scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 227

"Finally it's the motherfucker!" The old traitor Shang punched Geng Jingzhong's handwritten letter heavily, his ugly face was full of smirks besides anger.

"If the vassal king goes on tour, if the guard of honor is too much, he is afraid that the local area will be overwhelmed and the people will be disturbed, so my nephew only brings fifty entourages. Uncle Wanwang counts the family and the country..." softly thinking of Geng Jingzhong's words Yue Le couldn't help but grinned when he wrote the letter by himself, and murmured: "What a thief, you really are treacherous! Each of you only brings fifty followers? At that time, when your ambush comes out, Prince Pingnan will just catch him without a fight, right?"

Hmph, Yue Le quickly turned back again, and asked the old traitor Shang: "Old prince, is the situation at the Fenshui Pass arranged like this?"

"Prince An, don't worry, nothing will go wrong!" The old traitor Shang replied proudly: "Liu Jinzhong, the general soldier of Chaozhou, has obeyed the order of my king, and has been conducting strict investigations in the area of ​​Fenshui Pass. !"

Speaking of this, the old man Shang couldn't help but snorted proudly, "Because of caution, the old man didn't even tell Liu Jinzhong's son the truth, but only told them that it was to arrest the jewel smugglers (smuggling) robbers and big salt lords, let them Strictly seal the news, and the person who gets the head of the thief will get half of the stolen goods as a reward, even if that bastard Geng Jingzhong asks like this, he will never be able to figure out the old man's movements."

"That's the best. Chaozhou borders Fujian. The local garrison must have colluded with Geng Jingzhong's rebels. Only by hiding them all can we be sure." Yue Le nodded with satisfaction, but made the arrangement uneasy: "Old Prince , Geng Jingzhong’s children agreed to bring fifty entourages each. Although you can only carry so many entourages openly in order to avoid abusing others, these people must be the best, and all wear soft armor. Soft armor, just in case. If something goes wrong, retreat immediately and send a signal, and Xiao Wang will immediately come out with ambushes to meet you."

"Prince An, don't worry, even though I'm nearly eighty years old, there's still nothing wrong with dealing with that kid like Geng Jingzhong." The old man Shang snorted complacently, and persuaded: "Prince An, in my opinion, you'd better not I’ve gone to Chaozhou, so I’d better stay in Guangzhou and sit in town, first, it’s more dangerous there, and second, Guangzhou is inseparable from people sitting in town, if that disobedient old man takes the opportunity to make trouble, things will be difficult to deal with.”

"My lord, I appreciate your kindness, but Xiao Wang of Chaozhou must go." Yue Le shook his head and said seriously: "It's not that Xiao Wang is worried about my lord, the key is that there must be no mistakes in this matter. Fenshui Pass captured Geng Jingzhong and captured the king, otherwise, once he escaped, the consequences would be disastrous."

"As for the old prince's young master Ling..." Yue Le hesitated for a while, and finally said in a low voice: "Forgive me for speaking bluntly, although the old prince is bold and reckless, he is still very cautious in doing things. He will rush in at will. So Xiao Wang thinks that as long as the news that we have left Guangzhou is strictly sealed, he will not dare to act rashly without knowing our reality. At that time, as long as we succeed, we will first catch the thief Geng Jingzhong, Fujian's bandit army fell down and the monkeys scattered, cut off his foreign aid, and he didn't dare to do whatever he wanted."

"Well, since the prince insists on going, the old man can't stop me." The old traitor Shang didn't force it, he just told him: "But please also ask the prince to instruct General Shushu. After I leave Guangzhou, Guangzhou City No matter what kind of troubles happen here, he will definitely guard the inner city of Guangzhou where the Bannermen live. As long as we persist until we are finished and return to Guangdong, the old man’s disobedient son will be extremely capable, and he will not be able to turn the tide. "

Yue Le nodded in agreement, the current plan was determined, the old traitor Shang immediately summoned Geng Jingzhong's envoy Lin Riguang, and told himself that for the sake of family friendship between the Shang and Geng families, he agreed to Geng Jingzhong's request for a meeting, and agreed that each party would only bring fifty entourages, Don’t wear royal clothes and don’t fight ceremonial guards so as not to disturb the people. On April 12, [-], Kang Mazi went to meet in Fenshuiguan, Chaozhou, which borders Guangdong and Fujian. The meeting place chosen by the two can be unpredictable, mainly because the road from Guangzhou to Fuzhou and Chaozhou is the closest and the flattest, and Fenshui Pass is the boundary between Fujian and Guangdong. , so Fatty Lu can easily guess the plan.

