Chen Yue is still confident in holding Yangzhou and blocking the Qing troops in the north of the Yangtze River.

After all, he now has 60,000 or 70,000 descendants under his command, although most of them are new recruits who have been recruited for less than a year, and the field force may not be as good as the Eight Banners, but there is no problem in using it for defense.

Coupled with the purge and control of Yangzhou City for several months, the restless salt merchants in the city were basically expelled from the city, although the disappearance of the salt merchants will make Yangzhou's economy worse, it is obvious that the business in the fireworks and wine alleys is much worse, and the price of Yangzhou's skinny horses has dropped sharply, after all, the salt merchants are the richest people in Yangzhou.

In fact, there are fewer big salt merchants, but there are far more small salt merchants in Yangzhou than before, after all, the Sihai Salt Company is only responsible for collecting salt from stove households, and these small salt merchants are still needed to sell salt in various places.

However, with the large number of purchases from the Ordnance Division, more businessmen gathered in Yangzhou to do business with the Ordnance Division. Although the Jiangbei Governor's Mansion is domineering, it can only be affirmed in terms of the integrity of doing business, and the payment is also readily paid. With the change of the workshops of the Ordnance Division, many civilians in Yangzhou City have also obtained a lot of employment opportunities, and many of the work of the Ordnance Division, such as the production of military uniforms and other military materials, will be subcontracted to the people in the city.

So on the whole, Yangzhou City is more prosperous than in the past. With the help of a strong army, the control of salt by the Four Seas Commercial Bank, and the large number of employment opportunities created by the Ordnance Division, the Pingnan Army was completely integrated into Yangzhou.

Coupled with the cooperation of the Yangzhou prefect's yamen and the pervasiveness of the secret agents of the enemy intelligence department, Chen Yue's control over Yangzhou City was extremely strong. Therefore, I am confident that when the Qing troops attack south, we will gather the strength of the whole city to defend the city, and there will never be another time and space when the Qing soldiers will capture the city in a few days.

Although the Qing soldiers may not be able to defeat the Qing soldiers in the field, as long as they can hold Yangzhou for a few months, and wait until the hot summer, the Qing soldiers will retreat on their own without fighting. After all, for the Manchurians born in the cold and dry northeast, the hot and humid weather in the south is their great enemy. Instead, he saw the opportunity and might be able to get a big win.

Therefore, Chen Yue is extremely confident in holding Yangzhou. But the upper reaches of the Yangtze River made him very uneasy.

Because the Qing army did not attack this way, but attacked in two ways, and there were 200,000 people of the Dashun army before the Qing army. Can Wuchang's Zuo Liangyu army withstand the Shun army and the Qing army? Chen Yue is not optimistic about it.

In another time and space, Zuo Liangyu was unwilling to resist in the face of the defeated Shun army, and after plundering Wuchang, he abandoned the city and the whole army went east, avoiding the Shun army under the banner of "Qingjun's side". Then he was defeated by Huang Degong in Wuhu, and he was stationed in Jiujiang and could not retreat. Zuo Liangyu was worried and died on the boat. And when the Qing army Azig led the troops to Jiujiang, hundreds of thousands of people in the left army did not even dare to fight, and surrendered without a fight under the leadership of Zuo Mengeng, the son of Zuo Liangyu.

How dare Chen Yue have hope for such an army that is brutal at home and cowardly at home?

Of course, it is still Chongzhen who is sitting on the emperor's throne, and he is the orthodoxy of being the emperor for seventeen years, which also makes Zuo Liangyu have no excuse to be like another time and space "Qingjun side". But will he obey the orders of the imperial court and stay in Wuchang? According to Zuo Liangyu's disposition of repeatedly escaping in the past, I am afraid that it will be very southern to do this.

If Zuo Liangyu escaped again and surrendered Wuchang to the Qing army, the Qing army would go down the river and attack Nanjing from the west. With Nanjing's current strength, it may be difficult to resist the Qing army.

If Nanjing is lost, what is the point of Yangzhou being held? What awaits the Pingnan Army is probably the two-sided attack of the Qing Army from the north and south.

