New Book Collection: The Rise of Great Powers 1900

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Yang Chao had just sent troops to Hunan and Guangxi, and at the same time sent a message to Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang, asking them to immediately cease fighting.

But at this time, the situation of the Qing army suddenly came from the north.

Hong Chengchou sent sailors from Jingxiang and suddenly attacked Wuchang, but his small boats were no different from planks in front of Yang Chao's big ships, and thousands of ships were buried at the bottom of the river in one day.

But then the Qing infantry attacked Guide from Henan, and attacked Shandong from Beizhili.

Yang Chao did not expect that the Qing army would launch a full-scale attack at this time.

"What a Hong Chengchou. It's disgusting. Look at this is the master, whatever the enemy wants, must be stopped. I wanted to stop Sun Kewang and Li Ding's domestic fight, but he beat me with his life at this time, so that I couldn't spare my hand. Then connived at Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang to fight inwardly. ”

Huang Fengfu was more concerned about the situation in Yunnan: "What if Sun Kewang grabs the emperor and coerces the Holy Zen to let him?" ”

Huangfengfu is more concerned about the issue of the throne.

Yang Chao snorted: "Sun Kewang? He can't win. ”

Huang Fengfu was surprised: "How is this possible? Sun Kewang has 300,000 troops, and Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu have only 60,000 troops. ”

Yang Chao said: "Fighting a war is not about a large number of people. ”

Sure enough, the news of Sun Kewang's defeat soon came.

He had an army of 300,000 and led 200,000 to conquer Li Dingguo, but the generals in his subordinates, Ma Jinzhong, Ma Weixing, and Ma Bao, were all generals of the Ming army in the past, and they were recruited by Sun Kewang, and these people were all attached to Emperor Longwu at all. And Bai Wenxuan, who was ordered by Sun Kewang to be the striker, used to be a subordinate of Dingbei General Ai Nengqi, when Ai Nengqi was. Bai Wenxuan basically controls Ainengqi's old department, and supports Sun Kewang, so Sun Kewang can monopolize power, so he has always trusted Bai Wenxuan, Bai Wenxuan let go of Longwu, and he didn't pursue it. still let Bai Wen choose to be a striker.

However, Bai Wenxuan, the striker, personally ran to Li Dingguo's account, and made an appointment with Li Dingguo to unite with Ma Jinzhong and others to defect in front of the formation, just like that, Li Dingguo's onslaught, coupled with Bai Wenxuan's defection, Sun Kewang's army of 200,000 collapsed in an instant.

I have to sigh that Li Dingguo can fight, and this situation has brought him back. Yang Chao even thought that even if there was no such thing as defection before the battle, Sun Kewang would not be able to defeat Li Dingguo.

However, due to the infighting between Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang, Yang Chao's subordinates easily entered Hunan and Guangxi, Guangxi basically had no troops, Li Dingguo had no defense against Yang Chao at all, and he was already planning to give up Guangxi, because Guangxi was broken. And Yunnan is complete, Li Dingguo led almost all the soldiers and horses back to Yunnan. Those who remained in Guangxi were only some surrendered troops, and these people did not know how many times they had surrendered, and there was no reason not to surrender this time.

Sun Kewang left some troops in Changsha and other places, but as soon as these people heard that Sun Kewang had failed, they also opened the city gate and surrendered.

Yang Chao only used Song Kun and Lu Mo's two general soldiers. It is easy to collect the two provinces, but it is just a paper tiger, if these two places really fight with him, Yang Chao will definitely not be able to defeat it, because the north is pinned down by the Qing army. He was powerless to be distracted at all.

"Find a way to contact our people and tell Sun Kewang that he must not be cleared!"

Although Sun Kewang failed, Sun Kewang's soldiers and horses were still there, and even at this time, Sun Kewang's general Zhang Sheng, who stayed in Yunnan, was storming Kunming City, and the troops stationed elsewhere, if Sun Kewang surrendered to the Qing, would probably follow Sun Kewang.

In the original history, it was because Sun Kewang surrendered to the Qing Dynasty that the situation in Nanming took a sharp turn for the worse and collapsed in an instant, and not long ago, Li Dingguo became a famous king twice and moved the world.

Kunming, Yunnan.

Zhang Sheng was loyal to Sun Kewang, and after Sun Kewang launched the battle to attack Yunnan, Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu personally led the army to the battle, and when the rear was empty, Zhang Sheng immediately began to attack Kunming, to cut off Li Dingguo's back road.

