national surname chiming

Chapter 331 There is no way out
The rescue of Empress Yi'an and Princess Kunxing was a toss, plus the need to confirm the current situation of other major royal relatives and whether there is a possibility of rescue, also wasted three days of Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong's time.

So when they moved the main force of the navy from Dagukou to Jieshi Island to meet Wu Sangui, it was already the eighteenth day of the first lunar month in the 17th year of Chongzhen, which was nearly ten days after Chongzhen's death.

Before Zhang Mingzhen and others arrived, Wu Sangui's troops had already rushed from Shanhaiguan via Changli to the Kaiping area, and even had a small-scale conflict with Li Zicheng's troops near Kaiping, but there were not many casualties on both sides.

Four days ago, after confirming the news of Chongzhen's death and the news that the prince had also fallen into Li Zicheng's hands, Wu Sangui withdrew his troops temporarily on the grounds that he was "worried that the prince would be kidnapped and hurt by the bandit army", and now he has returned to Shanhaiguan.

Of course, before Zhang Mingzhen arrived, the news of Chongzhen's death that Wu Sangui received was all unilaterally announced by Li Zicheng, that is, "Your Majesty was unwilling to negotiate and compromise after being chased and surrounded, and committed suicide for the country."

Wu Sangui never knew that Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin killed the king, so there was room for a temporary compromise and wait and see.

After returning to Shanhaiguan, Wu Sangui of course also knew that he was in a critical situation, so he inevitably sent envoys to contact Dorgon who had just been in power for only three months (Huang Taiji died last winter, Dorgon and Jierhalang They have just jointly held power for three months), trying to see if they can solve the problem of being attacked by enemies.

The communication channel that Wu Sangui relies on is mainly through his uncle Zu Dashou, who was surrendered to the Qing Dynasty again a year and a half ago.The condition he proposed to Dorgon for the first time was also to use the Qing soldiers to join forces to break through, and he would be rewarded with the land of Hebei.

Moreover, during the first contact, Wu Sangui did not offer the condition that he himself directly lead troops to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, nor did he sacrifice Shanhaiguan.What he said at first was to keep the Shanhai Pass, and asked Dorgon to enter the pass from the defense area of ​​the former Jimen General Soldier Ma Ke.

And Wu Sangui himself obviously wants to continue to guard Shanhaiguan and the surrounding territory. When he is the emperor of the country, he will leave an extra way out—in the original real history, the conditions he initially offered were also the same. Clear communication retains a glimmer of hope.Later, when the situation became more and more critical, Li Zicheng attacked him with all his strength, but Wu Sangui's conditions became more and more humble every time, and finally he became a traitor.

In this time and space, it has been five years since the water transportation of the Ming Dynasty was changed to the sea, and the military rations shipped from the Liao region depended entirely on sea transportation. Wu Sangui's ambitions naturally became more inflated. He can continue to stick deep behind the enemy, at least he can live a much better life than Mao Wenlong in Dongjiang Town.

It was at this juncture that the navy led by Zhang Mingzhen finally got in touch with him.

……

Jieshi Island is the Qinhuangdao of later generations (the main body of Qinhuangdao in later generations has been silted up with the land, and there are only a few big rocks left in the bay), and it is about [-] miles away from Shanhaiguan.In a small bay in Guannei, there are some fairly good deep-water anchorages.

The relationship between Jieshi Island and Shanhaiguan is roughly equivalent to the relationship between Juehua Island and Ningyuan City.When Zhu Shuren first transported grain to the Ming army in Liaoxi by sea, and went to Ningyuan to meet Wu Sangui, he docked at Juehua Island to unload the cargo, and transported grain to the Shanhaiguan army through the wharf of Jieshi Island.

The main purpose of Zhang Mingzhen's visit this time was of course not to deliver food to Wu Sangui.

But in order to better open up the situation, at the initial stage of contact between the two parties, remind the other party to recall the history of friendly cooperation between the two sides in the past few years, so Zhang Mingzhen's sea fleet still allocates a small part of the capacity. Symbolically, tens of thousands of shi of military rations were transported.

In previous years, the Ming army in Liaoxi needed to obtain military rations from the south, at least on the order of hundreds of thousands of stones.This time I will only give one to twenty thousand, which is of course a drop in the bucket in terms of absolute numbers, but as an introduction, just to remind you, it is very useful.

