Chapter 175: China is rich in emperors this year (1)
Riding on a war horse that has lost a lot of weight these days, looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar five-star red flag on the Fengshan Gate in Hangzhou, the commander-in-chief of western Zhejiang in the Ming Dynasty, Wang Dou, a modern time traveler, suddenly felt like a dream, and couldn't help but burst into tears. orbit.
——Traveling back to the late Ming Dynasty for seven years, from the Great Wall frontier fortress across the Central Plains, to the water towns of the south of the Yangtze River, his life turned a huge circle on the land of China, but in the end it seemed that he had returned to where he started. origin. However, this is enough - thinking of the Shunxiang Fort that was reduced to ruins in the war, and the familiar faces who died in the war, I am lucky to have reached this point.
Thinking of this, Wang Dou couldn't help but sigh and closed his eyes. The past events of the past few months seemed to be vivid in his mind.
——In the late autumn of last year, when Emperor Chongzhen and his coach Lu Xiangsheng led tens of thousands of troops by land and water, marching along the Yangtze River towards Nanjing in an attempt to lay the foundation of the emperor in one battle, Wang Dou was also ordered to lead 4,000 partial troops across the mountains and ridges. Go deep into southern Anhui and attack Huizhou at the foot of Huangshan Mountain.
Compared with the twists and turns and exciting Battle of Nanjing in the north, the Battle of Huizhou in the south seemed lackluster. In addition to the endless trekking through mountains and rivers, the enemy soldiers Wang Dou encountered basically either collapsed at the first touch or were defeated by the wind. Soon, he successfully captured the capital city of Huizhou, captured the prefect of Huizhou alive, and recruited about 2,000 surrendered troops. The surrounding counties also announced changes of flag.
Immediately afterwards, Wang Dou, who was named the Commander-in-Chief of Western Zhejiang due to his meritorious service, continued to cross the provincial border and entered Zhejiang eastward according to the instructions from Emperor Chongzhen. He easily captured Chun'an County, which was empty of troops, and then entered neighboring Hangzhou. Tonglu County, and came into contact with the frontier forces of the "Australian Bandits" here. As a time traveler, Wang Dou quickly determined the identity and origin of the other party, and was shocked for a moment.
However, at this moment, Wang Dou's child bride wife, Xie Xiuniang, suddenly ran into his military camp in ragged clothes and unkempt hair. However, Wang Dou, who was in the mountainous area of western Zhejiang and had little information, was shocked to learn that the bandits from the Central Plains were marching southward in large numbers and had entered the rear of Emperor Chongzhen's Huguang, and that famous cities such as Wuchang and Xiangyang had fallen one after another. What's worse is that the old mother Zhong who followed Wang Dou all the way to the south of the Yangtze River and thought she could live a prosperous life was also on her way to escape from Wuchang. Unfortunately, her boat capsized and she fell into the water and died!
Before Wang Dou could be sad for a long time, the news of the defeat in the Nanjing War came. Next, news came that Emperor Chongzhen had passed away in Chizhou. This series of shocking changes almost stunned Wang Dou for a moment. By the time he reacted, Empress Dowager Zhou, Chief Wen and the young emperor Zhu Cixiang had already carried Emperor Chongzhen's coffin to Huizhou and announced that they would reestablish the imperial court here.
Wang Dou didn't have any objections to the development of such things. Anyway, it was common sense for the throne to be inherited after the death of father and son. But the problem is that after experiencing a series of major defeats, the military territory of Emperor Chongzhen's court was almost completely lost. And Wang Dou, with six thousand soldiers and horses in his hands, has become the largest warlord in the court, several times more than the imperial army around the emperor, posing a huge potential threat to the civilian court around the little emperor.
——So, as soon as this **** opened in Huizhou, the chief minister of the cabinet, Wen Tiren, immediately began to reduce Wang Dou's military power. First, he either tried to win over the local officials appointed by Wang Dou, or demoted them and dismissed them, and then Put in your own people. Next, in the name of "protecting the emperor", he transferred several troops from Wang Dou's side. In the end, he resorted to the trick of ascending and descending secretly, and ordered Wang Qiu to hand over his army and return to the court to assume a vacant position.
Faced with such a series of interlocking combination punches, Wang Dou, who was caught off guard, could not parry at all - the Shunxiang Army, a direct line of confidants he established at Shunxiang Fort in Xuanfu, after more than a year of wandering from Saibei to Jiangnan, There is not much left. At this time, the troops under Wang Dou's command were not his private army, but the official troops of the Ming Dynasty drawn up according to the principle of "large and small". Except for Wang Dou's more than 100 servants, no one else could Nor was he willing to fight the court and the emperor to the end for his superior.
Therefore, Wang Dou, who found that he had become the key target of the imperial court, was completely disheartened. Although he had no intention of rebelling, he was not prepared to return to the imperial court and suffer the wrath of those high-ranking civil servants and relatives of the emperor. Instead, he left his official seal and a letter of resignation in the camp, abandoned the army and ran away. He took his wife and servants and went straight to Hangzhou to "join the bandits".
