Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 244 Orthodoxy
In the hall, everyone decided to go to war, and Zhu Lang began to make arrangements for the expedition.

Although Zhu Lang decided to march into Huguang, he was not prepared to start a war there. After all, the troops in Huguang still claimed to be Ming officials.
If Zhu Lang really led his army to suppress the rebellion, not only would it cost the imperial court manpower, he would also be branded as a brutal and murderous person. Instead of doing that, it would be better to use the Qing army to eliminate these Huguang military leaders.

Zhu Lang's main purpose this time was to go to Guizhou to surrender the Dashi Army, and he would not stay in Huguang for long.

Zhu Lang entered Huguang for two purposes. One was to intimidate Huguang with the imperial army and force the armies of Huguang to fight a decisive battle with the Qing court. The other was to capture the two cities of Yongzhou and Wugang and deploy defenses in advance on the border of Guangxi Province.

Zhu Lang had no hope for the so-called army in Huguang. In his previous life, when the Three Kings' army entered Huguang, within just two or three months, the so-called Thirteen Towns Army under He Tengjiao completely collapsed. The leaders of each town fled or surrendered, and the Qing court easily occupied most of Hunan Province.
The reason why the Qing government failed to occupy the entire Hunan Province was not because the Huguang troops learned from their failure and began to resist with all their might.

It was because the Liao soldiers under Kong Youde and his three men could not stand the extreme heat in the south. After occupying Changsha and Hengzhou, they hid in the city to escape the heat. This forced He Tengjiao and others to hide in Yongzhou and other places in southern Hunan, lingering on.
Kong Youde and other Qing troops stayed in the city for a month to avoid the heat, and then set out again when the cool autumn arrived.
He Tengjiao and others who had been hiding in Yongzhou fled again, and Liu Chengyin of Wugang also surrendered directly to the Qing Dynasty. The Qing army occupied the entire Hunan Province without any effort.

These military commanders from Huguang were actually very troublesome for the Ming court to deal with. As mentioned before, these people were still claiming to be Ming officials. If they attacked the court, they would be criticized. If they were not attacked, these people would occupy the local area and make it impossible for the court to recover Huguang.
Zhu Lang was preparing to kill with a borrowed knife. When Kong Youde and others completely defeated the Huguang towns, Zhu Lang would re-incorporate these Huguang troops and take back Hunan Province.
Zhu Lang was not prepared to intervene in the war in Huguang. Without Zhu Lang's intervention, the Huguang armies that had collapsed at the first blow in the previous life would most likely collapse as well.
Zhu Lang did not care whether the armies of Huguang were defeated or not, but he could not let the situation in Huguang affect the stability of Guangxi Province.
Therefore, one of Zhu Lang's important goals in entering Huguang this time was to seize Wugang and Yongzhou, and then form a new defense line of Guangxi Province with Wugang, Yongzhou and Quanzhou in Guangxi Province.

These three cities just form a triangular defense line. The three cities are not far apart and can support each other in defense, completely shielding Guangxi Province in the rear.
After the imperial court occupied Wugang and Yongzhou, it had tentacles to attack Huguang. As long as the Ming court was prepared, it could start from these two cities at any time and take back Hunan Province again.

Zhu Lang thought of this and said directly

"I will not stay in Huguang for long this time. After shocking the troops in Huguang, I will go to your province via Huguang."

"In order to prevent the defeat of the Huguang army and the Qing army from moving southward to affect Guangxi Province, I want to seize Wugang and Yongzhou and set up a defense line in Guangxi Province."

Lu Daqi and others below were all shocked when they heard this. They did not expect His Highness to be so pessimistic. At this time, the Qing invaders had not yet reached Huguang, but His Highness had already determined that Huguang would fall and began to arrange the defense of Guangxi Province in advance.

Lu Daqi hesitated for a moment, then spoke

"Although the Thirteen Garrisons of Huguang must have falsely reported the number of soldiers, since they dared to report 300,000, I'm afraid they should have more than 100,000."

"According to the intelligence from Fujian Province, part of the army that originally intended to enter Huguang stayed in Jiangnan. The number of Qing invaders entering Huguang this time is only 20,000 to 30,000 at most."

