In September of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, Datong Fucheng.
This famous city in northern Shanxi is not only one of the nine important towns of the Ming Dynasty, but also a trade channel connecting northern Saibei and the mainland. During the Hongzhi period in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Ye Qi changed the Kaizhong method of the Salt Administration to the Zese method. After that, the border was desolate and Datong Mansion also lost its former prosperity and began to gradually decline. However, the one who brought the greatest harm to this important border town was the Qing Dynasty that was about to establish its power in Yanjing.
The second entrance battle of the Later Jin Dynasty in the seventh year of Chongzhen (1634) took place in Xuanfu and Datong. In July of that year, the Hou Jin army divided its forces into four groups to attack Xuan and Datong. Although they did not break through the city of Datong, they ravaged the surrounding areas of Datong for more than fifty days and besieged more than fifty forts in towns and cities. They looted and slaughtered to no avail, and finally made great achievements. And left, causing serious damage to Xuan and other places. Outside Xuanda City, the area was deserted and extremely desolate.
Although ten years have passed now, the vitality of Datong Mansion has still not recovered. A little further away from Datong Fucheng, there are sparsely populated areas and barren land.
Walking along the official road from Shuozhou, a subordinate state under Datong Prefecture, to the north to Datong Prefecture City, you can still see the remains of villages from time to time, with broken walls and ruins, without any life. At this time, Shi Luo Xiu, the acting head of the palace, was on his way back from Hunyuan Prefecture to Datong Fucheng with thirty or forty horsemen.
He and his men and horses were all dressed up as well-travelled businessmen, wearing thick sheepskin jackets, leather hats on their heads, swords at their waists, quivers and riding bows on their shoulders. The dust on his face is quite thick, and he looks like a hero who walks a long way and rarely washes his face, and no longer cares about the wind and rain.
They were dressed like this because Luo Xiushen and the others had just come down from Kelan Mountain. Kelan Mountain is located in Taiyuan Prefecture and is part of the Luliang Mountains. This area has high mountains and dense forests, and the terrain is remote. Since ancient times, it has been a territory that the king has little control over. When the Ming Dynasty was prosperous, there were many bandits and local tyrants entrenched in it. Not to mention now, the Kelan Mountain area, including Kelanzhou City, is not under the control of Li Zicheng, who occupies Taiyuan.
A dozen powerful local bandits, large and small, now control the area around Ke Lanshan. The most powerful among them is Zhang Xixian, the leader of the White Lotus Sect in the northwest of Shanxi Province. The city of Kelanzhou is now in the hands of Zhang Xixian.
The purpose of Luo Xiu's visit to Ke Lanshan was to go to the main altar of the White Lotus Sect in the north of Shanxi Province to meet with Leader Zhang to discuss recruitment.
The purpose of recruiting leader Zhang was to replace Wang Zhu Cijiong and establish a "Mountain Palace" in the Luliang Mountains. The idea of establishing a base in the Luliang Mountains was proposed by Zhu Cixiang through a secret edict.
Now Datong Mansion is isolated in the north, separated from the southeastern area controlled by the Ming Dynasty by the territories of the Qing Dynasty and Dashun, so communication can only be done through secret envoys.
And Luo Xiushen was an important chess piece placed by Zhu Cixiang in Datong Mansion, so he naturally had a secret communication line to contact Prince Zhu. Therefore, long before Zhu Cihong went south from Dengzhou, the secret decree of "Going to Luliang" was sent to Datong Mansion.
The secret edict was written by Zhu Cixiang himself. It mainly said two things. One was to avoid conflicts with the Dashun Army and the Qing Army. Although the Datong Ming Army claimed to have 80,000 troops, it could only fight with 10,000 or 20,000 people. , can’t help but consume.
And their existence itself is the greatest support for the Southeast Ming Dynasty!
The second is to establish a stronghold in the Luliang Mountains, recruit Luliang bandits, and establish a "mountain palace" as a retreat.
Once Datong Fucheng is likely to be besieged by the Qing army, the acting king Zhu Cijiong should immediately move to Luliang Mountain!
Zhu Cijiong is the third son of Chongzhen. In theory, he is the genuine "Third Prince Zhu"! Historically, the name of Prince Zhu was like a ghost, haunting the three emperors of the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. Until the Qianlong period, there were still people who rebelled against the Qing Dynasty and restored the Ming Dynasty under the banner of Prince Zhu San.
Now that there is a genuine third prince Zhu, how can Zhu Cixi not make good use of it? To make good use of the subject of the third prince Zhu, we must first not let him be arrested by the Qing Dynasty.
