"Victory?"

In the residence of the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, Zhou Zhonghong took a sip of tea elegantly.

Although he already knew the outcome of this war, he did not know some details of the process.

"Yes, according to the news from the front line, the Taiping Army met the enemy in front of Zhenjiang Fucheng. The enemy wanted to attack the city, but was quickly defeated by the Taiping Army. In just one encounter, the enemy suffered countless losses.

thousand,

The subsequent encirclement plan directly defeated the opponent. After subsequent statistics, in addition to the 10,000 cavalry and the dead Qing troops who had never met, the company commander and his soldiers captured a total of 74,500.

The rest..."

After listening to his subordinate's report, Zhou Zhonghong nodded silently.

War is often cruel. Zhou Zhonghong has always understood this. Now, what he cares about most is not how the people will discuss the matter, but how the Forbidden City will react to the news.

Presumably the emperor should have realized something was wrong at this time, no matter how slow his reaction was.

"What are you going to do with those prisoners of war?"

Thinking that the Forbidden City might explode because of this, Zhou Zhonghong felt very good. However, he soon realized a new problem, which was the arrangement of prisoners of war.

There are more than 70,000 people. If this is not properly arranged, problems can easily arise.

"It is said that there are only more than 20,000 people left in Zhenjiang, and the rest are divided equally between Jiangning, Suzhou and Songjiang. They are all on the way to be escorted now."

Hearing Zhang Fan's treatment, Zhou Zhonghong felt relieved.

The number of more than 70,000 is too large, and it is easy to cause problems if it causes riots, but if it is divided, even if there is a problem, the harm will be much less. www.bǐqυgetν.℃ǒm

…

The news that the Taiping Army had won the battle spread throughout southern Jiangsu in a short time. To this news, the general reaction of the people was mainly excitement.

The originally tense atmosphere disappeared with the victory of this battle. Faced with this sudden victory, the people rushed to the streets and began to shout long live.

Even the slogan that I didn’t know where it came from at the beginning was brought up again at this moment.

Qingtian is dead, Taiping must be established!

At this time, Zhang Fan was standing on the city wall of Songjiang Mansion watching all this.

Listening to the people's shouts like a mountain roaring and a tsunami, Zhang Fan suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of accomplishment in his heart.

No one doesn’t like the feeling of being surrounded by others, especially in times like this...

“People’s hearts have gathered, and great achievements can be expected!”

At this time, Zhou Zhonghong, who was standing next to Zhang Fan, also said happily while twirling his beard.

"Really? I don't even feel like I did anything."

Listening to people shouting "Long Live Long Live", Zhang Fan was moved but at the same time, he felt a little bit more stressed.

All the people in this world will have to bear on his shoulders one day in the future. Such a heavy burden can be regarded as making him understand one thing.

If you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight

…

Forbidden City, in the Hall of Cultivation of the Heart

Yongzheng was sitting on the dragon throne with a gloomy face and said nothing, and in front of him stood several court officials.

"Why, are you all mute?"

After a long silence, Yongzheng suddenly threw down the memorial in his hand and shouted loudly.

"An army of one hundred thousand! The entire army of one hundred thousand was captured. Except for the Qiaoqi battalion who did not participate in the siege, all the remaining soldiers were killed and captured. When have I ever suffered such humiliation since the founding of the Qing Dynasty?"

After saying that, Yongzheng still felt a little bit displeased, and then he stood up and patted the table.

A moment passed after Yongzheng finished speaking, but the ministers standing still said nothing.

"Why, aren't you always eloquent on weekdays? Why are you mute today!"

Looking at the silent crowd, Yong Zheng was furious. He was both angry at the defeat and at the same time angry at himself.

After this great defeat, Yongzheng finally understood one thing. This group of rebels was probably not the fault of the Jiangnan soldiers. They did not have such ability.

But at the same time, he was also very confused about this. If it wasn't the Jiangnan soldiers who were responsible, then who could it be?

A force that could defeat an army of 100,000 men, even Wu Sangui back then was far less brave than them.

But with such a powerful force, who are they? Who are the people behind them?

Doubts can't help but linger in Yongzheng's mind.

"Your Majesty, it's not the time to be angry right now. I think we should focus on appeasing people's hearts first."

At this time, a man with a mustache and a serious expression suddenly stepped forward and suggested.

Yong Zheng raised his eyes and glanced at this person, and then said slowly: "Zhang Tingyu, please tell me carefully!"

"Your Majesty, the imperial court has suffered a huge defeat right now, and there are a lot of discussions among civil and military officials throughout the dynasty. If we let it go on, I'm afraid it will be detrimental to the country.

In addition, all the Jeju defense forces were wiped out in this battle. Now that Jeju’s military defense is empty, additional troops need to be deployed to prevent civil strife.”

Listening to Zhang Tingyu's analysis, Yong Zheng silently sat back on the dragon chair, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, what Mr. Zhang said is indeed true, but in the opinion of an old minister, in addition to stabilizing the hearts of the people in the government and the public, and in Jeju, Yangzhou must also make plans early."

Shortly after Zhang Tingyu finished speaking, Longkodo on the side also echoed.

"Yangzhou..."

Hearing Longkodo talk about Yangzhou, Yongzheng's face immediately straightened.

Now that the imperial army's anti-rebellion army has been defeated, and the morale of the rebels is strong, they may take this opportunity to march directly into Yangzhou. Once Yangzhou is lost, Xuzhou and even the entire Jiangsu area may become in danger.

But...what can I do now?

The elite of the Eight Banners stick to the capital, and the Gansu and Shaanxi areas have to guard against Zhuge'er. It would be fine if they only send some of them to Shandong. If they also need to divide their troops to go to Yangzhou, this will be a bit stretched.

It has only been four years since he took the throne. Although his foundation has been stable, the sequelae of the previous pacification of Luobu Zangdanjin and this big defeat have not been completely eliminated. If he starts a war rashly again, not only the national treasury will not have enough money and food, but morale will also be affected. great impact.

"Your Majesty, you must not!

Now that Shen Zishan has been defeated and the imperial court has suffered huge losses, it will be very difficult to raise troops again. Once the opponent seizes the opportunity, I am afraid that the country will be in danger of overthrowing!"

Hearing that Longkodo wanted to send troops to Yangzhou, Zhang Tingyu immediately expressed his opposition.

"Master Zhang, what you said is wrong. Do you want to watch these rebels run rampant in Jiangsu?"

Longkodo frowned immediately after hearing this, and then started arguing with Zhang Tingyu.

"The morale of this group of rebels is now at a high level. If we send troops now, the other side can just sit back and wait for work. But what will you do if they are surrounded but not attacked?"

Zhang Tingyu strongly opposed sending troops to Yangzhou.

"Then with Master Zhang's opinion, what should we do?"

"Your Majesty, the rebel forces are strong now and have a strong tail that cannot be lost. Since a frontal attack is not possible, why not follow the example of the late emperor and issue an edict?"

Zhang Tingyu already had plans in mind for Zhang Fan and his group.

First issue an order, then divide it, and then deal with it slowly.

"Zhao'an?"
Chapter completed!