Chapter 166: Rebuilding the Qing Dynasty in Jiangnan!
Fushui Villa is the private property of Southeast Wenzong Qian Qianyi. It is located under Fushui Rock in Yushan Mountain. It is surrounded by water, winding corridors, cornices and brackets, and scattered pavilions, like a flower floating in the vast mist. hibiscus. Huang Taiji, who was accustomed to the ruggedness of the Northland, was amazed by it.
"...Is this Qian Muzhai's villa? Tsk tsk, it's much more luxurious than my palace in Shengjing! This old man is so rich!"
Sitting in the Coupling Hall of Fushui Villa, I admired the exquisite carved beams and paintings in the house, the various antique treasures displayed on the ancient shelves around it, the pipa, flute and harp hanging on the wall, and the bandaged children on the shoulders. Huang Taiji , couldn't help but say, "...I heard that when this old man was in Beijing, he cried out to the Chongzhen boy for three days and two about his poverty, asking for tax reductions and exemptions for the Jiangnan Jin gentry. Unexpectedly, it was actually such a wealthy country! ”
"...Your Majesty, the scholars in the south of the Yangtze River are probably so shameless right now." Fan Wencheng, who was accompanying him, replied, "...They claim to be clean and pure, but each of them has a million-dollar fortune and thousands of hectares of fertile land, and they think they are in heaven. They were so proud that they asked the court to exempt them from taxes and labor, and they also refused to pay homage to officials. , talking about the government is not guilty. In short, he wants everything, but he is unwilling to do anything for the court. From time to time, he will rebel and make troubles, forcing the court to spend money to appease him. What is the use of the Qing Dynasty? The official salary and salary did not fall from the sky!”
"...Yes, I really can't afford to raise such a gentleman, and I don't dare to raise him, and it will be useless if I raise him. Since the Jiangnan Shilin are so arrogant and cannot be used by me, then I have no choice but to kill them. Use their wealth to support people who are willing to use it for me.”
Huang Taiji touched his injured shoulder and sighed, "...By the way, where is Qian Muzhai now?"
"...I report to Your Majesty that the old thief Qian Qianyi gathered a crowd to rebel and was killed by our Qing soldiers in Huqiu! The corpse was chopped into meat paste."
"...Well, just die. Then I can live in his Fushui Villa with peace of mind! But don't forget to kill his nine tribes..."
"...Yes! I obey the order, let's do it now..."
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
Generally speaking, in the days after winning the Battle of Nanjing, Huang Taiji was always in a happy mood - the Jiangnan strategy was overwhelming and the harvest was fruitful; with the rewards of a large amount of wealth, fields, and women, all walks of life were clear. The military morale of the army is also becoming more and more stable.
Although Huang Taiji was unlucky to be shot in the shoulder during the street fighting in Suzhou, it was the middle of winter and everyone was wearing a lot of clothes. Huang Taiji was originally wearing heavy armor, and he had cotton-padded jackets and silk jackets underneath. shirt, so the arrow that hit his shoulder penetrated less than half an inch into his flesh, and was not even as serious as the injury he suffered when hunting wild boars in Liaodong in his early years. Now he has only been recovering for a day or two, and it has almost healed. .
Previously, during the Battle of Nanjing, Huang Taiji was in a precarious situation and was beset with internal and external difficulties. There were the two white flags and the Dorgon brothers with ulterior motives inside, and the 90,000-strong army of Emperor Chongzhen who fought endlessly with red eyes outside. At the most dangerous time, Huang Taiji brought his wife, concubines, and children to the battlefield, not just for show, but because he really made up his mind to "do it or die"!
Fortunately, he finally won the Battle of Nanjing and once again beat his old rival Chongzhen Xiao'er to pieces. Next, those Donglin Party members who invited Qing soldiers to cross the river to help in the war were severely punished, taking their money and their lives - although the sequelae of this policy were extremely serious. Big, it is more hated by the gentry all over the world than burning books and humiliating scholars, but at the moment Huang Taiji really can't care about so much. After all, this policy of killing people, confiscating their homes and dividing their fields was really effective. Since he issued an order to encircle the land, massacre the Jiangnan gentry landlords, demote all the Jiangnan people as slaves, take their wealth, mansions and fields, and distribute them to all the Qing army generals, not only the two yellow, two red and two blue in the Eight Banners All the flag soldiers cheered and their morale was high. Even the Ming army, which had surrendered one after another, was lured by the huge benefits and actively accepted the Qing court's adaptation. They were immediately assigned to each of the Eight Banners, and soon the six banners in Jiangnan were The establishment of nearly two hundred Niulu was restored.
