Chapter 112: Annexing Jiangnan and dividing the north and south
Henan, Bianliang.
The tall city walls of Bianliang City were now riddled with holes, and trebuchets of all sizes rained down boulders into the city. The Red Scarf Army outside the city set up towers one by one and rushed towards the city, ready to attack Bianliang at any time.
The city launched the final blow.
The Grand Marshal of the Red Scarf Army and the Prime Minister Liu Futong were dressed in golden armor and led a group of generals to gather around the little emperor Han Lin'er and issue orders to the army.
"Your Majesty, Bianliang is within easy reach. The long-cherished wish of recovering Bianliang for more than 200 years can finally be realized today." Liu Futong said.
The young Emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Lin'er, nodded slightly, and then praised and encouraged Liu Futong with a few words.
Later, Liu Futong gave the order on behalf of the emperor and launched the final fatal blow to Bianliang City.
Following the order, the gunpowder blasters of the Red Turban Army ignited the fuses.
Not long after, a huge roar was heard under Bianliang City!
Most of the city wall of Bianliang City collapsed instantly, and a huge gap appeared in the wall.
The method of gunpowder blasting city walls invented by Zhu Han has become a major military weapon of the Red Scarf Army. Almost all city walls with dug caves cannot be broken through, even a strong city wall like Bianliang City, which has several large boxes.
In the face of the gunpowder explosion, it also collapsed instantly.
With the collapse of Bianliang city wall.
The soldiers of the Red Scarf Army waved their weapons and rushed towards the Bianliang City Wall without hesitation. The Yuan Army in the city basically did not have much confidence. As soon as they made contact, they quickly collapsed.
The Red Scarf Army entered the city and launched a frenzied killing spree against the Yuan troops who resisted.
Emperor Han Lin'er of the Song Dynasty looked at the fierce fighting in Bianliang City.
I couldn't help but said to Liu Futong next to me: "Prime Minister, I didn't expect that the Tatars are so courageous. They are still fighting after the city wall is broken."
Liu Futong, who was on the side, listened and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, these Tartars are just at the end of their war effort. They are trapped and still fighting. In less than an hour, I will definitely wipe them out."
When Han Lin'er heard this, she immediately became happy and said, "Does the Prime Minister have other strategies to deal with these Tartars?"
Liu Futong smiled and pointed at Bianliang City, and then said, "Your Majesty, please see, I adopted the tactic of surrounding Bianliang with three and one missing. I besieged three of the city walls and left the remaining north side unattacked. In fact, there is nothing there.
The force is a gap deliberately left to the enemy."
"Any time you attack a city and trap the enemy to death, unless you have an absolutely superior force, you will definitely end up in a bitter battle. By encircling three and one without one, I let the Tartars know that there is still a way to survive and prevent them from desperately resisting.
I estimate that in another hour, Bianliang City will fall into our hands."
When the Bianliang city wall collapsed due to gunpowder blasting, the Yuan army general Temuer and others in Henan City were already preparing to break out and escape at the north gate.
Pingzhang Temur of Henan Province led hundreds of elite cavalry.
At the moment when the city wall collapsed, the city gates were opened and they rushed straight towards the Red Turban Army outside the city.
The Red Scarf Army on the north side of Bianliang was weak and unable to resist the breakthrough of these elite cavalry, so they had no choice but to let them escape. Temur ran far away, about five or six miles, before he dared to turn back.
Come and take a look at the Bianliang City Wall.
Upon seeing it, Temu burst into tears. He beat his chest and cried, "I'm sorry for Your Majesty, I'm sorry for the late Emperor, I'm sorry for Dayuan, Bianliang City was lost in my hands."
The rest of the generals were all sighing.
Finally, someone finally reminded the thief that the red scarf thief was still not far behind, and would definitely send pursuers to chase the prime minister, so he had better keep running.
"Sir, let's not delay again, otherwise the Red Scarf Army will catch up and they won't be able to escape."
After everyone's persuasion, Temur got on his horse and continued to run forward, wiping his tears and crying.
They kept running all the way and escaped to a Yellow River ferry, where they had sent people to secretly prepare a ferry in advance.
After getting on the ferry, Temur burst into tears again, kowtowed three times in the direction of Dadu, and shouted loudly.
"I'm sorry to the late Emperor. I don't want this old life anymore. I'm sorry to the late Emperor. I can't cross the river!"
