I have a cornucopia

Chapter 261: Attacking the Emperor
Jiujiang.

Locking River Tower.

Of course, it is actually called Jiangtian Locking Tower.

The name is still very domineering, and the reality is also very domineering, because the Huilongji next to it is the southern end of the iron chain that locks the river.

A huge iron chain spans the Yangtze River.

However, there is no stone tie at the north end.

Fortunately, technology is advancing rapidly nowadays, so the Jiangxi businessmen who contracted this project set up a circle of blast furnaces on the riverside, and then smelted pig iron at the same time, pouring the molten iron directly into the big pit, and finally cast four huge iron bulls connected to each other, and then tied iron chains to the iron bulls, and poured concrete around them. As for the specific weight of this pile, it was not calculated, but the iron ore used in those blast furnaces added up to more than a thousand tons.

Of course, the investment costs also allow the businessmen who contract the projects, provide raw materials, transport, etc. to all make a fortune.

As for how much the elders' association behind it earned, there is no need to say.

Anyway, the whole province is paying the money together. The official figure for Jiangxi is over 10 million, but the actual number is definitely more than 20 million or even 30 million. After all, there are a large number of refugees moving south, and a large number of newly registered mountain people. The actual number should be more than 30 million.

Even if each person contributed one penny of silver, that would be three million taels.

For those who went south, it wouldn't be too much for each of them to pay one or two taels of silver, after all, they were resisting Li Zicheng.

Don't be afraid to spend money.

How to make money without spending money?
Repair fortresses, train militias, and build guns and cannons...

Get it all done!
The money was collected like water and then spent like water.

Of course, the money spent will not disappear, it will just end up in the pockets of many people.

The Jiangxi gentry suddenly realized, wow, this is the economy, this is prosperity, and then they shouted slogans such as "Jiangxi people govern Jiangxi, Jiangxi people protect Jiangxi", and entered capitalism as if they had been enlightened.

In fact, similar slogans were also shouted by gentry in various places. The gentry in Zhejiang were shouting "Zhejiang people govern Zhejiang", and the gentry in Suzhou and Songjiang were shouting "Wu people govern Wu". After all, internal unity is needed now, and the unruly people are not fools. If they are reluctant to give up actual benefits, they should at least shout out some slogans that can cheer people up.

It’s cheap!
It’s not easy to shout loyalty and righteousness anymore.

After all, this is a fight against the emperor. No matter how you explain it, it is still a fight against the emperor.

Then let’s call for autonomy!

The corrupt officials are all from outsiders, how can our fellow villagers harm you? Li Zicheng would only let outsiders come to be officials, and then they would be corrupt and abuse the law, levying heavy taxes. We, the fellow villagers, will lead you to be honest and upright, and if anyone dares to be corrupt and abuse the law, you can directly dig up his ancestral grave. Of course, in order to have such a good life, now you have to pay some donations, pay more taxes, and let the young and strong go to the battlefield. In the past, when outsiders came to be officials, you still had to pay the sedan chair donation when you got off the sedan chair, right?

The enlightened gentlemen even began to like such days a little.

They even felt a little regretful that they had not discovered such happiness earlier, which made them even more unable to stop.

And now, the critical moment has arrived. Whether the happiness can continue depends on whether they can stop Li Zicheng.

"I never thought that I would become a traitor one day."

Du Yinxi looked bitterly at the imperial edict in his hand, and then looked at the densely packed warships waiting on the river upstream.

On the largest of these warships, painted with a winding golden dragon, was the Emperor who was on his way south in anger. The most severe imperial edict he issued in Hankou was now in Du Yinxi's hands. The content of the imperial edict was very simple: Anyone who blocked the Emperor's trip south would be charged with treason and his entire family would be exterminated. No matter whether they were officials or civilians, anyone who dared not open the door to welcome the Emperor would be charged with treason and his entire family would be exterminated. All elders' associations, seniors' associations, and local associations would be dissolved.

Anyone who dares not to disband will be treated as gathering a crowd for treason and their entire clan will be exterminated.

All militias should be disbanded. Anyone who dares not to disband will be treated as a traitor and their entire clan will be exterminated.

In short, the extermination of three clans of each person in the imperial edict was shocking. Moreover, as the drafters of the letter to the world, Huang Zongxi, Gu Jiang, Zhu Zhiyu and more than a dozen others were ordered to be arrested immediately by officials from all over the country and their nine clans were executed. Huang Zongxi, in particular, disregarded the grace of the emperor and did not consider Your Majesty's execution of Wei Zhongxian to avenge his father's death and to rehabilitate and posthumously honor his father. Instead, he took the lead in insulting the emperor, which was simply insane.

The ten tribes of Yi.

The sky in the south of the Yangtze River suddenly turned blood red.

Of course, it is still early, but now as the commander-in-chief of the anti-rebelion army, Du Yinxi already needs to face His Majesty the Emperor.

