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

Chapter 281 Reactions from all parties
In December of the eighth year of the Chongzhen reign, a small team of messengers, carrying letters from Fei Pingtuo and Qiao Ang, quietly left Chengdu, heading east towards Macau.

The messengers traveled swiftly, and news from Sichuan spread quietly with their footsteps.

Sichuan changed hands, the bandit leader proclaimed himself "King of Han," exorbitant taxes were abolished, land was redistributed, and even Western missionaries were openly invited to Sichuan...

These bizarre and earth-shattering news spread along the southeastern coast even faster than the imperial court's official gazette, stirring up a storm in various places.

Macau, Haojing.

When the handwritten letters from Fepinto and Giovanni arrived at the Jesuit headquarters, the entire headquarters was abuzz with excitement.

Father Zeng Dezhao, the senior Jesuit priest in charge of the site, held the letter, his hands trembling slightly with excitement.

"My God...this is simply a miracle!"

He muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism.
"The East has actually opened its doors to us!"

"The thousands of lost sheep are saved!"

Zeng Dezhao immediately summoned all the members and read out his orders to them:

“Felipe, you must immediately take a ship to Malacca and report to the bishop and the governor.”

“Manuel, go to the Philippines as quickly as possible and inform the church and the Spanish authorities there!”

"We must get the message back to Rome and Lisbon as quickly as possible!"

In an instant, the entire Macau diocese was mobilized.

Dozens of sailboats, laden with hope and ambition, set sail one after another from the port, ready to carry news from Sichuan to the vast overseas world.

In stark contrast to the excitement of these missionaries was the panic among the gentry of Jiangnan.

The snippets of information gleaned from the messengers and their entourage painted a terrifying picture in their minds:

Those peasants stormed into the grand mansions and robbed the Sichuan officials and gentry of their grain and silver.
They divided up all the land they cherished as their lives... and even set up courts to punish them with knives and axes!
In the grand mansions of Suzhou, Songjiang, Hangzhou, and other places, local gentry gathered together, their faces pale, whispering among themselves.

"Slay the local tyrants? Distribute the land?"

"Is this all true?"

"It's absolutely true. One branch of my clan has spread and flourished in Sichuan. They said it themselves!"

“That bandit leader surnamed Jiang incited tenants and farmers from all over the country to rush into the residences of officials and gentry to burn, kill, and loot; the bandits would also burn the land deeds on the spot and then distribute the land to those who had no land.”

"I've heard... I've heard that the slightest resistance will result in the execution of the entire family..."

"damn it!"

In the crowd, someone couldn't help but curse.
“Our Southern Zhili and Jiangzhe regions pay millions of taels of silver to the imperial court every year. Where does all this money go?”

"We keep shouting about suppressing bandits, but the more we try to stop them, the more bandits there are!"

"Not only did the bandits break through Fengyang and burn the imperial tombs, but now they've even lost an entire province to the thieves, and they've even allowed them to declare themselves kings and establish their own regimes?!"

"What are Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangshan good for?!"

"What if... what if that scoundrel surnamed Jiang marches out of Sichuan and spreads his poison throughout Jiangnan? What will we do then?"

Fear spread like a plague among the gentry throughout Jiangnan.

Will Sichuan's present state be Jiangnan's future?

The order and foundation upon which they depend for survival are being uprooted in the distant southwest.

This fear even temporarily overshadowed the worries about the northern bandits and the Tartars beyond the Great Wall.

The scholars of Jiangnan, however, were filled with anger and contempt at this.

Although these students had many complaints about the Ming Dynasty, the actions of the bandit leader in Sichuan undoubtedly overturned their traditional beliefs.

"To usurp the title of king is to be a traitor to the nation!"

"The so-called new imperial examination doesn't test classical texts or essays; instead, it tests mathematics, miscellaneous crafts, and farming..."

"This is utterly disgraceful and morally reprehensible!"

"The bandit leader uses despicable tactics to bewitch people and attempts to govern the country with Western learning. This is simply an act of the lowly to oppress the noble, and he wants to destroy the Confucian tradition!"

During their conversation, these students denounced the Sichuan regime as a "false dynasty of Western Shu," angrily denounced its policies as "tyrannical Qin rule," and called the new imperial examination system "a monkey wearing a crown"...

