Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 109 Meaning
Tingzhou Prefecture, in the government hall, Li Chengdong sat in the main seat, and below stood Luo Chengyao, Ma Bao, Du Yonghe, Yan Keyi, Li Yuanyin and other generals.
In the hall stood an old man wearing a long gown with a cross collar. He was thin and had chains and shackles on his hands, but he stood straight and calmly.
After assisting the Qing army in capturing and killing Emperor Longwu, Li Chengdong gained the trust of the Qing court and was now able to lead his own army.

Tingzhou was the prefecture that the Qing government gave to Li Chengdong. Li Chengdong could raise food and fodder to support his army in Tingzhou.

In this area, apart from the Qing military order, almost no one can check Li Chengdong.
The old man standing in the hall was named Fu Guan, a former Dongge Grand Secretary during the Longwu Dynasty.

After the Qing army captured Fuzhou, the ministers of the Longwu Dynasty also scattered. Some directly opened the city to surrender to the Qing court, some fled to Guangdong Province under the leadership of Lu Daqi to support the establishment of the King of Gui, and some did not even have time to escape and had to hide among the people.

After Emperor Longwu was killed, Fu Guan fled Fuzhou and had nowhere to go, so he hid in the home of Jiang Henglong, a gentry in Tingzhou.
When the Qing army arrived in Tingzhou, they heard that there were Ming dynasty officials who had fled there, so they launched a massive hunt for them.

Originally, Fu Guan's whereabouts were unknown, but Jiang Henglong saw that the Qing army was chasing him very urgently, and fearing that Fu Guan would be exposed and implicate himself, he tied Fu Guan up and prepared to send him to the Tingzhou government office.

Fu Guan was tied up and knew he could not escape, so he suggested that he commit suicide. However, Jiang Henglong was afraid that people would report him for hiding the former cabinet ministers and that his family would be implicated, so he did not even allow him to commit suicide. He tied Fu Guan to the Tingzhou government office overnight and handed him over to Li Chengdong to surrender to the Qing court.

Li Chengdong looked at Fu Guan in the hall, his face was furious, he suddenly stood up, walked directly to the hall, and shouted coldly to the soldiers guarding one side
"Who told you to wait and put the shackles on Mr. Fu? Go now."

The soldier beside him looked very unhappy when he heard this, and then he hurried forward and took off the chain from Fu Guan's hand.

Fu Guan watched the soldier take off the chains, but his face was calm. He neither stopped nor thanked him. He just stood in the hall with his hands down.
Li Chengdong saw that the shackles were gone, pointed to the chair on the left, and stretched out his hand to invite

"Mr. Fu, please take a seat."

Fu Guan did not move when he heard this. He still stood in the hall with a calm expression, looking at Li Chengdong in front of him, and said

"Thank you for taking care of me these days. Please tell me why you called me here today."

Fu Guan had been tied up in the Tingzhou government office for half a month, but Li Chengdong had not tortured him during this period, and Fu Guan had not even been put in the cell.
Li Chengdong arranged him in a courtyard, except that he was not allowed to enter and leave freely, everything else was almost the same as that of ordinary people.
Fu Guan also behaved as usual, asking Li Chengdong and others for wine and poetry every day, indulging in poetry and books, as if he was completely unaware that he was in the prison of the enemy camp.
Li Chengdong saw Fu Guan's expression, and his heart sank slightly. He was silent for a moment, and then he spoke softly.

"Tingzhen respects Lord Yuanfu as a person. Lord Yuanfu was a minister in the previous dynasty. If he follows the rules and shaves his head, Tingzhen will definitely protect him. Even if Lord Yuanfu does not want to serve in the Qing court, I can do my best to mediate."

Li Chengdong solemnly said
Fu Guan was surprised when he heard this and looked at Li Chengdong in front of him.
"Since the reign of the emperor, has there been a prime minister with a shaved head?"

Li Chengdong's face froze when he heard this, but soon returned to normal and he spoke in a deep voice.

"Mr. Yuanfu is already in his prime years, his hair is withered and his teeth are falling out, no different from a shaved man, but he has been given a little beard to hide it from the public. Who would know? I can also inform you tactfully to save Mr. Fu's life."

Fu Guan's face was filled with rage, and he shouted
"Who knows?"

"The heavens know, the earth knows, the seventy-two sages of the Confucius family, the emperor of Qin, the emperor of Han, the emperor of Tang, the emperor of Song, and all the people of the world, who doesn't know?"

"Do you know that there is Wen Wenshan in the history? He is an advanced person in my hometown. There is no prime minister with a shaved head in my hometown, but there is a prime minister with a beheaded head."

Fu Guan's voice was stern, and his eyes swept across the generals in the hall. His clear and sharp shouts echoed slowly in the hall.
When Luo Chengyao, Ma Bao and other generals in the hall heard this, their expressions changed. Wherever Fu Guan's eyes went, a general in the hall lowered his head and looked sideways. All the generals in the hall did not dare to look at Fu Guan's expression.
Li Chengdong's face suddenly turned red, a trace of shame and anger flashed across his face, his palms clenched tightly, and veins on his arms suddenly bulged.
After a long while, Li Chengdong regained his composure. He looked at Fu Guan in front of him and spoke in a deep voice.