With the military strength of the Pingnan Army, it is already the limit to be able to take care of a front in Yangzhou, which is really beyond the reach of Wuchang. What Chen Yue could do was to send Liu Neng to Wuchang and use the secret agents of the Enemy Intelligence Department to see if he could do something.

For this reason, Chen Yue gave Liu Neng the power to make a decision immediately, and if necessary, he could mobilize the manpower and material resources of the Four Seas Merchant and the Four Seas Salt Company in Wuchang, as long as the matter was conducive to holding the western front and benefiting the Ming Dynasty.

I've done everything I can do, and now it's up to the court. The current imperial court is not as weak as the Hongguang court in another time and space, and in terms of the control of the government and the locality, Chongzhen is far stronger than Hongguang. There are still more than 100,000 Beijing camps in Nanjing, and there are also a large number of troops in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so it should not be easy for the Qing army to hit the city of Nanjing!

If Nanjing really can't hold it, he will have to abandon Yangzhou and go to other places, so it's better to go to Chongming or Zhoushan Islands? Chen Yue thought wildly, but he didn't hear what Qian Fenglin said clearly.

"Master Hou, the parade has ended, please instruct me what to do next?" Qian Fenglin asked again, and Chen Yue reacted at this time.

"Ah, go back and disband your camps in their place." Chen Yue waved his hand, originally he was going to summon the generals of the water camp to give a lecture at the end of the parade as planned, but now he was not in that mood.

"Master Hou, you should still encourage the generals, after all, the military spirit is important." Qian Fenglin stopped the herald who went to convey the order, and persuaded Chen Yue in a low voice.

Chen Yue thought for a moment and nodded, the more this time, the more he had to keep his composure.

So, according to the process, the generals of each battalion of the Navy Division were ordered to take a boat to the island in the middle of the lake, and the chief soldier of the Navy Division, Lu Tai, the deputy general Wu Ping, and a number of battalion officers and other officers visited their Hou Ye.

Chen Yue smiled and comforted, affirmed their performance, then mentioned some deficiencies, and then announced a reward for all the sailor soldiers who participated in the review.

Chen Yue's order was transmitted by the heralds to the warships, and the entire lake was suddenly jubilant, and the morale of the soldiers in the water battalion was high.

At the end of the review, Chen Yue ordered each battalion to return to the camp. He took Qian Fenglin, Yang Zhengping and others to leave Shao Bohu and took a boat to Yangzhou City.

"Did Lord Hou send Liu Neng to Wuchang?" On the way, Qian Fenglin asked.

As the chief of staff, he must figure out everything about the Pingnan Army before he can plan the corresponding countermeasures.

In Qian Fenglin's opinion, it was really delusional to intervene in a war just by relying on the secret work of the enemy intelligence department led by Liu Neng.

"If Zuo Liangyu can't resist the thieves and Qing soldiers, who do you think the imperial court will send to lead the troops to reinforcements?" Chen Yue didn't return, but asked rhetorically.

"This?" Qian Fenglin frowned slightly.

If Wuchang really can't hold it, the imperial court will definitely send reinforcements to guard Jiujiang or Wuhu, as for who will be sent to lead the army? According to Chongzhen's past temperament and the tradition of the Ming Dynasty to write and imperial martial arts, most of them will send a senior official or even a university scholar as a supervisor, as for the specific military generals who lead the Beijing camp, now the nobles in Nanjing City have almost been wiped out by Chen Yue, and the nobles who can send the leaders are Zhu Guobi, who has just been promoted to the Duke of Chengguo, or Wu Mengming, the governor of the Beijing camp, and then Chen Jianghe, the Marquis of Zhongyi.

Could it be that Chongzhen would send Chen Jianghe to lead the Beijing camp on the expedition? Chen Yue is now leading an army in Yangzhou, will Chongzhen send his father to fight again? Qian Fenglin was very suspicious.

If Chen Jianghe really led his troops to the battle, Liu Neng's Enemy Intelligence Division would be able to understand it.

"Could it be the old marquis?" Qian Fenglin asked tentatively.

