Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 171: Taizu Descends to Earth (Happy New Year)
After Zhu Yuanzhang's remarks, he officially announced the release of grain.

Tang He was watching it personally.

Not only does the accountant have to register and record the money, but the household registration must also be checked, and neighbors must testify to prevent false claims or over-claims.

Opening warehouses and storing grain was a technical job in ancient times.

Because at the end of the ancient dynasty, the world was in chaos and there was no order. Once the county was breached and the officials were killed or fled, it meant that the household registration was difficult to verify.

When the rebels opened their warehouses to distribute grain in an attempt to win the hearts of the people, they might encounter ruffians or some wealthy families with surplus grain who pretended to be disaster victims in order to receive the extra grain.

This was a very common thing in the past, so we had to be discerning in this regard.

But it happens that Lao Zhu is an expert.

During the late Yuan Dynasty, peasants revolted. In order to recruit soldiers, the rebels attacked county towns and prefectures many times, opened warehouses and released grain in exchange for popular support.

Tang He, who came from a low-income peasant family, had a sharp eye and could tell at a glance who was truly poor and who was trying to claim the wealth.

So this situation can be avoided.

Unfortunately, there were almost no officials in Changsha when Zhang Xianzhong attacked.

At that time, Changsha prefect Du Yinxi went to Beijing to meet the emperor, and the magistrate Zhou Ernan was recruiting soldiers in You County. The rest of the middle and lower-level officials were ordered to flee when Zhang Xianzhong came.

Only Changsha Procurator Cai Daoxian led thousands of people to defend the city. Finally, the city was broken, Yin Xianmin and He Yide surrendered, and Cai Daoxian was captured and executed by Zhang Xianzhong for refusing to surrender.

After all, Zhu and his people were people from the early Ming Dynasty and were completely clueless about the situation in Changsha at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

If there were honest officials in Changsha, they would not need to deal with these matters. By letting the officials do it, order in Changsha could be restored quickly without them having to deal with it personally.

Zhu and his men could directly start clearing out the bandits, killing corrupt officials, and slaughtering the gentry and landlords who had annexed the land, leaving a clear and bright world for the honest local officials to govern.

"There is no official in Changsha now. They have all fled. The people who remain in and outside the city have an unclear attitude towards us. What should we do?"

Thinking of this, Lao Zhu frowned, as if he was talking to himself.

Zhu Yunfeng, who was sitting next to him, listened and sat in the tent. He used his notebook to retrieve the data on the late Ming Dynasty that he had downloaded and said, "I remember there is still an official who is not dead."

"Who?"

Old Zhu asked.

"I'm looking for."

"Is he a good official?"

"He is a good official. I have found him. His name is Liu Xizuo."

Zhu Yunfeng looked at the information and said, "Liu Xizuo was appointed as the governor of Huguang in the 15th year of Chongzhen, and his political achievements were remarkable. When Zhang Xianzhong attacked Huguang, he recruited thousands of strong men to defend it, but was defeated by Zhang Xianzhong and retreated to Yongzhou. When Yongzhou was broken, on the way to Changsha, Liu Xizuo swore to die rather than surrender, and was killed in Ningxiang on September 19th, the 16th year of Chongzhen."

"September 19th?"

Old Zhu was surprised and asked, "Isn't that today?"

"tonight."

Zhu Yunfeng pointed to the west and said, "Changsha is not far from Ningxiang, only about 30 to 40 kilometers. It's still not too late to send people there now!"

Zhang Xianzhong encountered almost no resistance during his attack on Hunan.

Except for the previous Huguang Governor Li Qiande who had pretended to surrender and then wiped out Zhang Xianzhong's vanguard troops, the rest of the places basically ran away or surrendered, and even if there was occasional resistance, it was quickly broken.

At present, the Governor of Huguang Li Qiande, the General Kong Xigui, as well as the Prince of Gui Zhu Changying, the Prince of Ji Zhu Youdong, and the Prince of Hui Zhu Changrun have all fled. Only Liu Xizuo ran a little slower and was trapped in Yongzhou.

He had only a few thousand soldiers and it was very difficult for him to defend Yongzhou. After the city was captured, he was taken prisoner.

Therefore, this was the time when Zhang Xianzhong continued to attack various places in Hunan, and then sent people to send captured officials from various places to Changsha.

Those who were willing to surrender would be granted official positions and allowed to follow the bandits to cause chaos; those who were unwilling would be killed.

