The end of the Ming Dynasty swept the world

Chapter 618
In February of the 11th year of Chongzhen (1638), Liu Guoneng and Zhang Xianzhong, the leaders of the Huguang Peasant Army, were beaten unbearably, and they were recruited by Xiong Wencan successively. In April, Luo Rucai also descended.

In view of his father's failure to appease Yang Sichang, Yang Sichang raised objections, and advocated that Liu, Zhang and others should be trusted only by killing thieves and acting on their own. However, Emperor Chongzhen and Xiong Wencan were eager to recruit peace and cease the war.

The success of this incident made Chongzhen feel complacent, and suddenly felt that Ding Yi and Zu Dashou were not good.

The leaders of your two armies are disobedient. Look, I can deal with the refugees without your elite soldiers, and I can succeed in the same way.

Wait until I get rid of these annoying refugees, hum.

Presumably Chongzhen was very optimistic about the future at this time, and he felt very happy.

At the same time, Li Zicheng couldn't stand it anymore, and was defeated by Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting, and he was defeated in Minzhou, which made Chongzhen even more excited and excited.

Yang Sichang saw that the success of the appeasement would save military expenses, so he immediately asked Chongzhen to supervise the construction of artillery and firearms to subdue the Nuyi.

Who will make cannons in the Ming Dynasty at this time?
It is the famous Tang Ruowang in history.

As early as the third year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1630), recommended by Xu Guangqi, Minister of Rites, Tang Ruowang worked in Qin Tianjian and translated almanacs.He manufactured various astronomical, optical, and hydraulic instruments, and presented them to Chongzhen from time to time, and Chongzhen praised him very much.

During these years in the Ming Dynasty, Tang Ruowang assisted Xu Guangqi and Li Tianjing to compile 130 volumes of "Chongzhen Almanac", which is a collection of western mathematical astronomy knowledge.

He also collaborated with Li Tianjing and others in translating Dere Metallica LibriXII, a masterpiece written in 1550 by German metallurgist Georgius Agricola on European mining and metallurgical technology in the 16th century. The translated version is called "Kun Yu Ge Zhi".After reading it, Chongzhen made an imperial criticism: "Issued the complete book of 'Kunyu Gezhi', and the local officials considered the terrain and adopted it cheaply."

It has to be said that Tang Ruowang was still working hard in Daming, and with the help of Li Zubai, an official of the Qin Tianjian, he wrote a book in Chinese called "Theory of Telescopes" introducing Galileo's telescope, which became a foundational work for the dissemination of optics and telescope manufacturing technology. It has an important influence on later generations, and this book is also a teaching book for Ding Yi's subordinates to make telescopes.

But it is a pity that he has written so many works, Chongzhen sent them all over the country to study every time he read them, but almost no one was interested.

Until the ninth year of Chongzhen (1636), Chongzhen finally ordered Tang Ruowang to supervise the manufacture of cannons, which were used in the Liaodong battlefield to resist the establishment of slaves.

Tang Ruowang was a Catholic and didn't like fighting, but he had no choice but to order the emperor's order, so he instructed the craftsmen to start casting cannons, but this guy was a bit slow in making cannons. He continued to make them for two years, and only made [-] cannons this year.

There is a reason why he made it slowly, because this guy likes writing books too much.

During the period of casting cannons, Tang Ruowang dictated the principles and techniques related to cannon smelting, manufacturing, storage, transportation, performance, gunpowder preparation, and shell manufacturing. "One volume, is the authoritative work introducing Western gun technology at that time.

Yang Sichang saw that Tang Ruowang had finally built twenty cannons, and they looked quite powerful, so please rebuild them again.

After Chongzhen had seen it, even he felt that he could create crazy things now.

So Chongzhen "respected his strength, and ordered another five hundred people to be cast."

His heart is really big, Tang Ruowang only made [-] Hongyi cannons in two years, how long will it take to make another [-]?

