scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 301 The Yellow River Bursting
No matter from which point of view, Wang Xu, the tumbler in the early days of the Mazi Dynasty, can definitely be regarded as a rare good person. Words such as honesty, integrity, impartiality, defying power, punishing evil and promoting good, and fairness and honesty are really true when used on him. It's not an exaggeration.Even Kangxi Kang Mazi, who is vicious, cunning, greedy and shameless to the extreme, can only use the opportunity of Wang Xu's old mother's death and has to ask Ding You himself to drive this troublesome hedgehog full of poisonous thorns out of the Qing court and completely remove this thorn in his side , A thorn in the flesh!
Of course, such a good and honest person, to Fatty Lu, also belongs to the kind of role that he loves and hates. Of course, what he loves is his incorruptibility and integrity, and his law enforcement is like a mountain. As a lackey, his attitude towards Wang Xu is both respectful and defensive, caring and taking advantage of him. He seldom considers Wang Xu's personal position and situation, and everything is for his own consideration.

Unfortunately, having such a master and such a friend, the poor Wang Xu didn't realize it, but treated each other more and more sincerely. No, after the night talk with Fatty Lu, although Wang Xu could send a messenger Or use [-] miles to report the situation to Kang Mazi in an urgent manner, but considering the importance of the matter, and the fact that Fatty Lu’s quadruple killing order has too much influence and it is difficult to express the specific situation in the letter, Wang Xu still ignored the hard journey and asked for help. Min Tai and Wu Dan objected to the persuasion, and resolutely embarked on the road back to the capital the next day. They returned to the capital by boat and prepared to tell Kang Mazi the process of recruiting Fatty Lu, and tried their best to persuade Kang Mazi to accept the three proposals proposed by Fatty Lu. The conditions are not harsh, prompting his only confidant and friend to return as soon as possible anyway.

Although there is the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to travel from Nanjing to Beijing, the speed is much faster than the land route, but it can't be reached overnight, at least it will take ten days, but when Wang Xu and his party are rushing towards the capital day and night , Another major event that shook the world quickly spread across the land of China. The seriousness of the situation, the huge impact, and the dire consequences it caused were no less than Fatty Lu leaping thousands of miles into Nanjing City and cutting off Kang Mazi's water transportation throat!
The incident happened on the 13th day of May [-], [-] in Kang Mazi. Wu Jun’s North Route Army Ma Bao entered the hinterland of Henan like a broken bamboo, and the prefectures and prefectures in Henan, which had almost no soldiers to defend, were powerless to resist. Ma Bao's army grew stronger day by day, and penetrated deeper into the hinterland of the Central Plains day by day. When Ma Bao sent his troops to attack Xinzheng and was about to approach the city of Zhengzhou, when Kaifeng and Luoyang were in emergency at the same time, an army appeared from nowhere The refugee team, however, dug up the embankment of the Yellow River in Heyin, northwest of Zhengzhou!

At Fuxun, there were continuous torrential rains in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River, the river surged, and the Yellow River embankment was dug again. In an instant, the torrent surged, and countless villages and farmhouses on the south bank of the Yellow River disappeared. People became homeless and became refugees.The Northern Expeditionary Army of the Wu Army, which was advancing rapidly towards Zhengzhou, was also caught off guard. Tens of thousands of Wu Army vanguards, including General Fan Qihan of the Wu Army, were wiped out and swept away by the flood. , but also suffered heavy losses and numerous casualties.At the same time, due to the flooding of the Yellow River, the Central Plains became a swamp country, which blocked the advance of Wu Jun's North Route Army, and Wu Jun's dream of attacking the capital from the heart of the Central Plains was completely shattered.

