Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Half an hour passed.

When the troops led by Liu Sheng, the governor of the Left Army Dudu Mansion, who were stationed around the long embankments on both sides of Shanghai Pu to prevent floods from destroying the embankments at night, began to return to aid, the resistance of the White Lotus bandits in the city became weaker and weaker.

Most of the more than a thousand White Lotus sect elites led by the White Lotus thief Zuo Protector Niu Zhen were lost in the city. Only a few of them fled hastily by driving ships along the water gate. Other than that, there were scattered hiding places in the city. Residential houses and other places in the city.

However, the city gate has been completely closed, and these people are just hanging on.

The fierce battle lasted until midnight, and now it will be dawn in a few hours. Tomorrow Jiang Xinghuo will attack the entire city. Where can the remnants of White Lotus hide, and how long can they hide?

…

To the east of the city, in an ordinary residence.

The room was so dark that it could almost be described as invisible, and the air was very dull, making it difficult to breathe.

"Ahem..." The man lying on the bed suddenly coughed violently, while his body was still shaking desperately, as if he was in pain.

After a while, the man stopped coughing and slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes full of fatigue.

This person is none other than Niu Zhen, the left protector of the White Lotus Sect who retreated from the chaos.

During the retreat, they continued to be bombarded by the Ming army. The White Lotus thieves suffered heavy casualties. Niu Zhen was lucky enough to survive. However, due to serious injuries and excessive blood loss, when they were brought back to the secret stronghold by the White Lotus cultists in the city, they were already in trouble. Coma state.

Niu Zhen, the left protector of the White Lotus Sect, struggled to sit up and leaned against the wall, trying to take out the pills from his arms and swallow them, but he was so weak that even raising his arms became extremely difficult.

"I'll help you."

A pair of jade hands pulled open the black cloth covering the window lattice, and the moonlight filtering in from the window vaguely illuminated the front of the bed.

In front of Niu Zhen, stood a woman wearing a black dress and covering her face with a veil. She looked at the person on the bed quietly, her eyes seemed a little complicated.

This person is none other than Tang Yin, the saint of the White Lotus Sect.

Tang Yin's voice didn't look like that of a thirty-year-old beautiful woman at all. Instead, it was soft and sweet, like the sound of nature: "Here."

Niu Zhen took the secret pill of the White Lotus Sect and swallowed it without hesitation. The familiar taste echoed in his taste buds. Then he took a deep breath and felt that his chest felt much better. At the same time, there was also a feeling in his stomach. Come and feel the warmth.

After a while, Niu Zhen asked: "How long have I been unconscious?"

Tang Yin replied: "Almost an hour."

After saying that, she turned around to leave.

"Holy girl." Niu Zhen hurriedly called to Tang Yin.

Hearing this, Tang Yin paused, turned his back to Niu Zhen, and said quietly: "What's the matter?"

"Can the leader be here?"

"I'm the only one here."

Niu Zhen opened his mouth to speak, but sighed again and finally gave up.

He is one of the two guardians of the White Lotus Sect. He holds the most elite troops of the White Lotus Sect. He has maintained a mysterious and hidden state before. He accepts the command of the leader Bai Yu in a single line. He has no friendship with Tang Yinsu. How can he pray to him now? How about speaking for yourself in front of the leader? What's more, this defeat was obviously something that was easy to get, but he was brought into this situation by himself. Doesn't the leader need a scapegoat to take the blame?

"The leader is a tyrant, but as he gets older, he has no Bodhisattva heart and behaves ruthlessly and ruthlessly. I'm afraid he won't let me go this time." Niu Zhen became more and more afraid as he thought about it, and he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Niu Zhen's eyes were dim, and his heart was filled with regret and despair.

Why are you so unlucky?

You call this thing that can hit sixty or seventy steps and is terrifyingly powerful a fire gun?

No one told me before the war!

As promised, the city's defenses are empty. All we need to do is follow the water gate and march straight in. Where to capture Jiang Xinghuo alive?

Who knew Jiang Xinghuo had such a secret weapon? !

