Ancestors, please don't crawl out again.

Chapter 68: Run, the Lich King is coming!
Emperor Taizu Gao eventually dug a huge cesspool in Qingzhou and threw a group of prominent families in Qingzhou into it.

As for the 30,000 Qing troops in the city...

As soon as the guards climbed over the collapsed city wall, hundreds of thousands of young and strong men in the city took action. There were a large number of military households here, including the militia, who quickly defected. After all, they had been waiting for the opportunity to take action, but there were too many Qing troops, so they did not dare to do so for the time being. Now that Emperor Taizu Gao had arrived, anyone who did not take action would be a fool.

In the end, the 30,000 Qing troops were completely wiped out by the siege of nearly 400,000 people.

Even their heads were piled up like a Jingguan.

Daishan, who led hundreds of thousands of Qing troops in Jinan, never dared to send troops from beginning to end.

Fortunately, Yang Feng did not turn to his side, but went straight to Laizhou from Qingzhou. However, before Emperor Taizu Gao came to Laizhou, Zhang Xin, the Tianjin governor of the Qing Dynasty and the Minister of Justice of the Ming Dynasty, who was ordered to return to his hometown to supervise the militia, hanged himself. And it was not just him. More than half of the gentry in Laizhou hanged themselves. After all, hanging is more comfortable than drowning in a cesspool.

The rest, who thought their crimes were not serious and that they should be able to take a chance, ran to bring out the former Prime Minister Fan Fucui who was hiding in the mountains.

Then they announced a glorious rebellion under the leadership of Fan Fucui.

But it's of no use.

Anyone who has achieved merit and shaved his head will end up dead.

Fan Fucui did indeed become a monk without shaving his head, and his son Fan Tingfeng also followed Yang Weiyuan and was able to escape death.

But the rest should go into the cesspool.

Those who had previously hanged themselves and were quickly buried, including Zhang Xin, had to be dug out and thrown in.

Fan Fucui, who witnessed Taizu's evil deeds, returned to the mountains sadly and continued to be a Taoist priest. However, before leaving, he secretly sent someone to deliver a letter to Yang Weiyuan. So Yang Weiyuan was frightened and quickly led his army to counterattack. He recaptured Laiyang, Wendeng and other counties with great ease, and sent troops south to recapture Jimo, Jiaozhou and other places. Yu Qi, who was also under his command, also recaptured Dengzhou without bloodshed.

However, it was necessary to kill some gentry, otherwise they would not be able to explain to Emperor Taizu Gao. All they could do was to save these gentry from the cesspool and leave them some descendants.

Of course, Yang Feng was no longer interested in taking care of them at this time.

Dengzhou.

Penglai Water City.

"Grandpa, all the boats that can be found in this area are here."

Yu Qi, who had just been appointed as the general of Dengzhou, knelt in front of Emperor Taizu Gao and said.

At this time, the water city was densely packed with all kinds of ships, even small fishing boats, and it was as crowded as a garbage belt pushed by a flood.

"This is not enough!"

Yang Feng said.

He wanted to cross the sea to recapture Liaodong.

But there aren't enough ships.

"Forget it, let's just take as many as we can get through. Get on board, I'll lead you to recapture Liaodong."

He went on to say.

Generals beside him, such as Xie Qian and Liang Min, immediately received the order and then went to organize their elite troops to board the ship.

At this moment, Yang Weiyuan hurried over, bearing a memorial just delivered from Nanjing. The Northern Expeditionary Army, led by Prince Huai, had already crossed the Huai River at Huai'an and quickly recaptured Xuzhou. Of course, the Qing army had effectively abandoned the area. Due to the Yellow River flooding and Yang Feng's previous actions, the area south of Jining was no longer defensible. The canal's northern departure point had become Nanwang, making Jining a crucial defense. After all, without Jining, they couldn't build ships and advance north.

So after Yang Feng left, the Qing army quickly increased the Jining garrison to 30,000.

Moreover, all the unruly people in the city had followed Yang Feng, so there was no need to worry about them rebelling, and the Qing army could rely on Jining City to hold on.

In addition, Prince Yi's Northern Expedition Army has also headed north.

Of course he couldn't take the canal, and Prince Huai wouldn't let him go either.

He took the Three Kingdoms route.

He entered Chaohu Lake via Ruxukou and then headed north from Hefei, eventually reaching the Ying River. This route was clear of Qing troops, as Henan had been completely abandoned by the Qing. Although waterways were limited and most of the route required land travel, at least he could proceed unimpeded before crossing the Yellow River. His most significant achievement during this period was securing support from Guangdong. Currently, he had the support of both Nangan and Guangdong, meaning he didn't have to worry about financial resources. His promise to Guangdong was that the customs would remain unchanged.

The Guangzhou Maritime Customs Office was presided over by the Deputy Envoy of Guangdong Sea Road, and the tax revenue remained unchanged, with 20,000 taels of ship tax and 20,000 taels of water tax collected each year.

The Guangdong gentry really have very few demands.

Just the same as before.

