Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 415
Yang Chao didn't accept the order immediately, he was still assessing the development of the situation.

Before, the whole world knew that Zhu Cijiong was in Yang Chao's hands, and now everyone in the world knew that Zhu Cihuan was in Zheng's hands.

Some time ago, there was no news about Zhu Cihuan and other princes. Everyone thought they were captured together with the emperor. Everyone actually hoped that Zhu Cijiong would be able to supervise the country. It is suspected that Yang Chao has the voice of conspiracy.

But some people knew that it was not Yang Chao who disagreed, but Zhu Cijiong himself who refused to cooperate.

For example, the civil servants in Nanjing, Wang Duo and Qian Qianyi came to persuade Zhu Cijiong almost every day, but Zhu Cijiong refused to accept it, lamenting that he had no talent for governing the country, saying that the world should be homed to the virtuous, and even people have to wonder if it is true. Yang Chao wanted to force him to give in.

So the civil servants who didn't know why immediately changed their appearances and began to lean towards Zhu Cihuan, the mourning king of Fujian.

Zheng's messengers took Zhu Cihuan's edict to Guangdong and Guangxi in the south, Zhejiang in the north, and Zhili in the south. Many literati began to accept it, and in response to Zhu Cihuan's call, they were rushing to Fujian one by one, intending to become officials in the court.

The changes in the situation in Jiangxi were the actions of the Qing army.

After being repelled from Nanjing by Yang Chao, Azig retreated all the way to Jiujiang because he didn't have a boat, and finally crossed the river from Jiujiang and returned to Beijing with Zhu Cihong.

Previously, Jiujiang had been in the hands of Zuo Liangyu's son Zuo Menggeng. When Li Zicheng's army reached [-] kilometers away from Jiujiang, Zuo Menggeng, who had few soldiers, dared not resist and fled to the Yangtze River with a few warships. However, Li Zicheng never had a chance to attack Jiujiang. Just forty miles away, Li Zicheng's army was attacked and defeated by the Qing army.

As soon as the Qing army arrived in Jiujiang, Zuo Menggeng took Jiujiang and surrendered to the Qing army. When Azig retreated back, he brought Zuo Menggeng to Beijing, saying that he wanted him to have an audience with Emperor Shunzhi.

However, Jin Shenghuan, the rebel general of Zuo Menggeng's tribe, did not follow him. Instead, he took Zuo Liangyu's remnant soldiers after being mauled by Yang Chao, along with the letter of credence stamped with the jade seal of the Qing emperor and the imperial edict of Emperor Zhu Cihong of the Ming Dynasty. , From Jiujiang to surrender Jiangxi Ming army.

Originally, Azig wanted to bring Jin Shenghuan back to Beijing, but Jin Shenghuan asked for a fight, saying that he was willing to take 3000 people from his headquarters to go south to Jiangxi to conquer the whole of Jiangxi for the Qing Dynasty.

Jin Shenghuan's consideration was that he didn't want to give up his soldiers and horses, and he didn't want to give up his military power, so he didn't want to go to Beijing with his little master Zuo Menggeng.

After considering the balance, Azig also agreed. The Eight Banners soldiers under him will go back to Beijing to rest, but they have to leave behind, and they can't give up the captured Jiujiang and other places in vain. Otherwise, they will be attacked by political opponents again. Jin Shenghuan just happened to be, if Jin Shenghuan was defeated by Yang Chao and lost Jiujiang as soon as he left, it means that these surrendered troops are not effective in combat, and killing Jin Shenghuan is to vent their anger. If Jin Shenghuan has the guts to defend Jiujiang and capture Jiangxi, then It's entirely because he, Azig, has a good command, instead of one soldier from the Eight Banners, one from Jiangxi.

For this reason, Azige could give up the purpose of controlling Jin Shenghuan and recruiting the remaining [-] people from Zuo Liangyu, leaving Jin Shenghuan with a blank letter of credence covered with jade seals, and asking Zhu Cihong to write a large number of edicts of surrender.

As a result, Jin Shenghuan led 5000 soldiers and horses in his headquarters, together with Wang Tizhong's 8000 troops, and [-] troops went down along Panyang Lake.

