Chapter 239: Wu Sangui at the Crossroads of History
At dawn the next day, somewhere on the bank of Wuqing River in Tianjin.
Wuqing River is the artificially widened canal channel where the Tonghui River turns south after passing through Tongzhou and Xianghe County.
After the river reaches the Acropolis of Tianjin in the south, it merges into the Wei River and flows all the way to Dagukou, where it flows into the Bohai Sea.
Zhang Yan had been dreaming for an unknown period of time. She felt that her soul was wandering and she was about to see the late Emperor. She was completely unconscious. But in the end, she woke up with soreness and vomiting and instinctively squirted out a few mouthfuls of water.
After being in a daze for a long time, she reluctantly recalled that the carriage they were riding in was stabbed in the butt by her with a sword, and she jumped into the river in pain, and the carriage and the people were swept away by the river.
The Tonghui River is still a natural river, with a certain drop in height, and the water flow speed is not bad. After passing through Xianghe County and turning into the Wuqing River in Tianjin, it is considered a completely artificial canal section. The river surface lacks a drop in height and the flow speed is slow. Their carriage
The wreckage was washed up on the shore and stranded - of course, at this moment, Zhang Yan didn't know all of this, only those with open eyes could know.
Realizing that she was not dead yet, Zhang Yan immediately had an idea. While vomiting desperately, she tried her best to wake herself up completely. Then she began to check the wreckage of the smashed carriage to see if any of her companions were lucky enough to be alive.
She first found her unconscious niece Princess Kunxing, but she didn't care whether she was alive or dead, so she left her alone and then looked for Queen Zhou.
With great difficulty, she dragged her sore body to find Queen Zhou. She had been rushed far away, at least dozens of steps away from the car. Zhang Yan tried her breath and pinched her a few times with all her strength.
I didn’t know much about first aid, so I quickly became exhausted and had to give up.
Queen Zhou had already drowned. She did not know how to swim. After falling into the water while tied to a stone, she swallowed a lot of river water within a few minutes. There was too much water in her lungs. It was almost midnight, so she was naturally unlucky.
Since ancient times, if a drowning person has sucked in a lot of water and then floats up, he is completely dead. Even if the stone in his hand is lost after losing consciousness, it is useless.
If you want to survive, you generally have to rely on great perseverance to hold your breath until you faint when you fall into the water, and then float back to the surface naturally within a quarter of an hour after falling unconscious, without inhaling too much river water into your lungs. People do not struggle and do not inhale too much.
In the case of river water, it is possible to float naturally on the water.
This is mostly the case for sailors who lost consciousness after falling into the sea, washed up on the shore, and finally woke up.
When Zhang Yan saw that Empress Zhou was dead, she was as sad as a rabbit or a fox. She felt quite guilty: she had come up with this way to keep her innocence.
In the end, she survived because of her determination and luck. However, Queen Zhou inevitably died due to poor water quality and panic.
If she can live alone in the world in the future, how can she have the face to meet her brother-in-law and younger siblings when she goes underground a hundred years later? Could she tell Chongzhen: I didn't die myself and didn't come down to accompany the late emperor, but I instigated my younger siblings to come down to accompany you first?
In panic, Zhang Yan suddenly remembered something: She had not yet checked whether her niece, Princess Kunxing Zhu Nuo, was alive or dead. At this moment, out of guilt for the death of Queen Zhou, she took a few breaths and hurriedly crawled out.
Went over to check it out.
After trying to breathe, Zhang Yan had another glimmer of hope: Zhu Lao was still alive! She probably fell into a coma when she fell into the water, so she didn't struggle or inhale too much water. As for the stone tied to her belt, she probably
It was also when the carriage hit the bank of the river bed that the belt of his clothes broke, and he floated to the surface after drifting for some distance.
Zhang Yan hurriedly tried to rescue her, but Zhu Tao's life should not have been cut off. Instead, she was rescued by the Queen's aunt, who was not diligent and did not know how to do any housework. After trying to save her, she faintly woke up with a weak breath and choked herself again.
Get some water out.
"Aunt Huang? Where is this? Father...well, where is the queen mother?" When Zhu Ao mentioned the word father, she couldn't help but look sad.
