Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 226 Death of Zuo Liangyu

Compared with Chongzhen's hysteria, the old blind man stopped him very soberly.

"You are now the Prince of Xin... From the perspective of the Prince of Xin, this person cannot be killed. Not only can he not be killed, but he must also be rewarded. A huge reward!"

"That's right, you really can't kill these people." King Xiang also stood up at this time.

"..." The veins on Chongzhen's forehead bulged, and he felt extremely uncomfortable. His anger was like fire, but he couldn't dissipate it. After a long time, he took a deep breath and said, "Just do as you wish!"

……

In the capital, Zhu Changgan also received the news from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and could not help but shake his head and smile bitterly.

"It's too cold without water, and my head is too itchy. Now someone comes out to write a biography for Prince Xin? These scholars are really like toads wearing frog skins. They don't need to wear them, but they are just playing with them."

But I think it is understandable. After all, this is the practical application point of Confucianism.

Before the Han Dynasty, Confucianism seemed to have always been neglected.

Everyone knows it exists, but it is unpopular. Why?

Confucianism is about etiquette, social order and hierarchy. But in the Warring States period, everyone was busy fighting, so who had time for these things? Confucianism advocates benevolence and gentlemanly behavior, which is somewhat out of place in the chaotic situation of the Warring States period when the seven powers were fighting for hegemony.

In the midst of a bloody fight, you tell others to repay evil with kindness. Isn't that nonsense?

Some of these concepts are not suitable for governing a country in troubled times. At this time, what the princes need are strategies to use, such as the strict laws and order of the Legalists and the alliances of the Diplomats.

Even Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, was not considered successful in politics.

However, after Emperor Wu of Han, Confucianism was promoted because of the need to strengthen central power. Some Confucian teachings, such as the hierarchy system of the central army, were very consistent with the political needs of an emperor.

From ancient times to the present, there have been Confucians with backbone.

But most of them are shameless people like Qian Qianyi. Not to mention others, just talk about Guang Shiheng during the Chongzhen period.

His reputation in the court and his hometown is still very good. In local historical records, he is highly praised, saying that he is "upright by nature", "talented at a young age, daring to make decisions, and intolerant of evil". There are so many compliments to him, isn't it strange?

In fact, this is understandable. He was indeed a good official before. On the surface, he really possessed the qualities of a loyal minister.

He is a man of "constant reason" and a passionate man. Moreover, he can move a large number of people with his literary talent according to different occasions.

Later, when the Qing army marched south and the resistance against the Qing in Jiangnan was in full swing, two lines of his poem were circulated: "I shed my blood and shoot arrows to enlighten the gods, I play my sword and listen to the dragon's roar!"

This kind of passionate sentiment and the sonorous and heroic words have inspired many people of noble character and lofty ideals to have the courage and determination to resist foreign aggression and fight against powerful enemies.

He was just a Censor-in-Chief, a minor official of the seventh rank, but when Li Zicheng entered the capital, he knelt down before him the first moment and remained as Censor-in-Chief of the Military Department.

Therefore, to judge whether a person is a loyal minister, it is not to look at what he says or listen to his nonsense, but what he does when faced with actual situations.

Logically and theoretically, this kind of person should be killed!

Zhu Changgan took a deep breath. The civil officials of the Qing Dynasty did not dare to make trouble, but it was not possible in the Ming Dynasty. As I said before, the Qing Dynasty had its own base, which was the Eight Banners descendants.

Zhu Changgan did not have to pay attention to the civil officials because he also had his own base, the Five Major Camps.

Political power comes from the barrel of a gun. With guns in my hands, I don't have to consider whether to share interests with the civil servants. When it is not in my interests, I can let the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang people slap you in the face.

Whether you agree or not with what I am going to do, I am not afraid of you sabotaging it, nor am I afraid of you undermining the imperial power.

If you don't do it, there are plenty of people who can do it. If you can't do it, my people can still do it.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, the Five Cities Military Commander-in-Chief, and the Nine Gates Commander-in-Chief are all my people. Be it the civil service group or the nobles, if anyone dares to escape, don't blame me for being ruthless.

As long as the troops of the five camps were in his hands, he could exercise his imperial power without having to worry about the bureaucratic and scholar-official groups quitting.

At worst, we can arrest a group, kill a group, demote a group, and then promote a group.

This group of hypocrites who usually shout slogans but become obedient when faced with difficulties.

Of course, the Manchu emperor's basic base that he could independently control would collapse after he became too sinicized and got too close to the Han literati, and would eventually return to the unfavorable situation of the Ming Dynasty where he had to beg the civil service group to do things for him.

The reason why the late Qing Dynasty eventually collapsed and disintegrated was that it could not rely on clan relatives and bannermen, allowing Han bureaucrats, especially the constitutionalists, to seize local power, which eventually led to a situation where no one was available after the Taiping Rebellion.