Everyone at the Phoenix Villa Headquarters, headed by Commissioner Wang Qiu, expressed a certain degree of surprise at this compatriot who suddenly appeared. However, after asking about his origins, they only carried out general and routine treatment: Among them, Wang Dou himself was allowed to take his wife back to live in the modern world, and his team of more than a hundred servants were resettled in the newly occupied area of Liaodong, where Huang Shi settled down in the collective farm built there. Wang Dou's servants basically agreed with the above arrangement - they were originally from military households farming, so it would be good to be able to return to the north.
After settling Wang Dou's group of defectors, Wang Qiu marked on the map the interlocking situation of various forces in the south of the Yangtze River. He couldn't help but laugh: "... there is an emperor in Huizhou, an emperor in Nanjing, and another emperor in Shanghai. This is the Ming Dynasty. How come there are more and more emperors in the dynasty?”
——What he hadn’t thought of at this time was that, starting with the death of Emperor Chongzhen, the number of special creatures like “emperors” on the land of China in this time and space would increase rapidly like mushrooms after a summer rain. Proliferating more and more...
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Although Zhang Pu, Zhang Dai, Fang Yizhi and other envoys from the Shanghai court were once very worried about the possible collusion between the Hangzhou Kun thieves and the remnants of Emperor Chongzhen of Huizhou, in fact it was a near miss. In the next few days, Zhang Pu easily negotiated the details of the food and ordnance purchase contract with the "Kun Thief Leader". When they set off to return, Shen Tingyang's Shachuan Gang had already transported the first batch of 100,000 stone grains and rice to Shanghai.
At this point, the Yonghe Emperor's court in Shanghai, which had been in turmoil since its establishment, finally got rid of the crisis of food shortage for the time being.
At the same time, after more than a month of confrontation, stalemate, envoy exchanges and intrigues, in order to compete for the throne left after the death of Huang Taiji, the full-scale civil war of the Manchu Eight Banners Group finally officially broke out in late March.
——The first person to lose patience and take the initiative to provoke a civil war in the Qing court was Huang Taiji's eldest son, Hauge, the leader of the Zhenglan Banner.
According to Hauge's thinking, as Huang Taiji's only adult son, he is the undoubted next emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Who would have thought that after dawdling for so many days, not to mention the other flags with ulterior motives, they would even hesitate to support his accession to the throne with the two yellow flags - Huang Taiji's two yellow flags and fifty great records, after the emperor's death Immediately split into many small groups. Among them, He Luohui, the commander-in-chief of Zhenghuang Banner, and Tan Tai, the commander-in-chief of Xianghuang Banner, clearly opposed Hauge's ascension to the throne, but the records they had were very limited. Sony, Obai and others who controlled Huang Taiji's imperial army were hesitant. At the same time, they sent envoys to Hauge, Dorgon and Queen Zhezhe to bargain and prepare to sell at a price.
What is even more worrying is that during this period, the leader of the Blue Banner, Jilharang, continued to recruit troops and win over the forces of the two red flags. Since the death of the great Beiledaishan, his two red flags have also split into many small groups. , led by the sons of Daishan and his brother Chu Ying respectively. Among them, seven or eight Niulu from Adali and Shuotuo expressed their allegiance to Dorgon. Other groups were hesitant, but most of them expressed their loyalty to Jierharang. Goodwill and closeness.
On the contrary, the original most threatening opponent, Dorgon, with his two white flags and sixty-five Niulu, was still torn apart. Only twenty-seven Niulu were left in Dorgon's hands, and there were many shortages. Only the five cattle units under his uncle Abtai's command were basically fully staffed, and they were fully armored heavy cavalry. The simple-minded Azig was in a dilemma in Yangzhou with his thirteen Niulu. After Huang Taiji's death, he had no goal to even cross the river to flee. If he returned to Xuzhou, he would be attacked by Duduo and Duoer. The two little brothers, Gun, looked at each other with blank stares. They were really in a dilemma.
In this way, Jierhalang, who has thirty or forty Niulu, seems to be qualified to aspire to the throne - after all, his surname is Aixinjueluo!
As time went by, seeing that instead of becoming clearer, the situation became increasingly chaotic, Hauge, who was relatively simple-minded, could no longer sit still. At this time, the Zhenglan Banner under his name had a total of forty-two Niulu troops, but only the twenty-eight Niulu troops led by Hauge himself were barely considered direct descendants. Abatai and others who were also in the Zhenglan Banner did not listen. He dispatches. Therefore, Hauge initially planned to integrate the Zhenglan Banner, attack Abatai, and then join forces with Turg who was resting in Jiangyin area to form an army of forty-five Niulu, and finally march to Nanjing to intimidate the court and force Zhe Empress Dowager Zhe agreed to his succession.