After this battle, Niu Zhen's previous war creed was shaken.

In the face of the dimension-reducing strikes of the new guns and artillery, the so-called warriors under his command looked particularly ridiculous.

The less afraid of death and the further forward you rush, the faster you will die.

What kind of group charge? It's like lining up to send people to their doorsteps to kill them!

Niu Zhen thought silently, let alone capturing Jiang Xinghuo alive now, even his own life might not be saved. Although Bai Tianyu, an old man, was nice to him, that was because he had value in the past.

But now, I am afraid that his ability to lead troops in battle has been greatly reduced in Bai Tianyu's eyes, and all his troops and horses have been lost. This is Bai Tianyu's wealth that he has saved for who knows how many years! It's not comparable to those gangsters in the Whistling Mountain Forest on the front line of Taihu Lake!

Therefore, it is almost natural for the leader to kill him to quell the resentment of the people in the sect.

The situation was difficult at the moment. Seeing Niu Zhen looking downcast, Tang Yin frowned slightly, feeling a little more irritated, and her tone became a little cold and distant: "If nothing happens, I'll leave first!"

After finishing speaking, Tang Yin walked directly outside without any hesitation.

"etc!"

But Niu Zhen suddenly stopped her.

Tang Yin stopped, turned to look at Niu Zhen, and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Niu Zhen gritted his teeth and whispered.

Tang Yin's expression suddenly changed upon hearing this, and he looked straight at Niu Zhen.

"You're crazy!"

After a long time, she suddenly shouted.

"I'm not crazy, this is the only way."

Niu Zhen stared closely at Tang Yin's pretty face that was vaguely visible under her veil, and said word by word:

"You have also seen this battle. It is impossible for us to fight against Jiang Xinghuo with our little capital! Jiang Xinghuo is decisive and well-planned, and he has many trump cards in his hand. I want to confront Jiang Xinghuo head-on. He has no chance of winning at all! This kind of existence that is like an immortal coming to the world is simply not something we can deal with!"

"If we can't deal with it, is it possible that we should invite the old mother Wusheng out?"

Tang Yin's carefully planned request for Pu Shen's life had already failed. Since he had been defeated by Jiang Xinghuo for a while, he certainly understood where Niu Zhen's sense of despair came from.

Therefore, she was actually speaking out of anger, and this kind of words was not appropriate. Normally, she would not have said it at all. It was obvious that the current situation was really bad, and Tang Yin was a little bit arrogant with her words.

Seeing that Niu Zhen was silent, Tang Yin finally woke up and was stunned for a moment.

"Do you think that even if Wusheng Old Mother is really born, she will not be a match for Jiang Xinghuo? He is not an immortal, he is just a human being!"

Niu Zhen smiled bitterly and said: "But what's the difference between Jiang Xinghuo's abilities and those of an immortal? He can call the wind and rain, increase the yield of acres of land, kill people like cutting grass, and all these other magical powers are the immortals coming, and that's it, right?"

"He will not agree to us turning into hibernation, but now, we can only take the opportunity to move and disperse the White Lotus Sect's chief rudder, and then we can have hope of survival! We must not confront Jiang Xinghuo head-on!"

Niu Zhenqiang stood up with his weak body, walked to the window, looked south, and whispered: "We must seize the time, otherwise the Ming army will attack the front line of Taihu Lake in a large scale, and the entire White Lotus Sect will be over!"

Tang Yin pursed her red lips and stared at Niu Zhen noncommittally.

Niu Zhen continued: "I admit that I was indeed confused. I should not have listened to his lies and underestimated Jiang Xinghuo's ability. But this is his order after all, and I am indeed loyal to him and can only execute it. However, This doesn’t mean that I will watch helplessly as more than 100,000 members of my White Lotus Sect are slaughtered by the Ming army, right?”

"And don't forget, this was his idea in the first place, but he won't admit that he was wrong like me."

Niu Zhen's eyes were gloomy: "After all, he will never make mistakes."

Tang Yin was silent for a while, and then said: "I don't understand what you said."

