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

Chapter 279: Unyielding
At 3:00 p.m., Wang Hao and Chen Xixian, generals of the Qing army, met Kong Youde.

Kong Youde sat in the hall and asked knowingly, "Who is Mr. Wang, the Minister of Imperial Households?"

Wang Hao straightened his clothes, looked calm, and said, "I am."

Kong Youde was still very polite to the civil officials and ordered them to sit. But Wang Hao did not appreciate it at all and said, "I am not used to sitting with barbarians. I just want to die when the city falls."

Kong Youde smiled and looked at the general Chen Xixian who had taken off his armor and put on his military uniform, and asked, "Who are you?"

Chen Xixian looked arrogant and said, "I am Chen, the commander-in-chief of the central army of Qu Ge's army, the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty."

Quan Jie stood by and ordered Chen Xixian to kneel down.

Chen Xixian glared and shouted, "Aren't you a servant of General Mao? You have been appointed by the imperial court and hold a third-rank official position. Now the country is about to fall. I thought you would have been dead a long time ago, but are you still alive? Or maybe I have seen a ghost. And who will kneel for you, the one holding the urinal?"

Kong Youde put down the teacup in his hand, suppressed his anger, and said: "I am the descendant of Confucius."

The military officer had a bad temper, and Chen Xixian was even more jealous of evil. He cursed, "You think you are a dog or a sheep. You insult the ancient sages and deserve death. The Genealogy of Confucius does not include your name, and the Confucius family in Qufu refuses to allow you to enter the Confucius Temple and Confucius Forest. Why are you so shameless here?"

Kong Youde was born in a humble family and was originally a miner in Tieling, western Liaoning. After becoming rich, he tried his best to curry favor with others and pretended to be a descendant of Confucius. When he passed through Shandong, he went to Qufu to worship Confucius. The Kong clan members closed the door and refused to let Kong Youde visit the Confucius Temple and Confucius Forest. They also scolded Kong Youde in person for pretending to be a descendant of the saint.

Chen Xixian cursed with great pleasure, and Kong Youde was furious. Quanjie ordered the soldiers to beat Chen Xixian down, breaking his right arm and causing one of his eyes to pop out.

"Traitor, kill me now! A national hero cannot be humiliated!" Chen Xixian remained steadfast and unyielding, and refused to give in.

Quanjie was a reckless man and wanted to beat Chen Xixian to death on the spot. Kong Youde knew that he could not yield, so he ordered his men to stuff a wooden ball into Chen Xixian's mouth and drag him out.

Wang Hao looked very sad, with no intention of begging for mercy.

Kong Youde had seen many such scholars. They were well-read in the poetry and books of sages and always prided themselves on their integrity. Whenever disaster struck and weapons were used, they would reveal their true colors and compete to beg for mercy. Back then, Hong Chengchou was in a high position and had over 100,000 troops under his command. Once he was defeated and captured, he went on a hunger strike and wrote suicide poems at first, but in the end, didn't he surrender obediently?

Chen Xixian was a warrior, accustomed to bloodshed, and might not give in. Wang Hao was the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, and if he was made aware of the pros and cons, he might be persuaded to surrender.

The Ming Dynasty royal family was extravagant and the palace expenses were huge. Emperor Chongzhen was known for his frugality, but he had more than 9000 palace maids and 40 eunuchs, and spent more than taels of silver on cosmetics every year.

The Guanglu Temple was in charge of the palace's food and sacrifices, and its scale was even more astonishing. During the Xuanzong period, the Ming Dynasty was strong, and the Guanglu Temple had the most chefs, reaching 6884. After Jiajing, the Ming Dynasty gradually declined, and the number of chefs in the Guanglu Temple decreased year by year, with the lowest number of 3400, "permanently fixed".

Now it was the Southern Ming Dynasty, and the Guanglu Temple Minister had become a sinecure. Seeing Wang Hao's helpless appearance, Kong Youde guessed that he had little fighting spirit and would surrender if he was won over.

