymore.

Even Zhangdong Liu Xingzuo didn't know what Master Jing'an's current situation was, and whether he had become a vegetarian, chanted Buddhist scriptures, and stopped killing people.

"No one has been to Jiujiang Prefecture except Li Dingguo. It's still unknown whether Li Dingguo has reached Yinzhou. Anyway, if you can find Jing'an, your trip will be much more effective."

Wu Xiao was too lazy to listen to Pei Dahu's nagging. He turned around and said goodbye to Lin Yu. He smiled at his taciturn old partner and said, "Big Lin, I always feel uneasy when you're not around!"

Pei Dahu added, "We can't spare any manpower, otherwise we would have sent Lin Yu and you. The Emperor has left so many former Ming officials behind, and the entire Jiangxia and Wuchang area is full of mixed people. There are assassins every now and then. With Lin Yu here, he can intimidate many enemies."

Wu Xiao knew that the Emperor could defeat four or five of them by himself, so he didn't need the Imperial Guards' protection at all. They were currently protecting more recently appointed officials from the State of Qi. Since the army entered Huguang, assassinations against Qi officials had never ceased. It was said that many of the assassins were sent by Zheng Chenggong, and of course there were also Zuo Liangyu's assassins.

Wu Xiao is now increasingly unable to understand the purpose of many of the court's current policies.

For example, the vigorous movement to abolish private property held in Liaodong, Shandong and other places a few years ago has gradually been forgotten since the second half of last year. Even the emperor who was the initiator of the policy to abolish private property has never issued any decree.

This incident was gradually forgotten by people and no one mentioned it again, as if the Great Purge had never happened.

Furthermore, the court's attitude towards the pseudo-Ming prisoners has changed from beating and scolding them at will and almost executing them all in the past to only killing a small number of them now. This earth-shaking change is incredible.

Those who are familiar with the retired emperor know that killing is his true nature.

However, now, the emperor seems to have become a different person, and he doesn't like killing people so much anymore.

The retired emperor also issued an edict that all surrendered soldiers and generals, as long as they were willing to join the Great Qi, would be properly resettled by the court.

The retired emperor even personally met with some prestigious Southern Ming officials and held long conversations with them by candlelight. Some military representatives and mid- and lower-level civil servants were very dissatisfied with this regression, believing it to be a blatant betrayal of the Great Qi system. Fortunately, these people were few in number, accounting for less than 10% of the total number of civil and military officials.

"No matter what, as long as the people live and work in peace and contentment, that's the best." Wu Xiao comforted himself like this and didn't delve into it any further. ~~~~~
They boarded a fishing boat, sailing down the river from Hankou. It was a very boring time for people on the boat. Qian Qianyi carefully read the poems and essays he had brought with him, while Zhang Pu, like an ant on the hot pot, paced back and forth in the cabin in a state of anxiety.

All the fishing boats and even canoes on the river around Wuchang Prefecture were requisitioned by the army - of course, they were paid - and Wu Xiao and his men searched for a long time before they found this broken boat in a fishing village overgrown with weeds near Hankou.

Compared with the pleasure boats and book boats I used to ride in Jiangnan, this old and shabby boat in front of me is really unsightly.

However, the situation was critical and they had no time to think about anything else, so the two civil servants had no choice but to take this ship.

"Brother Tianru, I'm almost broken from all the bumpy rides, yet you still have the energy to walk. I admire you!"

Zhang Pu was very angry when he was sent to Jiujiang this time, but he couldn't complain to the emperor, so he took out his anger on Qian Qianyi.

"Brother Mu Zhai, this time, the task of persuading Lord Yuan is up to you. You have to shoulder this important responsibility. Lord Yuan and I have the deepest friendship. Even if you anger him, he won't kill you in a fit of rage."

Qian Qianyi smiled slightly and retorted, "Don't worry, Tianru. If you delay the emperor's mission and hinder military and national affairs, according to the laws of Qi, such crimes will be punished by death, regardless of whether the criminals are the leaders or the followers!"

Zhang Pu was only in his early twenties this year, and of course he didn't want to be beheaded by the emperor at such a young age.

Some corpses of Ming soldiers were floating on the river, and many villages on both sides of the river were burned down, looking pitch black from a distance.

Wu Xiao didn't look at these tragic scenes. He turned around and asked Li Zicheng what he had seen and heard in Korea over the past six months.

Li Zicheng is 22 years old this year. He is no longer the refugee child who begged for food for his sister under the bell tower in Xi'an.

"The North Koreans bully the weak and fear the strong. When reinforcements arrive in Hwanghae Province, they calm down. But when our troops withdraw, the North Koreans start making trouble again. This cycle repeats endlessly."

Wu Xiao was quite shocked when he heard this. He had heard that this King of Korea, who was earlier known as Lord Lingyang, had come to power entirely with the help of the retired emperor.

"This heartless guy has completely forgotten how we helped him back then."

The other guards began to curse Li Hui, saying that he was fickle and a complete clown.

Wu Xiao asked everyone to leave: "I remember that the son of the King of Korea, that is, their Crown Prince, is still under house arrest in Shenyang. The Emperor's intention is very simple. If the King of Korea makes any more provocative moves, the Emperor will directly appoint the Crown Prince as the new King of Korea, bypassing Li Hui.

~~~~~~
There was no conversation along the way. After the Qi army verified the identity of the fishing boat, they immediately let it pass and provided Wu Xiao and his crew with fresh water, food and other supplies.

When approaching Jiujiang, Wang Zengbin specially arranged for more than 50 cavalrymen to accompany the boat on the shore to protect Qian Qianyi's safety.

They learned from Qi commanders along the route that Zuo Liangyu had advanced on Jiujiang Prefecture three days earlier, but his forces had been held outside the city walls by Yuan Jichengxian for two full days. Zuo Liangyu did not want to expend too much energy in the fortified city of Jiujiang; after all, his objectives were Anqing and Nanjing. After this bluff attack, the Duke of Kunshan led thousands of ships and vessels, leading the motley "Jingnan" army, who were crammed into the Yangtze River waterway, slowly sailing towards Anqing.

Although Zuo Liangyu's army had gone to quell the rebellion and was far away from Jiujiang, the situation on the river was not peaceful at all.

There cannot be a power vacuum. Since Zuo Liangyu left, someone else would soon take his place. The one who succeeded Zuo Liangyu in managing this area was not the government army, but a group of river pirates.

Some defeated Ming army soldiers also stayed behind to occupy the mountains and become kings, specifically robbing the money of traveling merchants.

Wu Xiao simply disdained these petty thieves who robbed people on the road. On the night just after passing Huangshi, a dozen river bandits boarded two boats, with torches on the bows, and shouted at Qian Qianyi and others to pay a toll.

Until Wu Xiao's flintlock pistol exploded, blowing off half of the head of the river pirate who rushed to the front. The river pirates were frightened out of their wits and turned around to flee.
On March 15th, after more than ten days of arduous journey and several brushes with death, Wu Xiao and others finally arrived at Jiujiang City.

After everyone got ashore, in order to avoid attracting attention, Wu Xiao divided them into two groups, one led by Li Zicheng and the other led by him.

As everyone stood up to leave, they heard someone calling from behind;

"You guys are sneaking around, but you are Qi spies!"

(End of this chapter)