At the same time, in a brothel several miles away from here, Bailian, the leader of the White Lotus Sect, stood in front of the third-floor window, witnessing the defeat of the elite of the White Lotus Sect and being chased by the Ming army.

The old man's expression was gloomy, and he whispered through gritted teeth: "Niu Zhen! You incompetent person! It's useless for me to praise you like this! You deserve to be killed!"

After saying that, he held his chest and panted for a moment before calming down the turmoil in his heart.

However, even so, the old man's head was still a little dazed, and he was not quite awake.

As soon as he finished speaking, a man in black robe hurriedly walked in.

"See the leader, the matter has been cleared up."

"Yes." Bai Tianyu turned to stare at the man in black robes and asked, "How did our army defeat? Tell me the specific situation."

"Reporting to the leader, my subordinates personally led people to interrogate several defeated soldiers. After investigation, they found that the Ming army used secret weapons!"

"Secret weapon?" Bai Tianyu frowned and fell into deep thought, "No wonder he was defeated so miserably. It turns out there is a secret weapon, but where does this thing come from?"

The man in black robe told Bai Tianyu the news he got from the defeated soldiers. When Bai Tianyu heard that the Ming army's muskets could hit sixty or seventy steps, and that the artillery could be easily pulled by mules to the street and fired, Even though he is such a well-informed person, he still couldn't help but take a breath of cold air!

You know, such sharp weapons are simply the existence of gods that can stand in the way of gods and Buddhas!

I'm afraid even Wusheng Old Mother is here, and she can't withstand the real physical damage of this shot, right? !

You must know that before the Age of Discovery began, China's gunpowder technology and cannon-casting technology were not only at the world's leading level, they were definitely not far behind, and there was no generational difference.

Therefore, Bai Tianyu had seen the thousands-jin stone cannons of the Yuan army since he was young. When he followed the Red Turban Army in the uprising, he had also seen the iron cannons used by Chen Youliang in the troubled times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. The heavy artillery developed and used after the founding of the Ming Dynasty was unable to maneuver quickly.

Moreover, there were many firecrackers in the Ming Dynasty in the past. However, the firecrackers in Tianyu’s perception, which are the original firecrackers that have not been replaced by the matchrope gun, often do not meet the required material standards and workmanship standards, and the yield rate is also extremely low. low.

According to the description of the man in black, what the Ming army was holding should be a powerful artillery piece. It was at least as powerful as the previous three-thousand-jin general cannon, but the weight was definitely not particularly heavy, because some people saw the Ming army using four The war horse was able to maneuver the artillery quickly on the flat stone road.

Tian Tianyu pondered for a moment, and finally only thought of one possibility: "The Ming army may have some secret method of making artillery, otherwise it would be absolutely impossible to have such a powerful, mobile and fast new weapon."

"Jiang Xinghuo."

The old man looked at the Shanghai County Government in the distance.

"Did you do this too?"

After a pause, the man in black added: "In addition, the fleeing cultist also said that the Ming army's firecrackers were not fired at once, but every once in a while, they could shoot one. Projectile.”

"According to the inference of my subordinates, the Ming army not only has the tactical advantage of the formation, but also the firing speed is much faster than the original firecrackers. It can even be said to be a world of difference! Some people also saw that the Ming army had a weapon similar to a short sword. , which allows the soldiers to carry it with them and use it with firecrackers. In close combat, it is like a spear. Therefore, even if the warriors in the teaching charge to the front of the Ming army, they will not be able to break through the barrier of the forest of guns."

"If so, it will be even more troublesome."

Bai Tianyu was stunned for a moment, shook his head and sighed.

The man in black robe hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively: "Leader, have you ever considered giving up confronting the Ming army head-on?"

"give up?"

The old man sneered: "I have been wandering around the world since I was a child. From the Red Scarf Army uprising to the present, how many years have I been in the world? How could you give up so easily? Why, are you afraid of being beaten by Jiang Xinghuo?"

The man in black robe did not dare to speak.

"Don't waste the chess pieces you laid before. We will escort you out of the city via that route tomorrow."

