The enemy troops crossed the river south, and the warnings along the river were made, and the city of Nanjing was also in full swing.

But unlike the last time, thanks to the propaganda of the Ming army and the influence of the Linqing victory, ordinary scholars and wealthy families in Nanjing were very calm, and they expected that the enemy army would not affect themselves when they entered the city.

Even the officials, except for sighing, kowtowing to Chongzhen to the north, shed two lines of clear tears, did not make much noise, and acted as if they were accepting their fate, because the enemy army pursued the past policy in Huaiyang and allowed officials to keep their property. This was equivalent to a reassurance. Although their status was gone, their life and money were there. They were both inferior to each other. Don’t be ignorant of the situation. They were searched for the family and the family, and they couldn’t even cry.

Of course, the top officials were different, and they were all anxious. Hou Xun convened the eunuch Liu Yuanbin, the inner guard Zhang Yunhan, the inner guard Sun Xiangxian, the outer guard Chen Guangyu, the coordinated guard Fang Yiyuan, the co-chairman Qiu Weizhen and Yu Rong, and Sun Chuanting held a meeting.

As the supervisor, Hou Xun sat in the chief. In addition to being the prefect of Yingtian, Sun Chuanting also served as the Minister of War in Nanjing, sitting in the next seat.

Many people think that the Secretary of the Ministry of War in Nanjing is a idle position, which is obviously taken for granted. Although the Ministry of War in Nanjing is not in charge of the selection and qualification of the military military officers and military commands of the world like the Ministry of War in Beijing, it also serves as the counselor and the military officers. Together with the internal and external garrisons, it controls the troops and maintains the public security and military security of Nanjing city. It can be classified into three categories: military, administrative and logistics support. Among the six ministries in Nanjing, the Ministry of War is the leader of the six ministries.

To be honest, although Hou Xun is the chief supervisor, many of his powers overlap with Sun Chuanting. Without Sun Chuanting's cooperation, he would not be able to do anything.

Sun Chuanting was also caught off guard. Unexpectedly, Li Xin would cross the river so soon. He had not yet stepped down from Hou Xun. According to his prediction, in another one or two years, he could completely control Nanjing, prepare for war, and wait for war. Moreover, he had contacted the Dutch through Zheng Zhilong from Fujian and would buy flintlock rifles and more advanced artillery from the Dutch. It is still unknown who will win.

But this is good. Before the matter was done, Li Xin came.

Sun Chuanting believed that the attack on Yangzhou caused Li Xin to retaliate, and his face was not very good-looking, and asked, "How many soldiers are there in our hands now?"

Hou Xun also held a similar judgment and hurriedly said: "There are still 40,000 soldiers in Nanjing, including the Jinyiwei, Fanzi, and Xiaoling Guards, a total of 45,000, which is not without the power of a battle."

Sun Chuanting asked in a deep voice: "Li Xin has never been defeated since the rebellion. A while ago, even the Tartars suffered a great loss in his hands. The army thought that Nanjing could be defended?"

"this……"

Not only Houxian, everyone's expression is very unnatural.

Facing the front of the bandit army, no one dared to say that they were sure of it. Hou Xun even remembered the embarrassment of tens of thousands of troops besieging 8,000 defenders in Yangzhou under the city of Yangzhou.

Liu Yuanbin and Sun Xiangxian were the most panicked because Li Xin might have shown mercy to the officials, but he was never ruthless to the eunuch. Eunuch Zhang in Huai'an was almost skinned and cramped by him, so his property was scattered by Chongzhen in advance. The ransom of 300,000 silver was not in place, and he was killed with one knife.

Yang Xianming in Yangzhou was also killed after his house was searched.

But the power of eunuchs comes from imperial power, which is commonly known as the fox’s fake power. Now everyone knows that the court will be over sooner or later, and even the emperor’s tiger can’t hold on. What else can the fox use to show off his power?

Therefore, although these two people were anxious, they did not dare to say let go. They looked at Heng from time to time, and then looked at Sun Chuanting.

The inner guard is to guard the inner city of Nanjing. Zhang Yunhan asked, "Brother Baigu has something to propose, so let's talk about it together."

"good!"

Sun Chuanting nodded and said in a stern manner: "Sun, the people in Nanjing are not available, the morale of the army cannot be relied on, and they cannot be defended. We should give up as soon as possible and retreat to Hangzhou."

"What?"

Everyone in the banquet was shocked. No one expected that Sun Chuanting would make such a proposal. You should know that in the Ming Dynasty, losing land is a death sentence. Giving up Nanjing and retreating to Hangzhou is even worse than losing land.

Sun Chuanting glanced coldly and said, "Everyone, it's not that Sun is willing to retreat, but that he can't retreat. Do you want to be a surrendered minister like this? But don't forget that even if we want to surrender, Li Xin may not be able to use us. Don't look at what he says now, what's good about the past and keeping property? That's because he hasn't gotten it yet. If he wins the world in the future, who dares to say he won't settle it?"

