Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 232: The Battle of Songjin is brought forward, and the South speeds up its entry into the city

It was drizzling, and a woman was riding a horse in the rain, galloping the whole way.

Only at the fork in the road would she jump down and stop passers-by, "Excuse me... have you ever seen a group of people passing by here, with one of them being this tall, with sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, fresh and handsome... yes..."

She gestured and asked.

After asking, he jumped on the horse again and galloped in one direction.

"Zhu Yonggan, you can't run away..."

……

Inside the palace, when Zhu Changgan arrived at the Grand Council, Sun Chengzong was on duty.

"Lord Sun, it's already noon, why don't you go back to eat?"

"Your Majesty, the southern provinces are in the midst of a fierce war these days. Eating at home is no different from eating here. It is better to eat here, and I can also listen to the military situation."

Zhu Changgan smiled and said, "What does Lord Sun seem to understand about the war situation in Jiangnan?"

Wang Chengen had already taken out the chess set and spread it on the table.

"Let's have a round!"

While playing chess with Sun Chengzong, Zhu Changgan chatted about the situation in the south and analyzed the impact of the militia, a semi-political reform, on the government.

Chess has existed since the Northern Zhou Dynasty and became widely popular in the Song Dynasty. During the Ming Dynasty, the technology was greatly improved, so there are many good players among the people.

Zhu Changgan liked this thing in later generations. Sun Chengzong was a famous chess player. Many people thought that he was only good at Go, but in fact he also had extremely high attainments in chess.

"Your Majesty, I don't think it is necessary to use such heavy hands. They are just pawns."

"No, it's better to prevent the pawn that crosses the river from becoming a great person." Zhu Changgan pushed a pawn forward.

Others may not know, but Zhu Changgan knew that the reason why the later Qing Dynasty relied heavily on militia was that a big problem was that the Green Camp and the Eight Banners Army had no combat power and could not repel the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

It happened that the militia established by Hunan gentry Zeng Guofan repelled the Taiping Army, becoming an important military cornerstone for the Qing Dynasty to maintain relations between the local areas and the imperial court.

At this time, the rule of feudal society was deeply rooted in the minds of most people.

Zhu Changgan also saw some great hidden dangers from these militias in Shaanxi and Shaanxi. Regardless of whether they were offered a large reward or to protect the interests of their own land, they were willing to serve to defend their country and become mercenaries in the army. These were once the military forces of the local armed forces.

Especially in the later stages of development, these militias could even fight against bandits, which shows that the potential threat posed by these militias was extremely great.

The key method of recruiting soldiers is to rely on the organizational power of these wealthy people through personal leadership and influence.

The gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang relied more on individuals, and most of them were followers of the Confucian school. The militia organized by militia was more for the purpose of protecting personal private property.

Many of them are controlled by corrupt local officials, who have inevitable connections with some secret military groups and bandits.

This was the real reason why Zhu Changgan could not tolerate it and had to defeat it.

Otherwise, once they develop, they will inevitably become a bigger grave of national destruction than bandits like Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

Because after the militia became the main local organizational structure, rural affairs were seen as something that the landlord class could control. The court had less and less control over them, and its ability to restrain local armed forces was increasingly out of control, which could easily lead to a situation where warlords eventually ruled the country.

The rise of gentry at the end of a dynasty has been the case in every dynasty, and this was also the case in the late Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Changgan learned his lesson and strengthened the tax department, such as the strong intervention of the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Only by strengthening the ability to constrain local governments can we keep things within our control.

At this moment, Sun Chengzong looked at the chessboard and smiled bitterly, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, another victory!"

Zhu Changgan laughed and stood up. "Lord Sun, I heard that you have traveled to Hebei, Shandong and other places and defeated famous local chess players. Don't always let me win!"

"Your Majesty's skills are only in my hands. I did not deliberately give up the game."

Half of what Sun Chengzong said was true. Zhu Changgan's playing style was that of later generations. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, many playing styles were much more complicated. It was normal that he was a little overwhelmed by Zhu Changgan's "novel" chess playing skills.

However, once you become familiar with him, his background will slowly emerge.

Zhu Changgan looked at the chessboard and said, "A true gentleman watches chess without saying a word, and a true man makes a move without regret. I heard that many people have visited the old man's house recently. I'm very curious, what did the old man Sun say to them?"

Sun Chengzong's eyes suddenly fixed, and he quickly saluted and said, "Your Majesty, those in power are confused, while those who are watching can see clearly. I am just warning them not to go against the current."

"Hey, don't be so nervous, I'm just chatting for a while." Zhu Changgan waved his hand and smiled, "Come on, let's play another game."

