On the first day of February in the fourth year of Zhaowu of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Wuchang Prefecture, the southern capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, was held.
In the blink of an eye, Wu Sangui has been in charge of Wuchang for more than a month!
For more than a month, Wu Sangui was mainly busy with two things. One was to promote Wuchang Mansion to the status of the southern capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty. So the Zhou Kingdom now has two capitals in the west and south. This seems a bit unsymmetrical, right? There is west but not east, there is south but not north. It is clearly a pattern with four missing and two missing. I don’t know when the missing one will be replaced.
The promotion of Wuchang Dangnan was not something that could be accomplished with just one edict. It required many edicts.
One is to move the Chang'an court team to Wuchang Prefecture; the other is to establish the Western Capital Remaining Department, and at the same time appoint Wu Yingqi as the Chang'an Remaining Officer - Wu Sangui now has to play a balancing act between two biological sons and an adopted son. , we still have to serve these three bowls of water. It is really not easy to bring about the Xuanwu Gate Incident or the Jingnan War, and to prevent Wu Yingxiong from monopolizing the power.
Apart from this matter, the second major thing that Wu Sangui was busy with in Wuchang was, of course, his fight with Li Zicheng's gang members. Originally, Wu Sangui thought that as soon as his army arrived and captured Hankou, Hanyang, and Jiangxia, the five territories under the jurisdiction of Prince Zhong's Palace in the Ming Dynasty would definitely join him. Think about it when Wu Sangui followed the Qing soldiers to defeat Li Zicheng, wasn't it like this? Once Lao Li ran away, there were capitulationists everywhere.
This time it was completely different!
After Wu Sangui arrived at Wuchang Prefecture, he suddenly discovered that it seemed that only six cities, including Jiangxia, Hanyang, Hankou, Suizhou, Zhongxiang, the first county of Anlu Prefecture, and Anlu, the first county of De'an Prefecture, were in the hands of Wu and Zhou's army. The five prefectures controlled by Prince Zhong of the Ming Dynasty, including Wuchang, Hanyang, Anlu, De'an, and Huangzhou, totaled dozens of counties. Only six were in the hands of Wu Sangui, and the rest were still in the hands of Li Zicheng and Li Laishun. This situation It’s a bit strange!
What's even more strange is that none of the magistrates of the five prefectures under Prince Zhong's palace and the six counties controlled by Wu Sangui surrendered to Zhou Dynasty. They either died in battle or ran away.
How did this happen? Are the ministers of the Ming Dynasty now regarded as the second minister and the third minister?
Back then, they had to shave their heads and change clothes to become barbarians, but they still surrendered one after another! Why doesn't it drop now?
Are they all second-generation campers? Are you particularly loyal to Li Zicheng? But Wu Sangui still has many "juniors" under his command. Should they surrender anyway?
Something even more beyond Wu Sangui's expectation is that the four prefectures currently under his nominal control, Wuchang, Hanyang, Anlu, and De'an (Huanggang, the capital county of Huangzhou Prefecture, has not yet been captured), have now become It became a hornet's nest, and under the leadership of local officials sent by Prince Zhong of the Ming Dynasty, they rebelled against the rule of Wu Sangui, the emperor of Zhou Dynasty. They killed all the officials Wu Sangui sent out to appease him. This made Wu Sangui very angry!
He, Wu Sangui, was a man who wanted to dominate the world. Now he sent people to recruit Li Zicheng's remnants. To give him face, they not only refused to surrender, but actually killed them!
So Wu Sangui immediately ordered the newly-opened governments under him to send out small "returning regiments" to attack. The result was that they were no match at all and were killed and ran back without their armor.
Wu Sangui was so angry that he decided to kill several leaders of the "returning regiment" to enforce military law. It was only Fang Guangchen who persuaded him not to kill him. Then Wu Sangui sent Liu Xuanchu to investigate.
After an investigation, I found out that I had really wronged those people. It wasn’t that they didn’t work hard, but that there were too many enemies!
It turned out that it was not Li Zicheng's old battalion soldiers who defeated the returning regiments, but the Minzhuang composed of the Hubei soldiers who were in the countryside and the strong men from poor peasant families who were allocated land according to the "Chinese Land Acquisition System". !
In other words, Wu Sangui suddenly found himself fighting against the people under the rule of Prince Zhong of Ming Dynasty!
What a huge number of people, tens of thousands!
Moreover, the people's organization, equipment, and training are very good, and there are many strong castles to rely on.
In addition, there seem to be "Xingzhong Prince's Palace", "Xingwuchang Palace", "Xing'an Lu Palace", "Xingde'an Palace" and "Xingde'an Palace" in the mountains of Mubu Mountain, Dahong Mountain, and Tongbai Mountain, which can command and support these local armed forces. The existence of "prefecture" means that although Li Zicheng was driven to the mountains, his regime still rules most of the three prefectures of De'an, Anlu, and Wuchang!