After all, he was still the governor of Huguang.

The three tribes of Yi...

His Majesty's plan to exterminate his three clans was just a plan, but the Senate only needed one sentence to exterminate his three clans, so now he could only be a traitor.

"General, the dragon boat is moving."

Jie Xuan who was beside him said.

As the core of Jiangxi's defense, the commander of Jiujiang Fortress was Wan Yuanji, and Jie Xuan, who had always been his main assistant, naturally followed him.

Du Yinxi sighed and looked at the dragon boat going downstream on the river.

Including the dragon boat with the emperor's guards, five warships moved forward in parallel and entered the river north of Jiujiang City, which had been designated as a restricted area. On the right side of the Jiujiang North City Wall, the newly built artillery platforms, including the 10,000-jin cannons, were also pointed at them. Of course, the Lock River Tower was also included, which was also expanded into a real bastion. The muzzles of the 10,000-jin cannons on the artillery platforms of the four-corner bastions were also pointed at the warships that had entered the range.

The defensive arrangement here is to use the river-locking iron chains to block the upstream warships, and then bombard them with a number of powerful cannons including the river-locking fort.

In this era, the iron chains that lock the river have limited significance.

After all, it can be smashed to pieces by cannons. Even if the chain is sunk in the water, all you have to do is get closer and lift it up. Even light naval guns can smash it to pieces.

If that doesn't work, tie a barrel of gunpowder on it.

The iron chains that lock the river are only used to block the river surface in normal times. In real war, these huge cannons are used to block the Yangtze River.

Jie Xuan looked at Du Yinxi, and those soldiers were also looking at him with obvious uneasiness. After all, the person above was the Son of Heaven, and using cannons to bombard the emperor would inevitably make anyone have some concerns. Even on the walls of Jiujiang, flags of inquiry were already waving, asking their commander to give orders. Wan Yuanji didn't dare to make the decision, but Du Yinxi was still watching. He really didn't want to give the order. This was the emperor, not Li Zicheng. No matter how they did it, bombarding the emperor would be enough to be passed down through the ages.

Even though Chongzhen was definitely not on this dragon boat...

"Fire the cannons. Your Majesty will not be on it. This is just Li Zicheng misusing your Majesty's guard of honor."

He said this as if trying to cover up his mistake.

It doesn’t matter whether Your Majesty is on it or not, it is enough that there is the Emperor’s ceremonial guard on it.

Of course, these words are enough to coax the soldiers.

He had to give this order. As the commander-in-chief of this war, he went to Jiujiang under the urging of the Senate to supervise the Jiangxi militia. He wanted the Jiujiang defenders not to retreat under any circumstances, and they had to fight this war even if they had to face the emperor.

"Yes, His Majesty is not up there. This is a traitor who is using the Emperor's guard of honor. Fire! We are bombarding this traitor who is using the Emperor's guard of honor!"

Jie Xuan said immediately.

The soldiers' spirits suddenly lifted...

Since the military commander had already given the order, let's just cover our ears and steal the bell. A gunner watched the dragon boat enter the marked position and immediately stuck the matchlock into the ignition hole.

The muzzle flame of this giant cannon, which is said to weigh ten thousand pounds but actually weighs eight thousand pounds, suddenly spurted out, and accompanied by a thunderous sound that shook the earth, a twenty-two-pound cannonball whizzed out.

The firing area of ​​each cannon here is calibrated. As for the observation method, it is not complicated. There are fixed reference objects on the opposite bank, but only the defenders themselves know what they are. Then there is a fixed observation position on the gun position. By comparing with the reference objects, the river surface within the field of vision can be divided into multiple areas. Each area corresponds to propellant. The cannon is facing the reference object, and then the line connecting the gun body and the reference object is used for fine adjustment, and the propellant is loaded according to the shooting area where the target is located.

It's already very scientific.

Using this method, the effective aiming range can reach five miles.

It was simply a crushing blow to the naval guns. Not to mention the inland warships, even if Zheng Chenggong's warships were brought over, they would still be crushed by them.

This twenty-two-pound shell, with its enormous kinetic energy, cut through the air and landed on the dragon boat in the blink of an eye...

It must be that the gunner was just too lucky.

The shell hit the head of the golden dragon on the side of the hull, and instantly turned the place into a hole.

Moreover, this level of cannon is seriously overpowered for inland warships, so the shells penetrate the side and fly out from the other side.

On the dragon boat.

"Rebel, traitor, traitor, I will kill all ten of his clans, I will kill all ten of his clans!"

His Majesty the Emperor looked down at the huge hole on the port side waterline and the river water pouring in, and spoke with trembling lips.

Well, he's on the dragon boat.

Du Yinxi was still too hasty. He thought that Li Zicheng would not take risks with Chongzhen. After all, Chongzhen was the biggest card in Li Zicheng's hand.