After that, he ignored everyone's obstruction, jumped into the shallow water of the Yellow River, and floated away.
Just listen, a plop.
Temur jumped into the water. The water was neither deep nor shallow, just up to his waist. The other soldiers and generals immediately jumped into the river with quick eyes and hands, and helped Temur up with all their hands and feet.
After helping Temore to the boat, everyone tried hard to persuade him again.
"Your Excellency is an important minister of the country and the country, so you must not make any mistakes."
"Yes, you can throw away Bianliang, sir, but you must not cause any problems."
"The Han people say that they have to endure hardships and suffer hardships. Now that we are back in Dadu, we are asking for reinforcements to take Bianliang back. You must not harm your own life."
However, in the face of everyone's persuasion, Temuer seemed unwilling to listen. He jumped into the river twice in succession. In the end, his generals and counselors forced him to die, so he reluctantly cherished his life and no longer wanted to.
He jumped into the river and crossed the river safely. After crossing the Yellow River, Temur and his party galloped north, running more than a hundred miles in one breath before they dared to rest.
The battle situation in Bianliang City was just as Liu Futong expected. Within a few hours, the entire Bianliang City fell completely into the hands of the Red Scarf Army. The Red Scarf Army, led by the Prime Minister and Marshal Liu Futong, surrounded
Emperor Han Lin'er of the Song Dynasty entered Bianliang City.
At this time, Bianliang City was the first time since the Jingkang Rebellion that a Han emperor entered Bianliang City. This was of great significance. Liu Futong led hundreds of civil and military officials to report to Emperor Han Lin'er, hoping that the emperor would grant amnesty to the world and formally
Divide the kings.
In fact, there is no shortage of kings among the Red Scarf Army, but these kings are all grass-headed kings. Everyone gives himself the name of a certain king. The only one who really has the title of king is Liu Futong.
Wait for a few people.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The military and official system of the Red Scarf Army, as well as the titles, are quite confusing.
This makes it easy for scholars and people all over the world to think that the Red Turban Army is a ragtag group of bandits.
Therefore, Liu Futong suggested that Han Lin'er should not only enfeoff the princes.
There is also a general amnesty for the whole world, just to win over people's hearts.
Then continue to further revise the official system and establish the authority of the Song Dynasty's orthodoxy.
In Bianliang City, after several days of planning and discussion, Emperor Han Lin'er of the Song Dynasty officially issued an edict to confer marshals of various kings from various places and confer various titles on them to unify them.
After unanimous recommendation by everyone, Zhu Yuanzhang was the second candidate for military merit of the Red Scarf Army under the Prime Minister and Grand Marshal Liu Futong.
Han Lin'er officially issued an edict and canonized Zhu Yuanzhang as King of Wu.
Zhu Yuanzhang's wife Ma was the wife of the King of Wu, and his younger brother Zhu Han was the Duke of Huai.
The rest, such as Guo Zixing, Peng Da and Zhima Li, were divided into the third and third levels according to their merits.
Although everyone in the Red Turban Army was dissatisfied with their own Duke, under the general trend, they could only remain silent and did not dare to have any opinions. After all, the Song Dynasty was now at its peak.
Annihilated a million-yuan army, and even restored the old capital Bianliang, which had been lost for two hundred years.
Jiangbei, Dingyuan City.
"On July 5, Bolu has sent letters several times, saying that he wants to donate his land to protect himself. I think it's almost time. We can't wait any longer." Zhu Yuanzhang said.
It turns out that since the big businessmen in Suzhou collectively started a riot, the power and prestige of Pingzhang Bolu in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces instantly collapsed.
After a period of failure, failure after failure, all the officials, common people, and gentry in the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces have realized that Bolu is no longer able to maintain his status and power in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
Bolu is also self-aware.
After seeing his situation clearly, he followed Liu Bowen's advice and sent letters three times, hoping to send all the seals, official titles, etc. of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces together as a surrender letter.
Under such a situation, Zhu Yuanzhang already felt that he had to take control of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in advance.
Otherwise, after Bolu's authority completely falls, Jiangsu and Zhejiang will easily form a situation of separate regimes. After a long time, it will be very unfavorable to unification.
Maybe in such a chaotic situation, a rare and powerful person might appear somewhere.
Zhu Han also thought the same way.
Zhu Han said, "This is a pressing situation. Now, although we are not ready to fully take over Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, we now suggest that we have to send it on the string. Otherwise, brother, your worries may come true."
