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The history books have passed down the good deeds, but they have not been able to subdue the enemy and be loyal to the law;
The grace is so great that instead of thinking of repaying the country, one becomes an enemy.
Nowadays, this couplet is well known to the common people in Jinling City and is passed on from mouth to mouth. Some people say that this couplet was made by Qin Mu, using Hong Chengchou's treachery to contrast Shi Kefa's loyalty.
Of course, some people deny that this was written by Qin Mu, saying that Qin Mu proclaimed himself king and would definitely not praise the ministers who were loyal to the Ming Dynasty.
But no matter what, after this couplet spread, it is certain that countless people were secretly pointing fingers at Hong Chengchou's backbone.
After Hong Chengchou learned of this couplet, he locked himself in the room for a whole hour. One can imagine the torment he went through.
If the Qing Dynasty could unify the world, at least Hong Chengchou could get official recognition, but now the situation is becoming increasingly pessimistic. The Qin army attacked from the north and south, and the Qing Dynasty suffered setbacks at every turn, even losing Luoyang.
The situation in Jiangnan was even more dangerous. Two hundred thousand Qin troops advanced by land and sea and attacked Anqing fiercely. The river defenses had been broken.
In Huizhou and Quzhou, Fei Yanggu and others failed to make any breakthroughs;
Jiangyin, relying on the strength of its own people, resisted an army of 100,000 for two months. Rebellions broke out in Kunshan, Jiading and other places, and the King of Lu in eastern Zhejiang has not yet been captured.
The 20,000 Qin troops had already reached Pukou, which was separated from Nanjing by only a river. The troops transferred from various cities in the north of the river were helpless and were defeated one by one by the Qin army, losing thousands of men.
The people in Jiangbei took the initiative to provide information and food to the Qin army, treating them like family.
Whether Jiangnan can be preserved and whether the Qing Dynasty can unify the country are now unknown. Once Shi Kefa dies, he will be remembered forever, but I will be despised by all eternity.
There was more to make Hong Chengchou feel stressed. News came from Yanjing that the regent Dorgon himself was also in the quagmire. The Manchu officials in the court put the blame for Ajige's defeat on Fan Wencheng and others. They cursed and beat them like pigs and dogs.
Some people even repeatedly demanded that these "slaves" be used to exchange for the prisoners.
Since ancient times, the only difficult thing is death. Now Hong Chengchou feels that he is in a dilemma between life and death.
"Master Hong, Master Hong, something bad has happened, something bad has happened." Suddenly someone knocked on the door and shouted.
Hong Chengchou pushed the door open and asked with a serious face, "What happened?"
"Master Hong, an old servant from your hometown in Fujian came to the government office and said that your eldest son was kidnapped by bandits in Danyang."
"Where is the person? Hurry up and bring him in." Hong Chengchou's expression changed slightly, and he walked quickly to the front hall. He saw a servant in his forties who turned out to be Yingfu, the housekeeper of the old house in Fujian.
"Yingfu, what's going on? Why are you here?"
"Master, something bad has happened. On the way to Jinling with the eldest son, he was kidnapped by gangsters outside Danyang County. Master, please save him."
"Do you know who the criminals are?"
"Those criminals claimed to be Yebushou and deliberately let me go, asking me to bring a message to you, Master..."
"Ye Bu Shou... ... ... What are you talking about? Say it quickly!"
“The gangsters said... said... ”
"What did you say!" Hong Chengchou was furious.
"If you say that the master helps the Tartars again... No, no, no. If you continue to work for the Qing Dynasty, the Hong family will be extinct, and the master will be cast into a bronze statue in the future, kneeling in front of the tomb of Emperor Chongzhen. It will be worshipped by people for thousands of years..."
“Yebushou... Yebushou... . . . . ” Hong Chengchou had led troops in Liaodong, so he certainly knew what Yebushou was. He also knew that the intelligence officer under Qin Mu was also called Yebushou.
"How is the situation in your hometown in Fujian? What are you doing in Nanjing?" Hong Chengchou asked after calming his breath.
Yingfu then told Hong Chengchou everything about the situation in his hometown in Fujian, and explained that they came to Nanjing this time to deliver a letter for Zheng Zhilong.
Hong Chengchou inexplicably thought of the couplet "Great grace is vast. Not thinking of serving the country but becoming an enemy" and felt a little guilty. When he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he thought his family would be executed by Chongzhen, but he didn't expect that Chongzhen didn't issue an order to execute his family, and they are still alive and well now.
He coughed lightly to get rid of the momentary guilt in his mind, and asked in a deep voice: "Where is the letter that Zheng Zhilong asked you to bring?"
"My Lord, the criminals have searched the young master's body and found him. My Lord, please send troops to rescue him."
"Do you know what Zheng Zhilong said in the letter?" Hong Chengchou asked with a glimmer of hope. This was too important to him.
The old servant replied with a sad face: "Master, I have only followed you all the way to take care of the eldest son. How can I know what the letter says? Master, please send..."
