"If the general can change his course, abandon the darkness and turn to the light, cooperate with Ruan Shoufu inside and outside, and annihilate the Qi army on the right side of the Yangtze River in one fell swoop, then the man will become famous, become a marquis and become a prime minister, and it will last forever!"
"This is what I want in my life!"
As early as the spring of the fifteenth year of Hongguang, on the eve of the Western Expedition of Ruan Dacheng, the governor of the Pavilion, he sent a secret envoy to Nanchang for the third time to persuade Prime Minister Hui Deng to change his ways and "make unparalleled achievements."
However, at that time, Prime Minister Hui Deng led the surrender and the Ming army was invincible in conquering the city in Jiangxi. Naturally, he had no reaction to Nan Ming's persuasion to surrender. Oh, the only reaction was to cut off the ears and nose of the Nan Ming envoy, but he did not execute him.
Prime Minister Hui Deng did not silence himself, which gave Nanming's monarchs and ministers a glimmer of the possibility of getting this "loyal minister" to turn his back on him.
Then, the last presence of the Hongguang court in Jiangxi—Wan Yuanji, the governor of the Ming Dynasty in Ganzhou—also sent a secret envoy to persuade Hui Deng to join forces, and also sent a box of East beads and corals to Hui Deng.
Prime Minister Hui Deng was deeply moved by the sincerity of the Nanming court. Of course, the most critical factor that impressed the surrendered general was not Dongzhu and Coral.
"Emperor Hongguang has issued edicts many times, asking Duke Xu to return to the Ming Dynasty with Jiangxi. Even if he is granted the title of Duke of Jiangxi, is it even possible?"
Daqi and Liu Zhaosun could not give Hui Deng the chancellor's reward with such a land-breaking title.
Huidenxiang was moved.
There are two key factors that contributed to Phase Whedon’s second betrayal:
The first was the abolition of private property in the hometown of Prime Minister Hui Deng by the governor and inspector of Jiangxi Province. Of course, in the eyes of the parties concerned, this was tantamount to a house raid.
Prime Minister Hui Deng was in Shanxi and had accumulated wealth for many years in Huguang. The wealth was "cleared and registered" by the civil affairs officials of Qi, and it was all packed and shipped to Nanchang, Wuchang and other local treasuries.
The second factor, which is also the trigger, is the fierce opposition to the "foot-binding ban" in various places in Jiangnan, Jiangxi.
The "ban on foot-binding" promulgated by the State of Qi caused a strong backlash in various prefectures and counties in Jiangxi. From the prefects and county magistrates to the elderly squires, down to the traffickers and thugs, villagers and craftsmen, everyone was full of anger against this "tyranny", which had an impact in some places. The right-wing celebrity even threatened:
The food can be eaten, the head can be severed, the blood can be shed, and the feet cannot be untied! The moral integrity of a scholar-bureaucrat cannot be lost!
Starving to death is a small matter, footbinding is a big deal!
Some old men from the former Ming Dynasty who had previously lived in seclusion in the countryside and were unwilling to cooperate with Da Qi suddenly came to life and began to visit the residence of Prime Minister Hui Deng in droves, such as Jiang Yueguang and others. These people persuaded Hui Shuai day and night to take action, "You can't do it." Let down the people of Jiangyou."
Coupled with repeated persuasion by Nanming general He Tengjiao and others, Prime Minister Hui Deng finally made up his mind to build a big one in Jiangxi.
Of course, he did not choose the location of his uprising in a capital city like Nanchang or Jiujiang, because the Qi army had many troops stationed in these important cities. Prime Minister Huiden was well aware of the strength of the Qi army, and he did not dare to touch that bad luck. Finally, the place of rebellion was chosen in Linchuan, and the time was set on April 18th.
There are three reasons why I chose this place:
First, Linchuan is located in southern Jiangxi and is relatively close to Fujian. In the event of an outbreak, it is convenient for the Fujian Ming army to respond;
Secondly, the Ming army in Linchuan Fucheng was weak, with less than a hundred Qi troops stationed there, half of which were auxiliary troops;
Thirdly, Linchuan adhered to the Neo-Confucian teachings of Cheng and Zhu, and the people knew much about the words of saints. They were filled with indignation at the tyranny of the foot-binding ban and had deep resentment against Qi.
At this time, the governor and inspector of Jiangxi Province, as well as the remaining guards in Jiangxi Province, were aware of Prime Minister Hui Deng's secret contact with the Hongguang court.
