readsfreenovel Chapter 357 Datong (Part )
Chapter 357 Datong (Part )
"Jiang Xiang wants to rebel!"
Hearing Meng Jun's words, Meng Bian hesitated and replied, "Your Majesty, although Jiang Xiang's eldest son died of illness, isn't it a bit arbitrary to conclude that he was going to rebel just based on this?"
Meng Jun shook his head and said, "This person will definitely rebel, but I don't know when."
Meng Bian sighed and said, "If there is a change in Shanxi, I'm afraid it will be out of reach since we are so far away."
Meng Jun hesitated for a moment and said, "It would be best if Jiang Xiang could delay for another year or two. The war will end soon. The shogunate is no longer able to support a large-scale war."
If Jiang Xiang wanted to contact Meng Jun, he had to talk to someone who had enough say. Originally, Meng Hong was a very suitable candidate, but Meng Hong had just married a few days ago and was in the honeymoon period. Sending him to Shanxi was a long journey, and Meng Jun also felt that Meng Hong's old bones might not be able to survive such a long distance.
After thinking it over again and again, Meng Jun looked at Meng Bian and said, "Bian, it seems that you have to go there in person."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Meng Bian replied solemnly, and then asked, "Just what do you want to discuss specifically?"
"Contact them first. If they are willing to surrender, that would be the best. If they just want to unite, that's fine too. But tell Jiang Xiang that if we start now, our army won't be able to help. If possible, it would be best to delay until next year!"
"Yes, I'll leave immediately!"
…………
Ever since Meng Jun personally led an expedition to Huguang and defeated the Qing army, and Duoduo died, the situation in the world has become increasingly confusing. Although the Qing court suffered a severe blow, it still occupied the entire north and had Mongolia as an ally.
Although Meng Jun in the south had a strong military force and no one dared to challenge him, there were many forces in the south, including Zheng, Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang, and the Yongli court, which was nominally the ruler of the world but was actually a puppet.
However, in Jiang Xiang's view, Meng Jun, who rose from the grassroots and was not a bandit, was more reliable in unifying the world.
Jiang Xiang was from Yanchuan County, Shaanxi Province. His family had been generals of the Ming Dynasty for generations. His eldest brother Jiang Rang was the general of Yulin, Shaanxi Province, his younger brother Jiang Xuan was the deputy general of Yanghe, Shanxi Province, and Jiang Xiang was the general officer of Datong.
Li Zicheng was defeated and fled Beijing, and Jiang Xiang changed his mind. In June of the 17th year of Chongzhen, Jiang Xiang led his army to kill the Dashun Army's garrison commanders Ke Tianxiang and Zhang Tianlin. Jiang Xiang then surrendered to the Qing court's Prince Ying Ajige and was still appointed as the general.
But after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, his life was not smooth. In July of the second year of Shunzhi, Jiang Xiang arrived in Beijing. He was accused by the Qing court of still using the Chongzhen reign title to issue titles to civil and military officials after he surrendered to the court.
Jiang Xiang explained that when the Qing troops first entered the pass, people's hearts were undecided, so they had to take some expedient measures and did not dare to have any second thoughts.
Finally, Dorgon ordered his men to reprimand Jiang Xiang, and then announced: "The Qing Dynasty is lenient now. The king has ordered that merits and crimes be judged, and the past will not be pursued. You are ordered to stay in Datong, cleanse your mind, and do your best to repay the country's great kindness."
Jiang Xiang thought that he had handed over the Datong area to the Qing court without spending a single soldier, and then defeated the Dashun Army in Yulin, Shaanxi. Not only was he not rewarded for his great achievements, but he was also suspected. He was full of resentment, but he had to kowtow to express his gratitude.
In the days that followed, the Qing government used military forces in southern Shaanxi and Sichuan, and had repeatedly requisitioned manpower and material resources from Shanxi. It even drew on its subordinate Yang Zhenwei and 6,000 infantry when it marched into Huguang and the southern expedition against Meng Jun.