The old traitor Shang readily agreed to Geng Jingzhong's request, and Lin Riguang, the emissary of the Jingnan Palace, was inevitably overjoyed. He hurriedly left Guangzhou and returned to Fujian to report to Geng Jingzhong.At this moment, Geng Jingzhong had already gone to the prefectural city of Zhangzhou to wait for the news. Seeing that the traitor Shang agreed to his request, Geng Jingzhong was also overjoyed, and smiled at his uncle Geng Jishan who was accompanying him: "Shang Kexi, the old thief agreed to our request so easily. Ask, see this old thing finally knows that he is wrong. If the king really wants to harm him, so what if he detoured to Jiangxi last time, the king can still send people to rob and kill him halfway. In Ji'an area, who else will stop this king from attacking?"

"Nephew, it's better to be prepared." Geng Jishan reminded: "If Shang Kexi really wants to reconcile with our Jingnan Palace, we are of course happy, and we can also discuss with him how to share in the shipping, so as to further stabilize the situation. He. But we can't take it lightly, and we must guard against this old thing's sudden attack, which is not good for you, nephew."

"Of course." Geng Jingzhong nodded, and ordered: "Let's do this, uncle, go to Haicheng Gong Huang Wu, borrow a thousand soldiers from him, and when my nephew goes to meet the old thief Shang Kexi, Uncle, you personally lead this thousand troops to lie in ambush ten miles north of Fenshui Pass, under the banner of fireworks, and if there is any situation, immediately go south to meet them."

Geng Jishan agreed, and quickly took orders to go to the Haicheng Mansion in Zhangzhou City to borrow troops—why do you say borrow troops?Here, by the way, I will introduce the situation of Huang Wu, the Lord of Haicheng. Huang Wu was originally a general of Zheng Chenggong in Taiwan. In the 12th year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, it is still gratifying that the old traitor succeeded in attacking Jieyang. Before the army arrived in Haicheng, they even led their confidants to launch a mutiny with Su Ming and others, killing thousands of Taiwanese troops in the city, and donating Haicheng, a place where Zheng Chenggong's grain and supplies were stored, to the Qing army. The city's food, salaries and military equipment fell into the enemy's hands, and Zheng Chenggong's army on the mainland was forced to retreat to Xiamen. Huang Wu was named the Duke of Haicheng by the ecstatic Shunzhi, and Zhangzhou was founded.

Later, because of his meritorious service in persuading the big traitor Shi Lang to surrender, Huang Wu was named the first-class Duke of Haicheng, added the crown prince and Taibao, and allowed the hereditary twelfth generation. After Shi Lang's death, the military power of the Fujian Navy once fell into the hands of Geng Jingzhong. Soon he was deprived of it because of the disastrous defeat in the battle with Zheng Jing's army-it was caused by the incendiary bomb that Fatty Lu gave Chen Jinnan.Then the position of admiral of the Fujian Navy stationed in Zhangzhou naturally fell into the hands of Huang Wu, who was loyal to the Qing court, and gave thirteen kings orders to dispatch troops from various provinces to pacify Zheng Jing, as well as the right to play directly by Kang Mazi. , can bypass all the bosses and send the memorial directly to Kang Mazi.For such a character, although Geng Jingzhong is his boss in name, he has no right to direct him, so even if Geng Jingzhong wants to mobilize his army, he can only send his uncle to borrow it in a low voice.

