Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 695 King's Landing in Luoyang
The emperor entered Luoyang City through the Ying'en Gate on horseback.

In this ancient capital of thirteen dynasties, according to statistics, there have been [-] emperors.

In the Ming Dynasty, it was the seat of Henan Prefecture and Luoyang County. It was also the fiefdom of King Fu and King Yi. During the Hongwu Period, Luoyang City was built on the former site of the Yuan Dynasty for eight miles around. The city is four feet high and the trench is five feet deep.

During the reign of Chongzhen, a wall was built outside the city, with a height of three feet and a circumference of 33 miles.

In the 14th year of Chongzhen, this ancient capital of the Central Plains was breached by Chuang Wang Li Zicheng, and the old Fu Wang was lit with sky lanterns.When Li Zicheng sent troops to Shangluo, he used Niu Jinxing's suggestion in Shanzhou, Henan Province, to win the hearts of the people by doing benevolence and righteousness, and take the world according to Heluo.

Li Zicheng led the Chuang army to break through the peripheral cities all the way to the city of Luoyang. When Chuang Wang came, he didn't pay for food, and the hungry people came to vote. A large pot was set up to stew pork and stewed vermicelli, and steamed big white buns. The Chuang army and the hungry people besieged the city like locusts attack.

But King Fu in the city only asked the officers, soldiers and civilians to defend the city, and he was reluctant to reward him with money.

The Chuang army concentrated artillery to attack the city, and then recruited surrenders to instigate rebellion. Finally, the defenders in the city opened the north gate of the city to lead the intruders into the city. Luoyang was broken, and King Fu was also lit with a sky lantern.

At this time, it was only seven years since the great war.

Zhu Yihai entered the city from the east gate on a tall horse, and countless people knelt down to greet him.

After Li Zicheng entered the city that year, the Chuang army looted everywhere in the city and liquidated the officials and gentry. All the captured officials in the city, such as the former Minister of the Ministry of War, Lu Weiqi, the prefect of Henan, and the political affairs of Henan, were all killed.

King Fu and more than 400 landlords and gentry in Henan Province were all executed.

Blood flowed into rivers outside Zhougong Temple, and the corpses filled up the big pit in front of Zhougong Temple.

After this war, Chongzhen ordered the execution of Wang Shaoyu, the general soldier of Henan, and the arrest of Li Fengxian, the governor of Henan.

Under the flag of the Rebel Army, Li Zicheng broke through the city of Luoyang, killing and injuring more than ten thousand soldiers and civilians in the city.

Although Li Zicheng played the banner of exempting food and bringing peace to the people, in fact the rebel army was supported by large households. After Li Zicheng broke Luoyang, he recruited troops and bought horses. In order to supply military supplies, he also tortured large households everywhere.

After that, Azige led the Qing army to come, and then went to Xu Dingguo, Li Jiyu and so on anyway.

The land of Central Plains, the ancient capital of the thirteen dynasties, was almost destroyed in the flames of war.

Governor Chen Qianfu knew that the emperor was coming, so he started to clean up Luoyang City in advance, but it is still very dilapidated.

Before Li Ji met Xu Dingguo, Zhu Zhongyi and other coalition forces to attack the Qing army in Luoyang, besieged the city for a long time, and finally broke the city.

At the end of Chongzhen, the Central Plains suffered from severe drought for years, and after earthquakes and locust plagues, Luoyang had [-] buckets of rice, and hunger was everywhere, and people ate each other.

It also provided an opportunity for Li Zicheng to take the opportunity to make a comeback.

But these years, the life of the people in Luoyang has not been easy, on the contrary, it has become worse and worse, and their lives are almost deserted.

Li Jiyu was originally just a farmer. In the 11th year of the Chongzhen reign, the Dengfeng county government servant came to his village to force food, and his attitude was brutal. Li Jiyu was so indignant that he beat the government servant and led people to the city to ask for food tax exemption, but was arrested by the county magistrate instead. , with a flail to show the public.

At night, the villagers rescued him, fled back home, took off the red scarf and quilt, ran up the Jianshan Mountain, set up an uprising flag, and recruited soldiers to rebel.Within a day, hundreds of people came, and tens of thousands soon gathered.