The Guanglu Temple Minister was at least one of the Nine Minor Ministers. With Wang Hao's surrender, it would be easy for Kong Youde to persuade other officials and gentry to surrender.

He pondered for a moment, then said to Wang Hao, "At the age of twenty, I started an army on the sea, and within a few years, I was crowned the King of the South. Later, I became a general of the Qing Dynasty, was given the title of King, was given food and clothing, and was in charge of the affairs of the South. I became rich and powerful like this.

"You surrender today, and you will surrender tomorrow. As the saying goes, 'He who knows the current affairs is a hero.' The Qing Dynasty entered the pass in Jiashen, and unified the north and the south in five years. Recently, Nanjing was captured, the Hongguang period did not last, and Longwu took over Fujian, all of which were useless. The meaning of the weather and human affairs can be understood.

"Today, the country has been destroyed and the king has died. Who can help? After a certain great sage, the sages have always given people power. In the past, Wei Zi left King Zhou and Guan Zhong served King Huan. Later, they were granted the title of Duke of Song and the title of Lord of Qi. The sages once called them benevolent people.

"You read books and understand the truth, how can you be ignorant of it? If you can turn misfortune into fortune and create extraordinary things, you will be able to do things clearly and not worry about wealth and honor. If you waste your life on the grass and the fields, who will know about it?"

Wang Hao laughed loudly and said, "You are a soldier in this dynasty, and you hold a high position. You cannot die in front of the temple gate if you advance, nor can you return home after retirement. You should live in obscurity and still deceive men in the world with your talk about outstanding people and current affairs?
"In the past, Shaokang restored the army in the first year of his reign, and the revival was in the 18th year of Emperor Guangwu's reign. The time and human affairs were unknown. The Du Ge army was loyal to the country, and General Cen was ready to fight at any time. They were all willing to do their best to clear the Central Plains.

"Now I am trapped in the enemy camp, my ambitions and integrity have been lost, I feel so sad that I have failed my country. I am willing to be cut, sawed, boiled, and killed, and I cannot redeem myself. Do you still want to be ashamed to chase after the smell of stench? Moreover, you claim to be the descendant of a great sage, do you know the sage's family rules? "Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals, strictly punishing rebels and bandits, and guarding against the barbarians. You are a man, you are not afraid to submit to the northern barbarians, you are willing to be a hawk and dog, plundering my country, killing my people, so-called traitors, everyone has the right to punish them.

"What you have done is an insult to the ancient sages. You deserve death. Can you still rely on Weizi and Guanzhong to persuade you? If the matter fails, I will die for my loyalty. You should stop talking and stop."

Kong Youde felt extremely ashamed, but still refused to give up. He ordered the two men to be imprisoned and treated well.

Quan Jie was filled with indignation and said, "Your Majesty, these two men are stubborn. They cannot surrender to us, and keeping them alive will only bring trouble. Why don't you kill them with a single blow?"

"Haha," Kong Youde did not comment, took a sip of tea first, and said slowly: "This time I entered western Guangdong, the court allowed me to open a government in western Guangdong, just like the Mu family in Yunnan. You and I, including our descendants of Dingnan, will be stationed in western Guangdong for a long time in the future. If we can't win the hearts of the Guangdong people, how can we stay in western Guangdong for a long time?"

In the early Ming Dynasty, Mu Ying was the adopted son of Emperor Taizu and led his army to pacify Yunnan. The descendants of the Mu family guarded Yunnan for nearly three hundred years, annexed 30% of Yunnan's farmland, enjoyed great wealth and glory, and enjoyed high prestige among the soldiers and civilians in Yunnan and Guizhou.

When the Dashi Army entered Yunnan, they pretended to be the armed forces of Mu Tianbo's wife Jiao's family, coming to Yunnan to avenge Mu. "The people of Yunnan and Guizhou believed it deeply, and spread the news along the way, so wherever the bandits came, they all opened the gates and surrendered. They marched forward without any obstruction."

