Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 294 Meeting

The daily consumption of an army of more than 200,000 can be said to be an astronomical figure. The shogunate can only afford it if the army advances along the Yangtze River. The logistical pressure is minimal and the food route is not easily cut off.

If other routes were taken, without the Yangtze River waterway to transport food and weapons, the logistics would not be able to keep up. If the siege of Wuchang City was not successful for a long time, it would be possible to suffer a major defeat. Therefore, Meng Jun continued to stockpile military rations for military supplies while waiting for Li Dingguo's arrival in Jiujiang.

On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, it snowed in the camp outside Jiujiang City.

The sky is like a deep sapphire, dotted with countless tiny snowflakes. The snowflakes dance lightly in the air and slowly fall to the ground. The earth has become a world of white.

The Zhou army soldiers were wearing heavy winter clothes, which made them look particularly bloated. Many soldiers' faces were flushed due to the cold, and their breath condensed into white mist in the air.

At this time, a team of well-armored cavalry, about three or four hundred horses, came towards the camp from south to north. Leading them was Li Dingguo, who had become famous in the Huguang area.

The closer Li Dingguo got to the Zhou army camp, the more patrolling scouts there were. From time to time, a cavalryman approached and asked questions about Li Dingguo's cavalry. To avoid misunderstanding, Li Dingguo ordered his men to raise the flag of the Ming Dynasty's Prince of Jin.

When they were less than two miles away from the main camp, Li Dingguo slowed down his pace and said to Jin Weixin beside him: "There is no false reputation under a great reputation. A glimpse of the whole picture shows that King Zhou is very strict in managing his army."

Jin Weixin sarcastically said, "In the past, Wei Wu also managed his army strictly."

Li Dingguo frowned slightly and said, "Chu Lin, when you are in front of King Zhou, you must not speak nonsense!"

At this time, Meng Jun was already waiting at the camp gate. Even though Meng Jun was not familiar with the history of the Southern Ming Dynasty, he still knew the name Li Dingguo. As far as history is concerned, Li Dingguo insisted on resisting the Qing Dynasty. In an era when all horses were silent, he won two battles and became a famous king, which greatly boosted the confidence of people at that time. It was a pity that the final outcome was still a tragedy.

Li Dingguo looked from afar and saw the royal flag standing high at the camp gate. Upon seeing this, Li Dingguo immediately dismounted and walked quickly. Upon seeing this, Meng Jun also took two steps at a time and went forward to meet him.

Finally, the two held hands tightly, and Meng Jun said: "Jun has missed King Jin for a long time!"

Facing Meng Jun's enthusiasm, Li Dingguo responded with strength and determination. He said firmly: "Dingguo also misses King Zhou and his military exploits. Let's go to the national crisis together to drive out the Tartars."

That night, in Jiujiang City, Meng Jun once again held a banquet to welcome Li Dingguo.

Those present included Li Dingguo, Jin Weixin, Li Dingguo's general Wu Zisheng, Zheng Chenggong, Chen Yonghua, and Shi Lang. Because of Liu Guoxuan's words, Zheng Chenggong did not bring him along this time.

Meng Jun, Gu Yanwu, Meng Bian and nine other people gathered together.

Meng Jun looked at Zheng Chenggong and Li Dingguo. Perhaps they had had contact in history, but they probably had never met. So with his instigation, Li Dingguo, who insisted on resisting the Qing Dynasty in the southwest, and Zheng Chenggong, who insisted on resisting the Qing Dynasty in the southeast coast, met for the first time. It was also the first time that they sat at the same table and raised their glasses to drink.

At the party, in order to leave this mark, Meng Jun quickly ordered someone to call a painter to depict everyone at the banquet, and then find someone with good literary talent to write a poem for these paintings.

The table was full of joy. After three rounds of drinking, everyone except Wu Zisheng had a slightly rosy complexion. At this time, Meng Bian asked in surprise: "General Wu, is it possible that you have a special talent and can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk?"

Wu Zisheng said somewhat complacently: "I never get red-faced when I drink, and I've never been drunk."

