The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 603: Foot Binding Ban
At the end of March in the first year of Guangde, the retired emperor's carriage moved from Wuchang, Huguang to Jiujiang, Jiangxi.

A steady stream of food and supplies gathered in Jiujiang from Liaodong, Beizhi, Huguang and other places.

Jiujiang, an important city in northern Jiangxi, became the empire's base camp for conquering the south of the Yangtze River and pacifying Jiangyou.

On March 29th, the retired emperor summoned the surrendered minister Yuan Jixian to the temporary palace (formerly the Jiujiang Governor's Office).

After encouraging the Governor of Jiujiang, he officially appointed Yuan Jixian as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War of the Great Qi and the Governor-General of Huguang, responsible for recruiting the prefectures and cities in Jiangxi to surrender. At the same time, he conferred the title of Third-Rank Lady on Yuan Jixian's wife, Shang, and granted Yuan Jixian's son the post of Deputy Captain of the Vanguard of the Governor's Office.

All the promises made to Yuan Linhou to "ennoble his wife and provide benefits for his sons" were fulfilled.

Yuan Linhou knelt on the ground, tears of gratitude streaming down his face as he thanked the Emperor: "I will never be able to repay Your Majesty's kindness unless I devote myself to the cause."

Yuan Jixian was originally a Hakka from Jiangxi, and his accent had a somewhat chubby tone, which reminded Liu Zhaosun of his old friend.

"When the country is in trouble, always think of Yuan Chonghuan. If Yuan Shaobao were still here, the Great Qi would be more than this."

The Emperor's eyes were filled with tears. After a long while, he stepped forward, held Yuan Jixian's hand, and instructed him again:

"The important affairs of Jiangxi have been entrusted to the Commander-in-Chief. How long does the Marquis of Lin estimate it will take to recapture the entire province of Jiangxi?"

Yuan Jixian pondered for a moment, then said confidently:
"The people of Jiangyou are sturdy and follow the Cheng-Zhu tradition. Sixty to seventy percent of the officials in the prefectures and governments are loyal to the Ming Dynasty... I promise you troops, money, and food. I estimate that within three months, Jiangyou will be pacified and the Ming bandits will be destroyed!"

