Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 354: Capital (2)

Lu Ping keenly sensed a hint of something unusual. Jiang Zhisheng, the eldest son of the Jiang family, was a hostage left in Beijing by Jiang Xiang, the general of Datong.

Although the Qing court required officials of the third rank and above, including governors, provincial governors, and generals, to send one of their own sons to serve as guards in the court on the grounds of learning Manchu etiquette, examining talents, and granting appointments, the implication behind this was naturally that the Qing court was not confident in its own regime.

Now that the eldest son of the Jiang family has died in Beijing, Lu Ping doesn't know what will happen to this matter, but he still sends the news back to Nanjing.

As for rescuing the families of the surrendered generals, there were not enough people to do anything. Jinling only sent three people, but they were not Nezha with three heads and six arms. What could three people do? Lu Ping was so angry that he closed the shop for a few days and took Cheng Sanjin with him. The two of them left Beijing and went straight to Liu Guquan's place in Zhuozhou.

In a teahouse in the city, Liu Guquan was lying on a rocking chair, listening to the music on the stage while taking a sip from the teapot from time to time. Liu Guquan, who was shaking his head and closing his eyes to listen to the music, did not notice that Lu Ping was standing in front of him.

Seeing Liu Guquan so pleased with himself, Lu Ping was furious and thought to himself, if he wasn't for the pressure from the higher-ranking official, he would have slapped him twice today.

Seeing Liu Guquan shaking his head and humming a song, Lu Ping couldn't help but push Liu Guquan. Liu Guquan opened his eyes suddenly and was startled to see Lu Ping. He said unconsciously: "Why are you here...?"

In the backyard, Lu Ping said with a bit of resentment, "Manager Liu, you are so comfortable, listening to music and drinking tea. But I am living a miserable life in Beijing. I don't have any manpower. How can I take care of so many things by myself?"

Liu Guquan coughed twice and explained, "I've been too busy these days. I just took a break today and you saw me."

After chatting for a while, Liu Guquan listened to Lu Ping's complaints, sighed and said: "Alas, a good cook cannot cook without rice. There is chaos everywhere. It is so difficult to transfer people over. It's good to have three people. At least they can share some of the burden for you."

"Three people! How can we transfer the families of the Chen and Ke families? This is a joke."

Liu Guquan pondered for a while before saying to Lu Ping, "I do have a team of 80 people. Nearly half of them were transferred from Nanjing, and the rest were recruited locally. This is the only military force of the Qingluan Guard in Northern Zhili. I can give half of them to you."

Lu Ping frowned and asked, "Is the recruitment in the North reliable?"

"Don't worry, we have been in the Qingluan Guard for so many years, we can still be careless about this kind of thing." After saying this, Liu Guquan warned: "But remember, don't make any big noise. If the Qing court investigates strictly, it will be a troublesome matter after all."

………………

After arranging the affairs of Huguang, Meng Jun led his troops down the river and returned to Nanjing City in early April of the third year of the Yongli reign. Zhou's army mobilized a large number of civilian ships to transport troops, and the navy of Shen Tingyang's army guarded them on both sides.

Bai Yongfu, Gulbuha, Qian Biao, Wu Tiao, Gu Yanwu, Shen Congwen and other civil and military officials returned to Nanjing with Meng Jun. Since the end of the Huguang War, many officials of the shogunate have written to persuade King Zhou to return to Nanjing and complete the wedding as soon as possible. Meng Zhou's power is growing, and countless officials are extremely worried about the fact that King Zhou has no heirs.

Lu Zhenfei wrote a letter, his words sincere: "I have heard that the ancient sage kings all regarded succession as the most important issue for the country. A country without an heir is like a tree without roots, like water without a source. The foundation of the king depends on the king's successor to consolidate it. Although the king has great virtues, he has no successor, which is a great disaster for the country!"

Not only the shogunate officials, but even the generals in the army tried their best to persuade Meng Jun to return to Nanjing and get married first.

Qian Biao, who was free, ran over to Meng Jun and said, "Your Majesty, my family really has a secret recipe passed down from our ancestors. It can definitely give birth to a boy. Before my father died, he held my hand and made me swear that no matter how poor I was, I would never sell the secret recipe. Now, for the sake of your son, I have no choice but to disobey my father's will!"

Meng Jun refused twice, but Qian Biao was very persistent. He recommended him to Meng Jun for several days in a row. He even recommended him to Meng Jun after the military meeting was over. This really annoyed Meng Jun, so he accepted Qian Biao's recommendation.

Meng Jun: “…………”

"I'm coming."

The crowd on the dock looked at the fleet excitedly and pointed at it. As the saying goes, "numbers are shadows, people are famous". Meng Jun's reputation was too astonishing right now. Among the crowd, Tao Luzhuo couldn't help holding his breath and staring at the figure that was attracting everyone's attention.

People often say that the moon is surrounded by stars, but you can still see the stars. If the sun is surrounded by stars, even the starlight will be drowned out.

Qian Biao has this feeling now. He has a feeling of losing his existence under the glory of the king. Qian Biao thought for a moment and felt that it was because he was too close to the king. Then he slowed down his pace without leaving a trace.

As he was getting further and further away from the king, the girls and women didn't pay much attention to him, which made Qian Biao feel discouraged.

Qian Biao sighed and said, "I am a brave general in the world, but no one knows about me. What a pity."

Deputy General Guo Hu beside him thought for a moment and suggested, "Tongzhen, why don't you find Mr. Gu and ask him to say a few good words for you in the newspaper and write about your past glorious achievements. That way, you will become famous all over the world."

Qian Biao stroked his chin and thought for a while, then asked uncertainly, "Will this work?"

Before Guo Hu could reply, several passers-by shouted at Qian Biao, "You are the bravest of the three armies, comparable to Zhang Fei's Liang Sanhu, General Liang?"

After listening to this, Qian Biao looked aggrieved. He then turned to the passerby and snorted loudly, ignoring such an ignorant person.

Qian Biao secretly made up his mind that he must let Mr. Gu write more good things about him in the newspaper. It turned out that newspapers really worked. Damn Liang Sanhu, this man is even more hateful than Bai Yongfu!

The army returned triumphantly, and the people along the way cheered. Victory in the war also meant that the war would stay away from Nanjing.

Tao Luzhuo and Lin Congxiao watched the Zhou army soldiers disembarking from the boats one after another. Lin Congxiao couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty has defeated powerful enemies many times. This time, Wuchang and Jingzhou have been captured. This is really cause for celebration."

Tao Luzhuo smiled and said, "The Tartar king Duoduo has been defeated, and your majesty's prestige is known throughout the world. With such a great military achievement, there is no need to resort to military force. Just appealing to the world with justice and winning people over with virtue is enough to quell the chaos."

Lin Congxiao was stunned when he heard this, then he shook his head with a wry smile and said earnestly: "Fu Ren, you are too optimistic. In this world, there is no such thing as winning people over with virtue. There is only power. Since the Qing Dynasty entered the pass, it has been invincible. There are many virtuous people who claim to be virtuous and respected. They have no way of selling themselves for glory and competing to be traitors. Does this mean that the Qing Dynasty has good virtues?"