When everyone heard this, they were dissatisfied and took turns to toast Wu Zisheng. Wu Zisheng accepted all the toasts and drank without hesitation as soon as the toast was filled.

The scene was lively. Li Dingguo raised his wine glass and said to Meng Jun, "King Zhou, beheading Lekedehun will shock the world. Once we defeat the enemy army and regain the throne of the Ming Dynasty, it will be just around the corner."

Meng Bian was somewhat disdainful of this. Before Meng Bian could speak, Gu Yanwu spoke first: "What the King of Jin said is slightly wrong. We should know that the world is in the hands of the virtuous, not just one family. At this point in the Ming Dynasty, many clans have done things that have greatly offended the people. Now that the emperor has fled to the western frontier, what can we do to revive the situation?"

As soon as these words came out, Li Dingguo's face froze and he didn't know what to say.

Jin Weixin, who was standing beside him, immediately said, "The Ming Dynasty's mandate has not been lost, and the people's hearts are still there. If we do not obey the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty today, the heroes from all sides will surely rise up tomorrow to punish the disobedient!"

Here it comes again. Meng Jun felt bitter. Why did they have to talk about these things that made both parties unhappy whenever they got together? Meng Jun immediately signaled Meng Bian with his eyes to smooth things over.

But unexpectedly, Meng Bian, this blockhead, didn't even look at Meng Jun. The expression in Meng Jun's eyes was almost like winking at a blind man. Meng Bian sneered at this in his heart and even wanted to say, "You came from a rebel background in the Western Army, why do you always label yourself as a loyal minister and a filial son?"

Chen Yonghua was still good at handling things. Seeing that the situation was getting awkward again, he quickly stood up and said with a smile and a gentle tone: "Everyone, we are gathered here today to discuss major plans. We should focus on how to defeat the enemy army."

Chen Yonghua's words eased the atmosphere at the scene. At this time, Meng Jun also spoke, and slowly said to everyone: "In the past, when I was in Changshu, I was also confused. I shaved my head and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty until I saved a scholar."

Meng Jun's voice was somewhat magnetic, and everyone couldn't help but be attracted by Meng Jun's words. Meng Jun continued: "That scholar, I still don't know his name or where he is from. The scholar would rather die than surrender for the sake of his hair. It was only Bi'an and I who knocked him unconscious and forcibly shaved his head that saved his life.

But I saved the scholar, but the scholar was not grateful to me and kept urging me to rebel against the Qing Dynasty. At that time, I was not the King of Zhou who has more than 100,000 soldiers under his command. I was just a captain of a baggage camp. Those soldiers were soldiers in a nice way, but most of them were actually civilians.

I asked the scholar where he was from, and he said, “I may not be from Jiangyin, and I may not be from Yangzhou, but I am a Han Chinese.”

In fact, both Zheng Chenggong and Li Dingguo had different opinions about the rumor of Meng Jun's uprising, but when they heard Meng Jun's scholar's words, the whole audience was speechless for a moment, and there was silence, and the air seemed to freeze.

Seeing that everyone was a little depressed, Meng Jun sighed and said, "Since the Qin Dynasty, dynasties have changed frequently, but how can we force people to change their clothes and culture? Although Dorgon stopped the order to shave their heads, it was just a delaying tactic."

Li Dingguo said in a heavy tone: "Scholars have lofty ideals, but this spirit may be like Wen Xin Gong, whose noble spirit will last forever!"

Zheng Chenggong also said: "The enemy's brutality is rare in the world. This battle will surely defeat the enemy in Huguang!"

In fact, Zheng Chenggong has always been considered an independent warlord, both in history and in this time and space. Perhaps when Zheng Chenggong was young, he did have plans to serve the Ming court. At that time, Emperor Longwu was still alive, and Zheng Zhilong had not surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. At this time, Zheng Chenggong was full of vigor and vitality.

As a result, Emperor Longwu was killed by the Qing army, and Zheng Zhilong also surrendered to the Qing army. This greatly changed Zheng Chenggong's mind. Zheng Chenggong had no good feelings towards the Yongli court.

After the banquet, Meng Jun sighed and said that he never wanted to hold a banquet again in his life.