Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 303 After all, they were our own ancestors.

A few days later, at the beginning of the new year, it was the first year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty and the first year of the Chengwu reign of the Ming Dynasty.

of course.

From the official standpoint, the Ming Dynasty would certainly say that this was the first year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign (the first year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign in the puppet Qing Dynasty), while the Qing Dynasty would say it was the first year of the Chengwu Emperor's reign (the first year of the Chengwu Emperor's reign in the puppet Ming Dynasty).

However, with the successive defeats on the southern battlefield, the Qing Dynasty had little say in the struggle over who was the legitimate ruler.

Apart from the fact that in ancient times, the power of discourse was often in the hands of the scholar-officials, especially those in the south.

Most importantly, the southern region is gradually restoring economic, agricultural, and political stability and development, while the northern region is falling into chaos.

Moreover, the southern region itself was the economic and agricultural center in ancient times, especially the Jiangnan area. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Beijing needed to transport taxes and grain to the north every year via the Grand Canal.

Therefore, once the canal transport was cut off, the Qing Dynasty lost a crucial link, and a vital one at that.

If it weren't for the fact that Emperor Shunzhi left Emperor Kangxi a legacy before his death, and that during Shunzhi's reign, the Qing Dynasty's tax system involved sending the previous year's autumn grain to Beijing in February or March and the current year's summer grain in August or September, it would have been a significant change.

That is, in February and March of this year, and August and September of this year, last year's autumn grain and this year's summer grain were harvested.

This year's autumn grain harvest was intercepted by Lao Zhu.

At this point, Beijing was probably already facing a shortage of money and supplies.

Even so, the Qing court only had last year's autumn grain and this year's summer grain left to use, and the national treasury of silver and grain reserves were the legacy left by Emperor Shunzhi to Emperor Kangxi the year before last.

If this year's autumn grain cannot be delivered and there is still war next year, the remaining national treasury of the Qing Dynasty will collapse before the second year of Kangxi's reign.

Therefore, after several internal discussions, the Qing court decided to take a gamble and allocate all its funds and resources to military expenditures.

They expanded their military forces extensively, preparing for a decisive battle with the Ming Dynasty in the capital region.

The capital region is located south of the Yanshan Mountains and north of the North China Plain. It has a flat terrain with many plains and is close to the area outside the Great Wall and the Mongolian grasslands.

The Manchus were able to leverage their cavalry advantage, and were capable of both offense and defense; even if they couldn't win, they could retreat beyond the Great Wall.

Therefore, it can be considered the most prudent strategic option.

Otherwise, the Qing dynasty wouldn't have any good strategic plans right now. They couldn't just conscript so many troops and send them all south to their deaths.

During this period, the Qing government focused on three things.

First, a large number of troops were recruited in the north, and in exchange for tax reductions, the army was expanded to 300,000 in a very short period of time. Then, military training was carried out without stopping.

Secondly, they went beyond the Great Wall to capture the wild Jurchens, and then sought help from the Khorchin and Chahar Mongol tribes with whom they had good relations, in order to further expand their military strength.

Thirdly, they built equipment, including weapons, armor, matchlock guns, cannons, and all sorts of other miscellaneous weapons, and even sent people out to sea to find the Franks.

The Qing court believed that it was the Portuguese who sold firearms to the Ming Dynasty, which made the Ming Dynasty so powerful, but they did not believe that it was actually Emperor Hongwu who came in person.

Although the Ming court claimed that the Hongwu Emperor descended to earth to save the world, they only saw the bombardment of cannons, but did not see the Hongwu Emperor sitting high in the clouds and then slapping a city to death.

Therefore, it is only natural for people to adopt such a skeptical attitude before witnessing such miraculous abilities firsthand, given their differing perspectives.

However, during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the dominant powers in East Asia were not Portugal and Spain, who were the first to explore the East, nor the Netherlands, which was known as the "maritime coachman," nor even the Dalmatian Empire, which was not yet at the height of its power.

It was the Zheng family.

