"Your Highness, Liu Liangzuo from Huai'an sent someone to send a congratulatory gift."
"A congratulatory gift? What congratulatory gift?" Zhu Yihai was a little surprised.
"The visitor said it was a congratulatory gift for the Double Ninth Festival. I would like to make up for the Mid-Autumn Festival gift by the way." Yang Boxing presented the gift list to Zhu Yihai. Liu Liangzuo also sent a lot of congratulatory gifts, including one thousand taels of gold, twenty thousand taels of silver, and other kinds of pearls and corals.
There were many, and a pair of Yangzhou thin horses were given to him.
"Your Highness, does Liu Ma Liu want to surrender anyway?" Yang Boxing couldn't help but ask.
"That's not necessarily true. This guy just wants to keep his current position." Zhu Yihai has seen through people like Liu Liangzuo for a long time. He has no regard for the country and the country, loyalty and integrity in his heart. They just want to preserve their strength and wealth in troubled times.
As for who to be loyal to, it just depends on who is stronger.
Now he was sending congratulatory gifts, and he was obviously begging for mercy. He didn't want Zhu Yihai to go to Huai'an, and he didn't want Zhu Yihai to kill him.
"Here is another envelope."
People in the Ming Dynasty had a habit of sending two letters at a time. Instead, the main letter was just polite and the important content was placed in the secondary letter.
Deputy Liu Liangzuo told Zhu Yihai in the letter that the Qing Dynasty General Tan Tai, He Luohui and 30,000 elite reinforcements led by King Sanshun had arrived at Yanzhou Prefecture from Jinan. Tan Tai was in Jinan, Dongchang, Yanzhou and Qingzhou in Shandong.
The Denglai prefectures not only collected grain and fodder and recruited civilians to transport grain, but also launched their ambitions against Zhu Yihai after they reached Yanzhou. They dug up the graves of ancestors of the Lu vassal, dug out Zhu Yihai's grandfather, father, brother, etc., crushed their bones and scattered them into ashes.
There was even massacre in the local area.
Ziyang, Yanzhou, where Lu Fan was originally located, was massacred by Tan Tai. After massacring all the people in Ziyang City, Tan Tai also changed the original Prince Lu's Mansion in Yanzhou City into the Mancheng City where the Eight Banners were stationed, and leveled Lu Fan's cemetery into
Military Horse Ranch.
Twenty-three counties in the four prefectures of Yanzhou Prefecture were thoroughly scanned.
Lu Fan enfeoffed the town of Yanzhou for more than 200 years, and divided it into a total of 18 counties and kingdoms, with a total of more than 70 county kings. During the war in the late Ming Dynasty, although most of the Lu Fan clan went south, there were still some Lu Fan.
The clan members were unable to go south, and most of them were lieutenants who had traveled far away. These people usually had a difficult life, and were even suffering from hunger and cold. They were unable to engage in the four industries and could not leave the fiefdom.
The Shun army and the Qing army successively occupied Shandong. They did not even have the ability to escape and had no choice but to stay.
Originally, the Qing army pretended to give preferential treatment to the Ming Dynasty clans in these remaining places and provided corresponding salaries according to their grades. But now Tan Tai raised his butcher knife and hunted and killed these clans.
The Prince Lu's Mansion of Lu Fan, as well as the princes, generals, lieutenants, and even the sons-in-law and in-laws of the Lu Fan family were also raided. The royal houses, minerals, shops, etc. owned by the Lu Fan clan were completely confiscated.
Those who were related to the feudal lord were also punished.
Obviously, Tan Tai's 30,000-strong army was unable to move south quickly due to insufficient supply of grain and grass. However, the situation in Shandong was not optimistic either. Without grain transportation to the north, there was not much surplus grain left in Shandong alone.
They could only plunder the common people, but in the past two years, the Qing army and the Ming army had repeatedly fought for them and washed them over and over again. There were deserted fields everywhere, and people fled in large numbers.
After collecting food and grass, Tan Tai had no choice but to attack the wealthy households in Shandong.
