Sanguan Temple was originally the only temple built by the Ming Dynasty in Shenyang City. When the Jin people entered the city, they burned it because they believed in shamans. Later, with the development of the power of the Jin Kingdom, the bannermen and nobles gradually began to believe in Buddhism. In the second year of Tiancong, Hong Taizhao ordered a temple to be rebuilt on the original site of Sanguan Temple, and a Mongolian monk was asked to preside over it. The temple housed more than a hundred monks who were captured from the Ming Dynasty.
Most of the shamanism believed in Manchuria was witchcraft. Hong Tai was disgusted with it. After he succeeded to the throne as Khan, he cracked down even more. As a result, the influence of shamanism in Manchuria was far less than before. Buddhism flourished instead. Among them, Tibetan Buddhism was the most popular among Manchurians. The state is happy. However, the Han people, the most populous, still firmly believe in Buddhism. Years of wars have made the Han people who have become slaves empty their faith. In order to have a piece of pure land in their hearts, they have even greater faith in false gods and Buddhas. This makes the three Guanmiao, the only temple in Shenyang City, became very popular.
In the past few days, the Sanguan Temple, which was originally bustling with incense, has become quiet. There are not a few believers offering incense and worshiping Buddha all day long. The Mongolian monk in charge knows that the reason why believers do not come to offer incense is The Ming army came outside the city, so he didn't curse anything. He just went back to his room and continued to drink his strong wine. After drinking, he covered his head and fell asleep. For him, a foreigner, he is a Ming person and a Jin person. That's fine, as long as they believe in Buddhism, they can continue to be worthy of being a great monk. It doesn't matter if they really can't be. People will die in this world. Are you afraid that no one will spend money to ask him to perform rituals?
Compared with the free and easy Mongolian monk, the Han monks in the temple were much more worried. After having an early meal, they went into the sutra hall under the leadership of two older monks and began to recite in unison to seek the blessing of the Buddha. The soldiers' swords will not cut on their necks.
In the backyard of the temple, there is also an old man who is holding a scripture in his hand and reading it, but he is just reading without reading aloud. Through the light outside, you can vaguely see that the old man's hair has turned white. What is strange is that, This old man is not dressed as a Manchu, but as a Ming Dynasty person, with a net scarf unique to the Ming Dynasty wrapped around his head.
The old man just looked at the scripture in his hand motionlessly. For a long time, he slightly raised his head, but then lowered his head again, seeing the things around him. This made the man who had been sitting on the right side of the room a little angry and a little bit. He was anxious, but he didn't dare to interrupt the old man's reading. He just sat there and waited respectfully, but from time to time he glanced outside the courtyard.
This courtyard was originally a miscellaneous room where the monks stored firewood. It was cleaned and used for the old man to stay temporarily. Perhaps knowing the old man's character, the monks brought some flowers and plants to make the yard look a little lively. But it was so cold. Oh my god, those flowers and plants have long since withered, and dead branches and leaves have fallen all over the courtyard. There is no life left at all.
Time passed by minute by second. Finally, after confirming that the guards outside had not come, the man finally stood up, walked gently to the old man's side, and whispered: "Don't you really want me to wait for a way to repent?" Road?"
This old man was Zhang Chun, the Shaoqing of Taipusi who led the army to rescue the Daling River and was defeated and captured. In order to attract people's hearts and gain a good reputation, Mrs. Hong did not execute Zhang Chun, but put him to death. Arranged in the Sanguan Temple, he imagined that one day the loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty would change his mind and kneel before him. However, contrary to expectations, Zhang Chun always wore Hanfu during his detention, did not shave his head, adhered to the clothes of the Ming Dynasty, and adhered to the integrity of the Ming Dynasty ministers. He refused to surrender even if he died, which made Mrs. Hong hate and admire her at the same time. She simply made up her mind to imprison him in Sanguan Temple until he died to see whether he surrendered or not.[
If Shi Dayong had been present, he would have been able to recognize him at a glance as Liu Tianlu, Zu Dashou's lieutenant. Although Mrs. Hong did not allow Zhang Chun to leave the Sanguan Temple, she allowed the Han people to demote him and go to see him. Thinking of these
A Han official was able to help persuade him to surrender, but apart from being scolded repeatedly, no good news came back.
