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

Chapter 381: Hong Chengchou, the Eternal Sinner

When it comes to killing people, Hong Chengchou was not ambiguous at all. As early as when the Ming Dynasty suppressed the peasant army, Hong Chengchou advocated suppression rather than appeasement, and often killed the peasant army's surrendered soldiers.

Facing Guo Duxian's accusation today, Hong Chengchou still feels guilty. After all, Jin Sheng was a fellow Jinshi of his. Huang Daozhou, a man of virtue and literature, was not only a senior Hanlin scholar of Hong Chengchou, Guo Duxian and others, but also a fellow Fujianese of Hong Chengchou. The other two-character kings were all members of the Ming Dynasty royal family.

These people had organized righteous armies to resist the Qing Dynasty, but were defeated and captured, and died unyieldingly. Hong Chengchou valued their reputation and personally went to persuade them to surrender, but failed. In the end, Hong Chengchou still raised his butcher knife.

He explained: "Students are in the officialdom and have no choice..."

"History will record our achievements, even if we have not succeeded. However, our great kindness is too great, but we cannot repay our country and instead become enemies." Guo Duxian sighed, making Hong Chengchou even more embarrassed.

After Huang Daozhou was defeated and captured, facing Hong Chengchou's persuasion to surrender, he wrote this couplet to ridicule Hong Chengchou. This couplet is more widely circulated than "loyalty, righteousness, filial piety, courtesy, and honesty; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven".

"Alas!" Hong Chengchou was so ashamed that he sighed deeply and said, "I feel bad for Huang Zhonglie. However, I also submitted a petition to the court to pardon Mr. Huang's death penalty, but it was not granted by the court."

"What court!" Guo Duxian said angrily: "Since ancient times, China has ruled the barbarians, but I have never heard of the barbarians ruling China. The Tartars have occupied the capital, recruited traitors, and bullied the people.

"Old Nine, you keep talking about the imperial court, but have you forgotten that you were originally a minister of the Ming Dynasty, and were appreciated by Emperor Weizong, and were given the titles of Minister of War, Deputy Chief Censor, and Governor of Ji-Liao Military Affairs.

"After the defeat at Songshan, Emperor Weizong thought you died unyieldingly, saying that your 'death was heavier than Mount Tai, and your spirit was as great as a rainbow.' He granted you sixteen altars for sacrifice, set up an altar in front of Chaotian Palace, and prepared to personally pay tribute to you. He also set up your tablet in the Guandi Temple at Zhengyang Gate. Until the bandits approached the capital, Emperor Weizong still did not believe that you had surrendered to the Qing.

"You were originally a poor boy selling dried tofu. You were raised by the Ming Dynasty, so you passed the imperial examination. You were selected by Emperor Weizong, so you were promoted to the first rank. But you are ungrateful, giving advice to the Tartars and harming the people. Your official position is getting higher and higher, but your reputation has long been ruined. No one cares about you! Lao Jiu, you are too smart for your own good!"

Guo Duxian cursed to his heart's content and felt much better after he finished.

Hong Chengchou wiped his sweat to hide his inner uneasiness and said, "What these old people are accusing me of is that I am a sinner for all ages, and I am worried and fearful day and night."

The cicadas were chirping non-stop and a breeze was blowing from afar, bringing a lot of coolness.

Guo Duxian pointed to a large elm tree in the distance and said, "Old Nine, listen to the cicadas. They are so noisy and deafening. The Tartars are like the cicadas in midsummer. On the surface, they seem to be in their prime, but in fact, autumn is approaching and the cicadas will soon die."

When talking about the current situation, Hong Chengchou became cautious. He was the governor of five provinces and controlled three generals, so he could not easily reveal the situation to Guo Duxian.

"Please tell me some of your wise opinions." Hong Chengchou shook his shoulders habitually, readjusted his sitting posture, became calm and steady, and exuded the authority of an official who could decide life and death at will.

"The Red Army rose from western Guangdong. Mr. Cen was a natural hero who won many battles. Since the year before last, the three feudal lords of Dongjiang Town have been annihilated. The so-called famous generals of the Qing Dynasty, such as Zhang Cunren, Kong Youde, Shang Kexi, Bashan, Zhumala, Chen Tai, etc., have all been killed. Shouldn't Hong Jinglüe take this as a warning?
"Since this year, Mr. Cen has led his troops to the north to attack Jiangxi. He first defeated the Manchurian Firearms Camp, then killed Chen Tai, and then entered Huguang and defeated Tunqi. Ganzhou and Hengzhou are the gateways to Jiangxi and Huguang. Once the gateways are broken, the momentum of sweeping across is complete.

