AD 4338, the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, winter.
The Yellow Emperor's year should have been named "Kaiyuan". In order to avoid confusion with the Tang Dynasty's year name, Zhao Han specially ordered it to be renamed "Zhongyuan".
There was no need for Zhao Han to contact Li Zicheng and Luo Ru before they started making trouble again.
They first escaped from Shaanxi and quickly captured the town of Gansu. They persuaded the soldiers in the border town to raise wages, killed the border generals in Gansu town, expanded their army to 30,000, and marched on snow and ice to march into Shaanxi again.
The Shaanxi border generals who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty plundered the gentry everywhere in order to raise military supplies.
Not only did the Manchu Qing condone this, the Eight Banners soldiers stationed in Shaanxi even personally joined the robbery gangs.
So, after Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai came to kill, a large number of gentry recruited local warriors to follow them. The Shaanxi gentry actually cooperated with Li Zicheng to fight against the Qing Dynasty, and many gentry dispersed their wealth to recruit soldiers!
In ten months, Li Zicheng captured Lintao Prefecture, Taozhou Guard, Jinglu Guard, Minzhou Guard, Ningxia Zhongwei, Gongchang Prefecture and Pingliang Prefecture.
Li Zicheng once again occupied half of Shaanxi and is now storming Hanzhong!
This was the result of the rapid expansion of the Qing Dynasty, which had no control over the local area. After the main force was mobilized to Henan, a group of surrendered troops and generals were unable to withstand Li Zicheng's counterattack. Many gentry who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty under pressure, and even Ming border officials
The generals all chose to join Li Zicheng again.
In desperation, Dorgon could only dispatch 20,000 Eight Banners troops and immediately went to Shaanxi to fight Li Zicheng.
Sichuan is also a winter operation.
Huang Yao and Qin Liangyu jointly sent troops to Fuzhou (Fuling) and Changshou counties. The generals who defended the city directly watched the wind and surrendered.
After capturing Changshou, the magistrate of Dianjiang County in the northeast actually sent officers to ask Huang Yao to divide his troops to take over Dianjiang.
The magistrate of Dianjiang County was actually an official of the Ming Dynasty. The mountains were high and the roads were far away, so no one had ever attacked him...
Huang Yao sent three hundred peasant soldiers there, and also asked the accompanying officials to divide the fields.
As the territory expands, the most indispensable thing now is officials. A large number of reserve officials are waiting to be promoted, a large number of official officials are waiting for promotion, and countless scholars are looking forward to fighting.
Even calls for the reinstatement of the imperial examination were suppressed by these officials.
I have worked so hard to get promoted, so why should I be in such a hurry to resume the imperial examination? Do you want you to run to take the imperial examination, become officials in various ways, and squat on my head every minute to shit?
Not only businessmen and farmers supported Zhao Han, but also the poor scholar class were also die-hard supporters of Zhao Han.
They had long been hopeless in the imperial examinations, and even had no money to continue taking the exams. Under Zhao Han's rule, they could easily become officials. Those with strong abilities could become officials in one or two years, while those with poor abilities could slowly work their way up.
These people were the main body of scholars in the Ming Dynasty, and many were even tested to the point where they hated the stereotype of recruiting scholars!
For example, Feng Houdun, the newly appointed magistrate of Changshou County, although he came from a well-off family, he also hated the stereotyped recruitment of scholars. He spent half his life spending money to buy an official position, and he only worked as a Jiangyin instructor, that is, a teaching assistant in the Jiangyin County official school.
When Zhao Han occupied Jiangnan, Feng Houdun signed up as a reserve official, and has now been promoted to the rank of seventh-grade county magistrate.
In the Ming Dynasty, even if he died as an assistant coach, he would never even think about becoming an official.
However, in history, although he did not hold an official position, he was known as the "Three Dukes of Resistance to the Qing Dynasty".
Jiangyin County, which had already surrendered to the Manchus, due to Dorgon's "hair-shaving order", a group of scholars formed a blood alliance and expressed that they would rather have their heads cut off than their hair.
The scholars killed the county magistrate and elected Yan Yingyuan, Chen Mingyu, and Feng Houdun as their leaders, and the officials and people of the city united to resist the Qing Dynasty.
One hundred and twenty thousand Jiangyin volunteers faced tens of thousands of Qing troops and trapped the isolated city for eighty-one days. They dared to leave the city to fight in the middle, but were eventually bombarded by artillery and the city wall was destroyed.
On the day the city was broken, no one surrendered and they fought hard in the streets. Only 53 people, old and young, survived in the city.
After Yan Yingyuan was captured, he refused to kneel down and was stabbed through his tibia. He died heroically.
Chen Mingyu died after fighting hard after the city was broken.
Feng Houdun hanged himself facing the direction of the small imperial court of the Southern Ming Dynasty.
Historically known as, Jiangyin Eighty-one Days.
Although they did not kill three kings and eighteen generals as the unofficial historian said, it is true that three Manchu princes came to supervise the battle, namely Boluo, Nikan and Kong Youde.