Zhu Changgan suddenly remembered that he hadn't called up the attribute box for many days, and he couldn't help but concentrate on calling it up.

"Main quest: Save the Ming Dynasty Completion: 7812/10000"

"The Ming Dynasty's national fortune value: 6888, (the national fortune is positive, the trend of natural disasters and the cooling of the small ice age has stopped, and the temperature is gradually recovering, but the people's lives have improved, and everything is stable and improving."

"The Ming Dynasty has lasted for 3500 days"

「Modern lifespan bonus: 3500 days」

「Funding reward: 95890410 yuan」

The progress of the main line has increased by nearly a thousand, and the biggest improvement is the national destiny, which has increased by 100 days at once. In nearly three years, the funds have reached million.

"Go to Wenhua Palace!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Chengen hurriedly trotted to catch up.

When Zhu Changgan rushed to Wenhua Palace, he found Chen Yuanyuan and Liu Xuanshi fiddling with a small boat. Both of them came from the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River.

"What are you doing?"

"Make a flower boat." Chen Yuanyuan sat on the boat and tied some silk flowers on it.

Zhu Changgan narrowed his eyes, "How deep is the water down here?"

There is a small lake outside Wenhua Hall, but I have never paid attention to it.

"No deeper than waist."

Zhu Changgan heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this. If Chen Yuanyuan dared to say that, he would be in great danger.

He looked at the fish swimming below, then stepped into the boat and got in with the two men.

Wang Chengen drove away the eunuchs and palace maids and sat on the shore himself.

The space inside the boat is not so cramped. Three people can sleep side by side without any problem. Even if they sit up, they won’t touch their heads.

After entering the boat, Chen Yuanyuan was no longer as graceful as she was outside. She took off her outer clothes, revealing a bellyband embroidered with a bright red peony.

As for Concubine Liu, her face was as red as blood. She bit her lips. Before she could react, she was pulled away by Chen Yuanyuan. "What did you say yesterday? Why are you being nagging today?"

When Chen Yuanyuan pulled Concubine Liu, her heart was instantly filled with anxiety. Zhu Changgan lowered his head and found that she was only wearing a translucent gauze. It was not that even her hair could not be seen.

But time is precious and money can’t buy it.

Time is like jade...

The sun was at its highest point, and ripples were forming around the flower boat. The fish didn't understand why the flower boat was making endless ripples even though the oars weren't moving. But they knew that the sweet dream of the small lake had been disturbed.

When Zhu Changgan came out of Wenhua Hall, a eunuch walked in quickly from outside and said, "Your Majesty, Sun Yingyuan and Zuo Liangyu's troops met and fought. Zuo Liangyu died."

"Huh?" Zhu Changgan looked at the other party suddenly, "Why are the two of them fighting each other? Didn't we send Sun Yingyuan to fight the Red Lady Army?"

"..."Ma Shiwei was also confused.

...In Tongshan County, Sun Yingyuan led 30,000 troops and was heading towards Anqing. The order he received was to encircle and suppress Hongniangzi's military headquarters.

But now the peasant armies in the four provinces were causing chaos everywhere. To be on the safe side, he asked his soldiers to change into the clothes of the bandits.

They started from Jingzhou Prefecture and traveled through several prefectures and counties without encountering any problems. However, when they passed the jurisdiction of Wuchang Prefecture, they encountered a group of government troops.

After receiving the letter for help from the local gentry, Zuo Liangyu decided to go to Hangzhou, but halfway he heard that the city of Hangzhou had been breached. While he was hesitating, he heard that there was a group of bandits ahead.

He didn't want to turn around and attack Prince Xin, but he wanted to report to the court, so he decided to attack the group of bandits in front of him.

So the battle began.

Sun Yingyuan did not want to get entangled with Zuo Liangyu and wanted to pretend to fail and get away, but the other party was not tactful and kept biting him, as if he would not stop until he had eaten him completely.

Seeing that his men suffered heavy losses, he had to turn around and ask his soldiers to show their true strength.

There is another factor, which is what Sun Chuanting analyzed before: Your Majesty is extremely displeased with Zuo Liangyu.

Zuo Liangyu was arrogant and repeatedly refused the imperial court's orders. He killed Liang people to take credit for his achievements and kept his own troops to himself, which was disloyalty.

He had no discipline at all and allowed his soldiers to abduct women. When Fengyang City fell, he and his mercenaries watched without going to rescue. Instead, he asked the gentry in Zhongzhou to write a joint letter to ask him to stay... This is inhumane.

When dealing with Hou Xun, who had once done him a favor, in times of crisis, he was "afraid of Zicheng and delayed coming", which led to Hou Xun being dismissed from office and punished. This was unjust.

Everything Zuo Liangyu did was just for money and food. He was such a disloyal, unkind and unjust person.

