Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 284 Qing History

At the military meeting, Meng Jun had already made a decision to send a small force to capture Xianning. According to scouts, there were no Eight Banners soldiers in Xianning city, only 3,000 Green Camp soldiers. Meng Jun ordered Wang Fugui to lead his own Wuxing Town and Zhang Yingwei's newly built Pingguo Town to capture Xianning first.

At the same time, with Lin Shiqi as the vanguard, he led his own Ningwu Town, Liang Sanhu's Wusheng Town, Wu Tiao's Wuping Town, and more than 30,000 soldiers and civilians from the three towns, went up the river and captured the nearby Ruichang City.

Meng Jun rejected his subordinates' suggestion to attack before Duoduo arrived. In such a hasty battle, Meng Jun did not need to take such a risky strategy. Since he did not need to take risks, he could only deploy the troops first and press down the corners. On the left of the army was the Yangtze River, on the right he would capture Xianning, contact the Jin army, and the vanguard would first capture Ruichang, and then he would use a gentle strategy and slowly press forward.

As for the large number of civilian laborers in the vanguard, the main reason was that the Zhou army's navy was insufficient at that time. In addition to dispatching necessary warships to escort the transportation of materials to and from Jiujiang City, Shen Tingyang gathered most of the rest in Zhenjiang to execute Meng Jun's crossing of the Yangtze River, destroy the Jiangbei camp, and wait for an opportunity to seize the three prefectures of Huai'an, Fengyang, and Yangzhou.

Only after the Zheng family arrives, with their powerful navy roaming the Yangtze River, will Meng Jun's need for civilian labor for logistical supplies be greatly reduced.

Meng Jun ordered Zhao Yongping to be the main general and Gao Jinku to be his deputy, and they led the soldiers from the two towns to cross the Yangtze River and destroy the camp north of the Yangtze River.

Yang En, the shogun, was worried about Meng Jun's deployment of all his troops, so he sent a secret letter, saying, "Your Majesty has deployed all his troops to Huguang. Only Gao Jinku and Zhao Yongping are left in Nanjing. Now Your Majesty wants to send troops to seize Huaiyang. In this case, there will only be more than a thousand soldiers guarding the city and more than a thousand Qingluan Guards in the city. Nanjing is so empty. If bandits come to attack, what should we do?"

After receiving the secret letter, Meng Jun felt that Yang En's concerns were not unreasonable, so he immediately issued an urgent order, ordering Zhao Yongping's troops to leave a battalion stationed outside the city of Jinling in case of emergency.

At dawn on the second day of December, the vanguard and the detachment had already set out for a day. As the army set out, the smell of war became stronger.

In the misty drizzle of early morning, the sound of rumbling drums and soldiers training came from outside Jiujiang City, awakening the sleeping people of Jiujiang.

Meng Jun climbed out of the camp bed in the big tent. It was the beginning of December and it had been cloudy and rainy for the past two days, bringing a chill that blew into people's bones.

The sky was still overcast. Meng Jun looked at Mount Lushan near Jiujiang. Mount Lushan was hazy in the rain and fog. As Meng Jun looked at the endless Mount Lushan, an ancient poem came to his mind unconsciously.

That is Su Shi's poem, "Looking from the side, it is a mountain; looking from the front, it is a peak; it looks different from far and near, high and low. I cannot see the true face of Mount Lu, because I am in this mountain."

The vague Lushan Mountain is just like the current situation in Huguang. When you are in it, it is even harder to see clearly.

Although Meng Jun had issued the military order, he felt a little bored and depressed for the first time in the military camp. After dealing with military affairs all morning, he went out of the tent to get some fresh air. Meng Jun looked at Jiujiang City not far away, and suddenly his heart moved. He said to Yu An beside him: "Yu An, let's go to Jiujiang City for a walk."

Jiujiang City, formerly known as Xunyang and Chaisang, has a long history. It was built in the Spring and Autumn Period. In the Ming Dynasty, Jiujiang Prefecture governed five counties: Dehua, De'an, Ruichang, Hukou, and Pengze. Although Meng Jun came to Jiujiang, he had been staying in the army and had not had time to enter the city.

