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

Chapter 228: Eliminating Traitors for the Country
In November, the news of Chen Bangfu's false title of King of Qin was leaked, causing an uproar in the court and the country.

It turned out that the Red Army occupied Nanning and Hengzhou, threatening Chen Bangfu's base in Xunzhou. In order to fight against the Red Army, Chen Bangfu contacted the Zhongzheng Camp and the Dashi Army successively, hoping to attract them for support.

Yang Weizhi went to Zhaoqing as an envoy to ask for the title of King of Qin for Sun Kewang, but Emperor Yongli refused and only gave Sun Kewang the title of "Duke of Jingguo".

Cen Danchu stopped Yang Weizhi in Zhaoping, contacted Du Yinxi, and named Sun Kewang as "King of Ping Liao". Later, Du Yinxi presented this matter to Emperor Yongli, who approved it.

Chen Bangfu, however, was so crazy that he teamed up with the commander of the Central Army, Hu Zhigong, to use a blank imperial edict to confer the title of "King of Qin" on Sun Kewang. Hu Zhigong was the messenger who delivered the seal of the King of Qin to Kunming before Yang Wei knew about it.

In order to curry favor with Sun Kewang, Chen Bangfu and Hu Zhigong wrote a long letter on the imperial edict of the King of Qin. The words were obscene and inappropriate. They said: "I lead the subjects of the world to serve the king as fathers and teachers", "I honor him as regent", "I grant him the nine gifts", "I promote him to be the chief minister of the court", "I am in charge of the military and civilian officers, soldiers, money and food of the world, I am in charge of expeditions to all directions, I act as the Grand Marshal, all dukes and ministers below are my subjects, I can act according to your orders, and I don't have to report to the court"...

He also cast the "Treasure of the King of Qin" out of silver, plated it with gold, and ordered Hu Zhigong to deliver it to Kunming.

Sun Kewang was very satisfied with the imperial edict and the "Treasure of the King of Qin" sent by Hu Zhigong. He personally went to the suburbs to welcome the envoy and held a grand ceremony.

According to historical records, Sun Kewang "audaciously accepted the ceremony of a subject, first kowtowed five times, then danced and expressed his loyalty. After receiving the title from the King of Qin, he led his three sworn brothers and soldiers from three armies to shout "Long live the King of Qin". Then the King of Qin ascended the throne and accepted the congratulations from his three sworn brothers and soldiers from three armies."

He also ordered people to copy the imperial edict into yellow and announce it to all parts of Yunnan, allowing the military and civilians to "celebrate for three days."

However, not long after, the envoy Yang Weizhi and others returned to Kunming and brought with them an imperial edict and a silver seal conferring the title of "King of Ping Liao" on Sun Kewang.

Sun Kewang woke up from his dream and realized that the title of King of Qin was fake. Yang Weizhi rebuked Hu Zhigong, but Hu Zhigong argued that the seal of King Ping Liao was also fake, and the title conferred by the court was only Duke of Jing.

It was such a disgrace! The affairs of the Qin King were known to all the soldiers and civilians in Yunnan. At this time, the court wanted to demote Sun Kewang to a second-level king. One can imagine how embarrassed he was.

Sun Kewang was so angry that he said, "I became an emperor and a king by myself. Why should I rely on others? If I change my status, I will only be laughed at by others."

He put Yang Weizhi and Hu Zhigong into prison, and sent a letter to the court, saying, "On a certain day, I received an imperial edict to confer the title of King of Qin on me, and on a certain day, I received an imperial edict to confer the title of King of Pingliao on me, and I don't know what to do."

However, Sun Kewang still had hope for the imperial court and sent two copies of the imperial edict to the court, stating that the title of King of Qin was a fact that could not be changed, and asked the court to truly confer the title of King of Qin.

Needless to say, the court was opposed again. The chief minister Yan Qiheng, the minister of the Ministry of Revenue Wu Zhenyu, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War Yang Dinghe and other important officials all clearly opposed the real title. The commander Qu Shisi even wrote a letter to the court, saying that Hu Zhigong's fake title was just a personal act and not the intention of Chen Bangfu.

In order to guard against the Dashi Army, the imperial court conferred titles on the warlords in Guizhou, "Pi Xiong of Qianzhen was conferred the title of Duke Kuang, and Wang Xiang of Bozhen was conferred the title of Duke Zhong, in order to guard against the invaders from Yunnan."

……

When the news reached Nanning, the army and civilians were outraged. Chen Bangfu shot himself in the foot. Not only did he fail to curry favor with Sun Kewang, but he also created a great grudge. What was even more serious was that the relationship between the imperial court and the Dashi Army became even more tense, and they were like water and fire.

