scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 403
Although he didn't make up his mind to make the Northern Expedition until the last moment, Fatty Lu chose the timing of the Northern Expedition too well. In the south, Geng Jingzhong, Zheng Jing and Monk Zhixin fought for the territory and fought to the death; Wu's relatives and Wu's clan in the west In order to fight for power and profit, the fight is also in full swing, the earth is turned upside down, and the scale is getting bigger and bigger. They want the other party's life with red eyes, and they can't pull out their hands to restrain Fatty Lu.

As for the enemy of the Fatty Army's Northern Expedition, the Qing court, all the elite main forces were exhausted, and the remaining troops were far from being the opponent of the Fatty Army in terms of quantity and quality. Not to mention blocking Fatty Lu's Northern Expedition army, they just wanted to delay it a little. And delaying the Northward march of the Fatty Army is a big problem - from this point of view, the military situation faced by the Fatty Army is even far better than Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition back then.

At the same time, due to climate change, population growth, and over-exploitation of land, the Shandong area of ​​Zhili has long been unable to achieve food self-sufficiency. The local officials of the Qing Dynasty took turns to search for many times. The economy has already collapsed completely, starvation is everywhere, the people are in dire straits, and people's hearts are changing, including many people in the Qing Dynasty. The relatively well-disciplined fat army really had a hard time not getting the support of the people.

Fatty's army's Northern Expedition can only be described as devastated. Gao Dejie, who opened the way for the main force of the Fatty's army, received an order to attack the whole of Shandong. The troops were divided into two groups. After attacking Dongping and Dongchang, they attacked Tai'an and Jinan all the way. Not long after the army set off, Dongping, Feicheng, Laiwu and other places rushed to send surrender forms, automatically cut their braids and surrendered, and presented their local household registers.Zhu Xiaochun, the prefect of Tai'an's traitorous bannerman, threatened to live and die with the city of Tai'an, and even used his wealth to recruit Xiangyong to fight the Fatty Army. The unreasonable people named Wang Xiaoer led them to seize Tai'an City, cut off his head, and dedicated it to the Fatty Army along with the city.

Zhu Xiaochun may have been a loyal minister to the Qing court, but it is a pity that this loyal minister forgot an old saying - the world is not in chaos, Shandong is the first to rebel!The people in Shandong are honest and simple, but if the rulers annoy the people in Shandong, the honest and simple will become a tough folk custom. In the past two years, Shandong has been starved and killed, and there are countless people who cannibalize each other. However, the Qing court is still working hard in Shandong. Raising taxes to collect food, and issuing Qing military currency that is worse than sassafras paper, extortionate extortion and extortion, forcibly exchanging the pitifully small cash in the hands of the people and refusing to pay back, the stomachs of Shandong people have long been full of anger, seized the opportunity Naturally, he wanted to vent his anger, and Zhu Xiaochun naturally died without injustice.

Probably because of Zhu Xiaochun’s lesson, Gao Dejie personally led the army to go north along the Tai’an official road. When they first entered Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Governor Zhang Fengyi and Shandong Admiral Duan Yingju who were in Jinan sealed the Shandong Provincial Treasury and Treasury, and led 9000 troops. The Green Battalion soldiers who hadn't received a penny of military pay for more than half a year went south for thirty miles and came to Gaodejiema to ask for surrender. Gaodejie dispatched an envoy to report that Fatty Lu had already set off for the north. Fatty Lu was overjoyed and immediately sealed Zhang Fengyi As the governor of Zhili, he named Duan Yingju the general of Jingbei, and asked the two to assist Gao Dejie in sweeping up the remaining state capitals in Shandong. He also appointed Zhang Bingzhi, the former Jiangsu inspector who had surrendered to the Fatty Army, as the governor of Shandong, and established the Great Zhou Shandong Province. government.

With the help of Zhang Fengyi and Duan Yingju, the two leading parties, the fat man's army captured the remaining state capitals in Shandong more smoothly. Wherever the army went, almost no state or government led the army to resist. Donate the city, occasionally a few local officials stubbornly resisted, and basically did not use the fat army to do anything, the mite green battalion led by these local officials had already killed them first - I haven't received a penny of military pay for more than half a year, ghosts Willing to work hard for these idiots and officials.In less than a month, more than half of Shandong's prefectures have been included in the Fat Man's territory, and only Laizhou and Dengzhou have not changed their flags—it's not that these two prefectures blocked the Fat Man's Army, but that these two prefectures are too remote , the fat army who expanded too fast couldn't spare a hand to get it.