After hearing what Liu Tianlu said, Zhang Chun put down the scripture in his hand, slowly raised his head and pretended to be surprised: "That's strange, but I don't know how I can give you a way to repent?"
Liu Tianlu smiled bitterly and said: "My lord, please don't ask questions knowingly. It is really helpless for the last general to follow the ancestors and pay gold. The city of Daling River has long relied on killing people for food. My lord, I was defeated by the Xiaoling River. Here, there is food and grass and foreign reinforcements."
, I can’t imagine what else I could do on that day besides surrendering with my ancestors?”
Hearing this, Zhang Chun said with an angry face: "Why not! I will die to repay my father!"
"You can say it but you can't do it." Liu Tianlu sighed, "Who in this world would not hesitate to die, but if there is a way to live, how can we choose death." He was telling the truth. An ant can live an ignoble life, let alone a human being.
Woolen cloth.
"How could He Kegang die calmly?" Thinking of He Kegang's death, Zhang Chun felt heartbroken and closed his eyes in pain.
"well"
Zhang Chun mentioned He Kegang, and Liu Tianlu also said the same thing. After a long time, he suddenly gritted his teeth and knelt in front of Zhang Chun, pleading: "As long as the boss says a word, we can live. Please consider that we are loyal to the Ming Dynasty."
Just agree to it for the last time’s sake!”
Zhang Chun slowly opened his eyes and said with a wry smile: "I was defeated in Dalinghe and lost many great men of Ming Dynasty. Now I am captured by slaves. In the eyes of the imperial court, I am afraid that I am no better than you. You will beg me for help."
, who do I want to beg for?"
Hearing that Zhang Chun's tone was a little soft, Liu Tianlu was overjoyed and said hurriedly: "The emperor was captured only after he knew that the large manpower would not surrender. The general heard that the emperor never blamed you, but instead revealed that he wanted to redeem you several times.
This idea shows that the emperor trusts Mr. Lao and will reuse Mr. Lao in the future, so as long as Mr. Lao is willing to speak for us, the Emperor will definitely be lenient to us."
After listening to it, Zhang Chun sighed softly for a long time: "That's all, since you are willing to repent, I will not ruin my life. It's just that" when he said this, he showed a hesitant look on his face and stared at Liu Tianlu very seriously.
He asked worriedly: "Can you really open the city gate and let my army enter the city?"
In the cold wind, on the top of the small south gate city, Zhang Cunren, the former deputy general of the Liaodong Army, looked at the Hun River in the distance with a complex expression. In the night, you could vaguely see several bonfires on the south bank. At this time, this scene
, how similar it is. Didn't he also see this similar scene on top of Daling River City back then?
I don’t know how long he watched, but Zhang Cunren looked back, shook his head with a wry smile, and wanted to go down to the city very lonely, but saw two soldiers walking not far away carrying lanterns, and the one walking behind was his.
An old acquaintance, Cao Gongcheng, the former Liaodong Army staff general, was also the guard of the small south gate and had a battalion of soldiers under his command.
After seeing Zhang Cunren, Cao Gongcheng waved his soldiers to step aside, then walked to Zhang Cunren, first looked at the Ming army camp on the south bank of the Hun River for a moment, then turned to Zhang Cunren and said: "Brother Zhang, Mang Gurtai.
You must have seen the things that came in, right?"[
"But how many people will believe Mang Gurtai's slanderous words about King Khan? It doesn't matter no matter how much he shoots. If he wants to conquer Shenyang City, he has to use real swords and guns. These are just for the sake of provocation. It's just a joke." Zhang Cunren didn't know why Cao Gongcheng came to the city so late at night, and why he asked about the enemy's message, so he looked at him in confusion.
Seeing Zhang Cunren's doubts, Cao Gongcheng glanced around and said in a low voice: "Look at the situation, the Ming army will attack the city tomorrow. It's just you and me here right now, but I don't know what brother Zhang has in mind?"
"Plan?" Zhang Cunren was stunned for a moment and said: "The day Commander-in-Chief took us to pay the money, we had no way to turn back and could only live or die with Shenyang City."
