Is this fake?
Why do you say that?
The Jiangning regiment members who were clamoring to meet Prince Zhu just now, including those who spoke Jiangning dialect with an authentic Cantonese or Hakka accent, all stopped shouting. They all looked at Wang Huaxing with suspicion, as if he was Wait for him to come up with evidence.
Wang Huaxing calmly turned his face, pointed at the third prince Zhu, and shouted: "He is fake! The real third prince Zhu is dead. He died in Suzhou. The whole world knows it! And at that time, the left deputy general of my Jiangning regiment was In Suzhou, he is also responsible for looking after the third prince Zhu! Zuo Xiantai, is Zuo Xiantai there? "
"Here, here you are, General Wang Shen, are you looking for me?"
Talk about Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrives. General Wang seemed to have practiced the art of summoning. As soon as he was summoned, his immediate boss Zuo Yuanyang rushed out from a nearby deputy general's office with a group of soldiers carrying straight-slotted flintlock rifles. .
"Lieutenant General Zuo," Wang Huaxing asked, "tell everyone, did the Third Prince Zhen Zhu die of illness in the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou?"
"No, that's not true. That's Wang Yongkang, Wu Sangui's cheap son-in-law." Zuo Yuanyang answered without any hesitation. It was obviously the truth.
"Then, why did you report that you caught the third prince Zhu?" Wang Huaxing became anxious immediately, "That's deceiving the emperor and ignoring the superior!"
"It's not me who deceived the emperor," Zuo Yuanyang said with an innocent face, "it was Ma Futai, Mu Fantai, Duozhijun and General Er from Jiangning who deceived the emperor together. They were afraid that Suzhou would almost be defeated by Ou. The emperor was accused of breaking up with the third prince, so he forcibly beat Wu Sangui's cheap son-in-law into the third prince. And because he was afraid that the matter would be exposed, he bribed Dr. Le from Beijing to poison Wang Yongkang. This matter has nothing to do with me. It doesn’t matter! General Wang Shen, you can’t wrongly accuse me, an honest man!”
Hearing Zuo Yuanyang's words, Wang Huaxing was speechless. What was this Zuo's idea? Why is it involving an honest person who has been wronged? You don't have to be so honest, right? So what if you admit that you killed Prince Zhu? Are you still afraid that Lu Qingtian, the iron-faced prefect of Jiangning Mansion, will be caught as a murderer?
Thinking of this, Wang Huaxing stamped his feet, pointed at the third prince Zhu who had already dressed up, and shouted loudly: "Even if the third prince Zhu is still hiding among the people and has not been brought to justice, it does not prove that he is the real third prince Zhu!"
"General Wang Shen!" Zuo Yuanyang suddenly interrupted Wang Huaxing and said seriously, "He is Prince Zhu San! It's absolutely true!"
"What? You, you..." Wang Huaxing was stunned, "Lieutenant Zuo, what do you mean?"
Zuo Yuanyang said seriously: "Wang Canrong, he is really the third prince of Zhu!"
"You, what are you talking about?"
"I don't talk nonsense. I am an honest person and never lie." Zuo Yuanyang had an honest look on his face. As he spoke, he clasped his fists in the direction of Ming Xiaoling Tomb in the north where Zhu Yuanzhang is buried. "Last night, Taizu visited Master Hongwu entrusted me with a dream, saying that he would send the third prince Ding of the Ming Dynasty to Nanjing to reopen the Ming Dynasty, and that he would make me the Marquis of Ningnan of the Ming Dynasty to assist King Ding in becoming the emperor. Moreover, Grandpa Taizu also let me meet the third prince Ding. The portrait is exactly like this one!”
This Zuo Yuanyang is so honest, he inherited Zuo Liangyu's Ningnan Marquisship in a dream!
"Nonsense, you, you..." Wang Huaxing was so angry that he couldn't speak clearly. He had never seen such an honest person who could lie in his life!
"General Wang Shen, Zuo Hou is not talking nonsense. I also dreamed of Emperor Taizu!" Someone immediately stood up to prove Zuo Yuanyang, "Emperor Taizu also asked me to assist Prince Zhu San!"
