Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 175 Lin Mingqiu's Death

The old blind man stayed after all. King Xiang had worked with him for so many years, so it was naturally impossible for him to be killed. However, Captain Han looked at him with extremely unfriendly eyes.

Even though the old blind man cited the example of Emperor Jiajing, Captain Han could not hide his desire to kill someone.

If the timing is not right, we cannot take action now.

It would easily attract the attention of the thief Xian, and put Prince Xiang and the Crown Prince into danger. Old Han might have taken action a long time ago.

But at this time, Chongzhen was extremely surprised about the old blind man.

Avoid him and try not to be alone with him.

Zhang Xianzhong was extremely excited about the old blind man's arrival. He took him in, hosted a banquet for him, and they got along very well.

Chongzhen was particularly concerned about the peasant army's actions, so he observed the peasant army's every move every day. Sometimes he would communicate with Sun Kewang and pay attention to some things that caught his attention.

Military Supervisor Eunuch, Tian Yi Zhong is here again?
And he came again to ask for the treasure. This person seemed very stubborn and would not give up until he achieved his goal.

This was somewhat beyond Chongzhen's expectations. Although he was not in the court, every night when he returned to the Qianqing Palace, he would ask Wang Chengen to repeat everything that had happened during the day.

I have my own understanding of Zhu Changgan's style and strategies.

The most important point is the construction of clean government.

Whether it was establishing the Anti-Corruption Bureau or beheading important officials in the court, Zhu Changgan always showed ruthless tactics. Now, the eunuch he personally selected to supervise the army acted like this after arriving in Gucheng. Naturally, he didn't believe it.

So much so that Chongzhen paid more attention to Tian Yizhong...

……

Just a few days later, Zhang Xianzhong completely exploded.

He summoned all his four adopted sons, including Sun Kewang.

"Tian Yizhong is here again. What do you think we should do about this?" Zhang Xianzhong's eyebrows were pressed together, and they were raised high. "It's okay for him to extort money and property, but after taking our money, he smashed our pot. Is this what a human being does?"

Since Zhang Xianzhong came to Gucheng, he has been in frequent contact with officials at all levels, but he could not please the officials headed by Tian Yizhong.

On the one hand, he reached out to take money from him, but on the other hand, he harbored a mad hatred towards Zhang Xianzhong.

He also heard that Tian Yi Zhong had secretly advised the court, hoping that the court would take advantage of the opportunity of Zhang Xianzhong's camping in Gucheng to mobilize heavy troops to annihilate him.

"You all say... We can't just accept the bullying at the hands of that bastard." Zhang Xianzhong's face was gloomy. "Surrender" was originally a temporary solution, but if the other party stabbed a spear into his lungs, he couldn't just stand there.

"Yes, we can't stand this bastard's bullying." Zhang Xianzhong's youngest adopted son Ai Nengqi was furious and said, "Adoptive father, I will bring Tian Yizhong's head to you right now."

Liu Wenxiu also expressed his willingness to go along.

Li Dingguo stopped the two men and said, "Foster father, Zuo Liangyu is in Xiangyang right now. I'm afraid Tian Yizhong is waiting for us to make some unusual moves so that he can have an excuse to attack us."

Sun Kewang pondered for a long time and said, "Even if we want to use force, we can't just do it alone. Li Zicheng and Lao Huihui have strong troops and horses. I don't believe they can remain indifferent. Why not... see if we can join forces with them?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Sun Kewang walked to the door, closed it, and came back to whisper, "Foster father, I received news that Li Zicheng has arrived in the Shangluo Mountains..."

……

Unlike the previous life,
Sun Chuanting assumed the post of governor-general of the three borders ahead of schedule, killed more than 10,000 Scorpion Blocks with thunderous force, and fought with Li Zicheng once, defeating his subordinate Hao Yaoqi.

In addition, the tax exemption in Shaanxi, Shaanxi and Henan also dealt a heavy blow to the peasant army, and many hungry people returned to their hometowns to farm.

The widespread starving people were the natural basis for peasant uprisings.

As the number of starving people decreased, the Central Plains region seemed to have suddenly become quiet.

The peasant army relied entirely on the hungry people to snowball their army. Now that there are no hungry people, not only can their snowball no longer roll, but many of the original rebels are also constantly deserting at night.

There are fewer and fewer people.

In addition, local militias were set up, and bureaucrats and landlords brought their retainers to participate, making it more difficult than ever for the peasant armies to attack the county town, and it became difficult to obtain food.
The peasant armies in various places began to hide in the mountains, and the momentum of the entire peasant war was slowed down. If it were in the past, the Qing Dynasty would definitely launch a war against the Ming Dynasty to ease the danger of the bandits.

Only when bandits burned, killed and looted in the heartland of the Ming Dynasty did it conform to the Qing Dynasty's strategy of "cutting down big trees".

