Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 224 Taking advantage of the situation
In Jining City, Zhu Di's imperial carriage occupied the provincial government office.

Zhu Yunfeng cooked personally, using the seasonings brought on board to stir-fry more than twenty dishes, filling two large tables.

At the banquet, Zhu Di chatted and laughed with everyone. Although many Shandong officials were nervous, as the delicious food was on the table, it felt like chewing wax. They had to keep responding with a reluctant look.

If Zhu Di had not seen that Zhu Yunfeng looked unhappy, he would have said with a serious face, "This is the meal prepared by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu himself. Don't you think it is not to your taste?"
This caused many officials to quickly pick up their chopsticks and eat, nodding and praising as they ate. I'm afraid that all the dishes on the table will be wasted today.

At that moment, Zhu Yunfeng didn't want to eat beef anymore.

Obviously, the execution of Wang Yongji served as a warning to others, and many officials expressed their willingness to submit and obey the orders of Taizu and Taizong.

After the banquet, Zhu Di summoned Xu Biao to make a presentation.

When making the report, Zhu Di also said that Xu Biao would die for his country in the future and would be a very loyal minister.

The main purpose of his trip was to quell the rebellion in Fengtian and attack Beijing. Local affairs were not his responsibility.

The reason for killing Wang Yongji was that he hated his betrayal and became a traitor, and he did not want to interfere in Shandong affairs.

When His Majesty Taizu comes to Shandong later, he will have his own set of methods.

This included killing surrendered officials in Shandong, investigating landlords and evil gentry in Shandong, distributing land to the people of Shandong, and quickly resuming production.

Zhu Di asked Xu Biao to cooperate and follow Taizu's instructions in everything.

Xu Biao knew that he had passed the test, and the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground. He respectfully expressed his willingness to obey the arrangements.

The next day, young Zhu Di set out again.

The team marched into the next city on the canal, Liaocheng, Dongcheng Prefecture, Shandong.

Since Shandong had already surrendered, wherever he went, in addition to the officials from the three departments in Shandong, local officials were also there to welcome and see him off.

Xu Biao, Shandong Provincial Governor Chen Qianfu, and Shandong Provincial Governor, Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, Councillors and other officials escorted them to Dezhou.

Dezhou is the last stop of the Luyun River. After passing Dezhou, you will reach Dongguan County, Hebei Province, and enter the South Canal.

Shandong officials welcomed them here.

They thought they had sent the King of Hell across the border, and they were secretly thankful for their good luck, as they did not commit treason and survived.

But he didn't know that the real King of Hell was still behind him.

In early May of the 17th year of Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty should have been in a more chaotic era.

Li Zicheng captured Beijing, Chongzhen hanged himself, and Wu Sangui opened Shanhaiguan and let the Qing army enter.

After the Battle of Shanhaiguan between Li Zicheng, Wu Sangui and the Qing army, Li Zicheng fled Beijing in May and the Qing army occupied the capital of the Ming Dynasty, thus beginning the road of unification and massacre.

According to historical records, the population in the late Ming Dynasty was about 60 million, and historians estimate that the actual population was around 120 to 150 million.

But by the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, there were only 70 million people.

According to research by later historians, the total population loss in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties was about 3500 million due to natural disasters, plagues, peasant uprisings, and Qing army invasions.

Millions of Han people died directly as a result of the massacres by the Qing army, and tens of millions died indirectly.

This shows how great the disaster brought by the Qing Dynasty was.

But today is different from the past.

The peasant uprising had been suppressed by Zhu Yuanzhang, and the south was also carrying out internal reforms.

During this period, Zhu Yuanzhang alone killed more than 400,000 traitorous officials, landlords, and their families.

And these are only Sichuan, Huguang, Jiangxi, Nanzhili, Zhejiang and other places.

Subsequently, the land reform and land policy will continue in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and other places.

In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang confiscated a large amount of land and wealth from the princes and gathered the princes scattered across the country to Nanjing.