, After all, Fang Guozhen in eastern Zhejiang is already ready to take action. I heard that he has attacked Hangzhou City again and again. If Fang Guozhen can gain a foothold in Hangzhou, it will really be a big threat."
"Fang Guozhen is a capricious person with both ends. He has always been a low-level thief before, but now he has become more and more powerful. If the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang are in chaos, Fang Guozhen will probably become even more powerful." Zhu Yuanzhang also said.
"Now that we are marching to the south of the Yangtze River, what we lack most in terms of controlling power, big and small, is first of all money, and secondly, talents. Jiangsu and Zhejiang are prosperous, rich in humanities, and rich in financial resources. If we don't use the people of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to govern Jiangsu and Zhejiang, I'm afraid there will be trouble.
There are few troubles." Zhu Yuanzhang said.
Zhu Han nodded, and then said, "Brother, you are right. We still have too few talents trained by ourselves. After arriving in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, we must use talents from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. However, these people are not so easy to get along with.
We must have some means of our own."
"Oh, Qi Wu, what are you going to do? Come and tell me. I've been worried about this matter lately." Zhu Yuanzhang said.
Zhu Han smiled and said, "Brother, have you forgotten? The only two ways they are better than us are that one is money and the other is talent. First of all, since they can make money
, then we can make more money than them."
"Don't they have Confucian talents? Then let's confuse their Confucian waters. What is talent, whether it is talent, and who is talent? We will have the final say in the future. Are we still afraid that they will not obey?"
Zhu Han's words immediately made Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes light up with excitement.
In recent days, Zhu Yuanzhang has been both happy and worried.
"After we enter Jiangnan, we must vigorously develop industry, commerce, and agriculture. No matter what industry it is, we must attack the remaining forces of the Mongolian Yuan or other powerful people inside, and join our own forces, thereby affecting the entire Jiangnan's financial resources, taxation, etc. In this way
, I am not afraid that those big businessmen will unite to resist me, or try to trap us."
"As for disrupting the stagnant waters of Confucianism that I just mentioned, we must rely on external forces."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was immediately stunned.
"External power, Confucian things, can there still be external power?"
The Neo-Confucianism developed by Cheng Yi, Cheng Hao, Zhu Xi and others in the Song Dynasty has now entered a new dormant stage and urgently needs a new development opportunity to allow them to develop again.
Otherwise, given the situation of Confucianism suppressed by the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty for hundreds of years, it would be impossible to expect Confucianism to improve itself.
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty in history, a large number of talented Confucian scholars helped to restore the status of Confucianism, which prevented the Ming Dynasty's imperial examinations from being used in other subjects.
However, the vision of these Confucian celebrities was limited to that time. One hundred or two hundred years later, they were quickly eliminated by the world and fell behind.
What Zhu Han wanted to do was to take advantage of the Yuan Dynasty's suppression and belittling of Confucianism to develop a New Confucianism under his own control.
With Zhu Han's words, Zhu Yuanzhang felt very confident. He smiled and said: "In this way, the future situation in Jiangnan will be controlled by you. Brother, I will be in charge of Jiangbei, and you will be in charge.
Jiangnan, only by joining forces can we brothers truly dominate the world."
Zhu Han smiled and said: "I'm too lazy to squat in one place every day, waiting for the world to be unified. I have other ideas. When my eldest nephew grows up in the future, I will give him this skill and let him
To strengthen the lintel of our old Zhu family, at some point, I want to lead a large army to conquer the world. I heard that there are blond and blue-eyed exotic beauties in the far west. I have to capture dozens of them for fun!"
After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Hahaha, your thoughts are still those of a child. Your sister-in-law told me that you are not young anymore. You are almost fifteen this year. I should find you a wife."
, you will be considered an adult only after you find a wife, and you won’t say such childish words.”
Zhu Yuanzhang took a sip of wine and then said:
"Tell me, do you have a girl you like in your heart right now? If so, no matter who the girl is, we will go and marry him off for you."
Zhu Han smiled and waved his hand and said: "I haven't even thought about this now. When that time comes, there is no need for you to take action, brother. I will go to the door to snatch the bride myself."
After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he burst out laughing.
Half a month later, Pingzhang Bolu and others from the Mongolian and Yuan provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang submitted a letter of surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang, the marshal of the Southern Route Army of the Song Dynasty, formally surrendering the land, population, finance, etc. of the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
As Emperor Han Liner of the Song Dynasty, Zhu Han, Pingzhang of Jiangnan Province, naturally took over this important task.