After all, tens of millions of silver poured in every year, and the total tax collected was only 40,000 taels, which is really very little. People should be content.

In short, relying on the financial support of Guangdong and the military force of the mountain people of southern Jiangxi, King Yi has ambitiously started his Northern Expedition.

He has now entered Chaohu Lake and is probably already in Hefei, but his speed will slow down and he will at least not face the Qing army earlier than Prince Huai.

And an unexpected news was that the King of Gui had also launched a northern expedition and had arrived in Wuchang.

By this time, the Prince of Gui was Zhu Youlang. His father, Zhu Changying, was sentenced to death after an audience with Emperor Taizu for abandoning his fiefdom. His brother had inherited the title, but had died of illness a few months earlier, so he inherited the title. He eventually used a series of promises to deal with Ma Jinzhong and others, and also recruited Li Zicheng's former subordinates. After Li Zicheng's death, the latter was immediately wiped out by the Qing army and was in chaos. The gentry in Huguang did not know how to deal with Emperor Taizu, so they did not want to fight them to the death.

And they were terrified.

After all, they had been chased and beaten by the Qing army before, but the nightmare-like Qing army was completely wiped out?
How terrifying is this Taizu?

So when Zhu Youlang offered amnesty and made various promises, Li Guo and others immediately agreed.

In this way, the Prince of Gui has become the one with the second highest advantage after the Prince of Huai. His military strength even exceeds that of the Prince of Huai, and his combat effectiveness is also not a problem.

The issue is……

He needs to fight his way from Xiangyang by land, and he needs a large number of civilians for transportation. Moreover, because he has accepted a large number of Li Zicheng's former subordinates, the northern gentry will resist him very resolutely. In addition, because part of Prince Yi's attack route overlaps with his, the latter will not let him pass.

In short, his hopes were not very high.

Taking in Li Zicheng's former subordinates did give him enough strength, but it also made him bear the consequences.

As for Longwu...

"This guy is a bit cunning!"

Yang Feng looked at the countless warships that suddenly appeared on the sea in the distance.

Longwu is here.

An hour later.

"I'm very curious, do you intend to use these 7,000 soldiers to recapture the capital city occupied by the Qing demons?"

Yang Feng looked at Longwu in front of him with great interest.

The latter used Zheng Zhilong's 100 warships, including 60 actual merchant ships, to transport 7,000 landing soldiers and set sail from Fujian to cross the sea to attack Dengzhou...

He actually didn't know that Dengzhou had been recaptured, and originally thought that a violent attack was necessary.

However, this amount of troops is really meaningless. Not to mention 7,000, even if there were 70,000, they would not be able to recapture the capital.

There is no problem in letting Fujian soldiers fight in naval battles, but what they need is to land and storm a giant fortress defended by tens of thousands of Qing troops. This number of people can't even fill up a city wall, not to mention that they are all infantry. They can't even see the capital. In fact, they can't even capture Tianjin. Given the gap in combat effectiveness between the two sides, an Eight Banners Manchu Jiala of the Qing army can probably defeat them with cavalry in a field battle.

And they arrived too early.

There was nothing wrong with Longwu's plan, and it was also his best choice to win the Northern Expedition.

However, he should have waited a little longer until the three armies of the Prince of Huai, the Prince of Yi, and the Prince of Gui marched north, and all the Qing troops who could fight were transferred out of the capital and were engaged in the battlefield, and then he should have taken the opportunity to land in Tianjin and raid the capital.

And even so, 7,000 people are not enough. 40,000 to 50,000 people will be enough, and they must be 40,000 to 50,000 well-trained elite soldiers.

Seven thousand at this time, that is suicide.

"Emperor Taizu Gao, I remember you once said that if I could persuade Zhang Xianzhong to surrender and make him serve me, you would pardon all his crimes?" Longwu said.

Yang Feng smiled.

"So where is Zhang Xianzhong now? He can't have just set out on his journey, right?"

He said.

"Reporting to Emperor Taizu Gao, if nothing unexpected happens, he should have recaptured Xi'an by now."

Longwu said.

"Xi'an, I think you are still too conservative."

Yang Feng said.

At this time, his vision had switched to the dragon.

Yellow River.

Longmen Ferry.

"Run! The yellow tiger is back!"

The magistrate of Hancheng rode a mule, galloping and screaming.

Behind him were officials and gentry who were also fleeing, some even with their women. They rode mules, donkeys, and some were even on foot, but without exception, they were all screaming in terror and fleeing towards the ferry. The merchants and travelers waiting at the ferry, as well as the government troops stationed there, all looked at them blankly. Behind them was the dust of countless cavalrymen galloping wildly, like a sandstorm on the dry land.

Just as the captain stationed here pulled the magistrate's mule, he also saw the flag revealed in the dust as the distance got closer.

This flag...

He really saw it!
He was trembling there, and suddenly he calmed down. He suddenly pulled out the knife and chopped the magistrate's face with it before he could wake up.

The latter's screams stopped abruptly, and the body fell to the ground.

"Quick, quick, come and welcome His Majesty the Great Western Emperor!"

The captain shouted at his stunned subordinates.