"There is no country anymore, so how can there be a prime minister?"

Fu Guan glanced at Li Chengdong, who was silent in front of him, and then his face straightened up and he spoke loudly.

"It is because the country has ceased to exist that it is justified to have a prime minister without a head"

"The dynasty has nurtured scholars for 200 years, with endless kindness. Now is the right time to have a headless prime minister to repay the eighteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty."

Fu Guan's face was calm. Ever since he learned that Emperor Longwu had died, he had been devastated.

The ruler and his subjects are rulers and his subjects. When the ruler is gone, where can the subjects go?
From the moment he was tied up and taken to the government office, he had been prepared.

Li Chengdong, Ma Bao and other generals in the hall were all silent. Only Fu Guan's solemn voice kept echoing in the hall. Everyone felt as if a heavy weight was pressing down on them, making them almost unable to breathe.

Li Chengdong was silent, looking at the resolute old man in front of him. After a long time, he spoke softly, but at this time, a trace of indifference flashed in Li Chengdong's eyes.

"The imperial edict of the Qing court has arrived this morning. If Mr. Fu still refuses to obey, Tingzhen will have no choice but to follow the order and punish him."

Upon hearing this, Fu Guan looked pleased and spoke loudly.

"It should be so. Finish my work soon and you will also be rewarded."

After Fu Guan finished speaking, he stopped looking at the people in the hall and his face became solemn.

He straightened his clothes, turned around and faced south, bowed deeply

"I have betrayed my country so badly that even death is not enough to atone for it"

After bowing to the south, he turned to the west and bowed deeply.
"The ancestors were killed, only the crown was responsible"

Fu Guan bowed deeply and bowed to both sides. After bowing to both sides, he stood in the hall with his hands clasped, looking at Li Chengdong in front of him with a calm expression on his face.
"The crown is complete, you can start now."

Li Chengdong looked at Fu Guan who looked calm in front of him, and for some reason he suddenly felt a surge of anger in his heart. It was like this before in Jiading City, and it was the same with Fu Guan now. They could save their lives by shaving their heads, but they would rather die than shave their heads. Could it be that these few strands of hair on their heads were more important than their own lives?

Li Chengdong's eyes were filled with anger, veins popped up on his forehead, and the last trace of hesitation in his eyes was burned away.

A hint of coldness flashed in his eyes, and he walked back to the main seat in the hall in front of him and looked at the generals below.

"Cheng Yao, go and carry out the execution. Choose someone with a sharp blade and don't let Mr. Fu suffer," Li Chengdong said in a cold voice.

Luo Chengyao was stunned when he heard this, and his expression changed several times, but in the end he did not respond, but just stood silently below without moving.

Li Chengdong looked at Luo Chengyao who was silent below, but a trace of anger flashed in his eyes, and he shouted coldly:
"Luo Chengyao, didn't you hear what I said?"

"answer"

Luo Chengyao heard Li Chengdong's angry shout from above, but he remained silent.

Luo Chengyao stepped out of the line and bowed to the sky, then stood back to one side, lowered his head and looked at the ground, without saying a word.
Li Chengdong's face turned red, his palms clenched into fists, and he stopped looking at his important general and turned to look at Ma Bao below him, and shouted:

"Ma Bao, you go do it"

Ma Bao below was silent for a moment, looking at the furious Li Chengdong above, then he stepped out of the line, bowed, and said in a deep voice:

"Please forgive me, General. Ma Bao can't do it."

After Ma Bao finished speaking, he also retreated back to the ranks like Luo Chengyao, without saying a word.
Li Chengdong's eyes were red, and he was on the verge of rage when he saw that all the generals were unwilling to obey his orders.

He glanced at the generals below, but they all turned their heads away from Li Chengdong's gaze and refused to meet his gaze.

But this made Li Chengdong even more ashamed and angry. Fu Guan was a university scholar of the previous dynasty and a cabinet minister. If he dealt with such a person, his name would definitely be recorded in history books and he would be cursed by people. How could Li Chengdong want to kill him?
But the Qing imperial decree had arrived, and Fu Guan was stubborn and unyielding, so what could he do?

If Fu Guan doesn't die, it's Li Chengdong who will die.

When Li Chengdong thought of this, his eyes turned completely cold. He no longer looked at the generals in the hall, but looked directly at a young general at the end.

"Yuan Yin, you go and do it"

Li Yuanyin at the end had a slightly changed expression on his face, but looking at Li Chengdong above him with a cold expression, he did not dare to refuse. After hesitating for a moment, he had to step out and accept the order.