But now the intensity of the war with Mongolia in southern desert has not yet subsided, and the "Tianyou Army" has rebelled again. They have not yet cleaned up their own situation, so naturally they have no way to worry about the bandits from Ming Dynasty.

It was also under such circumstances that communication between the various peasant armies increased more than before.

Dozens of kilometers away from Shangluo Mountain, there was a group of people who were actually heading towards Gucheng.

The leader among them was none other than Li Zicheng.

……

In Gucheng, Tian Yizhong drove out the maid who served him, then he took out a paper tag sealed with a wax ball from his pocket, unfolded it and read it, frowning.

"Li Zicheng is coming?"

Written inside the wax ball was the emperor's edict handed to him by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

In addition to Zhang Xianzhong, the emperor also asked him to pay attention to another person, Li Zicheng, who might also come to Gucheng.

If there was a chance to eliminate the other party, Zhu Changgan would save a lot of trouble in the future.

Tian Yizhong thought for a moment, then walked out and asked the Jinyiwei man, "Huguang patrol case, where is Lin Mingqiu?"

"To reply to Eunuch Tian, ​​they had already sailed into the Xiang River the day before yesterday, so they should be arriving soon."

"Oh?" Tian Yizhong's face lit up when he heard that. "In that case, the time has come!"

"By the way, have the Jinyiwei keep a close eye on Gucheng. I heard that Li Zicheng is coming."

"Yes, Eunuch Tian!"

……

The next day, officials from both sides of the Xiang River crowded onto the river.

Zhang Xianzhong waited for Lin Mingqiu before Li Zicheng arrived. He looked at the seven large ships on the river with fluttering flags, moving forward through the water.

As the ship docked, officials such as Tian Yizhong and Zhang Xianzhong came forward to greet them.

Chongzhen also came along and saw this scene with anger in his eyes.

Officials and concubines were playing on the boat, while the laborers pulling the boats on the shore were old and young.

According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, officials were not allowed to bring their families with them when they took up their posts. However, Lin Mingqiu not only brought his third concubine with him, but when the boat came down, there was some mud underneath, so the trackers bent down, tilted their backs, and let people step on their backs and pass by.

After they passed by, they saw people coming from behind carrying large boxes, which made the trackers' backs even more bent.

Fortunately, the boxes were empty, and the human frame made up of the trackers was shaky but did not collapse, otherwise he would have been whipped. On the shore, Zhang Xianzhong took off his sword and followed Tian Yizhong to see Lin Mingqiu.

Looking at the huge boxes, the muscles on his face twitched.

How could he not see the purpose of Lin Mingqiu bringing several large boxes? He would just wait for a few months and return with a full load of gold, silver and treasures.

The ship had already docked at this moment, and Lin Mingqiu should have walked out of the cabin long ago, but he did not move at all until the cannon roared.

Lin Mingqiu and the others came out slowly after they had finished paying their respects.

But when he came out, he only talked to Tian Yizhong, as if he didn't see Zhang Xianzhong the whole time. The flesh on the cheeks of this "Eighth King" bulged.

Just when Zhang Xianzhong was about to explode with rage, Lin Mingqiu suddenly turned around and said, "I heard that Zhang Xianzhong has three heads and six arms, but now it seems that he is not as scary as I imagined!"

"The other day I received a report saying that Sun Chuanting had killed more than 10,000 people from the Scorpion tribe, and that Li Zicheng and Hao Yaoqi were also killed by He Renlong... It is most appropriate for you to surrender now."

Zhang Xianzhong's face suddenly turned blue and purple.

But in the face of Lin Mingqiu's ridicule and suppression, he couldn't say a single harsh word, because what the other party said was all true. He could only bow his hands and said, "I'll take my leave!"

When he returned to the military camp, he happened to see his adopted son Liu Wenxiu escorting a man over, "What crime did this man commit?"

"My godfather, this man is Mr. Zhang. My brothers and I were hungry, so we went to his house to borrow some food. But he caught us, beat us half to death, and sent us to the government. So we caught him and brought him back to vent our anger."

The muscles on Zhang Xianzhong's face trembled, but he still held back and said, "Just beat him up, but don't let anyone get killed."

"This..." Liu Wenxiu's face suddenly turned ugly.

"Why doesn't what I said count?"

"Foster father, this man was really weak. We brothers beat him a few times and he died."

Zhang Xianzhong was furious when he heard this. "Damn it, you guys are good at nothing, but you are capable of causing trouble? Whoever did it, let him turn himself in to the government."

After saying this, he walked into Zhang's house without looking back.

What a coward! Zhang Xianzhong had never been so cowardly since he started his rebellion.

……

Gucheng was not big, and the Jinyiwei searched the city like a sieve, going back and forth for several waves, but they did not find any trace of Li Zicheng.

