Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 75 Death of Earl Jiading

"What? Chongzhen confiscated the property of Fan Yongdou and his clan and exterminated them?" Huang Taiji stood up suddenly. "When did this happen?"

The eunuch with the Golden Rat Tail bowed his head and replied, "It happened four days ago."

"How can this be possible? Then wouldn't the supplies they gave me also fall into the hands of the Ming Emperor?"

"Bang~"

There was a loud bang, and Huang Taiji smashed the tea bowl in his hand, scaring the woman next to him so much that she couldn't help but tremble.

This woman was none other than Huang Taiji’s woman, Borjigit Hailanzhu.

Hai Lan's face, as white as a pearl, was set with a pair of eye-catching phoenix eyes. Her long, shiny black, slightly curly hair was tied into a high bun at the back of her head. Even though she had just been frightened and was shaking all over, she still looked quite charming in the eyes of everyone.

Huang Taiji had fifteen women in his life, and the one he loved the most was the divorced woman in front of him.

She did not marry Huang Taiji until she was 26 years old. Her sister, Empress Xiaozhuang Wen, who was four years younger than Hai Lanzhu, had married Huang Taiji nine years earlier, but was not as favored as her.

Only two years after her marriage, Huang Taiji named her the Consort of Guanju Palace.

It can be seen that her charm is so great that even Wang Haoge, the purge leader, could not help but drool when he saw her surging passion.

Seeing Huang Taiji looking over, Haoge lowered his head and asked, "Father Huang, do you really want to negotiate peace with the Ming Dynasty?"

"Peace talks? How is peace talks possible? I am just a temporary measure..." Huang Taiji only wanted to cut down the "big trees" and drag down the Ming Dynasty bit by bit.

In recent years, the strategic conspiracy of "cutting down big trees" that he formulated for the Ming Dynasty was undoubtedly extremely successful.

In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, Huang Taiji, who had firmly established his throne as Khan, led his army to attack the Ningjin Defense Line, the last barrier of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong. As a result, he suffered heavy losses under the cities of Ningyuan and Jinzhou.

The disastrous defeat in the Battle of Ningjin made him deeply realize that the strong combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners Army could not reverse the huge disadvantages of the Later Jin Dynasty compared with the Ming Dynasty in terms of manpower, material resources and financial resources.

Huang Taiji also realized that the Ming Dynasty could not be allowed to recover. If the Ming Dynasty could be stabilized internally, it would sooner or later be able to use its huge advantages in manpower, material resources and financial resources to pacify Liaodong.

After careful consideration, Huang Taiji, with the help of his guides such as Fan Wencheng, formulated a "cutting down big trees" strategy to replace the Ming Dynasty: taking Yanjing is like cutting down a big tree, which needs to be cut from both sides, and then the tree will fall by itself.

Since the goal is to "cut down big trees", it is not enough to just use the Eight Banners Army as a knife. Following the advice of Fan Wencheng and others, Huang Taiji decided to "borrow" the knife of the bandits from the Ming Dynasty.

In the ninth year of Chongzhen, Sun Chuanting captured the bandit leader Gao Yingxiang in Heishui Valley, Shaanxi. Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng were concentrating their forces to try to wipe out Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other bandits.

In order to prevent the bandits from being completely wiped out, Huang Taiji ordered Ajige and other generals to lead a large army to harass the important towns of Xuan and Da, and then plunder the area near the capital.

Sure enough, facing Ajige's army, Emperor Chongzhen not only failed to seriously analyze his intentions, but instead lost his composure.

First, he ordered Lu Xiangsheng and Hong Chengchou to lead troops to Xuan and Da for defense, and later he ordered Lu Xiangsheng, Qin Liangyu and others to lead troops to the capital to defend the king. As a result, the troops of Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others grew rapidly after the main force of the Ming army was transferred away.

But in addition to this, Huang Taiji actually has a "soft knife".

It is also an important part of his "cutting down big trees".

They were the Shanxi merchants headed by Fan Yongdou. They were like leeches, sucking blood from the Ming Dynasty, and then supplying the blood to the Qing Dynasty.