After finishing speaking, Tian Tianyu turned and walked towards a secret room in the brothel and ordered: "Immediately send a group of execution hall secret guards to execute the left protector Niu Zhen."

The man in black robe nodded. This is the rule of the White Lotus Sect. The rules of the sect cannot be insulted. Niu Zhen must be punished accordingly for burying the elite of the sect.

What's more, with the leader being so ruthless, how could he not find a suitable scapegoat for the failure of a major operation?

Who is a suitable scapegoat?

Besides Niu Zhen, who was directly responsible for commanding the battle and had a high enough status, who else could be there?

"Remember, you have to be quick! Don't be sloppy!"

The man in black robe raised his hand and said in agreement: "I obey your orders!"

——————

The sound of fighting on the streets has stopped, and the city of Shanghai, shrouded in darkness, seems particularly quiet.

In the county government office, two men in official robes were sitting at the table drinking tea.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty, I heard that these new guns and artillery were manufactured by the Imperial Master himself under the guidance of craftsmen from the Inner Court Warfare Bureau and the Ministry of Industry's Ordnance Bureau?"

Zhang Shouyue, the magistrate of Shanghai County, asked tentatively.

"That's the case. Director Sun from the Ministry of Industry told this matter to me, and it's absolutely true."

Huang Ziwei, the prefect of Songjiang, was in high spirits tonight and replied with a smile.

"The Imperial Master is truly a genius."

Zhang Shouyue sighed sincerely, and then changed the topic: "Your Excellency, the magistrate, I have worked with you during the New Year, and I know your difficulties. You are hindered by the gentry in everything you do. Now that the Imperial Master is here, you can be regarded as You can now show off your talents!”

Huang Ziwei put down his tea cup and looked at the Shanghai magistrate in front of him, who actually did not have a close friendship with him, or who was closer to the gentry, with a somewhat meaningful expression.

"Did you come to tell me these words?"

"Hundreds of thousands of people in Shanghai County all think so."

Huang Ziwei smiled, why do the people think so? I'm afraid it's the local gentry who wants Zhang Shouyue to express his attitude tactfully.

"Show your fists. I am also a fist extended by the imperial court. I will naturally hit wherever the Imperial Master asks me to."

"The Imperial Master will not take action against his own people." Zhang Shouyue said with a smile.

Huang Ziwei knocked on the tea cup and almost no longer concealed it: "The law-abiding gentry is our own people."

"I understand, I understand!" Zhang Shouyue said repeatedly.

However, although the words were explicit, Zhang Shouyue felt relieved when he saw that Magistrate Huang had no intention of making any decisions.

When the Imperial Preceptor first came here a few days ago, the local gentry could not be said to be cooperative.

After all, they have all heard about how the Imperial Guard forced the gentry there to pay grain in Huating County. But if the situation was not forced, who would be willing to donate their own grain to the court?

However, as the saying goes, "times have changed, and the world has changed," the current situation is completely different.

Once the Dahuangpu-Shanghai Pu waterway is opened, the defeat of the White Lotus Sect rebels in the Taihu Lake area is certain.

Moreover, the White Lotus Sect used some unknown means to open the city gate tonight, and it seemed as if they were going to kill the National Preceptor and his party. However, to everyone's surprise, the National Preceptor's troops were equipped with new types of firecrackers and artillery. Easily counterattack.

The one-sided massacre by the Fire Gun Team and the White Lotus Thief being lined up to kill were witnessed by many people, so the news spread throughout the city.

The difference in combat power here can be easily seen by any individual, regardless of whether they know the soldiers or not.

Therefore, the military victory can easily affect other aspects. Seeing that the White Lotus Sect cannot hold up the wall with its mud, it really cannot achieve anything. It seems to be true to outsiders. They have already opened the city gate and launched a surprise attack. It can be said that they were calculated and unprepared. It should be as devastating as Li Suxue's night attack on Caizhou, right?

But what's the result?

Instead, he was easily captured by the national master!