The Emperor held Yuan Linhou's hands tightly and said with a smile:
"As expected, you are a relative of Yuan Shaobao. You all speak in the same tone. Fine, fine. I will give you money and food, and I will also put Prime Minister Hui Deng under your command. If you can conquer Jiangxi in three months, I will go to Fuzhou to destroy Zheng Sen's lair."

~~~~~
In late March, the commander-in-chief Yuan Jixian closed his door to visitors and wrote letters day and night to his students, former officials, and old friends who were serving as officials in various prefectures and counties in Jiangxi, trying to persuade them to surrender.

Jiangxi has Nanchang Prefecture, Guangxin Prefecture, Raozhou Prefecture, Ruizhou Prefecture, Yuanzhou Prefecture, Linjiang Prefecture, Fuzhou Prefecture, Jianchang Prefecture, Ji'an Prefecture, Ganzhou Prefecture, Nan'an Prefecture, plus one Ningzhou, totaling thirteen prefectures, one state and sixty-six counties.

Among them, more than half of the prefects, states and county magistrates were friends with Yuan Linhou.

During the Ming Dynasty, Jiangxi flourished in culture, with many scholars and officials from the imperial court coming from Jiangxi. Yuan Jixian was also a recognized scholar in Jiangyou, similar to Qian Qianyi's status among Jiangnan scholars.

The role of example was enormous. In the next few days, the five counties under the jurisdiction of Jiujiang Prefecture, namely De'an, Ruichang, Hukou, Pengze and Dehua, all surrendered. On April 8th, the First Corps of the Qi Army occupied all the counties of Jiujiang Prefecture without bloodshed.

On the ninth day, Nankang Prefecture, which was adjacent to Jiujiang, also began to move closer to Da Qi.

Wu Fengqi, deputy general of Nankang, sent someone to deliver a letter to discuss the plan of surrender with General Yuan.

On the 12th, Wu Fengqi killed the main general and opened the gate to welcome the Qi army into the city. It was said that the soldiers in the city had been withheld from paying wages by the Ming court for seven months, and even if the Qi army did not come, they would rebel.

Counties under the jurisdiction of Nankang Prefecture surrendered one after another.

Jiangxi was shocked.

Just as the Qi army was advancing triumphantly, an accident happened.

At first, after Hui Dengxiang surrendered in Wuchang, he became the vanguard of the Qi army and marched towards Nanchang. He falsely claimed that more than 200,000 Qi cavalry and infantry would arrive at any time, and threatened to massacre the city, demanding that the defenders of Nanchang give up resistance.

Kuang Zhao, the governor of Jiangxi Province in Nanchang City, was so worried and frightened that he relinquished his seal and fled. Officials and gentry also left the city, causing chaos.

In early April, Hui Dengxiang's vanguard captured Nanchang, the largest city in Jiangxi, with almost no resistance.

Hui Dengxiang took advantage of the victory and continued to advance southward, successively capturing Ji'an, Guangxin, Fuzhou, Yuanzhou and other prefectures. By May of the first year of Guangde, he had captured five of the thirteen prefectures in Jiangxi, making great contributions to the Great Qi.

When nearly half of Jiangxi's territory was pacified, Hui Dengxiang, considering himself a great contributor, requested the retired emperor to issue another edict granting him the power to "control civil and military officials" and "act at his own discretion."

This memorial was rejected by the Ministry of War before it was even delivered to Liu Zhaosun. Hui Dengxiang's request was too absurd.

It should be noted that the Great Qi only appointed Yuan Chonghuan and Zhao Lujiao to act at the discretion of Japan, and no one else.

Hui Dengxiang was just a surrendered general. The retired emperor had shown him great favor by letting him lead the troops to fight. Did he still want to be granted a title of nobility?
So Hui Dengxiang was appointed as the commander-in-chief of Jiangxi military affairs, and was ordered to obey the control of Fu and An.

The problem lies in this moderation.

Cabinet members Lu Xiangsheng, Qian Qianyi and others proposed to appoint Kang Yingqian's nephew Kang Jingxiu as the Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Governor of Jiangxi Province, and in charge of grain and salaries.

Such an appointment was quite reasonable, using civil officials to restrain surrendered generals, seize money and food bags, and put an end to rebellion.

However, Hui Dengxiang would not think so.

Although he was a surrendered general of the Ming Dynasty, he was still a former subordinate of Zuo Liangyu and had a bandit nature at heart.

After Jiangxia was captured, Xing Zhongyi, the drill instructor of the Fifth Corps, severely beat Ma Jinzhong, almost frightening General Ma to death.

Unfortunately, before they had the chance to punish Hui Dengxiang, the Ministry of War transferred him to the front line to "make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence."

After all, it is understandable to do so when hiring people.

However, it was precisely because of this small mistake that the emperor's cause in Jiangxi was almost ruined. The new Jiangxi Governor Yu Zetian and Inspector Cheng Xuedong belonged to the conservative faction among the Da Qi bureaucracy.

Both of them were grassroots officials from Kaiyuan, and they were promoted step by step to the positions of governor and inspector based on their merits. As beneficiaries of the imperial system, they were extremely supportive of the "Qi Dynasty Land System".

Unfortunately, these two people were pushed to the front by the cabinet members Qiao Yiqi and Wang Huazhenting and appointed as governors of Jiangxi.

The procedures for court recommendation are all reasonable.

As soon as Yu and Cheng took office, they copied the practices of the Great Qi in Shandong and Northern Zhili. They first took action against Hui Deng, the prime minister who they believed had the most private property, and abolished private property...

By the time the retired emperor learned of this and urgently called for an end to the incident, the two cruel officials had already looted all of Hui Dengxiang's silver and antiques in Fuzhou and Jiujiang.

Hui Dengxiang suppressed his anger. Those silver and antiques were all obtained by him from looting over the years. Liu Zhaosun had promised not to encroach on them.

Hui Dengxiang now realized that the words of that warrior were just for listening and not to be taken seriously.

From then on, his dissatisfaction with Da Qi intensified. He secretly contacted other surrendered generals and took the initiative to contact the envoys of Southern Ming.

