Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 132 Prepare for the Enemy
Seeing that all the ministers had agreed, Zhu Lang did not give them a chance to change their minds and started to arrange the defense of the city.
Zhu Lang looked down at Chen Bangyan and said

"How many soldiers are available in Guangzhou?"

As the capital of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou naturally had garrisons stationed there. Not only the Guangdong Provincial Military Commission, but also the Guangzhou Garrison was stationed in Guangzhou.
Chen Bangyan stood up and saluted. Seeing His Royal Highness the Regent looking expectant, he hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Before I took over Guangzhou, the Guangzhou Garrison had been in disrepair for a long time, and only 30% or 40% of the staff listed in the roster remained."

Chen Bangyan first briefly introduced the situation of taking over Guangzhou Weiqian, and then continued
"Previously, Lord Su had selected the best soldiers from the remaining guards to escort the autumn silver to the court. Now, there are only a thousand or so soldiers left in the Guangzhou Guards. I'm afraid the only ones who can be used are the two or three hundred guards around Commander Yang Keguan."

Chen Bangyan had a helpless look on his face. The reason why he had added a sentence about the situation before taking over Guangzhou was because the current situation of Guangzhou Wei had reached a point that he could no longer tolerate.

If I don't make it clear first, I'm afraid I'll be in trouble again.

Su Guansheng below heard this and his expression darkened. He had never expected that he had a part to play in this.

He was anxious to send soldiers to Zhaoqing to support the situation, so he took away all the strong men in the garrison.
In fact, even if he tried his best, he could only barely select a few hundred people. But no matter what, his unintentional behavior at that time made the current situation even more critical.

Zhu Lang's face was a little ugly when he heard this. The Guangzhou Guard only had a thousand old and weak soldiers left, and there were only two or three hundred soldiers available.

Whether these so-called two or three hundred available soldiers can really be used seems to be a question mark.

Guangzhou had been peaceful for a long time. Although the two or three hundred people were the personal soldiers of the commander Yang Keguan, he was sure that these people were definitely not as good as the ordinary soldiers in Jiao Lian and Li Mingzhong's army.

After the Ming Dynasty implemented the camp system, the garrison troops were no longer able to undertake combat missions. Some ministers and generals did not want garrison troops when recruiting soldiers, but directly recruited people from the public.

Under such circumstances, he absolutely did not believe that Yang Keguan would lead the soldiers around him to practice martial arts and military formations day and night.
They all know that it will not be their turn to fight, so who would be so bored as to spend a lot of food and money to train soldiers every day?

The two or three hundred people Chen Bangyan mentioned were most likely young and strong militiamen who had been trained a few times and had military household quotas.

Yang Keguan's purpose of keeping these people was, on the one hand, to serve as thugs for the tenants, and on the other hand, to prepare for the day when the imperial court came to inspect the garrisons, so that he could put these people at the front of the line to show off.

In fact, Zhu Lang was already prepared for this and did not have high expectations for the Guangzhou Guard.
Guangzhou Wei is located in Guangzhou City. Guangzhou has a prosperous trade. Not to mention the tens or hundreds of times of profits from ocean trade, even ordinary people can find a good job in the city.
Under such circumstances, who would stay in the garrison and serve as a slave to the officers? Naturally, they would run away early.
The faces of the ministers below, such as Wu Bing and Liu Yuansheng, were filled with indignation, as if they had just learned about the disrepair of the garrison on the first day.

Wu Bing's eyes lit up, and he looked at Liu Yuansheng beside him, and then they both looked up at Lu Daqi.
Seeing Lu Daqi nod slightly, Wu Bing's face straightened immediately, and he stepped out and said
"Your Highness cares about the people and cannot bear to abandon the people in the city. You are truly the most benevolent and kind Lord of the Ming Dynasty."

"However, the current situation is pressing. If the Guangzhou Guards were still available, it would still be possible to defend the city. However, the Guangzhou Guards are in disrepair and have no troops to fight. How can we defeat tens of thousands of Qing invaders with only 300 imperial guards?"

"The three departments of Guangdong Province have watched the garrisons fall into disuse, leaving Your Highness without troops to use. This is truly an unforgivable crime. If you leave now, it means that the three departments of Guangdong Province and the garrisons have failed the trust of the court, leaving Your Highness with nothing to defend. This is truly a crime not committed in battle."

