The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 432 Living Human Terracotta

After Ma Shiying led his men from Liaodong, they finally arrived in Nanjing in early August after a long and arduous journey. He immediately began visiting dignitaries at the Hongguang court. Leveraging his connections in Nanzhili, Ma Shiying quickly came into contact with prominent figures in the Ming dynasty. Nanjing officials welcomed this old friend who had come all the way to present him with gifts.

Especially when the giant Lin Yu carried boxes of treasures to the adults, the mainstays of the Hongguang court showed expressions of joy and appreciation on their faces, thinking that Ma Shiying was worthy of being a gentleman who did not forget to repair the friendship between the two countries even in the midst of war.

Several Donglin bosses promised that they would submit a memorial to impeach Liu Zongzhou, Wu Sangui and others tomorrow, and that they would ask the emperor to issue twelve golden medals to recall General Liu immediately.

We can no longer tolerate the court's adventurous actions that waste people's money and military resources. The continuous floods, droughts and locust plagues in the north and south are warnings from heaven. In short, the Ming Dynasty and the Great Qi should value peace and stop the war immediately.

Moreover, Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youxiao is still in the hands of the Qi army. If Kang Yingqian is forced into a corner, given his personality, he is likely to send Zhu Youxiao directly to Nanjing to compete with Emperor Hongguang for the throne, which would be difficult to deal with.

Soon after the gifts were delivered, news arrived of the disastrous defeat of the Jiangbei Four Battalions. The defeated generals who had fled back to Nanjing recalled the Battle of Linqing with horror. The Qi army at Linqing had at least 300,000 men, and each enemy soldier was as ferocious as ten. Emperor Wuding, in particular, was like a god descending from heaven, one man against a hundred. He wielded a spear weighing eight hundred kilograms, eight hundred kilograms, with such ferocity that anyone who was touched would be crippled. The emperor killed at least eight thousand Ming soldiers that day. Three of the four generals were killed, leaving the surviving general, General Zuo, a frightened bird. It is said that he now dreams every night of his life, crying out, "Emperor Wuding, spare my life!"

Ma Shiying was at a loss for words. He had come to Nanjing to stop the Northern Expedition, but now that the Ming army had been crippled, there was no need for a Northern Expedition. Unfortunately, the gifts had already been given. He could only lament how quickly his Nanjing colleagues accepted them. If the ministers had just given him a little pretense and refused for two days, the treasures would have been gone. Since there was no reason to take the gifts back, he would just consider it a favor.

Ma Shiying had always been welcoming and seeing off guests in Kaiyuan, so he naturally understood the social relationships in official circles. Anyway, the two sides would have to deal with each other in the future, so he was not afraid that these Nanjing civil servants would not return the favor to him in the future.

However, Ma Shiying did not quite believe that Emperor Wu Ding was still alive, and even less that Liu Zhaosun could wield an eight-hundred-jin spear, go in and out of the enemy camp, and kill thousands of people in a row - this was even more absurd than the plot of "General Xuanwu's Battle with Jin Bayala" that was popular in the capital at that time.

In any case, Nanzhili was not a place to stay for long. Ma Shiying's classmate, Ruan Dacheng, who was currently the head of the Ministry of Rites, kindly reminded Ma and Hou Xun to escape quickly and head north.

Zuo Liangyu was eager for revenge and was about to send people to kill them.

Ma Shiying fled in a hurry. Before leaving, his friends in Southern Ming told them another piece of bad news.

Ruan Dacheng said that the pirate leader Zheng Zhilong had just been pardoned by the imperial court, and the emperor appointed him as the commander-in-chief of Fujian, asking him to pacify the pirates in Guangdong.

This chief Japanese interpreter under Emperor Wuding, a general trusted by the emperor, rebelled so quickly when the Great Qi was in crisis.

It should be noted that Emperor Wuding had always treated the Zheng family well, and even cultivated Zheng Zhilong as his confidant. After pacifying Japan, not only did he give him an official position and reward him with money, he also rewarded the Zheng family with a large sea area for trade.

