I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

With the fall of Zhenjiang, the army led by the Eighth Brigade of the Ming Royal Army, with the help of the navy, landed at Fengyi Gate and immediately camped at Lion Rock.

Wu Sheng personally arrived in Nanjing to command the front line, and other ministries arrived at the gates of Nanjing from all directions. Facing more and more Ming army soldiers, Nanjing's anger seemed to have entered despair.

Attacking the heart is the top priority, and attacking the city is the bottom priority. As the saying goes, attacking the heart is the top priority, and attacking the city is the bottom priority. To defeat the enemy without fighting, Wu Sheng also began to recruit and surrender the Nanming Army in the city.

On July [-]th, the first year of Dingxin, the army that arrived at Nanjing City had exceeded [-] troops, divided into three groups, namely Wu Sheng's group, Cheng Shi's group, and Jiang Wubing's group. In addition, there were nearly [-] Nanming troops. By surrendering the army, it can be said that the Ming army has the strength to attack Nanjing.

Zhou Yanru, who was in Nanjing, stood on the city wall and looked at the Ming army camp outside the city. The bonfires and torches were like a ravaged galaxy, extending from the horizon to the sky. The endless military camp felt like With the strong and chilling aura unique to the Hundred Battles, Zhou Yanru's thin face moved with difficulty, and he looked like crying and laughing: "It's over...it's all over..."

However, ants still live in vain, let alone humans?

Zhou Yanru sent the famous scholar Lu Weiqi to the Ming army camp at Lion Mountain. Although Cheng Shijie has not directly appointed the commander-in-chief of the southward march, in fact, Wu Sheng has more seniority than Jiang Wubing, and Cheng Shi is nominally Cheng Shijie's adopted son. , but with the return of Cheng Jialong, Cheng Shi's position became somewhat awkward.

Wu Sheng naturally became the temporary commander-in-chief of the march south, commanding the No. 18 Brigade, the No. 17 Brigade and the [-]th Brigade. When Lu Weiqi arrived at Lion Rock, Wu Sheng still gave Lu Weiqi sufficient courtesy.

Because the biggest difference from the Jiangnan gentry is that as early as the eighth year of Chongzhen, Lu Weiqi was dismissed from the post of Shangshu of the Ministry of War in Nanjing due to his ineffective suppression of bandits. He returned to his hometown in Luoyang, Henan, and settled in Luoyang. He established the "Yiluo Society" and widely Recruit disciples and write books.

At that time, there was a severe famine in Henan, and the Dashun army was so powerful that it had the potential to conquer Henan in one fell swoop. Lv Weiqi advised King Fu Zhu Changxun to disperse his wealth and salarymen to alleviate the famine, but King Fu did not listen.Lu Weiqi then gave away all his belongings and set up a relief bureau.

"Master Lu, please come in!"

Lu Weiqi thought Wu Sheng would put out a team of swordsmen to scare him, but when he arrived at the Lion Rock Camp, it seemed like an empty camp. Where he looked, there were only hundreds of soldiers standing in the distance.

Wu Sheng, Cheng Shi, Jiang Wubing and other generals came to the big tent and ate directly with Lu Weiqi. Although the food was quite sumptuous, it was just ordinary to Lu Weiqi. After all, he was not born in a poor family, no matter how poor he was, he was still poor. Not to him.

There are six dishes, one is chicken stewed with potatoes, one is beans and beans braised in vinegar, one is braised pork with sauerkraut, and one is scrambled eggs with tomatoes, as well as lotus root and braised fish. None of them are delicacies, but they are full of color, flavor and flavor. , also makes people excited.Lu Weiqi ate two full bowls of good rice.

Wu Sheng said with a smile: "You can't do without fruit after a meal. These are tomatoes. Mr. Lu, please try them too."

Lu Weiqi saw that the fruit was not big, about the same size as an egg, and was bright red and very attractive.He took a bite, and a burst of sour and sweet meat juice splashed into his mouth. He couldn't help shouting: "It tastes good! What is the name of this fruit, General Wu?"

Wu Sheng said: "We all call this thing tomato, and our commander calls it tomato. It is imported from the West. It is as big as a chicken, as red as blood, sweet and sour, and is extremely popular. It is widely grown in Liaodong and the supply exceeds demand."

