The 50,000-strong army led by Chen Qiyu surrounded Xiangyang in mid-March, but the strength of Xiangyang City far exceeded his imagination.
From the perspective of the overall environment, Xiangyang is located in the south of the Han River, surrounded by mountains and rivers, which is extremely dangerous.
The northeast sides of Xiangyang City are surrounded by natural dangers along the Han River, and Wanshan Mountain in the west of the city and Baizhang Mountain in the south are also dangerous places.
The army under Chen Qiyu fought hard for three days, and after paying the price of nearly 3,000 casualties, they finally occupied Wanshan Fort and other strongholds outside Xiangyang.
At this time, Zhang Xianzhong had led the main force southward. There were not many old camps in Xiangyang City. Although they had many soldiers, they were not strong in combat power. Zhang Wenxiu and Zhang Dingguo had to retreat to Xiangyang City.
5,000 men and horses were lost in the battle outside the city, and there are still 55,000 men in the Second City of Xiangfan.
The reason why Xiangyang City is difficult to attack is that in addition to the danger of Xiangyang City itself, Fancheng in the north of the Yangtze River forms the Xiangfan City Defense System with it.
The two cities face each other across the Han River and are connected by a floating bridge in the middle.
Historically, Guan Yu captured Xiangyang, but failed to capture Fancheng, which led to his ultimate failure!
In the end, Zhang Nengqi led 10,000 people to defend Fancheng in the north of the Yangtze River, while Zhang Wenxiu and Zhang Dingguo led 45,000 main troops to guard Xiangyang.
The Xiangyang City Wall has a circumference of 15 miles, the lowest point is 7 meters, the highest point is 11 meters, and the width is about 10 meters.
It has 6 city gates and 9 towers.
Each city gate has a city gate, a city tower, a urn, and a sub-city on an island in the moat.
Because it is surrounded by water on three sides and has Xian Mountain at its back, Xiangyang City is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and is impregnable. It has been known as "Iron-Strengthened Xiangyang" since ancient times.
The widest part of Xiangyang's moat is nearly 200 meters, and only the small islands in the moat are connected by a narrow road.
Coupled with the artillery support on the city, it is almost impossible to storm Xiangyang.
Chen Qiyu's elite frontier troops attacked for more than ten days, but only lost troops and generals. It was difficult to attack the city wall of Xiangyang, let alone break the city!
After joining forces with Cao Wenzhao, even though the troops were large enough and the firearms of the Yulin camp also suppressed the bows and arrows on the city to a great extent.
However, the road in the moat was so narrow that the officers and soldiers could not move at all. Although the damage to the defenders on the city was increased, they were still unable to break through Xiangyang City!
So they turned to attack Fancheng in the north of the Yangtze River. Fancheng was also quite strong. Although Cao Bianjiao once led his men to attack the city walls of Fancheng, Zhang Dingguo led his troops from Xiangyang to Fancheng in time to help out and drove back the official army.
In addition, the people in Xiangyang City, in order to protect the land they had obtained, spontaneously went to the city to help the battle and cooperated with the defenders, so that they ultimately returned without success.
Chen Qiyu and Cao Wenzhao also had to lament the solid defense of Xiangyang City.
This kind of fortified city was easily occupied by thieves, but now trying to recapture it is like going to heaven.
To defeat Xiangyang, we first need a powerful navy to cut off the connection between Xiangyang and Fan, and then we need a large number of Hongyi cannons.
No wonder the Mongols fought for six years!
For the current plan, they could only besiege Xiangyang while transferring 18-pound Hongyi cannon from Shandong.
When the artillery arrives in Wuchang, then cooperate with Wuchang's navy to go north and attack Xiangyang together!
But Chen Qiyu soon received two pieces of bad news.
First, tens of thousands of Daxi's remnants took advantage of the official army's siege of Xiangyang to attack Zigui and Badong. Now they have defeated Kuizhou and took the opportunity to enter Sichuan.
Second, His Majesty ordered Qiao Yingjia, the governor of Shaanxi, to go out of Tongguan to reinforce Luoyang.