Wu Sangui's Zhang Guozhu, who is in charge of military supplies and logistics, was only a garrison when he first contacted the Shen family fleet four years ago, but now he has been promoted to a general. It can be seen that the promotion of generals at all levels in the Liaoxi Ming army has been relatively fast in recent years. ,

On the other hand, it is also confirmed from the side how many veteran generals and veterans Hong Chengchou sent away in the Songjin Battle.It was the 15th year of Chongzhen that gave 10,000+ main forces for nothing, which caused a huge vacancy for the generals of the Ming army in western Liaoning, and those who survived by luck could quickly fill them up.
From the 15th to the 17th year of Chongzhen, many generals at the grassroots level were promoted a year, as long as they could survive.

Seeing that Zhang Mingzhen returned the rations to the friendly army in western Liaoning in such a critical autumn, even if the wave was less than [-] shi, it still moved Zhang Guozhu and other generals so much.

"Guo Xingye really believes in people. His righteousness is as thin as the clouds, and his righteousness is generous. The capital has fallen, and the household department has not paid food for a long time. When the household department was cut off, there were still people who spontaneously sent military rations according to the usual routine..."

Zhang Guozhu was crying while signing for the receipt, he was really moved by Zhu Shuren's righteousness and Bo Yuntian.

This kind of emotion soon spread to Wu Sangui's entire army, including Wu Sangui himself.At noon that day, Wu Sangui personally met Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong, and humbly discussed with them the follow-up arrangements and the way out.

Of course, not only Wu Sangui participated in this kind of thing, but also Governor of Liaoji Wang Yongji, Governor of Liaodong Li Yutian, and Li Fuming, who was also the commander in chief like Wu Sangui.

People of later generations, who don't read history carefully, think that Wu Sangui was already a righteous emperor at the end of Shanhaiguan, and no one above could restrain him.
But in fact, until the last moments of the Ming Dynasty, and even after the death of Chongzhen, the basic state policy of the Ming Dynasty in the Liao region, the law of the ancestors, was well preserved on the surface.

It can only be said that after the death of Qiu Minyang, the former Liaodong governor of Hong Chengchou, the newcomers Wang Yongji and Li Yutian had unstable foundations and little real power, so they could not completely control Wu Sangui in fact.But in terms of official positions and status, Wang Yongji and Li Yutian are always above Wu Sangui.

Even if it was last year before Li Zicheng entered Beizhili and the Tartars tried to seize the customs last year, the court still allowed Li Yutian to command Wu Sangui to fight.

And Wu Sangui has always been conscientious in his job of defending Liao territory. The emperor asked him to defeat the invading enemies who invaded his defense zone. Wu Sangui worked hard every time. Just two months ago, he also defeated Dorgon's team The troops killed a Mele Egennart of the Qing army (this is a historical fact)——

For those who have no idea of ​​an official position at the level of Mailer Erzhen, it can be compared to the battle when Zhu Shuren sent Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong to rescue Li Fuming and Cao Bianjiao in Tashan and Xingshan a year and a half ago.The Ming army only killed several Jiala Erzhen, Erbi and Yonggui of the Qing army. After the war, relying on these results, Zhang Mingzhen was promoted from deputy general to chief soldier.

And Meile Erzhen is more advanced than Jiala Erzhen, equivalent to the deputy banner owner, the eight banners of the Qing army, each banner has only one banner owner, and the left and right deputy Meile Erzhen, there are five Jiala Erzhens under the banner .

From this point of view, there is a real reason for Wu Sangui's delay in rescuing Chongzhen this time, and his slow return to the capital, because in the process of guarding his defense zone, he actually killed a Qing army equivalent to the existence of the deputy bannerman. If he was really held back by the Tartars, he couldn't save the emperor.

Before returning to the division, you have to make some preparations to avoid being chased by the Qing army and ensure that you can reach Beijing safely before you can talk about rescue. Otherwise, you will give up halfway for nothing.
Up until now, to be honest, no one can accuse Wu Sangui of his inaction on the rescue issue.