This was the case with Cai Daoxian before, and it is also the case with Liu Xizuo now.

However, for Zhu and his men, if they go to Ningxiang now, they still have a chance to rescue Liu Xizuo.

"Without further ado."

Old Zhu walked out of the tent and called Mao Xiang, saying, "Mao Xiang, take 300 men and go to Ningxiang immediately to defeat the bandit army there and rescue Liu Xizuo, the governor of Huguang."

"Yes!"

Mao Xiang took the order and left.

Three hundred people immediately went out of Linxiang Gate.

Of course, there was no bridge across the Xiangjiang River in Changsha during the Ming Dynasty.

The Orange Island Bridge, Monkey Stone Bridge and Yinpenling Bridge do not exist.

The two sides travel by boat.

In addition, Changsha prospered due to its waterways, so there are four west city gates near the Xiangjiang River alone.

But it is precisely because of the prosperity of waterways and developed shipping that there are so many ships.

Mao Xiang quickly raised some boats, but they were small boats that the tricycles could not get on. In addition, the official road to Ningxiang was rugged and difficult to travel, so they simply gave up the tricycles and walked instead.

After crossing the river, the three hundred men marched quickly.

They had no baggage with them, only guns. They jogged all the way, but their speed was not slow. Soon they arrived in Ningxiang before dark.

Ningxiang had also fallen at this time. A local ruffian named Li Guangzhao took advantage of the arrival of the Dashi Army and the chaos in the city to gather a group of ruffians to kidnap the Ningxiang County Magistrate Shen Zhihuang. He was then appointed as the county magistrate by Zhang Xianzhong.

As Sun Kewang's troops were defeated, many of them fled to Ningxiang, and thus Ningxiang had already learned that Changsha had been captured.

I just found out about it not long ago and am still in a state of shock and confusion.

The highest-ranking official in Ningxiang right now is Bai Wenxuan, the general of the front camp of the Dashi Army. He took advantage of the chaos to escape last night, gathered more than 800 people, crossed the river overnight and fled to Ningxiang, and is resting in the government office in the city.

But not long after, Li Guangzhao came in hurriedly with a sad face and said, "General, the enemy is coming."

"What's going on? How many people are here?"

Bai Wenxuan had not slept all night and was filled with fear. He had only slept for less than two or three hours when he woke up in a daze.

Li Guangzhao and dozens of Dashi Army soldiers and officers shouted, "We don't know how many people there are. We only saw a group of people coming from outside the city. It seemed like there were hundreds, or even thousands."

"them."

"Da da da da da!"

As soon as he finished speaking, gunshots were heard outside the city.

Hearing the gunshot, Bai Wenxuan was horrified, and he got up from the bed and shouted, "Run!"

Last night had become a nightmare.

They didn't even know where the enemy was coming from. They could only hear the sound of gunfire. With the familiar "da da da" sound, the soldiers around them fell one after another.

You should know that Bai Wenxuan was a fierce general under Sun Kewang. He was just a fireman at first, but because he was brave in every battle and led the troops by example, he was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the vanguard army by Zhang Xianzhong the next year, second only to the four great generals including Sun Kewang.

The problem is that being brave in battle is one thing. At least he could see where the enemy was coming from and had the courage to pick up the knife and fight the Ming army to the death.

But now we don’t even know where the enemy is coming from, how can we fight this war?
An innocent death?
The city of Ningxiang is not big, just a small square city with a radius of only two or three kilometers. The height of the city wall is less than two zhang, which is about four or five meters. Well-trained soldiers can even form a human wall to climb up.

Mao Xiang led three hundred soldiers and without any fancy moves, he collected a few ladders from the nearby area and rushed towards the east gate of Ningxiang.

There were soldiers on duty on the top of the city wall. After a burst of bullets from the AK, they all became obedient and fled for their lives, abandoning their weapons and armor.

Immediately afterwards, Mao Xiang was the first to rush up to the city. There were no Dashi soldiers on the city wall anymore. He jumped into the city carrying an AK, and took a dozen good men down the city wall, opened the city gate, and Ningxiang was easily captured.

The city was already in chaos. There were about two to three thousand Daxi troops, all of whom fled from the west gate. For a while, all kinds of howling sounds were heard in Ningxiang City.

Mao Xiang did not pursue the Dashi Army as that was not his mission, and he went straight to the county government office.

