Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 324 History Has Changed?

The secret report Yang Chao received was sent out on March [-]th.

Wang Chengen and his entourage were very fast. In Huai'an, Yang Chao paid him to hire [-] trackers. These trackers who have been pulling fiber on the canal all the year round are better than Yang Chao's civilian husbands. Platinum - Pulling a tank boat again, so it runs fast!

They set off from Huai'an and entered Shandong within a day and night, only to meet Zhang Guowei, Minister of the Ministry of War who was sent by Emperor Chongzhen to Zhejiang to recruit soldiers and pay.

Zhang Guowei set off from Beijing on March [-] and told Wang Chengen about the situation in Beijing.

The situation is very critical!
In January, Li Zicheng marched east to Beijing. On the second day of February, he built 5000 ships in Shazuokou, crossed the Yellow River, and captured Fenzhou (Fenyang), Yangcheng (Yangcheng County, Jincheng City), and Puzhou (Yongji). Capture Huaiqing (Jiaozuo, Henan) and kill Lujiang Wang Zaiyu.On the fifth day of the lunar new year, Taiyuan was conquered. Niu Yong, Wang Yongkui and other [-] supervisors died in the battle.Rest in Taiyuan for eight days.On the [-]th, on the [-]th, in Kexinzhou, the officials and the people welcomed the surrender, and Zhou Yuji, the general guard of the state on behalf of the state, stood firm with the city.

Since then, Beijing has severed its connection with Shanxi. Emperor Chongzhen was uneasy, so he sent Zhang Guowei to Jiangnan to recruit soldiers. Liu Zeqing entered the guard.

At the same time, he granted military generals, Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, Ping Xibo, Zuo Liangyu, the commander-in-chief of the general Pingze, Tang Tongding, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, Xibo Tang Tongding, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, and Huang Degong, the governor of Fengli. , each gave Liu Zeqing, the left governor of the Shandong General Army, the rank of actual post.

I just hope that these generals can enter King Jingqin.

Yang Chao knew that the Ming Dynasty was on the verge of extinction. The Ming army in Henan and Shanxi could not stop Li Zicheng. In the north, the military spirit is exhausted.

Yang Chao received Wang Chengen's letter, and immediately forwarded it to the civil officials in Huai'an, saying that he wanted to go north to serve the king, and he had only two hundred people. Obstacles are obviously because they don't want to take responsibility. The civil servants of the Ming Dynasty are still not responsible, and it is really time for her to die.

But this is enough, as long as the Huai'an government does not try its best to obstruct him, Yang Chao needs to transfer troops to Huai'an, and then go north, and the cooperation of the Huai'an government is indispensable, at least not hindering him.

At the same time, the carrier pigeons flying to Nanjing conveyed the news to Shi Kefa, asking Shi Kefa to help with the writing of the northward trip, and let his large troops cross the river northward immediately.

It's just that the recruitment of civilian husbands has been slow. Last time, we hired [-] trackers from Huai'an, which almost exhausted all the trackers in Huai'an. We didn't recruit enough trackers in one day, so Yang Chao had to delay his trip and send someone to the nearby area. Recruit along the canal.

However, Yang Chao was not too anxious. He gave his men five days. Yang Chao remembered that the city of Beijing fell on April 25, and it was only March [-] at this time. In terms of marching speed, the first batch of troops from Nanjing to Huai'an can arrive within five days.

As long as the first batch of troops arrives, even if there are only 5000 people, Yang Chao is confident that he can compete with Li Zicheng in Beijing. He may not be able to defeat Li Zicheng's million-strong army in a field battle, but he should be able to defend Beijing for several months with the mobilization of manpower and material resources. , It is enough for the army of other places to serve as kings. With the strength of Jiangnan Zuo Liangyu, Huang Degong and others, as long as they arrive in Beijing and cooperate with Yang Chaoli, it will not be difficult to repel Li Zicheng.

So Yang Chao was actually not too anxious. After all, what he received was not King Qin's edict, which meant that Li Zicheng hadn't arrived in Beijing yet.

But Wang Chengen from Shandong was very anxious. He was anxious to return to Beijing because he wanted to be with the emperor when Li Zicheng rebelled. And headstrong, being able to be by the emperor's side in times of crisis is worth more than making great achievements.

In fact, with Wang Chengen's cognitive ability, he didn't believe that a rogue like Li Zicheng could reach Beijing, but according to the news from Zhang Guowei, Li Zicheng has really become popular, and he is almost invincible in Shanxi. So far, only Zhou Yuji has caused some trouble. If Zhou Yuji can't stop Li Zicheng, Li Zicheng will go all the way east into Gyeonggi.

So Wang Chengen was in a hurry, and drove all the peasants like chickens and dogs. He took out a large bribe he had accepted and told everyone that he would add another 300 taels of silver and asked them to arrive in Beijing within three days. Just behead them all, lure them with huge profits with one hand, and intimidate them with a big stick with the other. These trackers have really sold their strength.

