On the Wanshou Festival in the fourth year of Taichu in the Qi Dynasty (the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month), on the eve of the Emperor Taichu's southern expedition, the 14-year-old Taichu Emperor Liu Kan finally took charge.
At this sensitive time, the announcement of the young emperor's pro-government was intended to show both the government and the public that the upper echelon of the empire was rock solid and the imperial power was unbreakable. It also meant that the young emperor would stay and supervise the country and intimidate the officials.
The Little Emperor's faction (mainly Qian Qianyi, Marquis Xunqi Jin) only received verbal praise without any substantial promotion. This shows that the power is still in the hands of the Supreme Emperor, in order to eliminate the hidden danger of the ministers joining forces and alienating the royal family.
On the ninth day of December in the fourth year of Taichu, the Ministry of Rites presented the four year titles of "Zhang Wu", "Guang De", "Wu Yun" and "Daye" on the grounds of Ming Zhengshuo, Shen Huangwei, Lu Wangdao and Ji Shiyuan. The little emperor considered the choice.
Zhang Wu was owned by Liu Bei of the Shu Han Dynasty, and it was located in a corner, which had an ominous meaning. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty Yin Jian was not far away, so the era name of Daye was also excluded. Now that the people were eager to recuperate, Liu Kan finally chose Guangde.
On the first day of the first lunar month of the first year of Guangde, Emperor Guangde issued a general amnesty to the whole country. The edict read:
The transformation of Guangde began from this time, and it was appropriate to broadcast Jiahui. Xian and the Reform Movement therefore changed the Yuan Dynasty to Guangde.
The meaning of the new year's name is good, but the war will continue.
On the ninth day of the first lunar month, the main force of the Southern Expedition, 15,000 people, gathered in front of Guangji Gate in Shenyang and swore to go out for the expedition.
The chief instructor, Sen Ti, raised his trumpet high, stood on the crenellations of the city wall, and shouted to the tens of thousands of Daqi soldiers in Wengcheng who were ready to go:
"The traitor Zuo Liangyu took advantage of the army's northern march, betrayed his trust, and massacred the soldiers and civilians of Xuzhou. Thousands of people died! Many of them were your brothers from Paoze!"
"The traitor Zheng Sen (Zheng Chenggong) repeatedly robbed Daqi merchant ships, causing Huguang's grain to be unable to be transported to Shandong, and Shandong's grain to be transported to southern Liaoning. I don't know how many people starved to death! It was this thief who was sent to instigate the rebellion in Shenyang last year. ·····”
Famines occur frequently in Daqi. Many farmers work hard to farm and turn over their surplus grain, but in the end they have no food to eat!
It turned out that the pirates were robbing everyone's food. When they heard this, many soldiers were filled with indignation. What made them even more angry was that the civil strife in Shenyang was also caused by Zheng's poisonous plan.
"Now!" Senti took a breath and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Mr. Zheng came with a warship. He threatened to plow the court, kill all the people in Qi, and kill all the people. He wanted to snatch your wives and take you to the south of the Yangtze River to be slaves! You will starve your children to death. You answer Don’t agree?”
After a while, the soldiers from each battalion let out deafening roars:
"No!"
"No!"
"The Supreme Emperor has supplied you with the last grain and grass. Your parents, wives, children, and children are watching you. The Supreme Emperor is watching you! In this battle, you cannot lose, you can only win!"
"Seize the food! Kill the Ming thief! Kill Zheng Sen! Revenge!"
The trainer among the soldiers raised his arms and shouted loudly.
"Seize the food! Kill the Ming thief! Kill Zheng Sen! Revenge!"
There was a roaring mountain and tsunami in front of Guangji Gate.
The Supreme Emperor looked at Senti who was working hard at publicity and nodded with satisfaction. After so many years, Senti has always been a good publicity hand, which made him quite pleased.
Zheng Zhilong's severed head was hung high on the head of Guangjimen City, already reduced to withered bones.