"And me, I also dreamed about Grandpa Taizu!"
"I also dreamed that Grandpa Taizu appeared! Grandpa Taizu also asked me to assist the Ming Dynasty, and even said that I would be a high official!"
"Emperor Taizu told me the same thing."
"."
Zhu Yuanzhang was very busy last night. He gave dreams to many people! Anyway, the entire Xiaolingwei camp was in a quarrel. Everyone said that they dreamed of Zhu Yuanzhang last night.
When everyone was almost done arguing, Zuo Yuanyang, the Marquis of Ningnan in the Ming Dynasty, took a flintlock pistol made in Foshan, Guangdong, pointed it at Wang Huaxing, and asked with a smile: "General Wang, did you dream about Lord Hong Wu last night? If so? If you haven’t dreamed about it, why don’t you go down and see me now?”
"I, I, let me think about it carefully," Wang Huaxing looked at the pistol and immediately fell into deep thought. After thinking for a while, he frowned and said, "It seems like I dreamed of an old man with a white beard wearing a yellow robe and a golden crown. , he spoke in Huaixi dialect, but I couldn’t quite understand it, it seemed like he was asking me to follow Dingfan to conquer the world, I thought he was King Dingnan, but I didn’t expect he was referring to King Ding of the Ming Dynasty!”
"Okay, okay, just remember it." Zuo Yuanyang smiled and put away the pistol that can help others improve their memory, and then raised his hand to point at Prince Zhu, "Wang Canrong, King Ding is there, hurry up and pay homage!"
Wang Huaxing had completely figured it out. He strode up to Zhu Cijiong, Prince Ding of the Third Zhu Dynasty. He lifted up his robe and knelt down. He said loudly: "I, Wang Huaxing, wish to see His Royal Highness Ding Wang live a thousand years. I wish to protect you for a thousand years to expel the Tartars and restore China." !”
Prince Zhu was so excited when he saw Wang Huaxing kneeling down that Emperor Xian was already stable! The good days of the eighty-eight concubines of the Three Palaces and Sixth Courtyard are coming soon!
Thinking of this, he laughed loudly: "Okay, with the help of all the ministers, my Ming Dynasty will be able to prosper again. Hahaha, my Ming Dynasty is back!"
Immediately there was "entrustment", no, it was a native Jiangning native with a Lingnan accent who was in the Qingying camp and shouted loudly: "The Taizu has appeared and the Ming Dynasty is back!"
As soon as they took the lead, everyone's emotions were aroused and they cheered together.
These people, who were penniless regiment members yesterday, did not even have the strength of a green battalion today, they are already the heroes who restored the Ming Dynasty entrusted by Zhu Yuanzhang!
This is simply a miracle!
"The great ancestor has appeared and the Ming Dynasty has returned."
While the people in the Xiaolingwei camp were cheering for their counterattack in life, General Echu of Jiangning was galloping over on horseback with the five hundred and eighty-banner soldiers below! Because he came in an emergency, Lu Sanhao, who was covered in injuries, had already been left behind by him at Chaoyang Gate.
But even after getting rid of Lu Sanhao, who was in trouble, Echu was still a step late. The Xiaolingwei camp was already cheering for "the great ancestor appeared" and "the Ming Dynasty is back"!
This is not possible!
Isn't it that the Qing emperor asked him to guard Jiangning in order to prevent "Ming Taizu from appearing" and "Jianning people from rebelling"?
Now that he has manifested his spirit and rebelled, this is because he, the general, has neglected his duty!
Just when he thought of this, he found that he had arrived outside the gate of Xiaoling Guard's camp, and he also found that the gate of Xiaoling Guard was wide open, and it seemed that no one was guarding it!
The Xiaoling Guard Camp is actually an acropolis. The so-called Xiaoling Guard is a guard station specially responsible for viewing the tomb of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. The location of the acropolis is at the foot of Purple Mountain, the inner city of Nanjing (Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty) Zhengyangmen (inner city) due east.
After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Xiaolingwei's acropolis was abandoned, but being abandoned does not mean it collapsed. In its original history, this acropolis was the location of the Jiangnan camp where the Qing demons besieged Tianjing City.