She recalled in confusion that the last scene she saw before she fainted was her father's head, which was smashed to pieces by the stubborn thief with a mace. She had never seen the world since she was a child, and she had never seen the world without blood.
How could Zhu Tao withstand such a psychological shock? Of course he fainted from shock.
When Zhang Yan was asked this question, she secretly sighed: "Auntie, I'm sorry for you. Your mother has already died for her country. To avoid being humiliated, we all committed suicide by drowning in the river..."
Then she briefly explained the cause and effect without going into details. Zhu Ao was shocked for a long time before accepting so many drastic changes, and felt sad for a while.
Zhang Yan encouraged her, saying that now is not the time to be sad, she should quickly find out where she is and run away as far as possible.
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They briefly searched again, but found no other surviving ladies of the royal family. They only found a comatose palace maid, so they asked the palace maid to help carry the body of Queen Zhou, trying to transfer it, thinking of burying it one day. Unfortunately, the palace maid was also in the same condition.
She was so weak that she had no choice but to leave her behind after carrying it for less than half a mile. She dug a random hole and buried Queen Zhou hastily. Zhang Yan simply marked it, hoping to find it when she came back one day.
After doing all this, the sky was already getting slightly brighter. Zhang Yan could tell which way was the east by looking at the direction of the rising sun. The group of people only dared to find as many tattered palace maid clothes as possible and put them on outside, heading roughly southeast along the canal.
direction.
When you see a crowd, you have to avoid it, and try to smear river mud on your face to avoid exposing your appearance and being coveted.
A group of female prostitutes were already weak and had to be on tenterhooks when going out at night. After hiding and stopping for a whole day, they could only walk thirty miles lightly. Zhu Nuo was already too tired to stand up, and she was still hungry and thirsty.
As pampered queens and princesses, they did not dare to drink raw water from the canal like the refugees for the time being. When night fell again, the exhausted few had no choice but to look for food in the deserted village beside the canal where the people had already fled.
A straw pile for shelter.
After being starved for two whole days, just when they felt that they had to die in the end, there was finally a commotion outside.
This day is already the twelfth day of the first lunar month, and it is also the early morning of the fourth day after the fall of Beijing.
Zhang Yan and Zhu Ao, who had not eaten a grain of rice since the day after the city was broken, were so frightened that they trembled when they heard the sound of cavalry galloping outside the deserted village, and did not dare to move at all.
It took a long time after the soldiers and horses had passed before Zhang Yan asked the surviving palace maid who looked safe to paint her face with black mud and go out to investigate. However, when she came back after a while, she still found nothing - almost all the people nearby had fled, and the woman could not be found at all. And even if the palace maid pretended to be good, she still found nothing.
No matter how ugly you are, you don't dare to talk to a man and inquire about him, lest he is in chaos and the other party is hungry, which will lead to disaster.
Zhang Yan had no choice but to continue to hide and wait for the opportunity.
They also missed the opportunity and had no way of knowing that the group of rogue cavalry that had gone over earlier in the morning was actually going south to meet the 20,000 elite cavalry of Cao Bianjiao, Huang Degong and Zhu Wenzhen sent by Zhu Shuren.
…
Zhu Shuren only learned of the latest situation in Beijing two days after Beijing was captured and more than a day after Chongzhen was killed, and sent Cao Bianjiao and others north to investigate.
Now two more days have passed, and Zhu Shuren's cavalry has arrived at the junction of Hejian Prefecture and Shuntian Prefecture, roughly between Tianjin Wei and Baoding Prefecture. Li Zicheng himself has returned to Beijing, and he does not want to have a confrontation with Zhu Shuren's army immediately.
After the battle, the cavalry was sent south to spread the news that Chongzhen "suicided himself and died for the country", hoping that Zhu Shuren would not go deep alone and waste his efforts in vain.
Otherwise, Zhu Shuren's main force is still in Linqing and Qinghe area, and only 20,000 cavalry troops penetrate deep into the area. If they are really surrounded by hundreds of thousands of the main force of the invading army, these 20,000 cavalrymen are elite and good at fighting, and they will face more than ten times the enemy.