Governor Qiao's 30,000-strong army was ambushed by bandits at Lingbao, east of Tongguan, and the entire army was wiped out. Now the bandits have broken through Tongguan and occupied Xi'an. King Zhu Cunshu of Qin was killed by Li Zicheng, and the land in Guanzhong is in the hands of thieves!
Chen Qiyu and Cao Wenzhao were both shocked when they heard the news!
Cao Wenzhao said: "When the western thieves enter Sichuan, General Qin Liangyu and General Qin's white-armed troops can be mobilized to intercept them. If they are lost in the pass, Luoyang will not be able to be saved!"
Chen Qiyu also understood the seriousness of the situation. If he lost Xi'an and Luoyang, and then lost the two vassal kings of Qin and Fu, I am afraid that even if he captured Xiangyang, he would not be able to take away his merits!
What's more, he won't be able to capture Xiangyang City in a short time.
For the current plan, he could only prevent the situation from deteriorating further by leading the former West Route Army northward to drive Li Zicheng out of Guanzhong.
So Chen Qiyu left Xiangyang City to Cao Wenzhao and led the West Route Army northward.
There are only two ways back to Shaanxi from Huguang. One is to go upstream along the Han River to Xing'an and then to Hanzhong.
The advantage of this approach is that Li Zicheng has not captured Hanzhong yet. If Chen Qiyu can arrive in Hanzhong in advance, he can prevent the intruders from going further south into Sichuan.
However, it was too far to regain Guanzhong from Hanzhong, and the road was difficult to travel (refer to the Shu Han Northern Expedition).
Therefore, he chose the shortest way to enter Shaanxi from Yunyang Prefecture, and then break through Shangzhou and Lantian to Xi'an. He wanted to drive Li Zili out of Guanzhong while his foothold was not stable.
There are two ways to break through Shangzhou. One is to take Powuguan in Shangnan, and the other is to take Pozhulin Pass in Luoshang Mountain.
As one of the "Four Fortresses in Guanzhong", Wuguan has always been the gateway to the southwest of Guanzhong.
Sentinels investigated and found that there were many thieves at the pass, so Chen Qiyu chose Zhulin Pass.
Zhulin Pass was called Longguan in ancient times, and it is adjacent to the Danjiang River. It has been an important water and land transportation pass since ancient times.
In the 13th year of Chenghua's reign (1447), Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty set up an inspection department here.
But at this time Liu Zongmin's 50,000-strong army had arrived.
He deployed 20,000 people on the front line of Wuguan, while he personally led 30,000 troops to sit at Zhulin Pass.
Chen Qiyu's men were said to be 50,000. This time they went south to attack the invaders and lost more than 10,000 troops (mainly in the attack on Xiangyang City). At this time, they only had 40,000 men. There was not much advantage in terms of strength.
If the two armies were to confront each other head-on, Liu Zongmin's invading army would naturally be no match for the official army.
However, at this time, they relied on the barrier of Zhulin Pass and the barrier of Danshui, plus Liu Zongmin brought the most elite firearms battalion of the breakout army.
With the advantage of Lumi's gun range, the Chuang army was evenly matched with the official army.
The two sides fought for days and suffered heavy casualties. Each side suffered thousands of casualties.
However, as time goes by, it becomes more and more unfavorable for Chen Qiyu.
A few days later, he received news that the intruder Gao Jie led 50,000 troops to capture Hanzhong.
At this time, Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, personally led an army of 150,000 to the area around Zhulin Pass.
Chen Qiyu was commanding the army to attack the key points as usual, but unexpectedly, a large number of intruders suddenly appeared on both sides of him.
At this time, Liu Zongmin also led his troops to take advantage of the situation and kill them.
Facing the bandits and bandits all over the mountains and plains, the officers and soldiers were in disarray.
A fierce battle began between 170,000 and 800,000 Chuang troops and 35,000 Ming troops at the foot of Zhulin Pass.
Many of the invading troops were officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. At this time, they had received land and money from Li Zi, and their morale was high.
In addition, the Ming army was attacked by the Chuang army and was unable to form their formation in time.
In this way, the advantages of the official army are greatly weakened!