They were denounced for their mistakes, and the titles of many evil princes were revoked. They were then handed over to the Nanjing Censorate for trial and conviction according to their crimes.

All in all, the number of acres of farmland liberated reached an astonishing 70 to 80 million acres, which can be said to have greatly eased land and social conflicts.

Although he was still a little hesitant about dealing with the descendants of the Zhu family, considering that the Ming Dynasty should be put first, Old Zhu had to make up his mind to make this difficult decision.

of course.

I definitely won’t kill.

Only the leaders of the vassal states, such as Zhu Zhishu, Prince of Shu, Zhu Yousong, Prince of Fu, and Zhu Yihai, Prince of Lu, were imprisoned.

The power of other princes was also reduced.

Below the rank of Prince, the native places of royal family members shall be re-confirmed.

Members of the royal family were allowed to engage in business, farm, study, join the army, and take the imperial examinations.

This will solve the problem of a large number of lower-level royal family members being unable to do anything and eventually becoming beggars.

Under a series of policies, the South is rapidly entering a period of stability.

This resulted in Li Zicheng not capturing Beijing, and Wu Sangui not opening Shanhaiguan to let the Qing army enter due to the threat from Li Zicheng.

In addition, Sun Chuanting gave Chongzhen more than one million taels of silver, which Chongzhen sent to Shanhaiguan to pay salaries. He also transferred elite troops from Hebei and Shanxi. At one time, the Ming army's strength in the Ji-Liao area reached nearly 100,000.

Historically, it was Wu Sangui who wrote to Dorgon asking him to enter the pass, and with the persuasion of Fan Wencheng, that made Dorgon decide to invade the south.

Now that Wu Sangui did not write a letter, the Ming Dynasty was gradually becoming stable, and the Ming army was numerous on the border, which made Dorgon have no intention of attacking Shanhaiguan at all.

However, as the news of Lao Zhu's descent to the earth spread across the country in just half a year, all kinds of news were flying around.

Even people inside and outside Shanhaiguan have heard of it.

At this moment, in Ningyuan City outside Shanhaiguan, Wu Sangui, the general of Liaodong, was looking at the letter from the capital in his mansion with a frown on his face.

Next to him was his trusted aide Fang Guangchen.

The content of the letter is simple.

First, I talked about the story of Taizu Nanfang.

Secondly, there are rumors in the capital now.

It is said that Taizu traveled through the long river of history and saw the future of the Ming Dynasty.

In early April of this year, the capital was captured by Li Zicheng, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on Coal Hill, and the Ming Dynasty fell.

Then the Qing army entered the pass and defeated Li Zicheng. They slaughtered countless Han people along the way, established the Qing Dynasty, and made the Han people slaves of a foreign race.

The news is confirmed.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang himself had said many times in public that it was the Jian Nu who eventually took over the world.

As for how the Jian Nu took over the world, and whether Wu Sangui, as the last line of defense against the Jian Nu, died on the battlefield or surrendered to the Jian Nu, has caused many people to speculate.

Many people in the capital said that Wu Sangui surrendered to the Jian Nu and led the Qing army into the pass. He was a Chinese criminal and should be executed by slow slicing.

For a time, Wu Sangui's situation in the public opinion field was very delicate.

Qin Hui had three or five good friends, and Wu Sangui naturally also had friends in the capital, even many of whom were officials, so they all wrote to him to tell him about the situation.

In this situation, Wu Sangui was on pins and needles and didn't know what to do.

"Tingxian, tell me about Taizu's descent to the mortal world."

Wu Sangui looked at Fang Guangchen.

Fang Guangchen was actually not Wu Sangui's subordinate, but his sworn brother.

However, after his father died, he went to Wu Sangui and now lives in Wu Sangui's mansion. Because he is quite strategic, Wu Sangui will ask for his opinion on everything he does.

