Chapter 13 Officials Wisely Open the Door and Offer the City

The soldiers and civilians of Zhaoqing Mansion held on so stubbornly that they did not surrender, and finally the soldiers rushed into the city and almost slaughtered the city. Zhang Zhimu also didn't expect such a result. originally thought that without Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, there would be no big battles in the affairs of Liangguang. Even the superiority of the Yaogang people's naval army was useless, so they sent an army to march to Liangguang. Zhang Zhimu felt a little careless. In a riverside city like Zhaoqing, it may be easier to fight with the naval warships of Yaogang. The kind of 230 mm cannon bombarding the city wall is not comparable to the 130 caliber cannon. By the time Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He returned from Datong, the Yaogang army had completed the encirclement of Guangzhou.

The prefect in Guangzhou had seen Zhang Zhimu, and he had already reached his term of office, but the imperial court did not send a new official to take over, and the prefect could not leave his post. In fact, he can't go back to Beijing now after leaving office, because the land route is not accessible at all.

Previously, after receiving the secret telegram from Yaogang, the Yaogang branch in Guangzhou took the handwritten letter from Zhang Zhimu prepared in advance to secretly see the prefect of Guangzhou, and informed the prefect as an old friend: Yaogang is about to take over Guangdong, please cooperate as much as possible, and we will take care of the old friend. If it is really inconvenient, please do not set up obstacles, and your lordship also knows that with the current strength of Guangdong, it is powerless to confront us. When we went to Guangdong, we were actually restoring order to the imperial court, and Guangdong had been far away from the imperial court for too long, and it was time for unified management.

The prefect of Guangzhou was an official personally sent by the imperial court, and he also had a lot of connections in the capital, so he certainly knew the Yaogang people very well. He knew that the Yaogang people were coming to take over Guangdong, although they couldn't stop it. But his family is in Beijing, and they can't cooperate with the kiln gang people to do anything, otherwise he will end up with a full house. However, the kiln gang personnel informed themselves in advance that they also regarded themselves as friends, and they also said what they should say, and they really couldn't do anything against the kiln gang people. Therefore, the prefect kicked the ball out and said to the visitor: "Go back and tell Zhang Dongjia that I am his friend, but I am also an official of the imperial court, and I will not do anything sorry for my friend, nor will I do anything that will damage the imperial court." Especially here in Guangzhou, there are commanders, political envoys, and inspectors, and when there is a war, they are all older than our officials, and I must obey their orders. ”

After the Yaogang People's Army surrounded Guangzhou, the city of Guangzhou was in chaos. In fact, they had already received reports of the advance of the Yaogang people, especially after Zhaoqing was besieged, and sent people to them several times to ask for support. However, whether it was the commander of Guangdong, the political envoy, or the inspection envoy, they all knew that they had no way to confront the Yaogang people, and they also knew that the Yaogang people sent a three-way army to march into Guangdong, and they were determined to take Guangdong as soon as possible. Now the relationship between the emperor and the kiln people is not ordinary, and the entire expenses of the court are provided by the kiln people. According to the newspaper of Yaogang, at the request of the emperor, the people of Yaogang are now building a large number of projects in the city of Beijing, and they want to build power plants, shopping malls, and branches in the city of Beijing, so that the ministers of the court and the central government who have been blocking the emperor do not dare to challenge the emperor, which shows that the relationship between the people of Yaogang and the emperor is not ordinary. The Yaogang people took Jiangxi and gave Zuo Liangyu to the emperor, but the emperor executed Ling Chi. The Yaogang people took Fujian, and Zheng Zhilong was also caught by the Yaogang people. The emperor didn't say a word. Now Yaogang marches into Guangxi and Guangdong, whether it has been agreed with the emperor I don't know, we can't fight the Yaogang people now, even if we fight, I don't know whether it's right or wrong.

Therefore, when the prefect of Zhaoqing asked for help, the three adults in Guangdong deliberately shirked each other, and no one gave Zhaoqing an accurate reply. When the Yaogang people washed Zhaoqing in blood, they all felt that the prefect of Zhaoqing was a fool, and they fought hard with the Yaogang people, didn't they hit the stone with an egg? So many people died in vain. But no one can say that.