, it is inevitable that there will be heavy casualties.
Li Zicheng believed that Zhu Shuren only wanted to save Chongzhen, rather than fighting him alone. As long as Zhu Shuren saw that there was no point in marching northward immediately, he would probably retreat in spite of the difficulties.
Song Xiance even secretly made malicious speculations and told Li Zicheng: Zhu Shuren might just want to show his loyalty to save Chongzhen with all his strength.
As for whether he really wanted to rescue Chongzhen, Song Xiance was not optimistic at all. However, Li Zicheng did not dare to completely trust Song Xiance's judgment. He was still not as liberal as Song Xiance in maliciously speculating on the enemy's lower limit.
Both sides had their own thoughts, and the cavalry contact battle near Baoding ended in a farce. The two sides only engaged in a short and fierce battle, and then the intruders claimed that Chongzhen had committed suicide and attacked the rescue officers.
Military morale.
Among the generals in the army, Cao Bianjiao had the most experience in fighting with the bandits. He had also fought against the Tatars in Liaodong for many years, and he had the most fiery temper. However, since Hong Chengchou surrendered to the enemy and Cao Bianjiao was rescued by Zhu Shuren, he had restrained himself and had an account in his heart.
, knew that the interests of Guo Xingye's small group should be given priority. When he heard that Chongzhen was dead, he was not too insistent on fighting to the end.
In contrast, Huang Degong was the least afraid of trouble. When he heard that the emperor was dead, he became even more angry and clamored to kill all these regicides. In the end, Zhu Wenzhen, Zhu Shuren's most confidant, stopped him and persuaded him in this way.
:
"General Huang, don't be reckless! The Governor has told us that this time we are not fighting the bandits, but just trying to save him! Since we can't save him, we might as well think long term! Our army is currently out of strength, and the rear army has not kept up.
There is no way to raise food for the protracted war of thousands of miles in Chidi, Hebei, so it is better to plan for it slowly!"
Huang Degong's eyes were about to burst: "As a minister, if your father is murdered and you don't take revenge, you are in vain! Although the intruders are powerful, how many soldiers and horses can this bandit army in front of him have? He can still unite hundreds of thousands of people into one force.
Can't the rope be used? Since we have collided, take the opportunity to destroy one of them, even if it hurts!"
Zhu Wenzhen stopped again: "Have you forgotten the deduction and analysis of the Governor before departure? Now that the capital has been completely washed away, there will definitely be a violent earthquake in the north, which cannot be recovered overnight! Wu Sangui may not hold on to Shanhaiguan and carry the burden at the same time.
Live with the intruders and the Tatars. If the Tatars enter the customs, they will definitely have to fight with the intruders!
The Governor also knows the justice of the nation and will not unite with the invaders to quell the invaders, but he will never ignore the death of the king's father and unite with the invaders to suppress the invaders. Now the only way is to defend and stabilize the provinces until the Tartars and bandits kill each other.
, after each has suffered losses, then take back the Kou Pingqi!
The Governor has long said that if His Majesty is dead and Li Zicheng is alive, it will be impossible to pardon the other thieves. But in the future, as long as Li Zicheng is dead, the imperial court will be able to kill only the first culprit, pardon the rest, and let them serve for the sake of national justice.
! Now we kill them all ourselves, that is to help the Tatars lighten their burden!"
Zhu Shuren did make these remarks before the three generals set off. It must be said that his prediction was a bit excessive. It was completely straight-forward and somewhat unjust.
But Zhu Shuren also felt that these people were his own, so he could speak openly. Zhu Shuren's prophecies had always been very trustworthy, so if he insisted on speaking like this, others would take him seriously.
Huang Degong calmed down again and again before giving up. After a small battle, they each led their troops to retreat.
Although they did not cause huge casualties to the invading army immediately, they actually created a gap indirectly. In the three to five days after Chongzhen's death, the main force of the invading army in Tongzhou and Xianghe areas felt as if they were faced with a powerful enemy and were diverted south to plug the leak.
, and other directions will be further relaxed.