As a result, the attitude of the local gentry in Shanghai County made a 180-degree turn, and they urgently contacted their agent Zhang Shouyue to express their position to the Songjiang prefect.

Why go to Magistrate Huang instead of the Imperial Master directly?

This is because everyone now knows that Huang Ziwei, the prefect of Songjiang, has vaguely become the right-hand assistant of the imperial advisor. During this period, all the actions of the imperial advisor in Songjiang Mansion were basically assisted by Huang Ziwei. There is no credit but no small amount of hard work.

And once the chaos in Jiangnan is settled, Magistrate Huang will have a bright future!

The prefect of Songjiang is a fourth-rank official. If he takes a step forward, he will be a junior nine minister in the central government.

Even if he stays where he is, and then helps the Imperial Master to preside over local reforms, accumulates some qualifications and achievements, and then transfers to the central government, wouldn't it be like a skyrocketing situation?

It should be noted that although the president's reform affairs yamen does not clearly specify what level of yamen it is, the vice presidents are all serious government officials and ministers, and at least they are the same level as the six-level yamen.

Isn’t it the national master who has the final say on personnel matters there? Give Huang Ziwei the position of vice president, and in half a step, he can become a minister or minister of the Sixth Ministry, which is a smooth path.

Who doesn’t want to make progress? Zhang Shouyue also thought that, therefore, not only did he express his position on behalf of the local gentry, he himself also found a way to curry favor with the prefect who had been held in mid-air by the gentry in the past, and to side with the reformists in the future.

After all, smart people can see that reform may not succeed, but by taking this path, it will definitely be faster to achieve achievements and get promoted!

Huang Ziwei also experienced the different attitudes of others towards him, and naturally he felt a little happy in his heart. However, he also knew that all this was brought to him by the national master Jiang Xinghuo, so he did not dare to make random promises, just scrawled He gave Zhang Shouyue a few perfunctory words.

At this moment, someone came to report.

"Prefect Huang, the Imperial Master invites you to come over to discuss matters."

Under Zhang Shouyue's envious gaze, Huang Ziwei stood up slowly, bowed slightly and headed towards the Shanghai County Government Office Hall occupied by the imperial master.

At this time, the entire Yamen inner hall was already full of people, and everyone was extremely excited.

Of course, these people are not civil servants, but soldiers.

More than an hour ago, Zhu Yong and the musketeers he led finally stopped attacking and slowly retreated to their original place.

The cavalry and city defense troops, under the leadership of their respective commanders, continued to pursue the defeated White Lotus bandits.

We have waited until now to start counting the casualties and results.

When they were not clear about it, everyone had not yet realized how terrifying the killing efficiency of the new method of warfare was.

When comparing the list of Ming army casualties and the severed heads of the White Lotus thieves, the soldiers were surprised to find that their psychological expectations for dealing with this group of elite White Lotus thieves were one to five, one to one. An exchange ratio of ten is already a great victory.

However, the statistics on paper are one to forty!

If the casualties of the city defense troops were deducted, the battle loss ratio between the two sides reached an astonishing one to one hundred!

Yes, only a dozen people from the Fire Gun Team and the Cavalry Team died, while the White Lotus Bandits of more than a thousand people were almost completely wiped out!

This result deeply shocked these officers who had just come out of the Jingnan Campaign.

Although the enemy is not particularly strong, and although this is just a local fight to calm down chaos, this number can fully explain the problem.

In particular, this battle was a victory achieved through a hasty counterattack after encountering a well-planned surprise attack by the enemy. This is particularly rare.

Just imagine, if the two sides face each other and the two armies confront each other, who can be sure that the battle loss ratio will not be even more shocking?

At this time, Zheng He recalled Jiang Xinghuo's predictions about the future evolution of military technology and warfare methods when he was in prison, and he felt a sudden realization.

When Jiang Xinghuo boasted about everything in prison, it gradually became a reality in front of everyone.

This sense of unreality has only become stronger.

Until now, Zheng He still finds it difficult to understand or believe this amazing result.

Moreover, Zheng He knew very well that after this highly valuable battle report was sent back to Nanjing, it would cause an uproar in the military circles of the Ming Dynasty!

