Linxia

Chapter 247, Lost Country

In the autumn of the sixth year of Chongxiang, Dong Zugao came to the capital and was promoted to Grand Secretary of Jianji Palace and Junior Tutor. Afterwards, Emperor Chongxiang successively transferred Pu Yuanhao, Han Yuanjing and others who were close to him to the capital to form a political faction to check and balance the Donglin Party headed by Wen Zirong.

In the same year, Dong Zugao persuaded Emperor Chongxiang to reduce taxes and confiscated the property of officials such as the former Prime Minister Zhou Jingchong, who had embezzled money and enriched themselves during the liquidation of Wei Zhongxian. He obtained millions of taels of silver and a share of the capital's soap and perfume business, which greatly enriched the national treasury. At the same time, he promoted capable generals such as Sun Dingzong, Lu Suzhi, and Zu Ganyou.

Two years passed like this, and the Daxia army won victory after victory over the peasant army. This made the faction headed by Dong Zugao further gain the trust of Emperor Chongxiang, and also made the Donglin Party headed by Wen Zirong very jealous.

——Originally, Wen Zirong defeated the former Prime Minister Zhou Jingchong, but let the Dong Zugao faction fill the vacancy, and confiscated the property of Zhou Jingchong and others, reaping the benefits. Later, there were personnel conflicts. In addition, Dong Zugao made real achievements and gained more and more trust from Emperor Chongxiang. He was likely to surpass the Donglin Party headed by Wen Zirong, which made the contradiction between the two sides increasingly irreconcilable.

In the spring of the ninth year of Chongxiang, just when the suppression of bandits was coming to an end and the enemy chief was left with only 18 riders to flee in panic, the Jurchens of Liaodong broke through the pass and approached the capital. In a panic, Emperor Chongxiang issued an order to urgently summon Sun Dingzong and Lu Suzhi, who were suppressing the bandits, to the capital.

Dong Zugao persuaded Emperor Chongxiang to revoke his order on the grounds that "the capital is high and has sufficient food, so we should eradicate all the bandits." However, Emperor Chongxiang was stubborn and refused to listen, and thus developed a grudge against Dong Zugao. Later, when Sun Dingzong and Lu Suzhi came to the capital, Emperor Chongxiang avoided them due to the slander of Wen Zirong and others.

Facing the approaching Jurchens in Liaodong, Emperor Chongxiang intended to hold secret peace talks. In order to prevent Wen Zirong and others from selling out the country during the talks, Pu Yuanhao from Dong Zugao's faction took the lead in the talks. At this time, the Donglin Party headed by Wen Zirong secretly spread rumors of peace talks, which caused outrage among the court and the public. In order to shirk the blame, Emperor Chongxiang hurriedly pushed Pu Yuanhao, the then Minister of War, to take the blame and sentenced him to death.

Later, the Donglin Party headed by Wen Zirong took the opportunity to launch an attack, and Dong Zugao's political faction suffered a great defeat. Dong Zugao himself was also implicated and exiled to Lu.

It can only be said that the Donglin Party's ability to govern the country was not very good, but its means of party struggle were first-rate, or it can be said that the Dong Zugao faction focused on state affairs and did not pay too much attention to petty intrigues, which led to such an end.

More fundamentally speaking, the current political environment of the Great Xia court has been completely corrupted. There is no soil for the survival of officials who can truly do practical work. If they do not focus on party struggles, they will not be able to keep their positions. This has led to a vicious cycle, resulting in villains in power in the court and treacherous people everywhere.

Since the defeat of Dong Zugao's faction, the Donglin Party once again dominated the court. Emperor Chongxiang regretted it, but there was no one to check and balance him. In order to protect his own rights and not be completely sidelined, Emperor Chongxiang replaced twelve prime ministers and more than forty university secretaries in just a few years.

Such repeated changes of the cabinet did protect their own rights, but it also made the court policies lack continuity. At the same time, the former cabinet ministers realized that "power will expire if it is not used", and they made huge money while in office and tried their best to dig into the people of Daxia.

