Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 51
Nanjing City is located in the southeast, a resort of the Six Dynasties. In history, the Eastern Wu, Eastern Jin, Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen all used this as their capital and established a foundation. Most of the rest were destroyed by the northern regime and became short-lived dynasties.

Jinling has been an imperial state since ancient times, prosperous and beautiful, but it seems to have been cursed by heaven again.

In April, the spring rains are falling, and the Yangtze River and the city of Nanjing are all hazy.

The gloomy sky seems to herald the future of the old empire, and it is as gloomy as the sky, generally without light.

The news of Yangzhou City being destroyed and Shi Kefa's death was sent to the center by the express report, which was like a blow to the head, which made Hong Guangchao's monarchs and officials suddenly sober.

The old empire wanted to settle down in the south of the Yangtze River but could not. Four towns in Jiangbei plus one town in Wuchang, one rebelled and two surrendered. The remaining town of Huang Degong had to guard against the rebels in Zuozhen, and Liuzeqing Town in Jiangbei, under the peak of the Qing army, did not dare to attack at all. In the First World War, it was only a matter of time before the Qing Dynasty was surrendered.

The majestic Chinese army, facing the enemy from the north, had no soldiers to send. Hongguang Dynasty was shocked by the news that Yangzhou City was destroyed and Shi Kefa was martyred. into chaos.

In the court hall, Emperor Hongguang sat on the dragon seat, and below stood nearly a hundred officials in red robes and purple clothes.

Emperor Hongguang was not the master of talents, but compared with the previous emperors of the Ming Dynasty, he was not the worst emperor either.

If he was in a prosperous age, he would be a foolish king at most, but when he was traveling south in clothes and the country was in danger, if he didn't pay attention, he would be called a foolish king.

Since Hongguang succeeded to the throne, he has been facing the challenge of the Donglin Party. He is not a hero, and his aptitude can only be regarded as mediocre. As the king of a country, who would like to see his own country fall into the hands of barbarians, and who would be willing to be the king of a subjugated country, without face to see his ancestors in Jiuquan.

"Everyone, the Qing soldiers broke Yang Huai, Shi Qing was martyred, and the danger of the country is greater than that of the Eastern Jin and Southern Song!" The sad news from Jiangbei made Hongguang flustered. He had no countermeasures and could only ask for advice Minister. "The Qing army is approaching the Yangtze River. If you can help the court to overcome the crisis, I will treat you as a national scholar. I will not be stingy with rewards of gold and silver titles."

The princes in the court heard the words, but they didn't say a word.

Seeing that the courtiers were silent, Hong Guang couldn't help frowning, his heart aroused. "You and the others usually fight against each other, and you have a lot of arguments. Today, I personally asked about the countermeasures, why didn't you say anything!"

Seeing that Hongguang was angry, everyone lowered their heads even lower, like more than 100 pieces of wood, lifeless.

"Qian Qing! You have a plan to teach me!" The minister didn't say anything, Hong Guang could only hold back his anger and asked by name.

The person being questioned is Qian Qianyi, the leader of Donglin, the Minister of Rites of the imperial court, and a famous person in the south of the Yangtze River. In the three major cases, Donglin was active. Secretly hating, because of shouting anger and deliberately calling his name.

"Report to Your Majesty." Qian Qianyi had no choice but to hold an ivory wat, and went out to play: "I think the left side has experienced the defeat of Chizhou, and it is no longer able to move eastward, and Jiangbei is in a hurry. We should transfer Jingnanhou back to the division and stick to the Yangtze River defense line. , strictly prevent the Qing army from crossing the river!"

Hong Guang also thought that the Jiangbei Qing army was particularly terrifying, but the Zuo army wanted to pull him off, and there were still 10,000+ soldiers and horses entrenched in the Anqing area, and he had to guard against him. His qualifications were mediocre, so he couldn't make up his mind for a while.