When Meng Jun stepped on the bluestone streets of Jiujiang City, it was drizzling and small spots of mud stuck to Meng Jun's blue clothes. Yu An beside him looked around with vigilant eyes, and there were several guards in plain clothes behind him.

Meng Jun looked at both sides of the street. There were shops lined up in rows. They were all antique wooden buildings. The eaves were either carved or hollowed out. Looking closely, they were quite beautiful, but most of the pedestrians on the road were in a hurry. Perhaps it was the shadow of war, or the huge army made the people feel uneasy, or it could be because of the weather.

Meng Jun walked forward for a while and suddenly saw an acquaintance in front of him.

Yu An raised his hand and was about to speak when he was stopped by Meng Jun. The man in front of him was clearly the only Taoist in the army, Li Wendao. There was a small table in front of him with a calligraphy hanging on the table. There were four characters on it: "Iron Teeth Divine Gua" and another line of small characters below: "One Gua is one hundred coins"

Meng Jun stopped where he was and waited until there were no more guests in front of Li Wendao's divination before he walked over.

As soon as Meng Jun came over, Li Wendao saw him. Meng Jun was dressed in blue and his guards were all dressed in cloth. Li Wendao immediately understood what was going on. He stood up and bowed, saying, "Greetings, sir."

"Master Li, why do you always set up a stall to tell fortunes wherever you go?" Meng Jun asked with a smile, indicating that there was no need to be polite.

"I have nothing, so I need to buy some small things occasionally. I am too weak to do anything, so I can only rely on my mouth to make some yellow and white things."

Meng Jun heard this and said, "If the Taoist priest is short of money, it would be fine to give him some salary."

Li Wendao bowed his head again and said, "I eat your salary and worry about your worries. If I rely on my eloquence to get salary, I am afraid it will damage the reputation of the superior."

Before Meng Jun could say something, another woman sitting in front of the stall said to Li Wen, "Sir, I have something I want to calculate..." Then she looked at Meng Jun and his group with a puzzled look.

Meng Jun immediately smiled and said, "Then I won't bother you for now, sir."

After saying that, Meng Jun left the stall and strolled through Jiujiang City. He watched the people struggling for their lives, feeling a myriad of emotions in his heart. Until the sun set, he arrived at the top of Jiujiang City.

Meng Jun stood on the top of Jiujiang City under the setting sun. The afterglow of the sun shone on Meng Jun's figure. He closed his eyes, stroked the bricks and stones on the city wall, and felt the residual heat of the bricks and stones. Meng Jun took a deep breath. Although there was no taste, he couldn't help but feel the smell of smoke and blood in his mind.

The situation has evolved to this point. Meng Jun has completely changed the world, and the world has also changed him.

As the Zhou army occupied larger areas, Meng Jun had heavier responsibilities. His every word and action would affect the lives of tens of millions of people. His words to recruit more laborers attracted countless young and strong officials to follow the shogunate, converging like a trickle of water.

Yu An beside him looked at the king with some confusion. The king suddenly had an idea and wanted to come and see the Jiujiang city wall. What was so good about this city wall? The city wall of Jinling City was higher, thicker and much longer. The king was not tired of seeing it yet.

Seeing the sun gradually setting, Yu An walked closer and said, "My king, it's getting dark, do you want to go back to the camp?"

Meng Jun said "hmm" and suddenly asked Yu An: "Yu An, do you think the Jiujiang city wall will still exist in a few hundred years?"

Yu An was stunned. He had never thought about this strange question, but since the king asked, Yu An answered honestly: "Your Majesty, this wall existed hundreds of years ago, and it should still exist hundreds of years later."

"No, after a few hundred years, there will be no city walls left, not even a single brick or stone will remain."

Yu An was puzzled when he heard this and asked, "How is that possible?"

Meng Jun did not continue to explain, but asked again: "Yu An, do you think that people will still remember us after hundreds of years?"

Yu An answered with a confident tone, "Your Majesty will definitely go down in history, just like the dramas on the streets today, everyone knows about it."

Meng Jun chuckled and said, "You don't understand. The most powerful thing in the world is history. If I lose, history will sweep me aside and accuse me of my faults. But if I win, history will describe the glory of victory like a magnificent event."

Yu An only half understood what he said and looked confused, which made Meng Jun laugh. Then he patted Yu An on the shoulder and said, "Let's go back to the camp."