"The Imperial Master's new firearms are really powerful!"

"The Imperial Master is indeed a god! These nearly two thousand White Lotus thieves had the advantage of a sudden attack, but we actually killed them with a backhand!"

"The Imperial Guard is mighty! Our army is mighty!"

Huang Ziwei looked at the atmosphere in the hall, which was as hot as boiling water, and silently found a place to sit down, waiting for the imperial master to arrive.

As soon as Jiang Xinghuo entered the door, he received countless warm welcomes.

The soldiers hammered their breastplates with their fists and stood up respectfully to salute the Imperial Master. This was almost their highest respect.

The mature officers could still hold their own, but the younger generation could no longer sit still, especially the military cadets, who wanted to hug Jiang Xinghuo.

How great an honor would it be to be able to personally create an army that will determine the shape of future wars under the guidance of Principal Jiang?

Who can say that Wei Qing and Huo Qubing appeared two generations after the founding of the Han Dynasty, and at this moment, just like that time, the Ming Dynasty has also reached this point in time, why among these people, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing will not be born character?

"Haha, so happy!"

Zhu Yong excitedly slapped the fire gun in his hand, his face flushed with excitement, and he crushed and slaughtered the enemies crazily. This feeling was like the feeling of relief after eating and drinking.

"Report!"

At this time, Xu Jingchang hurried over: "All the White Lotus thieves who are still resisting have been killed!"

Jiang Xinghuo hummed softly, and then said: "Let the sons work harder, increase the search intensity, and continue to search for the remaining members of the Bailian Party. Pay special attention to those trapped fish who have hidden in private houses. Knock on the door from door to door to confirm. There is absolutely no chance of slipping through the net." The fish will cause harm to the people in the market."

"Student, I obey!" Xu Jingchang agreed and was about to leave.

"Wait!"

Jiang Xinghuo suddenly stopped him: "Do you still remember what I told you before? If the White Lotus thief surrenders, that's all. We will collect the weapons first and then deal with them. Don't let them jump over the wall in a hurry. The people are innocent, but if they resist stubbornly, there is no need. polite."

“Students understand!”

Xu Jingchang nodded solemnly.

At this time, Huang Ziwei hurriedly walked up to Jiang Xinghuo and repeated to the Imperial Master what the local gentry in Shanghai County had just asked Zhang Shouyue to tell him.

Jiang Xinghuo nodded slightly and said, "But it's still a little late for me to become a law-abiding gentry now. The price will have to be higher."

"What does the Imperial Master mean?"

A smile flashed in Jiang Xinghuo's eyes: "The land around Dahuangpu and even Shanghai Pu, especially the land suitable for growing cotton, must be given over to the national division."

Huang Ziwei nodded clearly. This was the intended meaning of the question. The price offered before was naturally not applicable now.

Otherwise, wouldn’t this great victory be in vain?

"In addition, after searching the whole city tomorrow, our division will supervise the delivery of grain and grass and rush to the front line of Taihu Lake to completely quell the White Lotus rebellion. Therefore, before leaving, we must treat the local gentry to a meal and donate all the food to our division. Come out; the gentry must also contribute to the establishment of the Greater Huangpu New City and the cotton textile industry handicraft factory area."

Jiang Xinghuo's distant gaze looked to the southeast.

He tried his best. What was he doing these days?

Isn't it just to find a land where the evil dragon can hatch?

Isn’t the purpose of promoting the progress of history?

Now, he is about to achieve his goal.

"if not."

Jiang Xinghuo's smile turned cold.

"Our division doesn't mind a few more heads of rebels. I'm afraid all the officers present are eager to kill a few more important White Lotus sect insiders."

PS: [Important reminder (there is no charge for this content)] Chapters 316 to 356 are about the rectification of officialdom and the suppression of rebellions in Jiangnan. They do not contain any theoretical knowledge. They are all practical content. If you are not interested, you can jump directly to Chapter 366. "Class" will contain theoretical knowledge content from now on.