Portugal pioneered the sea route to the East, even engaging in naval battles with the Ming Dynasty navy in Guangdong, and eventually leased Macau to reside there.

The Netherlands followed suit, attempting to seize Macau. They fought the Battle of Macau with Portugal, but were defeated. They then tried to invade Penghu, but were defeated by the Ming army, and finally occupied Taiwan.

However, the Zheng family originated from pirates and recruited a large number of Han Chinese pirates and Japanese pirates who were entrenched in the East China Sea and South China Sea. They gathered a large number of people and quickly monopolized the trade in the entire Southeast and South China Sea.

Even though the Netherlands, which was known as the maritime hegemon, had a certain firepower advantage, it was still driven out of Taiwan by Zheng Chenggong after he took over the Zheng family.

Therefore, at this time, the Manchus could hardly leave the southeastern coastal area and had no way to contact the Portuguese in Macau.

As for land, that's even more impossible.

Therefore, the Qing dynasty's attempt to buy arms from the Portuguese in Macau was destined to be futile.

Just after the New Year, still in the first month of the lunar calendar, the Ming army set off north and entered Anhui.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown, including Fengyang, had already been recovered by his men. Only Fuyang, Suzhou and other places north of Anhui were still nominally under the rule of the Qing government.

But it's basically just a name now.

As soon as the Ming army arrived, people from all over surrendered without resistance, and a large number of rebel armies submitted to the Ming Dynasty. The entire Anhui province returned to the embrace of the Ming Dynasty.

after that.

The Southern Ming forces, led by Li Dingguo, Bai Wenxuan, Li Laiheng, Liu Tichun, Hao Yaoqi, Yuan Zongdi, and others, along with Zheng Chenggong's naval forces, amassed an army of over 100,000 and marched north in a mighty force.

In late January of the first year of Chengwu (1662 AD), the Ming army successively recovered large areas of Anhui, Henan, and Shandong, and arrived at the south bank of the Yellow River, preparing to cross it.

Zhu Di, who had taken Shaanxi, also headed east, but he did not go to Shanxi. Instead, he went through Hangu Pass and entered the Luoyang Basin.

At the same time, the Hongwu Ming army did not advance quickly, but instead took the Grand Canal to reach Xuzhou Prefecture in Jiangsu.

No one knows why this bizarre situation is happening.

Anyway, the Qing court didn't understand.

They couldn't understand it, and they didn't think about it too much. Whether they lived or died was just a matter of this wave.

Therefore, facing the overwhelming Ming army, the Qing court did not sit idly by and wait for its demise. In mid-February, it dispatched tens of thousands of troops to intercept them.

Led by Prince An, Aisin Gioro Yue Le, a surprise attack was launched against the Ming army heading north.

By the time of the first year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, most of the generals who led the Manchus before and after their conquest of China had already died.

In addition, Emperor Shunzhi continued to suppress the imperial clan and abolished the system of the Eight Banners' participation in politics, so there were not many outstanding generals among the imperial clan.

After Ao Bai's death, the only person the Qing court could rely on who was of the Aisin Gioro clan and could at least guarantee loyalty was Yue Le.

This man followed Hauge in attacking Sichuan, and even personally led troops to kill Zhang Xianzhong. He then entered Guihua City and repeatedly campaigned against various Mongol tribes, forcing many Mongol tribes to surrender to the Manchu Qing and pay tribute.

During the later Revolt of the Three Feudatories, Yue Le was also the commander-in-chief of the Qing army and quelled Wu Sangui's rebellion, which shows that his military capabilities were quite outstanding.

Yue Le led tens of thousands of troops south. He observed the Ming army's attack route and found that the Ming army conquered cities and territories with almost no obstacles. Large areas of Anhui, Henan, and Shandong were simply conquered by the Ming army through proclamations and were not attacked at all.

Therefore, he judged that the Ming army would continue to pursue their victory, so he disregarded the advice of many generals in the army that they could attack while the Yellow River was crossing, withdrew from the Yellow River line, and stationed himself in the Jinghai area of ​​Tianjin Prefecture.