Zhu Han led an army of 15,000 people across the Yangtze River and entered Jiqing Mansion.
The common people and gentry of Jiqing Mansion lined the streets to welcome him.
The enthusiastic public opinion made the entire Jiqing Mansion boil with excitement.
As the Pingzhang of Jiangnan Province, the first thing Zhu Han did after taking office was to publicly announce in front of everyone that Jiqing Prefecture would be renamed Jinling Prefecture.
As a famous ancient capital of the Six Dynasties in history, the name Jiqingfu is really disappointing.
As soon as the name Jinling Mansion came out, it instantly won the favor of most of the people and gentry in Jinling Mansion.
Especially after Zhu Han entered the city, he posted notices and ordered three chapters!
Following the example of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty when he entered Xianyang, all gentry, common people and old officials were not asked about their old sins.
He also strictly restrained his army soldiers from disturbing the people.
For Bolu, Fan Yao and others who had surrendered obediently, they all presented memorials to Emperor Han Lin'er of the Song Dynasty, requesting that they be ennobled as marquis, earl and other titles, and be rewarded with 100,000 gold, silver and jewels each.
As a result, many of the old officials who were originally worried were completely relieved, and they each followed their own duties and maintained the order before the handover for Zhu Han.
Regarding how to manage the Jiangnan officialdom, Zhu Han was naturally prepared with both hands. On the one hand, he used his own talents, and on the other hand, he continued to retain some old officials who were relatively capable and of good character.
Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Liu Bowen as the Right Prime Minister of Jiangnan Province. As his deputy, he had full authority to handle all military and political affairs of Jiangnan Province.
Liu Bowen refused to accept the appointment and refused again and again.
He said that as an old official of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, he really should not take on this important task, but should resign from his official position and return to his hometown in Qingtian to teach and educate people.
Zhu Han knew that Liu Bowen was worried about his reputation.
After all, being undercover before was not something that a standard Confucian scholar could do.
For a talent like Liu Bowen, Zhu Han naturally could not let him go back to his hometown in Qingtian to become a teacher.
Liu Bowen, the great political genius he admired most, finally accepted Zhu Han's official position after Zhu Han's urging, and became a member of the staff team second only to Li Shanchang.
The news that Pingzhang Bolu of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces had surrendered and offered soil soon spread to Dadu.
Upon hearing the news, the entire Mongolian and Yuan court was immediately shocked.
Empress Dowager Qi was so angry that she fainted on the spot, and the ongoing court meeting had to be abandoned.
"Bolu, this traitor, deserves to die for betraying the trust of the imperial court. Someone comes and overwhelms all Bolu's family members at Dongshikou and beheads them!"
After Empress Dowager Qi came to her senses, she gritted her teeth and said.
The Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces were the southern provinces with the largest population, largest area, and wealth of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. Now that Bolu surrendered and donated land, it was not only a loss of profits, but also a fatal blow to the prestige of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.
Even if the original Meng Yuan suffered a brutal defeat, even if the emperor was beaten to death by the Red Scarf Army, there was still no surrender, right?
It's better for Bolu now, he just surrenders and offers his land.
Moreover, the Red Scarf Army also gave him preferential treatment, including bounties, silver, and titles. One can only imagine how officials from various places in the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties would react to the Red Scarf Army in the future.
The Empress Dowager Qi immediately wanted to use the heads of the Bolu family to take revenge and let the world see the consequences of betraying the Yuan Dynasty.
However, the eunuch leader Jin Da, who personally led the Mongolian guards to arrest the Bolu family, soon returned with a mournful face.
"Queen Mother Qi, Bolu's family members ran away two days ago!" Jin Da said.
Queen Qi was furious, "What? He ran away? Hurry up and chase him!"
Jin Da said with a mournful face, "Empress Dowager, they have been running for two days, and they can't catch up even if they want to. I heard that they went to the mouth of Haihe River, so they must have disappeared by boat."
Queen Mother Qi was so angry about this incident that she became seriously ill for three days, and finally had to give up.
Because Bolu and others had already secretly sent people to pick up the family members, and they couldn't catch up even if they wanted to.
It is absolutely impossible to complete this matter without internal agents. Some Mongolian dignitaries in the capital city must have colluded with Bolu.
