Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1110 The Predicament of King Lu
The city of Nanjing is tall, with complete defense facilities behind the city walls. In addition to the [-] elite defenders, the Nanjing court withdrew all the young and strong from the outer Guocheng into the city before the king of Lu came to Nanjing. Among them, the employees of various workshops , are used to defend the city.

These hired workers are younger and stronger than the average city, and they are much easier to use.

In a wealthy city like Nanjing, most of the young and strong people in the city, including the people in the countryside, are very spoiled. They like to enjoy themselves, but fear life and death.

When Qi Jiguang was training Zhejiang soldiers, he said, "Those who can use the title of Zhejiang soldiers are Chuzhou at first, then Shaoxing, then Yiwu, and then Taizhou. As for other places, even though Han and Bai are born again, they can't be used!"

Then he summed up some reasons, saying that Chuzhou was the beginning of the township soldiers, and it was famous because of its husbands in the mountains and mines, who were accustomed to fighting. Shaoxing was born in Shengxian, Zhuji, Xiaoshan, and along the coast, there were a large number of fishermen , Yiwu is also a poor place with many mountains and mines, and Taizhou is because Tan Lun sits in town.

The soldiers in other places such as Hangzhou are clever, treacherous, cowardly, treacherous and clever. Before I gave the order to encourage them, everyone had already imagined their plans and made them their own.

From the situation in Zhejiang, it can be seen that most of Qi Jigong's selection of soldiers is from areas with less developed economies. As for the soldiers from those prosperous places, he said that even if Han Xin and Bai Qi are alive, they can't move them. History, in which there are indeed some such phenomena exist.

It is true that most of the young and strong people in Nanjing City are cowardly and treacherous, and they are useless. They can't do business to make money, read and write, or fight wars. one use.

Especially the employees in those workshops, they eat and live together every day, go to work together, and obey the management of the foreman. military.

The Nanjing court recruited them all to help defend the city, which brought great trouble to King Lu's siege.

The time is about to enter August, and the Lu Wang army has been trapped under the Nanjing city for several days. Facing the tall Nanjing city and the wide moat, the Zhejiang army has only 4 people, and it is difficult to make any achievements.

When Wang Yan attacked Nanjing City, more than [-] people from the three families attacked from three sides. They built pontoon bridges and dug tunnels. It took more than a month to prepare for it. In the end, it was only by relying on internal support in the city that they took down Nanjing City.

Several tentative attacks by King Lu were unsuccessful. According to the preliminary statistics of the losses in the army, there were as many as 3000 casualties.

There are a total of 4 Zhejiang soldiers, [-] naval divisions are used to block the Yangtze River, and [-] people are used to attack the city. Now there is no progress, and nearly [-]% of the infantry is lost. Such a large casualty cannot but shock the King of Lu.

After careful statistics, the casualties of more than 3000 people were mainly killed by the firearms of the defenders.In particular, the Wusheng team of the Nanjing Wuyuan Academy used self-generating firecrackers, which were far more powerful and ranged than Zhejiang soldiers. The soldiers who attacked the city were shot to death by the defenders after a long distance.

In the city of Nanjing, the king of Tang was very satisfied with the current situation, and used the private wealth of the palace several times to reward the soldiers guarding the city.

Now that the defenders keep King Lu out of the city, he only waits for the news of Wang Yan's death, and Jin Shenghuan's army and Zheng Chenggong's navy will arrive to steal the Nanjing regime, and then command the army to quell King Lu's rebellion.

At the beginning of the restoration of Nanjing, the three parties compromised and determined the institutional framework of the three kings governing and taking turns as the regency. Originally, everyone came in turn, but Wang Yan was in the regent seat for four years, and his buttocks were calloused. Giving him a seat means.

Well now, among the three rulers, King Lu rebelled, Wang Yan was killed, and he is the only one left. It is only natural that he inherits the position of regent.

Thinking of this, the king of Tang was so excited that he couldn't sleep. He would go up to the west city to look far away almost every day, hoping that Jin Shenghuan would bring him good news.

Unlike King Tang's good mood, King Lu was in a very anxious mood. Although he besieged Nanjing, he couldn't break through Nanjing in a short time.

It is impossible for the Nanjing court and the King of Tang to give him too much time and let him trap the city of Nanjing. As soon as their soldiers and horses arrive, King Lu can only be defeated by the city of Nanjing.