Danchu had long wanted to seize Xunzhou, and now that he had a legitimate reason to do so, it was a godsend opportunity. He immediately wrote to the court, impeaching Chen Bangfu for treason and undermining the overall situation, and volunteered to attack Chen Bangfu.

Without waiting for a reply from the imperial court, Danchu assembled a large army, issued a manifesto to fight against the rebels, and launched an attack with the slogan of "eliminating the traitors for the country".

Danchu dispatched more than 10,000 troops from the Navy, the Imperial Guard, the First Infantry, and the Auxiliary Infantry to attack eastward from Hengzhou as the main attack direction. The Third Infantry advanced westward from Wutunso as the auxiliary attack direction.

On November 20, the Red Army's Western Route Army entered Guixian County, Xunzhou Prefecture, and approached Watang Ferry.

As the name suggests, Watangdu is a ferry and a commercial port. It is located to the north of Xunjiang River and to the south of Yaji Mountain, making it a very strategic location. Chen's army used Watangdu as the front line of defense, set up giant rafts on the river, deployed artillery, and set up four camps on Yaji Mountain to prevent the Red Army from moving eastward.

Although the Red Army was confident of capturing Watangdu, Chen's army had tight defenses, and the Red Army could not easily capture Watangdu without suffering some casualties. This is how an offensive battle works, the defenders have the advantage of the terrain.

Before the Red Army began to attack Watangdu, a group of bandits came to surrender. They were originally tenants of Gui County and were willing to offer advice to defeat the bandits.

After investigation, the Intelligence Bureau found it feasible and reported it to Danchu. Considering the uprisings in the country, Danchu became interested and ordered to summon him.

"General, I was originally a tenant in your county. Because the officials forced me to rebel, I went to Yaji Mountain and became a bandit. Today I came to see you, General, and I would like to offer you a strategy to defeat the bandits."

The bandit leader was a middle-aged man in his early thirties with dark skin. He spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly and seemed to have an extraordinary background.

After being seated, Danchu asked, "Xunzhou has hundreds of miles of fertile land and is known as a rich place in Guangxi. Why can't the people here survive?"

He did not deliberately put on airs, but he had a sense of majesty that made visitors feel afraid.

"Replying to Marshal Jue, Guangxi has been in war for years, and the government has exploited people too much. Even if the crops are good, the people still can't get enough to eat."

"Well," Danchu did not ask about the strategy to defeat the enemy, but instead asked: "When did you become a bandit?"

"March of the year before last."

It was March of the year before last, which was March of the first year of the Yongli reign.

At that time, Danchu was still a boy soldier. He followed Jiao Lian to rescue Guilin and captured the flag and killed the general outside the city, making a big splash. The Qing army had just entered Guangxi, and there were uprisings everywhere. The Ming army was busy and exhausted. Fortunately, Jiao Lian won a great victory in Guilin and Chen Bangfu defeated the Qing army in Guixian, so the Ming army was able to stabilize its position.

It is not difficult to guess that this man must have participated in the Tenant Rebellion at that time, and perhaps was even a leader. After the Qing army retreated, the Ming army hunted down the Tenant Rebellion leader, and he had no choice but to become a bandit.

"Why did you participate in the uprising at that time?"

This sudden question made him feel awed and he thought that Dan Chu was truly omniscient and omnipotent.

Danchu smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, just tell the truth. We, the Red Army, are determined to benefit the people and be friendly with them, and we will not make things difficult for you."

"At that time, I thought that the arrival of the Tartars would make the lives of the tenant farmers better, so everyone rose up in rebellion."

"No, no." Danchu said, "If the Tartars come, the people's life will only become more miserable."

When the Qing army marched south, civil unrest broke out in various provinces. There were uprisings by tenants in the countryside and uprisings by slaves in the towns. All of them were because the tenants and slaves could not bear the oppression and took the opportunity to rebel. Especially in the wealthy provinces such as Jiangnan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang, the uprisings by tenants and slaves were more serious.

It was originally thought that the lives of tenants and slaves would be greatly improved after the change of dynasty. However, after the Qing army entered the pass, it tried its best to protect the interests of the landlords, and gained the support of the landlords, and brutally suppressed the tenant and slave rebellions in various places.

"The Red Army requires tenants to pay taxes, only 50% of the land rent, and no additional labor service. The tenants in Nanning and Hengzhou can have no worries about food and clothing, and the tenants in Xunzhou also warmly welcome the Red Army. We are also willing to serve the commander and kill the traitor Chen Bangfu."

The reputation of the Red Army had spread, and the people of Xunzhou also hoped that the Red Army would arrive soon to improve their lives. Danchu was very happy and said, "Very good, very good. When our army conquers Xunzhou, we will definitely let the people of Xunzhou live a good life."

(End of this chapter)