Who killed the Ming Dynasty?

At three-quarters past midnight, the night was as dark as ink.

The third watch gong pierced through the continuous rain and reached deep into the palace walls.

Zhu Cilang hurried back to the Qianqing Palace.

The candlelight inside the hall flickered uneasily, disturbed by the wind and rain pouring in from outside.

On the emperor's desk, the memorial submitted by Long Wenguang, the governor of Sichuan, had been presented to Zhu Cilang:

"I have submitted a memorial stating that Chengdu is in grave danger and earnestly request the court to dispatch troops to its aid immediately."

Your subject, Long Wenguang, Governor of Sichuan, respectfully reports:

Sichuan is the southwestern bulwark and a vital region of the nation.

However, this place has recently been ravaged by war...

The rain outside the window suddenly poured down, and the dense raindrops pounded on the glazed tiles, making a crackling sound.

Zhu Cilang's gaze swept rapidly across the memorial, his brows furrowing more and more tightly.

Its content can be summarized as follows:

"Chongqing Prefecture has fallen, and Chengdu Prefecture is in dire need of reinforcements, urgently requiring troops, funds, and supplies."

However, the most glaring thing is:

"The price of rice in Chengdu has soared, to the point that one tael of gold can buy one bushel."

Zeng Ying led his troops in guerrilla warfare on the outskirts of Chongqing.

"Zeng Ying"...

"Young Master Zeng"...

Zhu Cilang's gaze was fixed on those two words.

The young general, dressed in fine clothes and riding a spirited horse, seemed to leap off the page.

Three months ago, during the bloody battle at Qutang Gorge, it was this adjutant with a Fujian accent who led eight hundred naval troops to ambush Zhang Xianzhong's hundred warships on the cliffs of Wushan.

The smoke of war in memory blends with the ink marks on the memorials.

Zhu Cilang suddenly remembered the old reports archived in the Directorate of Ceremonial:

In the eleventh year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, at the Chengdu Lantern Festival, the seventeen-year-old son of a military family rode his horse and trampled over bandits who had been robbing and plundering. From then on, the name "Young Master Zeng" spread throughout the city of Chengdu.

The image of that carefree young man, filled with righteous indignation, gradually overlapped with that of the general who was now fighting a bloody battle on the outskirts of Chongqing.

“Pah!”

Zhu Cilang slammed the memorial shut.

Just then, Han Zanzhou's footsteps sounded as he served tea.

The moment the lacquer tray made a soft clanging sound, Zhu Cilang looked at Han Zanzhou:

"Han Banban, this memorial should be kept in the palace for now and archived by the Directorate of Ceremonial. It need not be circulated outside."

"This servant...will obey Your Majesty's decree."

Han Zanzhou bowed and agreed.

......

The next day, at 3:45 AM, the sunlight slanted into the Wenhua Hall.

Zhu Cilang gently stroked the map of Sichuan and Shaanxi on the table, his gaze sweeping over the two men standing with their hands at their sides:

On the left, Shi Kefa, Minister of War, stood solemnly like a pine tree, wearing a python robe and jade belt.

On the right, although Song An had already bestowed upon him the unicorn robe, the bronze badge of the Eastern Palace guard hanging at his waist was worn smooth and shiny.

That was the token of "Trial Hundred-Household Officer" personally bestowed upon him by Zhu Cilang of Luzhou Prefecture. Now, clutched in his sweaty palm, it still revealed the awkwardness of someone just entering the imperial court.

Zhu Cilang summoned the two men, intending to launch his plan to save Sichuan.

"Minister Shi, Guard Song!"

Zhu Cilang's voice broke the silence in the hall.

"An urgent message arrives from Sichuan, covering 800 li; the bloodstains on the nine border regions are still fresh; smoke signals from the Qutang Gorge (the entrance to the Three Gorges) are obscuring the sun. How can this predicament be broken?"

Shi Kefa looked around. The hall was empty, with only him and Song An present. He couldn't help but feel suspicious:

"Your Majesty, Sichuan is the heartland of the empire. According to regulations, the six ministries should convene to discuss this matter together. Yet, you have summoned only me and Commander Song..."

Zhu Cilang interrupted him before he could finish speaking, clearly indicating that he had already made up his mind:

"If the key to Jianmen Pass is lost, the gateway to the Yangtze and Han Rivers will be wide open."

He pointed to Anqing, then changed the subject and asked:

"When Shi Qing was the governor of Anqing, he recaptured Qianshan in three days. Now, with Sichuan facing a critical moment of survival, what are the prospects for the dynasty?"

Zhu Cilang tapped heavily on the map at Anqing, as if the flames of war from seven years ago were rekindling from his fingertips.

In the tenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, Zhang Xianzhong led his troops to frequently raid the Anqing area and captured Qianshan.

Shi Kefa was appointed to a critical mission and led his troops to the front lines day and night.

He cleverly employed a stratagem, sending troops to launch a feigned frontal attack to draw away the main force of the rebel army;

On one hand, elite troops were dispatched to launch a surprise attack from the flank, and within a few days, Qianshan was recaptured, stabilizing the situation in Anqing.

