Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 247 Killing

In Guilin, Guangxi Province, in the early morning, the area outside the South Gate has been cleaned up, and a group of yamen runners are busy running back and forth, driving away the people who are going to the market in front of the city gate.
There is a colorful tent in front of the city gate, and a long apricot-colored carpet extends from the tent to the inside of the city gate.
A group of gentry gathered under the colorful tent. Three people stood in front of the crowd. The first one was an old man with a gaunt face and wearing a bright red peacock official robe. This man was Yan Qiheng, the current governor of Guangxi Province.
Behind Yan Qiheng are Yan Rishu, the governor of Guangxi Province, and Cao Ye, the provincial governor.

Yan Qiheng looked at the apricot-colored lotus-patterned carpet on the ground with an unhappy look on his face and said

"Your Highness gave me an oral instruction a few days ago, saying that the reception should not disturb the people or cause extravagance. Why are you still making such a big fuss?"

Upon hearing this, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Cao Ye secretly curled his lips. This Yan Futai is good in everything, but his brain is not flexible.
When His Majesty the Regent arrives, he will naturally show mercy to the government and the people. If His Majesty doesn't tell them not to waste money and disturb the people, does he have to instruct them to hold a grand reception?
His Highness has his own opinion, but can these ministers really follow it? This Yan Futai has been an official for many years, how come he doesn't even understand this principle?

But Yan Qiheng was the governor of Guangxi Province after all, and his rank was high enough to crush people. At this time, Yan Qiheng asked, and Cao Ye had no choice but to answer.
Cao Ye's eyes turned, and he spoke

"Your Excellency is worrying too much. Your Highness cares about the common people, how dare we disturb them?"

"These carpets and ornaments were all collected from the home of the traitor Chen Bangfu. I just made full use of them, and they didn't cost the government a penny."

"Besides, His Royal Highness the Regent has ascended the throne, and this is his first western tour to our Guangxi Province. We, the gentry of Guangxi Province, must prepare the proper etiquette to show our respect and obedience to the subjects of Guangxi Province."

Yan Qiheng frowned slightly when he heard this, and glanced at the flower decorations on the side of the colorful tent, but he did not continue to criticize

Nearly a hundred Guangxi gentry waited in front of the colorful tent for a moment, and then the ground suddenly shook slightly.
There was a sound of horse hooves, and five hundred cavalrymen suddenly appeared at the end of the official road. Then, like a red wall, they rushed towards the city wall.
In front of the city gate, the rumbling sound of horse hooves continued to echo. Five hundred cavalrymen suddenly reined in their horses and stopped in front of the colorful tent.
A group of cavalrymen wearing red armor, carrying swords and bows, looked down at the people in front of the city gate.
The cavalry arrived at the city gate, glanced at the people in front of the colorful tent, and then dispersed in all directions.
The cavalrymen directly occupied various places outside the city and drove away all the soldiers from the Guangxi Provincial Government.
The gentry of Guangxi Province in front of the city looked at the cold-looking cavalrymen holding swords and wearing armor, and their faces changed slightly. But before they could step forward to ask, the ground began to shake faintly again.

At the end of the official road, a group of infantrymen in scarlet uniforms appeared in sight, and then countless soldiers suddenly appeared on the official road, like a torrent, constantly moving towards the city wall.
When the soldiers arrived at the city gate, they divided into four squares and stood on the roadside.

A group of soldiers with long swords on their waists stood on both sides, all silent, watching the group of gentry in the middle of the road.

The gentry who were originally whispering to each other in front of Chen's door were now completely silent.
The gentry looked at the thousands of soldiers standing with guns and surrounding them, all with expressions of fear on their faces. Some of them were even trembling with fear and wanted to run away.

At this time, at the end of the road, there was still a steady stream of soldiers pouring towards the city, as if it was endless.

Cao Ye looked at the military garrison standing in awe with guns in hand not far away, and a drop of cold sweat immediately flowed down his forehead. Yan Qiheng in front looked at the silent soldiers on both sides, but could not help but praise softly.

"The guards are like feathers, and their armor is like scales. They are worthy of being the elite of the Ming Dynasty's imperial army."

After all the 6,000 imperial guards arrived at the city and lined up, a large yellow wooden carriage appeared at the end of the official road and drove towards the city.
Cao Ye looked at the bright yellow dragon flag flying in front of the carriage and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The carriage soon arrived under the colorful tent. Zhu Lang stepped down from the carriage in a narrow-sleeved dragon robe, and the gentry in front of the colorful tent immediately knelt down to salute.