There were a lot more troops gathered in Guangzhou than in Zhaoqing, but when the commander of the envoy met with the political envoy and the envoy, he said: "It is impossible for us to resist the attack of the Yaogang people with these troops." It is said that when they were in Zhaoqing, a single shot of the cannon blasted the city wall open a hole thirty or forty zhang wide. If there is a war, we will have to be loyal to the court! ”

"We are not afraid of death, as officials of the imperial court, we should be loyal when the court is in trouble." After the political envoy finished speaking, he changed his words and said, "The question is, are the Yaogang people our enemies?" All their actions were on order. Now we don't have any news from the imperial court, so we really don't know if we should be at peace with the Yaogang people? Don't finish the war, we have all become Zuo Liangyu, then I'm sorry for the Guangdong fathers, and I also ruined myself. ”

The commander stomped his feet and said, "Hey! That's right! We eat the court, and the court is in trouble, and we should repay it with death. But first we have to ask whether this battle should be fought. You see, so many people have died in Zhaoqing, it's hard to say whether the prefect of Zhaoqing can be regarded as loyal to the court in the future, what kind of thing is this? ”

According to the inspector, it was clear that what these two said was impassioned, but they were actually trying to find a reason not to fight. In this way, he knew what to do in his heart, "I said, I think what Lord Chen said is right, we should first find out whether the Yaogang people came to take over Guangdong or not. If it is the intention of the imperial court, then we will not only fight in vain, but also have a fault. Isn't it? ”

"That's right!"

"Lord Li is right!"

The commanders and political envoys can be regarded as finding a reason.

Lord Chen, the commander of the capital, asked: "Lord Li, what do you mean, we sent people out of the city to ask the people of Yaogang, is it the imperial court that agrees to them to come?" ”

Without waiting for the inspector Li to answer, the political envoy Lin said: "You don't need to go out of the city, the Yaogang people are all in our Guangzhou City, let's just go and ask them!" ”

"No, no," said Master Li, shaking his head, "we can't ask them, they're just a semicolon." After speaking, Master Li took a sip of the tea bowl, so he paused profoundly.

"Oops! When, Lord Li, we're tied together, don't play with this! "The commander made Lord Chen a little anxious.

"yes!" The political envoy Lord Lin was also not satisfied.

"Don't worry! Someone has long reported to me that the prefect of Guangzhou has close contacts with the people of Yaogang. Before the Yaogang people marched into the army, there were also people from the Yaogang branch who entered the Guangzhou prefect. After Lord Li finished speaking, he took another sip of the water bowl, and the commanders and envoys were all wondering what Lord Li meant. The heart said, this Master Li played deeply, silently, and caught the pigtail of the Guangzhou prefect, did he have anything to do with this guy?

Looking at the expressions of the two of them, Master Li knew very well what they were thinking, and this was also his deliberate show to them, "Don't be foolish, two adults." We're tied together now. In my opinion, let's ask the prefect of Guangzhou to contact the kiln gang people and see what the kiln gang people mean? Did they come to take over Guangdong, did they get the permission of the imperial court? And how are they going to deal with us? Speaking of this, Lord Li deliberately moved his head closer to them, and the two of them also leaned their heads closer at the same time. According to the inspector, Lord Li looked at the two adults and said, "At this time, we can't help but think a little about our family!" To say a big disrespectful word, how can the imperial court lose so many soldiers and civilians and ignore it? None of us are afraid of death, shouldn't we think about it for our families? ”

"yes!"

"yes!"

What both of them wanted to say, they couldn't help but nod in agreement when Master Li said it.

The commander said: "Since Lord Li has said this, I will boldly say that I don't want a tragedy like Zhaoqing to happen in Guangzhou again." It doesn't matter if I live or die, as long as the people of Yaogang can send my family to Yaogang, I will recognize it as a five-horse clone! ”

"Good! I'll say it too! Lord Li, you can ask the prefect of Guangzhou if he can talk to the people of Yaogang. My demand is the same, we can't let the soldiers and civilians in Guangzhou be slaughtered like this again. My request is the same as that of Master Chen, and I also have to think about my family. The political envoy also boldly told the truth.

