Jin Hufu looked at the royal decree in his hand.
He knew that the Jinling court would never offer him such a high price.
In chaotic times, one's primary task is to maintain control of one's army and then act according to circumstances.
The two dynasties, one in the north and one in the south, are now in a standoff.
Li Qin controlled the imperial court in the capital from the north.
When the Jinling court was established, he also planned to go down the river to control the Jinling court and, like Li Qin, hold the emperor hostage.
However, Hu Zongxian's subsequent surrender in Zhejiang made him begin to observe the situation from a distance.
Li Qin is now in a powerful position, and he is offering substantial incentives.
Submitting to him is indeed a better option.
He then summoned his messenger and instructed him to go to the capital to contact Li Qin and tell him what had happened.
If the Nanjing army marches north to Huguang, he will lead troops to stop them.
However, to prevent the Jinling court from sending troops to attack him after he openly surrendered, the court did not want him to do so.
He will not openly side with him until he has completely taken control of Huguang.
They could only form an alliance in secret.
Wuchang.
He Tengjiao stood on the city wall, watching the peasant army being driven back once again.
I've cursed Li Jinglong's incompetence countless times in my heart.
Not only did he squander the tens of thousands of troops he had entrusted to him, but he also lost everything.
They even led these bandit troops all the way into Huguang.
Is he on his side or on the enemy's side?
He not only failed to complete the task assigned to him, but also became a collaborator with the enemy.
Now, he and the Governor-General of Henan, Dong Zhonglou, have reportedly already sailed down the Yangtze River, bypassing him and fleeing to the Jiangnan region in the east.
They didn't offer any assistance in resisting the enemy army.
If they had resisted for a while and prevented the rebel army from entering Huguang so suddenly, they would have had some time to prepare and wouldn't have been caught off guard and completely unprepared.
This has led to the current predicament in the Hubei and Hunan region.
He had sent him to support Dong Zhonglou in Nanyang, but suddenly received news that the rebel army had entered Huguang.
You lost way too fast!
He knew perfectly well the mindset of the officials in Huguang, who were all very tempted by Li Qin's terms of surrender.
After all, being an official under you is the same as being an official under Li Qin.
Those officials were not appointed by him; they were all appointed by the court before the Li Qin Rebellion.
For them, it's all about working their butts off, so why can't I find a boss with a bright future?
It's obvious that Li Qin looks much more promising than him.
As the rebel army marched south, he could be certain that the entire Huguang region was now filled with surrendered flags.
His only remaining options are the Jinhu Prefecture in eastern Jiangxi and the Jinling Imperial Court.
During this period, he sent a large number of envoys to both sides, but to no avail.
Jin Hufu in Jiangxi initially intended to support him, but for some reason, he has recently stopped doing so.
However, the Jinling court held a major debate in support of him.
However, it is said that after Li Qin went south to Lianghuai, the landlords and gentry in Jiangnan have begun to concentrate their efforts on dealing with Li Qin who is about to go south.
They had absolutely no intention of supporting him.
It's fair to say he's now in a desperate situation with no one to help him.
If it weren't for Li Jinglong's disastrous defeat that resulted in the loss of his 60,000-strong army...
He wasn't afraid of the peasant armies outside, or the surrendered troops they had recruited along the way.
You could totally go out and fight them.
He was even very confident that he could win.
Now, however, they can only rely on the remaining tens of thousands of troops and the people in the city to defend it.
Without external reinforcements, they are doomed.
Wuchang has become a dead city with no support.
If I continue to hold out, I will only face certain death.
The only way to survive is to break out with the remaining troops and escape this deadly place.
I still have a navy under my command, although it's not very strong in combat.
However, it was still better than the peasant army besieging the city outside, which had no navy and only some small boats.
Using his navy, he could escape the deadly Wuchang.
They traveled down the Yangtze River to Jiangxi, or went south to submit to the Nanjing court.
Otherwise, they'll wait for Li Qin's regular army and Jurchen cavalry to surrender the other prefectures and counties in Huguang, and then surround them with the surrendered troops.
Wuchang will become a complete dead end; he won't be able to escape.
So we should retreat as soon as possible. If we wait for Li Qin's regular army to arrive, especially since we've heard that Li's army also has artillery, then staying in Wuchang will only lead to certain death.
After having this idea, he immediately began preparations to evacuate Wuchang.
Yuezhou Prefecture.
"General Liu, how are your troops doing?"
Wanyan Gun walked into the hall with a grim expression, sat down in a chair, and said...
Liu Shengwu waved his hand and said:
"Don't even mention it, because many have already collapsed due to the change in environment."
Where are your Jurchen cavalry?
"Same here, it's just too hot in the south, our soldiers and warhorses all came from Liaodong."
Neither people nor horses can withstand the climate here.
Wanyan Gun said helplessly, and then had some more ice brought in.
"Uncle's reinforcements should be arriving soon."
Liu Shengwu glanced at him, then picked up a piece of ice and said:
"Their situation is the same as ours. Although the army has reached Jingzhou, many of them have also fallen."
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