Chen Yue has a close relationship with Jinyiwei, and has a deep background in the imperial court and even in the inner palace, which Qian Fenglin knows very well, since Chen Yue sent Liu Neng to Wuchang, it is most likely that Chen Jianghe is going to go on the expedition.

"Alas, can't I be loyal to the country alone? I have to go into battle with my father and son. Chen Yue said quite annoyed.

Although Chongzhen deposed Liu Neng to show his dissatisfaction with Jinyiwei and Chen Yue's secrets, with Chen Yue's energy, what happened in the Nanjing court naturally couldn't hide from him.

In the Wuchang area, the vanguard of the Dashun army, which retreated to the four prefectures of Jingxiang, had already clashed with Zuo Liangyu's troops, and it was reported that tens of thousands of Qing army and eight banner soldiers were chasing behind the Dashun army. This matter has long been investigated by the secret agents of Jinyi Wei and passed on to the imperial court.

Although Chongzhen was happy to see the Qing army defeat and even exterminate the thieves. But he also knew that after the thieves were exterminated, the Ming Dynasty would directly face the more powerful Manchu Eight Banner Army.

At the beginning, when the strong army of the Nine Sides was there, it was not the opponent of the Eight Banners, and now the elite of the border army was lost, and the last elite Guan Ning Army surrendered to the Qing army under the leadership of Wu Sangui. Therefore, Chongzhen has no illusions about the result of the battle between Zuo Liangyu and the Qing army. Wuchang is mostly unstoppable.

These days, Chongzhen and the important ministers of the court discussed this matter day and night, trying to find a way to deal with it. Of course, it is necessary to send troops to reinforce the town, guard Wuhu Jiujiang and other important river defense areas, and rely on the city and water army to resist the Qing army's eastward road.

Zhu Guobi's Jiangshui division had to be responsible for the river defense outside Nanjing, and he could not be dispatched easily. For this reason, Chongzhen issued a holy decree and ordered Zheng Zhilong, the general soldier of Fujian, to send a naval army over to take charge of river defense matters. Zheng Zhilong was born as a pirate, and was entrusted with an important position after being recruited by the imperial court, and has gathered a lot of wealth by relying on sea trade over the years, and now it is time for him to contribute to the country.

In the eyes of the ministers of the imperial court, although the combat effectiveness of the Ming army was not as good as that of the Eight Banners of the Qing army, it was still very promising to rely on the city to hold on, and then block the Yangtze River with a naval army.

However, on the choice of the commander of the army, the courtiers debated endlessly. According to tradition, an important minister should be sent as a supervisor to command all the armies in Huguang and Jiangxi, and be fully responsible for resisting the Qing army.

However, not everyone can bring soldiers, and over the years, civil officials who can lead soldiers such as Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting have been killed in battle, and Hong Chengchou has also surrendered to the Manchus. More than ten years of experience has shown that leading troops to the battlefield generally does not end well, where is it comfortable to stay in the imperial court and be a stable official?

Therefore, the officials of the imperial court avoided the matter of commanding the army. Shi Kefa, the first assistant of the cabinet, took the lead in expressing his willingness to go out of Jiujiang as a supervisor. But with so many things to deal with in the imperial court, how could a Shoufu scholar be allowed to supervise the teacher in person?

Chongzhen's preferred candidate is the second assistant Lu Zhenfei, after all, when Lu Zhenfei was the governor of Huai'an, he repelled several attacks by the thieves, and he can be described as a soldier.

However, Lu Zhenfei is too upright and not very good at handling interpersonal relationships, and now the three scholars in the cabinet, Shi Kefa and Qian Qianyi have gathered a large group of their own forces, only Lu Zhenfei does not form a party or pull a faction, and there are only a handful of courtiers around him who support him.

Therefore, Chongzhen was very worried about whether Lu Zhenfei could handle the intricate relationship in the Jiujiang area of Wuchang, after all, a military leader like Zuo Liangyu was not easy to deal with.

And the courtiers of Shi Kefa and Qian Qianyi's faction did not want Lu Zhenfei to go on the expedition, because Lu Zhenfei and Pingnanhou Chen Yue were too close. Chen Yue's position in Yangzhou is irreplaceable, could it be that the army on the West Road is still in the hands of this faction?

