Those Things in the Ming Dynasty Part 1 The Great Emperor Hongwu _ Chapter 30 Only one step away from victory!
creative thinking
The victory was not easy for Zhu Di, because his territory was still very small and his army was still small. After defeating Wu Jie, he sent troops many times and achieved some victories. He also burned a large amount of the southern army's grain and grass in Pei County, Xuzhou.
The enemy's logistical supplies were cut off. Zhu Di wanted to take advantage of the victory and pursue it, but the Southern Army was well prepared. Generals from Hebei and Shanxi also attacked Zhu Di's home base of Peiping. In order to protect his base, Zhu Di had to withdraw his troops and return to the city.
At this time, Zhu Di finally felt unprecedented pressure. This pressure was not caused by the failure of a certain battle, but because he had vaguely felt that his adventure seemed unlikely to succeed. Zhu Yunwen occupied the entire country.
In some areas, the territory he owns is only the three counties of Beiping, Baoding, and Yongping. In terms of human resources and material reserves, he is far inferior to Zhu Yunwen. Although he has won many battles, he cannot completely defeat his opponent.
Zhu Di had begun to believe that if the war continued like this, one day he would lead his dwindling number of subordinates to be captured by a few soldiers of the other side and sent to receive rewards, and then live in humiliation or die in humiliation.
Failure is nothing, the loss of hope is the greatest pain.
It seems that the fire of hope that has been supporting Zhu Di is about to be extinguished. What hope is there? There were not many real estate developers in those days, and there were not so many construction sites. We couldn't expect Zhu Yunwen to be killed by bricks falling from the sky.
Moreover, even if Zhu Yunwen dies, he will still not be crowned the emperor. What, what!
At this moment, a piece of news changed Zhu Di's fate. This news was provided by Zhu Di's eunuchs lurking in the palace. They sent people to deliver a message to Zhu Di, saying that the capital's troops were very empty. If they took advantage of the situation, they would definitely be able to defeat him in a single battle.
Certainly.
This was very important information, but Zhu Di was furious after reading it. Why? Because Zhu Di was not in Suzhou and Hangzhou. Fighting from Peking to the capital was not easy! He had fought for three years just to achieve the goal.
The problem with this goal is that Zhu Yunwen would never be able to make way for him to reach the capital.
On the way to the capital, the biggest obstacle is Shandong. The people here are strong, the soldiers fight bravely, and there are famous generals guarding them. It is difficult to defeat them no matter what. In Zhu Di's view, this is an obstacle that is difficult to overcome.
.But does this obstacle really exist?
Zhu Di would not have thought that he had unintentionally fallen into a thinking trap: Does he have to fight Shandong when going to the capital?
In our thinking, there are often some blind spots, and creative thinking is specifically designed to eliminate these blind spots. The so-called creative thinking does not necessarily mean coming up with brilliant ideas. In many cases, this kind of thinking proposes solutions that many people have no idea about.
They know and understand, but the problem is that they don't know that they know.
For example, NASA once discovered that a part on the space shuttle always failed, either here or there. It spent a lot of manpower and material resources and could not solve it. Finally, an engineer asked whether this part could be dispensed with. Facts have proved that this part
It is indeed redundant.
This ridiculous incident tells us that there are certain blind spots in our thinking, and we often fall into difficult situations. For Zhu Di, Shandong is his blind spot. Due to the suffering he suffered in Jinan
The failure left a deep impression on him, and he seemed to think that he could not capture the capital without capturing Jinan.
If Zhu Di went on like this, he would inevitably fail, but at the critical moment a person with this kind of thinking awakened him, and this person was Dao Yan.
There is a reason why Dao Yan is considered the most outstanding counselor of that era. He does not read dead books or accept dead principles, and is good at adapting. He keenly discovered this blind spot in Zhu Di's thinking.
Zhu Di is like a clever thief who wants to break into a house and is proficient in lockpicking techniques, but he can't open the lock in Jinan. No matter what master key he uses and how much time he spends, it won't help. At this time, the old thief Dao Yan arrives
Beside him, tell him that in fact your purpose is not to open the lock, but to enter the door. What is in front of you now is just a wooden door.
