Chapter 69 The trajectory of history

Author: Scholar Wu

Chapter 69 The trajectory of history

Now Jin Shenghuan is very energetic. In less than a month, he has taken over the eleventh prefecture in Jiangxi and has nearly 300,000 troops under his command.

He suddenly became the most powerful warlord under the Yongli imperial court.

Now that the people's support is available and morale is strong, it is time to take advantage of the situation and attack to expand his influence. However, he is faced with difficulties as to where to attack.

Although Jin Shenghuan is ruthless and seems to be a man with great ideas, in fact, he often hesitates and looks forward and backward whenever he encounters big problems.

This time, had it not been for the repeated instigation of Wang Deren and Huang Renlong and the "cooking of raw rice into cooked rice", Jin Shenghuan might not have dared to make up his mind to raise the flag anyway.

Although Qian Mo was afraid that Jin Shenghuan would repeat the same mistakes in history, he deliberately arranged this "excerpt".

Jin Shenghuan also publicly stated that he would send troops northward to regain Nanjing in one fell swoop.

However, after sending Qian Ning away, Jin Shenghuan began to murmur again.

Regarding the next move, the civil and military officials under Kim Sheng-hwan also had serious disagreements.

The old officials of the Ming Dynasty, led by academicians Jiang Yueguang and Yu Yinggui, advocated taking advantage of the Qing army's lack of troops to directly march northward and conquer Nanjing in one fell swoop. In this way, Jiangnan would definitely be revitalized, and the Ming Dynasty would be revived.

Jiang Yueguang said excitedly: "The troops in Nanchang were raised, and the whole world was shocked. People everywhere are eagerly waiting for it."

"The Duke of Yu only needs to lead his troops north from Raozhou and conquer the two Huixuan prefectures all the way; Marquis Jianwu leads the water division from Jiujiang all the way down the river. In this way, the water and land can be advanced simultaneously, and the army of Ding Xihou can support him from the side. The city of Nanjing can be

Drum down."

"At that time, we only need to take His Majesty Yongli back to Nanjing, pay homage to the Xiaoling Mausoleum and tell the world, and Jiangnan will be determined. In this way, we can hope for the revival of the Ming Dynasty, and the Duke of Yu and Marquis Jianwu will also leave their names in history!"

In fact, the military strength of Nanjing City is really empty at this moment. If Jin Shenghuan had made up his mind early, he would still have great hope of capturing Nanjing.

After all, Ma Guozhu's main force was attracted to the Susong area at this time, and Jin Shenghuan led his army northward, basically watching the wind and falling along the way. Coupled with the support of Qian Mo and Zhang Mingzhen, it is reasonable to capture Nanjing.

Of course, it is not certain whether we can hold on. After all, the main force of the Eight Banners will still go south, and there will definitely be a battle, but the situation in Jiangnan will definitely be very different.

Strategically speaking, the suggestion put forward by Jiang Yueguang and others is the best policy.

Historically, Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of the Yuan Dynasty's military shortage in Nanjing and captured Nanjing to lay the foundation of the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop.

Nanjing's influence on Jiangnan is unmatched by any other city.

At this time, Wang Deren, who was raising troops together with Jin Shenghuan, advocated sending troops to Huguang, preferably to capture Wuchang in one fell swoop.

Wang Deren’s reasons are also very good.

After his army occupied the Jiujiang area, the Ming Dynasty forces in Hubei and Anhui, which are located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, responded quickly. The situation was surging and the situation was quite impressive.

Rebel armies from all walks of life north of the Yangtze River started revolting one after another and sent people to contact them to express their willingness to surrender.

Wen Ruilin recorded: "In the first month of Wuzi Spring, Jin Shenghuan from Jiangxi came and returned. To the east of Jiujiang, Wangfeng followed him." Anti-Qing forces in Taihu (the name of Anhui county), Susong, Qianshan, and Yingshan emerged one after another, and each set up a mountain stronghold to serve as the southern Ming Dynasty.

Zhengshuo of the Yongli court.

On February 14, the rebels in each village jointly established Zhu Tongqi, a descendant of the Mingning clan, as the king of Shicheng. He lived in Feiqi Village in Qianshan.

The Kedao, the Ministry, and the main town belong to Xianbei.

There were no visitors in other villages, so they surrendered with troops. Those who were appointed to the ministry were Fu Mengbi, Fu Qianzhi, Gui Chan, monk Yitang and others, all of whom assisted Tong Qi and served as flying flag outside guards in various villages. So, Tong There are twenty-four villages in Qifu, and due to contact with the forty-eight villages in Qihuang, those who come to pay a visit have different positions."