Historically, when Wu Sangui borrowed the Qing army, the conditions offered to the Qing army in the first stage were not Wu Sangui's own ideas, but a collective decision made by Wang Yongji leading Li Yutian and Wu Sangui.

After Wang Yongji left, the follow-up decisions were made by Li Yutian and Wu Sangui together (on the issue of borrowing troops from the Qing Dynasty, Li Yutian’s responsibility was no less than that of Wu Sangui, and there is no need to clear this up, and Li Yutian was indeed in Chongzhen officially surrendered to the Qing Dynasty as a traitor in July 17. Wang Yongji fled south first, and spent more than a year with the Hongguang Dynasty. On the eve of the fall of the Nanjing regime, he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty as a traitor together with Liu Zeqing, one of the four towns in Jiangbei)

……

Since the official rules still exist, Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong had no choice but to do as the Romans did. When visiting the pier, they first paid homage to Wang Yongji and Li Yutian, and then asked Wu Sangui for advice on the next step.

On the opposite side, the civil and military forces of the Liao region, led by Wang Yongji, responded to the kindness of the naval reinforcements from the south, and it was not Wu Sangui's turn to speak for the time being.

Wang Yongji took the lead in asking Zhang Mingzhen if there was any latest news about the relatives and relatives of the emperors in the capital, as well as the latest response to the intruders' treatment of the officials in the capital.

"Zhang Junmen, I heard that your army once went deep into Dagukou and Tianjin Wei, and approached the capital to try to rescue? I don't know how to find out the current situation of the intruders raging? I have heard that many of the elders and department halls in Jingzhong Pavilion surrendered thieves , but is it true? Then I heard that these traitors don’t seem to end well? Could it be that the thieves don’t want to see them? That’s really an eye-opener.”

Wang Yongji's question was also asked on behalf of Li Yutian and others. They were actually quite concerned about the treatment of those civilian and military generals who voted for Li Zicheng.But it's not easy to show concern, so I have to use the excuse of gloating, "I want to see if those officials who surrendered to thieves really have a bad death."

Chongzhen had just died less than ten days ago, and there was no news from the two places, and there were various theories. Therefore, the civil and military forces in Liaodi have only been a little rumored for a day or two in the past few days. Army", they couldn't believe it in their hearts.

Does Li Zicheng really want the world?Didn't know how to reuse those who surrendered, but offended the gentry all over the world to force money? !Is there such a person in the world who wants to die?

In fact, Zhang Mingzhen didn't know much about what happened in the capital in recent days, but he was a little better informed than Wang Yongji and the others. After all, he had just withdrawn from Tianjin.

More importantly, Zhang Mingzhen had been taken care of by Zhu Shuren before Zheng Chenggong set off, and he knew that when encountering a similar situation, he should try to speak as seriously as possible to calm people's hearts.

So Zheng Chenggong acted carelessly on his behalf, using the excuse that he had personally visited Xianghe County, and said: "Your Excellency is really well-informed, yes, I heard that thieves are severely punished.

Half a month before His Majesty was besieged, Wei Zaode, the elder Wei Ge who had just become the chief assistant of the cabinet, you know?I heard that because he was the same age as Guo Xingye, the intruder hated him very much. Seeing that he was only willing to give 3 taels of silver to help the thief, he used a stick to pinch his brains out and killed him on the spot!
I also heard that all of you who have relatives in Beijing have also been detained by the intruders.Wu Junmen's father is in the capital, right?The intruder took Old General Wu and said that he wanted to bring the prince to the front of the Liaoxi army and force the Wu army to surrender! "

Zheng Chenggong directly exaggerated Li Zicheng's evil deeds, and he was not afraid of frightening the civil and military forces in Shanhaiguan, but only wanted to arouse their common hatred.

Wu Sangui had already received a letter from Li Zicheng urging him to surrender. He also knew that his father was still in the capital, but he didn't know the actual treatment.When Zheng Chenggong made such a clear statement, his color changed immediately.

But he didn't want to be greedy for life and afraid of death, and worried about his family, so he had to divert his attention and focus on the prince's question:
"How can the thief be so shameless? He is trying to kidnap the prince to persuade us to surrender? How can the prince be so humble and follow the thief? He won't be harmed by the thief..."

