Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 93 Dorgon panicked

"Really!?" Daishan exclaimed instinctively, but immediately realized something was wrong. "You mean, the Chahar tribe suffered a white disaster and migrated westward as a whole!?"

In recent years, the weather has become increasingly cold, and white disasters have occurred in the Northland every year.

With three feet of snow and relentless winds, not to mention livestock, even people froze to death.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but a vast expanse of white. Even the most skilled hunters could not find their way out, hence the name "White Disaster."

At that time, people will not only face severe cold and low temperatures, but also the predicament of having no food, no firewood, and no fodder for livestock.

Normally, those with power would go south to seek their fortune, while those without power would choose to submit to either the Manchu Qing or the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Chahar suffered from the White Disaster, but the problem lies in...

Why the hell are you running west of Guihua City?!

If we were talking about a few hundred years ago, that place would have been lush with water and grass, but now it's completely barren.

Did you go looking for death?
The Tumed tribe's Taiji hadn't even reacted yet when he said, "Abunai did say that, and he's on his way back now."

"It only takes five sunrises and sunsets to get to Zhangjiakou."

Dai Shan closed his eyes and calculated the five-day journey from west of Zhangjiakou.

If we were to detour through the Tumed tribe, then the Chahar tribe would certainly be east of Guihua City.

Combined with the previous inability to contact the Chahar tribe no matter what, Daishan felt more and more that something was wrong.

But he didn't think it was because the Ming army had sent troops.

After all, they had already launched an attack with four armies.

Even if Zhu Youjian were as decisive as he was, he would never send another large army to attack the Chahar tribe!

They assumed that the Chahar tribe had been observing from the sidelines, and only decided to join them after seeing their four armies arrive together.

"In that case, they may be allowed to detour through the Tumed tribe."

After listening, Tumed Taiji was about to leave.

Daishan added, "Let's send two light cavalry units to scout out the situation first."

"Ask the Chahar tribe if they lack provisions and soldiers. Do you understand what I mean?"

Taiji was taken aback again, then quickly bowed down, "I understand."

Just as Daishan was about to send someone to inquire about the progress of the war after watching Tumed Taiji leave,

A blood-covered Gushan Ezhen rushed into the main tent.

"Your Highness! Your Highness! Something terrible has happened! We've fallen into the Southerners' trap! The Plain Red Banner has been surrounded by the Southerners' army!"

"The prince is fighting to the death, please send troops immediately, Your Highness!"

Dai Shan's head exploded with a buzzing sound. "What? Speak slowly, don't rush me!"

……

Outside Luoyang City, Henan Province.

Both sides, carrying torches and using the moonlight, tacitly gathered the bodies together.

In just one day of siege, Dorgon witnessed the Zhou king's ability to defend the city.

More than 40,000 troops under the Yellow Banner, plus nearly 10,000 surrendered soldiers, launched a fierce attack on the city for a day, even with barely enough siege equipment.

They didn't even manage to climb the city walls, let alone breach them.

The Plain Yellow Banner suffered the loss of a thousand soldiers, and more than five thousand surrendered soldiers died.

On the other hand, the Zhou king suffered fewer than two thousand casualties.

Thirty thousand catties of gunpowder were used.

However, this was not a particularly large loss for the 200,000 jin of gunpowder stored in Luoyang, a famous city in China.

Prince Zhu Gongxiao of Zhou stood on the city wall, looking at the vast Dorgon camp stretching to the horizon in the distance, and sighed repeatedly.

Why must my Ming Dynasty suffer such a calamity?

Upon hearing this, Liang Bing, the former Left Provincial Administration Commissioner of Henan, and Wu Shijiang, the former Prefect of Kaifeng, were also somewhat moved, and their eyes couldn't help but redden.

Since the fifteenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, when Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng, in order to break through the siege, they and a few others dug the Yellow River and flooded Kaifeng.

He lived in the shadow of that day ever since.

Hundreds of thousands of Kaifeng residents died at his hands, yet the imperial court did not punish him; instead, they rewarded him for his service.