If Lu Zhenfei can really stop the pace of the Qing army's advance, his status in the imperial court will definitely rise in the future, which is what many officials do not want to see.

As a result, many courtiers elected Yuan Jixian, the governor of Jiangxi, as the superintendent, on the grounds that Yuan Jixian has been leading troops to fight with thieves since Chongzhen ten years in the Huguang Senate, pacified the water thieves Yu Xingguo, and defeated the seven Shaanxi thieves such as Lao Huihui and Leather, who were all thieves with the same strength as the thief Li Zicheng!

Among the officials and ministers, Yuan Jixian is a rare person who knows how to fight, and his experience in leading troops is richer than Lu Zhenfei. Moreover, Yuan Jixian's current official position is the governor of Jiangxi, who is responsible for the military and political affairs in Jiangxi, and only needs to promote him to the superintendent, and is fully responsible for the military affairs of Jiangxi, Huguang and other places, so why send a bachelor who does not know soldiers as a superintendent?

After careful consideration of the ministers' proposals, Chongzhen deeply believed that Yuan Jixian was indeed more suitable than Lu Zhenfei. So it was decided, with Yuan Jixian as the supervisor, and the governor of Jiangxi, Huguang, Anqing, Wuhu, Jiujiang, Wuchang and other military affairs, and was fully responsible for exterminating the thieves and resisting the Manchu Tartars.

The candidate for the superintendent was decided, but Yuan Jixian's Jiangxi soldiers were not too many, and reinforcements had to be sent from Nanjing.

It is said that the candidate to lead the reinforcements of the Beijing camp is Wu Mengming, the governor of the Beijing camp, is the most suitable, but the ministers said that Wu Mengming was born in Jinyiwei and has never fought at all.

Wu Mengming can't do it, Zhu Guobi, the Duke of Chengguo, wants to lead the Caojiang Naval Army to be responsible for the defense of the Nanjing River, and the only nobles who can lead the troops are the loyal Marquis Chen Jianghe.

So a minister played and proposed that Chen Jianghe, the Marquis of Zhongyi, lead his troops to Jiujiang. Chongzhen was in a state of hesitation.

"Master Hou's father and son are both going out for the generals, and they can think of it!" Hearing Chen Yue talk about the situation in Nanjing, Qian Fenglin took a sip to show his disdain for the Nanjing courtiers. Because he knew that his Hou Ye was very worried about his father's safety.

"It's not that the position of the commander of the Jinyi Guard is too important, which makes too many people uneasy." Chen Yue sighed.

After Chongzhen arrived in Nanjing, he dismissed the attitude of the factory guard, but reused the factory guard, not only greatly expanded the Jinyi guard, but also rebuilt the east factory. This made the Donglin gentlemen, who were very disgusted with spy politics, extremely dissatisfied. In particular, as soon as Jinyiwei was established, he assisted Chen Yue in raiding the homes of many nobles in Nanjing, coercing and inducing him to frame the charges, and using all kinds of means, which made the ministers deeply uneasy.

I'm afraid that it is not only the ministers who are uneasy about Chen Jianghe, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, but also the emperor! Qian Fenglin guessed, but he didn't dare to say it.

At the beginning, Chongzhen had just arrived in Nanjing, and no one was available, so he asked Chen Jianghe, who was the most trusted, to serve as the commander of the Jinyi Guard. But as Chen Yue's power gradually grew, Chongzhen was not at ease, one of the Chen family's father and son was in charge of the army outside as a town warlord, and the other was responsible for intelligence as the eyes and ears of the Son of Heaven, if the father and son colluded, it would pose a great threat to the imperial power.

When the Qing soldiers invaded, the commander of the Jinyi Guard was replaced by someone else, and the Jinyi Guard was controlled by the emperor himself. Although Chen Jianghe controlled the army, what he had in his hands was the Beijing camp, and after the battle, he still had to return to Nanjing to be led by Wu Mengming, the governor of the Beijing camp, unlike the Pingnan army, which was Chen Yue's private soldier.

When Chen Jianghe returns to Beijing, he only needs to be given a prominent official position. I'm afraid this is Chongzhen's idea!