Lu Weiqi sighed in admiration: "Everyone said that life in Liaodong is good. I didn't believe it at first, but now I can't believe it anymore. It seems that Nanyang is really rich, and the products are so rich! I'm afraid that such delicacies are not common in Liaodong." People can afford it, right?”

Cheng Shi smiled and said: "Mr. Lu, what you just ate is just the ordinary war rice of our Ning Haijun, and these tomatoes are just the most common fruit that people in Liaodong use for entertainment after meals. Even a farmer can afford it." .”

Lu Weiqi's eyes widened: "How is that possible?"

Cheng Shi smiled and said, "I have no intention of deceiving Mr. Lu. If you don't believe me, you can go to Liaodong and live for a while to see if I lied."

"Actually, it doesn't need to be so time-consuming. Mr. Lu is from Henan. Now Henan has carried out land reform. If nothing else happens, it will also adopt the policies of Liaodong, build factories and scientifically cultivate. Henan will become rich in three to five years at most. , although it is difficult to catch up with Liaodong, it is still possible to have enough food and clothing without worrying about food and drink!"

Lu Weiqi actually didn't believe Wu Sheng's words. Although he didn't come from a poor family, he knew very well what kind of life the poor lived. Not to mention that the six dishes and two soups had meat and vegetables, and that kind of mixture Thank God that the steamed buns covered with chaff and wild vegetables can be full!
Such a meal is actually only the war meal of the Ning Navy and not the Ming Royal Army?Oh my God, this is too hard to believe, isn’t it?
Wu Sheng's smile faded and he became serious.All the foreshadowing has been done, and it’s time to get down to business.He said leisurely: "Master Lu, if I attack Nanjing now, do you think we can capture it?"

Lu Weiqi was silent for a long time, and finally shook his head in frustration: "We can defeat it!"

Lu Weiqi really didn't want to admit this, but after seeing how wealthy Cheng Shijie was, and how even a farmer could eat several dishes at a meal, who would want to ruin such a good life?As long as they give an order, many people in the Nanming army will defect on the battlefield, just like Anqing, Chizhou, Tongling, Yangzhou, and Zhenjiang. It can even be said that there is no need for Wu Sheng and tens of thousands of people to take action, just a promise, and they will immediately He could mobilize tens of thousands of people to fight against them in Nanjing!
Lu Weiqi said: "Is it really impossible to talk?"

Wu Sheng said with an aggressive look: "The regent's intention to oversee the country is to ask you to surrender unconditionally."

Lu Weiqi shouted: "What? General Wu, are you kidding?"

"How could Wu be joking about this?"

Wu Sheng smiled bitterly and said: "I only have one head. This unconditional surrender does not mean killing all the officials and gentry. As long as you surrender, you will never kill innocent people indiscriminately. But if you are guilty, you cannot tolerate it. Your children and Officials, if they don’t die, they will have books to read, food to eat, fields to cultivate, and jobs to support their families!”

This is actually not the result Lu Weiqi wants. Their idea is to only eliminate the culprits and never pursue the threats. The officials will do it, even if they are demoted and hired. Now Cheng Shijie is also taking the imperial examination, although the test is not the Four Books and Five Classics. But the problem is that these scholarly families spend a lot of resources on cultivating their offspring. Except for a few idiots, most of their children are still very good.

If there is a fair competition channel, they actually have a more competitive advantage than those mud-legged people, just like Lu Weiqi, and in history, his son Lu Zhaolin.Lu Luheng and Lu Qianheng, the sons of Lu Zhaolin, Lu Shouzeng, the son of Lu Luheng, Lu Yaozeng, the son of Lu Qianheng, Lu Gongzi, the grandson of Lu Luheng, and others successively passed the Jinshi examination and were called the "Fifth Jinshi".

Although only Lu Zhaolin among Lu Weiqi's sons passed the Jinshi examination, he did not only have one son, but seven sons, including two concubines and five legitimate sons. In addition to Lu Weiqi, he also had three brothers, and three of his descendants The number one scholar, 43 Jinshi, 97 candidates, [-] tribute students, and countless scholars.

As early as Xu Guangqi entered the imperial court with Western studies, Lu Weiqi added geometry translated by Xu Guangqi and arithmetic into his teaching courses. With Cheng Shijie's strong rise, he actually included the study of things, general affairs, agriculture, etc. in his teaching. And medicine, after all, Cheng Shijie was wading in front, he was just following up.