"The troops of Huguang have the advantage in numbers and the geographical advantage. It should not be difficult to defend Huguang. With so many troops in Huguang, they can't be unable to defend the city."

“They Can’t Keep It”

Zhu Lang heard this, but he did not hesitate at all and spoke directly

Zhu Lang signaled to Li Chengzhi below, and then Li Chengzhi sent the military intelligence collected from Huguang to the military officials.

Although the court failed to summon He Tengjiao back during this visit to Huguang, the cavalry scouts of the Jinyifu also collected some information about the generals of Huguang.

Now the towns of Huguang are scattered all over Hunan Province, each of them is divided into different places to receive their salaries. He Tengjiao is stationed in Changsha, Liu Chengyin is stationed in Wugang, Cao Zhijian is stationed in Hengzhou, Huang Chaoxuan is stationed in Youxian, and others such as Hao Yaoqi and Ma Jinzhong are also stationed in different places to collect food and salaries.

When He Tengjiao took over Huguang, the Longwu Dynasty was busy fighting with Lu Jianguo for legitimacy, so it had no time to care about Huguang, let alone pay salaries to Huguang.

After He Tengjiao received the order from the Longwu Dynasty to act at his own convenience, he first collected a year's grain tax in advance in Hunan Province. When it was insufficient, he added additional taxes, and the tax per mu of land was more than six times that of previous years. Later, he found that even the additional taxes were still not enough, so he started a donation system for official salaries and living expenses.

What is a salary for an official or a student? It means that as long as you pay a donation to the Huguang Governor's Office, you can get a vacant official position in the prefectures and counties of Hunan Province, as well as a student's honor.

The so-called righteous gentry who paid donations from the people did not get their money from heaven, so it is easy to imagine what these people would do after they got official positions.
He Tengjiao's actions enabled him to raise a large amount of silver in a short period of time. Seeing this, the military leaders in Huguang naturally followed suit.

After Huang Chaoxuan occupied Youxian and other places, he began to sell official positions to raise funds. Huang Chaoxuan's cards were sent everywhere, and he appointed nearly thousands of officials.
Moreover, Huang Chaoxuan clearly believed that whoever had soldiers was the king. He thought that the more soldiers he had, the stronger he would be, and the more territory he could occupy in Hunan Province, and the more he could dominate the country.
Huang Chaoxuan recruited civilians from the vicinity of You County as soldiers, even vegetable farmers and servants were recruited into the army. The army under Huang Chaoxuan's command also quickly expanded from a few thousand people at the beginning to 100,000 people.
The other towns in Huguang were unwilling to lag behind. If Huang Chaoxuan could touch this tiger, they could certainly do the same.
The military leaders of Huguang recruited civilians to serve as soldiers in the prefectures and counties they occupied. At one time, you had 30,000 soldiers, and I had 50,000 soldiers. When we reported again the next day, we had 80,000 elite soldiers. We only needed to wait for the governor's office to pay us, and then we could march north to achieve great success.
This is how the so-called 200,000 or 300,000-man army of Huguang came about
The armies of Huguang originally recruited civilians as soldiers just to boost their courage, but later, when they saw the army on paper, even they themselves began to get cocky.

A group of low-ranking generals who were only engaged in guerrilla warfare during the reign of Chongzhen really thought that they had become important generals in charge of a large army.

Now, the various armies in Huguang claim to have tens of thousands of soldiers, and each of them gathers in one direction. The troops under each town have expanded dozens of times. The territory they originally occupied obviously cannot support so many people. What should they do?

They would never dare to attack Hubei Province and seize the territory of the Qing army, but fortunately, without Hubei Province, there is still Hunan Province. If they can't beat the Tartars, can they beat your Ming army?

So the towns in Huguang began to kill each other in order to fight for the land and supplies.
Huang Chaoxuan fought with Cao Zhijian, and Liu Chengyin fought with Zhang Xianbi. Before the Qing army arrived, the entire Hunan Province had already been thrown into chaos by the Huguang armies.

