Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1865 Chengdu Mansion

"The Li Shun Dynasty is really interesting. It is very fast to learn how to change customs with the Manchu Qing Dynasty. How long has it been since the establishment of the Li-Tang system? It is also speechless." In the mansion of the former Wu clan in Chengdu , Chen Ming, the newly appointed head of the commercial station, curled his lips and whispered to himself.

He came earlier, and there were not many people in the hall, so no one would overhear him.However, his demeanor still made the deputy look bitter, and quietly tugged on his sleeve as a reminder.

There were about seven or eight people sitting in the room, all of them seemed to be warriors, but I don't know if they were from the left camp or the middle camp, probably the former.Chen Ming observed carefully and found that the costumes of these people were very interesting. They wore red foreheads on their heads, robes embroidered with evil spirit scripts on their upper bodies, and hakama slaves on their lower bodies, with boots on their feet. They were typical Tang Dynasty costumes.Obviously, these people are military generals. Although they don't bring weapons, they speak loudly and look forward to their own heroes. This kind of temperament can't be cultivated by civil servants.

In fact, the Li Shun regime admired the Tang Dynasty, not only now!As early as when Li Zicheng established the grass-roots team government in Xi'an, he admired the system of the Tang Dynasty very much. This probably has something to do with his surname Li and his birth in Shaanxi, although he believes that his ancestor is Li Jiqian, a party member.

Later, when Li Zicheng entered Beijing, although he basically followed the Ming system, he had to change his name to include many features of the Tang Dynasty.For example, Jiedu envoys and defensive envoys set up in various provinces and strategic locations, General Guoyi and General Wuwei of Wusan officials, etc., in short, it is called a sense of joy, and it is called nondescript.

Later, Shanhaiguan suffered a disastrous defeat, and after the Dashun court rushed south to Huguang in a hurry, the system became even more chaotic. The Tang system and the Ming system were used together, the prime ministers and scholars shouted at each other, the military officials wore messy clothes, and civil servants wore ordinary clothes to the palace. The era needs more grass-roots teams.It's no wonder that the local gentry at that time looked down on this group of people, and it was indeed a bit low.

The real formalization of Li Shun's regime was in the later period of Li Guo's era. The Dashun regime absorbed many gentry and gentry, and various systems gradually began to be formalized.Coupled with the assistance of the people from the east bank, they sent a group of trained Dashun officials, and finally made this grass-roots team of the peasant army with an army of 30 slowly transform into a serious regime that is valued by the world.

At this time, the "Tangization" of Li Shun's regime reached its climax again, and it looked more formal. I was quite emotional after reading it.

"Station Master, Dashun and the Li family are from Shaanxi. Most of the important officials and generals in the court are from Shaanxi or descendants of Shaanxi people. They have a preference for the culture of the Tang Dynasty, but it is normal. There is nothing to criticize." At the already noisy doorway, he said in a low voice: "Station Master, don't say these words anymore, it won't affect you well."

"Got it, got it." Chen Ming waved his hands impatiently, looking at a group of civil servants in green clothes pouring in from the door, he swallowed his words, and turned to look at the wine cup in front of him , Simply pour yourself and drink it.

This group of people should be officials from prefectures and counties in and around Chengdu. Of course, there are also many important officials in Liu Zhonggui's shogunate, especially Liu Qi, the secretary of Jiedu. In addition, there are also some officials, inspectors, and judges office officer.It can be seen that this is an important gathering of Dashun's civil and military officials in Chengdu, and Chen Ming and other guests from the east coast were also invited.

After a lot of people came, the banquet hall inevitably became noisy. Many acquaintances got together and started chatting, and burst into laughter from time to time.Chen Ming looked at these officials of the Li Shun regime expressionlessly, thinking in his heart that these people's spirits are not bad. This may be related to their rising period. He had been to the Zheng's shogunate in Fuzhou before, and the officialdom culture It's really horrible, with a very strong party atmosphere, which probably has something to do with their backgrounds.

Some people were surprised to see people in "extraordinary costumes" like Chen Ming, and they also came up to greet them with wine glasses.However, Chen Ming was not very interested in these low-level officials, and he didn't want to talk to them at first, but considering that he might have to deal with them in the future, he patiently got to know them one by one, and drank a lot of wine.

