Chapter 257 Entering Hangzhou in Chapter 3 of the Agreement
"In ancient times, Zhuge captured Meng Huo seven times, but now there are vassals who have surrendered three times and four rebels. It's very powerful."
Zhu Shengli led the way on horseback, not forgetting to ridicule the prefect Zhu. Zhu Guofan just smiled and seemed not to be ashamed at all.
"Why do you have so little etiquette and shame?"
"Yes, yes, the general said everything is right." Zhu Guofan replied calmly.
This directly angered Zhu Shengli. Just as he was about to explode, Yang Boxing, the commander-in-chief of Yulin Town, personally came out to greet him and stopped him in time. "Your Highness summoned Magistrate Zhu."
"Mr. Yang, this guy is so shameless. He jumped sideways six or seven times."
Yang Boxing knew the details of Zhu Guofan, so he calmly said to Zhu Shengli, "Please give the person to me."
Invited Zhu Guofan to the imperial camp, "I have wronged Lord Zhu."
"What Guo Xingye said is correct. I have repeated it many times and it is true."
"I understand Mr. Zhu's good intentions."
Zhu Guofan smiled slightly.
The imperial tent.
Zhu Yihai met with Zhu Guofan, the envoy from Hangzhou who asked for surrender.
As soon as he entered the tent, Zhu Guofan knelt on the ground and sincerely asked for surrender.
"Tian Xiong committed suicide and ordered the civil and military forces of Hangzhou to surrender?"
Zhu Guofan knelt on the ground and said yes without raising his head.
All the civil and military officials in the royal tent were very surprised.
Some people directly suspected that there was fraud.
"Gushou surrender!" Zhu Yihai stood up and said three words directly.
"The soldiers and civilians of Hangzhou, please make a three-chapter agreement with Your Highness!" Zhu Guofan still knelt on the ground and begged.
"explain!"
"I sincerely request that after entering the city, Your Highness will not hold the soldiers guarding the city accountable for their crimes, do not kill innocent people indiscriminately, and do not plunder the people."
"allow!"
So Zhu Guofan kowtowed and thanked him.
"Mr. Xu Ge, please write an imperial edict immediately and make this agreement explicit in three chapters."
Zhu Guofan received 800 taels of silver reward and left the camp to return to the city. On the way, he was taken to another camp by Yang Boxing, where Zhu Yihai was already waiting.
"Zhu Qing."
"Your Highness."
Zhu Yihai stepped forward and held Zhu Guofan's hand, "Zhu Qing has made great achievements."
"Actually, Your Highness has besieged the city for a long time and cut off Hangzhou. Now Hangzhou is in ruins, whether you have ministers or not."
Zhu Yihai pulled him to sit down. Zhu Guofan looked white, fat, and elegant. It was hard to imagine that Master Zhu was such a talented person. He was born in Gongsheng and became an official in Huzhou. If it weren't for the chaos of the Ming and Qing Dynasties,
He may be an ordinary local official, a good official who contributes to the local area and cares for the people.
In this turbulent time, facing the Qing army moving south, his choice can be said to be completely different from that of a traditional loyal minister. When the Qing army came, he advocated surrender in Kaicheng. When the rebels came back, he still took the lead in surrendering. When the Qing army came back, he
We still advocate surrendering Kaicheng without resisting.
Then the Ming army came and he surrendered again.
Anyway, this person is like running water, whoever comes down will fall.
Zhu Yihai still appointed him as the magistrate of Huzhou before, but then the Qing army came again and he surrendered again. The strange thing is that Zhang Cunren of Hangzhou did not punish him. Instead, he felt that this guy was also a talent, so he even summoned him to Hangzhou.
After a detailed discussion, he was first made a fellow magistrate, and then he was promoted to a full-time magistrate.
However, Zhu Yihai did not misjudge him. Although Zhu Guofan would not resist anyone who surrendered to him, he obviously still had Ming intentions. He had been waiting for the opportunity since the siege of Hangzhou.