Liang Bing felt that the court was beyond saving, so he resigned and returned to his hometown. He couldn't get a good night's sleep for two years and thought he would die in depression.

Until recently, His Majesty the Emperor, who was far away in the capital, suddenly rose up for some unknown reason, led his exhausted troops into battle, personally braved arrows, and defeated the million-strong army of the rebel leader Li Zicheng.

He successively executed corrupt officials, beheaded relatives of the emperor, cleaned up the court, promoted honest and upright officials such as Ni Yuanlu to the cabinet, built a shrine to martyrs, dismissed military supervisors, and gave military households a way out.

He was decisive and valiant, displaying the style of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu.

I heard that they secretly built a new army and secretly trained three thousand Xuanjia soldiers, who defeated five hundred thousand in one battle.

Upon receiving the news, Liang Bing was so excited that he couldn't sleep for three days.

Every night, he would read that edict that Han and traitors could not coexist, over and over again.

Just when he thought the Ming Dynasty was finally about to recover.

His old boss and partner, Zhou Wang, however, brought his excitement down to earth.

The Kaifeng Prefecture, which they had once defended with their lives, was breached by the Jurchens. Not a single one of the 200,000 soldiers and civilians in the city survived. A mound of corpses, taller than the city gates, stood outside the city!

This rekindled the fighting spirit of the dying old man, who resolutely returned to officialdom and became a chief accountant in the Prince Zhou's palace.

Not for fame or fortune, but solely to avenge the defeat at Kaifeng!
Gently wiping away the sweat from the corners of his eyes, Liang Bing stepped forward and gently patted Zhou Wang's back to comfort him.

"Your Highness, Rome wasn't built in a day. Our Great Ming has been weakened for decades, plagued by natural disasters and man-made calamities. A single misstep could have led to the downfall of the nation. Fortunately, Your Majesty is wise and mighty. As long as we defeat the Jurchens before us, we will one day raze their house to the ground and sweep them out of their coffins to avenge today's humiliation!"

Although Liang Bing was in great pain, he knew that the one in the most pain was the King Zhou in front of him.

Of the more than 100,000 members of the royal family, he didn't know how many truly cared for the nation, but Liang Bing knew that King Zhou genuinely cared for the people and was loyal to the state.

In order to defend Kaifeng, he did not hesitate to use the family's century-old savings to help defend the city.

If even a beggar dies under his rule, he will weep for half a day.

If it weren't for the fact that the Prince of Zhou was legally ineligible to ascend the throne, Liang Bing would have almost thought that the Prince of Zhou wanted to compete with Zhu Youjian for the throne.

One can imagine how distressed the Zhou king must have felt when the river was breached and the city was flooded, resulting in the deaths and injuries of millions of people.

However, as a member of the imperial clan, he could not retire to his hometown like Liang Bing. He had to continue organizing a large army to march north to defend the emperor, which put him under immense pressure.

Liang Bing's respect for King Zhou came from the bottom of his heart.

There are also concerns that King Zhou, eager for revenge, might lose his composure.

Zhu Gongxiao patted Liang Bing's hand, "I know, Liang Da Can, there's no need to say more. It's just that the enemy who killed the people is right in front of us, yet I can't avenge them. This is my fault."

"Now Your Majesty is surrounded by enemies on all sides and the north is in dire straits. For the sake of this country, you have personally risked your life to fight the enemy. But I am unable to go north to defend Your Majesty and have to lead your horse and put it in the stirrup. This is also my fault."

"My heart is broken!" After saying this, Zhu Gongxiao burst into tears, as if he had suffered some great injustice.

Liang Bing was speechless for a moment and could only support Zhu Gongxiao to prevent the Zhou king, who had not slept for three days, from fainting.

At this moment, Wu Shijiang suddenly stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, why are you so worried?"

"Has Your Highness not received His Majesty's imperial edict to the world? Or does Your Highness not believe in His Majesty's abilities?"

"What do you mean by that?" Zhu Gongxiao's sobbing stopped abruptly.

Wu Shijiang said with a light laugh.