The Jiangning regiment training camp established by Lu Sanhao was also located in the acropolis of Xiaolingwei.
Seeing the gate of Xiaoling Guard's acropolis open, Echu felt that it was a rare opportunity. Those Jiangning regiment members who were making trouble and making noise must not have had time to set up defenses. Otherwise, why didn't they even close the door?
So rush in now, maybe you can use the cavalry to disperse them, so the situation can still be controlled!
So, Echu took out his sword, pointed at the door and roared: "Eight Banners men, charge for me!"
"嗻!"
Although the "flag content" of the Eight Banners soldiers who followed him were not very high, they did not take the Jiangning regiment training too seriously. When they heard General Jiangning's order, they all raised their spears, howled and galloped on their horses, and there was no team. The shapes just swarmed up in such a chaotic manner. In just a blink of an eye, the Eight Banners cavalry at the front had already rushed into the doorway.
The area of the Acropolis in the Ming Dynasty was not large. It was generally a rectangular castle, with a gate on the southeast, northwest and four sides. When you enter the gate, you will see two intersecting streets. The intersection of the two streets is usually a school ground, and various yamen are located there. In that area, as long as they occupy the area around the school grounds, the entire Acropolis is almost controlled.
And if someone wants to cause trouble in the Acropolis, it goes without saying that it must be on the school grounds.
So the Eight Banners soldiers who rushed into the Acropolis gate covered their heads and rushed down the street towards the school grounds. But it was a little different from what they thought. Just at the entrance of the school ground, the Jiangning regiment members had already set up defenses!
But it's not a great defense. It's just two rows of infantry forming a tight formation. I don't know if there are a hundred people together? Everyone was holding a "shotgun" with a knife stuck in the muzzle, which was very bright and intimidating.
It should be just to scare people, right?
These Eight Banners cavalry soldiers who rushed into the city were quite fierce. They were not afraid of the shotgun soldiers at all. Not only did they not retreat, they also charged forward with their spears raised. They looked like a torrent of armored cavalry, rushing towards the two rows. Members of the Jiangning regiment, wearing uniforms and red scarves on their heads, rushed over.
The distance between the two sides was rapidly approaching, but the two rows of regimental shotgun soldiers were surprisingly calm. They just stood there, holding up their flintlock guns, aiming at the rapidly approaching enemy.
Eighty steps. Sixty steps. Forty steps. Twenty steps. Ten steps!
Those flag soldiers running wildly did not notice at all that on their way forward, someone had long drawn thick white lines with lime on the street to show the distance!
When the cavalry of Eight Banners soldiers at the front stepped on the white line, two rows of large and small flames flashed from the muzzles of a hundred flintlock muskets, and then "Boom" "A burst of gunfire.
Hundreds of lead bullets were like a hurricane, sweeping over the running Eight Banners troops! In an instant, all the seven or eight cavalrymen rushing in the front were knocked over and fell to the ground in a mess. There were also a few frightened horses running around in the streets screaming and screaming. This made the cavalry behind them. The cavalry also had to rein in to avoid the wounded, dead, and frightened horses on the ground.
And just when they slowed down or paused their advance, the sharpshooters ambushing on the roofs on both sides of the street also fired their straight-line flintlock muskets.
This is a rifled gun!
It is also equipped with wooden-bottomed cone-shaped bullets similar to Miné bullets!
And they were still used by sharpshooters selected from the Guangdong Township Army. Although there were only a few dozen gunmen, the damage they caused was extremely astonishing, with almost no bullets missing. With a burst of scattered gunfire, more than thirty people The Eight Banners soldiers fell off their horses.
If we add in the seven or eight cavalrymen who were knocked down by musket volleys before, this group of Eight Banners soldiers who rushed into the Acropolis suffered more than forty casualties in a short period of time!
The remaining Eight Banners soldiers were also frightened by this level of casualties. How could they dare to continue rushing in? They all turned their horses and ran out, but the Eight Banners soldiers who had just entered the city gate at the back didn't know what happened and continued to rush in. The two sides collided together and became a mess.
I don’t know who it is, but I’m still yelling at the top of my lungs.
"Zhu Hongwu's men and horses are awesome!"
