The new emperor who moved his capital to Taiyuan was named "Guiyun".
Taken from Ban Gu's "Dian Yin" of the Han Dynasty: "Follow the orthodoxy of heaven, and return to destiny after being restrained."
"Guiyun" refers to the destiny that comes at the right time. It means that the emperor came to the throne according to the destiny of heaven and was not a false emperor who conspired to usurp the throne. If the Ming Dynasty had not already had an orthodox emperor, it is estimated that the group of merchants in Shanxi would have directly used " orthodox " as their reign name.
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The new emperor who was welcomed into Beijing and enthroned was given the reign title "Zhaode".
Taken from Liu Xiang's "Shuo Yuan" in the Han Dynasty: "Heaven has shown virtue, and the treasure tripod has arrived." It also contains the meaning of being blessed by heaven.
When the monarchs and ministers of the central court heard that an emperor had emerged from Shanxi, they immediately issued an edict to inform the world, denouncing the Shanxi court as a rebellious and rebellious person, and called on the officials and militiamen of the country to jointly attack him.
Before the official dispatch of troops, fierce party disputes broke out between North Korea and China.
Officials from Shanxi's wealthy families were imprisoned for "colluding with the puppet emperor", and officials in coastal areas took complete control of government affairs.
There were also some officials from Shanxi Province who were very fast and ran away to Taiyuan, where they simply became officials in the Taiyuan court.
Emperor Zhaode issued an imperial edict to summon a large army to King Qin, but he actually wanted to send troops to conquer Shanxi.
The border troops in the entire Songliao Basin just pretended that they had not received the edict. The land there was vast, sparsely populated, and fertile. The Little Ice Age had gradually passed, and the Songliao soldiers and civilians were completely self-sufficient. Even without the imperial exploitation, they could survive.
As the situation became more moist, both the commander-in-chief and the commander-in-chief chose to stay put, with the excuse of being prepared for the invasion of Mongolia from the north.
In the entire Northeast region, there were three major battalions when Wang Yuan was in power. As the court's actual control area expanded, it has now been expanded to six major battalions. Due to the chaos in the previous two decades, the six major battalions in the Northeast were divided into three forces. One occupied Liaoning, the other occupied Liaoning.
One occupied Taining (Jilin), and the other occupied the northern part of former Korea (between the Yalu River and Qingchuan River).
The first two forces attacked each other, both wanting to devour the other, while the last force only wanted to protect itself. Neither of them wanted to help the court fight, but they did not dare to refuse, and asked for a million taels of silver in departure fees.
Only Huang Zongde, the commander-in-chief of Shandong Province, is a truly loyal man!
Huang Zongde led 30,000 regiments to train an army. He did not pay a penny from the court and went to Beijing at his own expense to obey the emperor's orders.
Emperor Zhaode, Longyan Dayue, promoted Huang Zongde to the right commander-in-chief of the rear army, was crowned with three heroes, and was given a bullfight uniform. He also ordered Wang Xian, the left minister of the Ministry of War, to be given the seal of commander-in-chief of the governor, and to lead Huang Zongde to conquer Shanxi.
The Wang family and the Huang family join forces again.
It's just that Wang Yuan teamed up with Huang Chongde to do business, while Wang Xian teamed up with Huang Zongde to eliminate rebellion.
The two men took 10,000 Xiyuan's new army, 30,000 Shandong regiment training, and 50,000 civilians from the capital, and marched towards Shanxi in a mighty manner.
The Returned Emperor of Taiyuan was simply pushed to the top, but now that he has been put on a yellow robe, he can only bite the bullet and carry on. Hearing that Beijing has sent troops, the Returned Emperor also organized an army to resist, and declared that he would fight to the east to conquer the puppet emperor and possess the north.
There are more than 20,000 frontier troops, half of whom are musketeers, and tens of thousands of Shanxi regiment soldiers and civilians.
The two sides started fighting near Daizhou. Huang Zongde's Shandong regiment was rich and equipped with a large number of new muskets and artillery. At first, the Shanxi army almost collapsed.
At the critical moment, Xiyuan's new army, who was responsible for coordinating the break-up, inexplicably fled without fighting. Wang Xian and Huang Zongde were cut off from their food routes.
As a civilian governor, Wang Xian vowed not to surrender and fought hard to death.
Huang Zongde fought his way out of the siege and returned to Beijing with only a few thousand remnant soldiers and all his artillery and baggage missing.