Not only the Lu vassal of Yanzhou, but also several other sects suffered the same fate.
Several large vassals have been in Shandong for nearly three hundred years. Who among the big families with some status in various places does not have some connections with them?
In this round of catastrophe, except for those families who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, basically everyone was involved.
"Are the Tatars so reduced to digging graves?" Zhu Yihai just sneered after hearing this.
When the Tatars first entered the customs, they still used the banner of revenge for Chongzhen against the invaders. They paid tribute to Chongzhen hypocritically, and issued an edict to give preferential treatment to the Ming clan, and all former Ming officials were appointed with their original titles.
Even the gentry from all over the country were given preferential treatment.
But now they have begun to completely tear off the disguise. It is not that they no longer need it, but that they can no longer pretend. The war continues to be unresolved and dragged on for a long time. The Tatars now have no time to take care of themselves. The two major granaries in Jiangnan and Huguang are rotten, the canals are blocked, and wars are happening in various places.
If it doesn't go well, military expenditures, casualties, rewards and pensions, etc. are all rising.
The Tatars had no money left in their hands, and there was even a risk of a repeat of the war. At this time, they no longer cared about preferential treatment to the royal family, the gentry, or face.
The Tatars are already anxious.
This is a good thing.
"Your Highness, I express my condolences. I swear that I will cut Tan Tai's body into thousands of pieces in the future, cut out his heart and liver, and offer sacrifices to your Highness's ancestors."
Zhu Yihai didn't have much special feelings for the ancestors of Lu Fan who had their graves dug up. If they knew what the Ming Dynasty was like now, they would probably have had trouble sleeping underground and would have lifted up the coffin boards to come out.
"This Tan Tai is a ruthless person and will probably go south earlier than we expected."
By burning, killing and looting, Tan Tai was able to immediately raise a large amount of money and food to speed up his journey south, but Zhu Yihai could not stay in Yangzhou for long.
"Since Huama Liu is so polite to us and has given us a gift as a gift, we must go back and pay a visit. Send an order to the whole army to rush to Huai'an Mansion at full speed."
Huama Liu sent gifts and reported messages, but it was not all out of good intentions. He clearly meant to threaten Zhu Yihai, telling Tan Tai that he had already arrived and asking him not to bother him in Huai'an again.
But Zhu Yihai was unwilling to let Huai'an go.
Huai'an, as the former residence of the Ming Dynasty Water Transport Governor and an important transit point for the Lianghuai Salt Industry, had to be demolished.
······
Huai'an Prefecture, Shanyang City.
When the envoy sent to Yangzhou returned, Liu Liangzuo asked, "Have you collected everything? Have you seen anyone?"
"Going back to my father, I have collected everything, and my son has also met Lu Jianguo."
The person Liu Liangzuo sent to deliver the gifts was his son Liu Zehan, but he went there pretending to be General Qian of the Chinese Army. Liu Zehan ventured south this time just to see the strength of the Ming army, and to see whether the leader of the Northern Expedition was
As the Ming army preached, it was Lu Jianguo who personally proposed the imperial camp.
"Is it really Lu Jianguo?"
"There is no mistake. When King Lu fled south, he arrived in Huai'an with King Fu and other six kings. My son had seen him before."
"Did he recognize you?"
"No, my son did not dare to reveal his identity. My son knows King Lu, but King Lu does not recognize his son."
"Is Lu Jianguo really as brave and decisive as the rumors say?"
Liu Zehan nodded, "My son saw with his own eyes that King Lu beheaded three hundred and eighty captives under Yangzhou City. He even killed one person with his own sword and cut his heart out and took out his liver to commemorate the soldiers and civilians who died in Yangzhou such as Shigebu. He killed him first with one sword
He chopped off the head of the Eight Banners leader with neat movements and no fear on his face. Then he calmly took out the knife and disemboweled the leader and took out his heart and liver. From the beginning to the end, he looked calm and calm."
Liu Liangzuo couldn't help being horrified when he heard that a vassal king could be so ruthless. Even some veterans might not be able to do this kind of thing.
