Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

If the bandits dared to attack, Li Laiheng could summon the Dashun Army to attack them halfway across the river, catching them off guard. Even if the Dashun Army fought poorly, it would be convenient for them to retreat and escape, thus killing two birds with one stone.

However, the idea is good but the reality is cruel. When the so-called bandit army arrived at Hunhe River, they did not hesitate as Li Laiheng imagined, but launched an attack at the first opportunity.

Li Laiheng stared in amazement at the strange-shaped artillery pieces flying over from the Hunhe River so carelessly. The 50,000 Shun troops had not even completed their assembly when the enemy's shells had already landed on their positions.

It was not until Li Laiheng was captured that he realized how terrible the fighting power of Jiang Han’s army was. No wonder King Chuang was defeated...

Even if we put aside the humanoids, their soldiers with loose discipline, poor organization and fighting will are completely not on the same level as the volunteers who grew up in tough battles.

What's more, not only is the morale here high, but the technology is also at its highest level. New rifles, new artillery, and various humanoid mechas are like a full-level character entering a novice village, and the focus is on killing indiscriminately.

What did the Shun army use to fight? Hard skulls?

Not to mention, in fact, those military humanoid mechas transporting silver are not far from here. They only decided to join up with the main force before continuing to move forward in order to protect the safety of the personnel. If they were to meet, there would be no suspense.

The 191st Army that killed Li Zicheng rested in Zhuozhou for half a month. Thousands of cavalrymen were like a nail nailed in the center of northern Zhili, intimidating the remnants of the Shun army in Beijing.

It didn't take long for 191 to receive an order from Jiang Han. She once again became the vanguard. The new order asked her to lead her troops to meet up with the troops in Beijing and unite them. If there was a chance, they could capture Beijing.

191 has her own understanding of the attack on Beijing. She leads the cavalry, and there is no reason for cavalry to attack a city. If they want to attack the city, they have to rely on the heavy armored troops with siege capabilities. She has what she can do.

With this in mind, 191 led his troops to pursue the remnants of the Shun army around Beijing one by one. Within a few days, he captured nearly Shun soldiers and seized a large number of war horses and money and food.

There was no suspense or fierce fighting in these battles. The Volunteer Cavalry was too fast, just like Indiana Jones facing the black turbaned swordsman. While the opponent was still dancing with his sword and couldn't get through, a shot had already hit the opponent's forehead.

On February 26, the Volunteer Army captured Changping and completely wiped out the Shun Army around Beijing City, preparing to attack Beijing City together with the Iron-Blooded Dolls and the Military Dolls.

However, what 191 Wanwan did not expect was that when he led his troops to Tongzhou to welcome the emperor, he received a report from the intelligence department that there were no Shun troops left in Beijing. It was said that Niu Jinxing and others had fled with horse-drawn carriages overnight.

When Prime Minister Niu Jinxing of Dashun heard that the Dashun army had suffered a crushing defeat, Emperor Yongchang had been killed, and the Tianwu army was approaching, he made full use of his specialty - Run.

On the issue of whether to flee or defend, Niu Jinxing had a huge disagreement with Li Zicheng's brother-in-law Gao Yigong. In the end, Niu Jinxing designed to kill Gao Yigong, abducted the Queen Gao Guiying of Dashun, and led the remaining troops eastward.

In Yutian, 300 miles east of Beijing, an army was marching along, with the Chinese character for "cow" clearly written on its flag. (Yes, I typed it correctly)

This army's equipment was rubbish, but the soldiers were well dressed, all in brand new waist-length cloth armor, and some were even wearing sophisticated armor, which was the standard of the Ming Dynasty's Beijing Camp.

The leaders were all wearing blue Dashun official uniforms. There were both civil officials and military generals. One of them was Dashun Prime Minister Niu Jinxing, and next to him was his son Niu Quan.

Niu Quan was riding on his horse, and asked curiously, "Dad, if we don't go east to Shaanxi, where are we going west?"