"Yes, Grandpa Sun's words are reasonable!"

Liu Yuanbin mustered up the courage and said, "All the greats hold the power. Even if Li Xin doesn't settle it, who is willing to be a farmer and his life is in charge of others? I am afraid that a county official will be tormented to death!"

The foreign garrison Chen Guangyu hesitated and said, "Nanjing is not far from Hangzhou. What if Li Xin pursued him all the way? Should he retreat to Fuzhou or Guangzhou? Please forgive me for your frankness. Zheng Zhilong occupied the coast of Fujian, with thousands of warships and tens of thousands of soldiers, and was called a local overlord. How could he allow us to enter Fujian?"

“Haha~~”

Sun Chuanting waved his hand and laughed: "To be honest, Sun has some friendship with Zheng Zhilong. If Li Xin dares to attack Hangzhou, Zheng Zhilong will definitely lead his army to help. Besides, the Dutch have agreed to sell me a batch of guns and artillery. At that time, who will kill me will not be sure. What we need now is time, and one day will we fight back to Nanjing."

Everyone looked at Hou Xun with a complex expression. It was obvious that when they went to Hangzhou, they were mainly Sun Chuanting. Although it was not clear whether Sun Chuanting was tying Zheng Zhilong and the Dutch, Hou Xun's ability was indeed limited and he was not enough to convince the public in terms of his political achievements and resume. In the past, Chongzhen supported him, but now Chongzhen is in a desperate situation and has no time to take care of himself. The imperial power has left Beijing City and has depreciated seriously.

Moreover, facing the great enemy of the Bandit Army, we need a strong core. Who among the people here can be more suitable than Sun Chuanting?

“Oh ~~”

Hou Xun also understood that the situation was better than others, and sighed and said, "Just Brother Baigu, when will I withdraw from Nanjing?"

Sun Chuanting said slowly: "Of course, the faster the better, and there is no avoiding the troubles. We must keep the secret. According to the latest news, the bandit army has landed on Zhenjiang, only about one hundred miles away from Nanjing, and it must arrive in two days. Otherwise, Sun took the elite troops and the money and grain from the treasury this afternoon on the grounds of advancing east to resist the enemy. He went south at night and marched towards Hangzhou. Everyone seized the time to clean up the details and make a hurried statement. As for the court officials, those who are real and practical, and those who are not from this province can take them away. It is best to voluntarily. Those who are unwilling to tie them up must be tied up. At night, they will leave from Jubao Gate (now Zhonghua Gate). Sun will arrange personnel in advance to cooperate. In Nanjing, we will leave some old and weak soldiers and soldiers to Li Xin."

Sun Xiangxian's eyes flashed with a sharp look and said, "Will you notify those big investors before leaving?"

Sun Tingchuan was a little hesitant. There were several large households in Nanjing, with millions of taels of silver in their property, such as the Xu family of Wei, Zhu Guobi, Funing Hou, and some wealthy people who have been born and raised since the New Year of Jiajing. Today, they are all court officials. According to the principle of being an official in another place, they are all foreigners. They have no industry ties in Nanjing and can leave. If those people want to leave, it will take a long time. Unless they can make up their minds, give up their industries, and only bring gold, silver, and fines, who can be willing to do so?

Due to the great immigrants in the early Ming Dynasty and the local suppression of the powerful, there were very few prominent families and noble families in the gentry class. However, since the beginning of the Jiajing period, due to the development of the commodity economy and the increasing dynasty, the trend of land annexation and wealth concentration has become increasingly obvious, and a wealthy family who have mastered the lifeline of annexation in a certain industry was produced.

Moreover, Sun Chuanting knew what Sun Xiangxian meant. Those rich people were fat sheep and could be slaughtered at any time with them. Even if it was Duke Wei, so what? Duke Wei's power also came from imperial power. Without Nanjing City, nothing except the identity of a rich man.

"These people..."

Sun Chuanting shook his head and said, "It's too troublesome to carry it, and it's too late to have time. It's better to have less trouble than more things. Besides, when we go to Hangzhou, everything may not go smoothly. It's better to offend less people. Do you have any other suggestions?"

Everyone looked at each other and expressed their agreement with Sun Chuanting's opinion. In fact, this also established Sun Chuanting's core position. Sun Chuanting couldn't help but feel excited.

Since being provoked by Li Xin, he has always been in the mood for separatist rule in the vassal states. Unexpectedly, he would use Li Xin's power to accomplish it in this way. As a man with great power, who has no ambition?

Even if you cannot achieve great things in the future, you can still sell it at a good price!

"Okay, everyone, get ready quickly, remember, don't leak the secret!"
Chapter completed!