The Emperor of Heaven ignored the dissuasion and personally led his troops to Laizhou City, and sent several surrender troops from Dengzhou to convey a message to Geng Zhongming to persuade him to surrender.
"Last year, I made an expedition to the Central Plains and reached the gates of Yanzhou City. Unfortunately, I was unable to meet Geng Shuai. Now I am coming back despite the hardships, hoping to meet the general face to face.
I hope that the general can return to the Ming Dynasty anyway. If the general can abandon the darkness and return to the Ming Dynasty, and then serve the Ming Dynasty, I will never let him down. I will be treated as a marquis, hereditary, and a vassal will last forever.
If the general still stays in the prison, I will not force him, and I can even lift the siege in the north of Laizhou and let the general and his men leave. I will do what I say, no need to doubt it!"
"Father, this must be a lie." Geng Zhongming's son Geng Jimao shouted. "Come here, take these surrendered soldiers out and chop them down."
The Dengzhou surrendered soldiers were so frightened that they kowtowed repeatedly after being released to deliver the message.
"That's enough!" Geng Zhongming waved his hand, "These brothers also escaped from death. Take them here and give them a table of wine and meat to entertain them. From now on, they can return to the Wang Jia Ding camp."
"Father?" Geng Jimao was puzzled, "Wouldn't this shake the morale of the army?"
The tall Geng Zhongming said coldly, "It's not your turn to teach me how to do things for my father. Get out."
After Geng Jimao was scolded and ran away, the other miscellaneous people were also driven away by Geng Zhongming. In the end, only the confidants Xu Degong, Lian Decheng and Chen Shaozong were left.
These three people are all old brothers who have been with him for many years. General Xu Lian is the commander-in-chief of his left and right wings, and Chen Shaozong is his deputy general in the central army.
"What do you think?" Geng Zhongming asked the three of them.
The three generals all followed Geng Er all the way and were loyal. However, when faced with this problem, they did not dare to speak randomly.
Different from Kong Youde, Shang Kexi and others, Geng Zhongming actually invested in Hou Jin very early. He was an officer of the Gaizhou Guard in Liaodong. He was the first among the three kings to be surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and became Qian Zongzong.
But later he led the Liao people to defect to Pidao and returned to the Ming Dynasty. He followed the commander-in-chief Mao Wenlong and adopted him as his adopted grandson. He was named Mao Youjie. At that time, Kong Youde was young and weak but brave. Geng Zhongming was literate and resourceful, so Mao Wenlong asked Kong Youde to command his servants.
, let Geng Zhongming be in charge of logistics, money and food.
However, Geng Zhongming was actually as brave and tough as Kong Youde.
Later, Mao Wenlong died, and he and Kong Youde surrendered to Sun Yuanhua, the governor of Denglai. However, in the end, Kong Youde's soldiers on the way to aid Liao mutinied and joined the rebellion. After the separatist regime in Denglai failed, they had to cross the sea and surrender to Houjin.
When Kong Youde, Mao Chenglu and others wanted to surrender, Geng Zhongming was actually unwilling, because he originally surrendered first and then rebelled, but later he surrendered anyway when he had no other choice, and Huang Taiji was indeed very good to him.
Granted the title of king.
However, being able to surrender repeatedly is enough to show that Geng Zhongming is not a loyal person at heart.
After he arrived in Denglai from Dongjiang, he had been smuggling with Houjin secretly. In the fifth year of Chongzhen, one of the two smuggling ships intercepted by Huang Long, the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang, belonged to him. The other ship was owned by the King of Fubiao Zhongjun.
It belonged to the courtier's eldest brother, but the cargo on both ships actually belonged to Geng Zhongming.
Because Huang Long seized Geng Zhongming's smuggling ship and arrested his confidant Li Mei, Geng Zhongming asked his younger brother Geng Zhongyu to encourage the sergeants to mutiny, surrounded Huang Long and beat him half to death. Later, Shang Kexi sent troops to suppress the rebellion.
