Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 475: 1 Unification (6)

From a military perspective, Zhou's army has a great chance of winning the attack on Wu Sangui. Perhaps there will be some differences in the actual battle, but in the final outcome, Wu Sangui's chances of winning are slim.

Whether in terms of national strength, military quantity and quality, logistical supplies, or the ability to sustain combat, the Wu army could not compare with the Zhou army. It was just that if Wu Sangui surrendered, Meng Jun would immediately control the central Sichuan and Yunnan areas, and the loss of money and food would be minimized.

Just when Wu Sangui was in a state of panic, Fang Guangchen finally rushed back to Kunming City.

When Wu Sangui saw Fang Guangchen for the first time, he was stunned. Fang Guangchen looked haggard and thin, and was completely different from when he left Kunming.

Wu Sangui stepped forward and held Fang Guangchen, "Tingxian, why are you like this?"

Fang Guangchen smiled bitterly and shook his head, not wanting to say more. He waved his hand to signal the servant beside him to leave, and then whispered to him, detailing the discussion in the capital. At the end, he sighed, "The major officials of the Zhou army all oppose the prince's vassal state in Yunnan, and the king of Zhou is even more tough, as if he doesn't care whether our army surrenders or not."

Wu Sangui was silent for a long time after hearing this, and then he said: "Although Meng Jun is powerful, I still want to fight him to force peace. I want to let Meng Jun know that if he wants to defeat me, I will break his teeth!"

Fang Guangchen hesitated after hearing this, and asked after a moment: "Have you discussed this with the generals in the army?"

Wu Sangui looked unhappy and said in a bad tone: "All the generals are afraid of Meng like a tiger, and the morale of the army is low. No one has the confidence to fight against Meng!"

Fang Guangchen also sighed when he heard this, and slowly advised: "Your Highness, Meng Jun rose from humble beginnings, just like the Emperor Gaozu of Han and the Emperor Taizu of Ming. Such people only appear once every few hundred years. Your Highness's chances of winning if he competes with him are slim."

Wu Sangui felt aggrieved when he heard this, but he could not refute it. Fang Guangchen continued, "Now the generals have no confidence in winning against the Zhou army. If Your Majesty rashly fights against them, you will regret it if you lose!"

Wu Sangui said angrily: "If the conditions are so humiliating, wouldn't it be a mockery for the world if I surrender?"

Fang Guangchen cupped his hands and said, "Our army first lost Xiangyang, then lost Guanzhong. Now the prince only has 60,000 soldiers to rely on. As the saying goes, a drawn bow is a deterrent, so we must not rush into a decisive battle with them unless it is absolutely necessary."

At this point, Fang Guangchen paused, looked at Wu Sangui, and continued: "In my opinion, King Zhou's intention may be to test him."

Wu Sangui was stunned for a moment, and asked hurriedly: "What do you mean by Tingxian's words?"

"Your Highness still has 60,000 soldiers under his command. Although the land of Sichuan and Shu is now barren, if Your Highness takes advantage of the terrain and defends it, the Zhou army will find it difficult to conquer it. This is Your Highness's advantage. What's more important is that if Your Highness surrenders to Meng Zhou with such a vast territory and tens of thousands of soldiers under his command, and if the King of Zhou really imposes such harsh conditions on Your Highness, how will He take in Li Chengdong and Zheng Sen in the future!"

After listening to him, Wu Sangui pondered for a long time, then stood up and paced back and forth. When Fang Guangchen was a little dazzled, Wu Sangui slowly said, "Tingxian's words are quite reasonable. Meng Jun's intention is probably to test whether I have second thoughts. Well, I will bear this breath and see if Meng Jun is really so stingy!!!"

Fang Guangchen smiled with relief when he heard this, and then said, "Your Majesty is wise."

The two men sat face to face and began to discuss some of the next details, as well as the personnel plan for the diplomatic mission. The contact between Fang Guangchen and Meng Jun could only be said to be a general direction. The detailed treatment of each general of the Wu army still required negotiation between the two sides. Wu Sangui and Fang Guangchen talked all night long until dawn, when they dispersed.

