The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 134 The Ming Dynasty fell during the Hongwu reign

Emperor Wanli died six months earlier than in history.

Rumor has it that the old emperor was angered to death by Ping Liaohou.

In fact, Liu Zhaosun sympathized with Zhu Yijun very much.

Emperor Shenzong had a miserable life.

He ascended the throne at a young age, but his power was usurped by the Cabinet, the Imperial Household Department and the Empress Dowager.

After finally getting rid of Zhang Juzheng and driving away Feng Bao, and preparing for a big move, he discovered that the enemies of the Ming Dynasty were everywhere, so he stopped fighting and simply lay down to resist the world.

The Wanli Emperor's inaction had a devastating impact on the Ming Dynasty. The revival that had finally begun under his leadership quickly vanished. Officials became lazy, corruption became rampant, the Later Jin rebelled, and civil unrest began to ensue.

The Celestial Empire was later conquered by the Jiannu, the land of China sank, and Chinese civilization fell into an abyss.

More than three hundred years later, Zhu Yijun's tomb was excavated. As the only Ming Dynasty emperor to have his tomb excavated, his bones were crushed and his ashes scattered, a retribution...

Some people say that the Ming Dynasty fell during the reign of Chongzhen, but it actually fell during the reign of Wanli.

This is not unreasonable.

Some people also say that he died under Emperor Wuzong, but in fact he died under the command of Bao Zong.

Of course, the most credible theory is that the Ming Dynasty fell during the reign of Emperor Jianwen, but in reality it fell during the reign of Emperor Hongwu. In other words, the Ming Dynasty fell just after it was established.

……

Compared with Zhu Yijun, the newly enthroned Taichang Emperor Zhu Changluo, an emperor with a very low presence in history, was even more unfortunate.

Zhu Changluo was born in a humble family and was born because of an irresponsible act of Emperor Wanli. Zhu Changluo's mother's status as a noble concubine was not recognized by his father for a long time.

Zhu Changluo was in constant fear due to the dispute over the throne of the country. It was not until the case of the assassination that he was able to barely secure the position of crown prince.

He finally succeeded to the throne and became emperor, but unexpectedly he died within a month.

Some people say that Zhu Changluo indulged in excessive sexual activities, while others say that he was poisoned by civil officials.

Two of the three major cases in the late Ming Dynasty happened to this person. It has to be said that Zhu Changluo has the attributes of a koi.

~~~

Liu Zhaosun's time travel has changed too much history. It is now uncertain how long Zhu Changluo, who ascended the throne eight months earlier, can remain emperor in this dimension.

One month? One year? Ten years?

If Emperor Taichang could inherit a little bit of his father's longevity genes and live a dozen more years, then Tianqi and Chongzhen in this dimension would most likely not exist.

This brother's ability to govern the country should be slightly higher than that of the two brothers, the Carpenter Emperor and the Coal Hill God of War.

Where is the future of the Ming Dynasty? Everything is heading towards chaos.

Liu Zhaosun had no time to feel sad for the Ming emperor. He had more important things to do.

When the new emperor ascended the throne, Ping Liao Hou, as a foreign minister, was required to travel to the capital to pay his respects. However, going to the capital at this time was likely to be dangerous, so Kang Yingqian suggested finding an excuse to decline. Not only did Ping Liao Hou refuse to go, but Kang Yingqian also refused to return. He submitted two memorials, stating that the war in Liaodong was not over and even implicating the White Lotus Sect.

Of course, Liu Zhaosun would not be so foolish as to go to the capital again.

Yuan Yingtai died in Shenyang under unclear circumstances. If the emperor listened to the advice of the censors and followed the example of the God of War on Coal Hill and skinned himself alive over a disagreement, where would he go to appeal for justice?

Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. Since the action has been taken, secession and rebellion are only a matter of time.

~~~

From the bloody battle of Hunhe to the killing of Yuan Yingtai and the dispersal of the Liaozhen troops, Kaiyuan had been fighting continuously for two months.

In early December, Marquis Ping Liao fell seriously ill with a high fever and was in a coma for several days. Old Song said it was due to overwork and a relapse of an old injury. After taking a few doses of medicine, he gradually got better.

At this time, the Kaiyuan army was extremely exhausted, and it was time to have a good rest.

