Guangzhou, Guangdong. March 15th, the twelfth year of Kangxi.
As the sound of the thirteen gongs sounded again, the official's shouts came again: "Respect the service and be trustworthy, be frugal and love the people, and serve the people."
Beating gongs and shouting were part of the ceremonial process for officials in the Qing Dynasty. Depending on the official position, the number of gongs could range from seven to thirteen. The shouting words were not "quiet", "avoid", "get out", "blind your dog eyes" or the like, but an excerpt from "The Analects of Confucius", so that the accompanying officers and soldiers could learn it by heart and shout loudly. shout out. This shows that the official is educated and knows the Analects of Confucius.
Today, I arrived outside Guangzhou in a large sedan chair, accompanied by a large number of entourage, official servants, soldiers, concubines and maids. This man is very educated and can recite the Analects of Confucius upside down. A senior official named Nalan Mingzhu.
He was sent by Kangxi to mediate the dispute between Wang and Shang in Guangdong - the purpose of this mission really left him speechless.
Shang Kexi, the vassal king who guarded Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty, and Wang Fuchen, the governor of Guangdong and Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty, actually started a civil war when the country was in crisis!
The Qing Dynasty was now being attacked by two rebels, Wu Sangui and Li Zicheng. Huguang was almost lost. Wang Fuchen and Shang Kexi, two loyal ministers of the Qing Dynasty, actually had no intention of sending troops to serve the king. Instead, they A civil war broke out in Guangdong. If there were more loyal ministers like this, the Qing Dynasty would be furious if Wu Sangui and Li Zicheng were not beaten to death.
Probably because he was too angry, Nalan Mingzhu put on airs when he went south this time. When he arrived at Gan County, the capital of Ganzhou Prefecture, he stopped there and wanted to wait for Wang Fuchen and Shang Kexi to send someone with gifts to greet him. .
He is a bachelor of his age, Wang Zhongxiao's teacher, and an old friend of Shang Zhixin. So, coming all the way to Guangdong to make peace between the two families, is it not too much to accept a small gift?
Unexpectedly, after waiting for a long time, no one came to deliver the gift. Not only did no one come to deliver the gift, there was not even a letter. There is only news that the Wang family and the Shang family continue to fight in Guangzhou. First, Wang Zhongxiao claimed to have defeated "Shen'aobai" and Wu Sanwei of Xin'an, and recovered Xin'an County. Of course, he recovered it into his own pocket and did not return it to Lao Shang's family.
Then Wang Zhongxiao used the excuse that Obai might have hid in Dongguan, and sent 10,000 rural soldiers to surround Dongguan City and demanded to enter the city for search. After the search, Ao Bai was not caught, but the treasure land of Dongguan was named Wang.
After Wang Zhongxiao captured Dongguan, the Guangdong Township Army controlled by the Wang family began to raid the strongholds outside Guangzhou Fucheng on the pretext of killing Shang Ke and angering the common people. They first captured Sanshui County, and then Huangpu, Haizhu, and Lubu. Twenty or thirty townships such as Guangzhou, Jiaotang, and Xinzao have almost taken over the surrounding townships and towns on the east, south, and west sides of Guangzhou Fucheng, leaving only the north of Guangzhou Fucheng untouched.
Of course, Shang Zhixin, the head of Pingnan Palace, was not willing to have his territory encroached piece by piece by Wang Zhongxiao, and he also struggled to organize the warriors under the vassal to try to extract some. As a result, he ran into a bastion that the Guangdong soldiers had piled up carelessly with sandbags and wooden horses, and suffered heavy casualties from their flintlock rifles!
After Wang Zhongxiao completed the defense of the townships and towns near Guangzhou Fucheng, he ruthlessly began to equalize the land and recruit rural soldiers. His power became bigger and bigger!
By mid-February, when the Shang family's Guangzhou capital was about to be captured by Wang Zhongxiao, reinforcements finally arrived from the Shang family!
The reinforcements were not sent by the imperial court, but by Shang Shuying, the wife of the Duke of Xushun. She finally convinced Liu Jinzhong, the commander-in-chief of Chao Town, and together they brought Wu Liuqi's son, Raoping Xietai Wu Qifeng, and together they led three thousand troops. Come to Guangzhou Prefecture for armed mediation.