Huang Zongde angrily rebuked the generals of the Xiyuan New Army, but officials from the Southern Department retaliated, saying that he was afraid of the enemy and did not advance, which led to the loss of troops. However, the generals of the Xiyuan New Army acted decisively and preserved the effective strength of the imperial officers and soldiers.
Huang Zongde was almost imprisoned for this, so he returned to Shandong full of anger and never ignored the central government's orders again.
This is a battle between Shandong (plus Tianjin) merchant groups and Jiangsu and Zhejiang merchant groups. The competition between the two sides in the textile industry has lasted for hundreds of years.
Wang Xian, who sacrificed his life for the country, had a close relationship with Huang Zongde, so instead of receiving additional posthumous honors, he was convicted of armchair warfare and improper command, and was not held accountable because he was already dead.
The Wang family members were furious and most of them chose to resign.
One team returned to Tianjin to form a regiment, control Tianjin's railways, river ports and seaports, and directly cut off Beijing's water transportation routes.
One group went to Huguang to fully support Wang Yuanzhen.
One group went to Guizhou to support Wang Ben's expansion of strength. Wang Ben was a descendant of Wang Yuan's eldest brother Wang Meng.
The officials of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Group in the DPRK were dumbfounded. Since the water transportation route was cut off, the price of food in the entire capital skyrocketed. They had to make a compromise and hand over the position of Minister of War to the Wang family officials who stayed in the DPRK.
The first year of Guiyun, or the first year of Zhaode.
Emperor Guiyun once again marched eastward, fighting all the way to the outside of Beijing. Wang Yuan's old residence in the west of the city was occupied.
The Grand Marshal of the Shanxi Imperial Court issued an order: "Grand Master Wang is a saint and must not be insulted or damaged."
He also "invited" many of the Wang family's children in the house to the gates of Beijing, and asked Wang Gao, who was responsible for guarding the south outer city of Beijing, to surrender. He also promised to promote Wang Gao to the rank of Second Assistant to the Cabinet and the title of Grand Master.
Wang Gao had no expression on his face and ordered: "Fire!"
The cannon on the city tower adjusted its angle and fired at many descendants of the Wang family, killing Wang Gao's own grandson with one cannon.
Both armies were inexplicably frightened. The Beijing defenders were filled with indignation and their morale was greatly boosted. The Shanxi army, frightened by Wang Gao's loyalty and remembering Wang Yuan's reputation as a sage, actually chose to besiege rather than attack, and even took all Wang's descendants captive to Taiyuan.
, serving him with good wine and meat every day.
The city of Beijing is so strong that even with huge cannons, it would take several months to fight.
The Shanxi army besieged the city for half a year, and the city was full of starving people. The Tianjin Wang family finally led troops to rescue them. The siege party was out of food and grass, and looted everything around Beijing, and finally chose to withdraw in despair.
Taking advantage of his great achievements in defending Beijing, Wang Gao began to purge the cabinet and the six ministries. He hurriedly ordered the well-known Nanjing Minister of Rites Jin Fang to return to Beijing and quickly served as the chief minister of the cabinet. He also purged the nobles who had performed poorly during the defense of the city and transferred their
The land was distributed to the refugees and tenants, and the Wang family's money and land in Beijing were used to distribute it to the officers and soldiers of Xiyuan to supplement their military pay.
The imperial court in Beijing was levying light corvees and low taxes in the Gyeonggi area, and the Wang family in Tianjin was also willing to increase commercial taxes, which finally gave the central government a lifeline.
The returning court in Shanxi was controlled by Shanxi merchants to comprehensively clean up the bandits in Shanxi and ensure the industrial and commercial environment within its jurisdiction. They ignored the ruined Shaanxi and sent troops to attack Henan. Because Shanxi was short of food, Henan must be occupied
Only then can blood be restored.
The local warlords in Henan rose up to resist, but they were no match for the northern frontier troops. The Shanxi court quickly occupied the entire territory of Henan.
In the third year of Zhaode's reign.
Seeing that Northern Zhili was improving and Wang Gao, who had overwhelming power, was suddenly trapped and imprisoned by the emperor, it was Emperor Zhaode who wanted to consolidate power and did not want to be a puppet manipulated by others.