Ma Shiying didn't know much about Zheng Zhilong's past and present life, otherwise he wouldn't be surprised by this man's fickleness and treachery.

Originally, Zheng Zhilong was a pirate in Fujian. Later, he was granted amnesty by the imperial court. Leveraging his shrewdness and ability to curry favor with everyone, he rose to prominence during the Southern Ming dynasty. In 1645, Prince Tang Zhu Youjian traveled south to Fujian and was crowned emperor by Zheng Zhilong and his brother Zheng Hongkui. He changed the reign title to Longwu, thus becoming the "Longwu Emperor."

Because of his contribution to the establishment of the Southern Ming Dynasty, Zheng Zhilong was granted the title of Marquis of Nannan and was also granted the power to handle all military affairs of the Southern Ming Dynasty, which made him second only to the emperor. However, a year later, Zheng Zhilong responded to the call of General Dorgon Beile Bolo to surrender, and ignored the repeated admonitions of his son Zheng Chenggong, and rebelled against the Ming Dynasty and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.

In 1656, the tenth year of the Yongli reign, Zheng Chenggong led his army northward, conquering Min'an and Luoxingta, and killing the Qing general Age Shang at Huguoling. Shocked, the Qing court forced Zheng Zhilong to send his family member Xie Biao to Ningde with a letter from Governor Tong Dai, to meet Zheng Chenggong and again persuade him to submit to the Qing. Zheng Chenggong again refused. Seeing Zheng Zhilong no longer of any use, the Qing court executed him at Caishikou in the capital in October of the fifteenth year of the Yongli reign.

After all, Zheng Zhilong was just a pirate. In any ancient dynasty, pirates were basically the targets of severe crackdowns by the imperial court. This background also determined that he could not enjoy the same treatment as Wu Sangui, Hong Chengchou and others in the Qing court.

~~~~~~
On the way back from Nanjing, Ma Shiying and his men kept encountering defeated Ming troops.

Many defeated Ming troops did not follow their commander Zuo Liangyu to flee back to Nanzhili, but instead became bandits in the Huaiyang area, gathering refugees, constantly expanding their strength, and gradually becoming fierce bandits.

Ma Shiying carefully avoided large groups of troops. With Lin Yu and Wei Zhao there, groups of defeated soldiers did not dare to trouble them. When Lin Yu put on the black uniform of the Guards, the defeated soldiers were like seeing a ghost, dropping their swords and running for their lives.

As they entered Shandong, they saw more and more defeated soldiers and bandits. At noon that day, they came to a rarely-traveled path. A group of defeated soldiers, armed with long knives, blocked the road and robbed people. The leader came over, caught a glimpse of Wei Zhao's uniform, and turned around and ran towards the woods.

"Hey! Yin Zi, stay here! Don't run!"

Wei Zhao chased after them, holding a goose-feather knife, shouting as he went. Dust billowed on the road, and the defeated soldiers fled into the woods like rabbits.

Lin Yu, who was guarding beside Ma Shiying, suddenly opened his eyes.

Seven or eight defeated soldiers came out of the woods with sharp blades in hand, chasing Wei Zhao and yelling. Seeing that the enemy was outnumbered, Jinmen Didao quickly turned around and ran towards Lin Yu, cursing as he ran:

"Damn it, you want to sneak attack me? No way, I have no rivals in Tianjin..."

Lin Yu glanced at his companion who had been making a lot of noise along the way, stretched his muscles, and picked up the 15-pound mace.

Within a few minutes, five bodies of defeated soldiers were lying on the ground. The remaining people looked at the monster in front of them and went into the woods without looking back.

"Stop, don't run away!"

Wei Zhao wanted to pursue, but Ma Shiying told everyone to continue on their way. "I wonder if the emperor is really in Linqing. Judging from the situation, the Ming army seems very afraid of us."

Hou Xun said thoughtfully.

What they saw along the way made them more and more interested in the 14th Army stationed in Linqing.

It should be noted that the troops that followed Yuan Chonghuan south were considered a ragtag army in Kaiyuan. Unexpectedly, they could hold out on their own for so long and defeat an enemy with ten times the number of troops.