In the hall, Lu Daqi and others looked at the intelligence about Huguang compiled by Jinyifu, and no longer had any hope for the so-called Thirteen Towns of Huguang. If such a chaotic army could hold Huguang, it would be a miracle.
If the towns in Huguang occupied the prefectures and counties, they could use the money from the prefectures and counties to support 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers, and the Huguang army might still be able to defend Huguang. But now these people are raising 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers at will, which is obviously a dead end.
When armies fight, it is not about who has more people. Huang Chaoxuan and his men, who had recruited civilians as soldiers, would surely collapse at the first blow if they encountered the Qing army. Even if they still had elite servants in their hands, it would be useless if their army collapsed.
Chen Zizhuang put down the information in his hand, frowned and said

"According to intelligence, Wugang has long been Liu Chengyin's garrison. I'm afraid Liu Chengyin won't give up Wugang easily."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Lang's face flashed with murderous intent, and he said

"It's just right that I don't allow him to do so. I am going to Huguang this time to intimidate the armies. If Liu Chengyin doesn't know what's good for him, I will just take his head and make an example of him!"

Chen Bangfu and Liu Chengyin have always been in Zhu Lang's notebook. Now that Chen Bangfu has been eliminated, if there is a chance, it would be no problem to eliminate Liu Chengyin.

Lu Daqi and others looked at the murderous Regent, feeling helpless for a moment. This Regent Gui was good in every way, except that he was too cruel. He would send troops to destroy anyone who disobeyed him.

Civil officials such as Lu Daqi actually don't like this rough and direct way of handling things, but this may be the reason why His Royal Highness the Regent can be supported by the military officials in the court. After all, which military official doesn't like an emperor who loves war?

Lu Daqi frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "Although Liu Chengyin and others are arrogant and domineering, the court has no solid evidence after all. If the court sends troops to eliminate Liu Chengyin, it may be a violation of justice."

"The towns of Huguang are very likely to seize this opportunity to attack the imperial court. Even the rebellious people in the Huguang army may use this as an excuse to defect to the Qing army. The imperial court will then be in a passive position."

The ministers frowned when they heard this. The purpose of the court entering Huguang this time was to use His Royal Highness the Regent to intimidate the armies of Huguang and force them to fight against the three kings of the Qing Dynasty.

If these people find an excuse to defect to the Qing court, it will ruin the court's plan.

Everyone fell silent, thinking about how to deal with Liu Chengyin without losing the righteousness. The hall became silent for a while.

The ministers were frowning in thought, but at this moment, a voice sounded from the left side, and everyone's eyes immediately fell on the figure who stood up.

Zhang Huangyan stood up and saluted, but he ignored the gazes of the crowd and said

"The court's current goal is to acquire Wugang and Yongzhou and build a defense line for Guangxi Province, not to punish the military commanders in Huguang."

"In this case, the court may as well place these two cities under the jurisdiction of Guangxi Province in the name of suppressing the bandits on the Guihu border. If Liu Chengyin withdraws from Wugang as ordered, the court can calmly arrange the defense line."

"If Liu Chengyin refuses to withdraw from Wugang, then it will be considered that Liu Chengyin is rebelling against the imperial court. Your Highness can follow the imperial court's orders and lead the troops to chase and kill the rebel general."

After hearing this, Lu Daqi and the others thought for a moment and realized that Zhang Huangyan's proposal was indeed a good idea.

Wugang was Liu Chengyin's garrison, and a sudden attack would cause controversy. In this case, wouldn't it be better to separate Wugang from Huguang?
Liu Chengyin is a general from Huguang. Now the imperial court has incorporated Wugang into Guangxi Province. It should not be your garrison area anymore.
This is the benefit of the righteousness of the court. All the land under heaven belongs to the king. All the provinces in the world are nominally the territory of the court.

The imperial court is now preparing to take the two cities away from Huguang. What can you do?
As for whether He Tengjiao, Liu Chengyin and other people from Huguang would be dissatisfied, the court did not care at all.

The imperial court now just wants a legitimate title. If Liu Chengyin is dissatisfied and wants to resist, the imperial court can just take advantage of the situation to eliminate Liu Chengyin and use his head to intimidate the armies of Huguang.

Zhu Lang thought about it for a while and felt that this method was very good. Zhu Lang looked at Zhang Huangyan below, and a look of satisfaction flashed across his face. He spoke directly.

"Doctor Zhang, this method is good. What do you think? If you have no objection, do it according to this method."