Niu Jinxing sighed and said, "We can't go back. All parts of the Central Plains have been occupied by the bandit army. Even if we go back to Shaanxi, we will be caught up soon. Our Dashun is dead. We have nowhere to go except to the north to join the Qing Dynasty."

Although Li Zicheng and the Qing Dynasty had little interaction, Huang Taiji was very homosexual and would write letters to him every now and then to flirt with him. The entire Dashun people knew about his homosexuality.

The person in charge of receiving and communicating letters was Niu Jinxing. He had been in spiritual communication with Huang Taiji, Ning Wanwo and others for a long time. At this time, the Dashun was defeated on all fronts, the emperor was dead, the army was disbanded, and the regime had perished. As the prime minister, who else could he turn to if not the Qing Dynasty?

"Deserting to the Qing?" Niu Quan exclaimed, "Shanhai Pass is still there, how can we get through? Should we attack from both sides and break through Shanhai Pass?"

"idiot!"

Niu Jinxing cursed angrily, "With just our small number of people, how can we attack from both sides? Let's just go through Lengkou and head to Liaodong!"

Seeing his son's worried look, Niu Jinxing patiently taught him, "Quan'er, no matter how miserable we are now, we must feel that we have a bright future. We must be steady in small matters and ruthless in big matters. When no one is there to help us, we must stand firm on our own! Do you understand?"

Niu Quan nodded thoughtfully, slowly feeling the deep meaning of this sentence.

At this moment, a Shun cavalryman from the rear team came hurriedly to report: "Prime Minister, the queen committed suicide in the carriage!"

"Suicide?"

Although Niu Jinxing was somewhat shocked, he was not surprised. Gao Guiying, a woman, always considered herself a heroine and would not want to submit to him...

“What a pity…” Niu Jinxing sighed secretly, and said to the soldier, “Keep an eye on Dou Meiyi. If anything happens to her again, I will chop off your head!”

Li Zicheng had three wives and one concubine.

The first wife, Han Jiner, was a notoriously fickle woman. Before marrying Li Zicheng, she had been married to local landlords as a concubine several times. She had an affair with someone and was divorced and returned to her parents' home. She was one of the best roast chickens in the area.

The young Li Zicheng wanted a big car, and it was a crazy big car. Isn't this too right? He fell in love with her and married Han Jiner without hesitation, regardless of the gossip of the villagers.

However, Li Zicheng had no chance of controlling such a roast chicken.

Soon Han Jiner had an affair with Gai Hu from the village, and was later caught in bed by Li Zicheng. Gai Hu ran away naked on the spot, while Han Jiner was killed by Li Zicheng, which was very similar to the plot of Song Jiang in Water Margin.

Li Zicheng's second wife, Mrs. Xing, was even more of a heavyweight, brave and intelligent. She was responsible for managing the military supplies of the rebel army. However, she also put a green hat on her husband Li Zicheng and eloped with the handsome rebel leader Gao Jie. The two of them directly joined the Ming army.

Li Zicheng's third wife was Gao Guiying, who had just committed suicide. Gao Guiying was a second marriage, as her ex-husband died young.

It can be said that Li Zicheng was also a cuckold who eventually became a fool. However, apart from being unable to have children, Gao Guiying did not do anything to let Li Zicheng down. Instead, she helped him conquer the world. Li Zicheng did not let her down and made her the queen after he became emperor.

Dou Meiyi, whom Niu Jinxing liked, was a palace maid that Li Zicheng fell in love with after he moved into the Forbidden City and took her as his concubine.

Although Niu Jinxing is over 50 years old, he is still as energetic as ever, especially after the death of Li Zicheng and the fall of Dashun. His heart has become more active, and the soul of Cao Cao that had been buried before has also begun to revive. I'd rather not act anymore. I'm going to show my cards!

I just like this kind of wife!

Volume 412: Chapter Chapter : Conquering the Capital

Outside Beijing.

