Dominate the Country

Life is a journey full of unpredictable things. There are too many twists and turns, surprises and shocks waiting for you. Surde's recent life is the best interpretation of this sentence. In just a few months, he has experienced too many twists and turns, surprises and shocks.

In March, when the Fu Han Army went straight to Nanjing, Surde worked day and night, and in a short time, he seemed to have aged ten years. But the Fu Han Army's overwhelming force was blocked in Suzhou. With the special honor in hand, Surde's enthusiasm suddenly rose, and his whole face was rosy. Not only did he make up for the ten years of aging before, but he also became ten years younger.

As a result, God didn't like him. Just a few days after Surde was happy, the news of the fall of Nanjing came. The land and sea reinforcements from Fujian and Zhejiang were blocked in Zhenjiang by a small group of the Fu Han Army. Surde had reason to believe that the Fu Han Army would take the opportunity to attack Suzhou again, and then his heart was raised to his throat again. But the fact proved that he was worrying too much, and his heart that had jumped up to his throat finally fell back into his stomach bit by bit, and the Fu Han Army did not come to attack Suzhou.

The rainy season in Jiangnan was too inconvenient for a large army to march freely. Sulde had the leisure to quarrel with the Fujian and Zhejiang reinforcements. The two sides quarreled very unpleasantly, and even took the lawsuit to Beijing. Sulde judged that the Fu Han Army would not be able to launch another offensive before the rainy season, and the Guangdong land and sea reinforcements had already arrived in Wusong. Even if he had a falling out with the Fujian and Zhejiang reinforcements, the Guangdong land and sea reinforcements would fill the gap, and the Fu Han Army would not be able to turn the tables, and Wu Bi Da and Duan Xiu Lin would not be able to bite him. As for the little bookseller who repeatedly criticized him in public, Sulde had a unique personality and sent people to arrest him and put him in jail. Prepare to cook him up after the dust settles. As a result, at this time, the Fu Han Army launched a second attack on Jiangnan, with Jiangyin being the first to bear the brunt. Wu Bi Da and Duan Xiu Lin led the Fujian and Zhejiang naval and land forces to abandon Jiangyin and flee. Sulde seemed to have been slapped twice in the face, and his face was lost.

A few days ago, Sulde had already written to Beijing to resign from the post of governor of Jiangsu. As a result, at this time, the Fu Han Army from Changzhou suffered a great loss outside Suzhou City. Its leader was killed by Wu Xiongguang in one fell swoop, which completely resolved the crisis in Suzhou and the Fu Han Army retreated to Wuxi. The Qing army's division of troops to attack Wuxi was originally a solution out of helplessness. Now the army is attacking Wuxi, but it is no longer focused on Suzhou, but on the entire Jiangnan.

Sulde hopes that Rong Bao can lead the team to really take Wuxi, approach Zhenjiang, and force Chen the thief to retreat. In that case, he, Sulde, will also have a share of the credit. At least in the Battle of Jiangyin, when the Fujian and Zhejiang Green Camp easily lost the city of Jiangyin, Suerde was able to escape unscathed.

Life is so strange. A few days ago, Suerde's future was still bleak, but now the sun is shining through the dark clouds.

Standing on the top of Suzhou City, Suerde braved the drizzle and watched the last batch of troops go away. A fifteen-year-old child also looked back at Suzhou City for the last time. Wang Zhizheng was carrying a large oilcloth package on his back, and he was wearing straw sandals on the muddy road. He didn't walk far, and the straw sandals and the mud could no longer distinguish the color.

At the Suzhou Canal Wharf not far away, a number of canal boats had raised their sails, and the boats were full of sailors, Qing soldiers, and civilians.

In Changzhou, Chen Tongan sailed overnight and finally arrived at Changzhou City at dawn. The city was still calm, and the news of Jiang Tianfang's death might not have spread in the city.

There are only two teams of Fu Han Army soldiers left in Changzhou, one of which is a captive soldier of the Volunteer Battalion, but with an artillery team and some logistics soldiers, medical soldiers and wounded soldiers, the total force is more than 400 people. As long as we are well prepared, it will not be a problem to suppress the noise that may be set off in Changzhou City.

"If anyone dares to act rashly, kill them without mercy. Even if they incite the people and refugees to make trouble, don't hesitate to do it. If you can't do it, they can." Chen Tongan quickly summoned the leaders of each team and the deputy battalion commander who stayed behind. He said: "We Fu Han Army will not harm the people. We abide by military secrets and military regulations. We love the people. Compared with the Qing soldiers, we are much stronger.

But you must also remember that the Fu Han Army's love for the people is based on their own safety. If you can't even save your own life, how can you talk about loving the people?" The Fu Han Army loves the people, and the premise is that the people will not pose a threat to the Fu Han Army.

