Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 342 Secret Message
Chaozhou Raoping, Sanheba Mountain Stronghold, this is the lair of Raoping bandit Wu Liuqi
Wu Liuqi was originally a postman in Chaozhou Prefecture. At the end of the Chongzhen period, bandits were rampant in Chaozhou. Wu Liuqi seized the opportunity and recruited postmen and villagers to form a militia in the name of defending his hometown.
After Wu Liuqi led his men to repel several bandits, he began to occupy the Raoping area and quickly expanded his power.

The Qing army invaded Chaozhou two years ago. Under the leadership of Gu Chaojian and other gentry, they occupied the entire Chaozhou prefecture without bloodshed.
Wu Liuqi believed that the Ming Dynasty was doomed, so he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty like the local bandits in Chaozhou Prefecture at that time.

Wu Liuqi was also quite famous in Chaozhou, claiming to have thousands of soldiers. After Wu Liuqi surrendered to the Qing court, he was directly appointed as the garrison commander of Raoping in the Green Camp. After more than ten years of struggle, Wu Liuqi finally rose from a postman to an official.

But Wu Liuqi was not happy for a few days after he got his official position. Then the news of the Qing defeat came from Guangzhou. Then Li Mingzhong led the Wuxiang Army to sweep the two prefectures. Chaozhou and Huizhou became the territory of the Ming court again.
Wu Liuqi, the so-called Qing Dynasty Raoping garrison, did not even enter Raoping City, and retreated back to the Sanheba mountain stronghold. He was also labeled a traitor for no reason.
Although Wu Liuqi surrendered to the Qing court, Tong Yangjia and others issued numerous official posts such as Canyou Shoubei in Chaozhou in order to stabilize the local area. At that time, the situation between Chaozhou and Huizhou was in chaos, and no one could figure out who had surrendered to the Qing court.
After the Ming court conquered Chaozhou, they immediately entered Fujian to fight the Qing army. They had no time to care about Wu Liuqi and other local bandits who were suspected of surrendering to the Qing army.

In the mountain village wooden building, Wu Biao looked at the figure in Confucian robes disappearing outside the hall, looked up at Wu Liuqi, and said

"Brother, this Li Shichang came to visit us suddenly, is there something fishy going on?"

Wu Liuqi and Wu Biao were the only two people left in the hall. There was a wooden box in the hall. When the box was opened, snow-white silver ingots were placed inside.

Today, the Li family of Chaozhou City suddenly came to the door and asked Wu Liuqi to kill the Magistrate of Raoping County for three thousand taels of silver. They also promised that someone would help open the city gate and let them enter the city to rob.

Wu Liuqi sat at the top, but he didn't look at the silver in the hall, his face was frowned.
Although Li Shichang just said that he had a grudge against the Magistrate of Raoping County and wanted to get rid of him, Wu Liuqi did not believe it at all.
The Chaozhou Li family has been a top family in Chaozhou for six generations. They live in the Raoping Mountains. In the eyes of ordinary people, they are powerful, but in the eyes of the Li family, they are just a group of bandits who are not worthy of being on the stage.

In normal times, even if Wu Liuqi and others took money to make friends with the Li family, Li Shichang and others would never have anything to do with them.

But at this time, Li Shichang took the silver and went to the village to ask for help in a humble manner, which was obviously very abnormal.
Wu Liuqi's expression darkened, and he spoke directly

"This Li Shichang is arrogant at first but respectful later. There must be something fishy going on!"

"Second brother, take the valuable gifts and quickly go to Lord Luo's house in Raoping to inquire about the situation in the mansion and find out whether there are any troops being transferred into the mansion and whether there are any troops being mobilized in the county."

"This Li guy has bad intentions. I'm afraid he wants to lure us out of the mountain."

Although Wu Liuqi had promised just now, it was only to stabilize Li Shichang.