Jin Shenghuan sent people to Nanchang with the letter of state and imperial edict, claiming that more than [-] Manchurian soldiers and horses were approaching, and only by surrendering quickly could they avoid being slaughtered.Governor Kuang Zhao of Jiangxi was so frightened that he removed his seal and fled; other officials and some gentlemen dispersed in a rush, and the provincial capital Nanchang fell into anarchy in an instant.Finally, some representatives launched by Shimin greeted Jin Shenghuan outside the city.

The entire Nanchang Mansion and the nearby counties and counties belonged to Jin Shenghuan without bloodshed. He took advantage of the situation to recruit troops to subdue the Ming army, and soon there were 5 troops, and Wang Tizhong expanded to [-] horses. On the one hand, continue to go south to capture the city.

Jin and Wang's [-] troops quickly conquered Fuzhou, where Zhu Ciyan, king of Yongning, occupied Ji'an, escorted the Ming governor Kuang Zhao who had fled there to Wuchang, and then occupied Guangchang and other mansions.Then attack Yuanzhou, defeat Ming general Huang Chaoxuan's more than [-] people, and occupy Yuanzhou.In less than one month, all thirteen prefectures in Jiangxi except Ganzhou and Nan'an were under the control of Jin Shenghuan.

Yang Chao had nothing to do with this, he defeated Azig under the city of Nanjing and destroyed tens of thousands of navy warships of the Qing army, and in order to boost morale, he had already sent someone to inform Jiangxi.

But such a big victory is not as good as the capture of an emperor. The news of Zhu Cihong's capture destroyed the morale of Jiangxi's army and people in an instant. Jin Shenghuan could surrender one by one with an edict in his hand. Surrender without a fight.

"Uncle, please focus on the overall situation. A country cannot be without a king for a day. If the world is stable soon, and gold thieves are no more than clowns, An Neng will take the territory of Jiangxi with a single edict!"

Zheng Hongkui has a face of serving the country and the people.

Yang Chao couldn't help sneering: "Benjue has now been changed to Lord Zheng Hou."

The Zheng family elected Zhu Cihuan to oversee the country, and Zhu Cihuan naturally conferred the title of meritorious official. Zheng Zhilong was named Marquis of Pinglu, Zheng Hongkui was named Marquis of Dinglu, Zheng Zhibao was named Bo of Chengji, and Zheng Cai was named Bo of Yongsheng. Zheng's family was full of princes.

Zheng Hongkui sighed: "Uncle Yang is joking, if Uncle Yang is willing to respect the mourning king and supervise the country, I will recommend Uncle Yang to be a prince."

Yang Chao sneered: "The position of a mere duke is not rare for me. Your Zheng family is so courageous. The former emperor's direct relatives are still alive, and you dare to set up a supervisor of the country. Are you trying to plot rebellion!"

The direct son of Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Cijiong, the younger brother of Emperor Hongguang, is still in Nanjing. The Zheng family can't wait to push Zhu Cihuan to supervise the country. This is exactly the same as Ma Shiying pushed Fu Wang to supervise the country. They had a headache, so they immediately sent Zheng Hongkui to personally bring Zhu Cihuan's edict to persuade Yang Chao. He intends to get rid of this supervisor and ascend the throne directly.

Now many civil servants are actually waiting and watching. For example, Qian Qianyi and others in Nanjing City have not responded clearly to Zheng. Obviously, they don't want to be like Ma Shiying. Yang Chao soldiers killed King Fu just after taking charge of the country.

Compared with the pirate Zheng Zhilong, civil servants are more optimistic about Yang Chao, because Yang Chao's Dingwang Zhu Cijiong Lunxu is more qualified, and because Yang Chao's strength is stronger, the Qing army has been defeated by Yang Chao time and time again. No one doubted Yang Chao's invincible military power anymore.

"Uncle Yang is absurd. The general situation is the most important thing for the mourning king to supervise the country. The world is in turmoil, and the people are worried about peace. The mourning king regards his ancestors as the most important thing, so it is difficult for him to be the supervisor of the country. If the uncle can understand the difficult times, Respecting the King of Mourning Souls will bring blessings to the world and the blessings of the common people, isn’t it a boundless merit.”

Zheng Hongkui continued to persuade.

