Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 373: Trampling the Grain
Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province, October. It is already late autumn. The autumn sun is warm and the sky is blue, stretching into the distance.

Outside Tiantai County, people are working in the fields. The fields are full of green.

It is now the grain filling period, and the rice in the fields has begun to form ears. In more than ten days, when the grain filling is completed, this year's autumn grain can be harvested.
On the post road, there was a sudden sound of horse hooves. More than two hundred cavalrymen suddenly appeared at the end of the official road and then galloped towards this place.
The cavalrymen were all wearing red inner garments and black leather armor. The people in the fields saw the soldiers holding sabers in the distance, and their faces were filled with fear.
"The government troops, the government troops are here to trample on the grain again"

The people in the fields were immediately panicked and ran out of the fields, grabbing their farm tools and fleeing to the mountains to the west.
The Ming cavalry got off the post road and soon arrived at the foot of the mountain. A group of civilians had just escaped from the ridge of the field, but the Ming army did not care about the fleeing civilians, but rode their horses directly into the field.
In the paddy field, the horses' hooves trampled through the rice fields, breaking the rice seedlings that were about to mature and trampled into the water.

When the fleeing people saw the rice fields destroyed, some of them still fled to the mountains in panic, while others stopped and stared blankly at the crops that had been trampled to the ground.
More than a hundred cavalrymen trampled on the paddy fields, while other Ming soldiers rushed into the dry bean fields nearby, took out kerosene and began to sprinkle it on the rice paddies.

A farmer suddenly ran back from the bean field, and with a plop, he knelt down in front of a cavalryman.

"The rice fields have not yet been filled with grain, so you can trample them if you want. But the bean fields are ready for harvest. These beans are my only food for the coming year, so you can't burn them."

"Please have mercy on me, sir. Please have mercy on me, sir. Please leave me a way to live."

The cavalryman was not moved at all and shouted
"You fool, this is the Tartar's thief's field. The Tartars are as cruel as wolves. Even if you leave this bean field, the beans will be taken away by the Tartars in the end."

"The imperial court has issued an order that not a single grain of food from Tiantai County can be left to the Tartars!"

The peasants on the ground kept knelt and begged for mercy, but the Ming soldiers had completely lost their patience and shouted:

"Get out of the way immediately! If you dare to obstruct the military order again, you will be killed without mercy."

The Ming soldiers chopped down with their swords, and the farmers on the ground saw the flash of the swords and fled to the rear in panic.
The soldier slashed at the air with his sword, but he did not chase after the fleeing civilians.

Bags of kerosene were poured into the bean fields, sparks fell, and the fields soon caught fire.

On the edge of the field, Linhai Commander Wang Xing sat on his warhorse, looking at the flames in the field with a calm expression on his face.

Wang Xing was born as a bandit in Guangdong Province. After killing someone when he was young, he fled to Enping and became a bandit.
Wang Xing was a man of extraordinary courage and a generous character. After becoming a bandit in Enping, he quickly became a well-known bandit in Enping because he often robbed the rich and helped the poor.

When Zhu Lang was surrounded by Tong Yangjia and others in Guangzhou, messengers were sent everywhere to seek help. After receiving the rescue order, the Enping County Magistrate also had no troops at hand, so he could only try to contact Wang Xing, hoping that Wang Xing would send troops to rescue the king.

After Wang Xing heard the news, he did not hesitate at all. He gathered more than a thousand men and rushed to Guangzhou. However, when Wang Xing arrived in Guangzhou, Li Chengdong and other Qing troops had been defeated by the imperial guards.

After the Battle of Guangzhou, the Ming court quickly decided to enter Fujian to rescue Zheng

After verifying the identities of Wang Xing and others, the Ming court accepted all the volunteers who came to rescue the emperor.
Wang Xing was incorporated into the Wuxiang Army without knowing why, and thus he changed from a good mountain king to a general of the imperial army.

The Ming and Qing dynasties each ruled their own territory in Zhejiang Province. The Ming court occupied Quzhou, Chuzhou, Wenzhou and other three prefectures in southern Zhejiang.
In Taizhou Prefecture, the Ming and Qing sides each occupied half. The Ming army occupied the coastal counties of Linhai and Haimen in the south of Taizhou, while the Qing army occupied Tiantai and Ninghai in the north of Taizhou.
Taizhou Prefecture was the front line of the confrontation between the Ming and Qing dynasties in Zhejiang Province at this time, and Wang Xing and others were ordered by Taizhou General Yi Zhi to go to Tiantai County to destroy the Qing Dynasty's rice fields.