Cao Gongcheng shook his head and said: "That's not what you said. We couldn't help it if we paid the money that day. We were loyal to the Ming Dynasty to the end. We surrendered because we really had no other choice. If we can repent and return to the Ming Dynasty, , the imperial court may not blame us, and maybe it will continue to reuse us."
"Why do you think so?"
Zhang Cunren was surprised. He didn't expect that Cao Gongcheng would say such a thing to him. You must know that Cao Gongcheng usually fawned over the Eight Banners dignitaries, so he was valued by Daishan and appointed him as the guard of the south gate. I thought that this man was a hard-core and loyal man. The Jin man went to the end, but he didn't expect that he would have the idea of returning to the Ming Dynasty. This was really beyond Zhang Cunren's expectation.
Ever since he heard that the Ming army was crossing the sea and fighting all the way to Liaoyang and heading straight to Shenyang, Zhang Cunren knew that there must be someone among the surrendered generals who had other ideas, but he really didn't expect that Cao Gongcheng would be one of them. During the day, he However, I saw with my own eyes that Cao Gongcheng vowed to defend the South Gate in front of Sun Degong and Zu Zerun. Within a few hours, "defending the South Gate" turned into "returning to the Ming Dynasty". The contrast was so great that we had to let go. Zhang Cunren was so surprised.
Cao Gongcheng ignored Zhang Cunren's surprise and only asked: "You and I are both leaders of the army. We both know whether Shenyang City can be defended. Does Brother Zhang really want to coexist with Shenyang City?"
"this"
Zhang Cunren didn't know whether Cao Gongcheng was testing him or he really wanted to change his ways, so he didn't dare to express his position easily. After a few groans, he smiled bitterly and said: "Even if we change our ways, the court will not let us go. If nothing else, He Shuai's death , the court will always ask questions, right?"
"Shuai He was killed by uncle and nephew Zu Zerun and Zu Dacheng. What does it have to do with us?" Cao Gongcheng's voice was very sure, as if he had not participated in the murder of He Kegang that day. Cao Gongcheng's denial left Zhang Cunren speechless. .
"Actually, Brother Zhang, you were actually unwilling to drop the money that day. Although you have never revealed it, how could I not know what you were thinking after working with you for so many years? Shenyang City can't be defended anyway, so we can't If you rebel against the Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid that after the city is broken, you and I will be killed! To be honest with Brother Zhang, I have made up my mind to go all out and do it. Please let me know if Brother Zhang is willing to join me."
Cao Gongcheng obviously didn't want to talk too much nonsense with Zhang Cunren, so he directly made his attitude clear. At the same time as he made his attitude clear, the two Cao Gongcheng's soldiers quietly surrounded Zhang Cunren, one on the left and one on the right. All pressed on the handle of the knife.
Seeing this, Zhang Cunren knew that Cao Gongcheng was not testing him, but that he really wanted to change things. If he didn't agree to be with Cao Gongcheng, he would immediately become a ghost under the sword.
"Who else is involved in this matter?"
Zhang Cunren had long wanted to rebel against the Ming Dynasty, but he could not take action because his troops could not control a city gate. But now Cao Gongcheng also wanted to change his mind anyway, so he naturally no longer hesitated, and immediately wanted to know who else was involved in this matter. After all, Shenyang City is still in the hands of the Jin Army. If there are too many people involved or they are unreliable, the matter may be leaked, and they will be buried by then.
"Except General Liu, no one else was involved in this matter." Cao Gongcheng did not hide anything from Zhang Cunren.
"Liu Tianlu?"
Zhang Cunren was immediately relieved when he heard that Liu Tianlu wanted to change his ways. Cao Gongcheng's next words made him even more happy. He told Zhang Cunren that Liu Tianlu had gone to Sanguan Temple to contact the imprisoned Zhang Chun. As long as Zhang Chun was willing to participate, they didn't have to worry. The court would investigate their previous crimes afterwards. At that moment, the two of them discussed the details secretly, and after finalizing everything, they would wait until tomorrow. Just in case, the two of them did not even climb down the city wall, but slept in the gate tower at the head of the city that night.