Chapter 88: Changing the Flag of Dengzhou Town (Part 1)
Shandong, Weihaiwei, Dengzhou General Army Headquarters
Chen Xin, the commander-in-chief of Dengzhou who had just raised the rebel flag, and his old partner Liu Minyou were smoking cigarettes and looking at a colorful map of the North China Plain, discussing the latest shocking incident in North Zhili. mutation.
"...The Hou Jin Army...actually entered the border like this? And the Guan Ning Army surrendered to the enemy so simply? Isn't this too weird?"
After hearing the news that Guan Ning's army had surrendered at Xianguan and that the Jin army had invaded Yongning Mansion, Liu Minyou muttered in disbelief, "...even if the battle of Daling River was lost, the victorious Huang Taiji was already at the end of his game. There is no strength to continue attacking Jinzhou and Ningyuan within this year, so why should Guan Ning's army surrender? The Sichuan troops who came all the way from the southwest to Shanhaiguan with their own military pay did not surrender, but the Liaoxi general who was paid four to five million taels of silver per year to guard Sang Zi surrendered to the enemy? Is it really strange? People guard the land of Liao, and use the land of Liao to support the people of Liao'? ”
"...I can't help it. Those spoiled rich children are sometimes even more spoiled than the miserable poor children... Xuanfu, Datong and many health centers in the mainland have been cut off from food and salary for several years. They are all still gritting their teeth. Guan Ningjun's salary was only reduced by the court for a few months, but when water and sea transportation was cut off and the court itself was stretched, the generals in western Liaoning could not bear it anymore and regarded the court as their mortal enemy!"
Chen Xin curled his lips, shook his head and commented, "...Sigh, people who think too highly of themselves and think too highly of themselves are usually difficult to discipline and easy to betray. In people like them who are spoiled, In the eyes of the arrogant dandy, Guan Ningjun has already They have become the only pillar that maintains the existence of the Ming Dynasty and the safety of the world. I am afraid that the whole world will have to follow them. Even if all civil and military officials stop their salaries, they cannot lose half of their benefits!
The previous Battle of Daling River was a complete defeat. Emperor Chongzhen felt that the generals of western Liaoning were unworthy of the imperial court's support and the four to five million taels of silver and the sea of grain and rice allocated to Liao Town every year. However, the generals in western Liaoning felt that the imperial court had failed their 'loyalty' and forced them to die! Not only did the court not compensate them afterwards, but they also reduced their food and salary payments. This made these self-righteous proud men very angry - they probably hadn't thought about being held accountable for losing the battle! For people who are used to being rich, becoming poor is as painful as falling from the clouds to the ground!
In addition, Zu Dashou, Wu Xiang and other senior generals who were defeated and captured in the battle continued to send messages from Jiannu to persuade them to surrender. It is very likely that Huang Taiji also promised some extravagant conditions, such as breaking into the pass and enfeoffing the princes... ...So Guan Ningjun surrendered and turned against him. ”
"...Guan Ningjun's integrity is indeed not worthy of trust. But in a sense, he was forced out by the court that valued civility over military force."
Liu Minyou sighed, "... What makes me even more confused is that in the Battle of Daling River, the Ming army was definitely defeated, and Jiannu also fought hard in the wilderness for more than half a year. The soldiers must have been exhausted. Consumption of food and wages materials It is bound to be very powerful. Now that he has just stopped his troops for a few months, he once again entered the pass to fight against the Ming Dynasty. Isn't Huang Taiji afraid that his troops will be exhausted and repeat Song Taizong's Gaolianghe defeat under the city of Beijing? "
(After the Northern Song Dynasty destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty continued to attack Youzhou of the Liao Kingdom despite the fact that his soldiers were exhausted from long battles and lacked food and wages. The result was a complete defeat.)
"...Well, for Ming Dynasty, war means losing money, but for Hou Jin, war means making money!"
Chen Xin shrugged his shoulders, "...from last autumn to this spring, the Ming army was defeated several times on the battlefield of Daling River, and each time they gave a lot of food and baggage to Jiannu. This year, natural disasters are raging in Liaodong again , not much better than that in northern Shaanxi, even though the vast fields in the Liaohe River Basin have no crops. Huang Taiji wanted to recuperate, but he couldn't grow a few dozen grains. However, after Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang led their troops to surrender at Daling River, they had tens of thousands more mouths that Huang Taiji needed to feed. In this way, instead of If you are just sitting there in Liaodong, you might as well go to the border and grab a handful!”
At this point, Chen Xin suddenly remembered something, frowned and added, "...In addition, Huang Taiji did not make the mistake of rushing forward this time - according to the latest information obtained, either Huang Taiji intended to use his troops cautiously, Either the Eight Banners soldiers need to recuperate after continuing to fight. In short, the Eight Banners soldiers are currently The Jurchen soldiers did not go straight to the capital after breaking through the customs. Instead, they stopped advancing not far after Shanhaiguan and reached Changli County. The so-called braided soldiers currently advancing furiously in various counties in Gyeonggi seemed to be Guan Ning who had just surrendered to the enemy. Iron cavalry, and some others surrendered to the Ming army..."
"... It seems that Huang Taiji is indeed a difficult opponent. And the performance of Guan Ning's cavalry... Well, this is why traitors are more hateful than enemies." Liu Minyou shook his head and sighed, "...Old Chen , do you think Emperor Chongzhen can defend Beijing this time?”
"...This...it's hard to say. Now Emperor Chongzhen has not exhausted all the cards, and he still has the capital to compete with Huang Taiji."