So Zhu Di gave up his attempt to pick the lock, raised his foot and kicked open the door.
The door was opened, the road to the capital was opened, and Zhu Di finally saw the end of the emperor's road - the gleaming throne.
On the map, the name of that door is Xuzhou.
In December of the third year of Jianwen, Zhu Di once again put on armor in his palace, summoned his generals, and prepared to set off. But this time the attack was different from the past, because Zhu Di had already made up his mind that this would be
In his last attack, he watched his generals send troops to fight for many years. The people around him died one after another, Zhang Yu, Tan Yuan, and many others. But he always returned to the same place.
A starting point. Instead of waiting for death, it’s better to give it a try!
"After so many years of fighting, when will it end! This time we send troops to fight, we should regard it as the final decision. There is no return, there is life or death!"
If you don’t succeed, you will succeed!
final impact
In the first month of the fourth year of Jianwen (1402), Zhu Di began his last attack. His old enemies Sheng Yong, Ping An, Tie Xuan and others had already received the news. They had repaired the city wall and were waiting for Zhu Di to attack. However, the development of things made them panic.
Unexpectedly: Zhu Di did not go to find trouble with them, but crossed the river via Tao Guantao, connected with Dong'a, Dongping, and Shanxian, and directed his troops towards Xuzhou!
Sheng Yong and Tie Xuan were panicked. They understood Zhu Di's intention. His goal was no longer Dezhou and Jinan, but the final destination-the capital. If Zhu Di was allowed to achieve his goal, everything would be over, so they counterattacked.
The defense was normal and the pursuit of Zhu Di began.
The first one to catch up was Ping An. He followed with 40,000 troops at an extremely fast speed. In Ping An's view, although Zhu Di launched an attack unexpectedly, Xuzhou's city defense was strong enough to resist the Northern Army, and at least it could delay it for a while.
At that time, he could attack from both inside and outside and completely defeat the Northern Army. However, what he did not expect was that Zhu Di did not attack Xuzhou!
It turned out that after Zhu Di defeated the garrison in the city, the garrison couldn't retreat and tried to hold on. But Zhu Di played an even trickier trick. He bypassed Xuzhou and attacked Suzhou instead. Ping An was shocked when he got the news. Zhu Di actually ordered Xuzhou to be destroyed.
Regardless, it is obvious that his target is only the capital!
Zhu Di is like a flaming bull, he doesn't care about anything and only advances towards his own goal. This kind of enemy who sacrifices everything is the most terrifying.
Catch him, must catch him!
In March, Ping'an received news that Zhu Di had left Xuzhou and headed towards Suzhou. Seeing that the Northern Army was moving so quickly, Ping'an ordered the soldiers to march quickly and finally arrived at the Feihe River near Suzhou. In his opinion, Zhu Di was eager to attack the capital and would not be able to defeat him.
We will make more stops. As long as we can catch up with the Northern Army, it will be a victory.
However, what Ping An never expected was that Zhu Di, who was running forward, did not forget him. Zhu Di had already prepared gifts to send to Feihe, which was supposed to be a thank you to Ping An for leading his army to see him off.
When Ping An ran out of breath to the Fei River, he was immediately ambushed by Zhu Di. It turned out that Zhu Di had been ambushing here for two days in order to cut off this nasty tail. When Ping An troops arrived, he immediately launched an attack.
Attack. Ping An did not expect that Zhu Di, who had been chasing for more than a month, was waiting for him here. The whole army was defenseless and was easily defeated. Ping An reacted quickly and immediately pulled his horse and continued to run wildly. However, the direction of running was different from the previous one.
It's just completely different. And his remaining troops also followed suit. Ping An's main job during this month was to keep running here and there.
Although Zhu Di's attack defeated Ping An, it also slowed down the advance of his own army. The Southern Army also used this time to complete the pursuit deployment and regrouped the troops to catch up. Zhu Di finally understood that Sheng Yong and others were
It will not allow him to go on the road with peace of mind. Only by solving these worries can he achieve the final victory.