"Your Majesty!" Just when Hongguang was hesitating, the originally silent courtiers suddenly boiled with Qian Qianyi's words, and the chief assistant Ma Shiying came out, holding the ivory wat and said: "I think Jingnanhou Soldiers and horses must not move!"

"The defense of the river lies in the boat division. If the boat division is strong, the Qing Dynasty will look at the river and sigh. The minister suggested that Xu Yizhongli should transfer Fujian Zheng Zhilong to help and defend Nanjing!" Hongguang Dynasty's party struggle was fierce. Even at such a critical moment, it was unavoidable. Ma Shiying He advised the emperor to deny Qian Qianyi's strategy, and then pointed at the courtiers of Donglin angrily and cursed: "You wait for Donglin, want to abandon Chizhou, and connive at the rebellion of the left? Occupying a high position, but dying alone to the ears of my monarch and ministers! Your Majesty, Chizhou's soldiers and horses must not be mobilized!"

The left army went eastward in the name of following the secret edict of Prince Chongzhen, intending to kill Ma Shiying's party and abolish Emperor Hongguang. Ma Shiying's party naturally wanted to counterattack with all its strength, and as Qian Qianyi and Ma Shiying spoke successively, the ministers of the two parties in the court suddenly quarreled .

When Hong Guang heard this, he was already indecisive, so naturally he was even more uncertain. Coupled with the disputes among the courtiers, his mind became confused, and the anger in his heart did not come from one place.

The ministers quarreled for a long time, but there was still no result, and Hongguang's face became worse and worse, reaching the verge of fury.

At this time, a roll of yellow dust billowed at the Nanjing city gate, and a galloping horse galloped towards it. A knight with a military flag on his back hurried through the city gate.

Seeing that the knight did not stop him at all, the defenders at the city gate quickly moved the horse and let him enter the city.

The knight quickly crossed the street, startled the crowd to dodge quickly, and there was a lot of discussion. When the knight ran to the palace gate, he saw a figure flashing. The knight jumped off his horse and shouted loudly: "Eight hundred miles, hurry up! Those who stop will die, and those who rebel Death!"

Then I saw the knight galloping all the way, holding the military newspaper in his hand, going straight into the court hall, meeting Hongguang, and hurriedly worshiped: "Your Majesty, Jiang Baoshi, Zhenhai General Zheng Hongkui, hurry up and report!"

The quarreling courtiers were stunned when they heard this, and the court fell into a dead silence following the knight's report.

Hongguang's face also changed drastically at this time. Could it be that the Qing army has already begun to cross the river? "Come on, I will watch it personally!"

The eunuch hurriedly passed the report to the imperial case, Hong Guang picked up the report tremblingly, and opened it to watch.

All the ministers thought that there was some bad news, and some even considered admonishing the emperor to flee to avoid the Qing army for the time being.

The ministers secretly observed Hongguang's face, and saw that his face was flushed, and the memorial book in his hand was shaking even more violently, and his heart suddenly fell to the bottom. Could it be that the Qing army has really crossed the river!
"Ma Aiqing!" Hong Guang read the report and was speechless for a while, but he was eager to share the joy in his heart with all the ministers, so he said to his confidant minister Ma Shiying: "You can read the report for your ministers to listen to." !"

Ma Shiying took the report from the eunuch Lu Jiude, and when he opened it, he was overjoyed, so he read aloud: "The minister Zheng Hongkui, the commander of Zhenjiang, worshiped, the Qing army surrounded Yangzhou on the 24th, and shelled the west city on the [-]th. In Zhenjiang, you can especially hear the sound of cannons in the north of the Yangtze River, and you feel worried."

"On the 25th, Wang Yan, the commander of the Zhongyi Battalion, wanted to take Qianqi across the river to aid Yang, and the minister ordered the fleet to cross."

"At noon, I saw thick smoke billowing from the city of Yangzhou on the riverside, and then some defeated soldiers fled to the south bank, saying that Yangzhou was broken, and the governor was martyred. I was terrified, fearing that the Qing army would cross the river, so I ordered the fleet to patrol the river."