Thousands of vanguard troops attacking Zhulin Pass have been surrounded, and the follow-up troops are also retreating under the multi-faceted attacks of the Chuang Army.
At this time, the commander-in-chief was as fierce as a tiger and said: "The thieves are powerful and the tiger is so powerful. Hurry up and take Premier Chen back to Yunyang!"
After saying that, Meng Ruhu picked up his mountain-breaking ax and rushed into the bandit army.
With the flying ax in his hand, the surrounding intruders were continuously killed, and the morale of the officers and soldiers was also boosted!
Soon he was besieged by the intruders. In the end, the general was shot by dozens of arrows as fiercely as a tiger and died of exhaustion.
However, it was his hard fighting that allowed Hu Dawei to take the opportunity to fight his way out.
Finally, Chen Qiyu fled back to Yunyang Mansion with more than 15,000 Ming troops.
However, Li Zicheng did not order Liu Zongmin to pursue the victory and seize Yunyang to relieve the siege of Xiangyang.
He had more important things to do at the moment.
On May 16, the fourth year of Chongzhen, King Chuang Li Zicheng ascended the throne in Xi'an and proclaimed himself emperor.
The country's name was Dashun and its name was changed to Yongchang.
Zhong Guangdao and Li Yan were canonized as left and right prime ministers.
The general Liu Zongmin was granted the title of Ruhou, and the emperor's nephew Li Guo was granted the title of Bohou.
Other generals also have their own awards.
He also granted the three million acres of fertile land in the hands of the former King of Qin and King Fu to meritorious soldiers and the people of Guanzhong in Luoyang respectively, and exempted the people of Shaanxi and Henan from paying taxes in the original year of Yongchang!
Then the three prefectures surrounding Xi'an Prefecture, Yan'an Prefecture, Fengxiang Prefecture, and Qingyang Prefecture, all took the initiative to surrender to Dashun.
Li Zicheng generously rewarded the surrendered officials.
Nowadays, only Yulin is left in northern Shaanxi, and Ningxia and other important towns on the nine sides are still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.
However, Chen Qiyu had previously deployed a large number of troops to these areas, and now they could only barely protect themselves and were unable to go south to attack Dashun.
And with the loss of Shaanxi, places such as Gansu and Ningxia in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty have actually lost their supplies. They are also worried about their future at this moment!
Li Zicheng followed Li Yan's strategy and sent people to negotiate with these border troops on favorable terms. If they could surrender to Dashun, then he would truly have the power to compete for the world.
After Xiong Tingbi met Zhu Yousong and others, he quickly sent them to Kaiyuan on fast horses.
After meeting Li Xianzhong, Zhu Yousong cried bitterly.
Zhu Yousong said: "My father died tragically. I hope the Duke of Liao will avenge my father!"
Zhu Yousong told Li Xianzhong that he was confused, and said: "I am afraid that the young prince has found the wrong person. For revenge, you should go to His Majesty. I cannot send troops into the pass without permission!"
Unexpectedly, Zhu Yousong let out a "poof", and then said: "Chongzhen refused to save me. He deliberately used his father to attract thieves and killed my father. He also asked the Duke of Liao to seek justice for his father!"
Li Xianzhong couldn't understand Zhu Yousong's words more and more. Could it be that the young prince was too stimulated and started talking nonsense?
Chang Yun on the side said: "I haven't seen you for many years. Is the Duke of Liao okay?"
At this time, Li Xianzhong discovered that standing next to Zhu Yousong was actually Chang Yun, the confidant eunuch who was beside Wanli back then. He was actually still alive?
So Chang Yun told Wanli's original arrangements in detail.
Now it was Li Xianzhong's turn to be shocked, there was actually a "clothing edict".
So Li Xianzhong hurriedly asked people to go to the mansion to get the longevity lock given by His Majesty.
I saw Chang Yunjiang stacking two longevity locks together, and the pattern on Li Xianzhong's longevity lock was naturally embedded in the other longevity lock.
Then he turned hard, and a piece of yellow silk popped out of the other longevity lock.