"I ask Your Highness to think of the country and temporarily leave Guangzhou. When you return to Zhaoqing to gather a large army, you can then lead a dignified army to fight the Qing invaders and save the people of Guangzhou from danger."

Wu Bing's voice was clear. Lu Daqi had no expression on his face when he heard it. Su Guansheng hesitated for a moment and did not speak.

Liu Yuansheng and other central government officials all nodded secretly and cheered for Wu Bing.
It's not that His Highness wants to abandon the city, but that the three bastards of Guangdong Province have watched the garrison fall into disrepair, which has left His Highness without an army.
If there is any fault, it is all the fault of the three divisions of Guangdong Province. Your Highness was forced to retreat first.
Zhu Lang glanced at the ministers below him. Lu Daqi and Su Guansheng remained silent, while the other ministers had expectant expressions on their faces, staring at him closely.
Zhu Lang's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness. Although he had forced the ministers to agree to defend the city, they were still unwilling to give up. Now that they had a reason, they were testing him in a roundabout way.
Gu Yuanjing, who was standing below, heard this and looked at Wu Bing, who was looking serious, but a cold light suddenly flashed across his face.

This old man wants to escape if he wants to. Why is he arguing about the three departments of Guangdong Province? He just wants to find someone to be held responsible. This is also the business of the Metropolitan Commandery. What does it have to do with the other two departments such as the Provincial Administration?

Gu Yuanjing was one of the three officials of Guangdong Province before. According to what old man Wu Bing meant, should Gu Yuanjing be blamed for the abandonment of the city?

Gu Yuanjing's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he was about to step out to impeach Wu Bing for his false words and cowardice, but before he could step out, the Regent above him had already spoken.

Zhu Lang looked at the officials below who were ready to make a move, and suddenly he felt annoyed. He said directly:
"What we need to discuss now is how to defend the city. If there are not enough soldiers, we can recruit the civilians in the city to defend the city."

"This matter ends here. We will investigate the matter of the three divisions later."

When the ministers saw His Royal Highness the Regent looking impatient, the expectant look on their faces suddenly disappeared.
Wu Bing's face darkened. He stood there in silence for a moment. Seeing that no one came out to respond, he was unwilling to give up, but he could only temporarily return to the train.

The hall was completely silent. The ministers below were silent. The Regent had a cold expression on his face. The atmosphere in the hall was almost stagnant.

After a while, the voice of His Royal Highness the Regent finally came from above.
"Since we have just agreed to defend the city, we should not have any second thoughts at this time. Tonight we will only discuss the matter of defending the city and not other matters."

Zhu Lang spoke in a calm tone, but as he spoke, he stared at Su Guansheng coldly. He had just clearly said that he wanted to defend the city, so Su Guansheng should have come out to refute Wu Bing, but Su Guansheng was still hesitating and watching, which made Zhu Lang immediately dissatisfied.
Su Guansheng felt the gaze of His Royal Highness the Regent, and his expression suddenly changed. However, Zhu Lang ignored Su Guansheng. After he finished speaking, he looked away and looked at Chen Bangyan below again, and continued to speak.

"What about the weapons and armor in the city?"

Chen Bangyan's face brightened when he heard this, and he said

"Since I was ordered to take over Guangzhou, I have followed your instructions and started to prepare my weapons and armor, and mobilized the weapons and equipment from the counties and garrisons near Guangzhou to enter the city."

"Now in Guangzhou, there are 100 sets of cloth armor, 800 sets of leather armor, 500 bows, 20,000 arrows, and no less than 3,000 swords and spears. It's a pity that I have been guarding Guangzhou for too short a time, otherwise this number could be increased."

"What's even more gratifying is that the court prepared for a rainy day. A month ago, an eunuch named Pang Tianshou came to Guangzhou with an imperial decree and transferred silver from the Guangzhou treasury to buy artillery in Haojing."

"Just this month, ten days ago, the first batch of thirty-two cannons were transported from Haojing into the city. They are all large copper arquebuses weighing three hundred kilograms. If Your Highness wants to defend the city, these dozens of cannons will be of great use."

