klisemfg Chapter 230 Unusual Movement
Chapter 230 Unusual Movement
Li Hao understood Jin Yu's words. If he collected grain himself, he would be scolded by the Korean people. But if he was defeated and plundered, it would be the result of the country's weak national strength and useless soldiers and generals, which led to the country's downfall. He could not blame anyone but himself.
Jin Di loudly denounced the barbarity of the Qing court in the court and stated that Korea had no extra money and food to supply the Qing army. He then expelled the envoy and prepared for war. When the Qing court received the news, Dorgon was furious. He then ordered Shengjing General He Luohui to lead 2,000 Eight Banners outside the Great Wall, 800 Solon soldiers, and more than 6,000 Manchu and Han people inside the Great Wall to gather in Shengjing and send troops to Korea. In Liaodong, war clouds rose again.
The war had just begun, and Li Hao and a group of ministers were ready to withdraw from Seoul. Li Hao had no confidence in a field battle with the Qing army. Unless a meteorite fell from the sky, an epidemic broke out in the enemy camp, or the Korean soldiers were possessed by gods, there was no chance of winning. From the beginning, Li Hao had already called on the volunteer army across the country to defend the city to the death and would never easily leave the city for a field battle. Even so, Li Hao was desperate to defend Seoul.
Jinling City.
The sun was scorching, and the continuous hot sun for many days was like a merciless tongue of fire. The air was filled with heat waves, as if even breathing had become heavy. Although the shops in the city were still open to welcome customers, there were few customers and the shop owners sat in their shops listlessly.
Until the afternoon, the wind and clouds suddenly changed, with lightning and thunder, and a huge thunderstorm cleared the gloomy atmosphere in the air.
There was a slight knock on the door, followed by Shen Congwen's words from outside Meng Jun's room: "Your Majesty, Mr. Gu wants to see you."
"Please let him in." Meng Jun replied.
Shen Congwen, as the nephew of Shen Tingyang, learned a lot of political concepts and various matters of naval navigation from his uncle. The reason why Shen Congwen stayed with Meng Jun was to let Shen Congwen get close to the core of the Zhou army. There is no faster way than to get out from Meng Jun.
Meng Jun was also very satisfied with the young man Shen Congwen, who was talented and heroic. It happened that Xia Wanchun was sent by him to lead the experimental base, and he lacked a personal secretary, so Meng Jun agreed to Shen Tingyang's request.
"Mr. Gu, please take a seat," Meng Jun greeted with a smile.
Gu Yanwu had just sat down when Yu An came in again and said to Meng Jun, "Your Majesty, Lin Tongzhen sent an urgent report from Xuancheng."
He then handed the military report to Meng Jun. Meng Jun opened the envelope and found only the news that Lin Shiqi's scout had reported some unusual movements by Jin Shengheng.
After Meng Jun finished reading the letter, Gu Yanwu said in a serious tone, "Your Majesty, one of the people sent by the Propaganda Department to Jiangxi was named Yu Lin. He was captured by Jin Shengheng's men and made into a soldier. However, he escaped into the forest at night and returned to Xuancheng after going through many hardships. He sent back a message to his subordinates."
Meng Jun asked: "What's the news?"
"Jin Shengheng is in Jiangxi, recruiting a large number of young men. According to Yu Lin, a part of Jin Shengheng's army said that they were preparing to attack Nanjing and fight against the bandits. After Yu Lin fled back to Xuancheng, Lin Tongzhen sent scouts to investigate and found that Jin Shengheng's troops had already entered Xiuning City, and the vanguard had already arrived at Jixi City." After saying this, Gu Yanwu asked anxiously, "Your Majesty, didn't Jin Shengheng already defect to the Ming Dynasty? Why are there still signs of attacking us?"
Meng Jun said slowly: "The situation of the Ming court today is like a horse without a rein, and it has become a candle in the wind. These warriors either have their own troops or are independent. It is not surprising that Jin Shengheng has different ideas." These military leaders have troops and territories, and there is no one to control them. There is no threat from the Qing court for the time being. With the brains of the warriors in the late Ming Dynasty, how could they not expand their territories? Seeing this, Jin Shengheng set his sights on the city of Jinling where he was.
"Just when the situation showed signs of easing, internal strife broke out again. Is it really because God is not on our side?" Gu Yanwu said with a somewhat sad expression.
"People like these who are indecisive are a heavy responsibility for the Yongli court. But it is not the fault of Yongli emperor and his ministers. They have no control over these military leaders and can only win them over." Meng Jun said with emotion.
"If a war breaks out, it will only hurt the people."
"The thief wants to attack, what can we do?"
"But no matter what, restoring China's great cause is a long and arduous journey, but we have taken the most critical step. I want to pacify the south and then think about the Northern Expedition." Meng Jun said in a firm tone.
Gu Yanwu was shocked. He stood up and said in surprise, "Do we have to attack Li Dingguo of Huguang and Li Chengdong of Guangdong?"
"Send an envoy to contact them first. If they are willing to face the national crisis together and launch a Northern Expedition, then we can still talk. If they are not willing, and the rear is unstable, how dare I easily initiate the Northern Expedition?" Meng Jun said, shaking his head.
Gu Yanwu asked hesitantly: "Jin Shengheng's troops are said to have 300,000 troops, but our troops also have to defend the Qing army camp in the north, this..."
"As the saying goes, the bigger the forest, the more different kinds of birds there are; the bigger the city, the more different kinds of people's hearts there are. Three hundred thousand people have three hundred thousand thoughts. Although Jin Shengheng claims to have an army of three hundred thousand, he forcibly conscripted able-bodied men, plundered the people's property, and levied heavy taxes to support his soldiers. But the land of Jiangxi alone is not enough to feed so many troops. The soldiers are suffering, and the people hate them to the core. What's the point of talking about such a person!" Meng Jun said confidently to Gu Yanwu.
Gu Yanwu heard this and said worriedly: "According to what the king said, if we fight a decisive battle with Jin Shengheng, we may be able to win in one battle, but his army has too many people. If they defend the city, the army will attack the city one by one, which will not only cost the army and generals, but also take a long time, and cause great harm to the local area. The longer this kind of internal strife is dragged on, the more it will hurt the vitality!"
"Defending a city is actually very easy and also very difficult. If you want to defend a city, you only need four words." Meng Jun said with some emotion.
Gu Yanwu asked: "What are the four words?"
"Unity, death for justice!" Meng Jun went on to say, "Only with unity can we achieve unity. An army as one will win. Only with death for justice can we go wherever justice requires and go through fire and water without hesitation. Think of Zhang Xun defending Suiyang and Yan Yingyuan defending Jiangyin in the Tang Dynasty. The enemy and we were far inferior, but they were able to persist until the last soldier. Unity and death for justice are both indispensable. In the past, Shi Kefa led his army to Yangzhou. The Qing army was at the gates of the city. There were more than 800,000 people in the city. But why did the city fall and people die in just ten days? It was because Shi Kefa had the will to die for justice, but no soldiers with the same will. The defenders had no fighting spirit, and the people were in panic. Without unity, how could they defend the city?"
Meng Jun paused for a long time before he said slowly, "Not all cities are called Suiyang or Jiangyin. With Jin Shengheng's tyranny, his people will surely scatter if he is defeated. If he doesn't enter the city to defend it, he can live longer. If he wants to enter the city to defend it, I'm afraid he will die faster!"