Although Emperor Taichang was not like his father who was sidelined by others as soon as he ascended the throne, he was cowardly and had little power. The Cabinet and the Imperial Household Department had the final say on important court affairs.

A new emperor appoints new ministers, and power needs to be redistributed. The Donglin Party, the Chu Party, and the Zhejiang Party fought each other to the bitter end, and the cabinet had neither the will nor the ability to deal with Liu Zhaosun.

There is no need to mention the Imperial Household Department. Now Eunuch Wei has absolute power and fully supports his sworn brothers. Anyone who is disobedient will be killed by him.

Therefore, the imperial court did not even give Kaiyuan a superficial warning, and put all the blame for the Liaodong unrest on the three dead men.

Yuan Yingtai, Zhang Quan and others were imprisoned and their properties were confiscated, but the mastermind behind the scenes was rewarded, and the new emperor also paid the Kaiyuan army an additional 600,000 taels of military pay.

I don't know if this was a tactic of the imperial court to play hard to get, but since he was given the title of marquis and the five cities of Liaodong were ceded to him, it was obvious that the capital did not want to break off relations, at least not with Kaiyuan at this critical juncture.

Liu Zhaosun then went with the flow and stopped making unreasonable demands, only asking the court to implement the rewards for the generals.

The Ministry of Personnel gave Yang Hao a vacancy as the Tianjin Coast Guard and arranged for him to serve as an official in the capital, which was somewhat like keeping him as a hostage.

Before the son-in-law had time to persuade him, the father-in-law rushed to Tianjin to take up his post. The old man passed away peacefully, without even seeing his daughter Yang Qing'er, and hurriedly started a new official career.

Yang Qing'er was indignant. Because of this incident, her face turned pale and she didn't say a word for several days.

Liu Zhaosun was helpless with his father-in-law who was obsessed with power. Since Old Yang wanted to continue to work hard for the Ming Dynasty, then let him go.

He instructed Zhang Dong to have the intelligence personnel stationed in Tianjin to secretly protect Master Yang, and to immediately send Yang Hao back to Liaodong if there was any sign of trouble.

However, Liu Zhaosun felt that as long as he was in Liaodong, Yang Hao would not be in any serious trouble, unless the emperor really wanted to turn the tables on the Kaiyuan army one day.

The bloody battle of Hunhe River yielded 150,000 taels of silver, the killing of Yuan Yingtai and Zhang Quan yielded 100,000 taels, plus the 600,000 taels of silver rewarded by the new emperor, for a total of 850,000 taels of silver.

The captured grain and supplies from the Later Jin Dynasty piled up into mountains. Considering that Qiao Yiqi and his men were expanding their territory in Liaodong, the harvest was even more abundant.

In the next period of time, people in Kaiyuan should be able to live a prosperous life.

After finishing all my work, I found that my 20th birthday was getting closer and closer.

This is Liu Zhaosun’s first birthday after traveling to the Ming Dynasty.

In just nine months, he fought bloody battles, fought for supremacy in hundreds of battles, and rose from a small captain to the general of Liaodong. Behind his glorious military achievements were the mountains of blood and corpses piled up by tens of thousands of soldiers.

And his unwavering obsession until his death.

On the third day of the twelfth lunar month, the new Liaodong Governor Wang Huazhen took office.

Wang Huazhen brought the standard-bearing battalion to Shenyang to replace the former governor Zhou Yuchun, who had always been close to Liu Zhaosun.

Compared with Yuan Yingtai, who has already been forgotten, Governor Wang's attitude towards Ping Liaohou is very friendly.

Before this, Kang Yingqian had already given him a big gift, three thousand taels of silver and the trade share of the Liaodong shop.

Wang Huazhen promised that as long as it was in Liaodong, whether it was land grabbing, smuggling, or human trafficking, he would turn a blind eye and let Ping Liaohou do it, and he would just give him a share of the profits when the time came.

Liu Zhaosun was dumbfounded. He was not planning to engage in triangular trade in Liaodong.

Wang Huazhen worked as a coastal defense commissioner in Shandong. He dealt with Korean and Japanese businessmen all year round, and his way of making money was unconventional.

Liu Zhaosun didn't know much about this person. He only remembered that he seemed to have a bad relationship with Xiong Tingbi. After the fall of Liaoshen, the two were held accountable together.

