Zhu Wenzheng successfully captured Lujiang County along the way, so Zhu Yuanzhang would not be inferior to his nephew.
In just half a month, Zhu Yuanzhang had already reached the city of Hefei, preparing to remove the nail in Hefei first, and then attack Shouchun, where Hong Xiuquan was personally in charge.
The main strong cities in Jiujiang County should be Hefei and Shouchun. If these two cities are captured, there will be no obstacles in Jiujiang.
The Hefei city guard was Hong Rengan, a younger brother of Hong Xiuquan. Hong Rengan was pretty good in other aspects, and could even be said to be quite talented, but his talent as a leader was hard to say. At least, Hong Rengan had no experience in leading troops before.
Hong Rengan was one of the leaders of the Taiping Rebellion who had extensive knowledge of the West. The "New Chapter of Zizheng" proposed by Hong Rengan was a political program advocating the development of capitalism, which was considered a quite advanced idea in China at the time.
After Zhao Liewen, an important aide of Zeng Guofan, saw the new printing of Hong Rengan's "New Chapter of Zizheng", he had to admit in his diary: "What is said in it is quite insightful... All kinds of laws and regulations are... Imitate what the Westerners did, they conquered foreign countries, they were almost sincerely convinced, and they were the most proficient in barbarian sentiments;...Looking at this book, there is no one among the thieves."
However, over the years, Hong Xiuquan vigorously promoted his relatives and appointed nepotism, so he sent his younger brother Hong Rengan to take charge of the military power in Hefei, ignoring Hong Rengan's true talents, and did not send Chen Yucheng and other more suitable generals to guard Hefei.
As a result, although Hong Rengan tried his best, he did not have the leadership talent. Facing Zhu Yuanzhang's attack, Hong Rengan's defense was full of loopholes. Hefei was such a strong city that Zhu Yuanzhang successfully captured it in less than seven days.
After the city was broken, Hong Rengan was considered strong and unwilling to survive at all. He actually swung his sword and killed himself on the city tower to be loyal to Hong Xiuquan.
When things have developed to this point, anyone with a discerning eye can see that Hong Xiuquan's defeat is a foregone conclusion. The generals and ministers, large and small, among Hong Xiuquan's forces also began to think about their own options. For a monarch like Hong Xiuquan, how many people would really be willing to be buried with him?
Naturally, Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui, and Zhang Lexing would not be happy to perish together with Hong Xiuquan, but they had been enemies of Zhu Yuanzhang for many years, and they were somewhat worried that Zhu Yuanzhang would not accept them.
Therefore, these three people simply worked together to take advantage of Zhu Yuanzhang's army to go north to Xuzhou before Zhu Yuanzhang's army arrived in Shouchun, and went to defect to the new lord of Xuzhou, Zhao Kuangyin.
During the grassland war, they also visited Zhao Kuangyin, and they had some impressions. Regarding Zhao Kuangyin, they knew to some extent that he was a heroic leader, and the future of following Zhao Kuangyin was higher than that of following Hong Xiuquan.
However, these three people underestimated Hong Xiuquan's ability. Hong Xiuquan had already placed people around these three people to monitor their every move. Therefore, the news that Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui, and Zhang Lexing wanted to escape reached Hong Xiuquan's ears early.
That night, killings broke out in the residence of Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui, and Zhang Lexing. Several people who once held great power in Hong Xiuquan's group were killed overnight.
The deaths of Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui, and Zhang Lexing meant that Hong Xiuquan no longer had any useful talents around him, and he was completely alone.
When it comes to Hong Xiuquan, he does have a way of engaging in religion and playing tricks on people, but let's forget about marching and fighting. After Zhu Yuanzhang's army arrived at Shouchun City, it had only been two days since they attacked the city, but Hong Xiuquan could no longer hold on.
After two days of fighting, Hong Xiuquan completely lost hope in this battle. If you want to make people perish first, you must first make them crazy, and now, Hong Xiuquan is already crazy.
In desperation, Hong Xiuquan first ordered people to block the city gate with sand and stones, and then sent his loyal followers to cover the entire city with saltpeter and kerosene, intending to make the entire Shouchun Quanzheng people perish with him. .
After discovering Hong Xiuquan's crazy behavior, Hong Xiuquan's sister Hong Xuanjiao tried to stop it, but was brutally murdered by the crazy Hong Xiuquan.
In the end, the fire started in Hong Xiuquan's Tianwang Mansion and spread to all parts of the city in just a few cups of tea. In this sky-wide fire, the entire Shouchun City has fallen into madness and panic.
"Quickly, push up all the battering rams!" Zhu Yuanzhang roared to the subordinates beside him.
Dozens of battering rams hit the Shouchun Wall, not only hitting the city gate, but also the city wall. At the same time, all the ladder trucks in Zhu Yuanzhang's army were set up. If someone could escape to the city wall, they could also use these ladder trucks to find a way out.
Maybe this won't have much effect, but at this moment, everyone has only one goal in mind. If they can save one more person, they will save one more person, and if they can save one innocent people from dying, then one less innocent people will die.
The lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians are at stake, and how many people can really remain indifferent.
"Lord!" Zhu Sheng wiped off the sweat on his forehead and saluted Zhu Yuanzhang with his hands raised.
"What's going on?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked without raising his head.
"Reporting to my lord, I only saved less than 8,000 people!"
"Eight thousand!" Obviously, Zhu Yuanzhang was not satisfied with this number. Compared with 200,000, eight thousand was still too little.
"Send the order to behead Hong Daquan, Hong Renzheng, and other captive Hong Xiuquan relatives in public." Zhu Yuanzhang slowly raised his head and said expressionlessly, but his eyes were full of coldness.
As for Hong Daquan and Hong Renzheng, or Hong Xiuquan's relatives in the mainland, Zhu Yuanzhang was not prepared to kill them. Keeping these people could help Zhu Yuanzhang regain Hong Xiuquan's desire to surrender his troops and generals, and even Through them, Shi Dakai and other generals who captured prisoners were recovered.
After all, Hong Xiuquan is dead. Even if these people are left behind, as long as they are closely monitored in the future, they will never cause any big trouble.
But now, with the Incident of Burning Shouchun, some changes will take place in the treatment of people like Hong Daquan and Hong Renzheng.
Zhu Yuanzhang has always been a very rational person. Although he was extremely angry when the Huo Fen Shouchun incident occurred, now that it has become a foregone conclusion, Zhu Yuanzhang has regained his due rationality.
As soon as the news of Huo Burning Shouchun came out, it would inevitably cause an uproar in the world. However, the death of Hong Xiuquan was not enough to calm the matter. A city of innocent souls, Hong Daquan, Hong Renzheng and others had to be pushed out. .
Moreover, if Hong Daquan, Hong Renzheng and others are pushed out, it can also help Zhu Yuanzhang win the hearts of the people in the newly acquired land. Only by regaining the support of the people can Zhu Yuanzhang turn his territory into a piece of iron and truly unify Yangzhou.
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