On December 28, the twelfth year of Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty, Xi'an Prefecture.
At this time, this important town of Guanlong was bustling with activity before the New Year.
Under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, most of the cities where banner troops were stationed had, like Beijing, a very unauthentic system of occupying houses and filling the city (flag city). They just took over all the best parts of the city!
The specific method was to drive away the original residents, forcibly occupy the house and the property inside the house, and not give any compensation. It seems that only Geng Jimao's conscience in Fuzhou gave some compensation.
And these Eight Banners soldiers who occupy houses are generally very dark-hearted. They usually occupy a large area that they can't use at all. For example, in Xi'an, they occupied about 30% of the city. Its area includes all the original Ming Qin Prince's Mansion and the seven streets and ninety-four lanes in the northeastern corner of Xi'an City under the jurisdiction of Xianning County!
In such a large area, five Eight Banners soldiers and less than 20,000 family members lived, totaling 20,000 people.
Moreover, after these evil-minded Eight Banners soldiers occupied the property that they could not live in, they also wanted to segregate the bannermen - using city walls to isolate them!
Usually, one or more walls are built in the city where they are stationed to isolate the area they occupy from the area where Han people live. In this way, even if the Han people rebelled, it would not be easy for them to invade the city. At the same time, segregating the bannermen and Han people can also prevent the garrisoned Eight Banners from mixing with the Han people. How can the noble bannerman mix with the Han people? What should I do if I learn well?
Therefore, under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, all flag cities except Beijing looked like sparsely populated ghost towns. There were more empty houses than people living in them, and there were no shops on the streets. You could go there if you wanted to eat a bowl of noodles. Travel to the city.
Of course, Xi'an Flag City is no exception. The originally bustling seven streets and ninety-four lanes have become empty and increasingly dilapidated since the arrival of the Eight Banners Soldiers. By the time Emperor Kangxi came to Xi'an to "hunt in the west", less than half of the houses had collapsed or partially collapsed.
However, the arrival of Kangxi miraculously reversed the process of "ghost town" and "ruins" throughout Xi'an, and it began to prosper.
At the end of the twelfth year of Kangxi's reign, even though the weather in Xi'an was cold, there was a heavy snowfall. Xi'an's seven streets and ninety-four lanes are still crowded with people. Most of the shops along the street that have been closed for who knows how many years are now rented by Shanxi businessmen who came to Xi'an with Emperor Kangxi. After some repairs, they were opened for business. Cloth and silk shops, rice and noodle shops, dried fruit shops, soy sauce gardens, furniture shops, grocery stores, restaurants, brothels, etc. are all doing brisk business.
The people who take care of the business of these shops are a group of men and women with Beijing movies, and their spending is far more generous than the group of Eight Banners garrison who have lived in Xi'an for a long time. These men and women working in Beijing films were, of course, the brothers and sisters of the Eight Banners who came with Emperor Kangxi from Beijing to "hunt in the west".
Emperor Kangxi obviously had a very accurate understanding of the difficulty of the "Battle of Xishou". When he announced his personal expedition, he knew that he would have to slowly wear out Wu Sangui in Xi'an, and the fight would be protracted. Then the idea of wanting a quick victory is unrealistic.
In order for himself and his subordinates to stay in Xi'an, his personal expedition was almost like moving the capital, with half of the city of Beijing following him!
Kangxi himself came to Xi'an to live a happy life with his wife, children, palace maids and eunuchs, but the people below also had to live a happy life! Even if their family members and slaves were not brought to Shaanxi and Gansu at the beginning, in the following months, their wives, children, and slaves in Beijing were gradually escorted to Shaanxi and Gansu by people from each banner to which they belonged.
All the family members and servants of the Eight Banners, whether they are the family members of the time-honored Manqi and Mongolian banners, the family members of the unreliable Han Baqi, or the newly promoted family members of the original family members, account holders, and Baoyi slaves, all They were unified and concentrated in the whole city of Xi'an, and were protected by Emperor Kangxi himself with an army of guards!
The flag soldiers stationed on the northwest front would return to Xi'an in batches to take vacations and reunite with their families, creating small banner men for the Qing Dynasty.
In other words, the wives and children of the Eight Banners soldiers in the northwest were all taken to Xi'an by the amiable little Emperor Kangxi. That's 70,000 to 80,000 people!
So many people moved together to fill the city of Xi'an, and the seven streets and ninety-four lanes that were originally empty were suddenly filled with "organized" bannermen. Although the world has become more and more chaotic in the past two years, the Qing Dynasty's finances have also become more and more difficult, and the "harvest" of the banner people's hard-core crops has also been much worse than before, but after all, the harvest has not stopped.
