Victory belongs to the most persevering

  After the New Year's Day, Zhu Jin led the Right Tiger Guard Xu Yao and the former Chong Town Hong Yu to arrive in Chaozhou.

  In the same month, Zheng's army launched a multi-pronged attack on Guangdong Province. At this time, Shang Kexi was already in a critical condition, and Wu Sangui's troops were also approaching Guangzhou from Zhaoqing and Shaoguan, causing panic among the people of Guangzhou. Many of Shang's soldiers fled from the front line, including General Miao Zhiyu of Dashi Town, who defected to the Zheng-Ming side, making it seem like a great opportunity.

  "Mr. Chen, I heard that the King's father has been victorious all the way, and I am also overjoyed to hear it." But blessings can be a disaster in disguise, Zheng Kezang was well aware that the victory in Guangdong could not extricate his army from being surrounded by friendly forces, and at this time, one wrong step would lead to irreparable consequences. "But I have been examining the maps for the past few days, and found that our province's situation is not good, I don't know if Mr. Chen has also discovered it."

  Chen Yonghua initially thought Zheng Kecang was just here to gossip, but after listening for a few sentences, his face suddenly turned serious. Given Zheng Kecang's identity and previous impressive performance, Chen Yonghua had no choice but to take the other party's ominous words seriously. For this reason, Chen Yonghua immediately sent someone to fetch the map of Fujian and Guangdong, and carefully examined it.

  After watching for half a day, Chen Yonghua finally raised his head with some puzzlement and asked Zheng Kecang for advice: "Although military strategy is not my forte, I have also followed Guo Xiangye and Wang Shang on many battles over the years, and I am not completely ignorant. However, I couldn't see what's wrong with the current situation of our fiefdom, so please enlighten me, Young Master."

  "Mr. Chen is a trusted minister of the Emperor, how dare I instruct him?" Zheng Kezang said as he took the map from Chen Yonghua's hand and spread it out on the table. "Now, Mr. Chen, look at this - our province borders Geng Province to the north and presses in on Guangzhou to the south." Chen Yonghua nodded; all of this was clearly written on the map. "The Shang Kexi father and son are already old and weak, their forces are no match for ours, and Zhou's army is also approaching Guangzhou from the west. If Shang Kexi and Shang Zhixin do not surrender, then our two armies will surround Guangzhou together, and the situation in Guangdong will naturally be settled with one blow."

  "The words of Da Gongzi are not wrong, but attacking Guangzhou and eliminating the heart of the Southern Line is not a good thing for our clan?"

  "Is that a good thing? I don't think so." Zheng Kezang picked up the brush and paper, and drew a new map based on the original one. He then wrote a few words on it and circled them with his pen. "Mr. Chen, please take a look. The Zhou army has occupied Hunan, Guangxi, and western and northern Guangdong, blocking our way to the northwest; to the southeast is the vast ocean, so we can't make any progress there either. The Geng army has taken over western and northern Fujian, cutting off our path to southern Jiangxi and western Zhejiang. We are surrounded by a large cage, with plenty of room to retreat but no way to advance. Do you think my father will be willing to lay down his arms in this situation?" Zheng Kezang didn't give Chen Yonghua time to consider the question, and continued speaking directly. "The Zhou army is powerful, so we probably won't clash with them. The Geng clan is weak, and they were defeated by the Northern Barbarians when they invaded Wentai last year."

  Chen Yonghua cut off Zheng Kecang's words: "Does the young master think that our clan will rise again with swords and guns in the future?"

  "It's not a big deal to reignite the flames of war with Geng Huan, but I'm afraid that Geng Jingzhong might have had some hidden troubles in the past and ultimately surrendered to the Northern Tartars again." Zheng Kezang said anxiously, this was the history of his previous life, if things didn't change in this life, the future of Ming Zheng wouldn't be optimistic. "My vassal's elite troops are still no match for Geng's two armies, but when it comes to fighting against the Northern Tartars, we've always had more defeats than victories."

  ??”

  "It's not entirely impossible." Chen Yonghua's eyebrows also furrowed. "What does the young master mean?"

  "It's best not to engage the Beidi directly for now." Zheng Kechang said. "Please ask Mr. Chen to write a letter to my father, if we are to draw boundaries and defend ourselves against the Zhou army, then Qiongzhou should be handed over to our fiefdom. As for later, we can either go north to take Zhoushan or south to attack Lü Song!"

