Hearing this, Lan Li suddenly became defensive and subconsciously pressed the sword on his waist with his right hand.

As the Ming Dynasty became stronger and stronger, officials at all levels of the Qing Dynasty were no longer the same as before. For example, when Yuan Qi first started his army, no matter which level of officials in the Qing Dynasty, they tried their best to resist the rebels. Even if they were defeated, they basically killed themselves by fighting hard or dying for their country. After all, the Qing Dynasty's crime of losing their land and abandoning the city was extremely serious. If they could not win the victory in fighting against the rebels, ordinary officials would never abandon their city and escape, and would rather choose to fight to the enemy to the death.

But now, as the Ming Dynasty had occupied the three provinces and expanded to the point where the Qing court had no choice, the legal constraints of the Qing Dynasty were also weakened accordingly. Although there were still many loyal ministers in the fight against the rebels, more and more people surrendered to the enemy. If you don’t talk about the others, just like Yang Xu, who led his troops to attack Fujian and now attacked Guangdong, is an example, let alone the former Fujian Navy who had long surrendered to the Ming army.

In addition, there were many officials who saw that the Ming army was powerful and even took the initiative to abandon the city and flee. If it were in the past, Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong would never have made a strategy of abandoning a large area of ​​land east of Guangzhou, regardless of the city and withdrawing their troops to protect Guangzhou. But now they have done this, and it is impossible to say that this change is very terrible.

It is precisely because of this that when Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong told Lan Li that they were discussing how to defend Guangzhou and had a solution, Lan Li thought of a terrible result in an instant. Could it be that Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong were planning to surrender to the enemy? Thinking of this, Lan Li was immediately prepared and took a step back involuntarily, and his eyes were also searching around quickly.

If Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong were determined to surrender to the enemy, Guangdong would have no need to defend it. You should know that one of them was the governor and the other was the general of Guangzhou. They had a high position and a powerful position. In this way, all the officials in the border surrendered. What would be the use of Lan Li even if he held the remaining tens of thousands of Qing troops?

What's more, defending Guangzhou is a military matter. Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong discussed this matter but did not call themselves. You should know that Lan Li is the admiral of Guangdong and Guangxi, and the highest military commander of Guangdong and Guangxi! They withdrew the Qing army east of Guangzhou without authorization, and discussed military affairs in private and did not communicate with him in advance. What exactly did Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong want to do?

But when I thought about it, Lan Li felt that it was wrong. If Zhao Hongcan wanted to surrender, it would be reasonable. Although he was the governor, the governor was not a full-time military general, but was in charge of both civil and military affairs in the province. From the real scope of authority, it was more about civil and political affairs. But Guan Yuanzhong was different. He was the Guangzhou general of the Three Banners. As a member of the Eight Banners in the Banners, would he also rebel?

"Ship Lan, we are loyal to the court and have no intention of being alone!" Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong immediately took a defensive attitude when they saw Lan Li's face change drastically. The two of them were stunned at first, then immediately reacted and said hurriedly.

At this time, we must eliminate the misunderstanding with Lan Li. Otherwise, if Lan Li becomes suspicious and turns around and runs out of the Governor's Office, then Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong will no longer be able to explain it. If such a thing happens, the entire Qing army in Guangdong will inevitably face division. Now it is a critical moment when the Ming army is approaching. How can we talk about fighting against the enemy when the fire in the backyard?

"Two sirs! I, Lan Li, is the admiral of Guangdong and Guangxi. Why don't you know what you said?" Lan Li was not fired by the other party's words. Instead, she stared at her eyes and asked, putting everything on the sword at her waist. As long as Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong did not give him a reasonable explanation, Lan Li would launch an instantly. With his bravery, Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong could not stop him. As long as they were killed, they could seize all the military power of Guangdong and Guangxi, and then turn around to the Ming army.

"Ship Lan, don't be impulsive, listen to me!" At this time, Zhao Hongcan suddenly panicked and hurriedly explained: "It's not as Lan Shuai thought. The reason why we didn't inform Lan Shuai was because we learned about this just now. Didn't I say it when I met Lan Shuai before? I was about to send someone to find Lan Shuai to discuss!"

"Yes, Lan Shuai, don't you think I will surrender to the enemy, right? I am the general of Guangzhou!" Guan Yuanzhong said laughing and crying.

Zhao Hongcan did say this just now, but Lan Li was angry at that time and didn't care. Now Zhao Hongcan reminded Lan Li to remember it. However, as a general, he is now suspicious and dare not trust the other party too much. Instead, he coldly asked what it was.

