"In our Ming Dynasty, there is no marriage between the Han and Tang Dynasties, nor the annual coins of the two Song Dynasties. The emperor guards the gate of the country, and the king dies in the country. It is the most bloody dynasty."
Zhu Yihai stood on the ruins of Yangzhou City, raised his sword and shouted at the gathered soldiers of the Second Northern Expedition, "The Tartars were originally ministers of the Ming Dynasty, but they rebelled and invaded. They seized my two capitals, invaded my mausoleum, and even killed me."
People of the Ming Dynasty, this hatred is irreconcilable!"
"Gu, the tenth generation grandson of Taizu of the Ming Dynasty and the eleventh generation of King Lu, is now the regent of the country, acting as a herdsman on behalf of Tian, and personally leading the Sixth Division to the Northern Expedition against the Tartars!"
Taking the oath to fight for the Northern Expedition under Yangzhou City has a special significance.
This once the most prosperous capital city in the south of the Yangtze River has now become a ghost town and an empty city. In just one year, the city has been destroyed three times. The Qing army went south, and Shi Kefa led the soldiers and civilians to hold on. The Qing army used red cannons to bombard the city. After the city was destroyed, the Qing Dynasty
The army massacred the city for ten days. The city was full of corpses and the ditches were filled with blood.
The Qing army re-operated this important salt-canal town, stationed troops to garrison it, relocated households, and re-transported salt by canal. However, Ruan Jin and Huang Binqing attacked it again last time, destroyed the city walls and took away the salt and grain before abandoning the defense.
Yan Wogong and Ma Guozhu sent troops to guard the city and recruited civilians to repair the city wall. The city wall had just been repaired, and Zhu Yihai led his troops to kill him.
Being caught off guard.
Under the protection of his own soldiers, he escaped back to Jiangning with only his own life. All his subordinates, 380 Banners and 3000 Green Battalions, were captured.
Zhu Yihai ordered the three hundred and eighty bannermen to be beheaded at the foot of Yangzhou City to commemorate the soldiers and civilians who died in Yangzhou, and also to commemorate Shi Kefa and other fallen soldiers.
This was the second time that the Ming army recaptured the city of Yangzhou. Yangzhou changed hands four times in more than a year.
Although Yangzhou had long been destroyed, this was still a major blow to the Qing army.
Jiangning.
After Chen Tai fled back to Jiangning, he pleaded guilty to Duke Jinglueyan and asked him to send him a troop of troops to take back Yangzhou.
"Please give me ten thousand horses."
Lord Yan helped the Tatar up and comforted him with kind words.
"Last time Liu Liangzuo fled without fighting and defended Yangzhou. As a result, the important town of Caoyan easily fell into the hands of the Ming army. They robbed the salt and grain boats and then destroyed them. The general was stationed in Yangzhou. The city walls had not even had time to be repaired. The Ming army launched a massive raid.
, the loss of defense is also a non-war crime."
This Chen Tai is also called Chen Tai. He is an authentic Manchurian Xianghuang Banner, the grandson of the first-class Gongquayidu, the founding hero of the Tatars, the son of Cherge, and the son of a general in the early Qing Dynasty.
Although this guy holds the title of Minister of Rites, he relied on his own ability and made many meritorious deeds in the conquests of North Korea, Li Zicheng, and the Ming Dynasty, and he just earned the rank of a first-class La Zhangjing.
But he was also rather unlucky.
Because Liu Liangzuo had previously abandoned Yangzhou and fled to Huai'an, and was approached by the Ming army, Liu Liangzuo asked Jiangning and Beijing for help. When the regent saw this, he also felt a headache.
Finally, Chen Tai took the initiative to ask for help and was willing to go south to relieve the imperial court.
So Dorgon appointed Chentai as the first governor of water transportation in the Qing Dynasty. He also transferred the capital to the Huaihe and Huaihe salt transportation and governor of Jiangbei.
, the title is also high, directly from the first rank.
Originally, after the Qing army went south, there was no water transport governor according to the old Ming system. But now from Hangzhou to Huai'an, water transport is almost paralyzed. Even Huaiyang, a major salt production and marketing center, has been captured by the Ming army. For the Qing Dynasty, this is simply worse than
Nanjing is still alive if it is captured.