“A decree is issued to the world: whoever kills one of my people shall be punished tenfold; whoever insults my people shall have their courtyard destroyed, their grave swept clean, and their descendants exterminated.”

"How magnificent are these words! All the loyal and righteous men in the world are impressed by them, and more than a million have joined the army to serve their country."

"The Jurchens will surely avenge the loss of Kaifeng. Moreover, their army will march out of the pass with overwhelming force. Why then is Your Highness weeping here?"

Mencius said, “When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it will first test their will, strain their muscles and bones, starve their body, and leave them destitute. If this is the case for such a person, how much more so for the Heavenly Dynasty?”

"His Majesty remains silent until he speaks out, and when he does, it is astonishing. There are still more than a hundred tribes among the various foreign tribes, both inside and outside the capital. Why should Your Highness worry about not being able to lead His Majesty's horse or help him stumble?"

"And how mighty is His Majesty today! Back then, the garrison inside and outside the capital numbered less than 50,000. Even if there were a million bandits, His Majesty could still defeat them. Wherever the golden armor went, the entire army turned against him. This is the mark of a virtuous ruler."

"Although the Jurchen army has now divided into four routes and mobilized a total of 300,000 troops, our royal army also has 300,000 troops. The 800,000 troops of the Left General of the South are on their way, and General Zheng of the East Sea has sent his son with a thousand sails to the north. Your Highness need not worry."

"His Majesty has instructed His Highness Prince Zhou to lead his army to block the rebel chieftain in Henan. His Highness only needs to complete this task. I presume His Majesty already has a plan to defeat the enemy."

"Your Highness, instead of worrying about other things, you should think about what else can help His Majesty while stopping the Jurchens."

After he finished speaking, Zhu Gongxiao immediately snapped out of his grief.

Half of his tears were due to his guilt for being unable to avenge his country or serve it, and the other half were due to his feeling of hopelessness about the future. He had just defeated Li Zicheng and thought things would get better, but who knew that the Jurchens would arrive in less than half a month.

It was a situation where the heavens were about to destroy the Ming Dynasty. As a direct descendant of the Zhu family, how could he not be distressed? However, his personal abilities were limited, and there was nothing he could do.

Seeing his old comrades again, he couldn't hold back his tears.

But after Wu Shi's words, Zhu Gongxiao suddenly realized that the current situation didn't seem to be so bad after all.
Not only did they not suffer, but there were even signs of ZTE's recovery!

Just as Wu Shi said, when the imperial edict to execute Liu Liangzuo and the proclamation to the world arrived together, there was no shock to the morale of the army as he had expected.

On the contrary, morale soared, and more than 20,000 soldiers joined the army in Luoyang alone in a single day.

You should know that soldiers were looked down upon by everyone before, and the only way to expand the number of soldiers was to forcibly conscript them.

Moreover, it wasn't just him; Shi Kefa, who was far away in Caozhou, also sent word that in just four days after he arrived, his army had grown from 50,000 to 80,000.

People of insight from all over flocked to the front lines, and his army alone gained more than three hundred soldiers who had served in the field.

I wouldn't even dare to dream of it under normal circumstances.

Grasping Wu Shijiang's hand, Zhu Gongxiao said with tears in his eyes, "Your words have enlightened me!"

"When I meet His Majesty in the future, I will certainly recommend the two gentlemen for the cabinet!"

The two men both said they dared not.

Zhu Gongxiao himself had no real ability, or rather, after Zhu Di, emperors of all dynasties treated the imperial clan like pigs.

Only in their rooms can they act like men.

However, Zhu Gongxiao had one advantage: he was tolerant and capable of using people, he could lead by example, and he was also self-aware.

After Chen Yongfu was tricked to death by Gao Jie and Liu Liangzuo, he immediately sent people to find his former subordinates. He knew that he alone could not defend the city, let alone lead the army to the north.

With these factors combined with the title of royal family, it can play a significant role.

