Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 111 Great Merit
In the government office study, Li Chengdong was wearing a black robe and sitting behind a desk with a long braid behind his head.
Below him stood a young man wearing a cross-collared Confucian shirt and a Dongpo hat.
Gu Lin bowed to Li Chengdong above him

"Junior Gu Lin, nice to meet General Li"

Before Gu Lin was brought in, he was told that the person in charge of Tingzhou was no longer the prefect, but the general of Tingzhou appointed by the Qing court.
Although he was somewhat confused by the generals taking power, he was now in the hands of others and could not think about it any more.

"I have never met your Gu family before. What are you doing here?" Li Chengdong said directly

"My father and Magistrate Li are old acquaintances. I heard that Magistrate Li has surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. I came here to report some Chaozhou matters to Magistrate Li," Gu Lin said carefully.

"I am now in charge of Tingzhou Prefecture. If you have anything to say, just tell me directly."

"This……"

Gu Lin was hesitant. The reason they came to Li Lanyou was because their two families were old acquaintances. What they were planning was a capital crime. Li Chengdong was a stranger to their Gu family, so how could he dare to tell them about it?
"Did not say?"

"A Ming Dynasty rebel dared to sneak into the Qing Dynasty to spy on intelligence. He is really very brave. Come on, drag him out and chop him off."

Seeing that Gu Lin was slow to respond, Li Chengdong's face suddenly turned stern, and he shouted at the guards at the door:

The guards at the door looked gloomy and rushed forward, ready to drag Gu Lin away.

Gu Lin saw the murderous soldiers and panicked. He shouted
"It's not spying, it's not spying, I say, I say"

"I have come to serve the court. I have secret reports from Chaozhou to report to the court."

Li Chengdong saw the panic on Gu Lin's face, and a smile flashed across his lips, but it quickly disappeared. He spoke in a cold voice

"What secret report is it? Tell me."

Gu Lin felt relieved when he saw the guards retreat. He reached out and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
He glanced at Li Chengdong, who looked gloomy, and thought of Li Chengdong's identity. His eyes suddenly turned and he suddenly spoke

"My Gu family has lived in Chaozhou for generations, and my father was also a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue of the previous dynasty. However, the Ming Dynasty was extremely greedy and levied heavy taxes. The scholars of Chaozhou have been suffering from the rebellion of the Ming Dynasty for a long time. Every day, we hope that the Qing army will come soon to save the scholars and people of Chaozhou from the water and fire."

"My father heard that the general was stationed in Tingzhou, so he sent me to contact the Qing army."

"My father has secretly formed an alliance with a group of gentry in Chaozhou City. As soon as the general leads his troops to Chaozhou City, my father can immediately launch an attack in the city to welcome the Qing army into the city."

"If Chaozhou is taken, all the places in Chaozhou Prefecture will surely return to the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the general will be able to take over the entire prefecture without spending a single soldier, and my father only needs to be the prefect of Chaozhou."

After Gu Lin finished speaking, he looked up at Li Chengdong with anticipation.
The Gu family is a well-known gentry in Chaozhou, with many followers in Chaozhou. Gu Chaojian was a clerk in the household department of the previous dynasty, a rare famous official in Chaozhou, and has great influence among the gentry in Chaozhou. With their cooperation, Chaozhou City can be taken overnight.
Li Chengdong listened to Gu Lin's words, but his face was expressionless. He looked at Gu Lin below, sneered, and suddenly spoke

"You, the Gu family, should have known that Zheng Zhilong was ready to serve the Qing court."

Gu Lin was originally looking at Li Chengdong expectantly, but when he heard what Li Chengdong said, his expression suddenly changed.

Gu Lin stood in the hall in a panic, and for a long time he said nothing, neither saying yes nor no.

Li Chengdong looked at Gu Lin below, with a look of disdain on his face.
He received more than one imperial edict from the Qing court yesterday. In addition to the order to deal with Fu Guan, he also received an order from the Qing court to reorganize the army and prepare to attack Guangdong Province.
According to the Qing court, Zheng Zhilong had already decided to surrender to the Qing, and the hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou were about to surrender to the Qing court.