They went to great lengths to attack and criticize, as if they could drown out the "false dynasty" in their mouths with their spittle.

Amidst this chaos, a certain ambitious figure from the southeastern coast took a keen interest in these reports from the southwestern corner.

Anping Town, Quanzhou, Fujian Province.

This was the core stronghold of Zheng Zhilong, the Ming Dynasty's coastal defense guerrilla and the undisputed hegemon of the southeastern seas.

"Of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, one province has now been lost?!"

When Zheng Zhilong heard his confidant report on the situation in Sichuan, his hand trembled slightly, showing great surprise.

"The Ming army in the Northwest was actually defeated by a group of bandits?"

Zheng Zhilong could hardly believe his ears.

At this time, he was at the peak of his life.

In the sixth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, Zheng Zhilong, backed by the Ming Dynasty, decisively defeated his old rival, the Dutch East India Company's fleet, in the Battle of Kinmen, greatly enhancing his prestige.

In the eighth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, he had just defeated another major pirate, Liu Xiang, and completely unified the maritime forces along the southeastern coast.

The Zheng family's business empire was vast, spanning across East and Southeast Asia.

From Hirado and Nagasaki in Japan, to Luzon and Batavia in Southeast Asia, and even as far as India.

Zheng Zhilong's fleet comprised over three thousand ships of various sizes, with a diverse crew including Han Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Southeast Asian indigenous people, and even African blacks. He boasted hundreds of thousands of followers and was undoubtedly a "pirate king."

Although the Zheng family held sway over the seas and possessed such power, ultimately, the Zheng family could not do without the mainland.

In Zheng Zhilong's vision, it would be best if he could rely on his official status in the Ming Dynasty to monopolize the wealthy southeastern coast and thus seize profits from the incredibly lucrative maritime trade.

As for who is in charge of the imperial court, it doesn't really matter to a pirate like him.

The Ming Dynasty is currently the legitimate dynasty, which is why Zheng Zhilong accepted the Ming court's offer of amnesty and was determined to obtain an official position in the court.

He even planned to send his son, Zheng Sen, to study at the Imperial Academy in Nanjing, so that he could become an official in the court in the future.

After all, having connections in high places makes doing business easier.

But the recent situation in the Ming Dynasty has made him increasingly uneasy.

More and more reports suggest that the Ming Dynasty seems to be on its deathbed, its days numbered.

The Jianzhou Jurchens in Liaodong attacked the Ming court almost every year, constantly draining its resources; in the northwest and even the Central Plains, bandits roamed freely, and natural and man-made disasters occurred frequently.

Now, another Jiang Han has emerged, claiming to be a king and establishing a regime in Sichuan?
Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but feel worried for the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time, he questioned his own decision to accept the amnesty.

"The imperial court... is becoming increasingly unreliable."

He thought to himself.

However, from another perspective, the more chaotic the inland areas of the Ming Dynasty became, the weaker the court's control and attention to the seas would be, and the more independent and detached the Zheng family's maritime kingdom would become.

"Sichuan...King of Han..."

Zheng Zhilong sat upright in the greenhouse, constantly chewing on these words.

What if... what if this guy surnamed Jiang really succeeds? Should I set up a connection in advance, just in case?

Thinking of this, he immediately summoned his trusted aides and gave them instructions:

"Send more personnel to closely monitor all news coming from Sichuan and report back to me regularly!"

"In addition, go and inform Zhifeng to organize a capable caravan and stock up on more scarce goods from the coast."

"Let's see if we can go upstream from the mouth of the Yangtze River and try to make contact with those people in Sichuan."

"No need to make a fuss, let's scout ahead and build a bridge."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Ming Dynasty's territory, news from Sichuan quickly spread from the southeast to the north, reaching the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

It was the first month of the ninth year of the Chongzhen reign, and Beijing was still enveloped in a festive atmosphere.

Although the Lantern Festival was approaching, Emperor Zhu Youjian in the Forbidden City was not happy at all.

At this time last year, Fengyang fell to the Japanese and the imperial tombs were destroyed.

A full year has passed, and despite Lu Xiang-sheng's valiant efforts to suppress them, the bandits Zhang and Xian, who burned down his Zhu family's ancestral graves, are still roaming around the Southern Zhili region.

