Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 232 Huang Yan
In the lobby, both parties exchanged their contracts and the atmosphere became more relaxed.
Zhu Lang looked at Lu Jianguo, who looked a little relieved, and suddenly said

"Now that the agreement has been signed, we two vassals have become friends. However, I would like to ask the King of Lu for help with something."

"King Gui, please tell me, if I can do it, I will do my best."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jianguo's expression immediately became alert. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly replied:
This Gui Jianguo has a domineering personality. He must have no good intentions when he suddenly lowers his posture.

This answer from Lu Jianguo seemed to be an agreement to the request, but in fact it was telling Gui Jianguo on the other side that they would consider what they could do, but if they couldn't do it, they would be powerless.
Zhu Lang, who was standing opposite him, seemed to be completely unaware of the caution in Lu Jianguo's words. He smiled and said directly:

"This is an easy matter. It is not a difficult matter for the King of Lu. I just want to transfer two of the King of Lu's subordinates to the court to serve."

"One is Shen Tingyang, a member of the Ministry of Revenue under the command of Prince Lu, and the other is Zhang Huangyan, a member of the Supervisory Office. Is Prince Lu willing to give them up?"

Everyone was shocked when they heard this. They had never thought that Gui Jianguo would ask the King of Lu for someone. Lu Daqi and others were also shocked. Zhu Lang had never discussed this move with them.

Lu Daqi, Su Guansheng, Zhang Kentang and others looked at each other, and quickly searched for the origins of the two people mentioned by His Royal Highness the Regent. However, after thinking for a while, the officials of Guangdong Province could not think of any famous officials in the world with these two names.
But they knew that this was definitely wrong. His Highness Gui Jinguo would never act without a purpose. Since His Highness asked Lu Jinguo for someone, these two people must be no unknown people.

Lu Daqi, Zhang Kentang and other Guangdong officials frowned and looked at the officials of Lu Fan opposite them, but after a quick inspection, they couldn't even tell which of the two people they were.
Zhang Tongchang explained to Lu Daqi, Zhang Kentang and others in a low voice, and then everyone's eyes fell on Zhang Huangyan, who was in the middle of the Lufan train.
But when Lu Daqi and others saw that Zhang Huangyan was just a young man, their brows furrowed even more. As for the remaining Shen Tingyang, even Zhang Tongchang couldn't recognize who he was.

Lu Daqi and others thought that since His Majesty the Regent had asked for it himself, then even if Shen and Zhang were not famous ministers and scholars, they must be capable and good officials with a good reputation in the area, and they certainly could not be unknown people.

But after seeing Zhang Huangyan, Lu Daqi and others were puzzled. Zhang Huangyan was really too young.
There were many people who became famous at a young age in the Ming Dynasty. For example, Hou Fangyu, Mao Pijiang and others in the Fushe Society also became famous early by taking advantage of the Fushe Society's momentum. However, among these people, there was no one like Zhang Huangyan.
Besides, even Hou Fangyu and others were juniors among the juniors in front of Lu Daqi and Zhang Kentang, so they had to show respect to the juniors when they saw them.

In fact, Shen Tingyang and the other two were just unknown people at that time. Although Shen Tingyang became the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple during the Chongzhen Dynasty, he was born as a student of the Imperial Academy and had never taken the official path. He relied on donating his wealth to the sea vessels to achieve the position of Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, a fifth-rank official.

The fifth rank sounds quite high, but in the capital, where the world gathers, how can a fifth rank person have any reputation?

As for Zhang Huangyan, it was even more so. Zhang Huangyan was only 26 years old now. Although he had already won the title of Juren, how famous could a Juren be? At this moment, they themselves could not figure out why Gui Jianguo knew them, not to mention the officials of Guangdong Province.

The officials of Gui clan were not sure about Shen Tingyang and the other two, but the officials of Lu clan were very familiar with them. After hearing what His Royal Highness Gui Jianguo said, Qian Sule, Shen Chenquan and other officials of Lu clan immediately looked at Shen Tingyang and the other two in the queue with astonishment.

Shen Tingyang and Zhang Huangyan, who had been standing silently in the hall, now stood there in astonishment, with blank expressions on their faces.
They themselves could not figure out why His Royal Highness Gui Jianguo, who was standing opposite them, recognized them and even personally asked Lu Jianguo to transfer them to the Gui Fan Dynasty.
Xiong Rulin looked at the two people below with astonished expressions and frowned slightly. He didn't know what the relationship between Shen Tingyang and Zhang Huangyan and Gui Jianguo was. Xiong Rulin thought for a moment and asked

"May I ask if His Royal Highness the Prince of Gui has any old friendship with these two people, and why he wants to second them?"

