After Chen Youliang's death, his youngest son Chen Li succeeded to the throne in Wuchang and changed his name to Yuan Deshou. After Zhu Yuanzhang returned to Nanjing, he took a short rest and personally led a large army to Wuchang, where he wanted to strike with hot iron to completely eliminate the remnants of Chen Youliang's forces and pocket the western region, including Jiangxi and Huguang.

The Ming army surrounded the city of Wuchang and at the same time divided its troops to capture all parts of Hubei. The military operation was mixed, the Ming army captured a large area of territory in the surrounding area, but encountered stubborn resistance under the city of Wuchang, so Zhu Yuanzhang returned to Nanjing, and the army of the governor of Chang Yuchun continued to besiege Wuchang.

After Zhu Yuanzhang returned to Nanjing, he summarized and commended the brilliant achievements of the previous period, and under the persuasion of the ministers, Zhu Yuanzhang became the throne of Wu and set up his eldest son Zhu Biao as the son. The official system was established, with Li Shanchang as the right minister, Xu Da as the left minister, Chang Yuchun and Yu Tonghai as the Pingzhang political affairs, and the rest of the generals were all promoted to the rank of knight.

Not long ago, Zhang Shicheng snatched the title of King Wu, which was not only one level higher than Zhu Yuanzhang's Wu Gong, but also suspected of infringing trademark rights, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very unhappy, but the current first priority was to eliminate Chen Li, he ignored Zhang Shicheng for the time being, and Zhu Yuanzhang personally conquered Wuchang again.

The reason why Chen Li and others did not surrender was mainly to hope that Zhang Bixian, the prime minister stationed in Yuezhou, Zhang Bixian was a member of Chen Youliang's general, nicknamed Po Zhang, at this time he had led reinforcements to Hongshan, which was only more than 20 miles away from Wuchang, and Chang Yuchun took advantage of his unstable foothold to launch an attack, and captured Zhang Bixian in one fell swoop, Zhu Yuanzhang tied Zhang Bixian to Wuchang City to persuade him to surrender, Chen Li saw this scene, like a deflated ball.

Chen Li exposed his upper body according to the ancient etiquette, and led Zhang Dingbian and others to surrender at the military gate, Zhu Yuanzhang helped Chen Li, who was worshipping on the ground, and said to him: "I don't blame you." ”

Zhu Yuanping named Chen Li as the Marquis of De, and the property in the treasury was at his disposal, and Chen Youliang's relatives were also given preferential treatment. These preferential treatment has the meaning of demonstration for Zhang Shicheng, when Zhu Yuanzhang seized the national power, Chen Li and others lost the demonstration significance, Hongwu five years, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Chen Li to be sent to Goryeo for strict surveillance.

After some conditioning, Zhu Yuanzhang regained his appetite and put the elimination of Zhang Shicheng on the agenda, but at this time Zhang Shicheng did not have a sense of crisis, which was reflected in the fact that he not only did not move closer to the Yuan Court for warmth, but broke with the Yuan Court again.

Zhang Shicheng imprisoned Timur in Yuanjiang, Zhejiang, and then proclaimed himself the king of Wu, and his younger brother Zhang Shixin was the left of Zhejiang Province.

Zhang Shicheng was called King Cheng in Gaoyou as early as the beginning of the army, why did he change his name to King Wu this time? This is because he took refuge in the Yuan Dynasty and gave up the title of King Cheng for this reason. The reason why Zhang Shicheng defected to the Yuan Army was not out of fear of the Yuan army, but because of the pressure of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Xu Da attacked Changshu and captured Zhang Shicheng's younger brother Zhang Shide, Zhang Shide is good at fighting and strategic, can win the hearts of soldiers, is Zhang Shicheng's main arm, when he crossed the Yangtze River in the south and captured the task of Jiangnan was completed by him with his army. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to use Zhang Shide to blackmail Zhang Shicheng, Zhang Shide resolutely died of hunger strike in order not to affect his brother, and before he died, he sent someone to send a letter to Zhang Shicheng, asking him to surrender to the Yuan Court, so as to use the Yuan Court to fight against Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhang Shide's suggestion was undoubtedly correct, because Zhang Shicheng not only had to face the blows of Zhu Yuanzhang and the Yuan government, but also the attack of the pirate Fang Guozhen, who was on the coast of eastern Zhejiang, and was in a situation of being attacked on all sides.