The government was corrupt and the military was also in a state of disarray. Emperor Chongxiang interfered and commanded the front-line generals without considering the actual situation. He ordered them to go out of the city for a decisive battle. Generals such as Sun Dingzong, Lu Suzhi, and Zu Ganyou died in the battlefield one after another. Especially in the winter of the twelfth year of Chongxiang, they suffered a great defeat against the Jurchens in Liaodong, which completely wiped out the elite troops of Daxia.

In the spring of the 13th year of Chongxiang, King Chuang's troops surrounded the capital. At night, the eunuchs, the Minister of War, and the generals who were guarding the city rushed to surrender the city, and the city was broken.

……

Capital.

Fires were everywhere, shouts and screams were deafening, and from time to time there were cries of "the city has been broken". The chaos spread like a tide.

"Your Majesty, it's bad. Eunuch Cao and Minister Zhang surrendered the city. The city has been broken!" The little eunuch came over with a crying voice: "Your Majesty, let's go!"

"I treat them kindly, how dare they do this?"

When Emperor Chongxiang heard this, he was first furious, then his wrist trembled and he took two steps back, realizing that the country was going to be destroyed.

To be honest, until now, he still couldn't believe that the capital city had held out for half a month under the attack of the Jurchens in Liaodong, but he didn't expect that the city would be broken so quickly this time.

——Emperor Chongxiang didn’t know that in this time and space, perhaps because Fang Lin poached some Liaodong generals, or perhaps because of the promotion of sweet potatoes, more people survived the natural disaster and the peasant army became more powerful, which caused the Great Xia Dynasty to be several years shorter than the Ming Dynasty in a different time and space.

"Your Majesty, please leave quickly!"

"I am the Son of Heaven. How can I flee in panic? How can I be disrespectful?"

Emperor Chongxiang waved his hand and let the young eunuch go. He walked against the palace maids and eunuchs who were running away with the palace's treasures. He passed by a crooked tree and stopped when he felt he saw the right one. Before hanging it, he recalled his life: "Since I ascended the throne, I have worked day and night, neglected sleep and food, but ended up with a broken country and ruined family. How unfair is heaven!"

He had been stubborn and self-righteous all his life, and was good at taking credit for others' achievements and shirking responsibility for others' mistakes. Even at this moment, he was still blaming the heavens for his mistakes. Perhaps he realized that it was useless to blame others without anyone else, so he laughed sadly twice, and finally, he murmured in a low voice: "If Wei Zhongxian were still alive, I would not have done this."

……

On March 16, the 13th year of Chongxiang, the capital city was broken and Emperor Chongxiang hanged himself, leaving a blood-written message beside his body: "Do not hurt my people". Daxia ended from then on.

King Chuang entered the capital and tortured the princes and nobles. These people, who had only donated 200,000 taels of silver to Emperor Chongxiang a few days ago, this time obtained a total of 70 million taels of silver through torture.

——However, the word "torture" fully reveals the brutality behind it. These gravediggers of Daxia finally suffered backlash and met their end.

In May of the same year, King Yingtian of Great Xia ascended the throne and named the reign Hongfu, which is known in history as "Southern Xia".

In September, the Jurchens of Liaodong entered the pass and fought a fierce battle with the King of Shun who had captured the capital and called himself Shun. The Shun army was defeated.

The Shun army retreated, and the Jurchens of Liaodong entered the capital, established the Qing Dynasty, and named the era Shunping. In February of the following year, they marched south in three routes.

Successive victories over the Great Xia army allowed the Qing army to complete its transformation and advance with unstoppable force. The various peasant armies and Southern Xia armies were terrified. There was a saying that 'If the Qing army is less than ten thousand, it is invincible if it is more than ten thousand'. Another saying goes 'Those who flee when they hear about the Qing are inferior; those who flee when they see the Qing are average; and those who flee when they see the Qing are the most courageous'.

……

Lu, Qufu.

the Kongs.

"Your servant, Kong Youren, Duke Yansheng and the 64th generation grandson of Confucius, pays homage to the Holy King!" Kong Youren, the head of the Kong family, and his entire clan knelt down before the Manchu regent Dorgon, with their buttocks raised high, just as they had faced the King of Rebellion for several years.