As he predicted, the Ming army captured Jinan and then immediately crossed the Yellow River.

Apart from Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan being slightly more cautious, the troops of the original thirteen families of Kuidong, stationed in Jizhou Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture, continued their northward march without stopping.

The campaign was going incredibly smoothly, and everyone knew that the Qing Dynasty was now crippled.

The myth that "the Jurchens are invincible if they number less than 10,000, but invincible if they number 10,000" was shattered in the Battle of Chongqing, and the fear and gloom that the Ming army had felt towards the Tartars for many years were swept away.

Under such circumstances, the Ming army was filled with the misconception that as long as their army marched north and reached the outskirts of Beijing, the Tartars would flee the city in disarray and then rush towards the border. Yue Le took advantage of this, just as the thirteen families of Kuidong and the more than 100,000 Ming troops that Zhu Yuanzhang had recruited along the way arrived in Cangzhou.

The Manchu cavalry suddenly attacked, catching them completely off guard.

Amidst the chaos, the Ming army was quickly routed. After less than half an hour of fierce fighting, by the time Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan's reinforcements arrived, the Ming army had suffered a major loss, with tens of thousands killed or wounded.

If Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan hadn't arrived in time, and the army hadn't maintained a relatively orderly formation, forcing Yue Le to retreat, the Ming army would likely have suffered even greater casualties in this battle.

More than ten days later.

Within the territory of Shouzhang in Tai'an Prefecture, Shandong Province, Old Zhu's carriage slowly made its way north along the Grand Canal.

In fact, in ancient society, traveling by land was faster than traveling by water.

Although the canal can be used for 24-hour transport and the average speed can reach 5 kilometers per hour.

Some natural river sections rely on water flow and wind to reach speeds of over 10 kilometers per hour, so it's normal to walk 70 or 80 kilometers a day.

However, you were not alone in the canal transport; in addition to official ships, there were also a large number of merchant ships and passenger ships traveling on their way.

As a result, the canal became like an ancient highway, but with a single lane in both directions, leading to frequent instances where the waterway was completely blocked by boats.

Therefore, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, when the imperial court needed to collect taxes, it often had to prohibit passage for a period of time; otherwise, the grain transported by the canal might not reach the capital for a whole year.

In contrast, if traveling by land and using fast horses throughout the journey, it would only take a few days to get from Beijing to Nanjing.

But Lao Zhu still chose to take the canal route.

The reason lies in logistics.

He stayed in the south for a period of time, not to rest and reorganize the army, but to wait for the artillery shells to be delivered to him from Yunnan.

In the Battle of Chongqing and many subsequent battles, the Ming army consumed a huge amount of artillery shells.

In particular, during the Battle of Chongqing, all the rapid-fire artillery shells and missiles on unmanned helicopters, except for mortar shells, were used up.

If we don't have cannonballs, using bullets to attack the city might not be impossible, but it would be too troublesome.

Therefore, waiting for logistics to catch up is a necessary task.

At the same time, he allowed the Southern Ming army, including Li Dingguo, Bai Wenxuan, and Li Laiheng, to march north. He even boldly encouraged Zhu Cibei to give orders to them and provided them with all the support they needed, including provisions.

But now it seems.
Inside the carriage, Zhu looked at the official documents sent by Li Dingguo and others on horseback and shook his head, saying, "I feel that they are not capable of being of great use. I am a little worried when I think about handing over the country to Zhu Cibei and entrusting the military affairs of the Ming Dynasty to these people."

"no way."

Zhu Yunfeng said, "Among them, only Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan are somewhat capable. If Li Laiheng and the others were capable, their 200,000-strong army wouldn't have been so disorganized and shattered by the tens of thousands of Manchu troops in Sichuan. It can be said that Li Zicheng and his men were originally a motley crew, lacking the invincible spirit of the armies at the founding of the dynasty."

"But my Great Ming Dynasty was destroyed by this rabble."

Old Zhu was in a bad mood.