Zhang Shicheng complied with the execution, begged to surrender to the right prime minister of Yuanjiang and Zhejiang Province to know Timur, although he had teased the court three times and killed the envoy, but the weak court still welcomed his surrender, Zhang Shicheng asked for a very high price, asked to retain the title of King Cheng, the court did not accept this condition, after several bargains, Zhang Shicheng was awarded the title of Tai Lieutenant, still independent politically and militarily, economically transported grain from the sea every year 110,000 stone to Dadu.

After surrendering to the Yuan court, Zhang Shicheng had no worries and was able to concentrate on dealing with Zhu Yuanzhang, after which the two sides were in a state of military stalemate, and it was difficult to distinguish the winner from defeat, Zhang Shicheng attacked Changzhou, Jiangyin, Jiande, Changxing, Zhuji and other places many times, but did not resist. Zhu Yuanzhang also sent Shao Rong to attack Huzhou, Hu Dahai to attack Shaoxing, and Chang Yuchun to attack Hangzhou, but they also failed to win, and the two sides entered a stage of strategic stalemate.

The long-term strategic stalemate gave Zhang Shicheng the illusion that his defense line was impregnable, and based on this illusion, he began to enjoy life with peace of mind.

Zhang Shicheng's area was very rich, and the people here were very different from the people in other regions, enjoying a comfortable, refined and even luxurious life, and the ruling group was influenced by this culture, and corruption and luxury prevailed.

Zhang Shicheng took the lead in setting an example, he was looking for pleasure all day long, and handed over the government affairs to his younger brother Zhang Shixin and son-in-law Pan Yuanshao, these two people were very greedy and irresponsible, their deceitful, corrupt and degenerate style destroyed the morale of the army and the law and discipline of the government, the discipline of the army was even more lax than that of the Yuan army, and the officers and soldiers had no fighting spirit from top to bottom.

The generals will not receive any substantive punishment if they lose the battle, at most they will be confined for a period of time, and then they will be used again after a while, so when the war is unfavorable, they will easily flee, which makes the combat effectiveness of the Wu army extremely weak, and they have lost the ability to attack the city and conquer the city, and can only rely on the strong city wall for some defense, so when Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang are pinched to death, their incompetent army has hardly caused any trouble on the eastern and southern fronts.

Zhang Shicheng's unprincipled generosity to his subordinates and Zhu Yuanzhang's fastidious strictness are in stark contrast, which is reflected in the growing gap in military strength, which he does not fully understand, and thinks that he is an expert in defense, and the strong city is enough for Zhu Yuanzhang to drink a pot.

Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang sharpened his knife and was open-minded, Zhang Shicheng slapped the Yuan Dynasty. Zhang Shicheng's tough anti-Yuan stance is quite national, which is completely different from Zhu Yuanzhang, who has not regarded the anti-Yuan as the main task for a long time, and from time to time also flattered the Yuan court, when Chahan flattened the north, Zhu Yuanzhang had sent several letters to flattery, expressing his obedience, and later Chahan was assassinated Zhu Yuanzhang before giving up the shameful idea of surrender.

The Yuan court was helpless against Zhang Shicheng's bullying, but Zhu Yuanzhang got an excuse to attack Zhang Shicheng, and in the document he released during the crusade against Zhang Shicheng, he listed many of Zhang Shicheng's crimes, most of which were Zhang Shicheng's bullying of the Yuan court.

Xu Da, who had just finished cleaning up the battlefield in Hubei, was ordered to take Huaidong, a move intended to eliminate Zhang Shicheng's surrounding forces, an action that was in line with Zhu Yuanzhang's usual steady military style. It took Xu Da about half a year to conquer Taizhou, Gaoyou, Huai'an, Hao, Xu, and Suzhou, and basically pacified Huaidong.

