Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 223 Changes (2)

After Jin Shengheng rebelled, the whole area of Jiangxi changed color except Ganzhou. Jin Shengheng considered that Ganzhou, an important town in Jiangxi, was still in the hands of the Qing court. If he left it alone, it might harass the rear. Moreover, this place was easy to defend but difficult to attack. It was located at the junction of Jiangxi, Hunan and Guangdong, and was a place that military strategists must fight for. So after Jin Shengheng rebelled, he led his army of more than 60,000 people and 30,000 civilians, claiming to be an army of 200,000, to Ganzhou.

However, Ganzhou City was strong and well-defended. The local garrison commander, Hu Yousheng, like Zhang Yutian, was a Han official who had surrendered from outside the Great Wall. He was devoted to the Qing court and was unwilling to surrender. However, there were only more than 7,000 soldiers in Ganzhou City. When Jin Shengheng and Wang Deren arrived, despite the forced conscription of able-bodied men, the number of defenders was no more than 12,000.

Just as Jin Shengheng led his troops to besiege Ganzhou, Li Chengdong, who had fought side by side with Jin Shengheng in Fujian, finally made up his mind and raised the banner of rebellion. Li Chengdong forced Tong Yangjia to join the uprising. Tong Yangjia had only a thousand guards under his command, and under Li Chengdong's coercion, he had no choice but to agree. However, Tong Yangjia despised Li Chengdong in his heart, but he surrendered because of the situation.

When the Southern Ming officials received the news, they cheered and Emperor Yongli cried for joy. He wanted to flee west again, but he stopped and held a grand sacrifice in Anlong Prefecture. Thanks to the protection of Taizu and Taizong, the Ming Dynasty's mandate was not lost.

Zhu Youlang was very happy. Three days after the grand sacrifice, he conferred titles on Li Chengdong twice. He first conferred the title of Marquis of Guangchang on Li Chengdong and later promoted him to Duke of Huiguo. As for Jin Shengheng, Zhu Youlang was also generous and conferred the title of Duke of Changguo on Jin Shengheng and the title of Marquis of Xinyu on Wang Deren.

The situation in Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi changed overnight, leaving only Fujian province, trembling in fear as it was surrounded on all sides. At this time, Zhang Cunren was stunned by the ever-changing situation. He had never seen such an outrageous thing in his entire life.

Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Guangdong, which are adjacent to Fujian, are all enemies, and at sea, the Zheng family is also eyeing them covetously. Zhang Cunren's contact with the Beijing court has been completely severed. Whether by water or by land, Zhang Cunren's subordinates Li Xiu and Ma Chenglong are at a loss and in a panic. Even Zhang Cunren's confidants are so at a loss, not to mention the gentry in Fujian. There are countless acts of collusion, undercurrents are surging throughout the province, and even ordinary people have sensed the atmosphere of uneasiness, not to mention Zhang Cunren, the governor.

When the situation became more critical, Zhang Cunren made a prompt decision and ordered his men to surrender to Zhou. Li Xiu asked in confusion: "Governor, the Ming Dynasty is now in full swing, why don't you surrender to Ming but to Zhou instead?"

Zhang Cunren said helplessly: "Li Chengdong, Jin Shengheng and other traitors surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. If I surrender to the Ming Dynasty, it would be like a beautiful woman imitating a beautiful woman. It is better to help someone in need than to add icing on the cake. What's more, the King of Zhou conquered Nandu and killed the Prince of Duolo. His power is so strong that the whole world is watching. From my point of view, the King of Zhou has the appearance of being entrusted by heaven!"

Ma Chenglong nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, these officials in the Ming court are all scheming against each other. King Zhou has won many battles and now has occupied the land of Jiangnan and Zhejiang, not to mention that Nanjing was conquered by King Zhou. From my point of view, the Ming court is already in a state of collapse and the Qing Dynasty will not last long. Now the only one who has the Mandate of Heaven is King Zhou!"

Li Xiu nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, yes, it is a wise move for the Governor-General to surrender to King Zhou. In the future, the Governor-General will surely be granted a title of nobility and become a prime minister!"

"Nonsense, what title of nobility? The Governor will definitely be granted the title of duke in the future, and it will be hereditary!" Ma Chenglong refuted and then looked at Zhang Cunren with a smile.