The court is like a chess game, and governing the country is like playing chess.

After sitting on the throne for a few months, Zhu Changgan suddenly felt contented.

"Report! Your Majesty, urgent news from Liaodong!"

A eunuch ran in hurriedly, holding up the battle report in his hand, and said with horror: "Hong Chengchou fought with the Qing Dynasty."

"Oh?" Zhu Changgan stood up suddenly, "Bring it here quickly."

At this moment, Wang Chengen had already taken the battle report from the eunuch.

……

Zhu Changgan looked at the contents of the letter and frowned.

"The Qing army built a camp outside Jinzhou, surrounding the city. They dug deep trenches outside the camps and erected fences. There were also deep trenches connecting the camps, surrounding Jinzhou so tightly that no one could get through.

The main general defending Jinzhou was Zu Dashou, a former general under Yuan Chonghuan and the vanguard general of the expedition against Liao. A considerable number of the troops under his command were Mongolians. When the city was surrounded, they began to rebel and secretly contacted Yue Tuo to fill the moat and destroy the city walls. All the foreign aid and supplies to the Ming Dynasty were cut off.

Zu Dashou learned about this and planned to capture the rebel leader, but his actions were not kept secret and the rebels spied on him and engaged the Ming army first. Yue Tuo heard the news and took advantage of the situation to attack the city, attacking from both inside and outside. Wu Bashi, the commander of the East Gate of Jinzhou, surrendered to the Qing. The Qing army captured the outer city of Jinzhou and Zu Dashou could not support it, so he had to retreat to the inner city to hold on... The food and grass in the city could only last for half a month. "

"Huh~" Zhu Changgan looked at the words on the battle report and felt a familiar feeling.

Why does it feel like the Battle of Songjin started early?
After reading it, he handed the general report to Sun Chengzong who was standing beside him.

It has to be said that Dorgon had a very high tactical sense and accomplishment. He also played a role in the Ming Dynasty's conquest of Korea and suppression of bandits in the south.

He learned from the lessons of Nurhaci and Huang Taiji's past setbacks in their attacks on Ningyuan and Jinzhou, and knew that the Ming Dynasty had deployed a large number of troops in the south to suppress bandits, so he took advantage of the situation and formulated a battle plan to besiege and force Zu Dashou to surrender.

He ordered Yue Todoroberle and others to lead troops to build Yizhou City in the ice.

This place is located on the banks of the Daling River between Guangning and Jinzhou. The terrain is open and the land is fertile. Building a city and cultivating crops here is actually constructing an outpost for attacking Jinzhou.

Once the attack on Jinzhou begins, this place will be an excellent logistics supply base.

The Manchus had already harvested the crops outside Jinzhou City long before this, and swept away the Ming army's strongholds outside Jinzhou, completely cutting off the Ming army stationed in Jinzhou from the outside world.

In this way, there is a clear balance between relaxation and tension, and disciplined advances and retreats.

Moreover, the timing of the attack was very good. While the Ming army was moving south, they approached Jinzhou and began to attack and besiege the city. Obviously, everything was planned for a long time by the Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Changgan asked Wang Chengen to bring the map over. After checking it, he finally confirmed that the Battle of Songjin was brought forward.

The difference from the last time is that because the war situation in the south of the five major camps of the Ming Dynasty is going well, Zu Dashou has been constantly sending troops to attack the Qing Dynasty these days, causing their food and grass to be consumed quickly. The food and rice that could originally support them for more than a month now lasts less than half a month.

Yang Sichang was supposed to come over to relieve Sun Chengzong at this time, but he ran in in a hurry, saluted first, and said, "Your Majesty, in this situation, should Hong Chengchou lead the eight generals Yang Guozhu, Tang Tong, Bai Guangen, Ma Ke, Wang Tingchen, and Wu Sangui to quickly meet with Ning Yuan and lift the siege of Jinzhou?"

Zhu Changgan stared at the map and shook his head firmly, "No, write a letter to Zu Dashou and ask him to hold on for a month."

"Also tell Hong Chengchou to hold his troops for now and wait until the five battalions really come north before cooperating and fighting."

The purpose of Dorgon's siege of Jinzhou was to surround the city and attack its reinforcements. In the previous life's Battle of Songjin, they used this method to annihilate the 130,000 elite troops from the nine frontiers that the Ming Dynasty had put all its national strength into building.

After this, the Ming Dynasty no longer had the ability to organize an effective counterattack against the Qing army.

In this life, since he sat on the throne, he naturally could not let this scene happen again. "Wang Chengen, give Sun Chuanting an order to clear up the Jiangnan area within half a month."