Various military equipment, ironware, food, supplies, intelligence... were continuously brought from the Central Plains by these Shanxi merchants, making Huang Taiji's longing and covetousness for the Central Plains grow stronger and stronger.

Every night I dream that the Golden Throne Room in Beijing is waving at me.

Now that this soft knife has been cut off, how can Huang Taiji not be angry?

"Father Emperor, you have a nosebleed again." Hauge quickly took out a handkerchief and handed it to the eunuch next to Huang Taiji.

Huang Taiji was fat and his face was always a little red, especially when he made big movements, he would always be out of breath.

In fact, he has been having nosebleeds frequently over the years, and it seems to be getting more serious as time goes by.

The young eunuch wanted to wipe it for Huang Taiji, but he pushed him away and said coldly: "We can't let the Ming Dynasty live in peace. When they have time to deal with the Shanxi merchants, they will think of ways to deal with the bandits. If the bandits are destroyed, they will concentrate their forces to deal with our Qing Dynasty."

"Since we are felling a big tree, the knife must be sharp. How can we do what he wants?"

"Dorgon, Hauge, and Yuetuo, I allow you to lead your troops into the pass and plunder the capital of the Ming Dynasty again." Huang Taiji narrowed his triangular eyes, "Remember, attacking the capital of the Ming Dynasty is not the goal, it is just a gesture. I want to attract the main force of the Ming army to come to the king."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Dorgon and Prince Lilie Daishan's eldest son Yuetuo knelt down to accept the order.

Starting from the second year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji led the Later Jin army to bypass the Ningjin defense line, pass through Inner Mongolia, and enter the pass from three points on the Great Wall: Longjing Pass, Da'ankou and Hongshankou, thus opening the curtain for the Later Jin army to cross the Great Wall and enter the pass.

He entered the pass five times after that, but was rejected each time. However, if we look into the reasons in detail, it is not difficult to find that there was a deeper meaning behind each of Huang Taiji's military actions.

In the second year of Chongzhen, he completely dealt with the two great beiles, Manggurtai and Amin, who wanted to compete with him. The remaining Daishan had no choice but to submit to him. The rule of the four great beiles became history, and Huang Taiji monopolized power.

In the seventh year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji led his troops into the pass again. This time he tackled the tough challenge of Dalingh River, forced Zu Dashou to surrender, and defeated more than 40,000 troops led by the military supervisor Zhang Chun who came to reinforce. The elite Ming troops outside the pass suffered heavy losses.

On the Mongolian side, Huang Taiji achieved a decisive victory. After the expedition to Chahar, Lin Danhan fled to Qinghai and most of his tribesmen were dispersed. Huang Taiji took in the remnants of his tribe and used them for his own purposes. The Chahar tribe could no longer pose a threat to the Later Jin.

The war ended in a great victory. The Ming army did not dare to take the initiative to attack and could only watch the Later Jin army move back and forth.

The third time was last year.

Huang Taiji personally led the expedition to Korea. In order to prevent the Ming Dynasty from taking advantage of the situation to send troops, he sent Ajige to lead the troops into the pass. Ajige led the Qing army to plunder around the capital and consume the strength of the Ming army. Within a month, he conquered 12 cities and won 56 battles, frightening the Ming army and forced them to retreat calmly with a large amount of supplies.

A few months later, Korea completely surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.

The fall of Pi Island was just the aftermath of the last time.

This time, Huang Taiji wanted to use the same old trick again and took the strategy of "cutting without felling" to the extreme.

Huang Taiji pressed the table, his eyes spitting fire as he said, "I want to let the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty know that if you eat my food and take my things, you can't just let it go like this... You must spit it out double for me!"

……

Xiangyang City,
The first three exams had already been completed and the results were announced, which was called a round case. Not long after the last exam, we heard that the results would be announced. This year, Xiangyang City suffered a disaster, and there was also a riot by bandits, so the number of people was small, so the results were announced faster than usual.

When it was dark, Chongzhen and Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming looked up at the list on the list.

The names on the list are arranged horizontally in order of priority, which is called the long list. The first name is called the first.

