Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 404: Changes in Qingyang

Five and a half months have passed since Meng Jun appointed Zhao Yongping as the commander-in-chief and led the Northern Expedition from Huai'an. Along the way, they were unstoppable. To Zhao Yongping, it seemed natural, yet a little unbelievable.

Since the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, it has won every battle. The Eight Banners were extremely arrogant and claimed that their military might was invincible in the world. However, now, only six years have passed and the country's situation has become increasingly decadent. This is undoubtedly a great irony.

As the saying goes, attacking a city is inferior to attacking the heart. To conquer the enemy without fighting is the most brilliant strategy.

Lu Fengchun surrendered, and people from all over Shandong followed Meng Jun. This was because the people in the north were in a state of unrest and the Qing army was weak. Throughout the dynasties, there had been almost no forces that could conquer the world. In the later period, every city had to be conquered one by one. Just like during the Chongzhen period, there was a saying that "Chuan Ting's death meant the Ming Dynasty's demise." After Sun Chuanting's defeat, Li Zicheng, except for a bloody battle with Zhou Yuji at Ningwu Pass, all other cities were conquered by issuing proclamations. Even the capital was a piece of cake for Li Zicheng.

After taking over Shandong, except for Gao Jinku's troops who continued to go to Dengzhou, Zhao Yongping's troops returned to Jinan. Gao Jinku had captured Prince Lekedehun and dealt a heavy blow to the Qing court. Dorgon responded by beheading Gao Jinku's wife and children. Gao Jinku had a blood feud with the Qing court. After careful consideration, Meng Jun felt that sending Gao Jinku to Liaodong might have some miraculous effects.

And Hauge in Yuncheng, after receiving the news that Lü Fengchun had committed suicide and Shandong had been completely returned to Zhou, immediately ordered his subordinates to stop looting and retreat to Daming Prefecture.

Since entering Sichuan, Hauge's troops have hardly stopped fighting. After retreating to Daming Prefecture, Hauge decided to ignore Dorgon and led his troops directly northward, passing through Guangping, Shunde, and Hejian prefectures, and finally returned to Beijing.

After Hauge withdrew his troops, Meng Jun suddenly felt inspired and took a group of civil officials to visit Thousand Buddha Mountain outside the city of Jinan.

Thousand Buddha Mountain was called Lishan in the Han Dynasty. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was also called Shunshan because of the Shun Temple built on the mountain. During the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian carved caves and built a thousand Buddha statues and constructed the Thousand Buddha Temple, hence the name Thousand Buddha Mountain.

Meng Jun looked at the Buddha statues in Thousand Buddha Mountain, then turned around and looked at the thousands of soldiers guarding all the way from the bottom of the mountain to the top. He couldn't help but feel excited in his heart. Thanks to his efforts, history has been completely reversed, and the dawn of victory seems to be just around the corner.

Meng Jun and Gu Yanwu were walking and chatting. Gu Yanwu said to Meng Jun, "Most of these Buddha statues were carved during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. They are more than a thousand years old."

Hearing this, Meng Jun replied in a daze, "Things have changed, people have changed, the stone Buddha is still there, but the Sui Dynasty has long since disappeared. Even the heyday of the Tang Dynasty only lasted three hundred years, and the same was true for the Song and Ming dynasties. Mr. Gu, if the country is unified in the future, can this cycle be broken?"

Gu Yanwu pondered for a long time before shaking his head and saying, "I don't know either, but in all dynasties, when a country reaches its end, most of the people are landless and have no means of living, so civil unrest breaks out everywhere. Once a large-scale civil unrest occurs in a dynasty, even if it can be quelled, it is just a protracted survival."

Meng Jun did not reply, but walked forward slowly. At the beginning of the uprising until before the battle of Huguang, Meng Jun had no time to take care of these things. However, seeing that the Qing court was getting worse day by day, the affairs of governing the country also came to Meng Jun's mind.

The two walked for a while before Gu Yanwu brought up the topic of sending a detachment to Liaodong.

Gu Yanwu said, "Your Majesty, General Gao is about to cross the sea. In my opinion, it would be better to announce the fact that the army is about to cross the sea to attack Liao. In this way, perhaps the Qing court dignitaries can withdraw from the interior and return to Liaodong."