At the same time, the Fat Man's Western Expeditionary Army led by Han Daren also advanced all the way, like a broken bamboo, and successively captured—to be precise, they successively took over the Weihui Mansion and Huaiqing Mansion in Henan, and the Zezhou Mansion in Shanxi, and then divided into two. With a partial division, Zhangde Mansion was taken down easily. The governor of Henan, Tong Fengcai, was surnamed Tong Jia because of unlucky luck, so he did not dare to surrender to the Fatty Army, so he fled back to Beijing. The famous city of Zhili.In the end, Han Daren's army was forced to stop expanding and wait for the food and grass to arrive because it was difficult to provide food for the army, and the time was too short to collect food on the spot.

On May 8th, the [-] main force of the Fatty Army going north along the Canal, under the personal leadership of Lu Fatzi, arrived at Dongchang Mansion in Shandong Province, where they joined forces with Gao Dejie's forward team. After months of recruiting and accepting rebels and recruiting recruits, the team has expanded to more than [-] people-if it weren't for the fact that the sweet potatoes that had been planted in large quantities in the north had not begun to be harvested at this time, these recruits would have almost overwhelmed the logistics of the Fat Army.After joining forces, Fatty Lu praised Gao Dejie and Zhang Bingzhi for their civil and military contributions, and quickly held a meeting in the Dongchang government office to discuss the next military plan to capture Zhili and Beijing.

At the beginning of the meeting, Fatty Lu first promulgated a long-awaited land decree in the north, and it was also a land decree specifically aimed at the mite's encroachment. All the captured land, farmland and mountain land belonged to the mite people would be confiscated. Half of the land cultivated by Han tenants would be privately owned by Han tenants, and half would be confiscated. If no one cultivated or the tenants fled and died, all of them would be owned by the Great Zhouyue Palace. Waiting for the distribution of rewards to the meritorious soldiers of the Great Zhouyue Palace, at the same time confiscating the land of all Qing officials, dignitaries, landlords and gentry who refused to surrender, and preparing to distribute it to the meritorious soldiers of the Great Zhouyue Palace.

As soon as the government decree was announced, before the Fatty Army could make a public statement, the wolves, hungry tigers and future landlords of the Fatty Army all smiled and squinted their eyes, shouting at the prince for a thousand years, and by the way, completely forgetting about the Honghua court of the Great Zhou Dynasty. I hope that Fatty Lu usurped power earlier and became the emperor—if the Honghua court takes control of the Central Plains, will these fertile lands still have the share of Fatty's army?Civilian officials are also eager to try, knowing that with the current situation, the Fatty Army's unification of the Central Plains is just around the corner, and we, the lackeys and accomplices who followed Fatty Lu the first, will definitely get a big piece of cake in the future division of power.

Finally, the civil and military lackeys stopped cheering, and the decision-makers of the Fat Man Army immediately started a discussion on the tactics of the army. Some civil and military officials of the Fat Man Army advocated that the troops should be divided into three groups, and one division should attack the last two state capitals in Shandong, Dengzhou and Laizhou. , a main force went west to Guangping Mansion, from Guangping Mansion to the north all the way to attack Zhili towns such as Shunde, Zhengding and Baoding, and the other main force went north along the canal to attack Cangzhou and Tianjin, and went straight to Beijing.There are also some people who think that there is no need to divide the troops. They should choose the main force to go northward along the canal and go straight to Beijing. The benefit of canal water transportation reduces logistical burden.

In fact, it doesn't matter which tactic you choose. Judging from the intelligence of Fatty's Army's detailed report, in the face of Fatty's Northern Expedition army, the old hag of Xiaozhuang did not go all out to organize a new army to prepare for resistance, let alone dispatched General Shengjing from outside the pass. The last two Qing armies of Batulu and General Ningguta entered the Guanqin King, but chose an excuse to form a new army outside the pass, and sent a large amount of grain, grass and silver obtained by excessive expropriation back to Shengjing. The intention of escaping was already very obvious. Therefore, no matter which tactic the Fat Man Army chooses to advance, it is unlikely that they will encounter desperate resistance from the Qing court.

