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

Chapter 89 Hao Yongzhong commits a crime

Emperor Yongli sat on the dragon chariot, his face pale and sad. When he saw Danchu, he showed joy and said, "My dear minister, you are loyal and brave, and you are a true minister of the country."

The dragon chariot was magnificent, the guards were tall, and the ceremonial guards were prominent. But the emperor looked weak and fat, which did not match the dragon chariot and the ceremonial guards.

Danchu couldn't help but think of an anecdote: After Qin Shihuang conquered the six kingdoms, he went to Kuaiji for a trip. When the dragon boat crossed the river, Xiang Yu watched with his uncle and couldn't help but say, "He can replace him."

When Qin lost its power, the whole world was chasing after it. Xiang Yu destroyed the Qin Dynasty, but Liu Bang ruled the world.

Zhu Youlang was not a leader who could restore the country. If he were to become the emperor, the situation of the Southern Ming would only get worse.

Hao Yongzhong showed no courtesy as a subject, and without asking for permission, he stood before the court officials and said, "Your Majesty, Cen Danchu has falsely reported the number of troops and horses, and is guilty of deceiving the emperor. Please issue an order to severely punish him."

He had heard that Hao Yongzhong was a fool, but he had never expected that he would be so stupid as to attract a new enemy as soon as he opened his mouth. In his mind, Jiao Lian was an enemy, and Jiao Lian's subordinates must also be enemies.

The court officials present were intimidated by Hao Yongzhong's power and dared not speak. Dan Chu saw this and said bluntly:
"General, you are wrong. The Marquis of Xinxing has many brave generals under his command, and there are no less than 30,000 soldiers in armor. I am here to protect you with 5,000 elite soldiers, with the standard bearers going first and the battalion soldiers following behind. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to investigate."

Hao Yongzhong was born in the peasant army, and he was a looting man. He captured many able-bodied men in his army, and claimed to have hundreds of thousands of men. In the early battle of Xing'an, he sent out a thousand cavalry at one time, but they were all annihilated. It can be seen that although he had a large number of soldiers, not all of them were elite.

At this moment, most of Hao's troops were looting. There were about a thousand soldiers and horses left beside the commander, most of them were armored cavalry, and they looked quite elite.

Danchu did not have too many worries. The Southern Ming generals were domineering, and some dared to kidnap the emperor. But in general, the peasant army was more respectful of the royal family, and few dared to kidnap the emperor except Sun Kewang.

Hao Yongzhong was not good at speaking, so he said, "Your Majesty, let's not talk about protecting Your Majesty. Liuzhou is close to Guilin, while Nanning is far from Guilin. Your Majesty's visit to Liuzhou can not only ensure the safety of the imperial carriage, but also encourage the soldiers nearby. Why would you go to Nanning instead of going there?"

Yu Yuanye was the most hostile to the peasant army. His favor had been declining recently, and he was impeached and transferred from the Minister of War to the Minister of Punishment. He said: "The Marquis of Nan'an is wrong. The world belongs to the emperor. The emperor should be free to rule when he travels around the world. It is not for the ministers to interfere."

This is totally a far-fetched argument. Hao Yongzhong's face turned red, but he couldn't explain it.

Xiao Qi, the Minister of War, said hurriedly, "Sir Kou is wrong! When the soldiers heard that Your Majesty was going to visit Nanning, they were all excited and their morale was low. Your Majesty went to Nanning for peace and comfort, and the soldiers were disappointed. No one was willing to fight to the death. If Your Majesty visits Liuzhou, it can still communicate with Guilin, and the soldiers will fight for their lives!"

Xiao Qi was a Jinshi in the tenth year of Chongzhen. He was from Jishui, Jiangxi Province. He once served as "Left Censor-in-Chief Supervising Food and Pay" and was protected by Hao Yongzhong. He raised food and pay specifically for Hao Yongzhong.

He was very popular among the people and valued his reputation, but he collected food and money for Hao Yongzhong, which aroused public resentment. Hao Yongzhong had a strong army, and Xiao Qi's appointment as Minister of War was closely related to Hao Yongzhong's support.

Yu Yuanye sneered and said, "Marshal Jue's troops are looting outside the city, but their morale is not low at all. If they really wanted to fight, they wouldn't have fled from Lingchuan without a fight!"

"You!" Hao Yongzhong was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, saying, "You are slandering me!"

Yu Yuanye was not intimidated by him and said, "Could it be false? The Imperial Dian Camp is still in Lingchuan and has not returned. Marshal Jue was in charge of guarding Lingchuan, but he led his troops to retreat first."

When Hao Yongzhong heard about the Yu Dian Camp, he couldn't help but feel discouraged. Yu Yuanye became a relative of Zhao Yinxuan, the commander of the Yu Dian Camp. The Yunnan soldiers were hardworking and their strength should not be underestimated.

Danchu also laughed secretly, thinking that Hao Yongzhong was really a fool, and he still wanted to compete with the civil officials of the Southern Ming Dynasty. He was already at a disadvantage, so he might as well step on him again to put an end to his fantasy of holding the emperor hostage to control the princes.

