A knife in love

Chapter 283

Li Qiufeng's complexion changed, and he said: "It turns out that Madam is a descendant of the Zhe Dongfang family. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Mrs. Sha smiled slightly, and said: "I heard from my sister that Mr. Li is on duty in Jinyiwei. Wouldn't it be great if you want to know our Fang family's reputation in the imperial court?"

Li Qiufeng's face was awkward, and he didn't know how to speak for a while.

It turned out that Fang Guozhen was from Huangyan, Taizhou. He was born as a tenant farmer.At the end of the Mongols and Yuan Dynasties, the world was in chaos. At first Fang Guozhen made a living selling illicit salt. Later, he was framed by his enemies. Fang Guomin fled into the sea.Fang Guozhen is well-known for his fairness in the local area. When the villagers heard that he was oppressed by the government and fled to a deserted island in the sea, they came to join him one after another.For several months, Fang Guozhen gathered thousands of people and led them from time to time to plunder the grain shipped by sea.The Yuan army besieged several times and was defeated by Fang Guozhen.At that time, the Mongolian and Yuan courts were extremely corrupt, and the Mongolian and Yuan cavalry who had ruled the world in the past had long lost their former combat effectiveness. In addition, the Yuan army was not familiar with naval warfare, so they were helpless against Fang Guozhen's thousands of naval troops.

After Fang Guozhen defeated the Yuan army several times, the Mongolian and Yuan courts knew that this banditry should not be underestimated and could not be wiped out in a hurry.At that time, there was still Zhang Shicheng's rebel army in eastern Zhejiang, which was a greater threat to the Yuan army.The local commander-in-chief of the Yuan army urged Fang Guozhen to surrender and wiped out Zhang Shicheng's troops with all his strength.Although Fang Guozhen defeated the Yuan army several times, his own casualties were also very heavy. Moreover, his troops were isolated overseas, and it was extremely difficult to replenish them.The counselors under him gave him an idea, first make a false appointment with the court, and strive to obtain a piece of land in eastern Zhejiang for the supply of personnel, and then wait for the opportunity to move.

Fang Guozhen adopted the counselor's suggestion, and expressed to the commander-in-chief of the Yuan army that he accepted the recruitment, but he was drifting on the sea, and the soldiers worked hard to live, hoping to set aside a piece of land in eastern Zhejiang for garrisoning troops.The commander-in-chief of the Yuan army was not an idiot either, he naturally knew that if he agreed to Fang Guozhen's request, it would be tantamount to raising a tiger and causing trouble.It's just that the imperial court pressed him very urgently, and Zhang Shicheng became bigger and bigger, so the commander-in-chief of the Yuan army came up with a plan and sent someone to Fang Guozhen to say that the land can be given to you, but most of the eastern Zhejiang has been occupied by Zhang Shicheng. If Fang Guozhen If he wanted to take a place to garrison troops, he had to lead his troops to attack Zhang Shicheng. If Zhang Shicheng could be repelled, the land he won would belong to Fang Guozhen.

Fang Guozhen knew that the commander-in-chief of the Yuan army had no good intentions, but he had no choice but to attack.If you don't get supplies, the army you command will be wiped out at sea.Therefore, he agreed to accept the imperial court's recruitment and was ordered to attack Zhang Shicheng.After Fang Guozhen's army landed, they fought fiercely with Zhang Shicheng's army.At this time, Fang Guozhen was already red-eyed to seize the territory. Although his troops were far smaller than Zhang Shicheng's army, they were united as one, seven battles and seven victories, and finally a decisive battle with Zhang Shicheng in Kunshan.Zhang Shicheng's entire army collapsed and was unable to fight any more, so he, like Fang Guozhen, surrendered to the Yuan army.

After this battle, the entire province of Zhejiang appeared to be under the control of the Yuan army.The imperial court was delighted to receive the report from the commander of the local Yuan army.Fang Guozhen sent people to Beijing secretly to bribe the court officials, and soon the imperial decree arrived in Zhejiang, granting Fang Guozhen to transport thousands of households by sea, and soon promoted Fang Guozhen to participate in politics in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.Although these official positions are empty and have no real power, Fang Guozhen got rid of the pressure of the Yuan army and firmly controlled Qingyuan, Wenzhou, Taizhou and other places in eastern Zhejiang.

Although Fang Guozhen didn't read much, she was very resourceful.He knew that the Mongolian and Yuan courts were not at ease with him, but the rebel army was everywhere, the world was in chaos, and he was temporarily using his own troops to work for him.Once the Yuan army wiped out the rebels everywhere, they would change hands to destroy themselves.Therefore, on the one hand, Fang Guozhen was in vain with the Mongolian and Yuan courts, but on the other hand, he recruited troops, especially established a powerful navy.In secret, he exchanged songs with Zhang Shicheng, Zhu Yuanzhang and others to expand his strength and wait and see the situation in the world.

After that, Zhu Yuanzhang's power grew day by day, and he recruited Fang Guozhen several times.On the one hand, Fang Guozhen made friends with Zhu Yuanzhang, but on the other hand, he still accepted Meng Yuan's reward.Its purpose is to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, in order to reap the benefits of the fisherman.It's just that he didn't expect that Zhu Yuanzhang's ministers and generals were actually elites in the world, and within a few years, he first defeated Chen Youliang and then Zhang Shicheng, and then sent generals Xu Da and Chang Yuchun to the Northern Expedition to defeat the Yuan army.

