Chapter 570 0565 [Between Order and Chaos]

Fujian, namely Fuzhou and Jianzhou.

The importance of Jianzhou can be seen from the name.

Tong Guan certainly knew that the Song Dynasty was completely finished, but anyone could surrender, except the "Six Thieves".

Because the "Six Thieves" were proposed by the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, where would the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty put his face if he did not severely punish the Six Thieves?

We must resist to the end!

Although the Liangzhe Road was gone, and the Jiangnan Road was probably gone, there were still Fujian and Guangdong, and Tong Guan felt that he could hold on for a while.

If Fujian was also lost, at most he would lead his troops to join Zhong Xiang, but he would never join Emperor Zhu.

"The thieves in Jianzhou must be wiped out quickly!" Tong Guan said without question.

Xin Xingzong wore armor and knelt on one knee and said: "Zong Ding lived up to your trust and brought the head of the thief Fan to see you!"

Tong Guan said: "Go."

Xin Xingzong, who swore solemnly in front of Tong Guan, looked sad after leading the army to set off.

The Shengjie Army was completely useless. Although the soldiers and armor were excellent, they had no fighting spirit. Most of them are from Shaanxi, and a group of them were recruited in the capital. Anyway, they are all northerners.

Being forced to flee with Song Huizong, they were not happy in the first place. Many people wanted to return to their hometown.

These guys gave up on themselves, lived a life of drunkenness and dreams all day long, and drinking in the military camp was the norm. They harassed the people when there was no war, refused to work hard when there was a war, and relied on Tong Guan's power to rob the friendly army of military merit.

Xin Xingzong couldn't control it yet. If he controlled it too strictly, the Shengjie Army would definitely mutiniate!

Such a useless army would only bully the Xiang army and the people. How could it have the ability to attack the solid Jianzhou City?

It could only be pacified.

Xin Xingzong had already discussed with Tong Guan that as long as the uncle and nephew of the Fan family were willing to surrender, they would all be appointed as powerful Jiedushi, and let them be warlords in the seven counties of Jianzhou, and maybe they could stop Li Bao's army.

Before pacifying the bandits, Xin Xingzong still had something to do - get military rations.

The food he carried at this time could only last until the troops arrived in Jianzhou. Although the prefectures and counties along the way would provide food and grass, Xin Xingzong knew that the local officials could not provide much food at all.

Because he had just led his troops back from there, the prefectures and counties had already given food once!

When Tong Guan and Xin Xingzong learned that Hangzhou had fallen and Song Huizong was missing, their first reaction was not to kill, but to quickly lead troops to control Fuzhou, while looking for the royal family to support the new emperor.

Only by supporting an emperor, whether it was a puppet or not, could they continue to resist in name, and they were qualified to ask local officials to send soldiers and food.

Although the puppet emperor had not yet ascended the throne, the edict of succession had already been issued.

…

When the army passed through, the first to suffer was Minqing County.

Xin Xingzong first emptied the Changping warehouse, then sent troops to rob private granaries, and then let the soldiers rob the people in the suburbs of the county, and even confiscated the food in the temples.

Xin Xingzong got military rations, and the soldiers also got money, and everyone from top to bottom reaped a lot.

However, the army was delayed for a full ten days.

When they arrived at the city of Nanjianzhou, they found that the city gates were closed, the people in the suburbs had retreated into the city, and the people in the countryside had also fled to the mountains.

Xin Xingzong was furious and went to the city to shout: "I am Xin Xingzong, the Grand Commandant of the Song Dynasty (a title bestowed by the puppet emperor), and I have been ordered to go to Jianzhou to fight against the bandits. Why don't the officials in the city come out to greet me quickly!"

Chen Yuan was standing on the city at this moment, and there was a large group of scholars around him.

Jiang Can, the governor of Nanjianzhou, angrily shouted: "You guys let your soldiers plunder in Minqing County, and you want to rob the people under my rule? Shoot him to death!"

The defenders in the city had few bows and arrows, and they all aimed at Xin Xingzong.