  "Zhoushan? Luzon?" Take Zhoushan, this Chen Yonghua knew, at the beginning of the discussion to send troops, Zheng Kezang was in the Silver Palace and spoke to Zhu Jin like this. But take Luzon? In those years when Guoxing Ye was there, there were plans, but now that a large-scale war is underway on land, it seems somewhat inappropriate to adjust troops to fight against Luzon, which is far away by sea. "What does the Grand Prince think?"

  "Taking Zhoushan is to use our strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses. As long as Zhoushan is in our hands, the northern caitiffs will inevitably worry about losing Hangzhou and the various provinces of southern Jiangsu, and they won't dare to lightly advance into Fujian Province. Only then can we have the leisure to tidy up our troops. As for taking Luzon in the south, a cunning rabbit still has three burrows. Since we want to compete for victory on the mainland, naturally we must first plan for defeat before planning for victory."

  In early February, Shi Kefa formally surrendered to Wu Sangui after reporting to the Qing court his plan to surrender and defect in order to protect his territory. Wu was well aware of Shi's intentions as an old friend. However, at this time, the Qing army had launched a counterattack in Hunan, and in order to quickly withdraw effective troops, Wu had no choice but to accept Shi's surrender and appoint him as Auxiliary Duke. Nevertheless, in order to weaken Shi's power and also to prevent the Zheng regime from monopolizing the rich province of Guangdong, Wu hinted to Shi's emissary to negotiate with the Zheng regime, and both sides agreed to demarcate their territories and defend them separately.

  Upon receiving the news of Shang's request for peace, official Ke Ping jumped out again: "Your Majesty, I said at that time that going to war with Fujian and Guangdong would only result in taking a corner of land, now it has turned out just as I said."

  "If we don't fight, it's not even certain that we can get this corner of land." The household official Hong Cui immediately retorted. "Moreover, the five prefectures currently occupied by our province have a territory and population ten times larger than Dongning, such great military achievements, Lord Ke ignores them, what kind of reason is this?"

  "What great military achievements?" Ke Ping sneered, curling his lip. "Two years of war, tens of thousands dead or wounded, every household in Taiwan mourning - is this what Lord Hong calls great military achievements? And we haven't even clashed with the Tartar troops yet! If we were to fight the Tartars, wouldn't all the men on the entire island have to die for Lord Hong's great military achievements?"

  "Can't we just avoid getting killed?" Hong Yue argued. "Besides, haven't we already decided to immigrate to Taiwan?"

  "Alright, stop arguing." Zhu Jin's loud voice made the two red-faced men take a step back. "Say something useful." Zhu Jin threw a memorial on the table. "This is a memorial presented by Chen Qing from Taiwan, you can all take a look." After everyone had passed it around and finished reading, Zhu Jin asked, "What do you think?"

  "Although General Chen is physically in Taiwan, his vision is like a torch," several ministers said similar words. After all, the news obtained in Taiwan was often delayed, and Chen Yonghua was able to anticipate the enemy's moves, which was already a remarkable achievement. "Now that the vassal state is eager to make peace, it's not impossible for them to ask for the return of Qiongzhou Prefecture. I think Lord Zhou will not hold grudges over such a trivial matter."

  "It's not that I want to hear you all say these useless words." Zhu Jin swept a glance over the crowd, pointing. "Chen Xiangwu, you speak."

  "I think that what Chen the General said about the three strategic locations is quite reasonable. The five counties of Fujian and Guangdong can be considered as one location, Dongning can also be counted as one location, and although Qiongzhou is remote, if it can be properly managed, it can also be considered as one location. As for Luzon, it is too far away, and besides, it is not advisable to have too many enemies, so I think that it can be temporarily put on hold."

  As soon as this was said, some of the town generals who were unwilling to cross the sea and go on a distant expedition showed relaxed expressions on their faces, but Zhu Jin was not fooled by Chen Xiangwu and instead pressed further: "Then do you think it is possible to go north to Zhoushan?"

  Chen Xiangwu had already learned about the origin of this memorial from Chen Yonghua's private letter. As for Zheng Kecang's suggestion, he was 120% unwilling to accept it, so he just repeated the old tune: "Taking Zhoushan to threaten the rear of the Qing army in Zhejiang is not impossible, but as for Geng Jingzhong's taking chestnuts from the fire, it still needs to be discussed."

