Chapter 32 4. Marching into the east of Zhejiang, one side will attack and the other side will defend

After the Battle of Zhenjiang, Zhu Yuanzhang captured almost all the small strongholds near Yingtian, and the base of Yingtian was initially consolidated. Zhu Yuanzhang pointed the spearhead of the military offensive at Zhejiang, which is fertile and rich in grain and silk.However, Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that Zhang Shicheng and others would inevitably meet with counterattacks if they went straight to eastern Zhejiang, and they might even get burned. After thinking for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang talked with Li Shanchang about the next development strategy. Li Shanchang thought: "At this time, the stronghold near Yingtian has just been captured. If we attack Zhejiang again, I am afraid that the action will be too big and we will be counterattacked. Shanchang thought that if we want to seek eastern Zhejiang, we can take Huizhou first. Now the main force of the Yuan army is placed in the small area. King Ming, Tianwan, and Zhang Shicheng have weak troops in Huizhou, so they can be easily taken out at this time, and then gradually attack eastern Zhejiang from the vicinity of Huizhou."

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a while and said: "We have been thinking about when to conquer this precious land of Huizhou. What you said makes sense, but we still need to think twice." Zhu Yuanzhang discussed with civil servants and generals for a long time, and decided to order Hu Dahai to attack Jixi and Xuancheng, and break them soon.Zhu Yuanzhang also supervised the division to break through Ningguo Road, from Huizhou to enter Jiande Road, and changed it to Yanzhou Prefecture. He also ordered Deng Yu and Li Wenzhong to sit in guard, and Changshu and Yangzhou had been captured, and Zhang Mingjian, the Tsingyi Army, also surrendered.In this way, Zhu Yuanzhang's previous troops went east to the Pujiang River, and Wuzhou was surrounded on the side.

To Zhu Yuanzhang, getting Huizhou was not only a harvest from the land, but more importantly, he got the nine-character maxim of the great Confucian Zhu Sheng and the advice of the Confucian scholar Tang Zhongshi.Zhu Sheng's suggestion was aimed at the world situation and long-term plan, while Tang Zhongshi's suggestion was based on reality, which provided a solid foundation for Zhu Yuanzhang to develop his military strength and attack eastern Zhejiang.When Zhu Yuanzhang passed through Huizhou from Ningguo, he visited Tang Zhongshi and asked him: "Han Gaozu, Emperor Guangwu, Tang Taizong, Song Taizu, and Yuan Shizu all unified the whole country. What suggestions do you have for Yuanzhang?" Wherever you go, don’t kill innocent people randomly. Now, the commander-in-chief’s army is well-disciplined and the people’s hearts are stable, which is your advantage. However, although the people are at ease with your army, they have doubts about the development of production. The economic burden is too heavy." This remark reminded Zhu Yuanzhang, and he ordered the army to produce by itself, build water conservancy, and reduce the burden on farmers, so that the army was strong and food was sufficient.

By the end of the eighteenth year from Yuan to Zhengzheng (1358), Huizhou and southern Anhui had settled down, and military and civilian production was full of momentum. Zhu Yuanzhang thought it was time to attack Wuzhou.Because this year, Zhu Yuanzhang watched his neighbors busy with their own development and had no time to take care of themselves.Look at Xu Shouhui first. In April, he asked Chen Youliang and Zhao Pusheng to expropriate land and captured Chizhou and Longxing Road. Internal disputes continued; and in May, Liu Futong broke Bianliang in the north. The power of the Red Turban Army reached its peak. In July, the Yuan army began to aggressively counterattack the Song Dynasty regime of King Xiao Ming. In August, Bianliang was broken. Now the Song Middle Route Army broke through Kaiping, the upper capital of the Yuan Dynasty, and then moved to Liaoyang and entered Korea. The soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty are concentrated in the north; Zhang Shicheng of Zhejiang has never paid attention to Zhu Yuanzhang's small troubles, and at that time Zhu Yuanzhang helped break the Yuan soldiers of Liuhe, Zhang Shicheng thought that as long as Zhu Yuanzhang did not violate his own power, he would just turn a blind eye , close one eye.