If this guy hadn't been wearing armor, he would have died on the spot.

Xin Xingzong, who was hit by several arrows, was furious. He led his troops to Jianzhou to fight against the bandits, but was blocked by Nanjianzhou halfway.

A careful observation of the city defense showed that Xin Xingzong had no temper, and he had no idea of ​​breaking through the city in a short time.

Facing water on two sides and mountains on two sides, how can such a strong city be attacked?

Although there are not many wing troops in the city, there are many civilians defending the city. What he did in Minqing County has long been spread here, and officials, rich families, and ordinary people have been forced to work together.

Xin Xingzong stopped outside the city for a long time, and said in despair: "Withdraw the troops!"

He did not dare to bypass Nanjianzhou City to suppress the bandits. First, there is a possibility that the retreat will be cut off, and second, the military rations are seriously insufficient. On the way to Jianzhou, there are mountains and valleys all along the way. You can't grab a few grains all the way. You must plunder Nanjianzhou frantically to get enough military rations.

Mobilize a large army to suppress the bandits, and withdraw in disgrace.

But the soldiers of Shengjie Army were overjoyed. They didn't have to fight the bandits desperately, and they also robbed a lot in Minqing County. This is a good deal for them.

Seeing Xin Xingzong lead his troops to withdraw, Zhizhou Jiang Can breathed a sigh of relief.

Chen Yuan asked, "The governor has offended Xin Xingzong, but he is still unwilling to change the flag?"

Jiang Can smiled bitterly and said, "It has to be changed even if you don't want to, so let's change the flag."

Jiang Can lost his father at a young age and was raised by his uncle Jiang Zhiqi.

The most famous thing Jiang Zhiqi did was to impeach Ouyang Xiu for cheating...

This is of course nonsense. The real reason is that Jiang Zhiqi stood on the wrong side. He had to draw a clear line with Ouyang Xiu after the new emperor came. But this line was drawn too far. Ouyang Xiu, who was confused and had an affair with his daughter-in-law, wanted to pick up a knife and chop Jiang Zhiqi to death with his own hands.

Although his morality was very problematic, Jiang Zhiqi was a reformist, and in the process of implementation, he took the initiative to correct the various malpractices of the new law.

When he was an official in Fujian, he encountered natural disasters and used work instead of relief, recruited disaster victims to build water conservancy projects, "employed millions of workers, irrigated 9,000 hectares of land, and saved 84,000 people."

As Jiang Zhiqi's nephew, Jiang Can also belongs to the practical group and built fourteen docks in the south of the Yangtze River. Not to mention the clichés of persuading farmers and mulberry trees, Jiang Can still "represses the powerful" when he is an official!

With just three words of "suppressing the powerful", he will be able to do well in the new dynasty from now on.

Just because he suppressed the powerful in Zhejiang and offended too many gentry, Jiang Can was demoted to Fujian as the magistrate by Song Huizong who was hunting in the south...

Seeing the "Ming" flag being replaced on the top of the city, Jiang Can said to Chen Yuan, "Brother Zhimo, do you know what I want to do?"

"Secure Nanjianzhou and wait for the Ming Dynasty to send troops to take over?" Chen Yuan said.

Jiang Can shook his head: "In recent years, there have been constant military disasters and banditry, and the people of Nanjian Prefecture have been miserable. The counties and temples have taken the opportunity to annex land, even hide the population and raise private soldiers. Now that the price of food has soared, it is too late to wait for the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, we will not know what to do." How many low-class families will starve to death. I plan to destroy the temples, use the food in the temples to attract hungry people, and use the work to build water conservancy projects in various counties. Especially those who worship the prostitutes must be destroyed!"

Chen Yuan advised: "I might provoke a popular uprising."

This is not alarmist. The so-called obscene sacrifices are folk gods, and there are all kinds of nonsense. The poor people believe in that.

Jiang Can said: "People will not believe that if they have work and food to eat. Of course, we cannot blindly do it recklessly. We have to proceed step by step. First, recruit some hungry people and 'borrow food' from the temples in the city. Before that, we have to We need to kill a few corrupt officials to establish our authority, otherwise the people below will not obey!”

