Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 327 Public Opinion
There was silence in the hall. Li Guo saw that everyone below was looking at him, and his expression changed slightly. Li Guo was silent for a while, and then he said in a deep voice:

"Li Guo is my previous life, and Li Chixin is the new name given by the court. In the camp, I am Li Guo, and in the court, I am Li Chixin. The new name and the old name are one and the same, what is the difference?"

Gao Yigong looked at Li Guo above him with a complicated expression on his face. Gao Yiguang was silent for a while, but did not mention the name again. Instead, he talked about another matter.

"General, do you still remember Zhang Kewang, Zhang Dingguo and the other four people under the Western Army?"

"These men are Zhang Xianzhong's adopted sons and are also brave generals of the Western Army. I will remember them."

Gao Yigong continued to speak

"General, you may not know that Zhang Xianzhong of the Western Army was killed by the King of the Tathagata, Haoge, at the beginning of the year. This time, I followed Your Highness into Sichuan to fight. Zhang Kewang, Zhang Dingguo and other remaining members of the Western Army have now all surrendered to the court."

"Hauge killed Zhang Xianzhong in one battle, but was then defeated by the imperial guards. In the battle of Bozhou, the imperial guards fought against 4,000 Zhenyi, and Hauge fled back to Baoning in panic."

"Except for Baoning Prefecture, the entire Sichuan Province has been recovered by the court. It is precisely because of the great victory in Sichuan Province that the court will return to Huguang."

"General, the situation is completely different now. We cannot stop the imperial court. We have already accepted the imperial court's banner. Now tens of thousands of elite soldiers of the Western Army have already submitted to the imperial court. Why do you have second thoughts now?"

"This time, our Loyalty Camp led the army to capture Jingzhou and made great contributions to the court. Now is the best time for our Loyalty Camp to integrate into the court. General, you must not hesitate at this time."

Li Guo looked at Gao Yigong, who was looking serious, and his face turned cold, but he said in a deep voice:
"What if I don't want to enter the court? What are you going to do?"

"The court wants to use our Loyalty Camp to form the fifth imperial army. If the general is unwilling to join the court, he will lead his soldiers and follow His Highness back to Guangdong Province."

Regardless of whether Gao Yigong had the idea of ​​leading his troops, even if Gao Yigong wanted to lead his troops back to the Loyalty Camp, the soldiers under Gao Yigong would not follow him.

Since the missionary from the imperial court joined the army, all the 3,000 soldiers under Gao Yigong were fully clothed and well-fed, and had no worries about food and clothing. They also received one or two months' salary every month, and some soldiers in the army had even begun to learn to read and write.

The soldiers knew what life was like in the Loyalty Camp and what life was like following the imperial court.

If Gao Yigong wanted to disobey the imperial order and forcibly bring the soldiers back to the Loyalty Camp, he would probably be tied up and taken to the court by his soldiers as soon as he opened his mouth.
When Li Guo heard what Gao Yigong said, a flash of realization flashed across his face, and then he sneered and said

"It turns out that the court is going to promote General Gao. No wonder General Gao rushed back so anxiously to recruit the soldiers of the Loyalty Camp on behalf of the court."

Gao Yigong was furious when he heard this and suddenly shouted:

"General Li, what do you mean by this? I, Gao Yigong, have been a general in the camp for decades. I have never betrayed my brothers in the camp for my own selfish interests."

"The court is only planning to build the Imperial Guards, but has not yet decided on a commander. As long as the general is willing to obey the imperial edict, I am willing to retire and recommend the general to the court as the commander of the Imperial Guards."

"It is true that I am here today to lobby for the court, but what I am doing today is out of public interest. It is for the future of tens of thousands of soldiers in my Loyalty Camp, not for the position of the commander of the imperial guards."

Li Guo had a gloomy expression on his face, but he was unmoved. He just said in a cold voice
"When my Loyalty Camp sent out the troops, the court had already promised us that if we conquered Jingzhou, the court would grant us Jingzhou and other places as military supplies. This was the court's clear order. Could it be that the court is going to go back on its word now?"

"Xiangyang was not conquered by the general"

Upon hearing this, Li Guo also spoke immediately

"Xiangyang was not captured by the Loyalty Camp, but Jingzhou and Chengtian were captured by my Loyalty Camp, right?"

"If the imperial court does not want my Loyalty Camp to defend the Qing invaders at the front line, then I can return all of Xiangyang to the imperial court, and let the imperial court defend it themselves. I will lead my men back to Jingzhou!"

Li Guo's face was grim. Yuan Zongdi, Ma Chongxi and others below all had a cold look on their faces when they heard this.

Li Guo said that he wanted to return Xiangyang, but in fact he was threatening the court. If this word got to the court's ears, not only would the Zhongzheng Camp be punished, but the Shunying soldiers present today would also be implicated.

Yuan Zongdi and his men were about to persuade them, but before they could open their mouths, Gao Yigong flew into a rage and suddenly stood up from the table and shouted:

"Li Guo, do you think you can threaten the imperial court with just 30,000 men? The imperial court can kill Liu Chengyin and Cao Zhijian in Hunan Province, and it can also kill you, Li Guo, in Hubei Province!"

