A century-old family that runs through the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 41 Northern Expedition!Northern Expedition!
Time goes back to November of the 27th year of Zhizheng, two months before Zhu Yuanzhang officially proclaimed himself emperor.

At this time, Zhang Shicheng had been destroyed, and there were no major forces in the south except Xiwu.

it's time.

The king of Wu ordered Shu Youcheng to believe that Duke Xu Da was the general to conquer the captives, and Zhongshu Pingzhang was in charge of important military and national affairs. The Duke of E, Chang Yuchun, was appointed as the deputy general to conquer the captives. He led 25 soldiers and entered Hebei from Huaihe to capture the Central Plains.

That night, a scholar named Song Lian worked hard and wrote a famous article that has been passed down through the ages - "Fengtian's Message on the Northern Expedition of the Yuan Dynasty".

During that grand military parade, King Wu stood on a high platform and chanted with all his strength. The guards beside him took over his words and spread the message to the entire army. Tens of thousands of soldiers heard it!

Word of mouth spreads until it’s deafening!
"Since ancient times, emperors have ruled the world, and they have always lived in China to control the barbarians, and the barbarians have lived outside to serve China. It has never been heard of the barbarians living in China to control the world."

"The ministers of the Yuan Dynasty did not follow the instructions of their ancestors and destroyed the rules and regulations. They were like a great virtue who abolished the elders and established the young. When Taiding used his ministers to kill the emperor, he used his younger brother to kill his elder brother. As for the younger brother taking his brother's wife, the son conquered his father's concubine and learned from each other. Tian is not surprised, but the relationship between father, son, monarch, minister, husband, wife, elder and young is extremely profane and chaotic."

"The people of China are left with their livers and brains shattered to death, and the flesh and blood of the living cannot be protected. Although it is caused by human affairs, it is really the time when God is disgusted with his virtues and abandons him!"

"Those who return to me will live in peace in China forever, and those who carry me will flee beyond the Great Wall!"

"Drive out the barbarians, restore China, establish principles and discipline, and save the people!"

Northern Expedition to the Central Plains!
-
In February of the first year of Hongwu.

Shandong, Laiyang.

In the military camp filled with a chilling atmosphere, there were countless barracks. Soldiers in armor stood in the snow, and the "Wu" flag was flying high in the sky over the city not far away.

"Okay, okay..." Xu Da, who was in front of the desk in the main account, sighed softly while looking at the letter in his hand, his eyes shining with joy.

After more than ten years of bloody fighting and thousands of miles of attack, it was finally time for a good harvest.

Just now, a messenger came from Yingtian, bringing the news of King Wu's accession to the throne. From this moment on, they are no longer the Wu army, and this regime has a new name - Ming Dynasty.

And Zhu Yuanzhang did not forget these soldiers who were on the battlefield.

Xu Da was awarded the title of Yinqing Ronglu Doctor, Shangzhuguo, recorded important military and state affairs, Zhongshu Right Prime Minister, Xinguo Gong and Shaofu. The rewards were generous, second only to Li Shanchang.

He gently stroked his beard, obviously very satisfied with the reward.

"Your Majesty has not forgotten me!"

Wearing a military uniform, he walked out of the tent. At this time, the sky and the earth were pure white. The vicissitudes of life in his eyes seemed to have returned to Haozhou back then. The young man with a heroic smile was galloping on his horse, and 24 cavalry were following him. , the journey begins from here.

In the past 12 years, they started from the small Chuzhou, occupied Hezhou, occupied Taiping, and attacked Jiqing. Until now, they were sitting in the south and ruled across the river from the Yuan Dynasty. One by one, the former heroes fell in front of them. Now, Shandong Having basically recovered, they are about to face their final opponent.

He threw away the heavy cloak wrapped around him and gave the order:
"Let's go and march into Dadu!"

Xu Da's army began to march towards Dadu.

But there is a partial army marching towards a city with unique significance.

Qufu.

This is a very strange city.Obviously it is not in an important transportation area, it is obviously not an ancient city or old capital, it is not even a prefectural city, it is just a small county town, a county affiliated to Shandong Province, East-West Road, Jining Road, and General Administration Office. , but the city wall is so wide, tall and majestic that it is even more impressive than the provincial capital.