Zhu Lang looked at the colorful pavilions in front of the city gate and didn't care. He asked the gentry and officials on the ground to stand up, looked at Yan Qiheng in front of him, and said directly

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Yan. Are the military camps ready?"

"I have already set up a camp for 30,000 people in the north of the city. All kinds of rice, beans and military supplies are ready and can be used at any time. The rest of the prefectures are also transporting rice into the city as planned."

"Well done. The Imperial Army camps are marching along the way. Yan Qing will first send people to lead the soldiers of the camps to the camps and let them rest. The rest of the matter will be discussed after entering the city."

Zhu Lang looked at the serious old man in front of him, and a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

After Zhu Lang finished speaking, he turned around and got on the carriage. The carriage started again and drove towards the city.
Cao Ye and the others looked at the carriage slowly driving towards the city gate, and then they woke up from their dream. They followed the carriage and walked into the city.
Cao Ye and his companions had carefully prepared colorful tents, carpets, floral decorations, and the welcoming ceremony for the people, but none of them were used.
In the lobby of the government office, Zhu Lang had changed into a bright yellow dragon robe and sat on the main seat.
On the left below is Zhang Tongchang, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War. After Zhang Tongchang is Yan Qiheng, the governor of Guangxi Province. After Yan Qiheng are Liu Xiangke, Zhang Huang and other ministers of the Central Government, as well as Yan Rishu and other chief officials of the three departments of Guangxi Province.
The first person on the right is Jiao Lian, followed by Ma Bao, Shi Lang and other generals who followed the army.

Zhu Lang looked at Yan Qiheng, who looked serious, and wondered about his origins.

Last year, Qu Shisi received an imperial decree to return to Guangxi Province, and he quietly rushed to Nanning with Zheng Wenxiong and 3,000 soldiers.
When Qu Shisi and his companions arrived near Nanning, they did not rush into the city, but secretly contacted officials and gentry such as Yan Qiheng who were residing in Nanning at the time.
Yan Qiheng and the prefect of Nanning learned that the imperial army had arrived. After some discussion, they invited Chen Bangfu's son and high-ranking generals into the city in the name of congratulating Chen Bangfu on his title of marquis.
Chen Bangfu had previously received an imperial decree to go to the court to meet the new emperor. After the new emperor ascended the throne, it was natural for Chen Bangfu, as a local general, to be granted the title of marquis.
The Chen family had no doubts at all. As soon as Chen Bangfu's son and his generals entered the city, they were immediately arrested by Yan Qiheng and others.

When Qu Shisi learned that Chen's army was about to be captured, he immediately led his troops into the city and took control of Nanning.
After Qu Shisi and others took control of the four gates of the city, Zheng Wenxiong led his soldiers to Chen Bangfu's army to announce Chen Bangfu's crimes and prepare to forcibly take over the military power.
All officers and soldiers in Chen Bangfu's army were arrested at this time. The army was leaderless, and Zheng Wenxiong's personal army was suppressing it from outside, so they had no choice but to obey orders and accept reorganization.

Yan Qiheng contributed greatly to Qu Shisi's successful control of the Guangxi Army. Therefore, before Qu Shisi was ordered to enter Guizhou, he recommended Yan Qiheng to the court to be the governor of Guangxi Province.
Zhu Lang didn't know much about Yan Qiheng, but he vaguely remembered that he seemed to be a minister in the Yongli court in his previous life, and eventually died for his country.
There should be no problem with Yan Qiheng's position. This time, the rice and grain were transported to support the imperial army. Yan Qiheng also arranged everything in an orderly manner. He seems to be quite capable and should be a candidate for future use.

Zhu Lang glanced at Yan Qiheng below and said directly

"The troops brought little food and money with them into Guangxi this time. How is Guangxi raising food and money?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Qiheng stood up and reported on the transportation of food and salaries in Guangxi Province.

Qu Shisi was ordered to lead troops into Guizhou last year. In fact, the province of Guangxi has been mobilizing food and money to send to Guiyang since last year.
When Zhu Lang decided to personally lead the expedition, there were two directions in which Guangxi Province needed food supplies.

After receiving the order, Yan Qiheng divided Guangxi Province into two parts. Nanning, Liuzhou, Si'en and other prefectures in western Guangxi transported food and money to Qingyuan Prefecture, and then from Qingyuan Prefecture to Gui Province via Nandan.
The prefectures in eastern Guangxi, such as Xunzhou, Wuzhou, Pingle, etc., transported food and money to Guilin to supply the imperial army entering Hunan.
After listening to Yan Qiheng's report, Zhu Lang thought for a moment and then said

"I will not stay in Hunan Province for long this time. After dealing with the affairs of Hunan Province, I will lead the army to Guiyang. Therefore, the focus of Gui Province in the future should still be to prioritize the supply of military rations in your province."