"I will take care of this matter myself. You can go down and have a rest first." Hong Chengchou paced in the hall with his hands behind his back. Zheng Zhilong sent his son to deliver the letter. Could it be that he wanted to surrender to the Qing Dynasty? If so, with the help of Zheng Zhilong, the situation in Jiangnan would be much easier to handle.
Hong Chengchou was just about to send someone to Fujian to contact Zheng Zhilong again when he heard the sound of hurried horse hooves outside. Two messengers rushed in and one of them said, "Master Hong, it's bad. General Aksu was defeated by the Qin army in Datong Town. Only a few hundred people were left and retreated to Taixing County. The Qin army of 10,000 crossed the river from Zhangjiagang and has now reached the city of Jiangyin..."
"What, how did the Qin army cross the river?"
"It was Gu Sanmazi, it was Gu Sanmazi who sent the Qin army across the river..."
Before he finished speaking, another one rushed to say: "Grandmaster Hong, quickly send troops to reinforce Huangshiji. Qin General Meng Ke played a trick, and most of the Green Camp soldiers under General Tulai escaped. Huangshiji was surrounded by the Qin army. The situation is precarious. Grandmaster Hong, quickly send troops to reinforce Huangshiji..."
Hong Chengchou asked in a lost voice: "Where is Kong Youde? How is Anqing City?"
"The 60,000 Qin troops are still besieging Anqing City. After the navy was defeated, the north and south of the Yangtze River were cut off. It is difficult for King Gongshun to transfer troops across the river to support Huangshiji. Academician Hong, please send reinforcements quickly, otherwise General Tulai may not be able to hold out for much longer."
"Someone come!" Hong Chengchou shouted with a slightly changed expression, "Where is Bolo's army?"
One of the subordinates replied, "Grand Secretary, the prince is still in Hangzhou, and General Hashu is returning to Jiangyin with 30,000 troops and has already arrived in Huzhou."
"Huzhou..." Upon hearing this, Hong Chengchou's head was buzzing. There were still 10,000 Qin troops in Jiangbei who were eyeing Nanjing, and the 20,000 to 30,000 troops in Nanjing could not be moved. Where could he get troops to support Huangshiji
Tulai's army of tens of thousands is facing the danger of being annihilated in such a short period of time. Would it be useful to dispatch a few thousand Green Camp soldiers to reinforce them
As for Jiangyin City, despite the resistance of the people in the city, the 100,000-strong army outside the city had been besieging the city for two months but failed to break through. Now the army is old and the soldiers are tired, and with another 10,000 Qin cavalry arriving, the outcome is hard to predict.
In addition, with the defeat of Liu Kongzhao's navy, the mobilization of troops across the Yangtze River became a problem. Now a pirate named Gu Sanmaizi has come to Jiangyin with hundreds of large and small ships. After joining forces with the Qin army, they can not only block all important ferry crossings on the Yangtze River, but also send the 10,000 Qin troops in Pukou across the river at any time.
He had ordered Bolo in Hangzhou to return to Jiangyin to suppress the rebellion in Jiangyin and other places early in the morning, but Bolo only sent back a commander with 40,000 troops, and he himself remained in Hangzhou.
Hong Chengchou knew very well what Bolo wanted to do. His great achievements in annihilating Prince Lu, persuading Zheng Zhilong to surrender, and capturing Emperor Longwu made him stay in Hangzhou and unwilling to leave.
Bolo, Bolo, do you know how critical the situation is now? Hong Chengchou was heartbroken and looked haggard. He sent another message to Bolo, telling him to leave a moderate number of troops to defend Hangzhou, and the main army must return immediately to provide assistance.
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It is said that Meng Ke ordered a general attack on Huangshiji overnight. In the chaos, more than half of the tens of thousands of Green Camp soldiers fled, but Tulai managed to gather nearly 10,000 Green Camp soldiers. Together with his more than 2,000 Manchu, Mongolian and Han bannermen, they fought with Meng Ke all night and managed to defend Huangshiji.
The Qin army also witnessed the powerful combat capability of the Jurchen bannermen. During the battles, they were often outnumbered by three at a time, and the Qin army could not gain much advantage.
That night, the Qin army suffered nearly two thousand casualties and attacked Huangshiji several times, but was eventually repelled each time.
At five o'clock in the morning, the Qin army was exhausted. Meng Ke was extremely unwilling to give in, so he had to order the troops to withdraw.
Tulai was in an even worse situation. Huangshiji was defended by 40,000 men, but 30,000 Green Camp soldiers fled overnight. In addition, there were heavy casualties in the fierce fighting all night, so there were only 9,000 men left by dawn.
Although Meng Ke was repelled temporarily, Huangshiji was trapped and had become a desperate situation. Even if Meng Ke stopped attacking, his nine thousand troops would starve to death after being trapped for ten days or half a month.
Anqing City was within sight on the opposite side, but separated by the Yangtze River, it now seemed so far away. Even if Tulai wanted to retreat to Anqing City, it would be impossible. The situation was already very dire for him.
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Without further ado, I'm going to go write. Brothers, please give me your support. I bow my head and say goodbye!
.(To be continued..)
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