Soon after Xu Da recovered Haozhou, Zhu Yuanzhang returned to his hometown with an excited heart, he was only a small colonel under Guo Zixing when he left Haozhou, and when he returned to his hometown after thirteen years, he was about to be added to the yellow robe, and he chose to come back on the eve of the decisive battle with Zhang Shicheng, which fully illustrates how urgent his mood is to return to his hometown.

After returning to his hometown, Zhu Yuanzhang paid tribute to the ancestral grave, met with his childhood friends Wang Wen and Liu Ying, gave them rice and silk, and then arranged a large banquet to invite his father and fellow villagers, and Zhu Yuanzhang said with mixed feelings at the banquet: "I have left my hometown for more than ten years, and after many years of hardship and battle, I have the opportunity to return to the provincial grave and meet my father and son." It's a pity that I can't stay with you for long. All fathers and villagers should educate their children to be filial piety and do not travel far to do business, there are still wars in nearby counties, everyone should take care. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang also told the local officials to exempt the villagers from land rent and taxes, and the villagers were very happy and thanked them one after another. After staying in his hometown for nearly a month, Zhu Yuanzhang left to return to Nanjing.

After returning to Nanjing, Zhu Yuanzhang published a speech against Zhang Wei, in which he appointed Xu Da as the general and Chang Yuchun as the deputy general, and led 200,000 troops to crusade against Zhang Shicheng.

Before sending troops, Zhu Yuanzhang summoned Xu Da and Chang Yuchun to ask about the strategy of entering the army, and he always consulted Chang Yuchun's opinion after he was confident, and asked: "Yuchun, what do you think?"

Chang Yuchun advocated smashing Pingjiang, the capital of Zhang Shicheng, Zhu Yuanzhang thought it was too rash: "Huzhou Zhang Tianqi and Hangzhou Pan Yuanming are Zhang Shicheng's arms, if they attack Pingjiang, the two will definitely go all out to rescue, our army is under the city, and the enemy is in front and behind, it is better to cut off the two wings first, and Pingjiang is lonely, and it can be taken in one fell swoop." So Xu Da and Chang Yuchun led troops to attack Huzhou, and Zhu Yuanzhang sent Li Wenzhong to lead troops to attack Hangzhou to contain them.

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang likes to ask Chang Yuchun is because his thoughts are always contrary to his own. The difference between the two is that Chang Yuchun advocates going straight to the point and getting it in one step. And Zhu Yuanzhang is very steady, advocating one step at a time. The practice of smashing the enemy's heart in the spring can make the enemy die, save a lot of trouble, and get twice the result with half the effort. Although Zhu Yuanzhang's proposition is safe, it is time-consuming and laborious, and both sides have their own advantages and disadvantages, but Zhu Yuanzhang has the final say, and Chang Yuchun can only reserve his own opinions.

The Ming army surrounded Pingjiang, at this time Pingjiang has become a lonely city, breaking the city is only a matter of time, but Zhang Shicheng is still a trapped beast fight, Zhu Yuanzhang wrote a letter to him, persuading him to follow the example of Dou Rong of the Han Dynasty and Qian Jiao of the Northern Song Dynasty, judging the time, in order to protect the life of the whole family and surrender as soon as possible, Zhang Shicheng ignored it, and continued to organize a breakthrough, in a breakthrough battle, Zhang Shicheng fell off his horse and was injured, was carried back to the city by the soldiers, and never went out of the city again.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked Zhang Shicheng's friend Li Bosheng to persuade him to surrender, and Li Bosheng wrote to Zhang Shicheng, saying: "The fortified cities you relied on at the beginning were Huzhou, Hangzhou and Jiaxing, but now they have all been lost, Pingjiang is already a lonely city, and if you continue to resist, the soldiers are likely to rebel, and then you may not be able to commit suicide, so it is better to comply with the mandate of heaven and express to Nanjing those who return to the righteous. Relief of the people, and then open the gates of the city, put on civilian clothes, and wait for the disposal, so that not only will you be saved, but you may also be made a marquis, and all your territory is like a gamble, and you have gained it from others and lost it to others, what loss will it have to you?"

Li Bosheng's words were reasonable and very punishing, Zhang Shicheng was quite moved, he looked up and said to the envoy: "You go back first, let me think about it." In the end, Zhang Shicheng still refused to surrender, he knew that over the years, he and Zhu Yuanzhang had too deep a grudge, and both sides could not let go.

