Quzhou, Zhejiang.
After Li Xuanshang led his army on a rapid march to Quzhou, he originally planned to take the prefecture with considerable effort.
However, before their main army even reached Quzhou City, they saw a group of gentry dressed in official robes and expensive clothes emerge, kneel on both sides of the road, and say:
"We are here to respectfully welcome the legitimate army of the imperial court."
Li Xuanshang rode up to them on horseback and asked:
"What are you all doing here? Where are the prefect and generals of Quzhou?"
After Li Xuanshang finished speaking, an official in official robes stepped forward, carrying a tray covered with a white cloth, and said:
"Reporting to the Commander, the Prefect of Quzhou, upon learning of the arrival of the imperial army, knew he was no match for them, but unwilling to betray the puppet regime in Nanjing, abandoned the city and fled."
The garrison commander of Quzhou attempted to resist stubbornly, but we have already taken his head; this is his head.
As he spoke, the official knelt on the ground and raised the tray in his hand above his head.
Li Xuanshang looked at the official kneeling on the ground who had killed the Quzhou general and asked:
"You are officials in a place so close to Jinhua. You should know the situation of the garrison in Jinhua, right?"
"Reporting to the Commander, I am aware of the situation in Jinhua, and not only in Jinhua, but also in Hangzhou and other places."
All the combat-capable troops in Zhejiang have now been transferred to the north to resist the royal army.
At least the petty person knows that from here to Hangzhou, it's all utterly empty...
The official holding up the severed head respectfully recounted the entire situation in Hangzhou to Li Xuanshang.
Li Xuanshang nodded and continued speaking to him:
"What's your name? Are you acquainted with those officials in Zhejiang?"
Upon hearing Li Xuanshang's words, the official's face lit up with joy; he knew his opportunity had arrived.
Then, with a delighted expression, he said to Li Xuanshang:
"Reporting to the Commander, my name is Chu Kesheng. I have served as an official in Zhejiang for many years. Although I cannot say that I am very familiar with the people here, I have been to Hangzhou with several prefects and attended some meetings. I know most of the officials in Zhejiang and I am somewhat familiar with their faces."
After hearing what Chu Kesheng said below, Li Xuanshang nodded and said:
"Alright, since you know so many officials in Zhejiang, then you can lead our army to Jinhua."
If you can persuade the officials in Jinhua to surrender, I will recommend you as the prefect of Quzhou; if you can persuade the city of Hangzhou to open up, I will recommend you as the governor of Zhejiang.
When you are persuading them to surrender, tell the officials in Zhejiang that if they surrender, they will all retain their official positions.
The terms of surrender will be exactly the same as what we have been promoting. We have already explained the specific terms of surrender countless times.
They've been officials for many years; they probably knew about it long ago.
After hearing Li Xuanshang's words, Chu Kesheng nodded repeatedly and promised that he would use his connections to persuade them to open the city gates and surrender.
After Chu Kesheng repeatedly assured him, Li Xuanshang immediately placed him at the forefront of the army.
After ordering the army to quickly obtain some supplies in Quzhou, the army rapidly advanced towards Jinhua.
However, after their army quickly arrived in Jinhua, they discovered that Jinhua was even more outrageous than Quzhou.
There was no need for Chu Kesheng to persuade them to surrender; the officials in Jinhua, along with the already small garrison, had already fled.
At this point, Jinhua could be described as a ghost town.
Li Xuanshang captured Jinhua Prefecture without firing a single shot, and then ordered his army to march rapidly toward Hangzhou.
Almost every prefecture and county along the way that saw his army's banners either surrendered voluntarily or abandoned their cities and fled.
Only now did Li Xuanshang realize what had become of the rear of the Jiangnan court.
All military forces have been redeployed, leaving the area completely empty.
In addition, during this period, Li Qin secretly contacted officials in these prefectures, counties, and districts.
There was also Li Qin's consistently generous surrender policy.
This resulted in officials everywhere wanting to surrender.
Even if they didn't want to surrender, their only option was to abandon the city and flee.
Because they knew that the prefectures and counties, whose military forces had been depleted, were simply no match for Li Qin's army.
This was something that not only the county and prefectural officials knew, but also the soldiers and officers below them were fully aware of.
To resist to the death is to face certain death.
They don't want to die with you.
Moreover, they were all aware of Li Qin's generous surrender policy.
If you want to drag us down with you, we don't recommend killing you first and then surrendering to Li Qin.
At that time, not only will we be able to live, but we can also inherit your official position.
Not only will you survive, but you'll also get a promotion. Why not?
In the end, Li Xuanshang's army was defeated along the way.
Rather than engaging in a roundabout campaign, it was more like taking the army on a picnic.
Upon arriving at a place, the local prefectures and counties would surrender voluntarily and even provide supplies to the army.
This made Li Xuanshang increasingly relaxed, and he directly ordered the army to abandon some of the supplies.
This, in turn, allowed the army to continue to accelerate its march.
We strive to reach the outskirts of Hangzhou as soon as possible.
Huainan.
Li Qin looked at the intelligence reports sent by the soldiers who were conquering cities and seizing territories in various places.
Most of the prefectures in Huainan have now been captured.
The main issues now are the three towns north of the Yangtze River that the imperial court is focusing on developing, and Yangzhou, which has not yet been captured.
This is definitely good news for him.
His southward journey was short, but he quickly seized most of the Jiangnan court's territory north of the Yangtze River.
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