After hearing what Li Shichang asked, Wu Liuqi's first reaction was that the imperial court wanted to encircle and suppress their Sanhe Village, and the three thousand taels were the bait put out by the imperial court to lure them to abandon the village and leave the mountain.

The Luo Gong that Wu Liuqi mentioned was named Luo Wanjie, a Jinshi from Jieyang. Two years ago, the Ninth Army captured Jieyang, and Luo Wanjie and his family fled in panic, but were accidentally rescued by Wu Liuqi.

Although they were indebted to Luo Wanjie's family, the Luo family, as a noble family, obviously did not want to have too much contact with people like Wu Liuqi.
Wu Liuqi was also very tactful. On the surface, he did not associate with the Luo family. He only sent gifts to them during festivals to maintain the relationship between the two sides.

Luo Wanjie is the highest-ranking official Wu Liuqi can get in touch with. If it weren't for the strange situation, Wu Liuqi would never want to waste their favor with the Luo family.

Wu Biao's expression became serious after hearing what Wu Liuqi said. He responded to Wu Liuqi and hurried out of the hall.
Wu Biao sneaked to Raoping at noon and rushed back to the mountain stronghold at night. In the lobby, Wu Biao was sweating profusely. He picked up the tea bowl and drank it all in one gulp. Then he spoke

"Brother, Lord Luo has already asked about this. There have been no recent troop movements in the palace, and there is no news of any troop gatherings in Raoping City."

"You didn't tell anyone that Li Shichang came to look for us, did you?"

Wu Liuqi frowned. Wu Biao immediately understood what Wu Liuqi meant and shook his head.
"Of course not, big brother, you are really worrying too much. Luo Gong is an upright person, and we have saved his family's lives. Luo Gong will never collude with others to harm us."

"By the way, before I came back, Mr. Luo told me that the imperial court would send troops to confiscate the land of the gentry in Chaozhou."

"Mr. Luo said that there might be trouble in Chaozhou recently, and asked us not to get involved in it."

Wu Liuqi was stunned when he heard this, and said

"The court is sending troops to reclaim the land?"

"Yes, I went to the county to inquire before I came back, but I found that the matter had spread throughout the city."

"It is said that the court was dissatisfied with the fact that Chaozhou surrendered to the Tartars without any resistance. His Highness the Regent was furious and believed that all the people of Chaozhou were guilty. He was going to send troops to seize the land of the people of Chaozhou and distribute it to the soldiers in the army."

Wu Liuqi frowned and thought for a moment, but suddenly a flash of realization flashed in his eyes, and he instantly connected everything that happened today.

In the backyard room, the silver that Li Shichang brought was still placed in the room. Under the dim light, the silver in the box was shining with a hazy silver light.

Wu Liuqi looked at the silver in the box, and a hint of surprise suddenly flashed across his face. He couldn't help but say

"Well divided, well divided, Li Shichang really brought me great wealth"

"Second brother, prepare your horse immediately and follow me out of the village."

Wu Biao looked at Wu Liuqi who looked happy, but his face was stunned. He subconsciously asked

"It's so late, where are you going, brother?"

"Go to Raoping first, then to Chaozhou!"

"Whether my Wu family can prosper depends on this incident."

After Wu Liuqi finished speaking, he turned around and walked out of the hall without explaining.
Song Kuiguang, the garrison commander of Changning County, and Yu Yinggui, the garrison commander of Changning County, sitting in the back hall of the government office
The Qing army in Gan Province had two bases closest to Guangdong Province. One was Xinfeng below Ganzhou, and the other was Changning, which was adjacent to Chaozhou and Huizhou.
Song Kuiguang was the lieutenant general of Jin Shenghuan's central army. Yu Yinggui requested to go to the border of Jiangxi and Guangdong that day, so Jin Shenghuan ordered Song Kuiguang to serve as the garrison commander of Changning on the pretext of strengthening the garrison of Changning. In fact, he secretly escorted Yu Yinggui to the central army of Changning County.
Song Kuiguang handed an envelope to Yu Yinggui and said

"Mr. Yu, this is a secret letter we received from Guangdong Province. The information in it may be useful to you."

