Who killed the Ming Dynasty?

"Chen Silang, Chen Silang!"

Song An held the document by one corner and waved it in front of the oil lamp.

"You are even more clever than the ivy on the screen wall of the Chengdu government office—when the sun shines on this side, you climb eastward, and when the rain and dew moisten that side, you twine westward."

He deliberately let the shadow of the paper fall on Chen Yingzong's face.

As the lamplight flickered, the words "Your subject Chen Yingzong, I humbly beg for death" were reflected intermittently on his pale forehead.

In the lamplight, Chen Yingzong's oily, sweaty face and his shifty expression were just like the ivy that was falling over in the wind on the screen wall.

After Zhang Xianzhong occupied Chengdu, he systematically destroyed official documents of the Ming Dynasty. Possessing documents from the previous dynasty was a serious crime of "colluding with the rebels".

The rain grew heavier, and the water dripping from the eaves formed a winding stream on the ground.

Chen Yingzong's knees buckled and he slumped down:

"Third Brother, you know perfectly well that even if Fourth Brother wanted to help, he couldn't. Are there all these new body-checking stations set up at the city gates now?"

He suddenly lowered his voice.

"The other day, a cloth merchant from Huguang wanted to enter the city, but because the seal on his left cheek was covered by rainwater—his head is still hanging on the iron hook of the barbican."

Song An's muscles tensed suddenly; he was, of course, familiar with the procedure:

After the Great Western Army entered Chengdu, "Imperial Inspectors" were added to each city gate to implement ironclad control.

For outsiders to enter the city is like climbing to heaven; they often lose their lives.

Residents leaving the city must sign a document to the military command, stating their destination, guarantor, and return date—those who fail to return by the due date will have their guarantor and neighbors executed, and their entire family will be implicated.

When merchants and travelers entered the city, their left cheeks had to be stamped with an official seal. If the seal became blurred when they left the city, they would be beheaded and their heads displayed to the public.

At this time, Chengdu was essentially a military fortress.

In the silence, Song An suddenly turned around and pulled out a blue cloth bundle from behind the shrine.

The package slammed heavily onto the table, making the wine cup jump.

"Brother Chen, here is one hundred taels of silver. If the deal goes well, I'll add another three hundred taels."

The moment the blue cloth wrapping hit the table, the oil lamp flickered and then lit up again, making Chen Yingzong's pupils dilate instantly.

Song An grabbed his wrist and pressed it against the silver ingot:

"What's there to be afraid of? They only bring in goods, not people. I'll go pick them up myself, brother!"

The moment Chen Yingzong's fingers touched the silver ingot, he withdrew them as if he had been burned.

Just then, a gust of wind swept through the hall, and the lamp flame went out with a whoosh.

Just as darkness engulfed everything, a large hand suddenly pressed down on the blue cloth wrapping.

......

at the same time.

After Zhu Cilang's merchant ships passed Jingzhou, the further west they went, the more frequent the sight of river bandits appeared on the river.

That night, several small boats quietly surrounded the area under the cover of darkness, and the soldiers of the Beijing garrison repelled two waves of attacks with muskets.

In the midst of the chaos, a stray arrow pierced through the ship's cabin.

One of the guards was shot in the chest with an arrow. Despite all efforts to save him, he succumbed to his injuries and died on the boat.

Zhu Cilang personally closed the eyes of the guard who had not yet closed them.

Upon reaching the Qutang Gorge, one sees iron chains stretching across the river, with banners fluttering on both banks.

After Zhang Xianzhong occupied Chongqing, he set up a tight net there. Merchant ships had to pay a hefty sum to pass through.

Wang Jing disguised himself as a caravan manager and painstakingly dealt with the situation by claiming that the victims were "displaced people from Huguang affected by the epidemic."

Unexpectedly, a Western Army soldier suddenly opened the cargo box, nearly revealing the imperial artifacts hidden inside, which startled everyone.

August 20th.

After a perilous 50-day voyage, Zhu Cilang's merchant ship finally arrived in Shunqing Prefecture (Nanchong).

This journey up the Jiangxi River, passing through Jiujiang, Wuchang, Jingzhou, and Qutang Gorge, was fraught with peril that is difficult to describe in detail.

Zhu Cilang not only witnessed the perilous nature of the mountains and rivers, but also truly felt the deep-seated problems of this dying dynasty.

It is the time of the autumn flood season.

The Jialing River was turbulent and the boatman gritted his teeth so hard they made a grinding sound.

"Look, my esteemed guest, the stone Buddha on the cliff of Qingju Mountain ahead has been half-submerged by the flood."

On the deck stood "Imperial Envoy and Supervisor Zhu Kunyao" dressed in an indigo official robe—in reality, Zhu Cilang in disguise.