Liu Zhonggui was the last few to arrive.He was wearing a Jiedushi robe embroidered with "Big Wild Goose", which was said to have been bestowed by Emperor Li Laiheng as a reward for Zuoying's contribution to attacking Sichuan.Accompanied by Liu Zhonggui, there were He Zheng from Duabya, Cao Xuanli, Marquis of Duyu, Liu Zhengji (the eldest son of Liu Zhonggui), the military envoy from the Yaqian, Zhang Guangcui from the left wing, Zhang Jingchun from the right wing, and others. He is Liu Zhonggui's closest subordinate.

Because of the fact that the Qing army was still entrenched in northern Sichuan, coupled with some historical issues, Liu Zhonggui, the general of the Zuoying General Power, had already won the title of Sichuan Jiedushi and officially opened the government office.This is actually a common practice in the Dashun Army. For example, when Guo Sheng led his army into Jiangxi and expanded thousands of miles, he received the title of Jiangxi Jiedushi. As early as 1644, Guo Sheng had already obtained Yongchang. The title of Jiedushi of Shandong conferred by Emperor Li Zicheng was not new to him.

Of course, Liu Zhonggui is the boss of the Zuoying. Strictly speaking, he has been in charge of himself for many years. The establishment of the shogunate in Chengdu this time is just a transplant of the original team.But Li Laiheng issued the imperial decree to bestow Jieyan, which is different after all. It is much more formal and authoritative.

After Liu Zhonggui entered the arena, core civil officials including Jiedu Zhang Secretary Liu Qi, Zhidu Judge Lin Chenglong, and Yingtian Judge Zhao Yourong also went up to welcome them, and then took their seats in order. The voices in the banquet hall suddenly became quieter.The official sitting next to Chen Ming didn't seem to be of high rank. After inquiring, he turned out to be an official of Yikongmu. However, judging from his appearance and habits, he should be from a military background, and he is still on active duty.Chen Ming was a little puzzled at first, but after thinking about it carefully, this person may have made great contributions on the battlefield and needs to be rewarded, but the position in the army is limited, so he couldn't be placed for a while, so he gave it to a shogunate officer. Solve the title problem, but the job should still be in the army.

After all, although the rank of Kongmu officials is low, they have important ties. They are responsible for "managing files, checking and checking mistakes, and issuing and paying documents" in the shogunate. Obviously, careless warriors should not be allowed to do it.Therefore, Chen Ming concluded that this guy was still serving in the army, and that the real job of the Kongmu officer was probably done by officials in the yamen, such as "drivers".

Liu Zhonggui on the main seat started to talk about something, because he was far away, and Liu Zhonggui's voice was not loud, so Chen Ming couldn't hear it clearly.However, he still understood the general meaning, that is, the Qing army is still entrenched in some counties and counties in northern Sichuan, and there are also Qing army brigades in the area of ​​Hanzhong. To capture Hanzhong, the barrier in central Shu, at least a few nails in northern Sichuan must be pulled out.

Chen Ming nodded secretly after hearing this. It seems that Liu Zhonggui has not lost his composure and knows the situation he is facing now.The northern Sichuan gate is in the hands of the enemy. For the regime based in central Shu, it is really like a thorn in the back and a bone in the throat, and it must be removed quickly.In fact, Liu Zhonggui had organized two large-scale attacks before, but it was a pity that under the desperate reinforcements of the Qing army in Hanzhong, they both returned without success.Especially Zhao Liangdong, the current general appointed by the Qing army, is brave and resourceful. He has trained the new army in Hanzhong for many years. The favorable terrain in northern Sichuan was well maintained, which gave Liu Zhonggui a headache.

At that time, Zuoying had just captured the Chengdu Plain. Although many prefectures and counties in the surrounding area "succumbed to the wind", they had not yet sent officials and troops to receive them. The internal situation is not optimistic, let alone digesting the officials and soldiers of the Wu regime after the surrender. In short, it is a bunch of things. If it is not handled carefully, it may lead to serious consequences.

Therefore, at that time, Liu Zhonggui retreated decisively after the two Northern Expeditions were frustrated, and began to focus on digesting the controlled area to stabilize the foundation.Central Sichuan has been very prosperous since ancient times, especially near the Chengdu Plain. If it is well managed, its future will be its biggest capital and reliance.Liu Zhonggui still has a clear understanding of this point, so he even sent people all the way to Madang Fortress to discuss with the people on the east coast—although it is inappropriate to travel abroad privately, that’s exactly what Liu Zhonggui did. Now, it’s no wonder that some people have always said that he is domineering and a “arrogant vassal”—asking them to set up commercial organizations in central Sichuan and start trading with merchants in central Sichuan.