Today, Mongolia is in danger, and Queen Mother Qi must find a way to save the Yuan Dynasty.
At such a critical moment, all kinds of rumors are flying in the capital city.
Many of them spread rumors that the Mongolian court wanted to abandon the Central Plains and withdraw to the desert grasslands in the north. Before they withdrew from the Central Plains, they would kill all the Han people and burn all the cities and villages.
So, for a while, people in the entire metropolis, Hebei, and Shandong were in panic.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Many people fled one after another. Even during the busy farming season, they packed up their food and fled to the barren mountains. No one went to cultivate the fields anymore.
The territory controlled by Meng Yuan turned out to be completely deserted.
Regarding these rumors, Empress Dowager Qi sent someone to make some inquiries and found out that behind them were rumors spread by Liu Futong and others of the Red Scarf Army.
But the common people didn't know that, they half-believed the rumors, and they all became more resentful towards the Mongols.
In fact, not only ordinary people, but also many officials and generals of the Yuan Dynasty believed in this rumor.
Many people came forward one after another to agree with the Empress Dowager's order to hunt the grasslands in the north.
Empress Dowager Qi immediately sent an edict to the officials and generals that the Yuan Dynasty would never abandon the Central Plains and return to the Mobei Grassland. Moreover, they would not only defend their existing territory, but also mobilize reinforcements from all around to launch a counterattack.
The Great Yuan Dynasty must destroy the Red Turban Army and avenge the late Emperor Huizong of the Great Yuan Dynasty.
Under this circumstance, Empress Dowager Qi ordered a large number of rewards to generals, officials, and local officials.
However, now that the world is in chaos, just relying on rewards is no longer enough to appease people's hearts.
Many officials and generals of the Meng Yuan Dynasty still wrote to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, requesting to abandon Dadu, a capital city with no natural defenses that could be defended, and move the capital to the Chang'an area in Guanzhong.
After several discussions, Queen Mother Qi also took this proposal very seriously.
She immediately ordered all civil and military officials in the capital to attend a court meeting to discuss whether the capital could be moved.
At this time, a loyal minister stood up and strongly opposed the plan to move the capital to Guanzhong.
This great loyal minister was none other than Kong Kejian, the Duke of Yansheng who was conferred by the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasty.
As the descendants of Confucius, the Kong family has always been a low-level official in the ninth or seventh grades since they were named Yanshenggong in the Northern Song Dynasty.
But at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Yuan Shun appreciated Han Confucianism and raised the title of Duke Yansheng from the lower seventh and ninth ranks to the second rank.
In this way, Kong Kejian can be said to have tried his best to imitate Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty.
Oh, now it's not Emperor Yuan Shun, now they are called Yuan Huizong.
Above the court hall, I saw Yan Shenggong, who looked loyal and virtuous, and said loudly: "Queen Mother, Your Majesty! The Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty will live and die with the country. How can he be afraid of the bandits moving the capital to Guanzhong? Today, most of the soldiers and horses are still there.
There are so many of them that you only need to fight to the death to annihilate the red scarf rebels. Even if you fail to win the battle, you can still summon an army of servants from all over to come to serve the king. Not to mention the distant ones, even the nearby Liaoyang, the Jurchens and other tribes are also very brave.
.”
As the largest province of the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties, there were many savage tribes in the deep mountains and old forests of Liaoyang Province.
In fact, they are the original Bohai and Jurchen tribes.
The production of these tribes is extremely backward, and the weapons they use are also very backward, which limits their combat power.
Once they join the ranks of the Mongolian and Yuan court and obtain excellent weapons, armor, bows and arrows and other weapons and equipment, the combat effectiveness of these armies will often be greatly improved, and they are an effective force used by the Mongolian and Yuan court to intimidate all parties.
of military power.
However, these savage Jurchen troops in Liaoyang Province have a huge shortcoming, that is, their army discipline is not good. Wherever the army passes, they will inevitably loot. Even under the constraints of the Mongolian and Yuan military orders, they often disobey orders.
Robbery, murder and other acts.
As for other petty thefts, they were commonplace, so the Meng Yuan court was unwilling to mobilize these Jurchens unless necessary.
When the Jurchens and other savage tribes entered the Central Plains to fight, they basically killed a thousand enemies and suffered eight hundred losses.
The places where these Jurchens and other savage tribesmen passed by were basically empty.
