The miners' coalition and the imperial army were plunged into a sea of carnival.
Celebrating this hearty victory!
Nine thousand were beheaded and ten thousand were captured.
Except for a handful of people who escaped, the 20,000 elite rebels were basically wiped out.
However, the miners' coalition and the imperial army only suffered hundreds of casualties, and the losses were negligible. After cleaning the battlefield, they also seized countless armor, horses and livestock, gunpowder, artillery, and several gold and silver treasures worth more than 500,000 taels.
.
But when it came to dividing up the spoils of war, the twelve major miners and the three generals of the imperial court fought most fiercely over the distribution rights of 10,000 prisoners.
Lu Youxing, Ma Yousheng and other miners believed that in this battle of Shahe, they contributed more and should be given more prisoners. The ten thousand prisoners of war should be given to them at least seven thousand. The imperial officers and soldiers just followed behind and picked them up.
Just cheap.
This made the three generals very dissatisfied and immediately retorted.
Yang Yufan, the commander-in-chief, said: "My imperial officers and soldiers killed the enemy bravely, and they all fought for the lead. Their performance was not inferior to that of the mine soldiers. Why do you want to belittle the role of my imperial officers and soldiers?"
Wang Hongdao: "We have agreed in advance that as long as we cooperate properly and eliminate the rebels, the spoils will be divided into 50 and 50, and the prisoners will be given to us at least 5,000. You businessmen are based on integrity and cannot be dishonest!"
Deng Qi said: "What the rebels fear most is the name of the imperial court. Representative Zhang also said in advance that the credit goes to the officers and soldiers. How can they compete with us for prisoners?" A prisoner is worth 30 silver dollars or a complete set of equipment. If there are 10,000 prisoners,
All replaced with plate armor and alloy knives, the Jimen soldiers under his command will surely become the strongest army in the world!
Lu Youxing and other miners are no longer working. They are not short of money or minerals. What they are short of is the miners who mine for them. If these 10,000 captured soldiers all become slaves in their mines, they will bring in more money every year.
The profit will not be less than 300,000 taels, because Xujiazhuang promises to buy unlimited ore at very reasonable prices, and will also build several ore transportation roads to seaports, open up sea routes, and reduce dependence on water transportation.
In other words, in the future, as long as they can dig out as many mines as they can, they will be able to earn as much money as they want. Therefore, the number of miners and slaves will only be too few, not too many!
Therefore, in the face of interests, even in the face of the general soldiers of the imperial court and these high officials, miners such as Lu Youxing dared to bang the table, argue loudly, and get red-faced. Except for Confucian businessmen like Hu Wenting who did not argue or quarrel, they all
It means not giving in an inch.
Just when the two sides were about to start fighting.
Bang bang!
Zhang Xianglong patted the table to attract their attention and said: "Don't argue any more, we only captured 10,000 prisoners today. Although they were severely damaged, the remaining rebels and their families were young and strong.
I'm afraid there are still tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands. As long as we pursue them and capture them all, are we still afraid that there won't be enough prisoners? It's too early to argue now. We can wait until the rebels are completely wiped out.
How about one point?"
These words made the eyes of the general miners light up.
If the hundreds of thousands of prisoners were divided evenly, each of them could get tens of thousands of prisoners. No matter how they were dealt with, they would all be given away.
"Okay, let's put aside our differences for the time being and continue to fight the rebels. We will definitely have a good year this year!"
…
the other side.
After digesting the huge bad news.
run!
Kong Youde issued an order to withdraw from the camp and return to Dengzhou as soon as possible. By this time, the news of the defeat had spread, and the rebels were in chaos. Many people saw that the situation was not good and fled, not wanting to stay on this broken ship that was about to sink.
In Laizhou City, the prefect Zhu Wannian learned of the unusual movement in the rebel camp. He immediately seized this opportunity and led thousands of troops to fight out. Unexpectedly, no one dared to resist the rebels. They collapsed and scattered. They were pursued for twenty miles, and the rebels lost all their supplies and horses.
Among them, only Kong Youde and more than a thousand people returned to Dengzhou safely, and then immediately released Sun Yuanhua, Song Guanglan, the prefect, Wu Weicheng, the prefect, and Jia Jie, the co-prefect, and others. They knelt down and confessed, crying and begging to be appeased by the court. If they wanted to be convicted,
Just one person, Kong Youde, can behead him!
But it's too late.
The rebels lost all their elite troops and all their bargaining chips. Even if Sun Yuanhua and other officials were released, they would not be able to change the fate of the Dongjiang rebels.
On the second day of the first lunar month of the fifth year of Chongzhen, tens of thousands of imperial troops arrived and besieged the city of Dengzhou where the rebels were stationed. After failing to persuade them to surrender, they immediately attacked.
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, hundreds of general artillery arrived. The army used these artillery pieces, which were originally controlled by the rebels, to launch a fierce bombardment of Dengzhou City. In just half a day, the gate of Dengzhou City was crumbling, leaving gaps.
countless.
On the sixth day of the first lunar month (four o'clock in the morning), amid huge cheers, the gates of Dengzhou City were opened from the inside, announcing that the city was broken. The remaining rebels had to retreat to Shuicheng in the north, which was also the port where sea ships docked. As long as they defended
In Shuicheng, there is hope to escape north by boat across the sea, or flee to another country, or seek refuge in Houjin, there is always a way out.
But on the night of the seventh day of the first lunar month, standing in the gatehouse high up in Shuicheng, my eyes reflected the sky-high flames in the port.
Looking at the ships burning in the fire, the last glimmer of hope in Kong Youde's heart was shattered.
That's right, in the weather of more than 30 degrees below zero, the sea surface was covered with a thick layer of ice. Not only were sea ships unable to leave the port, but through the ice, the elite Xu Jiajun carrying fire starters could also easily penetrate into the harbor.
, and then every three or five people would deal with one ship, and soon all the hundreds of ships would be burned to the ground. It would be impossible for the remaining rebels to hold on until March or April, and wait for the ice on the sea to melt before crossing the sea and escaping.
The last life-saving straw is lost.
The imperial officers and soldiers took the opportunity to launch a final offensive to persuade them to surrender.
"Stop resisting. We are teachers of benevolence and righteousness. Except for the thief's leader named by the court, we will never kill a prisoner!"
"Brothers of the Dongjiang Army, you have no way out. Surrender! We won't kill anyone, not even a single one. We will also arrange a good job for you, and your family will be properly accommodated. You won't have to live in this life again."
A day of fighting and killing.”
"As long as you surrender, all your crimes will be forgiven and you will have a way to survive. Don't go all the way to darkness!"
"Don't you just want to survive and become ordinary people? This opportunity is given to you now. I heard that your Marshal Kong Youde was a miner in Liaodong. If Kong Youde is willing to return to work in the mines, we can't give him this opportunity.
Chance!"
"..."
The end of the Dongjiang rebels has come. Amid the cries of persuasion to surrender outside, more and more rebels put down their weapons and stopped resisting. Some committed suicide with swords or jumped off the city wall.
The end of Kong Youde also came. He returned to his residence, first ordered his wife and concubines to commit suicide, then filled the house with kerosene, ignited it with fire, then hugged his son and daughter, and slowly walked into the blazing fire.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Amidst the desperate wailing and crying throughout the city, only he left the last string of laughter.