Master Jing'an of Donglin Temple—yes, the old monk Wu Xiao contacted—had complete evidence of Hui Deng's attempt to betray him. They reported these criminal evidence to Nanchang, but Qi Ting never responded. Zhang Dong only said that everyone should "stay calm".
Realizing that the plan might be exposed, Prime Minister Hui Deng launched an attack in advance on April 15, the first year of Guangde.
Prime Minister Hui Deng hosted a banquet to capture and kill Jiangxi patrol inspector Cheng Xuedong, chief envoy Bian Longchi, and Jiangxi censor Ye Dacheng who went to supervise the implementation of the ban on "foot-binding". Attending a banquet and escaping death, the other two died for their country).
The officials of the former Ming Dynasty who surrendered to Da Qi in Linchuan City "abandoned their black clothes and changed their clothes to clothes." A few officials who were unwilling to follow the rebellion against Qi were executed.
At the critical moment, Liu Tongchun, the governor of Jiangxi Province, abandoned his wife, children, and family members, escaped from the city, disguised himself as a Taoist priest, and fled to Nanchang at night to report the incident in Linchuan.
Far away in Nanjing, when the precarious Hongguang court heard the news, they immediately issued an edict to make Prime Minister Hui Deng the Duke of Yu, and also named Prince Shaobao, allowing him to command the military and political power of Jiangxi.
The Ming armies that had surrendered in the other three prefectures and counties in southern Jiangxi also responded one after another. They either occupied the city and rebelled against Qi, or they destroyed the city and fled to join the Ming army in Linchuan.
Deng Changxiong's Second Corps, which had been waiting for a long time, immediately took countermeasures and mobilized troops and generals.
On March 18, Deng Changxiong sent the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions as the main force to conquer Linchuan. Together with the Huguang Ming Army and Horses, they surrendered 3,000 troops from the Jinzhong Division, 2,000 Mongolian cavalry troops and 2,000 Korean troops. Formed an army of ten thousand and marched towards Linchuan.
At the same time, Ma Guozhu, the general of Ezhen Zhumala who surrendered in Gushan, Jianzhou, and Zuo Liangyu who surrendered, led his troops up the Shuojiang River in Zhenjiang, suspended the offensive on Nanjing City, and joined the main army in Anqing, which had already entered Hunan. Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi suspended their march south, turned around and headed eastward, forming a pincer attack on the rebels from the north, middle, and east.
~~~~
On the eve of the three-pronged Qi army pressing down on the border and besieging Linchuan like Mount Tai, the Linchuan Ming army was already quarreling inside.
Prime Minister Hui Deng convened a group of old troops to discuss the "Northern Expedition Plan."
The old subordinates agreed that while the main force of the Qi army was in Nanjing, Zhenjiang, and the Huguang army was empty, they sent troops across Dongting and went straight to Wuchang, Jiangxia. They cut the Qi army on the Yangtze River into two sections, cut off their food routes, and attacked the Nanjing defenders from east to west. , annihilating the Qi army is the best policy;
Before Kong Youde and three other thieves entered Jiangxi, it was the middle strategy to attack westward and occupy Yueyang, and to join forces with He Tengjiao and other troops to cut off the Qi army's communication with Hunan and Jiangxi;
It was a bad idea to send troops northward, burn, kill, loot and drive the Qi army out of Jiangxi.
In this way, the Qi armies of various ministries can gather together calmly, while the Ming army can only defend itself in the city and is completely inactive.
Like most policymakers in history, Prime Minister Whidden ultimately chose the worst of the worst.
He took a unique approach and fully learned the lesson of not capturing Ganzhou in time during King Ning's rebellion. He decided to abandon the three strategies proposed by his subordinates, the upper, middle and lower strategies, and continued southward, first capturing Ganzhou, and then concentrating his forces to move north...
This suffocating operation ruined Nanming's hope of a final comeback...
On March 16, Hui Deng Xiangxing led an army of more than 100,000 people by land and water, marched up the Shuo River, and arrived at Ganzhou City on the 19th.
The Ming army besieged Ganzhou with heavy troops. Xu Qiren, the deputy general of the Second Corps stationed in Ganzhou, fought fiercely with the Ming army ten times his own in the north of the city. He was outnumbered and died heroically.
Hu Yousheng, the commander-in-chief of Ganzhou, held on to the danger and stopped fighting with the Ming army.