Groups of soldiers with blazing guns and long knives, in neat military appearance, passed under the head of Zheng Zhilong, walked out of Shenyang City, and headed towards Shanhaiguan.
On the 13th day of the first lunar month, the Supreme Emperor led the main force of the Qi army, and Qi Jin, Zhao Lijiao, and Wang Zengbin each led their own troops. They set out from Shenyang, passed through the Liaoxi Corridor, and entered the Shanhaiguan Pass.
On the 16th, the Liaohai Sea began to freeze. Wu Aheng led eight battleships of the Daqi Navy's First Fleet, cruising to the Shandong Peninsula to confront Zheng Chenggong who was heading north.
On the 18th, the vanguard of the Qi army led by Pu Gang arrived in Xiangyang in advance.
After a short rest in Xiangyang, the Antelope Corps immediately set off to march south.
South of Xiangyang, which was now controlled by refugee rebels, Xiangyang became the empire's bridgehead in Huguang.
At the end of the first month, Pu Gang commanded 5,000 soldiers, quickly defeated and incorporated the refugees in Yicheng, Gucheng and other places, totaling 10,000 people.
After a brief reorganization, these refugees became the vanguard of the vanguard army, marching straight into Yunmeng and Huangpi.
On the fifth day of February, the Qi army arrived on the north bank of the Huangpi River and faced Jiang Xia's Ming army across the river.
Pu Gang ordered the army to camp at the ancient ferry of Huangpi River, and ordered the engineers to lead the refugees to build pontoon bridges, shields, carts and other objects, in a posture of general attack on Jiangxia.
On the eighth day of February in the first year of Guangde, there was a peach blossom snow, the Jianghan Plain was covered with snow, and the three towns of Wuhan were hunted by the cold wind.
Pu Gang, the vanguard commander, reined up his horse and stood east of Mulan Village on the north bank of the Huangpi River. Across the river, the flags of the Jiangxia camp were waving, and the big flags with left characters swaying in the wind. The densely packed Ming army camps extended from the Huangpi River to the Yangtze River. At a glance, Not to the end.
"Zuo Liangyu, you're fine."
The main tent of the Chinese Army of the Sixth Corps was located at the Tiefo Temple on the north bank of the Huangpi River.
On the evening of the 10th day of February, the chief officer Pu Gang, the training officer Xing Zhongyi, and four battalion officers held an emergency meeting in the temple.
It was already dark, and it was all illuminated by the light of a few lanterns placed in the temple.
At this time, all the whale oil in several lanterns would be lit, and the lights would faintly look like they were about to go out.
Pu Gang decided to stay put for now and sent a small group of scouts across the river to find out more about Zuo Liangyu's troops before making further plans.
There were only 5,000 soldiers of the Sixth Corps going south this time, and they did not have the equipment to cross the river. They attacked rashly and ran into Zuo Liangyu's army of hundreds of thousands. It was okay to win, but if they couldn't win, the Ming army would sweep across the north bank and hijack the refugees. Going north, the consequences would be disastrous.
The instructor Xing Zhongyi advocated attacking immediately. As the saying goes, the brave will win when encountering a narrow road, and there is no need to look forward and backward.
The two argued fiercely, and finally Pu Gang, as the chief officer, made the final decision and announced that he would first send scouts across the river to investigate.
The task of sentry scouts was quickly passed on, and finally fell on the two scouts of the first battalion.
~~~Xu Jing and Wan Shao climbed up from the river beach and saw a temple on a high ground between fields.
The two of them avoided the main road and walked towards the temple, hoping to find some food. They also asked nearby fishermen to find out about Zuo Liangyu's army.
It was already dusk, and there was not even a beggar in the abandoned temple.
Xu Jing said: "Be patient and sneak into Jiangxia City to eat."
Wan Shao said: "It seems that the Ming army even robbed the monks."
They continued walking on the mountain. Fortunately, there were wisps of green smoke not far from the temple. It seemed that there were still other people there, so the two of them walked there.
In a small village, children stood outside the village looking around, as skinny as hell imps.