Wang Gao was filled with grief and anger. Although the emperor did not dare to kill him, he only forced him to hand over his power. However, Wang Gao was extremely strong-willed and committed suicide in prison, leaving a last words written in blood: "The great Ming Dynasty, the country will not be a country. The descendants of the Wang family are ashamed of their ancestors."
, I hope the heroes of the world can rebuild the world!"
Jin Fang, the chief minister of the cabinet who was also under house arrest, heard the news of Wang Gao's death. He swallowed coal and committed suicide that night, leaving a letter in blood: "Life cannot save the country, but death may awaken people's hearts. I will go to hell with An Lei Gong (Wang Gao)."
Go."
Emperor Zhaode was dumbfounded. He really didn't dare to kill Wang Gao. This... why did this happen?
Emperor Zhaode ordered Wang Gao and Jin Fang to be buried lavishly. People inside and outside the capital were devastated. The emperor gained great power but had a lot of headaches.
Wang Ao, the leader of the Wang family in Tianjin, angrily spread the word to the world and shouted the slogan "Kill the tyrant". He first cut off water transportation, and then led the Tianjin regiment to attack Beijing. The officers and soldiers in the capital who had been deprived of their food and wages took the initiative to open the city and surrender, and the people of Beijing directly invaded.
Imperial Palace, looted the Forbidden City, and hanged Emperor Zhaode on the Meridian Gate Tower.
Although Wang Ao occupied the capital, he was soon at a loss and his subordinates began to quarrel.
One faction shouted to support Wang Ao as emperor, another faction shouted to welcome the Emperor of Taiyuan, and the other faction shouted to choose another clan to ascend the throne.
Wang Ao represented the interests of merchants in Tianjin and Shandong, and was an absolute vested interest. He could not make up his mind to become king on his own, he just wanted to continue the rule of the Ming Dynasty, and finally chose to serve the Emperor of Taiyuan.
The response from Shanxi was nonsense.
Emperor Guiyun wanted to go to Beijing, but Shanxi merchants refused to let him go, because after going to Beijing, the government would definitely be controlled by the Wang family.
Emperor Guiyun was forced to write an edict, saying that the imperial court had already moved the capital and asked Wang Ao to serve as an official in Taiyuan.
Some of the generals in the northern border towns supported Shanxi merchants, and some wanted to go to the colorful world of Beijing. The descendants of the Wang family who were taken captive to Taiyuan took the opportunity to encourage the generals to mutiny, with the slogan "Qing Jun, welcome the emperor back."
The mutiny was suppressed, more than thirty Wang descendants were killed, and the rest took advantage of the chaos to flee Shanxi.
Shanxi merchants then launched a purge, which led to the rebellion of the border troops who captured Henan. The general Zheng Yue (a descendant of Wu Jinshi Zheng Hu) proclaimed himself the king of Henan.
When Wang Gao learned that more than thirty people of his own clan had been massacred, he completely fell out with the Shanxi court. He no longer had any hope in the clan and proclaimed himself the governor of Zhili. He worked hard to manage Beizhili, where his bones were exposed in the wild.
After these events, the authority of the Ming royal family was reduced to the extreme. No one took the emperor seriously anymore, but no one dared to take the lead in proclaiming the emperor. Instead, there were a bunch of local "vassal kings" and vassal towns in the last years of the dynasty.
The separatist regime was formally formed.
The southern coast is the most interesting.
Emperor Zhaode was hanged by the people in Beijing, Emperor Guiyun was controlled by Shanxi merchants, and officials and merchants in Southern Zhili no longer recognized the northern regime.
Huizhou merchants and Jianghuai merchants established another clan as emperor and changed the Yuan Dynasty to "Daxing". The situation of two emperors coexisting once again appeared.
However, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong were unwilling to listen to Nanjing's orders and actually created the joint autonomy of the three provinces. They set up a joint parliament of the three provinces, which also consisted of provincial councils, prefecture councils, and state and county councils. Officials at all levels must listen to the opinions of the councils.
Otherwise no decree can be issued.
After Wang Yuanzhen occupied Huguang and Jiangxi, a large number of Wang family members, members of the Datong Society, and members of the Physics Society came to apply, which can be said to be a wealth of talents.
Moreover, because Wang Yuanzhen forcibly divided the land, most of the talents who were willing to join him came from the small landowners, farmers and petty bourgeoisie.
Wang Yuanzhen was temporarily unable to expand to the southeastern coast, and he did not have the strength to attack Guangdong. While carrying out land reform within his jurisdiction, he sent troops to attack Guangxi.