Draw a hook with a red pen under the last number to indicate the end.

"It's on it, on it..." the maid Hong Tao said with a red face, pointing at a name on it.

Third place!
Although I am not the top candidate, my ranking is already very high. This is even after experiencing the turmoil in the Examination Yuan. It is still a good result to be able to achieve such a result.

"You are worthy of being my son!" Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming was overjoyed. Some of them were so old that they already had white hair.

He took Chongzhen and walked back, "Go back to the palace, get ready, and we'll go take part in the palace exam."

The county examination of the Ming Dynasty was originally scheduled for February, but due to bandits and natural disasters, it was postponed for more than a month. Now it is April, and the provincial examination is only a few days away.

On the way back to Prince Xiang's mansion in the carriage, Chongzhen actually fell asleep next to Prince Xiang again.

Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming held a fan in his hand and gently fanned Chongzhen. As the weather warmed up, mosquitoes and flies were already in Xiangyang City. He murmured, "I never thought that my son Qilin would actually pass the exam?!"

Then he sighed again, "Alas~ The emperor nowadays is suspicious, impatient, and self-righteous... I don't know if father's actions have harmed you?"

"Father is just like you. He doesn't want to see our Zhu family's kingdom fall like this. But compared with the Ming Dynasty, father only hopes that you are well. Being safe and healthy is better than anything else."

When the carriage stopped, Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming got out first, thought for a moment, and whispered to the coachman, "The prince is asleep, so... continue to walk around the palace, so that my son won't wake up."

He found that Chongzhen slept more soundly in the carriage than ever before, so he came up with this idea.

But just as the coachman was leading the horse to leave, he saw the curtain of the carriage was lifted and a voice was heard.

"Father, are we there yet?"

Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming turned his head and hurried forward to support him, "Why are you up, son? Can you sleep a little longer?"

Chongzhen scratched his head, unable to tell what was going on. When Prince Xiang was here, he didn't feel anything, but as soon as Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming left, he suddenly woke up.

He followed Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming into the palace, and heard Prince Xiang excitedly pull the housekeeper over: "The prince ranked third in the imperial examination, and all the servants and maids will have rewards. Go to the housekeeper to collect them later."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The butler shouted at the top of his voice, "They are all out. Your Majesty said that the prince ranked third in high school. All of them..."

There was a sudden cheer in the palace, and people lined up to congratulate Chongzhen.

"Congratulations to the prince and the crown prince!"

"Congratulations to the prince and the crown prince!"

"..."

Chongzhen stared blankly at the scene in front of him, and was speechless for a moment.

From childhood to adulthood, no one has ever congratulated me. Even when I was married as Prince Xin, under the surveillance and intimidation of the eunuch party led by Keshi and Wei Zhongxian, few people congratulated me sincerely.

Later, when he ascended the throne, no one came to congratulate him.

The eunuchs and maids in the palace looked at him, all of them were frightened, panicked, and full of scheming... They had never seen such joy and cheers before.

Seeing so many smiles without any utilitarian calculations, Chongzhen could no longer suppress his inner emotions, which surged in his heart and made his eyes red.

……

In the Qianqing Palace,

There was a man kneeling in front of Zhu Changgan, Chongzhen's father-in-law.

Zhou Kui, Earl of Jiading.

"Do you know why I called you here?"

“Your Majesty, I know I am guilty of the matter of the Five Cities Military Command. I will resign from the positions of Right Commander-in-Chief and Associate Commander-in-Chief with Zhou Jian right now!” Zhou Kui knelt on the ground, like a pile of fat rotting there.

"Resigned?" Zhu Changgan glanced at him. "This is the position you fought so hard to get. Are you just going to resign just like that?"

The Earl of Jiading liked to be an official, especially a high-ranking one. Because he was the father-in-law of the emperor, he was appointed as the right governor of the Nancheng Bingmasi. Even his simple-minded son was promoted to the position of associate governor. The combined salary of the two was close to two thousand stones.