The ministers below were all shocked when they heard this. Although Liu Yuansheng and other ministers were not familiar with military affairs, they also knew the power of artillery. It was said that the old slave Nurhaci was killed by artillery during the siege.

But then their expressions changed. It was a great thing to have artillery to defend the city at this time.

However, they had not received any news about Guangzhou's purchase of artillery beforehand. When did the imperial court order the purchase of artillery?

Lu Daqi narrowed his eyes slightly, first looking at His Royal Highness the Regent above him, and then looking directly at Su Guansheng on the side.

One month ago, Guangzhou was still Su Guansheng's territory, which means that the matter of this batch of artillery must have been jointly decided by His Royal Highness the Regent and Su Guansheng.

At that time, Ding Kuichu was still in Zhaoqing, but His Royal Highness the Regent and Su Guansheng were secretly buying artillery here. What were they trying to do?
How many things have His Royal Highness the Regent and Su Guansheng done without telling them?

The ministers below also thought of this and all looked up at Su Guansheng.
Su Guansheng was also panicked when he saw the ministers looking at him. He subconsciously looked at Chen Bangyan, but Chen Bangyan's face flashed with admiration and nodded slightly.
This made Su Guansheng even more confused. He knew nothing about the artillery.

Su Guansheng looked up, but saw that His Highness the Regent did not show any reaction. Thinking of His Highness's warning just now, his eyes rolled, and then he sat in his seat expressionlessly, as if he did not feel the gazes from the people around him.

Seeing Su Guan like this, the officials became more and more afraid of him.

Su Guansheng is indeed worthy of being a member of the emperor's party. A month ago, His Highness and Su Guansheng secretly gathered troops and purchased artillery in Guangzhou City.
What exactly did the emperor and his ministers want to do? The ministers did not dare to think deeply about it.

They only knew that they would have to be extra careful when they met Lord Su in the future. Judging from what had been revealed today, it seemed that Su Guansheng's entry into the cabinet was not as simple as standing on the right side.
The ministers below were in a state of ups and downs, but Zhu Lang was full of joy, not caring about what the people below were thinking.

Thirty-two cannons, although only small cannons weighing 300 jin, are very useful in defending the city.

This batch of artillery was a pleasant surprise for Zhu Lang. He had originally ordered people to quickly purchase artillery in order to transport it to northern Guangdong to defend against the Qing army from Jiangxi Province. However, he never expected that the Qing army from Jiangxi Province did not come, but the Qing army from Fujian Province arrived at the city first.
But no matter what, the purpose of this batch of artillery has not changed. In Gan and Fujian provinces, it is still used to fight the Qing army.

Zhu Lang was slightly excited and stood up from his seat. He looked at Chen Bangyan below and said

"Where's the gunpowder? How much gunpowder should you buy?"

A cannon is not a sword. Without gunpowder, a cannon is nothing but a copper pillar.
Chen Bangyan's expression froze when he heard this, and he said
"We only brought back artillery this time. Each artillery piece was equipped with two sub-guns and two solid iron bullets, but there was no gunpowder. Now there is only a thousand pounds of gunpowder in the treasury of Guangzhou City."

Zhu Lang frowned slightly when he heard this, but he was also a little helpless.
Pang Tianshou was very attentive in purchasing the first batch of artillery in just one month.

No one had expected the Qing army to attack Guangzhou beforehand, and it was impossible for them to be fully prepared.
Having said that, if Zhu Lang knew in advance that someone was going to launch a surprise attack on Guangzhou, he would definitely have buried 30,000 swordsmen and axemen in Guangzhou in advance to let Li Chengdong know what an upright army is!
If that's the case, why would he need any artillery? Zhu Lang exhaled lightly, thought for a moment, and then said:
"Jiao Lian, after the discussion, you will go and receive the batch of artillery, select personnel, and practice artillery control day and night."

"Also, we must pay attention to concealment and strengthen the security at the city gates. We must not let the Qing troops outside the city know about the artillery in the city."

Zhu Lang's eyes were cold as he swept across the courtiers in the room. The courtiers were all shocked when they heard his words and lowered their heads.
"Yes"

Jiao Lian also stood up and responded, his expression slightly relaxed. With more than 30 artillery pieces, the confidence of defending the city would be greatly improved.

(End of this chapter)