According to the inspector, Lord Li clapped his hands and said, "Okay! In this case, the three of us are bound together, and we will die together. After speaking, Lord Li stretched out his hand, and the commander and the political envoy also stretched out their hands, and the three hands were clasped together. The three of them were at a critical juncture of life and death, and after some temptation, they finally decided to tie their fates together.

When the prefect of Guangzhou was invited to the yamen of the inspection envoy, he was also a little apprehensive in his heart, his family background was not worse than that of the commanders, political envoys, and inspection envoys here, and their positions were not appointed by them, nor could they move, but they were their own officials after all, especially when the Yaogang people were besieging the city, and when he was busy with the prefect, he asked himself not to know why?

Now there is no time for too much greetings according to the inspector, and to be polite, the envoy directly asked: "Lord Wang, now that the people and soldiers of Yaogang are coming to the city, I think you have also heard about the tragedy in Zhaoqing." I know that you have a long history with the people of Yaogang. I would like to ask you whether the Yaogang people have obtained permission from the imperial court to come to Guangzhou this time. We have been losing contact with the imperial court, don't make a misunderstanding? ”

When the prefect heard the words of the envoy, he was shocked and hurriedly said: "Master Li, I am the prefect of Guangzhou, and I will inevitably have contacts with people from all walks of life below. But there is no personal relationship! ”

"Isn't it! Lord Wang, "according to the inspector, there is no ambiguity," since Zhang Dongjia from Yaogang first came to Guangdong, you have seen him. He also said goodbye to you when he left. Every year since then, they have stayed in Cantonese and have gone to see you more than once. After the opening of their branch, you also went to them with microservices. Isn't it? Mrs. Wang. ”

Although the prefect's family has a background in the capital, but now that the Yaogang soldiers are coming to the city, according to the inspection envoy at this time, he can kill him with the commander of the capital and the political envoy for the crime of collaborating with the enemy. The prefect immediately knelt down with sweat on his back and said, "My lord is aware that I have dealings with the people of Yaogang, but I have no second thoughts about the court. Adults are aware of it! ”

"Oops! Lord Wang, get up quickly. I don't mean anything else, this is a matter of life and death, the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Guangzhou, I want to ask you to contact the people of Yaogang to see if they are coming by order, if they are coming by order, we should open the city and invite people into the city. The people of Guangzhou will be spared this catastrophe! Lord Li helped up the prefect of Guangzhou and said.

The prefect of Guangzhou said, "My lord, I can do this request of yours. However, if they reply that it is approved by the imperial court, and there is no holy decree, how can we judge the truth or falsehood? ”

At this time, Lord Li stood up and stared at the prefect and said, "I have discussed this matter with Lord Chen and Lord Lin, and I am here to tell you about this on their behalf." We need a commitment from them, we don't want the tragedy in Zhaoqing to happen again in Guangzhou! ”

At this time, the prefect also understood what Lord Li meant, and said, "I can go to the people of Yaogang and tell them what the Lord meant." If possible, I will try to get them not to attack Canton for the time being. Invite someone who has the final say to come and meet the adults! ”

"It would be great if that were the case! The lives of hundreds of thousands of our soldiers and civilians in Guangzhou will be handed over to you, Lord Wang, please! He shook the hand of the prefect and said.

The prefect left, and according to the inspection envoy, the yamen went to the Yaogang branch. The prefect didn't know why the Yaogang people didn't remove the semicolon, could it be that the Yaogang people were so crazy that they thought that no one in Guangzhou dared to touch them?

In fact, it is impossible for the Yaogang branch not to prepare, and they have already hidden the important accounts. The people who stay outside are ordinary guys and the like, and generally no one has a hard time with them. And the kiln people really think that they don't dare to touch them. If you want to move them, you really have to consider the revenge of the kiln people.

The prefect came to the Yaogang branch, and finally found the person who came to deliver the letter last time through the guys. Dragged this person to the secret room and explained the situation. This man immediately entered the secret room inside, and after a while, he came out again and led the prefect to turn left and right, and I don't know how far he went, until he came to a room where there was no light on all sides.

After sitting down, the man said to the people of the government: "Our commander-in-chief wants to talk to you!" ”

"What? Your commander-in-chief has entered the city? The prefect asked.