The local forces in Guangxi need to face the military front of the "Puppet Dai Viet Kingdom", and the troops are mainly stationed on the southern border.
Wang Yuanzhen was unstoppable in Guangxi, and the Guangxi soldiers returned home urgently, and the "Puppet Dayue Kingdom" took the opportunity to invade. The gentry and merchants of Guangxi, fearing that their territory would be divided by Wang Yuanzhen, actually chose to surrender to the "Puppet Dayue Kingdom".
The Jishi faction in Guangxi was furious, and launched a peasant uprising in tandem, killing officials and rebelling, and conquering prefectures and counties. In just one year, more than 100,000 peasant troops surrendered to Wang Yuanzhen with the land of the three prefectures.
When Wang Yuanzhen led the army to fight in Guangxi, the Jiaozhi Han people suddenly sent envoys to contact him.
When Jiaozhi was established as a province, the local big families had been purged, and a large number of Han immigrants were sent. The degree of land annexation there was actually not very serious. On the contrary, the surviving prominent families of the old Annan Dynasty owned the most land, and the Han people mainly occupied it.
Industrial and commercial advantages.
This time, it was the old minister of Annam, the Nguyen family, who raised an army to stand on his own and declared the establishment of the Dai Viet Kingdom.
Under the pretext of expelling foreigners, the Ruan family incited the indigenous people and raised a butcher's knife against the Han people. The Han people in Jiaozhi were scattered all over the country and had no real virtuous people to lead them, so the Ruan family succeeded in stealing their land. Moreover, the Ruan family was also clever and promised
Not invading the property of many Han merchants. As a result, the truly influential families among the Han people in Jiaozhi ignored the changes in Jiaozhi and continued to do business happily.
The scholars who came from the small landowning class in Cochin had long been plotting to regain their territory. When they heard that Wang Yuanzhen was fighting with the Ruan family in Guangxi, they immediately sent envoys to discuss the matter of alliance.
The communication between the two parties was very smooth.
Wang Yuanzhen promised that after the recovery of Jiaozhi, Han people who own less than 2,000 acres of land will not be forcibly allocated to farmers and tenants. Land exceeding 2,000 acres will be officially purchased at half price according to the market price.
Jiaozhi scholars are naturally willing to do so. It doesn't matter if it exceeds 2,000 acres. At worst, they can choose to divide the property among their families.
It is better to give the land to your children, grandchildren and clan members than to be watched by foreigners.
In the third year of Guiyun (Zhaode), Wang Yuanzhen defeated the coalition forces of the "Puppet Dayue Kingdom" and Guangxi's powerful families, and the Jiaozhi Han people revolted in the "Puppet Dayue Kingdom".
Jiaozhi merchants are very interesting. They are indifferent to the Ruan family's self-reliance, and they are indifferent to the Han uprising. As long as they don't hinder their business, even if they break the dog's mind, it seems to have nothing to do with them.
When Wang Yuanzhen invaded Jiaozhi and joined forces with the rebels, Jiaozhi merchants finally panicked. They were afraid of having their property taken away!
These guys actually started to spend money to recruit soldiers, and brought untrained private soldiers to fight Wang Yuanzhen several times without knowing their capabilities.
All the merchants who participated in the confrontation had their property confiscated by Wang Yuanzhen, and the quickest ones sailed directly to the sea to immigrate to Luzon.
As for merchants from all over the country, Wang Yuanzhen will not rob them of their wealth, and will not disturb their factories and shops. However, the land under the name of the merchants must be given out to the people and officers and soldiers. If they do not want to be divided, then the shops will be given away.
The factory copied it together.
Maritime merchants in Guangxi and Jiaozhi confiscated some of their ships as appropriate to build naval forces. They also used these ships to do business in Luzon and buy muskets and artillery in Luzon. Foshan arms dealers no longer sell weapons because they are afraid that Wang Yuanzhen will buy them.
Guns and artillery attack Guangdong.
In the fourth year of Guiyun's reign, Wang Yuanzhen regained Jiaozhi, which included the four provinces of Huguang, Jiangxi, Guangxi, and Jiaozhi.
The autonomous governments of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong provinces behaved very strangely. They formed private soldiers with powerful firepower, and armed merchant ships also dominated the Chinese waters. They were afraid of Wang Yuanzhen's continued expansion, but did not dare to take the initiative to attack Wang Yuanzhen's territory.