At that time, in order to compete with Zhu Yuanzhang, Fang Guozhen made friends with Kuo Kuo Timur, the commander of the Yuan army.Na Kuo Kuo Timur, also known as Wang Baobao, was the most powerful general in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.It's just that although this man is good at leading troops, he has a stubborn temper and quarrels with his colleagues and the emperor.Later, several generals in command of the Mongolian Yuan led troops to besiege Kuokou Timur.Xu Da and Chang Yuchun's Northern Expedition took advantage of this opportunity to attack most of them successfully.When Kuo Kuo Timur defeated the other Yuan armies, Xu and Chang had already captured Dadu, and their troops were pointing directly at Shanxi.

Faced with great pressure from Zhu Yuanzhang in Zhejiang, Fang Guozhen asked for help from Kuo Kuo Timur.At that time, Kuo Kuo Timur was in Shanxi trying his best to deal with Xu and Chang's army, so he had no spare power to help Fang Guozhen.In September of that year, Zhu Yuanzhang sent generals Zhu Liangzu, Tang He, Liao Yongzhong and others to attack Fang Guozhen.Fang Guozhen knew that with his own strength, he was no longer the opponent of Zhu Yuanzhang's army at this time, so he surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang in November.Zhu Yuanzhang was also trustworthy and did not embarrass Fang Guozhen.In the second year of Hongwu, Fang Guozhen was granted the false title of Zuo Cheng in Guangxi Province, but the whole family stayed in Nanjing, and the sailors under him were incorporated as boat households, and the guards were attached to the army.In fact, Fang Guozhen's military power has been lifted, and even the navy unit on which she became famous has been disbanded.Fang Guozhen was quite comfortable in Nanjing, she escaped several major cases in the early years of Hongwu, and died of illness in the seventh year of Hongwu.

In the troubled times of the late Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties, Fang Guozhen dealt with the Yuan army and Zhu Yuanzhang's two major forces, exchanging songs with the two parties in private, in order to reap the benefits of the fisherman.In fact, the coaches and counselors of both sides have already seen Fang Guozhen's purpose, so they are on guard against him.At the time of the decisive battle between Meng Yuan and Zhu Yuanzhang, Fang Guozhen vacillated, surrendering to Meng Yuan and Zhu Ming suddenly, which made both sides extremely annoyed at him.Some people even called him "Fang Fengxian" in private, which was to ridicule Fang Guozhen by referring to the general Lv Bulu Fengxian who was called "the slave of the three surnames" during the Three Kingdoms period, implying that he did not keep promises and only wanted immediate benefits. .He was forced to surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang after the world was settled.Zhu Yuanzhang's evaluation of him was not good either. He once said to others: "Fang Guozhen violated my warning several times, and instead of giving up his life immediately, he went to sea instead. He has owed him too much. Although he surrendered to me, It’s just that I’m desperate and begging hard. It’s just that I take the justice of the world as my foundation and don’t let the past go too far. If this person becomes suspicious again, the heavens will not spare him!”

At that time, Fang Guozhen had surrendered to Daming, and his family lived in Nanjing, under the absolute control of the imperial court.After hearing the emperor's evaluation of her, Fang Guozhen was so frightened that she almost hanged herself.Since then, he has been cautious, for fear of doing something that the emperor doesn't like, which will make Zhu Yuanzhang furious, and his family will inevitably suffer.Fortunately, although Zhu Yuanzhang was dissatisfied with him and sent people to closely monitor Fang Guozhen, but Fang Guozhen was careful everywhere and did not have any handles in the hands of the court, so Zhu Yuanzhang did not make things difficult for him.It's just that Fang Guozhen was worried and frightened every day, and his body collapsed on his own, and he died of illness in the seventh year of Hongwu.

When Li Qiufeng was on duty in Jinyiwei, he had looked through the secret files of Jinyiwei, among which were files about the Fang family in Zhejiang.It turned out that although Fang Guozhen had submitted to Daming, the court had always been extremely wary of him.There is a record in the archives of Emperor Taizu's words, which said, "Fang Guozhen is a fish and salt seller, and he steals his life. He waits and sees and obeys, and his ambition is the first mouse. I began to know the current affairs with you as a hero, so I ordered you to be authoritarian. You have ulterior motives and desires. If you want to see me as false or true, you will send your servants, and if you want to get rid of my rank, you will call them old and sick. The Fang family and its former officials are good at water warfare. There are many people who are good at water warfare. We must take strict precautions and not use them as chaos."With the emperor's order, Jin Yiwei has never let go of the monitoring of the Fang clan. Every year, several secret reports are sent to the commander of Jin Yiwei.To this day, even though it has been more than a hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Jin Yiwei still closely monitors the Fang clan, and has a very clear understanding of the affairs of the clan.

When Mrs. Sha mentioned that Li Qiufeng was on duty in Jinyiwei, she naturally meant that Jinyiwei was under strict surveillance by Fang's clan.Li Qiufeng thought to himself: "It seems that Fang's family also knows that they are under the surveillance of the court. Although Mrs. Sha is a woman, she naturally knows something about the family's experience." Thinking of this, he could only smile, and said to Mrs. Sha: "Ma'am, although I have worked in Jinyiwei before, I am just a guard outside the Hall of Martial Heroes, not in charge of arrests. In addition, my servant in Jinyiwei is entrusted by others, and I have always ignored any spying and hunting. Besides, Li Not only is he no longer Jin Yiwei, but he is probably the first felon Jin Yiwei wants to arrest, so Madam Sha doesn't need to care about Li's identity."

(End of this chapter)