Everyone looked up at Zhu Lang. Even Regent Lu looked at him suspiciously, trying to figure out what the relationship was between these two ministers under his command and Regent Gui.

Zhu Lang saw that everyone was looking at him, but his expression remained unchanged. He said softly:
"There is no personal relationship, it's just that there are some matters in the court that require these two people."

"I have heard that Mr. Shen is very familiar with maritime affairs, and that our family is engaged in maritime trade. The imperial court has now restored Fujian and Guangdong, and is preparing to restart the Maritime Customs and maritime trade. We need a minister like Mr. Shen who is familiar with maritime affairs and maritime trade to manage this matter."

"As for Mr. Zhang, I heard it from Minister Zhang Tongchang. I heard that Mr. Zhang is from Ningbo Prefecture. The court has now occupied Wenzhou and is fighting the Qing invaders near Taizhou and Ningbo. Therefore, the court needs someone who understands the situation in Zhejiang Province for reference."

Zhang Tongchang was also shocked when he heard this. Although he had reported to the court that Zhang Huangyan was disturbing the surrender of Zheng's generals, he never said that Zhang Huangyan was from Ningbo Prefecture. He himself did not know that Zhang Huangyan was from Zhejiang Province, so how could he report it to His Highness the Regent? But now His Highness the Regent asked for someone in his name, and Zhang Tongchang could not deny it.
When the officials of the Lu clan in the hall heard this, a flash of realization flashed across their faces, but they didn't believe a word of it in their hearts.

Shen Tingyang was still a reasonable person. During the Chongzhen period, Shen Tingyang advocated maritime transport and had some reputation. It was reasonable for the King of Gui to go there to manage the Maritime Customs. However, it was sheer nonsense to ask Zhang Huangyan to go there to understand the situation in Zhejiang Province.

The Gui vassal court accepted a large number of old officials from Longwu, including some from Zhejiang Province. How could it be possible that the Gui Regent could not find a minister who understood the situation in Zhejiang Province and had to ask the Lu Regent for someone?
In fact, the reason for inviting Shen Tingyang to the court was also untenable. Fujian and Guangdong had developed maritime trade, and the Maritime Customs Office was a lucrative position. Such a yamen that was close to making a fortune was probably not even worth the effort of Gui Jianguo's own people. How could they specially ask an official from outside the court to manage such an important yamen?

This shows that everything Gui Jianguo said was just an excuse. Gui Jianguo wanted these two people at this time, and there must be some hidden reasons.
The officials in the room looked at Shen Tingyang and Zhang Huangyan, who were in shock, and then looked up at Gui Jianguo, their eyes flickering, wanting to know what the relationship between these two people and Gui Jianguo was.

Zhu Lang looked at the people below with strange expressions, but his face was calm. He knew that the people of Lu Fan would not believe these two reasons, but so what? His Highness Gui Jianguo had spent a lot of time and effort to find excuses in order to get two people. What else did the people of Lu Fan want?
At this time, everyone has a plausible excuse, and Lu Jianguo should release the people immediately. Otherwise, he, the great Gui Jianguo, has no reason to transfer these two people, and what can Lu Jianguo do?
After Xiong Ruolin, Zheng Cai and others did not dare to go to war with the imperial court, Zhu Lang had already taken advantage of Lu Jianguo and others. He first moved to an island, then lowered his rank and signed an alliance with the imperial court, making concessions step by step. Now that Lu Jianguo's side could even put aside the title of regent for the time being, what was the point of Zhu Lang asking them for two more people?

Zhu Lang knew that Shen Tingyang was still thinking about the saying that the food and clothing of the millions of canal workers depended on the canal. During the Chongzhen period, the canal transportation system of the Ming Dynasty, which had been in operation for hundreds of years, had already been plagued by problems.
The officials and gentry along the canal had formed a huge interest group relying on the canal, which turned the canal, which was supposed to facilitate the north-south transport, into a huge burden for the Ming court.
There is actually nothing wrong with the canal transport itself. Although sea transport is better, canal transport can also be used. The problem is that there are too many people sucking blood from canal transport.

The prefectures and counties along the canal would arbitrarily increase salaries and levies in the name of maintaining the canal, and a group of gentry used the canal to smuggle without restraint. The silver that the Ming court spent on maintaining the canal increased year by year, but the amount of grain transported to the capital was getting less and less year by year.

