The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 609: A Banner Descends from the Stone
The Tongling County government office was temporarily converted into the emperor's palace, and soon became the base camp for the southern expeditionary force.

Inside and outside the county government office, there was a constant stream of carriages and horses, and the lights were bright all night long.

Groups of messengers wearing Zibo-colored military uniforms and various command flags on their backs were like busy worker bees, flapping their little wings on the streets of Tongling, delivering letters of intelligence from Liaodong, Shandong, and Jiangxi back to the base camp.

The mountains of reports, memorials and congratulatory letters (June was the birthday of the Empress Dowager Cisi) were sorted and compiled by Dongfang Zhu, Francisco and Pei Dahu and then presented to the Emperor for his review.

The palace camp was as bright as day, with bright whale oil lamps on all four walls.

The official documents and memorials on the imperial desk were piled up to three feet high. The burly Liu Zhaosun looked like a land god from under the earth, completely submerged in this vast pile of papers.

Occasionally he would look up, grab the teacup on the table and drink it all in one gulp.

Even though the emperor was half man and half god, he could not handle such a high-intensity work of reviewing memorials.

The empire had a vast territory, so state affairs were heavy. There were hundreds of memorials submitted from all over the country on floods, droughts, and locust plagues every day. What was even more terrible was that each one required the court's approval as soon as possible.

If relief had been provided to these disaster-stricken counties and prefectures a few days later, there might have been a Li Xianzhong or Zhang Zicheng-like figure among the victims.

From this point of view, Liu Zhaosun admired Emperor Wanli very much. It was not easy for the Ming Dynasty to survive even though he had not attended court for decades.

Compared with the mountains of memorials sent back by civil officials, the reports from the military commanders of various corps were very few.

The emperor gave the front-line commanders considerable autonomy in decision-making. In actual warfare, the commanders of each corps could choose to act according to the needs of the battlefield.

Especially when encountering a major war opportunity, the chief officer can even decide whether and when to start a war, and then report the decision to the court, enjoying the right to act first and report later.

Of course, all decisions made by the chief officer must be based on the advice of the training officer and the combat representative to be in accordance with the procedures.

Although he has won the world on horseback, Liu Zhaosun's current job is more like what a civil emperor would do.

For a long time, Liu Zhaosun focused his main energy on handling the civil affairs of the empire.

He almost never interfered with the combat tactics of various corps in terms of disaster relief, appointment of officials, and commendation of officials. He was not like a certain leader in later generations who micromanaged even the location of a company's machine gun points.

The most common sentence in Liu Zhaosun's edicts to the commanders of each corps was:

"All these are just my rough estimates. How can I know everything from thousands of miles away? If it is a matter of military convenience, it is up to the generals to decide."

~~~~~
Liu Zhaosun rubbed his bloodshot eyes, let out a long breath, closed his eyes and took a short rest. Dongfang Zhu stood beside him holding a cup of hot tea.

He woke up quickly, grabbed some tea and drank it all in one gulp. Then he casually pulled out a document from the pile of documents and flipped through it. The memorial began with the following words:

"Your Highness, Jiledelegri, the prefect of Huerhai Prefecture in Tumed Province, Mongolia, congratulates the Empress Dowager Xiaoding Zhenchun Qinren Duansubi Cisheng on her birthday..."

It was another birthday memorial. Even Mongolian officials began to succumb to the bad habit of empty words. The retired emperor could not help but sneer.

"Are the things piled here all congratulatory memorials for the Empress Dowager Cisheng?"

Dongfang Zhu quickly glanced at the corner of the desk and replied:
"Yes, Your Majesty, we have already screened out the congratulatory letters from officials below the county level. The remaining ones are from provincial governors and prefects, as well as several princes and the shoguns of the Ryukyu King and the Korean King. There are a total of 1,537..."

One thousand five hundred and thirty-seven copies, that's simply insane.

He pulled out another one, the cover was gold-embossed and very exquisite. When he opened it, he found that it was a congratulatory letter sent by King Yi Jong of Joseon.

The handwriting was very beautiful. He started by respectfully addressing Jin Yuji as the mother of the Joseon nation, which invisibly elevated Liu Zhaosun's seniority. The whole congratulatory letter was full of flattery, almost comparing the Emperor Retired of the Great Qi to the most valiant king after three generations. The Qi army was invincible and victorious. Those who didn't know would think that the Emperor Retired of the Great Qi was about to break out of the earth and unify the solar system.

Liu Zhaosun naturally knew what Li Jong was thinking now. This fence-sitter was now worried that after Liu Zhaosun occupied Jiangnan, he would launch a full-scale attack on Korea and annex the remaining four provinces of Korea.

Therefore, in the congratulatory letter, Li Zong behaved extremely respectfully, not like a nephew at all, but rather like a grandson.

"You're welcome, you're welcome. Great Qi and Joseon are uncle-nephew nations. I am Li Jong's uncle. How can an uncle bully his nephew? Have the Grand Secretary write a letter to Li Jong, telling him that I am currently leading a million-strong army hunting in Nanjing and cannot drink plum wine with him. When I return to Liaodong this winter to collect Zheng Chenggong's body, I will meet my nephew in Hanyang to eat kimchi, roast venison, and drink wine."

The retired emperor took out the congratulatory letter sent by Li Jong from Korea from a pile of memorials and put it away carefully. He planned to send this letter back to Liaodong and let Jin Yuji read it to win her smile.

The chief eunuch stood beside the desk and did not move.

"What? Didn't you hear clearly?"

Dongfang Zhu quickly said, "Your Majesty, you forgot that the Grand Secretary is still in Nanjing negotiating peace. He probably can't come back now."

"Oh. I was so busy that I forgot. Let Zhang Pu write it down immediately. Don't let my nephew in Seoul worry about the Great Qi."

Dongfang Zhu took the order and left. He certainly knew what "not to let Li Zong worry" meant.

Da Qi and Korea were testing each other, and the war in Liaodong was not over yet. If Korea suddenly took the wrong approach and sent troops to Shenyang to take advantage of the situation, the war in Liaodong would be in trouble.

Liu Zhaosun stood up and walked to a map of the territory of Da Qi that was more than two meters wide, and stood there for a long time.

High Priest Francesco and Pei Dahu came over and stared at the giant map with the emperor.

Zhang Dong came in with the messenger.

Liu Zhaosun felt somewhat familiar with this dusty messenger.

Zhang Dong whispered: "Your Majesty, it's from the Third Corps..."

"Oh,"

Liu Zhaosun nodded:
"What happened to Liaodong? Did Zheng Sen capture Jinzhou and Gaizhou in southern Liaoning?"

The messenger looked exhausted, and his body was skin and bones under his black military uniform. He struggled to open his mouth, but just as he was about to speak, he fainted.

"this····"

The retired emperor quickly asked Pei Dahu to help the messenger go down to rest.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. This man arrived in Dengzhou by boat two months ago. As soon as he landed, he encountered a large group of White Lotus Sect members. One of his companions was killed by the White Lotus Sect. He came here alone from Dengzhou to report the news. He didn't rest much along the way..."

Zhang Dong watched the messenger being helped out and explained quickly.

"Walking all the way from Shandong?" Liu Zhaosun gritted his teeth. "It's not easy. Rest well. It's not easy."

The retired emperor sighed repeatedly, and the people around him were amazed.

Zhang Dong quickly relayed the Liaodong military situation he had just heard to the retired emperor.

When reporting military intelligence, the usually calm and indifferent intelligence chief's voice trembled:
"Your Majesty, the Zheng bandits were defeated by General Qi and his men at the end of March. Zheng Sen besieged Gaizhou for a month and a half, delaying the fight and sending envoys to Shenyang daily to solicit their surrender. In the end, he failed to capture anything. A lone Gaizhou force held them back, and all three hundred cavalrymen and five hundred musketeers were killed in battle, buying precious time for reinforcements. General Qi, General Wang, and the Loyal Prince (Bumbutai) arrived just in time and defeated the bandits in one fell swoop, killing over twenty thousand of them. The remaining bandits fled in panic, retreating from southern Liaoning to the sea, where they were intercepted and killed by Wu Aheng. Zheng Sen was reckless. A great victory for Liaodong, Your Majesty!" "A great victory for Liaodong, a great victory."

Liu Zhaosun muttered to himself, repeating it several times before stopping.

The retired emperor had long anticipated that Zheng Chenggong would undoubtedly be defeated this time, but he did not expect the defeat to be so quick, and in exactly the same way as the original defeat in history. The retired emperor thought about it for a long time, and in the end he could only explain the Battle of Southern Liaoning by saying that it is difficult to change one's nature while it is easy to change the country.

The Zheng army was alone and deep in the enemy's territory, with a long supply line. Moreover, from the very beginning, they did not think about taking steady steps, but only wanted to take shortcuts and let Zuo Liangyu take advantage of the situation, which would make things difficult for them.
It can be said that Zheng committed almost all the major military taboos, but there was nothing he could do about it, as Koxinga was so confident and underestimated the enemy.

Perhaps in his eyes, Qi was just a paper house that would fall down with a kick.

In the final analysis, with the pirates' knowledge and vision, it is impossible for them to see the true strength of Da Qi, let alone see the terrifying combat power that can be unleashed under the polarization system...

Later, based on the descriptions of Zhang Dong and the messenger, the emperor had a general understanding of the entire process of the Battle of Gaizhou.

On March 18th of the first year of Guangde, after failing to persuade the ministers staying in Shenyang (Lu Xiangsheng and Empress Dowager Cisi) to surrender, the Zheng army's siege artillery was finally delivered to the location.

On the 19th, Zheng's army began to place cannons at the front lines of each camp, and planned to start the general offensive on the 21st.

On the 20th, Zheng Sen received information that Qi troops from inside the pass and western Liaoning were reinforcing Liaodong (Wang Zengbin and Bumbutai), and the Qi troops in Gaizhou were preparing for a counterattack.

At this time, the arrow was on the string. Zheng Sen ignored the opposition of his generals and insisted on defending first, and still carried out the general attack on the 21st as originally planned.

On the 21st, the two sides fired at each other at Cheng'en Gate (the west gate of Gaizhou), and as a result, the Zheng army's artillery position was destroyed by the Qi army's divine fire flying crows.

The Gaizhou cavalry rushed out of Cheng'en Gate to launch a counterattack. The Zheng army's vanguard town was severely damaged, and more than half of the Zhongchong town was lost.

A gap was opened in the Zheng army's siege line, and the Qi cavalry, who had won the victory by leaving the city, simply camped outside Cheng'en Gate and confronted the Zheng army, which was dozens of times larger than their own.

Zheng Sen had no choice but to change his siege strategy again, changing his combat goal from attacking the city to driving the Qi cavalry back to the city.

Perhaps because he thought the number of cavalry leaving the city was too small (about 300 cavalry and 500 musketeers), Koxinga did not immediately order the cavalry to be driven away.

On the morning of the 23rd, Bumbutai led the Mongolian soldiers from western Liaoning, and Wang Zengbin led the main force of the cavalry regiment, and they arrived at the battlefield in southern Liaoning one after another.

The Gaizhou defenders followed the two armies in launching an all-out counterattack. The Zheng army realized that their time was up and fled in panic, but were blocked by the Qi army outside the city.

After paying a heavy price (two thousand of the six thousand Iron Men were lost), the Qi army was finally wiped out.

However, at this time, the reinforcements of the Qi army had completed the encirclement, and the Zheng army was caught in a pincer attack by the two main corps, the cavalry regiment and the Mongolian corps. It suffered heavy losses. Of the 100,000-strong army, 20,000 were killed or wounded, and the rest were scattered and fled to the sea. Countless people were annihilated by the Qi navy, and Zheng Sen disappeared.

·······
The Emperor returned his gaze to the map on the wall, staring in the direction of Kyushu Island, and muttered to himself:

"Zheng Sen, ah Zheng Sen, where did you escape to?"

At this time Dongfang Zhu had already returned.

"Any news from Nanjing?"

The chief eunuch stepped forward to refill the whale oil lamp on the wall. "Your Majesty, I just received a report that the Grand Secretary is preparing for the ceremony of Emperor Ming's abdication and surrender. They have reportedly already rehearsed it twice."

"Rehearsal? Two more times?"

The retired emperor laughed in silence, thought for a while, and felt that Qian Qianyi had gone a little too far.

"I didn't know the Grand Secretary had such great talent. He's really my Xiao He, even capable of these empty words!"

But on second thought, according to the opinions of several cabinet ministers, this surrender ceremony must be extremely grand, otherwise it will not be able to demonstrate the power of the Great Qi and will not be able to intimidate people from afar.