As the New Year approached, Kangxi gritted his teeth and took out a large sum of money from the increasingly empty treasury, and gave annual rewards to the family members of the bannermen in Xi'an. So that the Eight Banner sisters and Eight Banner brats who had been frightened for most of the year could eat, drink and spend money around the New Year's Eve of the thirteenth year of Kangxi's reign. His generosity also made the whole city of Xi'an feel sick at the turn of the year. of prosperity.
Emperor Kangxi's residence was located in the palace of Prince Qin of the Ming Dynasty in the southwest corner of Mancheng. This Qin Prince's Mansion is said to be a palace, but it is actually a city, and its area is quite large. It has two outer walls, the inner and outer walls. The outer wall is called the Xiao Wall, and the inner city is called the Brick Wall. The total area of the Qin Palace is even twice the size of the Forbidden City in Beijing! Even if only the area within the brick walls of the inner city is calculated, it is equivalent to half the Forbidden City in Beijing.
Therefore, after the streamlined version of the palace and court brought by Kangxi moved into the Prince Qin's Mansion in Xi'an, it did not feel crowded at all.
Moreover, the tall and solid city walls of Xi'an and the Xiao and brick walls in Xi'an, which were no worse than the city walls of Xi'an, also gave Emperor Kangxi a great sense of security. Whenever he was worried about the battle situation on the northwest front, he would immediately become confident if he climbed onto the brick wall of Xi'an and looked at the majestic fortified city under his feet.
Today is already the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and all the government offices in Xi'an, except for the Ministry of War, have been sealed and are no longer open for business. Kangxi, who had just come down from walking on the brick wall, was walking in a small building in the back garden, having a drink and chatting with a few close friends, bachelors and ministers of the bodyguard. A warm curtain was put up on the small building and a charcoal basin was set up. The interior of the building is as warm as spring. Several maids from Portuguese coats and collars were attentively pouring wine and serving dishes for the emperor and his ministers.
The scene of the snow covered with silver makeup outside the warm curtain is a unique scene, but remembering the scene of everyone celebrating the Spring Festival in Beijing the year before last year, the ministers here were a little bit depressed. Kangxi, on the other hand, seemed a bit lazy, and his triangular eyes were always staring at the breasts of a palace maid from Portugal who was born in a coat and collar. She looked quite graceful!
After watching for a while, Kangxi may have felt that the guy's mood was a little low, so he withdrew his gaze from the "bulging place", took another sip of wine, then squeezed out a smile and said with a smile: "It was just this morning. The 800-mile courier received was from Mingzhu from Yangzhou. Zhu Ni and Geng Ni had agreed to divide the river to rule it, and were preparing to hold negotiations with Mingzhu on specific matters in Yangzhou City! It seems that Zhu Ni and Geng Ni Ni has fallen into my scheme, and you really thought that I would let these traitors go!"
Hearing the proud tone of Kangxi's words, Suo'etu responded with a smile and said: "Your Majesty, you are really planning the victory thousands of miles away! The rebels in Jiangning must now use their troops to attack Taiping Mansion, Taiping Mansion, and Taiping Mansion. Chizhou Prefecture, in case Li Zicheng went down the river after Prince Kang evacuated Jiujiang. This would give Prince An an opportunity to use the New Year Festival to raid Jiangning. Maybe Prince An could succeed with one blow and directly attack Jiangning City and bring peace to the emperor. Chaos in the Southeast. I am waiting here to congratulate the Emperor in advance."
Although the Qing Dynasty still maintains a fairly strong military force, the number of banner troops that have completed the "new military transformation" (in fact, it is more rationally organized and equipped with more firearms) is about 100,000. The new military-style Green Camp also has this number. As for the new army that has not yet been transformed into a new army, the Green Battalion, which is still very scattered, still has as many as 200,000 to 300,000 soldiers on its books!
In addition, the army of Inner Mongolia, including the Eight Banners of Chahar and the Two Banners of Tumote, after some reorganization by Fuquan, can draw about 56,000 troops!
The total of these miscellaneous armies is no less than half a million!
Counting the heads, it’s still quite impressive!
It's just that this considerable army is now divided into the four main directions of Shaanxi-Gansu, Liangjiang, Fujian and Zhejiang, and the Central Plains. At the same time, it also has to be deployed in the hometown outside the customs, Shanxi, Shandong, and Beizhili, which are currently relatively stable areas. The troops were stationed for defense, so the troops were actually quite stretched.