Now, even more devastating news has come from the southwest: a traitor has seized control of a province and usurped the throne.

Zhu Youjian was extremely depressed.

Since he ascended the throne, everything has gone wrong, with natural disasters and man-made calamities following him like a shadow.

He was helpless against the Jianzhou Jurchens outside the Great Wall, while the number of bandits in the interior was increasing despite his efforts to suppress them.

In addition, there was the formidable threat of someone entrenched in Sichuan, who declared himself king and established his own regime...

A deep sense of powerlessness filled Zhu Youjian's heart.

Since the destruction of the Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum last year, he has been wearing mourning clothes, avoiding the palace, reducing his meals, and stopping music to show his grief and remorse.

To inspire his ministers and soldiers, Zhu Youjian even made a perfunctory proclamation to the four directions:

"I, with my meager virtue, have inherited this great foundation, and nine years have passed since then."

"Frequent floods and droughts, the bandits have not been eliminated, and now the barbarian invaders have arrived."

"This is all due to my lack of virtue. From this day forward, I will reside in the Wuying Hall day and night to reflect on my faults and cultivate virtue. All memorials and reports will be reviewed in the hall." The meaning is simple: as emperor, he has failed in his duties, failing to eliminate the rebels and wash away the national shame. From now on, he will live in the Wuying Hall and work every day.

This is undoubtedly a meticulously planned political show.

Zhu Youjian's almost self-destructive behavior was intended to demonstrate his diligence and dedication to governing the country to his ministers.

He hoped that this would inspire his ministers to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, thereby motivating them to work hard and eliminate the bandits as soon as possible.

To Zhu Youjian's surprise, the officials in the court reacted coldly to this, almost ignoring it.

Only Lu Xiang-sheng, who was far away on the front lines suppressing bandits, took his words seriously.

Lu Xiang-sheng submitted a heartfelt memorial, earnestly requesting the emperor to take care of his health and blaming them, his subjects, for the failure to suppress the rebels.

When spring comes next year, he will surely lead a large army to wipe out the villains and repay the emperor's kindness.

Lu Xiang-sheng kept his word.

He first spent several months wiping out the bandits roaming the Huguang region, and then in the first month of the ninth year of Chongzhen's reign, he held a general meeting of his generals in Fengyang Prefecture to launch a comprehensive mobilization.

The reason Lu Xiang-sheng chose to hold the conference in Fengyang was obvious: he hoped that his civil and military officials would feel ashamed and then be brave enough to fight back against the bandits.

At the conference, Lu Xiang-sheng didn't hold back and gave a stern lecture to the governors and generals of the Southern Zhili and Huguang regions.

These people not only hold positions without performing their duties, but they are also terrified of the enemy.
Lu Xiang-sheng specifically mentioned the names of Wang Meng-yin, the governor of Fengyang, and Song Zu-shun, the magistrate of Yunyang, to warn them to be wary of bandits.

Although Lu Xiang-sheng was full of enthusiasm and selfless in his service to the country, his merciless reprimand made the civil and military officials present lose face.

By choosing Fengyang as the meeting location, you've already embarrassed yourself.
Now, with such a direct rebuke, many people are even more unhappy and harbor resentment.

You want our support to suppress the bandits? Dream on!

Thus, a pre-battle mobilization that should have fostered a shared sense of righteous indignation and rallied morale ultimately yielded a lukewarm response and failed to achieve the desired effect.

Left with no other option, Lu Xiang-sheng wrote another memorial and sent it directly to the capital, hoping to gain the emperor's absolute support.

In this memorial, he almost completely overturned the court's previous encirclement and suppression strategies and put forward his own set of ideas.

He first strongly criticized the court's previous policies, saying that their excessive troop deployments had caused endless harm.

The imperial court always waited until the bandits caused a great disturbance before hastily dispatching troops, and even then, the troops were not given sufficient provisions and pay.

As a result, many officers and soldiers not only failed to suppress the bandits, but also surrendered to them due to hunger and cold, leading to a vicious cycle.