~~~~
On June 20th of the 15th year of the Hongguang reign of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Changling, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, issued an abdication edict in the Forbidden City in Nanjing, announcing the cancellation of the country's name and reign title, and personally led the nine provinces, 63 prefectures (states), and 358 counties of the Ming Dynasty to merge into the Great Qi.

An excerpt from Emperor Ming's abdication edict is as follows:
I have heard that the will of Heaven is not determined by fate but by virtue. Therefore, the Han succeeded the Qin, and the Ming replaced the Yuan, all because of the appropriate times.

Since the reigns of Emperors Longqing and Wanli, Heaven has been disgusted with our Ming dynasty. Corrupt officials abound in the government, wild beasts are everywhere in the north and south, bandits are rampant in the east and west, floods, droughts, locust plagues, earth cracks, comets, and wars are rampant. As for Heaven's wrath, the changes are about to be announced, but you are unaware of it.

Although I am not clear, I dare not defy the will of heaven and my virtue!
Moreover, those who ruled the empire in ancient times prioritized the preservation of the people and could not bear to see those in power harmed! I, following the Emperor's will, aim to renew the empire, having previously made the Treaty of Xuzhou, hoping to ensure eternal peace. However, the Left rebels invaded three times, the Zheng rebels rose up seven times, the rivers and streams raged, the people suffered, and the north and south clashed, pointing fingers at each other.

As long as Jiangnan remains unattached, the people of the world will never be at peace. Today, the world submits to the new dynasty. The glorious Great Qi is the destiny of heaven!
If I go against the will of the majority of the people, how can I bear to go against the likes and dislikes of millions of people for the sake of the honor of one family? Therefore, I observe the general trend and examine public opinion internally, and hereby lead all my officials to submit to the Great Qi...
Zhu Changling was secretly sent to Zhenjiang by Lingbi Hou, where Emperor Hongguang would change into another identity and secretly travel north on a Qi warship to Ganghwa Island, Korea, to reunite with his Zhu relatives on the island.

Marquis Lingbi was the title bestowed upon Zhao Zhilong by the retired emperor. Liu Zhaosun intended to set up such an example to inspire the ministers of the Southern Ming Dynasty to be loyal to the new dynasty.

On June 29th, more than 8,000 representatives from various Qi army corps, led by officials who surrendered from the Southern Ming Dynasty, entered Nanjing City armed with sharp weapons.

At the beginning of the morning on July 1, the first year of Guangde, Zhao Zhilong, the general of Southern Zhili of the Great Qi Dynasty and the Marquis of Lingbi, led 800 surrendered officials to present a letter of surrender to the retired emperor in front of the Xuanwu Gate in Nanjing.

In the grand and unprecedented surrender ceremony, the retired emperor tremblingly took over the imperial seal of the Ming Dynasty and publicly announced the pardon of all surrendered officials of the Southern Ming Dynasty except Zheng Sen and Zuo Liangyu.

Inside and outside the Stone City, millions of soldiers and civilians cheered "Long live the city".

The Ming Dynasty fell.

The Southern Ming Dynasty belonged to Jianghuai, Jiangnan and most of the southwest regions.

Including Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan and parts of Zhejiang and Fujian, a total of nine provinces, 63 prefectures (states), 358 counties, 8,655,065 households, and more than 36 million newly attached people, all of which belonged to the Great Qi.

Although Emperor Hongguang had announced his abdication and abolished the name of the Ming Dynasty, he called on all subjects across the country to be loyal to the Great Qi.

However, in various parts of the south, there were still many officials who were determined to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty and refused to surrender. They vowed to fight the Qi Lu to the end.

These remnant forces were mainly distributed in Fujian and Guangdong. Some of them were Zheng Sen's former subordinates (Zheng Sen's whereabouts are still unknown), and some were southern officials who had previously supported other vassal kings.

Two years later, the Zheng family of Fujian surrendered to Qi. In the same year, the Dashi Emperor Zhang Zicheng surrendered.

From then on, the Great Qi Empire, founded by Liu Zhaosun, controlled the following territories:
Eighteen provinces in Han China, three provinces in Liaodong, Outer Manchuria (including Sakhalin Island), all of Mongolia (roughly equivalent to the northern control area of the Mongol Empire at its peak), two northern provinces of Korea, southeastern Australia, the Taiwan Islands, the Ryukyu Islands...

If we add the homeland that Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang recovered in Yinzhou (North America) (a few scattered strongholds on the west coast),
And a few decades later, Emperor Guangde Liu Kan and his successor Xuanzong launched a series of territorial expansions (conquering Japan, sweeping across the Indochina Peninsula, drinking from the Danube River, sweeping across Europe...) The empire's territory would eventually expand to a terrifying 5300 million square kilometers, accounting for about 29% of the world's land area.

The upper limit of the territory of the Great Qi Empire had already far exceeded that of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and was even twice as large as the territory of the Mongol Empire during the era of Kublai Khan.

Of course, these are all things to follow.

I won’t spoil the glory and honor of the Great Qi Empire here.

At least during the summer and autumn of the first year of Guangde, the empire's main energy was still to digest the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, quell the rebellion of the remaining forces of the Ming Dynasty,

(End of this chapter)