Dreaming of attacking Beijing's selfishness, Fatty Lu thought about it for a long time, and used the excuse that the potatoes and sweet potatoes in Zhili Shandong had already begun to be harvested, and the logistical pressure was relatively small. He could also take advantage of the famine to temporarily alleviate the prefecture and county town in the south of Zhili. Fatty's army, both civil and military, agreed with him, thinking that Fatty Lu's words were justified.

Immediately afterwards, Fatty Lu began to mobilize troops and generals. He appointed Tian Dazhuang, the general of the Fatty Army who had performed well in the Gaoyou War, as the admiral of Shandong, and ordered him to lead an army of 6 to attack the Second Mansion of Denglai and completely eradicate the Qing court in Shandong. last power.He also ordered Gao Dejie to lead an army of [-] troops westward to Guangping Mansion, go north along the Zhili official road, capture the official mansions along the way, and join forces with the main force of the Fatty Army under the city of Beijing.Then appoint Quan Jie as the backup general, command [-] troops to sit in Dongchang, and organize township brave men to protect the canal grain road and escort the grain and grass. Join forces with Gaode's Czech army.

After listening to Fatty Lu's arrangement, Gao Dejie asked with a smile: "My lord, you walk along the canal, and I walk along the official road. The distance is about the same. Are you interested in making a bet to see who will arrive in Beijing first?"

"You can bet on anything, you will lose." Fatty Lu replied with a smile.

"Not necessarily." Gao Dejie smiled triumphantly: "Although the road you take is less full of dog cities, your army is mostly infantry, but the army of the last general is mostly cavalry. In a plain like Zhili, you might not be able to outrun the last general, my lord."

"Since Brother Dajie is so confident, let's gamble." Fatty Lu laughed and said, "If I lose, I will let you enter Beijing first. If you lose, then I will advance into Beijing." , you can’t complain, you have to give me a command to the Northeast, and hunt down the Mangou court who fled back to Shengjing.”

"Okay, high five for an oath!"

Gao Dejie was overjoyed, and stretched out a hand to give Fatty Lu a high-five. Fatty Lu didn't hesitate, stretched out his fat palm and hit Gao Dejie hard, and then said with a smile: "Brother Dajie, if you stay in Baoding for a long time Don’t be in a hurry, if I break into Beijing, I will naturally send reinforcements to you, don’t go to the battlefield and charge in person just because you are in a hurry to win, you don’t have eyes for muskets, bows and arrows.”

"Unable to attack for a long time under Baoding City?" Gao Dejie was stunned, and asked in doubt: "How is it possible, Baoding seems to have only more than 1000 Mangou Green Camp and more than 4000 Xiangyong? Your lord, do you underestimate me?"

Fatty Lu smiled, but did not explain, but Gao Dejie quickly came to his senses, slapped his forehead and screamed: "Yes, there is a possibility! Baoding City is where the Mangou Zhili governor's yamen is located, and the Mangou commander who guards the city must be Bigger than Jackie Chan, that old traitor is absolutely impossible to surrender to us! Damn, why did I meet this hardcore old traitor?"

Fatty Lu laughed slyly, and other fat military officials also roared with laughter. Han Yuanren laughed the most happily, gloating that his brother's nemesis encountered such a hard nail.After the smirk, Fatty Lu instructed Gao Dejie again: "Brother Dajie, if Yu Chenglong is captured after the attack, and he insists on not surrendering, let him commit suicide and don't make things difficult for him."

Gao Dejie nodded in agreement with a sad face, and said viciously: "If the old man is really as stubborn as the legend says, and drags me to the back, even if he commits suicide, I will bury all his accomplices alive! Sent into the prostitute camp!"

"It's up to you." Fatty Lu lay back on his handsome chair, swayed Erlang's legs and said, "Although our Great Zhou army is a division of benevolence and righteousness, we don't casually harm the people, but for those traitors and accomplices who are determined to give their lives to the dogs, You don't need to be polite, I won't interfere with how you want to deal with it."