Even if Geng Zhongming later reduced his royalties, he was still highly valued by Huang Taiji and even made him king.
But Geng Zhongming was not really loyal to Hou Jin. For example, shortly after Jin surrendered, the generals of Kong Youde and Shang Kexi impeached Geng Zhongming for invading their tribesmen.
In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Geng Zhongming's own general Shi Mingxiong impeached him for secretly hiding the population of Songshan and Xingshan. Geng Zhongming even secretly sheltered and hid the slaves of the Eight Banners, and even after some of the escapees were executed according to law, he They also collected the corpses and offered sacrifices to them.
In the second year, Geng Zhongming learned about Shi Mingxiong's secret impeachment of him, and planned to kill him secretly. Then after Shi Mingxiong found out, he conspired with other generals Song Guofu, Pan Xiao, etc. to kill Geng Zhongming first. .
But in the end, Geng Zhongming made a clever move and killed all the generals who were loyal to Hou Jin but unwilling to be loyal to him, and then reported to the court that they were plotting a rebellion and surrendering.
In fact, after Geng Zhongming surrendered, the Jin Dynasty often engaged in illegal activities such as robbing other generals and subordinates, even hiding people's homes, accepting donations in violation of regulations, and secretly smuggling them to North Korea and the Ming Dynasty.
The goal is of course profit, to stabilize and enhance one's own strength.
Last year, he entered the customs with the army and followed Azig Duduo and others to attack the city and plunder the territory. Geng Zhongming did not make many achievements, but he led his troops to plunder most actively and robbed many people, livestock, money, food, etc.
After the class, he also received awards: mink fur, python clothes, good horses, a hundred taels of gold, and ten thousand taels of platinum.
But last year, he sent troops to Shandong again according to the order, and the result was a gratifying defeat, but he refused to save him and just watched him being surrounded and committing suicide.
However, the Qing government did not dare to punish him afterwards. Instead, it rewarded him and granted his son the title of Ang Bang Zhang Jing.
"In Dongjiang, there were four generals under Marshal Mao, but now I am the only one left."
Geng Zhongming sighed.
Among the four generals he mentioned, in addition to King Sanshun who later surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, there was also Mao Chenglu. Mao Chenglu was Mao Wenlong's nephew and adopted son.
After Mao Wenlong's death, Mao Chenglu retained him and led the Pidao Army to station in Guanglu Island.
Geng Er and Kong Youde rebelled in Denglai. Mao Chenglu immediately responded with 7,000 island troops without saying a word and rushed to Dengzhou to land. He was one of the five leaders of the Dengzhou rebels at that time.
This Mao Da was extremely fierce and brave. When Dengzhou was besieged, although he was sitting in the trapped city, he still defeated the Ming army repeatedly. In the end, he massacred the people and ate people for food, but refused to surrender. Later, he went to sea to invest in Houjin. Mao Da was captured by Huang Long on Shuangdao. Shang Kexi was defeated, captured, sacrificed, and finally executed in Ling Chi.
Mao Da was the fiercest, but he was also the earliest to die. He actually died at the hands of Shang Kexi.
Last year, it was gratifying that he did not save anyone and caused his death. It was regarded as a revenge for the world and at the same time he avenged Mao Da.
Grain capsules
But I didn't expect that Kong Youde also died.
Of the four generals in Dongjiang, he is the only one left now.
Geng Zhongming was obviously extremely shocked.
In particular, he and Kong Youde have always had a very good relationship, they are like brothers and have been brothers for more than ten years.
"The current situation reminds me of the time when Lao Kong, Mao Da and others were here to rebel against the Ming Dynasty many years ago," he sighed. "The city of Laizhou is far inferior to Dengzhou. Back then we held on to Denglai. It took several months, but it finally failed.”
"It seems now that the situation is worse than it was back then."
