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

Chapter 31: Surprise Attack on Limuling

At the hour of Xu, torches were everywhere on Limuling, like stars, lighting up the mountain road brightly.

The Qing army was defeated during the day, and thousands of defeated soldiers crowded at Limuling, waiting to be interrogated. He Guoju brought two Yao people with him, wearing Qing army uniforms, and mixed in with the defeated soldiers.

After waiting in line for a long time, it was finally Ho Kwok-kui's turn. It was his first time as a spy, so he was a little nervous.

From time to time, voices begging for mercy and screams were heard nearby. The Qing army was checking suspicious deserters, and would kill them on the spot if they had any disagreements.

An officer who looked like a captain, speaking with a Liaodong accent, shouted impatiently, "Waist badge!"

He Guoju took out his badge and handed it to the captain.

There was no problem with the badge, and the captain ordered again: "Take off your hat!"

In addition to the Eight Banners, the Qing army's regular army was the Green Camp, which was mostly reorganized from surrendered Ming troops. Because they used green flags, they were called the Green Camp.

He Guoju and others pretended to be soldiers of the Green Camp, wearing straw hats. He took off the straw hat, and his hair caught the attention of Qianzong: it was short hair, and he seemed to be a Yao people.

The Qing army divided the Ming army into short-hair and long-hair. As the name suggests, the long-hair ones had long hair and kept it for a long time. They persisted in resisting the Qing for many years and were often more powerful. The short-hair ones had only cut their braids and kept their hair for a short time, so their combat effectiveness was often relatively weaker.

The Qing Dynasty's hair-shaving order was extremely brutal, "keep the head but not the hair, keep the hair but not the head", which aroused fierce resistance from the Han people. In order to suppress the Han people's will to resist, the Qing army not only massacred the city, but also searched and killed people who kept their hair on a large scale.

In troubled times, people's lives were worthless. When the Qing army came, they had to shave their heads. When the Ming army came, they had to cut their braids and keep their hair. Otherwise, the army would kill and rob people with the wrong hairstyles in the name of treason.

There were many short-haired people in the Qing army led by Kong Youde. After entering Guangxi, many Yao native soldiers followed. When Qianzong saw that He Guoju had short hair, like a Yao, he noticed it but was not surprised. He just said coldly: "Short-haired people, go to the right."

On the right stood a large group of soldiers, interrogating the short-haired soldiers. With a powerful enemy at hand, the Qing army was on high alert, and those who could not identify their identities were all treated as spies and killed on the spot.

If it goes to the right, it will be dangerous. He Guoju came prepared, and hurriedly took out the silver seal from his waist and said, "General, I am definitely not a spy, I have a treasure to present to you."

Upon hearing that there was a treasure, the captain's eyes lit up. He took it and took a look, and found that it was the silver seal of the Guangxi Provincial Governor.

The Inspector-General was a unique official system in the Ming Dynasty. Like the governor, he inspected local areas on behalf of the court and later gradually became a permanent official.

The Inspector-General was only of the seventh rank, but was authorized by the emperor and had great powers, allowing him to investigate all local affairs.

The official system of the Ming Dynasty was cleverly designed. In order to check and balance the ministers, many posts of low rank but heavy power were set up, such as the Imperial Inspectors in the outside world and the Six Departments' Secretaries in the inside world.

Such low-ranking but powerful positions are often filled by young up-and-coming officials who are new to the officialdom. Young officials are energetic and motivated, and are also willing to serve as inspectors, six-department secretaries, and other officials.

The Ming Dynasty often employed people in an unconventional way, and there were many cases of people being promoted directly from a seventh-rank inspector to a second- or third-rank official. For example, Yu Qian, the "prime minister who saved the time" in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, was promoted from the inspector of Jiangxi to the vice minister of the Ministry of War.

The 13 provincial inspectors served for only one year. Young inspectors often cherished their one-year term, were enterprising and courageous in correcting and criticizing illegal activities.

However, everything is too much or too little. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the authority of the inspectors even surpassed that of the governors. The Ming History states: "Since the time of the Temple, the inspectors have generally been able to show that the governors were wronged and the inspectors were able to show that they were right. Therefore, the officials feared the inspectors more than the governors."