The general trend of the world is that after a long period of division, there will be unification, and after a long period of unification, there will be division. Throughout the dynasties, once the trend of unification became apparent, there could only be one Central Plains dynasty in the Central Plains, and it would never tolerate another separatist regime to compete with it.

After the Chinese New Year, Lin Shiqi sent his general Wang Fugui to lead the army westward to capture Suzhou. The Zhou army then took over all of Longxi. As the saying goes, when you get Long, you will want Shu. The Zhou army also spied on the various passages in Hanzhong more frequently.

Just as Lin Shiqi and Zhao Yongping were arguing about the strategy of attacking Hanzhong, Wu Sangui formally announced his surrender to Meng Jun. When the notice reached Zhou Jun's camp.

Many generals were pleased that peace was one step closer, but they also lamented that their opportunities to achieve great things were fewer.

When Lin Shiqi saw the notice, he also sighed. The pace of the war came to an abrupt halt. The means of pacifying Sichuan, Shu and Yunnan were changed from military means to political means. Now that Sichuan and Yunnan were under control, there would probably be no need to send a large army to suppress Li Chengdong and Zheng Sen.

In the notice written by Wu Sangui himself, his attitude was extremely humble, as if he would leave it to Meng Jun to deal with him, and he never mentioned official titles or wealth.

"I, the guilty minister Wu Sangui, have been worried and sighed day and night. I have deeply felt that the world has been plagued by wars and that life has been difficult for the people. I dare not put my own interests above the public interest. Now that the sage king is alive, I am willing to bow my head and be governed by him. I will obey his orders and disobey him, so that I can avoid blame.

The cause of the Jiashen Rebellion lies with the foolishness of this guilty minister. I thought I was borrowing troops to avenge the late emperor, so I opened the gates. I did not expect that this would lead to the rampage of the enemy cavalry and harm the people. There is no greater danger than this. It is all the fault of this guilty minister.

At this moment, looking back on the past, I feel ashamed and ashamed. I deeply appreciate the wisdom of the Holy King, the grace of his tolerance and the grace of giving me a new life. I will cleanse my old illness and open up a new path. I will repay my sins with my death, which is not a pity. However, if I have violated the law, I will be punished with the axe, and I will have no complaints! "

The ancients said that saints are lenient to others and strict with themselves, but most people in the world are lenient to themselves and strict with others. They can find all kinds of excuses to shirk their own mistakes, but they will criticize others for their mistakes.

In his proclamation, Wu Sangui blamed the times for the opening of the city, and regarded welcoming Dorgon as a mistake in choosing the right person and his own stupidity. His original intention was to borrow troops, but he did not expect to bring disaster to the people of the world.

Apart from the explicit statement of surrender to Meng, the rest of the notice was mostly to whitewash himself. Wu Sangui's move of issuing a notice to make it clear to the world really made many scholars feel that he was forced to do so.

When Wu Sangui surrendered, the first people to get the news were Li Dingguo and the Yongli emperor and his ministers. Upon hearing the news, the Yongli emperor was both happy and panicked. He was happy because Wu Sangui's surrender would definitely not pose an immediate threat to his safety. But he was panicked because once Wu Sangui surrendered, all nine provinces of the world would be in Meng Jun's hands, and the change of dynasty would be imminent.

Upon hearing the news, Emperor Yongli sighed and wept, saying, "Our great ancestor had to work hard to establish his business. He overcame many difficulties and obstacles before he gained the support of the people and ruled the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty. Now the rise of the Meng family is like a mighty river flowing eastward, unstoppable. I am alone, how can I resist the enemy? Alas, alas!"

All the ministers stood around, all bowed their heads in silence, only sighing. That evening, the candlelight in the room flickered, and the spring breeze blew, adding a bit of desolation. Emperor Yongli stood alone by the window, his vision blurred by tears.