Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 31, Attack Huaizhou

The fall of Nanjing could not be concealed.

Unlike the Jinhai riot which was just a spontaneous riot among the people, the uprising in Nanjing was a premeditated rebellion.

During the Jinhai Incident, the Jinhai General promptly dispatched troops to control the anti-civilian forces within the city and suppressed the situation to the lowest level.

The Governor of Suzhou was beaten by the rebels and fled to Jiangbei overnight. Now the entire Jinling area has been completely occupied by the rebels, and the most important transportation hub from the imperial court to Jiangnan has been cut off.

At the same time, the White Lotus Sect raised the slogan of "overthrowing Xi and restoring the Ming Dynasty", claiming to have millions of followers, and called on heroes all over the world to rise up against Xi.

The whole country was shaken, and all the officials of Daxi were trembling.

Emperor Longqing was furious.

He looked towards the Daming Palace angrily.

That's it again!

This was exactly the case last time. Just after his new policies had achieved results, the White Lotus Rebellion broke out strangely. The retired emperor urgently dispatched troops to suppress it and took the opportunity to sideline him.

And this time, it is almost a replica of the last time.

But what Emperor Longqing couldn't understand was that the people who belonged to the retired emperor in the palace had been cleared out by him, and the Jinyiwei had been idle. The retired emperor should not be able to influence the outside world anymore...

Emperor Longqing was thinking when someone suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Your Majesty, Jinling is an important place in Jiangnan and must not be lost. We should immediately send troops to suppress it and not let the rebels take advantage of the opportunity to expand. Please make a decision quickly."

The person who spoke was Taifu Yu Lian.

Emperor Longqing was slightly dissatisfied with Yu Lian's sudden interruption, but seeing Yu Lian's face full of worry for the country, Emperor Longqing suppressed his dissatisfaction and asked:

"I wonder who the Grand Master thinks should be sent as the commander?"

Yu Lian said quickly:
"Duke Shanguo Shi Guangzhu has good command of troops and is rigorous in combat. He can be a good commander."

Emperor Longqing's face darkened instantly.

The nobles have always been supporters of the retired emperor. Unless it is necessary, he would never let these nobles lead the troops again.

However, Yu Lian seemed not to notice the gloomy expression on Emperor Longqing's face and continued:
"And your majesty, the matter of the Ministry of War must not be delayed any further, and you should quickly select a virtuous and capable person to serve as the Minister of State."

"I recommend Dong Chen, the Minister of War. He is wise, intelligent, capable and decisive. He should be appointed as an exception at this special time..."

"This matter will be discussed later!"

Emperor Longqing interrupted Yu Lian directly.

Emperor Longqing knew Dong Chen. Although he had some abilities, he was a treacherous person who had always maintained a neutral attitude between himself and the retired emperor. How could Emperor Longqing employ such a villain?

"His Majesty!"

Yu Lian shouted.

Emperor Longqing ignored him and turned away.

At this time, among the group of officials nearby, an official with a long face was staring at Yu Lian viciously in secret.

This man's name is Guo Bai, with the courtesy name Zisheng. He has served in the six ministries for many years and is now the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. He is currently the most suitable person for the position of Minister of War.

I need to explain here that although there is only one level difference between a vice minister and a minister, according to the unspoken rules of officialdom, in order to truly be promoted from a vice minister to a minister, one needs to transfer many times to accumulate qualifications.

Taking the Six Ministries as an example, from the most noble to the most humble, they are Personnel, Revenue, Rites, Military, Punishments, and Works.

After the new policy, the Ministry of Works was placed ahead of the Ministry of Justice, while the rest remained unchanged.

The Ministry of Personnel is still the department with the highest status. Guo Zisheng, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, has a much higher resume than Dong Chen, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

Moreover, many ministers knew that Guo Zisheng had been seeking the position of Minister of War, and the emperor was quite satisfied with him, but he did not hand it over easily because the Ministry of War was too important.

But now, Yu Lian openly recommended Dong Chen to be the Minister of War, which undoubtedly offended Guo Zisheng greatly.

At this time, Guo Zisheng secretly suppressed the hatred in his heart, on the other side.

Jinling.