If the refugees and people in Changzhou were incited to attack the Fu Han Army, even if Chen Ming was present, he would order a strong suppression. Chen Tongan obviously had a tougher attitude in this regard.

At this moment in Songjiang Prefecture, the joint fleet of the Guangdong Navy and the Shandong Navy began to appear outside the Wusongkou, and the Fujian Navy warships, under the banner of Wu Bi Da, the admiral of the Fujian Navy, bypassed the western end of Chongming Island and frequently harassed the Changshu and Taicang section of the Yangtze River. Most of Chen Ming's personal guards were released from the right camp, as well as the cavalry battalion. There were only four or five hundred personal soldiers in Jiading City, along with a tank battalion. If the various Qing troops of this generation could be completely united in one place, Lu Yong would take the navy warship and land directly at Luodian Town in the northwest of Baoshan, and the army would be able to pose a direct threat to Jiading City.

Unfortunately, there were barriers between the Qing troops in Guangdong and Fujian and Zhejiang, the Qing troops in Fujian and Zhejiang and the Qing troops in northern Jiangsu, and the Qing troops in northern Jiangsu and Shandong. Moreover, they did not have a grasp of the specific situation in Jiading City.

The admirals of Fujian and Zhejiang in the Qing Dynasty could not command the Qing soldiers in the two rivers, and the admirals of the Guangdong navy could not make the Shandong foreign navy bow to their orders, so Wu Bi Da led the remaining warships of the Fujian navy to harass along the Changshu and Taicang section of the river. The Guangdong navy and the Shandong navy launched limited cooperation and jointly blocked the Wusongkou.

Yue Wenhai arrived at Wusongkou before Chen Ming launched an offensive against Songjiang. The Yue family chartered a large sea ship and took a boat from Yancheng in northern Jiangsu to Songjiang, intending to change ships in Songjiang and go to Guangdong. However, for the Yue family who had lived in inland Anhui for half their lives, the hundreds of miles of sea route from Yancheng to Wusongkou had almost cost the Yue family their lives. Not only was Yue Wenhai himself in poor health, but his eldest wife, several descendants of the Yue family, and generations of loyal servants like Yue Xin were all in poor health. The Yue family could only rest in Wusongkou and prepare to recuperate before the family set off south again.

Yue Wenhai himself was the one who recovered the fastest among the group of patients in the Yue family. He was in good health to begin with, but he got sick because of the fatigue of the journey, fear of the sea, worries about future life, and seasickness. After landing, the seasickness was gone first. After taking two doses of medicine and resting for a few days, the fatigue was gone. Although he was still full of melancholy about the future journey and life, his health was getting better.

However, Yue Wenhai would rather his health not get better, otherwise he would not go to the Huangpu River for the banquet. The local gentry in Songjiang sent him an invitation because Yue Wenhai was a Jinshi. If Yue Wenhai was not feeling well, he would naturally refuse. Then he would not see Chen Jigong's familiar face at the banquet.

At the beginning, Chen Jigong passed the first threshold of the imperial examination and passed the examination as a student. Yue Wenhai and Chen Jigong had met, and more than once.

"After two or three years of separation, I didn't expect that I could see you again in this Jiangnan place today." After the banquet, Chen Jigong greeted Yue Wenhai warmly at the place where the Yue family settled. But Yue Wenhai wanted to dig out his own eyes.

At the banquet, Yue Wenhai did not expose Chen Jigong's identity on the spot, and he would have lost the opportunity to sever his ties with the Fu Han Army forever. One wrong step, every step is wrong. Yue Wenhai, who returned home that day, looked at Chen Jigong who chased him. No one knew whether he was very upset in his heart for a moment. Anyway, after that day, the Yue family moved from Wusongkou to Nanhui to live. Soon, Chen Jigong, who continued to bear the sign of Tong Erye, also moved to Nanhui and acquired a local shipyard in Nanhui. After the first batch of sea-transported grain from Fujian and Zhejiang arrived safely in Tianjin, everyone could see that the trend of sea transport replacing river transport was inevitable. And the sea vessels needed for sea-transported grain will definitely be a hot business in the future. After Tong Li bought the shipyard, he set his sights on Dinghai County in the sea, which is the Zhoushan Islands in later generations. Yue Wenhai and his family were about to settle in Nanhui.

Chen Jigong's current identity was known only to Yue Wenhai and his wife in the Yue family. Yue Xin, another member of the Yue family who had met Chen Jigong, was still recovering from illness and had never met Tong Li.

