Nanjing.
Zhu Jianshen sighed deeply after seeing He Tengjiao withdraw from Wuchang.
With the fall of Wuchang, Huguang (Hubei and Hunan provinces) has completely fallen into the hands of the traitor Li.
Fortunately, He Tengjiao had submitted a petition to him before withdrawing from Wuchang, surrendering to him.
Previously, the Governor-General of Henan, Dong Zhonglou, and Li Jinglong had both brought their remaining troops and some civilians with them.
I've already sent people to incorporate them into my own ranks.
Although they had long feared Li Qin like a tiger.
Upon seeing Li Qin's army, they basically fled at the mere sight of them.
He didn't really have much hope of sending them to resist Li Qin.
However, they have another function.
That is, they fled all the way here without having any contact with the officials and gentry in Jiangnan.
In other words, they were an army independent of the bureaucrats, landlords, and gentry of Jiangnan.
Especially after He Tengjiao arrived with his troops, the proportion of his own troops without connections to Jiangnan increased again.
He needed to have an army under his control that could check and balance the bureaucrats in Jiangnan and had little to do with them.
Otherwise, having fled from the north and having no foothold in Jiangnan, it would have been impossible for him to establish absolute authority with only the support of Shi Kefa.
In the end, he could only be gradually sidelined by them, becoming a naked Jiangnan court.
Therefore, we must increase the proportion of these troops that have no connection with them.
Even though their fighting strength was questionable, they fled at the mere sight of Li Qin's army.
After recruiting Dong Zhonglou and Li Jinglong, he transferred them to Jinling.
This was to check and balance the armies in Jinling that were composed of people from Jiangnan and had too many connections with Jiangnan officials.
This would give the emperor more room to maneuver in the middle.
Besides them, he even wanted to transfer Yang Zhiyong from Jiangbei over.
However, due to strong opposition from Jiangnan, it was ultimately not done.
After dealing with all of this, Zhu Jianshen also opened the memorials from the ministers below.
He was stunned when he turned to the first page.
The minister mentioned above actually advised him to abandon the area north of the Yangtze River in his memorial.
Hu Zongxian's Huai Army and Yang Zhiyong's tens of thousands of troops were transferred to Jiangnan.
Otherwise, although the Huai River region is densely covered with waterways, its terrain is flat.
They lacked the ability to engage Li Qin in open battle, and in the end, they were gradually annihilated by Li Qin.
In other words, Jiangbei is now extremely difficult to defend.
Especially after Li Qin took control of Shandong and Henan.
His memorial to the throne stated that these two troops should be transferred to Jiangnan.
Using their naval superiority, they blockaded the Yangtze River, preventing Li Qin's army from reaching Jiangnan.
If they can be transferred to Jiangnan, they will have sufficient troops.
We could launch a westward expedition, with the support of the navy, to control the Yangtze River, advance by land and water, take Jiangxi, and even recover Huguang, thus re-establishing a complete Yangtze River route.
Afterwards, they pacified Lingnan and other places, relied on the navy to blockade the Yangtze River, and recuperated for a few years to accumulate strength.
Moreover, Li Qin's army was composed of diverse elements, and he also had warlords under his command such as Li Hongji, Hong Chengchou, and Jiang Xiangyang.
Over time, conflicts are bound to arise between them.
Afterwards, they prepared for war in Jiangnan, waiting for the direct conflict between them to erupt and for the Central Plains to change.
Afterwards, we will launch a northern expedition to the Central Plains and surely achieve victory in one battle.
Zhu Jianshen looked at the memorial in his hand, hesitated for a moment, but still put it aside.
While his plan had a few feasible aspects, there were too many unexpected problems overall.
Once they abandon Jiangbei, they and Li Qin will only have the Yangtze River as their defense line.
Since ancient times, guarding the Yangtze River has always meant guarding the Huai River.
By abandoning the Huai River defense line and retreating to the south of the Yangtze River, their strategic depth was greatly compressed.
If their western expedition fails or even suffers a setback, they could completely become a regime in the south.
They were left to Li Qin's mercy.
However, many of his points in this plan are valid, such as his mention of internal problems within Li Qin.
Zhu Jianshen glanced at the person who submitted the memorial, Sun Kaiyang.
If he remembers correctly, this person also came from the north with him.
He seems to have some ability, and his relationship with the bureaucrats in the south isn't very deep.
He then issued an imperial edict promoting him to the position of Vice Minister of War.
However, his memorial was not adopted and was instead set aside.
He began reading the memorials submitted by other people.
As the war in Hubei and Hunan gradually subsided.
After Li Qin completely controlled Huguang, there was no need to continue the war in Lianghuai.
Li Qin then ordered them to withdraw and return.
We should stop wasting grain and provisions in the Huai River region.
After receiving Li Qin's order, Zhang Hengshuo and Qin Chenyao led their troops back.
Huaibei was left with a mess.
Upon learning of Li Qin's army's retreat, a huge cheer erupted in the Huai River region.
Everywhere, people were celebrating the success of resisting Li Qin's southward march.
Meanwhile, in Jiangnan, the commander of this battle, Hu Zongxian, was being lauded everywhere.
He publicized that he had successfully defeated Qin Chenyao, the Marquis of Qi Shun in Shandong, and Zhang Hengshuo, the top general under Li Qin, who led an army of 100,000 southwards.
They were beaten and forced to flee north in panic.
For a time, the legend of Hu Zongxian defeating Li Qin's army spread throughout the streets and alleys of Jiangnan.
"Have you seen the imperial court's proclamation?"
"We won the battle of Lianghuai. Li Zicheng's 100,000-strong army was routed by our Lord Hu and fled north in disarray."
"I know. I heard that the commander is still the top general under that traitor Li, Zhang Hengshuo."
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