Chapter 42 Ling Chi executes traitors, recovers the territory and goes to war

For Emperor Chongzhen, it was easy to handle these traitors who were escorted to Beijing or the Manchu princes. They are all heinous crimes, Ling Chi executed them, and Emperor Chongzhen would not be merciless. But Emperor Chongzhen just wanted to see this Hong Chengchou again. It is said that Hong Chengchou is a capable minister of the Ming Dynasty, with a high and powerful position, and a good reputation, not only for the emperor's dependence, but also respected and loved by his colleagues and subordinates, he should not surrender!

Hong Chengchou is really a very complicated person. He was born on September 22, 1593, in the 21st year of Wanli (1593), and was a native of Xiamei Township, Yingshan Village, 27th Duyingshan, Nan'an County, Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province. Because of his poor family, he dropped out of school at the age of 11 and helped his mother make dried tofu at home. At that time, Hong Qiyin, a talented son of Xixuan Changfang, ran a village school in Shuigou Pavilion, and Hong Chengchou often listened to lectures outside the school hall in addition to selling dried tofu, and occasionally helped students make pairs. Hong Qiyin found that Hong Chengchou was extremely talented and ambitious, and accepted Hong Chengchou as an apprentice for free, so that Hong Chengchou could return to school. Hong Chengchou studied hard and read a lot of books. After studying in the Shuigou Museum for five years, he went to the Quanzhou Chengbei School to study. In the forty-third year of Wanli (1615), the twenty-three-year-old Hong Chengchou went to the province to participate in the township test, and was the nineteenth person in the Chinese style of the Yimao family. The following year, he went to Beijing to take the examination, and even Jiedengke, ranked 14th in the second class of the Bingchen Branch Palace, and was given the background of Jinshi.

Hong Chengchou, who stepped into the official career, repeatedly performed miraculous feats in the encirclement and suppression of the peasant rebel army, because of the good management of the army, the suppression of the peasant uprising won one victory after another, captured and killed Gao Yingxiang, and defeated Li Zicheng many times, and the Ming Dynasty sang loudly, calling Hong Chengchou's army "Hong Army".

In September of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen (1638), the Qing army went south on two roads, captured Zhending, Guangping, Shunde, Daming (Hebei) and other places, Gaoyang was lost, the scholar Sun Chengzong was martyred, Lu Xiangsheng died in Julu, and the Beijing division was under martial law. The Ming Dynasty, which was attacked on both sides, had to transfer the commander Hong Chengchou from the Western Front and lead the army to defend it with Sun Chuanting.

Later, Hong Chengchou was defeated in the battle of Songjin with Huang Taiji. At that time, the Ming Dynasty was a great earthquake, all thought that Hong Chengchou would die, Emperor Chongzhen was extremely sad, stopped the court for three days, and "gave the sacrifice of sixteen altars" to the princely specifications, and one altar on the seventh day, and personally sacrificed on May 10, and also made the "Mourning Hong Sutra" Ming Zhao Tianxia. When the sacrifice reached the ninth altar, the news came: Hong Chengchou was cleared, and the emperor's imperial sacrifice was stopped.

Hong Chengchou's surrender was too great a blow to the Ming Dynasty. For Emperor Chongzhen, the emperor is like a slap in the face.

After Hong Chengchou surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, because he knew the situation of the Ming Dynasty very well, he did his best to give advice to the Emperor Taiji and the Qing Dynasty, and it can be said that he poked at the soft underbelly of the Ming Dynasty everywhere. Emperor Chongzhen thought of this, Hong Chengchou hated the root of his teeth. Now Emperor Chongzhen very much wants to meet this Hong Chengchou who has been escorted back, and wants to have a good talk with him, and tell him why he is so afraid of death? Ask him, when people reach that time, are they so reluctant to die?

Wang Gonggong took a group of prisoners he took from the Yaogang people, and took the barge from the Yellow River into the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal on a tugboat, and went straight to the Jishuitan Wharf in Beijing along the canal. A large number of wooden cage prisoner carts had already been prepared there. As soon as the ship docked, Dolgon and other dignitaries were put into a wooden cage as soon as they disembarked from the dock.