It reads: Li Xianzhong, the uncle of Ning Yuan, professed the throne, but his rebellious son Zhu Changluo was unfilial and intimidated me. It was not my intention for the prince to supervise the country. If Zhu Changluo and his descendants dare to harm King Fu Zhu Changxun after they ascend the throne, you can use this edict to send troops to attack him and support King Fu to ascend the throne!
The first day of April in the forty-eighth year of Wanli!
This is really a sleepy pillow. It seems that Emperor Wanli really loved Prince Fu. He was afraid that a hundred years later, Prince Zhu Changluo and his descendants would attack Prince Fu, so he left such a life-saving edict to Prince Fu!
Zhengchou had no excuse for raising an army to rebel against the Ming Dynasty. Originally, he planned to let Li Zicheng and others conquer Beijing and destroy the Ming Dynasty, and then he would take action to restore the Ming Dynasty. At that time, he would first set up a puppet to transition, and finally give the throne to himself.
By then, the gentry in the world will have been almost killed by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong. Even if they implement the policies of "dividing the land into the land" and "the gentry all receive the grain together", I believe there will be no resistance!
Unexpectedly, it would save trouble now, just support King Fu!
Although it is far-fetched to say that Chongzhen killed Zhu Changxun, the young prince Zhu Yousong has now personally accused Chongzhen, and Chang Yun, the personal eunuch of Emperor Wanli at that time, has confirmed the authenticity of this edict.
It’s enough to stop everyone in the world from talking!
Lord Wanli, after all, you are the one who loves Xianzhong the most!
You can rest assured that Xianzhong will do his best to carry out your last wishes!
Although he was very excited in his heart, Li Xianzhong said in embarrassment at this time: "My young prince, it is not Xianzhong who is unwilling to follow His Majesty's orders and seek justice for Prince Fu!"
"The incident happened suddenly. Under the blockade of the imperial court, Liaodong is short of food, wages and supplies. If you want to use a small area to fight against the entire imperial court, you may not have a good chance of winning!"
"Young prince, please think carefully. Once we take this step, there will be no possibility of turning back. It is very likely that we will be doomed!"
Zhu Yousong wiped his tears and said righteously: "My father has endured humiliation and heavy burdens all his life, but he still has not escaped Chongzhen's plan. I am not willing to live like this anymore."
"I also ask the Duke of Liao to help me ascend the throne. I will share this country with you!"
"As for the military pay, the Liao Kingdom does not need to worry. My father has already left a sum of money for me, which is enough for the Liao Kingdom to raise an army!"
At this time, Li Xianzhong knelt on the ground and said: "I, the Li family, have been favored by the emperor, how dare I covet the Ming Dynasty?"
"When your Majesty gives me the Li family to control Liaodong, I will be satisfied!"
"Master Wanli has been kind to me, and I will never be able to repay your Majesty even if I die. Don't worry, young prince, with the elites of the Liaodong Army and your majesty's salary, I will definitely help young prince to be honored in the Ninth Five-Year Plan!"
It seems that the fourth year of Chongzhen is destined to be an extraordinary year.
Zhang Xianzhong proclaimed himself emperor in January, Li Zicheng proclaimed himself emperor in May, and now it seems that Zhu Yousong will also proclaim himself emperor.
In fact, Liaodong has long been prepared to proclaim himself emperor. Even if Zhu Yousong proclaims himself emperor today, there will be no problem.
However, in order to show that he never had the ambition to become emperor, he still had to pretend to prepare for it for a month.
After all, although Zhu Yousong is not as fat as his father, he is still fatter than himself, so the dragon robe still needs to be changed.
But the most important thing right now is not the enthronement but the Great Wall defenders in the four towns of Yulin, Ningxia, Guyuan, and Gansu.
Although there are not many soldiers and horses in these four towns, there are still 62,000 people.
Li Xianzhong has calculated that this year's military pay will be 1.5 million taels.
Li Xianzhong offered them a monthly salary of 2 taels of silver and Liaodong provided military pay and food.
However, these four towns were still hesitant. After all, surrendering to Li Zicheng and taking refuge with Li Xianzhong were both acts of rebellion. Now that they have the title of Zhu Yousong in their hands, they will no longer be coy about it!