After Zhu Lang led his army back from Huguang a year ago, there have been no major wars between the Ming and Qing dynasties, but small-scale harassment on the front line has never stopped.
At the front line of the confrontation between the two armies, both the Ming and Qing sides were sending people to seize the grain. There were many mountains in Zhejiang Province, so it was just a small fight. The real fierce battle was on the Hubei Province side.

On the front line of Hubei Province, the Ming and Qing sides are now confronting each other in Xiangyang and Nanyang

During the summer and autumn harvests, the Ming army would organize more than a thousand cavalrymen to go deep into the Nanyang Basin on the Qing side to trample on the grain. The Qing cavalry would also break into Xiangyang and other places on the Ming side to trample on the fields and destroy the grain.
Xiangyang and Nanyang are both flat plains. Every year, hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland are destroyed due to grain trampling on both sides. The intensity of grain trampling on the Hubei side is far beyond that of the Zhejiang side.

The east of Tiantai County was in chaos at this time. The surface of the rice fields reflected the sky full of flames. The shouts of the cavalrymen galloping and the cries of the people in the fields intertwined, instantly breaking the tranquility of the autumn.

Captain Xiao Guolong rode over and dismounted when he got close. He bowed and spoke to Wang Xing.

"Uncle San, the paddy fields in Dongdaheng and Yangtou towns in Tiantai County have all been trampled and destroyed, and the dry bean and wheat fields have also been burned with kerosene. The Tartars in Tiantai County will never be able to harvest a single grain of rice from here this year."

"Now that we have finished our journey, let's prepare to return to camp."

Xiao Guolong's expression froze when he heard this, and he said

"Are you going back just like that, Third Uncle? The Green Camp soldiers on the rooftop are too unprepared. We can take a single blow from them."

"We just got out, why don't we go to Ninghai and visit another county?"

Wang Xing shook his head and said

"Don't cause any more trouble. General Yi has ordered us to return after we finish climbing the rooftop. We are not allowed to go to Ninghai."

"Why is this"

Xiao Guolong had a puzzled look on his face. The two cities closest to the Ming army were Tiantai and Ninghai.
If we don't attack Ninghai now, the food and money of Ninghai City can be quickly transferred to Tiantai City, and the effect of the Ming army's attack on food will be greatly reduced.
When Wang Xing and his men came to raid the grain in June, they also raided two cities in a row and almost broke into Ninghai City.
Wang Xing also frowned slightly, but soon spoke up

"Before leaving the camp this time, General Yi personally instructed us not to go to Ninghai."

"This is not the first time we have stepped on the grain. Last time, we attacked Ninghai together and it caused too much trouble. The Qing invaders must be prepared this time."

"In my opinion, the Tartars are very likely to have set up an ambush in Ninghai. The general may have received some information, so he does not allow us to go to Ninghai."

Xiao Guolong looked thoughtful when he heard this. At this time, another horse galloped over from a distance. Liu Bolong, the captain in charge of monitoring Tiantai County, jumped off his horse and said in a deep voice:

"The Tartars from Tiantai County have come out. From a rough look, we can see that there are about 500 cavalrymen and over a thousand infantrymen in the city. It is impossible to tell whether there are real Tartars among them."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xing also spoke directly

"Blow the horn to gather the troops and withdraw to Linhai"

Xiao Guolong responded and hurriedly retreated. A call for troops to gather was heard in the fields. The Ming cavalrymen who were originally scattered in various places to look for food quickly gathered together and left quickly under the leadership of Wang Xing.

When the Qing Dynasty Tiantai garrison commander arrived at the foot of Dongcheng Mountain, the Ming army cavalry had long disappeared, leaving only the crying people and the messy fields.
Beijing, November. Last night, the first snow of winter fell in the city. The city was covered with a thin layer of snow, and the temperature became colder.