In May, the Southern Army and the Northern Army finally formally met in a small river near Suishui. The commander of the Southern Army was still safe. Facts have proved that if the fight started openly, the Northern Army would not have much advantage. After a fierce battle between the two sides, although the Northern Army was slightly
Although he had the advantage, he could not defeat this obstacle for a while. At this time, the Confederate Army was short of food and grass. Zhu Di judged that now was the time when the Confederate Army was at its weakest, and the problem could be solved if a general offensive was launched. But Zhu Di has always been
Not a person who plays his cards openly, he still used his own method - sneak attack.
He deployed soldiers on the other side of the river as usual, but withdrew the main force thirty miles away overnight, and crossed the river in the middle of the night to launch an attack on the Southern Army. Zhu Di stayed up at night and came out in the dark to personally direct the sneak attack. He originally thought
This time he would be able to completely wipe out the Confederate army by crossing the other side at night, but he did not expect that on the other side he would meet an old acquaintance who had caused him a lot of trouble.
After Zhu Di's whole team landed ashore, he launched an attack on the Ping'an Army. As expected, the Ping'an Army was unprepared and was in chaos. Just when the entire army was about to collapse, an army appeared. This army was the reinforcement of the Southern Army. The leader was Xu Huizu, Zhu Di's brother-in-law, led his troops to march day and night. It is said that arriving early is worse than arriving by chance, so he immediately ordered the troops to attack.
Zhu Di never expected that, with the mantis stalking the cicada and the oriole behind, another army would appear in the middle of the night. After receiving a few slaps from Xu Huizu in a daze, he realized that something was wrong and immediately led the entire army to withdraw.
Xu Huizu took advantage of the situation to defeat the Northern Army and killed the Northern Army General Li Bin.
Zhu Di's night attack can be described as stealing a chicken but losing a lot of rice. Not only did it fail to complete the strategic mission, but it also cost the lives of many soldiers. And bigger trouble is still waiting for him.
After returning to the camp, the anger that the generals had accumulated for a long time finally broke out. They had been burdened with the crime of rebelling and fought with their own heads. Although Zhu Di had brought them many victories, as the war situation developed,
They have also seen that victory seems to be far away. This expedition can be said to be a desperate attempt to attack the capital, but now they have suffered a huge defeat, but they have not even seen the suburbs of the capital.
The matter of losing the head must not be taken lightly, and at least an explanation must be sought. So they all advised Zhu Di and asked to cross the river and find another place to camp (actually, it was a disguised retreat).
In fact, Zhu Di was also worried. The so-called going straight to the capital was just a promise. How could it be taken seriously? Besides, there were so many car thieves and road bullies on the road. It would be even more difficult to sing songs and enter the city, but the matter was already there.
At this point, if the troops retreat, their morale will be greatly disturbed, so they must persevere no matter what!
He said in a firm tone as always:
"There is no way to retreat in this battle!"
Then, he ordered those who were willing to stay here to stand on the right side, and those who were willing to cross the river to stand on the left side. Zhu Di had another wishful thinking. Generally, group activities like registered voting were just a show, and he believed that no one would
Dare to openly oppose him, but this time, he was wrong.
Most of the generals cheered and stood on the left. Now Zhu Di really had no choice but to say angrily:
"You can figure it out yourself!"
At this difficult time, Zhu Neng stood up, supported Zhu Di, and said loudly to the generals:
"Please hold on. When Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, failed to win nine out of ten battles, didn't he eventually dominate the world? Now the enemy is exhausted and trapped here, and our army is in sight of victory. How can we think of retreating?"
The generals all stopped talking. This was not necessarily because they believed Zhu Neng's words, but because after Zhang Yu's death, Zhu Neng had become the number one general. He was known to have great prestige and had many close followers in the army. Offending him might not bring any good results.
Eat the fruit. After this fuss, I have vented my anger and said what I need to say. Anyway, I have boarded the pirate ship, so let’s leave it at that.
Zhu Di looked at Zhu Neng with a look that was almost grateful, and at the people who stood up to support him in this difficult moment. He had also wavered, but the harsh reality told him that he must persevere, just like before, no matter what
No matter how difficult it is, as long as you persist, there will be hope.
