The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 205: The troops split into two groups and secretly crossed Yinping.

With the fall of Baocheng, the northern gate of Hanzhong Prefecture was opened, and the news shook the entire Hanzhong Prefecture.

Seeing the bandits approaching with overwhelming force, Wang Zaitai, the prefect of Hanzhong, and Li Zhenwu, the commander of the Hanzhong Garrison, were greatly alarmed.

They urgently mobilized their troops, completely surrounding Hanzhong Prefecture. The city gates were tightly closed, and the drawbridge was suspended high, setting up a posture of defending to the death.

This city was not only the political and economic center of Hanzhong, but more importantly, it was also home to the current emperor's uncle—Prince Rui, Zhu Changhao.

If Prince Rui were to make any mistakes during their tenure, even ten heads wouldn't be enough to stop them from being beheaded.

However, Jiang Han had no intention of attacking Hanzhong at all.

Hanzhong Prefecture was not only heavily fortified with high walls and strong defenses, but more importantly, after receiving news of the fall of Baocheng, Prefect Wang Zaitai immediately ordered a citywide curfew, prohibiting any civilians from entering or leaving the prefectural city.

Moreover, the city's yamen runners and constables formed patrol teams that would randomly check a section every night, knocking on doors to check household registrations and strictly prevent any insiders from infiltrating the city.

Under such tight defense, without inside help, it would probably take one or two months to break through this fortified city from the front.

By then, Hong Chengchou's army would probably have already arrived in Hanzhong and surrounded them.

Jiang Han's initial plan was simply to find some ignorant gentry and merchants in the counties and prefectures near Hanzhong Prefecture and borrow some money and grain to supplement the army's supplies.

They then continued their southward march, heading straight into Sichuan.

To be honest, Jiang Han really wanted to firmly hold onto this valuable land of Hanzhong.

This place connects the north and the south, making it a true strategic location.

Unfortunately, he still had too few troops at his disposal; at most, he had less than ten thousand men.

With such a small force, it was simply impossible to defend the vast city of Hanzhong, as they had to guard against Hong Chengchou's border troops to the north and be wary of the movements of the Sichuan army to the south.

Even if all defenses are successful, what about the local officials and generals of Hanzhong?

Therefore, Jiang Han had no choice but to abandon this idea and focus all his attention on heading to Sichuan.

But while the troops were robbing people everywhere, Jiang Han discovered a strange phenomenon.

Throughout Hanzhong Prefecture, both urban and rural areas were filled with Buddhist temples and Taoist monasteries, their density was astonishing.

In Baocheng County alone, there are eight Buddhist temples of varying sizes, all of which are very popular and magnificent.

Jiang Han led his men in disguise and personally traveled dozens of miles to Fayun Temple, the largest temple in the vicinity.

The sight before him made him frown.

The temple covered a vast area, with vermilion walls stretching for miles. The pagodas within the courtyard soared into the clouds, and the glazed tiles of the halls and pavilions reflected a dazzling golden light in the sunlight, creating an extraordinary atmosphere.

The temple gate was bustling with activity, and those who came to offer incense were mostly well-dressed dignitaries.

Many people knelt in front of the Buddha statue, chanting incantations.

Jiang Han leaned closer and listened. Without exception, these people were all praying that the imperial court would send troops to wipe out the bandits entrenched in Hanzhong.

This made Jiang Han laugh in anger. Damn it, my army is only a few dozen miles away, and instead of hiding, you all come to the temple in droves to burn incense.
In stark contrast to the magnificent and grand atmosphere inside the Zen temple is the scene outside.

Right beneath the high walls of that temple, huddled together starving people of all ages.

They were poorly clothed, emaciated, and many children were so hungry that they were nothing but skin and bones, staring blankly at the officials, merchants, and nobles who stepped down from their magnificent carriages.

These officials, merchants, and nobles, however, turned a blind eye to the starving people outside the wall. They lifted the hems of their silk robes, carefully walked around the filthy ground, and devoutly made their way into the Buddhist temple.

What's most infuriating is that these starving people, they seem to have lost all their spirit and dare not resist at all, having somehow fallen from grace.

Instead, they believe that they deserve to be poor and hungry in this life, and that they will live a rich and happy life in the next life.

After making inquiries from various sources, Jiang Han learned that this situation was mainly caused by Prince Rui, Zhu Changhao.

Speaking of this Prince Rui, he was quite an anomaly among the princes of the late Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Changhao was the fifth son of Emperor Wanli, and he had a very unique personality.

He was greedy for money, but not lustful, and was extremely obsessed with Buddhist and Taoist teachings. He used all the money he amassed to build temples.