However, the city of Datong where "Prince Zhu III" is currently located is not very safe. Although the city is strong, the food and grass in the city is really lacking. Just look at the desolate scene in Datong Mansion!
Even if Wang Yongji and Jiang Yu tried every means to raise funds, they could not find enough food and grass to last the Datong Mansion for too long.
Going to Luliang is the only way
Therefore, in August and September of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Luo Xiu Shen traveled back and forth between Ke Lan Mountain and Datong City, holding the recruitment order issued in the name of King Zhu Cijiong to meet with the various mountain kings on Ke Lan Mountain. negotiation.
In order to facilitate walking and maintain confidentiality, Luo Xiushen, the chief minister of the palace, had to disguise himself and pretend to be a martial arts hero when he went out to Datong Shangtaihang.
However, his hard work for more than a month was not in vain. He successfully won over Zhang Xixian, the leader of the White Lotus Sect on Kelan Mountain, on the condition that Zhang Xixian be made the Marquis of Kelan and Zhang Jiayong be allowed to control Kelan Prefecture!
As long as the acting king Zhu Cijiong agrees, Zhang Xixian will help the acting prince's palace build the royal palace on the Luliang Mountains with dangerous terrain.
The conditions have been negotiated, but now I wonder if Wang Yongji and Jiang Yu can agree? Thinking of Wang Yongji and Jiang Yu, Luo Xiushen couldn't help but frown.
These two people were afraid of Qiu Shun and war with the Qing army. At the same time, they could not resist the temptation of the Shanxi gentry and wealthy merchants who kept coming from Taiyuan Prefecture. They wanted to go south to seize Taiyuan Prefecture and had little interest in establishing a stronghold on Kelan Mountain.
So while Luo Xiushen was walking to Kelan Mountain, Wang Yongji and Jiang Quan were in secret contact with Beijing!
"Chang Shi, there are many people outside the Yingen Gate of Dongguan! They are not here to greet us, are they?"
One of Luo Xiushen's brothers suddenly shouted at this time, interrupting Luo Xiushen's thoughts while he was thinking about things and riding on his horse. He looked up and saw that the tall and solid Dongguan City of Datong was approaching. Outside Ying'en Gate, the east gate of Dongguan, a group of officials in neat robes and soldiers wearing mandarin duck jackets gathered. Who were they obviously welcoming? However, it was impossible to welcome Luo Xiushen and others, because Luo Xiushen did not inform Datong Mansion when he would return.
"They are not here to welcome us." Luo Xiushen frowned, already having an ominous premonition, "Go and have a look!"
When he and his men rode close to the Ying'en Gate, several cavalrymen came up from the Ying'en Gate. The first one was a small officer. He recognized Luo Xiushen and quickly got off his horse and saluted.
"What's going on? Who's coming?" Luo Xiushen asked.
"It's Changshi's brother who is coming!"
It's Luo Yangxing here!
Luo Xiushen frowned. Luo Yangxing was a high-ranking official in the Qing Dynasty. What was he doing here?
"Do you know what he's here for?"
"I've heard that the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty will be arriving in the capital on the first day of October!"
"That's so fast." Luo Xiushen frowned deeply.
If Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty arrived in Beijing, it would mean that the Qing Dynasty had completed the move of the capital! In other words, there is not much time left for Dai Wang and Li Zicheng!
If the two sides cannot form an alliance, or even become hostile to each other, the situation in Shanxi will be dire.
"Master, the city of Datong is ahead!"
Luo Yangxing, who was sitting in a bumpy carriage with his eyes closed and concentrating, was also disturbed by one of his followers. The curtain of the carriage was raised, and the sun shone in. Luo Yangxing squinted his eyes and looked forward against the afterglow of the setting sun. I saw a tall golden city suddenly appearing in the distance, majestic and majestic, standing on the desolate land of northern Shanxi.
Luo Yangxing sighed, "How long can we defend such a majestic city?"
His emotion is not without reason. Although Dorgon has not yet decided to attack Datong Mansion, anyone with a brain knows that it will only be a matter of time!
Compared with Datong, Taiyuan, where Li Zicheng is entrenched, is more threatening. Therefore, Dorgon would definitely choose to deal with Taiyuan first and then attack Datong. In order to stabilize Datong, Dorgon also came up with extremely tempting conditions this time to Yi Taiyuan Yi Datong!
According to Dorgon, the Qing Dynasty was the second largest in the Liao Dynasty. They did not dare to think about the whole world and only wanted to capture the sixteen states of Yanyun. Datong Mansion was the territory of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun, so it had to be handed over to the Qing Dynasty. Taiyuan is not a land of sixteen states and can be ruled by a king.