"Okay, you can lead your army back to Jingzhou, but what are you going to do after you go back? Will you continue to rob and extort money from Jingzhou like you did in Badong?"

"Now that Jingzhou, Chengtian and other places have been newly annexed, you still have things to rob. What about a year later? Two years later? After you have robbed the two prefectures, what are you going to do?"

"I might as well tell you directly, if the Loyalty Camp does not accept the reorganization of the court, the court will never spend money and food to support the 30,000 people in the Loyalty Camp."

"Tens of thousands of elite soldiers in the West Camp have been reorganized by the imperial court. The three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan have no less than 100,000 soldiers. Do you really think that the imperial court can't defend Xiangyang without you, Li Guo?"

"The court is not prepared to break the agreement. Jingzhou is an important place in Huguang, and the court will not hand it over to the Loyalty Camp. But except for Jingzhou, the court will hand over Jingzhou and Chengtian to the Loyalty Camp as agreed. But if you lead the army back to the two prefectures now, you will die."

"How did you raise the food and money for the attack on Jingzhou? It was donated by the gentry from all over Hubei Province." "The gentry from Hubei Province are raising food for Li Chixin, the Marquis of Xingguo in the Ming Dynasty's Loyal Camp, not for Li Guo, the Marquis of Bo in your Dashun Camp!"

"As long as you lead your troops to withdraw to the two prefectures now, the court will never look at the Loyalty Camp again. The court will only let the Loyalty Camp fend for itself in these two prefectures."

"After these two cities are plundered like Badong and Zigui before, how are you going to feed the 30,000 soldiers in the camp?"

"When the time comes, will you lead the brothers in the camp to surrender to the Qing invaders and become Tartars, or are you going to raise the banner of rebellion again and rebel against the imperial court?"

In the hall, Li Guo and Gao Yigong glared at each other, and the other generals of the Loyalty Camp were also silent when they saw the fierce argument between the two commanders in the camp.
There was silence in the hall for a long time. At this time, Yuan Zongdi, who was on the upper right, suddenly spoke.

"Brother Li, this time I and General Dang Shousu will also accompany Governor Du to the court to meet His Highness. The Central Camp and the Right Camp have decided to accept the reorganization of the court."

Upon hearing this, Li Guo immediately looked towards Yuan Zongdi on the right with an angry look on his face.

But before Li Guo could speak, Yuan Zongdi continued

"I came here with Brother Gao this time, not to persuade you to obey the imperial court's order. I am not qualified to take care of the affairs of the rear camp."

"Since the great defeat at the gates of Jingzhou at the beginning of last year, my foolish brother and General Dang Shousu have led the army to Xiangxi to seek food."

"When we first entered Xiangxi, there were more than 10,000 people in our two camps. But now, only a year later, there are less than 7,000 people left in our two camps. The rest of the soldiers have all fled, and countless of their family members have fled."

"Although we have tried our best to obtain food and money from Xiangxi over the past year, we are still only able to maintain the situation with difficulty."

"The reason why we decided to submit to the imperial court at this time is that we really don't want the brothers in the camp to suffer from hunger with us."

Although Yuan Zongdi said that he was not a lobbyist, in fact, he was still persuading Li Guo to accept the reorganization of the court.
Yuan Zongde and others are struggling to maintain an army of 10,000. Do you, Li Guo, really have the ability to continue to support nearly 30,000 soldiers and tens of thousands of their families in the rear camp?
If this is not possible, then it is better to accept the reorganization peacefully and hand over this burden to the court.

Of course, Li Guo also understood what Yuan Zongdi meant, but when faced with the questions from Gao Yigong and Yuan Zongdi, Li Guo had no idea how to respond.
The two prefectures of Jingzhou are located in the plains. If they were handed over to civil officials such as Du Yinxi, they would be enough to accommodate tens of thousands of families and support a large army. However, if they were handed over to Li Guo and others, the two prefectures of Jingzhou would be no different from the previous places such as Badong in the mountainous areas. The only way for Li Guo and others to raise food was to rob.
Li Guo felt annoyed and couldn't help but speak up.

"First, they asked us to change our names and titles, then they promised us land and money and asked us to send troops to help. Now, we have finally conquered the land, and the court is preparing to reorganize us. The court is pressing us step by step and asking for more. If we hand over the military power now, who knows what the court will do to us in the future."

"I don't want to reorganize at this time because I am thinking about my brothers in the camp. Why do you have to force me?"

Gao Yigong looked at the expression on Li Guo's face and knew that Li Guo's heart had begun to waver. Gao Yigong calmed down and spoke in a deep voice.

"General, we understand your painstaking efforts, but now is the best time for us to integrate into the court."

"When I led the army into the court last year, His Highness intended to use my Loyalty Battalion to form the Imperial Guards. However, the ministers in the court all believed that my Loyalty Battalion had not achieved any achievements and should not be suddenly established as the Imperial Guards. In the end, the matter was left unresolved."

