The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 403: Royal Division
Ma Shiying returned from Sakhalin Island after being away for many days.

Of the more than 800 people they had brought with them, only about a hundred remained after a year and a half. The survivors were pale and thin, dressed in rags, and looked lifeless. Walking on the street, they could easily be mistaken for refugees.

This team was originally going to Sakhalin Island to rescue Li Sanguang and his team - the first expedition team - but unexpectedly it became a story of the gourd baby saving his grandfather, and the second wave of team members were then attacked by the enemy.

They were attacked not only by Rakshasa ghosts, but also by the white-armored soldiers sent by the Jianzhou tribe.

More than 800 people suffered heavy casualties under the attack of the Luosha demons and the Jiannu. When fleeing, the team split into several groups, and the largest group surrounded the chief officer Ma Shiying.

After half a year of dangerous escape in panic, they finally returned to Liaodong.

Kang Yingqian and Ma Shiying had a close relationship. When they were in Kaiyuan, they had similar interests and called each other confidants. They always had endless topics to talk about when they were together.

Ma Shiying was eloquent and knowledgeable. He was neither as outspoken as Qiao Yiqi nor as cruel and ruthless as Sun Chuanting.

Like Kang Yingqian, Ma Shiying always has a bit of worldly air about him.

That night, despite his old age, Kang Yingqian went to Ma Shiying's bed in person and talked with his old friend by candlelight all night.

After hearing about the deaths of Wang Erhu and Shen Lian in battle, the disappearance of Emperor Wuding in the capital, and Yuan Chonghuan's martyrdom in Jiuzhou, Ma Shiying fell into deep thought. Seeing this, Kang Yingqian was about to comfort his old friend when he heard Ma Shiying ask:

"Lao Kang, when did the explosion happen?"

Kang Yingqian had a deep memory of that day and blurted out:
"On the night of the sixth day of the fifth month, at the hour of Yin."

Ma Shiying was surprised and said, "How strange! On the night of the sixth day, Jiang Liu'er and I were on Kuyi Island. We saw a large jade disk flying in the western sky, like a full moon. It hovered in the air, then circled the island several times and flew towards the capital..."

Kang Yingqian has never been interested in these weird and supernatural stories. When Liu Zhaosun was alive, he always talked nonsense in front of him, sometimes summoning spirits and sometimes asking for immortality. Old Kang was fed up with it.

I didn't expect Ma Shiying to become like this.

"Lao Kang, I'm not the only one who saw it, many people..."

Seeing that Kang Yingqian didn't believe him, Ma Shiying defended himself confidently, and Prime Minister Kang changed the subject.

"Is that Jiang Liuer, the one who killed Ding Bi in Shenyang?"

Ma Shiying was interrupted by this and forgot about the big jade plate. He replied:
"Yes, in the blink of an eye, seven or eight years passed, and the child grew up. He learned martial arts from the Taoist priests in the Qing Palace, and became a strong and muscular man. He was very skilled and even raised a tiger..."

Kang Yingqian was speechless and interrupted Ma Shiying again. He knew that his old friend had suffered heavy casualties on this trip to Kuyi Island and had gone insane, otherwise he would not have talked about the tiger right after talking about the flying jade plate.

"Where is that child? If only Guangxu could have half as much as this child."

Kang Yingqian had an only son named Kang Guangxu. This eldest son of the Kang family had been arrogant and domineering since childhood, and had a reputation as a bad boy in Kaiyuan.