The outcome of a war is often determined by the effort of "holding on a little longer".
Lingbi, the final victory
As if to cooperate with Zhu Di's determination, the court did not know who came up with the bad idea, saying that the Northern Army was about to lose, and Xu Huizu should be transferred back to defend the capital, so Xu Huizu, who had just won, was transferred back. The only one who stayed in Xiaohe to confront Zhu Di was
Ping'an and He Fu were left. Since they felt that this place was not easy to defend, they decided to join forces and defend Lingbi after discussion.
However, it rained continuously all night, and the soldiers under the two men were already exhausted. However, the team escorting the food and salary was defeated by Zhu Di, and all the food and salary were taken away. This time, it was regarded as the death of the Confederate army, and they had no food.
Why fight if you are not full? So the two met and decided to break out and escape tomorrow. To ensure consistent actions, they also formulated a code: three cannon blasts.
The next day, the Confederate soldiers were packing their bags and preparing to flee. Suddenly three cannons were fired. When the soldiers heard the signal, they ran away without saying a word. But they never thought that the three cannons were not from them.
Just the opposite of the escape signal given by others, this is the attack signal of the Northern Army!
It turned out that the Northern Army also formulated an attack code on the same day, and this code also happened to be three gunshots!
You can't blame the government if your life is miserable.
This was an extremely funny scene. The Northern Army, which was preparing to attack, happened to encounter the Confederate Army who was fleeing hastily. How could they be polite? The Northern Army followed the trend and pursued them. Not only did they annihilate the Confederate Army, they also captured Ping An and other thirty-seven generals.
, only He Fu ran fast and escaped alone.
Zhu Di's persistence finally brought victory. He kicked off the last stumbling block on the way forward and began to advance towards the final goal.
The Battle of Lingbi completely defeated the main force of the Southern Army. After that, the Southern Army was never able to organize a decent counterattack. After going through untold hardships and defeating countless enemies, Zhu Di finally saw the dawn of victory.
Sheng Yong, Tie Xuan, peace has become a thing of the past, no one can stop my progress!
Zhu Di's next target was Yangzhou. At this time, the guardian of the city was Wang Bin, the supervisory censor. This man wanted to resist, but was betrayed by his subordinates, and Yangzhou surrendered without a fight.
The fall of Yangzhou dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Confederate Army. He didn't even need to look at a map. As long as he had a little geographical knowledge and knew how far Yangzhou was from Nanjing, Zhu Di's battle of Jingnan finally reached the final stage. All he had to do was take one more step.
, you can step into the capital city that you have longed for.
Zhu Yunwen, who was sitting in the imperial city, was extremely panicked. He never imagined that reducing the vassal status would lead to the loss of his throne. He had no master, and Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng were not in the capital at this time. His only think tank was
Fang Xiaoru. In this case, I can only ask this nerd for advice.
Fang Xiaoru was very confident. He calmly took on a scholarly attitude and listed several countermeasures: first, he sent ministers out to recruit troops, and then called on the kings of Qin in the world to buy time and send people to negotiate with Zhu Di and express his willingness to cede.
The land paralyzed Zhu Di.
Seeing that he was so confident, Zhu Yunwen acted according to his plan, hoping that the nerd could give him a hand at the last moment.
Later facts proved that Fang Xiaoru was indeed a first-class loyal minister, but he was definitely not a first-class hero. His suggestions of recruiting troops abroad and calling on King Qin could not fundamentally solve the problem. Zhu Di had already reached the door, so how could he come in time?
And the so-called negotiating with Zhu Di to cede land in exchange for time is even more nonsense. Playing tricks to gain time is Zhu Di's strength, how could Shang Xiaoru be fooled? Zhu Di worked hard and diligently for four years to rebel.
In order to become the owner of a piece of land, he wanted everything in the world.
Having said that, the ministers at the time still arranged everything according to Fang Xiaoru's arrangements. The most important task of negotiating with Zhu Di was given to Princess Qingcheng. Please do not make the mistake of judging from the title of this princess.