When the news spread, Old Traitor Wu, Fatty Lu and others yelled at them. Fortunately, they had taken precautions and did not dare to put the main force into the Central Plains battlefield.After Kang Mazi heard the news, he was also furious, and immediately instructed Henan local officials and Qing army Luoyang guard Zhou Yimin to investigate the matter, and the new Luoyang general Zhou Yimin went through a series of unannounced visits and careful investigations, and indeed caught the culprit—Henan A Han landowner named Chen Zhihong in Huaiqing Mansion did good deeds, but because his fields on the south bank of the Yellow River were invaded by Han people on the south bank, Chen Zhihong ordered his tenants to dig the embankment to flood the fields. It turned into a tragedy. After Kang Mazi heard the news, he ordered Zhou Yimin to kill Chen Zhihong's family without mentioning it.

"Too bad, when this news spreads to the capital, the emperor may not be able to hold on anymore!"

Upon receiving the news, Wang Xu's first reaction was that Kang Mazi might vomit blood and faint again. To prevent this, Wang Xu had to order the boat to go north with all his strength, and rush back to the capital to visit Kang Mazi as soon as possible.But after rushing back to the capital on the first day of June, Wang Xu didn't even have time to return home, so he immediately led Suo Mintai and Wu Dan to the Donghua Gate to hand over the signboard to ask for an interview, and he was quickly approved to summon him. When he arrived at the South Study Room where Kang Mazi was, he was stunned to see that Kang Mazi was chatting and laughing with his confidants, looking very happy, and before Wang Xu kowtowed to salute, Kang Mazi immediately asked, "Why?" Come back so quickly? Have you finished your errands?"

"Your Majesty, on the way, I heard that the embankment of the Yellow River was dug up, and the Central Plains has become a vast country. I wonder if the Emperor has received the news?" Wang Xu asked, kowtowing out of the question.

"How could I not know such a big thing?" Kang Mazi showed some dissatisfaction, and said reluctantly: "After receiving the urgent report from the local area, I was so anxious that I couldn't sleep for a day and two nights. I couldn't sleep or eat, and I was ordered to die in the capital." The major monasteries chant scriptures to save the souls of the dead for my people."

"The emperor can allocate money and food for disaster relief and repair the embankment?" Wang Xu asked even more anxiously: "My minister heard that the Yellow River's embankment burst this time is very serious. The people in the Central Plains have lost countless lives, and the floods are rampant. Anhui and northern Jiangsu are bound to be affected. If it is affected, it might be another time to take the Huai River into the sea, and the people in the lower reaches of the Huai River will also be affected, I wonder how the emperor will respond to this?"

Kang Mazi refused to answer, but his pockmarked face became more and more gloomy. Seeing that the situation was not good, Suo Ertu hurriedly gave Wang Xu a sneaky wink, and hurriedly said, "My lord, don't embarrass the emperor. Now that the four Jiangnan prefectures have fallen, The water transportation has been cut off by Lu Yifeng's dog thief. No matter how anxious the emperor is, what should he do if he has no money or food? Well, we will talk about this later, Mr. Wang, you should quickly talk about the situation of recruiting Lu Yifeng, and get through the water transportation one day earlier. , the refugees on the south bank of the Yellow River were able to receive money and food relief from the master one day earlier."

"Is it true that there is no money or food? Then why do I see so many Daqing conscripts in Shandong?" Wang Xu was puzzled, but Suo'etu had already talked to this point, and kept killing chickens and wiping their necks. With a wink, Wang Xu couldn't continue with this question, so he had to try his best to calm down his anxiety, organize his thoughts, and carefully explained the whole process of his trip to the south to appease Fatty Lu, without missing a single point, and then played Fatty Lu again. The three conditions proposed, as well as the autographed memorial of Fatty Lu.

"Bold thief! How dare you shamelessly alienate me from the Eight Banners of Manchuria!" When he heard the four-kill order and its consequences implemented by Fatty Lu in Nanjing City, Kang Mazi suddenly became furious. Why is it that I don’t know anything about it? Those local officials in Jiangsu, and the Manchu soldiers who escaped from Jiangning City, why hasn’t anyone reported it to me yet?”