Yang Chao snorted and said, "I don't believe in Buddhism, and I don't care about merit. I only care about profit. If I want to agree, it depends on what price your Zheng family offers."

Yang Chao simply pushed it away, causing the Zheng family to bleed.

Today is different from the past. The last time King Fu supervised the country, Yang Chao was able to lead an army to intimidate the four towns. Because Beijing fell at that time, the Qing army and the Dashun army were competing, and it was impossible to go south to the south of the Yangtze River in the short term. battle.

But it’s different now. If Yang Chao mobilizes heavy troops to go south and fight Zheng’s decisively, the Jianghuai area will definitely be handed over to the Qing army. When Jiangbei fell, Nanjing became the front line, and the Qing army would face the hinterland of Jiangnan.

So Yang Chao has no chance to go south to fight for power, but Zheng does not dare to take this risk. In case Yang Chao disregards the overall situation and would rather give up Jianghuai and fight with them, Zheng weighs the power in his hands. is not an opponent.

From the point of view of the people of the Ming Dynasty, it is obviously very cost-effective to give up a piece of land and snatch the emperor. It is not that there have been examples of civil wars in the Southern Ming regime.

So Zheng's plan is to let Yang Chao focus on the overall situation, hoping to persuade Yang Chao to support them.

Now when he heard Yang Chao's asking price, Zheng Hongkui couldn't help being overjoyed, and a stone fell to the ground.

As long as there is an offer, it means that they can be negotiated. If Yang Chao refuses to negotiate and makes up his mind to fight, it will be difficult for the Zheng family to resist anyway.

"Haha, I don't know what price Uncle wants?"

Yang Chao stretched out three fingers: "300 million military pay every year!"

Zheng Hongkui didn't even think about it: "This matter is easy!"

Yang Chao drew another circle: "Jiangnan!"

Zheng Hongkui frowned, "I don't know what uncle means?"

Yang Chao said: "This lord wants to open the town of Jiangnan! Nanzhili should take over the military and political power, pay taxes, and appoint officials, and this lord must make a decision with one word!"

Zheng Hongkui couldn't help being embarrassed. During the heyday of the Ming Dynasty, there were more than 2000 million grain taxes in the world, and Nanzhili accounted for 700 million. Now that the entire north has fallen, and Huguang only has half of it, Nanzhili can be said to occupy more than half of the tax revenue. If If they were all given to Yang Chao, the imperial court formed by the Zheng family would have no money to use.

Yang Chao laughed suddenly: "Marquis Zheng actually has another choice, that is to return to Nanjing under the supervision of King Mourning Ling. This nobleman guarantees that the honor and favor of the Zheng family will not change. What does Marquis Zheng think?"

When Zheng Hongkui heard this, he was even more frightened. He couldn't help but suspect that it was Yang Chao's plan to snatch away the Mourning King. He wanted to use Nanzhili to force the Zheng family to hand over the prison.

Once the Mourning King arrives in Nanjing, it will be up to Yang Chao to decide. At that time, I am afraid that the Mourning King, the superintendent of the country, will also succeed. Zhu Cijiong must be the emperor. What's the point of getting a few marquises and earls.

Thinking of this, Zheng Hongkui no longer hesitated: "Uncle Yang was joking, how can the prison be moved casually, the world is full of rioters now, if you bump into the prisoner, the officials really can't bear it."

Yang Chao sighed: "Then you Mrs. Zheng disagree with my offer?"

Zheng Hongkui made up his mind at this time: "No! Your Majesty Jian Guo thinks that if Uncle Yang guards the important land in Nanji, he must have heavy troops, and if he has heavy troops, he must be paid well. The talents in Nanzhili can support the soldiers in Nanzhili. Your Majesty is far away in Fujian, so he will certainly not be able to discern the details, and cannot know the grass and trees of Nanji, so governing the local affairs also needs Uncle Yang to carry it on his shoulders."

What Zheng Hongkui said seemed to be that King Mourning Ling planned to let Yang Chao guard Nanzhili from the very beginning, and entrusted the military and political power with full authority.

Yang Chao sighed: "Since that's the case, I am willing to enshrine the mourning king and supervise the country!"

(End of this chapter)