Zhang Shicheng is a bloody man, he has the ambition to be a broken jade rather than a complete tile, and he has held on to Pingjiang for ten months, perhaps he hopes that the miracle of the Battle of Gaoyou can be repeated, but time has passed, the situation has been completely different, and Lady Luck will not always take care of him.

When Zhang Shicheng was living in hardship, Zhu Yuanzhang was busy dressing up his emperor's new makeup, and he announced that next year would be the first year of Wu, build a temple and a palace room, worship the mountains and rivers, and order the division to enter the palace.

When the Ming army entered the city, Zhang Shicheng led the remnants of the army to fight in the streets, and finally retreated to his home, closed the door and hanged himself, and the general Zhao Shixiong arrived in time to rescue him.

Zhu Yuanzhang gave him another chance, Xu Da sent Li Bosheng, Pan Yuanshao and others to persuade him to surrender, although Zhang Shicheng was already the meat on the board, but still did not give in, in the face of the persuasion, he closed his eyes and did not answer, so the soldiers broke in, carried Zhang Shicheng out, and escorted him to Nanjing.

When Pingjiang was besieged, Zhang Shicheng once said to his wife Liu: "I was defeated and I won't live long, what are your plans?"

Liu said: "Don't worry, I will definitely not disappoint you." ”

On the day of the city's destruction, Liu ordered someone to drive Zhang Shicheng's group of concubines upstairs, set fire to death, and then hanged himself.

Zhang Shicheng was escorted to Nanjing, Li Shanchang of Zhongshu Province sat in the court for interrogation, Zhang Shicheng was silent and arrogant, Li Shancheng scolded loudly, but Zhang Shicheng scolded him for being a dog and a man, Li Shanchang scolded angrily: "You salt lord, you should be executed!"

Zhang Shicheng was escorted to Zhu Yuanzhang, and after the two met, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "What else do you have to say?"

Zhang Shicheng said: "What is there to say? You don't shine on me every day." Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and ordered the warrior to strangle him to death with a bowstring.

The main reason for Zhang Shicheng's defeat was the corruption and degeneration of the ruling group, and he himself took pleasure as his ability to do things, and appointed the political affairs to his younger brother Zhang Shixin, who in turn appointed the political affairs to Huang Jingfu, Cai Wenyan, and Ye Dexin. There is a folk song in Suzhou: "Zhang Wang made a career, relying exclusively on Huang Caiye, and once the west wind rose, it dried up." ”

Huang, Cai, and Ye were later captured when the city was broken, and Zhu Yuanzhang cured them into dried meat and hung them on the city wall of Suzhou in response to the rumor of shriveling.

In addition to corruption, there are two important reasons: the lack of ambition and the failure to build a huge war machine; These two points are just the opposite of Zhu Yuanzhang, but Zhang Shicheng is a loyal person who stresses righteousness and integrity, and is good at soothing the people with grace, so the soldiers are loyal to him, and he implements benevolent governance to the people in the jurisdiction, and is recognized by the people, until the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the people in Susong still call Zhang Shicheng King Zhang, and call Zhu Yuanzhang an old man. Zhu Yuanzhang was very jealous of this, and took cruel revenge on Zhang Shicheng's soldiers and the people in the jurisdiction.

In the past, Zhu Yuanzhang never killed and surrendered in the campaign, and the policy of the captives was to transform and use them, so as to strengthen themselves and disintegrate the enemy army, but in the war against Zhang Shicheng, he went against the norm and instructed Xu Da and others to kill, so at least 40,000 people were killed in the old hall.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhu Yuanzhang imposed heavy taxes on the common people in the Susong area, and relocated a large number of wealthy people in this area to retaliate for their support of Zhang Shicheng. Such a heavy burden, only relying on the land to grow grain can not be supported, only with the replacement of products, to promote the development of Susong handicraft industry, Suzhou vigorously develop the silk weaving industry, become the national silk products center, Songjiang is to vigorously develop the cotton spinning industry, up for taxes, down to pitch, the formation of Songjiang cotton products clothing by the world situation.