"He got separated from me, maybe he's still in Kuandian..."

~~~~~
The moonlight was like water, illuminating the front yard of the Prime Minister's residence. The shadows of the trees were dim in the empty courtyard, and only the night guard was still yawning.

Kang Yingqian blew out the candle on his desk and dozed off. He dreamed that he was presiding over the young Emperor Liu Kan's inauguration ceremony. Standing respectfully beside the young emperor, Kang Yingqian tremblingly presented the imperial seal, symbolizing supreme power, to the emperor. Just then, a familiar face burst into the hall. The guards around him made no attempt to stop him. As he approached, he realized it was Liu Zhaosun.

"Brother Ma,"

Kang Yingqian rubbed his sleepy eyes and found that Ma Shiying, who was sitting opposite him, was still energetic.

"I have something to ask for."

Ma Shiying leaned forward and looked seriously at the old friend with white hair and beard in front of him.

"Tell me, as long as you don't let me go to Kuyi Island again, anything is fine!"

Kang Yingqian chuckled, staring into Ma Shiying's small eyes, and said calmly:

"Alright, go to Nanzhili and bribe their ministers generously. I know you have a lot of connections. You must impeach that old scoundrel Liu Zongzhou and stop him from launching the Northern Expedition. This Liu Qidong (Liu Zongzhou's courtesy name) doesn't have Yue Wumu's life, but he has Yue Wumu's disease!"

"Lao Kang, do you know that I just escaped from the tiger's den, and now you want me to jump into the dragon's den again?"

"Don't worry, I've been to Southern Zhili before. People there only care about money, not people. Oh, and by the way, let's go to Linqing and contact Pu Gang of the 14th Guards Army..."

Ma Shiying:
~~~~~
In May of the first year of the Hongguang reign, after half a year of hesitation and observation, the Southern Ming court finally stopped waiting and decided to launch a northern expedition.

At this time, the remnants of the Qi army in Henan, Shandong and other places gathered in Linqing. The power of the bandits in the northern province should not be underestimated. In addition, the wealthy families in various places built strongholds to protect themselves. The situation became increasingly unfavorable for the Ming Dynasty.

Even more devastating was the fact that all parties were hostile to the Southern Ming court, which prided itself on legitimacy. The remaining bandit forces were mainly stationed in Henan, with Liu Fangliang, who was said to have over 10,000 men under his command, trapped in Nanyang.

However, since the entire middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River had basically been brought under the rule of the Hongguang court, the commander-in-chief Liu Zongzhou was not in a hurry to eliminate Liu Fangliang's troops - although the Chuang army was also rebellious - but instead concentrated on attacking the remnants of the Qi army to avenge the Tianqi Emperor Zhu Youjian.

When Liu Zongzhou started his army from Yangzhou, he discussed the strategy of the Northern Expedition with his staff and generals, and determined the decision and deployment of the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains and the recovery of the capital:
First, take Shandong to remove its barrier, then move troops from the Huai River into the Yellow River, take Henan to break its barrier, then take Guanlong to strangle its door, and finally capture Beijing.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this northern expedition route is almost exactly the same as the route that Taizu took to conquer the Yuan Dynasty.

This was not because Liu Zongmin's staff wanted to save trouble, but simply to bypass the remnants of Liu Fangliang in Nanyang and avoid unnecessary conflicts with the bandits.

Compared with Li Xianzhong, the King of Rebellion, and others, the pseudo-Qi emperor Liu Zhaosun who occupied the capital was undoubtedly more hateful to the Southern Ming court.

Liu Zongzhou followed Confucianism and took loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness as his code of conduct. The commander was determined that if he could catch the traitor Liu Zhaosun, he would not only cut him into pieces, but also grind his bones and scatter his ashes.

On May 20th, nearly half a month after the Wanggongchang explosion, the news was passed back to Nanyang by the surviving bandits and reached Liu Fangliang's ears. The Ming army on the Northern Expedition learned the news at the end of May.

The capital was suddenly struck by this disaster, and the tens of thousands of Qi troops trapped in the city, along with the 120,000 bandits who besieged the capital, were almost completely wiped out.

This super explosion, suspected to be caused by an extraterrestrial civilization, was more than ten times more powerful than the Wanggongchang explosion. The explosion caused more than 500,000 casualties among the people in the capital. Only tens of thousands of people survived, and they were no longer recognizable as human beings.

The explosion caused the disappearance of all the elite civil servants in the entire empire - whether they supported the Great Qi or the Great Ming - and the canal transportation on the Beicao River was completely paralyzed. The destination and consumption city of the canal transportation no longer existed.