The two Yebu dressed up as businessmen, carried backpacks full of grass, and walked towards the child.
"Hey, the kid gave you candy, where are the adults in your village?"
The child with a runny nose snatched the rock candy that Xu Jingzhan could not bear to eat, stretched out his muddy hand and pointed at the burning house behind him.
On a blackened gable wall hung a naked villager, with only one straw sandal still on his feet.
Judging from the technique, it should be Zuo Bu's masterpiece.
"His uncle's surname is Zuo. He is really nothing."
The child continued to play in the mud. Xu Jing tightened his grip on the dagger, winked at Wan Shao, and walked cautiously towards the body.
At the base of the gable wall, there sat an old man, also in ragged clothes, with no shoes on his feet, his head lowered, and holding a hemp rope in his hand, as if he was doing farm work. Xu Jing was a native of Beijing and was not familiar with farm work in Huguang.
"Hey, uncle, the wall is coming down. Let's go."
After shouting twice, the old man raised his head tremblingly.
"What's wrong?"
Xu Jing found that those turbid old eyes were staring at his hands.
He subconsciously put away his calloused index finger.
"You Qiu Ba are robbing food and killing people, why don't you die!"
The old man pulled the rope, and the gable wall collapsed. The adobe bricks, dust and corpses all hit Xu Jing.
~~~~
The two Ye Bushou fled the village in panic. At this time, there was a loud noise in the rice field in the back mountain:
"He's a zebra, catch him!... Beat him to bitch!... Hang him up!..."
Xu Jing, who had a dusty face, was still frightened, but Wan Shao wanted to go over and see what was going on.
"We are here to rescue the people in Huguang, and next we have to rescue the people in Jiangnan. Are you afraid of a hammer?!"
Sichuan soldiers have been emboldening their companions for thousands of years.
"Rescue his uncle! I almost killed him just now!"
"It would be nice to have an instructor here. All we need to do is explain the "Qi Dynasty Land Acquisition System" once and make sure we won't be beaten. Mr. Mori said that dividing the land will work."
"Let's go and take a look first."
Xu Jing was still cursing, but was already held by Sichuan soldiers and walked towards the rice field.
Dozens of villagers gathered under a row of willow trees next to the rice field. Some were scolding and some were beating.
When the two men stepped forward to take a look, it turned out that these old men and women had caught a Ming soldier who had just taken off his mandarin duck coat and were beating him with sticks.
Na Mingjun lay on the ground and explained over and over again:
"I'm Laosong, don't hit me! I'll kill your mother!" His Cantonese accent could not change his identity as a southerner.
"You southern barbarian! You killed half of our village. Fortunately, I hid early. Look at you, you are still telling lies! You're an eyesore! You're a zebra! You stole it early yesterday morning!" My pig.—The clothes you are wearing are also mine.—Hit! Beat him to death!…”
A group of villagers struck down with sticks, and the Guangdong soldier soon began to bleed from his orifices and kept wailing.
Xu Jingwanshao looked at each other and took a breath. If they had been caught by this group of hiding villagers just now, the two of them would have been in serious danger.
Wan Shao winked, Xu Jing said bravely:
"Everyone, young and old, stop your hands first! We are soldiers sent by the Emperor of Qi to save you."
A group of villagers turned back and looked at the two men with murderous intent.
"That zebra guy, beat up his brother-in-law! They are in the same group! Qiu Ba is not a good guy!"
The sticks fell like raindrops on Xu Jing.
Wan Shao quickly took off his outer gown, revealing Qi Jun's black uniform underneath.
"Look, look! It's different from his."
Xu Jing waved his sword to block it a few times, and then was knocked to the ground by countless sticks. He was in so much pain that he fell to the ground and couldn't stand up.
"stop!"
The fanatical villagers are still fighting.
"Stop!"
The sticks finally stopped attacking.
Xu Jing held his head and fell to the ground and curled up. At this time, an old man who looked like a patriarch walked out of the crowd.
