Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 417 Liaodong (2)

The news that Gao Jinku, a general of the Zhou army, led his troops into Seoul was quickly sent to Liaodong by someone with ulterior motives.

Gao Jinku has been in the army for so many years that one could say he is an experienced soldier or a fence-sitter, but Gao Jinku is also well versed in military affairs.

Now that the area outside the Great Wall is empty, it is time to march straight in, just like when Sun Wukong rushed into Princess Iron Fan's belly and caused everything to turn upside down. If the time is delayed too long, who knows whether Dorgon will return to defend, and by then the credit will be gone.

Therefore, after staying in Seoul for only one day, Gao Jinku led 10,000 people from his own Wuwei Town and 5,000 imperial guards of Li Hao, and marched towards the north in a mighty manner.

Shengjing City.

In the ongoing war inside the Great Wall, the Eight Banners suffered heavy losses, while Meng Zhou had a large population base that could be replenished quickly. In order to defend the Central Plains and Beijing, Dorgon launched a large-scale expedition against the Qing troops outside the Great Wall. As a result, in today's Shengjing City, the most important city of the Qing court outside the Great Wall, there are less than 3,000 Eight Banners soldiers.

The one defending Shengjing was Man Dahai, the grandson of Nurhaci, the son of Daishan, and a member of the Qing royal family. When Duoduo was defeated in Huguang, Daishan died of old age in Beijing, and the title of prince was passed on to Man Dahai.

Man Dahai once followed Hauge to besiege Songshan of the Ming Dynasty, defeated the Ming Songshan defenders, and besieged Jinzhou City. When Hong Chengchou led the 130,000 troops that the Ming Dynasty had gritted its teeth to gather, they fought a fierce battle with the Qing army in Songshan.

Man Dahai dismounted and fought on foot. His troops, wearing three layers of armor, broke through three Ming army formations in succession. Wu Sangui formed his battle array with his back against a mountain. Man Dahai and the troops of the kings combined forces to defeat Wu Sangui's Ming army.

From then on, Man Dahai successively experienced the battles of Ningyuan, Tashan, the conquest of Ming Zhonghousuo, and Qiantunwei. After entering the Pass, he fought against the Shun army and made many contributions.

After Dorgon withdrew the troops from outside the Great Wall, he was somewhat worried about the instability in Liaodong. Although Li Hao was not a concern, after all, the place where he started his career was outside the Great Wall, so he needed to keep a heavyweight prince to take charge.

Man Dahai frowned when he received the news that Gao Jinku, a general of Zhou army, appeared in Seoul. Facing the biggest enemy now, Man Dahai naturally knew that one town of Zhou army had 10,000 troops.

And since Zhou Jun was able to enter Seoul, it also meant that Li Hao rebelled against the Qing Dynasty again, so Li Hao would certainly follow Gao Jinku and invade Liaodong together.

Man Dahai sent someone to report to the regent urgently, and at the same time ordered his spies to keep a close eye on Seoul's actions.

The subordinate Du Lai said to Man Dahai with some uneasiness: "Your Majesty, the Regent has recruited many men, even Shengjing City only has 3,000 men, and some other small cities only have 200 to 300 garrisons. If the Gao bandits march straight in, the disparity in strength will make it difficult to resist!"

Man Dahai had never experienced the Battle of Huguang. He told himself deep down that since the Zhou army was able to defeat Duoduo, then the Zhou army could certainly not be compared with the army of the former Ming Dynasty. However, he was still a little unwilling to accept it. He had fought against both the Shun army and the Ming army, and there were only a handful of them that he could defeat, and a lot that he couldn't. He just didn't believe that Gao Jinku's army, a slave of three surnames, could turn the tables.

………………

Jinan City.

Just when Meng Jun was stationed in Jinan and keeping a close eye on the situation in the Central Plains and Liaodong, news of something extremely important to all parties in the Zhou army came urgently from Jinling City.

On April 22, the fourth year of the Yongli reign, the wife of King Zhou, Zhang Shu, gave birth to a son. Yang En rushed to Jinan to report the birth of the king's legitimate son over an 800-mile journey.

After receiving Yang En's urgent report, Meng Jun felt a strange feeling in his heart. He had felt it since he became pregnant. Since he was in this era, having a son meant that the foundation had a true heir.

Even in the future, there will still be many people who desire to have a son. Even if there is no throne to inherit, many people still desire a son deep in their hearts, not to mention that Meng Jun may really have a throne to inherit in the future.

The news that the king had a legitimate son quickly spread to the army. As soon as the news came out, morale was boosted and the sound of joy resounded through the sky.

The generals were happy that their careers would not be abandoned halfway, and the soldiers were happy that a legitimate son was born. Given the king's temper, he would definitely reward the three armies.

The generals were also ecstatic. They gathered in the main tent, making a lot of noise. Qian Biao laughed happily, then he thought of something, ran outside, summoned the painter from the Propaganda Department, and asked him to paint today's scene.

In private, he secretly instructed the painter to paint himself better, and preferably to paint Bai Yongfu more vulgar. When he returned to Jinling, he would treat the painter to a month's worth of drinks, among other things.

Upon hearing this, the painter patted his chest and said that he would paint General Qian with all his heart and would surely show General Qian's majestic appearance vividly.

Seeing that this person was a little confused, Qian Biao said helplessly that he should paint himself more majestically and it was not necessary to paint him exactly the same. He could make some minor touches, make him taller and stronger, and especially make Bai Yongfu darker, etc.

All the generals congratulated Meng Jun one after another, and their words all revealed their blessings for the king's legitimate son and their hope that there would be someone to carry on the king's legacy in the future.

Meng Jun smiled widely and nodded frequently, but he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "Reincarnation is indeed a technical job."

This newly born son has not even been named yet, but the generals and shogunate officials have already regarded him as the future heir. Meng Jun knows that as long as this child does not do anything outrageous and unforgivable, there is a high probability that he will inherit his foundation in the future.

Therefore, Meng Jun had secretly made up his mind that he must educate his child carefully and never let him go astray.

In this era, Meng Jun no longer has the idea of ​​completely changing politics. He can only do his best to improve productivity, innovate technology, and seize greater opportunities for the future with an eye to the future after peace is restored.

When chatting with Gu Yanwu in the past, Meng Jun once asked, what will the future be like if there is no emperor in the future?

Even Gu Yanwu, who deeply agreed with Mencius' words that the people are the most important, the country is second, and the emperor is the least important, did not think that the world would be better without the emperor. His original words were: "If there is no emperor, ambitious people will emerge in an endless stream, and the people of the world will be in a state of panic!"

As for the discussion between Meng Jun and him about the riots of the people of the Western Zhou Dynasty, King Li’s escape, and the establishment of the Zhou-Zhao Republic, Gu Yanwu said bluntly: “When several prime ministers govern the country in a republic, if they cannot reach a consensus on major issues, how should they decide? Should they rely on the number of people? Or should they rely on strength? If so, the country will inevitably be in chaos and there will be no peace!”

At that time, Meng Jun asked: "In your opinion, which strategy is more appropriate at this time?"

Gu Yanwu pondered for a long time before saying, "The only way is to eliminate the evils of the Ming Dynasty: the royal family, eunuchs, bureaucracy, land, and foreign enemies!"