Zhu Guocai of Luzhou Prefecture used the pseudonym Feng Hongtu and "pretended to be Shigebu (Kefa)" to raise troops and conquered Chaoxian County first. Then he colluded with Wuweizhou Township eunuch Wu Guangyu, Sheng Shijian, Wu Qiansheng and others to attack on the 29th of the first lunar month. At night, we should cooperate inside and outside to conquer Wuwei State.

Wang Deren was not as timid as Jin Shenghuan, he directly sent troops to fight.

On February 28, an army under Wang Deren took more than 500 boats and arrived at the gate of Qizhou City. More than 5,000 land and horse infantry troops also attacked the south gate.

Although Qizhou was not captured due to the strong defense of the Qing Dynasty, Wang Deren's army occupied Huangmei, Guangji and other counties and deployed civil and military officials.

Qishui County was also very active in restoring the Ming Dynasty. The county annals record that "in the fifth year of Shunzhi, during Wuzi period, Jiangxi Jin rebels arrived in Jiujiang. The Qishui, Huang, Ying, and Luo villages misunderstood them. They were linked together for hundreds of miles. The area in the northeast of Qi was also fooled. After a few years of attacking the city and plundering the countryside, the civilians fled. In the summer of Ji Chou, the governor Chi Ji Ke led his troops to recruit troops. Xun changed again, and the soldiers returned and recruited troops again, but the women in the cottages were Separation is very disruptive.”

"Macheng County Chronicle" records: "In the fifth year of Shunzhi, Jin Shenghuan of Jiangxi occupied the provincial capital and rebelled. It was heard that Jiangbei, Zhou Chengmo and others started rebellion from Beixiang, which extended to the Southeast Mountains and Ying and Huo Valleys. They raised their poles and roared. Xu Ding, the county magistrate, invited troops to fight for peace. Of."

Later, Luo Xiujin, governor of Qinghuguang and Sichuan, said in a memorial: "Jiangyou Jin rebelled in February of the fifth year of Shunzhi and declared a rebellion. In the Huang area except Huangpi, those who responded have no place and are not thieves." All counties have fortified their walls to keep out thieves, and during that period they were able to defend the city without any danger. How can we ask about the collection of taxes?"

The book also specifically pointed out that Qizhou, Macheng, Luotian, Qishui, Huangmei, Guangji, Huanggang, and Huang'an counties were all "occupied by local thieves and their fields were abandoned" during Shunzhi 5 and 62.

Even in Xiaogan County, northwest of the provincial capital Wuchang, resistance has surged and local officials are in constant panic.

However, after the Qing government received the report of the uprising in Jiangxi, it immediately ordered Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi who had entered Hunan to lead their troops back to Hanyang.

Kong Youde saw that people's hearts were unstable, so in order to prevent internal changes, he actually killed Liu Chengyin, the former Ming An Guogong who had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in Hunan, and Fu Shangrui, the governor of Shenyang, and others.

Although anti-Qing uprisings broke out across Jiangbei, due to the failure of Wang Deren's attack and the quick response of the Qing government, the main force was promptly transferred back to Hanyang and Wuchang, stabilizing the situation in Huguang.

At this time, if Jin Shenghuan and Wang Deren could concentrate their main forces and move northward, they would have a good chance of winning.

Moreover, if Huguang is captured, the "granary of the world", it will become extremely difficult for the Qing army to supply food in the south of the Yangtze River. It can also be connected with the Nanming forces in Guangxi and Hunan.

Although it is not as influential as capturing Nanjing, capturing Wuchang is definitely much stronger than sticking to Jiangxi.

Wang Deren's suggestion is not a good idea, and the actual effect is not necessarily much worse than winning Nanjing.

After all, from the overall situation and Qian Mo's own perspective, Jin Shenghuan's best strategy was to send troops to Nanjing.

But from Jin Shenghuan's own perspective, it may be more beneficial to conquer Wuchang.

However, the Qing army's move to shrink its troops in Huguang relieved the pressure on the Ming army in Guangxi and Hunan to a certain extent.

It is a pity that at this time, He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang in Nanming, did not send troops in time to respond to Jin Shenghuan in Jiangxi after the Qing government suddenly withdrew its troops.

Instead, they continue to be keen on infighting.

By the time he reacted belatedly and sent troops to regain the lost territory, the best opportunity had already been missed.