"Are you really the soldiers of Emperor Wu Ding?"
Wan Shao vowed: "Is this true? We are from the Sixth Corps. We have just crossed the river and are going to scout Zuo Liangyu."
The patriarch quickly stepped forward to help Xu Jing, who was beaten with a bruised nose and face, and apologized repeatedly.
"The little old man was originally from Xinyang, Henan. When Xiangyang was conquered, I built a shield cart on the bank of the Han River. Later, Xinyang was hit by a flood. Emperor Wu Ding arranged for us Xinyang people to live in Huguang. I brought my people to Huangpi, and we divided If you get the land, you don’t have to pay rent for three years. Emperor Wu Ding is the great savior of us Xinyang people..."
When the old patriarch said this, he burst into tears: "God damn Zuo Liangyu, and the damn Ming army, they robbed and killed all of our village without any regard for crime, even the children!"
Wan Shao gritted his teeth, but Zuo Liangyu was still as cruel as before.
"Don't worry, the Supreme Emperor brought tens of thousands of troops south this time just to avenge you,"
The old patriarch recalled the scene of participating in the Battle of Xiangyang, and said with indignation:
"We want revenge, this military master, what do you think I should do?"
Wan Shao hesitated.
The villagers returned to their houses, rummaged through the boxes and cabinets, took out bowls of brown rice, dried chili peppers, steamed buns and other food, raised them above their heads, and stood in front of the two Qi troops who stayed overnight.
Wan Shao had sand in his eyes.
"Master Jun, I'll give you the last bit of rations in our village to kill the Ming thief."
~~~~~
In the early morning of February 12, before the scouts who had crossed the river had returned, the artillerymen from both sides of the Qi and Ming Dynasties could not restrain themselves and began to bombard each other.
The Hongyi artillery deployed in Hongshan was condescending and bombarded the north bank of the Huangpi River day and night.
The Qi army focused on large-caliber field artillery and violently bombarded Jiangxia Zhonghe Gate and Baoanmen Gate (where Zuo Liangyu's army transported food), and at the same time used Shenhuo Feiyao to fire back at the red cannons on Hongshan Mountain.
The 300 cavalry battalion of the Sixth Corps had already set up a line formation by the river as an artillery cover, hoping to attract Zuo Liangyu's army to cross the river to fight.
The Ming army was not very accurate, and the shells came very high, pulling the wind over Pu Gang and others and flying far behind.
There were bursts of white smoke on the Huangpi River. Although the Qi army's artillery was not as numerous as its opponents, its accuracy was obviously better. After half a day of firing, the Ming army's artillery fire on Hongshan Mountain was significantly reduced.
On February 13, the Ming army on the other side could not bear the cost of the shelling and finally sent troops across the river with the intention of driving away or annihilating the Qi army's artillery.
The First Battalion of the Sixth Corps immediately sent soldiers to fight.
Five hundred gunmen marched in a skirmish line. The soldiers looked serious and moved quickly. Five generals shouted at the side to supervise.
The refugees driven from all over Xiangyang are still building shield cars and pontoon bridges in the distance.
The Qi army's artillery turned their muzzles to the Huangpi River and began to leisurely bombard the Ming army's ferries on the river.
The five hundred soldiers were divided into five thin formations. Commander Lu Yang, who was at the forefront, shouted and ran forward with his musketry. The formation crossed the gentle slope and saw the densely packed fishing boats on the river.
Amidst the rumbling sound of artillery, one can see that the Huangpi River is dim in the pale white light. Several fishing boats hit by shells are floating in the river and are slowly sinking.
More boats were like ducks with their butts on fire, swimming desperately towards the north shore. Following the ducks were several larger sand boats. The outside of the gauze boats was covered with bamboo nails, and some places were covered with a layer of cowhide. Ordinary infantry artillery has limited damage to such sand ships. A group of Zuo Liangyu's servants stood on the sand boat, using their rifle bows to shoot at the Ming troops who were preparing to retreat.
Lewen