After the Qing army entered the customs, their military operations were too smooth, which also caused their business to expand many times. Hundreds of thousands of newly surrendered troops were admitted and reorganized into the green camp, and a large number of officials were also added. This all led to a large increase in expenses, and even more
Not to mention that the war is still going on in the south, and it has become more and more intense recently.
These all cost money.
The grain from the Susong area around Taihu Lake and the salt from the Huaihe River are all things that the Qing government in Beijing relies on for its lifeblood. But now this lifeblood is in the hands of the Ming army. How can this be done?
Chen Tai galloped up his horse and rushed to Huai'an with only 500 cavalry. As soon as he arrived in Huai'an, he immediately asked Liu Liangzuo to mobilize 3,000 green troops to go south and go straight to Yangzhou.
His trip south went smoothly, and the Ming army did not stop him. However, as soon as he entered Yangzhou, he was busy repairing the city of Yangzhou, summoning salt merchants from Huaihe and Huaihe, and re-discussing the transportation and sales of Huaiyan salt. As a result, the Ming army came over.
.
When Chen Tai saw the Ming warships directly bombarding the city with red cannons, he immediately asked the green battalion to defend the city, and then he quietly changed clothes and escaped.
Although he, the Governor of Water Transport, was of the first rank, he still had to be under the control of Yan Wo Gong, the manager of the five provinces in the south of the Yangtze River. He had just lost the city and had to come to Yan Wo Gong to send troops to help him regain it.
"Master Chen, the current situation in Jiangning is very pessimistic. I just gave the last bit of money and food to several Manchu adults in Bashan and asked them to lead their troops south to rescue General Kangkara in Changzhou. Now Jiangning has neither money, food nor soldiers.
Available."
Chen Tai didn't bother to explain to Mr. Yan that his surname was not Chen but Niu Hulu. Anyway, Manchus usually used first names instead of surnames, and it was common for Han people to use the first character of their names as surnames.
Now his mind is full of the need to take Yangzhou back.
"Yan Jinglue, the imperial court is still waiting for the grain and salt taxes from Jiangnan to arrive in Beijing."
Mr. Yan sighed, "There's nothing I can do about it. It's not that I said bad things about my predecessor. Hong Jinglue was in Jiangning before and gutted the foundation of this place. Now I am trying my best to repair it. Now I am still looking forward to the autumn harvest.
Well, the Green Camp here is no longer usable, and the main committee members, Admiral Chen and Admiral Zhang, etc., have to wait for General Tan Tai to go south before they can fully reorganize and fight the war."
"You also know that Wu Shengzhao, Li Chengdong and others have just surrendered to the rebellion, Suzhou has been lost for the third time, Suzhou's water transportation has been completely blocked, and now even the Yangtze River has been cut off by the Ming Navy, and my strategic commander can't even leave Jiangning.
city,"
Yan Wo Gong showed his hands to Chen Tai.
"Fortunately, good news has come back from Huguang, which finally opened up the situation. Now we are waiting for the autumn grain harvest. Only after the autumn grain is collected by the local governments can the current predicament be alleviated. Otherwise, nothing can be done."
"Jingsuo, Minglu Supervisor personally proposed that the army march north, we just sit back and watch?"
Yan Wogong said bluntly, "The emperor has no shortage of hungry soldiers. How can he go out to fight without food? The soldiers and horses have not moved, and the food and grass go first. But first Jiang Ning and the King of Yu returned to the capital, taking away a large amount of money and food, and then Hong Jinglue
I went to Huguang with Prince Shuncheng and others and took away the rest."
"What can you do if we take over this mess now? All the food in the hands of the people has been levied, and now how many hungry people have gathered outside Jiangning City."
"But just let them occupy Yangzhou, then attack Huai'an, and even attack all the way to Shandong, threatening Zhili and Beijing?" Chen Tai became anxious.
"Commander Cao, you are well aware of the situation in the south of the Yangtze River. Don't say we have no food, no money, no soldiers. Even if we have all the money, food and soldiers, can we cross the Yangtze River?"
"The navy of the Ming Army blocked the Yangtze River. You have also experienced the power of gunboats. We used canoes and sand ships to transport troops across the river. We are afraid that when the ships reach the river, they will be bombarded and sunk to the bottom of the river."
"Let's wait, wait until the governors have collected the autumn grain, wait until the admirals have organized the green camp, wait until Jiangning has built new ships, then we will go on the expedition!" Yan Wo was fair.