~~~~~
When Hui Dengxiang was invincible on the battlefield in Jiangxi, the main force of the Qi army also began to approach Zhenjiang. In front of them, Zuo Liangyu's army was approaching Nanjing City.

The emperor ordered to temporarily stop pursuing the long-distance general.

The Zuo army advanced eastward, looting along the way, and the Qi army followed behind them. As soon as the property and food were loaded onto the Zuo army's warships, they were snatched away by the Qi army.

By this calculation, only Zuo Liangyu was the real pioneer of the king and made great contributions to the Great Qi's conquest of the south of the Yangtze River.

After several such incidents, Zuo Liangyu's men stopped robbing and began to plan their escape by sea.

Letters from the Southern Ming court seeking peace were delivered to the imperial desk one after another, piling up into a mountain.

These letters were mainly drafted by Ruan Dacheng, Song Yingxing and others. As the Qi army continued to advance eastward, Zhu Changling's conditions for peace talks became increasingly humble, and the words between the lines were almost pleading.

After reading a letter, the retired emperor threw it into the copper incense burner at his feet and watched the tragic song of the Southern Ming Dynasty turn into curling green smoke.

On the eighth day of April, the retired emperor visited Nanchang and summoned the civil officials who accompanied him to this city that Hui Dengxiang had just captured.

Here, Liu Zhaosun will announce to his confidants a decision that will change the history of Da Qi.

"Jiangxi will soon be pacified, as will Jiangnan. Of course, during this period, there will undoubtedly be further betrayals. After all, Great Qi is undergoing transformation. Some want to restore the old Qi Dynasty Land System, while others want to follow the Ming Dynasty's lead completely... Great Qi was born amidst a raging storm, and I fear no betrayal. I will pursue the enemy with all my remaining courage." I will show no mercy to Great Qi's enemies.

The retired emperor looked at his ministers indifferently.

He has learned too many lessons in the past decade of fighting.

Any one of these lessons is invaluable.

Only by experiencing it yourself can you deeply understand those principles.

No matter whether it is "The Art of War", "Jixiao Xinshu" or "On War", other people's words, no matter how much they say, are not as valuable as the experience you gain yourself.

Countless heroes withdrew from the stage of history after a few failures and disappeared without a trace.

Because most people don't have much room for error.

Those who can survive after repeated defeats will eventually become winners, such as Liu Bang and Li Shimin.

The last one standing is the winner does not mean to worship failure.

It's about continuing to live after failure until you stop making mistakes.

"I am still alive. After every setback, Da Qi can adjust its strategy in a timely manner."

"It is thanks to God that Great Qi has been blessed, and thanks to the concerted efforts of all of you, that I have not left this world so early like Nurhaci, Huang Taiji, Zhu Youjian, and Wu Sangui."

"Now, Da Qi is once again at the center of a storm, and what I want to talk about today is not the traitors in the court, nor Zhu Changying and Zheng Sen, but something else. Grand Secretary!"

Qian Qianyi stepped forward and saluted the emperor.

"Announce the decree!"

Qian Qianyi looked around, slowly unfolded a document, and said loudly:
"The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites have deliberated: In the newly annexed prefectures and counties of Jiangnan and Jiangyou, all girls born after the first month of the first year of the Guangde reign are prohibited from foot binding. If anyone violates the law and their husband or father holds official positions, they will be referred to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of War for discussion and punishment. If they are civilians, they will be handed over to the Ministry of Justice for eighty strokes of the cane and exiled. If the head of the family fails to investigate, they will be shackled for three months and given eighty strokes of the cane!"

"Any civil official below the rank of Governor-General who is negligent and fails to observe the situation will be subject to the deliberation of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War, and will be sentenced for dereliction of duty."

(End of this chapter)