(When bandits are rampant, troops are mobilized; when bandits are numerous, more troops are added—this is the state of affairs after the fact. When troops arrive, provisions are discussed; when troops are assembled, provisions are requested—this is a precarious situation. Moreover, if provisions are not fully provided, the troops will turn to bandits and become outlaws. Thus, the troops requested over the past eight years have all been bandits, and the provisions used have all been stolen grain.)
Then, he made a clear demand of Chongzhen that since he and Hong Chengchou were to be appointed to suppress the bandits, they must be given the power to make decisions arbitrarily.

Don't send any more eunuchs or similar officials overseeing the army.

"The Governor-General and the Prime Minister should have dedicated troops and funds. I request that the troops from Xianning, Gansu, and Gu be transferred to the Governor-General, and the troops from Ji, Liaodong, Guanzhong, and Ningxia be transferred to the Prime Minister."

Lu Xiang-sheng's intention was to request the emperor to place the northwestern border troops under Hong Chengchou's command and to place the elite border troops of the Liaodong faction under his own command.

Furthermore, he strongly suggested relaxing local military authority, allowing each prefecture and county to train its own troops and defend its territory, instead of always relying on the central government to send troops to put out fires everywhere.

Rebels are everywhere in the Ming Dynasty now, and the imperial court simply cannot supply its troops and provisions.

(“The governors of each province bear the heavy responsibility of governing their respective territories. They must not immediately request assistance or reinforcements at the first sign of banditry. If they do not respond, it will be like Wu and Yue; if they are divided among themselves, how will they be able to provide support?”)
Finally, he turned his ire on the officials and censors in the court who only knew how to talk big, and denounced them:

"The officials in the censorate, regardless of the difficulty or risk of life or death, single-mindedly demanded perfection from the officials."

"Your Majesty and I have methods of suppression but not methods of blocking; methods of warfare but not methods of defense."

In this memorial, Lu Xiang-sheng not only put forward many suggestions for suppressing the bandits, but also relentlessly criticized the court's various blunders.

He not only made it clear that a large number of government soldiers had defected to the rebel army, but he also revealed that the emperor did not trust him.

Even more outrageous, he criticized the officials in the capital for being all talk and constantly hindering the front lines.

It's no wonder that Lu Xiang-sheng wasn't politically mature enough; his memorial to the throne caused quite a stir in the capital.

Phenomena such as officials and soldiers surrendering to bandits, shortages of food and supplies, and local incompetence were no secrets, and Emperor Chongzhen and his court officials were well aware of them.

But some things are better left unsaid.

There are some things that you know, I know, the entire court officials, and even the emperor know.

But if you, Prime Minister Lu, insist on making things clear, that would be extremely impolite.

All the civil and military officials said that the bandits were roving bandits, and the emperor's edict also labeled Zhang Xianzhong, Gao Yingxiang and others as powerful bandits.

But you, Lu Xiang-sheng, insist on saying that those bandits were "former government troops who participated in the suppression of bandits." Are you the only one who is smart?

The imperial censors and officials in the court rallied to accuse Lu Xiang-sheng of harboring treacherous intentions.

Lu Xiang-sheng proposed opening up local militias in an attempt to emulate the governors and prefects of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, who held military power and controlled their own territories.

The emperor sent a military supervisor to keep an eye on him, but he harbored resentment, wanted more power, and even cut off all avenues for communication, trying to silence everyone.

Lu Xiang-sheng's memorial was a scathing critique of almost every official in the Ming capital.

In just half a month, most of the officials in the court united their positions and reached a consensus.

Yes, Lord Lu, you are devoted to the country, while we are all a bunch of useless trash.

Since that's the case, don't blame us for not putting in the effort when it comes to suppressing bandits in the future.

Fortunately, Zhu Youjian still had great trust in Lu Xiang-sheng at this time.

He overruled all dissenting opinions, suppressed all voices in the court, and fully supported Lu Xiang-sheng's strategy, granting him greater authority over the allocation of grain and provisions.

With this, Lu Xiang-sheng finally cleared away the obstacles from behind and was able to unleash his full potential.

While he was preparing his troops in Fengyang, the rebel army's offensive did not stop.

In the first month of the ninth year of the Chongzhen reign, Zhang Xianzhong's main force captured Hanshan, the gateway to Hezhou, and then besieged Hezhou.

Zhang Xianzhong personally led the attack on the city, and the soldiers of the Western Camp fought bravely amidst the thunderous cannon fire, becoming more and more courageous with each battle.