"Nope! Our commander-in-chief is going to talk to you on the radio, so wait a minute. After saying that, the person lifted it up and kept covering the radio and adjusted the frequency, "Hey, hey! "Hello!" After a call, he turned on the radio and said to the prefect: "The radio is the commander-in-chief of our operation to march into the two Guangzhous, Chief of Staff Qin Peng. Chief of Staff Qin turned out to be the Chief of Staff of the General Staff, and we are all used to calling him Chief of Staff! You can talk to him on the radio. ”

All this made the prefect a little flustered, and when the prefect hurriedly put on the headphones and picked up the microphone, Qin Peng's voice came from the headphones: "Hey, hey! Hello! It's the prefect! I'm Qin Peng! ”

Hearing Qin Peng's voice through the headphones, the prefect was a little uncomfortable, and said very nervously: "Yes, yes!" It's me! Hello, Qin, Chief of Staff Qin! The prefect was nervous and slurred. But after saying this, the prefect also calmed down a little, and the more he spoke, the more fluent he became.

The prefect quickly made clear the opinions of the three adults of the three divisions of Guangdong. Qin Peng also readily agreed: first, immediately send someone into the city to negotiate with them; Second, there will be no attack until the talks are over.

The rest is easy. The commanders of the three armies personally led people into the city to negotiate with the commanders, political envoys, envoys, and prefects. After listening to the content of the negotiation, the prefect fainted out of breath. The three adults, who are usually righteous and awe-inspiring, basically did not make any requests except for the things arranged by their own families. When the prefect saw me, he also had to make a request, and his request was that the people of Yaogang should go to the capital to take his family out, and before the news of Guangdong spread. This is certainly not a problem.

The commanders of the three armed forces agreed at that time, and then the prefect mentioned that our officials at all levels in Guangdong should make arrangements?

The prefect's request made the three adults of the three divisions blush a little, they just cared about the retreat of their families, and they didn't expect those of their own subordinates.

This matter has already been studied and considered by Qin Peng before the army commander enters the city.

The commander of the three armies made a suggestion, saying: "Since we were sent by the imperial court to take over Guangdong. Then with the cooperation of the four adults, we will take over the whole of Guangdong peacefully. It's better if the adults help us do the work of the local officials. For those officials who still want to work with my kiln gang people, they can go to kiln gang and Hankou for training right away. After the training, we have a lot of things for everyone to do. Wouldn't that be better? ”

When the four of them heard this suggestion, they all applauded!

The commander said: "Before I entered the city, I told Mr. Zhang in Yaogang about your situation. Mr. Zhang said, we will not forget your achievements. When Guangdong is stable, I will definitely invite you to Yaogang. Rest assured about your family's affairs. The kiln people will receive them as honored guests. ”

Needless to say, the four adults suddenly had the feeling of a new life, they had long been worried about their future, and now they had joined a more promising camp, and the gloom of the past was swept away.

There are still nearly 100,000 officers and soldiers in the whole of Guangdong, and it is impossible for them all to be integrated into the Yaogang army. However, Qin Peng knew that the large-scale construction in Guangdong was about to begin, and several large-scale engineering teams would be set up in Guangdong. If those demobilized officers and soldiers are willing to look for a stable job, they can join these engineering corps.

The four adults, after listening to this suggestion, although they were not very satisfied, they also knew that it was impossible for the kiln gang people to take over all of them, and there was no way to do it.

According to the agreement, the officials and soldiers in the city of Guangzhou drove out of the city, and the army and officials and police of Yaogang entered the city to take over Guangzhou.

The four adults were very suitable for the work of the kiln, and they personally issued official documents and sent people to lead the officials, police, and army of the kiln gang to take over the various towns and cities. In this way, the work went far more smoothly than originally imagined.

After the Yaogang people entered the city of Guangzhou, several city gates were opened. The people were allowed to come and go freely, and everything in Guangzhou was running as usual.

Qin Peng, who was commanding the army, officials, and police to take over the city of Guangzhou, was looking at the map hanging on the wall with great interest, when suddenly the soldiers reported: "Commander Liu Chenghuang has arrived!" ”

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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.