Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 189 Prepare for war

The third day of March is a good day for offering sacrifices, praying, and consecrating.

Taboo, marriage, travel, and burial.

At the foot of Jilong Mountain, in the vast military formation, a high platform was built overnight. Meng Jun, wearing black armor and looking heroic, stood on the high platform, scanning the military formation below, with a hint of determination in his eyes.

Below the stage, thousands of troops were lined up with flags flying and swords and spears flashing coldly. The array was endless. The army stared at the commander-in-chief on the high platform. The army was full of passion and they shouted "Great King" with wave after wave of voices.

Although the ceremony of becoming a king is simple and cannot be compared with what the ancients said, "Without magnificence, there is no power to be strengthened", but in these chaotic times, as long as one has a powerful army in his hands, that is the greatest majesty.

Power and strength are the most important, and gorgeous ceremonies are just the icing on the cake.

Meng Jun had a headache choosing from a bunch of titles of kingship handed over by a group of civil officials and military generals, including Qin, Han, Chu, Zhao, Zhou, Song, Qi, Liang, Wei, Chu, Wu and Yue. Some people advised Meng Jun that Qing was the water virtue and he should take the title of the earth virtue king to overcome it. Others said that Qing was the barbarian invaders and was not included in this list. The dispute over the title of kingship was unresolved for a long time, and it was Meng Jun who finally made the decision to be called the King of Zhou.

The generals didn't care. Any king would do. They didn't dwell on this. Meng Jun proclaimed himself king and then rewarded the troops generously. He changed the name of Jilong Mountain to Dengwang Mountain, slaughtered three animals, offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, burned edicts, and offered sacrifices to the gods.

Sacrifice: "The husband establishes a ruler to govern the people, and the world is for the public. The virtue is full of Zhou Wangjun, and the joy is promoted and gathered, and the teachings are endless. In the past, the fierce emperor was in trouble, and the four directions were not established. There was no prime minister to rely on, and it had been a long time. The difficulties were overcome by the enemy army, and the disaster became great. As a result, the emperor's family moved away and the ancestral worship was destroyed.

Although Jun has no land of ten thousand miles and no millions of people, he is indignant at the difficult times, mourns the chaos, and throws his sleeves and waves, hoping that the Han Dynasty will be restored. He can hold the country in times of crisis and support it when it is in trouble. He will annihilate all the traitors and the barbarians. Whether it is sincere or not, it will eventually be prosperous. There is a time for rise and fall. He will surely put an end to chaos and save the people. Mountains and rivers will announce auspiciousness, and people and gods will be in harmony. The years are here. Hundreds of millions of people, all say that the emperor's spirit is watching over us, and I, with my little virtue, have entrusted it to the millions of people. Only the wise spirit will be worshipped. "

As the sacrifice ended, Meng Jun returned to his tent. Nothing seemed to have changed, yet something seemed to have changed. The soldiers passing by all shouted, "Your Majesty!"

It seems that after offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, the morale of the entire army was high. Although this was due to the generous rewards, it cannot be said that there was no factor in becoming king.

Meng Jun proclaimed himself king and spent more than half of the more than three million taels that Yang En had earned from selling a place in the inner house of Meng Jun's mansion. However, with such a generous reward, the morale of the army was greatly boosted, and they no longer felt depressed as they did when they withdrew from Jiangning. The entire army was ready to fight a decisive battle with the Qing army.

The news of Meng Jun's declaration of kingship soon spread to various parts of Jiangnan, and various forces had different reactions. However, Lekedehun learned the news very quickly.

However, when he learned that Meng Jun had proclaimed himself king, Lekedehun was dismissive of it. He could not help but sneer and said sarcastically: "Humph! A makeshift team, nothing more than a self-righteous clown!"

As for Yang En from Suzhou, he looked at the urgent military report and smiled bitterly. It was a pity that half of the military pay he had raised was gone so quickly. The worry that he had just put aside was now picked up again. Money and food, money and food. Even in his dreams, Yang En dreams about money and food.