What makes people even more puzzling is that for such a majestic pass, the door is wide open at this time, with colorful flags fluttering above, all of which are big flags with the word "Ming".Countless people stood neatly at the door, as if waiting for something.

There are two people at the head, one of whom is slightly further back, and the other is standing in front, with his chest and belly raised, obviously his status is much higher than this person.Their clothes are particularly strange and are not similar to the common clothes today. If there is a hundred-year-old man here, he may recognize that they are the clothes of the pre-Song Dynasty, but they are not the same.

They are the 56th descendant of Confucius, contemporary Yanshenggong Kong Xixue and Qufu County Magistrate Kong Xizhang.

"Xizhang, are you ready to lower your rank?" Kong Xixue, the leader, said suddenly.

"Here here, here, sir, look at it." After hearing this, Kong Xizhang hurriedly took out a gorgeously decorated watch stamp from his cuff, written in handwriting like an iron painting and a silver hook, and handed it to him respectfully with both hands.

"Okay, well done. Alas, I didn't expect that Wang Xuan looked so powerful, but he turned out to be a rotten straw bag. It has only been a few months, and not only people are dead, but also most of Shandong is lost. Emperor Hongwu in the south directly hit him North. The situation in the world is really changing, and it’s hard to figure it out!"

Kong Xixue felt a little sad as he took the watch.

Who would have thought that in just a few months, the world would have changed drastically, and Yuan Ting would be in dire straits.

Just two months ago, this was Yuan Ting's territory, no, to be precise, it was Wang Xuan's.

At this time, the Yuan Dynasty was no longer unified. Shandong had Wang Xuan and Henan belonged to Kuo Kuo Timur. Guanlong was occupied by Li Siqi and Zhang Sidao. Jin and Zhongshu Province were directly under the jurisdiction of Boluo Timur. Although the attack was called Yuan Tingcheng, the fierceness of the battle was no less than that in the south. The Yuan Dynasty, which once had a vast territory, now only had territory north of Dadu in the pass.

What is even more unexpected is that in just a few months, all the vast Shandong has changed hands. Wang Xuan, who did not fall behind in the battle with the rest of the Yuan Dynasty, was directly defeated and died. The situation changed so quickly that it was shocking. Dazzled.

But the most important thing now is to save lives. The army is pressing down on the territory, but we cannot overthrow the Yuan Dynasty together.

Those who understand current affairs are heroes, and Kong Xixue knows what he should do.

In the distance, the sound of tidy footsteps on the ground could be heard, and flags could be seen waving in the horizon.

"Coming, coming." He hurriedly greeted the people around him. They arranged their clothes, dusted themselves off, adjusted their expressions, and waited for Emperor Hongwu's army to appear.

The Ming army is approaching.

The leading general was wearing a solid armor, and the cold light was freezing. He rode a tall horse and stopped when he was still a hundred meters away from the crowd.

He was Xu Da's subordinate and Zhang Xingzu, the governor of the governor's office.

At this time, he dismounted and trotted quickly to the crowd. Kong Xixue, without saying a word, slid to his knees and landed on the ground. He held up his watch with both hands and shouted: "The Great Saint Wenxuan King of Dacheng" (Confucius) ) The 56th generation grandson Kong Xixue, together with the people of Qufu, kowtows to welcome the Angel of Heaven!"

The people in the Confucius Mansion behind them shouted in unison as if they had rehearsed: "Kowtow to welcome the Angel of Heaven."

How dare Zhang Xingzu accept this gift!He sidestepped away and said: "Shenggong Yan, please rise. Our lord has already ordered that Duke Yan is the queen of Confucius and must not be treated lightly. Please don't worry. We will definitely make no mistakes when we pass Qufu and will never disturb Yan." Holy Gong's Qing Xiu." He took the surrender table and helped Kong Xixue up.

What Zhang Xingzu didn't know was that the moment he picked up the watch, the hearts of the world's literati had changed hands, and from then on Confucian scholars stopped serving as officials.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang, who was far away in Yingtian, couldn't help laughing out loud after learning that Qufu surrendered without a fight:
"All the scholars in the world have returned home!"

(End of this chapter)