Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 118: Huzhou Uprising (Part )

Meng Jun and Shen Tingyang entered the camp. They sat down. Shen Tingyang said solemnly, "The governor defeated Bolo with his great army. This is by no means comparable to the Liaodong Guanning Army who claimed a great victory by killing a few hundred Tartars."

"Yes, the soldiers fought bravely and defeated the enemy army. Li Chengdong, Liu Liangzuo, Ma Degong, Tian Xiong, and even Bolo were all defeated by our army. In the eyes of those surrendered Green Camp soldiers, the myth that the Qing cavalry was invincible in the world was completely shattered here on the banks of the Qiantang River. I believe that this battle will surely make those who surrendered the enemy start to wait and see again." Meng Jun nodded confidently. Meng Jun believed that if Bolo was completely destroyed in this battle, then Zheng Zhilong would become ambitious and would not surrender to the Qing again as recorded in history books.

After nearly a year of bloody fighting, Meng Jun, with the help of one city at a time, advanced step by step, and was about to take Songjiang Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, Hangzhou Prefecture, Shaoxing Prefecture, Ningbo and even the whole Zhejiang Province into his possession. Meng Jun knew that after annihilating Bolo, he should stabilize the situation, govern the local area, restore people's livelihood, use Zhejiang as the rear, and eye Nanjing covetously.

Shen Tingyang sighed when he heard this: "In just over a year, the court has overthrown an emperor and a regent, causing the country to be torn apart and the people to panic."

The two of them sighed one after another, and then talked about business. Shen Tingyang decided to lead a navy of more than 3,000 people and 125 warships to follow Meng Jun in the battle. Among the 125 warships, there were 50 large Fu ships, 20 Haicang ships, 10 Cangshan ships, and the rest were small boats, such as net shuttle boats, sand boats, etc.

Meng Jun was overjoyed when he heard this. He had suffered enough in this Jiangnan area without naval support. Although he had asked Zhao Yongping to form a navy in Songjiang, the time was still short and there was no news yet. He was afraid that there were a lot of things to do and it was just the beginning. But now Shen Tingyang led the navy to surrender, which was really a timely help.

Meng Jun immediately appointed Shen Tingyang as the commander-in-chief of the navy. At the same time, Prince Lu disappeared and Zhoushan was empty. Meng Jun decided to order Lin Shiqi to gather all the craftsmen and move them to Zhoushan, to be transported by Shen Tingyang's navy. Meng Jun decided to make Zhoushan the logistics base of Meng's army. The Qing court now had no navy, and Meng Jun had the navy in his hands, so he could even drive straight to the Yangtze River and bombard Jiangning.

………………

On March 10th, on the Taihu Lake outside Huzhou City, Meng Bian rented ten flower boats, disguised himself as a rich young man, and cruised on the Taihu Lake.

On the boat, Meng Bian and Tao Zhenming sat opposite each other. There were only two of them in the boat, and there were more than ten guards outside the room. The rest of the girls were driven to other boats.

Tao Zhenming asked nervously: "Sir, do you have a foolproof plan?"

"Is there any foolproof method in the world? Haven't you heard the saying that man proposes, God disposes?" Meng Bian took a sip of tea and responded lightly.

Meng Bian has already obtained information that in Huzhou city, there are 1,200 Green Camp soldiers and more than 100 yamen runners. As for whether there are any Green Camp soldiers who are drawing salaries without working, Meng Bian has not found out yet. Meng Bian has decided to attack Huzhou city today. A team of people has already sneaked into Huzhou city. There are not many of them, only more than 60 people. It's not that Meng Bian doesn't want to send more people, but it's inevitable that mistakes will occur when there are too many people, and the gatekeepers check very strictly. However, 18 of the more than 60 people are good hands under Meng Bian's Espionage Department.

Today, Kong Yingju, the prefect of Huzhou, was having a banquet in a restaurant on the shore of Taihu Lake. Dai Lan, the captain of the Green Camp stationed in Huzhou, and some gentry officials were also present at the banquet. Meng Bian decided to capture the leader first and take down Kong Yingju and the head of Huzhou.