The surrounding situation is so, Zhu Yuanzhang believes that everyone is busy withdrawing troops to celebrate the new year in the cold winter, and at this time, attacking Wuzhou will undoubtedly win.He immediately sent Hu Dahai to lead troops to attack Wuzhou, but after nearly ten days of attacking, Wuzhou still failed to capture. Zhu Yuanzhang was very anxious in Yingtian. He said to Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong: "It seems that we must personally take command of this battle." Both Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong believe that there is no need to rush for it. Although the commander-in-chief can boost morale, it is time to develop the overall situation, and the commander-in-chief should not go into battle for a city in person.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang insisted on going. In his opinion, if Wuzhou is not broken, the development in Zhejiang will be hindered. Moreover, seeing the end of the new year, the soldiers will inevitably miss home.In late December, Zhu Yuanzhang personally led an army of 100,000 to Wuzhou. When he arrived in Wuzhou, Zhu Yuanzhang did not intend to fight for a long time. It is not easy to be surrounded for a long time at such a time. He thought that Hu Dahai had been fighting for several days, and the defenders in the city must have been tired, but he still used heavy troops to hold Wuzhou City tightly. Surround them and create a bird-in-a-cage formation for the people in the city.At the same time, troops were divided to guard the intersections where Wuzhou might come to help. When the Yuan soldiers came to help from Songxi, Zhu Yuanzhang said to Hu Deji: "The road over Songxi is narrow. You should take people to detour to Songxi and surround them from front to back. , In the section from Songxi to Wuzhou, use stones and logs to block them, and fight them hard." Hu Deji brought thousands of strong soldiers and horses, and quickly surrendered the Yuan soldiers who came to help.

Zhu Yuanzhang was not in a hurry to attack the city. He found Wang Zongxian, a fellow Confucian living in the local area, and asked him to deliver news inside and outside the city.Originally, Wang Zongxian was unwilling to participate in military affairs, but Zhu Yuanzhang sincerely begged, and Wang Zongxian and Zhu Sheng were friends. Knowing that Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Sheng had a close relationship, it was inconvenient to refuse, so he traveled in and out of the city with a neutral attitude.The people in the city thought that Wang Zongxian was a local Confucian, quite famous, and respected them all. When they learned that the reinforcements had been broken and the guards outside the city were heavy, they were very panicked.

In fact, Wang Zongxian had always been dissatisfied with the Yuan soldiers. Seeing that they were shrinking in the city with no fighting spirit and doing their own thing, he told Zhu Yuanzhang that he only needed to attack the heart at this time, not the city.Zhu Yuanzhang adopted his suggestion and asked Wang Zongxian to have talks with the generals in the city many times, and entered the city alone to negotiate.The defenders in the city saw that Zhu Yuanzhang was determined not to return, and they really stuck to it, just as Wang Zongxian said: "The Yuan Dynasty has no time to take care of itself now, even if you die in battle and defend the city, how much money can you comfort your family? Now the world is in chaos, and the Yuan Dynasty is exhausted, and those who know it early will gain power."

For a while, the hearts of the people in the city became even more chaotic. The second day after Zhu Yuanzhang came out of the city, the guards in the city opened the gates to greet him.It took only a week from Zhu Yuanzhang led his troops to besiege to the surrender of the defenders. After getting Wuzhou, Zhu Yuanzhang still implemented the Huairou policy to appease the people, distribute food to the people, and strictly prohibited the soldiers from plundering.When Zhu Yuanzhang learned that a guard surnamed Huang had robbed the people of their property, he immediately beheaded him without listening to any excuses. The people in the city settled down soon after seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang's army was strictly disciplined and practiced benevolence and righteousness.

Zhu Yuanzhang heard from Wang Zongxian that Wuzhou had been the center of Neo Confucianism for more than two hundred years and had produced many great scholars. However, after years of wars, the school was closed, Confucian scholars fled everywhere, and the style of study was abandoned.Zhu Yuanzhang has always loved talents. Hearing Wang Zongxian's heartbroken statement, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an announcement calling local scholars to gather together, rebuild schools, and set up civil servants.Conquering Wuzhou was Zhu Yuanzhang's second step in his development to the east of Zhejiang (the first step was to conquer Huizhou), so he set up a sub-province of Zhongshu in Wuzhou, and vigorously promoted the idea of ​​restoring the great Song Dynasty.