"Mom, look, that grandpa looks like a dog...Woo woo!" Before the child could finish his words, the woman next to him covered his mouth.

"This is a dog of our Qing Dynasty!" Dorgon looked at Kong Youren's nice butt and couldn't help but kick him. The kick was so powerful that his shoes were kicked off, causing Kong Youren to fall on his back like a toad.

"The reason I can become a dog of the Qing Dynasty is because of my good deeds in three lifetimes. I am deeply grateful." Faced with such an insult, Kong Youren turned over with a smile, knelt two steps to the side, picked up the shoes and put them on Dorgon.

"Haha, good, you're good!" Dalton was quite satisfied with Kong Youren's tact and went in laughing.

……

That night.

"That's too much. You're so rude to your brother!" Kong Youyi slammed the table in anger. "Second brother, there's no need to say that. The Holy King has shown his favor to our Kong family three times in one day. That's a great honor." Kong Youren said.

Hearing this, Kong Youyi's anger subsided. He was only angry for a moment, and a smile appeared on his face: "Yes, the Qing Dynasty treats me, a scholar, with favor."

"Well, don't look at what the other person says, look at what he does. For example, although Emperor Gaozu of Han called his subjects "meritorious dogs", which was insulting, he was very generous in rewarding them, and he was not stingy with the titles of duke and marquis. On the other hand, the Overlord of Chu treated his subjects with respect and kindness, and spoke kindly to them, but when it came to sharing the profits, he was reluctant to give them even the seal was covered with patina... Which of these two masters would you like to follow?"

"Of course it's the former."

"Isn't that right?" Kong Youren paused, and then continued, "Compared to the Han people, the number of Manchus in the Qing Dynasty is relatively small. If we want to govern the country, we have to rely on us Han people. Maybe we will be more prosperous in the new dynasty than in Daxia before."

This is indeed the case. The Qing Dynasty, with a minority ruling a majority, was bound to be more willing to sell out the country and the interests of the lower-class people than the Han regime in order to make peace with these feudal landlords. Because of this, the Qing Dynasty could not and dared not embrace civilization and progress, and was bound to rule this land in a more feudal way.

"Although this is true, I'm afraid that people all over the world will laugh at my Kong family." Kong Youyi said this, which means he wants both the substance and the appearance. To put it more bluntly, he wants to build a chastity arch after being a whore.

"Let them laugh. From the Tang, Song, Yuan and Xia dynasties, our Kong family has gone through many dynasties and has remained strong and prosperous. It is because of our ability to know the current affairs. But look at those who laugh at our Kong family? They are always blown away by the wind and rain. Besides, this laughter is only temporary. In just 10 or 20 years, our Kong family will still be the Kong family, and we will still be the role model of Confucian scholars and the model of literature in the hearts of scholars all over the world!"

This may sound shameless, but it is indeed true. As long as the Kong family still represents political correctness and those in power still want to use Confucianism to carry out feudal rule and fool the people, then the banner of Confucianism, the Kong family, will not fall!
After the two brothers finished their conversation, Kong Youren returned to his room.

The housekeeper came over, bowing his head. "Master, the woman who dared to laugh at your child was brought to you today and sent to your room."

"What are you doing? Isn't this ruining my reputation?" Kong Youren asked with a straight face.

"How can it be a bad reputation? If outsiders find out, they will definitely say that the master is magnanimous and has given this family wealth and honor. This can be considered a good story."

"Well, that's true."

Kong Youren walked in with his hands behind his back, and soon, deep and hoarse laughter, sounds of resistance, screams, and the sound of tearing cloth were heard from the room.

The candlelight flickered, casting shadows on the wall that looked hazy and ferocious.

Squeak!

Suddenly, the wind blew the door, and the housekeeper who was guarding outside turned around to close the door. While closing the door, he subconsciously looked inside through the crack, and saw something in the house taking off its clothes, revealing a fat body. In the dim light, he couldn't tell whether it was a pig or a dog, but like a beast, which made him shudder.