  Zhu Jin listened and nodded slightly without expressing his opinion. He immediately turned his gaze to Feng Xifan. "What's your view, Minister Feng?"

  "I think that Hainan can be occupied but not defended," Feng Xifan said matter-of-factly. "The strait between Qiongzhou and Leizhou is very narrow, and there are many places where one can land, so even if the naval forces are numerous, they will not be enough to hold it. Therefore, in my opinion, what Commander-in-Chief Chen said about taking Qiongzhou was just an excuse to seize the population to fill up Dongning, and not really with the intention of finding a place for this province to retreat to. As for what he said about negotiating peace, after which this province would be surrounded on three sides and unable to advance even an inch, and that if it were to press forward against Geng Province, it would certainly surrender to the Qing - although there is some reason in this argument, it is also not entirely unfounded. The idea of taking Zhoushan Island in the north and going down to Lü Song in the south is also just an excuse to avoid fighting with the northern barbarians."

  "But indeed, it should not conflict with Geng Huan, so that he will surrender again." Ke Ping suddenly interjected. "I think the newly attached armies may not necessarily obey, and even if they do, they may not dare to fight against the Northern Barbarians. It would be better to send Lyu Song to fight against the barbarians in the south, and after the battle, leave him to guard, then send his family into Taiwan, only then can we eliminate the heart of the enemy."

  "I think that even if we don't necessarily need to go on a distant expedition to Luzon, although there are still some minor differences, this time Hong Xuan has actually joined forces with Ke Ping. However, after negotiating with the Shang clan, our clan will have no more wars for the time being, and we can take the opportunity to reorganize the newly surrendered troops, distinguish between the good and the bad, and avoid raising a tiger that will become a threat in the future."

  "Two seniors said so, I agree to send troops to Zhoushan." Feng Xifan's eyes rolled over and suddenly changed his original intention. "Although Miao Zhiyu of the Water Town in Bao Shi has already surrendered to our province, after all, he is still connected with Shang Zhixin and others. It would be better to send him north to Zhoushan. If not, we can also let him take back his old place in Taiping (i.e., Yuhuan) County, so that while assisting Geng Jingzhong's troops in attacking WenTai, he can find a foothold for our province in the north."

  Disposing of the new attached army was also proposed by Zheng Kezang, and it had been put on hold last time because Chen Xiangwu thought of a way to shelve it. Now that he heard it again, he hurriedly dissuaded him, saying: "If Miao Zhi's show is not followed, and the new attached armies are panicked and cause chaos, how should they be disposed of?"

  "It's even more necessary to relocate all the officials and soldiers' families to Taiwan." Ke Ping said with a sharp tone, his face filled with an inexplicable murderous intent at this moment. "Those who do not obey and delay must be traitors in their hearts, they should be dismissed immediately, if there is still any unusual movement, we should dispatch elite troops from the provinces to eliminate them and prevent future troubles."

  "Isn't that cutting off the path for those who come later to surrender? Not good, not good at all." Chen Xiangwu hastily shook his head. "Now that Geng Fan has shown his hand, it's clear that the various generals under him are preparing to defect to our side. If we were to use the tactic of driving fish into a net and birds into a cage, wouldn't we be pushing them towards the Qing court instead?"

  "This?" Chen Xiangwu used this move to attack with his own spear and defend with his own shield, and in an instant, he got several people stuck, unable to speak. Ke Ping had no choice but to argue strongly. "What Chen Zanhua said was just speculation that the officials of the Geng clan wanted to surrender to our clan, it's not believable, Your Majesty."

  "Isn't it just speculation that Geng Zhongming surrendered to the Qing?" Chen Xiangwu retorted, although he was Chen Yonghua's nephew, but if he drew a clear line with his uncle in doing things, perhaps Zhu Jing would be more pleased. "Treason is one of the ten major crimes, the Qing court will not easily release him, Geng Jingzhong should not be so foolish!"

  As the debate was heating up again, the low-ranking officials who were not involved in the argument whispered to each other: "It's better not to mess with Mo Yu (Geng Huan)."

  The town officials, however, were thinking of greater gains and military achievements, puffed out their chests and rebuked: "Geng Huan is just a defeated general under my command, are you afraid that they won't make it?"

  "Your Majesty, let's not discuss this matter for the time being." Seeing the displeasure on Zhu Jin's face, Feng Xifan tactfully suggested, "Let's wait for the result of the negotiation with Shanghuan first."

  "Whatever?"