After all, both Jin Shenghuan and He Tengjiao are quite lagging behind in terms of intelligence in this era.

Even the intelligence of the Qing court was far inferior to that of the Intelligence Department under Qian Mo. After all, with Qian Mo's "God's perspective", the Intelligence Department was much more targeted.

Of course, the profitability of the Intelligence Department is also very strong nowadays, and the Intelligence Department also gets a commission from the reselling of "scalper tickets" in Nanchang.

Nowadays, among the ministries under the Suhu Governor's Office, although the profitability of the Intelligence Department is not as good as that of the Industry Department under the Chief Envoy, it can be said to have the most various welfare and commission benefits. This is also the reason why the Intelligence Department has been able to develop rapidly.

.

No matter Nanjing or Wuchang, no matter which one Jin Shenghuan decided to attack, it would be extremely beneficial to Nanming.

It's a pity that neither Jiang Riguang, the head of the civil service under Jin Shenghuan, nor Wang Deren, the head of the military generals, can compare to the next Huang Renlong in terms of deception ability.

It was this dear friend who had previously lied that "Longwu was alive" and forged an edict to Jin Shenghuan and Wang Deren.

In fact, history often changes significantly because of small people.

Qian Mo may have never dreamed that the "excerpt" that he painstakingly arranged to make people cry would not be able to withstand Huang Renlong's deception.

If Qian Mo could learn more about history and remember that it was precisely because of this man's deception that made Jin Shenghuan run into the "iron plate" of Ganzhou, I am afraid that Huang Renlong would have been assassinated by the Intelligence Department long ago.

Already.

While Jiang Riguang and Wang Deren were arguing over land, Jin Shenghuan was also having a hard time choosing between Nanjing and Wuchang.

Huang Renlong, the "big liar", finally made his debut.

Due to his previous "excellent" performance, Jin Shenghuan now attaches great importance to the opinions of Huang Renlong, a former court guest.

Huang Renlong himself doesn't have any outstanding talents. Although he has read some history books, he actually doesn't have much real talent in his heart.

But he was good at figuring out Jin Shenghuan's thoughts, and he was even more daring to lie and deceive, as shown by the previous operation of "Longwu is not dead".

At this time, he had just been appointed by Jin Shenghuan as the Governor-General of the five provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan. He was high-spirited and full of ambition.

Although he is not as talented as Jiang Riguang, and his bravery is not as good as Wang Deren. But he is so energetic and energetic, how can he fall behind?

As soon as Huang Renlong opened his mouth, he rejected everyone's correct opinions.

Said: "Attack Nanjing and Wuchang? You are all blind and cannot see Mount Tai."

"Don't you know that King Ning rebelled in Nanchang during the Zhengde period, and don't you know that Ganzhou is still under the control of the Qing army?"

Jin Shenghuan didn't read much, so naturally he didn't understand what Huang Renlong meant, so he asked, "How do you say this?"

So, Huang Renlong began to show off his historical knowledge while shaking his head.

Said: "During the Zhengde period, Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao raised troops to rebel. The situation was similar to ours now. At first, it was very powerful in Jiangxi, but then why did Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao fail in only 43 days?"

"It was because he only wanted to capture Nanjing quickly so that he could seize the southern half of the Yangtze River, but he ignored the threats around him and failed to capture Ganzhou in time. As a result, when Zhu Chenhao attacked Nanjing, Wang Shouren, the governor of southern Ganzhou, took the opportunity to send troops from Ganzhou and captured

Went to Nanchang and raided Zhu Chenhao's old home directly."

"Zhu Chenhao's tactic of focusing on the head rather than the bottom is not advisable. Once a fire breaks out in the backyard, it will be difficult to take care of both ends, and you will inevitably lose sight of one thing."

After Huang Renlong's explanation, Jin Shenghuan finally understood.

What he means is to stabilize the rear first, and then expand outward. In other words, to deal with the outside world, you must first stabilize the inside.

I have to say that Huang Renlong's statement was quite deceptive. For a while, everyone felt that what he said was reasonable. Even Jiang Riguang and Wang Deren did not refute him in time.

Logically speaking, there is nothing wrong with the policy of "reconciling foreign affairs before settling domestic affairs first".

But it is obviously inappropriate to compare the current situation in Jiangxi with the situation during Zhu Chenhao's rebellion.

The so-called "this time, that time", when Zhu Chenhao rebelled, the whole world was against him.
To be continued...