The Qing troops stationed in Tingzhou and other places no longer had to guard against Zheng's army, so they could free up their hands to prepare for the attack on Guangdong Province.
Previously, the battle front between the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty had always been in Fujian Province, with more than 100,000 troops from the Zheng family of Fujian Province at the front. Chaozhou had no large army stationed there.

This is also what the title implies. Chaozhou Prefecture is located at the junction of Fujian and Guangdong, which is the real rear area. Who would leave the army behind?
But once Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, the situation in Chaozhou changed drastically.

Fujian Province no longer had a large army stationed there, but instead became the enemy army about to attack. The deserted Chaozhou immediately became the front line of the confrontation between Ming and Qing.
Although Chaozhou belongs to Guangdong Province, it spans Fujian and Guangdong Provinces. The gentry of Chaozhou naturally have their own news channels in Fujian Province.

When the Chaozhou gentry found out that Zheng Zhilong intended to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, they were immediately terrified and began to look for a way out for themselves. Gu Lin's trip was the way out that the Chaozhou gentry looked for for themselves.
The Ming Dynasty was destroyed, but their wealth was still in Chaozhou. How could they be destroyed along with the Ming Dynasty?
The only way for them to save their property in Chaozhou is to quickly submit to the Qing Dynasty!
The Qing court's decree this time was to appoint Tong Yangjia as the governor of Guangdong Province and Li Chengdong as the general of Guangdong Province, ordering the two to join forces and capture Guangdong Province.
Gu Lin thought that Li Chengdong was the general of Tingzhou, but in fact, Li Chengdong was already the general of Guangdong Province.
If Li Chengdong had been tempted by Gu Lin's news before, but now he had received a briefing from the Qing court and knew that Zheng Zhilong had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, then Chaozhou Prefecture was already a piece of fat meat that had been delivered to his mouth.
Zheng surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Without Zheng's protection, Chaozhou was empty. What could they use to defend it?

Li Chengdong looked at Gu Lin, who was getting more and more flustered, and sneered in his heart. Since they could take Chaozhou at any time, why did he need the Gu family to offer him?

Moreover, if these Chaozhou gentry really surrendered the city, how could they allow their troops to plunder? If they could not lead their troops to plunder, how could they make money?
Although Jiangnan is rich, Guangdong Province is not bad either. How can we let go of this piece of fat meat?

When Li Chengdong thought of this, a hint of coldness flashed across his face, and he said

"I already know what you are talking about. If there is nothing else, you can go down."

Li Chengdong waved his hand, and the soldiers beside him were about to step forward and drag Gu Lin away.
Gu Lin saw the soldiers approaching, but Li Chengdong still looked noncommittal, and he became anxious.

Now that he has revealed the news of the execution, how can he be taken away like this?

Gu Lin bowed again and asked

"I, the gentry of Chaozhou, am sincere and look forward to the arrival of the heavenly soldiers every day. Please give me a clear answer to this matter, so that I can go back and inform the villagers."

"I have already told you that I will report this to the court. You can go back now."

Li Chengdong waved his hand without showing any concern. Seeing the guards approaching again, Gu Lin could not help but speak.

"Then the prefect of my Gu family..."

Gu Lin had just said half of his words when Li Chengdong's face suddenly darkened. He stared at Gu Lin below.

"I have already said that I will report this to the imperial court. You think you can just ask for the prefecture-level official, a fourth-rank official, if you want him?"

"As for your suggestion of offering the city, if you are willing to cooperate, then cooperate. If you are not willing, then I will go and take it myself."

"Do you really think that without you, I can't take Chaozhou Prefecture? And the gentry? I killed at least 800 gentry in Jiangnan."

"You are not worthy enough to negotiate with me. If you don't want to be obedient subjects of the Qing Dynasty, then I will send you to be ghosts."