The army launched a rapid attack for a day and a night, and at the third watch of the night, they used cannons to bombard and breach the city walls, successfully entering the city.

After their success, Zhang Xianzhong's troops advanced with unstoppable momentum, reaching Pukou on the north bank of the Yangtze River, less than a hundred miles from Nanjing, the secondary capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Ming generals Xue Yongnian and Xu Yuanheng led their troops to reinforce the army, but were annihilated on the spot by the invigorated rebel army.

Upon learning that Zhang Xianzhong had captured Pukou, Gao Yingxiang, the leader of the rebel army, quickly adjusted his strategy and decided to join forces with Zhang Xianzhong to take Nanjing directly!
Soon, Gao and Zhang, the two main forces, successfully joined forces in the Hezhou area.

The rebel army stretched for hundreds of miles, their banners obscuring the sky, their armor gleaming, and their forces numbering 200,000. Their advance was aimed directly at Chuzhou.

Chuzhou was the last line of defense outside Nanjing, and was known as the "key to Jinling and the safeguard of the Jianghuai region".

Although Nanjing relies on the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, its river defense line is too long to provide effective defense.

Historically, the battles to cross the Yangtze River have resulted in more victories than defeats.

Therefore, to secure the river defenses, it is essential to first safeguard the area north of the river.

Jiangbei is the watershed between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers. It can be used to control the Huai River when advancing and to protect the Yangtze River when retreating.

To defend the Yangtze River, one must also defend the Huai River. Here, "Huai River" does not refer to just the Huai River, but to the entire strategic space between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers, namely the area north of the Yangtze River.

The hilly areas north of the Yangtze River are Nanjing's last line of defense.

Chuzhou is situated right on the main thoroughfare north of the Yangtze River.

Qingliu Pass, located on the western outskirts of Chuzhou, is a crucial passage for those entering and leaving Nanjing from the north.

The strategy of Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong and others was to first break through Qingliuguan and take Chuzhou, then move south, cross the Yangtze River at Caishiji, and head straight for Nanjing.

If nothing unexpected happens, a turning point in history will unfold in Chuzhou.

When Zhu Yuanzhang established his capital in Huaixi and launched his attack on Nanjing, he also marched out from here.

Both were rebel armies, both faced the poorly defended city of Nanjing, and both led hundreds of thousands of troops on an eastern expedition. Gao Yingxiang's strategy was almost identical to Zhu Yuanzhang's.

Unfortunately, they encountered Lu Xiang-sheng.

Lu Xiang-sheng's strategy was clear: to use the vast Central Plains as the main battlefield, Hubei as a secondary battlefield, and Sichuan and Shaanxi as the final destination.

He planned to crush the main force of the rebel army in the Jianghuai Plain, then force its remnants into Huguang, and finally join forces with Hong Chengchou in the Sichuan-Shaanxi region to deliver the final blow!
The decisive battleground he chose was the Jianghuai Plain.

Lu Xiang-sheng chose this location because it was open and indefensible, making it advantageous for government troops to encircle and pursue the rebel army.

Many of his subordinates also raised objections to this.

The bandits were mostly itinerant brigands, with more horses than foot soldiers, and they were extremely agile, moving like the wind.
However, our government troops outnumbered the cavalry, so how could we catch up with and block the enemy on the plains?

Wouldn't this flat plain make it even easier for bandits to launch attacks from all directions?

But Lu Xiang-sheng intended to feign weakness and use himself as bait to lure Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong's main forces into a decisive battle.

Although he was known as the Premier of Seven Provinces, he only had about 30,000 soldiers under his command who were actually capable of fighting.

Only by first showing weakness to the enemy can the two traitors, Gao and Zhang, who have won consecutive victories, think that there is an opportunity to take advantage of, and thus launch a decisive battle.

Although the bandits claimed to number 200,000, most of them were old, weak, sick, or disabled. Once the elite among them were wiped out, the rest would be no threat.

"Soldiers who, deception also."

Lu Xiang-sheng was confident about this match.

"Although the bandits were numerous, their various units had inconsistent commands, and they were exhausted from prolonged fighting, so they underestimated the enemy and advanced recklessly."

"Though my soldiers are few in number, each one is worth ten!"

"30,000 versus 200,000, the advantage is in my hands!"

(End of this chapter)