Thousands of ships raced on the huge canal every day, but it was unknown whether these countless ships were helping the Ming court to stabilize the north and south, or were smuggling and evading taxes for a group of officials and gentry.
Shen Tingyang was born into a family of sea merchants. His family had been using sand ships to transport goods from north to south for generations. During the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, when the canal transportation was difficult, Shen Tingyang submitted a memorial to the court suggesting that the canal transportation be replaced by the sea, and even presented his family's sea map.

Chongzhen ordered him to try to transport the grain by sea, but after it arrived at the local area, the grain transport offices in various places simply ignored it. Shen Tingyang raised a ship with his family wealth and finally completed a sea transport with great effort, proving that sea transport was not only shorter in time but also cheaper than the grain transport at that time.

Shen Tingyang's sea transportation was successful, but it was ultimately the livelihood of millions of canal workers. Although Shen Tingyang proved that sea transportation was feasible, the ministers in the court rushed to impeach him and opposed it. In the midst of opposition, the matter eventually came to nothing.

During the Battle of Songshan, Shen Tingyang personally led ships to transport grain to Songshan to provide Hong Chengchou with food.

Shen Tingyang was able to transport rice, but he was unable to bring great victory to the Ming court. In the Battle of Songshan, hundreds of thousands of the Ming court's elite troops were wiped out in one day, and soon after that, the Ming court was also declared destroyed.
After the Chongzhen Dynasty, Shen Tingyang traveled through the Hongguang and Lu Wang dynasties, determined to serve the Ming Dynasty. After several twists and turns, he finally served under the Lu Jianguo.
In the second year of Lu's reign in the previous life, which was this year, Shen Tingyang, along with Zhang Mingzhen, Zhang Huangyan and others, led nearly 10,000 troops to attack Suzhou and Songjiang. However, halfway through the journey, the ship encountered a storm outside Chongming Island.
A large number of Ming Dynasty warships sank, and countless soldiers drowned in the sea. The remaining soldiers fled to the shore, but the Qing Dynasty army had already received the news and was guarding the shore. The Qing Dynasty shouted on the shore that those who shaved their heads would not die, and the Ming Dynasty soldiers who had just fled to the shore were instantly defeated.

Shen Tingyang could have saved his life by hiding among the deserters, but when he saw the army was destroyed, he had already made up his mind to die. Lu Jianguo led an army of nearly 10,000 to the battle, but they suffered heavy casualties before they even set foot on the Qing territory!
Shen Tingyang sighed, "This is the will of heaven. I should die for my country, but I must die with honor." So he went to the other side of the river and shouted to the Qing soldiers, "I am the Chief Censor. Can you take me to Nanjing?"

At this time, the Qing Dynasty Jiangnan Governor was Hong Chengchou. During the Battle of Songshan, Hong Chengchou had received the help of Shen Tingyang in transporting grain. Hong Chengchou wanted to save Shen Tingyang's life out of gratitude to his old friend.
Hong Chengchou sent an envoy to persuade Shen Tingyang to surrender, telling him that if he shaved his head, he would be of great use.
Shen Tingyang asked, "Who sent you here?" The messenger said, "Jinglüe
Shen Tingyang sighed softly and said, "The governor died in Songshan. The previous emperor granted sacrifices at thirteen altars and built a temple in the capital. How could he still be alive?" Upon hearing this, Hong Chengchou was ashamed to see his old friend, so he had to order him to be killed.

In July of the second year of Lu Jianguo, Shen Tingyang was taken to Huaiqing Bridge on Sanshan Street in Suzhou by the Qing government wearing a square scarf and a wide robe.
Shen Tingyang straightened his clothes and bowed to the south, saying that he would die for his country and had no regrets in death. He was killed by the Qing army after he finished speaking.
His subordinates praised the execution of the twelve people, including the chief of the Ministry of Personnel Shen Shiyuan, the general Cai De, the guerrilla Cai Yao, Dai Qi, Shi Rong, Liu Jincheng, Weng Biao, Zhu Bin, Lin Shu, the garrison Bi Congyi, Chen Bangding and his nephew Jia, who were executed on the same day. Their 600 personal soldiers were beheaded at the Lou Gate of Su, and not a single one surrendered.

As for Zhang Huangyan, that was a matter of course. During the Southern Ming Dynasty, there were many outstanding civil officials and military generals, but there were very few who were both civil and military. Zhang Huangyan was one of the best among them.