The small imperial court in Nanjing is purely for its own entertainment.
Wang Ben has unified Guizhou and is attacking Yunnan.
There are two major forces in Yunnan, one is the Mu family, the Duke of Guizhou, and the other is the descendants of the chieftain Cen. The Cen family has long since been repatriated and does not hold the position of chieftain, but still has huge local influence.
The Cen family proclaimed themselves king, and the Mu family was loyal to the court and had been fighting each other for several years.
In the fifth year of Guiyun's reign, Wang Yuanzhen divided his forces from Guangxi and Jiaozhi to attack Yunnan. The Cen family, who was fighting the Mu family, was caught off guard. Ningyuan Prefecture, Mengzi County, Lin'an Prefecture, and Shiping Prefecture were successively captured.
The same was true for the Mu family. They were having a lively fight with the Cen family when Wang Ben suddenly went south from Guizhou.
The Mu family and the Cen family chose to stop their troops and turn around to deal with the enemies from other provinces.
A large number of knights from the Jishi faction were spread out by Wang Yuanzhen to promote the idea of "equalizing the land." The farmers under the Cen family, whether they were Han or ethnic minority brothers, raised troops to respond because they had long been exploited by the Cen family and found it difficult to survive.
The main force of the Cen family was still fighting Wang Yuanzhen, and their nest was directly attacked by the peasant army.
Wang Yuanzhen, Wang Ben, and Mu Xun sat down for peace talks.
They are both members of the same family, Wang Yuanzhen and Wang Ben come from the same clan, and the Mu family also had an old relationship with Wang Yuan. Everyone knows that the magic weapon that Taishi Wang used to fight in the north and south was a gift from the Duke of Guizhou during the provincial examination.
Wang Yuanzhen was so powerful that Wang Ben and Mu Xun agreed to join him.
Wang Yuanzhen also made a promise to let Wang Bi and Mu Xun divide their families first. The land of the two families will be distributed to their descendants and clan members. The main clan can retain 5,000 acres of land, and each branch family can only retain 1,000 acres of land, shops, factories and
Gold and silver will not be touched one iota.
At the same time, Wang Bi and Mu Xun must hand over their troops and allow them to continue to lead troops, but some officers must be placed in and Wang Yuanzhen will be responsible for the army's logistics.
In the seventh year of Guiyun's reign, Wang Yuanzhen came from Huguang, Wang Ben came from Guizhou, and Mu Xun came from Yunnan. They attacked Sichuan in three directions.
There used to be three major forces in Sichuan. They fought for twenty years. Instead of unification, the warlords fought more and more, and twelve vassal towns, large and small, were conquered. In only half a year, Sichuan was annexed, and the twelve vassal towns were defeated one by one.
At this time, Huang Zongde of Shandong had also killed Zheng Yue, the king of Henan, and was joining forces with Wang Ao of North Zhili to attack Shanxi.
The six camps in the Northeast finally raised the Gu King. Sun Shunde proclaimed himself the King of Liaodong. Zhao Jian, a descendant of Yuan Da, was named the Pingnan General. The two took advantage of Wang Ao's opportunity to attack Shanxi and went west from Shanhaiguan to attack Beizhili.
, forcing Wang Ao to return to the army to deal with it.
The loyal Huang Zongde had completely gone dark at this time. Without the help of Wang Ao, he attacked Taiyuan City alone and forced the emperor to return to the throne.
This guy became emperor, and the country was named "Dashun", which means "Shun Tian Ying Min".
The whole world is shocked!
Even Wang Yuanzhen, who occupies the seven provinces of Huguang, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Jiaozhi, dare not call himself emperor without permission. How dare Huang Zongde, who occupies Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan, dare to become emperor?
The three provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong immediately declared their allegiance to the Nanjing court, but still enjoyed inter-provincial autonomy.
Wang Ao, the governor of Northern Zhili, issued a memorandum angrily denounced Huang Zongde, but due to pressure from the Northeast, he did not dare to send troops south easily.
After Huang Zongde proclaimed himself emperor, nothing happened except attracting denunciation from the world.
On the contrary, he also took the initiative to attack Wang Ao, because after capturing Beijing, Huang Zongde's legal authority would be stronger.
Wang Ao was defeated and captured. Huang Zongde did not kill him. He only exiled his family to Yinzhou and occupied Wang's Tianjin factory.