"Your Excellency, please drink this cup." Liu Zhangshen, the magistrate of Huzhou Prefecture, raised his glass high, stood up and said to Kong Yingju with a smile.

"Hehe, no, no, I've drunk too much," Kong Yingju said happily as he stroked the hand of the bartender beside him.

"Your Excellency has ensured peace in this area. This glass of wine is a toast to you on behalf of the millions of people in Huzhou City," Liu Zhangshen continued to persuade him to drink.

Kong Yingju felt somewhat pleased with himself after hearing this, but waved his hand and said, "Well, drink it up then." After he finished drinking, the waitress poured him more wine. Kong Yingju continued, "Now we are living in troubled times. Ten years of hard study are not as good as the fame and success of military generals. If we want to keep the people of Huzhou safe, it still depends on General Dai Qian. Now that there is chaos and war, our lives and property are entrusted to the general."

Dai Lan hurriedly said, "No, no, everything still has to be decided by the Lord. I am just a warrior, and I have to follow the Lord's lead."

For a while, the scene was full of joy. After three rounds of wine, Kong Yingju sighed, "Alas, the world was originally peaceful, but there was a Meng Jun in Suzhou Prefecture. Why did he rebel? Huzhou is close to Suzhou. Who knows when this guy will lead his troops to attack? I thought about it in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep because of worry."

"Who says it's not true? Meng Jun is a rich kid after all. How could he be so desperate as to do such a desperate thing?" Dai Lan drank a glass of wine and echoed the words with empathy.

At this moment, Meng Bian had arrived at the bottom of the restaurant with more than ten guards, and hundreds of people were hiding in the flower boat, less than a hundred steps away from the restaurant.

Meng Bian was about to walk into the restaurant when the four yamen runners at the door immediately stood up and shouted, "Go away, the restaurant is closed today, go find somewhere else to eat."

Meng Bi'an acted like a dandy and domineering. He spat at the yamen runner who was talking to him and cursed: "Do you know who I am? Do you know who my father is? How dare you stop me? Get lost!"

The bailiff had never seen such an arrogant person before, and he was about to rush forward in anger, but the guards behind Meng Bian quickly stepped forward and grabbed the bailiff.

"What are you doing? Let go, otherwise we will treat you as an assassin. Let me tell you, a distinguished guest is here today, so you'd better go somewhere else and don't cause trouble. Don't end up in jail. You look like a person with a background, so don't make things difficult for your family," said a mature-looking yamen runner, half persuading and half threateningly.

"Hey, noble man, what noble man? Ha, let me tell you, I'm going to have dinner at this restaurant today. A good dog doesn't block the road, don't make me lose my temper." Meng Bian had an expression that asked for a beating, and his words made several yamen runners look extremely ugly.

"What's the noise downstairs?" Kong Yingju frowned and shouted outside the door.

"Your Excellency, there is a young man downstairs who insisted on coming in to eat and started arguing with the bailiffs. His attitude was very arrogant," a voice explaining came from outside the door.

"Oh, whose child is this? He is so ignorant. Haha, I like to be a teacher. Today I will teach him a lesson and let him know that humility is a virtue. Someone, please invite that young man up," Kong Yingju touched his beard and said with a smile.

After a while, Meng Bian and more than ten people followed him to the second floor. The yamen runners around him wanted to stop them, but were kicked away by Meng Bian.

Kong Yingju saw Meng Bian and more than ten people rushing in, and his face looked a little unhappy. Liu Zhangshen next to him was the first to scold: "Whose child are you? Do you know who I am? Do you know who this person is? How dare you be so rude!"

"Oh, I wonder who you are," Meng Bian said in an indifferent tone.

"I am the Tongpan of Huzhou, and this is the prefect of Huzhou," Liu Zhangshen gestured.

Kong Yingju stroked his beard proudly and said to Meng Bian: "Who is your father?"

"You don't know who my father is, but do you know who I am?" Meng Bian smiled brightly, because the guards behind him were already at the window, signaling towards the lake.