If all members of the imperial family in the country could be like Zhu Gongxiao, even if they didn't know how to recognize and use talent, but simply raised the banner of their imperial family, gathered troops to serve the emperor, and put some pressure on local military leaders, the Ming Dynasty wouldn't have fallen to this state.

Unfortunately, only one king in the entire world did this.

The other nobles are still in their fiefdoms, living off their vast fortunes and having children.

After calming down, King Zhou held their hands tightly, as if afraid they would run away.

"What do you think His Majesty needs? Should we continue to defend Luoyang to the death?"

Wu Shijiang and Liang Bing exchanged a glance, and the former spoke first as always.

"Your Highness, His Majesty lacks nothing. His only wish is that Your Highness and Minister Shi remain safe and secure in Jiangnan."

Zhu Gongxiao and Liang Bing both showed expressions of doubt.

Wu Shijiang did not immediately explain, but instead asked, "May I ask Your Highness, do the Jurchens have any surplus grain?"

"This... I don't think so." Zhu Gongxiao wasn't sure either. After all, Dorgon had arrived so quickly, conquering cities and fortresses all the way until he captured Kaifeng before stopping. He really didn't know how much grain he had.

Wu Shijiang shook his head and said with certainty, "The Jurchens have no food."

"The Jurchens have traveled thousands of miles, covering two hundred miles a day. They would not carry any extra provisions. Although they have captured cities along the way, it is not yet autumn harvest time, so they have very little food. The provisions in Kaifeng Prefecture can only last them for a month at most."

"Now that several days have passed, it will take the Jurchens five or six days to move their troops back to the pass. In other words, the Jurchens can only hold out for a maximum of twenty days."

"From Luoyang to Caozhou, there are 200,000 royal troops, with a dense network of waterways, and the Jurchens cannot advance an inch."

"Within twenty days, the Jurchens will either break through Luoyang or retreat back home; there is absolutely no other possibility."

"If my guess is correct, His Majesty is waiting for this time to have His Highness entangle Dorgon. His Majesty wants to first repel the enemy in Zhangjiakou, and then turn the tables and devour the Jurchens who have penetrated deep into Henan and Shandong!"

"That's why I said that what Your Highness needs to do now is to defend Luoyang and prevent the Jurchens from obtaining supplies."

Zhu Gongxiao nodded subconsciously, "Then shall we continue to defend the city?"

Wu Shijiang's eyes darted around. "Your Highness, the Jurchens are skilled in open field battles, while our army consists mostly of new recruits. It is naturally better for us to defend the city."

"However, recently many chivalrous heroes have joined the army to serve their country. Although these heroes are undisciplined and cannot be allowed to join the army, Your Highness can offer a generous reward to allow them to launch a night raid on the enemy camp. Even if they cause great losses, it would be good if they could keep the Jurchens from sleeping well."

"Good!" Zhu Gongxiao had an idea and immediately put it into action.

Leaving aside the conversation between the three men on the city wall, Zhu Gongxiao was also relieved.

Anyway, Dorgon is in a rather irritable mood right now.

Or rather, they were starting to panic.

According to his plan, he should have joined forces with Dodo to send troops from the east and west respectively. Given the nature of Ming Dynasty officials and generals, even if they were defending the city, they should have abandoned it and fled when the Eight Banners army attacked.

But Dorgon was stunned by today's battle.

The morale of the Luoyang garrison was not unstable at all; on the contrary, their morale was ridiculously high!
Judging from the current state of the defending troops, it would be useless to break through the city even if it took a hundred days, let alone ten!
The situation is the same in Dodo's area, and even more serious.

The garrison of Caozhou actually dared to go out of the city and fight against the two white flags!

Even more terrifying is that in cities like Jinan and Dezhou that had already been captured, local bandits and mountain brigands actually led ordinary people in rebellion!

Even several small towns behind Dorgon's lines were captured in a counterattack.

The intensity of the resistance was beyond his expectations.

The unrest he had anticipated in the South never materialized.

But there was nothing he could do but hope that Daishan and Jirhalang could achieve some results quickly so that he could wage a psychological war in the south.

(End of this chapter)