At this time, the dust of the cavalry had caught up with the fleeing officials and gentry, and countless cavalrymen swept over like a torrent, drowning them in an instant.

The officials and gentry who were knocked over had no time to get up before they were trampled by the war horses.

Immediately afterwards, as the captain and the merchants at the ferry were kneeling to greet him, a guy with a burly figure but a sallow complexion, who did not look like a good guy, stopped among the cavalry.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

The captain kowtowed and said.

"Don't call me Your Majesty. I've been recruited again. Just call me King. Hurry and prepare all the boats. It took you the same amount of time to get Li Zicheng to the other side. Otherwise, I'll throw you all in to feed the fish."

The latter said with a smile.

Well, Zhang Xianzhong is here.

Recapture Xi'an?

No need at all!

He was a bandit, so why would he attack Xi'an? Besides, even if he didn't care, the Qing army in Xi'an wouldn't dare to come out and disturb him.

The Qing Dynasty is in this situation, so of course there are no heavy troops in Xi'an.

In reality, the Qing Dynasty's commander in Shaanxi was Meng Qiaofang, a Han Chinese general who surrendered in Yongping. He now served as governor-general guarding Xi'an, but he only had 3,000 Han Chinese soldiers under his command. The rest were former Ming soldiers who had surrendered and had been converted back into Ming troops. Even this number wasn't significant; the entire city of Xi'an probably only had 10,000 defenders, and they couldn't possibly leave. Sun Shoufa and He Zhen were besieging Xi'an, and Dorgon was unable to provide them with support. As a result, Meng Qiaofang had been trapped in Xi'an for three months.

In fact, the Qing Dynasty's rule in Shaanxi was already in a state of collapse, and the entire Shaanxi, including Gansu, was in swarms of bandits.

Sun Shoufa, He Zhen, Wu Dading...

They all fought under the banner of the Ming Dynasty, and some even supported members of the royal family to fight against the Qing Dynasty in various places.

Dorgon asked Wu Sangui to send troops, but Wu Sangui was not stupid. His family had been playing with the army for so many years in the Ming Dynasty. How could he suddenly put the overall situation first when he came to the Qing Dynasty?
He was very comfortable in Taiyuan, so why should he throw his precious servants into a fight with these people in Shaanxi?

These people are not weak.

Sun Shoufa is also a real tough guy.

So what Zhang Xianzhong actually needed to do was to quickly open Hanzhong.

As for this…

"Go, tell Mako to come here quickly. He has to be the vanguard. Does he still want to be pardoned in the future?"

Zhang Xianzhong shouted to his subordinates beside him.

Ma Ke, the general-in-chief of the Ming, Shun and Qing dynasties, surrendered in Hanzhong without a fight.

With the vision of a giant dragon, Yang Feng watched from the sky as Zhang Xianzhong's army surged forward. It was entirely cavalry, totaling over 30,000 men. The Lich King certainly didn't have that many warhorses, so most of them were likely mounted horses. It wasn't necessarily horses; mules and donkeys were also available, as he was a donkey driver by descent. Even so, it could still be said that he was giving it his all. Thanks to the heavy losses suffered by the Qing Dynasty in Jiangnan, they had long since given up on attacking Sichuan. Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong had some time to operate in Sichuan, and his strength was developing rapidly.

"What promise did you make to him? Could it be the King of Shu?"

Yang Feng switched back and asked Longwu.

"Replying to Emperor Taizu Gao, the King of Shu, with Chengdu as his fiefdom, he governed Sichuan for generations and served as the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi."

Longwu said cautiously.

"He believes you?"

Yang Feng said.

"To answer the Emperor Taizu Gao, of course he doesn't believe me, but he is just sitting there waiting to die in Sichuan. It's only a matter of time. Under the Emperor Taizu Gao's divine power, even a powerful demon like the Qing Dynasty would be reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye. He is just a small bandit, and the Emperor Taizu Gao doesn't even need to take action. After the Qing Dynasty demons are wiped out, a single army entering Sichuan will be enough to destroy him.

He still has some self-awareness.

If he follows me in the Northern Expedition, he will be regarded as a hero by being a bandit. Even if I go back on my word and kill him, it will be that I have killed a hero and have failed him. Naturally, it would be unpleasant to kill all his descendants and subordinates. If he refuses to help me, killing him will be the same as suppressing the bandits. At that time, killing all his troops will only mean wiping out a group of bandits.

He did not believe in his ministers, but he believed in the majesty of Emperor Taizu Gao.

Thaksin believed that Emperor Taizu Gao would crush him to death as easily as crushing an ant.

It's not that I need his help, it's that he needs me to escape from being a bandit."

Longwu said.

So he had actually been prepared to get rid of the donkey after it had served its purpose.

But after all, the Lich King killed too many members of the royal family. If he could still have a good end as a vassal king, it would indeed be a bit exaggerated.

“Forget it, if he can really recapture the capital, then let him have a good end.

Tell him the promise I made to him."

Yang Feng said.

"Uh, I obey your command."

Longwu said quickly.

(End of this chapter)