But at this time, someone in the court objected, and it was Liu Zunxian, Minister of the Ministry of Industry.

Liu Zunxian was a man of integrity and was known to Chongzhen, which was also very high in Chongzhen's heart. In the late Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen's six ministers were exchanged, and Liu Zunxian was one of the few ministers who retired completely.

He just said that Tang Ruowang was too slow in making cannons, and only made twenty in two years. He also said that firearms are not good and dangerous, and it depends on the person who uses them. It is better to train good soldiers.

Chongzhen refused to listen, and still let Tang Ruowang make cannons, but the number was reduced from [-] to [-].

It seems more or less influenced by Liu Zunxian.

Tang Ruowang continued to make cannons, but unexpectedly a big event happened in June.

On the second day of June in the 11th year of Chongzhen (1638), within more than ten miles of the capital, I felt that the axis of the earth was shaking, like an earthquake.Soon, there was a bang of thunder in the middle of the sky, roof tiles shattered, beams of dust flew up, and white clouds in the northwest corner were gloomy, filling the sky, with dark yellow sunspots in the middle, spinning around the clouds.It took two hours to disperse.It was the gunpowder explosion at Nei'an Min Factory in Xizhimen, Beijing.The city wall was destroyed by the earthquake, and there was no end to the city in a radius of more than ten li, and the trees were all dead and standing.Residents and pedestrians lie on each other's pillows, and death is scorched black.What's more, it collapsed several miles outside the city, and died on the ground.According to the investigation, more than [-] residents were killed or injured, Wang Fu, the eunuch of the subsidy factory, and Zhang Zhixiu, an official of the bureau, all died. The arsenal was almost empty, and five thousand gold was distributed as relief.

Afterwards, Chongzhen learned that it was caused by an explosion in a gunpowder factory. There was not a single intact house in a radius of more than ten miles, and the trees became withered, killing and injuring more than [-] people.

Immediately, there was a surge of scolding from the court, and coupled with the victory of the officers and troops at this time, Chongzhen was forced to surrender again and again.

From one hundred casting cannons to fifty, thirty, and twenty.

Of course, at this time, the officers and soldiers were fully victorious on the battlefield in the Central Plains, reporting victories everywhere, so that Chongzhen could almost see the hope of Ming ZTE and pacify the world, which also affected his judgment. Maybe he also felt that he could win without using cannons. .

Just when he dreamed that Daming was going to ZTE.

In July of the 11th year of Chongzhen, the Qing soldiers entered the customs again, which shocked the world and at the same time rescued the peasant army that was about to be wiped out.

Huang Taiji entered the customs a month earlier than in the original history, and it was also thanks to Ding Yi.

Since the birth of Ding Yi, the Manchu Qing fought and failed repeatedly in the Lushun area. A large amount of land was occupied by Ding Mouse, and Jinfuzhou was seized successively.

Not to mention the serious setback to Huang Taiji's majesty, there was also a lot of dissatisfaction in the Qing Dynasty.

Especially after Ding Yi defeated Yizhou and took the captives to the Wanchahar tribe, the Mongols who had been steadfast with them also began to doubt the strength of the Qing Dynasty.

In order to show that his Qing Dynasty is still very strong, and at the same time plunder materials and food to make up for domestic losses, Huang Taiji launched a campaign to conquer the dynasty last year.

In the end, he was defeated by Ding Yi again, and he chose to retreat outside Seoul without a fight, in the name of preserving his strength, but everyone knew that he was afraid of losing to Ding Yi.

The failure of the First Battle of Conquest brought Huang Taiji's reputation to its peak.

At this time, the domestic peasant army in the Ming Dynasty became more and more violent, and the grain harvests in various places were in short supply, and countless lands were uncultivated, and grain prices reached new highs.

In order to solve the food problem, divert domestic conflicts, and avoid Ding Yi's soldiers, Huang Taiji decided to enter the customs again.

The so-called persimmons are still soft. In today's world, who is better at fighting than the Ming army?