Chen Xin hesitated for a moment, and finally shook his head uncertainly, "...Historically, when Li Zicheng entered Beijing in the 17th year of Chongzhen's reign, the whole world despaired of Emperor Chongzhen, and every force felt that someone else should take over the world. Therefore, a mere 60,000 insurgents marched to Beijing in defiance of the wind. More than 200,000 officers and soldiers fought in just one battle before they all defected. Emperor Chongzhen only managed to gather 4,000 defenders in Beijing. There was no loyal army on the outside who was willing to come to King Qin to relieve the siege. This led to Li Zicheng easily The city was broken, and Zhu Youjian was forced to hang himself on a coal mountain after only two days of fighting.
It has only been five years since he arrived in Chongzhen, and Zhu Youjian's reputation has not been completely destroyed. Although Guan Ningjun, an immature wolf cub, has surrendered to the Jian slaves, there are still some local states and counties that will resist to the death. Then, around the capital, Emperor Chongzhen also had Hong Chengchou's 50,000 Qin Army and Lu Xiangsheng's 30,000 Tianxiong Army, two relatively capable field corps. Coupled with the garrison strength of Xuanfu and the capital, if Emperor Chongzhen resorted to selling iron and made a desperate move, he could still gather 120,000 to 30,000 officers and soldiers. If that didn't work, the imperial court could still take the North Canal and transfer the Shandong officers and soldiers in Zhu Dadian's hands back to the capital, so that they could have a battle with the Eight Banners soldiers on the North Zhili Plain. ”
Chen Xin explained this, and finally concluded, "...In my opinion, this battle to the end will be just a repeat of what happened in the second year of Chongzhen. However, since Shanhaiguan has fallen into the hands of the enemy, in the end After defeating Jiannu this time, Emperor Chongzhen may have no choice but to move the capital.”
Hearing this, Liu Minyou lowered his head and looked at the map on the table again - indeed, for the Ming Dynasty, the current Beizhili was a big prison, with all the ferocious beasts looking at it outside. However, this cage is not tight. Although it is difficult to import food, reinforcements from the outside can theoretically come in. Moreover, Emperor Chongzhen in the cage also has many soldiers and horses to rely on. It is difficult for Jiannu to bring him in. Swallow it in one gulp. ”
"...Well, theoretically speaking, Emperor Chongzhen still has so many soldiers and horses to mobilize. But where is the food? Where is the pay? The army can't fight in the northwest wind! Now that all water and sea transportation have been cut off, Emperor Chongzhen is still here Can Beijing still raise money and grain? Even if we stop blocking the Bohai Sea Channel now, it is too late for Jiangnan to organize ships to send this year's grain and tax money to Tianjin." Liu Minyou shook his head and retorted.
"...You are right, but in fact there is no shortage of food in Beijing, let alone money. As long as you are a little cruel, you can get it."
Chen Xin blinked meaningfully, "...otherwise, how could Li Zicheng have robbed 70 million taels of silver from Beijing after Emperor Chongzhen wore a patchwork dragon robe and hanged himself in Meishan? To maintain the supply of grain and rice for hundreds of thousands of troops to fight against the Qing army and Wu Sangui? ”
"...You mean to collect money and food from the homes of those royal relatives, officials and gentry? This is an almost impossible task." Liu Minyou continued to shake his head, "...What Li Zicheng can do does not mean that Zhu Youjian can also It can be done. The foundation of the Ming Dynasty's rule is these corrupt officials. If you can persuade them to donate money and food, this kind of thing will be respected in our history. Emperor Zhen did it too, and the result was that everyone was left with nothing. If he wanted to use violence against the wealthy families in the capital... Believe it or not, if Emperor Chongzhen dared to wantonly confiscate the homes of the wealthy families in the capital today, tomorrow those officials from the capital would dare to lead their servants into the Forbidden City. , directly kidnapped Emperor Chongzhen to surrender to Huang Taiji, and Jinyiwei and Dongchang may also switch sides or become neutral..."
"...Do they think that since they surrendered to the Liaodong slaves, they don't have to donate money or food?" Chen Xin retorted with some surprise.
"...Do you still think that those stupid powerful people in Beijing actually have such a thing as IQ?" Liu Minyou's reaction was even more surprised, "...if they really had such a thing as IQ, how could they abandon Emperor Chongzhen?" , open the city gate to welcome the king's gangsters and confiscators, since these are experts in committing suicide? In the 17th year of Chongzhen's reign, he could innocently submit his head to King Chuang's sword. Now he should be able to happily pile up mountains of moldy grain and silver in his cellar, as well as spoiled wives and concubines. Dedicate everything to those Manchu and Mongolian noble masters who are 'unparalleled in bows and horses'!"
"..." Chen Xin was silent for a while, and finally nodded reluctantly, "...Well, if the Beijing dignitaries in Chongzhen's five years were as stupid as they were twelve years later in another time and space, then Beijing City would have We may not be able to defend it anymore..." But at this point, he suddenly changed the subject, "... But having said that, the two of us can no longer decide on such a grand strategic matter, so why bother thinking about it? Too much? ”
Mentioning this matter, Liu Minyou, who was originally very interested in the war situation in Beizhili, couldn't help but fell silent. Then the two of them turned away from the table and looked back at the five-star red flag hanging on the wall and the clothes hanger that had just been hung. The latest military uniform of the People's Liberation Army was sent... - At this moment, Dengzhou Town, which is separated from the Shandong Peninsula, is no longer an independent force, but has been incorporated into the Global Chinese Travelers Alliance.