"Return to Your Majesty."

Shi Kefa pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and said,

As the art of war says, "An army's supplies must be prepared before it can move."

"I believe we should first take Xiangyang and Nanyang as granaries, then retake Luoyang to control the strategic passes of Xiaohan. Once the Qin and Long cavalry have formed a pincer movement, the natural barrier of the Shu Road will naturally crumble."

Shi Kefa advocated a cautious strategy, first consolidating the outer logistics bases and strategic locations to encircle Sichuan, and then waiting for the right opportunity to enter Sichuan.

Zhu Cilang frowned slightly, his tone grave:

"The traitor Xian has wreaked havoc in Sichuan, harming the people and slaughtering the imperial family. By the time you have built your impregnable fortress, my people in Sichuan will have been wiped out long ago! Song An—"

Song An's shoulders jerked violently, and he took a step forward:

"Your subject is here!"

"I recall you are from Chengdu Prefecture?"

"Your Majesty, I am a citizen of Chengdu Prefecture. I served at a post station in Sichuan in the sixth year of the Chongzhen reign."

He gripped the tablet tightly in both hands; the tablet was covered in sweat.

"When the rebel leader Li Zicheng captured Tianjin, I accompanied him with the imperial warrant. The fate of my family elders... remains unknown to this day!"

As his voice trembled, Song An's eyes reddened and his body trembled slightly.

Zhu Cilang's expression hardened, and his gaze fell on the map. The mark of Chengdu Prefecture was circled three times with cinnabar, making it glaringly red.

"Since the people of Sichuan are my subjects, how can I allow them to be presented to the traitors for boiling!"

He suddenly gripped the entire Shu region on the map with his five fingers.

"I have a plan: secretly dispatch elite troops from the capital garrison to strike directly at Chengdu and kill Zhang Xianzhong. On the day of his execution, his troops will fall into chaos, and Sichuan can be pacified with a single proclamation!"

This strategy struck like a thunderbolt, and Shi Kefa's expression changed drastically.

"Your Majesty! This plan is absolutely unacceptable!"

He strongly objected, his sleeves trembling slightly, and he bowed respectfully, saying:

"Has Your Majesty not witnessed the example of Yang Hao's four-pronged attack on the Jin dynasty in the 47th year of the Wanli reign?"

"At that time, 200,000 mighty troops marched out of the pass in four directions; now, the capital garrison has no more than 30,000 capable soldiers, while the rebel general, Xianjun, has seized Chengdu with 100,000 fierce and ruthless men!"

He raised his hand and pointed directly to Yinping Road on the map.

"During the Tianqi era, General Qin Liangyu came to the aid of Chongqing. The White-Spear Soldiers climbed the cliffs to transport grain, and three or four out of ten of them died of illness."

Even if one were to emulate Zhuge Liang's wooden ox and flowing horse, how could one possibly cross the chasm?

Zhu Cilang abruptly rose from his seat. He was well aware that what Shi Kefa said was all true; the road to Sichuan was fraught with peril, and the chances of success were slim.

"The beacon towers of Jianmen Pass can reach the imperial palace in three days!"

He turned around abruptly.

"The sound of those who plunged into the sea at Yai Shan still echoes in our ears; the pines and cypresses at the late emperor's mausoleum remain evergreen!"

"If we hesitate and do not move forward now, one day the blood and sweat of the people before the Chengdu government office will stain the Bashan Mountains, and I will hear the wronged souls of the people of Shu knocking on the palace gates every night."

Outside the palace, cloud shadows swept across the roof ridge, startling a flock of swallows under the eaves, which chirped softly.

Shi Kefa's body trembled slightly.

"If the elite troops of the Beijing Garrison were to fall into the Shu Road, the defense line of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers would surely become a sieve! At this juncture, abandoning the Central Plains to take Western Sichuan is like abandoning the throne to save rubble."

"Your Majesty, I truly do not see any merit in it!"

Zhu Cilang's voice was as clear as gold and jade:

"If we can recapture Western Sichuan, there will be three great benefits!"

"Slay the tyrant to stop the fighting!"

"Now, with the royal army sweeping away all obstacles and executing the traitor, displaying his head in Chengdu, we can let all the heroes of the world witness our thunderous methods!"

He used the paperweight to trace the map.

"To reclaim the benefits of a prosperous and fertile land!"

"Following the example of Zhuge Liang, we will cultivate land to support 100,000 iron cavalry, and transport a million bushels of grain from Xiangyang directly to the Yellow River!"

A large gash was cut into the map.

"Three locks on the southwest dragon vein!"

"By controlling Jianmen Pass and taking over Kuimen Pass, we cut off the route for bandits to flee to Yunnan and Guizhou, and by joining forces with the Prince of Mu's Mansion, we control the strategic pass of Wumeng."

"Then wherever the banners of our Great Ming Dynasty fly, the glory of our land and nation will be restored!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the map was torn apart.

Half of the landscape of Sichuan fell to Shi Kefa's knees.