After resting in Dongchang for a day, on May [-]th, the three armies of the Fatty Army set off together. to Beijing.When the news spread, there was a panic in the capital of Zhili. The villainous slaves of the four surnames who had their hands stained with the blood of the Han people packed up their parcels and fled to the outside of the customs. Ken forgives his crimes, and the slightest sign of trouble can scare the shit out of him.Even ordinary people packed their bags and fled to other places, trying to avoid being affected by the flames of war.

Contrary to the turmoil in the inner nine cities, the Forbidden City, the center of the storm, is actually peaceful. Yinti, who is not yet five years old, doesn't understand anything, so naturally he doesn't know that the country he has been in for less than a year is about to die Every day, he just happily pissed into the eunuch's mouth for fun.The old witch of Xiaozhuang, who is really in charge, is also very calm. She eats and drinks what she should eat and drink every day. One hundred and eight dishes per meal are absolutely indispensable, but in the end she couldn't bear the pressure of the princes and civil and military officials. Due to the pressure, I chose to hold a court meeting on May 28 to discuss countermeasures.

As soon as the court discussion started, there was an immediate quarrel in the Golden Luan Hall. Prince Baylor of the Qing Dynasty and the civil and military officials expressed their opinions, accused each other, and argued endlessly, but it boiled down to three opinions. Headed by Pai Jieshu, he suggested to stick to the strong city of Beijing. At the same time, he dispatched the bannermen outside the pass and the Mongolian army's king Qin Qin to fight to the death with the Fatty Army under the city of Beijing.The second opinion is to withdraw from the customs, flee to the north of Shanhaiguan Pass, and wait for the opportunity to make a comeback.The third opinion is to seek peace, send envoys to contact Fatty Lu, plead for tribute, cede land and pay compensation, and just ask Fatty Lu not to attack Beijing.

Finally it was the turn of the old witch of Xiaozhuang to speak, and as soon as she opened her mouth, she scolded Jieshu, the main combatant, and asked like a cannonball: "Stick to Beijing? The people who transferred the banner from outside the pass and the Eight Banners of Mongolia to the King Qin of the pass How many troops are there in the city of Beijing, how long can they hold off Lu Gou? Is it King Qin who came to Beijing, or did he send it to Lu Gou to kill?!"

After scolding Jieshu to shame, the old hag of Xiaozhuang fired at the peace-seeking faction again, and asked coldly, "Plead for peace with Lu Gou? Lu Gou has already burned the late emperor in the toilet, and may he accept our Qing court's decision?" Even if you agree temporarily, when the situation is stabilized, this old bone of the Ai family will probably be burned into the toilet by Lu Yifeng's mad dog, right?"

After scolding the main combat faction and the peace-seeking faction, but letting go of the escape faction, the true intentions of Xiaozhuang old hag were revealed, and the rich and powerful of the Qing Dynasty who advocated fleeing to the northeast were also excited, scrambling to tell of fleeing back to the northeast They desperately encouraged everyone to run together, and many people simply discussed how to retreat and when to retreat on the spot. Some even advocated burning Beijing to ruins, killing all Han people in Beijing, and giving Lu Fatty It left a piece of scorched earth and got a lot of responses.The old witch of Xiaozhuang was also quite tempted, but seeing the ashen faces of the Han officials present, and considering that there are not 80 Han people in Beijing, but also 50, she finally gave up this idea.

"Patriarchs of the Qing Dynasty, please open your eyes!"

When the discussion about escape was in full swing, a cry suddenly sounded in the Golden Luan Hall. Everyone was surprised and turned their heads to look, only to see that the person who cried bitterly was Kang Mazi's cousin Jie who had just been scolded bloody by the old witch of Xiaozhuang. Shu, Jieshu kowtowed desperately to the northeast, and cried loudly, "The ancestors of the Qing Dynasty, please open your eyes and see, our country and mountains in the Qing Dynasty will be given away for nothing! Our Qing Dynasty There is clearly hope for the country, but some people just don’t want this hope, and they must give away the country that you shed blood and sweat! Please take a look, what kind of group are your descendants? stuff!"