Zhou Yanru sent Lu Weiqi to come forward because he took a fancy to Lu Weiqi's influence among the officials in the world. This was the Yiluohui, the largest opposition party besides the Donglin Party, Chu Party, Jin Party and Xifa Party.

There are many people from Henan under Cheng Shijie's family, including Cheng Shijie's general Shen Mingyu, who is from Suiyang, Guide Prefecture, Henan Province, Song Xiance is also from Yongcheng County, Guide Prefecture, and Yang Qingyun is also from Guide Prefecture. Only Cheng Shijie's Among the cabinet, there are three people from Henan.

Wu Sheng handed over the land reform bill, tax bill, and various policies formulated by Cheng Shijie and the cabinet to Lu Weiqi, who left Lion Rock with dozens of files.

After Lv Weiqi returned to Nanjing from Lion Rock, he met Zhou Yanru's mansion. The two discussed it late into the night. When it was close to Zishi, Lv Weiqi left Zhou's mansion. At dawn, Zhou Yanru, the chief minister of Nanjing's small court, and his family of 68 people came together. He committed suicide by taking poison. Only three grandchildren under the age of ten and six granddaughters survived.

Cheng Shijie arrived in Nanjing on July 13th. He did not enter the Lion Rock Camp, but cruised on the Yangtze River. His ship was the Chang'an, a new giant shark-class warship that was launched just four months ago. , as Cheng Shijie’s new ship.

Wu Sheng, Cheng Shi, Jiang Wubing, including Shen Huandong and Shen Tingyang went to the Chang'an to meet He Lingjie.

"Meet the king!"

"Free gift!"

Cheng Shijie looked at Wu Sheng and other generals and asked, "How is the situation now?"

"All arrangements before the attack have been made. We only need an order from the king to launch the attack anytime and anywhere!"

Wu Sheng continued: "According to our inside information, Nanming is now frightened and vulnerable. However, after all, Nanjing is also a companion capital. After more than 200 years of operation, the city walls and fortresses are extremely strong. This is by no means a city that can Don’t be careless in a city that can be easily chewed up!”

"It's good for you to be cautious. We can despise the enemy strategically, but we must pay attention to our opponents tactically!"

Wu Sheng then reported the news of Zhou Yanru's suicide to Cheng Shijie.

After Cheng Shijie learned that Zhou Yanru's family was almost dead, as for the remaining nine children, he did not pursue them: "Although Zhou Yanru is dead, their family property is the wealth of the people, and the property must be confiscated!"

Wu Sheng added: "Your Majesty, you don't know. Ever since Zhou Yanru's family committed suicide, Nanming has started to give up on itself!"

Cheng Shijie looked at the detailed intelligence. Nanjing seemed to have given up on treatment. 10,000+ Ming troops were approaching the city, and they had no intention of strengthening their defenses.

On the contrary, there were fewer and fewer soldiers on the city walls.The city is in a state of drunkenness and dissipation. People are noisy along the Qinhuai River. The music of silk and bamboo goes on all night long. Fengyue places are also open all night. I don’t know how many famous literary figures spend all day long in Fireworks Willow Alley and Hua Ting Restaurant, eating and drinking. After spending a lot of money, he fell asleep on the beauty's knees when he was drunk, and continued to drink when he woke up.

After squandering all their wealth, they chose to commit suicide, hanging themselves, jumping into rivers, or taking poison. The whole of Nanjing simply turned into a suicide club!
Obviously, these literati who are accustomed to using intrigues and tricks to solve their opponents do not have the determination to fight to the end. The aggressive offensive of the Ming army has completely collapsed their psychology. They no longer have any luck, only indulge in enjoyment and use Beauty and alcohol anesthetize yourself, and when you are crazy enough, you will end it on your own.

Everyone knew very well that Ming Dynasty would never forgive them as traitors. Once the city of Nanjing was broken, if they were still alive, the fate that awaited them would be a hundred times more terrifying than death!
After reading this information, Cheng Shijie sighed and said: "I'm afraid Nanjing will be difficult to fight!" Wu Sheng was a little surprised: "How is this possible?"

"When a group of people know that they are bound to die, they are not even afraid of death. What else are they afraid of?"

Wu Sheng still didn't believe it. He ordered a tentative attack, but was beaten back as expected. The Nanming Army, which had no way to go, squeezed out the last bit of bravery at the last moment and resisted desperately. The bombardment was like rain. After falling, the Ming army who made a tentative attack suffered many casualties and had no choice but to retreat.