If Kangxi could win first on one of the four battlefields that must be defended, his troops would immediately become more abundant.
If Kangxi wanted to win in Shaanxi and Gansu, he had to defeat the 50,000 Wu family elites led by Wu Yingqi, Wu Shicong and his son in one fell swoop. This was obviously impossible!
To eliminate the danger facing the Central Plains, the Qing army would have to regain Xiangyang. It seems to be quite difficult!
As for the direction of Fujian and Zhejiang, the Qing army faced two major enemies: Zheng Jing and Geng Jingzhong's troops who stayed in Fujian, as well as Wang Fuchen who might join the battlefield at any time! It's impossible to maintain a good situation, but to win quickly.
So now the only one with a chance is Liangjiang!
In order to achieve a quick victory in Liangjiang, Kangxi had abandoned the Huguang battlefield that could still be maintained, strengthened Yue Le's troops to the Jiangdong camp, and also strengthened the strength of the three major camps in Jiangbei, Jiangxi and Jiangnan, making the Liangjiang battlefield The total strength of the Qing army reached 130,000 to 40,000.
At the same time, he also used a "dividing the river to rule" to paralyze the third prince Zhu who had just made his debut in Jiangning and reopened the Ming Dynasty.
Now it can be said that everything is ready, all we need is the east wind!
Just when Kangxi thought about it more and more, he felt that he was sure of winning. Suddenly, the announcement from Little Guizi's father-in-law came from outside the small building: "Your Majesty, Secretary of the Ministry of War, Sai Sehei, has urgent military matters to see you."
Emergency military affairs?
Kangxi frowned and said one word: "Xuan!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the warm curtain hanging at the door of the small building was lifted up. The cold wind blew in, which refreshed Kangxi's energy. He turned his eyes to the door and saw Sese Heishou, who had replaced Mingzhu as Minister of War. Holding a wooden box in his hand, he walked in quickly with a frown, then lifted up his robe and knelt down towards him.
"Slave Sese Hei respectfully wishes His Majesty's blessing."
"Good morning!" Kangxi replied, "Sese Hei, where did you get the urgent military report?"
"Back to the emperor, there are two urgent military reports. One is signed by the governor of Henan and the admiral of Henan; the other is signed by the deputy general of Shangzhou, Shaanxi."
"What? Vice-General Shangzhou?" Kangxi was stunned, "Bring me the military report from Shangzhou first!"
It is normal for the governor of Henan and the admiral of Henan to send troops to report to Xi'an. The direction of the Central Plains they are responsible for is also very important. Although the war has not started yet, it may start at any time!
But what kind of military report did Shangzhou's deputy general submit? Is it possible that Wu Yingxiong will send troops to Wuguan again?
"Hey!" Sai Sehei immediately opened the wooden box, took out a military report placed on it, and handed it to a eunuch serving beside Kangxi with both hands.
The eunuch took the military newspaper and unfolded it. After making sure there was no poison inside, he handed it to the Qing Emperor.
Kangxi took the military report and read it. After reading a few lines, he exclaimed: "Impossible! This is impossible. Wu Yingxiong must be feinting!"
"Your Majesty, what happened?" Suo'etu saw Kangxi making trouble again and hurriedly followed to inquire.
Kangxi put down the military report in his hand, with narrowed triangular eyes, a pockmarked face and a solemn tone, he said in a solemn tone: "Wu Yingxiong has probably lost it after moving to Nanyang! There are still tens of thousands of Wu troops marching towards Wuguan via Shangyu Road! "
"Tens of thousands of Wu troops are coming to Wuguan?" Suo'etu took a breath, "Does he want to raid Xi'an?"
"Impossible, impossible" Kangxi shook his head, "How is it possible? Even if he leads tens of thousands of troops into Wuguan, it is impossible to break Xi'an! Unless..." He suddenly thought of something and asked again, "Sese color black, Is there any news from Fengxiang Mansion and Pingliang Mansion?"
"No." Sai Sehei replied, "Wu Yingqi's army has been resting since it captured Lanzhou Prefecture. And the weather in Gansu is even colder than in Guanzhong! Longxi is also mountainous, and the mountain roads may be covered with heavy snow now. It’s blocked and there’s no way to walk on it. Even if Wu Yingqi wanted to send troops, there would be no way to pass.”
"That's right!" Kangxi nodded, "Even if Wu Sangui wants to send troops from Hanzhong, he can't go through the mountain roads in the Qinling Mountains, right? The Qinling Mountains are also completely white at the moment!"