Back then, they were trapped in Denglai, and in the end they had no choice but to eat people for food. However, they were still defeated and had to retreat to the sea. But now, the Ming army came from the sea, and they completely controlled the sea.
Now Laizhou is surrounded on all sides, and it is impossible to escape to the sea.
There is not much food in the city.
"We sent out multiple routes to ask for reinforcements. The reinforcements should arrive soon." Xu Yougong said.
Geng Zhongming shook his head.
"There will be no reinforcements, or the reinforcements will not be able to reach Laizhou City."
"Since Emperor Shao Tian can go around like this, land in Shandong, and raid Denglai, how can he not have any arrangements? And how did you and I survive in Yanzhou City last year?"
"Don't you still know what's going on over there in Xu Huai? You're all waiting for the newly ripe wheat to satisfy your hunger!"
Listening to his tone, Lian Decheng was surprised and said, "Then the prince wants to change things anyway? But can the Emperor of Heaven really accept us?"
"I think Emperor Shao Tian is a master of great talent and strategy, and he will never be worse than Taizong of the Qing Dynasty."
At that time, Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty and Huang Taiji were able to accept him, a Ming general who had surrendered but then rebelled, and then returned in dire straits. Zhu Yihai must be very sincere when he comes to surrender now, after all, the Ming Dynasty has now lost the Central Plains.
"But Emperor Shaotian is only willing to grant him the title of Duke." Chen Shaozong said.
Geng Er laughed loudly.
"Princes in troubled times don't compare like this."
"The general feels that the prince is always stronger than the duke."
Geng Zhongming shook his head, "When the Qing Dynasty was founded, the Han generals who surrendered could only be granted the title of three kings. But look at how many Han generals the court has made kings and how many Han generals it has made dukes."
In the past, there were only three, which seemed quite valuable, but now Beijing is constantly granting kings and dukes, and there are a lot of them. The short-term titles offered are quite tempting. They say they are creating provinces and vassals, but the problem is that you have to
Go and call back yourself first.
But now Geng Zhongming is surrounded in Laizhou City and is in danger.
Even in the Qing Dynasty, the current situation is not optimistic.
If you are lucky, you may be able to maintain the separation of the north and the south. If you are not lucky, you may be pushed back to your hometown outside the customs. This thing is really uncertain, just like who would have thought that the intruder Li Zicheng would be surrounded and suppressed by the imperial court.
Only eighteen horses were left to enter Shangluo, but they were able to quickly sweep through the Central Plains and eventually make their way into Beijing.
And who would have thought that if the Qing army took the opportunity to send troops, Wu Sangui would open Shanhaiguan and lead the way into Beijing?
The Dashun Dynasty died all of a sudden?
To be honest, Geng Zhongming can't understand the world situation at all now, but he knows that no matter how the world's general trend divides and merges in the future, he must live first.
Otherwise, let's stop talking.
Kong Youde, Shang Kexi would rather die than surrender to the Ming Dynasty, but Geng Zhongming is different.
Well, why should you die?
It is better to live than to die, not to mention the green hills left behind, so there is no need to worry about running out of firewood.
"I'm afraid that if we surrender now, it would be better if both sides don't fall. Then neither side will trust us, and we will not be human inside or outside."
"It all depends on people." Geng Zhongming sighed. He was the only one of the four generals in Dongjiang back then, and he didn't want to fall too.
"Send your brothers quietly out of the city to reply to Emperor Shaotian."
Geng Zhongming is willing to talk, but there are conditions.
"I am willing to return to the Ming Dynasty anyway and serve the Ming Dynasty again, but my soldiers and I are not willing to stay in Shandong. I hope that your majesty will allow me to lead my troops to sea, go to Pidao, and reopen Dongjiang Town. My soldiers and I are willing to serve the imperial court
Open up a new battlefield behind Liaodong!"
As soon as Geng Er's plan was revealed, the three generals were stunned.