This seems to prove Cheng Shijie's judgment that Nanjing is indeed a tough nut to crack.At first, Cheng Shijie wanted to use Zeng Guofan's method of attacking Nanjing, and let people dig in to attack, get close to the city wall, and then plant explosives. It was a pity that when he saw the Ming army digging in, the Ming army also adopted the same method, digging in each other.

At a distance of more than 400 meters from the bottom of Nanjing City, the two sides controlled a secret tunnel. The explosives planted in several tunnels exploded at the same time, with an earth-shattering explosion. A total of more than 600 Ming troops responsible for the attack were buried under the tunnels, causing heavy casualties. For a time, the battlefield hospital was filled with injured patients.

Cheng Shijie originally thought that there was no need to bombard Nanjing with new heavy artillery, but now it seems that this method has to be adopted.

In fact, Cheng Shijie was far less optimistic about the judgment of the Nanjing War than Sun Zhiwan and others. The Ming Dynasty had been raising scholars for more than 200 years. Until the end, the Ming court actually did not let go of the shackles of the gentry and landlords. Once they were released, people everywhere would The landlords will immediately organize a large number of landlord armed forces.

These landlords may not know how to fight, but the problem is that the Ming Dynasty has too many generals who can fight, because they cannot be promoted, they just have no chance. Once these generals who can fight are recruited and integrated by the landlords, they will definitely form a huge army. strength.

After all, the landlords have money and food. Because of the dumping of steel products in Liaodong, they have obtained a lot of equipment. It is very simple to solve this problem. All it takes is Cheng Shijie to be merciful, only to eliminate the culprit, and never to threaten him. He can take it without a bloody blow. Go to the small imperial court of Nanming.

But the problem is, this is not the result Cheng Shijie wants.

As one small transport ship landed at the ferry, hundreds of young and strong civilians began to lay simple tracks under the command of craftsmen. There was no other way. This new cannon was too heavy. Relying solely on manpower, It was difficult to push, so in desperation, we had to resort to laying tracks.

As the track was laid, the fire bulls began to be assembled on the track. After more than a day of busy work, the fire bulls were assembled. Under the drag of the fire bulls, the cannons began to slowly move toward the Nanjing City Gate. move.The caliber of the cannon reached 150 mm, the barrel was several meters long, and it was extremely heavy.

Even if it is a giant shark-class battleship, this kind of battleship cannot withstand such a huge recoil. In desperation, the Gun Bureau gave up its plan to equip heavy artillery at sea and changed the cannon to land use.

The fire bull made a huge roar, dragging the artillery and slowly advancing along the track. The range, rate of fire, and accuracy of this new type of artillery are greatly improved compared to the currently equipped four-inch guns and 120 six-millimeter naval guns. It is not an exaggeration to call them weapons for the country. No need to read the instructions or test fire, just by the black muzzle and the slender barrel, you can see the destructive power contained in these iron guys.

Unfortunately, this became a testing ground for these cannons, with engineers using the Nanjing City Wall to test the power of these new cannons.

The diameter of this cannon has reached an astonishing 32 times, and it also uses the principle of repulsion. These improvements have made the weight of this cannon reach an astonishing twelve and a half tons. Even if solid rubber wheels are installed regardless of the cost, the road surface will be It is quite strong, and it is very difficult to transport such a big thing to the front line.

What's more, in the terrain of Nanjing, ordinary roads cannot bear such heavy artillery. In desperation, they had to use rail transportation.

Seeing these precious cannons in place, Cheng Shijie showed a rare smile and gathered around him with a group of generals. He stretched out his hand to touch the cannon body, which was so slippery that a fly would fall over if it landed. He felt that this piece of art was like a piece of art. The murderous aura condensed inside the treasure-like weapon made him sigh with emotion: "He is really the God of War... With it, all city defense strategies are empty talk, and no matter how strong the fortress is, it can't withstand a few shots from it!"

"How far can this kind of cannon shoot?"

"At least twenty miles, the ultimate range is 24 miles and 130 six steps!"

"Doesn't that mean that the entire Nanjing is within its range?"

"Of course! Every corner of most cities is within its range, and there is no safe place to be found."

Cheng Shijie smiled and said, "When can we fire?"

"Just half an hour to prepare and we'll be ready!"

