Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 142 The arrival of the army
In the Guangzhou government office study, Zhu Lang sat in the main seat at the top. On his left were Lü Daqi, Su Guansheng, and Gu Yuanjing. On his right were Jiao Lian, Liu Yuansheng, and Chen Bangyan. Apart from them, there was no one else in the room.
It is now November 15th, and three days have passed since the night of the 12th when we decided on the strategy for defending the city.
In the past few days, apart from the daily dispersal of civilians outside the city and small-scale cavalry battles between the two sides, the rest of the time inside and outside the city was quite peaceful, and the people in the city gradually began to settle down.

However, the people in the room all looked tired, with bloodshot eyes. It was obvious that they were not able to relax like the other people in the city.

Zhu Lang took a sip of strong tea to dispel the drowsiness in his heart, then looked at Su Guansheng below and said

"What is the food supply situation in the city?"

"We seized a total of six grain stores and obtained more than 3,000 dan of rice. Together with the grain stored in the government warehouse, it should be enough to support the city for another seven or eight days if consumed according to the previous few days."

Just as Su Guansheng was about to stand up, Zhu Lang gestured for him to sit down. Su Guansheng did not bother to be polite and just sat down and said respectfully:

In the past few days, they have been talking every morning and evening, and they have begun to get used to Zhu Lang's style of talking about things.
"There is so much rice, so these grain stores must have more grain than the government treasury."

Zhu Lang looked slightly surprised, and then continued

"The Zhaoqing army should be here in the seventh or eighth day. The wealthy families in the city should not move for now to avoid further chaos. However, we still need to send people to count the main wealthy families in the city. If there is any need, we will immediately investigate and deal with them."

Su Guansheng responded respectfully and then spoke again

"During this grain seizure, there were two grain merchants in the city, one named Hai Shuzu and the other named Wang Jiyuan."

"These two grain merchants took the initiative to cooperate. Not only did they open their granaries, they also took the initiative to provide the addresses of several private warehouses that the court had not known about. Of the more than 3,000 shi of grain, 1,500 shi were provided by these two companies."

Zhu Lang rubbed his brows, his face looked tired, and he spoke again

“So there are still people who won’t cooperate.”

"Afterwards, you should find someone to write a plaque with the words 'righteous merchants' and send it to these two families. Also, recruit these two people into the court and place them in the Ministry of Revenue first, so that they have a background. This will serve as a reward and also set an example for other people in the city."

"Then let them continue to cooperate with Zhengliang. Since they are in this business, they must be familiar with the situation of other grain merchants. Let's see if they can find another batch of private grain from other grain companies."

Su Guansheng thought for a moment and then answered respectfully. However, the people in the room had no reaction to the idea of ​​a businessman being appointed as an official in the Ministry of Revenue.
Under the manipulation of His Highness, the city has granted two to three hundred officials in recent days. They have long been numb to this.
Just grant him an official position. The key thing right now is to defend the city. His Highness has tied all the central ministers in the city with himself. If they cannot defend Guangzhou, the court rules will have nothing to do with them.
After Zhu Lang finished speaking, he looked at Chen Bangyan below.

"How's the gong going?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Bangyan stood up and saluted, then answered:

"As of this morning, the city has recruited more than 3,800 young and strong men, all of whom have been sent to Jiao Hou's army. The city is still recruiting, and it is estimated that more than a thousand more men will be able to be recruited by tomorrow."

Zhu Lang's expression relaxed when he heard this. Regardless of whether these recruited young men would collapse at the first blow, the number of 3,000 still sounded very impressive.
"Is the city peaceful? Is there any trouble?"

Chen Bangyan heard what Zhu Lang said and naturally knew what Zhu Lang meant, so he also spoke

"The court urged them to hurry up, and some inspectors started to rape people as soon as they arrived at their jurisdiction. At first, there were indeed some disturbances. Some inspectors not only raped people but also secretly coveted the money for the young and strong to settle down. I led the imperial guards to kill several of these corrupt inspectors, and then distributed all the money for the young and strong to settle down. The disturbances were basically settled down."

"Although some of these newly recruited inspectors are corrupt, some of them are quite capable."

"Inspectors Chen Shangchuan, Chen Qice and others from Cangqian Street registered the families of young and strong men who applied for the job. All the families who applied were given priority in the supply of rice and grain, and their daily food supply was increased. As a result, the people of Cangqian Street all responded enthusiastically, and more than 200 young and strong men were recruited in this area alone."