Li Chengdong's expression turned completely cold. Looking at Gu Lin, whose face suddenly turned pale, he continued to speak.

"Come here, this man is a spy sent by the Ming court, take him away and torture him, and see what the situation is like in Chaozhou Prefecture now."

"Be careful when you take action, don't let this man die. Maybe he can be useful when we attack Chaozhou." "Yes"

The guard at the door laughed grimly, stepped forward and grabbed Gu Lin's hands, trying to drag him out of the room.
Gu Lin was finally completely panicked at this point. He was grabbed by the arms by the guards and was about to be dragged out of the room. He immediately shouted
"General, please spare my life. General, please spare my life. I have confidential information from the Ming court. This matter concerns the entire Guangdong Province and can help you pacify Guangdong Province in one fell swoop. General, please spare my life."

Gu Lin kept struggling and shouting. When Li Chengdong heard what Gu Lin said about pacifying Guangdong Province, his heart was slightly moved, and he waved to the guards below.

Several soldiers let Gu Lin go, and Gu Lin returned to the room again.

Gu Lin's robe was disheveled, and he was slightly bent over, looking up with a look of fear at Li Chengdong, who had a thin braid on his head.
"My patience is limited, you only have one chance"

"If you cannot satisfy me, you know the consequences."

"Now, speak up."

Li Chengdong looked grim, but Gu Lin was completely frightened at this time. He didn't care about Li Chengdong's expression and said directly

"This time I came to see Magistrate Li, in addition to the matter of surrendering the city, I actually have a secret report to tell the court."

"Although my father is no longer serving in the Ming court, he still has connections with Guangdong officials in the Ming court."

"My father has discovered the secrets of the Ming court. Ding Kuichu, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, is preparing to support a member of the Zhu family to establish a new dynasty in Zhaoqing."

"In order to win the credit for supporting the emperor, Su Guansheng, a former Grand Secretary during the Longwu Dynasty, has led all the troops in Guangzhou to Zhaoqing. Now there is not a single soldier left in Guangzhou."

"If the general can lead his army to raid Guangzhou, he will surely be able to capture the city in one fell swoop. Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong Province. If the general can capture Guangzhou, the entire province will surely be shaken. At that time, the general will surely be able to pacify Guangdong Province in one fell swoop and achieve great merit," Gu Lin said anxiously.

After hearing this, Li Chengdong's face was not happy at all, but he was furious.
"I thought you really had some confidential information, but it turns out you were just teasing me."

"If you say now that there are no soldiers guarding Guangxi Province, should I also raid Guangxi Province?"

"Guangzhou and Tingzhou are thousands of miles apart. It has nothing to do with me whether there are soldiers in Guangzhou or not. Why would I launch a surprise attack? Who would launch a surprise attack thousands of miles away across dozens of large cities?"

Then Li Chengdong seemed to have figured something out. His expression darkened and he suddenly stared at Gu Lin below.

"Come here, torture this bastard and see what else he knows."

"Damn it, why do you think that only the Qing court deserves to know this news, and I, a small Tingzhou general, don't deserve to know it?"

"You are asking for your own death, drag him down and beat him up!"

Li Chengdong's face was as vicious as a wolf, staring at Gu Lin below, with a violent look on his face.
Gu Lin looked at the angry Li Chengdong with a look of panic on his face. He suddenly fell to his knees and begged for mercy.
"General, please report to me. General, please report to me."

"I have no intention of teasing you, General. I just didn't make it clear at the time. This fact is very important."

After Gu Lin finished speaking, fearing that he would be dragged away by the guards, he hurriedly said

"My father is a close friend of Li Shilian, the general of Huizhou Prefecture, and has already learned that he intends to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. As long as my father comes forward, Li Shilian will certainly be willing to lead his troops to surrender to the Qing Dynasty."

