Zheng Zunqian strode up to his father's library on the second floor in the backyard. When he entered the house, he saw his father Zheng Zhiyin reading a letter.
"What are you going to do with the turmoil? Can't you just settle down for a few days?" Zheng Zhiyin directly scolded his son without raising his head. The Zheng family was originally from Linshanwei, Yuyao, and later moved to Kuaiji City. The Zheng family is also a famous family.
In his early years, he went to Shanxi as an official to supervise the affairs of the Ministry of Finance, and made a separate inspection tour.
Moreover, he is also a member of the Donglin Party and a member of the Qingliu elite.
At this time, Zheng Zhiyin had just returned from visiting Boluo in Hangzhou, and the letter he was reading was from Qian Qianyi in Nanjing. Qian Qianyi was originally the Minister of Rites of the Hongguang Dynasty and the leader of the Donglin Party. He had always been with Zheng Zhiyin.
The relationship is excellent.
After Qian Qianyi fled from Hongguang, he surrendered to the Qing army and dedicated the city together with his Nanjing ministers. The Qing court awarded him the title of Minister of Rites, and he remained in Nanjing to assist Prince Duduo of Yu.
It is said that before the Qing army entered Nanjing, Qian Qianyi's concubine Liu Rushi, one of the Thirteen Beauties of Qinhuai, once persuaded Qian Qianyi to die for his country and honor his country. Then Qian Qianyi pretended to walk into the water. In the summer, he actually said
The water was too cold and he went home. Liu Rushi threw herself into the water angrily, but Qian Qianyi dragged his concubine back.
When the Qing army just entered the city, Duduo even made it clear that the military officers should be shaved but not the civil servants. For the time being, only the surrendered Ming soldiers were allowed to shave their heads. As a result, Qian Qianyi was sitting at home when he suddenly complained that his scalp was itchy and ran out of the house. When he came back
I have shaved off the front of my head, leaving a rat tail on the back of my head.
In contrast, Qian Qianyi's two friends in Nanjing, Yue Qijie, the governor of Henan, and Yuan Shu, the political and military patrol officer of Henan. One of them is the brother-in-law of Ma Shiying, the traitorous minister, and the other is the son of Yuan Keli, the minister of the Ministry of War.
He swore not to be in power and went on a hunger strike to death.
As the leader of Donglin, especially his talents and knowledge, Qian Qianyi's performance can be said to have shocked the world, and some people even wrote poems to ridicule him.
Mr. Qian has a good mind and is famous all over the world for his talent in mountain fighting.
After the country was destroyed, the new North Palace was established, and the official position remained the same as the old Donglin.
"Father!"
"Sit first!"
Zheng Zhiyin pointed to the Huanghuali official chair and said to his son, continuing to read the letter.
He had read Qian Qianyi's letter several times. In his letter, he said that the current situation in the world has changed dramatically. He learned from Duoduo that at the end of last month, Li Zicheng, the intruder who once broke into Beijing and proclaimed himself emperor, was defeated and went south.
After the remnants of his troops withdrew to Changsha, when he was passing through Jiugong Mountain with more than 20 cavalry, he was surrounded and beaten to death by local gentry and landlords led by villagers. It has been confirmed.
At the beginning of this month, Zhang Xianzhong of Xiying led his troops to attack Hanzhong, but was defeated and returned to Sichuan.
Yuan Jixian, the governor-general of Jiangxi, Xiangguang, Yingtian, and Anqing Military Affairs, who was appointed by Hongguang, and the censor of Qiandu, was deceived by Zuo Mengeng into joining the army and forced to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Yuan Jixian refused to surrender to the Qing court and was killed.
The Qing court respected Yuan Jixian very well and offered him the title of governor of Jiangxi as long as he was willing to return to Jiangxi to recruit his old troops. He flatly refused and was taken to Beijing. On the way to Beijing, he tried to commit suicide several times but failed, and was eventually killed in Beijing.
Qian Qianyi, Zheng Zhiyin and Yuan Jixian are all good friends, and this news makes them very heavy.
Qian Qianyi said that the Qing government had summoned him to Beijing in July, appointed him the right minister of the Ministry of Rites to take charge of the affairs of the Secretariat, and also asked him to serve as the vice president of Ming History.