Jin Yiwei and the forbidden army in Beijing escorted the prisoners in the direction of the prison. Originally, there was not much to go to Beijing, but in order to let the people in Beijing see these prisoners, they were specially asked to walk on the streets in wooden cage prison cars. There were so many people who came to see the excitement along the way, and if it weren't for the soldiers, these prisoners would not have made it to the prison, and they would have been torn apart by the hateful crowd. Despite this, the prisoners were covered in vegetable leaves and eggs. Some people threw not only these, but also many people threw stones and tiles, and beat these prisoners with blood all over their faces. People were harassed by the Manchu Qing Dynasty again and again, and it was too bitter to toss. Today, I saw that the regent and prince of the Manchu Qing Dynasty were arrested, and I couldn't express my joy. When they saw the traitors being escorted over, they were even more hateful and wanted to grit their teeth. The people know that the most hateful thing is that these traitors help the Manchus to do evil, otherwise how many people in the Manchus would dare to bare their teeth at the Ming Dynasty with a population of 20,000? Especially that Hong Chengchou, when people think of him, many people have a feeling like eating flies. People shed many tears in their respects of him, but suddenly the news of his surrender came. The soldiers and civilians of the Ming Dynasty couldn't believe it, how could an important minister of the imperial court surrender? People can't accept it. So along the way, the traitors received more gifts of all kinds.

Today's Beijing city is as lively as a festival, and everyone is happily setting off firecrackers to celebrate.

When the prince came to the Forbidden City, he immediately knelt down when he saw Emperor Chongzhen and said, "Your Majesty! All the criminals have been imprisoned! ”

"Good! That's great! It's finally time for this day! Get up! Emperor Chongzhen clapped his hands happily.

Seeing the prince standing up, Emperor Chongzhen asked again: "Is Hong Chengchou alive?" ”

"Alive! Your Majesty, you have spoken, how dare I let him die? The prince gritted his teeth and said, "If it weren't for the emperor's orders, I would have bitten him all the way!" ”

"Come on! His dog meat is not tasty! Emperor Chongzhen rarely joked openly with the prince, "You guys are walking fast on the road!" Didn't expect it to arrive so soon? ”

"Oops! Your Majesty, the tugboat of the kiln gang people is fast! Besides, as soon as the Hongzehu ship, which I was waiting for the Yaogang people in Dengzhou, docked, I immediately put all the prisoners on the wharf with wooden flails and iron chains, tied them with ropes, escorted them to the barge, and rushed to Beijing without stopping. Several generals in Yaogang insisted on keeping me drinking, but I didn't dare. That's how I rushed back! I know the emperor is in a hurry! Hurry up and click them, aren't you going to go to the kiln, Your Majesty? Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen was happy, the prince couldn't stop talking.

Emperor Chongzhen was really happy today, so he didn't train him again, but he also scolded with a smile: "You guy, you haven't forgotten to show that you have a good relationship with the kiln people!" ”

"Oops! Your Majesty! The two generals of the kiln gang who escorted them back, I knew them when they first drove the incoming Qing troops away, we fought side by side on the battlefield together, but at that time they were only small soldiers, and now they are generals! "The prince really began to show that he had an unusual relationship with the kiln people.

"Yes! At that time, Zhang Dongjia of Yaogang was still a businessman in Yaogang who didn't know much about outsiders, but now he is a big man in the world! The people who followed Zhang Dong's family should also follow the chicken dog to ascend to heaven, right? Emperor Chongzhen was very emotional.

"Huh!" The prince hurriedly smiled flatteringly and said, "No matter what position they rise, seeing that I am the person next to the emperor, it is also very polite!" That's right! Your Majesty, I boarded their big ship Hongze Lake this time. Oops! That's a big ship! It's like a hill, they say it's a five-thousand-ton ship. Such a ship drifts across the ocean as if it were on flat ground. ”

"It's also steam-driven?" Emperor Chongzhen is also interested.

"yes!" Wang Gonggong said, "It's much more than the passenger boat we took last time!" But that kind of boat has too deep a draft to enter the Yellow River, let alone the canal! ”

"Alright! Tomorrow I'm going to see our Lord Hong! Go down! After Emperor Chongzhen finished his order, he sent the prince away.

When Emperor Chongzhen came to the prison, the people in the prison had already changed Hong Chengchou into clean prison clothes and was locked in a cell alone. Hong Chengchou, who was waiting for death in frustration, never expected Emperor Chongzhen to come back to see him.

The iron chain of the cell door was taken down, the cell door creaked open, and several people came in with a man in civilian clothes. Hong Chengchou, whose eyes were dizzy, didn't see clearly who came in, thinking that he was going to pass the hall, and he was about to stand up, but someone came and said, "Lord Hong! No need to get up! ”

Hong Chengchou trembled when he heard the voice, raised his head and took a closer look at it by the light of the candle, knelt down with a "plop", and shouted in his mouth: "Long live the emperor!" Hooray! The Emperor ....." Then he was speechless.