"But these are just excuses. In fact, even the ministers in the court are still afraid of us, the bandits who came from Shunying."

"The general led the soldiers in the camp to recapture Jingzhou and made great contributions. The ministers in the court were suppressed and speechless. The matter of forming the imperial army with our loyal camp was able to be carried out."

"If our Loyalty Camp insists on not accepting the reorganization this time, then our Loyalty Camp will be criticized in the court, and it will be difficult for us to integrate into the court in the future."

"Although there are some court officials who are hostile to us in the Loyal Camp, Your Highness has great ambitions and never judges people by their background."

"General Ma Bao of the Tengxiang Army and General Li Dingguo of the Zhongyi Camp are both from the righteous army and have also become the commanders of the imperial guards. If we add our Zhongzheng Camp, three of the five imperial guards in the court are from the righteous army. Why do you have to be so suspicious, General?"

"Now the best way out for our Loyalty Camp is to accept the reorganization of the imperial court."

Li Guo still did not answer. He was willing to serve the Ming court, but he also did not want to lose his military power. Li Guo looked at Ma Chongxi and others below and spoke again.

"Once the imperial military supervisor enters the camp, the food and fodder in the camp will be controlled by the imperial military supervisor. What do you think? Are you willing to accept the imperial reorganization?"

Ma Chongxi, Zhang Neng and other generals of the Loyalty Camp looked at each other, and then fell silent.
Since learning that the court wanted to form the imperial guards with the Loyalty Camp, the attitudes of the generals in the Loyalty Camp have quietly changed.
The court has drawn the Loyalty Camp to form a new imperial guard, which proves that the court is ready to truly accept the Loyalty Camp, and the generals in the camp will no longer be outsiders without roots in the court in the future.
After Li Zicheng's death, they followed Li Guo in Hubei Province and lost several battles. Finally, they were forced to stay in Badong and lacked food and clothing. The generals in the camp no longer had any hope for the so-called Dashun.
As the Ming court won successive victories in Fujian, Zhejiang and Sichuan, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the court had already established a firm foothold in the south. In the future, the court would at least be like the Song and Liao dynasties, dividing the world with the Qing court.
Now that the imperial court has established itself in the south, the value of the official titles in the imperial court will rise sharply, which is incomparable to the official titles in the previous Hongguang Longwu court.
Ma Chongxi and others have followed Li Guo for many years and are naturally loyal to him, but they also have to consider their own future at this time.
At this time, the imperial court gave them a way to smoothly transform from bandits to officials. In fact, most of the generals in the camp were inclined to accept the reorganization of the imperial court.
The most important thing is that they don't know what they can do with Li Guo if the court really sends them back to the two prefectures of Jingzhou. Even Li Guo himself can't answer this question.
Just as Gao Yigong had said before, once all the food and money of the two governments were seized, what exactly would Li Guo plan to do with them?

Inheriting the banner of Shunying and establishing his own dynasty, don't joke. If Li Guo was really so decisive, he would have proclaimed himself emperor when Yuan Zongdi and others came from Hunan Province to join the alliance.
At that time, the Shun army was leaderless, and Li Guo did not dare to establish himself. Now that the right camp and the central camp are ready to surrender to the court, it is even more impossible for Li Guo to declare himself emperor.
They surrendered to the Qing court and became Tartars. Now that the court has defeated the Qing invaders one after another and recovered lost territory, it has regained its strength. Why do they have to shave their heads and become slaves for the Tartars instead of being good generals of the Ming army?
Or maybe they will raise the flag of rebellion again and plunder Huguang. But people have always rebelled only when they have no other choice. Now the imperial court has established the imperial army and given them official positions and titles. Why should they give up their official positions in the Ming Dynasty and accompany Li Kuang in rebellion?
These people have been rebels for half their lives. They can't just follow Li Guo and continue to be rebels.
Li Guo originally thought that the generals below were unwilling to let the military supervisor enter the camp and lose their military power, but Ma Chongxi and others were silent at this time. Li Guo did not understand the attitude of the generals in the army.
Li Guo looked at the generals below, and was furious at first, but then he felt powerless.
Li Guo stood there in silence for a long time, and then he spoke

"If I accept the reorganization, how will the court deal with me?"

Gao Yigong's face straightened when he heard this, and he immediately said

"General, you have conquered Jingzhou this time and expanded the territory of the court by thousands of miles. You have made great contributions. As long as you are willing to come to the court to pay your respects, you will either be appointed as the commander of the imperial guards or continue to lead the Loyalty Camp to garrison Xiangyang. The court will never punish you."

Li Guo was silent upon hearing this and did not respond. The banquet in Zaoyang City also ended in silence.

On the 25th day of the first lunar month, Gao Yigong, Wang Guangtai, Li Guo and other generals from Hubei Province gathered in Xiangyang, and then, under the leadership of Du Yinxi, they rushed to Changsha. Ma Bao and Li Dingguo also set out from Yuezhou, leading Ma Jinzhong and other generals from Hunan Province to the court to discuss matters.
(End of this chapter)