Zhu Lang's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he immediately said

"What a good idea! The young and strong people who volunteered to defend the city are the people who are guarding the entire city. They are all loyal and righteous people. Since they are loyal and righteous people, they should naturally be rewarded."

"Let all districts in the city do this. If a family has someone who volunteers, not only will their daily food rations be increased, but they will also be allowed to buy rice at half the price. Let the people know that the court will reward anyone who is willing to defend the city."

"Yes, yesterday I heard that this method has been implemented in various districts, and the districts have reported that the people in their jurisdictions are very enthusiastic about volunteering," Chen Bangyan replied respectfully.

Zhu Lang listened to Chen Bangyan's reply, and the more he listened, the more he felt that the names of Chen Shangchuan and Chen Qice sounded familiar.
He was sure that he had never heard of these two names before. In fact, it was impossible for him to hear these two names from other people in this world.

Zhu Lang was very clear about the situation of the applicants this time. The inspectors of each district were either civilians or students. There was not even a juren.
Although there is only one provincial examination between the two, their status is actually very different.
At this time, if the scholars in Guangzhou wanted to help defend the city, they could just apply to the government office and get official positions through the government office. Why would they go with a group of common people to apply for the position of inspector?

Therefore, Chen Shangchuan and the other two were at most ordinary students. It was impossible for Zhu Lang to hear the names of two ordinary students from the ministers around him. In other words, Zhu Lang must have seen the names of these two people in his previous life, so he left an impression.

Zhu Lang thought about it, but for a moment he couldn't remember the origins of these two people.
Although I don't know why I remember the names of these two people, few people who can leave their names in the future are simple people, and judging from what Chen Bangyan said, these two people are obviously outstanding.

In this case, let's catch these two first.

Zhu Lang searched through the list of treacherous officials in his mind and confirmed that these two people should not be people of this kind. After a little thought, he spoke

"Since you have outstanding abilities, then use them more often."

"Promote Chen Shangchuan and his men to the position of Nanhai County Magistrate, or let them be in charge of the inspectors of various districts, and let them continue to assist the imperial court in the distribution of rice and grain."

Chen Bangyan also responded respectfully, while Lu Daqi and others did not react at all.
The inspectors, county magistrates, and other insignificant officials may not even be able to reach the gates of Lu Daqi's mansion. Since His Royal Highness the Regent has been allowed to appoint officials to guard the city, how can they express their opinions on these matters?

Zhu Lang was relieved to hear that the food and soldiers in the city had been prepared. Then he looked to the left at Lu Daqi.

"Master Lu, how are the city defense equipment prepared?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Daqi also bowed and said

"In the past three days, more than 2,000 civilians have been mobilized to make stone tumblers and other city defense equipment day and night. Some of the equipment has been sent to the top of the city."

"In addition, we searched all the firecracker workshops in the city and obtained more than a thousand kilograms of saltpeter and sulfur. The craftsmen in the city were also grinding cannonballs day and night."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Lang immediately said

"Gunpowder is the top priority. Continue to search for saltpeter, sulfur and other items in the city. Whether you offer a reward or plunder, all the gunpowder raw materials in the city must be confiscated to make gunpowder."

"Continue to recruit artisans. Anyone in the city who knows how to mix gunpowder should be recruited. Before the Qing army arrives, all of these more than a thousand kilograms of saltpeter and sulfur must be made into gunpowder for use in defending the city."

"We must also hurry up with the artillery shells. Masons and blacksmiths, all of them should be recruited to make artillery shells. If there are not enough people, we will recruit more people. We should make as many as we can. We must not let the artillery run out of shells." Lu Daqi also responded respectfully when he heard this. Everyone now knew that the biggest reliance of the city was the more than 30 artillery pieces that His Highness the Regent had bought back to the city without telling anyone.

It was precisely because of these dozens of artillery pieces that the people in the city did not despair of defending the city.

After Zhu Lang arranged various affairs in the city, he drank a sip of strong tea and forced himself to be alert. Then he looked at Jiao Lian on the right and said

"Do you know the news outside the city?"

"Yes, Commander Li has passed the intelligence outside the city to me. According to the intelligence outside the city, the Qing army in Huizhou is divided into two parts. One is Li Chengdong's rear army of 6,000 people, and the other is Tong Yangjia's army. The two parts are attacking the counties of Huizhou from the left and right."

"The two groups are out of touch. Li Chengdong's group is in the front, and Tong Yangjia's group is in the back. The 6,000 troops of Li Chengdong's rear guard may arrive at the gates of Guangzhou by tomorrow at the latest."