In the afternoon, the sky was overcast and the cold wind was howling. There were few people on the street, but at this time, the front of Prince Li’s mansion was full of carriages.
In front of the Prince Li's palace, men with thin braids and fox furs stepped on the guards and got off the carriage.

If you look closely, you can see that most of these people are wearing black and gold python robes.
If there were people familiar with the Qing court, they would be able to tell that most of these people were nobles of the Eight Banners who were above the rank of Beizi. In front of the Prince Li's mansion, Duolo Prince Wakda, Gushan Ezhen Dulei of the Zhenghong Banner, Wu Shoujin, the commander-in-chief of the Han Army of the Zhenghong Banner, and other Zhenghong Bannermen were waiting at the door.

The nobles of each banner got off the carriages. The nobles above Beizi were greeted by Wakda himself, while the rest were received by the people of Zhenghong Banner according to their status.
Nobles kept arriving and leaving Prince Li's palace. The princes gave out gifts such as ginseng and ganoderma lucidum, but the atmosphere in the palace was extremely depressing.

The maids in the mansion all lowered their heads and even walked on tiptoe, fearing that the slightest sound would anger the master of the mansion.

At Prince Li's mansion, Jierhalang walked out of the backyard. Outside the gate, Beizi Shangshan saw Jierhalang and quickly walked over to him.
Shang Shan looked at Jirgalang with a solemn expression, and his heart sank. He couldn't help but ask

"Uncle, how is Prince Li?"

Jirgalang shook his head slightly and said softly

"He is still conscious, but his speech is slurred. I'm afraid he won't last for a few more days."

Shang Shan also looked unhappy when he heard this.

Three nights ago, Prince Li Daishan suddenly became seriously ill. There were even rumors that Prince Li had passed away. However, after a night of panic, Daishan finally saved his life with the help of the secret medicine of the palace, Old Ginseng.
Although Daishan was finally saved by the secret medicine, he was just barely hanging on. Everyone knew that Daishan was probably going to die.
Daishan was Nurhaci's second son. He was even crown prince for a time and almost took over Nurhaci's throne.
Daishan served under three emperors, Nurhaci, Huang Taiji, and Shunzhi, and witnessed the establishment of the Qing Dynasty from scratch. He was a true veteran of the three dynasties. At that time, there was no one in the Qing court who was older than Daishan.

Shangshan had a gloomy look on his face. Daishan was now over sixty years old. Compared to Huang Taiji and other Manchu nobles who died young, Daishan was already a long-lived man.
It would not be surprising if Daishan died at this time, but why did he die at this time?

Luo Luohun, the leader of the Red Banner and Prince of Yanxi, followed the army to Sichuan several years ago, but he died on the way before he entered Sichuan.

Last year, after much debate and discussion, the court finally decided that Luo Luohun's legitimate son Luo Keduo would succeed him as the leader of the Red Banner.

But before this matter was settled for long, the Red Banner Gushan Ezhen Yechen died again. Under the promotion of Dorgon, the Red Banner Khalchuhun took over the position of Gushan of the Plain Red Banner.

Kalchuhun was a brave general in the Bordered Red Banner and held a very high position in the Banner. Although Luo Keduo eventually took over as the leader of the Bordered Red Banner with the efforts of Jirgalang Daishan and others, the problem was that Luo Keduo was too young.
Luo Keduo is only nine years old this year. Even if a nine-year-old child inherits the position of the flag master, how can he suppress the brave generals and nobles in the Red Banner?

Khalchuhun was promoted by Dorgon. Once Khalchuhun took control of the soldiers in the banner, I am afraid that the Red Banner would also fall into Dorgon's hands.

Shang Shan was about to speak, but at this time, Wu Shoujin, the commander of the Han army of Zhenghong Banner, came hurriedly and said in a deep voice to the two people in the courtyard

"Your Majesty has arrived in person. Prince Wakda has ordered me to notify all the officials in the palace to go and greet you. Prince Zheng and Beizi are requested to go to the front yard to greet you immediately."

