Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 5 Contributing Strategies, Supporting Fans to Resist the Qing Dynasty
In August, the sun is shining brightly, and the hot weather makes people irritable.There was no wind in the sky, and the leaves on the trees did not sway. The midday sun shone down, which was really unbearable.

In the woods, thousands of troops lay or leaned to hide in the shade of the trees, all of them looked listless.

At the border of Dezhou, there were more than [-] people in Zhao Yingyuan's department, but now there are only four or five thousand old and weak left.

In April, Zhao Jiding, the censor of the Ming Dynasty, a squire in Dezhou, Shandong, led Cheng Xianzhen, and Xie Bi, the younger brother of Xie Sheng, a scholar, launched a rebellion. They elected Zhu Shuaiqin, the lieutenant of Fengguo, Qingfan of the Ming Dynasty, as the leader of the alliance, and pretended to be King Ji. The group responded, and occupied Jinan, Dezhou, and more than [-] counties in one month.Dashun's rule in Shandong collapsed in an instant, and the main force of the Chuang army retreated westward. Zhao Yingyuan also had to abandon Shandong and go west.

However, before the army left the border of Shandong, they were surprised to hear that Li Chuang had been defeated again, and that he had killed Qihou Gu Ying, was chased by the Qing soldiers all the way, and fled to Shanxi.

At this time, the news of Li Chuang's defeat in a piece of stone had spread throughout the north, and the policy of subsidizing wages implemented by the Dashun Dynasty made the officials and gentry hate it deeply. , Take the Huaiqing, Zhangde, and Weihui prefectures north of the Yellow River.

The westbound road was immediately blocked, and Zhao Yingyuan had no choice but to lead the army between Shandong and Henan. However, the army could not get supplies, and there were rumors in the army, which made Zhao's army desert continuously. It will shrink by half.

Seeing that the number of people finally pulled up gradually decreased, Zhao Yingyuan's heart was full of bitterness.

At this moment, he was leaning against the big tree, with the armor slung across his body, the original majesty was no longer there, replaced by exhaustion and decadence.

Zhao Yingyuan is not the only one who is worried about this army, Wang Yan is also thinking about what he can do.

He did not die because of his identity as a scholar.

Before he was executed, his behavior of looking south and worshiping made Yang Wangxiu, who was beside Zhao Yingyuan, feel sorry for him. He was also a saint's disciple, so he protected him.

Zhao Yingyuan's current situation really needed the assistance of scholars and advice from counselors, so he agreed to Yang Wangxiu's request and changed the death penalty to twenty sticks to save Wang Yan's death.

Although he survived by luck, Wang Yan, who had lost a lot of blood, was also beaten to death by this army stick. Afterwards, his wounds collapsed and he had a high fever. Look for Xu Yanyan's opportunity.

This made him worry, but there was nothing he could do. The arrow wound on his leg was so severe that he couldn't walk at all, so he had to be carried honestly to follow the army.

After the injury was better, he could barely go to the field. It was already a month later, and the hope of finding someone no longer existed, so he settled down to help Yang Wangxiu with some chores in the camp.

Originally, Wang Yan would not follow the thief even if he died, but now he decided to survive no matter what, so as not to let the scene in his dream appear in the world.

In the past two days, the army returned to the border of Shandong. The food and grass in the camp were not enough for three days. If there was no more food, the army would inevitably collapse completely. It can be said that it has reached the last moment of Zhao Jun.

Although there are still 5000 people in Zhao Yingyuan's army, like all peasant armies, most of them are old and weak, women and children, and they are family members of Zhao Jun. There are only 500 people who can really fight.

This group of people can't even take down a larger stockade, so they can only get some supplies from scattered villages, but the world has been in chaos for so many years, and all that can be robbed have been robbed long ago. How can four or five thousand mouths be enough to eat?

Regarding the current situation, Wang Yan had long expected in his heart that Zhao Jun was isolated from the main force and had become a lone army. The only way to survive was to surrender. Zhao Yingyuan and Yang Wangxiu were both officials of the Ming Dynasty, one was a deputy general in Henan, and the other was a military officer. Now it is easy for them to accept the surrender to Daming.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Wang Yan thought of taking advantage of the army to rest and take the opportunity to persuade the Zhao army to surrender.