As a result, he didn't expect Li Dingguo to defeat Sun Kewang's return army so quickly, and Ma Bao, who followed Zhang Sheng to attack Kunming, opened fire in the back, processing Zhang Sheng before and after, Zhang Sheng was defeated and fled, and was soon captured by his generals and dedicated to Li Dingguo.

On the other side, Liu Wenxiu led his troops to chase after Sun Kewang.

Sun Kewang fled with his wife and children and more than a dozen personal soldiers, and encountered the city along the way, but no one opened the city to let him in, and at most put some food from the city to him, which can be described as unpopular and unpopular.

fled all the way to Wuchang Mansion, to the north was the Qing army, to the east was the Yang Chao army, Sun Kewang was embarrassed.

Fortunately, the prefect of Wuchang Mansion is Sun Kewang's confidant, and it is impossible for him to be uneasy about people in this important place.

The prefect Wu Fengsheng immediately opened the city gate and welcomed Sun Kewang into the city.

As soon as he entered the Wuchang Yamen, Sun Kewang couldn't wait for Wu Fengsheng to raise his men and horses, and wanted to return to the army to fight Li Dingguo.

"My lord, no! The Wuchang lowland is less than 100 miles, and it is not more than 20,000, and it is really unwise to compete with Li Rebellion! ”

Wu Fengsheng immediately dissuaded.

Sun Kewang said irritably: "Then what do you say?" Li Dingguo's pursuit is coming, and if he doesn't send troops at this time, he has to wait for death! ”

Wu Fengsheng immediately said: "Hong Jingluo sent someone to cross the river. ”

Hong Chengchou has been paying attention to the conflict between Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo, and even did not hesitate to forcibly launch an offensive against Henan and Shandong to contain Yang Chao, so that Yang Chao could not send troops to stop it with peace of mind.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou had already sent people to Wuchang Mansion, but Hong Chengchou's purpose was to persuade Wu Fengsheng to surrender at first, but he didn't know that Sun Kewang would come here, and he didn't even think that Sun Kewang would fail.

It's just that Wu Fengsheng is a shameless literati, or the kind of opportunist who has no loyalty and only seeks fame, so he will take refuge in Sun Kewang, but there is still a kind of traditional righteousness that a scholar dies for a confidant, so as soon as Sun Kewang arrived, he opened the city, and if possible, he was still willing to be a loyal.

It's just that such opportunists are obviously impossible to be upright, and the lobbyist sent by Hong Chengchou, he also entertained him well, and stayed in Wuchang Mansion all the time, and introduced him to Sun Kewang at this time, whether he wants to surrender or not, it depends on Sun Kewang's own.

Soon Sun Kewang saw Hong Chengchou's messenger, this person was a good lobbyist, as soon as he heard that Sun Kewang was here, he keenly felt that this was a godsend, and the time had come for him to make great contributions.

There was no chance to ask Hong Chengchou at all. He made his own decision and promised Sun Kewang the prince and the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Hunan provinces.

With such a high price, Sun Kewang at this time seemed to have no reason to object.

Wu Fengsheng was a little worried: "If you are clear, you have to shave your hair!" ”

Shaving hair is easy to wear, which is exactly what Wu Fengsheng, a literati, is worried about. Hong Chengchou's envoy promised the high-ranking officials Houlu, and was co-opted by the governor of Huguang, and the only requirement was to shave his hair and make it easy to wear, to keep braids, and to wear the official uniform of the Manchu Dynasty.

Sun Kewang said: "Today, Li Dingguo has humiliated the lonely here, and the lonely will not hesitate to pay for the Qing master to avenge the immortal enemy." ”

Obviously, Sun Kewang is a rogue. There are not as many concerns as literati about cutting hair.

He then said: "All the way the people's hearts have changed, and the only way to avoid it is to vote for the Qing Dynasty." ”

"Who said that?"

A voice sounded quickly, and then a man burst in, and the man was extremely embarrassed, covered in mud and water, and his hair was scattered.

Sun Kewang's guards kept pulling this person, but he still forced his way in.

Sun Kewang couldn't help but be taken aback, and waved his hand to retreat the guards. Surprised: "Why is Mr. Xu so embarrassed?" ”

The surname of the person who came was Xu, and his name was Xu Sinan. It is the fourth brother of many men, who is only eighteen years old this year and has not yet married a wife.