Zhu Yunfeng shrugged and said, "The fall of the Ming Dynasty can only be attributed to the inevitability of deeply entrenched problems, not to how powerful Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were."

"Well, that's true."

Old Zhu nodded.

This time, instead of setting off immediately, he chose to hand the ball to Zhu Cibei and Li Dingguo, also in order to give the Southern Ming Dynasty a certain level of military capability.

After all, he will definitely leave eventually, most likely in the first half of this year.

If they could help the Southern Ming destroy the Manchus, and even march beyond the Great Wall to exterminate the Manchus, could they possibly help them march to the Mongolian grasslands?
Lacking the mobility of mechanized troops, guns and cannons alone were not enough to make the nomadic peoples of the grasslands sing and dance.

Therefore, the newly established Ming Dynasty still had to face invasions from foreign enemies after his departure.

Although it could also help the devastated Ming Dynasty establish a new order and system, and even lead them onto the path of industrialization.

But the problem is that there are so many Ming Dynasty countries ahead of you in the queue, how can you be given priority to increase the industrialization intensity of Southern Ming so quickly?

Therefore, the Southern Ming Dynasty itself also needed to strengthen itself.

But in a sense, the Ming Dynasty is like those two countries on the peninsula, a country that was forcibly created by Zhu Yuanzhang.

They only experienced the pain of national subjugation and the humiliation of being defeated by the Manchus, but not the hardships of founding a nation or the baptism of a major war.

The few generals who could be considered capable were only a handful, including Li Dingguo, Bai Wenxuan, and Zheng Chenggong.

However, they also made mistakes in many battles, such as the Guangdong-Guangxi Campaign and the Battle of Nanjing, where command errors led to the loss of promising situations.

Although when Zhu Yuanzhang was establishing his empire, there were times when his generals were unreliable and he suffered defeats.

However, with military geniuses like Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and Zhu Wenzheng, they outperformed the Southern Ming generals in terms of ability and achievements.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang still hoped that the Southern Ming army could grow stronger. At least for now, the main force of the Tartars had been defeated and there were not many elite soldiers left. They were all cobbled together from various sources.

Riding on the momentum of their great victory, Li Dingguo, Bai Wenxuan, and Li Laiheng should also make some achievements.

As a result, they suffered a major defeat at Cangzhou.

Although Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan were not defeated, they did not win either, which disappointed Old Zhu.

He continued, "This was a painful lesson. Those generals who underestimated the enemy and were greedy for merit, leading to the great defeat, such as Li Laiheng, Liu Tichun, Hao Yaoqi, and Yuan Zongdi, should just be killed. They are useless anyway."

"Garlic Bird, Garlic Bird."

Zhu Yunfeng smoothed things over, saying, "There are very few generals who have managed to hold out until the eighteenth year of the Shunzhi reign without surrendering to the Qing. Let's cherish them while we can and give them a chance to redeem themselves through meritorious service."

"Humph."

Old Zhu snorted again: "And your ancestor, I told him to come up with his own ideas and to train his military skills, but he listened to all the scholars in the court and let the army act on its own, without any independent thought."

"Garlic Bird, Garlic Bird."

Zhu Yunfeng continued to smooth things over, saying, "There are different opinions on this matter. A general in the field may not be able to obey orders. The emperor should not be able to remotely control the army; otherwise, he might just become a transport captain. Yue Fei would have preferred an emperor like my ancestor. It's just that the abilities of the commanders are different, so there's nothing we can do about it."

"Just pet him."

Old Zhu curled his lip and said, "Being an emperor isn't about being a hands-off manager. I haven't even gone to beat up that Wanli fellow yet."

"After all, he was our own ancestor."

Zhu Yunfeng smiled sheepishly.

Although Lao Zhu was also his direct ancestor, Zhu Cibei was the founding ancestor of their Shangfeng Mountain.

In Zhu Yunfeng's heart, the flavor of his hometown is still very strong. It was not easy for his ancestors to hide in the deep mountains and forests, so now that he has the opportunity, he naturally has to help his ancestors.

(End of this chapter)