He also revealed that Duduo might also march to Beijing in July, when Hongguang, King Lu and others would also go to Beijing. Therefore, Qian Qianyi concluded that the Qing army's southern expedition was over.
The British Prince Azige, who entered Shaanxi along the Great Wall, defeated Li Zicheng all the way, and pursued to Anqing, Huguang, Jiangxi, had already left the army in advance without waiting for the Qing emperor's order.
On the East Road, Prince Duduo of Yu will return to Beijing in July. He even heard that Bellebolo stationed in Hangzhou will also take most of the Eight Banners back to Beijing.
The Qing government planned to confer Hong Chengchou, the former governor of the Ming Dynasty who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, as a military scholar to recruit the governor of the south. He would replace Duduo to supervise Jiangnan. It would appoint Duoluobele Leke Dehun as the general of Pingnan, and Tonggushan Ezhen Yechen to replace Duduo.
, Bolo guards Jiangnan.
Qian Qianyi estimated that Hong Chengchou, Luck Dehun and others could arrive in Jiangling in August, while Duoduo, Bolo and others might not be able to return to Beijing until September at the earliest.
He also said that the Ming Dynasty civil servants and generals from all over the Yangtze River surrendered to the Qing Dynasty one after another, and the intruders not only lost all their territory, but also Li Zicheng was killed. Now only some remnants are still resisting and are fleeing to the mountains around Badong.
The situation became such that Xiying had just suffered a huge defeat in its attack on Hanzhong and retreated to Sichuan in embarrassment.
Huguang, Jiangxi, Nanzhi, and Zhejiang are now almost decided by propaganda, and few actually raise the flag to resist.
Qian Qianyi was very sad. He said in a secret letter to Zheng Zhiyin that the collapse of the Hongguang Dynasty caught everyone off guard. Now that the Qing army was powerful, it could no longer support the Qing Dynasty. It was better to pretend to surrender to the Qing Dynasty first.
, and then figure it out slowly.
Now that the Qing court has concluded that the Ming Dynasty has died, Jiangnan will surrender without a fight, and that it wants to withdraw its troops. This is the best opportunity. He hopes that officials and gentry from all over the Yangtze River can stay calm for the time being and wait for the Qing army.
After the main force withdrew as scheduled, everyone started to stir up trouble again.
It is also said that after General Fang Guoan was defeated in Hangzhou, he withdrew to Yanzhou and rested in the Jinhua area, with strong resistance. Wang Zhiren, the commander-in-chief of Dinghai, stationed in Dinghai, and Huang Binqing, the commander-in-chief of Guangxi, retreated to Zhoushan, and in Chongming and Wuhu
There are still many troops from the Hongguang Dynasty in other places, and many generals are still loyal to the Ming Dynasty.
So you should lurk for the time being and wait for the opportunity.
Qian Qianyi finally told his old friend Zheng Zhiyin in the letter that he had always been loyal to the emperor and patriotic, but now he pretended to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, just to leave a useful person to restore the Ming Dynasty. When he goes to Beijing, he will leave Liu Rushi behind, hoping that
Zheng Zhiyin was able to help take care of her then, and said that after arriving in Beijing, he would find a way to resign and return home as soon as possible.
Finally, Qian Qianyi said that given the current situation, only by supporting King Gui in Guangdong and Guangxi to supervise the country, and slowly regaining control of the people's hearts, could it be possible to rule across the river and save half of the Ming Dynasty. He also said that the intruders and the Western Camp had all been defeated.
Even though its demise was imminent, Ming Dynasty also got rid of this inner worry.
At that time, we will negotiate peace with the Qing court and rule the north and the south together.
When Zheng Zhiyin saw this, he frowned and thought.
Zheng Zhiyin did not fully agree with some of Qian Qianyi's judgments. For example, the main force of the Qing army might return north, but even if some troops were left behind, it would be too difficult to reverse the current situation.
Hong Chengchou was nicknamed Hong Madman. Although this man was defeated in the governorship outside the Pass, it does not mean that he is incompetent. On the contrary, Hong Chengchou is extremely capable. Now that he has come to governor Jiangnan, he may be more powerful than Duduo, Azige, and Bo.