In Sun Yingyuan's opinion, he should have died long ago.

Your Majesty did not touch him, it was just that the time was not right.

According to the existing intelligence, Zuo Liangyu maintained an unclear relationship with the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. Now that he has come into conflict with him, it might be a great achievement if he could get rid of this man for Your Majesty in one fell swoop.

Of course there are huge risks involved...

If His Majesty did not mean that, he might lose his official position. However, he watched Huang Degong make new achievements on the Korean battlefield while he was still standing still.

He understood that he could not keep fighting the bandits here. He had to end it all as soon as possible and then go north to fight the Manchu Tartars. Only then would he have a chance to be promoted.

"It's a bet!"

Sun Yingyuan roared like a tiger, holding his spear, and rushed out first, "Take out all the cannons and muskets, and fire hard."

"Yes!"

Following Sun Yingyuan's order, the Loyal and Brave Army finally showed its fangs at this moment. These soldiers were originally mountain people from the southwest. Seeing their brothers being killed by the enemy, they had already been filled with anger.

"Boom boom boom~~"

"Bang bang bang..."

The soldiers of the Loyal and Brave Army jumped on their horses and shouted frantically, "Charge... to avenge our brothers!"

"Shoot them."

"Kill~"

Under the leadership of Sun Yingyuan, tens of thousands of loyal and brave soldiers rushed forward like tigers. What is a tiger? It means that after receiving the order, they had only one thought in mind, which was to chew up and eat the opponent.

Most of Zuo Liangyu's men were servants and guards of the gentry. How could these mountain people from the southwest dare to fight?

What's more, these servants and guards were all self-reliant and had no idea of ​​any military formation or system. Facing the well-trained and coordinated loyal and brave army, they were defeated at the first sight.

"Pfft~"

Sun Yingyuan's spear was as sharp as a dragon, stabbing the enemy soldiers one after another.

At this moment, Zuo Liangyu was standing on the platform to review his generals. He had hoped that this battle could reverse some of his decline and tell the Ming Dynasty that there was still a man like me, Zuo Liangyu, in Huguang.

He needed this victory to give confidence to the gentry who supported him, and he needed this victory even more to tell the Ming court that he still had opportunities to exploit and that he had troops in his hands.

But as he watched...his expression changed drastically.

Looking at the crowds below and the soldiers of both sides rolling, his eyes widened and he looked at the army in front of him in disbelief, unable to hide his uneasiness.

"What kind of army is this, with artillery and so many muskets?"

“Come on, bring my personal guards as well. We must win this battle, not lose.” Zuo Liangyu took his weapon, stood up, mounted his horse, and plunged into the “bandits” like an arrow.

His desperate fighting style made it difficult for several soldiers of the Loyal and Brave Army to resist for a while, but they quickly adjusted themselves. Two of the shots hit Zuo Liangyu directly in the shoulder.

At this time, Sun Yingyuan arrived and ripped off his helmet with his spear, leaving a gash on his scalp.

Zuo Liangyu's face was covered in blood, and he was saved from death by his subordinates' timely rescue.

"withdraw!"

"Get out!"

Zuo Liangyu's lieutenant general Dai Hu shouted and carried Zuo Liangyu away. Sun Yingyuan had artillery and could not bear to abandon it, so he could only watch them escape.

……

"Marshal, Marshal...the water is coming."

On the way back to Yuezhou Prefecture, Zuo Liangyu's lieutenant general slowly lifted him up and wanted to feed him some water, but found that his body was severely burned.

The first thing Zuo Liangyu said when he opened his eyes was, "How many of us were killed or wounded in this battle?"

"Meet the Marshal. More than 8,000 people were killed or wounded."

Dusk enveloped the forest, and with the evening breeze bringing a sense of desolation, Zuo Liangyu could not help but sigh, "Bad luck, bad fate."

"It's over, everything is over."

Of the total 20,000 men, 8,000 were killed or wounded, nearly half of the total.

If he lost this battle, it would mean that he would completely lose his last support among the officials and gentry and in the court.

Zuo Liangyu suddenly felt very aggrieved. Although he was illiterate, he was a man of foresight, good at comforting his soldiers, and good at fighting. How could he end up like this?
"Cough cough~~" He suddenly spat out a few mouthfuls of blood and fainted again.

When Zuo Liangyu wanted to come again, he found that he could no longer control his body. His body felt like it was filled with lead and there was suffocating darkness all around him.

He suddenly realized that he was buried. Faced with the fear of death, his arms shook subconsciously, but he found that he could not push them forward.

I could only dig the soil with my fingernails. Just when I finally dug out a little light, I saw a familiar face walking towards me with a shovel.

"Don't blame us. If we lose this battle, only if you die can we have a chance of survival."

"Bang~"

Everything returns to darkness.

……

Happy May Day everyone!
(End of this chapter)