The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 600 Defense
When Qian Qianyi and his entourage arrived at Jiujiang Port, all of Zuo Liangyu's troops had fled to the southeast, and Jiujiang was saved.

It was not that Duke Kunshan showed mercy to his old friend, but because the Qi army was chasing too hard, the left wing had no chance to breathe and had to rush eastward all the way to Nanjing to "clear the court."

In the original history, after failing to stop Zuo Liangyu from "clearing the court", the Governor of Huguang, Yuan Jixian, returned to Jiujiang overnight and closed the city to defend himself.

However, General Zhang Shixun colluded with General Zuo's army and set the city on fire at night. Zuo Liangyu's troops took advantage of the situation and entered the city, and Jiujiang fell.

In despair, Yuan Jixian was ready to commit suicide. Zuo Liangyu sent his general Zhang Yingyuan to capture him and put him in a boat. Yuan Jixian tried to commit suicide by jumping into the water again and again, but was rescued each time.

By this time, Zuo Liangyu was gravely ill. He desperately tried to assure Yuan Jixian that he had no intention of rebellion and hoped that Yuan Jixian would accompany him eastward to "reserve the troops." Military Supervisor Li Youlong also repeatedly advised him that dying in vain would be pointless and that it would be better to wait and see. Yuan Jixian had no choice but to follow Zuo Liangyu and his five generals in establishing three rules, strictly prohibiting killing and looting. However, Zuo Liangyu's illness left him unable to control these arrogant and reckless soldiers, and soon their troops resumed their burning, killing, and looting.

Zuo Liangyu sighed before his death: "I have failed Yuan Linhou." He vomited several liters of blood and died.

After Zuo Liangyu's death, his generals appointed his son Zuo Menggeng as the remaining commander. They imprisoned Yuan Jixian on a ship and continued their march eastward, successively capturing Pengze, Dongliu, Jiande, and Anqing, advancing directly to Taiping Prefecture. Soon after, the Qing army under Duoduo captured Nanjing and Wuhu, while Ajige's forces defeated the Dashun army, pursuing it all the way to Jiujiang, Jiangxi, and the prefectures and counties of Hubei to the north of the Yangtze River. Zuo Menggeng, commanding ten generals and tens of thousands of soldiers, dared neither meet Ajige's forces advancing westward nor advance eastward to confront Duoduo's forces. He was even reluctant to venture south to Jiangxi to temporarily avoid the main Qing forces. Instead, on May 13th, he surrendered to Ajige's forces on the Yangtze River between Jiujiang and Dongliu. Yuan Jixian was taken to the capital, where he vowed to fight to the death and was ultimately executed.

Thanks to Liu Zhaosun's time travel, the fate of Zuo Liangyu and Yuan Jixian in this dimension has changed dramatically.

First of all, under the influence of various butterfly effects, Zuo Liangyu did not die as young as in history. At least now, Duke Kunshan is in good health and can eat whatever he wants and have sex with women at night without any problem.

The historical campaign to purge the court of corrupt officials that was abandoned halfway will now be resolutely carried out to the end by Duke Kunshan.

As to when Zuo Liangyu will die, it is still uncertain, maybe tomorrow, maybe next year.

However, what is certain is that a man-to-man duel is about to break out between him and his arch-enemy, Ruan Dacheng, the chief minister of the Ming cabinet stationed in Nanjing.

It determines superiority and inferiority, and also life and death.

Since Jiujiang was not conquered by the left wing in this dimension, Yuan Jixian did not have to go to Beijing to be beheaded by Dorgon.

This loyal minister will continue to live, and will live for a very long time.

The Qi army surrounded Jiujiang City and only sent a small number of troops to pursue Zuo Liangyu's army. Most of the troops were still gathered in the Jiujiang area to digest the heavy victories of this period.

On the Jiujiang River, there were thousands of ships carrying food and supplies. The Qi army seemed to cover the sky and the sun, threatening the Southern Ming Dynasty's Jiangbei defense line.

Yuan Jixian ordered the gates of the city to be closed. The Ming army in the city had witnessed the disastrous defeat of Zuo Liangyu's army and had already lost their courage. They dared not attack and had no way to escape.

Speaking of which, Yuan Jixian was able to live to this day and continue to be a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty thanks to the Emperor Emeritus of Qi.

Liu Zhaosun's delay in ordering a full-scale attack on Jiujiang suggests he had other plans. In the 1361st year of the Yuan Dynasty's Zhizheng reign ( AD), Zhu Yuanzhang, Duke of Wu, led a large army to capture the Chen Han capital, Jiangzhou, and subsequently renamed it Jiujiang Prefecture.

"The mountains and rivers are clear and pure, the wind and the lake are refreshing and open, the air is refreshing and mild, the land is fertile and the people are at ease. It is a place where those who admire hermits come to live in caves and rocks, and where the dragons and phoenixes are hidden and the virtuous are sought after. Those who go there forget to return." - "Xun Yang Ji"

Marco Polo described Jiujiang in his travelogue: "Although the city is small, it is a place with a prosperous commerce. Because Jiujiang is close to the river, it has a large number of ships, no less than 15000."

In fact, Jiujiang Prefecture is not the richest place in Jiangxi. The prefecture city is relatively small. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the population was only over 2, which can be described as a tiny city.

However, for the defenders, with the same number of troops, the smaller the city, the easier it is to defend.

Jiujiang is such a small and strong city.

As a fortress city on the Yangtze River, Jiujiang is extremely important.

It is located at a transportation hub, enjoying the advantage of shipping. It controls Shu and Chu in the north, Wu and Yue in the south, Guangdong and Guangxi in the south, and Yan and Qin in the north. It has always been known as the key to the rivers and lakes and a place that military strategists must fight for.

If the terrain in northern Jiangxi is regarded as a bottle, and the mountains on both sides as the bottle walls, then the mouth of the bottle is Jiujiang.

There are mountains on both sides, making large-scale military deployment inconvenient.

Whether from the two lakes or Jiangsu and Anhui, the most convenient way to attack Jiangxi is to enter Poyang Lake from Jiujiang.

Jiujiang is located on the river and nestled in the mountains, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

At present, Jiujiang Prefecture has become an abandoned area of the Southern Ming Dynasty. If it were not for the cautious use of troops by the retired emperor, the Qi army could have completely skipped this difficult hurdle and marched directly eastward to attack Hukou Pengze.

After much deliberation, Liu Zhaosun decided to use Jiujiang as the forward base for the next stage of his advance into Jiangxi and threaten Fujian.

How to successfully capture this fortress has become a question he has considered for a long time.

It was not until that day when he climbed the Yellow Crane Tower and composed poems and essays that he came up with the idea of sending someone to persuade them to surrender.

This is also the background and reason for Qian Qianyi and others to set out.

(End of this chapter)