The eight hundred trackers were divided into three shifts, day and night, pulling the tank boats and galloping on the canal.

One day and one night, he left Shandong and entered Gyeonggi. At the same time, he passed through the post station in Shandong, threatening the local government to issue the highest-level urgent report, informing the emperor that he was going back, and also told the emperor that he had made the decision to let Yang Chao go north. Punishment.

Wang Cheng'en was very clever, he knew that the emperor would not punish him, but would think that he was decisive.

There is a saying that there is a rush of [-] miles for post station transmission. The horses stop all the way, and people change horses at the post station. They eat and sleep on the horses.

Wang Chengen's urgent report was much faster than his tank boat. It set off on the [-]th and reached Beijing on the [-]th.

I have to say the importance of Wang Chengen's urgent report, because at this time Emperor Chongzhen was extremely desperate.

Zhou Yuji, the general guard of the Daizhou Pass, blocked Li Zicheng. The two sides fought for more than ten days.This was the most intense and only strong resistance that Li Zicheng encountered in Shanxi. Therefore, even if Zhou Yuji retreated to Ningwu in the north, he had already made way for Li Zicheng to advance east, but Li Zicheng pursued him desperately, and the army turned to the north to attack Ningwu. .Zhou Yuji guarded the house, and finally ran out of gunpowder, opened the door and died in a fierce battle. The arrows all over his body were like hedgehog hairs. His wife Liu led more than [-] women into the house and shot them, all of them were burned to death.

On the first day of March, Li Zicheng kneaded Wuguan, and more than [-] soldiers died, causing heavy casualties. Li Zicheng was furious and ordered the massacre of the city.The massacre of the city had a deterrent effect. Jiang Yu, the general of Datong, surrendered that night, and Wang Chengyin, the general of the Xuanfu, surrendered.On the eighth day of March, the soldiers arrived at Yanghe.On the [-]th, they drove into Xuanfu, "the whole city was in an uproar, everyone was happy, and they were greeted with colorful decorations and incense".

When Li Zicheng went to the suburbs of Beijing, Chongzhen was in a hurry and called on officials and even eunuchs in Beijing to donate money.

But what he got was the crying poverty of the honored ministers and noble relatives, all of whom were extremely stingy and unwilling to donate. Chongzhen hoped that his father-in-law, Zhou Kui, the father of Empress Zhou, would take the lead in donating, and hoped that he could donate 10 taels. Having no money, he asked his daughter for help in a hurry. Empress Zhou gave him 5000 taels in private, and he withheld 3000 taels and handed over 2000 taels.

Chongzhen's imperial relatives were all rich and powerful. In the end, Zhou Kui was tortured by Li Zicheng and forced out 70 taels of silver, but his son-in-law was unwilling to pay any money. Driven by his bad guy, he finally The emperor raised less than 20 taels of silver, and there was only one Taikangbo, Zhang Guoji, who contributed tens of thousands of dollars. Chongzhen directly promoted him to the title of Marquis.

In fact, if Chongzhen could be ashamed and sell the title to Jiangnan, not to mention 1000 million taels of silver would definitely be sold.
The money raised is not enough to pay the army, let alone recruit new soldiers to defend the city, which is of no avail.

He also summoned the civil officials to discuss the matter, but they could not come up with any ideas. The civil officials had three attitudes. The first one was that Fan Jingwen and Li Banghua were the first to suggest that the prince should be sent to the south of the Yangtze River; What is the intention?It is believed that the person who invited the prince to go south has ulterior motives.The third type is Wei Dezao, Chen Yan and others. Chen Yan asked to retire. The emperor was worried about Li Zicheng and asked him. He left in order to leave safely. He told the emperor that there was nothing to worry about. The emperor agreed to his retirement and rewarded him with gold coins.The chief assistant, Wei Dezao, repeatedly proposed that he wish to be paid in Beijing, but the emperor did not agree.

The world is so cold, and civil servants have their own ghosts. Later, after Chongzhen died, Fan Jingwen and Li Banghua committed suicide and were buried for him, but Shi Guangheng and others first surrendered to Li Zicheng.Chen Yan took the initiative to donate tens of thousands of taels of silver to Li Zicheng, and was appointed by Li Zicheng as an official. When Li Zicheng fled, he wanted to kill the courtiers. Chen Yan spent all his wealth, but he only lived four days longer than the other courtiers. head.Wei Dezao was born as the No. [-] scholar, but he has been an official for a short time. He is a newly promoted minister and has become the chief assistant.When Liu Zongmin was torturing, Wei Dezao probably didn’t have enough money for embezzlement. Liu Zongmin was tortured and served. He couldn’t pay and couldn’t bear it and begged for mercy. He dedicated his daughter to Liu Zongmin. After Liu Zongmin played, he rewarded his soldiers to play. Still, Liu Zongmin crushed his head with a bamboo board, and then tortured his son to death.