The suggestion put forward by Kong Kejian, the Duke of Yansheng, to mobilize the Jurchen tribes of barbarians from Liaoyang Province into the Central Plains to quell the rebellion can be described as sinister and sinister, completely inconsistent with his appearance as a tall and virtuous descendant of a saint.
Above the court, many Han officials looked at Duke Yansheng Kong Kejian with contempt and hatred in their eyes.
However, Yan Shenggong's proposal did receive strong praise from Empress Dowager Qi.
"Mr. Yansheng, you are worthy of being the loyal and good person that the late emperor favored. This is a good proposal. I accept this proposal."
For Empress Dowager Qi, as long as she can maintain the dominance of the Yuan Dynasty, her son Aiyou's position as emperor, and her position as empress dowager, she doesn't care whether the Han people live or die.
She just doesn't care.
As for whether the suggestion put forward by Duke Yan Sheng Kong Kejian would bring disaster to the people of the Central Plains and whether they would face serious massacres, Empress Dowager Qi didn't care at all.
They are just a group of lowly Han people who will die when they die. They are not as important as her Yuan Dynasty.
"Whoever comes, please immediately pass my order to Liaoyang Province to summon 30,000 Jurchen warriors from various tribes. They must come to the capital within three months, King Qin." Empress Dowager Qi said loudly.
As soon as these words came out, the entire court screamed in surprise.
You must know that 30,000 men are almost the entire strength of the Jurchen tribe in Liaoyang Province.
Many Jurchen tribes often only have a hundred or ten people, and even the larger ones only have three to five hundred people.
As a result, almost all the Jurchen tribes will be wiped out.
Moreover, with so many Jurchens entering the Central Plains to fight, the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties could not provide them with so much food and grass supplies.
At this time, Zhao Jixiang, the Minister of Household Affairs of Dayuan, stood up and heard him speak loudly.
"Your Majesty and the Queen Mother have thought twice about mobilizing the Jurchen savages from Liaoyang to fight in the Central Plains. It is really a last resort. Now the court has no extra food, grass and money to reward them. If they enter the Central Plains and disobey control, collude with the Red Turban Army, or
If we start to cause trouble in the place, what should we do?"
The words of Zhao Jixiang, the Minister of Household Affairs, were not recognized by the Queen Mother at all.
Empress Dowager Qi looked displeased, looked at the ministers in the court, and said slowly: "Now in Dayuan, the situation is critical. The suppression of thieves must be carried out immediately without any delay. There is no military supplies and food in the treasury, so we must find a way
Let these Jurchen savage armies raise their own food and fodder."
The so-called raising food and grass with confidence, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty certainly knew it, and it was nothing more than letting these Liaoyang barbarian tribesmen plunder Han people in the Central Plains. As for whether the Han people would die or whether it would cause anger and resentment, Empress Dowager Qi didn't care at all.
Subsequently, under the instruction of Empress Dowager Qi, the Mongolian and Yuan court immediately formulated a strategy to mobilize the Jurchen and other barbarian tribes from Liaoyang Province to invade the Central Plains.
Two days later, Duke Yansheng Kong Kejian came to the court again to give advice to the Empress Dowager.
He suggested setting up group training in various state capitals in the Central Plains.
Let Confucian scholars, officials and powerful people from all over the country send out their own troops to defend against the attack of the Red Turban Army.
Then in return, the Yuan Dynasty granted a large part of local autonomy to these local military envoys.
After hearing this, Queen Mother Qi immediately nodded in agreement.
"Yanshenggong Kong Kejian, Gongzhong Tiguo, is the national pillar of the Yuan Dynasty. He is specially appointed as the general envoy of Jining Prefecture Tuanlian." Empress Dowager Qi issued an edict at the court meeting.
"I would like to express my gratitude to the Queen Mother for her grace. I will sacrifice my life to serve the great Yuan Dynasty!" Kong Kejian quickly knelt down to express his gratitude.
Soon after, the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasty issued the "Edict to Decide the Country".
In the edict, it was officially announced that officials and gentry from all provinces would supervise the group training to resist the Red Scarf Army. At the same time, the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasty also announced that the Red Scarf Army were demons who believed in the White Lotus and Maitreya religions, and called on the world's Confucian scholars to eliminate demons and defend Confucianism.
Meng Yuan's regiment training envoy was not a mere official position, but possessed relatively great power.