As the saying goes: Wearing one's hair for eighty days to show allegiance is a sign of Taizu's character in the 17th dynasty; 60,000 people died with one heart and soul, preserving the Ming Dynasty for three hundred miles.
Chen Mingyu and Feng Houdun in "The Three Dukes of Resistance against the Qing Dynasty" are now civil servants under Zhao Han.
There is still one Yan Yingyuan, the commander-in-chief of Jiangyin on the 81st, who is currently dormant.
After Feng Houdun took office in Changshou County, he immediately led his accompanying officials to first settle the governance in the city. Then, together with the peasant association, with the county seat as the center, he began to reorganize the household registration and divide the fields.
In addition, this is the material transfer station for the Datong Army, and he has to cooperate with the military's work.
An officer got off the boat and hurried to the county government office: "President Feng, General Huang has an order. Please immediately organize carpenters to build siege equipment and transport it to Chongqing for assembly!"
"I will do it immediately. Please wait for a few days, General Huang." Feng Houdun said.
Zhao Han did not allocate too much grain and grass, and Huang Yao could not recruit enough civilian men. Everything relied on water transport from the Yangtze River. Even the construction of siege equipment was carried out in Changshou County, and the parts were shipped to Chongqing for assembly outside the city.
"Boom boom boom boom!"
A water war is breaking out on the Chongqing River.
Because there are too many dangerous shoals in the Three Gorges, none of Zhao Han's large warships came to Sichuan. All that came were small and medium-sized warships.
Wang Xiang owns more than 300 naval warships, all of which are converted merchant ships, and they are engaged in a lively battle with the Datong Navy.
The wind direction was wrong, and the Datong Navy did not use "chemical weapons."
However, the Datong Navy has artillery!
Although they were all small Franco cannons, they were enough to suppress the Chongqing Navy, which only had crossbows.
The two sides fought for three hours. More than 80 Datong Navy warships hit more than 20 Chongqing warships, and more than a dozen were riddled with holes.
"Your Majesty, we can't fight anymore. General Lu is requesting a withdrawal!"
Wang Xiang was furious: "How can we not fight? Our army still has 300 warships, and the enemy's warships are less than 100. They all rushed forward and got close to the ship's side!"
Wang Xiang, born as a domestic slave, is Wang Yingxiong's servant.
Wang Yingxiong, who should have resigned from office at this time, was summoned to serve as a cabinet minister because Zhao Han occupied Jiangnan and Chongzhen employed a large number of people from the southwest and the north. Wang Yingxiong was first beaten to death by Li Zicheng, and then took the opportunity to escape. Now he is stuck in Shandong and cannot return home.
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Wang Yingxiong's servant Wang Xiang had become a general in the sixth year of Chongzhen, and was later transferred to guard Bazhong.
Due to the rise of thieves, the gentry of Chongqing Prefecture held a large-scale regiment training. Wang Xiang took the opportunity to bring troops over, and with the support of the Wang family, they quickly grew. Now they not only occupied half of Chongqing Prefecture, but also captured Shunqing Prefecture (Nanchong, Guang'an and other places).
This guy's current identity is King Dingxing of the Ming Dynasty.
He did not establish himself as king, but was canonized by Emperor Longwu of the Ming Dynasty!
Yes, Emperor Longwu of the Ming Dynasty emerged in Sichuan. A group of warlords in central Sichuan suddenly did not want to fight. With the help of Ming Dynasty ministers and gentry, they supported Zhu Zhishu, the king of Shu, as Emperor Longwu.
Wang Xiang of Chongqing was named King Dingxing; Wu Shangxian of Zunyi was named King Yongxing... and six princes and eleven marquises were named in one breath.
Yang Zhan, who was flying the banner of Datong, was surrounded by a group of princes and was completely confused.
If Huang Yao and Qin Liangyu hadn't sent troops in time, Yang Zhan would have changed his banner and surrendered to Emperor Longwu of the Ming Dynasty first.
Although Zhu Zhishu, King of Shu, or Emperor Longwu of Ming Dynasty, was just a puppet, he nominally occupied most of Sichuan.
Wang Xiang shouted: "Send another envoy to Chengdu to ask for help from the emperor! Damn it, they are all fighting for the Ming Dynasty, why should I do it alone?"
Three waves of messengers had been sent out to ask for help. Wang Xiang was so anxious that he sent out a fourth wave.
Lu Guoyu, the commander of the Chongqing Navy, was even more depressed. The more than 300 warships under his command were all damn useless. Even the sailors were mostly shipwrights, and many were coolies at Chaotianmen Wharf.
How about a fight with the regular navy?
I finally rushed over and got close to several enemy ships. As a result, the Datong sailors fired their guns and the Chongqing sailors fled in fright.
Lu Guoyu was a Confucian businessman with a reputation as a scholar, and his family was engaged in Yangtze River transportation. He didn’t want to fight, he just wanted to do business!