"Chaozhou can be offered, Huizhou can surrender. When Chaozhou and Huizhou are both taken, they will be only a few hundred miles away from Guangzhou. Guangzhou will be empty. If the general can lead the army to launch a surprise attack, he will surely be able to capture the city in one fell swoop. This is a promising thing," Gu Lin shouted repeatedly.
Li Chengdong's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this. If what Gu Lin said was true, this matter seemed to be possible.
After Huizhou is Guangzhou. If we can capture Huizhou without bloodshed and then send someone to raid Guangzhou, we may be able to capture the city in one fell swoop!
By then, Chaozhou and Huizhou would be in our hands, and Guangzhou would be captured. Then the entire Guangdong Province would have no choice but to surrender. This would be a great achievement in pacifying a province.
Li Chengdong was also moved when he thought of this. He looked at Gu Lin who looked nervous below and said in a cold voice:
"You said that Li Shilian of Huizhou intended to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, is that true?"

"Everything I said is true, I would never dare to deceive you, General."

Gu Lin replied quickly, and when he saw that Li Chengdong was still hesitant, he spoke again.

"My Gu family has long admired the might of the Qing Dynasty, and we are sincerely willing to serve. If the general does not believe me, the Gu family is willing to show our sincerity in Chaozhou first."

Li Chengdong's eyes flashed with disdain, but his face remained expressionless.

He stood there thinking for a moment, but felt that this matter could not be let go easily. If they could really capture Guangzhou by surprise, it would be a great achievement as Gu Lin said.

Li Chengdong's expression softened, and he waved to the soldiers below and said:
"Someone, help Mr. Gu up,"

"This matter is of great importance. I need to report it to the court before a decision can be made. Mr. Gu, please wait in the mansion for a while."

"Mr. Gu is a righteous man who is loyal to the court. You must serve him well and never neglect him. Do you understand?"

Upon hearing this, all the guards responded in unison and then pulled Gu Lin up from the ground.

Gu Lin originally thought that Li Chengdong would let him go after he disclosed the secret information, but who knew that Li Chengdong would still put him under house arrest. However, seeing Li Chengdong's unquestionable expression, he did not dare to speak.

Gu Lin was worried about his own situation, and at the same time he was concerned about all the instructions that Gu Chaojian had given him before he left.

Gu Lin was about to be pushed out by the soldiers, and without paying attention to Li Chengdong who was already lost in thought, he spoke

"General Li, then the position of prefect of my Gu family"

"If you are sincere to the court and can speak to the court about the two governments, I will guarantee that your family will become the prefect of Chaozhou."

Li Chengdong glanced at Gu Lin who looked anxious below him, a hint of impatience flashed in his eyes, but he didn't show it on his face, and said softly

Gu Lin's face was hesitant. Li Chengdong was obviously a warrior. How could a warrior guarantee the status of a fourth-rank civil official? According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, when a general met the prefect, he had to take the initiative to salute. This was in accordance with the rules.
However, when he came to Tingzhou this time, he found that there was not even a prefect in Tingzhou Prefecture. Instead, a military man was in charge of the affairs of the prefecture. He really couldn't figure out what was going on in the Qing Dynasty.

At this time, Li Chengdong had already agreed to what the Gu family had proposed. Gu Lin looked at Li Chengdong, whose face was slightly gloomy, and did not dare to say anything more. He was quickly taken away.

Li Chengdong ignored what Gu Lin was thinking. He stood in the room, thinking about the information Gu Lin said. The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
This time, although Tong Yangjia was appointed as the governor of Guangdong Province, he was one step ahead of him.

But if he could seize Guangdong Province in one fell swoop, he would definitely gain the trust of the Qing court. With this great achievement, the position of Governor-General of Guangdong Province would be his.
Li Chengdong's eyes flashed with heat, and suddenly he shouted softly to the outside of the door:
"Come here, prepare the horses, I am going to Yong'an to meet Governor Tong"

The guards outside the gate hurriedly retreated and prepared to leave. Soon, dozens of riders and horses left Tingzhou and headed towards Yong'an City.

(End of this chapter)