All prefectures, counties and regiment envoys registered with the Mongolian and Yuan officials can receive part of the rewards from the Yuan Dynasty, and they can prepare their own taxes, money and food within their respective jurisdictions.
In other words, this is equivalent to announcing that these regiments are local emperors recognized by the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties.
For these powerful families, the actual power in their hands is much more effective than expelling the Tartars and restoring China.
For them, only if the Mongols stay in the Central Plains can they have a backer.
If the Red Turban Army comes, they will not only demand money and food, but also take away their official positions. They may even have to lose their land, property, and lives.
Therefore, for a while, regiment training in various places led to the rise of elements to maintain the rule of the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasty.
As the great hero who suggested the promotion, Kong Ke and Yanshenggong Kong Kejian also returned to Jining Prefecture according to the emperor's order to organize local team training.
Since the Yellow River changed its course, Jining Prefecture is located to the north of the Yellow River and is the most important defensive town south of the Yellow River.
Meng Yuan originally set up heavy troops here, but all the previous troops were transferred to Henan, and then they were defeated by the Red Turban Army.
Kong Kejian returned to Jining Mansion.
Immediately relying on the power in his hands and the power of the Confucius family, he quickly gathered an army of tens of thousands.
Not only were they well-equipped, but they also began to practice attacking and defending on horseback and riding bows and crossbows all day long.
It is also a posture of protecting the family and the country, and coexisting with Jining Prefecture.
Outside Qufu City, inside Confucius Mansion.
As a descendant of Confucius, Duke Yansheng, the scale of his residence was specially approved by the emperors of all dynasties, and it was a Confucius residence that far exceeded the standards for official positions.
Not only are there layers of buildings, but there are also solid and thick walls for defense.
Viewed from a distance, Confucius Mansion is simply more majestic and spectacular than Qufu City not far away.
This is indeed the case.
In the Kong Mansion, Kong Kejian was saying to his son, "Hurry up and order people to collect rent from the shops in each village to ensure the supply of food and grass for the group training, and then let the people below select the elite after training and arrange them in the outer courtyard.
Guard."
Kong Kejian's son, Kong Xixue, is twenty years old this year. Although he is still young, he has already mastered the Confucian family's true ability and the ability to adapt to the wind.
After hearing what his father Kong Kejian said, he felt doubts in his heart.
He asked Kong Kejian in a low voice: "Father, now that the Red Scarf Army rebels have captured Bianliang, and most of Jiangnan has fallen into the hands of brothers Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Han, shouldn't we make some plans now to stop this?
Too involved with the Mongols?"
After hearing his son's words, Kong Kejin nodded with great satisfaction.
He pointed to the chair next to him, asked his son Kong Xixue to sit down first, and then whispered.
"My father was very pleased to hear what you just said. It shows that your teachings were not in vain."
"As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. What's more, descendants of saints like us are not immune to even the slightest mistake. What you just said has already been thought of by my father."
Hearing this, Kong Xixue showed a puzzled expression.
"Father, since you have already thought of this, why do you still write to the Queen Mother to ask various places to organize regiment training, and are you personally preparing regiment training in Jining Mansion to resist the Red Scarf Army?"
"Haha, the so-called cunning rabbit's three caves, of course I have made two preparations. On the one hand, I have to save my own strength and put all the people and soldiers and civilians of Jining Prefecture under the name of our Kong family. In this way, not only will we be relied on in the future when the Yuan Dynasty is defeated, but also in the future,
The Red Scarf Army is coming, and they also need to rely on us. If we, the Kong family, don’t have a single soldier in our hands, wouldn’t we be at the mercy of others? What’s more, these unscrupulous people below are all making trouble very happily. If we can’t organize group training
Conquer them, I'm afraid these unruly people will rebel before the red scarf thieves come."
The so-called unruly people in Kong Kejian's mouth are naturally the tenant farmers, slaves, etc. of the Confucius Mansion.
These people rented land from the Confucius family, and the taxes they paid every year were slightly lower than the taxes paid by the court.
These fields of the Kong family were awarded by the imperial court, and no taxes were levied on them.
Therefore, no matter how much rent they paid, it all fell into the pockets of the Confucius family.
Moreover, there is no mention of the imperial court's disaster relief or reduction in matters such as the sacrificial rent and field rent in the Confucius Mansion.
Even if there is a major disaster or severe drought, the average tenant farmer can only consider himself unlucky, and not a single grain of grain should be left to the Kong family.