Fortunately, after Huang Wu roughly understood the reason for borrowing troops from Geng Jishan, he readily agreed to let his son Huang Fangdu lead an army of one thousand to cooperate with Geng Jingzhong's actions and obey the command of Geng Jingzhong's uncle and nephew.Geng Jishan was overjoyed, and left with a thousand thanks, but what Geng Jishan never dreamed of was that as soon as he left, Huang Wu called his son Huang Fangdu to him, and whispered in his son's ear: "You This time with Geng Jingzhong's dog thief to Fenshui Pass, we must be careful. Geng Jingzhong's dog thief is ambitious and has long been disobedient. This time he made an appointment to meet the old prince of Pingnan, but he borrowed troops from us, saying that it was a precautionary measure But no one can tell what you are going to do, so you must use your brains, and you must not be used by Geng Jing's loyal thieves, and fall into the unfaithful and unrighteous situation."

"My son understands." Huang Fangdu nodded vigorously, and then asked in a low voice: "Father, if Geng Jingzhong, a dog thief, orders my son to be unfavorable to Old Prince Pingnan, what should I do with my son?"

"The old prince Pingnan is loyal to the emperor and the court, and he is the first pillar of our Qing Dynasty in the southeast." Huang Wu said in a deep voice: "If Geng Jingzhong's thief wants you to harm the old prince, you should immediately kill Geng Jingzhong and the dog." Capture the thieves, uncles and nephews, and then hand them over to the old prince Pingnan, and report to the Holy Majesty for disposal!"

Huang Fangdu clasped his fists and bowed his hands solemnly. In his slightly childish eyes, there was also a resolute expression of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.

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After intensive preparations, the agreed day of April 12, [-] in Kang Mazi finally arrived. According to their respective distances, Geng Jingzhong's nephew, Yue Le, Shang Laohan and others set off according to their respective distances. , One night in advance, we came to the vicinity of Fenshuiguan on the border between Fujian and Guangdong.In order to make it easier for the two vassals to meet, the Chaozhou Qing army who controlled Fenshui Pass had already posted a notice to close the pass for [-] days a day according to the old traitor Shang's order, and opened the south gate at night to wait for the traitor Shang's team to enter the pass.

Because the old traitor Shang tightly sealed the news in advance, when he saw the old traitor Shang and Yue Le in plain clothes leading a thousand elite soldiers to the front of the closing gate, Yang Xizhen, the Chaozhou general who was ordered to station here, was inevitably taken aback. After going forward to kowtow and salute, he was very surprised and asked tentatively: "My lord, why did you come in person? Didn't you say that you just sent the eleventh prince here to arrest the smugglers?"

"Yang Xizhen, why are you here?" The old traitor Shang didn't answer the question, and shouted at Yang Xizhen viciously: "You are a great general, why did you come to such a small place as Fenshuiguan?"

"My lord, this is your old order." Yang Xizhen replied with a sad face: "You ordered Liu Junmen to strengthen the defense and investigation of Fenshui Pass, and Liu Junmen sent the last general here to command personally in order to respect your old man. "

"So that's it." The old traitor Shang breathed a sigh of relief, and asked again: "You have been at Fenshui Pass for the past few days, have you noticed any unusual movements? Especially have you noticed that a group of people from Fujian entered Guangdong and wandered around the Fenshui Pass?" ? Or was there any case of carrying a weapon?"

"Go back to your lord, no." Yang Xizhen hurriedly saluted and replied: "The last general has been stationed here for more than ten days, but except for catching a few smugglers who smuggled salt, he didn't find anything unusual, and the people entering and leaving the pass also It's normal, and there is no sign of the brigade gathering or concealing weapons to pass the customs."

"This is the best." The old traitor Shang nodded in satisfaction, and ordered: "Exchange the defense immediately. The king's army will take over the Fenshui Pass. Your team will leave the flag behind and leave Guancheng from the south gate, and go to the Huanggang post for the time being." Stationed there, send more people to closely inspect, if there is any abnormality, report it immediately, and this king will give you a big reward."

"Decree!" Yang Xizhen clasped his fists, readily agreed, and immediately commanded the Guanzhong defenders to switch defenses.