Lu Daqi and the others all looked tense when they heard this. The city and the outside of the city have been quite peaceful these past few days because Li Chengdong only has a few hundred men and is completely unable to attack the city. Once Li Chengdong's main force arrives tomorrow, the peaceful days of the past few days may no longer exist.

Jiao Lian ignored everyone's expressions and continued speaking.
"According to intelligence from outside the city, although Li Chengdong drove the people around the city walls to fill the river, he had actually already decided on a strategy for attacking the city."

"Li Chengdong intends to attack the city before Tong Yangjia's troops arrive. After Li Chengdong's rear army arrives, they will directly attack the East City. I have sent people to disperse the laborers who were filling the river in the past few days, and have people secretly investigate and find that there are obviously more laborers in the East City than in the other walls."

After listening to what Jiao Lian said, Zhu Lang continued to ask
"What strategy does the army have for defending the city now?"

Everyone looked up at Jiao Lian. The only person in the city who knew about war was Jiao Lian, the Marquis of Wu'an.
It was ok for others to do auxiliary work in the city, but when it came to the real battle, whether it was Lu Daqi or Su Guansheng, these ministers at the central level were all in the dark.
Seeing everyone looking at him, Jiao Lian did not rush to speak. He thought for a while before saying
"I have read the intelligence outside the city. According to the intelligence, although Li Chengdong's troops and Tong Yangjia's troops were both attacking Guangdong Province, they were secretly at odds with each other. They both wanted to compete for the position of the pseudo-Qing Guangdong Province governor, so they were also on guard against each other."

"In the past few days, Li Chengdong's troops have been looting civilians outside the city. I have determined that when they attack the city, Li Chengdong and his men will first drive the civilians to attack the city first to test the situation."

"My opinion is that we can use a small number of arrows to disperse the civilians first, pretending that there are not enough arrows and weapons in the city. When Li Chengdong leads his regular troops to attack the city, we can gather the city's artillery in the east of the city and use the artillery to kill a large number of enemy soldiers."

"According to intelligence, Tong Yangjia's troops will most likely arrive at the city two or three days after Li Chengdong's troops. As long as we can catch them by surprise and severely injure a group of Li Chengdong's soldiers first, Li Chengdong will most likely slow down the pace of the siege in order to guard against Tong Yangjia's subsequent arrival. This way, we can buy another two or three days."

When Lu Daqi and others heard this, their eyes lit up and they nodded secretly in their hearts.
If Li Chengdong and Tong Yangjia were really secretly competing for the position of governor of Guangdong Province, then what Jiao Lian said was very likely to succeed.

Once the city uses these artillery to inflict heavy damage on Li Chengdong's soldiers, Li Chengdong will not dare to attack with all his strength when he sees that there are artillery guarding the city.
Tong Yangjia's troops will arrive in two or three days. If Li Chengdong attacks without regard for casualties and fails to capture Guangzhou, it will be like making things difficult for Tong Yangjia.
The two groups of people in the Qing court had their own thoughts. Li Chengdong would never do such a thing.
Zhu Lang's face also relaxed slightly. After a brief thought, he said to Jiao Lian:
"We are all unfamiliar with battlefield matters. How to mobilize troops and how to defend the city are all up to you to decide. I and the ministers at the center will only provide you with logistical equipment."

"Also, although intelligence has been sent in from outside the city, this person may not be trustworthy. You can prepare for the main attack direction of East City first, but you must not be careless in other places either."

"I understand," Jiao Lian stood up and replied respectfully.
Zhu Lang had a thoughtful look in his eyes. Thinking about the army that would arrive in two days with Tong Yangjia, he suddenly had an idea.

Just as he was about to speak, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside the door.
Li Chengzhi hurried into the hall, glanced at everyone in the hall, and then saluted Zhu Lang above and said
"Your Highness, a large number of soldiers suddenly appeared in the East City. I'm afraid that Li Chengdong's rear guard is coming."

Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and then their expressions became serious.
The intelligence from outside the city said that the Qing army would arrive in three or four days. Li Chengdong launched a surprise attack on the 12th. Now it is the 15th. They said they would arrive in three or four days. The Qing army really arrived at the city within three days.

After hearing Li Chengdong's report, everyone in the room lost interest in discussing the matter. So, under Zhu Lang's leadership, they all walked out the door to check on the situation of the Qing army outside the city.

