Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 285 Banquet (Part )

December 10th.

Zheng Chenggong's troops officially arrived in Jiujiang.

Under the sunshine, the eastern sky gradually turned golden, and Zheng's navy arrived at Jiujiang Port.

On the river, warships are like a forest, mighty and majestic. The tall flagship is like a moving castle. On the deck, battle flags are fluttering and people are crowded.

After Meng Jun received the news of Zheng Jun's arrival, he thought to himself: "Finally they are here!"

He took a deep breath and then gave the order: "All the heavy armored troops are fully armed and the army is lined up to welcome us!"

Following Meng Jun's order, the camp became busy. The soldiers moved quickly, and the heavy armored soldiers put on heavy armor with the help of auxiliary soldiers.

This was the first time that the Zhou army had a true ally since its establishment. The commanders of various towns strictly ordered their subordinates to keep their troops in good order and not let the friendly forces underestimate them, which would cause the king to lose face.

There were too many troops to send out all of them, so they selected elite and tall soldiers from each town, together with the heavily armored soldiers, a total of more than 8,000 people. Led by Meng Jun himself, they were arranged into neat square formations and lined up in the open space outside the port to welcome the enemy.

Zheng Chenggong, wearing dark red armor, stood on the deck of the flagship. He had sword-like eyebrows, star-like eyes, thin and sharp lips, and eyes as sharp as an eagle.

Meng Jun put down his telescope and said to Qian Biao, Gao Yi, Bai Yongfu, Gu Yanwu and others beside him: "The King of the Country is indeed dignified, high-spirited and a man of talent."

As soon as he finished speaking, before the others could react, Qian Biao blurted out his flattery: "The king is dignified, high-spirited, and a man of outstanding appearance."

Bai Yongfu said unhappily: "Can't you change the word?"

Qian Biao immediately retorted: "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with what I said? Do you doubt that the king is not dignified, high-spirited, or handsome enough?"

"you……"

Meng Jun immediately stopped the quarrel between the two and said, "Okay, stop quarreling, the Zheng army has landed."

The Zheng family's warships slowly approached the Jiujiang dock until they stopped steadily. The Zheng family's infantry began to disembark one after another. The first group to disembark were obviously selected by Zheng Chenggong, because these people were wearing iron armor and holding swords and guns, like a solid wall of iron, but the style of the armor was different from that of the Zhou army.

After the first batch of Iron Man soldiers disembarked, Zheng Chenggong's flagship slowly approached, and then Zheng Chenggong and more than ten of his men disembarked.

The generals who disembarked with Zheng Chenggong included Chen Yonghua, Shi Lang, Chen Ze, Chen Bin, Zhou Quanbin, Lin Bencheng, Liu Guoxuan and others.

Upon seeing this, Meng Jun immediately dismounted and went to meet him.

Seeing this, Zheng Chenggong immediately strode over.

The generals of the Zheng army and the Zhou army were stationed on the left and right.

"Your Majesty, you have kept your promise and have gathered all your troops here. This is a blessing for the country and the world!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Chenggong smiled heartily and said, "King Zhou raised an army of righteous men and recovered the southern capital, which was praised by all the people in the world. Now I want to fight a decisive battle with the enemy. I have received great favors from the late emperor, so how can I not think of revenge?"

The two men smiled at each other, and then Meng Jun invited Zheng Chenggong to a banquet. However, when Zheng Chenggong heard about the banquet, his brows unconsciously frowned, but he soon relaxed and then politely declined Meng Jun on the grounds that the army had not yet been settled.

It was not until the next day when Meng Jun invited Zheng Chenggong again that he accepted the invitation. He agreed to hold a banquet in Jiujiang City and sent Chen Yonghua to discuss the details.

The two sides discussed in detail, and Meng Jun ordered Bai Yongfu to negotiate with him.

As soon as Chen Yonghua saw Bai Yongfu, he demanded all supplies including food, drinks, bowls and chopsticks, and that both parties must send people to be present. Neither party was allowed to bring weapons to the banquet. He also demanded that during the banquet, one of the gates of Jiujiang City must be in the hands of the Zheng family.