The ancient county government had many functions. In addition to governance, it also had judicial and prison functions. It often had a front-yard and a backyard, with rooms and prisons on the left and right.

For example, Su San Prison is the only complete prison preserved from the Ming Dynasty, located in the southwest corner of the county government office.

Therefore, prisons are usually located in county government offices.

When Mao Xiang rushed into the county government, there were still some Western troops who had not yet escaped. He captured a few of them and asked them about them. He soon learned the location of Liu Xizuo. Liu Xizuo had arrived in Ningxiang the day before yesterday and was now being held in a cell. He was supposed to be executed tonight.

He had been lying in prison, having fasted for seven or eight days, and looked like a dried skeleton.

At this time, a group of people rushed in. Someone was caught and pushed in. They pointed at Liu Xizuo in the cell and said, "Sir, he is Liu Xizuo."

"Open the cell door."

Mao Xiang scolded.

"Yes Yes Yes"

The man quickly took the key from the cage ring next to him and opened the cell door.

Mao Xiang walked in and squatted in front of Liu Xizuo.

Liu Xizuo seemed to have lost consciousness, staring blankly at the ceiling, his face was thin and pale, his hair was disheveled, his body was dirty, and his official uniform was covered in mud.

"Are you Liu Xizuo?"

Mao Xiang asked with a frown.

Liu Xizuo did not respond. He had been fasting for so long that he could not even feel hungry. He was drowsy and had a very slow perception of the outside world.

Mao Xiang took the canteen from his waist, lifted his head up, and said as he fed him water: "We are government troops. You are saved."

Liu Xizuo instinctively took a sip of water, then remembered something and was about to vomit, but then he heard Mao Xiang's words, and his originally lifeless eyes turned around, as if there was a hint of life in them.

His eyes turned and he stared at Mao Xiang blankly. Mao Xiang gave him some water, and he drank a few big gulps. Then he choked and started coughing violently.

"cough cough"

Mao Xiang patted him on the back.

After a while, Liu Xizuo came back to his senses and asked in astonishment: "Whose subordinates are you?"

"Come with us first."

Seeing that he was saved, Mao Xiang took out another energy bar and handed it to him, saying, "Eat this, and we'll talk on the way."

Liu Xizuo took the energy bar in a daze, took two bites and chewed it before eating. Then he was helped by Mao Xiang to stand up with difficulty, and was carried out of the prison by two soldiers on their shoulders.

It was late autumn, and Hunan was still hot. Although it was already evening, around 6pm, the sun had not yet set.

The setting sun was not very dazzling, but it made Liu Xizuo squint his eyes. The suicide note he wrote on the wall of Yongyang Posthouse seemed to be just yesterday, and the new life seemed like a dream.

He looked around and saw some scattered bodies of Dashi Army soldiers around.

As expected, there were no enemies in the city. All around were people like Mao Xiang, wearing strange clothes and holding strange weapons. Liu Xizuo had never seen such clothes and weapons.

Mao Xiang's mission was to pick up Liu Xizuo. He did not delay and found the lost horses of the Dashi Army, used a cart to make a simple carriage, and took Liu Xizuo away.

On the way, Liu Xizuo ate two energy bars and drank a bottle of water. After recovering a little, he wanted to ask Mao Xiang who they were.

But it was obvious that Mao Xiang adhered to the order to be cautious in words and actions, and only said that they were officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. As for who his superiors were, he had no way of telling him, and he would know when he arrived in Changsha.

Although Liu Xizuo was somewhat dissatisfied, the current situation did not allow him to do so, so he could only follow obediently.

However, because he was worried that Liu Xizuo's body could not bear it, Mao Xiang did not insist on walking at night. Instead, he waited until it was completely dark and rested for more than three hours near Wushan, 30 miles east of Ningxiang.

They did not set out again until the next morning.

At 3:15 on the morning of September 20th, the 16th year of Chongzhen, Mao Xiang took Liu Xizuo across the Xiangjiang River and arrived in Changsha.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang did not lead his troops south to attack Zhang Xianzhong.

Because he now has few soldiers on hand and has to guard the teleportation stele of Prince Ji's Mansion in Changsha, he plans to use Changsha as a base, deliver supplies first, and then formally send out troops.

Tents were set up around the burned warehouse of Prince Ji's Mansion, and Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He were still busy delivering things.