In the 15 years since the imperial court, Dengfeng City has been captured. In the 16th year, he was recruited by the imperial court and served as the general soldier of Henan Province, guarding Luoyang.

In the 17th year, he accepted the surrender of the Qing army, and sent a letter of surrender to one prefecture, two prefectures, twelve counties, more than a thousand large and small villages, and 27 soldiers.

Li Jiyu rebelled before Li Zicheng swept Henan. Later, when Li Zicheng swept Henan, he also briefly attached himself to Li Zicheng. But after Li Zicheng's army went north, he and Liu Hongqi and others were still fighting in Henan and separated themselves. party.

After Li Zicheng defeated Shanhaiguan, he surrendered to the Qing court, but the Qing court did not reuse this local thief, and even planned to call him into Beijing to control
Li Jiyu kept procrastinating, and then turned against Xu Dingguo and others to vote for Daming.

Zhu Yihai also entrusted him with the post of commander-in-chief to appease him for the time being.

But now, just looking at the situation in Luoyang, one can see that Li Jiyu is still not free from the banditry habit, and controls the western part of Henan under a separate regime, but there is no peaceful governance at all, he is just a local emperor.

When Zhu Yihai pacified Shandong and started to take control of Henan, Li Jiyu went directly to Hebei with his soldiers, saying that it was the Northern Expedition, but in fact he didn't want to be reorganized and dismissed by the court, but he couldn't resist in Henan, so he led his troops and ran away .

Before running away, they sent troops to search and loot the west of Henan again.

After entering the city of Luoyang, Governor Chen Qianfu came to meet with Xunyan, Bu, Yan, Fenxun, and Zhifu.

I heard them make a simple report, the situation in western Henan is very bad now, Nanyang has not yet been recovered, and the three sides are still controlled by the Tartars, the Qing army and bandits often come to loot.

Before Li Jiyu was the commander in chief, he only occupied a few big cities such as Luoyang and Shanzhou.

So in the west of Henan, there are still a lot of earthen villages, and there are also many old soups, swordsmen, and horse thieves who are wandering around.

There is a large loss of population here, the fields are still generally barren, and the prices of food and salt are still extremely high. It is a completely chaotic scene.

Li Jiyu also cleverly set up a name, collected taxes privately, even monopolized the sale of salt and grain, secretly minted coins, all of which were bad coins, and even sold the silver rewarded by the court, the salary given, and the silver dollars and copper coins circulated. , and then reduce the fineness casting circulation.

Li Jiyu has no ability to govern the local area at all. He only controls some big cities. He is the leader of the army in the west of Henan. Some thieves and bandits are very chaotic.

Don't think that Li Jiyu took the initiative to return to the Ming Dynasty anyway, but in fact, the imperial court couldn't reach here before. Zhu Yihai's northern expedition was right and fierce, and Henan and Shandong were in chaos. After he was recruited by the Tartars, he felt cheated, so he borrowed Machine rebellion to regain power.But he didn't want to be truly controlled by the court.

He was obedient to the imperial court's order anyway, and he didn't take it seriously at all. The imperial court came for real, and when he really came, he immediately ran away.

The land can be given up, but the soldiers and horses cannot be handed over. With money, food and treasures, they arrive in Hebei and occupy a piece of land to continue to be the emperor.

He is not alone.

The same is true for Xu Dingguo from Kaifeng, Li Huajing from Caozhou, Zheng Longfang from the original Jining area, and Ding Qiguang from Weihui, etc., are all the same.

Usually, when they go to the table, they talk nicely and are loyal to the Ming Dynasty. As a result, if the imperial court really wants to reorganize their troops, they will quit immediately.

They don't care about the titles of provincial camp, foreign town, or group training, but their territory will never be handed over easily.

If you can't bear it, run away.

This is the bottom line of the warlords.

Territory and soldiers and horses, and among these two, soldiers and horses are the final bottom line.

The Shandong province in Henan where Li Ji met Xu Dingguo and others ran away, and what is left now is the more and more dilapidated Central Plains.