However, Fan Wencheng, who had secretly surrendered to Hauge at this time, rushed to Hauge's camp in Liyang at night to advise him: "...In the fight for the throne, soldiers have always been quick, how can we act so slowly? Now the two yellow flags The attitude is hesitant, Nanjing's defense is empty, and there are very few troops. His Highness only needs to march directly into the capital to force the Queen Mother to surrender. After the position is determined, why should he care about the number of troops under his command? "
As soon as Hauge heard that this was justified, he gathered more than 5,000 direct troops under his command, bypassed the camps where each banner was stationed, and headed straight for Nanjing along the highway.
At this time, Empress Dowager Zhezhe of the Nanjing court held various seals of the Qing royal family and nominally controlled the legal central power of the Qing Dynasty. However, most of the Mongolian military flags and Lianghuangqi Niulu who supported her were still stranded in the Zhenjiang area. . In the dilapidated city of Nanjing, there were not many direct troops.
As a result, when Hauge led the Zhenglan Banner army to the gates of Nanjing, he caught Empress Dowager Zhezhe off guard. Sony, Obai and others who controlled Huang Taiji's imperial army actually stood still at Yuhuatai. The Nanjing city wall is still in ruins, with many gaps and collapses, making it impossible to hold on. So Empress Dowager Zhezhe had to send a few guards around her to fight against the enemy, but they were defeated and killed. Huang Taiji's two young princes also disappeared in the chaos. However, the two beloved concubines, Dayu'er and Hai Lanzhu, managed to escape to Jiangbei with the royal seal and the letter, and fled to Dorgon in Xuzhou.
Dorgon was overjoyed that these two beauties joined him. He knew that Da Yu'er had an old relationship with him, and Hailanzhu was so beautiful that he could charm Huang Taiji. Naturally, Dorgon was quite envious, so he immediately According to the old Jurchen customs, they adopted Dayu'er and Hailanzhu as their concubines, and listed Hauge's crimes of "rebellion", proclaimed themselves leader of the alliance, and declared that they would go south to crusade.
At the same time, although Hauge in Nanjing failed to find the jade seal, he captured Huang Taiji's entire civil service team. With the support and persuasion of a group of Han officials, he proclaimed himself emperor in the Forbidden City in Nanjing and continued this year. Following Huang Taiji's Chongde reign title, he also issued an order to punish the rebel Dorgon.
However, the two bitter rivals Hauge and Dorgon failed to fight in the end. Because the remaining banner leaders all expressed their resolute refusal to accept the sudden appearance of the emperor Hauge and the alliance leader Dorgon. After learning of the sudden change in Nanjing, Azig regarded Yangzhou as his own territory. Immediately march north to Chen's troops on the Huaihe River to fortify Jinqingjiangpu and block Dorgon's southward journey. Jierharang, the leader of the Xianglan Banner, joined forces with Abatai and gathered an army of more than a hundred Niu Lu to march towards Nanjing, demanding an explanation from the new emperor Hauge regarding his status and power.
Seeing the dark soldiers and horses outside the city, Hauge, who had limited psychological quality, suddenly became paralyzed. He just wanted to keep the throne under his butt, and everything else was easy to negotiate. Next, after some bargaining, Emperor Hauge announced that he would split the land and seal the territory. The three powerful factions Jierhalang, Abatai, and Azig were all granted the title of prince, and each of them took over a territory as a vassal state. If they can do so in the future, If more territories are conquered, they will all belong to their respective parties.
According to this policy, Azige was granted the title of Yangzhou Prefecture, Abatai was granted the title of Changzhou Prefecture, and Jilhalang was granted the title of Taiping Prefecture, and they were allowed to expand their territories in Jiangbei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Southern Anhui. Hauge, the Qing emperor, only retained the land of Yingtian and Zhenjiang, and did not dare to expect more.
In addition, the Lianghuang Banner tribesmen who are unwilling to surrender to Hauge can also defect to any vassal king they recognize, and the emperor is not allowed to pursue them.
After such decentralization and bloodletting, and relying on the mutual restraint between the leaders of various banners, the new Qing Emperor Hauge finally managed to secure his throne. Dorgon, the only one who was unwilling to do so, was unable to go south, so he had to proclaim himself emperor in Xuzhou, changed the country's name back to Dajin, and called himself the Emperor of Dajin. At this point, the Eight Banners of Manchuria that went south to enter the customs were officially split, forming the North and South. The emperors faced each other, and the three kings along the river established vassal states.
However, because he knew that he was alone and could not be supplemented, he could not withstand any internal strife. Therefore, although the Eight Banners of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were divided, they still did not dare to kill each other, but acquiesced to the reality of peaceful separation. Next, Abatai and Jilhalang separated at the gate of Nanjing City, leading their tribes to go their separate ways, preparing to launch the long-stalled Jiangnan strategy again. Among them, Jierhalang planned to march west from Taipingfu and capture the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Abatai is planning to first pull out the remaining Jiangyin County seat in Changzhou Prefecture, and then take advantage of the trend to attack Suzhou and Songjiang to seize all the fertile soil in the south of the Yangtze River.
However, what Abate didn't know was that the nail in Jiangyin County was not so easy to pull out. Because, just as he was preparing for the Eastern Expedition, the aid fleet of the "Australian Bandits" also quietly arrived at Jiangyin Pier...