Jinzhou, on the Liao Tower, Zu Dashou looked out of the city for a long time, and then said in a low voice: "It will come. Hong Duchen led the ten generals to assist Jin, and they will not give up halfway, but there may be some ways to rescue us. different.
It was Zhang Cheng, the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu. Although I had never met him, I knew that he was always prudent and not reckless.
I guess that the officers and soldiers of Songshan Fort either killed off Rufeng Mountain, or attacked Shimen Mountain, or captured Huangtu Ridge to contain the Tatars, so that the Tatar soldiers of all banners did not dare to attack our Jinzhou City with all their strength. "
"You can also see from today's attack on the city that many Tatar soldiers from all banners have been mobilized outside Jinzhou City. In this way, the defense elsewhere will inevitably be relaxed, which is when the officers and soldiers can take advantage.
Hong Duchen is also experienced in fighting, so he can't help but see this...
Of course, if the front line of the Songshan army is too long, it may also give the Tatars an opportunity..."
On the high tower, all the generals were a little discouraged. They were too lazy to care whether Songshan's officers and soldiers would be taken advantage of by the Tatars.
However, Songshan reinforcements will not arrive soon. Jinzhou City will probably have to fight hard for a while. In the bloody battle of Daling River back then, people in the city were fighting to the point of cannibalism. Will Jinzhou City have to do the same this time?
Although Zu Dashou spoke very encouraging words to cheer up the relatives and servants, everyone still had their own thoughts after getting off the tower.
Jinzhou was a prosperous commercial place before the Ming and Qing wars, with a cluster of jade workshops on South Street and a cluster of fur shops on North Street.
Furs, jade, and side dishes were the three famous products of Jinzhou at that time. Businessmen from the north and the south came to trade paint, paper, sugar, ginseng, bean cakes and other supplies that the north and the south were lacking. It was truly a gathering of merchants.
It was only after the Year of Tianqi that local wars in Liaodong began one after another, and merchants in the city also moved south one after another. Even the famous fur merchant Fu's purple and gold mink shop moved elsewhere.
You must know that the mink fur produced by this shop is extremely outstanding. At that time, it sent a mink fur to each of Liaodong Governor Yuan Chonghuan and Liaodong Commander-in-Chief Zu Dashou, which caused a sensation.
Now that the Qing troops have besieged the city for more than a year, the remaining commercial activities in the city have become even more withered. Walking on the street, it is deserted. What I occasionally see are mostly frightened soldiers and civilians hurried by.
At this time, most of the people who followed Zu Dabi to the street were generals from the Zu family. Under Zu Dashou's arrangement, they were stationed at key points at various city gates and served as supporting forces for the Qing Dynasty. The soldiers attack the city again, and everyone will have a bloody battle later.
They remained silent, or communicated secretly with glances at each other.
Finally, a general who had a close friendship with Zu Dabi tentatively said: "Second Master, do you still want to defend Jinzhou?
Don't be like what happened in Dalinghe in the past, where we lost all our troops and generals. Without the soldiers, our ancestral home in Liaodong would be nothing. "
As soon as the general's words came out, everyone around Zu Dabi immediately began to talk about it: "Yes, all the soldiers have been defeated, so what can we do?
For example, Zhang Cheng could succeed as the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu not because he had tens of thousands of Xuanbei troops at his disposal. Otherwise, why would he be so arrogant and suppress our little Mr. Wu at every turn?
Let’s just say that our ancestral family is able to be popular in Liao Town, isn’t it because of these thousands of powerful servants? "
"Yes, in Jinzhou City now, although there are still more than 20,000 officers and soldiers, but after careful calculation, the only ones who can fight are thousands of our ancestral troops.
If the Tatar soldiers surround the outside for a long time and stay away for a long time, Second Master, when all the brothers in the clan are finished, then our ancestral family will also be finished. "
"Yes, Second Master. As the saying goes, it is not easy to raise an army. It is not easy for our ancestors to create the current family business in western Liaoning. You must give our uncle a good advice and make plans in advance."
Everyone around Zu Dabi was talking at random, and they all had a pessimistic attitude towards the defense of the city. They were especially worried that if their own soldiers and horses were lost in the battle to defend the city, their military status would be lost. Save.
Indeed, there is no reason why everyone should not worry about this. Just like Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui, the servants under the ancestral brothers are also composed of the descendants of the ancestral family, their brothers, and their relatives.
