Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

However, Tian Jianxiu's southward trip to Hanzhong was relatively smooth, and the prefectures and counties along the way were all lookouts.On March [-], the Shun army arrived at Chenggu County, besieged for four days, and conquered its city.Gao Ruli, the general soldier of the Ming Dynasty, attempted to flee to Sichuan, but was chased by the Shun army on the way and forced to surrender.After the Hanzhong area was pacified, Tian Jianxiu left his troops to guard He Zhen and Han Wen, and returned to Xi'an by himself.

Liu Zongmin, He Yaoqi, Yuan Zongdi and others led the army to march westward, and when they reached Guyuan, Bai Guangen, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, surrendered.In order to win over the generals of the Ming army and reduce resistance during the march, Li Zicheng had a wedding with Bai Guangen and had a good talk.Zuo Guang disarmed and surrendered after hearing the news first.After Bai and Zuo, other Ming generals also surrendered.

Yuan Zongdi's troops advanced from Fengxiang, Shaanxi to Gongchang.Along the way, the generals and officials of the Ming Dynasty fought to surrender the queen.After occupying Gongchang Mansion, the prefectures and counties to which it belonged fell without a fight.

As for Ningxia, as soon as the call to action from the Shun Army arrived, the governor Li Yukui and Qing Wang Zhu Zhuoyu, who was entrusted here, were helpless.Qingfan clan and civil and military officials gathered in the palace and decided to surrender after some discussion.Li Zicheng ordered Chen Zhilong, the military supervisor of the Ming Dynasty, to serve as the envoy of Ningxia Jiedu, and Niu Chenghu, the general who surrendered, to guard the place.

After Guyuan, Ningxia and other places were pacified, the remaining strongholds of the Ming government in the northwest were relatively remote places such as Gansu and Qinghai (called Xiningwei at the time).Li Zicheng ordered Liu Zongmin to return to Xi'an, preparing for a large-scale eastward expedition, and the task of completing the western expedition fell to He Yaoqi.

In March, He Yaoqi led the army to march towards Gansu, conquering Anding in one fell swoop, Jin County opened its doors to welcome the surrender, and the troops went straight to Lanzhou.Seeing that the situation was critical, Ma Yan, the general of Gansu in the Ming Dynasty, and Ouyang Gun, the deputy general, advised Su Wang Zhu Shifeng to go west to Ganzhou (now Zhangye) and conscript troops to stick to it.Zhu Shizheng, Hongnuo Ma Lianzhan, did not adopt this opinion.So Ma Yan and others fled to Ganzhou by themselves.

On March 21, the Shun army under He Yaoqi arrived in Lanzhou, and Lanzhou Kaesong surrendered.Su Wang Zhu Zhihong fled out of the city in a hurry.He was captured by people sent by Yang Qi, the outgoing general of the Ming Dynasty, as a gift for him to surrender to the Shun army.But He Yaoqi hated him for betraying his master in order to gain wealth. He was neither loyal to the Ming Dynasty nor sincerely surrendered to the army. Therefore, he not only executed King Su, but also beheaded Yang Qi and his son.

However, this approach is obviously not strategic enough, and it is not conducive to winning over the civilian and military generals of the Ming Dynasty who are still waiting to see.After He Yaoqi left Dang Shousu to guard Lanzhou, he led his troops to continue westward.Ming Liangzhou (now Wuwei, Gansu) and Zhuanglang surrendered successively, and followed the army to advance to Ganzhou.

Gansu governor Lin Rirui, general soldier Ma Jian and others organized resistance.April.The Shun army forcibly crossed the river and reached the city of Ganzhou.At that time, it was raining heavily, and the officers and soldiers who were forced to go up to defend the city to fight in the rain all complained.However, the soldiers of the Shun Army were full of spirits and made siege equipment.Actively prepare to attack the city.