They have now become Zhu's logistics personnel, taking on the role of Xiao He and Hu Weiyong.

When Mao Xiang brought Liu Xizuo to Zhu Yuanzhang's tent, Zhu Yuanzhang was talking to Xu Da.

This morning Xu Da finally returned to Nanjing and was brought here by Zhu Biao.

I just explained the current situation to him.

For a moment, Xu Da felt like he was dreaming.

When Mao Xiang came in, he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Liu Xizuo is here."

Liu Xizuo came in with dishevelled hair and a dirty face. He looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in surprise and asked, "Who are you? How dare you claim to be emperor?"

Apart from Mao Xiang's "Your Majesty", the most important thing is the dragon robe on Zhu Yuanzhang.

In fact, the dragon robes in the early Ming Dynasty were very different from those in the late Ming Dynasty.

The dragon robes in the early Ming Dynasty were relatively simple, with ordinary "narrow-sleeved four-dragon common clothes" dragon robes, all bright yellow, with only golden dragons on the epaulettes and chest.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the dragon robes of Tianqi and Chongzhen had changed from bright yellow to red, and the original narrow-sleeved dragon robes had become wide-sleeved.

The patterns are very complicated, with a large number of patterns on the shoulders, arms, chest, hem and back.

But no matter how big the changes are, the shape of the dragon robe can still be seen.

After all, in the earliest period of Zhu Yuanzhang, the daily uniforms of the crown prince, prince, heir apparent, and duke were the same as those of the emperor. But starting from the Yongle period, although the style of daily uniforms remained unchanged, the color had to be changed to red.

That is to say, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, including the emperor, no one wore bright yellow dragon robes. Before the middle and late Ming Dynasty, only the emperor could wear bright yellow dragon robes.

Therefore, any official with a little common sense could tell that the style of the dragon robe on the other party was from before the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

"I am Zhu Yuanzhang."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him indifferently and said, "This time I came to the mortal world to clean up the old land. Are you Liu Xizuo?"

"Rebel!"

Liu Xizuo was furious and shouted, "How dare you impersonate Taizu? You must be punished!"

Xu Da was shocked, and then he said angrily: "Your Majesty, this lunatic is too bold, please kill him!"

"Kill me, come on, why should I fear death?"

Liu Xizuo was not afraid, he raised his head proudly and said: "I, Liu Xizuo, am a minister of the Ming Dynasty in life, and a ghost of the Ming Dynasty in death! Loyalty and righteousness are in my heart, even if I die, I will live a happy life compared to these beasts who have no father or mother, no king or ministers like Bill!"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him coldly. Xu Da's forehead was covered with sweat. He was already thinking that this man was probably dead. Where should he bury him later?

"Yunfeng."

Old Zhu suddenly shouted to the outside.

Zhu Yunfeng leaned over and asked, "What's wrong, ancestor?"

"Send this fellow to Hongwu."

"okay."

Zhu Yunfeng walked in and pulled Liu Xizuo and said, "You are quite stubborn, but you didn't lose face in front of His Majesty Taizu. But you still need to be more alert later. When you come back from the Hongwu Dynasty, don't be a coward and continue to scold His Majesty Taizu. I believe you are a good person."

Liu Xizuo thought that the other party wanted to kill him, so he sent him to Hongwu to meet Taizu, and he was ready to die generously, saying: "If you want to kill me, just kill me, why bother talking so much."

After saying that, he actually followed Zhu Yunfeng away in a swagger.

Zhu Yunfeng took him to the warehouse.

After about twenty minutes, Liu Xizuo came back.

His eyes were dull and his face was filled with an open-mouthed look of shock, as if he still hadn't come to his senses.

When they arrived outside Zhu Yuanzhang's tent, Zhu Yunfeng pushed him into the tent and said, "Little Liu, you came out of the sword and gun, you have to fight with Lord Hongwu, go!"

Only then did Liu Xizuo wake up from his dream, with an expression uglier than crying on his face. He knelt down tremblingly and said, "Your Majesty, Liu Xizuo, pays homage to His Majesty Taizu. Long live Taizu, long live Taizu, long, long live Taizu."

Anyone who suddenly came to a magnificent palace, met the Crown Prince Zhu Biao who was the regent, met the civil and military officials in the court, and met the guards in the palace would no longer have any doubts.

At this moment, Liu Xizuo finally understood what it meant for Taizu to come down to earth!

(End of this chapter)