"Hong Jinglue controls the civil and military officials of five provinces and is stationed in Changsha, which is only more than 300 miles south of Hengzhou. He is the 'parent official' of the people of Hunan and Xiangxi. I wonder how he will resist the Red Army?" Hong Chengchou felt that the situation was difficult, but he refused to show any fear in front of Guo Duxian and said:
"It is true that the Red Army has won many battles since the Northern Expedition. But Cen Danchu became arrogant after many victories and divided his troops to fight in two battlefields, Huguang and Jiangxi. Food and manpower are all problems. Once the court has time to mobilize the Manchurian troops to cross the river to fight, the Western bandits will take advantage of it and the Red Army will be in danger."

Guo Duxian pondered over his words, thought for a moment, and asked: "Nine Elders, tell me honestly, are the Qing going to send more troops to Huguang? Or are they going to send more troops to Jiangxi? Are they going to be Manchurian troops?"

Hong Chengchou's courtesy name was Yanyan and his pseudonym was Hengjiu. Guo Duxian first called him Laojiu, which was contemptuous, and now he calls him Jiulao again, hoping that Hong Chengchou can tell him the truth.

"Well," Hong Chengchou pretended to be deep and said, "Huguang and Jiangxi were both defeated, so the court must send more troops. The Manchu soldiers have always been brave and good at fighting. If they attack with all their strength, there will be few rivals. In recent years, every time there is a major war in the south, the whole family in the flag city of the capital is in mourning. Many Manchus hate the Red Army. Once they go out in full force, their momentum will be very fierce."

Guo Duxian disagreed and said, "The Eight Banners mainly rely on the Manchu Eight Banners. Even if all the men in the Manchu Eight Banners are drawn, there are less than 200,000 soldiers. With 200,000 soldiers, it is already a great achievement for the Manchu Qing Dynasty to deploy 100,000 Manchu soldiers in the south. With 100,000 Manchu soldiers, how much will be left for the Red Army when fighting against the Western Army in the southwest, the Red Army in the central and southern parts, and the Cixing Army in the southeast?"

Hong Chengchou was shocked, thinking that although Guo Duxian lived in a remote village, his analysis was quite accurate, which showed that he should not be underestimated. He controlled three great generals, Wu Sangui, Tunqi, and Aobai, and had about 80,000 Eight Banners soldiers under his command, including about 30,000 Manchu Eight Banners.

As for the total number of soldiers in the Eight Banners, Hong Chengchou did not know. However, from many clues, it can be clearly seen that the Qing court was deeply concerned about the shortage of Manchu soldiers and was actively expanding the source of soldiers: the Eight Banners formed a breeding army, the proportion of bondservants among Manchu soldiers increased, and the Solon soldiers came from afar to the south to participate in the war...

"When it really comes to a life-and-death struggle, won't the imperial court mobilize all its forces?" Hong Chengchou said, "The imperial court has issued an edict to encourage all banners to have children. Manchus are no longer restricted to marrying within their own banners, but can marry the Mongolian and Han banners..."

At this point, Hong Chengchou was speechless. Was such a small matter worth using as an excuse? Was he guilty?
"Haha!" Guo Duxian laughed loudly and said, "Have the Tartars run out of tricks? Are they even encouraging intermarriage among people outside the banner?"

A shrimp guard flashed past the door, glanced into the house, saw Hong Chengchou's sharp eyes, and quickly flashed away again.

Guo Duxian knew that it was not suitable to stay here for long, so he leaned over and asked, "Nine Elders, the Red Army is strong and powerful, and its morale is high. It will march north soon, and the Thirteen Families of Kuidong have already responded from afar.

"After the defeat of Tunqi, the morale was low. Oboi had already looked east to Nanjing, but could not come to rescue him. Wu Sangui was stationed in Sichuan, but had no food or money. These three people are not reliable. In my opinion, you might as well surrender the whole city, so that you can achieve your goal later. The history of the Spring and Autumn Period will still have a fair judgment. Otherwise, Zhang Cunren, Kong Youde, and Shang Kexi can serve as a lesson for us."

Hong Chengchou remained silent for a long time and said, "Even if I want to rebel, Guard Xia will definitely not allow it."

"Not all of the Xia guards are Manchus, there are also many loyal and righteous people." Guo Duxian hesitated for a moment and said, "Wang Fuchen has always been kind and righteous, and his reputation is far-reaching. He can plan for great things."

Hong Chengchou's eagle eyes swept through, revealing a subtle viciousness. Soon, he became lonely again, sighing: "My family and children are all in the capital, and my parents and brothers are all in Quanzhou. If they rebel, it will bring disaster to my family."

"Ah!" Guo Duxian sighed, looking very disappointed with his friend, and cursed: "Old Nine, you have always been afraid of death and you still don't want to change your ways now. No matter how much you have contributed to the Tartars, you are still just a slave in their eyes!"

(End of this chapter)