Feng Tai, who had been resting in the city for more than half a month, finally chose to lead his troops north to attack Chuzhou.

The Governor of Suzhou who had escaped earlier was also in Chuzhou at this time. He had stabilized his position, dispatched nearby naval and land troops, and joined forces with the Governor of Huizhou to build a fortified city in Chuzhou. He set up layers of defense, ready to block the attack of the rebels in Nanjing.

Feng Tai led the army in person, with great ambitions, aiming at Chuzhou. In response, Wu Yuan hurried out to dissuade him.

"Protector, Chuzhou is now heavily guarded, relying on the advantages of strong cities and firearms. Most of our troops are new recruits and lack experience in attacking strongholds. If we attack rashly, I am afraid it will be difficult to win."

"Why not go north to Huaizhou? I heard recently that the Huaiyin bandit Fang Yong has raised troops to respond to the attack and is about to attack Huaizhou. If our army joins with him, we can accomplish great things."

Feng Tai frowned and looked at Wu Yuan dangerously.

"What is the Dharma Protector? He should be called the Southern King!"

Wu Yuan was startled and said, "King Nan, every word I just said is from the bottom of my heart..."

Feng Tai: "You said before that we would attack Chu, but now you're ordering us to go to Huai. Why?"

Wu Yuan: "I..."

Feng Tai: "If you dare to disturb the morale of the army again, you will be executed!"

Wu Yuan did not dare to persuade him any further, so Feng Tai led his army to attack Chuzhou.

Chuzhou was difficult to attack due to its rugged terrain. The government troops relied on the terrain advantage to set up numerous obstacles. Feng Tai's army had suffered thousands of casualties before they even approached the city.

Fortunately, the government troops were composed of soldiers who had no combat experience and their combat effectiveness was not much higher than that of the rebels. With the numerical advantage of the rebels, they finally broke through the defense line.

When they got closer to the city, a ten-meter-wide moat blocked their way.

In order to break through the moat, Feng Tai had to order his subordinates to fill the river with earth, stones and wood.

The defenders in the city naturally could not sit there and wait for death. They attacked with bows and crossbows, muskets, and a small number of artillery, and from time to time sent out small groups of government troops to harass and block the enemy's progress in filling the river.

After a few days, Feng Tai's troops suffered heavy casualties and their morale dropped.

Wu Yuan suggested that Feng Tai kill cattle and pigs to reward the soldiers, and then take out treasures to motivate them, so as to maintain morale.

Upon hearing this, Feng Tai adopted half of Wu Yuan's suggestion and slaughtered pigs and cattle to reward the soldiers.

It cannot be said that this move has no effect at all, but its effect is also very limited.

After the soldiers had eaten and drunk their fill, they were still extremely afraid of the long moat.

Feng Tai then forced his soldiers to fill the river.

Seeing this, Wu Yuan couldn't help but curse Feng Tai in secret.

"This mediocre, profit-seeking person is hard to work with!"

Huaizhou.

Fang Yong had already made preparations for attacking Huai at this time.

But he was not in a hurry to attack the city.

On the one hand, Huaizhou City is also difficult to attack and cannot be captured easily.

On the other hand, Fang Yong was waiting for the court's reaction.

With such a major incident happening, the imperial court would not be able to ignore it no matter what, and would definitely send troops to rescue.

In a sense, the geographical location of Huaizhou is even more important than that of Nanjing. If Fang Yong attacks Huaizhou City at this time, he will most likely be the first to confront the imperial army.

This is something Fang Yong absolutely doesn't want to see.

Therefore, he did not rush to attack the city, but instead trained his troops and built siege equipment, while at the same time sending people to inquire about the news from the court and Nanjing.

But this time, Fang Yong miscalculated.

For some unknown reason, after waiting for more than ten days, there was no news of the imperial court sending troops.

Fang Yong couldn't understand the reason at all.

Does the imperial court no longer want Nanjing?

But no matter what, Fang Yong couldn't wait any longer. According to the secret information in Huaizhou City, the prefect of Huaizhou is now recruiting soldiers to defend the city. If he continues to wait, Huaizhou will become more and more difficult to capture. By then, the gain will outweigh the loss.

Attack Huai immediately!

(End of this chapter)