"At three o'clock in Shenshi, the minister listened to the cannon fire in the north of the river and knew that Yangzhou would change."

"It was night, and Hu Weizong, a warrior from Yangzhou, entered the minister's camp. He said that Yangzhou was taken back by Wang Yan, the commander of the Zhongyi Battalion, and he wanted to hold on to it, waiting for the imperial court to rescue him."

"Your Majesty thinks that Yangzhou is lost and regained, and that God will bless the Ming Dynasty. If Yangzhou is defended, the Yangtze River will be strengthened. I implore Your Majesty to send reinforcements as soon as possible to support the king's commander, so as to block the advance of the Qing court troops!"

Hongguang didn't want to be the king of the kingdom, and Ma Shiying also didn't want to be the minister of the subjugated country. He was delighted when Wang Yan regained Yangzhou. "Your Majesty, Wang Yan, the Commander of the Loyalty Battalion, should be rewarded heavily!"

"Your Majesty, Zheng Hongkui, the commander-in-chief of Zhenjiang, should also be rewarded heavily!"

"Your Majesty, I think that I should get in touch with Commander Wang now, so that he must stick to Yangzhou and not lose anything!"

Yangzhou was lost and regained, and the gloomy atmosphere in the court was swept away, but the ministers continued to argue about how to reward and how to deal with it.

The moods of the princes in Nanjing followed the fall and loss of Yangzhou and regained it, with ups and downs.

Wang Yan and others in Yangzhou City were extremely heavy.

The Qing army was counting the losses of Yangzhou in World War I, and Wang Yan was also working with Yangzhou officials to restore order in Yangzhou.

Half a day after the Qing army broke the city, Yangzhou soldiers and civilians had already cleared out nearly [-] civilian corpses from various places in the city.

The tragic situation of the people is unbearable. Half of the city of Yangzhou is filial piety, every family is in mourning, and the sound of mournful crying and howling resounds throughout the city.

Survivors packed up the bodies of their loved ones in heartbreak, while those whose families were slaughtered were restrained by the officers and soldiers.

There was no way to bury the corpses in Yangzhou City, so the government had to organize the young and strong to dig big pits and bury them collectively.

Carloads of corpses were brought in, and the soldiers carrying the corpses looked heavy, as if something was slowly awakening.

Just like in the history of later generations, the eight-year war of resistance created a Chinese nation, so that ordinary people also knew that they were a member of China, and the war turned into a national confrontation.

At this time, the Ming army faced the massacre of the Qing army, and a kind of family and country sentiment was slowly awakened. The Yi-Xia defense that was originally understood only by the scholar-official class also left a difference between Hua and Yi in the hearts of ordinary Ming soldiers. !
Wang Yan, Li Taizhen and others stood by the side of the big pit, watching the corpses being thrown into the big pit, feeling very heavy, they didn't say a word, just watched the soldiers burying silently.

Li Taizhen followed Chuang Wang, and later Gao Jie, and saw the scene of people being slaughtered, but he had never seen such a tragic scene, nor had he been so angry and wanted revenge so strongly.

"Does General Li know how to keep my fellow citizens from being slaughtered by aliens?" Wang Yan suddenly asked Li Taizhen beside him with deep eyes.

"The general is dull, please give me some advice from the commander!" Li Taizhen was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, but this was also a problem that troubled him, so he clasped his fists slightly and said humbly.

"My Han nationality has a population of tens of millions, but was beaten by tens of thousands of people in the Manchu Qing. It is probably because the common people and soldiers and generals only know a small family but not a country!" Wang Yan looked at the corpses in the pit, his eyes Displaced, thoughts seem to drift far away. "If the common people and soldiers all know the great defense of Yi and Xia, and they all know that the nation-state can have a strong China, how dare the Yi and Di peep at China!"

　Relatives and friends are very concerned about the current situation of the author, which makes people feel tired and unloved. The time of coding is not stable, but the author will try to keep it updated.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)