In order to gain Lan Li's trust, Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong hurriedly told Lan Li that they were meeting guests in front of them, and this guest was the reinforcements they invited. Now the Ming army is powerful, and with its navy, it completely controls the coastal area, allowing the main force of the Ming army to directly attack Guangzhou through the navy's transportation. Just like now, the reason why the Ming army was able to land in Xin'an County was the navy.

Originally, when Lan Yanzhen's navy was still there, the Ming army could not be so unscrupulous, but Lan Yanzhen's joint navy in the East China Sea was wiped out, resulting in the unorganized navy from Guangdong and Guangxi resisting the Ming army, which was no longer organized, and thus fundamentally lost the initiative.

For this reason, Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong were extremely anxious, and it became extremely difficult to defend Guangzhou in the face of the Ming army that held the sea power. Although they had already actively reduced their troops to ensure that Guangzhou had voluntarily reduced their troops, on the Ming army with a navy, the Ming army could come and go freely, and even avoid Guangzhou city from the sea anytime and anywhere. The combined attack between the water and land forces would pose a great threat to Guangzhou's defense.

If you want to break this situation, the best way is to limit the Ming army's navy, and even find ways to make the Ming army's power in the ocean useless. But for Guangdong and Guangxi, which lost Lan Yanzhen's Navy, this possibility is almost nothing, so it is impossible to do it at all.

Originally, Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong both lost confidence in this, and they were even ready to defend Guangzhou to death, or to die in Guangzhou. But not long ago, Zhao Hongcan's master gave him an idea, and it was this idea that made Zhao Hongcan's eyes lit up. At that time, Lan Li had not arrived in Guangzhou, so Zhao Hongcan took the initiative to discuss with Guan Yuanzhong. After the two discussed it, they felt that this plan might work. Besides, even if it is bad in the current situation, it will not be much worse. Once this matter is successful, they will not only have a greater grasp of Guangzhou's defense, but also have a killer weapon to deal with the Ming Navy.

"Macau? Frankie?" When he learned that the reinforcements mentioned by Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong were close to Macau Frankie, Lan Li was stunned for a moment because he never expected that Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong would ask for help from those Frankie people.

"Yes! It's the Frangian." Zhao Hongcan nodded and said, "Super Lan is good at fighting waters. He fought with General Shi in Taiwan. He should be familiar with the Frangians. Moreover, Macau is not far from Guangzhou, and it has always been the residence of Frangians in the Celestial Empire. To be honest, it has been a while since Lancie's negotiations with the Frangians. This morning, a person from Macau sent over to say that it was the envoy of Frangi's governor Jia Shidu, who came to Guangzhou to discuss the issue of sending troops with General Guan. We just had a conversation, and Lancie, you are here, so..."

After hearing this explanation, Lan Li was a little skeptical, but the expressions of Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong did not look fake. Of course, Lan Li knew about the Frankie native of Macau, and he had dealt with these people when he was young before.

Frangi, also known as Portugal, is a European maritime power. He came here from the ocean as early as the Ming Dynasty and temporarily lived in Macau. Don’t look at these Westerners, but their maritime power is indeed very strong. When Lan Li was under Shi Jinghai’s command, he heard him tell the battle between Zheng Chenggong and the Red-haired Ghost in the late Ming Dynasty.

Although Zheng Chenggong won the final victory, the combat power of those red-haired ghosts should not be underestimated. If Zheng Chenggong had not relied on his powerful troops to fight less, he would not be the opponent of the red-haired ghosts based on his combat effectiveness alone. Later, Lan Li also witnessed the power of Western warships with his own eyes. Compared with the Qing Dynasty warships, those warships that could cross the ocean, whether they were large, strong or firepower, etc., shocked Lan Li.

If what Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong said is true, and the Frangis in Macau can be used by the Qing army, with the other side's powerful maritime power, it seems that they can really compete with the Ming army's warships. As long as the Ming army loses the threat of maritime power, then the Guangzhou defense war will be much more confident.

Thinking of this, Lan Li's expression finally relaxed, and his previous vigilance also eased a lot.

"Where are people now?" Lan Li asked.

"The person is in the main hall. We are talking before you come."

Lan Li thought about it and did not immediately ask Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong to meet people at the main hall together, but instead asked them about the situation they had discussed. Zhao Hongcan and Guan Yuanzhong did not hide the matter and told Lan Li directly that the two sides had exchanged opinions through intermediaries, and Macau had originally disagreed with sending troops to assist the Qing court in fighting with the Ming army. However, Jia Shidu, the new governor who had just arrived in Macau a few days ago, was very interested when he learned about this, so he sent someone his envoy to Guangzhou to discuss the matter in person.

However, this envoy named Obuki was not easy to fool, so he directly offered them high conditions and stated that if they assisted the Qing court and the Ming army in fighting, they must meet these conditions. If they cannot meet them, Macau will never send troops.
Chapter completed!