But he ignored the fact that Li Zicheng already had a son.

If Chongzhen died at the hands of the Jiangnan armed forces, Li Zicheng could take the opportunity to proclaim himself emperor, and then use Li Cihong as the crown prince in exchange for compromise from local forces loyal to the Ming Dynasty. After all, Chongzhen was not killed by him, but by the Jiangnan Group. He was avenging Chongzhen, and Chongzhen had only a few sons left who were still babies, and were born out of wedlock. The only legitimate son who was close to adulthood was Li Cihong, who was already his son.

As long as he can satisfy his desire to be an emperor, the throne will still belong to Li Cijiong when he dies.

As for the local forces loyal to Chongzhen, they would accept whoever could avenge their monarch as their new monarch.

Anyway, Li Zicheng was just satisfying his desire.

Why not pass the throne to Chongzhen’s son?

Of course, the premise is that Chongzhen really died at the hands of the Jiangnan Group. After all, in this way, no one would be suspected of being disloyal to Chongzhen.

Just like the original explanation of Song Quan surrendering to Dorgon in history...

I am a wise minister. Whoever avenges my wise ruler for me will be my master.

As for Li Zicheng letting Chongzhen rush to the front, this really cannot be blamed on Li Zicheng. Who could have thought that those traitors would bombard the emperor? Look at He Tengjiao, he greeted His Majesty respectfully. So it can only be that these traitors were too crazy and dared to bombard the emperor. It's like covering one's ears and stealing the bell. As long as it satisfies one's own interests, covering one's ears and stealing the bell is the eternal truth.

And now...

"Your Majesty, abandon ship!"

Wang Chengen shouted anxiously.

At the same time, more than a dozen flames shot out from the Jiujiang city wall facing the south.

With the sound of cannons, shells continued to fall on the river, and one shell hit the warship next to them. The shell went straight through the poop, flew dozens of meters, and hit their ship again, still penetrating a deck, making a hole three meters away from them. At this time, let alone Chongzhen, even the soldiers were panicking and abandoning the ship. Their five ships were just for testing, just using the emperor to test, and they were not prepared for a real battle. Chongzhen himself did not believe that Du Yinxi, Wanyuanji and others would dare to use cannons to attack him.

In his fantasy, the worst case scenario was being blocked in front of the iron chain that locked the river, and then he would be furious and order the warships behind him to attack.

At the same time, he lifted up the iron chain and used a cannon to smash it.

Chongzhen, who was completely sober at this time, cursed the traitors, and with the help of Lao Wang, he hurriedly put on the gourd that served as a lifebuoy, and then jumped into the river below.

As soon as he jumped down, another cannonball hit his dragon boat, and the wood chips raised by the cannonball even passed over his head.

A sailor was hit directly by a cannonball and instantly turned into a ball of bloody mist. Fortunately, the Emperor was no longer sensitive to this, and he and Wang Chengen rowed anxiously to the other side.

He can swim.

After all, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is easily soluble in water, so when he was in Xi'an, he often practiced swimming in the pond of the palace.

There's nothing else to do anyway.

The shells behind him continued to fall, and all five warships were hit, especially his dragon ship, which was already sinking due to heavy water inflow. But what was more terrifying was that after severely damaging these warships, the costly river-locking cannons stopped firing, and then fired the cheap light artillery. More shells fell on the river, and columns of water continued to rise near them. Sailors who abandoned their ships were constantly hit, and blood continued to flow out of the river...

"Traitors, they are all traitors. The north is a traitor, the south is a traitor, the west is a traitor, the east is a traitor. My son betrayed me, and my daughter also betrayed me. How could I be so unfair to them? Why do they treat me like this? I am the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. How dare they treat me like this!"

His Majesty the Emperor in the water roared, like the protagonist of a tragic drama.

Lao Wang could only sigh silently.

As they were upstream, the real warships had already begun to move forward and fired at the city walls, even the government troops that had landed on the north bank...

Now Li Zicheng's subordinates are the official army.

They were already attacking Xiaochi Fort on the north bank.

The Jiujiang Fortress is certainly not limited to the south bank. A new bastion has also been built on the north bank to protect the northern end of the iron chain that locks the river.

The war broke out simultaneously on both sides of the Yangtze River.

On a hill not far from the battlefield, Li Zicheng was using a telescope to look with satisfaction at the dragon boat, of which only the mast was left...

"Inform all the troops that the Emperor's dragon ship was sunk by the rebels and His Majesty's whereabouts are unknown. Our army is attacking Jiujiang to search for His Majesty."

He said.

All the men behind him were smiling.

"Of course, it's possible that we will never find it again."

Li Zicheng himself laughed.

Indeed, His Majesty the Emperor can no longer be found. Even if someone claims to be His Majesty the Emperor in the future, he must be a fake.

(End of this chapter)