It's quite cold this year, and we're still in the Little Ice Age. Although it's much warmer than the Chongzhen Year, it's still difficult to travel through the northwest mountainous areas in the coldest month of winter. As long as it snows heavily, it will be impossible to leave immediately.
Even if Wu Sangui and Wu Yingqi wanted to send troops to cooperate with Wu Yingxiong, they would have to wait until the ice and snow melted in the spring.
Sai Sehei said: "Your Majesty, do you think this is possible? Is this Wu Yingxiong trying to go deep alone?"
"Going deep alone? How is this possible? How can he have such courage?" Kangxi shook his head, and then he saw the box in Sesehei's hand, "Show me the military reports of Amida and Tong Fengcai."
"嗻!"
Sese Hei immediately handed over the military report jointly signed by the top military and political leaders of Henan Province to Kangxi.
Kangxi took a look at the military newspaper and found out that the fall of Nanyang, which reported the fall of Nanyang, was actually planned!
Nanyang and Xiangyang both belong to the same basin, and Xiangyang has natural dangers to rely on. It has been an iron city since ancient times. But Nanyang is a bit unsafe to defend. Usually if Xiangyang is lost, Nanyang will be difficult to defend. Unless the one who controls Xiangyang is a weak party and cannot move north at all, then Nanyang will naturally sit back and relax. But the old Wu family is not a weak side now. They have the strength to take over Nanyang and approach Luoyang and Kaifeng.
The Qing court's opponent Wu Yingxiong's method is a bit "elastic defense", and Nanyang is ready to give up! Even Ruzhou and Xuzhou are ready to give up. First, use Nanyang, Ruzhou, and Xuzhou to buy time and kill the Wu army's energy, then stick to Luoyang and Kaifeng to wait for reinforcements, and finally the Zhili army goes south. !
Of course, in the eyes of Kangxi and others, Wu Yingxiong's main target should be Jingzhou!
If Wu Yingxiong and Wu Guogui join forces, they can have an army of 100,000! A hundred thousand troops are attacking from the north and south. Not to mention Jingzhou, even the more dangerous Yuezhou cannot be defended!
Therefore, Wu Yingxiong's attack on Nanyang was originally a feint attack, with the purpose of pushing the Qing army further away from Xiangyang. In this way, Wu Yingxiong and Wu Yingqi can safely reconcile with Li Zicheng.
And if Wu Yingxiong keeps coming to Xi'an now, will he and Li Zicheng still be at odds with each other?
Is it possible that Wu Guogui was asked to "cross the river in white clothes" and sneak attack on Jingzhou?
"Your Majesty," Se Sehei reminded, "we don't have many troops in Wuguan. We only have one guard camp in Shangzhou, which only has 1,500 people. If Wu Yingxiong really sends tens of thousands of troops, then Wuguan It can’t be defended. Let’s send reinforcements to Shangzhou as soon as possible!”
Send reinforcements?
Emperor Kangxi was in a bit of a dilemma, sending reinforcements during the Chinese New Year?
Moreover, the banner troops from Shaanxi and Gansu now take turns coming to Xi'an to recuperate. After they return to Xi'an from the front line, they have to reunite with their families and live at home every day. Wait until the vacation is over before you put on your gear again and return to the front line.
The battle on the Gansu-Shaanxi front line was very hard, and many people died in the battle of Qinzhou! The morale of the banner army is a bit low. If they are not given a good rest after taking turns to rest, they will be sent to Wuguan to set up defenses.
"Your Majesty," Suo'etu said, "why don't you send the governor-general of Shaanxi-Gansu who is stationed in Xi'an to Wuguan?"
"Send the Green Camp?" Kangxi frowned, "The Green Camp will also complain, right?"
If the Green Camp becomes full of complaints, will they switch sides and join Wu Sangui?
To be honest, Kangxi now trusts Luying less and less. Even if he wants to use the green battalion now, he will bring the green battalion and the flag soldiers together, use the green battalion as cannon fodder, and use the flag soldiers to hold back.
"Let's see." Kangxi thought for a while, but still rejected Suo'etu's proposal, "Wu Jun must be feigning an attack. How could they enter the pass? This is simply impossible!"
He smiled and said: "Sese Hei, you give Shangzhou Xie a military card and ask them to seal Wuguan and cut down more trees to block the road. Don't fight with Wu Jun. I believe it won't be long before Wu Jun They will retreat."
(End of chapter)