(Strictly speaking, the Eight Banners are not equal to the Jurchens. Let’s not mention the Han military flag and the Mongolian military flag for the time being. Even among the Eight Banners of Manchuria, many Han people from Liaodong have changed their nationality to join. For example, the descendants of Yuan Chonghuan were already die-hard bannermen by the end of the Qing Dynasty. , and became a general in Heilongjiang)
In order to balance the power of each banner and make rewards and punishments as clear as possible, Huang Taiji allowed Jierhalang's blue-inlaid banner to be expanded to thirty-three niulu, while the two yellow banners directly under him only had twenty-five banners each. Niulu, but the Zhenglan Banner of Huang Taiji's eldest son Hauge has increased to forty-two Niulu, of which the flag leader Hauge alone controls 28 Niulu, in order to ensure the relative advantage of Huang Taiji's direct lineage.
General Abatai took the lead in the bloody battle of Nanjing and was seriously injured, so he deserved a heavy reward. Therefore, the number of Niulu under his jurisdiction increased to nine. Even his two sons were assigned one Niulu each, and they were both promoted to Beizi. . The two red flags, which were originally under the command of Big Baile Daishan, suffered heavy losses in the previous series of drastic changes. This time, they can be fully rebuilt and restored to their original full strength. The Han army flag, which was once almost destroyed, was restored by Huang Taiji. The most loyal traitor, Fushun surrendered general Li Yongfang, was temporarily appointed as the flag master.
Although it will take a long time for the newcomers to join each banner to get better use of their combat effectiveness, at least the military morale is completely stable. After all this hard work, not only did the two yellow, two red, and two blue flags that crossed the river to participate in the war, but also became obsessed with Huang Taiji because they obtained the fertile fields, luxurious mansions, slaves and beauties in the south of the Yangtze River. Even Liangbaiqi, who was stranded in Jiangbei with ulterior motives, soon became shaken after learning of such good things. In order to dismantle Dorgon's tribe, Huang Taiji generously generously extended his generosity to Jiangbei and continued to issue decrees to Jiangbei. Claiming to rebuild the Qing Dynasty in Jiangnan, all Bannermen, regardless of whether they were Manchu or Han, could go south to enclose their lands, and each banner's Beile, Dutong, and Zuolan would be rewarded: After all, they were all the fields and mansions of the Jiangnan Jin gentry, and Huang Taiji wouldn't feel bad at all if he took them out to reward people. But the person who was rewarded had to find a way to kill the old master.
The prosperous land of Jiangnan Water Town is as attractive to northerners as the lottery jackpot. Even Liangbaiqi, the staunch direct descendant of the three Dorgon brothers, could not resist the temptation of a sudden windfall, and all requested to cross the Yangtze River south in response to Emperor Chongde's edict. Then, before Dorgon could make up his mind, Turge, who was wearing a white flag, took his three Niu Lu and first crossed the river and ran to the south of the Yangtze River to seize the territory. Suk Saha, the general with the white flag, saw someone taking the lead, and immediately pulled out ten Niulu and headed to Jiangnan. As a result, more than half of the fifteen Niulu, which were nominally under the direct control of Dorgon, were lost in an instant.
Next, Ashan, the commander of the Zhengbai Banner who entrusted Nurhaci to take care of his young son Duduo before his death, also forgot his promise to Nurhaci, left Duduo alone, and went south with a small half of the Zhengbai Banner. In the end, even Azig, one of Dorgon's three brothers, hesitantly brought his thirteen cattle records to Yangzhou. He was worried that this was a trap for Huang Taiji, and he was reluctant to part with the fragrant bait of the fertile soil in the south of the Yangtze River. Time is between a rock and a hard place.
So, while Huang Taiji was living leisurely in the Fushui Villa surrounded by lakes and mountains, enjoying the tenderness of the beauties from the south of the Yangtze River, Dorgon in Xuzhou felt as if he was sitting on a stove and being roasted! The Liangbai Banners, who originally had 65 Niulu troops in the Xuzhou and Lunan area, were instantly disintegrated by Huang Taiji's move. Of the more than 10,000 elite soldiers under his command, there were only two or three thousand left.
Although Dorgon could also allocate farm women to the Eight Banners soldiers in Shandong and Xuzhou to compete with Huang Taiji for the hearts of the people, he did so. But the fields in the north have always been much poorer than the paddy fields in the south of the Yangtze River, not to mention that today's Central Plains is a thousand-mile red land. There have been severe droughts for years. Farmers everywhere are abandoning their fields to escape famine. Even if they plant crops, they may not be able to harvest... Therefore, the soldiers of the two white flags continued to run south.
The wealth accumulated by the people in Jiangnan is the highest in the world. Even the imperial capital Beijing cannot compare, let alone places like Shandong and Xuzhou. In terms of spending money to buy loyal capital, Dorgon at this time could not compete with Huang Taiji for wealth, and besides, he still occupied the rightful position of the orthodox emperor!