At noon, the Jin Shengbu had already put on new armor, boasted of war horses, and assembled outside the West Gate.

Wang Yan led everyone to set up wine and see him off, Jin Sheng said: "My soldiers will go west, they will play more flags, bluff, and lead the Qing soldiers westward, and the general will lead the troops into central Zhejiang as soon as possible to support the new lord to resist the Qing Dynasty." ”

"This is hundreds of miles, there are interceptions in front, and there are chasing soldiers in the back, which is extremely dangerous, the two of you should put yourself first, don't worry about our safety." Wang Yan said to the two of them: "Come, and drink this cup full, go all the way!" ”

At that moment, Jin Sheng and Jiang Tianyi raised their heads and drank the farewell wine, and led the four thousand Huizhou children to embark on the slow way home.

When Zhan Ba attacked Xiying in the Ming army, he did not flee north with Li Shutai and others, but secretly led his henchmen to hide in the Jinsheng army.

Wang Yan saw that he was not exposed, and Zhan Ba's family was in Beijing, and he did not want to drift with Wang Yan all the way, so Wang Yan asked him to bring 100,000 taels of silver, let him rebel north, and continue to hide in the Qing court, collect intelligence for Wang Yan, and recruit officials.

After Jin Shengbu went west, Wang Yan practiced for Zhan Ba again, ordered him to be returned to the north, and sent the king of Yangzhou to accompany him.

In the city of Yangzhou, a group of soldiers who gave orders shouted in the city, passing Wang Yan's order and saying: "Yangzhou siege is solved, but the soldiers of Duoduo will inevitably come back in the near future, and the lonely city can not be defended for a long time, and the people should take advantage of the fact that the northern captives have not arrived, and quickly go out of the city to prevent the northern captives from retaliating." ”

The people of Yangzhou had already packed up and were ready to follow Wang Yan south, but now listening to the words of the soldiers, Wang Yan did not seem to be ready to carry them across the river, and the people of Yangzhou were in an uproar.

At this time, when Wang Yan returned to the city after bidding farewell to Jin Sheng, the people saw it and hurriedly blocked it at the city gate and asked loudly. "But the general wants to abandon me?"

"Isn't the general afraid of us as a burden and wants to abandon him?"

Wang Yan and the others were blocked by the people to enter the city, so they had to climb the city tower and persuade: "You have been fighting with me for two months, and I will abandon it?" It is really forced by the situation to take you and others south, which is to harm you and others! It's better to let you wait out of the city, but you can live a life. ”

When the people saw Wang Yan ascending the tower to speak, they gathered under the city to listen to his words, and when he finished speaking, the people shouted in unison: "Even if we die, I would like to go south with the general, please don't abandon him lightly." ”

The people under the city wept and declared, and the anger of grief and indignation permeated the whole city.

When Wang Yan heard this, he couldn't help but burst into tears, Zuo Maodi and the others behind him didn't think that Wang Yan had such a high prestige in the hearts of the people of Yangzhou.

In the two-month battle of Yangzhou, Wang Yan shared weal and woe with the soldiers and civilians of Yangzhou, and had formed a deep love of fish and water, and Wang Yan had been regarded by the people of Yangzhou as relying on him in this troubled era.

At this time, Wang Yan saw that the people were reluctant to go out of the city, so he had to take a long look at the people under the city with tears in his eyes, and then said: "Your heart, I know also, but this time when you go south into Zhejiang, the northern captives will definitely lead troops to chase and kill, and the army will flee with the people, without the support of the strong village, it will not be the opponent of the northern captives." If there is a great defeat, I will not be able to protect you, and I will not let you and others be completely defeated! Ben will implore everyone to listen to my words and get out of the city as soon as possible to escape, and it is important to save your life. ”

When the people saw Wang Yan's actions, they immediately quieted down, and when they heard what he said, there were still people who cried bitterly: "We know the general's heart, but we all have a blood feud with the northern captives, and we don't want to fall into the dust, let alone be the obedient people of the northern captives, and please take the general to the south." ”

Zuo Maodi and others didn't expect the people of Yangzhou to be so resolute, Wang Yan was also touched by the hearts of the people, and couldn't help but sigh at the moment, and then said to the people in the city: "In this case, if the people are willing to follow, they will enter Zhejiang with me, and if they don't want to, they will immediately go out of the city and avoid the revenge of the northern captives!" ”

When the people heard Wang Yan's promise, they were immediately overjoyed and rushed to the east gate.