After this matter was reported to Ma Wenqiang, the captain of the Southern Exploration Team, it was approved without much twists and turns, and then Chen Ming took up his post and was sent to Chengdu, a city thousands of miles away from Ningbo, as the head of a commercial station.Chen Ming's father, Chen Shuo, has returned to work in the local Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and he had been working in Kushiro County on Ezoji Island, occasionally assisting Japanese companies on the east bank to participate in private trade in the northeast of Japan. He has rich trading experience, so he was called Sent over, but also in charge of diplomatic and intelligence affairs.In other words, diplomacy and intelligence work are his focus. As for business matters, they are all incidental. It is good to make a lot of money, but it doesn't matter if you don't make a lot of money. Anyway, the other two tasks must be done well.

Chen Ming's Chengdu Commercial Station has been open for a while. Currently, in addition to the normal purchase of Sichuan medicinal materials, brocades and other commodities, he also transfers war materials including weapons, war horses, and armor through various channels. Limited to traffic problems, the scale is not very large, it can only be said that it is better than nothing, and the profits earned are only enough to buy some informants to spy on the news while maintaining the normal operation of the business station.

Of course, Chen Ming also selectively disclosed some information from the Madang Fortress to Liu Zhonggui and his close ministers from time to time.For example, a while ago he compiled the messy incident between Galdan in the Western Regions and the Qing court into a book, and informed Liu Zhonggui.After hearing this, Liu Zhonggui remained silent for a long time. It is difficult for people like them to have an overall vision like the people from the East Coast. Even if they have some awareness in this regard, they are limited by conditions and cannot collect enough information.Therefore, the news presented by the people on the east bank is very precious to him, because it may herald the movement of the Shaanxi-Gansu Green Camp in the Qing Dynasty. If they cannot fully support the front line of Hanzhong, it will undoubtedly be a major benefit for Zuoying.

And through Liu Zhonggui's enthusiasm for these information, Chen Ming also basically judged that this person has ambitions, and he is probably thinking about how to attack Hanzhong in the north, and then invade Qinchuan, eight hundred miles away, and return to his hometown in Shaanxi. .It's just that if he plans like this, will Li Laiheng in Changsha agree?You know, Liu Zhonggui's attack on Sichuan had already aroused Li Laiheng's attention, so much so that Zhang Neng, a veteran general, was sent here to support him, but in fact to supervise him. The purpose of the gesture is very obvious.

Therefore, Chen Ming felt that it was not very likely that Liu Zhonggui would go out of Shu and invade Qin.Compared with this, it is very possible to go south to attack Guizhou and Yunnan, but it is unlikely that they will be the main force. It must be Li Laiheng's main force, but I don't know when.At the same time, this recognition also made him quite embarrassed. Shun Country now covers the three provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi, and Sichuan, and Hubei also occupies half of it. The territory is not small, and the military force is also very strong. Nanming seized Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and even Fujian and Guangdong, and the pattern of the Northern and Southern Dynasties was completely established. This is undoubtedly not in line with the strategy of the people on the east coast.After all, it is much better for the princes to stand side by side than the confrontation between the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and there will be more room for people on the east bank to fight.

But now it seems that this trend seems to have some signs, the Nanming regime is getting worse, the Qing Dynasty is in trouble, and the external pressure of the Dashun regime is decreasing day by day.You must know that Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo in Nanming have been at odds lately, and civil servants and scholar-bureaucrats can't see these Xiying thieves, and the internal centripetal force is getting worse every year.How could they resist Li Shun's troops under such circumstances?The grand occasion of Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo's battle against Wu Sangui in Guizhou and southern Sichuan is probably gone forever. The morale of the army in Xiying is not the same as that day, and this is undoubtedly an opportunity for Shunguo.

Except for the territories directly under the jurisdiction of the three southwestern provinces, none of Guangdong and Fujian, which nominally belong to Nanming, and the Luwang regime in southern Zhejiang, which has a relatively vague status, can fight, which is more terrible.Chen Ming felt that if Shunguo really didn't care about the consequences, he could probably sweep the entire south, there was no doubt about it.

Now, it depends on how tight the East Coast people can pull the reins!

(End of this chapter)