The servants of these generals all have acres of land and manor in the land of western Liaoning, just like the big and small landowners. As the saying goes, only those with permanent property have perseverance. Coupled with the will to defend their homeland, this is what makes them better than foreign soldiers. The reason why he dares to fight more.
Moreover, they were all treated very well. Wu Xiang once said back then that he only ate simple meals, while the three thousand soldiers in his family all ate fine wine and fat sheep.
Wu Xiang himself wore coarse brown clothes, but the three thousand soldiers were all wearing Wan Luo Qi. Although the court could not provide money, food and military pay for a long time, they could still live a good life as usual.
The same is true for the Zu family. The thousands of servants and soldiers under Zu Dashou are also brave in fighting. Even compared with the Xuanbei Army, they are no less generous. What they lack is just a lack of organization and lack of organization. It’s just discipline, and the other thing is the lack of a superior system.
This is why Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei and others followed the emperor's orders and concentrated on training the new army and allocating fields and land to the new army, but the generals in western Liaoning remained unmoved.
In fact, together with their servants, they already have land and property, and their lives are worry-free. Besides training, they don’t have to worry about farming in the fields, because almost all military households in western Liaoning have become their servants. sharecroppers, working hard to farm for them.
Like the Wu family army, the Zu family also has thousands of people, only a lot more than the Wu family.
They are now almost purely private armies of the Zu family. Relying on the Zu family's general power in western Liaoning, they are all rich and their families have no worries about food and clothing.
However, while the members of the ancestral family relied on their servants to gain a foothold, they were also very worried about the loss of their servants' strength, which would lead to a significant reduction in their power. These were common problems among armies of all dynasties and generations, and this was generally the case regardless of the past or future generations.
Suddenly, an officer even said: "I heard that Zhang Cunren and others who surrendered to the Tatars during the Battle of Daling River are all doing well now?"
The atmosphere on the street instantly became quiet. Everyone walking on the street, including Zu Dabi, looked around nervously, fearing that the walls had ears. Such treacherous words were really not trivial.
After a long time, a few people murmured in a low voice: "It's indeed good. As early as the ninth year of Chongzhen, that is, the year when the Tatar leader Hong Tai ascended the throne, Zhang Cunren was appointed as the governor of the Tatar Kingdom. , Han Daxun was appointed to the Ministry of Household Affairs, Jiang Xin was appointed to the Ministry of Rites, Li Yun was appointed to the Ministry of Punishments, and even Pei Guozhen was appointed to the Ministry of Works.
Everyone is promoted and rewarded! "
"Even our two young masters, Zu Zehong was granted the title of Ministry of Personnel to take charge of politics, and Zu Zerun was granted the title of Ministry of War to participate in politics. You said, if we go there, the official positions granted to us by the Tatars will not be small, right? .”
For a moment, everyone was silent.
Speaking of this, the generals of the Zu family also began to breathe heavily.
An officer suddenly said in a low voice: "Since the Tartar siege, there must have been hundreds of surrender letters sent into the city.
Second Master, why don’t you take advantage of this opportunity to persuade our eldest son.
Why don't we surrender? "
Regarding the Qing Dynasty's persuasion to surrender, Zu Dashou's attitude has always been very clear, that is - no surrender!
Among them, he wanted to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and of course he also wanted to consider the interests of the family.
Similarly, the attitude of Zu Dashou's mother and wife towards the Tatars' persuasion to surrender is also a major aspect that has made Zu Dashou hesitate to this day.
Just like Hong Chengchou's old mother in history, Zu Dashou's old mother was also extremely loyal. Her attitude was very clear, that is, she would not betray the Ming Dynasty even if she died.
Especially Zu Dashou's wife, Mrs. Zuo, although she is fifteen years younger than Zu Dashou, she is beautiful, virtuous, and even more talented.
She gave birth to three sons in succession for Zu Dashou, and she often assisted him by giving him advice and helping him avoid many difficulties, so Zu Dashou respected him very much.
However, although Mrs. Zuo was good at bows and horses, she was also born into a scholarly family. She had read the legend of the martyrs since she was a child, and she despised the barbarians on the frontier and regarded them as a country of filthy barbarians.
Although Mrs. Zuo and Mrs. Tai were in Ningyuan at this time, if Zu Dashou dared to surrender to the Qing army, depending on their temperament, they would most likely commit suicide.
Zu Dashou has always been extremely filial to his mother and respectful and loving to his wife. How could he be willing to see this ending?
Therefore, whenever his subordinates would vaguely mention the matter of surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, Zu Dashou would be furious. Everyone had no choice but to try to start the matter from Zu Dabi's side.