The two courts of the Southern Ming Dynasty had different reactions. The Yongli court angrily denounced Meng Jun for being unworthy of a subject and called on the whole country to attack him together. The Shaowu court had an ambiguous attitude. Yongli took in the remnants of the Western Army and greatly increased his power. Although Du Yinxi of the Shaowu court was also controlling the Shun Army, the Zhongzheng Camp was far away in the east, and distant water could not quench immediate thirst.

After some negotiations, the Shaowu court quickly issued an edict to confer the title of King of Zhou on Meng Jun. He did not need to bow when entering the court, did not need to use his name when praising or worshipping, and was given the Nine Gifts, and was allowed to go out on patrol and enter the imperial carriage. The Shaowu court bestowed all the honors that could be bestowed on Meng Jun.

After Zeng Daowei wrote a letter to the Shaowu court, trying to discredit Meng Jun, the ruler and his ministers of Shaowu had already understood that Meng Jun could not be manipulated at will in the name of the righteousness of ruler and minister, and that he was just a military leader.

Anyway, they are thousands of miles apart and surrounded by Qing soldiers, so they cannot threaten the imperial court. Let Meng Jun and the Tartars fight to the death. If Zhu Youlang is killed, Meng Jun dies suddenly, Dorgon dies suddenly, and the Qing court falls apart, then Emperor Shaowu will really wake up laughing in his dream.

…………

Fujian Province, offshore.

As night fell, the lights in Zheng Chenggong's flagship were bright. A messenger hurried in, holding a sealed military document in his hand.

Zheng Chenggong sat upright at his desk, his eyes like torches, sharp and deep. After reading the military intelligence delivered by the messenger, he was silent for a long time.

Then Zheng Chenggong stood up, walked to the window, and overlooked the rough sea. The sea breeze whistled past, blowing on his sleeves and hair, and he felt a strong breath blowing on his face.

Zheng Chenggong looked at the rough sea and murmured, "I can also achieve great things!"

In Jiangning city.

A piece of news came from Beijing, which was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. It made Lekedehun decide to send troops. Prince Heshuo Yu Duoduo fell ill, and the Eight Banners Army in Beijing temporarily suspended its southward advance. Dorgon did not force Lekedehun to send troops to suppress Meng Jun, but ordered Lekedehun to act on his own. However, Lekedehun knew that it would be difficult to be a regent. The Qing Dynasty had lost the wealthy areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and although it had regained the areas of Huguang, it still could not make up for the taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Lekedehun knew that Meng Jun's intention of stationing troops in Jilong Mountain was to have a decisive battle with him. Coincidentally, Lekedehun also wanted a decisive battle. After these days of rest, the army's fatigue was swept away.

On March 12, Lekedehun led his army to formally approach Jilong Mountain.

In addition to the 50,000 people who went south, Lekedehun also transferred all the remaining 1,800 Eight Banners stationed in Jiangning City. These Eight Banners soldiers who had enjoyed several years of good times in the glamorous world of Jiangning were reluctant to leave Jiangning, but they also knew that military orders were like mountains and they dared not disobey.

Lekedehun mobilized 20,000 men from Yang Wulie and Gao Jinku, 4,000 men from Ke Yongsheng, and 5,000 men from Ma Degong. He also recruited 30,000 young men from the previous defense of Jiangning. The entire army of 110,000 men marched towards Jilong Mountain in a mighty force.

He had found out that the main force of the Meng bandits were the six towns under his headquarters. Changlin and Ningwu towns were the most elite, followed by Wuning and Wuxing. Guwu town and Wuan town should be the weakest. Bai Yongfu's Guwu town was basically composed of Bai Yongfu's own surrendered soldiers, who surrendered to Qing and then to Meng. Lekedehun was very disdainful of such soldiers who were fickle-minded. As for Wuan town, it never appeared in Lekedehun's military reports.

As for the service army composed of the surrendered troops, there was a heavy armored army, a team of musketeers, a cavalry, and tens of thousands of civilian laborers, these were just trivial matters in Lekedehun's view.

In this battle, the forces of Meng and Qing are evenly matched. A thrilling life-and-death battle of unprecedented scale is about to unfold on this land of Jiangnan!