At this time, someone moved a chair, and Emperor Chongzhen sat down. Looking at Hong Chengchou, who couldn't help trembling, Emperor Chongzhen said slowly: "I haven't seen Lord Hong for a long time, I really miss you!" However, I heard that Lord Hong mixed well in the Qing Dynasty, so I was relieved! ”

"Your Majesty! I'm damned! Your Majesty, I shouldn't have lived until now! Hong Chengchou couldn't stop kowtowing and said.

Emperor Chongzhen also believed that Hong Chengchou's words must be true at this time.

Emperor Chongzhen sighed and said, "I've been dreaming of having the opportunity to meet you. I just want to ask you, are people really so reluctant to die at that time? ”

"Your Majesty! It's easy to die, but it's even harder to live! Hong Chengchou lay on the ground of the cell and said tremblingly.

"Our Ming Dynasty gave you almost everything we could give you, I don't understand, as an important minister of the court, why did you surrender to the Qing Dynasty? Could it be that Concubine Zhuang went to see you, and Huang Taiji put clothes on you, so you could betray the court? Hearing that you were killed, the entire Ming Dynasty cried, are you worthy of the Ming Dynasty? "Emperor Chongzhen just wants to understand why Hong Chengchou surrendered.

"Your Majesty, the ministers have long been determined to die to the front line in Liaodong, and after the city was captured, he has been on a hunger strike, wanting to be loyal to the court! But Huang Taiji was too powerful, and the minister didn't block his soft knife. Your Majesty, we have never been able to beat the Qing Dynasty, not only that our bows are not strong enough, our knives are not sharp enough, but we also can't fight the Qing Dynasty in our minds! They may seem savage, but they are more united, more scheming! Hong Chengchou kowtowed and said.

"Huh! You Qing Dynasty is so powerful, you haven't been caught here! When I surrendered, I didn't expect it today, right? Although Emperor Chongzhen felt that what Hong Chengchou said made some sense, he felt strange that Hong Chengchou could still speak in such a tone. Just remind Hong Chengchou that you are already a person of the Qing Dynasty and a prisoner of the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty! Those kiln gang people are like devils, you must guard against Zhang Zhimu of that kiln. Hong Chengchou also looked very loyal, which made Emperor Chongzhen feel a little disgusting.

"I said Lord Hong, you are also a great talent, can you have a little integrity! You can't be an official of the Ming Dynasty, you can't be an official of the Qing Dynasty, and when you die, can't you have a little backbone? became a traitor and traitor, and also learned from that Fan Wencheng. Emperor Chongzhen said with some disappointment, "As for the Zhang Dong family, don't say it, compared with others, you are just some ants." That's the grand plan. I don't have to guard against him, if he wants to be the emperor, I'll give it to him. But he said he didn't want to be the emperor. Now the food we use is all given by the kiln gang people, and all our enemies have been destroyed by their troops, what am I doing to prevent them? After dealing with you, I will soon go to the kiln to live for a few days. It's a pity that you can't see what the kiln is like. Do you say it's almost like heaven? ”

"Your Majesty! You can't take risks alone! Hong Chengchou seemed to be very loyal, "Your Majesty, we also came with the boat and Concubine Zhuang of the Qing Dynasty, the little emperor Fulin, and Zu Dashou, none of them were sent to Beijing, you have to guard against them!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen stood up with his mouth covered and said, "Hong Jingluo! You don't say everything, as well as the daughters and children in your family, they were all taken to the kiln by Zhang Dong's family. If I don't even know this, can I still be the emperor? You are now an official of the Qing Dynasty, that is your emperor and mother, how can you betray them? If you don't do well as an official, you can't do a good job! Zhang Zhimu picked them up, firstly, it shows that he is kind-hearted and does not want to see too many people killed, but more because he is far-sighted, how can you and other villains see the clues! It seems that you have been in the Qing Dynasty for so many years, and you have not made much progress, which really disappoints me! After speaking, Emperor Chongzhen covered his nose and walked out of the prison door without looking back in disgust and left.