"What is the specific situation in Hangzhou City now? How did Tian Xiong die?"
"Tian Xiong was stubbornly loyal and had no intention of surrender, so I had no choice but to instigate Xu An and others to have a banquet with Tian Xiong, and then they stabbed him to death at the table. Then he summoned his officers and said that Tian Xiong was afraid of committing suicide and had ordered his surrender."
"Hahaha, you are so bold. This is not in line with your style. Why are you so active this time?"
Zhu Guofan was also very practical, "The five hundred thousand people in Hangzhou have been besieging the city for a long time, and now they are extremely hungry. Cannibalism has already occurred in the city. There are evil people who kidnapped beggars and slaughtered them and sold meat on the black market, called rice meat."
"There is a black market in the city for stone and rice for ten taels of silver, but in fact they are now sold by the bucket, with a bucket of at least two taels of silver, and they are mixed with grains. As for meat and vegetables, they are even more expensive and have no market. If we continue to besiege the city, Hangzhou
It will be hell on earth.”
"I just wanted to protect the people of this city as much as possible and prevent the hellish scene from happening, so I had no choice but to kill Tian Xiong."
Zhu Yihai sighed, "Don't Tian Xiong's generals have any suspicion?"
"They actually all see that there is something wrong with Tian Xiong's death, but the current situation in Hangzhou makes them just want to protect themselves. No one dares to open the city and surrender until Tian Xiong dies. Now that he is dead, this obstacle is gone."
"Hahaha, so they have to thank you in their hearts."
Zhu Guofan told the truth, "Actually, the fall of Hangzhou is only a matter of time. However, thousands of people may starve to death in a few days. I really can't bear it."
"I also know that His Highness actually couldn't bear it, so he made an exception to make a deal with the Biao camp guarding the city, and used food to collect their damaged weapons and armor, etc."
Zhu Yihai waved his hand, "War is always more cruel than people imagine, and I am not as great as you say. The Hangzhou defenders took the initiative to propose a deal, and I agreed. It was just to undermine the morale of the defenders."
After chatting with Zhu Guofan and confirming the situation in Hangzhou, Zhu Yihai took his hand and sent him outside the camp.
"You must be the magistrate of Hangzhou, who else could you be? You continue to be the magistrate of Hangzhou."
Zhu Guofan thanked him and said, "I have only one request. I hope that after His Highness enters the city, he can immediately lift the blockade of Hangzhou and allow grain from Qitang to be transported into the city to alleviate the hunger of the people."
"It's natural. After entering the city, we will immediately pull out a batch of food to help the people."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
"Actually, I should thank you. You first lived in Huzhou and now Hangzhou, opened the city several times, and lived an unknown number of lives. In troubled times, if there are more parents and officials like you, the people will be lucky in the misfortune."
Zhu Guofan resigned.
"Why does Your Highness value this person so much? He is capricious and has no faith."
"Yes, Zhu Guofan is a man of faith, but his faith is not to the emperor, but to the people under his rule. In troubled times, such people are rare and even rarer."
From the emperor's point of view, a minister like Zhu Guofan was rebellious, but to Zhu Yihai, this man was worthy of admiration. In any case, although he was not loyal to the prison country or to the Ming Dynasty, at least he did not do anything
What a bad thing.
Fighting and defending the city are indeed the affairs of the soldiers. If the soldiers cannot defend the city and give up, then why force the civilian officials and the people in the city to die.
Half an hour later, Chen Qianfu came to report that he had received confirmation from the intelligence coming from the city's hidden lines that Tian Xiong was indeed dead, and that Hangzhou Civil and Military Forces were willing to surrender to Kaicheng.
"Let Zhu Guofan lead the civil and military forces of Hangzhou to open the city and surrender. The soldiers and horses in the city will leave the city to disarm, and the flag bearers will enter the city to defend Hangzhou."
After a long siege, Hangzhou was finally captured without a single blow.