Zhang Huangyan supported the establishment of Lu as regent in Zhejiang Province at the age of 25, and died for his country at the age of 45. For 20 years, he drifted on the sea and worked hard to restore the Ming Dynasty.
Zhang Huangyan entered the Yangtze River three times and attacked the Southern Capital. When the Southern Ming Dynasty was in turmoil, he escaped death again and again, and took up arms again and again. However, he was constrained by the constant internal struggles of the Southern Ming Dynasty and was ultimately unable to save the crisis.
Zhu Lang previously called Zhang Kentang a lonely and remnant minister, but Zhang Huangyan in the late Southern Ming Dynasty was the real lonely and remnant minister.

In 1659, Zheng Chenggong led 170,000 troops to launch the massive Battle of Nanjing.
Zheng Chenggong attacked Nanjing, while Zhang Huangyan led his troops to capture the upper reaches of Nanjing, and successively recovered four prefectures, three states and twenty-four counties, shocking the Qing court.
However, Zheng Chenggong made mistakes in command and was eventually defeated at the gates of Nanjing. All the gains made in the early period were lost overnight. After the Qing government defeated Zheng Chenggong, it also dispatched troops to capture Zhang Huangyan.
Zhang Huangyan was defeated and escaped alone. He traveled more than 2,000 miles alone and survived many dangers before he finally escaped back to the sea.
After the failure of the Battle of Nanjing, the situation of the entire Southern Ming Dynasty took a sharp turn for the worse. Li Dingguo in the southwest was defeated by the Qing army, and Yongli fled to Burma. After the defeat in Nanjing, Zheng Chenggong was also discouraged and turned to attack Taiwan Island to plan his retreat.
At that time, the Southern Ming Dynasty was in turmoil and the situation was like a dying lamp. However, Zhang Huangyan, who had fled back, remained determined and recruited soldiers in Zhejiang Province again, cultivated land and gathered troops, and once again raised the Ming court flag in Zhejiang Province.
Soon after Zheng Chenggong conquered Taiwan, he died there. After Zheng Chenggong's death, news of the Yongli Emperor's murder came again. At this time, everyone with a discerning eye could see that the Ming court was about to end, but Zhang Huangyan was still determined. After the news of Yongli's murder came, he immediately contacted all parties and wanted to appoint Lu Jingguo to call on the world again. However, before he could take action, Lu Jingguo died a few months later.
Yongli and Lu Jianguo passed away one after another, and there was no Ming Dynasty ruler to call on. After Zheng Jing took over, Zheng was even more determined to shrink Taiwan Island, just to protect himself, and there was no news of restoration.

Zhang Huangyan ran out of soldiers and food, so he had to disperse his soldiers and live in seclusion on a cliff on an isolated mountain on an island, never setting foot on Qing soil. However, he was eventually betrayed by the rebels and captured by the Qing government.

At this time, even the Qing court knew of Zhang Huangyan's reputation. The Ming court had fallen, and the Qing court wanted to surrender Zhang Huangyan with high positions and titles, but Zhang Huangyan did not waver at all and only asked for a quick death. On the day of execution, Zhang Huangyan refused to kneel in front of the Qing court and recited his last words, saying that the building was no longer supported and that he had done everything he could to die. He sat cross-legged and was killed by the blade.
There is a sentence in Zhang Huangyan's biography that can summarize his life's achievements, honors and disgraces: from Bingxu to Jiachen, a period of nineteen years, Huangyan died and the Ming Dynasty fell.
Everyone in Lu Fan thought that Zhu Lang was lying when he asked for Shen Tingyang, but in fact, Zhu Lang wanted Shen Tingyang to be in charge of the maritime trade in the court.

The best places in the north such as Jiangnan have now been occupied by the Qing invaders. The Ming court now occupies Fujian and Guangdong. If they do not develop maritime trade, where will they get the money and food to support the army and prepare for war?
As for what he wanted from Zhang Huangyan, it was really an excuse. Zhang Huangyan was a famous minister in later generations, but he was still young after all. He had not experienced the trials and tribulations of more than a decade in later generations. Zhu Lang also did not know what Zhang Huangyan's situation was at that time.
But according to Zhang Tongchang's report, Zhang Huangyan also showed his strength when competing with him for the Zheng family members, and he seemed to be showing some signs of being powerful. If that's the case, why not take advantage of this opportunity to catch the rabbit first?
(End of this chapter)