Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 280 Zheng's troops dispatched

Zheng Chenggong did not believe a word of Bolo's words. Zheng Zhilong was in Beijing. Even if he did not send troops in the end, it would be up to the Qing court to decide whether to release him or not. Moreover, Zheng Chenggong would make the Qing court realize that he was being cautious and would use Zheng Zhilong to threaten him from time to time. In that case, what would be the difference between Zheng Chenggong and surrendering to the Qing court?

Moreover, the army is already fully prepared and is about to set off. As the leader of a region, it is a big taboo to go back on one's word, which will make the soldiers of the three armies at a loss as to what to do.

Therefore, Zheng Chenggong cut off the ear of the Qing envoy to show his determination and to indicate that he would never be coerced by him. Then Zheng Chenggong swore an oath to go to war outside the city of Anping.

At dawn, the sky was gradually dyed with golden light. The Zheng army had 40,000 infantrymen, more than 300 warships, and 30,000 naval forces, which were mighty and majestic.

The infantry was like a mountain, with 40,000 soldiers, in shining armor, with swords and spears like a forest, and battle flags flying. The wealth of the Zheng family was difficult for outsiders to fathom. Half of these infantry were in shining armor, and they had countless bows and arrows, rattan shields, firearms, and other types of military equipment.

At this time, Zheng Chenggong knew that Meng Jun's subordinates had an armored army, so after conquering Taiwan, Zheng Chenggong began to try to form an armored army with an initial number of only 800 people.

But in fact, many generals in the Zheng army disagreed with the soldiers wearing heavy armor. For example, General Wang Xiuqi said: "The whole body should be at least 30 kilograms. The enemy has horses and camels to carry them, so it is easy to wear them. If they dismount and are ambushed, we cannot pursue them if we win, and it is difficult to retreat if we lose. Now our army wants to let each person wear 30 kilograms and walk. It is not difficult for a strong man to walk, but it is not convenient for a short man."

Zheng Chenggong rejected all objections and said, "We should select strong and sturdy men. My people are good at water battles. However, in the world, only infantry can destroy cities and strongholds. I have decided to form an iron army with strong armor as the vanguard of my army."

Zheng Chenggong, like Meng Jun, lacked horses. Meng Jun dared to form a cavalry only after he robbed tens of thousands of Qing army's war horses in Qiantang River. The Zhou army was reluctant to use horses as pack horses and usually requisitioned mules and donkeys from the people, but these were far from enough. Most of the auxiliary soldiers were required to carry the armor for the heavy armored army.

The Zheng army was not as good as the Zhou army. Their cavalry was so scarce that they were only enough to serve as scouts and messengers. For this iron man army, Zheng Chenggong assigned three men to each soldier, who were responsible for carrying the heavy arms and armor.

The Zheng army's navy was much stronger, with more than 300 warships, most of which were large ships, lined up on the sea like a crouching tiger. Each warship was like a moving fortress, with strict gun muzzles, bows and arrows like a forest, and battle flags fluttering, looking majestic. There were more than 300 warships following the army, and there were nearly 100 troop transport ships following them.

Following Zheng Chenggong's order, the infantry began to board the ship in an orderly manner. This was the first time that Zheng Chenggong transported infantry on a large scale and shipped them to the battlefield by sea. The distance between this time and the journey from Xiamen to Taiwan was completely incomparable.

The warships set sail and slowly sailed out of the port. The navy surged out like a tide. They steered the warships and rushed into the distance. Looking down from a high place, the scale of the scene was truly huge, covering the sky and the sun.

Zheng Chenggong stood on the largest warship, wearing armor, holding a long sword, his eyes as sharp as torches, sitting at the bow. He looked forward, his eyes flickering with a burning desire for power. Anyone who holds a large army, is rich enough to rival a country, and has the power of life and death will inevitably have a desire for supremacy in his heart. All this can only be achieved by destroying the ambition of the enemy army to move south.

…………

The shogunate argued endlessly over the choice of the queen. The Zhang family was considered a scholarly family. His father Zhang Zhuo was a meritorious official who helped the king to rise to power, and his brothers Zhang Bo and Zhang Xue both worked for the shogunate.