Only the situation in Hanyang was slightly different. There were no mountains there for the "Xingfu" personnel sent by Prince Zhong's Palace of the Ming Dynasty to hide, so they hid in the Honghu Lake where the waves were beating.
After listening to Liu Xuanchu's report, Wu Sangui immediately realized that Prince Zhong's Palace of the Ming Dynasty had been carefully preparing a war against the Heavenly Soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty!
If I had known this, I should not have allowed Li Fuchen to successfully "resolve the fight" at that time.
This Li Fuchen is really nothing!
After being sulky for a long time, Wu Sangui stabilized his mood and began to adjust his deployment. He sent troops to firmly control Jiangxia, Hanyang, Hankou, Suizhou, Zhongxiang, Anlu and other major cities. At the same time, he controlled the forts and beacon towers along the Yangtze River and Han River to maintain two smooth water lines of communication for his army.
As long as the logistics and transportation can be stabilized and it will not affect Wu Sangui's army's march to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, it is not a big problem to temporarily leave them aside.
And just when Wu Sangui was thinking about how to take Jiujiang, secure safety, go to Taiping, and take Nanjing directly, three waves of congratulatory envoys came from Wuchang, who might be a little embarrassed when meeting each other.
These three waves of congratulatory envoys were Du Lide, a bachelor of Baohe Palace in the Qing Dynasty, Ma Hu, a bachelor of Qixing Pavilion in the Jing Dynasty, and Lang Tingxiang, the alternate governor of Jiangxi in the Qing Dynasty.
Of these three, one represents Kangxi, one represents Emperor Dongxing Geng Jingzhong, and the other represents Kang Wang Jieshu who is about to betray Kangxi. We have to put this together, can we not be embarrassed?
These three congratulatory envoys all came in the name of congratulating Wu Sangui for conquering and making Wuchang Mansion the capital. Among them, Doolittle and Ma Hu seemed to come together.
Langting came a few days earlier than them and came from Jiujiang Prefecture. Wu Sangui knew that his real purpose was to ask for surrender and help. He also knew that Jiujiang would not be lost for a while, so he was not in a hurry to see him. It was not until Dolittle and Ma Hu arrived that they received the three congratulatory envoys at the Ziwei Palace in the Imperial City of Wuchang Prefecture at the same time.
However, when Wu Sangui saw the three envoys, the Zhou emperor felt a little confused because of the three people's clothes.
These three are all elderly men. The oldest among them is about the same age as Wu Sangui. He is over sixty years old. He should be a veteran of the Ming, Dashun and Qing dynasties, Du Lide, a scholar of the Baohe Palace, but he is an older man. The great bachelor of the Qing Dynasty is now wearing a Han-style red official robe, with a black gauze hat on his head.
There are two younger ones, who look to be in their fifties. They are both wearing official uniforms of the Qing Dynasty. They are of the same rank, and they are both second-grade Wenzi.
This is not quite right!
Why did Dolittle wear Han clothes? In addition, among the two younger ones, there should be Ma Hu, a scholar of Qixing Pavilion in Dajing!
Thinking of this, Wu Sangui did not wait for the three of them to kneel down and kowtow, but directly pointed at the oldest old man and asked: "Is that Doolittle in the middle?"
The old man quickly put down his official robe, knelt down in front of Wu Sangui, then lay on the ground, sticking out his buttocks, and respectfully replied: "Reporting to the emperor, the foreign minister is Dolittle."
"Are you...that emperor's servant?"
"I am a servant of the Qing Emperor. I am on a mission to Wuchang on my lord's orders."
"Then why are you wearing Han official uniform?" Wu Sangui asked.
"Reporting to your Majesty, I am now the southern officer of the Qing Dynasty." Doolittle replied, "The southern officer of the Qing Dynasty wears Han clothes, and can also wear hair without braids."
It turns out that Kangxi's "north-south official system" was not just talked about casually - it was passed by the Qing Dynasty's meeting of political kings and ministers, so it must be true!
However, the reason why Kangxi advocated the implementation of the official system between the north and the south was not that the Manchus and Han were equal, but that he was ready to give up the territory in the pass at any time and retreat to become the emperor of the grassland.
Of course this gesture was made for Wu Sangui to see!
Wu Sangui nodded, then looked at the two men in their fifties wearing Manchu costumes and asked, "Which one of you is Ma Hu?"
"The foreign minister is Ma Hu." A second-rank official of the Qing Dynasty, wearing Manchu clothing and a coral top, immediately knelt down in front of Wu Sangui. This person is the former governor of Jiangsu in the Qing Dynasty and the current scholar of Qixing Pavilion in Dajing, Zhebai Mahu.
