Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 10: A child with yellow mouth, no need to worry

At noon on March 19th, the Shun Emperor Li Zicheng rode a tall armored horse and slowly passed through the Zhengyangmen Tower, surrounded by hundreds of his personal cavalry. Hundreds of Ming court officials who had surrendered were kneeling on both sides of the street.

Although Li Zicheng was now an emperor, he still maintained a very simple style. He wore a blanket hat and a light blue robe, and looked very capable. However, his left eye, which was shot blind, made his face look a little hideous.

At this time, a large number of Shun army soldiers were maintaining order inside and outside the city of Beijing. Although Li Zicheng had already issued orders repeatedly and the Shun army's military discipline was considered good during this period, many incidents of soldiers taking advantage of the chaos to rob the city were inevitable.

Of course, some of these soldiers who committed crimes in defiance of the law were immediately beheaded in the streets, and several were hanged on the city walls. This greatly reduced the fear of the people in the city towards the new emperor.

Since the Shun army's eastward expedition, except for Ningwu Pass, the journey has been very easy. From Datong, Xuanfu, to Juyong Pass, Baoding Prefecture, and then to Jizhou Town, the northern Ming army along the entire Great Wall was scrambling to surrender. Even the soldiers and civilians in Beijing did not put up much resistance, and the officers and soldiers were not very aggressive.

This is also what distinguishes Li Zicheng from other peasant army leaders in the late Ming Dynasty, especially Zhang Xianzhong, the King of the Great West, who also established a regime on par with him.

His army had the best military discipline among all the peasant armies, and the base area he operated in southern Henan and northern Hubei did bring several years of peace and prosperity to the people.

You have to know that this was a feudal peasant army, and it was the end of the Ming Dynasty, a period of chaos and the loss of moral bottom line. For ordinary people, being able to do this was already considered benevolent and righteous.

Before he knew it, Li Zicheng had ridden his horse to the Daming Gate south of the Forbidden City. He was accompanied by Liu Zongmin, the General of the Central Camp of Dashun, and Niu Jinxing, the Grand Secretary of Tianyou Palace and Prime Minister. Dozens of eunuchs were already kneeling there, led by Du Zhizhi, one of the most trusted eunuchs of Emperor Chongzhen.

Li Zicheng had already proclaimed himself emperor. To a certain extent, he had the same mentality as Emperor Chongzhen. He hated the eunuchs who betrayed the emperor from the bottom of his heart.

However, this was the time when he was most proud of himself. He completely ignored Du Zhizhi who was kneeling on the ground, but walked straight into the Forbidden City and soon came to the Huangji Hall where Emperor Chongzhen usually held court.

Although Li Zicheng had experienced many ups and downs, and at his lowest point, he only had eighteen riders left by his side, but now that he had finally entered Beijing, he could not suppress his excitement.

Finally, the world has the surname Li!
Dashun finally succeeded in replacing the Ming Dynasty and became the orthodox dynasty in the world!

He looked around carefully several times, and his face, which had originally looked a little ferocious due to tension, finally relaxed as the dragon throne came into view.

Now that the world has been settled, the only remaining field army of the Ming court is Wu Sangui's 20,000 to 30,000 Guanning remnants. But with such a small number of troops and no supplies or military pay, how can they resist the powerful army of Dashun? Send a proclamation and the situation will be settled!

You know, during the Eastern Expedition, within just a few months, hundreds of thousands of Ming troops in Shanxi, North China, surrendered!

Li Zicheng naturally knew that the Guanning Army was stronger than the Ming border troops in Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi, but he had defeated the enemy before, not to mention that he now had such a military advantage.

As for Zhang Xianzhong, Zuo Liangyu and the like, Li Zicheng never took them seriously.

In this world, no one can be his opponent!

As a powerful ruler who was about to occupy the entire north, Li Zicheng's understanding of the world situation was too "limited", and he did not have any strategists who truly understood the general situation of the world to assist him.

At this time, he knew almost nothing about the situation of the Qing Dynasty outside the Great Wall.

Moreover, influenced by the surrendered Ming army generals such as Tang Tong and Bai Guangen, the Shun army thought that the Manchus, the Tuolu and the Simon were similar and there was no need to worry about them at all.