Historically, it was Fang Guangchen who suggested that Wu Sangui borrow troops from the Qing Dynasty, imitating the precedent of the Tang Dynasty borrowing troops from the Uighurs to quell the An-Shi Rebellion. However, the Jiannu did not even think of withdrawing their troops, but directly swallowed up the entire Chinese land.

Hearing Wu Sangui's question, Fang Guangchen hesitated for a moment and said hesitantly: "Now everyone in the south is talking about it, even the palace has news coming out, His Majesty has already admitted it, I'm afraid..."

"So, tell me, was it really me who let the Jiannu invade the country?"

Wu Sangui showed a look of horror on his face.

Now I heard that Taizu was killing traitorous officials everywhere in the south. If it was really him who opened the pass and let the Jiannu enter the pass, given Taizu's temperament, I'm afraid he would kill all ten of his clans and execute him by slow slicing.

"Forehead"

Fang Guangchen did not answer, but not answering was the best answer.

Wu Sangui fell silent. The logic now is actually very simple.

Taizu came down to earth and told people about the future.

In the future, the Jiannu will enter the pass and take over the world.

As the general guarding the area outside the Great Wall, he was the first to bear the brunt of the Jiannu invasion.

The only options left for him were fighting to the death, escaping, or surrendering.

According to Taizu's prediction of the future, after Li Zicheng captured Beijing, he wanted to seize Shanhaiguan.

This meant that Wu Sangui was facing a situation where he was being attacked from both sides, and there was no chance of escape.

In other words, he only had two choices: fight to the death or surrender.

Rumors in the capital were that he had surrendered, which made Wu Sangui very frightened.

After all, whether to surrender or not, based on his understanding of himself, even if he was determined not to do it, he was just deceiving himself.

"Ugh."

Wu Sangui sighed and said, "Now we can only leave it to fate."

"Commander."

At this moment, Wu Sangui's trusted general Wu Guogui came in hurriedly and said, "General, there is something wrong outside the city."

"what happened?"

"It's General Gao who has arrived, and there are people chasing him."

"Adoptive father?"

Wu Sangui's eyes widened, and then he immediately asked: "Where is he now?"

"We have already entered the city. The people outside were stopped by us. They said they were messengers from the Imperial Household Department. The Imperial Household Department sent the military supervisor back, but the military supervisor suddenly escaped, so they chased him all the way here."

"Please ask godfather to come over."

"Yes."

Wu Guogui went out.

Wu Sangui thought about it, straightened his clothes and walked out of the mansion.

At this moment, outside the mansion, Liaodong Military Supervisor Gao Qijian was standing in a very embarrassed state. His expression was very panicked, and he was walking back and forth outside the mansion.

The door of the mansion opened, and Wu Sangui walked out. Seeing Gao Qiqian, he was surprised and said, "Adoptive father."

"My son, save me."

When Gao Qiquan saw Wu Sangui, he immediately pounced on him as if he had seen a savior.

"Godfather, please come into the house."

Wu Sangui looked around and pulled Gao Qiquan into the mansion.

Gao Qiqian was still in shock at this moment and said, "Sangui, if we want to survive, we must..."

Before he could finish his words, Wu Sangui interrupted and said, "Foster father, let's go in first."

"Hurry up and bring tea to my godfather. I want it warm."

Wu Sangui saw that Gao Qiquan must have been exhausted from riding his horse at full speed all the way here, so he immediately gave orders.

The servant then went to pour tea.

After entering the government hall, Wu Sangui asked Wu Guogui to continue to garrison outside the city, leaving Fang Guangchen behind.

Gao Qiqian sat on the chair, drank a sip of the temperature difference, wiped the sweat from his forehead and said: "Sangui, something big has happened."

"what happened?"

Wu Sangui had a vague guess in his mind, but he still asked.

Gao Qiqian smiled bitterly and said, "Yesterday, someone from the Imperial Household Department suddenly came to call me back. I remembered the recent rumors, so I secretly used a lot of money. Do you know what happened?"