"Wait!" Old traitor Shang called Yang Xizhen to stop again, and shouted in a low voice: "Listen well, the matter of my king's visit to Fenshui Pass in person must not be leaked to the public—especially your immediate boss Liu Jinzhong! Also, this king has already taken over. As for the defense of the Fenshuiguan, let’s not leak the slightest word to the outside world! If there is any mistake, this king will take your head to ask!"

"Don't worry, my lord, the general will never dare to make fun of his own head." Yang Xizhen once again solemnly agreed, Shang Kexi nodded in satisfaction, and then let Yang Xizhen lead the army to hand over the defense.

"Old prince, what's going on?" Taking advantage of the time when the army was changing defenses, Yue Le asked in a low voice to the old traitor Shang: "From the old prince's tone, it seems that he is not very relieved of this Chaozhou general soldier Liu Jinzhong? "

The old traitor Shang hesitated for a moment, before answering after a long while: "Your Majesty is as good as a torch. I am indeed not very relieved of Liu Jinzhong. He is a subordinate of Ma Degong who surrendered in the Ming Dynasty. I heard that Ma Degong led the surrender in Zhenjiang. When I was in the Qing army, all the generals under Ma Degong supported his decision, but Liu Jinzhong was the only one who firmly opposed it and vowed to live and die with Zhenjiang. In the end, it was Ma Degong who had him tied up and brought him back to us. Great Qing Dynasty. Because of this, although this Liu Jinzhong was quite brave in combat, it took him 18 years to climb up to the position of chief soldier."

"Such a dangerous person, why do you still keep him under the tent?" Yue Le was taken aback.

"In the eighth year of Kangxi, the Ministry of War transferred him to Chaozhou to serve as the chief soldier. What can I do?" The old traitor Shang said helplessly: "For more than three years, this old man has been looking for ways to demote Liu Jinzhong or drive him out. Guangdong, but the treachery and cunning of this barbarian is comparable to that thief Lu Yifeng. The old man dared not act rashly."

"My lord, what are you doing...?" Yue Le was anxious, but it was too late to adjust now, so he quickly grabbed two confidant soldiers and whispered in their ears: "Both of you, come back immediately!" Go outside the city of Chaozhou, closely monitor every move of the Chaozhou garrison, and report immediately if there is anything unusual!"

At this time, Yang Xizhen had led the [-] garrisons of Fenshuiguan out of the south gate, and was ordered to withdraw to the Huanggang outpost ten miles behind to station, while the old traitor Shang and Yue Le's troops were stationed at the Fenshui Pass. In Shuiguanzhong, the original garrison flag was still displayed, with fewer torches and no stoves, so as not to find out that the Fujian side had already stationed heavy troops overnight in Guanzhong.But like Geng Jingzhong's uncle and nephew, what the old traitor Shang and Yue Le never imagined in their dreams was that Liu Jinzhong, the general soldier of Chaozhou they were quite afraid of, was not only not in Chaozhou city at the moment, but also happened to be withdrawing from Yang Xizhen and others. In the outpost room of the target Huanggang outpost...

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"Shang Kexi is the old traitor coming in person?" After listening to the report of his confidant Yang Xizhen, Liu Jinzhong, who is already in his fifties this year, slapped the table heavily, and said with a grinning grin: "I'm just saying, the inspection of salt dealers and smugglers needs to search for ambushes closely? Sure enough, there is a problem! Fortunately, my scouts found the trace of his team, and I followed here to investigate, otherwise, if this old traitor does any tricks, I will be deceived by him."

"Junmen, what is the old traitor up to? Will it be against us?" Yang Xizhen asked worriedly.

"Judging from his tone, it doesn't seem like he's trying to harm us this time." Liu Jinzhong shook his head, then pondered: "But what kind of tricks is this old man trying to play? Why should he beware of ambushes, and why should he take over the division overnight? Shuiguan? This traitorous old man, what on earth is he going to do to offend his ancestors and compatriots?"

After guessing for a long time, Liu Jinzhong, who still couldn't figure out what immoral things the old traitor was planning to do, shook his head, "I can't guess, I don't guess anymore, in short, this old thing must have no good intentions, and he will definitely harm us Han people to please Mangou again. "

"Junmen, the last general has discovered one more thing." Yang Xizhen reported in a low voice: "Shang Kexi is beside the old thief, and there is a middle-aged man in his forties with a very dignified expression. And yes, the identity is certainly not simple."