Yu Yinggui looked at the envelope with the seal cut open, his eyes fixed on it, but he didn't ask any more questions and directly took out the letter paper.
Yu Yinggui glanced at the contents of the letter and stood up in shock. His expression changed drastically.

This letter was a secret letter written by Yao Jing to Zhang Yutian, the governor of Gan Province. In the letter, Yao Jing ordered Zhang Yutian to send troops from Changning and drive along the mountain path directly to Dingnan City on the west side of Changning.

When the Qing army arrived at Dingnan City, someone in the city would open the gates to help the Qing army capture the city.
The Ming army's defense line in the north of Guangdong Province is mainly in Dayu and Longnan. Dayu City faces Ganzhou, and Longnan City faces Xinfeng.
Xinfeng, controlled by the Qing army, is located between Changning and Ganzhou. To the south of Xinfeng are Longnan and Dingnan. In order to guard against the Qing army from Xinfeng, the Ming army stationed almost all its soldiers in Longnan.

If the Qing army captured Dingnan City behind Longnan in this surprise attack, it would be equivalent to directly bypassing the heavily guarded Dayu and Longnan defense lines of the Ming Dynasty and directly attacking Huizhou Prefecture.

Yu Yinggui looked at the secret letter in his hand, his face was filled with anger, and he could not help but ask

"Who is this Yao Jing, and when did you receive this letter?"

"I don't know that. I only know that this person is a gentry in Huizhou Haifeng, and the letter was received five days ago." Although Yao Jing knew Zhang Yutian, the governor of Gan Province, he was not clear about the situation in Gan Province, nor did he know about the dispute between the governor and the admiral in Gan Province.

The Ming and Qing dynasties were in a standoff on the border between Jiangxi and Guangdong. In Jiangxi Province, there were also riots and insurgency. It was not easy to send a letter from Huizhou to Nanchang directly.
The closest Qing army base to Huizhou was Gan Gaoguanning. After Yao Jing wrote the letter, he sent someone to take Zhang Yutian's letter to Changning, hoping to pass the letter to Nanchang through the Qing army in Changning.
The confidant sent by Yao Jing broke into the Changning County Office with the letter, but happened to run into Song Kuiguang's hand.
Yu Yinggui heard that he had been thinking about this for five days, and his expression became even uglier. He said directly

"Such an important matter, since you received it five days ago, why did you inform me only now?"

Song Kuiguang's expression froze, his eyes flashed, and he replied

"This matter is of great importance, we must confirm it first."

"And Mr. Yu, you also need to know that we are taking a risk by handing this letter to you at this time."

Yu Yinggui calmed down after hearing this and immediately understood what Song Kuiguang meant.

After Song Kuiguang received the letter, he must have passed it to Jin Shenghuan in Nanchang first. At this time, Song Kuiguang gave the letter to himself, which must have been Jin Shenghuan's intention. This is why the letter did not reach him until five days later.

Yu Yinggui looked at the gap in the envelope and asked

“How many people know the contents of this letter now?”

"Besides me and the Admiral, only Mr. Yu has seen it, but I don't know if Yao Jing in Huizhou has other messengers."

Yu Yinggui's expression changed slightly when he heard this. If Yao Jing had sent other messengers, Zhang Yutian might have known the contents of the letter by now.

Yu Yinggui looked at Song Kuiguang and said in a deep voice
"I need to send the letter to Guangdong Province immediately"

"I am only responsible for delivering the letter to you, sir. As for what you want to do and how to do it, I have no idea. You can do whatever you want."

Seeing Yu Yinggui was about to leave, Song Kuiguang hesitated for a moment and then spoke again.

"There is one more thing I need to remind you, sir. You are now a dead man in Gan Province. You should be more cautious in your actions. If everyone knows about it, it will be difficult for us to explain ourselves."