"what?"

"The people from Nanjing told Your Majesty that it was you who let the Jiannu into the pass, and later I surrendered to the Jiannu. This time they summoned me back just to kill me."

"Is this happening?"

Wu Sangui was shocked.

My heart finally settled after hearing Gao Qiqian's words.

As expected, he later surrendered to the Jiannu.

Gao Qiquan continued, "The court is probably already planning against Ji and Liao. I'm from the Imperial Household Department. Call me back and kill me first. You have 30,000 Guanning cavalry under your command, so it's hard for them to attack you. So they sent Wang Jiayan here to let you stay in Ningyuan first. Later, the court will issue an imperial edict to appease you and make up a lie, saying that you died on the battlefield and were a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, and they will reward you. Then they will call you to Shanhaiguan, and Wang Jiayan will take the opportunity to get rid of you."

After hearing Gao Qiquan's words, Wu Sangui suddenly sat down on the chair and was unable to recover for a long time.

Because yesterday the new governor of Ji and Liao, Wang Jiayan, sent someone to reward the army and brought some money and food. The letter Wang Jiayan gave him also said that he was a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty and that His Majesty would reward him.

It’s just that there have been so many rumors recently that Wu Sangui is wavering.

Now Gao Qiquan's words made him understand.

Perhaps the end of myself is coming.

"Sangui, Sangui?"

Gao Qiquan saw him sitting there for a long time without saying anything, so he shouted a few words.

Wu Sangui finally came to his senses, still a little dazed. After a moment, he asked in a weak and trembling voice, "Foster father, what should I do?"

"Sangui, you can't be confused at this time. I thought Wang Jiayan would definitely ask you to hand me over and summon you to Shanhaiguan. If you go there, you will die. You must make a decision immediately."

Gao Qiqian said: "Although I am also trying to save my life, your life and property depend on this matter. If we can't come up with a solution, we will soon be killed."

Wu Sangui looked at Fang Guangchen.

Fang Guangchen was a little hesitant.

Seeing this, Wu Sangui said bitterly: "Tingxian, if I can't escape, can you escape too?"

Fang Guangchen suddenly understood.

If Wu Sangui surrendered, how could he be a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty if he had always been by Wu Sangui's side?

It is even possible that he was the one who instigated Wu Sangui to surrender to the Jian Nu, and his entire family would have been beheaded, and there would have been no chance of him surviving.

So now we are all in the same boat and no one can escape.

Thinking of this, Fang Guangchen no longer hesitated and immediately said: "Since they say we surrender to the Jian Nu, then let's surrender to them. Open the switch and lead the Qing army southward."

"But now Shanhaiguan is in the hands of Wang Jiayan."

Wu Sangui looked embarrassed.

Shanhaiguan, as the number one pass in the world, is not only strategically located, but also has high walls and thick walls. It is impossible to break through in a short period of time by luring the Qing army southward.

What's more, the imperial court has now mobilized a lot of troops from Hebei and Shanxi, and the Qing army can only bypass Shanhaiguan and plunder around the capital.

But Shanhaiguan cut off the Qing army's retreat, and the main city and the secondary city were surrounded by troops. How easy would it be to break through such a majestic pass?

After Fang Guangchen thought about it, a fierce light flashed in his eyes and he said, "Since Wang Jiayan wants to summon me to Shanhaiguan, why don't we take advantage of his trick!"

'Take advantage of the situation?'

Wu Sangui and Gao Qiquan looked at each other.

Does that mean that while Wang Jiayan summoned him to Shanhaiguan, he would launch a sudden attack, seize the city gate, and then attack with a large army?

This may indeed be a solution, and it may even be the only solution.

Because according to the rules, if he goes, he must bring thousands of personal soldiers with him to protect his own safety.

As long as we can lure the Qing army into the interior and raid the city gate in a short period of time, and the Qing army's horses can arrive quickly at full speed, there might be a chance.

(End of this chapter)