There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 37 You are from the Eight Banners of Mongolia!
Although Jingzhou Prefecture is not the capital of Hubei, its strategic position is more important than that of the capital Wuchang.

Because Jingzhou City is located on the north bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, historically, if the northern regime wanted to cross the river and go south to capture the dragon, it had to take Jingzhou. If the southern regime wanted to divide the country into north and south and rule the world together, it also had to control Jingzhou.

However, although Jingzhou is so strategically located, its geographical weakness is also fatal, because Jingzhou is located in the Jianghan Plain, just like the Tokyo City of the Northern Song Dynasty, both of which are flat and have no strategic locations to defend.

In the words of Wei Liaoweng, a famous official of the Southern Song Dynasty: "Jiangling Prefecture (Jingzhou) is blocked by the river on one side, and the other three sides are all flat land, with no strategic location to rely on."

On the city wall of Jingzhou.

A few veteran soldiers and a few new recruits were chatting and yawning.

Why are there distinctions between veterans and new recruits?
Because these old soldiers were the defeated soldiers of the governor who had fled back from the previous battle, and were forcibly conscripted by the government office to serve as soldiers to defend the city.

Cui Longjian certainly knew that this might cause problems, but he really had no choice. There were no soldiers available in the city. These defeated soldiers had seen blood after all. Letting them go out of the city to fight might be seeking death, but defending the city was not too risky after all.

"Uncle Lin, what you just said is true. You are not lying. Have you really seen a rebel?"

There was a new soldier leaning on a wooden spear. He didn't dare to squat like the others, so he just stood there and asked curiously.

The old soldier in the lead was very slick. He half-lay down against the city wall, yawning and saying, "Why would I lie to you guys? I've really seen the rebels. They're completely different from what the government officials said. They're just a bunch of rabble-rousers, but they're just fooling people. They're really powerful!"

"How powerful is it?" asked the new recruit squatting nearby.

The old soldier chuckled and said, "If you want to talk about how powerful they are, they are all like Lu Bu in the world. Fortunately, I ran away quickly, otherwise I guess my wife would have to remarry by now!"

"Are the rebels so powerful?" The new recruit obviously didn't believe it.

Suddenly someone raised his hand and asked, "Who is Lu Bu? Is he very powerful?"

"No, you don't even know Lü Bu. Haven't you heard of Pinghua (Southern Pinghua, Northern Pingshu)?"

"No."

"..."

A few people were chatting on the city wall while waiting for dinner time.

I have to say that although the food for the city defenders still had no oil or water, at least we could finally eat our fill and didn’t have to bring our own dry food.

Cui Long saw that as the prefect of Jingzhou, he did have some ability. He knew that defending the city was a big deal. If the soldiers were not well fed, they would have no chance of saving their lives.

Just for the military rations that were empty but filling, Cui Longjian chopped off the heads of more than a dozen government officials at once, and also publicly punished the government official who had embezzled money and grain.

Under normal circumstances, Cui Longjian would naturally not have become enemies with the third-in-command of the government office for such a casual reason, which would also have a bad impact in the officialdom, but now he could not care so much.

Fortunately, he and the prefectural magistrate Wang Shuxun were on the same page. Even if they were impeached by the other party afterwards, the two of them could impeach each other together. The worst result would be that nothing would be done.

"Uncle Lin, can you tell us guys again, is this rebel leader really that savage and murderous?"

"Xiao Liuzi, you're so stupid! With a green face and fangs, doesn't that make you a monster?"

"But everyone else is saying that. And isn't it said that the rebel is the leader of some evil cult? This cult is definitely a little different..."

The group was still chatting when the only person standing there suddenly turned around and glanced at the river. "Huh? What's that? It looks like... a boat? There's boats coming, lots of boats!"

The recruit was confused at first, then he exclaimed loudly.

His exclamation quickly alarmed the other people who were chatting.

Several people, including the old soldier who was half lying down, climbed up to the city wall and looked out at the river.

It would be fine if you didn't look, but when you looked over, you would see that suddenly many boats appeared on the river without you noticing.

“Dangdangdang~~!”

This was the city wall beating the gong to give a warning. Apparently, other sections of the wall had also noticed the ships appearing on the river.

Jingzhou City had been under martial law and closed for a long time, and even the transportation of military supplies to Changde Prefecture had stopped. Where were the ships on the Yangtze River, and where were there so many ships?

Could it be that the rebels are attacking?
……

At the same time, at a dock along the Yangtze River.

Three hundred "Manchurian soldiers" came down from the boat one after another, and two of them were supporting the pale Hubei Governor Hui Ling.

"If you want to survive, when we get to the city, cooperate obediently and don't play tricks."

Nie Yu said this while wearing a poorly fitting Manchurian soldier's cotton armor and a helmet on his head, revealing only half of his face.

Hui Ling had an expressionless face. He wanted to commit suicide because he knew that once the rebels broke into the city, he, the governor of Hubei, would surely die.

But suicide was still too difficult. He had indeed thought of committing suicide before on the boat, but he didn't dare to jump into the river, and he couldn't get out. He finally hanged himself with his belt, but the rope accidentally broke. Not only did he not die, he really didn't want to experience the feeling of being almost dead but not dead again.

Meanwhile, Feng Xiuyong, the advisor, now wearing his melon-shaped hat, stepped forward and gently advised Hui Ling, "Sir Governor, there's really no need to play any tricks. Jingzhou City will definitely fall. Even if you don't cooperate, Jingzhou has no soldiers. How can they resist the 3,000 elite troops of our Lord, the General?"

"Furthermore, once Jingzhou City is captured, the general will also kill the prefect, the deputy prefect, and the magistrate, among all the officials in charge of Jingzhou Prefecture. Then my lord will not only release you, but also send a ship to take you to Wuchang."

"As the Governor of Hubei, you only need to remember that the reason we lost Jingzhou was because the Governor mismanaged the army, fostered the enemy, and dragged on the Miao Rebellion in Hunan, leaving Jingzhou and even the entire Hubei province without soldiers to fight. The prefect also pretended to obey the orders but secretly disobeyed them, embezzling military supplies and all that led to the fall of the city. It was only through your bloody battles, Governor, that we were able to break through and nearly defeat the rebel army."

When Hui Ling heard this, she was a little confused. How could this be played?

As long as the prefect and the co-prefect are dead, it doesn't matter what he says about who is responsible. The real killer is to put the blame on the governor and impeach the governor for improper use of troops and harboring the enemy.

This has a precedent. In the eleventh year of Qianlong's reign, the famous general Zhang Guangsi was impeached and executed by Yue Zhongqi for "nurturing the enemy and enriching himself."

As long as it can be done properly, even if the blame cannot be confirmed, it can confuse the government and the public, and at the very least, it can reduce his guilt...

Seeing Hui Ling still seemed to be hesitating, Feng Xiuyong continued, "Governor, I'm here to remind you one last time. Don't forget, you belong to the Eight Banners of Mongolia, not the Eight Banners of Manchuria. Why would you sacrifice your life for the sake of their world?"

"Besides, you are from the Eight Banners of Mongolia. Have you ever wondered why you were able to rise all the way to become the Governor of Hubei?"

"Because the Qing emperor needs you, a Mongol, and one of the Eight Banners of Mongolia, to embody the unity of Manchuria and Mongolia, so... do you understand?"

(End of this chapter)