The Shen family is also very good. The Shen family is not only a family of scholars, but can be called a family of scholars. Shen Tingyang once served as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and has a very high reputation among the officials and gentry in Jiangnan.

Even the former Emperor Chongzhen once said bluntly: "If all officials were like Shen Tingyang, the world would be easy to govern!" Shen Tingyang was not only familiar with the navy, he was also good at economics. He made great contributions in the Liaodong war by transferring grain from the south to the north and supplying materials.

Moreover, Shen Tingyang is now a naval commander who is highly respected by the king. Either of them is extremely outstanding, which made the people in the shogunate hesitant. Finally, Yang En asked Meng Jun to recommend him. Meng Jun secretly cursed Yang En and others in his heart, asking them to create so much trouble for him. Couldn't they just choose one to be shortlisted?

Now, the Zhang family and the Shen family are both his right-hand men. No matter who is chosen as the queen, the other family will be unwilling. This time, there is one queen and two concubines. The other concubine was easily decided, she is the daughter of an ordinary gentry.

However, the two families were competing for the position of queen. The Shen family was strong in the military, but the Zhang family's connections in the shogunate were far beyond what Shen Tingyang could match.

Just when Meng Jun was in great distress, Li Wendao heard the news and ran to Meng Jun and said to him: "Your Majesty, I heard that the shogunate has been in turmoil recently over the selection of the queen. Your Majesty is worried about the military situation at the front and is upset about the chaos in the shogunate. I have a plan that will definitely make both sides speechless!"

Meng Jun's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hurriedly asked, "Master, please speak quickly!"

Li Wendao smiled, stroked his beard, and said, "Reporting to the king, this strategy is to draw lots. The position of queen is up to fate, and no one can blame others."

"Is this... a bit too much of a joke?"

"Your Majesty, it doesn't matter who you choose. Why not leave it to God to decide?" Li Wendao said with a smile.

Meng Jun was a little hesitant when he heard this. He wondered if it would be a laughing stock to use such a trivial act as drawing lots to decide such a big matter. However, Meng Jun looked at the two names and felt that there might be factional disputes involved. However, when it was difficult to make a decision, Li Wendao's plan might be the best choice.

Afterwards, Meng Jun told Yang En about drawing lots and asked him to prepare for it. After the guards left for a while, Meng Jun suddenly felt something was wrong and ordered Meng Bian, the commander of the heavy armored army Gao Yi, and his own guard General Yu An to supervise the process.

The position of queen was chosen by drawing lots, which left all the officials in the shogunate speechless and amused. Such a thing had never been heard of since ancient times. Such a joke made Lu Zhenfei, Liu Jiyan, Zhang Kentang and other traditional ministers deeply dissatisfied. They wrote letters one after another, saying that this was inappropriate.

When Meng Jun received the letter, he was speechless. This group of people insisted on creating problems for him. He proposed to solve the problems, but the people objected. He then summoned a group of ministers who opposed the proposal and asked them what to do. As a result, these people argued a lot, some saying that Zhang should be made the emperor, and some saying that Shen should be made the emperor.

In response to this, Meng Jun pushed Taoist Li, who had come up with the idea, out and asked him to debate with the scholars. However, Li Wendao was calm and turned a deaf ear to the officials' accusations against him.

"Since ancient times, has anyone used the method of drawing lots to select a queen for the country? How will the glorious history be written in the future? Won't it be a laughing stock for future generations?" Lu Zhenfei said angrily. He was the one who submitted the memorial to establish the queen, which was originally a good thing. But in the end he came up with the method of drawing lots. What a bad idea.

Li Wendao was not annoyed when he heard this. He just said in a loud voice: "God has bestowed a great mission on Your Majesty. Your Majesty has raised the banner of justice and recovered Nanjing. This is the will of heaven. The queen, the mistress of the country, gave birth to a legitimate son. How can you say that you don't have the will of heaven? Drawing lots is the will of heaven!"