Wang Ao brought his people across the ocean. The monarchs of various countries in Yinzhou were afraid of the Wang family's reputation and neither dared to take him in nor take action. They all chose to send gifts out of the country just like hot potatoes, and also gave various gifts of food before leaving.
, gold and silver and a small number of muskets.
Wang Ao was speechless and took a boat all the way south.
After many inquiries, I learned that the east coast of Beiyinzhou is still a vast and sparsely populated place, and a large number of Han people have immigrated there in recent years.
The King of Dayin, who established a constitutional monarchy, was willing to provide them with ships and sail northward through the Grand Canal in search of settlements.
They soon arrived at Wangxiang Town, Houston in another time and space.
There are about 2,000 Han Chinese here, coexisting peacefully with the Kalenkawa indigenous tribe. Wang Ao thought this place was pretty good, and he had no willpower to go any further.
When setting off from Tianjin, there were more than 800 members of the Wang clan, all of whom were descendants of the main sect or those who were close to the main sect. Due to illness and wind and waves on the way, more than 60 people died, including Wang Ao's eldest son.
All died of illness.
These children of the Wang family are all good at reading and arithmetic, but they don't know how to farm at all.
They followed the local Han people and learned how to farm and how to prevent hemp cloth. They had to be self-sufficient in everything, even seasoning with acrid rock salt. The Han merchant ships did not like this place for the time being and were too lazy to transport goods to do business.
Emperor Huang Zongde of Dashun spent two years to conquer the Northeast and unify the entire north except the Songliao Basin, Shaanxi, and Qinghai.
Wang Yuanzhen did not take the opportunity to make the Northern Expedition, but spent two years digesting his newly occupied territory.
The two heroes of the north and the south stand side by side.
The Nanjing court amused itself.
The three southeastern provinces were watching from across the river, and they were more inclined to Huang Zongde. If Huang Zongde had not taken the lead to usurp the throne and bear the moral infamy, these three provinces would have declared their surrender long ago.
Another year later, Huang Zongde vowed to march south, and an army of 300,000 troops was divided into three groups to attack Xiangyang, Wuchang and Huangzhou.
Wang Yuanzhen took the initiative to retreat, abandoning the territory north of the Yangtze River, and used the Yangtze River Navy to deal with the northern army.
Huang Zongde had no choice but to occupy Xiangyang and other cities, then stationed heavy troops on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and then returned to Beijing with unfinished business.
Wang Yuanzhen had no choice. In the past few years, the expansion had been too rapid, and the land had to be "equalized." All kinds of internal affairs problems were a headache, and he had no time to compete with the north.
While dealing with internal affairs and ordering arms from Luzon, Wang Yuanzhen stayed in the south for another two years.
The small imperial court in Nanjing and the three southeastern provinces were very satisfied with this situation and wished it could continue forever.
At this time, a peasant uprising broke out in Shandong.
In fact, the land annexation in Shandong was too serious. Huang Zongde's own land occupied 4 million acres. After he became emperor, his family members intensified their efforts.
Huang Zongde was busy quelling the civil unrest, and the semi-independent warlords in the Northeast suddenly chose to engage in rebellion.
Wang Yuanzhen learned the news and immediately sent troops.
There was no Northern Expedition, but an attack on Guangdong!
He first announced his support for the small imperial court in Nanjing, and then used the excuse of conquering the disloyal ministers to accuse Guangdong of not obeying the imperial court's orders.
The three southeastern provinces were shocked. Soldiers from Fujian and Zhejiang immediately moved by sea and land to support Guangdong.
The knights of the Jishi Sect were scattered in the rural areas of the three provinces, and joined forces with the local Jishi Sect and Datong Society to promote the idea of "equal land".
The three southeastern provinces have suffered serious land annexation, with few farmers left, and more than 90% of them are tenants.
These tenants had sporadic tenant rebellions almost every year, but they lacked unified command and were easily suppressed by the armies of the three provinces.
Now they were secretly linked together, and suddenly there were uprisings among the tenant farmers.
Moreover, Wang Yuanzhen also sent a partial force to attack Zhejiang. The Zhejiang gentry and merchants were already devastated by the tenant farmers' uprising. Seeing Wang Yuanzhen sending troops, they urgently transferred back the main force of Zhejiang that was fighting in Guangdong.