Her seniority, in fact, she is Zhu Yuanzhang's niece and Zhu Yunwen's elder. Based on her status and age, she is Zhu Di's cousin.
Princess Qingcheng crossed the river in person to negotiate with Zhu Di. Zhu Di warmly received her, which also made the princess think that Zhu Di was a negotiable person. She understood it with reason and emotion, and talked a lot.
Zhu Di listened very seriously to the words that brothers should not kill each other, and kept nodding in agreement.
Princess Qingcheng suddenly felt that the situation was very good, so she stopped and waited for Zhu Di's reply. Seeing that she had finished speaking, Zhu Di finally spoke.
But what he said really shocked Princess Qingcheng.
Zhu Di said in a calm tone:
"I raised the army this time just to avenge my father (I don't know where the revenge came from), to kill the traitorous ministers, and to imitate the Duke of Zhou in assisting the government. I hope the emperor will agree to my request."
Then he gave the cousin a meaningful look and continued:
"If you don't agree to my request, I hope all brothers and sisters will move immediately and live temporarily in my father's mausoleum on the day I conquer the city. I'm afraid I'll frighten you all then."
After finishing speaking, Zhu Di fell silent.
This is a threat, a naked intimidation! Princess Qingcheng looked at her brother with disbelief. It turned out that what she just said was all nonsense, and this good brother not only insisted on his own way, but also dared to threaten herself.
Only then did she understand that in this man's eyes there were no brothers or sisters. In his eyes, there were only two kinds of people in the world, those who either supported him or those who opposed him.
Princess Qingcheng didn't understand Zhu Di, and it was impossible to understand him. She couldn't imagine how many painful choices and suffering Zhu Di had gone through to get to where he is today. Seeing victory right in front of him, she actually wanted to send him away with a few words.
, it’s simply a daydream!
Zhu Di wrote a letter about his conversation with Princess Qingcheng and gave it to her to take back to express his attitude.
Zhu Yunwen knew the result of the negotiation, and he finally realized that all his illusions were shattered. His opponent did not and would not issue an order "Don't hurt my nephew." He looked at everything in the palace, the eunuchs, and the maids.
The ministers and ministers still treated him with respect, but he knew in his heart that even if there was a new owner here soon, they would still do the same.
Because they are just servants, as long as their interests are guaranteed, the change of masters is not really a very important issue for them.
Zhu Yunwen finally discovered that he who so-called owned the world was just a lonely and helpless person. His life was not used to enjoy wealth and honor. From the day he sat on the throne, the pain had begun.
He must be on guard against ministers, vassal kings, eunuchs and everyone around him. He and his throne are an open target and must deal with external and internal pressures and blows at any time.
He will spend his whole life to protect his power. Once the throne of power is taken away, it will also mean the end of his life. Because the emperor is a rare product in a unified era, and there can only be one. This is both
The laws of nature are also the laws of society.
Zhu Yunwen's biggest mistake was that he didn't know that the moment Zhu Di raised his troops to quell Jingnan, the fate of two people had actually been decided, one was Zhu Di himself, and the other was him. Although Zhu Di, who rebelled, had no way to turn back, in fact, he didn't either, because since ancient times
There can only be one winner in a power struggle, it's either one or the other.
Things have come to this point, let's just leave it to fate!
a bad check
After Zhu Di rejected Zhu Yunwen's request for peace, he launched the final attack. He stationed his troops at Puzikou and prepared to cross the river from here to attack the capital. However, what he did not expect was that he encountered stubborn resistance at the last moment.
The resister was Sheng Yong. He led the soldiers of the Southern Army in a desperate counterattack, defeated the Northern Army, and temporarily blocked Zhu Di. Sheng Yong was indeed worthy of the title of famous general. He did not give up hope at the last moment, but chose
He persisted tenaciously. He proved his loyalty with actions, although he did not maintain this loyalty to the end.
Sheng Yong's resistance achieved unexpected results. Zhu Di's army had reached the end of its long campaign. The soldiers were very tired and unwilling to fight anymore, hoping to go back to rest. This time Zhu Di was also shaken because he also saw that the troops were indeed
It has reached its limit, and if the fight continues, the entire army may collapse.