The situation in Guixu area controlled by Xu Zhongyi, Zhao Hongsheng and others is slightly better.

"Run and run. Since they are willing to go to the Northern Expedition, let's fulfill their loyalty and bravery, draw up the Taoist will, and adapt them into the Six Towns of the Northern Expedition. Xu Dingguo, Li Jiyu, Li Huajing, Ding Qiguang, Ding Weiyue, Liang Min each Lead a town, divided into left and right wings, under the command of Zhili Governor Tu Guobao and Shanxi Governor Ma Guozhu, and the various ministries that Ma and Tu originally commanded were reorganized into Shanxi Provincial Town and Zhili Provincial Town.”

Organize those chaotic rebels into eight towns, nominally to reorganize the Northern Expedition, but in fact, they are taking this opportunity to formally kick them out of Shandong and Henan.

Hebei and Shanxi are still enemy-occupied areas, let them play forward first, and let them fight against the Tartars.

Zhu Yihai tidied up the rear first.

Chen Qianfu is Zhu Yihai's confidant and brother-in-law. A few years ago, when he saw the emperor's expression, he knew that the emperor was dissatisfied with those military leaders, but he also disdained those people.

"Your Majesty, after the great victory in Yingzhou, the aftermath is still being dealt with over there. Now the soldiers and horses of the imperial battalion are heading to Nanyang. We are also busy coordinating food, grass, equipment, etc., and doing a good job in logistical support."

"The supply of the former army cannot be neglected, and the supply must be guaranteed. But now that Henan is rebuilding, it cannot be slackened and delayed."

As an inspector, the old master Zhu Hongsheng's official position is not high, but he was an official in the imperial camp who stayed in Henan during the first Northern Expedition, but his rank was low at the beginning, but now he is a provincial standard.

He previously served as a branch patrol in Guide Chen Xudao, and his performance was still very good.

Zhu Yihai asked him about his coping strategy, and the reply he gave was quite satisfactory. It was nothing more than clearing up the land first, and at the same time recruiting the hungry people to resume production with work instead of relief.

At the same time, it is to improve Baojia, establish a regiment and village camp that can be commanded by the local government, suppress bandits and arrest thieves, restore order, and restore disaster relief and farming at the same time.

"We still need the imperial court to transfer more officials to come here, and at the same time, we also need the imperial court to transport grain from Shandong and Jiangbei to provide relief and support. Even now, there are all kinds of private money in the market and the coins are chaotic. Branches and sub-branches were established to provide high-quality copper coins, copper coins, and silver coins."

Chen Qianfu added that he hoped that the emperor would transfer the factory guards to specialize in cracking down on various problems of private minting and selling of coins.

"I understand, you ask me for food, money, and everything." Zhu Yihai smiled, "I can understand, all things need to be done.

But now the imperial battalion has also opened in towns and towns. Luoyang, Kaifeng, Nanyang, Yingzhou, Zhumadian, and Shanzhou will all station their elite imperial battalions, and then there will be tax police groups, postmen, and towns stationed. Of course, money, food, and salt will be continuously shipped over.

Although the Central Plains is a big hole now, the imperial court will do its best to fill it. "

Zhu Yihai was very calm, he dispatched several towns of imperial elites to enter the Central Plains, with this trump card in his hand, everything was not a problem.Just like when Xu Dingguo and Li Ji met these Central Plains warlords, they all ran to Hebei one after another, they all knew themselves.

The leaders of this army have all run away, and the remaining soil fortresses and bandits, can they still be used as carts?

As soon as the sun shines, the snow on the ground will melt one after another.

All it takes is some time.

The towns of the imperial camp came to visit, from village to village, and whoever dared to be dishonest, Zhu Yihai was not polite.

"I brought a lot of grain in my team, and I can take out some porridge for relief in a while, and some can also be sold on the market. First, the supply will be limited, and the price will be one silver dollar per stone for rice and wheat, so as to stabilize the market price of grain.

We are not short of food now, but we still need time to transport the food. As long as the food starts to be sold at a reasonable price, the people will be at ease.

(End of this chapter)