Meng Jun pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said with a smile: "Mr. Gu's words are a little inappropriate. Now Dorgon has withdrawn the troops outside the Great Wall to fight in the Great Wall. This will make them come from thousands of miles away. When the two armies confront each other, news will come from the rear that Shengjing is threatened. This will surely make Dorgon at a loss!"

Gu Yanwu thought about it carefully, nodded and said, "Your Majesty is right. It is my fault for not thinking carefully enough."

Afterwards, Meng Jun put aside all the worldly matters in his mind and concentrated on touring the mountains. The group was in high spirits. The air was filled with fresh scents and the occasional chirping of birds, which made people feel relaxed and happy. For a moment, Meng Jun's impatient mood gradually turned into calm and peaceful.

When they were going down the mountain, a civil servant accompanying the army wrote a poem to praise Meng Jun.

The brilliant civil governance brought prosperity to the era, and the outstanding military achievements brought peace to the country.

The sword points to the mountains and rivers, and the situation changes; the mountains and rivers are green in the spring breeze.

Millions of brave soldiers shock the world, and the general becomes famous after hundreds of battles.

After hearing this, Meng Jun laughed and said, "The world is not yet at peace. This poem is an exaggeration."

Gu Yanwu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, why should you be so modest? The Qing court is now in a state of decline, just like the setting sun. It is all because of your great strategy that we have today's prosperity."

Meng Jun waved his hand and replied: "As the saying goes, war is dangerous, this is not something I can do alone, it is all due to the sacrifices of the soldiers and the unity of the colleagues."

………………

Qingyang, Shaanxi.

After evacuating Xi'an, Meng Qiaofang sent out cavalry to mobilize troops from Fengxiang, Pingliang, Gongchang, Linzhao and other prefectures and counties that still obeyed the imperial court, and gathered them in Qingyang Prefecture.

However, Meng Qiaofang knew that Shaanxi was in ruins, but he did not expect that the assembled army was so weak.

The Qing government deployed troops everywhere, and the troops in the border towns of Shaanxi were mobilized a lot. The troops that remained could only be said to be almost the same as those in the Chongzhen period.

The Qing troops that assembled in Qingyang had more than 40,000 soldiers listed on the troop rolls, but the actual number was less than 30,000. Their clothes and armor were incomplete, and many of their weapons were damaged. Meng Qiaofang shook his head when he saw these beggar soldiers.

Since the Qing government lost the tax-collecting land of Jiangnan, the payment of salaries to the garrisons in various places has also been intermittent. Many Green Camp soldiers secretly said: "When I was in the Ming army, I was never paid enough. Now that I am in the Qing army, I still don't get paid enough. What's the point of shaving my hair!"

As the saying goes, the emperor has no need for hungry soldiers. Soldiers are paid according to their salary. How can we expect them to serve us if the salary is not paid in full?

Meng Qiaofang also knew this truth, so after all the troops gathered, he distributed all the silver from the Qingyang treasury to the army. But even so, when it came down to each soldier, there was less than two taels of silver left.

Therefore, many soldiers began to clamor, saying that this amount of money was not enough to pay the arrears of wages paid by the court. Meng Qiaofang asked An Tai to lead 1,500 soldiers from the Eight Banners to suppress the riot by beheading more than ten soldiers who spoke fiercely.

Meng Qiaofang didn't want to do this, but he had no money. In the late Ming Dynasty, Shaanxi had always been the base camp for refugees. Many famous leaders came from Shaanxi. The reason was natural disasters and man-made disasters. But now, only a few years have passed, and Meng Qiaofang can get two taels of silver for each soldier. It was a clever move.

But the soldiers were still not satisfied. Since Meng Qiaofang could not pay them, he could only use tough measures to deal with these troublemakers.

Meng Qiaofang certainly would not consider these messy soldiers as his focus. The 8,000 Xi'an Green Camp soldiers that Meng Qiaofang could directly control were considered relatively elite, at least they were well-equipped. There were also 1,500 Eighth Banner soldiers from Antai. More importantly, Shaanxi Governor Li Sizhong sent a victory report that he had already broken through the Yan'an city, beheaded the rebel general Wang Yongqiang, and captured and killed more than 2,000 surrendered soldiers.

After suppressing the rebellion, Li Sizhong still had more than 9,000 men under his command. Therefore, once all the troops were gathered, Meng Qiaofang would have more than 47,000 soldiers available.

