On the north bank of the Yangtze River, the sound of artillery was rumbling, and the Qing army was bombarding Zhucheng, the Jiangbei where the Liang army was defending.

On the south bank, Dasheng Pass in the western suburbs of Nanjing, the left army advanced eastward.

Zuo Liangyu was in the carriage and did not take the fierce battle on the North Bank seriously.

Zuo Liangyu is 45 years old this year, and he is still half a senior year. However, his years of war has accumulated a lot of secret injuries in his body, so he can't stand being angry and exhausted.

At this time, outside, wearing tattered straw sandals, and even barefoot left army, he marched happily.

The soldiers of the left army were talking and laughing in the team, and many soldiers were driving pigs and carrying chickens and ducks. The queue was very lively.

There is no doubt that these were borrowed from the people by the soldiers of the Left Army during the march.

Now that the Qing army is approaching the Yangtze River, the Left Army is entering the south of the Yangtze River to protect the people and gentry. It is naturally reasonable to get some chicken, duck, fish and meat.

At this time, Zuo Liangyu was sitting in the carriage. The head of the army made breakfast for him, a bowl of ginseng chicken soup, a portion of steamed river fish, and a few side dishes and hot rice. After eating, the stomach was mixed.

"Good Jiangnan! It's my turn to Zuo to enjoy the happiness." Zuo Liangyu took the handkerchief handed over by the maid and wiped his mouth. He couldn't help but sigh that after entering Jiangnan, his food immediately became rich.

Thinking that he had been in war for half his life, he had been under command and was still worried, the court would liquidate him and raise the enemy with his own respect, and his military discipline was too poor.

From now on, this kind of worry will not be accepted.

Because from now on, my old left will be the court.

I, Zuo Liangyu, did it naturally. When the army took Nanjing and occupied Jiangnan, who could control me?

Thinking of this, Zuo Liangyu couldn't wait to get up, lifted up the curtain of the car and shouted, "Come here!"

"Yes!" The servant outside the carriage rushed over.

"How far is it to Nanjing!" Zuo Liangyu asked.

"Report to the Grand Marshal! I have arrived in the western suburbs and can enter the city today!"

"Oh!" Zuo Liangyu nodded slightly, "The army accelerated forward and went to Nanjing for lunch!"

After speaking, Zuo Liangyu put down the curtain of the car and surrounded by tens of thousands of left troops, he rushed to the city of Nanjing.

Soon, nearly 200,000 left troops rushed to the city of Nanjing with excitement and came outside Dinghuai Gate in the west of the city.

At this time, the army was in formation below the city. Jin Shenghuan rode a horse and came to the city gate to shout, "Marquis Ningnan has arrived, and he will not put down the suspension bridge, so open the city gate quickly."

Facing Zuo Liangyu going east, Zheng Zhilong heading north, and the Hongguang court in Nanjing had already run away.

Zhou Yanru and Gao Youcai took Zhu Yousong to cross the river to Yangzhou in the name of the imperial army's personal expedition. Now only Ma Shiying, Shi Kefa and others are left in the city.

At this time, Ma Shiying lay on the top of the city and looked out the city. He saw that there were dense crowds of left soldiers.

Seeing these Zuo Jun wearing tattered clothes, crooked helmets, cross-body bird guns, and long spears, Ma Shiying felt a little scared.

Looking at Zuo Jun's image, you can tell that it is a veteran who is coming to eat the big guy.

If these people were allowed to enter the city, then Nanjing City would definitely be in chaos.

Faced with the approaching of the Left Army, the Hongguang court could only temporarily evacuate, but could not run away all of them and let the Left Army do whatever they wanted.

Zhou Yanru and Gao Youcai both had a grudge against Hou Xun and others, so they definitely could not stay in Nanjing. So after a few people discussed, they asked Ma Shiying to stay in Nanjing and deal with Zuo Liangyu to ensure that Jiangnan would not be completely harmed by the Zuo Army.

"General Jin, please cross the river and reinforce the north bank." Ma Shiying said with a smile.

Jin Shenghuan frowned when he heard the words. At this time, Zuo Liangyu got off the carriage, rode a war horse and walked forward, waved his hand to let Jin Shenghuan retreat, and said coldly: "Mage! The Qing army is approaching the Yangtze River, and I am from all over the place to help defend Nanjing. Let me stay outside the city? If you are so unreasonable, then I will only let my brothers speak well with you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers of the Left Army behind him suddenly started to clamor.

"What? Don't let me enter the city!" The soldiers of the Left Army were anxious in an instant.

The soldiers traveled thousands of miles from Wuchang and came outside Nanjing. They wanted to enter Nanjing to enjoy it and not let us go in. Are we tired of living?

The left army outside the city started to yell, wanting to enter Nanjing City, leaving Ma Shiying helpless.

Now there are no soldiers in Nanjing City, so it is definitely impossible to defend, but if the Left Army is allowed to enter the city, the people will definitely suffer.

Ma Shiying was wandering and helpless, and saw a group of gentry from Jiangnan hurriedly climbing to the top of the city. The leader was Shi Kefa.

After Qian Qianyi was arrested for labor reform, the Donglin Party was left without a leader and fell into division, and Shi Kefa became the leader of the Donglin Party.

When Ma Shiying saw Shi Kefa and many gentry coming to the city, he was about to discuss with Shi Kefa, but Shi Kefa said with a stern face: "Ma Gemen, I heard that Ning Nanhou has arrived, why haven't he opened the city gate to greet him?"