Yue Wenhai and his wife were worried. Yue Wenhai, who had just recovered, and his wife, who had not recovered, fell ill one after another, which was a perfect excuse to cover up. Neither of the old couple mentioned reporting Chen Jigong to the government. The Fu Han Army had fought in the north and south for the past six months. In addition to the powerful combat effectiveness of the Fu Han Army, they were also famous for their secret camps.

In Xiangyang, Jingzhou, Wuchang, Anqing, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanchang, Kaifeng and other important places, the Fu Han Army's secret camps were active everywhere. They spread rumors, incited the people, created panic, and even attacked and killed officials, and sabotaged the government's collection of money and grain. The most amazing thing is that they secretly posted big-character posters on the streets, insulting the emperors and concubines of the Qing Dynasty, and scolding the Qing Dynasty's literary inquisition, and crying out for the suffering scholars in the world such as the Nanshan Collection Case, the Ming History Case, the Lu Liuliang Case, and the Fake Sun Jiagan Memorial Case.

Of course, the Fu Han Army's dark camp now has a bad reputation, which is entirely because the dark camp is frequently cursed by the scholars. The Fu Han Army's flattery of the scholars did not really benefit. Scholars and scholars from all over the country compared it to the combination of the Jinyiwei and the East and West Factories of the former Ming Dynasty, because the Fu Han Army's dark camp was actively "framing" while flattering the scholars, framing "good people". The dark camp now frequently throws the books they printed, such as "Ten Days in Yangzhou", "A Brief Record of the Defense of Yangzhou City", "A Record of the Yiyou Year of Jiading", "A Brief Record of the Jiang Incident", "A Brief Record of the Massacre in Jiading", etc., as well as the pornographic articles about the Qing Dynasty harem written by unknown people, into the courtyards or doorsteps of scholars' houses. I don't know how many scholars have been affected.

Although the emperor is wise, he has issued an order to all provinces and regions to treat such cases leniently. Those who voluntarily surrender are not guilty; those who dare to hide and conceal will be punished for slandering the court. This incident has caused a very bad impact in the entire 18 provinces of the Han area. Even many ordinary people can tell vividly about the affair between Dorgon and Xiaozhuang, the brother-sister-in-law relationship between Emperor Shunzhi and Dong Efei, the aunt-nephew relationship between Huang Taiji, and even the illicit relationship between Abahai and Daishan. This has dealt a great blow to the prestige of the Qing Dynasty. And its influence will grow as the Fu Han Army remains strong for a long time.

According to rumors, the Fu Han Army's secret camp has the ruthlessness and secretiveness of the East and West Factories, and the super hands-on ability of the Jinyiwei. The officials of all sizes who were attacked and killed by them, as well as the granaries they secretly burned at night, are all obvious evidence. They are very powerful and their methods are terrible.

Chen Jigong is a direct descendant of the Chen family. When he came to Jiangnan to carry out activities, he must have a heavy responsibility. If the Yue family was defeated, would the Fu Han Army let the Yue family go? Can the Yue family block and prevent the revenge of the Fu Han Army's secret camp?

Yue Wenhai and his wife were really defeated by worry and heart disease.

"Is Chen Jigong's brain filled with water? Why keep Yue Wenhai? If he doesn't clean up the beginning and the end, is his safety guaranteed?"

Chen Ming was very dissatisfied with the report sent back by Chen Jigong. Yue Wenhai's sudden appearance surprised him, but after the surprise, he had to face the reality. Yue Wenhai himself, his wife, and Yue Xin were a disaster. They had all seen Chen Jigong. If the Yue family reveals Chen Jigong's identity, Chen Jigong's life will be in danger, and He Huazhang's identity will also be exposed.

The failure of the Fu Han Army's strategy in Songjiang and Suzhou and Hangzhou is not important. What is important is the lives of the two of them and the lives of the secret camp personnel who follow them. The secret camp has expanded too much in recent days, and the quality of personnel has continued to decline. The personnel of Chen Jigong and He Huazhang are both relatively elite, and Chen Ming will be very sad if they sacrifice.

"Grand Commander, please calm down. The third young master must have his own considerations. Besides, it's too late to kill Yue Wenhai now. Yue Wenhai, the old fox, will definitely have a backup plan." Liu Wu brought Chen Ming a bowl of iced sour plum soup. At this time, it is a pleasure to have a bowl of ice-cold sour plum soup.

The ice is made of saltpeter.

"Notify He Huazhang of the news immediately. Tell them to be ready to evacuate at any time." He Huazhang is no longer in Suzhou, but in Hangzhou. Suerde was able to gain leverage over He Huazhang, but he himself could no longer stay in Suzhou.

"Report to the Grand Commander, urgent news from Wuxi..." a voice came from outside the door.