Luo Chengyao and his men were all powerful generals in Li Chengdong's army. They had the confidence to refuse orders, but Li Yuanyin was Li Chengdong's adopted son. Li Chengdong had spoken at this time, and he could not refuse it no matter what.
Li Yuanyin stepped out to receive the order, and then took Fu Guan out of the hall.
Fu Guan was taken away, leaving only Li Chengdong and other generals in the hall.

Li Chengdong sat at the top with a gloomy look on his face, while the generals below stood on both sides in silence, and the atmosphere in the hall became extremely solemn.
At this time, no one spoke, and there was silence in the hall. Ma Bao's mind flashed the calm expression on Fu Guan's face when he was taken away just now. He was silent for a moment, and suddenly gritted his teeth and spoke in a deep voice.

As Ma Bao spoke, everyone in the hall focused their attention on him.
"General, Fu Guan is a minister of the Ming Dynasty after all, and his status is extraordinary. If we deal with him in our army like this, we will have no way out in the future."

The generals in the hall nodded in their hearts when they heard this. Why did they not want to get involved in this matter? Wasn't it because Fu Guan's identity was too special?
Although they have surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, they were actually generals of the Ming Dynasty before that. Before that, they were also generals.
The world is in a complicated situation now. Who knows what will happen in the future?

They have only been in the Qing Dynasty for less than half a year, how could they be so loyal to the Qing Dynasty? But if they kill Fu Guan now, they may not be able to surrender to the Ming Dynasty in the future.
"Retreat! Do you think we have a way out?"

Li Chengdong could no longer bear the anger in his heart after hearing Ma Bao's words, but his face became colder and colder as he looked at the generals below.
"Ma Bao, do you know why I asked for you from Bolo?"

Li Chengdong sneered, and before Ma Bao could speak, he spoke coldly

"I transferred you here because you and I both came from the same camp. I couldn't bear to see you fall into the hands of the Tartars, so I transferred you here."

"Do you know what happened to those surrendered soldiers who stayed in the Qing army headquarters? If it weren't for me, you would have become a bondservant of those Tartars by now."

Li Chengdong snorted coldly, and Ma Bao below was also silent.
He was originally a general who led the Qing army to defeat the Shun army in Shanxi Province. Li Zicheng withdrew to Shaanxi with his elite troops, and these defeated soldiers were incorporated into the Qing army.
He followed the main force of the Qing army all the way. After defeating the main force of the Shun army, the Qing army was almost unstoppable. There was no enemy within sight and they fought all the way to the city of Nanjing.
After he arrived in Jiangnan, he was recruited by Li Chengdong.
Even though Li Chengdong often scolds him, his current situation is much better than when he was in the Qing army headquarters.

At least he can lead his own troops now, and he doesn't have to be driven by the Qing army to fill the ditches like a drover when the battle comes.
Speaking of this aspect alone, he must owe Li Chengdong a favor no matter what.

Li Chengdong saw that Ma Bao was silent, and his expression relaxed a little. He glanced at the generals in the field and spoke again in a cold voice:
"Almost all of us were born in the Ming Dynasty. When we followed the Great Shun Emperor in the early years, we killed corrupt officials, clerks, gentry, princes, and many people from the Ming Dynasty. Outside Yingtian City, we directly surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Do you think we still have a way out?"

"We have no way out!"

When Li Chengdong said this, his expression became even colder. After he surrendered to the Qing army, in order to gain merit, he assisted the Qing army in clearing the Jiangnan area.
He killed so many people in Jiading City that even he himself couldn't remember
After arriving in Fujian Province, he assisted the Qing army in capturing and killing the Longwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He had no way out.
When Li Chengdong thought of this, the last bit of hesitation in his heart was completely gone, and a cold and fierce look flashed in his eyes.

Why would Li Chengdong need a retreat?
After assisting the Qing army in clearing Jiangnan, he obtained the Qing court's permission to expand the army. After assisting in the strangulation of Emperor Longwu, he was allowed to lead his own army and take charge of a place.

The more people he killed, the greater his achievements, the more trust he gained from the Qing court, and his future would naturally become brighter.
There was a bright future ahead, and wealth and glory were within his reach, so why would he need a way out?
"This matter ends here. No need to say more. Please leave now."

When Li Chengdong thought of this, a trace of indifference flashed across his eyes. He glanced at the generals below, then stood up and walked towards the back of the hall.
When Ma Bao and other generals saw Li Chengdong leaving, they looked at each other, stood in silence for a while, and then dispersed.
The hall became silent again. The words "upright and bright" were hung above the hall. It seemed that one could still hear the clear sound, quietly echoing.
Most of the conversations between Fu Guan and Li Chengdong in this chapter are true historical events. When I was reading the materials, I saw too many people like Fu Guan. This is one of the reasons why I chose to write about this era. These people lived heroic lives, but were unknown in later generations. Such people should not be buried in historical materials.
Fu Guan will only appear in this chapter, but if there are similar characters in the future, I will write about them as well. If everyone can remember after reading this book that there was a man named Fu Guan in history who was loyal to his country and died for it when the country was in danger, then my writing of this book should have some meaning.

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(End of this chapter)