When Zhu Yuanzhang had just established the Ming Dynasty and went on the Northern Expedition to regain the land in North China, the Mongols only left a dilapidated Taiyuan City for the Ming Dynasty, which was the small Taiyuan City that was rebuilt by Pan Mei in the Song Dynasty and was destroyed by many wars.
This is just a miniature city, with a circumference of only eleven miles, and is surrounded by earthen walls. After the Northern Expedition of the Red Scarf Army, the three Northern Expeditions of the Ming Dynasty, and the past Jin-Song, Jin-Mongolia wars, this city is in dilapidated condition, with buildings falling apart.
It is collapsed and has a sparse population, which is extremely inconsistent with its status as a so-called nine-border town.
It was not until the Ming Dynasty that King Zhu Fan of the Jin Dynasty took control of Taiyuan and asked his father-in-law Xie Cheng to expand Taiyuan City. After an on-site inspection, Xie Cheng felt that the ruins of Jinyang City in the Tang Dynasty, which had been burned by the Zhao and Song Dynasties, had good geomantic omen, so he reported it to Queen Jin and decided to build it in the Hexi Jin Dynasty.
Taiyuan City was rebuilt at the Yangcheng ruins. Unfortunately, a strong wind came and the construction project was stopped just after the construction project. The King of Jin believed that the site selection was inappropriate and was against heaven, so he gave up the idea of rebuilding Jinyang City.
Xie Cheng later expanded the Taiyuan City in Hedong in the Song Dynasty in three directions: south, north, and east. The expanded Taiyuan City was 24 miles in circumference, three feet and five feet high, with earthen walls covered with bricks, and a total of eight doors.
It is called Yichun and Yinghui in the east, commonly known as Dadongmen and Xiaodongmen, Zhenwu and Fucheng in the west, commonly known as Shuiximen and Hanximen, Zhenyuan and Gongji in the north, commonly known as Dabeimen and Xiaobeimen, and Ying in the south.
Ze and Chengen are also known as the Great South Gate and the New South Gate among the people.
Although it is not as good as the Jinyang City that has been surging since the Northern Dynasties, because Taiyuan was listed as an important nine-border town in the Ming Dynasty and was responsible for the border defense task of resisting the raids of Mongolian cavalry, the city was designed and built according to the highest level of military fortress.
Such a majestic city, if it is really as envisaged by Li Laiheng before, in order to shrink the Shun army's defense line in Shanxi, it will be abandoned and the main force of the Dashun defenders will be directly withdrawn to the front line of Lengquankou. The Qing army obtained such a city that was more powerful than Datong.
If the majestic fortress city obtains a strategic support point in Jinzhong, then the military situation of the Dashun Army in North China will probably be even more unfavorable.
Jiang Yu was originally just a faggot, and even today, Chen Yongfu, who is familiar with the Ming army's mentality of surrendering generals, cannot completely let go of this comrade beside him.
However, due to the development of the overall situation, Jiang Quan had already established many special skills for Dashun without his own subjective wishes. His every move and his persistence in Taiyuan had actually affected the entire Jiashen year.
The situation of the decisive battle of Qingshun.
Especially in late January, when Dorgon quickly conquered Cizhou and Daming with a lightning-fast offensive, causing the Donglu troops to approach the north bank of the Yellow River, he still stood unmoved on the North China side, with a high-rise building and a commanding position.
Taiyuan City, at this time, became a huge protrusion on the North China Front, threatening Dorgon's return journey from the side.
When Taiyuan City was being expanded, the newly built Jin Palace occupied one-sixth of the city's area, making it look like a streamlined version of the imperial palace.
Emperor Yongchang Li Zicheng had previously ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor in the Jin Palace. The palace had been renamed Dashun Palace. The west wall of the palace was the east wall of Taiyuan City in the Song Dynasty. From this alone, you can imagine its majesty and grandeur.
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In the past, King Zhu Fan of the Jin Dynasty built an ancestral temple in Taiyuan in accordance with the imperial ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty. It was called the Imperial Temple, where Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da and other founding monarchs were enshrined. It was a place where the Jin princes worshiped their ancestors and held celebrations.
Now this magnificent building with yellow glazed tiles and dragon-shaped decoration has been converted into the ancestral temple of Dashun. After Li Zicheng died in the battle of Huolu, Tian Jianxiu and Jiang Gan worshiped the old man Li Zicheng and Huo Lu in the ancestral temple.
The memorial tablets of the soldiers who died in the Battle of Deer.
However, now that the battle situation in Taiyuan City has become more and more urgent, since Jierhalang led a reinforcement force composed mainly of Mongolian foreign vassal soldiers and Xuanfu soldiers into Jinzhong, the Qing army commander Ye Chen became his deputy, and the Qing clan chief
Jierhalang, one of the most virtuous and respected clan kings, unified the command of the siege of Taiyuan.