……

Lu area, Jining Prefecture.

Dong Zugao was banished from the capital during a party dispute and came to Jining as a prefect. After several years, Jining Prefecture, which was once in decline, is now a place of peace and harmony, and can be regarded as a paradise in this chaotic world.

After the capital was captured last year, he still held on to this place. Today, when he heard that the entire Kong family had shaved their heads, changed their clothes, and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he couldn't help but close his eyes and recalled his conversation with Fang Lin: "Brother Fang, the facts prove that you are right... Confucianism, Kong family, huh!"

"Report, sir..." A soldier came over and said that defeated soldiers of the enemy army were passing by.

——The so-called bandit army was nothing but a peasant army. They probably lost the battle with the Qing army and passed by outside the city.

"Let them go, and order the army to prepare for war, the Tartars are coming!"

Three days later, the vanguard of the Qing army arrived, including 380 bannermen and 1,000 auxiliary soldiers. They thought that Jining and other prefectures would surrender without a fight, so they would just fire a few more shots and rushed forward recklessly. They did not expect to fall into an ambush set by Dong Zugao, and more than a thousand people were killed.

Upon hearing this, the Manchu general Duoduo was furious and decided to make an example of someone. He personally led 30,000 troops to besiege Jining. Before the battle, he sent envoys to persuade Jining to surrender as per the custom.

"Governor Dong, Daxia has fallen, and the Mandate of Heaven has returned to the Qing Dynasty. Why do you still have to resist? It would be better for you to give up the dark and join the light as soon as possible..."

"Come here, push this beast down and kill him."

"When two countries are at war, envoys will not be killed..." the envoy shouted.

"How dare a barbarian like a pig and a dog call himself a country?"

Dong Zugao waved his hand, and the messenger was pushed out, and soon a scream was heard.

The envoy who persuaded him to surrender was beheaded and his head was hung on the city wall. Duoduo was furious and sent troops to attack the city that day. Dong Zugao took advantage of the other side's anger and impatience and inflicted considerable casualties on the Qing army. Facing Jining, the tough nut of the Qing army, they failed to conquer it for half a month.

Duoduo sighed, "If all the civil and military officials of Daxia were like this, how could the Qing Dynasty have its destiny today? Fortunately... Jining City was short of heavy artillery before, but it was still able to be blocked with human lives. Today, the follow-up heavy artillery arrived... Pass the order, and the city will be broken today."

On the city wall, Dong Zugao was covered in dirt as he was conducting an inspection, checking for omissions and filling in the gaps. He would stop from time to time to talk to the soldiers and encourage them.

It was precisely because he personally went to the front line, shared the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, and had prestige from governing Jining for many years that Jining did not suffer from the defeat and escape of soldiers in other prefectures before the battle even began.

"Sir, the Tartars are attacking the city!"

"I saw!"

Dong Zugao looked at the heavy artillery launched by the Qing army and the dense Qing army that followed, knowing that he probably couldn't hold on today. Thinking of the people who refused to leave when Fang Lin sent them, he murmured and sighed: "Brother Fang, I broke my promise to keep you useful. How can I leave in this situation? I hope that I have bought you enough time by blocking the enemy for half a month."

boom! boom! boom!
After the bombardment, the Qing army surged in like a tide. The soldiers defending the city fought bravely, but as a section of the city wall collapsed, they were unable to reverse the situation.

Dong Zugao cut down an Eight Banners soldier on the top of the city wall and looked at the setting sun. At this moment, he thought of the poem "Man Jiang Hong" that he had read when he was young, and his heart was filled with helplessness and desolation: "My hair was disheveled with anger, I leaned on the railing, and the rain stopped. I raised my eyes and howled to the sky..."

……

On May 12 of the first year of Hongfu, Dong Zugao died on the battlefield after the city was breached after leading the army and civilians of Jining Prefecture to hold out for half a month. In order to retaliate and undermine the determination of various parts of Daxia to resist the Qing Dynasty, Duoduo ordered a massacre in the city and did not put down his sword for three days.

……

(End of this chapter)