Zheng Chenggong once again pointed it out directly: "Wu Junmen is really loyal, he didn't take it seriously when he heard that his father was in danger, but he cared about the prince's safety first, he is really a role model for my great Ming general!
It's a pity, unfortunately, the prince was indeed coerced. I tried to rescue the prince in Xianghe County but failed, and saw the prince being coerced with my own eyes.I dared not forcefully rescue him.

I also know that the crown prince made false promises to the trespasser at the beginning, but it was because of his parents' reputation and filial piety that he had to make false promises.

Later, when he learned from his sister, Princess Kunxing, that Empress Zhou and Concubine Yuan Gui had been buried, and that Empress Yi'an and Princess Kunxing were rescued by the official, His Royal Highness was impassioned at the head of Xianghe County, under the sword of the bandit army, and shouted: I will never help the thieves persuade Governor Wang, Li Futai, Wu Junmen, etc. to surrender, and I will never compromise with killing my father and enemies! "

Zheng Chenggong's impassioned words stunned everyone. At the same time, there was a huge amount of information, which made everyone's brains a little bit down.

"What? Have you met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? Why is there something about Princess Kunxing and Empress Yi'an? What about killing the father and the enemy that the Crown Prince said?"

Wang Yongji and Li Yutian couldn't help being moved, and asked questions quickly.

Zheng Chenggong had a well-thought-out plan, and took out the tokens he got from Zhang Yan and Zhu Xi, and publicly displayed them, saying that he had rescued the queen and princess, and had sent someone to send them back safely to the south, with his own maid to protect them.

As for what the crown prince said, including the conversation between the crown prince and Princess Kunxing, there were more than thousands of people who heard it, above and below the city walls of Xianghe County, and the soldiers of the two armies.

Both the crown prince and Princess Kunxing said personally that the first emperor did not commit suicide to die for the country, but fought for the country, and was murdered by Liu Zongmin.

"Your Majesty was murdered by Liu Zongmin on the battlefield?! This..."

Governor Wang Yongji led the crowd. Hearing this, he completely lost the possibility of being false with Li Zicheng. Everyone is a courtier of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor was shot to death by the thief himself.

Wu Sangui's face was also livid, and he repeatedly confirmed with Zheng Chenggong.

Helpless, Zheng Chenggong took out the tokens of the dignitaries in the palace, and there were so many officers and men who testified, everyone spoke in a strangely unified way, even individual captives, as well as the witnesses of officials rescued from Xianghe and Tianjin, were unanimous in their opinions. Do not believe.

What else can Wu Sangui do?He can only state:
"Even if the thief kidnaps my father, the general will never compromise with this thief! If my father can die for the country, it can be regarded as chasing after the late emperor, and the general will definitely avenge the hatred of the country and the family together!
Governor Wang, why don't we add some conditions, ask Dorgon to send more troops, and let's fight back against the intruders together! "

Wang Yongji frowned, and patiently asked Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong for their opinions: "What do you guys think? Our soldiers and people in the Liao region naturally intend to help the king destroy the thieves and be loyal to the country.

It's just that now the Liao land is alone in the enemy's rear. There are intruders in front and Tartars in the back. If you don't reconcile with one side, you may be unable to fight on two fronts.I don't know if Shen Butang and Guo Xingye in the south can continue to reinforce our Liao army and civilians by sea?Is there any other way to get the best of both worlds? "

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PS: The plan can't keep up with the changes... It was originally agreed to resume full normal updates today.I'm still recovering from the illness, and the fever has subsided for five or six days. Now I have no other symptoms except morning and evening cough, heart and lung deficiency... I still need to rest.

But my grandmother passed away in the middle of the night before yesterday, and my family has to do white things recently, so I have to keep updating the next day for a few more days. I will ask for leave at intervals between tomorrow and the 9th. I can update on the 8th and 10th, and resume daily updates after the 10th.Then it's the Chinese New Year, and I will ask for a few more days off.

(The crematorium here in Hangzhou is currently in line for six days, and the furnace is open 24 hours a day. Orders are placed in the middle of the night on the 4th and queued to burn at the night of the 10th. Our family is already considered simple and unsuperstitious. I have to keep queuing. There are too many unexpected troubles in special times)
(End of this chapter)