"The court's future war will be launched in your province. After the imperial army enters Hunan, you must increase the transportation of military rations to your province. Before the imperial army arrives in your province, you must at least transport 30,000 shi of military rations to your province."

Guizhou Province is a mountainous and narrow province, and in this era, there are chieftains everywhere. Guangxi Province is already a barren land in the Ming Dynasty, but Guizhou is even poorer than Guangxi Province. The taxes that the Ming Dynasty court can receive from Guizhou Province every year are almost just a fraction of those from other provinces.

The general of Guizhou Province, Pi Xiong, is the most powerful person in Guizhou Province, but he only has 5,000 soldiers under his command. This is because Guizhou is too poor to support a large army. It is also because of this that Pi Xiong still maintains a superficial obedience to the court.
This time, the Ming army is stationed in the southwest. It is basically impossible to solve the problem of military food in your province. We can only rely on the continuous transportation from Guangxi Province to ensure the supply of food and wages for the army.
Zhu Lang transported grain into Gui Province not only to maintain the army's operations, but also to leverage the situation in the entire southwest with grain and money.

Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, Guizhou province is barren, Yunnan province is in rebellion, Sichuan province is in chaos, almost turning Sichuan into a wasteland, and there is no food available
Now the three provinces are full of armies. If we talk about the number of troops, each side has tens of thousands of people under its command, but none of them can maintain self-sufficiency in food.

At this time, whoever controls the food and wages in the three southwestern provinces can stir up the situation in the entire southwest.

Apart from anything else, as long as Guiyang has enough food and money, the difficulty of recruiting the Dashi Army and others will drop sharply.

Moreover, Zhu Lang had another bigger plan in mind. If this plan could be realized, it would most likely directly change the situation of the Ming and Qing dynasties. This plan also required sufficient food and salary as a backing.
However, this plan could not be achieved by Zhu Lang's unilateral efforts. Zhu Lang was only 50% sure about this matter, but even if there was only a 50% chance, Zhu Lang was unwilling to give up this plan.

In Zhu Lang's mind, this plan was even as important as recruiting Li Dingguo and others from the Dashi Army to surrender, so he had to prepare enough food and money before entering Guizhou.
Zhu Lang thought of this and said

"This time the imperial court is in the southwest, the army is guarding your province and needs food, Yunnan Province needs food to suppress the rebellion, and the surrender of the western bandits also needs food. Food and wages are the top priority. 30,000 dan of military food shipped to your province is not too little, and 50,000 dan is not too much. The more the better." Yan Qiheng, Yan Rishu and other Guangxi officials heard this and looked embarrassed. Zhu Lang saw the faces of several people and knew that this matter was not easy.

Guizhou Province is full of mountains, but the situation in Guangxi Province is not much better. Guangxi Province is full of mountains and hills, which is far from being comparable to the plains in Guangdong Province and Jiangnan.
The amount of food and salary taxes collected by Guangxi Province each year is also at the bottom among all the provinces in the Ming Dynasty. It can only be said that it is slightly better than that of your province.

Moreover, although Zhu Lang requested at least 30,000 dan of military rations, by the time these 30,000 dan of military rations were actually transported to your province, the rice consumed would probably be more than 50,000 or 60,000 dan. In this era, the loss of long-distance grain transportation was also terrifyingly large.

Seeing Yan Qiheng and the others looking embarrassed, Zhu Lang also spoke up.

"Food and grain are crucial to the success of the three southwestern provinces. There must be no problems. I have already ordered people to transport rice from Guangdong to Guangxi."

"If it's still not enough, you can buy it from private merchants. I have already told Lord Su about this matter, and the Ministry of Revenue will allocate silver to you."

Upon hearing this, Yan Qiheng also spoke

"This time, Lord Qu seized a total of 250,000 taels of silver from Chen Bangfu. All of this stolen silver is now sealed in the Guangxi Provincial Treasury, so there is no need to transfer additional silver to the court."

"However, Guangxi's harvest last year was not very good. If the court purchases a large amount of grain in a short period of time, the price of grain in the private sector may rise sharply, and the amount of rice that can be purchased with this batch of silver will be greatly reduced."

Zhu Lang was also stunned when he heard this. He did not expect that there would be such an unexpected fortune in the treasury of the Guangxi Province.

