Zhu Wenzheng successfully captured Lujiang County along the way, so Zhu Yuanzhang would not be inferior to his nephew.
In just half a month, Zhu Yuanzhang had already reached the gates of Hefei City, preparing to remove the nail in Hefei first, and then attack Shouchun, where Hong Xiuquan was personally in charge.
The main strong cities in Jiujiang County should be Hefei and Shouchun. If these two cities are captured, there will be no obstacles in Jiujiang.
Hefei city guard general Hong Rengan is Hong Xiuquan's clan brother. Hong Rengan is pretty good in other aspects, and can even be said to be quite talented, but his talent as a leader is hard to say. At least, before this, Hong Rengan Rengan had no experience in leading troops.
Hong Rengan was one of the leaders of the Taiping Rebellion who had extensive knowledge of the West. The "New Chapter of Zizheng" proposed by Hong Rengan was a political program advocating the development of capitalism, which was considered a quite advanced idea in China at the time.
After Zhao Liewen, an important staff member of Zeng Guofan, saw the new printing of Hong Rengan's "New Pian of Zizheng", he had to admit in his diary: "The words in it are quite insightful. All the laws and regulations are imitated by Westerners. , His admiration for foreigners is almost because he is sincerely convinced, and he is most familiar with barbarian sentiments;... Looking at this book, there is no one among thieves."
However, over the years, Hong Xiuquan vigorously promoted his relatives and appointed nepotism, so he sent his younger brother Hong Rengan to take charge of Hefei's military power, ignoring Hong Rengan's true talents, and did not send more suitable generals such as Chen Yucheng to guard Hefei.
As a result, although Hong Rengan tried his best, he ultimately lacked the talent to lead the army. Facing Zhu Yuanzhang's attack, Hong Rengan's defense was full of loopholes. Hefei was such a fortified city that Zhu Yuanzhang finally defeated it in less than seven days. Successfully won.
After the city was broken, Hong Rengan was considered strong and unwilling to survive at all. He actually swung his sword and killed himself on the city tower to remain loyal to Hong Xiuquan.
When things have developed to this point, anyone with a discerning eye can see that Hong Xiuquan's defeat is a foregone conclusion. The generals and ministers of all sizes in Hong Xiuquan's power have also begun to think about their own options. How can a monarch like Hong Xiuquan know how to do it? How many people are really willing to be buried with Hong Xiuquan?
Naturally, Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui, and Zhang Lexing would not be happy to perish together with Hong Xiuquan, but they had been enemies of Zhu Yuanzhang for many years, and they were somewhat worried that Zhu Yuanzhang would not accept them.
Therefore, these three people simply worked together to take advantage of Zhu Yuanzhang's army to go north to Xuzhou before Zhu Yuanzhang's army arrived in Shouchun, to defect to the new lord of Xuzhou, Zhao Kuangyin.
During the grassland war, they had also visited Zhao Kuangyin, and they had some impressions of him. Regarding Zhao Kuangyin, they knew to some extent that he was a hero, and their future with Zhao Kuangyin was better than that with Hong Xiuquan.
However, these three people underestimated Hong Xiuquan's ability. Hong Xiuquan had already placed people around these three people to monitor their every move. Therefore, the news that Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui, and Zhang Lexing wanted to escape came early. into the ears of Hong Xiuquan.
That night, killings broke out in the residence of Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui, and Zhang Lexing. Several people who once held great power in Hong Xiuquan's group were killed overnight, leaving nothing behind.
The deaths of Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui, and Zhang Lexing meant that Hong Xiuquan no longer had any useful talents around him, and he had become a complete loner.
As for Hong Xiuquan, he did have a knack for engaging in religion and playing tricks on people, but it was better to forget about marching and fighting. After Zhu Yuanzhang's army arrived at Shouchun City, it had only been two days of siege, and Hong Xiuquan was almost unable to hold on.
After these two days of fighting, Hong Xiuquan had completely lost hope in this battle. If he wanted to destroy his country first, he had to make him crazy first, and now, Hong Xiuquan was already crazy.
In desperation, Hong Xiuquan first ordered people to block the city gate with sand and stones, and then sent his loyal followers to cover the entire city with saltpeter and kerosene, intending to make the entire Shouchun Quanzheng people perish with him.
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After discovering Hong Xiuquan's crazy behavior, Hong Xiuquan's sister Hong Xuanjiao tried to stop it, but was brutally murdered by the crazy Hong Xiuquan.
In the end, the fire started in Hong Xiuquan's Tianwang Mansion and spread to all parts of the city in just a few cups of tea. In this sky-wide fire, the entire Shouchun City has fallen into madness and panic.
"Quickly, push up the battering rams!" Zhu Yuanzhang roared to his subordinates beside him.
Dozens of battering rams hit the Shouchun Wall, not only hitting the city gate, but also the city wall. At the same time, all the ladder trucks in Zhu Yuanzhang's army were set up. If anyone could escape to the city wall, they could also borrow
Use these ladder trucks to find a way out.
Maybe this won't have much effect, but at this moment, everyone has only one goal in mind. If you can save one more person, you will save one more person. If you can save one innocent people from dying, then one less innocent people will die.
The lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians are at stake, and how many people can really remain indifferent.
"Lord!" Zhu Sheng wiped off the sweat on his forehead and saluted Zhu Yuanzhang with his hands raised.
"What happened?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked without raising his head.
"Reporting to my lord, I only saved less than 8,000 people!"
"Eight thousand!" Obviously, Zhu Yuanzhang was not satisfied with this number. Compared with 200,000, eight thousand was still too little.
"Send the order to behead Hong Daquan, Hong Renzheng, and other captive Hong Xiuquan relatives in public." Zhu Yuanzhang slowly raised his head and said expressionlessly, but his eyes were full of coldness.
As for Hong Daquan and Hong Renzheng, or Hong Xiuquan's relatives in the mainland, Zhu Yuanzhang was not prepared to kill them. Keeping these people could help Zhu Yuanzhang regain Hong Xiuquan's desire to surrender his troops and generals, and even
Through them, Shi Dakai and other generals recovered the captives.
After all, Hong Xiuquan is dead. Even if these people are left behind, as long as they are closely monitored in the future, they will never cause any big trouble.
But now, with the events of Burning Shouchun, the treatment of people like Hong Daquan and Hong Renzheng will have to undergo some changes.
Zhu Yuanzhang has always been a very rational person. Although he was extremely angry when the incident of burning Shouchun occurred, now that it has become a foregone conclusion, Zhu Yuanzhang has regained his due rationality.
Once the news about the burning of Shouchun was spread, it would inevitably cause an uproar in the world. However, the death of Hong Xiuquan was not enough to calm the matter. A city of innocent souls, Hong Daquan, Hong Renzheng and others had to be pushed out.
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Moreover, if Hong Daquan, Hong Renzheng and others are pushed out, it will also help Zhu Yuanzhang win back the hearts and minds of the people in the newly acquired lands. Only by regaining the hearts and minds of the people, can Zhu Yuanzhang be able to turn his territory into a piece of iron and can it be said that he is truly