Seeing everyone around him trying to persuade him, Zu Dabi just had a sneer on his face. His eyes were deep and bright, which seemed completely different from the image of a common man who only knew how to roar and kill the enemy in the past.
Suddenly, he slammed the mace club in his hand to the ground and roared: "Shut up, everyone!"
Everyone was shocked when they heard Zu Dabi pointing at everyone and scolding angrily: "You are stupid and you don't know it. Have you ever read the Three Kingdoms? You know what kind of person Zhuge Kongming is."
You all know that the brothers of the Zhuge Kongming tribe worked for the three families of Wei, Shu, and Wu respectively. They did not put their eggs in one basket, lest the basket would fall and the eggs would not be finished.
It's a good thing that you are thinking of having all the children of my ancestral family surrender to the Tatars..."
He shouted loudly again: "What do the damn Tatars mean? Even though they are rampant now, they are just a small country."
When Zu Dabi said the last sentence, he stretched out the little finger of his left hand to make gestures.
"Although our Ming Dynasty is a little weaker now, this skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. Do you understand this truth?"
As he spoke, he stretched out one hand, clenched it into a big fist, and waved it in front of everyone.
"Furthermore, although the Ming Dynasty is in some bad situations right now and often loses battles, who knows what will happen in the future? Maybe it will become stronger again in the future. The world in these three hundred years has its own destiny. The foundation is there.
Look at Yang Guozhu, the former commander-in-chief of Xuanfu, and then look at the successor commander-in-chief Zhang Cheng, and look at Gushan Ezhen, who killed two Tatars in one battle. This strong army was not trained one by one. …
At present, Zerun and the others will surrender as soon as they surrender, just like Zhuge and his family during the Three Kingdoms. The brothers are divided into several countries. No matter which country becomes more powerful in the future, at least one bloodline will always be left.
If our ancestral family declines and something bad happens, we will have a place to take refuge in the future..."
He glared angrily at the people around him and said: "However, if it is true as you said just now, then it will be a disaster!
All the descendants of the Zu family have gone to the Tatar side, and they can only work for the Tatars. There is no place worth using. Who knows whether Hong Tai, the leader of the captives, will do that thing of crossing the river and demolishing the bridge? "
He continued in a deep voice: "Also, what should we do if we all surrender to the Tatars and all the property accumulated by our ancestors over the years is in the Ningjin area?
It must have been either taken over by the Ming Dynasty or abandoned.
Even if the Tatars win this battle, do you think that the Tatars will occupy Jinzhou and let us continue to defend it?
The fire will definitely be set off, and then we will retreat to Shenyang. Without the land and property, if we surrender to the Tatars, what will it matter? What will we use to support our troops?
By then, you are already in the hands of the captive chief Hongtai, and he can pinch you in any way he wants. Food, grass, weapons and other things all depend on other people's faces. How can you be as comfortable as you are now? "
Hearing this, everyone suddenly realized what he was saying. They all nodded and said, "Second Master is still smart, and we are stupid. We are indeed stupid."
For these generals and warlords in western Liaoning, power is their land and soldiers are everything. Obviously, if they surrender to the Qing Dynasty, all these will cease to exist.
As for the generals of these ancestral families, they all set up farmland in western Liaoning and stationed troops privately. Everyone has accumulated a huge family fortune. If they just give up, they are really unwilling and unwilling!
Also, they were stationed in Jinzhou all year round, and news from the Qing Dynasty kept coming.
Although everyone who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty was highly valued and held official positions, they were still restricted everywhere. How could they feel free in the Ming Dynasty?
Zu Dashou is like a local emperor to Liaodong. Whether it is the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, the Governor of Ji Liao, the Minister of the Ministry of War, or the officials in the court, no matter who he is, it depends on their faces!
Especially now, the situation between the Ming and Qing Dynasties is not very clear, and it is not the time to make the final decision.
For example, Wu Sangui in history had been hanging alone in Liaodong, guarding Shanhaiguan alone, and was unwilling to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. It was not until the capital of the Ming Dynasty fell, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on Meishan, and the world was settled, that he made the final decision. choice.
The so-called anger over a beauty because of Chen Yuanyuan is really nonsense and a far-fetched story.
To a real warlord like a tyrant, what does a mere woman mean?
At present, the Ming Dynasty is far from reaching its end. For the powerful ancestral family, surrendering to the Qing Dynasty now is obviously not a wise choice.
Therefore, the generals around him also woke up at this moment, and they were all blaming themselves for a while.