Mingzhu, Suo'etu and the others looked at each other, vaguely guessing the reason, but did not dare to reveal it, but Wang Xu replied truthfully: "My Majesty, this matter is not surprising. On that day in the city of Jiangning, It was these Manchurian soldiers who identified the bannermen with the four surnames and handed them over to the Wu rebel army to slaughter them in exchange for the Wu rebel army allowing them to leave the city with weapons and flee for their lives. Naturally, these people did not dare to report this to their master. As for the place in Jiangsu Officials, probably because Lu Yifeng did not write down this order and made it public, they did not have proof and did not witness what happened in Jiangning City, so naturally they did not dare to play it indiscriminately."

"Bang!" Kang Mazi slapped the pseudo-dragon case again, his pockmarked face turned livid, and at the same time, he was secretly terrified—this move happened to hit the most vital part of the Eight Banners of Mitqing. In imitation, it is difficult for the mite to clear the Eight Banners even if they don't want to split.

"Your Majesty, Lu Yifeng is extremely regretful now." Wang Xu carefully defended Fatty Lu, "That day he broke through Jiangning Mancheng, if he didn't kill the Eight Banners soldiers guarding the city, he would not be able to explain to the soldiers, nor would he be able to explain to the soldiers. The old thief Wu Sangui confessed, let alone to Jiangnan... As a last resort, he issued this order casually, intending to recruit the soldiers of the Eight Banners first, and then release them to leave. He never thought that such a situation would happen..."

"Announced casually? I'm afraid he has already planned it out?" Kang Mazi shouted angrily.

"The emperor misunderstood, and Lu Yifeng never meant that." Wang Xu hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Besides, after Lu Yifeng heard that no one reported to the emperor, he also took the initiative to confess this crime to the humble minister, and there was nothing wrong with it. Concealing fraud is enough to prove that Lu Yifeng has a heart of repentance, and greatly regrets the treason and injustice that day, please the emperor to investigate clearly."

"He will also have the heart of repentance?" Kang Mazi sneered again, picked up Fatty Lu's crookedly written memorial, first cursed that he deserved to be a failed scholar, and then settled down to read it carefully.Wang Xu, while peeking at Kang Mazi's expression, carefully defended Fatty Lu, explaining why Fatty Lu proposed three conditions. First, Kang Mazi didn't know about the Nanjing Mite City beforehand, so he had to seek Kang Mazi's pardon and forgiveness. The second is that Fatty Lu and Jieshu have a bad relationship, so Fatty Lu must not surrender to the Jieshu Department of the Qing Army; the third is that Fatty Lu is worried that the Qing court is using his friendship with Wang Xu, so he doesn't really believe in Kang Mazi's surrender Because of his sincerity, he asked Kang Mazi to send another important court official to the south to appease him.

"My dear friends, tell me, is Lu Yifeng's dog thief sincere in raising these three surrender conditions?" Kang Mazi asked in a deep voice.

"Back to master, judging from the three conditions put forward by Lu Yifeng's dog thief, the conditions are not very harsh. If he really has the sincerity to surrender, the slave thinks he can agree." Suo Etu replied hesitantly: "But this time Thieves have always been known to be treacherous, and it cannot be ruled out that he is playing tricks again, defrauding the master and the court."

"Master Suo will tell you about the good and the bad, but you should tell me whether Lu Yifeng's bastard really intends to surrender." Kang Mazi asked dissatisfied.

"This..." Suo'etu was not stupid, and he didn't dare to speak casually on such a matter, so he had to answer honestly: "The slave is ignorant, and the master is wise and powerful. For such a big matter, I ask the master to make a decision."

"Trash!" Kang Mazi cursed angrily, then turned to Mingzhu, Zhang Ying, and Gao Shiqi and asked, "What about you? What do you think of Lu Yifeng's sincerity?"

"Slaves and others are ignorant and incomprehensible, so please ask the master to judge." Ming Zhu and Gao Shiqi replied respectfully in unison.