"General Song, rest assured. The day I started my rebellion in Nankang, I never thought I could survive. If I were captured, I would not bring any trouble to you."

Yu Yinggui's expression remained unchanged as he stuffed the letter into the envelope, then stood up and walked out of the hall.
Li Yongmao and Li Chongmao sitting in the back hall of the Li Mansion in Guangzhou

Li Chongmao was reading a tabloid in his hand. The tabloid recorded the discussion between His Royal Highness the Regent and his ministers on the governance of the two governments at the court meeting that day.

Li Chongmao put down the tabloid in his hand and said

"The army of the court has made great contributions in defeating the Qing invaders in the past two years. If the court wants to recover its homeland in the future, it will still need the army of the court to serve. The reward from the army cannot be delayed."

"It is true that the gentry of the two prefectures have abandoned their land. It is reasonable for Your Highness to punish them."

"But your highness is too reckless to promote the seven-bull grain system. Even after the Qing invaders entered the country, they still knew to give preferential treatment to the gentry. Your highness now wants to deprive the gentry of their preferential treatment. Whether in Jiangnan, the Central Plains or the north, the gentry in various places will probably become alienated after hearing the news."

Li Yongmao heard this and said softly

"Your Highness is not being reckless, but is simply testing the waters."

Li Chongmao nodded and spoke again

"My brother thinks that the ministers in the court may stop His Highness."

Li Yongmao frowned and thought for a long time before speaking softly.

"do not know"

During the reign of Chongzhen, if all officials worked together, they might not be able to accomplish anything, but as long as the court was united, they could definitely make something impossible to accomplish.

But the situation in the court at this time was completely different from before. The situation of the court meeting that day had been spread. The civil officials were all against it, but none of the military officials in the court agreed.
Your Highness's prestige is now unmatched in the court, and all the troops in the court are in your hands. Can a group of civil officials really stop Your Highness the Regent?

Li Chongmao looked at Li Yongmao who was frowning and silent, and spoke again

"Just now, Lord He sent a letter asking you to join him in making a petition to persuade him. Ruixing also sent a letter asking for your opinion."

"Brother is a former assistant. Although he is no longer in the court, I am afraid it will be difficult for him to escape. How do you plan to respond?" Liu Xiangke took the name Ruixing

Zhu Lang dismissed the court that day and left. Although He Wuzuo and others knew that His Royal Highness the Regent was unhappy, they were also not prepared to give in.
After the court was dismissed, He Wuzuo and others also began to mobilize the gentry in the opposition, preparing to submit a petition to persuade His Royal Highness the Regent to abandon this system.
Li Yongmao was silent for a moment and was about to speak, but at this moment, the steward of the Li Mansion suddenly looked solemn and rushed into the room.
"Master, there is an urgent letter from Gan Province, asking you to open it immediately."

Li Yongmao took the envelope from the steward and first checked the seal to see if it was damaged. Then he took out the letter.
Li Yongmao glanced at the contents of the letter, but his face suddenly showed anger and he shouted:

"Damn it, these people are so brave"

Li Chongmao was also shocked when he saw Li Yongmao, who was furious.
"Brother, what happened?"

Li Yongmao ignored Li Chongmao's question and took out the second piece of letter paper from the envelope. After reading the contents of the letter paper, Li Yongmao's expression became even colder.
Li Yongmao put the two pieces of letter paper into the envelope, then looked at Li Chongmao beside him and said in a cold voice
"Tell Ruixing that the situation in the two governments has changed. Tell him not to get involved in the new system of the two governments, and not to submit petitions to persuade them."

"And you, no matter who asks you to submit a new document, ignore it."

Li Chongmao was also surprised to see Li Yongmao's attitude change drastically, and asked

"What happened?"

"Don't ask any more questions. Those bastards in Huizhou are really courting their own death. I'm going to the palace to see the emperor right now."

After Li Yongmao finished speaking, he took the envelope from the table without waiting for Li Chongmao to reply, then stood up and hurried out of the hall.
(End of this chapter)