Danchu had already made up his mind and said, "In terms of bravery and courage, no one can compare to Xinxing Hou. Xinxing Hou's garrison is in Pingle, and he has no responsibility to defend Guilin to the death, but he led his army to rescue Guilin overnight. As a general, if he can't even defend his garrison, how can he talk about a battle behind the city?"

Hao Yongzhong's garrison was in Lingchuan, but he abandoned it without authorization and retreated to Guilin. Danchu's words were very tricky. Although he did not mention any names, they were enough to make Hao Yongzhong lose face and leave Xiao Qi speechless. The time had come, and the Prime Minister Yan Qiheng also spoke: "Marquis of Nan'an, you led your army to attack the emperor and forced His Majesty to move to Liuzhou. This is not the courtesy of a subject. Considering that you have made many military achievements, I don't want to argue with you. Please withdraw your troops immediately and return to Guilin to resist the enemy. In this way, you will not let down His Majesty's grace of conferring the title of marquis."

Yan Qiheng also discriminated against the peasant army and had a strong prejudice against Hao Yongzhong. He was the chief minister, so his words carried a lot of weight.

Everyone turned their eyes to Emperor Yongli, hoping that he could make a reasonable decision.

Emperor Yongli glanced at Hao Yongzhong, his eyes somewhat evasive. Although it was early spring, beads of sweat were clearly appearing on his forehead.

After hesitating for a moment, he said, "I have decided to visit Nanning. There is no need to discuss this matter any further. Hao Yongzhong, you have always been loyal to the emperor and patriotic. Now that Guilin is in urgent need, I want you to immediately restrain your troops and defend against the Qing invaders. If you can make up for your crime and make meritorious contributions, I will forgive your offense."

Hao Yongzhong was greatly disappointed, and then he became angry and said with a fierce look in his eyes: "Your Majesty abandoned Guilin and went to Nanning, which made the three armies lose their morale. I can't do anything about Guilin!"

After saying this, Hao Yongzhong bowed and left.

Xiao Qi relied on Yongzhong as his backer, but in fact he just wanted to use Hao Yongzhong's power to seek an official position for himself. Seeing that Yongzhong was about to break with the court, Xiao Qi was at a loss as to what to do, so he stayed after careful consideration.

The court officials were horrified, and as soon as Hao Yongzhong left, they began to discuss:

"Your Majesty, Hao Yongzhong has no manners as a subject and has a rebellious heart. Please issue an imperial decree to severely reprimand him, strip him of his title of marquis, and order him to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence."

"No, the Marquis of Nan'an still has tens of thousands of elite soldiers. Now is the time to use people, so we should appease them and not blame them, so as not to provoke a major change."

"It doesn't matter. Xinxing Marquis, Xinning Earl (Zhao Yinxuan) and other generals are at odds with Hao Yongzhong. As long as the court gives an order, they can be defeated in one fell swoop.

"No, Hao Yongzhong has a strong army, and Xinxing Marquis and Xinning Earl may not be able to annihilate him completely. With a powerful enemy in front of us, we must not fight among ourselves, lest we lose our composure."

"At the very least, we must issue an imperial decree to severely reprimand Hao Yongzhong, ordering him to enforce military discipline, immediately stop looting, reorganize the army and prepare for war, and make amends for his crime."

There are so many different opinions, and whoever says something is right is right.

Dan Chu was filled with emotion when he saw this. Hao Yongzhong's army was strong, so he couldn't be suppressed. If he tried to appease them, he would have no money to appease them. The Hao army rebelled by using a tried and tested method: demanding military pay. The imperial court naturally had no money to supply military pay, and the Hao army did not distinguish between soldiers and civilians. Even Hao Yongzhong himself didn't know how many soldiers there were in the army.

Neither suppression nor appeasement was effective. The court was helpless against Hao Yongzhong's rebellion and could only allow him to plunder outside the city. The situation was urgent, but the ministers were still arguing. The prime minister had no opinion and only tried to make peace.

The emperor is not the master of the revival, and the ministers are not the right-hand men. What hope is there for such a court? Isn't it just a foolish dream to want to revive the Ming Dynasty?
Right now, we have to hurry up and leave Hao's army. In an army with poor discipline, soldiers will do anything if they can't get what they want. There are too many examples like this. In the late Qing Dynasty, the Hunan Army broke through Tianjing and the Taiping Army was about to be destroyed. When Bao Chao, the commander of the Tingzi Camp, went back to his hometown for vacation, the soldiers took advantage of his absence and launched a rebellion. Several camps of soldiers surrendered to the Taiping Army.

Hao Yongzhong's prestige is far less than that of Bao Chao. If he fails to exercise proper restraint, who knows what will happen? After all, Danchu only has 500 standard soldiers, which is enough to protect themselves, but far from enough to protect the imperial court.

He resolutely said: "Your Majesty, Hao Yongzhong's troops are not far away. Please move quickly to avoid being disturbed by the chaotic soldiers."

Zhu Youlang was startled and said, "My dear minister, you are absolutely right. Let's go on a southern tour to Nanning."

Pang Tianshou, Ma Jixiang and other close ministers felt much more relaxed, but ministers such as Chan Qiheng, Yu Yuanye and Xiao Qi were all sighing.

(End of this chapter)