Under the big tree, Zhao Yingyuan was talking with Yang Wangxiu, his face was full of frustration, and when he saw Wang Yan walking over, his already bad face became even more depressed.

Since Wang Yan recovered from his injury, he has been helping Yang Wangxiu manage the food and grass in the camp, and everything is in order, which saves them a lot of trouble.It's just that recently the camp often ran out of food, and every time Wang Yan came out, he urged the food, and the two subconsciously thought that the camp was running out of food when they saw him.

"Shi Heng, but the food in the camp will be exhausted again?" When Wang Yan came up to him, Yang Wangxiu asked with a bitter face.

Wang Yan was taken aback for a moment, then he came to his senses and bowed to the two of them, "It's enough food for three days!"

Seeing that it was not a food reminder, the two couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

These days, although Wang Yan helped to deal with the affairs in the camp, Zhao Yingyuan knew that he had not returned his heart, and usually did not take the initiative to come to see him, but now he took the initiative to look for him, he must have something to discuss, so he immediately looked up at him, waiting he said.

"General Zhao! Master Yang! Food and grass are becoming more and more difficult to obtain now. Even after these few days, what will happen in the future? Can the two adults make a decision?"

A person like Zhao Yingyuan, who has been in troubled times for many years, is by no means an idiot. He naturally has his own set of ideas in his mind, but because he weighs the pros and cons, he can't make a decision at the moment. What Wang Yan has to do today is just a little guidance.

His words made Zhao Yingyuan silent for a while, and Yang Wangxiu, who was on the side, saw it and had to say: "What countermeasures does Shi Heng have? You can just say it straight!"

Wang Yan smiled slightly, and saluted again, "Now the main force of the Shun army is defeated again and again, and there is no possibility of advancing eastward. Our army is trapped in Shandong and isolated from the main force. Breaking out of the siege and joining the main force, we are already in a desperate situation, why didn't the general make a plan earlier and surrender to Ming Dynasty!"

In fact, Zhao Yingyuan had thought of surrendering for a long time, but he still couldn't make a decision. After hearing Wang Yanzhi's words, he was already a little moved, but he had already been named a mighty general in the Dashun Dynasty, and now he surrendered to the Ming Dynasty with a few remnants of defeated soldiers. What good?Moreover, there is the Qing Dynasty in the north, which seems to be more powerful. Although he will not be a traitor accused by thousands of people unless it is a last resort, but after all, that is also a way out, so he did not answer Wang Yan, but wanted to listen to him for further analysis analyze.

"Shiheng asked me to surrender to Daming, but now the land of Shandong and northern Henan have fallen into the hands of the Qing court. Even if I surrender to Daming, I will still be trapped in Shandong!"

Seeing that Zhao Yingyuan was moved, Wang Yan was a little happy at first, but after hearing his words, he couldn't help being shocked.

Wasn't Shandong recovered by King Ji?
Why did it fall into the hands of the Qing court again in the blink of an eye?
Wang Yan did not expect that in less than three months, Shandong would change hands again, and he almost spat out a mouthful of old blood!

After careful questioning, he learned that Zhao Yingyuan and Yang Wangxiu were talking about this just now.

From their mouths, Wang Yancai knew that in June, Dorgon first sent his surrender Wang Aoyong to appease Shandong in the name of the Minister of Household and Gong Erbu, and then sent Gu Shan'er Zhenjue Luo Bahana and Shi Tingzhu to lead the troops south.

After defeating Li Zicheng and capturing the capital, the traitor Wu Sangui swore to "never be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty for life". Surrender quickly."

On June 21, when the Qing army arrived outside the city of Dezhou, Ji Wang Zhu Shuaiqin and many officials and gentry still wanted to refuse their orders and refused to surrender to the Qing. Without the support of Shi Kefa and others who had retreated in the Jianghuai area, Zhang Youfang, the magistrate of Dezhou, feared that the Qing army would massacre the city and bring trouble to the local area, so he lobbied everywhere. The table is cleared.

A large number of prefectures and counties in Shandong surrendered to the Qing court in this way.

After listening to Yang Wangxiu's narration, Wang Yan felt a pain in his heart.