He actually said he wanted to resign from the greedy Earl of Jiading?
Zhu Changgan stared into Zhou Kui's eyes, "I just don't understand, Jinyiwei attacked Shanxi merchants, why did you, the South City Army Commander, make unusual moves?"

Jiading Earl Zhou Kui's fat face couldn't help but twitch, "Your Majesty...Your Majesty doesn't know either!"

The day before yesterday, more than a thousand people died in the Nancheng Bingmasi at once. Fortunately, the stupid Zhou Jian got drunk and didn't go that night, otherwise his son would be dead.

At this time, beads of sweat kept dripping down Zhou Kui's forehead. His son-in-law, the emperor, had really turned against him. If he didn't get his foolish son back, he didn't know when he would be killed by this son-in-law.

"This is not the way to resign from office. Even for me... I cannot take away someone's salary without reason, right?" Zhu Changgan couldn't help laughing when he saw the Earl of Jiading pretending to be confused.

He helped him up and said, "Father-in-law, you know me well. How about this? Should I transfer Zhou Jian to the Imperial Guard?"

When Jiading Bo heard this, his face turned green, and he immediately knelt down and begged, "Your Majesty... Please have mercy! He cannot join the Jinyiwei."

Go to Jinyiwei?

No, the Jinyiwei is now more terrifying than the Wucheng Bingmasi.

I heard that everyone from the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the thousand-household rank, hundred-household rank and ordinary soldiers below will participate in the training.

The training is hard enough, the key is to supervise each other, and to introspect and reflect on whether you have violated any law or discipline. If someone like Zhou Jian were to go there, he would probably not be able to make it through two days, and would be reported and accused.

If someone breaks the law knowingly, his crime will be even more serious. It will be another matter whether this idiot can come back or not.

Zhu Changgan looked at him and said, "I also heard that you have a beautiful concubine in your house, her name is Chen Yuanyuan?"

Zhou Kui raised his head in fear, "Your Majesty... How did Your Majesty know that there is such a person in my family?"

Chen Yuanyuan, whose original name was Xing Wanfen.

Because her parents died early, she was fostered in her uncle's home since childhood. Since her uncle's surname was Chen, she changed her name to Chen Yuanyuan.

Later, she was sent to the opera troupe by her uncle. In this menial profession, Chen Yuanyuan could only leave everything to fate and do her best. Due to her intelligence and talent, she soon stood out in the opera troupe.

Many princes and nobles spared no expense to catch a glimpse of her beauty, and young men from wealthy families also flocked to her.

Zhou Kui had no other hobbies except listening to music and singing opera. After several inquiries, he found out through an amazing introduction and brought the opera singer Chen Yuanyuan into his mansion to be a kabuki.

No one in the Zhou Palace knew about this. How did Your Majesty know about it?

His eyes changed wildly, "Oh no, His Majesty has been monitoring me all along?"

Sure enough, Zhu Changgan’s next sentence was like a bolt from the blue.

"I know more than that... You are arrogant and debauched. The Jinyiwei reported this to me many times. I wanted to spare your life, but you not only did not restrain yourself, but became even more presumptuous." Zhu Changgan placed a document in front of him, "Do you know what this is?"

"Gulp!" Zhou Kui's Adam's apple rolled, a chill rushed from his coccyx to the top of his head, his heart was pounding, and his eyes were full of fear.

"You don't dare to say it?" Zhu Changgan said word by word: "Then I will say it for you... This is the confession given by Fan Yongdou."

"I never thought that you were involved in this. As the father-in-law of the Ming Dynasty, you did this kind of thing. What's the point of having so many children?"

"Don't blame me. Before doing something like this, you should have thought about how to deal with it if it happened."

Zhou Kui was trembling all over, with infinite fear in his heart. Sweat was pouring down his fat chin. He collapsed to the ground, "Your Majesty, please… please spare my life!"

Zhu Changgan waved at Wang Chengen without blinking, cold as ice.

Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang once said that if any of the royal family members committed a crime, it would be up to the successor emperor to decide.

Wang Chengen understood immediately and sang at the top of his voice: "The Earl of Jiading is guilty of treason and treason, his crime is unforgivable..."

(End of this chapter)