There were no less than 100,000 unemployed canal workers in the north. In the power vacuum, the canal workers who lost their livelihoods either joined the bandits or joined the remaining Qi army.

The butterfly effect caused by the Big Bang went far beyond this. The entire capital became a cosmic black hole, attracting all the surrounding forces that tried to take advantage of the situation.

The Ming army marched northward from Huaiyang, bypassing the towns and passes occupied by the bandits and advancing smoothly. Liu Fangliang and other surviving generals of the Chuang army consciously reached a tacit understanding with the Northern Expedition Army: the two sides would not attack each other.

For Liu Fangliang, holding on to Henan to protect himself was undoubtedly the wisest choice. The main force of the Chuang army that besieged the capital was no longer there. Whether Liu Fangliang's detachment returned to Shaanxi or continued to fight the Qi army, it would end up dead.

Therefore, throughout June, the Northern Expedition Army was advancing rapidly and recovering lost territory.

The towns and cities along the way were in turmoil, and Ming soldiers often stole and raped women in the camp. However, most of the scholars along the way, especially the local wealthy families, were still very sensible.

Everyone brought food and drink to welcome the royal army.

With the arrival of the royal army, peace would return to Goose City and Kangcheng. The harsh 30% rent imposed by the Qi Dynasty could be abolished, and the descendants of the Yansheng Duke, who had been slaughtered and bullied, could seek revenge on the peasants.

After the explosion, the remaining Qi troops in Henan and Shandong moved towards Linqing. Linqing would become the last and most important stronghold of the Qi army in the interior.

Linqing County was first established in the 497st year of Taihe in the Northern Wei Dynasty ( AD). It evolved through various dynasties and reached its peak during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty.

The Great Ming Unified Records records:

In the second year of the Hongwu reign, the county government was moved to Linqing Gate, eight miles north of the county. After Emperor Chengzu moved the capital, the political center moved away from the economically prosperous south, and Linqing's position in the north-south transfer became increasingly important.

In the fourth year of Xuande (1429), the system of transporting grain to the warehouse was restored. The people of Chang, Zhen, Tan, Yang, Feng, Da, Chu, He, and Xu transported million dan of grain to the Linqing warehouse.

During the Jingtai reign, Linqing was "opened," ordering merchants from all over to deliver grain to Linqing in exchange for salt permits. Near Zhongzhou, grain and salt ships gathered, bustling with military and civilian transport, and industry and commerce developed rapidly.

During the Wanli period, Linqing "started from Tawan in the north and ended at Touzha in the south, stretching for dozens of miles, with markets and shops everywhere."

The streets and lanes of the market extended three miles north of the earthen city. The Linqing Customs collected over 83,000 taels of tax on ship materials and commerce, a higher amount than the Chongwen Gate in the capital, ranking first among the eight major customs houses in China and accounting for a quarter of the country's total tax revenue at the time.

Liu Zongzhou commanded 50,000 northern expeditionary troops to surround this most important city on the canal and attacked it day and night. The Qi army fought back fiercely and the Ming army could not take it down for a long time.

Shi Kefa suggested that in order to boost morale, the soldiers should be allowed to loot for three days after capturing the city.

Liu Zongzhou remained silent on this, neither accepting it nor scolding Shi Kefa for his heartless disregard for human life. However, as the war became more intense, the commander-in-chief's thoughts began to change.

At this time, there were more than 2,000 Qi troops stationed in Linqing City, led by Pu Gang, commander of the 14th Guards Army.

Pu Gang was a veteran of the first year of Taichang, and had always followed Emperor Wuding in his campaigns. After the establishment of the State of Qi, Pu Gang led the 14th Guards Army to garrison Jining.

After the explosion, Qi troops from all over Shandong and Henan flocked to the canal to survive.

Pu Gang made a prompt decision. Since he couldn't go back to Liaodong, he could only defend Linqing to the death.

(End of this chapter)