Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 485 Ping Li

While Meng Jun was busy proclaiming himself emperor and the attention of the remaining forces in the world was attracted by the newly established Qian Dynasty, the Dutch in Batavia finally received reinforcements.

This support force consisted of a fleet of seven galleons, with more than 2,000 sailors and 800 land soldiers on board. This fleet arrived in Batavia.

The Governor of Batavia, Ruhansuige (transliteration), was greatly disappointed when he saw this. The Spanish Dutch fleet had suffered heavy losses in the battle with Zheng family overseas in Luzon. This amount of reinforcement could only be said to be restoring the Dutch's combat effectiveness in the Far East before the naval battle.

The Spanish fleet was in an even worse situation. After the loss of Manila, Spain's colonies in the Far East were almost limited to some remote islands, which were not enough to support the army, garrison troops, and repair warships. Didn't you see that Ed is still staying in Batavia?

The Governor of Batavia, Ruhansuige, already knew in detail how the Zheng family captured Manila. The Zheng army used siege tactics to consume the food in the bastion, which showed that the bastion left the Zheng family helpless.

The only flaw is that the West is too weak in the Far East. It can still attack the natives at a reduced level, but when it comes to the ancient Eastern power, Governor-General Hansugg does not have the confidence that Governor-General Manlik of Manila can defeat them.

Unless the king can send him 20,000 infantry and 100 warships, but now, Governor Ruhansuige believes that with his own strength, he can only defend Batavia. Ruhansuige sternly rejected Ed's request to retake Manila and prepared to send people to negotiate peace with the Zheng family.

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In Beijing, after Meng Jun proclaimed himself emperor, apart from the changes in the country's name and the reign title, there were actually no major changes.

More than a month had passed at this time, and the shogunate had gradually completed its transformation into an empire. The Qian Dynasty generally inherited the Ming Dynasty system, but added several more departments on the basis of the Six Ministries. After this period of adjustment of shogunate officials, the administrative system had begun to operate normally.

Meng Jun's two envoys have already rushed to Nanning and Quanzhou. Meng Jun wants to use political means to resolve the two remaining forces within the Great Wall. War is the last resort.

However, in the past two years, Li Chengdong has shown hostility towards Meng Jun from time to time, and often pretends to be loyal and dedicated to the Ming Dynasty in public, without the flattering tone he used when he wrote to Meng Jun.

Meng Jun felt that Li Chengdong might do something unexpected, so he ordered Wu Sangui to lead his troops eastward and be ready to attack Guangxi at any time. Wu Sangui was in Yunnan, which was not a suitable place for him to stay.

Sun Ji, a foreign affairs minister sent by Meng Jun, arrived in Nanning, and then met with Li Chengdong under the guidance of Li's guards. Sun Ji took out the imperial edict and prepared to convey it, but when Sun Ji saw that Li Chengdong had no respect at all, he just laughed and did not say anything like asking Li Chengdong to set up an incense table and kneel to welcome him.

Sun Ji started to recite, "The world has been at war for a long time. The Ming Dynasty has ended and the new dynasty has been established. I have a heart of universal love and have made it clear to you the benefits and disadvantages. I cannot bear to see you suffer from war again. If General Li can change his ways, then wealth and honor will not matter. Even if there were any disobedience in the past, they have all disappeared. If you obey the new dynasty, I will have no suspicion of you..."

Before Sun Ji finished reading, he was interrupted by Li Chengdong, who said, "Meng Jun raised the Ming banner and said he wanted to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming. But now, he has usurped the throne. I am loyal to the Ming. How dare he come here to persuade me to surrender?"

Sun Ji felt a little disgusted and almost couldn't hold back. He wanted to say that the reason why His Majesty started the rebellion was because of you, his grandson, who was killing people everywhere, and now he actually says that he is loyal to the Ming Dynasty.

Sun Ji held back his words, then laughed and said, "General Wu, General Lin, and General Zhao have led more than 500,000 people and are preparing for battle. The general is known as a hero, so he will surely make a wise decision and not let future generations ridicule him."

Li Chengdong threw a book on the table at Sun Ji. Sun Ji reacted quickly and bent down to avoid it. Li Chengdong cursed, "Meng sent you, a brat who is still wet behind the ears, to threaten me. When I was ruling the world, you were still playing in the mud. Five hundred thousand! Even if it's a million, I'm not afraid. Get out of Nanning before I kill you!"

Sun Ji's face turned pale and blue when he heard this. He gritted his teeth, bowed to Li Chengdong, and said, "The King of Zhennan is indeed magnanimous. I admire him. Goodbye!"

After saying this, Sun Ji left Li Chengdong's government office without looking back. Since persuasion and warnings were ineffective, the only solution was military means.

As soon as Sun Ji left Nanning, he sent people to rush to Yunnan and Ganzhou. Before the mission, Meng Jun had already issued an imperial decree, ordering Wu Sangui to lead his troops eastward and attack Li Chengdong immediately after the envoys' negotiations failed.

After Li Chengdong scolded the envoy and sent him away, Wu Wenxian looked constipated and said to Li Chengdong hesitantly, "Your Majesty, once the envoy leaves, Wu Sangui and Lin Shiqi will definitely come from Yunnan to attack us. In addition, there are also Han Xiong's three-town troops in Ganzhou. If they attack from both sides, we..."

Wu Wenxian did not say the rest of the words, but Li Chengdong understood what he meant. He knew that his subordinates did not have much confidence in confronting him and Meng Jun. Although they had already made up their minds to retreat to Annan, many people in the army were unwilling to leave their homes.

Li Chengdong hesitated for a moment, then said, "All the families of the generals should be relocated to Thang Long Prefecture first. Anyone who dares to disobey or delay will be killed!"

Wu Wenxian hesitated and said, "If this happens, the army will certainly be uneasy, and there may be resistance and mutiny."

But Li Chengdong said: "If we don't do this, we won't be able to stabilize our foundation even if we retreat to Annan. As long as the families of the soldiers are under my control, I am not afraid of anyone causing trouble. This is to take precautions before it happens!"

Li Chengdong's strict order soon spread throughout Guangdong and Guangxi, causing chaos. Many soldiers from all over the country were extremely angry because their families were relocated, while the Qingluan Guards were extremely excited, as this kind of chaos was exactly where they could use their skills.

For example, in the city of Leizhou, not only the soldiers, but also some low-level officers could not bear the migration of their families and leaving their homes, so under the coordination of the Qingluan Guards, they rose up to resist Li Chengdong's brutal orders. Leizhou is very close to Nanning.

As for various places in Guangdong far away from Nanning, many gentry were also connecting with each other and secretly contacting the garrisons of various cities. The situation in the world was already clear at a glance. There was no doubt that the Qian Dynasty would unify the country. Not many people were willing to accompany Li Chengdong all the way to the end, and Li Chengdong's reputation had long been notorious.

The garrisons in Meizhou, Shaoguan and other places changed their flags one after another without losing a single person. In Lianzhou, Hezhou, Shaoguan, Heyuan and other places, the garrisons did not want to rebel, or did not have time to change their flags, so the local gentry or the Qingluan Guards secretly contacted their deputy generals or low-level officers, killed the garrisons and changed the flags.

Although these rebellions were triggered by the family migration incident, they actually reflected the views of Li Chengdong's troops in various places on the current situation. The trend of unifying the world is so powerful that it cannot be stopped by Li Chengdong alone.