In eastern Zhejiang, with Wuzhou as his base, Zhu Yuanzhang began to implement the third step of developing towards eastern Zhejiang. After making some arrangements for the affairs of Wuzhou, it will be the old calendar year. Just after the old calendar year, it will be the first month of the nineteenth year of Yuan Zhizheng (1359). Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes are on Zhuji and Chuzhou near Wuzhou. Not everyone is in favor of re-attacking, and it is also a difficult problem who to send troops. Zhu Yuanzhang thought over and over again and decided to send Hu Dahai again. Because Hu Dahai did not attack Wuzhou last time, although he was not at fault, but he should have no complaints when he was sent this time, and Zhu Yuanzhang had already let Hu Deji, the adopted son of Hu Dahai, guard Wuzhou , can send reinforcements at any time.Zhu Yuanzhang also knew in his heart that Hu Dahai had conflicts with his adopted son Li Wenzhong in terms of the governance of Yanzhou.Zhu Yuanzhang's treatment gave Hu Dahai enough face, and Hu Dahai is a loyal and responsible person. He led troops to fight in the cities where he strictly demanded himself and the sergeants. Loot the women, but don't burn the huts." As for the famous scholars in Zhejiang, Hu Dahai also likes to make friends with scholars. Zhu Yuanzhang had long wanted to ask for help when he heard that the four heroes of central Zhejiang were well-known in the south of the Yangtze River.After comprehensive consideration, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that Hu Dahai was the best candidate to attack Zhuji. Therefore, he sent Hu Dahai and Xie Zaixing to lead 20,000 elite troops to Zhuji, and Zhuji was conquered soon. Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded Hu Dahai heavily, and decided not to conquer the land for the time being, but devoted himself to the management of the army and the city, using defense as an offense.In March, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an order to pardon prisoners of crimes under the Great Rebellion, which was appreciated by the sergeants.In September, when the sergeant had almost recuperated, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Chang Yuchun to attack Quzhou, and Chang Yuchun attacked immediately.In order to continue to develop in eastern Zhejiang, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that the north should be stabilized as the rear. Seeing that King Xiaoming and Liu Futong were defeated by Yuan soldiers, and the situation in eastern Zhejiang was very good now, the rear could not be ruined, so he sent envoys and Yuan general Chahan Timur communicated with each other, agreed not to invade each other, and revealed the intention of begging and surrendering.This is of course not Zhu Yuanzhang's true intention, but it is an expedient measure. All this has settled down, and Zhu Yuanzhang still has one goal of capturing Wuzhou - Chuzhou. Zhu Yuanzhang found Hu Dahai again: "Chuzhou is an important town for the development of Zhejiang, and now you are the one who can overcome Chuzhou." Seeing that Hu Dahai hesitated, Zhu Yuanzhang said again: "Your family members are all in Wuzhou City, and Zhuji was also captured by you. Only you are the most familiar with the nearby cities, and you are the most experienced in leading troops in battle." Hu Dahai no longer has any reason to look for. Originally, he was in command, but he was worried that his subordinates would have anti-war sentiments, which had not subsided since December last year. Zhu Yuanzhang comforted Hu Dahai and said that those who captured Chuzhou would be rewarded heavily, and asked Hu Dahai to lead troops to garrison Zhuji, Chuzhou, and Wuzhou areas to recuperate and develop the local economy, and asked Hu Dahai to pass these words on to the sergeants ,Boost morale. In October of golden autumn, Hu Dahai and Geng Bingwen led troops to attack Chuzhou.However, while Hu Dahai was fighting ahead, something happened in Wuzhou that made Hu Dahai extremely sad. It turned out that after the army was stationed in Wuzhou, Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly stated the military order for soldiers to prohibit alcohol.Zhu Yuanzhang was worried that the fine wine and beauties in the south of the Yangtze River would affect the morale of the army, so wherever he went, it was strictly forbidden to make wine and drink, and he set an example first.As for Hu Dahai's son, one day he was depressed and depressed. He was afraid to enter many pubs and restaurants in the city, and he didn't have any wine in his possession. In the end, Hu Dahai's son thought of a way to use the army's rations to make his own wine, isn't it just to let the grains ferment?He knew it would not be difficult, and after visiting local folks, he started his own brewing project.Unexpectedly, before the wine was brewed, when Zhu Yuanzhang checked the army rations, he found that someone had stolen the rations. He was found out to be the son of Hu Dahai. Zhu Yuanzhang ordered: "A soldier like this can only break the military regulations. No matter who his father is, he will be pulled out and beheaded to show the public, so as to show the military prestige." At this time, Feng Guosheng, who was following him, said: "Commander, I'm afraid it's not appropriate to kill him at this time. General Hu is fighting ahead, if he kills his son, I'm afraid he will feel bad." Zhu Yuanzhang said sharply: "We would rather Hu Dahai rebel than tolerate his son's crimes." After Hu Dahai learned of this, although he was heartbroken, he had to admire Zhu Yuanzhang's courage, so he had to endure the pain and fight for Zhu Yuanzhang more firmly.Because he knew that if he didn't do this, his death would be even more embarrassing. During these years of fighting, he already knew what kind of general Zhu Yuanzhang was.Half a month later, Hu Dahai and Geng Bingwen captured Chuzhou. In just one year, Zhu Yuanzhang set out from Huizhou, sometimes using offense as defense, sometimes using defense as offense, and the eastern Zhejiang front was basically formed. This was a sign of his rise in the south of the Yangtze River, and the Yuan army strongholds in the southeast were gradually wiped out by Zhu Yuanzhang .In this way, Zhu Yuanzhang's territory was directly bordered by his powerful enemy. His neighbors were Zhang Shicheng to the northeast, Chen Youliang to the west, Fang Guozhen to the southeast, and Chen Youding to the south.A new military situation was formed, and Zhu Yuanzhang also had a new military strategy and land acquisition strategy.