Luo and others can still be entangled, because no one knows the officials and army of the Ming Dynasty better than Hong Chengchou.
As for supporting King Gui to supervise the country, Zheng Zhiyin thinks it is even more unreliable. King Gui has no talent and virtue. Although he is indeed the strongest in the order of succession, what Ming Dynasty needs now is not the first one.
Instead, we need a virtuous king who can take on this important responsibility.
In this regard, he felt that the King of Tang was more suitable. After all, the King of Tang was famous for his bravery.
Zheng Zhiyin felt that it was impossible for Qian Qianyi to hope for a comeback of hiding his power and biding his time, or even dividing the north and south of the Yangtze River to rule together in the future. However, as a member of the Donglin Party, he could not convince himself to surrender to the Qing Dynasty like this.
Just like Qian Qianyi also said, they can't die now, because if they die, it will not help the Ming Dynasty or the world. Of course, they can't really surrender to the Qing Dynasty. In that case, their reputation in this half life will be completely ruined, and it will not be helpful to the Ming Dynasty.
For Lin Party members, reputation is the most important thing.
Some people choose to go on hunger strikes, hang themselves, drown themselves, etc. to die for their country, but Qian Qianyi, Zheng Zhiyin and others think that death is very simple. This is not the real choice for elites like them in the Ming Dynasty. They must leave this useful body behind and plot more.
many.
Both Qian Qianyi and Zheng Zhiyin believed that the Ming Dynasty still had popular support in Jiangnan, especially the gentry represented by Donglin and Fushe, who had strong influence and control in Jiangnan. These were the Qing court
It is impossible to have it for the time being.
Now the Qing government has made two mistakes. One is that it is too optimistic and believes that Jiangnan will be sent to Jiangnan, so it decides to start teaching immediately. The second is that it thinks that the world is settled, so it does not take into account the feelings of the soldiers and the people, and imposes the order of shaving hair.
Leave your hair but not your head.
These are big mistakes they made, which will inevitably set off a round of fierce resistance.
Qian Qianyi finally made a request in the letter, hoping that Zheng Zhiyin could help.
That was to ask Zheng Zhiyin to help raise money. He planned to raise one hundred thousand taels of silver. After he arrived in Beijing, he would use the money to bribe the Qing dignitaries to influence the policy towards Jiangnan.
As the leader of Donglin, Qian Qianyi was not only talented, but also very powerful in political maneuvering. He failed in the fight with Wen Tiren and was kicked out of the court. Later, he came back to power by bribing the chief minister Zhou Yanru.
These guys who have been in the officialdom for a long time know very well that money can make all the difference. As long as the money is in place, even Dorgon, the uncle of the regent in Beijing, can do it.
Jiangnan was prosperous, and most of the members of Donglin and Fushe came from noble families. For example, Zheng Zhiyin's family was extremely wealthy, so his son Zheng Zunqian was famous for his heroism and righteousness even when he was young.
It was only by spending a lot of money that he gained the reputation of this righteous young man.
Zheng Zhiyin is sixty years old, tall and thin, with gray beard and hair.
The newly shaved rat tail is also very small and drags behind the head.
He burned the letter he had read many times in a fire pot, and finally broke up the ashes before turning his attention to his son.
"You bastard, what are you doing again?"
"Father, that rat tail is really ugly!" Zheng Zunqian said to his father mockingly.
"Bastard, why are you talking to your father?"
Zheng Zunqian likes to be a knight, is good at making friends, has a wide circle of friends, values righteousness over wealth, and is very famous in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. I think back then, he was also a disciple of the Fushe giant, and he and his friend Xu were both disciples of He Gang.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was not only the peasants who could no longer survive who rebelled, but also many landowners, scholars, merchants, etc. who were dissatisfied with the many policies of the imperial court.
For example, during the Xu Du Rebellion a year ago, Xu Du was a native of Dongyang, Jinhua. He was the grandson of Xu Honggang, the imperial censor of Zuodu, and the grandson of Xu Dadao, the deputy envoy. He studied since he was a child and was known as the son of a famous family. Later, he joined several societies and was reborn.