In the big camp of the Zhejiang soldiers, there is an anxious atmosphere. Although many people in the south of the Yangtze River encourage the king of Lu to continue to attack, overthrow the Nanjing court, prohibit the spread of the theory of Wangmen, change the policy of emphasizing business, govern the country with Confucianism, and restore ritual and music , But this group of talkers, just talking but not practicing, except for some political speculators, these acid scholars didn't give him much support.

The study of mind, especially the later Taizhou School, from the current point of view, the thought of the study of mind can be classified as "reactionary thought" in the feudal era.

The most influential Taizhou school during the Wanli period mainly engaged in ideological emancipation activities and criticized the government, which was a bit anti-feudal.

This kind of thinking has been suppressed in the Ming Dynasty. He Xinyin, the representative of Xinxue, was arrested and imprisoned, and the academy was closed by the court, gradually declining.

Since Wang Yan came to power, he has vigorously promoted the study of mind and focused on the disciples of Xinxue, which naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of the disciples of Neo Confucianism.Jiangnan is a place full of humanities. There are many people who are influenced by the theory of mind, and there are also many people who insist on Neo-Confucianism.

Any kind of theory has its advantages and disadvantages. Confucianism has its usefulness, but when it developed into the Ming Dynasty, its disadvantages outweighed its positive significance, so it had to withdraw from the stage of history.

In recent years, Confucianism has gradually lost its power, and many people can only live in the countryside, and many people are very dissatisfied with the imperial court.

Of course, these Neo Confucianists are not stupid. Although they are dissatisfied, they dare not jump out.

It is an opportunity for King Lu to oppose them this time, but this group of people are all good people. Before King Lu won Nanjing, they would only wave their flags and shout, and they would not really support King Lu with all their strength.

If they can take Nanjing, the King of Lu can still do something, but if they can't take Nanjing, they follow the King of Lu because they dislike their own longevity.

Precisely because the vast majority of people are holding a wait-and-see attitude, although King Lu played the banner of the third prince Zhu, despite his great momentum, he did not get much real support.

These days, the King of Lu has rarely had anything to do with his wishes. The person he sent to contact Zhang Mingzhen sent back news that King Lu’s 3 horses in Jiangbei had been controlled by Dai Zhifan, and the messenger had not contacted Zhang Mingzhen at all. not on.

In addition to the failure to contact the old troops in Jiangbei, there was also bad news from the navy. Liu Shun from Yangzhou joined forces with Man Dazhuang from Chongming, and there seemed to be a move to rescue Nanjing.

All kinds of disadvantages caused many people in the Zhejiang army to retreat. Feng Jing, the confidant of King Lu, saw that Nanjing could not be defeated, and Zhejiang was empty of troops, so he persuaded King Lu to withdraw his troops and return to Zhejiang, and welcomed Zhu Cihuan to Hangzhou to play his banner , Implement armed separatism.

Others, such as generals Wang Yi and Ruan Jun, firmly opposed Feng Jing's suggestion, thinking that they should put all their eggs in one basket and take Nanjing now. Only by taking Nanjing can they break the game.

King Lu was also very unwilling in his heart, he was still waiting, he still had a chance, that is, when the news of Wang Yan's death came and the people of Nanjing were in turmoil, he still had some chances.

If Wang Yan really died in Anqing, smart people would know that Tang Wang did it. Even if Tang Wang didn't admit it, everyone would still know it.

The civil officials in the court were shameless, and might compromise with the Tang king, but Wang Yan has ruled the world for nearly ten years, with so many confidantes, don’t they want to avenge him?

On this day, August [-]st, King Lu was peeping at Nanjing's city defenses. He had been racking his brains in recent days, trying to figure out how to break the city.He copied almost all the methods Wang Yan used to attack Nanjing.

The soldiers of Zhejiang captured civilian husbands, secretly dug tunnels, made equipment to build pontoon bridges, and even sent people to the city to deliver a letter to Gao Yigong, telling him that Tang Wang and Jin Shenghuan were going to kill Wang Yan in Anqing, but Gao Yigong did not tell him. He doesn't respond.

King Lu wore a golden armor and led a team of cavalry to gallop under the city of Nanjing. Finally, he stationed his horses on a high slope to observe the moat of Nanjing and find a suitable place to build a pontoon bridge.

At this time, a sound of horseshoes came from a distance. King Lu turned around when he heard the sound, and saw Ruan Jun galloping towards the horse. Holding the saber in one hand, he came to King Lu anxiously. Regardless of the generals around him, he poked his head over and whispered.

After hearing this, King Lu's expression sank, but he nodded immediately and said, "Understood."

(End of this chapter)