"Your majesty, I dare to speak frankly. No matter whether the emperor asks my ministers or anyone else, I am afraid that no one will dare to make a conclusion." Zhang Ying said a few more words, first kowtowed, and then said very seriously: " There is no other reason, just because this Lu Yifeng thief is too cunning. Since he entered the official position in the sixth year of Kangxi, he has deceived his master, his colleagues, and the people. He has deceived everyone in the world that he is a loyal and capable minister. Good words, good deeds and good intentions have a good reputation! However, after Wu Fan’s uprising, this thief immediately transformed into the most powerful accomplice of Wu Sangui’s rebels, and murdered hundreds of thousands of our Qing soldiers! The ministers really dare not make a conclusion lightly."

"Then you were still agitating to recruit this shameless traitor?" Kang Mazi asked angrily.

"Your majesty forgives the crime, and I and I were eager to re-open the water transport at that time, so we suggested that the emperor adopt the most convenient and quickest strategy of appeasement." Zhang Ying replied helplessly: "At that time, I thought that Lu Yifeng was a thief running thousands of miles away. After Jiangning City was captured, they must have been exhausted, with heavy casualties and difficulties in self-protection, let alone gaining a foothold in the south of the Yangtze River? It’s just that Weichen didn’t expect that Lu Yifeng’s dog thief not only had a foothold in the south of the Yangtze River, but also blocked Lord Kang The army counterattacked, and now Lord Wang went south to appease, he agreed without making any excuses, and only proposed three conditions that were not too harsh, so I dare not jump to conclusions lightly."

"That's right, master, Lu Yifeng is too cunning, and he agreed so quickly, it's really unbelievable." Suo'etu agreed.

"Then what should we do now?" Kang Mazi said angrily, "After listening to your suggestion, I have issued an order to appease you, and Lu Yifeng has also agreed, but now you are saying that Lu Yifeng is not to be trusted as a thief, do you want me to renege on my word and lose weight?" , have you lost your trust in the world?"

"Your servant will die!" Mingzhu, Suo'etu, Zhang Ying and the others kowtowed and frowning together.Wang Xu kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have talked with Lu Yifeng all night and found that he is sincere in his surrender anyway. I am bold and willing to use my entire family's life to guarantee Lu Yifeng's surrender, guaranteeing that he must surrender sincerely."

Kang Mazi stopped talking, and the triangular eyes on his pockmarked face turned white and black, nervously thinking whether to agree to Fatty Lu's three conditions.At this time, Gao Shiqi said cautiously again: "Master, I have a plan, maybe it can solve my master's worries and difficulties."

"Say." Kang Mazi said casually.

"Master, you can prepare both ways." Gao Shiqi respectfully said, "Master can contact Geng Jingzhong and Lu Yifeng at the same time, negotiate a truce with Geng Jingzhong, and negotiate surrender with Lu Yifeng, while taking advantage of Geng Jingzhong's already Order Zeng Yangxing to stop the opportunity to go north, leave some troops to stick to the major towns in Zhejiang, and transfer some of the main forces of Zhejiang to go north to attack Suzhou together. In addition, Lord Kang must not withdraw troops. He must continue to attack Taiping Mansion, threatening the safety of Jiangning at all times. Lu Yifeng's thieves put pressure on them all the time."

"Then, the master can agree to the first and third conditions of Lu Yifeng's dog thief, while the faction will continue to put pressure on Lu Yifeng's dog thief, trying to regain the four southern mansions by force, and at the same time send officials to go south, envy and recruit Lu Yifeng dog Thief. It would be best if Lu Yifeng's dog thief really wanted to surrender, but if not, the master can also take the opportunity to dispatch troops to assemble a large army, or temporarily cease fighting with Geng Jingzhong, and urge the Zhejiang army to go northward with all its strength and recover the entire Jiangnan area."

Kang Mazi's little black and white eyes continued to turn, and after pondering for a long time, Kang Mazi slapped the table and shouted: "Zunzuo, immediately deliver the decree Jieshu, ordering him to attack the Taiping Mansion with all his strength! Then pass the decree to Laita and Li Zhifang, and order them Deploy [-] troops to the north and attack Suzhou!"