On the contrary, with the arrival of Lin Mingqiu, Zhang Xianzhong's affairs developed faster than Tian Yizhong had imagined, and the turning point came from Lin Mingqiu's third concubine.

Just because Lin Mingqiu's third concubine fell in love with the emerald in Zhang Xianzhong's eighth concubine's hand.

Lin Mingqiu's housekeeper brought the message to Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son Liu Wenxiu.

"This is too much!" Zhang Xianzhong was furious and scolded Liu Wenxiu in his mansion. "What are you thinking? You are just going to take something from me?"

"If you don't give it to me, don't even think about it!"

“But this is what Lin Mingqiu specifically requested…”

But after being angry, he finally sat down with gritted teeth, "Go and discuss with Lin Mingqiu's housekeeper. This emerald was passed down from our ancestors. I really can't give it up. I am willing to give you three large pearls as compensation."

But not long after, news came from Lin Mingqiu.

Not emerald, no!
As soon as Zhang Xianzhong opened his mouth, the Eighth Concubine started to cry: "Why? You only know how to bully me. I gave them the big pearl and the golden hairpin, and now you want to give away even this only emerald. What do I want from you? Is it just for the silver bracelet on your hand?"

Zhang Xianzhong clenched his fingers, "Don't worry, I won't kill Lin Mingqiu, this bunch of dog officials, I swear I won't be a human being!"

"But if you let me pass this stage, once I pass it, I will get you an emerald as big as a chicken egg, not to mention a pigeon egg..."

Only after Zhang Xianzhong sent the emerald over did the matter come to an end.

Because of this incident, Zhang Xianzhong was so angry that he lay in bed for two days and did not go out.

But what happened next was something Zhang Xianzhong could not escape no matter what...

……

"What? You said that Gucheng County Magistrate Ruan Zhidian poisoned Zhang Xianzhong? How is that possible?"

Early in the morning, Tian Yi Zhong was still sleeping. When he heard the report from the Jinyiwei, he ran out barefoot.

"No, there is something wrong here." Upon hearing the news sent back by the Jinyiwei, he shook his head like a rattle.

Gucheng County Magistrate Ruan Zhidian was Xiong Wencan's man. Xiong Wencan tried his best to persuade Zhang Xianzhong to surrender and would not dig his own grave by letting Ruan Zhidian poison him.

If it wasn't him, then who else could it be? Could it be His Majesty's people? Besides himself, His Majesty had arranged for someone else?
Tian Yizhong thought about it for a long time but still couldn't figure it out.

"What about Zhang Xianzhong? How is Zhang Xianzhong doing?"

"To reply to Eunuch Tian, ​​Zhang Xianzhong's soldiers are not dead, but his eighth concubine is dead..."

Tian Yizhong's head buzzed and his eyes widened suddenly. "His eighth concubine? I heard that an old blind man told him that this eighth concubine was destined to be the empress dowager. Could this be it?"

"One corpse, two lives... Quick, notify the troops of Zuo Liangyu and Chen Hongfan. Oh, and Huang Degong, too. Tell them that Zhang Xianzhong is planning a rebellion."

He didn't care about anything else. He ran back into the house, grabbed a pair of shoes, and dragged the Jinyiwei out. If he didn't run now, it would be too late.

If Zhang Xianzhong rebelled, the first thing he would do would be to purge officials at all levels in Gucheng, and Tian Yizhong would definitely be at the front of the list.

Sure enough, it took less than half an hour.

The entire Gucheng city shook violently. The gate of Tian Yizhong's residence was kicked open by Zhang Xianzhong's men. After Liu Wenxiu searched for a while, he angrily shouted, "Hurry up, we can't let Lin Mingqiu escape again."

……

"What are you going to do?"

When Lin Mingqiu was grabbed from the bed by Zhang Xianzhong's men, he was still confused and didn't understand what was going on.

A voice came from outside, "What are you doing? My Lord, what do you want me to do?"

Zhang Xianzhong walked in from outside with a whip in his hand, staring at Lin Mingqiu with red eyes, "My eighth concubine is dead, otherwise you can give me your third concubine, Zhang Xianzhong, how about it?"

"How about it?" Zhang Xianzhong looked at the emerald on Lin Mingqiu's third concubine's neck, "This way, I don't have to snatch it back."

"Zhang Xianzhong, you..." Lin Mingqiu was about to curse again, but he lowered his head and looked at the tip of the knife protruding from his stomach in disbelief. His whole body was shaking and he couldn't stand steadily.

"You dog official, you are greedy and only care about silver. Do you really think you can take me down?" Zhang Xianzhong kicked Lin Mingqiu to the ground, then grabbed Lin Mingqiu's third concubine by the hair and lifted her up.

"Kill them all, leave no one alive, dig three feet into the ground, and dig out all the gold, silver, and jewelry that I sent you."

……

(End of this chapter)