If that were the case, it would have been fine. However, Ajige was in charge of Datong and killed innocent people indiscriminately because of the order to shave their heads. On the way, he met Qin Hanlin, a subordinate of Jiang Xiang, who was going to pick up his bride. The bride was snatched away by Ajige on the street. Jiang Xiang went to them to ask for the bride in person, but was humiliated and chased out. Jiang Xiang was furious and immediately led his personal soldiers to surround Ajige's mansion, forcing Ajige to release the bride. The bride hanged herself that night when she returned. Since then, there have been constant conflicts and disputes between Jiang Xiang and Ajige.
But with the defeat of the Qing army in Huguang and the death of Duoduo, Jiang Xiang felt that perhaps the time had ripened. As for the Yongli court in the south, Jiang Xiang was dismissive of it. Only as for the Meng Zhou forces, Jiang Xiang believed that they must have the ambition to unify the world, and most importantly, Meng Jun was still so young.
Duoduo was defeated, but Jiang Xiang believed that the Qing army was not invincible. Moreover, even Wu Sangui saw the weakness of the Qing court and occupied prefectures and counties privately, which was tantamount to separatism. So with his influence in Shanxi for many years, it would be easy for him to control Shanxi.
Especially after his eldest son died of illness in Beijing, Jiang Xiang's last bit of worry no longer existed. However, before launching the rebellion, Jiang Xiang still wanted to contact Meng Zhou first, hoping that he would send troops to launch a large-scale northern expedition.
…………
In Beijing.
Lu Ping had quietly moved the families of Chen Shaozong and Ke Yongsheng away. The Qing court had not received the news of Chen Shaozong and Ke Yongsheng's surrender to Zhou, so it was not on guard at all.
At first, the Chen and Ke families did not believe the words of the Qingluan Guard spies and even threatened to report to the authorities. It was not until the Qingluan Guards produced the handwritten letters and personal belongings of Chen and Ke that the two families realized that Chen Shaozong and Ke Yongsheng were not killed in battle, but surrendered to Zhou.
More than ten days after the transfer, the Qing court discovered that the families of Chen and Ke's families had all disappeared, and the time of their disappearance was surprisingly consistent. Only then did they issue arrest warrants to capture people from the two families, and conduct a strict investigation of suspicious persons in Beijing.
In the pen shop.
Song Zhong sat on a tea chair and said to Lu Ping angrily, "They're just arguing about arresting spies. It's just taking advantage of the situation to extort money. In just these two days, the government took two taels of silver. You say I make a living by making coffins. How much money can I make? If the government continues to arrest me like this, I will have to close my shop."
"Didn't you earn several hundred taels of silver last time? What are you afraid of with just two taels of silver?" Lu Ping said with a smile.
Just then, a man's voice came from outside the store: "It seems we haven't been to this store yet, right? Let's go in and take a look."
The shop door, which was already open, was kicked hard again, and three ferocious yamen runners walked in with a swagger.
Seeing Lu Ping and Song Zhong drinking tea, one of them sneered and said, "How leisurely and elegant you are! The court is catching spies, and you are not worried at all. I'm afraid you have something to hide!"
The yamen runner looked around the shop coldly, then slammed his sword hard on the tea table. The vibration caused the two men's tea cups to fall onto the table.
Song Zhong shuddered all over and stood up immediately. The police officer was quite satisfied and sat down with a big horse and a golden knife. He said to Lu Ping: "Are you the shopkeeper?"
Lu Ping also stood up and replied with a smile: "If you are an official, it is the smaller one."
"Where were you ten days ago?"
"To answer your question, I open my shop every day. It's a small business and I don't dare to stop for a day. The neighbors can all testify to this."
"Hmm." The clerk nodded and rubbed his fingers but did not say anything. Upon seeing this, Lu Ping immediately took out three coins of silver from the counter.
Then Lu Ping smiled and said, "The police officer has worked hard patrolling the streets. I'd like to invite him to have some tea."
"Hmm, hmm, hmm." The police officer's expression became visibly amiable. He weighed the silver with his hand and said with a fake smile, "If it were just me, it would be enough for me to drink tea. But for the three of us, we can't have one cup of tea for each of us to drink in turn. Boss, don't you think this makes sense?"
Lu Ping's smile froze, and he nodded and said, "Yes, yes, yes, I was inconsiderate."
The three police officers left contentedly. Lu Ping looked at their departing figures and said angrily, "Everything will change. There will always be a day like that!"