"Zhu Hongwu's shotgun is very powerful."
"Run quickly, Zhu Hongwu's shotgun soldiers are too fierce!"
"Bah, bah, bah"
Before the shouting ended, there was another burst of gunshots!
Echu, who was staying outside the city and commanding, was shocked when he heard the movement.
What's going on? Did Zhu Yuanzhang really appear? They also brought shotgun soldiers. Shotgun soldiers from the early Ming Dynasty?
But even so, Echu still didn't plan to "run away when he saw Zhu Cai", but loudly ordered: "Set up the cannon! Set up the mother cannon!"
The mother-child cannon was introduced from the Western Kingdom of France. Zhu Yuanzhang must not have had this weapon when he rebelled!
Several artillerymen from the Jiangning Banner Army listened to his order and hurriedly set up their cannons. However, they did not dare to get close to the city wall. Instead, they set up their cannons seventy or eighty steps away from the city wall. This distance was beyond the reach of muskets.
Echu also saw the position where they set up the artillery, and he immediately became angry. Why are they so far away? Is it accurate?
Just as he was about to reprimand, there was a burst of gunfire in his ears.
Then Echu saw a scene that made him unbelievable. The artillerymen who were busy setting up the artillery fell down one after another, four or five at once. From such a long distance, there was not much intensive gunfire, but actually Such lethality!
Could it be that those shotgun soldiers were really blessed by Zhu Yuanzhang?
At this moment, the shouts of killing in Xiaoling Acropolis had already come to mind.
"Kill. Emperor Taizu protects us!"
Ming Taizu bless you. Did Ming Taizu really appear?
Echu was almost frightened by the strange thoughts in his mind. Zhu Yuanzhang was about to manifest his spirit. How could he, a little General Jiangning, defeat him? You have to ask Qing Taizu to help anyway, right?
But he was not the only one who was afraid. The Eight Banners soldiers under him were also frightened and rushed out of the city gate like crazy.
The two slaves beside Echu could no longer bear it any longer. They rode up and pulled the reins of Echu's horse to escape.
But Echu was still trying to maintain his image, shouting loudly: "What are you doing? What are you doing? If I don't escape, I will fight with the person named Zhu!"
An old slave who had been with Echu for many years was not willing to listen to him. He just pulled his horse to escape and said back: "General, the person named Zhu now is not Zhu Chenggong, but Zhu Hongwu. Why?" Maybe you can beat it?"
Of course Zhu Hongwu can't be defeated, so he'd better escape quickly and go back to the inner city to think of a solution!
Echu stopped struggling and just let people lead his horse to escape.
Because these Eight Banners soldiers have horses, the regiment training led by "Zhu Yuanzhang" cannot catch up with them. After a while, Echu and others fled outside the Chaoyangmen Wengcheng where the door was closed!
"Open the door quickly, the general is back."
The Eight Banners soldiers walking at the front were already shouting anxiously.
I don’t know why the Chaoyang Gate was closed, which really delayed my escape!
But the response to them from the Chaoyang Gate Tower was a few crisp gunshots!
"Bang bang."
Then a large red flag with the word "ming" and "zhu" embroidered on both sides was erected at the top of Chaoyangmen Wengcheng!
When Echu saw these two flags, his heart sank.
Zhu Yuanzhang entered the city
What should I do?
"Uh, General?"
At this moment, Lu Sanhao's voice with a hint of southwest accent suddenly sounded from the city wall.
It turned out that it was not Zhu Yuanzhang who captured the Chaoyang Gate, but an elite group led by Li Zhongshan (Wang Zhongxiao), Liu Shuochuan and Lu Sanhao.
As soon as Echu heard Lu Sanhao's voice, he already understood what was happening and became angry at that time: "You surnamed Lu, you are a traitor"
"General," Lu Sanhao lay down behind a crenel and shouted at the top of his lungs, "We have taken the city of Nanjing, and Prince Zhu San will soon enter the city to become the emperor. If you still take care of the family members in Nanjing Mancheng, , just give an order to have them retreat to Beijing with you! Otherwise, when we break through the city, we will kill everyone, old and young, without leaving any trace!"
(End of chapter)