At this time, for the Qi army in Ganzhou, even the nearest reinforcements were thousands of miles away, and Ganzhou had completely become an isolated city.
Ganzhou City is surrounded by water on three sides, and the terrain is dangerous. The city walls are strong, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. Guard generals Liu Wuyuan and Hu Yousheng urged generals Gao Jinku, Liu Bolu, Yang Yuming, Jia Xiong and others to fight hard.
As the war progressed and the two sides were at a stalemate, Prime Minister Whidden began to doubt his "unique approach" and became increasingly hesitant.
In the leap month of April, Ganzhou was running out of food and grass, and there were no reinforcements from outside. Hu Yousheng saw that the soldiers were hungry and exhausted, so he ordered the slaughter of horses to replenish food. Ganzhou was in danger.
Since Prime Minister Hui Deng wasted more than a month of precious time at the gate of Ganzhou City, Wang Deren withdrew to defend Incheon, leaving Gannan with almost no defense.
"The Romance of Fairy Wood"
As a result, the main force of the Qi Army's Second Corps progressed smoothly, and the reinforcements from various ministries successfully arrived at the outskirts of the Ganzhou battlefield without encountering any resistance.
In early April, the Qi army advanced to Dongliu County. Ming general Yougao, who was ordered by Prime Minister Hui Deng to guard Dongliu, abandoned the city and fled.
On May 1st, Kong Youde and Shang Kexi raided the rebels' lair in Linchuan, the gateway to southern Jiangxi. The defenders resisted desperately. The people in the city shared the same hatred of the enemy. Kong and Shang made slow progress. The two sides were like noobs pecking each other, and they also fell into a tug-of-war.
However, when the news reached the front line in southern Jiangxi, the Ming army was horrified because all their family records were in Linchuan.
Suddenly, the morale of the Ming army was shaken, and Prime Minister Hui Deng had to order the entire army to retreat and return to Linchuan to aid.
Hu Yousheng learned the news and pursued him in Kaicheng. The Ming army was eager to retreat and lost countless troops, horses and baggage along the way. They hurriedly withdrew to Linchuan and launched a fierce attack on Kong Youde Shang Kexi.
On May 19, the main force of Prime Minister Hui Deng arrived at the outskirts of Linchuan City, defeated Kong Youde's troops, and quickly entered the city. The Ming army urgently strengthened the city's defenses and prepared to hold on for a long time.
The three armies of the Qi Army, totaling 40,000 troops, completed the second siege of Linchuan Fucheng.
Deng Changxiong commanded three groups of troops to clear out the periphery first and cut off the connection between Fucheng and other prefectures and counties.
Shang Kexi recruited tens of thousands of people to dig ditches and build earthen cities from Wangjiadu in the east to Jilong Mountain in the west.
At the same time, Kong Youde erected three pontoon bridges in the section from Wenjiafang to Yangzizhou in Ganjiang River.
People who participated in digging trenches and building bridges would receive fifty cents per person per day, two meals of rice, no wine but no meat.
The history of the Ming Dynasty records: "Under the heavy reward, unruly people from all over the Yangtze River rushed to join the thieves and besieged the city, and Linchuan was depleted..."
In early June, the trench digging and bridge building project was basically completed.
Ma Jinzhong camped in Puzitang and built a high platform two miles east of Yonghe Gate. The platform is more than ten feet high. You can see all the details of the city at a glance.
Outside Huimin Gate, there was a gap of more than ten feet in the siege, allowing civilians in Linchuan to enter and exit freely, which was used to further undermine the morale of the defenders.
In Linchuan City, the Ming army had long been defeated. Wu Zunzhou and other generals used the excuse of asking for help to leave the city and surrender to the Qi army.
By the beginning of July, there were more than 80,000 Ming troops remaining in the city, together with Ming veterans who had gathered from all over Jiangxi, Jiangnan, and Hunan. The Qi army rebelled and followers of the Sancun Golden Lotus Sect, a total of more than 80,000 people, sat guarding this isolated city in southern Ganxi. The trapped beasts still fought. Prepare to make a last stand with the Qi army outside the city.
On July 10, the Qi army set up thousands of cannons outside the city and "attacked day and night, breaking almost two gates."
The Ming army concentrated sophisticated firearms from all over Jiangxi in Linchuan and fought to the death, making it very difficult to attack the city.