After these years of development, Liaodong's treasury silver has reached 15 million taels, and there is still 20 million taels of silver in Liaodong Bank that can be borrowed at any time.
This money seems like a lot of money, but it is far from enough to actually spend it.
Li Zicheng should have no less than 6 million taels of silver in his hands now. It is too far to transport wages and grain from Liaodong.
Li Zicheng now has an army of 600,000, and he must be very short of equipment. He happened to sell arms and horses to him at a high price.
The price of a good war horse usually costs 30 taels, but now it has increased to 100 taels. I have invested a lot in Monan over the years, and it is time to get some money back.
The cost of Rumi Gun is less than 3 taels, so sell it for 50 taels.
Anyway, Li Zicheng couldn't produce granulated black powder and Lumi Gun's special bullets. When he turned against him in the future, he would just have to use his ammunition.
Now all Liaodong cannons have been replaced by 18-pound Hongyi cannons, and the 24-pound cannon has been successfully developed.
The 12-pound Hongyi cannon just needed cleaning, and all 2,000 taels were given to Li Zicheng.
But you can't sell the explosive bombs, because they are too lethal.
Last year, Liaodong still had a backlog of 1 million stones of sweet potatoes that had not been disposed of. Currently, Li Zicheng was very short of food, so these were also disposed of.
In this way, Li Xianzhong made 4 million taels from Li Zicheng in one fell swoop through Fan Yongdou and other Shanxi merchants.
The young prince Zhu Yousong also contributed 4 million taels of silver.
With these 8 million taels, Liaodong's treasury silver has now increased to 23 million taels, which should be able to support it for a year or two.
After the deal is completed, Zhu Yousong's ascension to the throne is almost ready.
On June 30, the fourth year of Chongzhen, King Fu Zhu Yousong formally paid homage to the late old King Zhu Changxun outside Kaiyuan City.
Zhu Yousong denounced the seven crimes of Emperor Chongzhen!
First, the position is incorrect.
At the beginning, Emperor Taichang coerced Emperor Wanli into supervising the country.
It is a crime of great rebellion for a minister to rebel against his emperor and a son to rebel against his father. Naturally, there are problems with Chongzhen's succession to the throne.
Second, disrespect for ancestors.
Chongzhen despised his ancestors, so much so that Fengyang, the central capital, fell and the imperial mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty was destroyed.
Although he has issued an edict to offend himself, he cannot be forgiven.
Third, harsh treatment and harm to the clan.
Chongzhen was very strict with the clan, imprisoning King Tang, not allowing King Heng to escape Qingzhou and refusing to save King Fu until he died.
Since Chongzhen ascended the throne, five vassal kings, including King Xiang, King Tang, King Chong, King Qin, and King Fu, have died tragically, and Chongzhen has never made any efforts to rescue them.
Fourth, the extortionate levies and expropriations have led to the rise of thieves and bandits all over the world!
Since Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, he has continued to impose "Liao rates" and "Lian rates", which has overwhelmed the people of the world and led to rebellions one after another.
Today there is Zhang Xianzhong’s Daxi in Huguang; Henan and Shaanxi
Fifth, the emperor lost his virtue.
Since Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, natural disasters have continued in various places, which is God's punishment for his lack of morality!
Sixth, resort to militarism.
To quell chaos in the past dynasties, both suppression and appeasement were usually used, often "suppression was supplemented and appeasement was the main one"!
Chongzhen killed almost all of them.
As a result, they suffered repeated defeats in Denglai. In addition to Shandong, they also lost most of Henan and Shaanxi.
And important towns like Xiangyang, Luoyang, and Xi'an!
Seventh, tampering with the ancestral system
Chongzhen was self-willed and abolished the power of "approving red" that the ceremonial supervisor had had for many years in the Ming Dynasty, resulting in internal and external imbalances.
And seriously weakened the supervisory responsibility of Jinyiwei Tongdong Factory.
As a result, official corruption became common and a large number of border troops did not get paid!
Afterwards, Chang Yun, the personal eunuch beside Wanli, read out Emperor Wanli's last edict to everyone!