Li Bao made Song Huizong disappear, and both humans and ghosts showed off.

Jiang Can also plans to show off his skills. He has been very frustrated in recent years and wants to take advantage of the window period between the old and new regimes to do whatever he wants.

For example, there are several officials in this city, and Jiang Can has wanted to deal with them for a long time!

A strange situation arose in Fujian. Fan Jizhong and Fan Ruwei went on a killing spree in Jianzhou, beheading the big landowners, and then distributed food and land to the people.

In Nanjianzhou next door, the prefect Jiang Can also secretly killed corrupt officials, then destroyed temples to provide relief work, built water conservancy projects, and even dealt with some disobedient powerful people.

Once there is chaos, it will be cured, and there will be a clear distinction between Jingwei and Jingwei.

But Ju Ming likes their approach!

…

But when Xin Xingzong led his troops out, dozens of ships also came to Fuzhou.

There is Kanpu Town in Hangzhou and Min'an Town in Fuzhou, both of which are outer ports of big cities.

"Something's wrong!"

Li Bao personally observed with a telescope and found that there were not many ships in the port of Min'an Town in Fuzhou, a city with busy maritime trade.

It's very simple. Tong Guan has gone crazy. He kills chickens, takes eggs, and robs maritime merchants to raise money for military expenses.

When Xin Xingzong led his troops out, Tong Guan recruited 5,000 new troops. Some of the goods stolen from maritime merchants were rewarded to the soldiers, and many were given to Fuzhou officials.

At this time, the river in Min'an Town was four to five miles wide.

Many merchant ships sailed in and were immediately discovered by the Fuzhou Navy.

"Here comes the fat sheep again!"

The naval officers were overjoyed, and for fear of scaring away the merchant ships, they waited until they all approached the port before dispatching.

"Boom boom boom!"

As soon as the naval warships got close to them, they were hit by several artillery shells, and then dozens of merchant ships all hoisted the sun and moon flags.

It's just a bluff.

The Fuzhou navy was frightened. They thought that the dozens of merchant ships were all used to transport the Ming army.

Even if one ship carries five hundred soldiers, there are still twenty to thirty thousand troops.

These are large sea-going ships. If they are really crammed in, one ship can hold a thousand soldiers, including people and food!

Forty to fifty thousand Ming troops came?

Li Bao sailed past Mawei and observed the situation with a telescope. He found that although the city was panicked, it was not as defenseless as Hangzhou.

Unless there are "specialists" who cooperate with the arson in the city, they cannot be taken down in one fell swoop.

Li Bao ordered the fleet to return to Min'an Town and waited until evening before landing.

In the dark, one group after another of soldiers landed ashore, collecting cargo ships at the port, and forcibly recruiting small town residents to help set up camp.

Soldiers came and went, going back and forth between the camp and the town.

From time to time, small groups would leave, return to the big ship in small boats, and then land in the dark with torches.

The soldiers who stood on the top of the mountain to observe the situation were shocked. They ran back and reported to Tong Guan: "Many soldiers have come from the Puppet Ming Dynasty. There are dozens of ships transporting troops. There are at least a thousand people in each ship. I am afraid there are fifty or sixty thousand people!"

Fifty or sixty thousand people...

Tong Guan only knew that Li Bao made a surprise attack on Hangzhou and that Jiang's defense forces quickly collapsed. He didn't know the specific situation at all.

At this moment, Tong Guan not only suspected that Li Bao was trying to increase his troops, but also worried that Li Bao would really bring fifty or sixty thousand people.

He wanted to defend Fuzhou, but he was also afraid of being defeated and captured.

So here comes the cool operation.

Tong Guan took the puppet emperor and hundreds of officials, as well as his personal soldiers trained in Fujian and Zhejiang, withdrew from Fuzhou City overnight and fled, intending to join Xin Xingzong's Shengjie Army. But he asked his generals to lead troops to defend the city, and the city was full of Xiang troops and recruits...

He wants both, he wants everything!