On April 22, soldiers of the Guardian Ming army rebelled.Lead the Shun army into the city.The Shun army successfully captured Ganzhou City.Lin Rirui, Ma Yuan and others were executed.After occupying Ganzhou, Suzhou (now Jiuquan, Gansu) and other places fell without a fight.He Yaoqi sent officials in various prefectures and counties to appease the local people, and the whole of Gansu came under the jurisdiction of the Dashun regime.

At this time, Lu Wenbin, the general of the Shun Army (formerly a general of the Ming Dynasty), who was ordered by He to wave the flag to enter Qinghai, led the troops to Xining.He was defeated by local chieftains Qi Tingjian and Lu Yinchang who were loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and Lu Wenbin was killed.

After He Yaoqi heard the news, he personally led the army from Ganzhou to Xining.Qi Tingjian and others panicked, joined the army and Hu Lianqi offered advice: "Congratulations to the thief for being brave. If you are outnumbered, you can outsmart the enemy, but you can't fight the enemy." It is suggested that some ethnic minorities be sent to pretend to be guides. Yinhe waved the flag into the ambush to murder.

But He Yaoqi was eager to annihilate the enemy, and led his troops straight forward, beheading Lu Yinchang and annihilating them all.Due to his lack of vigilance, he unfortunately fell into an ambush of the Ming army and was killed by the chieftain.Li Zicheng's capable general fell in this way on the way to the west.

After He Yaoqi was killed, the soldiers under He Yaoqi were filled with grief and indignation, and determined to avenge the general. Under the leadership of Xin Sizhong, they conquered Xining and captured chieftain Qi Tingjian alive.And Li Zicheng followed Xin Sizhong to guard Xining, sent troops to pacify Qinghai, and the chieftains successively joined him.

So far, all the military strongholds in the Northwest region have been removed, and this series of operations took less than two months.The brilliant victory immediately raised the morale of the soldiers of the Shun Army. Li Zicheng and the others believed that the time to overthrow the Ming Dynasty had come.

Under the discussion of all civil servants and military officers in Dashun, the Shun army formulated a strategic goal of winning the world, which is to use the main force to divide and attack together, sweep North China, and conquer Beijing, so as to change the dynasty.After occupying the central government, they can use the name of Zhengshuo to win over, surrender, and jointly attack various forces, and finally achieve domination of the world.

So the Shun army began to concentrate its forces, and it wanted to gather almost all of its nearly one million (not so-called) troops first.Li Zicheng will personally lead the main force to set off from Xi'an, cross the Yellow River, and attack and kill Beijing, the home of the Ming Dynasty.

After crossing the Yellow River and arriving in southern Shanxi, the Shun army will be divided into two parts.One is the partial division, led by the general Liu Fangliang, along the north bank of the Yellow River, crossing the Taihang Mountains and turning north, attacking Lu'an (now Changzhi, Shanxi), Zhangde (now Anyang, Henan), Guangping (now Handan, Hebei), Shunde (now Xingtai, Hebei), Zhending (now Zhengding, Hebei), and Baoding line, approaching Beijing from the south.The other route was the main force, under Li Zicheng's personal control, along the Jinzhong Valley to the north, out of Datong and Xuanfu, and from the northwest to the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Before the expedition, Li Zicheng issued the famous edict of the first year of Yongchang, the full text is as follows:

"God observes, in fact, only seeks to save. The people return to the past, and only cut to the Soviet Union. Fate is not constant, but love can be seen. Cantonese records the past dynasties, and knows the reasons for gains and losses; Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, I sat in Taining for a long time and relaxed the rules and regulations. The monarch was not very dark, isolated and concealed many; the ministers did their best for selfishness, and they were less loyal than the party and the public. Even bribed the palace, and the government was blessed. The day shifts; benefiting the gentry of the clan, Lu Zuo's fat is exhausted. The princes are all carnivorous dudes, and they rely on them as their heart; There are many burdens, and the people have the hatred of dying together. Since the sky is poor and benevolent, it has caused the people to suffer from disasters. I took up my common clothes and saw the haggard shape, and I felt the pain of the scorpion. I think that the world will lead the earth, and suffer from poverty and poverty. ;Tolerate Yishuiyanshan, Weisu Tanghuo. Bow to Hengji, appease Qianli. I still worry about your ruler and ministers. I have not reached the emperor's heart, and I have not expressed my intentions. I am telling you with a confrontation: You can embody the sky and remember the ancestors I will benefit the predecessors without hesitation. If Qi is like the Song Dynasty, it will be enshrined forever, and use the filial piety of Er; Hundreds of workers are encouraged to be protected. The generous salary of the Mian merchants and grandchildren, and the rest of the guests. To overcome Jueyou, and the friendship of the ministers. But now the edict is allowed to spread the heart. You think about it, and don’t threaten to complain about the Zonggong , Don’t endanger your ministers and concubines. The ministers should be cautious, and still be loyal to the emperor and father, and broaden the valley to the wealth. In the first year of Yongchang, I would like to order."

The edict of the first year of Yongchang is actually an ultimatum-style persuasion letter issued by the Dashun regime to the Ming Dynasty.In the imperial edict, the extreme corruption of the Ming Dynasty was fully exposed, pointing out that the court only protected the interests of nobles and big landlords, and all the wealth in the world fell to the gentry (Ming clan and bureaucrats), princes, and eunuchs. In his hands, the common people were expropriated heavily, causing Lu Zuo's fat to be exhausted.This forces the people to stand up and fight them hard.In other words, it expressed the justice of the Dashun regime to the world.

Then, Li Zicheng solemnly announced: "I took up the commoner clothes, witnessed the haggard shape, and felt the pain of a lump in my body. Nianzi ruled the earth, and suffered from poverty and poverty; I endured Yishui and Yanshan, and Weisu Tanghuo."It expresses his determination to fight to the end because he shares a common destiny with the people of the world.

However, in order to reduce resistance during the march, the imperial edict also pointed out the way out for Emperor Chongzhen, asking him to "go through a few trials with virtue", see the situation clearly, and surrender as soon as possible.

But in this imperial edict, the phrase "the king is not very dark" seems to think that in Li Zicheng's eyes, Emperor Chongzhen is not so bad.

But in essence, this edict is a letter of persuasion after all, so we have to leave a little room in the tone. If Emperor Chongzhen is said to be extremely dark, persuading him to understand current affairs will become playing the piano against the cow.But no one would believe that if Emperor Chongzhen really surrendered, Li Zicheng would let the whole family of Emperor Chongzhen go. This is nothing more than a propaganda strategy.

Before and after the issuance of the edict in the first year of Yongchang, on May 16, the 21th year of Chongzhen, the Dashun Army marched towards the Jifu area in an overwhelming manner according to the original deployment.

This action of the Dashun regime undoubtedly believes that the time is ripe.Because at this time there was no powerful Ming army in the north, and in the Central Plains, the Runing Army would fight fiercely with the Qing army and Zhang Xianzhong's Great Western Army, and they couldn't escape at all.

Li Zicheng and the others believed that their army of one million was enough to crush any force.In particular, they seriously underestimated the strength of the Qing army.

In the eyes of Li Zicheng, who came from the Sanbian military town, the Sanbian Shan army was much stronger than the Liao army, and the strength of the Qing army was at most stronger than the Mongolian army who was bullied by the Shan army and couldn't find the north. limited.So after such a comparison, they think that the Qing army is nothing more than that, and it is only because there is no Shaanxi army that the Qing army has jumped to the present.There is no doubt that this uncommon sense view is somewhat ridiculous.

Li Zicheng and the others overestimated their own strength.His one million Shun army, the core force is only 20, and the rest are at most playing the role of auxiliary soldiers, and their combat effectiveness on the battlefield is not very good.In addition, the Shun Army was assembled by various units in a short period of time, so the mutual coordination and centripetal force were quite poor.

But no matter what, the advance of the Shun Army this time has opened the prelude to the various forces' aspirations for the world! (To be continued..)