After Huang Taiji fought North Korea last year, he felt that the Ming army was not even as good as the North Korean army.

Because they were eager to rob the Ming people of food, this time they were a month earlier than in the original history. In July, just after the summer harvest, Huang Taiji couldn't wait to send troops into the pass.

Afraid of losing to Ding Yi again, Huang Taiji originally planned to let Azige lead the army.

Of course, Azig didn't want to, so he said, let the young people practice military training, I did it last time.

So as before, Dorgon, Prince Heshuorui, was finally sent to lead the army.

On July 7, Yue Tuo and Du Du led more than 28 right-wing troops to attack from Qiangziling, Heiyuguan, Gubeikou, and Jiangjun Shifen, and beheaded Wu Aheng, governor of Ming Jiliao.

On August 8th, more than 4 left-wing troops led by Dorgon and Haoge entered from the west of Qingshan Pass by "destroying the gap in the side wall". The two armies joined forces in Tongzhou, a suburb of Beijing.

I probably know that the Ming Dynasty was easy to bully. After the Qing soldiers entered the customs, the left wing soldiers and horses were divided into eight groups, attacking and plundering everywhere. As far as Jinan Prefecture in Shandong in the south, the Qing soldiers came and went freely, and it was almost as if there was no one in the land.

Because Huang Taiji planned to grab more points this time, Qing soldiers from all walks of life roamed all over the thousands of miles of Ming country, staying longer than in the original history.

On August 8, the capital was under martial law. On the one hand, Chongzhen summoned Zu Dashou, the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong forward, and Lu Xiangsheng, the governor-general of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi Military Affairs, led Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, and Hu Dawei, the three generals of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi. Entered the capital of Wei.

He also ordered the Denglai soldiers and horses in Tianjin to be the right wing, and Liu Zeqing, the general soldier of Shandong, restrained his vanguard.

Because Lu Xiangsheng's father passed away in May, he wrote several times to go home to attend the funeral, but was not approved, and was ordered to attend the funeral on duty.

At this time, he received the emperor's decree: Lu Xiang was promoted to the title of Minister of the Ministry of War, and he was still the governor.

After receiving the emperor's imperial decree and Shang Fangjian, Lu Xiangsheng was so grateful that he took up his post in hemp and filial piety, barefoot and straw sandals.After arriving in the outskirts of Beijing, he said to the emperor: "I am not a military talent, I do things with a foolish mind, and I don't take refuge in friendship. But since my father was dying, I was injured on a long journey, and my five sense organs were disorganized. Standing on the top of the three armies, you can only look at it without towering over it, just like a golden drum that doesn't work."

In particular, he pointed out that Yang Sichang, the Shufu, Gao Qiqian, the eunuch of the supervising army, and himself are all people who are in mourning, and it is too unlucky to command this war.In particular, what he cannot tolerate is that Yang Sichang and Gao Qi potential advocate peace talks, while he "would rather give up his life than die."

It turned out that on March 3, Yang Sichang's Shangshu reiterated the idea that the internal affairs must be settled before fighting against the outside world, and advocated a compromise with the Qing Dynasty, and concentrated all efforts to quell the bandits in the Central Plains.

Because Yang Sichang did a good job last year, Xiong Wencan even recruited Zhang Xianzhong, the peasant army across the country entered a trough, and the Ming army was victorious. Chongzhen saw the hope of calming the world, so he also wanted to negotiate a peace in his heart.

The point is, what Yang Sichang said very much appealed to him, that the inside must be settled first in order to fight against the outside world, and the inside should be resolved first.

What's the problem inside?
Except for the peasant army, military leaders like Zu Dashou and Ding Yi are big problems.

Chongzhen now hopes that after the peasant army is settled, this kind of army leader will be dealt with first.

Therefore, on May 5, Emperor Chongzhen instigated a test of ministers in the Zhongji Hall with the theme of "It is difficult to evacuate the army and the heart of the enemy country".

(End of this chapter)