Zhu Changhao was granted the title of prince at the age of eleven, but he was still unmarried at the age of twenty-five.

Despite repeated memorials from his ministers, Emperor Wanli ignored them.

This greatly worried the ministers in the court.

Logically speaking, if even the father doesn't care, why are the ministers below in such a hurry?
Because the ministers could no longer stand Zhu Changhao.

This fellow never does any proper work; he just sits in the Ministry of Revenue's office demanding wedding expenses. (He demands money from the Ministry of Revenue for wedding expenses.)
Using the standards set by Prince Fu, Zhu Changxun, he made exorbitant demands, taking 180,000 taels of silver and hiding it in the palace. In the end, he turned around and accused the prince, saying that the amount was not even enough to buy official robes.

After arriving in his fiefdom of Hanzhong, the devout Prince Rui went even further, embarking on massive construction projects and building countless magnificent temples within his fiefdom.

He was a devout Buddhist and abstinent from women, so much so that he had no children with the princess even after decades of marriage.

(The king was a devout Buddhist and abstained from women; his wife was also chaste and remained a virgin for decades in the palace.)
Although the family was small, Zhu Changhao's mansion was quite grand, with a large number of palace maids, eunuchs, and officials of various titles.

There were nearly four or five hundred people, including officials such as the Left and Right Chief Secretaries, Registrar, and Judge.

Such a massive vampire naturally relies entirely on exploiting the wealth of the people of Hanzhong to sustain itself.

For a time, all parts of Hanzhong Prefecture suffered greatly.

In order to prevent these ordinary people from rising up in rebellion, Zhu Changhao creatively used Buddhist temples to recite distorted scriptures and brainwash them.

He taught these people that suffering now was necessary, because only by suffering now could they live a life of luxury in the next life.

However, these eminent monks, relying on the power of the Prince Rui's mansion, seized large amounts of fertile land from the people and secretly engaged in usury.

Countless people, due to a small loan, ended up losing their families and property, and becoming tenants of the temple, serving as slaves for generations, because of the compounding interest.

The starving people Jiang Han saw outside Fayun Temple earlier came from this group.

The eminent monks and Taoist masters ate their fill of rich food, but the people of Hanzhong Prefecture suffered greatly.

After understanding the situation, Jiang Han couldn't stand it anymore. What the hell was this? How could Hanzhong still be practicing serfdom?

He immediately dispatched his soldiers and officers to go deep into the countryside, using the slogan "Purge the evil monks and return the land to the people" to incite the people who were oppressed by the temple to rise up in rebellion.

"The Buddha eats from his golden body and wears incense, but what do you eat? Tree bark and grass roots!"

"You've donated your last grain of rice to Buddha and the gods, but can they protect you from starvation?" "Fellow villagers, let's smash this fake temple of compassion, kill all these Buddhist and Taoist masters, and burn your IOUs!"

Incited by Jiang Han's soldiers, quite a few people who had not been brainwashed finally stood up.

Carrying hoes and buckets of manure, they angrily charged towards the magnificent temple.

The temple, which was originally known as a place of tranquility, was instantly overrun by angry people who carried excrement and scooped it onto the statues.

At first, Jiang Han didn't understand why the people were throwing excrement at the statue of the god.

After making inquiries, he learned that it was a secret recipe that supposedly could break the invulnerability of immortals, thus preventing them from punishing him.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han could only sigh helplessly. It seemed that eradicating feudal superstition was still a long and arduous task.

Freed from their psychological burden, the people demolished the temples, smashed the statues, and, amidst cheers, burned the mountains of land deeds and IOUs!
In an instant, flames of war broke out throughout Hanzhong Prefecture, and countless people applauded with joy.

Prince Rui, Zhu Changhao, who was far away in the prefectural city, was so angry that he trembled when he heard that the temple he had built had been smashed.

He immediately sent a long, handwritten letter to Jiang Han, pleading with him with great sorrow that he should appreciate Heaven's benevolence and that if Jiang Han laid down his weapons and submitted to the court, he might still be able to preserve his wealth and status.

Jiang Han took the letter, glanced at it briefly, and tore it to shreds in front of the messenger.

He looked at the terrified messenger and sneered:
"Go back and tell your prince that I have never done any good deeds in my life, I only love killing and arson!"

"Today I'm going to learn from Emperor Wu of Han and eradicate Buddhism, wiping out these unproductive cancers!"

In order to put further pressure on Prince Rui and the officials of Hanzhong Prefecture, Jiang Han immediately dispatched various armies to attack cities and seize territories near Hanzhong Prefecture, and even made it appear as if he was ready to launch a strong attack on the prefectural city at any time.