At this time, Hou Si came over and reported: "Your Majesty, Catherine is here and wants to see you?"

"She didn't come to see me. She probably heard that we were going to experiment with a new cannon. She came here because of the smell!"

Chen Guodong's face looked a little embarrassed: "In my humble post, I will..."

"Actually, it's not necessary. When it's time to show off your muscles, you also need to show off your muscles!"

Cheng Shijie wants to open up the country and trade with Europa. If he wants Europa to do business with Ming Dynasty honestly, he cannot rely on humility, but needs to show off his fists and flex his muscles.

Soon Catherine came to Cheng Shijie. She bowed and said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, Catherine, on behalf of the Governor of Venice, would like to express my most sincere greetings to you!"

"Catherine, you are here at the right time. Our Ming Dynasty's new cannon will soon start practical training. You are in for a treat!"

Having said this, Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "Send them to the gates of Nanjing City to shout for them to leave the city wall quickly, otherwise they will die!"

Immediately, hundreds of soldiers with loud voices came to the city wall and shouted with tin trumpets: "Brothers of the Nanming Army, we are about to fire artillery. You should leave the city wall quickly, otherwise you will bear the consequences!"

However, the soldiers of the Southern Ming Army on the city wall did not see the artillery and were a little confused. However, they saw that the Ming Army below the city did not seem to be in an offensive posture. At least within sight, the Ming Army was not prepared to attack.

In this way, the two sides have a very tacit understanding.

After the Nanming army left the city wall, Cheng Shijie gave the order to fire.

As Cheng Shijie's order was issued, two artillerymen held a cannonball between them. This cannonball was thicker than a thigh and less than half a person's height. They stuffed the cannonball into the barrel, closed the door, and began to report: "Ready!"

"fire!"

After Cheng Shijie gave the order, he covered his ears with both hands. The others were a little confused.

"Boom boom boom..."

On the artillery position, gunpowder smoke filled the air, dust and smoke billowed, and the sound was huge.Even with a stationary hoe, it didn't work. The heavy cannon still moved back nearly two feet, stirring up a large cloud of smoke and dust. Fiery and violent flames spurted out from the black hole of the muzzle. In the midst of thunder and thunder, Six heavy projectiles rotated at high speed along the rifling and shot out, striking hard at the city wall!
The entire city wall burst into flames, and the remaining sand and gravel shot up into the sky. The Qiao tower collapsed with a loud bang. Several soldiers of the Nanming Army who did not retreat flew into the air like pieces of paper. The loud explosion of artillery shells shocked everyone's thinking. There was a blank, everything within the frozen sight was as terrifying as a nightmare.

The soldiers near the explosion point either disappeared in the flash of bright light from the explosion, or were blown high into the air by the shock wave of the explosion, and then torn into pieces and fell in a shower of blood.

The soldiers of the Nanming Army who were further away sat down on the ground, covered their ears with their hands and screamed loudly. However, even they themselves could not hear their own voices. Hot and sticky liquid spurted out from their ears, and there was a trace of blood. ,is blood!They were deafened!
When the smoke cleared, everyone was shocked to find that the shelled city wall had six large holes, many city bricks were blown away, and the entire city wall was obviously tilted.This is just the power of six shells!

Although Cheng Shijie covered his ears, he saw the mouths of the people around him opening and closing, but could not hear any sound. He squeezed his ears hard with his palms and repeated this three times before he regained his hearing.

Catherine turned pale with fright. Although she had not come to Nanjing, she had heard about the strength of Nanjing's city walls. Compared to Nanjing, most of the castles in Europe could only be regarded as small toys.

Even the city wall of Nanjing was torn apart by one shot. Large pieces of city wall masonry rolled and were thrown into the sky. The Nanming soldiers near the blast point were blown up all over the sky. After the terrifying explosion, the city wall was blown away. Several gaps collapsed.

Catherine had no choice but to recognize a reality with difficulty: "No city in Europe can withstand its bombardment!"

Song Xiance actually didn't quite understand why Cheng Shijie wanted to trade with the Spanish Empire. Seeing this bombardment, Song Xiance understood. This was Cheng Shijie's confidence.

If you are obedient, you will be rewarded with fruits; if you are disobedient, you will be spanked.That's not spanking with hands, but spanking with a five-inch 150 32 mm caliber, [-] times caliber cannon. (End of chapter)