It can only be said that Li Zicheng was an excellent leader of the peasant army, but as the new emperor of a great Eastern nation in the complex situation of the 17th century, he was far from enough. History did not give him enough time. The Ming court's excellent institutional design and military technology to contain the peasant uprisings, as well as the existence of the Manchus, all led to his unexpected death at Jiugong Mountain before he could learn to collude with the gentry.

After all, this was the seventeenth century. Li Zicheng did not take the initiative to cooperate with the gentry and "fight" with the landlord class, but instead "fought" with them. How could he not fail?
Of course, Li Zicheng didn't think about these things at this time. After sweeping his eyes across the empty Huangji Palace, he suddenly turned his head to look at Niu Jinxing and asked:

"Haven't Chongzhen and the Crown Prince been found yet?"

Niu Jinxing's heart tightened when he heard this, but he wasn't actually worried. He immediately cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Chongzhen and the Crown Prince of Ming should still be in the city. It's impossible for the two of them to escape the besieged Beijing with only a thousand soldiers."

As if to prove his point, Niu Jinxing paused and then said:
"Most of the palace guards, eunuchs, and maids fled last night. Empress Zhou, the two princesses, and several concubines have all died suddenly. Their bodies are being collected. The two princes have also been captured and are currently in the military."

After hearing this, Li Zicheng nodded. He had received news from the surrendered ministers that Chongzhen should not have escaped, but he just didn't know where he was hiding.

As for the Crown Prince Chongzhen, a young boy, what could he do? He was not a concern at all, and Li Zicheng didn't even take him seriously.

But one should be prepared for any eventuality. After all, Zhu Cilang is the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty. The sooner he is found, the better. He then instructed Liu Zongmin:
"Send notices along the streets. Anyone who dares to hide Emperor Chongzhen and the Crown Prince will be executed along with their entire clan! Anyone who reports and presents a report will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Zongmin said casually with his hands clasped together.

Li Zicheng still doesn't know the news that Zhu Cilang led his troops to break out last night, and Wang Zhixin is dead again. The Shun army outside Dongzhimen has already made a big deal out of a small matter and covered it up.

As for the pursuing Shun army scouts, after picking up the gold, silver and jewelry thrown by Chang Denggui along the way, they went straight back to the camp to report.

"Right now, the most important thing is the tens of thousands of Guanning troops outside Shanhaiguan. I plan to send Tang Tong to Shanhaiguan to persuade Wu Sangui to surrender. Now that his entire family is in my hands, there is no need to worry about him not surrendering."

Li Zicheng said, turning his head to look at Niu Jinxing: "What do you think, Prime Minister?"

Before Niu Jinxing defected to Li Zicheng, he was just a minor scholar and was also unaware of the horror of the Qing Dynasty. At this time, his mind was full of his bright future, and he immediately flattered Li Zicheng:

"Your Majesty, this arrangement is very appropriate. First, send people to persuade Wu Sangui to surrender and explain the pros and cons to him. If he is sensible and surrenders directly, he will be ordered to lead his troops to Beijing for inspection and then sent south to serve as the vanguard of the southward army. If he does not recognize the will of heaven, he will be courting his own destruction. At that time, Your Majesty can send troops directly to Shanhaiguan to destroy him."

At this time, Liu Zongmin, who was standing by, heard this and said nonchalantly, "Your Majesty, don't worry. As long as Wu Sangui doesn't know what's good for him, I will make sure he dies without a burial place."

"Hahaha!" Li Zicheng laughed out loud and said, "That's it. The world's situation is already determined. What kind of trouble can a little Wu Sangui stir up?"

However, after laughing, he suddenly remembered something and immediately ordered:
"Send more people to find Chongzhen and the Crown Prince, and then have them spread the news southward. At the same time, pay attention to any signs of trouble along the way. Have Dong Xueli and others lead the troops south immediately."

"What does your majesty mean?" Niu Jinxing paused after hearing this, but then suddenly realized:

"I will do it right away. Chongzhen and the Ming Dynasty Crown Prince have already died for their country!"

In this way, even if Zhu Cilang went to the south, he would probably only be a "fake prince"!

(End of this chapter)