On July 12, Prime Minister Hui Deng went out to the city in person to attack Shang Kexi's troops, who were the most diligent in attacking the city. He killed General Shang in one battle, defeated the Qi army, and killed more than a thousand soldiers and horses from each department.
Deng Changxiong, who was in Nanchang, was furious when he heard this and ordered the three armies to capture Linchuan City within a time limit.
Seeing that the attack on the city was fruitless, the Qi army decided to besiege the city for a long time.
Linchuan's material reserves were sufficient, but they could not withstand the long-term siege of the Qi army, and a food shortage was about to occur within a month.
The price of rice in the city rose to ten taels of silver per stone, and then to one hundred taels.
The livestock, rats, grass roots, leaves, and tree bark in the city were eaten by the defenders one after another, and then began to eat people.
Men are called "drakes"; women are called "crooks"; those with knives are called "hairy"; those without knives are called "hairless"; once they encounter "crooks" and "hairless" People will gather in groups to eat people who are "hairy".
Linchuan civilians fled through the gap outside Huimin Gate every day. Most of these people who wanted to escape from this hell were killed by the defenders with bows, arrows and firecrackers.
~~~~~
On October 18th of the first year of Guangde, the Qi army brought in a large number of siege field artillery, and the two battleships sent by the Navy for reinforcements sailed into the river, preparing to use giant naval guns to launch an attack on Linchuan City. Fierce bombardment.
On the 19th, thousands of cannons fired together, "the sound was heard for more than a hundred miles and the whole valley was shaken."
At Shenshi, Korean soldiers and Mongolian soldiers climbed up the city wall along the ladder, and under the supervision of the Second Corps, they invaded Linchuan City.
Hui Dengxiang failed to hang himself and was captured.
Jiang Yueguang, a great scholar, failed to throw water into the Haojia Pond and was captured.
Song Kuiguang was captured in the west of the city and was killed if he refused to surrender.
Chen Fang, Huang Renlong and others will die in the chaos. If the remaining generals are missing, "most of them will be eaten by others."
Afterwards, Kong Shangjin led his troops into the city and announced a ban on foot-binding. The city was massacred for three days. All the big families, gentry, and students in the city were beheaded. Some of the people who supported foot-binding were also killed. There were 80,000 people in the city, and there were more than 8,700 people left. They were all driven out of the city...
~~~~~
In early May of the first year of Guangde, he lost the news about Zheng Sen and was abandoned by Zuo Liangyu. When he learned that Linchuan was besieged and was trapped in Nanjing, Hongguang Emperor Zhu Changhui finally got up his courage and decided to make a last-ditch effort to gather the remaining soldiers from all over South Zhili. Horse, march west with all their strength to meet the Qi army moving eastward along the Yangtze River.
Emperor Hongguang is worthy of being a descendant of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, and his blood still flows with bloody bravery on the battlefield.
However, that's all.
On the eighth day of May, Zhu Changhuan cried bitterly while holding the memorial tablet of his ancestors in front of the Nanjing Imperial Ancestral Temple. After crying, he returned to the main hall. In front of a group of civil servants and generals, he announced his intention to lead the imperial army to conquer the Qi Dynasty, and to fight with Liu Zhao and Sun Jue. One male and one female.
With the cowardly and timid character of Emperor Hongguang, it is of course impossible for him to actually lead his troops into war. After all, the emperor Zhuqi Zhenzhuyu is at the front. After Prime Minister Hui Deng was defeated miserably and Zheng Chenggong's life and death are unknown, Zhu Changhui can still command basically all. Compared with the combat power of the Ming army at the time of Tumubao, these remaining defeated generals were no different than Yunni.
A group of Nanming ministers were not stupid. They knew that the emperor was just a leader, and that the real expedition to the west to defeat the enemy would depend on the group of people above the main hall.
Several officials from the six tribes came out one after another and expressed their willingness to lead the army out of the city, pursue the Qi army, and give the Qi captives a head-on attack.
Zhu Changhui showed no reaction to these offers. In the end, Ruan Dacheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, had no choice but to stand up and follow the example of others and echoed:
"I am willing to go out for your majesty and defeat the Qi army in one fell swoop! I will share the worries of my emperor!"
Contrary to everyone's expectations, Zhu Changhui agreed to Ruan Dacheng's request, and ordered Ruan Dacheng, the bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion and chief assistant, to lead the king's division to "expedition northward and westward" to conquer the Qi thieves.