Emperor Chongzhen, who was out of the prison, suddenly felt relaxed, this Hong Chengchou, who was once very important in his eyes, turned out to be so unbearable. He also constantly reminded himself to guard against the kiln people. In the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen, people like Hong Chengchou mention the people of Yaogang, and some of them are blasphemy against the people of Yaogang.

Leaving the prison, Emperor Chongzhen immediately ordered, "Execute them all as soon as possible!" Don't delay our trip to the kiln! ”

After a few days of preparation, Dolgon, Dai Shan, Hong Chengchou, and Shang Kexi were all executed by Ling Chi.

With the permission of the emperor, the reporter of the kiln gang personally went to the scene and transferred the signal back to the kiln through the high-power radio station for radio broadcasting, and now the live broadcast effect is much better. Throughout the Ming Dynasty, where there was a radio, you could hear the scene. Despite the large number of people and the noise of the scene, the screams of the executioners could still be clearly heard on the radio. The Ming Dynasty is happier than the festival, how many years, the Manchu Qing Dynasty is pressing step by step, constantly breaking through the wall and constantly looting and burning, today the Ming Dynasty can finally take a long breath.

Emperor Chongzhen listened to the radio, but he couldn't sit still excitedly, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty didn't have the heart to discuss anything, and they all listened to the live broadcast of the radio with Emperor Chongzhen. The host of Yaogang Radio used very incendiary language to broadcast the scene very vividly, and even the people who listened to the radio were more immersive than those who really went to the scene to watch the excitement from afar.

Until the execution was over, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty began to argue again that they had various reasons to follow Emperor Chongzhen to the kiln.

Everyone struggled to make Emperor Chongzhen helpless. It turned out that the ministers who went were going to arrange a cabin for them, but later they had to let several adults live in a cabin, and the retinue they brought was finally reduced to one per person, and they all lived in the bottom warehouse and the Chase Shop. Later, some officials said: "If I don't have a position, I can live in a chase shop!" As long as you can follow the emperor's escort, there is a place to stand! ”

As soon as this person spoke, many people also told him to stand and follow. Emperor Chongzhen frowned angrily, and at this time someone suggested: "Your Majesty! Otherwise, please ask the emperor to talk to Zhang Dongjia in Yaogang, how about they send another boat? ”

Emperor Chongzhen said in his heart, what the hell is going on, but he said: "It's not okay to ask someone to send a boat." There are not many ships in this way, and they can't stop on their routes. Unlike us, they have to ensure the transportation first. However, if you are not afraid of hardship, you can take the barge on the tugboat and follow the passenger ship over. Some of us Jinyiwei are going to follow us on barges. In the past two days, you can also set up a good arrangement on the barge. ”

When the ministers who couldn't get in line heard this, they all said, "The ministers are willing to go on a barge!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen said in his heart: "You guys just fucking want to go by yourself, and you tell me to escort me." Can you still escort me? With so many people arriving at Yaogang, it is also difficult for people to make arrangements, I don't know how much Zhang Dongjia will laugh at us people?" However, Emperor Chongzhen also wanted to let them all go to the kiln as much as possible. If there are any changes in the future, they will know in their hearts what is going on!

Just when Emperor Chongzhen's warriors boarded a ship at Jishuitan and sent a telegram to Yaogang, Wei Xiang and his Yalu River had already started fighting again.

The Korean nation really has a bit of tiger energy, and after they knew that the battle with the Yaogang people had to be fought, they hurried to mobilize troops to assemble on the Yalu River. At the same time, hundreds of warships, large and small, also advanced towards the mouth of the Yalu River. When the generals of their navy saw the vast warships on the sea, they felt extremely bold. He knew that there were not many ships coming from the kiln people, and although he had heard of the steam-powered ships of their ships, they all regarded them as a joke when they talked about them. They also heard that the cannon of the kiln gang is very powerful, but they think that no matter how powerful they are, they can't stand up to our ship!

Therefore, as soon as the North Korean naval army came, the mouth of the Yalu River was blocked.

Wei Xiang discussed with the generals of the navy and wanted to destroy the Korean navy first. They felt it best to lead them into the Yalu River, and then attack them so that they didn't have time to escape from the Yalu River, and then destroy them.

After the discussion was settled, at dawn that morning, the Fenzhou warship from Yaogang left the Zhenjiang wharf and sailed down the Yalu River estuary, and when they came to the Yalu River estuary, they had already used the ship's large gun scope to see the large number of North Korean ships at the mouth of the Yalu River clearly.