The Manchu Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming system and also established inspectors in the early Qing Dynasty. However, the Manchu Qing Dynasty mostly selected governors and governors-general from the Eight Banners. These governors and governors-general were arrogant and lawless, and often abused and killed inspectors. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the Manchu Qing Dynasty simply abolished the post of inspectors and censors. The officialdom was completely based on seniority, and the literary inquisition was rampant in culture. From then on, the officialdom was dark, the literati were silenced, and the country inevitably went into decline.

However, Qianzong was overjoyed when he saw the silver seal of the Guangxi Provincial Governor. It was the first year of the Yongli reign and the fourth year of the Shunzhi reign, and the Qing Dynasty still had provincial governors in various provinces. Qianzong was a Liao person, and he knew the power of the provincial governor. If he got the silver seal, he could make friends with the provincial governor of Guangxi.

The laws in the early Qing Dynasty were very strict. If the seal-holding official lost his seal, he would be executed according to the law. The Guangxi Provincial Governor at this time might be very worried. If I give him the silver seal in time, the Provincial Governor will definitely be grateful. He has the power to submit memorials alone. When the time comes, I will ask him to include a note in the memorial and brag about myself. Isn't it better than fighting on the battlefield?
Seeing this, He Guoju knew that the commander had fallen into a trap, so he shouted, "General, the three of us have made great contributions in presenting treasures, and we are all subordinates of General Tu. I beg you to show mercy and allow us to return to the camp to serve General Tu."

The fleeing soldiers behind them also shouted, "General, we are definitely not spies. Please have mercy and take us in."

"We are all loyal and good people. We surrendered to the Heavenly Army at the beginning of the year and are subordinates of Marshal Tu."

"I have been fighting all day and have not eaten anything yet. Marshal, if you have any bread or cold water, please give me some."

"We have served the Heavenly Army for a long time. If we are labeled as spies and our heads and bodies are separated, wouldn't it be disheartening for the loyal and righteous people?"

……

The troops were somewhat riotous. Qianzong quickly stood up and sent troops to suppress the troops, then asked He Guoju: "Are you Tu Lie'ao's subordinate? Where are you from? When did you surrender?"

He Guoju came prepared and said, "We are all soldiers of Marshal Tu, from Pingle, and we surrendered in February this year."

Qian Zong thought about it and felt that what He Guoju said was reliable. He took a step closer and asked in a low voice: "The official seal is of great importance. It affects your life and future. Can you keep it secret?"

The implication was that the commander wanted to take the credit for picking up the official seal for himself.

He Guoju remained calm and said, "General, I know the seriousness of this matter. I beg you to let the three of us return to the camp. We will keep it a secret and will not say a word."

"Well," the captain looked at He Guoju and the other two again, and found nothing suspicious, so he let them pass.

The Qing army had not yet calmed down from the defeat during the day. Limuling was a narrow place with many soldiers and there was chaos everywhere.

A Qing soldier led He Guoju and his two companions into the pass, walked a few dozen steps, told them the password for tonight, pointed in the direction of Tu Li'ao's camp, and then said goodbye and left.

He Guoju and his two comrades set out to find the horse feed yard and gunpowder depot. Limuling was the Qing army's grain station, which stored a large amount of supplies. If it could be set on fire, the Qing army would be in chaos.

At three o'clock in the morning, a fire broke out in the Qing army camp at Limuling, causing the Qing army to be defeated. The Ming army took the opportunity to attack Limuling.

Before entering the pass, the Qing army used red cannons to attack the city, first blasting down the city walls before entering the city to engage in street fighting. After entering the pass, the Qing army was more accustomed to inciting the Ming army to rebel, or using spies to infiltrate the city, and then cooperate with the outside to easily capture the city.

This time, the Ming army used their own tactics to retaliate. The Qing army was thrown into chaos and collapsed without a fight. They trampled on each other and their camps were destroyed one after another.

The Ming army continued to fight until dawn, and only stopped after chasing for more than twenty miles.

(End of this chapter)