Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 60 We Want to Go Home

Mubang was the former camp of He Jiuyi’s army.

They were originally confronting and fighting with the Dai Qing army at Hanlong Pass, ten miles away.

But it was Chinese New Year, and the war had not yet broken out. During the festive season, both sides had spontaneously stopped their friction and probing.

Ten days ago, Dai Qing sent envoys from the former Dashi generals to congratulate the New Year, and the smoke of the battlefield was completely dissipated by the fireworks of firecrackers.

It seems that all the brutal fighting will be put off until after the New Year.

But with the sudden capture of Guangguo Duke He Jiuyi by Prince Li Dingguo of Jin, the festivities in the military camp suddenly vanished, leaving only a solemn and serious atmosphere.

In this humid and hot Hongshawadi, it is even a bit cold and astringent.

When the prince returned to Ava City, he sent people to bring a lot of wine and food as rewards, which made the soldiers who were drinking in groups of three or four unable to hide their worries.

"Of course we are uneasy." A middle-aged soldier complained to Zhu Cixuan, who was disguised as an ordinary soldier.

"Everyone in the Ming Dynasty knows that His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin rejects the Qin army. Regardless of whether the Duke of Guang has truly rebelled, we Qin soldiers will not be treated well by His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin."

At first, the soldiers were wary of the young general who brought them wine and food.

He has white teeth and a handsome face.

The peasants immediately thought that he was an important person who came to visit incognito.

Zhu Cixuan repaired the collapsed bed in just a few strokes and also repaired the shoes of two soldiers whose straw sandals were torn.

The soldiers gradually let down their guard again.

I've never heard of any important person doing housework so efficiently.

His eyes are still so innocent, and you can tell at first glance that he is a guy who just joined the army.

After three rounds of drinks, the soldiers, under the influence of drunkenness, began to speak their true feelings.

"Most of us are from Yunnan who followed the King of Qin to Yunnan to fight against the Qing. We fought in Guizhou, Guizhou, Huguang and other provinces for several years. After Sun Kewang surrendered to the Qing, we followed the Duke of Guang to hang out in western Guangxi."

"I thought Guangguo Guild would take us home, but we ended up in this desolate Hongsha."

"If I don't go back home, damn it, I don't know if I will die in this foreign country."

Zhu Cixuan was silent for a long time, clinked glasses with the soldiers around him, drank it all, and then slowly said:
"The Crown Prince has conquered the entire Hongshawadi. He has no worries and should be returning to attack Yundian soon."

The middle-aged Ming soldier put down the beef bone he was chewing and spat:
"We have heard in western Guangxi that the Emperor has a reputation for running away. Once the Emperor, Crown Prince, and Empress settle down in one place, they won't move again."

"Unless the Qing army attacks, they will continue to run back."

Zhu Cixuan said, "The Crown Prince asked us to send some food and wine first. He will come to join us once he has organized his troops. He should be able to bring everyone home soon."

Come back home.

There was confusion in the eyes of the Ming soldiers.

Such a distant thing.

But the land of my hometown is just ten miles away.

But it seems like a chasm that is difficult to cross.

In fact, when they arrived in Hongsavadi, they more or less guessed in their hearts that they would stay here in their next life.

Dai Qing defeated nearly 100,000 Dashi troops and drove the King of Jin back to a foreign land.

They only had 20,000 men left. How could they possibly fight against Dai Qing's 100,000-man army and fight their way back to Yunnan?

Zhu Cixuan looked around at the soldiers with different expressions.

The Dashi Army came from a group of bandits and were accustomed to bringing their families with them when they went on expeditions.

However, when the Dashi Army left Yunnan to fight against the Qing Dynasty, they basically left their families at the base camp.

When Bai Wenxuan and Li Dingguo's armies fled to the border, they both took their families with them.

He Jiuyi's troops were obviously very small.

A soldier not much older than Zhu Cixuan murmured, "I miss home."

"I miss my sister and the big buffalo in the village. I used to be responsible for feeding it."

The middle-aged soldier sat on the ground, his eyes filled with memories and longing:

"In the past, I would spend the New Year with my wife and children. I would have a bowl of millet porridge in the morning and rice noodles at noon."

"At night, we drink a bowl of steaming hot chicken soup, take a hot bath, and then the whole family hides in bed together."

As he spoke, the middle-aged soldier poured a glass of wine on the ground, his voice full of bitterness:
"My fellow villager, Lao Zhang, was promoted to captain, along with his wife and daughter. The daughter died of a high fever when they first entered Menggen, and the wife got lost during the march. He himself contracted malaria while fighting the Hongsha soldiers and also died."

“The dead are painless. The suffering is for those of us who are alive but don’t know why we are alive.”

Will you die for the Ming Dynasty?
It’s not the turn of these soldiers.

But what is the point of fighting in this foreign land?

Defend their hometown, but their hometown is opposite them.

The Ming soldiers who were sitting in a group drinking suddenly fell into silence and sorrow.

Since entering Hongsha, he has raised troops to support the king.

Among my colleagues in Tongze, not many were killed by the Hongsha people, most of them died due to acclimatization.

