The Soul of the Han Dynasty in the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 707
At this time, Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Guoneng, Luo Rucai and other thieves who were making trouble in the hinterland of the Dabie Mountains at the junction of Huguang, Henan, and Nanzhili also felt the pressure was greatly reduced, and the situation of being chased by the Tianxiong army all over the world was greatly improved.

They also want to lay down a few wealthy places to spend a good year, and plan to attack Nanyang or Xiangyang.

The two cities of Nanyang and Xiangyang are both upper-middle-sized cities. There is food and a large population in the city. As long as the army and the people work together to hold on, it is simply whimsical to win with the poor attacking ability of the rogues.

It is also because of the superstitious belief in the defensive power of the city that the civilians and generals in Xiangyang and Nanyang are overstaffed. In addition to the recent success stories, the mighty Qing army has been defeated for thousands of miles, making too many civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty overly optimistic.

Huang Sifang calculated that Shanxi merchants and Shanxi and Xuanda officials carried out the big plan to close the net. The "Red Banner Army" fought against the Qing army in Shanxi, and they all needed information from the banner guards. A large number of banner guards who stayed in the interior went north to strengthen Shanxi and Xuanda strength.

There are not many banner guards left in Henan, Huguang, and Sichuan. Of course, they mainly focus on strengthening the detection of the areas actually controlled by the "Red Banner Army".

The reports of Luoyang, Kaifeng, Xiangyang, Nanyang and other cities have basically stopped, which also brought opportunities for the rogues.

At the end of the year, many merchants selling goods from the north and the south appeared to bribe city guards to enter the two cities of Xiangyang and Nanyang. Little did they know that most of these people were bandits in disguise. They had a lot of robbed gold and silver in their hands, so they were generous.

The military officers and soldiers guarding the city thought they had met a big businessman, and they didn’t check at all after being bribed. There were hundreds of rogues in Nanyang and Xiangyang.

Because Gao Yingxiang did not suffer from Sun Chuanting's devastating blow, he not only lived well, but was also the leader of the bandits, firmly sitting on the top spot.

In order to avoid internal friction, he contacted Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, Liu Guoneng and other leaders and made an appointment to take the two big cities of Nanyang and Xiangyang at the same time. Zhang Xianzhong and others were assigned to attack Nanyang.

The rogues were very bad, and they chose to attack on New Year's Eve. At that time, the city should be set on fire everywhere to create chaos and open the city gates.

It's not that the enemy is too strong, but that the civil servants and military generals of the Ming Dynasty are careless. I didn't expect that when everyone was busy watching the New Year, there would suddenly be thousands of rogue troops.

Gao Yingxiang's armored cavalry, seven or eight thousand, rushed in directly from the city gate opened by Neiying, and passed through Wengcheng smoothly to kill King Xiang's mansion. The defenders of Xiangyang City collapsed without a decent resistance.

The civilian and military generals in the city suddenly heard people shouting and saw the fire everywhere, and most of them fled in a hurry under the protection of their servants and guards.

The guards of the royal palace were all insignificant, and their fighting power was not worth mentioning. After being hacked and killed by the bandits, they immediately lost their courage and left King Xiang to flee for their lives.

In history, King Xiang was very unlucky to die in Zhang Xianzhong's raid on Xiangyang City, and now he is even more unlucky, being captured alive by Gao Yingxiang in the mansion four years in advance.

King Tang was very lucky. He was leading 2000 troops to celebrate the New Year in Yansui Town and escaped unharmed.

It can also be understood that Tang Wang was very unfortunate. If Tang Wang was in Nanyang Mansion, Nanyang had 2000 more troops, and the head of the banner guard Shi Kunshan made suggestions, the tragedy of being suddenly attacked by Zhang Xianzhong is very likely to be avoided.

It will not make Tang Wang's family broken by bandits and become a proletariat, and dozens of members of Tang Wang's family will not be murdered.

Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng were much more cruel than Zhang Xianzhong. After capturing King Xiang and his family, they did not kill them immediately.

Zhang Xianzhong guessed that he was mentally unhealthy after being stimulated before, and he was a little perverted. He not only likes to kill without reason, but also likes to torture dignitaries to death quickly.

The thieves broke through Nanyang, and of course raped and looted after occupying the mansion of the Tang prince. All the men in the mansion were tortured to death, and more than a dozen young and beautiful women joined Zhang Xianzhong's team of wives and concubines.

Why use the word team?That's because the thieves often marry wives and take concubines, and when they are cornered by the officers and soldiers, they kill all their wives and concubines with a knife.

It is rumored that for the convenience of doing that, the thief likes his wives and concubines to dress neatly and smear their upper bodies, and to be naked underneath...

Xiangyang and Nanyang were really rich. After the looting, the bandits obtained precious metals and valuables worth millions of taels of silver, as well as a large amount of grain, horses and weapons. More than 20 people were trapped in the two cities.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month in the tenth year of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang, who was full of ambition, took Xiangyang as his capital, set up Fengtian Advocacy, Civil and Military Marshal's Mansion, and appointed himself Grand Marshal, with Li Zicheng on the left and Zhang Xianzhong on the right.

Gao Yingxiang also appointed many generals, including Cao Cao Luo Rucai, Lao Huihui Ma Shouying, Chuangtatian Liu Guoneng, Shetatian Li Wanqing, Ge Liyan He Yilong, Hengtian Wang Zishun, Hun Shiwan Ma Jinzhong and so on 18 people, among them There is Jin Minghu who is not at the boundary between Xiangyang and Nanyang at all.

The next day, the reunited bandits began to attack the city. Their destructive power was far stronger than that of the Jiannu and Tartars. More than a dozen prefectures and counties were devastated by the flames of war. Fortunately, the bandits were afraid of the "red devil" and did not go to the boundary along the river.

The end of the year in the capital of the Ming Dynasty was peaceful. The news that the Ming army defeated the Jiannu and regained the lost land was widely known. The common people felt at ease and were busy celebrating the new year.

Because the emperor followed Huang Han's suggestion to ensure that the land of Gyeonggi would not be affected by the war, the soil and water in this area were much better than in history. Due to the drop in food and commodity prices, the common people had more job opportunities, so there were more ways to earn money, and the market was prosperous. .

Shengdou people rarely care about politics as long as they can get by, and they don’t care that Shanxi merchants in Gyeonggi disappeared overnight, and too many shops and businesses changed owners as long as they can buy the necessities of life.

On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month in the ninth year of Chongzhen, Li Ruolian played the role of the emperor, and Jin Yiwei acted immediately after receiving a request from the General Zhenglu to arrest the traitorous Shanxi merchants and confiscate their properties in Gyeonggi three days ago.

More than [-] criminals have been arrested, and more than [-] taels of cash have been confiscated. In addition, valuable antiques, calligraphy and paintings, pearls, agates and other valuables are waiting to be realized, and there are still a large number of real estate, storefronts, and acres waiting to be processed.

According to preliminary estimates, after the confiscated real estate is realized, there should be more than 100 million taels of silver that can be handed over to the court.

Li Ruolian's loyalty to Daming and Chongzhen does not mean that his hands and feet are clean. It is estimated that he has already pocketed no less than 10 taels of benefits.

Jin Yiwei's sudden raids and arrests broke the tranquility of the capital, making the officialdom feel like an earthquake, and everyone was in danger. Too many officials thought of the horror when Wei Zhongxian and the Donglin Party suddenly turned against each other.

Soon the civil and military officials noticed something strange, because Jin Yiwei arrested all merchants.

(End of this chapter)