He looked in the direction the boatman was pointing and saw that the head of the Buddha statue from the Tang Dynasty was submerged in the turbid river water on the gray cliff face.

The stone Buddha's half-closed eyes were being pounded by the waves, as if it were shedding tears.

The river wept.

Zhu Cilang stood silently at the bow of the boat, the rising and falling of the Buddha's head seemingly reflecting the fate of a nation shattered by war.

His identity was kept strictly secret during this trip.

Apart from twenty elite soldiers from the Beijing Garrison and the Vice Minister of War who were in charge of military affairs, no one in the area knew that the current emperor had personally ventured into this dangerous place.

To cover his tracks, Zhu Cilang assumed the title of Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and was appointed Governor-General of Military Affairs in Sichuan and Shaanxi.

This position allows for legitimate control over local areas without the ostentatious display of a high-ranking official like the Minister of War.

The twenty elite guards accompanying him were all dressed in the uniforms of seventh-rank military officers, appearing to be ordinary officers.

The waist tag was secretly engraved with the four characters "Directly Under the Emperor's Command," and the patterns on the Embroidered Spring Blade in the scabbard were all smoothed out with mud and ash, making it look no different from an ordinary standard military knife at first glance.

The moment Zhu Cilang's boots touched the bluestone slabs of the Shunqing Prefecture wharf, a rapid sound of horses' hooves suddenly rose from the riverbank.

He parried the sword with his thumb, and twenty soldiers from the Beijing garrison formed a battle array.

The clanging of armored vehicles startled the gulls roosting in the reeds; the gray-white flock took flight, circling against the leaden sky like scattered paper money.

More than ten riders arrived at breakneck speed, their armor tattered, and the hemp cloth wrapped around the left arm of the leading general was still seeping blood.

Zhu Cilang's gaze sharpened. Beside the general was Lian Guoshi, the Vice Minister of War. He immediately raised his hand to lift the guard.

When the man dismounted, the coarse hemp lining peeking out from the gaps in his armor plates was clearly the mourning attire for those who had died in battle.

A scent mixed with the stench of blood and herbs wafted over, an aura that seemed to have emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood.

"This humble official, Ma Qian, is in full armor and cannot perform the full ceremony!"

Ma Qian led the team in a single-knee salute, his voice hoarse.

Chengdu fell, and Governor Long Wenguang and his entire family died defending the country. Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Ma Qian took over the post of governor and led three thousand remaining soldiers to retreat to northern Sichuan.

Now, only a dozen or so riders remain behind him, their hempen clothes lining their iron armor clearly a sign of mourning for the entire annihilated former troops of Long Wenguang.

Zhu Cilang vaguely heard the whispers of the soldiers behind him:

"See that? This Magistrate Ma, a civil official, is now acting more like a military general than any of us warriors."

At this time, Shunqing Prefecture had not yet been captured by Zhang Xianzhong's Great Western Army.

After Zhang Xianzhong captured Chengdu, his army marched down the river and headed straight for western Sichuan. Shunqing Prefecture, located in the upper reaches of the Jialing River, was able to catch its breath for a while.

To avoid his sharp edge, officials from Sichuan fled north to this place, temporarily setting up their government offices in the city.

The group arrived at the Shunqing Prefectural Government Office.

Before the gray screen wall, two rows of yamen runners with swords stood stiffly; Zhu Cilang caught a glimpse of the red soil stuck to the soles of their boots.

The government office appears orderly at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it reveals a sense of haste.

"Please, Commander."

Ma Qian stepped aside to lead the way.

The official robes of this provincial inspector were already soaked with blood, and now he was wearing a mountain-patterned armor that had been stripped from the body of some fallen general, with the jade belt still stubbornly hanging outside the iron plate at his waist.

Inside the main hall of the government office.

Bloodstains that had not been wiped clean remained on the blue brick floor.

Just as Ma Qian unfolded the map, a rough voice suddenly came from outside the door:

"This humble general, Zhou Dingchang, Commander of the Shunqing Guard, requests an audience with the Superintendent!"

Before any response could be heard from the booming announcement, Zhu Cilang looked in the direction of the voice and saw a bearded military general stride in.

Zhou Dingchang, who called himself the commander, wore a suit of armor that fit him much better than Ma Qian's, but the red silk wrapped around the hilt of his goose-feather sword had faded to brown.

Just as Lian Guoshi was about to make the introduction, Zhou Dingchang strode closer, stopping three steps away from Zhu Cilang, his copper-bell-like eyes scrutinizing him from head to toe:

"Is this young gentleman the Imperial Censor appointed by the court as the Superintendent of Military Affairs?"

He suddenly reached out, as if to pat Zhu Cilang's shoulder, but stopped halfway, his rough hand hovering in the air, and sneered:

"This humble general dares to speak a foolish word: Has the Commander-in-Chief ever seen blood on the battlefield?"