The cavalry rushed forward, their hooves sounded like thunder. Behind the cavalry, a large number of mechanized armies moved in the rear, and the volunteer infantry in the rear marched into the city in neat steps.

These soldiers looked at the towering Beijing City, their hearts were filled with excitement. When they followed the teacher to start the rebellion, they had never thought that there would be such a day! They could recapture the capital! And sweep the Ming Dynasty into the garbage dump of history!

There are many holes on the city wall before us, which are caused by artillery fire, telling the cruelty of the city defense battle in the past.

The densely packed volunteer soldiers were excited and their steps became more steady. The sound of their footsteps shook like a mountain, as if letting the people in the city know that the army was coming.

The city gate was opened, and amidst overwhelming cheers, 191 and the executioner had been waiting inside for a long time. At the same time, a large group of people in Ming official uniforms came to the city gate.

When the humanoids saw Jiang Han in the crowd, they immediately rushed forward and said, "Commander!"

The ministers in the city were also very angry and knelt down with a bang.

"I, the eunuch Wang Dehua from the Imperial Household Department, respectfully welcome the Emperor. Long live the Emperor!"

"Your Highness, I am Shen Weibing, the Minister of Personnel, and I respectfully welcome the Emperor. Long live the Emperor!"

"Your Highness, I am Liu Yuhu, the Minister of Works, and I respectfully welcome the Emperor. Long live the Emperor!"

"Your Highness, I, Chen Mingxia, the editor of the Imperial Academy and the military official, respectfully welcome the Emperor. Long live the Emperor!"

"Your Majesty, I, Luo Yangxing, the former commander of the Imperial Guard, respectfully welcome the Emperor. Long live the Emperor!"

"Your Highness, I am the Minister of War, Zhang Jinyan..."

……

At this time, these surrendered officials all claimed to be from the Chongzhen Dynasty and threw away the positions given by the Dashun Dynasty. They were eager to sever all ties and clear themselves of the responsibility of surrendering. The man in front of them had just defeated the Dashun Army, and you still dare to use the official title of Dashun. Do you want to kill yourself?

The Minister of War Zhang Jinyan was tortured by Wang Zhen to the point of being unrecognizable and his lower limbs were disabled. He was carried here by his servants. Logically, his face was scalded by boiling water and it was inconvenient for him to meet the emperor, but he insisted on coming to greet him and make himself familiar.

Jiang Han stepped forward and looked at the dusty 191, comforting him a few times: "Thank you for your hard work, Mu Tao."

"What about me? Don't I have a hard time?" The executioner refused.

"You've worked hard, too. The Battle of Beijing was all thanks to you, Executioner. I heard that you killed people in the crowd like you were in an empty space..."

The executioner was very happy to be praised and forgave Jiang Han's favoritism. In fact, she just jumped out to stir up trouble and didn't really want Jiang Han to praise her, but... it's not bad now.

Looking at the group of traitors kneeling on both sides to welcome him, Jiang Han looked at M16 beside him and said, "When Li Zicheng entered Beijing, did these people kneel here and shout long live the emperor like they do today?"

As one of the earliest T-dolls lurking in Beijing, M16 is very familiar with everything that happens in this city: "Yes, their words have basically not changed."

Jiang Han nodded and said, "Now I understand what you mean."

He ignored these traitors and snorted before entering Yongding Gate.

The fluttering Flame Dragon Flag entered the capital city, and the humanoids automatically came to Jiang Han's surroundings to defend him against possible dangers. Of course, they had basically screened the city, and there was no possibility of any hostile forces.

In the past, Qianmen Street in the outer city was the most prosperous area in the capital, with all kinds of merchants gathering here and a constant flow of people every day.

But now, because of the plague and war, the once bustling capital has become completely silent.

On the quiet and desolate streets, there are empty attic archways and some walls still have some bright graffiti, constantly reminding everyone of the glory and prosperity of this city not long ago.