The Fujian soldiers also returned, also to suppress the uprising of the tenant farmers.
Workers in the three southeastern provinces also went on strike to demand higher wages because they did not have enough to eat.
Since Wang Yuanzhen occupied Huguang and Jiangxi, the price of food in the three southeastern provinces has skyrocketed, and food is mainly imported from Nanyang. Workers' wages have remained unchanged, but they can no longer afford food. A large-scale strike is a matter of time.
As for Wang Yuanzhen, perhaps his guns are not as sharp as the three southeastern provinces, and his gold and silver wealth is not as rich as the three southeastern provinces.
But, he has a lot of food!
It rained all night, and following the tenant rebellion and strike, there were slave rebellions in the three provinces, and the domestic slaves demanded that their slave status be cancelled. Because they heard that in Wang Yuanzhen's territory, private slave ownership would lead to imprisonment.
Then, the mutiny happened.
The governor of Tuanlian in Fujian was killed, and rebels invaded Fuzhou and looted more than a dozen wealthy merchants. The reason was that military pay had been withheld for many years.
The Fujian rebels quickly flowed into Zhejiang, tying up tens of thousands of tenant farmers along the way, causing chaos in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.
The partial division sent by Wang Yuanzhen to Zhejiang progressed faster than the main force, quickly conquering cities and territories, and occupied all cities except Hangzhou and Ningbo.
It only took one year to pacify the three southeastern provinces, and there was no fierce fighting.
Soldiers from the regiment training in the three provinces heard that Wang Yuanzhen's army not only received sufficient military pay, but also the soldiers were given land. They had more sophisticated firearms, but they were unwilling to fight for the rich, and even dreamed of surrendering early and sharing land.
In 1727 AD, at the age of 49, Wang Yuanzhen captured Nanjing and accepted the abdication.
It does not have the title of Jianguo, but is only called China, to distinguish it from other overseas Han regimes.
The coexistence of north and south did not last long.
Huang Zongde was just the successor to the Ming Dynasty, and he took over a whole series of messes, especially in Shandong, the land of Longxing, where farmers carried rents and resisted taxes almost every year.
Although he vigorously rectified the administration of officials, the old system was not broken, and the entire political power was controlled by the "Shandong-Tianjin Gentry and Rich Business Group".
These people are also willing to listen to Huang Zongde, but only if their own interests are not harmed.
When Wang Yuanzhen unified the south, Huang Zongde spent all his energy on internal rectification, in addition to quelling civil unrest and the rebellion in the Northeast.
Then, Huang Zongde died of illness. He was twelve years older than Wang Yuanzhen.
After Huang Zongde's eldest son succeeded to the throne, the administration quickly became corrupt, and internal conflicts became more intense.
Shandong merchants aggressively invaded the Shanxi market and robbed Shanxi merchants of their base. After Huang Zongde's death, Shanxi merchants immediately recruited soldiers to become independent and expelled all Shandong merchants.
What’s even more frightening is that while the north has been at war for years, Shandong continues to expand its cotton-producing area. Rich merchants in Shandong forcefully purchase grain from Henan and other provinces to ease Shandong’s food shortage, resulting in varying degrees of grain shortages in various northern provinces.
Wang Yuanzhen vowed to fight for the Northern Expedition. In order to fight the war, the northern court did not buy enough grain from Nanyang, so it had to send officials again to collect grain.
Several provinces in the north were all blown up!
Civil unrest broke out.
At this time, the gentry and wealthy merchants were still hoarding food.
If Huang Zongde was still alive, he would definitely be able to suppress the powerful and force these people to hand over their food. But his son could not do that. He had been kidnapped by a powerful family and almost became a replica of the Ming Emperor.
China was reunited.
When Wang Yuanzhen was 52 years old, he sent troops to attack Taungoo and retake Lancang Province (Laos).
Then he sent envoys to the Kingdom of Luzon, recognized the Emperor of Luzon, and the royal families of the two countries married, and took back Ryukyu and Taiwan without any bloodshed. The King of Luzon had overstepped his authority and proclaimed himself emperor, but was never recognized by the Ming Dynasty. Now he would rather exchange Taiwan and Ryukyu for the title of emperor.
He also sent troops to North Korea and shouted the slogan "Equalize the Land." The North Korean people, who had been enslaved for more than a hundred years, burst out with amazing revolutionary enthusiasm.
The following year, he compiled "History of the Ming Dynasty".