On the first day of July, Zhu Yousong proclaimed himself emperor in Kaiyuan, with the reign name Hongguang.
Change the fourth year of Chongzhen to the first year of Hongguang!
He also named Li Xianzhong, the Duke of the Liao Kingdom, the "King of Liaodong County", and he was the governor of the world to fight against rebellion!
Under the propaganda of the Intelligence Department, Zhu Yousong denounced Chongzhen's "Seven Deadly Sins" and the content of Emperor Wanli's edict, which quickly spread throughout the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty!
Suddenly, the whole country was in an uproar!
Soon the soldiers in the four towns of Yulin, Guyuan, Ningxia, and Gansu turned against each other and announced their support for Emperor Hongguang!
The Horqin Tribe of Mongolia, the Eight Chahar Tribes, the Ordos Tribe, and the Yehe Tribe of the Three Jurchen Guards, together with the Jianzhou Tribe, and the Nurgan Dusi declared Chongzhen a false emperor, and they swore allegiance to Emperor Hongguang!
Korea and Ryukyu, the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, even sent envoys to submit their credentials. They did not recognize the puppet emperor Chongzhen and would be loyal to Emperor Hongguang.
Li Xianzhong even divided his Liao Duke's palace into two parts, and most of them became Zhu Yousong's palace.
When these Mongolian, Jurchen, Korean, and Ryukyu envoys came to Kaiyuan to express their allegiance to Emperor Hongguang, he was even more excited.
Suddenly, I felt like I was ruling the world and all nations were coming to court!
If Li Xianzhong hadn't said hello in advance, he would have really wanted to reward these people heavily.
And soon the Hongguang Ming Dynasty expanded its territory. Sun Chuanting reported that the entire island of Taiwan surrendered to the Ming Dynasty!
Emperor Hongguang canonized Sun Chuanting as the governor of Taiwan, and established three prefectures in Taiwan: Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan, officially incorporating Taiwan into the territory of the Ming Dynasty!
Soon after, the King of Ryukyu also sent an envoy to express that Ryukyu had long admired the king and was willing to surrender to the Ming Dynasty.
Emperor Hongguang approved the report, established the Ryukyu Protectorate, and appointed Geng Zhongming as the Ryukyu Governor.
King Shangning of Ryukyu was the uncle of Ryukyu in the Ming Dynasty.
Then the Mongolian Chahar Eight Tribes, Ordos Tribes and other tribes requested to submit to the Ming Dynasty.
So Emperor Hongguang established the Monan Protectorate and appointed Xiong Tingbi as the governor of Monan!
The three Jurchen guards were originally ministers of the Ming Dynasty, so they naturally did not need to submit to them, but Emperor Hongguang still gave them new titles.
The titles of Uncle Zhongyong, Uncle Zhongyi and Uncle Zhongshun were given to Buyangu, Jintaiji and Azige respectively.
Although King Jin Zidian of Korea had no intention of surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, he still dedicated the Huanghaidao that the Ming army actually occupied!
Emperor Hongguang still accurate and appointed Kong Youde as the governor of Korea to actually manage Huanghaidao.
Zhu Yousong is proud of the spring breeze here.
Things are very miserable here in Chongzhen. Now, five of the nine important towns in the Ming Dynasty have directly belonged to Zhu Yousong.
Even North Korea and Ryukyu submitted their credentials to sever diplomatic relations with him and said to his face that he was a false emperor.
But Zhu Yousong opened up a large territory for the Ming Dynasty in one breath, including Ryukyu, Taiwan, Monan, and the Korean Yellow Sea Road.
Since Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu, no monarch has been able to expand the territory like this.
Although these are Li Xianzhong's methods.
But don’t the people in the world know this?
Now he, the real emperor, has been turned into a fake emperor, and Zhu Yousong has become a promising emperor who opened up territories for the Ming Dynasty.
And Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong actually became emperor!
This year, three people actually proclaimed themselves emperors, and now there are three dynasties and four emperors in the land of China.
This year is the fourth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, the first year of Hongguang in the Ming Dynasty, the first year of Dashun in Daxi, and the first year of Yongchang in Dashun!
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(End of chapter)
