“Warships command the river. Let the rebels and the Manchus kill each other on the north bank!”
“Liu Zeqing and Liu Liangzuo? They’ll both die by my sword!”
“Zuo Menggeng and Gao Yuanjue are both my adopted sons!”
“The great Huaiyang merchants and the titans of the Donglin faction all bow and scrape before me!”
★ On the Run in the South
On the night the capital falls, Zhu Cilang escapes through a secret passage, only to find Zuo Guangxian waiting at the exit. Using the art of innate numerology, he talks Zuo Guangxian into letting him go. At Bazhou, Hao Yaoqi ambushes him. On the Grand Canal, he is captured by remnants of the White Lotus sect. In Yanzhou, he must keep a wary eye on the treacherous Liu Zeqing, while Zuo Guangxian changes his mind and sends men after him. Every step is fraught with danger.
★ A Blade Tempered in Turmoil
Near Xuzhou, he encounters troops under Gao Jie, who has fled there. He takes Gao Jie’s son as his adopted son and has him defend Xuzhou, splitting Liu Zeqing’s forces. He also reorganizes tens of thousands of Dongjiang Town troops stranded in Dengzhou and Haizhou.
★ Recruiting Soldiers in Huai’an
In Huai’an and Yangzhou prefectures, he recruits able-bodied young men, granting them a hundred mu of prime farmland in the Huaiyang region as an inheritable holding. He raises their pay, giving them land of their own to fight for.
At Qingjiangpu, he runs into the White Lotus sect again and puts his charms to work, absorbing its surviving members into his intelligence network. He also commandeers a thousand grain ships and selects the best crews to form his own elite navy.
He happens upon sailing records and ship plans from Zheng He’s fleet.
★ An Iron Fist in Jinling
He builds flintlock rifles, takes in the remnants of Liu Zeqing and Liu Liangzuo’s forces, and stations warships along the Yangtze, leaving the rebels and the Manchus to tear each other apart on the north bank. He makes full use of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and launches a fierce crackdown on Huaiyang salt merchants and the Donglin officials with deep ties to them, bringing in tens of millions of taels of silver.
In two battles at Xuzhou and Yangzhou, he deals Duoduo a heavy blow and divides the realm along the river.
★ Sailing Across the Seas
When the time comes, he launches a major northern campaign and sweeps through the northeast. The Ming treasure fleet sails again, crossing the seas and raising the banner of the Pacification Office across all four continents.
The author is attentive, the writing style is good, the historical knowledge is solid, and the book has great potential. It is worth pursuing!