It can only be said that these Ming officials are really too rich. If he can catch seven or eight fat sheep like Wang Kun and Chen Bangfu every year, Zhu Lang will have no worries about his great cause.
When Zhu Lang heard that there was cash available in the treasury of Guangxi Province, he did not hesitate and said

"Since there is silver in the treasury, we should take it all out to buy grain. It doesn't matter if the price of grain rises a little, but we must not let unscrupulous merchants take advantage of the opportunity to drive up the market price."

"If you find such behavior, you don't need to report it. Just punish them severely. In short, you must transport as much grain as possible to your province. The more the better."

Yan Qiheng heard this and responded respectfully.

After Zhu Lang arranged the grain transportation, he remembered the matter in Hunan Province and asked

"What's the situation in Hunan Province? Has Yongzhou and Wugang received it?"

"I received the imperial edict and immediately dispatched county officials to take over the two cities."

"In Yongzhou, as soon as the official arrived, the people in the city immediately took over the handover, which went quite smoothly. According to the people in Yongzhou, he was a subordinate of the Huguang Governor's Office."

"But the journey to Wugang was not smooth. Liu Chengyin of Hunan Province sent soldiers to occupy Dong'an City on the Hunan-Guangxi border. As soon as the officials I sent arrived in Dong'an, they were driven out by Liu Chengyin's soldiers and could not even reach Wugang City."

Zhu Lang's face turned cold after hearing this, but he was not very angry in his heart. In fact, Zhu Lang had expected Liu Chengyin's reaction.
In his previous life, Liu Chengyin took Emperor Yongli hostage and entered Wugang, intending to use the emperor to control the princes. Liu Chengyin dared to hold the emperor hostage, let alone occupy a mere county town.

Zhu Lang looked down and said directly

"Ma Bao, is half a month enough for you to lead the Tengxiang Army to suppress Liu Chengyin?"

"Within half a month, I will capture and kill Liu Chengyin and present him to Your Highness."

Ma Bao stood up immediately after hearing this and respectfully accepted the order.

Although the Tengxiang Army now has only 10,000 people, only one-third of Liu Chengyin's army, after the battle in Fujian Province, the army was replenished with men, horses, armor and weapons. Ma Bao felt that he was now terribly strong.

Even if the Qing invaders were equal in number, Ma Bao felt that his Tengxiang Army could fight

Yan Qiheng, Cao Ye and other officials of the Guangxi Province below were shocked when they heard this. They did not expect that His Highness would be so direct. He would send troops to wipe out the rebels after hearing only one report.

Yan Qiheng and Yan Rishu looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke

"Wugang is adjacent to Guangxi Province, and Guangxi Province also knows some information about Liu Chengyin. Liu Chengyin was born a military general and is quite knowledgeable about military strategies. The 30,000 soldiers under his command are also quite good at fighting. Even in Huguang, he is one of the most powerful parties."

"Although Liu Chengyin is rebellious, he only drove away the envoy and did not dare to hurt anyone. Now that Your Highness has come with a large army, it would be better to send someone to issue an imperial decree to reprimand him. When Liu Chengyin sees the might of the imperial guards, he will..."

Before Yan Qiheng could finish his words, Zhu Lang interrupted him with a wave of his hand. Zhu Lang said coldly:

"Mr. Yan is wrong. The imperial decree has been issued. Since Liu Chengyin expelled the envoy, he is a traitor. If he is a traitor, he should be strangled to death!"

"He is just a military leader. We can kill him if we want. What's the big deal?"

"I came to Huguang this time to kill people. Since Liu Chengyin has come to me, I will use his head to show the armies of Huguang what happens when they disobey the imperial court!"

Yan Qiheng, Cao Ye and other officials of Guangxi Province looked at the murderous Regent from above, and were stunned for a moment, not knowing how to respond.

Cao Ye and the others looked up at Zhang Tongchang and Liu Xiangke, and at Jiao Lian, Ma Bao and the others across from them, only to find that they all had a matter-of-fact look on their faces, as if Liu Chengyin, who had 30,000 soldiers, was really just a petty thief who could be easily destroyed.

Everyone thought of the arrogant and strong imperial guards outside the city just now, and finally began to realize that the newly established Gui Regent court seemed a little different from what they imagined.

Cao Ye and the others looked at His Highness the Regent, who was calm and composed, and a sense of awe rose quietly in their hearts.

His Majesty the Regent could kill military officials who commanded tens of thousands of troops at will, so wouldn't he be even more arbitrary in dealing with these civil officials?

Everyone in the hall had already made a decision. The Tengxiang Army, which had just arrived outside the city, began to mobilize again and marched towards Huguang.
(End of this chapter)