Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 22 Internal strife
In late April, Geng Zhongming, the Manchu Huaishun King, led his troops to Wuzhou, where he joined forces with Kong Youde, the Gongshun King, and Shang Kexi, the Zhishun King, with their target set on Guilin.

Geng Xianzhong, the Qing Dynasty's Guangxi governor, sent an envoy to Guilin in an attempt to persuade Qu Shisi to surrender.

Geng Xianzhong was also from Shaanxi, a member of the imperial family. Last year, he was an official of the Southern Ming Dynasty, serving as the governor of Guangxi. When the Qing army entered Guangxi, Geng Xianzhong surrendered and was appointed as the governor of Guangxi by the Qing Dynasty.

It has to be admitted that the Qing court was very good at "united front" and "talent". In order to lure civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty to surrender, they often offered official titles.

For example, there was a period of time in the early Qing Dynasty when Han officials were fighting over whether they had lost their virginity to the Dashun regime. The Qing court quickly ended the factional fighting and issued a policy: "Ming officials who had served in the Dashun regime will not be held accountable after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, and will be employed at the higher official position between the two dynasties."

For example, after the Manchus entered the Shanhai Pass, they appointed Feng Quan, a remnant of the eunuch party. Feng Quan had become a rat in the Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties, and was despised by the literati. However, in the Qing Dynasty, Feng Quan finally became the Grand Secretary of the Zhonghe Hall. You should know that the Grand Secretary of the Zhonghe Hall is the head of the Grand Secretary of all the halls, and there were only five in the Qing Dynasty for more than 200 years.

Feng Quan was a traitor who had already lost his integrity and was despised by the world, but he had no scruples and was willing to be a running dog of the Qing Dynasty.

Faced with Geng Xianzhong's inducement to surrender, Qu Shisi was of course unmoved and ordered his people to burn his books and execute his envoys.

A new war is about to begin.

However, sadly, just as the Qing army was about to launch a massive attack, another crisis occurred within the Ming army.

Wugang Duke Liu Chengyong led 3,000 troops and was stationed at Baishitan. On April 23, Liu Chengyong led his troops to knock on the gate and demanded to enter the city.

Liu's army had poor discipline, and Qu Shisi repeatedly refused to let him enter the city. But this time, Liu Chengyong brought an imperial edict from Emperor Yongli. The edict said that Liu Chengyong was loyal and brave, and asked Qu Shisi to coordinate with the generals to defend Guilin together.

Needless to say, Liu Tiegun controlled the government and forced Emperor Yongli to write this edict.

Qu Shisi knew that this was not a good idea, so he had to welcome Liu Chengyong into the city and station his 3,000 troops in the northern part of the city.

Unexpectedly, Liu Chengyong had no good intentions and started to make trouble as soon as he entered the city.

On the 25th, Liu's soldiers mutinied and looted the market. Jiao Lian sent troops to suppress the mutiny, and the two armies had friction, but both were restrained and no casualties occurred.

On the 27th, Liu Chengyong went even further and instigated the soldiers to go to the garrison to demand military pay.

More than 400 soldiers surrounded the garrison and forced Qu Shisi to supply military pay.

Qu Shisi had no choice but to search the treasury in the government office and found more than 400 gold coins. However, the soldiers were not enough and were in a state of commotion as before.

His wife Shao and concubine Jin Ji donated jewelry totaling more than 200 gold coins. But the soldiers still refused to give up.

Jiao Lian was furious when he heard the news, so he summoned the standard camp, prepared all the weapons, and went to the garrison to rescue.

Cen Danchu was a student of Qu Shisi. Worried about his teacher's safety, he led three teams to the garrison first.

Liu's army surrounded the palace very tightly, all wearing bright armor, obviously well prepared. There was no news from the palace, and the outside world was in doubt.

Cen Danchu led his troops to charge forward, intending to rush into the palace. He knew very well that Liu Chengyin and Chen Bangbo were not upright and would most likely surrender once the Qing army arrived.

People like this are capable of anything. Are these mutinous soldiers planning to kidnap those who have stayed behind? If anything happens to those who have stayed behind, Guilin will be in danger!
A deputy general of Liu Jun, who was tall and strong, wearing golden armor and had a burly figure, stopped Dan Chu and said, "Wu Gangbo sent someone to discuss matters with the elders. The matter involves confidential information. Outsiders are not allowed to enter!"