"Send an order to Lu Xiangsheng, asking him to prepare for battle. In addition, the 200 cannons and 5,000 muskets that were prepared earlier can also be transported over."

"Send a message to Hong Chengchou, asking him to send troops to support them. I promised to send them 300 cannons, 8,000 muskets, and ammunition."

"Send the message to the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Li Banghua, to come to the palace to see the emperor..."

These cannons and muskets are not the most advanced, but were used by the five major battalions before and were eliminated.

Previously, Zhu Changgan had been holding back and not giving it to the border troops in order to maintain the deterrent power of the emperor's personal soldiers. Now that the Qing Dynasty is invading, it is time to strengthen their combat effectiveness.

Orders were passed down one after another. Zhu Changgan originally thought that it would not be too late to solve the problem in Jiangnan before the Spring Festival, but now it seems that he has to speed up.

At the emperor's command, the bloody storm was even worse than before.

……

Across the hundreds of miles of mountains and plains in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the rain filled the entire sky and earth.

In a small town, figures were hacking and slashing in the rain like ghosts, but soon more government troops rushed out, stepping on the sound of rushing water and hacking and slashing wildly.

The sounds of chaos, shouting, and the pursuit of suspicious people continued to occur in this small town.

Often during a fight, there would be a sudden explosion of blood.

The gentry in the south of the Yangtze River might have been able to survive under the pressure from the rebels, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and the disciples of the royal family, but they put all their servants and guards into it, hoping to imitate the militia.

However, he did not expect that this would truly put him in a desperate situation.

Training troops privately is tantamount to treason.

In addition to suppressing rebels and bandits, the most important thing for officers and soldiers is to train these gentry.

The family who were training soldiers secretly fled to a small bridge. When they were about to escape to the boat, they met a group of government troops and suddenly engaged in a fight.

The scene was chaotic.

Under the fire of muskets and spears, the gentry's servants were quickly gathered together and the whole family was forced into a corner.

The gentleman was also stabbed, his face was covered in blood, and he looked extremely horrible. He shouted in despair, "This is the real dead end!"

Soon, the officers and soldiers rushed forward and stabbed randomly with spears, knives, and guns.

All that was left on the ground was a pile of rotten meat.

The miserable cries were heard everywhere.

In fact, these gentry are even more despicable than the bandits.

Because they were not like the bandits who had nothing. Their entire families had already died in the famine, and they had nothing to lose.

The gentry were different; they had families, wives and concubines, and at one time there were hundreds of people in their family.

Therefore, once they are defeated head-on, they will surely scatter.

Sometimes there were dozens, sometimes hundreds of gentry's family members begging for mercy, but whenever they encountered officers and soldiers, no matter how many there were, they all bowed their heads and prostrated themselves, ready to be killed; not a single one dared to flee.

The scene is indescribable!
The misty rain made it difficult to tell the direction. Such rain could not wash away the smell of blood, but only soaked the corpses and blurred some traceable clues on the ground.

Such weather also allows the disadvantaged party on the ground to take a temporary respite.

……

At this time, there was a group of people hiding in a poor man's courtyard. They were Chongzhen and his gang.

This was not the first time they had seen such a scene along the way.

"Ah~ I didn't expect it to be like this."

Even Chongzhen had to admit that Zhu Changgan's move was ruthless.

Team training!

This thing was actually a trap set by Zhu Changgan for the gentry in Jiangnan.

You are organizing militia in Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Sichuan, but you don't allow the gentry in Jiangnan and other places to organize militia. If you do, it will be treason, and I have enough reason to send troops to suppress it.

Chongzhen's troops only suppressed the two prefectures of Suzhou and Hangzhou, but Zhu Changgan wanted to capture the entire Jiangnan region in one fell swoop.

Hearing that it was getting colder outside, Chongzhen suddenly felt a little sorry for Li Zicheng and his men.

After all these years, the person I could talk to the most turned out to be such a traitor. "What a pity... If it weren't for this world, maybe we could have become friends."

Li Zicheng only wanted a general, but in the end his power was too great. Once the news of his "surrender" to the Ming Dynasty spread, the King of Rebellion would once again become the biggest banner. By then, if he raised his arms and called for action, he would probably have many followers.

How can we keep such a spark?

They rode towards Suzhou again, and all they saw was fire everywhere.

The sound of crying became a melodious sound, so sad and panic-stricken. The sound of wailing was everywhere, too miserable to bear, until the sky in the west turned yellow.

Chongzhen gritted his teeth and said, "Let these gentry suffer a little more... everything will be fine!"

……

ps: I calculated that I owe about three chapters. I will try my best to catch up on them all this weekend. As you can all see, this volume is almost finished and I will start the next one soon.

(End of this chapter)