~~~~
Ma Shiying and his entourage finally arrived at Linqing City on September 8th after a long journey.

On the day we entered Linqing Prefecture, Emperor Wuding was promulgating the "Land System of the Qi Dynasty" to the people. The emperor also killed a group of rebels, which felt like a sacrifice.

Emperor Wu Ding is now very busy with affairs of state. He is busy compiling the Code of the Great Qi, suppressing rebellions, and staying in the palace at night to take good care of those beauties. In short, his schedule is very full. He is like a dragon that is hard to find. Not everyone can see him if they want to.

So Zhang Dong greeted Ma Shiying and others at the city gate.

During this period, the guard followed the emperor, experienced many life-and-death experiences, and witnessed too much killing. Fortunately, he did not turn evil like Emperor Wuding.

Zhang Mazi still looked the same as before, except that the pockmarks on his face were more numerous and more hideous. Nothing else had changed. When he saw an acquaintance, he almost burst into tears.

He told everyone everything that happened after the Wanggongchang explosion, from Emperor Wuding taking medicine to treat the plague, to being knocked unconscious by the explosion after entering the tunnel, and finally waking up to go on a killing spree, killing hundreds of Ming soldiers alone on the Linqing battlefield.

Ma Shiying was dumbfounded after hearing this. If what Zhang Dong said was true, it would be much more amazing than "General Xuanwu's Battle with Jin Bayala"!
Zhang Mazi told the whole story, but he only mentioned briefly the emperor's massacre of merchants, gentry, and clerks and did not want to talk about it in detail.

Finally, Zhang Dong hesitated and said:
"Be prepared. The emperor is a little different than before... Well, never mind. You'll find out after your audience tomorrow. Sigh..."

His face was heavy.

Ma Shiying noticed something was wrong, stared at the pockmarks on Zhang Mazi's face, and asked him where the emperor was.

Wei Zhao said loudly:
"Tell me! Where is the emperor now? Who is he with? It's not easy for me to travel back and forth between the north and the south. If it weren't for the protection of me, the number one swordsman in Tianjin, Brother Lin would have been sold to Qinhuai River by Zuo Liangyu in Zhenjiang and become a singer!"

Zhang Mazi looked Lin Yu up and down, and seeing that the big guy Lin Yu looked unhappy, he could only stammer:
"The Emperor, with a woman..."

Ma Shiying was dumbfounded:
"Women? Isn't Your Majesty not interested in women?"

Zhang Dong added somewhat embarrassedly:

"Yes, three women."

Ma Shiying was speechless.

~~~~~
On the morning of the Double Ninth Festival, the ninth day of the ninth month, Emperor Wuding met with Ma Shiying and others at the Chaoguan Yamen.

"I can't remember a lot of things from the past. You just said that I'm the retired emperor now? Liu Kan is the emperor?"

He was not surprised by the rebellion of Du Du and Li Zong. Instead, his son Liu Kan inherited the throne, and he himself became the emperor. This operation has the flavor of Li Shimin and Li Longji.

Ma Shiying was stunned for a moment, then nodded, and the tears he had just wiped away were about to flow out again.

"Your Majesty, the soldiers in Shenyang are in a dangerous situation. There are rebels on all sides. The Jiannu army has arrived in full force and joined forces with the Korean army. They have besieged the city for several months. The casualties in the city are heavy. I don't know how much longer they can hold out..."

Liu Zhaosun had not yet recovered from Chen Yuanyuan's tender embrace. When he heard Ma Shiying crying about the situation in Liaodong, he thought for a long time before he remembered what Du Du and Li Zong looked like.

The once loyal face on the bank of Hunhe River has now changed in an instant.

"Dudu swore to serve me as a guard for his entire life, to protect the northern border. He must keep his word. I will make him into a living figurine and place it at the palace gate, so that he can continue to serve as a guard."

Liu Zhaosun looked at Ma Shiying with bright eyes.

"Do you know how living human figurines are made?"

(End of this chapter)