If Zhu Di retreats, history may be rewritten. As the saying goes, God helps those who are willing. The scoundrel Zhu Gaoxu, who was let go by Huang Zicheng's wise decision, led reinforcements to help Zhu Di. This was a great help to Zhu Di. He was very excited and patted his son's face.
Bei said affectionately: "Work hard, the prince is not in good health!"
This so-called prince was his eldest son Zhu Gaochi. This sentence undoubtedly sounded to Zhu Gaoxu as an instruction passed down to him. So he used all his strength to attack Sheng Yong. With the full support of Zhu Gaoxu, the new force, the Northern Army defeated Sheng Yong.
Yong, then crossed the Yangtze River in one fell swoop and arrived at the final destination, the capital.
Zhu Gaoxu will definitely work hard, because the world he conquered will be his own in the future. If he doesn't work hard, who will? However, he didn't seem to analyze Zhu Di's words carefully. Zhu Di actually just said that the prince was in poor health, and did not say that he would pass the throne to
It all depends on how you interpret this sentence. Later historical facts prove that this sentence, which contains too much free information, is just a blank check for Zhu Gaoxu.
Zhu Gaoxu is recognized as a shrewd person, but in terms of cleverness, he is still not as good as his father. He seems to have forgotten that checks are only valid if they are cashed. However, his father obviously did not open a bank, but started by robbing banks.
It would be strange if a check written by such a person could be cashed.
No matter what happened later, at least Zhu Di achieved his goal at this time and crossed the river smoothly. The next step was to enter the city, but this last step was not so easy. As we said before, the capital at that time was led by the wealthy businessman Shen Wansan.
Sponsored and built together with the Ming Dynasty government, the city walls are made of granite mixed with glutinous rice lime and are very strong. There are more than 100,000 troops in the city, so it is not easy to capture it!
Zhu Yunwen in the city also realized this, so he rejected the decision to flee to the south, followed Fang Xiaoru's advice, and held on to the city. This Fang Xiaoru was really a tough guy. When Zhu Yunwen was afraid that he would not be able to hold on, he asked him what to do if the city fell.
At that time, he actually said:
"Even if the city cannot be defended, it is only natural that His Majesty the Emperor should die for the country and the country!"
Although Fang Xiaoru was a scholar and had never experienced any swordsmanship in his life, he still had a proud character when disaster struck. It was admirable! What a pity!
Having said that, Fang Xiaoru dared to say harsh words because the capital city was relatively strong. Zhu Di couldn't even attack Jinan, let alone the capital city?
But Fang Xiaoru didn't understand that the strongest fortresses in the world are often breached from within. Zhu Di was not a fool. He dared to lead an army to besiege the city, so he naturally had a way to break the city, and this method was very effective.
Zhu Di's siege method is to use his spies. Now it is time to introduce his two senior spies. These two people are responsible for guarding the Jinchuan Gate in the capital. One is the Valley King Zhu Su and the other is Li Jinglong.
Li Jinglong and Zhu Di had known each other since childhood. Although they fought each other later, Li Jinglong had a clear distinction between public and private affairs. No matter how severe the beating was, it did not affect his relationship with Zhu Di. And judging from his poor command, he could be regarded as Zhu Diduo.
A hero who wins the world.
Although Li Jinglong had lost many battles and was scolded as a loser, he had no problem with his integrity. However, his subsequent affair with Zhu Di gave him a new label - "traitor". If he were to
Jingnan compares it to a football match. Li Jinglong's original behavior can be considered as a poor defender who scored an own goal, but after he decided to betray his master, he became a match-fixer.
At this point, Li Jinglong finally took off all his disguises. Not only did he have no shame, he also lost his mask. After that, he continued to live on and on under Zhu Di's rule. Taken together, his life was a fool's life, a shameless life.
, if Li Wenzhong knew that he had given birth to such a son, he might be angry to death again.
It is not surprising that the shameless Li Jinglong lives on shamelessly, because this is exactly his lifestyle.
With the help of these two traitors, Zhu Di's army invaded the capital and the country changed hands.