A century-old family that runs through the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 383 The emperor’s star is swaying
August.

In a city on the border between North Zhili and Henan, the soldiers guarding the city were on duty, looking back from time to time, expecting something.

An old pawn came over.

"How's it going? Have you been paid yet?" The young city guard said with expectation in his voice.

"No."

"Why haven't you..."

"Baby, you haven't experienced it. In the past, the court even delayed payment for six years at most. Old man, I also carried a knife for two years and didn't have half a penny. Moreover, even if the court paid, it would be swallowed up by the generals. Half, it’s not much, haven’t you seen it before?”

"Bah." The soldier spat on the ground and cursed in a low voice: "Sooner or later, this killer will be beheaded by the thief."

But he can only live with his words. He is a small soldier and can't do anything to the general.

This is indeed the case. In fact, before April of the third year of Hongguang, the salary and silver issued by the imperial court were still sufficient. Even after the connection with the southern provinces was cut off, the silver deposits in the imperial court's treasury still supported their development. A month's salary.

"I've already recruited about ten people. I'm leaving tonight. Do you want to join the gang?"

"Escape from battle is a matter of death."

"enter."

"Escape, there is no way to survive." The old pawn said.

"The thieves have entered the city!"

By October, they had not had enough to eat for dozens of days in a row.

A pair of eyes opened from the darkness.

"Escape to where?"

The old pawn turned and left.

The footsteps were chaotic, rushing towards the city under the moonlight.

"There were originally two battalions of soldiers and four thousand people in the city, but now there are only more than two thousand left. Who cares about this because we are starving to death? The officials are eager for us to escape. The more we escape, the more money they can get, and if If we don’t run away and gather together to mutiny and raise money, they will become more troubled.”

Night soon fell, and dozens of figures fell from the top of the city.

Before April of the third year of Hongguang, they could only get two-thirds of the salary, and now they can't get even half a penny.

The servants all wear fine armor, have good food and accommodation, and their combat effectiveness even exceeds that of the Dashun Army. However, there is only so much money, and if the servants spend more, then the soldiers will naturally have to spend less.

However, the Ming army generals at that time had already developed the habit of using the court's military pay to support their elite servants, and the same was true for the city's defenders.

"Go to Jiangnan. I heard about the benevolence of the emperor there."

The old pawn made a "cut" sound with a disdainful smile and stretched out four fingers:

Soon after, they learned that the imperial court could not even send out food and fodder, so they ordered all armies to collect on the spot.

The young man was immediately moved.

How to collect? Do they have money?

After leaving the city and walking for a while, they discovered to their horror that they saw the cold light reflected on the armor.

Soon, horrified shouts swept through the entire city. The general mounted his horse and led the elite servants raised with imperial military pay, and fled out of the city in a hurry.

And more soldiers, facing the menacing Dashun army, obediently put down their weapons.

The small amount of money given by the court was only enough for them to put three shots on the city wall.

...Wang Chongzu once again mounted his war horse, and the Emperor of Dashun would personally conquer Beizhili for the second time.

Except for the necessary troops to defend Dahua and Daxi in the south, the rest of the army was almost in full force.

The 300,000-strong army was so majestic that when they walked on the road, they were as densely packed as migrating ants. They could not see the end at a glance, which was terrifying.

The soldiers carried newly minted muskets on their shoulders, and horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts carried heavy cannons, announcing the achievements of Dashun's development over the years.

Dahua repeatedly defeated the Ming army with firearms, and its reputation spread far and wide. Naturally, Wang Chongzu thought of developing firearms. In fact, after seeing the power of firearms, several forces in the world have developed firearms in unison, and apart from Dahua, Dashun has the best development.

They recruited many craftsmen to build firearms for the Dashun Army and equipped them into the army. So far, a considerable number of elite troops have been equipped, and their combat effectiveness has been greatly improved.

The number of artillery is also quite large, and there are also a large number of heavy artillery.

This regime is now full of vitality.

In theory, the defense line of Beizhili should have deployed 100,000 Ming troops, but at this time, it was like paper.

In fact, in this time and space, both Emperor Wuxing and Emperor Hongguang attach great importance to the military. In terms of military strength alone, whether it is troops, equipment or combat effectiveness, it is even stronger than Chongzhen in the original time and space, even if it is not as good as the newly born Dashun , they would not lose so quickly. After all, they are the defensive side and have a natural advantage.

So what is missing from Mingting?
The morale of the military and the morale of the people.

Without pay, even the sergeants could not even eat enough, so they lost military morale; with cumbersome and exorbitant taxes, they lost the morale of the people.

Even the hearts of most of the landowners and gentry can no longer be saved. They are like the weeds in the wilderness, blown down by the wind called "shun".

At this time, no city was willing to hold on for the emperor, let alone the deadly battle under Baoding City last time. The soldiers were no longer willing to fight for the emperor.

But there are still many generals who are willing to die for the Ming Dynasty. They led their elite servants and fought fiercely until the last moment.

There were even generals who led their own soldiers to launch a desperate charge against the endless shun army when their troops had surrendered.

Many gentry and civil servants who were loyal to the Ming Dynasty committed suicide after the city fell and fell into enemy hands.

But this doesn't change the final outcome.

In December, when the snow was falling, the flag of Shunjun appeared again under the city of Beijing.

Zhu Yousong put on his battle armor again.

Standing at the top of the towering city of Beijing, staring at the majestic Shunjun below who looked like a ferocious beast, he murmured in a low voice:

"Emperor Taizu, please protect me and help me survive this disaster."

……

"Will it break?"

At this time, the whole world is paying attention to the situation in Northern Xinjiang. Even Zhang Xianzhong and Mu Tianbo, who were fighting fiercely in the southwest, had set their sights on the north.

This is a battle of orthodoxy.

Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, is a symbol of orthodoxy, and the Emperor Zhu Yousong of the Ming Dynasty is also a symbol of orthodoxy. Even though the world is broken at this time, it is still like this.

If Dashun can replace it, it will be the orthodoxy in the world, at least in the eyes of many old-fashioned people.

Wang Chongzu also knew this very well.

In the heavy snow, he led his troops and launched a fierce attack.

Amidst the roar of firearms, the soldiers shouted and began to charge, intending to use their flesh and blood to capture this city that had not fallen for three hundred years.

The carefully trained soldiers seemed so cheap at this moment.

(End of this chapter)