"Also, the imperial camp of the Supervisory State has indeed been renovated. Although the armor ratio is less than 30%, the morale is very high. Those soldiers and generals have a rare determination, which is not even weaker than Huang Degong's Yongwei camp back then."
"And they have many ships, and the big bird ship is equipped with many cannons."
Liu Liangzuo nodded, "Chen Tai's defeat is not unjust."
"Father, there is one more thing. As soon as my son left, the Jianguo army has already sent its troops north. Right now, it is not far behind and can reach the gates of Huai'an City at any time."
Liu Liangzuo was shocked, "Didn't you tell him that Tan Tai and King Sanshun were coming with 30,000 troops to kill?"
"I told you, but Lu Jianguo still came."
hiss!
Liu Liangzuo was horrified.
"What should we do? Tan Tai has led thirty thousand troops to kill us, and Lu Jianguo has personally proposed the Sixth Division of the Royal Battalion to go north. We are caught in the middle, so why don't we become cannon fodder?"
In the midst of panic.
The soldiers reported that a flag officer sent by General Tan Tai had arrived.
Liu Liangzuo complained of illness and asked his Chinese troops to receive him first.
Half an hour later, the Chinese army came to report that the flag officer was here to read the order of the Beijing court. The regent issued an order that Liu Liangzuo would be dismissed from his post as a crime for abandoning the city and losing land, and asked him to hand over his military power and immediately return to Beijing to await his punishment.
heard this news.
Liu Liangzuo's face looked gloomy and uncertain.
"Just give me a few thousand old and weak men, how can I defend Yangzhou? Isn't Chen Tai always said to be brave, but if he leads thousands of people, he still fails to defend Yangzhou?"
Liu Liangzuo stood in the hall and walked around, getting more and more angry as he talked, "When I brought one hundred thousand people to my side, how did the Tatars treat me? They took away my troops and horses, and left me idle. Now they still want to accuse me of this."
, it’s really unreasonable.”
Liu Zehan also persuaded Liu Liangzuo not to return to Beijing.
But his nephew Liu Zehong urged him to return to Beijing.
Liu Zehan glared at his cousin, "You are worried that it will affect your father and son's future, so you don't care about my father and son's life and death, right?"
Liu Zehong served as deputy general under Liu Liangzuo. His father Liu Liangchen was originally a guerrilla under Zu Dashou. After the defeat at Dalinghe, he surrendered with Zu Dashou in the fourth year of Chongzhen. After entering the pass, he became the deputy commander-in-chief of Ningwuguan and was just promoted to the commander-in-chief of Gansu.
.
Liu Liangzuo surrendered to the Qing Dynasty more than ten years later than his brothers. After surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, he joined the Han army and held a yellow flag like his brothers.
Compared with his brother Liu Liangchen, who was more important in the Qing army, Liu Liangzuo's status was more embarrassing after he was demoted to the Qing Dynasty. Although on the surface, the Qing army retained his title of Earl of Guangchang, in fact, the Ming Dynasty title was of little use in the Qing Dynasty.
, this earl is worse than a worldly official.
Once one of the four towns in Jiangbei, it has now fallen to this level, with a huge gap.
Huama Liu also scolded her in her heart.
He had been idle when he accompanied Duduo to conquer the south of the Yangtze River. Now that he has returned to Beijing, he is afraid that like Liu Zeqing, he will have to stay in the capital and wait to die.
Liu Liangzuo was not reconciled, otherwise he would not have allowed his son to go to Yangzhou to give gifts to Lu Jianguo.
"Since the Tatars are unkind, don't blame me for being unjust!" Liu Liangzuo gritted his teeth and directly scolded the Manchu adults for the Tatars.
"Uncle, think twice," Liu Zehong persuaded loudly.
"Zehan, hurry out of the city and go south to see Lu Jianguo. When you meet, you will directly identify yourself and say that I have led my troops to occupy Huai'an City anyway. Please ask the Jianguo to come and take over."
After saying that, he called his servants and had his nephew Liu Zehong imprisoned first, then imposed a martial law on Huai'an and announced a defection and uprising!