"Your Majesty, how about sending another important minister south to comfort him?" Wang Xu asked with a sad face.

Kang Mazi's small eyes turned around Suo'etu, Mingzhu, and Zhang Ying, and found that all three of them had the intention of shrinking, so he had no choice but to say casually: "Then let the official secretary Huang Ji go. If I remember correctly, Lu Yifeng, a dog thief, also received Huang Ji's kindness, and the opening ceremony of that year..., hum!"

........................

Unfortunately, Wang Xu's prediction about the Yellow River's embankment burst came true. On the second day, there were urgent reports from Henan and Anhui at the same time. In an emergency, dozens of counties in the three provinces of Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu were affected. Nearly ten million acres of fertile land were engulfed by the flood, and more than 200 million people were affected by the flood.For this, Kang Mazi was not only not ashamed at all, on the contrary, he was a little complacent - this time, he finally didn't have to worry about the source of soldiers. Those young and strong men among the people affected by the disaster would give their lives to the Qing court even if they only had a bite to eat. .

However, Kang Mazi was obviously overjoyed. After the news of the Yellow River's breach reached Nanjing, Fatty Lu scolded that Kang Mazi was inferior to the beasts of the Qing court, but secretly laughed even more happily than Kang Mazi, because Fatty Lu is very aware of the flow habits of those affected by the disaster - they must go to places where there is food, and now the state capitals with the most abundant grain production in the south of the Yangtze River are in the hands of Fatty Lu, and they are bound to have the most advantage in absorbing refugee manpower. It is not only easier to expand the Fatty Army, but the quality and fighting spirit of the soldiers are also guaranteed. In order to survive, the refugees from poor places are naturally better at fighting than the people in Suzhou, Hangzhou and Paradise, and they are more willing to work hard for survival.

After the Yellow River broke its embankment and seized the Huai River into the sea, there is another advantage for Fatty Lu, that is, he doesn't have to worry about threats from the north. No matter how many Mongolian soldiers and state soldiers recruited from outside the pass, Kang Mazi wants to go south to beat Fatty Lu , First of all, you have to pass through the Huaihe River Basin, which is also full of dangers. It is of great benefit to Fatty’s army’s defense against the enemy and long-term persistence. It can concentrate on preventing threats from the south and west, and provide precious time for Fatty Lu’s great cause of farming.

For Fatty Lu, Nanjing may really be a blessed land, because he couldn't believe Fatty Lu's character, Kang Mazi was already trying to negotiate a truce with Geng Jingzhong, another earth-shattering news spread into the city of Nanjing , and sent it to Fatty Lu.After reading the urgent report sent by Xi Zuo, Fatty Lu jumped up excitedly, hugged Xiao Erlang and shouted, "Erlang, we are safe this time, we are really safe, we are in Jiangnan, finally we can Time to stand your ground!"

"Master, what made you so happy?" Xiao Erlang asked confusedly.

"My uncle, Shang Zhixin, finally rebelled!" Fatty Lu laughed wildly: "He successfully launched a mutiny in Guangzhou, took control of Guangzhou City, and captured my unlucky old man. It's good news, playing the banner of anti-Qing and Fuming, Bombard Guangzhou Mite City! Le Erjin, you have been forced to abandon Guangdong and break out to southern Jiangxi!"

"Eldest Prince is so courageous?" Xiao Erlang was startled, and hurriedly asked again: "Master, what does it matter to us that the eldest prince staged a mutiny in Guangzhou? Why do you say we are safe?"

"Stupid!" Fatty Lu scolded with a smile: "My uncle is also rebellious. Kang Mazi is only half of Zhejiang and half of Jiangxi in the south of the Yangtze River. It is difficult for Mangou in Zhejiang and Jiangxi to protect themselves. What spare energy do you use to besiege us? This time, Kang Mazi has to obediently sit back at the negotiating table to please us!"

(End of this chapter)