Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 52 Huai'an Mutiny
Two days passed, and the time came to the eighth day of May.

On this day, another great battle broke out in Qingdu, southeast of Baoding Prefecture in the north. After the battle of stones, the Dashun Army was once again defeated by the Guanning Army and the Jiannu Allied Forces.

The remaining [-] Dashun troops were wiped out.

General Gu Kecheng, commander of Dashun Biao Guoyi, was killed in battle.

After the victory, the Qing army still did not give up.

Duoduo strictly ordered Wu Sangui to lead the Guanning Army to pursue and kill them at night.

Under the full pursuit of the Guanning Army, the Dashun Army was defeated again.

At the same time, the news of the defeat of the Dashun Army also spread to Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan provinces. The officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty and the surrendered troops in the prefectures of the three provinces immediately launched rebellions.

The consequences of the Dashun Army's pursuit of stolen goods and torture of salaries before this have finally fully manifested.

On April 4, Zhao Jiding, the censor of the Ming Dynasty, and others launched a rebellion in Dezhou.

On April 4, the Ming guerrilla general Gao Gui launched a rebellion in Tai'an.

On the first day of May, General Zhang Chengfu of the Ming Dynasty led his troops to launch a rebellion in Caozhou.

On the second day of May, Liu Shiru, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and others launched a rebellion in Jinan Prefecture.

During this period, there were no less than a hundred officials and gentry of Ming Dynasty who launched rebellion and surrendered troops of Ming Dynasty.

Two days later, there will be two largest rebellions in Shanxi Province, that is Jiang Xing's rebellion in Datong and deputy general Wang Daye's rebellion in Tianchengwei.

In the first ten days of May, Beizhi, Henan, and Shandong provinces were already full of smoke.

However, Huai'an Mansion in Nanzhili, which is not far from Shandong, is still calm.

One is because the Dashun Army did not advance to Huai'an Mansion, so there will be no rebellion against the Dashun Army, and the other is because the news of the Dashun Army's defeat has not yet reached Huai'an Mansion.

The news that the Qing army had stolen the capital did not reach Huai'an Mansion.

Until now, the officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty thought that this was Wu Sangui's help in the suppression.

Liu Zeqing who fled to Huai'an Mansion also thought so, and the ten generals under Liu Zeqing also thought so.

Liu Zeqing is cowardly and cruel, he can run faster than a rabbit in the face of thieves, and he can't even blink his eyes when he kills political enemies and innocent people. But this person also has a great advantage, that is, he is good at knowing people.

The ten generals who were promoted by him to be the capital, garrison, guerrilla, and participating generals are all very capable generals.

For example, General Wang Zuntan later became the governor of Sichuan in the Qing Dynasty, Ma Huabao became the admiral of Guizhou, Bai Yongfu became the admiral of Pingliang, and Zhang Guozhu participated in Wu Sangui's rebellion as the admiral of Yunnan.

Of course, the character of these military generals is not flattering, they are basically ferocious and bloodthirsty arrogant soldiers.

In addition, because Liu Zeqing has not been a warlord for a long time, and the money collected by looting the state capital is not much, so there is no way to gain the loyalty of Wang Zuntan, Ma Huabao, Bai Yongfu, Zhang Guozhu and other generals through rewards, and there is no way Their oath of allegiance is obtained through promotion, so far from establishing a personal attachment.

Wang Zuntan and the others are just Liu Zeqing's subordinates, and their respective identities are still military officers of the Ming Dynasty.

And this is also the confidence that Chongzhen dared to bring a thousand barbarians to Huai'an Mansion, because this trip to Huai'an was not about the number of soldiers, but because of his status as the emperor of Ming Dynasty.

For example, at this moment, Chongzhen's status as emperor began to play its due role.

On the eighth day of May, the news that Chongzhen killed Gao Jie with thunder and lifted the siege of Yangzhou reached Liu Lingtai, Huai'an Prefecture, where Liu Zeqing's [-] troops were stationed.

Because the prefect of Huai'an did not allow Liu Zeqing's troops to enter the city.

In fact, during Liu Zeqing's journey to the south, none of the magistrates, prefectures, or county magistrates took the initiative to open the city gates and let them enter the city to station, and even refused to provide food and salaries.

So there must be a reason for everything. Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo, and Zuo Liangyu robbed their troops. At the beginning, they were forced to do nothing. The court could not provide food and salaries. They had no food to eat, so they could only rob. Once the evil in human nature is released, it will soon get out of control.

Therefore, people in troubled times are not human beings.

Therefore, it is better to be a peaceful dog than a chaotic person.

Closer to home, Liu Zeqing was frightened to death when he learned that Gao Jie was executed by Chongzhen.

Gao Jie was executed by Chongzhen just for robbing and murdering. He, Liu Zeqing, had intercepted and killed an official of the imperial court, so he still survived?
The matter of resisting the edict and not obeying it was ignored by Liu Qingze. The law does not blame the public, and they are not the only ones who resist the edict.

So Liu Zeqing hurriedly sent people to summon the top ten generals under his command to Xingyuan to discuss countermeasures urgently. In fact, he wanted to change his family and join the bandits, but he didn't care about it alone.

When Wang Zuntan and other generals arrived, Liu Zeqing first asked his nephew Liu Zhigan to test everyone's opinions.

As a result, Liu Zhiqian encountered fierce opposition from Wang Zuntan, Ma Huabao and others at the very beginning.

Zhang Guozhu was even more embarrassing and said: "The Ming Dynasty has supported scholars for more than two hundred years, and I have received the state's favor for generations. How can I recognize a thief as my father?"

Well, the world's favor from the state is nothing more than high-profile, in the hearts of proud soldiers like Zhang Guozhu, even if they still retain a loyalty to Daming, it is very limited.