His purpose in doing so was not really to tackle this tough issue, nor was it entirely for the sake of the people of Hanzhong Prefecture.

Jiang Han's goal was to lure out the government troops in northern Sichuan.

Once the Sichuan troops guarding the passes come out, he can find an opportunity to annihilate them and thus smoothly enter Sichuan.

However, he was destined to be disappointed.

Although Hanzhong Prefecture is more closely related to Sichuan, administratively it belongs to Shaanxi Province.

If anyone should be in charge, it should be the Governor-General or Governor of Shaanxi, not the Sichuan Army.

This bureaucratic malpractice of "everyone sweeping the snow from their own doorstep" had long been deeply ingrained in the late Ming Dynasty.

If there isn't a civil official overseeing the military affairs of each province, then local officials in various places simply won't pay attention to the situation in neighboring prefectures and counties.

Deng Qi, the deputy commander-in-chief of Sichuan, had long since given up. He was now only going through the motions, focusing solely on how to prevent his soldiers from mutinying again.

Furthermore, due to the aftermath of the She'an Rebellion, the Shapu Rebellion broke out in Yunnan last year.

The main forces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces were led by Governor-General Zhu Xieyuan and General Hou Liangzhu, who were currently far away in Yunnan, cooperating with the Mu family to quell the rebellion. It can be said that they had no choice but to divide their forces.

Seeing that he couldn't lure out the Sichuan army, Jiang Han had no choice but to gather his generals together to discuss how to enter Shu territory next.

There are three main routes from Hanzhong into Sichuan: Jinniu Road, Micang Road, and Lizhi Road.

The Lychee Road was ruled out first because it required traversing the entire Hanzhong Basin all the way to Shiquan County in the east before it could truly be considered part of the Lychee Road, making the journey extremely long.

What remains are Golden Bull Road and Rice Granary Road.

Li Zicheng had many local mountain people under his command who were very familiar with the situation of these two roads.

According to them, the Micang Road runs from Hanzhong to Bazhong, and the terrain is extremely treacherous.

Among them, the "Guyun" and "Liangjiao" peaks in the Micangshan section have extremely steep slopes, almost like rock climbing, and landslides occur frequently during the rainy season, making it difficult for large armies to pass.

To make matters worse, there was a band of outlaws in the area known as the "Yaohuang Thirteen Families," who ruled the mountains and plundered everywhere.

Whether they are friend or foe remains to be seen.

The Jinniu Road runs from Mianxian, through Ningqiang to Guangyuan, where it splits into two lines, east and west.

The western route is known as the Jiange Road, and the famous Jianmen Pass is located on this road.

The eastern route was the Baoning Road, the main official postal route during the Ming Dynasty, which led directly from Guangyuan to Baoning Prefecture.

After hearing the introduction, most of the generals present preferred to take the eastern route, the Baoning Road.

Jiang Han shook his head and rejected the suggestion.

He pointed to Baoning Prefecture on the map and said in a deep voice:
"Baoning Prefecture was the power center of the Ming court in northern Sichuan, and most of the officials and gentry in northern Sichuan were concentrated here."

"Our purpose in coming here is not to plunder, but to put down roots in Sichuan and establish a base."

“If we place our base in such a political and economic center, the government troops will definitely come to encircle and suppress us immediately, and we will have no time to develop.”

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the crowd:
"My idea is to surround the cities from the countryside."

"I want to start by establishing bases in remote prefectures and counties where the government's control is weak, and then expand outwards to the whole of Sichuan."

"So after careful consideration, I decided to take the western route and attack Jiange."

Jiang Han paused for a moment, then continued his analysis:

"Once we break through Jian Ge, we can develop peacefully in the Long'an Prefecture area."

Upon hearing Jiang Han's decision, the generals in the hall were greatly shocked:
"Please reconsider, General!"

"Jianmen Pass is known as a place where one man can hold off ten thousand. With so few troops, how can we possibly break through Jianmen Pass?"
Jiang Han shook his head after hearing this:

"Who said I was going to launch a full-scale attack on Jianmen Pass?"

"I remember there was a fourth route from Hanzhong into Sichuan, wasn't there?"

The generals looked at each other, completely bewildered.

Jiang Han sighed, saying with a sense of disappointment:

"You lot, have you all wasted your time reading the Romance of the Three Kingdoms? Have you forgotten how Deng Ai destroyed Shu?"

"You don't know Yinping Road?"

"I plan to split my forces into two groups: one will feign an attack on Jianmen Pass, while the other will sneak across Yinping."

(End of this chapter)