If there is less, he will be immediately taken to the Kong family to be lynched and imprisoned, or else the slaves of the Kong family and others will break into the door and rob him, and then be driven out of the Kong family forever.
Land can no longer be rented for farming.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Anyone who dares to default on the Kong family’s rent is tantamount to asking for death.
As a result, many tenant farmers were unwilling to be oppressed and secretly organized a rebellion.
Within just a few years, the Kong family's tenant farmers had rioted several times.
Just hundreds of people were killed, but it still couldn't stop those mud-legged people from wanting to rebel.
Therefore, Kong Kejian was very strict with the tenant farmers and slaves under the Confucian government.
Now the Red Scarf Army is not far from Jining Mansion. If someone from them comes to incite the slaves and tenant farmers of Confucius Mansion to rebel, Kong Kejian will really panic.
"Father, my son understands. I will definitely go back and instruct the people below to do a good job and incorporate all those smart and capable regiments into our Kong family's bodyguards so that they will not be able to rebel." Kong Xixue said.
Kong Kejie nodded with satisfaction.
At this time, Kong Xixue continued to ask, "Father, what is the other preparation you just mentioned?"
Kong Ketian smiled slightly, and then lowered his voice and said to his son Kong Xiqu:
"After you finish this matter, go to the accounting office to collect one hundred thousand taels of silver."
"What, one hundred thousand taels of silver?!" Kong Xixue immediately widened his eyes with an expression of horror.
For the Confucius family, one hundred thousand taels of silver was also a very large amount.
But Kong Xixue couldn't figure out why his father, who was in such chaos, wanted to allocate so much money.
Kong Kejian smiled slightly and said to his son Kong Xixue: "This is my father's big plan. You send a few of your family's confidants, take the money, secretly go to Bianliang to find Liu Futong and others, and tell them that as long as they cross the Yellow River,
When we came to Jining Prefecture, our Kong family immediately surrendered to the orthodoxy of the Song Dynasty."
As soon as these words came out, his son Kong Xixue was immediately shocked.
"Father, this is really dangerous. If the Red Scarf Army comes, we will surrender to them. But what should we do if the imperial troops come?"
Of course Kong Kejian can't be blamed for this small problem.
In fact, Kong Kejian had already made two preparations.
If the Red Scarf Army reaches Jining Prefecture, the Kong family will lead their tribes to submit to the orthodoxy of the Song Dynasty.
If the Mongols come back to attack in the future, the Kong family will find a way to capture the local leader of the Red Turban Army, kill him and present him to the court, and then they can claim credit from the Mongols and say that they committed themselves to being thieves in the first place.
I will look for opportunities to serve the imperial court in the future.
In this way, as descendants of the sage Confucius, no matter how disgusting the Mongols are, they can only tolerate what the Confucius did.
After hearing what his father Kong Kejian said, his son Kong Xixue was very happy. He clapped his hands and praised him repeatedly.
"My father is indeed wise."
"Father really made a brilliant plan to make our Kong family invincible!"
Kong Kejian smiled slightly and then said, "Actually, there are not only these two ways to be a father, but there is also another way."
"Father, what can we do?"
Kong Kejian said slowly at this time: "Actually, I want to send someone to go to the south of the Yangtze River to meet the brothers Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Han."
"Ah? Why do you want to see them?" Kong Xixue was a little confused.
You know, now it is the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty and the Han Dynasty Song Dynasty that are competing for the world.
The Emperor of the Song Dynasty, Han Lin'er, was in Bianliang, and Zhu Yuanzhang was just a minister of the Song Dynasty.
Kong Kejian stroked his beard and said as if an old god was here,
"Son, you are wrong about this. According to various reports from the court, brothers Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Han are definitely not in the pool. They are just using each other with Han Lin'er and others of the red scarf thief. What if they are really
I’m afraid no one will take the righteousness of the monarch and his ministers seriously yet, and they will definitely end up fighting for the world in the future.”
In fact, in Kong Kejian's heart, he was also very disappointed with the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.
Even the future of the Yuan Dynasty was not optimistic.
That's why I decided to take advantage of this opportunity and return to my hometown in Jining Prefecture to prepare for my own power and protect myself.
Moreover, Kong Kejian's ability to assess the situation is indeed a vision inherited from the Kong family. Regarding how to stand in line and how to choose a new master, the Kong family can always make correct judgments immediately and quickly.