What Zhang Guozhu and the others really cared about was the recovery of stolen goods.

Wouldn't it be nice for me to be a military officer in Daming?Do you have to go and let the thieves recover the stolen goods?

Seeing that the situation was not right, Liu Zeqing quickly reprimanded Liu Zhiqian sternly, and then sternly said that he believed in the imperial court and believed that Chongzhen would treat him fairly.

The matter of subduing the thief was delayed like this.

This delay lasted for another three days, and the time came to May [-]th.

On the evening of May [-]th, Chongzhen arrived outside Shanyang City with a thousand barbarians.

The prefect of Huai'an and the subordinate officials of the governor's yamen rushed to greet him outside the city. Chongzhen declined the kindness of the prefect of Huai'an and insisted on stationing troops outside the city of Shanyang, but asked the prefect of Huai'an to provide wine and food for the troops.

The news reached Liu Lingtai, and the mutiny began to brew.

……

Wang Zuntan, Ma Huabao and Bai Yongfu came to Zhang Guozhu's camp overnight.

"Brother Guozhu, have you heard?" Ma Huabao asked as soon as he entered the big tent, "Sheng Jia has already arrived outside the city of Huai'an Prefecture."

"I just heard about it too." Zhang Guozhu said with a gloomy expression, "Tell me, what is Zongzhen thinking in his heart? Why didn't he bring us to meet Shengjia?"

"It's not because of fear."

Ma Huabao snorted softly and said, "I'm afraid His Majesty will kill him too."

"But procrastination like this is not an option." Zhang Guozhu said, "If you procrastinate for a long time, His Majesty will think that we have the same disobedience as Liu Zeqing, and we will be wronged."

"That's impossible." Wang Zuntan shook his head anxiously.

"I don't want to rebel, can there be good fruit to eat by following the thieves?"

Bai Yongfu also said: "Although the Holy Majesty is a bit mean, he is the master of the world after all."

"Then tell me what to do." Zhang Guozhu said, "Anyway, there will be no room for recovery when the saint arrives at Liu Lingtai. If you want to get rid of the suspicion of rebellion, you must do it as soon as possible."

"It's better to launch a mutiny directly." Ma Huabao said.

"Yes." Wang Zun said frankly, "Let's take Liu Zeqing to face the saint."

"Okay!" Zhang Guozhu said, "You split up and contact Huang Zhongse, Gao Jinku, and Zhang Shiyi. Even if they refuse to participate in the remonstrance, they must remain neutral."

"Success." Wang Zuntan nodded several times.

Zhang Guozhu said again: "Go and prepare."

……

At this time, Liu Zeqing was in the camp of the Chinese army.

Liu Zhiqian persuaded: "Uncle, do it."

Liu Zeqing was a little moved, but also a little hesitant. To put it bluntly, he was still cowardly.

What if it fails?
Liu Zhiqian said again: "Uncle, we have a chance when Chongzhen's one thousand barbarians are not firmly established. We will have a chance when Chongzhen integrates the army in Shanyang City, and it will be too late."

Shanyang City is not only the capital city of Huai'an, but also the residence of the Governor of Water Transport.

Therefore, there are often about 1 to 2 transport troops stationed in Shanyang City.

If it weren't for the tens of thousands of transport troops, Liu Ze would have sent troops to attack Shanyang City early in the morning.

"Uncle, let's make a decision quickly!" Liu Zhiqian urged again.

"Okay!" Liu Zeqing finally made up his mind, and said in a deep voice, "Beat the drums and gather the generals, and raise troops to Qingjun's side!"

Soon, drums sounded from the camp of the Chinese army, and then the surrounding barracks also became noisy. Groups of soldiers got out of the dilapidated tents and began to assemble in a chaotic manner.

The few servants began to wear armor.

Liu Zeqing sat in the camp for a while, when suddenly there was the sound of killing and weapons clashing outside the camp.

"What's the situation?" Liu Zeqing stood up suddenly, and when he was about to look outside the camp, he saw Liu Zhiqian rushed in angrily, even with blood on his body.

"Uncle, it's over." Liu Zhigan said with a dark face.

"Wang Zuntan, Ma Huabao and the others rebelled, rebelled!"

"What?" Liu Zeqing was so startled that he fell down on the soft stool.

But soon, Liu Zeqing jumped up again, and said anxiously: "Call the army, bring the baggage and fight with me!"

"Uncle, it's already too late." Liu Zhiqian sighed, "Wang Zuntan and the others have already surrounded the camp of the Chinese army. There are rebels in all directions, and we can't get out."

While the uncle and nephew were talking, the fighting outside became more intense.

Moreover, the sound of clashing weapons and screams was rapidly approaching.

Obviously, Liu Zeqing's Chinese army was caught off guard by being killed.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Zhang Guozhu, Wang Zuntan, Ma Huabao and others rushed in murderously.

When Liu Zeqing looked at it calmly, he found that all the military officers leading a battalion had arrived, and none of them was left behind. Seeing this, Liu Zeqing was completely desperate, and it was really over.

At that moment, Liu Zeqing drew his sword across his neck and stabbed lightly.

But only a little bit of skin was cut, and Liu Zeqing was scared.

Immediately Liu Zeqing dropped his sword dejectedly, Wang Zuntan and others rushed forward and pinned Liu Zeqing down to the ground and tied them up, while Liu Zhigan on the other side had already been hacked to death by Ma Huabao with several knives.

Liu Zhiqian has always offended many people because he is Liu Zeqing's nephew.

This will allow Ma Huabao and other generals to seize the opportunity, can it be good?
Well, before Chongzhen even made a move, the town of Liu Zeqing returned to the Ming court, and Liu Zeqing himself became a prisoner.

(End of this chapter)