Zhang Cunren looked at the two men and felt uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly. He reluctantly responded for a while and then let the two men leave. Li Xiu and Ma Chenglong said goodbye happily and left. Zhang Cunren looked at the two men who left with a gloomy look in his eyes. Times have changed and even his trusted subordinates can no longer be relied on.

However, the real thought in Zhang Cunren's heart was not that Meng Jun was destined to be king, but that there was only one emperor, Yongli, left in the Ming court and there was no longer a situation where two emperors were competing with each other. The remnants of the Shun Army and the Western Army were willing to serve him.

Now Li Chengdong and Jin Shengheng also nominally respect Yongli. If Fujian returns to Yongli, his power will be so great that Meng Jun may not be able to withstand the pressure. If Meng Zhou also respects Yongli, then the Southern and Northern Dynasties may really be formed. The founding of the Qing Dynasty was the time when the military was the strongest. If we cannot pacify the world at this time, then there will probably be no chance again.

Zhang Cunren was determined to submit to Meng Jun in order to disunite the Southern Ming. Judging from the behavior of the Southern Ming monarch and his ministers, Zhang Cunren believed that within half a year, Li Chengdong, Jin Shengheng and others would inevitably fall out with him. With the surrender of Meng Jun's own troops, his strength would also be greatly increased. Among Meng and Zhou, not to mention whether Meng Jun was willing to obey the orders of the Yongli court, even his subordinates would certainly not be willing to do so.

After Zhang Cunren made preparations for returning to Zhou, he ordered his confidant to quietly return to Beijing with a secret letter to inform the regent of his helplessness and strategy of surrendering to Zhou.

After everything was arranged, Zhang Cunren slumped in the chair helplessly. All this was just his beautiful fantasy. He knew that now that the Southern Capital was lost, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi, and even the whole South China, except Hauge who was still stuck in the mud in Sichuan, and Kong Youde who was still in Changsha, were already beyond redemption. Zhang Cunren knew in his heart that the Qing Dynasty would probably never return to Fujian.

Meanwhile, off the coast of Fujian, Zheng Chenggong, who was preparing to besiege Taiwan, was also shaken by the news. First, Jiangxi and then Guangdong, raised the banner of rebellion and returned to the Ming Dynasty. Although Zhang Cunren in Fujian did not explicitly say that he would surrender to the Ming Dynasty, he ordered the entire province to burn the Qing flag, cut off their braids, and raise the flag of the Zhou army.

When Zheng Chenggong heard the news that Li Chengdong and Jin Shengheng had rebelled, a complicated expression appeared on his face, and he murmured, "If I had known this would happen, I would not have done it in the first place!"

In Zheng's army, after hearing the news of Zhang Cunren's rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, some subordinates advised Zheng Chenggong to stop the expedition to Taiwan. In the eyes of many Zheng officers and soldiers, Taiwan was just a "deserted island in the sea" and they did not understand the significance of this expedition.

Even Zhang Huangyan persuaded him to terminate the plan, saying, "Taiwan is just a small place, what does it have to do with China? But the army has been violent for half a year, and the brave men have been burned to death, and the veterans have been broken into pieces. Living is not wise, and dying is not loyal." All these put heavy pressure on Zheng Chenggong. After pondering for a long time, Zheng Chenggong finally decided to send troops to Taiwan and use Taiwan to settle the military and civilians. The situation on the mainland could change at any time, and with Taiwan, the Zheng family would have room to retreat.

Therefore, the day after Zhang Cunren announced his surrender to Zhou, Zheng Chenggong officially announced the order to attack Taiwan: "The map of Taiwan submitted by He Tingbin shows that there are thousands of acres of farmland and fertile fields, with hundreds of thousands of military taxes. Our people are gathered here to build ships and make equipment. Recently, it has been occupied by the red barbarians. There are less than a thousand barbarians in the city, and it can be easily captured by attacking. I want to conquer Taiwan and make it my base to settle the families of my generals. Then I can conquer the east and the west without worrying about the inside!

Afterwards, Zheng Chenggong personally led more than 400 warships and 30,000 Zheng troops, set sail from Kinmen, and embarked on the journey to recover Taiwan.