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

Chapter 309: Using the Han to Control the Han
After Zhang Cunren was assassinated, the Qing army immediately launched a large-scale search in Guangzhou, but found nothing and did not catch Li Erlong's accomplice. At night, many anonymous posters appeared on the streets of Guangzhou. Some offered a reward for Zhang Cunren's head, asking for eight silver coins, while others praised Li Erlong and claimed that soon, 100,000 soldiers would besiege Guangzhou...

The Qing army had just conquered Guangzhou, and the people were still unsettled when this assassination happened. Zhang Cunren was so frightened that he couldn't sleep all night and looked much older.

Geng Jimao was in charge of the defense and security of Guangzhou City and was trying to restore his title. If Zhang Cunren was involved, wouldn't it be a waste of time? Therefore, he advocated killing people to intimidate the people. By the way, the feudal army could also take the opportunity to rob and boost morale.

Geng Jimao had experienced Zhang Cunren's methods. Two years ago, Geng Jimao's father, Geng Zhongming, was reported by the Manchu guards for harboring fugitives and was forced to hang himself in Ji'an, Jiangxi. The mastermind behind this was Zhang Cunren.

Knowing that Geng Jimao was trying to please him, Zhang Cunren ordered that martial law should not be imposed and that the people of the town should not be robbed, so as not to lose the support of the people.

Guangzhou has a population of one million, but the Eight Banners in and outside the city are less than 20,000. Including the Green Camp and the newly surrendered troops from all over the country, the total number is less than 100,000. If they lose the support of the people, when the Red Army arrives, the Qing army will repeat the mistakes of Dingnan.

The next day, Zhang Cunren put on his armor and inspected the camps despite his discomfort. The Qing soldiers were relieved to see that he was safe and sound.

On the 22nd, Zhang Cunren called a meeting of all the generals. He had been planning this meeting for a long time and sent a notice to all the towns in advance, requiring all civil officials above the third rank in Guangxi and military generals above the rank of general in various places to attend the meeting.

At the hour of Si, civil and military officials gathered inside and outside the lobby of the Governor-General's Mansion.

Zhang Cunren sat in the seat of honor in the hall, with four senior officials sitting on his left and right. In order of seniority, they were Shang Kexi, King of Pingnan, Bashan, General of Jingnan, Geng Jimao, Ashikahafan, and Li Qifeng, Governor of Guangdong.

The people below five were the Guangdong Provincial Governor, military officers above the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the Eight Banners of Manchu and Mongolian, and military officers above the rank of Deputy General of the Eight Banners of Han. These people had no chairs to sit on, so they all stood in the hall.

There were even more people outside the lobby, and there were no chairs to sit on. They included military officers above the rank of Green Camp general and military officers above the rank of deputy governor of the surrendered army of the Ming Dynasty.

The middle officer finished the roll call and reported to Zhang Cunren: "General, except for Chaozhou General Hao Shangjiu, all the others have arrived."

Hao Shangjiu was a former subordinate of Dongxun and was named Xintai Bo by Emperor Yongli. He wrote to Zhang Cunren, claiming that Liu Gongxian of Jieyang was causing chaos with his "Nine Armies" and that he wanted to stay in Chaozhou to quell the rebellion.

Chaozhou is adjacent to Fujian, with rich grain production and a strategic location. Shang Kexi intended to depose Hao Shangjiu and appoint Liu Bolu, the deputy general of Nangan, to guard Chaozhou. He said to Zhang Cunren: "Wanzhen, Hao Shangjiu is fickle and refuses to attend the meeting, which shows that he is unruly."

The Red Army attacked and occupied Yanguan and Zhenxiaguan, and closed the gates to Dingnan. Shang Kexi was deeply moved and tried every means to find a way to retreat.

Although Guangdong had access to the sea, the Qing navy was not dominant. If they were defeated, they would not be able to retreat by sea. The main land route to the outside world was Meiguan on Da'an Mountain, which led to Nan'an Prefecture in Jiangxi.

If Chaozhou is in hand, the Qing army will have an extra guarantee. In the future, if there is an emergency, they can retreat to Fujian via Chaozhou.

Shang Kexi's official position was lower than Zhang Cunren's, and his qualifications were not as good as Zhang Cunren's. Although he was a prince, Zhang Cunren did not need to care about his opinion. He said: "The army has just conquered Guangzhou, so we should focus on stabilizing it. We should still use both kindness and force on Hao Shangjiu, and not push him too hard, lest he jump off the wall in desperation." Bashan echoed: "Our army's primary enemy is the Red Bandits, and the most urgent task is to recover western Guangdong. As for Hao Shangjiu in Chaozhou, we should still focus on appeasing him. As long as our army defeats the Red Bandits, Hao Shangjiu will naturally be honest."

Zhang Cunren is a shrewd man, not as optimistic as Bashan. The assassination attempt he encountered before shows that the people in Guangdong and Guangxi are tough and unruly. The people in eastern Guangdong are rich, and the people are weak. The people in western Guangdong are poor, and the Lu soldiers and Yao and Dong are good at fighting and are well-known. Li Erlong dared to assassinate in broad daylight, wouldn't western Guangdong be even more difficult?
Although he had never fought against the Red Army, he was shocked by the anonymous post and knew that the Red Army was ready. The Qing army had nearly 100,000 troops around Guangzhou, and including troops from other places, the total number was no less than 150,000 or 160,000. But there were a large number of surrendered soldiers and capricious people like Hao Shangjiu.