Bai Yongfu could naturally make decisions on some trivial matters, but he did not dare to make a decision on the important matter of relocating the city gate on his own and could only ask the king.

After hearing the Zheng family's many requests, Meng Jun burst out laughing. After a long while, he shook his head and said to Bai Yongfu, "The Zheng family is afraid of the rope after being bitten once. That's right, no matter who is involved in the Zheng Zhilong incident, they are very secretive about this banquet."

Afterwards, Meng Jun signaled Bai Yongfu to agree to the Zheng family's request, but at the same time privately ordered Gao Yi to lead his troops into the city to closely monitor the Zheng army. Jiujiang City is now stockpiling a large amount of supplies. Although the Zheng family is unlikely to come up with this idea even if they are crazy, it is still necessary to be on guard against others.

In the evening, in Jiujiang city, the famous Yingfeng Tower.

There were only six people present: Zhou Fang, Meng Jun, Gu Yanwu, and Bai Yongfu.

Zheng Fang, Zheng Chenggong, Chen Yonghua, and Liu Guoxuan.

The leaders of the two factions met. During the banquet, everyone was having a great time. After the banquet, the cooks in the kitchen were so scared that they couldn't even take a carrot.

They stared at each other with their eyes fixed, weapons in their hands. The city gate was brightly lit and countless torches illuminated the city gate. Although the two sides were far apart, they could still see each other. No one dared to act rashly for fear of causing misunderstanding to the other side.

At the banquet, three rounds of wine had already been served, and everyone was a little drunk. The scene had changed from dull at the beginning to warm and friendly now. Zheng Chenggong drank a glass of wine and then said, "Brother Meng, when we first started the uprising, we led our troops into Suzhou and sent warriors to attack Li Chengdong at night. This was the most exciting move."

"Haha, you are too kind, my dear brother. When you are in a desperate situation, you can only risk your life and survive."

"Brother Meng used to use troops with ingenious ideas, which were hard to understand. For example, he led troops in the rain and defeated the Bolo camp. It is very different from what he did now."

Zheng Chenggong's words seemed to be mocking Meng Jun's conservative use of troops.

Meng Jun just smiled faintly when he heard this, and then said: "In a war, if the soldiers are weak and the generals are few, there is no need to take risks to win. Now the soldiers are strong and the horses are powerful, why take risks? You should know that you will end up making things worse."

At this time, Liu Guoxuan raised his glass to Meng Jun and invited him to drink. Meng Jun drank it all in one gulp. Then Liu Guoxuan said, "The power of King Zhou is like that of Prime Minister Cao during the Han Dynasty."

Meng Jun was stunned when he heard this. This was the first time someone said that he was Cao Cao. In the Ming Dynasty, Cao Cao was not a good word. Meng Jun looked at Liu Guoxuan, wondering what this man meant.

Gu Yanwu frowned and refuted: "Cao Cao used the emperor to control the princes. In today's world, he can be compared to Sun Kewang of Xifu. Why do you use my king as an example?"

"Mr. Gu, I mean that Cao Cao's rise to power is somewhat similar to that of King Zhou."

"Appreciate further details"

Liu Guoxuan, who was a little drunk, said slowly, "In the second year of Chuping, Cao Cao raised an army and occupied Dongjun. The next year, he defeated a million Yellow Turbans and captured 300,000 of their best men. This was the beginning of Wei Wu's strength. Your Majesty also occupied Sucheng and gathered the righteous army. Since Cao Cao raised his army three years ago, there has been no day without fighting and no month without conquering. Your Majesty is the same. Since you raised your army, you have conquered the east and the west, and there has been almost no month without fighting."

Bai Yongfu immediately refuted: "Nonsense, in all dynasties, when the world was in chaos, everyone was at war every day. Didn't the Qing Dynasty also go on many expeditions? Is the Qing Dynasty also Cao Cao?"