Jiang Han rode his horse very slowly, carefully looking at this city that had carried the destiny of the Ming Empire for more than two hundred years. This was his first time in Beijing, either in his previous life or now.

Entering Zhengyang Gate, the Qipan Street, which was originally the most prosperous street in the inner city, was also deserted. No common people dared to come out. Only a few brave ones quietly opened the windows and peeked at the soldiers on the streets. They could no longer tell what army these people belonged to.

No matter it was the Ming army or the Shun army, they looted house to house when they entered the city. The bandits passed by like combs and the soldiers passed by like rakes. These so-called armies have been extremely disappointing over the years.

In front of the main gate of the imperial city, Jiang Han looked up at the sign. The three characters on it were still Daming Gate. Li Zicheng changed Daming Gate to Dashun Gate, but he was destroyed before he had time to change the gate plaque.

Jiang Han turned around and said to the officers beside him: "Send people to Shuntian Prefecture immediately to collect information about residents, sort out the procedures, set up a leadership team, post notices, and restore order in the capital."

"The Volunteer Army has been working hard to rectify the public security situation in the city these days, searching for and recruiting the remaining bandits to surrender. Military discipline must be strictly enforced. No one is allowed to enter the homes of the people without permission. If anyone disobeys, he will be shot!"

"Yes!"

After saying this, Cai Liangzhe and others started to leave as ordered. Originally, they were not supposed to deliver orders, but since this was the master's order, what was wrong with being a messenger?

Although Beijing has been successfully taken, the Northern Expedition has not yet ended and the war in Liaodong is still going on. Those Tartars who have revived must be completely eradicated.

The task of staying behind was given to newcomers who were rarely used, and the main generals still had to accompany the emperor and continue to lead the troops to fight.

After entering the imperial city, Jiang Han walked to the front of the Huangji Palace in the Forbidden City, stepped onto the imperial steps, walked on the osmanthus mat with a dragon pattern painted on it, and entered the Huangji Palace.

Looking at the magnificent dragon throne in front of him, Jiang Han felt that it was just like that. In fact, he was not too excited, nor did he have any idea of ​​what it would be like to be an emperor. Perhaps the common people's thoughts in his bones have not been completely cleaned up...

In his heart, he has always been an ordinary person.

Rather than the joy of becoming an emperor, he felt more excited and ambitious about the future.

The battle part is over, and my favorite operation part begins!

Although Li Zicheng committed many evil deeds, he made the best of a bad situation and carried out large-scale plundering, which wiped out almost the entire landlord class in the north. This greatly solved the serious land annexation problem in the Ming Dynasty and laid a very good foundation for the redistribution of wealth, making it much easier to govern afterwards.

After all, the fundamental reason for the decline of the feudal dynasty lies in land annexation. How to curb land annexation without changing the feudal monarchy?

Wang Mang in history tried to solve this problem, but failed.

It can be said that in the feudal dynasty, it was almost impossible to completely suppress the problem of land annexation. Even policies such as the land tax and land nationalization could not completely suppress the problem of land annexation. This was a contradiction caused by the natural deficiency of productivity and production relations.

There is no way to alleviate the adverse consequences of land annexation, and the only option in the end is to repeat the cycle of dynasties changing.

The current situation of the Ming Dynasty is equivalent to reshuffling the old forces with the help of Li Zicheng. As long as the people's hearts are stabilized, even if the territory is not expanded, there will be at least a hundred years of foundation. As long as the subsequent rulers are not old and stubborn, it will basically be a prosperous era. After the Qing Dynasty took over, it discovered the bug crop of sweet potatoes, so it ushered in the so-called Kangxi and Qianlong prosperous eras.

Jiang Han has already found a solution to this problem, which is to improve productivity through scientific and economic means. Science and technology will develop a country, which is not just empty talk. Today's scientific and technological level is really too backward.

This road will be long and glorious.

From today on, this land will be reborn in the flames, radiating new power! This is why he named it Great Flame.