When the Fenzhou arrived at the mouth of the Yalu River, it deliberately sounded its whistle to scare the North Korean warship and make it look like it was going to rush out, but the North Korean warship was not afraid to stop in front of them. "Knock knock" two cannons, as a result of which a shell hit, the shell directly blew up the bow of the ship, the whole ship slowly fell apart, and the sails fell sideways on the sea.

Seeing the appearance of the warships in Yaogang and fleeing, the enraged North Korean sailors, also after some preparations, several big ships took the lead, pulled up the sails and chased against the current in the Yalu River, they knew that the boats of the Yaogang people who entered the Yalu River had no other way to escape except for the mouth of the river, they chased against the current, and no matter how fast you ran, you will definitely be able to catch up.

Just as the North Korean fleet was chasing to the river in front of Zhenjiang, on the shore, forty-eight 130 cannons of an artillery regiment in Yaogang, as well as infantry guns and mortars of various units, suddenly opened fire. 130 guns shoot flat at wooden boats, that is, one cannon at a time, and one shot will blow up the wooden boat. The massacre went on for a while, and the slightly larger boats on the river were gone. At this time, the North Korean artillery on the other side of the Yalu River began to participate in the battle, and a round of shells hit, and the shells of Yaogang immediately turned around and smashed the North Korean artillery position. The positions of the North Korean artillery have been marked by the Yaogang artillery to shoot Zhu Yuan, and after a batch of shells has passed, the North Korean artillery has no power to fight back.

At this time, although it was not yet the ten-day deadline set by Wei Xiang for the Koreans, the Koreans fired first, and Wei Xiang decided not to be polite. Artillery fire began to cover the riverbank positions laid out by the Koreans. The positions on the banks of the river arranged by the Koreans were nothing more than digging some trap ditches, laying out some horse rejection and thistle terrestris, and then some fences according to previous experience. They don't know anything about anti-artillery holes and the like, so after the shells are covered, the chances of the soldiers staying alive are not high.

The cannons on the Yaogang warships were also fired at the positions of the Korean infantry, and the fortified castles were all working with 203-mm cannons. The speedboats of Yaogang took on the task of dealing with the North Korean sailors, and they quickly rushed over, using 12.7 caliber bullets to punch a series of holes in the waterline of the wooden boats in North Korea. After the speedboat, the North Korean warships began to sink slowly. They were much luckier than the ships that were directly hit by the shells, and they could slowly experience the process of the ship slowly sinking.

The first artillerymen of the North Koreans to fire at the Yaogang people knew that the Yaogang people's cannons were too powerful, but when they reported to the later Korean generals, the generals believed that the Yaogang people's cannons would be as powerful as they said, thinking that they were making excuses for their defeat. So the staffing is very dense. The effect of the cannonball coverage of the kiln men is very good.

Yizhou, which was closest to the Yalu River and closest to Zhenjiang, was finally bombarded by the amphibious artillery commanded by Wei Xiang. Before, Wei Xiang had already sent many leaflets to the city of Yizhou, informing the Han people there to hurry back to the Yalu River, and we would deal a devastating blow to Yizhou. Most of the Han Chinese secretly ran back.

Since the North Koreans believed that the walls of Uiju were strong, the North Korean army used this place as the headquarters of the army. A large number of North Korean troops were also concentrated here. These information, Huang Xin and Wei Xiang, and their scouts are also very clear. Therefore, the shelling of Yiju was carried out in several waves, focusing on 203 and 130 caliber artillery, as well as infantry artillery, 120 heavy mortars, and after a raid, 130 guns were covered with ***. It was night at the time of the bombardment, and after the bombardment of Uiju was ignited by ***, it burned like a huge torch. It burned until dawn, and smoke was still billowing from Uiju.

The North Korean troops who rushed to Uiju to participate in the firefighting, far away from Uiju, felt the hot air roasting their faces, and did not dare to approach any longer, and many North Korean soldiers knelt on the ground and cried, and the scene in front was really miserable. There will be no living people in the crowded city of Uiju, they don't believe that so many people will be gone in one night.

However, as soon as the morning dawned, the landing craft of Yaogang leaned against the east bank of the Yalu River, and as soon as the front deck of the landing craft was opened, the gun wagon rushed to the shore with black smoke, and the soldiers of Yaogang followed ashore!

The battle of the Kiln Gang people to regain the territory has begun!

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New progress in "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty": the Battle of Yashan, the defeat of the Yuan army, the counterattack of the Song army, and the landing in Fuzhou.