Zhongxun ministers of the Chongzhen Dynasty refused to donate, and the civil servants were noisy.

Li Zicheng did not delay at all. On March [-]th, he arrived at Juyongguan. The eunuch Du Zhizhi and the general Tang Tong surrendered without a fight. After surrendering, Li Jiantai's soldiers in Baoding fled, and Li Jiantai threw himself into a well to die.

On March [-], Li Zicheng's troops crossed Changping and arrived at Shahe.

On the [-]th, they entered Gaobeidian and Xizhimen, and bombarded the city with cannons. Li Zicheng's cannons belonged to Li Guozhen's Department of Xiangchengbo Li Guozhen of the Ming Army stationed outside Xizhimen. Unfortunately, at the last moment, the honorable person most trusted by Chongzhen did not die for the country at all. As soon as Li Zicheng came, he not only surrendered, but also asked his artillery to help attack the city.

In the middle of the night on March [-], Li Zicheng's army broke through the Guangning Gate.

On March [-], Li Zicheng sent Du Xun, the eunuch who had surrendered in Changping, into the city to negotiate secretly with Emperor Chongzhen.

Li Zicheng's condition was that Emperor Chongzhen make him a vassal, cede the Northwest area to him, and give him 100 million taels of silver to reward the army.Li Zicheng was willing to retreat to Henan, and he was also willing to help the court wipe out the bandits and the Manchus in Liaodong.

Li Zicheng fought in Beijing, and he still wanted to let Chongzhen make him a king, just give him some money, it was indeed very hopeless.

However, it is not ruled out that he wants to coerce the emperor to make the princes, but with Li Zicheng's political wisdom, he probably really wants to be a local emperor. After all, judging from his behavior after occupying Beijing, he does not look like a politician. A total bandit.

It's just that Li Zicheng's request was directly rejected by Emperor Chongzhen.

He had already made plans to kill Sheji, but with a glimmer of hope, he asked the eunuch to continue negotiating with Li Zicheng, in order to delay the time, hoping to wait for reinforcements.

And at this time, Emperor Chongzhen received a secret letter from Wang Chengen.

The desperate Chongzhen read Wang Chengen's secret letter by walking back and forth in a hurry, and the hand holding the letter couldn't help shaking after reading it.

Loudly exclaimed: "Yang Qing actually came to Huai'an!"

Chongzhen thought that Yang Chao was suppressing bandits in Zhejiang, and he couldn't believe it when he killed them. In a month, Yang Chao not only wiped out the White-headed Army, but also returned to Huai'an, and was going north to serve the king under Wang Chengen's order.

Chongzhen, who was already in despair, couldn't help feeling a glimmer of hope, and immediately asked the eunuch to contact Du Xun to make new demands on Li Zicheng.

Emperor Chongzhen told Du Xun that it was not impossible to make Li Zicheng king, but he was afraid that the officials would object, and hoped that Li Zicheng would give him three days to persuade all the officials, and within three days, he hoped that Li Zicheng would stop attacking the city.

Du Xun was overjoyed and went back to report the good news to Li Zicheng, but Li Zicheng was not an idiot. On the one hand, he said that he would accept the emperor to persuade the officials, on the other hand, he would not relax the siege at all.

Wang Chengen hurried and hurried, and finally arrived at the foot of Beijing on the third day. Those peasants refused to take a step forward after arriving in Tongzhou. Wang Chengen spent the last journey on horseback in the arms of Yang Chao soldiers.

He found the east gate that was not surrounded, revealed his identity, and ordered the city guards to hang him to the top of the city. Fortunately, at this time, the overseer on the top of the city was an eunuch, so he did not make things difficult for Wang Chengen, and sent him and thirty of Yang Chao's men to the city. The soldiers were all hanged to the city.

Wang Chengen rushed to the palace immediately.

Yang Chao's [-] soldiers stayed outside the imperial city to help defend.

But the first thing they did was to release most of the pigeons and inform Yang Chao to go to Beijing immediately.

It was the night of March [-]th!
Yang Chao received the news from Beijing that it was already March 22, and his vanguard had arrived at Baoying, a half-day journey south of Huai'an. Unfortunately, Yang Chao couldn't wait any longer and immediately sent his troops north.

Yang Chao couldn't help being suspicious, he remembered clearly that the city of Beijing was breached on April 25th, why did Li Zicheng break into the city of Beijing in just over three months, either history has changed, or the inner city of Beijing , The imperial city persisted for a month. Anyway, no matter what the situation was, Yang Chao couldn't wait to go north.

After leaving an order for the follow-up troops to go north immediately without gathering, Yang Chao set off first.

(End of this chapter)