The morning light spread across the sky, and the long-silent city of Beijing began to welcome a new day.

In the Huangji Palace, a combat report meeting on the hunt for the remaining bandits was being held.

Now the Dayan army has completely controlled Henan, and then divided its troops to spread to the entire northern region, bringing it into its sphere of influence, continuing to eliminate the remaining bandits, fighting against evil gentry and dividing the land, opening the warehouses to release grain, and appeasing the people. The volunteers have already been familiar with this set of procedures, and they will always go right if they follow the steps.

After Li Zicheng's defeat, the Shun army collapsed, and the remaining remnants fled in all directions. Jiang Han warned the volunteers not to just think about letting the army deal with them. Since these people can hide, can they hide in the vast ocean of the people's war? Directly issue a notice to search for bandits, and everyone can participate. If the people catch a bandit, they will be rewarded with three pounds of millet.

When they heard that they could get food for catching a bandit, many people started to attack heavily and became bounty hunters. At least tens of thousands of bandits were captured by the villagers. Some were beaten to death on the spot, and even those who were not killed were beaten black and blue.

In the past few months, the bandits have committed too many crimes. Both the landlords and the common people hate them to the core. Even if they don't have three pounds of millet, they will still beat them up and take revenge.

In particular, many bandits plundered landlords and civilians and hid a lot of silver on them. If you catch one of them, you can not only take away the silver, but also make a small fortune. The authorities did not say that the stolen money must also be handed over.

Beating people is not against the law, and you can get millet and a lot of silver. Such a good thing will never come across in eight lifetimes. People from all over the country are enthusiastic and form groups to go and wipe out the bandits. They can find them wherever the bandits flee.

The identities of all the captured bandits were determined through interrogation. If they were small leaders or officers, they would be beheaded in public. The rest were all forced to shave their heads and reform themselves for a few years to become new people.

For this huge group of disaster victims, the appeasement plan that Dayan came up with was work-for-relief. As long as they worked, they would have food to eat. The city, which had been ravaged by war, was in ruins and there were jobs everywhere, so there was no need to worry about having nothing to do.

After years of war and plague, there was too much barren land in the provinces. In some places, there were only a few hundred households left in a county, and so much arable land was only overgrown with grass.

During the Wanli period, after Zhang Juzheng's reform to survey the land throughout the country, the Yellow Book recorded that the total cultivated land area in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty was 7.58 million mu, of which the five provinces of Northern Zhili, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi totaled nearly million mu, with an average of five mu per person nationwide.

After years of land annexation, 90% of these arable lands are in the hands of government officials, royal relatives, nobles, officials, landlords, gentry, and businessmen. Now, not only do the landlords have no surplus food, even the landlords are gone!

In the city of Beijing, they also looted 20 million taels of silver that Li Zicheng failed to take away. Now all the money was recovered, the expenses of the Northern Expedition, and the money and food for disaster relief were also settled. Thanks to Li Zicheng, fortunately, the previous silver had not yet been transported to Tianjin, so there was no need to transport it anymore. They could just bring it back!

In a good mood, Jiang Han also allocated a piece of land to Li Zicheng and buried Li Zicheng and Gao Guiying together.

Although Li Zicheng was a narrow-minded person, his behavior of resistance against the Ming Dynasty is still worthy of recognition. Among these insurgents who were born as non-human beings, he was the most humane one.

Jiang Han was still handling various matters when he heard someone announce, "Your Majesty, Wang Dehua, Chen Mingxia and others are really requesting an audience outside the Meridian Gate."

Jiang Han was somewhat helpless: "I've already told you not to call me Your Majesty... I'd feel better if you called me Sir... Well, forget it, whatever, what are they here for?"

The messenger replied: "The soldiers on guard said that the officials gathered together and seemed to be discussing official positions."

"Official position?"

I'm lucky enough not to kill you, but you dare to jump in my face? How dare you? You dare to ask me for an official position? You are really like a little cow taking a plane, you are so awesome.