Xu Sinan hugged his fists and said: "The prince is polite, follow him all the way, and don't want to rout and plunder everywhere." Fight your way out to get this. It's a little embarrassed, the prince forgive me. ”

Sun Kewang sighed: "Hey. It's all to blame for this king, but in the chaotic battle, he can't take care of Mr. ”

Xu Sinan is the envoy sent by Yang Chao to Sun Kewang's side, and has been responsible for contacting Sun Kewang, his mission is to prevent Sun Kewang from fighting with Li Dingguo, and the current mission is to prevent Sun Kewang from surrendering to the enemy.

After Sun Kewang's defeat. Xu Sinan kept going east, and met Lu Mo, who captured this place, in Changsha, and then he knew that Sun Kewang had gone north to Wuchang, and at the same time knew his new mission, he didn't care about being embarrassed, and immediately felt Wuchang Mansion.

Xu Sinan said: "It's not a pity to die in the lower district, and I don't dare to criticize the prince." But if the prince wants to vote for the tartar, please forgive me for being brave and having to block the prince's future. ”

Sun Kewang's face was slightly red, and the surrender of the Manchus was indeed a bit ugly.

hurriedly explained: "I don't know where Mr. Xu heard this rumor, this is completely slanderous to the king!" ”

Xu Sinan nodded, but he didn't say anything, the city of Wuchang Mansion was full of Yang Chao's spies, and he contacted him as soon as he came, and he didn't know what the situation was.

But he couldn't tear his face, but pretended to be relieved: "It seems that I have indeed heard rumors." Please forgive me! ”

After saying that, he bowed down and bowed.

Sun Kewang made a color, and Wu Fengsheng immediately helped Xu Sinan up.

Xu Sinan said: "I have always thought that King Ji is the husband, and the governor of my family often says that the heroes of this world are nothing more than the King of Ji and the governor. Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu are just clowns who jump off the beam, and the likes of Dolgon and Hong Chengchou are even more barbarians. In my humble opinion, King Ji should not have heroes who do not do it, and go to be a barbarian! ”

Xu Sinan's few words really aroused Sun Kewang's complicated feelings, just now he did decide to defect to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but he felt that there was no way out for a while, and he hated Li Dingguo to death, and he hated to kill his righteous brother immediately.

But as soon as Xu Sinan said at this time, Sun Kewang's proud heart also revived, yes, he was a hero, at least he had always thought so, but he didn't want to decide to go to the barbarians just now, and suddenly felt extremely ashamed.

Seeing Sun Kewang's expression, Xu Sinan knew that his lobbying had poked him in his heart.

At this time, he put it forward: "Most of the governors of my family want to come to respect the king of Ji, and they are willing to join forces with the king of Ji to raise the great cause together, I don't know what the king of Ji wants?" ”

Sun Kewang was suddenly stunned, he didn't expect that at this time, Yang Chao was still willing to win him over, he has no power and no power now, the land is less than 100 miles, and the soldiers are less than 20,000, and Yang Chao has millions of soldiers, and even the Manchu Qing Dynasty is overwhelmed by him, how can he afford the current Sun Kewang?

So Sun Kewang preferred to surrender to the Qing just now, just because he felt that he had taken refuge in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which was more valuable to the Manchu Qing, at least he could give the Manchu Qing a reasonable opportunity to attack Yunguixiang, but for Yang Chao, Yang Chao had already entered Hunan and Guangxi, and Yang Chao didn't care at all.

Another concern is: Yang Chao was just a warlord, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, like the Ming court, was a court, what could Yang Chao give Sun Kewang, and the best result of voting for Yang Chao was to be a pawn and take refuge in the Manchu Dynasty. But it is the prince who is in his body, and the vassal king of the three provinces of the fief.

"The king is a little tired. Please also ask Mr. Xu to talk to Governor Wu in detail. ”

Sun Kewang did not refuse, because it is not a bad way to take refuge in Yang Chao, after all, it always feels a little awkward to surrender to the Manchus, and he is not very optimistic about the future of the Manchus, of course, if there is him Sun Kewang, the Manchus will definitely be able to enter Yunguixiang and once again have an advantage. If there is no hope for his grandson, I am afraid that the stalemate continues, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty will not be able to consume Yang Chao in the end.