At the same time, Wang Shirong, the mediation ambassador sent by Wu Sangui, also arrived in Guangzhou and received a high-level reception from Shang Zhixin!
In addition, he entered Guangzhou through Wang Fuchen's territory!
Now Mingzhu no longer dared to put on airs, and quickly asked the Southern Jiangxi General Army to send troops to escort him into Guangdong to mediate the "Wang Shang Controversy" on behalf of Emperor Kangxi. But before he arrived in Guangzhou, bad news on the Huguang battlefield came like a snowflake. Floated towards him.
Hearing the news of successive thunderstorms in the Huguang War Zone of the Qing Dynasty, Mingzhu was really anxious. If he didn't hurry up, he might not be able to mediate the "Wang Shang Controversy", but Li Zicheng would go down the Yangtze River and hit Nanjing in one breath. ! At that time, he would have no choice but to go back to Beijing.
So Mingzhu urged her men to rush all the way, and finally arrived outside Guangzhou before the bad news that Li Zicheng entered Jiangxi came.
When he arrived outside the city of Guangzhou, he, the imperial envoy, still had to show off his skills. No matter how urgent it was, he didn't care about this little time! The most I can do is catch up when I get back.
So Mingzhu asked his men to put on the ceremonial guard of an imperial envoy, while beating and beating, while carrying the Analects of Confucius on his back, while marching into the city!
But I don’t know what’s going on right now. I’m only halfway through the drink. Why is it stuck? Forgot the lyrics?
Nalan Mingzhu, who was sitting in the sweltering eight-carat sedan, felt strange because the sound of "shouting" suddenly stopped, and he found that the eight-carried sedan he was riding in had also landed on the ground.
Is this where it’s at?
Mingzhu quickly opened the curtain of the sedan chair and poked her head out. The hot Guangdong sunshine was shining down, and her eyes were blinded! He quickly squinted his eyes and asked, "Are you at the North Gate of Guangzhou?"
"No, not yet."
One of Mingzhu's domestic servants stuttered back.
"Have people from Pingnan Palace and the Governor's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi come to greet you?" Mingzhu asked again.
He had been a "Shangguan" for so many years, but when he went out to Beijing on errands, he was not enshrined as a Bodhisattva? This time they are almost entering Guangzhou, and it's time for Shang Zhixin and Wang Fuchen's people to come to greet them.
"It doesn't seem like they are."
"Who is that?" Mingzhu was still rubbing her eyes!
"They seem to be a group of people from the Ming Dynasty!"
"What? People from the Ming Dynasty." As soon as Mingzhu heard this, a chill ran down her spine!
People from the Ming Dynasty came to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty!
Thinking of this, he couldn't understand the glare of the sun. He quickly stared forward and saw a lot of people standing in front and on both sides of the official road. Their hairstyles and clothes looked a bit like members of the North Korean mission. picture!
Among them, blocking the front of the official road were a group of men with buns on their heads, clothed clothes with cross-collars, and long swords on their belts. Judging from their appearance, they didn't seem to be rebels. Very polite. The two leaders were both in their forties and looked quite elegant. One of them was a thin man with high cheekbones and a long goatee. The other person is a fat man with a round face and sideburns.
"You. Where are you from? Why don't you shave your head?"
At this time, one of Mingzhu's attendants saw that the person who came was not very aggressive, so he had the courage to question him.
"I am Qu Dajun from Panyu, Guangdong. I am a member of the Guangdong Reform Society." The thin man introduced himself while stroking his beard. "Please come out and meet me, Master Mingzhuming."
The fat man with a round face smiled and said: "I am Chen Gongyin in Luofu cloth. I am also a member of the Reform Society. I am also here to see the Ming Scholar today."
"Then why don't you shave your heads?" The attendant was not conscious at all. He did not go to invite Mingzhu, but asked about other people's hairstyles. "Do you know the rules of the Qing Dynasty? Keep your hair or not! Aren't you afraid of death?"
"I know, I know," the thin man named Qu Dajun nodded with a smile, and took out a flintlock pistol and pointed it at the attaché with a kind face, "but we have guns!"
"You, you. How dare you point a gun at the imperial official? Do you dare to rebel?" The attaché was quite fierce and was not afraid of the small pistol at all.