For a time, the people helped the old and the young, brought men and women, came to the edge of the canal, and crossed the river.

When Wang Yan returned to the palace, he asked the soldiers to drive the people out of the city, and then began to set fire to the city, and a large number of materials he seized from the Qing army, together with the once prosperous Yangzhou, were all burned by the fire, and the smoke and dust covered the sky.

Yangzhou City, which was known in the Jin and Tang Dynasties, was almost completely destroyed by Wang Yan, and all the materials that could not be transported were discarded and destroyed, and the heavy artillery, weapons and armor, grain and grass were all left in the ruins of Yangzhou City.

Of course, Wang Yan had already ordered his soldiers to select the best armor and the most sophisticated firearms and equip them, and the most valuable things, such as silver taels that could not be transported, were buried in the ground and dug up again when the Northern Expedition came in the future.

Yangzhou was burned, and Wang Yan led the troops out of the city and crossed the Grand Canal.

Wang Yan and Zuo Maodi joined forces, totaling more than 35,000 people, and it was not until the sun set in the west that the army all crossed the canal.

Wang Yan came to the east bank by boat, looked back at Yangzhou City in the smoke in the west, and saw that there were people who had not crossed, looking at the river and crying, and his mood could not help but be very heavy.

Although Wang Yan tried every possible persuasion, there were still nearly 300,000 people who insisted on crossing south with him. When he saw the people on both sides of the strait, helping the old and the young, he cried endlessly, and asked Chen Zilong to urge the boat to cross it.

It was not until it was dark that the people were crossed, and by this time the people who had crossed the river earlier had already traveled dozens of miles.

Seeing that the team was so scattered, stretching for dozens of miles, Wang Yan couldn't help but feel very worried in his heart, praying that the Qing army would not catch up.

In the city of Nanjing, not long after Li Shuotai reported the arrival of the report, Wang Yan burned Yangzhou, and the news that the army had fled east also spread to Nanjing.

When Duoduo got the reward, he was furious, scolded the Zhun Ta rice bucket, and then immediately prepared to raise troops to chase him.

At this time, there was a military report, saying, "There is a Ming army in Jiangbei, there are more than 10,000 people, and there are geniuses along the way, passing through Liuhe, and going straight to Anhui." ”

The Qing army went south for just over two months, and there were still a large number of prefectures and counties in northern Anhui and Hubei, which were in the hands of the Ming Dynasty gentry.

Li Shuotai said in the newspaper that the army of Jin Sheng, but more than 4,000 people, and now the army reported that there are indeed more than 10,000 troops going west, Duoduo can't help but have some doubts, he doesn't know that it is the bluff of Jin Sheng's soldiers, and the intuitive Wang Yan has a great possibility of fleeing west, and then divides the soldiers and horses into two armies.

Duoduo left the Han Dynasty to lead tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to sit in Nanjing, and then ordered Liu Liangzuo to join the generals Tian Xiong and Ma Degong with a total of 60,000 troops to chase Jin Sheng's soldiers, while he led 100,000 horses such as Zhen Manchu, Mongolian soldiers from the outer domain, and Li Chengdong to go east along the river to chase Wang Yan.

At the mouth of the Yangtze River, Wang Yan and others, who fled east from Yangzhou, finally came to the other side of Chongming, and nearly 1,000 military ships shuttled back and forth on the river, fighting for more than 30,000 soldiers and civilians.

Wang Yan stood by the river with Zuo Maodi and others, watching the people help each other to cross the south, and couldn't help but think of the people in the Jin and Song dynasties, and said with sadness: "Looking at the history, our nation cannot be based on the Central Plains, and it is regarded as the south crossing." And those who crossed to the south did not have those who could return to the north. The Jin people crossed to the south, and the Song people crossed to the south, and the second example was also, the scenery was not different, the deep sorrow of the Jin people, and the rivers and mountains were returned, and the false wishes of the Song people. Now we are waiting to cross to the south, but I don't know if we can return to the Central Plains north and recover thousands of miles of rivers and mountains! ”