"Ma Hu, you are not an official of the Jiangnan Kingdom? Why are you wearing a Manchu official uniform?"
"Reporting to your Majesty, I am now an official of both the Lord of Jiangnan and the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty." Ma Hu explained, "Because the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty knew that I had no choice but to assist his brother Emperor in Jiangnan to establish the country, so The ministers were not removed from their official positions. However, the ministers were sent to Beijing as an envoy by Emperor Jing of Jiangnan, and then they stayed in Beijing and were in charge of the diplomacy between the Qing Dynasty and Jiangnan."
Co-author He is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Dajing to the Qing Dynasty!
Doolittle on the side also gave him a certificate, "Your Majesty, Bachelor Ma is right. He has been in Beijing these days. Because he has an official position as a northern official in the Qing Dynasty, he can wear Manchu clothes."
"I see." Wu Sangui looked at another upright official in his fifties with a dark face, "Are you the Jiangxi governor Lang Tingxiang from the Qing Dynasty?"
"Reporting to your Majesty, I was originally the governor of Jiangxi. But before I took office in Jiangxi, Prince Kang had already appointed Cai Yurong as the governor of Jiangxi. The regent felt that Cai Yurong had some soldiers who could be used, so he made him the governor first, and I became the governor. Alternate Governor. Result."
Speaking of this, Lang Tingxiang was gritting his teeth.
Five hundred thousand taels!
He should have taken it!
Now it all belongs to Cai Yurong!
Moreover, he spent a lot of savings to become the governor of Jiangxi. Now, the big business of "selling out Jiangxi" has been snatched up by Cai Yurong. And even if he fills in as the governor of Jiangxi, he has no territory to divide and is actually a bare-bones official, so he might as well be inappropriate.
Wu Sangui said heartily: That Fuquan really knows how to do business! Does the alternate governor not want to refund the money?
Thinking of this, Wu Sangui smiled and said: "Xiang Lang Ting, your alternate governor probably has no chance of becoming a regular governor, right? Jieshu sent you here this time to ask for surrender, right?"
The governor of Jiangxi in the Great Zhou Dynasty could not get his turn, not only Lang Tingxiang, but also Jieshu himself.
What Jieshu could get from Wu Sangui was to maintain his title as an official and then be raised by a famous and powerful person.
Real power is impossible!
The army, the territory, everything must be handed over!
Moreover, before handing over the army and territory, Jieshu had to help Wu Sangui fight in exchange for his future glory and wealth in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, I have indeed come to ask for surrender on behalf of Prince Kang, but this is not my only mission, because Prince Kang also wants to promote a big plan for the three emperors to join forces to defeat the Ming Dynasty."
"Three emperors join forces?" Wu Sangui glanced at Du Lide, "Xueshi Du, what do you think?"
"Returning to the report, the Qing Emperor is your grandson, and the Dajing Emperor is your grandnephew. You, your grandson, and your grandnephew are all emperors of the same family. It is only natural that we should join forces to deal with Zhu Cijiong, an outsider." Doolittle Guaranteed, "As long as you give a decree, the Qing Dynasty can send troops immediately! Not only the Qing Dynasty can send troops, but the Qing Dynasty's vassal country North Korea can also send troops!"
Yang Qilong's "Incheon Landing" was of course a great victory!
His landing "landed" the kings and ministers of the Korean Kingdom by surprise. Before the troops stationed on the northern border could be mobilized back, Yang Qilong had already arrived in Seoul. Moreover, since the roads leading to Ganghwa Island and Namhansan Fortress were cut off by Yang Kilong's army, the North Korean monarchs and ministers could only accept Yang Kilong as the supervisory state. They also handed over Ganghwa Island and Namhansan Fortress to Yang Kilong's garrison, and also handed over Haeju and Busan to Yang Kilong's garrison. These two ports were placed under the jurisdiction of Yang Qilong's North Korean Supervisory Office.
Due to this easy victory, Kangxi's reputation in the Qing Dynasty has improved. Recently, he is planning to sweep away the Khalkha Mongolia and at the same time have a chance to meet the newly emerged Rakshasa Kingdom in the north to find out their true and false status.
At this moment, Wu Sangui suddenly attacked Daming!
Now that this matter has happened, Kangxi certainly wanted to take advantage, and at the same time, it was unwise to please Wu Sangui and fall out with Zhou before he developed Liaodong outside the Pass.
Kangxi's ideas coincided with Geng Jingzhong's - Geng Jingzhong hoped to use the power of the Qing Dynasty to help himself grow so that after the Ming Dynasty was destroyed, the balance of the Three Kingdoms' struggle for hegemony could still be maintained.