He became a disciple of He Gang, the leader of the society, and made friends all over Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
In the last years of Chongzhen's reign, the world was in chaos, and celebrities like He Gang believed that preparations should be made early. Seeing Xu Du's bravery and bravery, he asked him to recruit troops.
Xu Du then dispersed his wealth and gathered customers to establish a charity society.
At that time, when the society was restored, the big bosses of several societies, such as He Gang, Chen Zilong, and Xu Fuyuan, all valued Xu Du very much and even directly recommended him to Emperor Chongzhen.
Later, Chongzhen also issued a reply to this memorial, appointing He Gang as the head of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and asked him to return to Yiwu and Dongyang to contact Yiyong, train powerful troops, and appoint Xu Du, Yao Qiyin and others as talents.
If everything was normal, Xu Du's volunteer society would become a powerful volunteer force in Jiangdong. However, something unexpected happened later. The magistrate of Dongyang became corrupt and in the name of preparing for chaos, he blackmailed Xu Du and demanded bribes of tens of thousands of taels of silver, which Xu Du couldn't give for a while.
But the county magistrate urged him urgently.
Xu Du's mother died of illness at that time, and Xu Du went to mourn her. Tens of thousands of friends and neighbors came to pay her respects.
The magistrate of the county praised Xu Du for rebelling, and sent officials to arrest them and seize their property. This made Xu Du angry and raised a flag to rebel. He directly tied the mourning cloth with a white cloth and revolted, which was called the White-headed Army.
Xu Du led his Baitou Army to break through Dongyang, capture Pujiang River, capture Yiwu, and surround Jinhua, which shocked Jiangdong for a while.
Later, due to the rush of the uprising, the government and troops were surrounded on all sides, and the Baitou Army was defeated and retreated into the mountains. Chen Dalong, the leader of the Fushe Society, came out to recruit people and persuade them to surrender. Xu Dou did not want to be implicated too much, and he believed in his best friend Chen Zilong, so he dismissed his troops and led two hundred brothers from the Society.
Please surrender.
As a result, the patrol censor Zuo Guangxian ignored the recruitment conditions reached by Chen Zilong and Xu Du and killed all of Xu and more than 60 people.
When Xu Du was in trouble, Zheng Zunqian, as a good friend of Xu Du, responded immediately. He returned to Kuaiji to gather people to start an uprising. However, when his father Zheng Zhiyin found out, he directly asked his servants to tie up Zheng Zunqian and lock him up in the house.
There, Zheng Zunqian was released only after Xu Du was killed.
Because of this incident, the Zheng family almost severed their father-son relationship.
For Zheng Zunqian, Xu Du was not only a classmate or a good friend, but also a comrade with similar loyalties. Moreover, Zheng Zunqian doted on the concubine Jin at first, and later doted on a maid. As a result, Jin became jealous and poisoned the maid. The person who heard the case
It was Chen Zilong. Chen Zilong didn't like Zheng Zunqian very much, so he wanted to put Zheng Zunqian to death on the same crime as the Jin family.
Later, Xu Du rushed over and interceded with Chen Zilong on his behalf. In the end, not only was Zheng Zunqian innocent, but even the Jin family was spared from death. Zheng Zunqian owed Xu Du a huge favor for this matter.
So after Xu Du's accident, Zheng Zunqian went around asking for favors. Later, Xu Du raised a flag to revolt, and he immediately went home to disperse wealth and recruit troops to respond, but was imprisoned by his father.
After Xu Du died, Zheng Zunqian blamed himself very much.
The relationship between father and son has also become worse and worse.
"My son came here today to tell his father that loyalty and filial piety have been difficult to balance since ancient times. My father went to Hangzhou and chose to shave his head and join the Tartars. This was his father's choice, but his son will never surrender to the Tartars."
Zheng Zhiyin knew that his son had always been like this, and lamented that he had been an official for many years and had neglected to discipline him.
"What are you talking about about loyalty to the emperor and patriotism? Last year, Xu Du rebelled against the imperial court. Didn't you also raise troops to respond to the rebellion? If I hadn't stopped you, you would have become a traitor and become a headless ghost together with Xu Du.
.”
"That's the government forcing the people to rebel."