Now that Xiong Jinglie is dead, Wang Huazhen doesn't seem to pose any threat anymore.

The new order in Liaodong has been established, and Shenyang continues to be under the control of the imperial court.

In the short term, the Kaiyuan army was unable to occupy Liao and Shen.

The road must be walked step by step.

If you spread your business too wide at once and run out of steam, it could easily backfire on you.

Taking advantage of this period of time, the Kaiyuan Army continued to recruit auxiliary troops in Liaoshen.

When they were about to return to Kaiyuan, the number of troops under Liu Zhaosun's command had recovered to 6,000.

By next spring, when these auxiliary troops have completed their training, the army's combat effectiveness will be further enhanced.

Jin Yuji's injuries were basically healed, but Old Song said that she still needed to rest and not move around, otherwise she would become disabled in the future.

Liu Zhaosun was worried about the bumpy ride and was reluctant to let her go back, so Jin Dajiu took Xu Xiake back to Seoul half a month ago.

Thinking that there was no one suitable to take care of her, he was worried about leaving her alone in Shenyang.

In the end, Liu Zhaosun spent a lot of money to buy a carriage with exquisite decorations and took Jin Yuji home alone.

The carriage followed the army all the way north, slowly moving towards the two people's nest in Kaiyuan.

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in the forty-seventh year of the Wanli reign.

This day was Liu Zhaosun's 20th birthday, and he only told Jin Yuji.

The two of them secretly ate a bowl of longevity noodles, and he told her that her wish would come true at this time.

Jin Yuji quickly put down her chopsticks, closed her eyes, and looked pious.

Liu Zhaosun couldn't help but pinch her face again.

Jin Yuji's eyes suddenly widened, and Liu Zhaosun asked:
"What wish did you make?"

"Don't tell you."

"What about you, sir?"

Liu Zhaosun thought of the loving couple in Six Records of a Floating Life (Note 1), and the sweet words Shen Fu had said to his wife Yun, and looked up devoutly at the sky:

"May we be husband and wife in all our lives."

·······
At noon, the army set out from the north gate of Shenyang and marched north along the official road.

The Yehe elite cavalry, with the Kaiyuan battle flag on their backs, galloped past the carriage, their horses' hooves trampling over the weeds and raising clouds of dust.

The cavalrymen were sent out in groups of five, scouting northward continuously, with a group of scouts every five miles.

The auxiliary soldiers carried armor and weapons, lined up in neat rows, and walked on the official road.

Ox-drawn carts loaded with captured grain, cloth and other items creaked past on the official road.

Liu Zhaosun rode his horse in front of Jin Yuji's carriage, looking back from time to time at the advancing team behind him.

This team stretched for miles, with no end in sight. They took up all the spoils of the bloody battle of Hunhe and brought them all back to Kaiyuan.

Kang Yingqian followed Liu Zhaosun with excitement on his face.

"Marquis Ping Liao, it's surprising that the court didn't break with us."

Liu Zhaosun glanced at him. This time, Kang Yingqian was promoted to the position of Liaodong Inspector and was also given the title of general.

Several censors proposed that all Liaodong military supervisors be transferred back to the capital, but the proposal was rejected by the cabinet before it was even sent to the Imperial Household Department.

Even if there was an imperial edict now, Kang Yinggan would never go to the capital.

Now, he has offended many people in the capital, and he is afraid that he will be in great danger if he returns.

"I wonder how Qiao Yiqi would react after hearing that we killed Yuan Yingtai and went against the imperial court. Will he remain as still as a mountain?"

Kang Yingqian talked to himself. He knew that people like Qiao Yiqi, Yuan Chonghuan, and Song Yingxing had never thought of rebelling.

Liu Zhaosun frowned slightly. He had also considered this question.

"The court dares not touch their families for now, but after a while, we will send people back to the interior to bring them back. I don't want our internal chaos to start one day in the future."

Notes:
(1) Six Records of a Floating Life is a collection of notes and prose written by Shen Fu, a Qing Dynasty scholar. It records the trivialities of his married life with his wife Chen Yun. The writing style is elegant, sad and meaningful, and has been highly praised by scholars of all generations.

(End of this chapter)