"A middle-aged man in his forties? Monks and old traitors riding side by side?" Liu Jinzhong was a little surprised, but soon came to his senses, and exclaimed in a low voice, "Could it be Yue Le? An Jun Wang Yue Le who is full of dogs?"

"It's possible! Now in Guangdong Province, the only one who can sit on the same level as monks and traitors is this dog!" Yang Xizhen slapped his thigh, and quickly said in surprise: "Junmen, this is a godsend opportunity. If we can Get rid of this big man dog and this old traitor, then we can avenge countless blood and blood for the soldiers and common people of the Ming Dynasty!"

Liu Jinzhong also showed some excitement on his face. After standing up and walking around the small room a dozen times, Liu Jinzhong suddenly stopped, turned to Yang Xizhen and asked, "How many troops did the old traitor bring this time?"

"Not many, about a thousand." Yang Xizhen replied truthfully, and then quickly reminded: "But the general can see that this thousand troops are the most elite soldiers, and their combat effectiveness is definitely very strong."

"One thousand elite soldiers." Liu Jinzhong looked distressed, knowing that although he was determined to fight against the Qing, the absolutely loyal army he could control was only 3000 to [-] people. With this strength, there might be hope for defeating the old traitor's thousand elite soldiers. It is extremely difficult to wipe out all of them.

"No, this is a good opportunity, you can't miss it." After thinking about it, Liu Jinzhong still couldn't bear to miss this god-given opportunity. After gritting his teeth, Liu Jinzhong ordered: "Xi Zhen, you should send someone to Chenghai immediately, and let Chen Lian On the pretext of assisting in arresting smugglers of salt, he led a thousand troops to Fenshui Pass overnight, ambushed at the mouth of Huanggang River, and waited for orders. Then he arranged for people to return to Chaozhou City, and let my two sons restrain the army and prepare for it. Awaiting orders."

"Junmen, our troops are too small, why don't the two young masters lead the army out of the city to support them?" Yang Xizhen suggested.

"No, they can't move." Liu Jinzhong shook his head and said in a low voice: "Don't forget, there is still the family of the traitor Shen Rui (Mite Qingxu Shungong) living in Chaozhou City, and they also have more than 2000 troops in their hands. If there is any movement, it will definitely not be hidden from their eyes."

"Then our military strength is still too small." Yang Xizhen reminded worriedly: "Brother Chen's 600 troops, plus my 600-odd troops here, have a total of [-] people. If we want to wipe out the [-] elite soldiers who are full of dogs ,too difficult."

"We won't be the first to attack." Liu Jinzhong shook his head and said in a low voice: "Shang Kexi, since the old thief and Yue Lemangou took over the Fenshui Pass and set up an ambush in the Fenshui Pass, it means that they are preparing to deal with someone, and this Other than Zheng Jing, Geng Jingzhong is the only one who is worthy of their joint action nearby. If these two guys are the real ones, their subordinates are definitely not flesh-and-blood, and they must be well-arranged. We can wait for them to fight and lose both. , and then a praying mantis catches the cicada, and the oriole follows!"

Note: Both Liu Jinzhong and Yang Xizhen are historical figures. In history, after the old traitor Wu Sangui played the banner of anti-Qing and Fuming, the petition spread to Guangdong. Liu Jinzhong of Chaozhou General Army. "Historical Materials of San Francisco in the Qing Dynasty" also records that before Liu Jinzhong raised his troops, the old traitor Shang reported to Kang Mazi, saying that Liu Jinzhong "did not respect Zhengshuo in the year and month, and he had already committed rebellion", and asked Kang Mazi to confiscate Liu Jinzhong's military power.Later, when Liu Jinzhong couldn't wait for the support of the friendly army, and was flanked by the traitor Shang Lao and the traitor Huang Wu and his son from the north and the south, he still resolutely refused the Qing court's surrender and remained determined until he died a heroic death on the anti-Qing battlefield.

(End of this chapter)