But the whole family was in Chongqing, and he did not dare to surrender.
Seeing his warships being sunk one by one and being captured one after another, Lu Guoyu wanted to yell at Wang Xiang for selling out.
In the fourth hour of the battle, more than sixty Chongqing warships were captured on the spot by the Datong Navy.
Taking advantage of the large number of ships, Lu Guoyu directed the navy to pick up the ship. Then he caught himself. As long as the Datong sailors opened fire, the Chongqing sailors instantly collapsed. The Datong sailors jumped to help, and the Chongqing sailors lay collectively on the deck.
Surrender.
They were all boatmen and coolies. They had only served as soldiers for a year or two, and they were hungry and well-fed. Why should they work for officials?
For fear of being bombarded, many Chongqing warships took the initiative to attack and were captured. They looked brave and fearless, but in fact they surrendered as soon as they were touched. In the end, they were too lazy to show off, and a large number of warship commanders chose to surrender.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Lu Guoyu took the initiative to retreat with the remaining warships, landed at Chaotianmen Pier and returned to the city. He was so frightened that he did not even dare to take the warships.
"How dare you lead your troops to escape from the battlefield!" Wang Xiang was furious.
Lu Guoyu shouted: "Aren't you going to run and wait for the whole army to be wiped out? The people on the opposite side are all elite navy troops with muskets and artillery. I only have a group of boatmen and coolies under my command, not to mention muskets and artillery, not even many bows and arrows."
How does the prince want me to fight?"
Wang Xiang pressed the handle of the knife, hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "You lead the troops to defend the city together!"
The Lu family is a wealthy family in Chongqing. Not only does it have a lot of land, but it also has a large business. Wang Xiang really doesn't dare to kill them randomly.
Gu Jianshan, commander of the Datong Navy, came to Sichuan to fight in person this time because he was a native of Sichuan.
After the water battle was completely won, Gu Jianshan smiled and said: "Mr. Wang, please."
Wang Yingxi is the younger brother of Wang Yingxiong. When the Datong Army conquered Nanjing, Wang Yingxi was on vacation in the Nanjing prison. Now he is a bachelor of literature at the Hanlin Academy.
This guy climbed up the stairs from Chaotianmen Pier, stood under the city and shouted: "I am Wang Yingxi, open the city and surrender quickly!"
Wang Xiang's expression suddenly changed drastically. He had said that he was just a domestic slave of the Wang family. Even if he divided his kingdom, he relied on the power of the Wang family. Many of the Wang family members were still serving as officials and generals under him.
Especially at the Jinzi Gate, the person responsible for leading the troops to defend the city was Wang Yingxi's biological son.
Wang Xiang immediately led his troops to the Jinzi Gate, quietly delivering orders halfway.
After arriving at the Jinzi Gate, without any explanation, Wang Yingxi's son was hacked to death. There were also troops in the city attacking the Wang family.
This guy quickly summoned the gentry and threatened: "Once the city is defeated, the Datong Army will confiscate your fields in the countryside, ransack your homes, kill people, and take away your property in the city. If you want to keep your wealth, follow me and defend the city."
, His Majesty (King of Shu) will definitely send troops to rescue!"
It is impossible for Wang Xiang to surrender. He is a mortal enemy of Yang Zhan and has had many conflicts with Qin Liangyu.
Now, both Qin Liangyu and Yang Zhan have surrendered to Zhao Han. He is afraid that after surrendering, he will be killed by Yang Zhan.
Yang Zhan is indeed brave, but he has character flaws. He treats people he likes very well, but he is very petty towards people he doesn't like, even to the point of retribution.
Fan Yiheng was standing on the city tower at the moment. He was Wang Xiang's military advisor and served as the governor of Ningxia before he was dismissed from office.
In Fan Yiheng's view, Emperor Longwu of Chengdu was a joke. Why not surrender to the Emperor of Nanjing as early as possible?
In the middle of the night, Fan Yiheng teamed up with the gentry to set fire to the city. He could no longer stand Wang Xiang, a domestic slave who was so powerful!
Just when Huang Yao captured Chongqing Prefecture, the Mu family of Tianbo Prefecture in Yunnan supported Min King Zhu Qifeng (next to the word gold, a variant of the word "duo") as emperor.
This Min King escaped from Hunan.
Yunnan has high mountains and long roads, and it was not until winter that we heard the news that Chongzhen had hanged himself. A group of ministers encouraged Mu Tianbo, Duke of Guizhou, and quickly proclaimed King Min as the "Emperor Zhenwu" in Yunnan.
At this moment, the five emperors of China coexist.
Zhao Han, Emperor of Datong in Nanjing, Fulin, Emperor of Qing Dynasty in Beijing, Li Zicheng, Emperor of Dashun in Shaanxi, Zhu Zhishu, Emperor Longwu of Ming Dynasty in Sichuan, Zhu Qifeng, Emperor Zhenwu of Yunnan (next to the gold letter).