In history, it was as weak as the Southern Chen Dynasty, still thinking about the Northern Expedition, and recovering the mountains and rivers, while the Ming Dynasty still had half of the mountains and rivers. Nanjing had six complete divisions, and it could fight a strong army of more than [-]. It was much better than the Jin and Song Nandu.The officials in the south stopped their troops and watched their homeland fall.The land of Qilu, the way of grain transportation, thousands of miles of rivers and mountains fell into the hands of foreigners so easily.

Wang Yan was so angry that he almost lost his temper!

Since ancient times, to guard the river, one must guard the Huai River. If the land of Shandong is obtained, the two Huaihe Rivers will be solidified.Now that Shandong is lost, Jiannubing Peak is pointing directly at Jianghuai, and it is a last resort if they want to be more peaceful.

At this time, Wang Yan couldn't help but think of the scene in his dream, and suddenly he shuddered, breaking out in a cold sweat.

When he looked at the two adults again, he had already made a decision in his heart. No matter what, he must persuade Zhao Yingyuan and do his best to restore the situation.

He knew Zhao Yingyuan's thoughts were nothing more than worrying about his status as a thief, coupled with his weak strength, he would not be able to be reused after the Ming Dynasty.If you want to persuade him, you must let him see enough benefits and the hope of becoming an official.

Wang Yan thought for a while, and he already had a countermeasure. He bowed his hands to the two adults, and said confidently: "The general will naturally surrender to Daming. The Jian slave is a foreign race. The general surrendered him, but he is just a slave and cannot be reused. , and you won’t be trusted, but if the general descends, Wansheng can give you fame and wealth!”

Wang Yan's words aroused Zhao Yingyuan's curiosity, "Oh? What kind of fame and wealth?"

"Just now I heard Master Yang say that Jiang Yu from the north of Shanxi has surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and is fighting fiercely with the Dashun army. The Qing soldiers in Shandong have returned north to support. There are only 20 people in Manchuria. They have to deal with the main force of Dashun and defend Beizhili. Shandong is bound to be empty, why don’t the generals take it, raise the flag of righteousness to support the Ming and fight against the Qing, the world will surely shake, when the time comes to connect the Huai and Huai Ming armies, the big things will be settled, and the general will also be rewarded by the court!” Wang Yan raised his spirits.

Although Zhao Yingyuan is a general, he has been in troubled times for many years, so he is naturally not someone who can be persuaded by a few empty words. He slightly frowned and said in thought: "Uh~, Shi Heng is right! But I am still uneasy, let's not talk about it Will the Huaiming army support it? Just say that with my small force, it is difficult to attack a small county, how can we attack a big city and occupy Shandong?"

"Regaining Shandong after losing it will be of great benefit to the situation. Unless the princes in the south want to be accused by thousands of people, Wan Sheng doesn't believe that the Shi Ge Department can ignore this second chance." Wang Yanqiang argued.

In his heart, the imperial court couldn't control it, and he was just a juren. If he wanted to prevent the Manchus from going south, he would not be able to do it alone. He could only trust the imperial court.

Zhao Yingyuan was silent for a while, feeling a little disappointed with Wang Yan.Seeing this, Yang Wangxiu suddenly said: "I have an old relationship with Li Huaxi, the right servant of the Ministry of War. He is now ordered to appease the Eastern Henan Rebels. I can go to pay a visit in person. I think I can invite reinforcements from Lianghuai!"

Hearing this, Zhao Yingyuan couldn't help being overjoyed, and then looked at Wang Yan, "It's so good!"

Wang Yan also seemed to be encouraged, and then said: "The general does not need to attack the city. Wang Aoyong is in Qingzhou to appease. We can use the pretext of surrendering and take the opportunity to kill. Moreover, the Heng Fan is also in the city. The general can support the Hengzuo Palace and support the Fan to fight against the Qing Dynasty." , the world is bound to shake."

After listening to the speech, Zhao Yingyuan secretly thought that it was feasible, and the decadence was swept away, so he slapped his thigh, stood up and laughed loudly: "Haha... I read it right, Shi Heng is indeed a great talent, I Just follow your plan, enter Qingzhou, and take all of Shandong!"

(There are so many descendants of the old Zhu family that the characters with the five elements radicals are not enough. Many characters are created by the old Zhu family. The original name of King Ji was Zhu Shuai (钅火依). The author really didn’t know it, so he typed it. If you can’t come out, you can only change it to Zhu Shuaiqin.)
(End of this chapter)