Jierhalang and Shangshan looked at each other, both with astonishment on their faces, but they didn't say much at this time, and directly followed Wu Shoujin to welcome the emperor.
Emperor Shunzhi came suddenly and left suddenly. The young emperor stayed in Daishan's room for only a quarter of an hour before leaving. After bestowing a batch of old medicines such as ginseng and ganoderma lucidum from the palace, he returned to the palace.
Prince Zheng's residence, with Jirgalang sitting at the top, and on the left and right sides below are Beizi Shangshan and Beizi Wudahai, both of whom are key figures in the Bordered Blue Banner
Wu Dahai looked up at Jirgalang and suddenly said softly

"Why did His Majesty suddenly come to visit Prince Li?"

The emperor's travel was no small matter. Even if Fulin only left the palace and stayed in the capital, he could not just leave.

When they attended court today, they had never heard of Fulin's trip out of the palace to visit. It was obvious that Emperor Shunzhi's visit to Prince Li's mansion was a temporary decision and not planned in advance.
Jirgalang looked thoughtful and silent for a while before speaking softly.

"After this year, Your Majesty will be twelve years old."

Shang Shan was stunned at first, but then he immediately reacted and said

"My uncle said that His Majesty intends to rule the country personally."

The more Shangshan thought about it, the more he felt that this made sense. Emperor Shunzhi's leaving the palace without permission at this time was obviously a test for the court or for Dorgon.

If Dorgon did not respond, then Emperor Shunzhi could start to contact the ministers in the court in the future. If Dorgon severely reprimanded him, then Emperor Shunzhi could cover it up in the name of comforting the old ministers.

Shang Shan thought of this and a hint of excitement flashed across his face. He said

"If the emperor really intends to rule the country himself, it will be a good thing for us. Sony and others in the Zhenghuang Banner have always followed the lead of the palace. If the emperor starts to interfere in government affairs, then the pressure on us in the court will be greatly reduced."

"Not only in the Bordered Yellow Banner, but also in the harem."

"If the emperor really wants to rule the country himself, the queen mother Bumbutai and others will also stand up. The two yellow flag ministers and the harem are too weak towards Dorgon. My nephew even heard that the queen mother and the regent were often in the harem..."

Before Shangshan finished speaking, Jierhalang's face turned cold and he stared at Shangshan below.

"If you want to die, just keep talking."

Shang Shan saw the cold expression on Jirgalang's face and his expression suddenly changed. He instantly realized that he had just spoken out of turn.

Although the story of the Queen Mother and the Regent Dorgon had long been circulated in the capital, spreading it is one thing and talking about it is another. How can such things be spoken casually?
Fortunately, he was in Prince Zheng's mansion at that time. If he was outside, he would probably be captured and executed by Dorgon before the next day.

Jirgalang looked at Shangshan, whose forehead was covered with cold sweat, and finally spoke

"The most urgent task now is to get Man Dahai to the capital immediately to inherit the title and position. This is the most important thing."

After Hauge openly occupied Guanzhong, the two yellow flags led by Aobai and the red flag led by Man Dahai all retreated to the city of Xi'an and drew a clear line with Hauge.

Last year, Man Dahai and others were supposed to return to the court, but Hauge led the Zhenglan Banner to establish an independent regime in Hanzhong and refused to return to the court. The atmosphere in the Qing court became more and more tense.

In order to prevent the Zhenghong Banner from being too involved in the struggle in the court, Daishan ordered Man Dahai, the future leader of the Zhenghong Banner, to stay in Xi'an to prevent Man Dahai from being involved in the struggle between Dorgon and Jirgalang.
However, Daishan's sudden illness caused a huge hidden danger to this arrangement. Daishan was about to collapse, but the person chosen to inherit the title was thousands of miles away.
Daishan is trying so hard to hold on now, just to wait for Man Dahai to come back, and personally pass on the title and the position of leader of the Zhenghong Banner to Man Dahai.
Thinking of this, Jierhalang no longer hesitated and said in a deep voice:
"Dorgon is powerful, the Red Banner must not be lost"

"Shangshan, send someone to tell Man Dahai not to worry about the Red Banner soldiers and to return to the capital as soon as possible."

"Nephew will go now"

Shang Shan looked serious. He responded and stood up and hurried out of the hall.
Jirgalang and others expected Daishan to hold out for a few more days, but the situation changed far beyond their expectations.

Daishan did not even survive a day and died at night, and Dorgon's actions were much faster than Jirgalang and others had imagined.

(End of this chapter)