Perhaps, when the weather warms up again, they will follow suit. A thin Ming soldier timidly said, "Why don't we go to Hanlong Pass? Didn't General He want to surrender to the Qing before?"

"Fuck your mother!" The middle-aged soldier who was their superior shouted and looked at Zhu Cixuan nervously.

The King of Jin has already captured and imprisoned all the well-known generals in He Jiuyi's army, waiting for the arrival of the Crown Prince to make an example of them.

Even if you have the idea of ​​surrendering to the Qing and returning home, you can't say it in front of the prince's people.

Under the nervous gaze of a group of Ming soldiers.

Zhu Cixuan lowered his head, his voice a little low and hoarse: "Country, country."

“It is said that the country comes before the home, and there is no home without the country.”

"The Qing dynasty shaved their heads and changed customs in order to destroy our Han people."

"But the Ming Dynasty has fallen, the emperor has abandoned his country, and all the civil and military officials in western Yunnan have surrendered to the Qing. Why can't we go home?"

Zhu Cixuan raised his head and looked at the soldiers, young and old: "You want to go home, and so do I."

"But I can't go back."

Without waiting for the soldiers to ask where his hometown was, Zhu Cixuan stood up, toasted with a glass of wine, and promised:

"I will never report this to the Crown Prince of Jin. If you truly wish to surrender to the Qing and return home, tell me and I will find a chance to remove the guards from the camp for you."

After drinking the wine, Zhu Cixuan turned and left under the complicated gazes of everyone.

……

"The autumn wind blows bleakly, the night is dark, the solitary lamp shines dimly, tears wet my clothes. The mountains and rivers of my homeland have become shadows in my dreams, where in this world can I find my home?"

In the prison cell in the camp, Jin Weixin leaned against the bars of the cage, closed his eyes and hummed softly.

"Minister Jin is in the mood for poetry."

Zhu Cixuan entered the cell and looked at Jin Weixin.

Jin Weixin opened his eyes and, upon discovering the identity of the visitor, he immediately bowed and said respectfully, "Greetings, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Your Highness has come here to punish the King of Jin and establish your authority."

Zhu Cixuan glanced at Jin Weixin's intelligence of 75 and politics of 67.

It is not low, just in line with his identity as the Minister of Personnel and the military advisor of Li Dingguo.

"Why didn't I come here because of you and Guangguogong He Jiuyi?"

Jin Weixin shook his head slightly: "Correspondence with Dai Qing is suspected of treason. Even if we are not killed or imprisoned, we will be forced back to Ava City and placed under house arrest."

"We have no surprises. The only person who can make His Highness come here in disguise is the Prince of Jin."

"For leaving his position without permission, imprisoning a general, defying the emperor and his father, and for the mistake he made in establishing the borders a few years ago, the Crown Prince must be here to destroy the prestige of the King of Jin."

This was to put the blame on Li Dingguo for Yuan Chonghuan's mistake.

Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty can now accommodate ten Yuan Chonghuans as long as they resist the Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Cixuan did not answer but asked: "The court said that you also want to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, but why?"

"You are different from ordinary soldiers. You should know that I have already pacified Hongshawadi and am preparing to counterattack western Yunnan. Do you have no confidence in me and the Prince of Jin?"

"still."

"Or are you a member of Ma Jixiang's rebel group and afraid that I will kill you?"

Jin Weixin sighed and said, "I know that when the King of Jin first arrived in Ava City, His Highness did not attack me because I was a close minister of the King of Jin and was concerned about the King of Jin."

"Your Highness, returning with a great victory, will certainly discipline the army."

"As for my surrender to the Qing, if accepting Wu Sangui's letter is considered surrender, then I surrendered to the Qing Dynasty."

"Thirty percent of the reason is that I'm afraid Your Highness will kill me, and twenty percent is that I'm worried that Your Highness and the Prince of Jin won't be able to stop Wu Sangui."

"The remaining 50%." Jin Weixin pursed his lips.

"I am from Yunnan. I advised the King of Jin not to go to southern Sichuan to join the Thirteen Families because I don't want to leave my hometown."

"When I was in western Guangxi, I asked the troupe to perform the play of Yue Wumu for the King of Jin to teach these bandits what loyalty and righteousness are."

He often told Li Dingguo stories about the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, compared Sun Kewang to Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao, and advised Li Dingguo to be like Kong Ming.

Let Li Dingguo go to Anlong to rescue the emperor.

When Zhu Cixuan came, he had already asked someone about Jin Weixin's background.

He was a typical military advisor. If he had defected to Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong at the beginning, he might have become a prime minister.

"As for me, I was a juren in the eighth year of the Yongli reign, and was appointed Zhongshu Sheren. For my meritorious service in Anlong, I was promoted to Dali Temple Minister, and then to Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel."

"Although I had selfish motives in Kunming, I was also following Your Majesty's wishes. Your Majesty wanted to avoid the front lines, so naturally I advised you to move to western Yunnan and the border."

"I have served the Ming Dynasty faithfully, Your Highness."

Jin Weixin looked into Zhu Cixuan's eyes with a burning gaze, which was too pure to be that of a general who had experienced many battles. He was a little dazed:
"He Jiuyi didn't rebel, and neither did I."

"We just want to go home and miss our wives and children."

(End of this chapter)