In order to drive the Three Feudatories to work for him, Dorgon promised that after the success, he would allow the Three Feudatories to set up governments in Guangdong and Liangyue.

Kong Youde was anxious about this, and so was Quanjie? He suddenly realized and said, "Your Majesty is far-sighted and has a long-term vision, but you can't be too cautious."

As the vassal state was stationed in western Guangdong, the two naturally talked about their families. Kong Youde looked worried and said, "The vassal army moved too quickly, and too many southern soldiers surrendered, so we were running out of food and grass. I wrote to Shen Yongzhong to ask for food and grass, but Shen Yongzhong not only refused to give it to me, but also reported it to the court and bit me back. I will avenge this."

Shen Yongzhong, the Duke of Xushun, was a descendant of Shen Shikui, the general of Dongjiang Town. Since the death of Mao Wenlong, Dongjiang Town has been plagued by internal strife. Although Shen Shikui was born a businessman, he was quite loyal. In the seventh year of Chongzhen, he led his army to land on the Yalu River, and made a long-distance attack on the old capital of the Later Jin Dynasty, Hetuala, and broke through Suguli Village, gaining a lot of gains.

In the tenth year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji forced the Korean navy to help in the war and besieged Pi Island with an absolutely superior force. The three Shun kings Kong Youde, Shang Kexi, and Geng Zhongming all joined the battle to besiege their former comrades.

Shen Shikui led his troops to resist fiercely, killing many of the Later Jin generals. Manchu generals Wuerge, Namida, Bayartu, Bingtu, Baiyintaizhu, Zhusan, Zhangjitai, Hujun Canling Hushi, Yunqiwei Guoke were all killed in the battle, and Kong Youde's general Hong Wenkui and others also died in this battle.

Eventually, the Dongjiang army ran out of ammunition and Shen Shikui was captured and died unyielding. All the men on the island were killed, except those who were on good terms with the Three Shun Kings. Shen Yongzhong's uncle, Shen Zhixiang, fled to Shicheng Island, gathered the defeated soldiers, and later surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and was named Duke Xushun.

This time, the three kings were ordered to conquer Guangdong and Guangdong. Shen Yongzhong led his troops to guard Hunan and protect the safety of Dingnan Fanjun. Hunan had been in ruins for many years due to war. Shen Yongzhong commanded 15,000 troops and could barely provide for himself. He had no spare energy to support Kong Youde.

Kong Youde was short of food, so he had to let his troops plunder. Shen Yongzhong was unwilling to provide food and grass, and he also reported the matter of Dingnan's vassal army looting to the Qing court, which was very unkind.

"Hunan is in ruins, and our army's families are all in Hengzhou, Yongzhou, and Quanzhou. It is inconvenient to rely on Shen Yongzhong for everything." Quanjie suggested: "Guilin has been stabilized, so why not move the families to Guilin to boost the morale of the entire army."

"That's the only way." Kong Youde agreed, and everyone was happy.

The next day, Kong Youde sent Wang Sanyuan, the governor of Guangxi Province, and Peng Kuang, the governor of Cangwu Province, to the prison to persuade him to surrender, and provided them with wine and meat.

Wang Hao and Chen Xixian lived in the same prison, so they could keep in touch with each other. Chen Xixian kicked over the wine and food and said, "This is dog and pig food, why do you want to pollute my eyes?"

Wang Sanyuan was a student of Qu Shisi. Seeing that the two men refused to yield, he advised them, "The rise and fall of a country has happened in every dynasty. Life is like morning dew. Why torture yourselves like this? Since you two are unyielding, you can shave your heads and become monks, and then you will attain enlightenment."

Wang Hao sighed and said, "Monk is another name for a surrendered minister. I will not do it if my hair is short and my life is long. Moreover, Buddha is a saint, and saints are the highest level of human relations. If you don't know human relations, how can you be enlightened?"

Wang Sanyuan and Peng Kuang were filled with shame and dismay, and dared not speak any more, and fled away like rats.

(End of this chapter)