Zhu Lang led Lü Daqi, Jiao Lian and others on a fast journey and soon reached the top of the East City Wall.

Outside the East Moat, flags were flying all over the sky. Countless soldiers were stationed outside the East Moat. In the distance, there was even more smoke and dust. Large numbers of soldiers were coming from the rear.

Zhu Lang and others were observing the situation of the Qing army from the top of the city wall, while in the Qing army tent, Li Chengdong was also discussing with the generals who had rushed over.

Li Chengdong sat at the top of the tent. On his left were Du Yong, Ma Bao and other vanguard generals. On his right were Luo Chengyao, Li Yuanyin, Hao Shangjiu and other rear guard generals who had just arrived.
Li Chengdong looked at Luo Chengyao and said
"How's the road going? Is it going well?"

"Everything went smoothly. I received the general's order on the night of the 12th. On the 13th, I led my army to march quickly. When the counties along the way in Huizhou and Guangzhou saw my army marching, they all closed their city gates. Several counties on the way offered to surrender, but I did not stop."

"Well done. The key is Guangzhou. If we take Guangzhou, the other counties will naturally surrender. How about Zengcheng? Have you taken it?" Li Chengdong praised and asked again.

"It has been taken. Zengcheng is completely unprepared. The city gates are still open every day to allow people to enter and exit freely."

"Yesterday, I sent 500 cavalrymen to charge directly into the city and killed the Zengcheng County Magistrate. After taking Zengcheng, I left 200 soldiers to guard the city. The rest of the army was brought to the city according to the general's order. There were more than 6,300 people in total."

Li Chengdong's face relaxed when he heard this. Zengcheng was their retreat route. Now that they had the retreat route in hand, even if Tong Yangjia didn't come, they could at least evacuate through Zengcheng, or rely on Zengcheng's defense and wait for Tong Yangjia's troops to arrive.
Li Chengdong thought of this and looked at Li Yuanyin again and asked

"What is the current reaction to Tong Yangjia's film?"

"Everything is as the general expected. Tong Yangjia received the news we released after we set out, and he is now rushing here at full speed. I estimate that he should be able to reach Guangzhou in two days."

Li Yuanyin bowed and replied, he thought for a moment and then continued
"It's just that Tong Yangjia's route is the same as ours. I'm afraid they will send people to seize Zengcheng as a retreat after they arrive."

Li Chengdong looked relaxed, waved his hand, and said

"If Tong Yangjia comes, Zengcheng will be meaningless to us. If Tong Yangjia wants Zengcheng, give it to him."

He had people seize Zengcheng just to leave himself a way out in case Tong Yangjia didn't take the bait. Now that Tong Yangjia's people have come, he doesn't need any way out.
The two armies combined had a total of 14,000 to 15,000 men. The 20,000 reinforcements from Zhaoqing could not stop them at all. Since they could fight and leave whenever they wanted, why would they need a retreat?

Even if Tong Yangjia took over Zengcheng, wouldn't Zengcheng still be in the hands of the Qing army? Could it be that Tong Yangjia still prevented him from evacuating Zengcheng?

Li Chengdong was relieved when he heard that Tong Yangjia had arrived. He glanced at the generals on the field and said in a deep voice:
"Since Tong Yangjia has taken the bait, we don't have to worry about anything. Let's rest for a night and attack the city tomorrow!"

"There are many civilians outside Guangzhou. Du Yonghe, you lead a thousand men to the surrounding areas to drive out the laborers. Drive all the captured ones to the city to fill the river and build a bridge. Fill the east, west and north of the city. Don't let the Ming army in the city see the flaws. A passage must be filled in the East Moat before tomorrow morning."

"Li Yuanyin, you lead the army's craftsmen and ask the nearby people to make flying ladders overnight. There is no time to make cloud ladders. Flying ladders are easy to make. Let everyone make flying ladders. Three hundred flying ladders must be made by tomorrow morning for siege purposes."

"There are only 300 cavalrymen available in the Ming court. If we use up these 300 soldiers, the young and strong men in the city will be scattered, and Guangzhou city will be easily captured. Tomorrow, even if we have to drown the 300 soldiers in the city, we must drown them."

"The rest of the generals in the army, lead your troops to set up camp and rest. Tomorrow the whole army will attack the city and we must take Guangzhou!"

Li Chengdong's eyes flashed with ruthlessness, and his gaze swept across the generals in the camp. Everyone in the field also looked stern, and then they all responded and dispersed to prepare.

(End of this chapter)