The middle-aged scholar named Chen Gongyin also took out his gun at this time, and said with an easy-going look: "Why don't you, a magistrate, know what Qu Jiezi's 'we have guns' means? We. All of us here Everyone has guns! Quick, quick, take out your guns and aim them at the imperial officials who want to kill us!"
Then there was a "crash" sound of the gun being opened!
It turns out that the people wearing Han costumes watching the excitement on both sides of the road are soldiers of the Guangdong Township Army. Now they are led by officers to reason with the imperial ministers of the Qing Dynasty.
Hundreds of thousands of flintlock guns were immediately raised and aimed at the attachés of the Qing Imperial Envoy ministers and the Imperial Envoy himself on the official road!
If you are not afraid if you are pointed at a small pistol, then who is not afraid if you are pointed at a thousand flintlock guns?
"If you have something to say, say it well and don't shoot. Don't shoot!"
Before Mingzhu's attendants could kneel down to Chen Gongyin and Qu Dajun, Mingzhu had already shouted. While roaring, he picked up his robe and rushed to the front of the team. He quickly hugged the two Guangdong scholars and hugged his fists, "I am Mingzhu, you two. I have heard of sir's name when I was in the capital!
Mr. Banfeng (Chen Gongyin)'s official script is the first in Guangdong!
I have also read Mr. Cai Pu's "The Record of Chengren in the Four Dynasties of the Ming Dynasty".
It turned out that Nalan Mingzhu also knew Chen Gongyin and Qu Dajun - he knew about Chen Gongyin because Chen Gongyin was good at calligraphy and had a high reputation among the scholars in Guangdong. And he knew that Qu Dajun had obtained a handwritten copy of "The Record of Chengren in the Four Dynasties of the Ming Dynasty" from somewhere in Dongtangzi Hutong where he was stuck, and the signature on it was Qu Dajun. So Mingzhu suggested that Kangxi should order Niangan to try to capture him, but he was never caught.
Now it seems that it is normal not to be able to catch it. Nalan Mingzhu thought Qu Dajun was just a rebel writer, but she didn't expect him to play with a flintlock gun!
"If you have something to say, what are you saying about keeping your hair or not?" Qu Dajun now has a gun in his hand and a reason in his mouth. The gun cannot be put down, but the reason can still be explained, "This must be changed! We also need to be a bachelor in our hair and hair, do you think what I say makes sense?"
"Yes, yes, it makes sense." Mingzhu looked at Qu Dajun's gun, not daring to say that the other party was unreasonable. "As soon as I return, I will inform the emperor and ask for his permission for the people of Guangdong to grow their hair."
"Kangxi's consent is not needed for this," Qu Dajun said, "but we, the scholars and villagers from Guangdong, stopped the Ming scholar's official sedan today, and we do have something to discuss with you."
"It's negotiable. But can you put down the gun first in case of a misfire?"
Mingzhu felt furious when she saw those hundreds or thousands of flintlock guns! If there is a fire, then he will have holes all over his body?
"The truth must be spoken, but the gun must not be put down!" Qu Dajun said, "This is the principle of our Guangdong Reform Society!"
Chen Gongyin nodded: "Scholar Ming, you Eight Banners disciples are all soldiers. If we scholars put down our guns, when we meet you, we will be scholars meeting soldiers. There is no reason to explain. So we must hold on to the guns in our hands!"
"Then, what are you trying to say?" Mingzhu was speechless, but there was nothing she could do, the gun was in someone else's hand!
"We want to kill Shang Kexi!" Qu Dajun shouted loudly, "Shang Kexi massacred Guangzhou first, killing hundreds of thousands! Then he forcibly moved the border and banned the sea, forcing no less than a million people to die! If he doesn't kill this person, the people will not be angry! So! We just want to ask the court to hand over Shang Kexi to us Cantonese people!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Guangdong soldiers around him started making noises with guns in hand.
"Yes! We Cantonese people are the most ruthless, but it's gratifying!"
"Listen up, you imperial envoy, ask Kangxi to give Shang Kexi to us to be cut into pieces with a thousand swords!"
"We want to kill Shang Kexi! If Kangxi doesn't agree, we will rebel!"
"Yes, whoever helps us kill Shang Kexi will be the Lord of Guangdong!"