Ma Shiying smiled bitterly when he heard the words. He knew that Hongguang's court was controlled by Zhou Yanru and Gao Youcai. As a local force, Donglin could only stand aside, and Shi Kefa was also excluded from the Ministry of Rites, who had no real power, was definitely dissatisfied.

Now when I saw the Zuo Zhen soldiers who were close to Donglin, the suppressed Donglin for a long time and the local gentry immediately felt that they had a backer.

"Shigemen, this city gate dares not open. If the Left Army enters the city and harms the people, I will become a sinner!" said Ma Shiying.

Shi Kefa said, "This is a bad statement from the Ma Ge army. Now Jiannu's army is facing the Yangtze River and the Left Army enters the city, which is better than Jiannu's army. Moreover, the official army is an official army after all, with the constraints of Ningnan Hou and the military discipline and national laws, so the soldiers dare not do anything randomly!"

Many officials and gentry stroked their beards and nodded frequently. They all said that the Shige tribe was a good country and they didn't want to deal with the Qing army in the north. In contrast, the Left Army was much closer.

At this time, the former Grand Secretary of the Chongzhen Dynasty and the now wild gentry said in the tone of an elder in Fengnian: "Ma Ge Department, your worries are indeed reasonable. But now there are no soldiers who do not disturb the people. Now it is the time to use people. The court pays some money to let them eat and drink well, and can still keep a guard and protect the Ma Ge Department in Nanjing. Don't miss major issues because of some minor details."

In the eyes of the gentry, Gao Huan killed a large family and blackmailed the nobles and gentry in Jiangnan for more than 20 million taels was extremely vicious.

In contrast, the Left Army's disturbance to the people was nothing.

After all, the gentry and big families have power and guards. How dare ordinary soldiers go to the homes of big families to blackmail them? At most, they will bully some common people and small vendors, which will not cause much harm to the big families.

Shi Kefa saw that many gentry supported his opinions. With confidence, he said to Ma Shiying unquestionably: "Listen to me! Open the city gate! Zuozhen is always better than Jiannu who kills people!"

After Dorgon led his army into Jiangbei, in order to obtain supplies, the Qing army robbed and killed very heavily, which made the gentry and people in Jiangnan very frightened.

Although the Qing army was under the banner of helping Zhu Cihuan seize the throne, the gentry in Jiangnan did not dare to let them enter Jiangnan.

The Liang Dynasty took over Hou Jing, which caused the prosperity of the Southern Dynasties to end in 50 years. The Jiehu of Hou Jing, the Jiehu, slaughtered millions of people in Jiangnan, causing the strength between the Southern and Northern Dynasties to reverse.

This lesson is worthy of the awakening of the gentry in Jiangnan. Therefore, as long as the situation allows, they naturally do not want the Qing army to enter Jiangnan, nor do they want to deal with the barbarians.

They looked down on Gao Huan from their core, and even more so on the Hulu.

When Ma Shiying saw Shi Kefa say this, many local gentry supported him, and he had no choice but to defend, so he could only say helplessly: "Well! Then let the Marquis of the Shige tribe, let Ningnan bring his servants into the city, but the army would be better stationed outside the city. After all, Nanjing City could not accommodate hundreds of thousands of left troops for a while."

Shi Kefa nodded, "Open the city gate! Everyone will follow our pavilion to welcome the Marquis of Ningnan."

The city gate creaked open, the suspension bridge was put down by the defenders. Shi Kefa took a group of officials and gentry down the city and came to the city gate to greet Zuo Liangyu.

"The Marquis of Ningnan led his soldiers to defend Nanjing. All the people in Jiangnan were grateful and welcomed~" Shi Kefa and others smiled and greeted him.

But before he finished speaking, Zuo Liangyu couldn't wait to wave his hand and order, "Brothers, Nanjing is ours. Go to the city and take over the city defense!"

Jin Shenghuan and other generals immediately squeezed their horse's belly, and the soldiers of the left army rushed in in a mess. The sound of joy and footsteps instantly drowned Shi Kefa's voice.

Many gentry could only retreat to both sides in panic, watching the soldiers of the left army rush into the city like hungry ghosts seeing food, which shocked the people in the city to panic.

At this time, Zuo Liangyu hit the horse forward and laughed loudly, "Haha~ Don't worry, I am here, everyone will be safe in the future." As he said that, he looked at Shi Kefa and smiled and said, "What ~ What do you want to say in Shigemen just now?"

Shi Kefa originally wanted to ask Zuo Liangyu to bring his servants into the city, and the army was stationed outside the city, but Zuo Liangyu did not give him any chance. Shi Kefa saw the Zuo Army rushing into the city, so he could only change his words and bowed seriously: "What this cabinet just said is that the remaining people were crying in the Hu dust, and I looked south for another year. With Ningnan Hou and Zuozhen soldiers sitting in Jiangnan, the gentry in Nanjing would not have to worry about Jiannu crossing the river."

Zuo Liangyu laughed loudly, then stopped laughing, and said with a serious look on his face: "Shigemen is so accurate! With my husband here, we will definitely protect the safety of the gentry and people in the south of the Yangtze River! Let's talk about it later when we enter the city!"

(Thanks to Sanlang for his reward and support, Momoda. Please give me monthly tickets, recommendations, subscriptions, and support genuine reading. Thank you for your support.)
Chapter completed!