So Kangxi immediately asked Doolittle and Ma Hu to come to Wuchang to meet Wu Sangui.
How smart is Wu Sangui?
I immediately understood the thoughts of Kangxi and Geng Jingzhong, and also understood why Doolittle and Ma Hu came to Wuchang together as congratulatory envoys?
Thinking of this, Wu Sangui smiled and said: "Of course we can join forces. I wonder what Xuan Ye and Jingzhong want?"
"Reporting to the emperor," Doolittle said, "the Qing Dynasty does not dare to covet more land in the Central Plains. It just wants to get more property for its children. If the emperor feels that the Qing Dynasty still needs to send troops to help, then please allow Xuzhou and Hainan to be conquered after victory. The people of the three prefectures of Zhou and Huai'an will be handed over to your Emperor Sun."
Kangxi's mind is clear, and what he lacks most now is territory!
What is lacking most is population!
There are tens of thousands of miles of wilderness outside the pass, but not many people are developing it. Even though he instituted policies such as Touxiajunzhou that were extremely conducive to frontier development, the progress of developing Northeast China was still slow.
In addition, the harder Wu Sangui and Li Zhongshan fight, the happier he, Emperor Sun, will be. If both sides can lose, he might even be able to return as a Qing emperor!
Wu Sangui nodded: "Okay! This is easy to handle! If Xuan Ye can send troops to Huaihe River, it can put some pressure on Can Ming. What's the point of giving a few people? But people in Xuzhou, Haizhou, and Yangzhou can't do it. Fengyang, Sizhou, and Yingzhou can't do it." The population of the state is arbitrary.”
Wu Sangui had no good intentions either. Now that he had experienced how powerful the Hubei people were, he could naturally imagine how the Huaixi people would resist him, the emperor of Zhou Dynasty.
In this case, let Kangxi spend time with them!
"It's a deal!" Dolittle said with a smile, "Your Majesty, our Qing Dynasty can mobilize a hundred thousand troops from the four provinces of Shanhe this time to listen to your orders, Your Majesty!"
Wu Sangui nodded, a hundred thousand troops can always contain Li Zhongshan, right?
"Your Majesty," Ma Hu said immediately, "the Lord of Jiangnan can also send out an army of 100,000 troops!"
Geng Jingzhong actually couldn't bring up an army of 100,000, but he still wanted to save face. He couldn't be much worse than his "brother emperor" Kangxi, right? So Ma Hu helped him sign up for a "hundred-thousand-thousand-strong army".
"That's 200,000!" Wu Sangui was overjoyed, "How many are there in Jiangxi?"
"There are fifty thousand!" said Lang Tingxiang, "including thirty thousand land troops and twenty thousand naval troops."
"That's an army of 250,000 people!" Wu Sangui said with a smile, "I also have an army of 250,000 people under my command. We three emperors will join forces and send 500,000 troops. It is called a million-person army of Ming Dynasty! How about it?"
Doolittle looked confident and raised a thumb, "Okay! This is a million-strong army going to the south of the Yangtze River! Since ancient times, a million-strong army entered the river from the Han Dynasty and went down the river south of the Yangtze River with few defeats!"
Ma Hu also said: "With millions of troops marching eastward, Nanjing will surely be conquered at once. The foreign ministers congratulate the great emperor!"
Prime Minister Lang Ting said to Wu Sangui: "Your Majesty, it is very urgent that Li Fuchen and Li Laishun join forces to attack Jiujiang! If the troops are delayed, Jiujiang and Anqing will be owned by the Ming Dynasty. The waterway to the south of the Yangtze River may be completely blocked, and then the south of the Yangtze River will not be able to be invaded." It’s so big. So King Kang suggested that the emperor march in as soon as possible and fight the Li shogunate in Jiangxi!"
Wu Sangui nodded and said: "I also have the same intention! Governor Lang, I order you to return to Jiujiang immediately and tell King Kang to persist to the end. I will immediately lead an army of 500,000 people to march by land and water to support Jiangxi!"
The army he brought to Wuchang actually didn't even have 250,000, but only about 200,000. He could give a discount to Huande who went to Jiangxi, and 150,000 would be good. Even if we add the army of Jieshu and others, the number will be 200,000 at most.
However, an army of 200,000 is not that small. Moreover, the territories of Jiujiang and Hukou are still firmly in the hands of Jieshu. There are also Wu Sangui and Jieshu's navy on the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake.
This battle is still very certain!
Thinking of this, Wu Sangui's face condensed and he said loudly: "Please go back and tell your master that this time a million troops are going to the south of the Yangtze River, it is a life and death battle, and we must go all out!"
(End of chapter)