The intermittent low-intensity siege mode adopted by the Qing army since the end of last year has also undergone major changes. The enemy seems to have no longer considered the future situation at all, and will not consider the loss of manpower and siege equipment at any cost.
On the first day Erhalang arrived at the Taiyuan front line, the Qing army's siege was more than ten times more intense than in the past.
The dangerous and majestic Taiyuan City is in the most dangerous moment since the beginning of the Qingshun War when the enemy is using all means and regardless of casualties.
Although Yuan Shitai successfully entered Taiyuan with a group of reinforcements from the Imperial Army, which boosted the morale of the defenders, it was only a small force after all and could not immediately reverse the offensive and defensive momentum.
At this time, Taiyuan City was heavily bombarded by the enemy's Hongyi artillery fire. Many sections of the city wall collapsed, especially the corners of the city that had been severely damaged. Jiang Guan also built additional walls at the four corners of the Taiyuan City wall based on the geography and the situation of the city wall.
The low and thick fort had also been severely damaged by the enemy's fierce attack at this time.
Jiang Xuan was dusty and dusty. He had not taken off his armor and rested for several days, and his body was full of the smell of battle dust and ashes. His second brother, Jiang Xuan, who used to be the deputy commander-in-chief of Yanghe Town in the Ming Dynasty, was injured in one arm.
The wound had been wrapped with cloth, but blood could still be seen seeping out.
Jiang Xuan hurried over and said:
"Brother! Chen Shuai confiscated all the Fan family's property in Taiyuan. All the houses and shops were confiscated! Now Chen Shuai's people are demolishing the houses and want to demolish all the Fan family's compound.
The wood was taken to defend the city."
Jiang Yan glanced at his second brother's injury sympathetically, and then said coldly:
"It's a pity that the profiteer Fan Yongdou is still in Datong, so we can't kill him directly to relieve the hatred in my heart. After the changes in Datong, we let Liu Qian frame him, our Jiang family's land and house ancestral property accumulated in Datong over the years,
I heard that most of them fell into Fan Yongdou’s hands, how hateful!”
After the Datong Incident, the Jiang family, which had dominated the border army for countless years, completely collapsed. After Dorgon issued the order to shave his hair, Fan Yongdou, a representative of Shanxi merchants who had close ties with the Qing Dynasty, took advantage of this opportunity to seize Jiang.
The few remaining members of the family in northern Shanxi were all arrested on fabricated charges, and their family properties were completely annexed.
Jiang Quan learned this news from the gentry and people from the north who fled south. Although when the Shanxi merchants headed by Fan Yongdou did business with the Manchurian people, Jiang Quan was also deeply involved and invested heavily.
We make money together and eat together. But this does not prevent Jiang Gu today from scolding Fan Yongdou and other Shanxi merchants as evildoers who have subjugated the country and traitors who have brought harm to the country.
At that time, Shanxi merchants were able to trade with the Qing army in Zhangjiakou. At the upper level, it was because the border governors of the Ming Dynasty were unable to resist the invasion of the Qing army, so they could only choose to trade with the Qing army in exchange for the withdrawal of the Eastern captives. Emperor Chongzhen also adopted this acquiescence.
At the middle level, if Shanxi merchants did not have the support of Shanxi generals, it would be impossible for Xikou trade to grow.
Jiang Quan, Jiang Xuan and others were one of the backends of the material trade between Shanxi merchants and the Manchu Qing Dynasty. However, now that Jiang Quan has collapsed, he has been counterattacked by the wealthy businessman Fan Yongdou. He had no choice but to be incompetent and furious, demanding that Chen Yongfu confiscated everything from the Fan family in Taiyuan.
Jiang Gan is naturally happy to see the family property matter come to fruition.
He cursed twice more: "Didn't you tell me that the Fan family has shops and houses in Taiyuan City? We should have killed the entire Fan family long ago."
Jiang Xuan lowered his head and said, "Didn't eldest brother tell me that we should keep our tail between our legs in Taiyuan? It's best to strictly control military discipline and not meddle in extraneous matters at will, so as not to arouse the resentment of Dashun Army."
Only then did Jiang Yan remember that he had indeed said this. He clapped his hands and sighed:
"Hey! Wasn't Tian Jianxiu, the farmer's housekeeper, still there at that time? Tian Jianxiu was soft-hearted. Not only did he raid the Fan family, but also any ordinary people's house, we couldn't do it.
What I said was that when Tian Jianxiu was here, we should behave in a low-brow manner and restrain our hands and feet. When Tian Jianxiu was not here, why didn't you fart when we were monopolizing power in Taiyuan? We still had to wait for Chen Shuai.