Zhang Huangyan was a fourth-rank assistant censor in the Lu Dynasty, but when he arrived at the Guangdong Provincial Court, he was pushed by Zhu Lang into the Ministry of War to serve as a fifth-rank doctor.
Seeing that no one raised any objections, Zhu Lang also spoke up.

“Who is in charge in Guangxi Province now?”

"Before Lord Qu led his army into Guizhou, he recommended Yan Qiheng, the former governor of Guangzhou, to take charge of Guangxi affairs. Now Yan Qiheng is temporarily serving as the governor of Guangxi," Lu Daqi answered.

"Order the Ministry of War to draft an edict. The bandits in Huguang have been roaming around and harassing the border of Guangxi. Now the two cities of Wugang and Yongzhou are placed under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Guangxi Province. The Governor of Guangxi Province will be stationed in the three cities to suppress the bandits on the border between Huguang and Guangxi."

"Send the decree to He Tengjiao. After receiving the decree, He Tengjiao ordered him to immediately hand over the two cities to the Governor of Guangxi Province, and at the same time ordered the Governor of Guangxi Province, Yan Qiheng, to send people to take over the two cities."

At this time, the plan for dealing with Huguang was decided. Zhu Lang no longer hesitated and began to arrange other matters for the expedition.

"Inform Zhang Kentang and Li Mingzhong of Fujian Province of today's decision. The imperial court will send troops to the southwest. Order the two to guard Zhejiang and Fujian and not to arbitrarily provoke a war with the Qing invaders in Zhejiang Province."

Since Zhu Lang is planning to intimidate the armies in Huguang, he will definitely take away most of the troops in the court. Except for the southwest, Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces must all go on the defensive.
Nearly half of the imperial court's troops are now in Fujian Province. As long as Li Mingzhong and others do not take the initiative to attack and cause a war, it should be safe to defend Fujian and Zhejiang.
In addition to Fujian and Zhejiang, the other direction that the Guangdong court had to defend at this time was the Meiling Ganzhou line

Deng Yao, the commander of the Wuxiang Army, is now the general of Nanxiong. He leads 3,000 Wuxiang Army soldiers to guard the Meiguan line to guard against the Qing army in Gan Province.
After Zhu Lang went to war, he appointed Zhang Jiayu as the governor of northern Guangdong and led two thousand Fujian infantrymen under Zheng Hongkui to reinforce Meiguan and strengthen the defense line there.

Zhu Lang will lead 10,000 Longxiang troops, 10,000 Tengxiang troops, and 5,000 Minying troops under Shi Lang, for a total of 25,000 troops.

Guangzhou was guarded by the remaining 5,000 Longxiang troops and 5,000 Zheng's Fujian Camp under Zheng Hongkui as the court's mobile force.
Zhu Lang arranged the candidates for the expedition and the defense in all directions one by one, and after thinking for a while, the ministers in the hall all bowed and obeyed the order.
Zhu Lang saw that all the ministers responded to his orders, his eyes flickered, and he suddenly spoke

"This time the imperial court is going to war in the name of quelling the rebellion in Shadingzhou, Yunnan Province. Do not mention Huguang."

Zhu Lang glanced at the ministers below and said in a cold voice:

"I have said before that the court established the Military Affairs Council to prevent the leakage of military intelligence. The matters discussed today are all court secrets."

"When you leave this hall, don't mention your students, old friends, wives, children, or old friends. Do you understand?"

Lu Daqi and the others below were all shocked when they heard this. Today they were mostly discussing how to deal with Huguang in the palace, but now His Highness is using the excuse of going to Yunnan Province as a cover-up, obviously preparing to launch a surprise attack on Huguang.

If someone leaked the court's true intentions at this time, allowing the Huguang army to be prepared in advance, then His Highness would probably really kill people and punish them.

When the ministers thought of this, their faces became solemn, and they all responded in a deep voice.
Zhu Lang discussed with his ministers for a while and decided on the preparation of food and fodder for the expedition. Then the ministers left.

As the ministers left, the details of Sha Dingzhou's rebellion in Yunnan Province suddenly spread throughout the court and the court officials also knew that the court had decided to send troops to suppress the rebellion in Yunnan Province.

On February 12, 25,000 soldiers marched out of the city in a mighty procession. The generals gathered around the yellow dragon banner and headed towards the chaotic southwest.
(End of this chapter)