Being able to wear golden armor must have been given by the emperor. His identity must be extraordinary. He is most likely a close confidant of Liu Chengyin.

Danchu was young and full of vigor, but he was not afraid of him. He said angrily: "I am the disciple of the Lord. I need an urgent military report. I must see the Lord."

The deputy general took advantage of his youth and pushed Danchu away, saying, "I am the commander-in-chief, guarding the emperor, and I have been gifted with a golden armor and a precious sword. You are a young boy, how dare you speak rudely?" Danchu was furious, but because of his status, he pointed at his nose and said, "You besieged the garrison, which is a rebellion!"

The deputy general was enraged. He drew out his precious sword, pointed it at Danchu, and said, "You have offended your superior! You..."

Since the sword had been drawn, Danchu did not hesitate and drew out his long sword to fight with him.

In terms of practicality, holding a knife with both hands is much better than holding a sword with one hand. However, after three rounds, the general was hit by a knife.

"Ah!" He screamed and took a step back.

I thought it was just a fight between soldiers. This kind of thing is common in the army, as long as no one is killed, they can be reconciled later.

Therefore, the soldiers under the general had drawn their swords, but no one stepped forward.

Cen Danchu was like a ferocious monster, but he did not show mercy. He stepped forward to finish off the general, slitting his throat and shouting, "Brothers, Liu's army is plotting rebellion and intends to rob and kill the guards. Please kill them for the people!"

When the standard-bearers heard the news, they all drew their swords and attacked Liu Jun. The two armies fought with weapons, and there was a sea of ​​blood in front of the garrison.

After a short battle, Cen Danchu rushed into the garrison. Seeing that Qu Shisi was safe and sound, the master and his disciple hugged each other and cried bitterly.

Looking at the corpses scattered all over the mansion, Qu Shisi was filled with grief and anger, and said, "It's bad! Now I have offended Liu Chengyin! It's bad!"

Cen Danchu reminded him, "Teacher, Liu Chengyin has evil intentions and has always been good at preserving his strength. Liu Chengyong has done more harm than good in Guilin. He sent troops to besiege you, and his rebellious intentions are obvious. Please give us an order to kill the culprit and drive Liu's army out of Guilin!"

Soon, Jiao Lian arrived at the mansion. After a brief discussion, the three decided to expel Liu Chengyong even at the cost of internal strife.

Jiao Lian acted straightforwardly, and did not leave the order behind, but resolutely ordered the attack. The soldiers could not only eliminate harm for the people, but also rob Liu Chengyong's army of baggage and money, so they naturally fought bravely.

Liu Chengyong was defeated and retreated from Guilin, plundering the enemy.

Liu Chengyin was furious when he heard the news. He did not stop and even lied that Guilin had fallen and took Emperor Yongli and his ministers to Wugang.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Chengyin promoted Wugang Prefecture to Fengtian Prefecture, and issued his own imperial decrees. The cabinet's draft was first presented to Liu Chengyin and then to Emperor Yongli. From then on, all military and national affairs were decided by Liu Chengyin.

On May 12, Fengtian Xingzai sent two imperial edicts.

The first letter was written in a stern tone, accusing Jiao Lian of being domineering and disloyal, and ordered Jiao Lian to be transferred to Huangsha Town in Quanzhou, and to immediately move out after receiving the order.

The second letter was written in a calm tone, accusing Qu Shisi of being incompetent in commanding his generals, which led to internal strife among the defenders of Guilin. It ordered him to make up for his crime and to discuss all military matters with the eunuch Pang Tianshou.

Knowing that the imperial edict came from Liu Chengyin, Qu Shisi and Jiao Lian were helpless.

During the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court held on to military power very tightly, and there was no such thing as "a general is not bound by the emperor's orders when he is away from the court."

Since the migration to the south, it has been common for military generals to be arrogant and disobey the imperial order. However, Qu and Jiao considered themselves loyal ministers and were unwilling to disobey the imperial order.

Finally, Cen Danchu offered a suggestion: "The Qing invaders are getting closer and closer, and our army must not leave Guilin lightly. It is better to lead part of the army out of the city first to deal with the spies of the Tianshi officer and Liu Chengyin, and then stay in Baishitan under the pretext of something. In this way, we can take into account the face of the court without endangering the overall situation."

After thinking about it, this is the only way.

(End of this chapter)