…
Cao Bianjiao, Huang Degong and others returned to report the news of Chongzhen's death to Zhu Shuren.
However, the invading army on the opposite side could not completely believe that Zhu Shuren's troops would retreat so easily, so they remained on alert in the Baoding area for several days, and were held back by a considerable number of troops.
But the day after Cao Bianjiao retreated, something unexpected happened in the direction of Tianjin Wei.
An army of officers and soldiers coming from the sea suddenly landed at Dagukou and entered the old canal route.
The leading generals of the army were, of course, Zhang Mingzhen, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty's coastal defense, and Zheng Chenggong, who came as a temporary guest.
They came north by sea from Huai'an and other places in the north of the Yangtze River nearly half a month ago. When Zhu Shuren gave them the order, he thought that they would definitely not have time to save Chongzhen, so he gave them the order to avoid backfire. Zhu Shuren only hoped for them.
It is possible to release part of the Shanhaiguan Ming army after Chongzhen's death and before Wu Sangui surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, so as not to give the Tatars an advantage.
The defenders of the invading army near Dagukou were of course caught off guard and were unable to organize effective resistance at all, so they simply collapsed and surrendered——
In fact, the Chuang Army had never sent many direct troops in the direction of Dagukou before. At most, they only sent a brigade to receive them.
Because Li Zicheng, who had always thought of land power in the northwest, would have thought that these seaport towns had any military and economic value? Even Tianjin Guards did not block his way into Beijing, so Liu Fangliang, who broke into the South Army Road, originally came from Baoding
Those who came to Beijing, Tianjin Wei were simply ignored.
Later, when Beijing was besieged, the Ming army on the Tianjin Guard side felt weak and sent people to contact them willing to surrender. Li Zicheng did not pay attention to it and directly asked a commander to bring a small number of troops to take over the territory.
Therefore, at least 80% of the troops stationed here were Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers just a few days ago. They had just changed their banners. Now they were attacked by Ming troops again. Of course, they had no intention of fighting and immediately surrendered again.
In particular, the Ming Dynasty implemented the reform of water transportation to sea transportation, which was originally in its fifth year, and Dagukou was the end point of the sea route after the water transportation was converted to sea. Cao grain shipped from the south had to be unloaded at Dagukou and loaded into inland canals.
Then it was transported by small boat from Wuqing River to Tonghui River all the way to Jishuitan in Beijing.
Therefore, the defenders left by the Ming army at Dagukou and Tianjin Guards were originally part of the canal protection system. Zhang Mingzhen led a team to attack them, which was equivalent to the arrival of a real old boss. Who would be willing to resist?
To use an inappropriate metaphor, this is as easy as letting Napoleon bring a boatload of Elba guards to face the fifth division that came to encircle and suppress the "monster of Corsica".
The brigade that Li Zicheng left in Dagukou was directly killed in the rebellion, and a small number of old thieves from his direct line were also overwhelmed and exterminated.
However, they came by sea, which was equivalent to being disconnected for half a month. Therefore, when they first landed, they did not know the situation on the mainland, nor did they know that Chongzhen was dead. Then they seemed to land at Dagukou, killing them.
I entered the Tianjin Guard just to get some information and see if I could save the emperor.
Zhu Shuren never expected them to save the emperor, but they couldn't say this clearly before setting off. They could only let them make a little trial and error. If they were directly ordered to land at Shanhaiguan instead of Tianjin Wei, everything would be ruined and everyone would be confused.
Knowing that Zhu Shuren had completely predicted that the emperor was going to die.
Zhu Shuren could only believe in Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong's ability to adapt to circumstances and give up when things go wrong.
——
ps: The above is a total of 4,500 words... The quality is not very good, I got the December Quanqin... Sorry...
I may have to rest for a few days. People are really weak when they are fat and sick. I need to lose weight in the future... If I am in a good state, I can update occasionally. I will completely resume updating every day after January 5th at the latest. It is impossible to get the perfect attendance award in January anyway.
Well, during the Chinese New Year, I guess I’ll just herd sheep for a few days...
Over the years, I had never dared to herd sheep during the Chinese New Year when my grades were good, but this time my grades were poor.