The only Qing troops who were truly capable of fighting were the 20,000 men from the Pingnan and Jingnan fiefdoms, the more than 1,000 men from the Eight Banners of Manchuria under Bashan, the 5,000 men from the Jiangnan Green Camp, and an additional 20,000 men from the Green Camp in Jiangxi, Fujian, Henan and other places.

Not to mention the counterattack in western Guangdong, there were many Ming troops around Guangzhou who refused to surrender. Du Yonghe, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi during the Ming Dynasty, led his troops to flee to Qiongzhou with a considerable force; General Wang Xing, the Tiger Guard, was stationed in Wencun, which was very close to Guangzhou...

Zhang Cunren did not dare to show the slightest pessimism in front of the generals, so he collected his thoughts and said in a deep voice: "Please give me your instructions."

He immediately got up from his seat and knelt, followed by the rest of the people, who knelt in a mass. A shrimp guard flashed out from the side room, took out two bright yellow imperial edicts, and read them aloud.

The first imperial edict was to reward officials of all ranks. For their contributions in conquering Guangzhou, everyone from Zhang Cunren to the minor generals received rewards. Zhang Cunren was given the title of Prince Taibao. Shang Kexi was given the title of Prince of a County, and the next title he could only be given was Prince. His eldest son Shang Zhixin was promoted to the third-class Ashanihafan and Tuoshalahafan (first-class male and Cloud Cavalry Captain). Bashan was promoted to the second-class Ashanihafan (second-class male). Geng Jimao was promoted to the first-class Jingqinihafan and Tuoshalahafan (first-class son and Cloud Cavalry Captain).

In the early Qing Dynasty, the official system was chaotic, and official positions and titles were confused. During the reign of Huang Taiji, in order to distinguish between hereditary titles and official positions, hereditary titles were renamed in Manchu. For example, the first-class general officer was renamed the first-class Angbang Zhangjing, but the official position and title were still confused. In the early years of Shunzhi, Dorgon was in power. In order to completely distinguish between official positions and titles, Angbang Zhangjing was renamed Jingqinihafan. During the reign of Qianlong, the degree of sinicization of Manchuria deepened, and there were not many people who could learn the national language and ride and shoot. Qianlong simply changed the Manchu hereditary titles to Chinese names and designated Jingqinihafan as viscount.

The generals present were delighted, exchanging glances and secretly rejoicing. This time, Shunzhi was quite generous in rewarding the generals in order to win over the army. The imperial edict specifically hinted to Geng Jimao that after the recovery of eastern Guangdong, he would inherit the title of King of Jingnan.

The second imperial edict was equally inspiring. It turned out that Zhang Cunren and Hong Chengchou had jointly submitted a memorial to the Qing court, requesting "the selection of capable generals and soldiers to suppress and pacify the rebellion effectively." The two suggested selecting 40,000 elite green camp troops from Shaanxi (including Guyuan and Ningxia), Shanxi, Liaodong, Henan, and Gansu, and distributing them to Zhang Cunren and Hong Chengchou's army.

The Qing court could not mobilize so many elite troops, so it expanded the selection scope to include the capital, Liaodong, Zhili, Xuanda, Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan, Jiangnan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian and other provinces, not limited to the Green Camp. The number was also greatly reduced, reduced to 24,000. In order to appease Zhang Cunren and Hong Chengchou, the Qing court also emphasized that "the weak troops in the north of Zhili, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang should not be mixed in."

According to the imperial edict, the generals transferred to the frontline by the Manchus included Zhang Dayuan, Wang Fuchen, Li Benshen and Liu Zhong under the Zhenghuang Banner, Liu Fangming, Gao Di, Hu Maozhen, deputy generals Wang Ping, Gao Qian, Gao Wanli, Zhang Pengcheng, Li Rong, Zhang Hongde, Zhang Guoxun, Liu Yingjie and Fan Shaozu, etc. There was even "Bai Guangen, a substitute official under the Zhenghuang Banner, was too old and sick to lead the troops, so he followed the army to serve as an example of appeasement".

These generals were mostly former members of the Ming and Dashun armies who surrendered after the Qing army entered the pass, such as Li Benshen, who was originally a general under Gao Jie, and Liu Zhong, who was once named the Earl of Pingnan by Li Zicheng.

The Eight Banners were mainly Manchurian, followed by Chahar Mongols, and then Han troops, and the Han troops were mainly Liaodong generals. From this troop transfer, it is not difficult to see that the Qing court could no longer draw the Eight Banners as the main force in the decisive battle as it did at the beginning of entering the Pass, and had to strengthen the strategy of using Han to control Han. Even the trusted Liaodong generals were unable to handle the heavy responsibility. The Qing court could only draw Green Camp soldiers from various places, and could only draw more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, and dispatch them in two directions, which was simply a drop in the bucket.

Despite this, the generals were still delighted. Many of the people mentioned, such as Wang Fuchen and Liu Fangming, were famous generals who were brave and good at fighting. It was undoubtedly a good thing for the Qing court to transfer them to the front line to fight.

(End of this chapter)