Sun Kewang is very jealous of Yang Chao's annual finances and taxes, and he is also very jealous of the wealth in Jiangnan, and sometimes he even thinks that if he had such strong financial resources, he would have gone to Beijing a long time ago, but Yang Chao has been grinding and chirping for so many years, and he has been in a stalemate with the Manchu Qing Dynasty. It's really incompetent.

Maybe according to the high-pressure policies that Sun Kewang only played with Yungui, such as collecting half of the people's harvest as grain tax. Yang Chao will definitely receive more grain, but he will never be able to get so much money, and the commercial money-making model and the agricultural money-making model are not the same in terms of scale.

It's just that Sun Kewang doesn't understand, what he doesn't understand is. If Yang Chao scrapes the land poorly, it is impossible to scrape 20 million taels, but if he issues bonds and borrows money, he will be able to receive tax revenue for the next three to five years.

Sun Kewang Shi Ran left, he asked Wu Fengsheng to talk to Xu Sinan first, planning to see what conditions Yang Chao could give him. If the conditions are similar to those of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, or even slightly worse, it will be recognized, and it is better to vote for Yang than for Qing.

Xu Sinan's brain was spinning rapidly, Sun Kewang asked him to talk to Wu Fengsheng, and he knew that Sun Kewang was tempted.

He quickly analyzed Sun Kewang's mentality, as well as Sun Kewang's current situation, and what Sun Kewang wanted, and soon felt that he was sure to win.

"The prince of my family has great righteousness, Hong Chengchou promised to take the position of the king, the land of the three provinces, and my king also refused! Governor Yang was only willing to mediate, which was too petty. ”

Wu Fengsheng was very dissatisfied with Xu Sinan's conditions.

Xu Sinan immediately laughed: "Wangjue? Three provinces! ”

Wu Fengsheng snorted: "What are you laughing at? ”

Xu Sinan has always been in Sun Kewang's army, and Sun Kewang's subordinates all know him, but Wu Fengsheng doesn't know him, and he doesn't know that this young boy is a difficult character to deal with.

Xu Sinan smiled: "The king of the barbarians? Doesn't Lord Wu think it's funny? With the king of Ji who is personally crowned by my eldest son, how can he not compare to the barbarians? ”

Wu Fengsheng was speechless for a while, this is very right, Sun Kewang's King Ji was sealed by Zhu Cihuan, the son of the Great Tomorrow, and he is better than the so-called prince of the Manchu Qing Dynasty no matter how he looks at it legally.

But Wu Fengsheng was unconvinced and said: "Hong Chengchou is the land that promised three provinces." ”

Xu Sinan laughed even more: "Zheng Zhilong's three provinces? ”

Hong Chengchou also promised Zheng Zhilong the land of the three provinces, but the result of Zheng Zhilong was clear to everyone, and he was placed under house arrest in Beijing by the Qing court.

Wu Fengsheng was completely speechless.

simply asked, "What can Governor Yang give?" ”

Yang Chao couldn't just let Sun Kewang surrender with white teeth, he had to come up with something practical.

Xu Sinan said: "King Ji is already a prince. As for the domain, the governor of the capital thought that King Ji had made great contributions to the country through Yungui and should be crowned Guizhou! ”

"Guizhou?"

Wu Fengsheng smiled dumbly, Guizhou is a barren land, the sky is not three feet high, the ground is not three feet flat, just one Guizhou, just want to send Sun Kewang?

The most important thing is that Wu Fengsheng is Sun Kewang's subordinate, and his honor and disgrace are tied to Sun Kewang's body.

Xu Sinan sighed: "Lord Wu will discuss with King Ji first." Although Guizhou has few people and a narrow land, if it goes north through Jingxiang and west through Sichuan and Shu, it is a promising place. ”

Then Xu Sinan stood up lightly and said leisurely: "I don't like to hear what I said." King Ji deigned to Wuchang Mansion, Li Dingguo's chasing troops are about to arrive, and there is my Jiangnan Navy Master on the river, which can be described as a loss of ground, and want to surrender? I have to see if most of my family governors say yes! ”

Wu Fengsheng was already full of anger, this Xu Sinan was not here to lobby at all, he was here to humiliate them.

Xu Sinan gently patted Wu Fengsheng's shoulder.

"Tell King Ji that if the Tartar can't give it to him, my family can give it. He went to Guizhou, and my family helped him recall the old department! ”

After speaking, he smiled and left, leaving Wu Fengsheng, who had reached the limit of the explosion. (To be continued......)