While crying and shouting, Jieshu kowtowed desperately until his forehead bled, and the civil and military officials of Miqing who advocated escape were also full of shame and had to keep their mouths shut. Only the old witch of Xiaozhuang remained calm and said to Jieshu coldly: "Lord Kang, you don't need to point fingers at Sang Huai. The Great Qing Dynasty has fallen to this day. The Ai family can stand up and say to the ancestors of the Qing Dynasty that the Ai family not only has no responsibility at all, you can also hold your head high and say that there is no Ai family. With all your hard work, the Great Qing Dynasty will only end faster!"

"It's not your responsibility, but whose responsibility is that?" Jie Shu was so angry that his braids almost stood on end.

"You all know who is responsible." The old witch Xiaozhuang sneered and said, "Among the responsible persons, you must be Lord Kang. If you were not captured alive by Lu Yifeng in the Bajiang battlefield in Guizhou, and then Two poor scholars threatened to cut off your life, and forced Zhao Liangdong's rescuers to retreat. Will the main elite of the Qing Dynasty be wiped out by the old thief Wu Sangui? Our Qing army will have almost no elites to use in the subsequent battles. The thief and Lu Yifeng's dog thief retreated steadily, losing cities and lands one after another?"

"Our Qing army went from prosperity to decline, and the turning point was the Battle of Bajiang! The number one culprit in Bajiang's disastrous defeat was you, Prince Kang! Things have come to this point, thanks to you, you still have the face to accuse Aijia of ruining the Qing Dynasty , Are your eyes black, or your conscience has been eaten by dogs?!"

Being publicly exposed by the old witch of Xiaozhuang, Jieshu was speechless and his face started to have a fever. The surrounding princes Baylor and all the civil and military officials were also shocked. It was the first time they knew about the Bajiang War special inside story.After Jieshu blushed for a long time, he suddenly raised his head again, and said solemnly to the old witch of Xiaozhuang: "Old ancestor, in the battle of Bajiang, the slave really deserved to die. The ancestors gave the slaves a chance to make meritorious service and atone for their crimes, and let the slaves stay in Beijing. It is best if they can hold on to Beijing until the Qing Dynasty counterattacks.

The old hag of Xiaozhuang stared at Jie Shu, seeing the firmness in Jie Shu's eyes, and after thinking again and again, the old hag of Xiaozhuang sighed, and murmured: "After all, we are the descendants of the Aixinjueluo family, and we still have a bit of backbone. Well, the Ai family promises you that the Ai family will only take away [-] Fengtai garrisons, and leave the rest of the Fengtai garrison and Miyun garrison to you. The southern army is not resistant to wind and snow, and the transportation of grain and grass is not very convenient, and there are still some hidden dangers in the rear. If you can hold Beijing for three months and drag it into winter, the Ai family will definitely send you reinforcements."

"Thank you, the empress dowager ancestor!" Jie Shu kowtowed vigorously, and then said solemnly: "I swear to God, as long as my slave is alive, Lu Yifeng's bastard will never set foot in Beijing!"

The old witch of Xiaozhuang didn't pay attention to Jieshu's impassioned words, but turned her eyes to the outside of the Jinluan Hall, looked at the blue sky and white clouds in the south, and sighed softly: "The world is really wonderful. Four years ago, you were greedy for life and afraid of death. You ruined the last chance to save the elite of our Qing Dynasty, and made Lu Yifeng a dog thief. After four years, you are going to fight to the death against Lu Yifeng dog thief under the city of Beijing to defend the capital of our Qing Dynasty. Is it a coincidence, or fate? Well, I hope this time, you're not just a manipulator."

In the first year of Honghua in the Great Zhou Dynasty and the twelfth month of June in the first year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, since the main force of the Northern Expedition led by Fatty Lu had already broken through Nanpi and approached Cangzhou, the empress dowager Xiaozhuang of the Qing Dynasty was not allowed to bring her four-year-old great-grandson with her. Fleeing from Beijing, taking all the rare treasures, gold, silver, grain and rice, he fled to Shengjing via Zunhua and Shanhaiguan, where he was going to start again and rebuild the Qing court.Most of the Qing prince Baylor and all the civil and military officials fled with the old witch of Xiaozhuang. Only Prince Qingkang Jieshu and a small number of civil and military officials stayed in Beijing, preparing to lead the last ten thousand troops to defend Beijing Jiancheng and the city that was The No.1 city in China that has been poisoned by the Qing Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)