"Mr. Banfeng, Mr. Caipu, are you glad that Wu Sangui's people agreed to your killing?" Nalan Mingzhu saw the anger around her, so she had no choice but to ask Chen Gongyin and Qu Dajun about Wu Sangui's price.
"Not yet." Qu Dajun said, "Scholar Ming, if Wu Sangui's people agree, can we still let you go to Guangzhou City? Once you enter the city, have a good meeting with Zhu Guozhi, the governor of Guangdong, and the prince of the West Prince Shang Zhixin." Shang Shuying, Mrs. Shang Shuying of Duke Shung's Mansion, and the others said that now the people in Guangdong Province want to kill Shang Kexi, they can't save the old thief!"
fine!
Mingzhu is relieved that he can still enter Guangzhou City!
But having said that, although the whole of Guangdong is now trying to kill Shang Kexi, it seems that Shang Kexi is not dead until now, right?
Nalan Mingzhu was not shot in the end. In fact, most of those flintlock guns did not have bullets in them. Only a few officers of the Guangdong Township Army who were responsible for controlling the situation had bullets in their flintlock guns.
The reason for this is, of course, because Wang Zhongxiao, who was hiding behind the scenes and not coming forward, had no intention of killing Mingzhu at all. He didn't even have to kill her. It's so gratifying.
Wang Zhongxiao is not from Cantonese, so the monk is happy and has no hatred. And if Shang Kexi dies, who will he use to attract hatred?
So, Shang Kexi had better escape from Guangfu and escape to Shaozhou.
In this way, Wang Zhongxiao can integrate Guangfu and then move into Shaozhou, then Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Jiangsu!
However, this is just Wang Zhongxiao's beautiful idea, but the actual situation is that Shang Kexi, an old stubborn man, just refuses to run away, and is still stuck in Pingnan Prince's Mansion.
The gratifying death was beneficial to Wang Zhongxiao in grabbing territory around Guangzhou City, equalizing farmland, and recruiting strong men (the founding army). In these days, after merging with He Tianran, he received 2,000 Wenzhou soldiers from Wang Zhongxiao's camp, and from After gathering many strong men around Guangzhou City who were bitter and bitter about Shang Kexi, the number of his Guangdong Township Army has exceeded 40,000!
Although Wang Zhongxiao did not have so many officers and non-commissioned officers to support so many troops, and he did not have so many flintlocks and artillery to equip them at the same time, the number of people was still quite large!
If we add the armies of Wang Fuchen, Wang Jizhen, and Sun Jiqing, the entire Guangdong Wang Group's army would not be more than 100,000, but it would definitely be close to 80,000.
On Shang Zhixin's side, no matter how much he mobilized his vassal army and green camp troops, they could only scrape together 20,000. Zhu Guozhi and Li Lan, who had returned, plus the troops of Chen Shikai, Liu Jinzhong, Shang Shuying and others, When Mingzhu entered Guangzhou, the total number of troops on the Shang family's side was only thirty thousand, less than half of the Wang family's army. And those who can be concentrated in Guangzhou are just over half of the total, which is tens of thousands, certainly less than 20,000.
Trying to hold Guangzhou with this small force is nothing more than a dream. However, Wang Shirong, the envoy sent by Wu Sangui, was quite confident and kept trying to trick Shang Kexi and Shang Zhixin into surrendering to Wu Sangui. He also said that as long as the Shang family accepted Wu Sangui's official position And if the pearl is bound to Wu Guogui's army in Hunan, His Highness the President, the Western King of the Ming Dynasty, will ask Wu Guogui to send troops to Guangdong for "armed mediation". By then, the monk Shang Kexi's family will surely be saved.
Of course, Wu Sangui would not kill Mingzhu. Wang Shirong made it clear in Monk's letter that Wu Guogui wanted the pearl in order to help Wu Shifan get his wife and children back. This was a great achievement!
Shang Kexi would definitely not agree to the kidnapping of the imperial envoy of the Qing Dynasty to mediate the minister Mingzhu, but Shang Zhixin and his brothers were still quite tempted.
Anyway, it doesn't seem to be too difficult to catch a pearl. This pearl was delivered to your door by yourself. If you don't catch it, it will be in vain!
(End of chapter)