In response, the governor Ma Zhixian privately said to Li Sizhong: "Governor, Wu Sangui's troops entering Shaanxi have nearly 50,000 cavalry and infantry. Although the enemy and our numbers are similar, Wu Sangui's troops are definitely more reliable than the Green Camp soldiers who almost mutinied."

Meng Qiaofang sighed helplessly: "A good cook cannot cook without rice. The court now has Meng Zhou in the east and Jiang Xiang in the west. It is already overwhelmed and unable to rush to help Shaanxi. Otherwise, why would I end up like this!"

While Meng Qiaofang was reorganizing his troops, Wu Sangui had already stabilized the situation in Xi'an.

Fang Guangchen urged Wu Sangui to defeat Meng Qiaofang while Li Sizhong was still in Yan'an Prefecture, which might then give him the upper hand and force Li Sizhong to surrender.

Needless to say, Li Sizhong was a Han bannerman. Even among the Eight Banners of the Manchus, there were still some who secretly surrendered to Wu Sangui, which gave Wu Sangui great self-confidence.

So while Meng Qiaofang was still suppressing the Green Camp soldiers, Wu Sangui sent out troops. This time, Wu Sangui left 5,000 soldiers to garrison Xi'an, 25,000 infantry, and 10,000 cavalry. Wu Sangui led the 10,000 cavalry and divided his troops into two routes. One route was led by Sun Wenhuan, passing through Qianzhou, Bingzhou, and Changwu, and the other route was led by Wu Guozhu, passing through Yunyang, Chunhua, Shimen, Sanshui, Zhenning, and finally meeting in Ningzhou.

There was almost no resistance in the cities that the two cavalry forces passed through. Even if there were some who were unwilling to open the city walls, they expressed their willingness to provide food and rations to Wu's army, but were unwilling to open the city walls to let the troops in. Wu Sangui had no time to pay attention to this. The most important thing was to destroy Meng Qiaofang, and the rest were just trivial matters.

By March 20th, Wu Sangui's cavalry had appeared outside the city of Ningzhou.

Meng Qiaofang has decided to defend Qingyang to the death and wait for reinforcements from Li Sizhong.

On the 22nd, Ningzhou opened the city and offered surrender.

On the 26th, Wu Sangui's troops arrived at Qingyang City.

At the foot of the city, Wu Sangui wrote a letter to Meng Qiaofang, advising Meng Qiaofang to understand the overall situation, saying that the Hu people would not have a hundred years of national destiny, that he was willing to rule Shaanxi with Meng Qiaofang, and that they could work together to restore the Ming Dynasty. At the end of the letter, Wu Sangui threatened Meng Qiaofang that if he did not surrender, he would never let him off easily once the city was broken...

Meng Qiaofang's reply to Wu Sangui consisted of only a few words, but he harshly scolded Wu Sangui.

Xin: "The Wu thief has been fickle, surrendering and then rebelling again. He is treacherous and unfaithful. He is truly a villain who is more fickle than an animal!"

Meng Qiaofang, courtesy name Xinting, was a native of Yongping, Zhili. He initially served as a deputy general of the Ming Dynasty, but later dismissed and returned to his hometown. In the third year of Chongzhen, the Later Jin invaded the country and Meng Qiaofang surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. He later returned to Liaodong with the Qing army. He was successively granted the title of Han Army Meile Ezhen and belonged to the Han Army Red Banner. After the Qing army entered the country, he was changed to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

In the second year of Shunzhi, Meng Qiaofang was appointed governor-general of the three borders of Shaanxi. He has been governor of Shaanxi for nearly five years. Meng Qiaofang is loyal to the Qing court. Even when it seems that the Qing Dynasty is about to collapse, Meng Qiaofang still has no disloyalty.

Wu Sangui's troops surrounded Qingyang. In fact, the number of soldiers in the city was greater than Wu's. Even so, no matter how Wu Sangui lured the enemy, humiliated, and abused him, Meng Qiaofang remained unmoved. Even An Tai felt that he could fight, but Meng Qiaofang still refused and insisted on defending the city.

Wu Sangui had been stationed at the gates of Qingyang for eight days. He had received a secret report that Li Sizhong had already assembled his troops in Yan'an and was heading south. Wu Sangui was somewhat hesitant at this point, not knowing whether to withdraw the siege and attack Li Sizhong first or to continue besieging the city.

Meng Qiaofang made up his mind that he would never leave the city unless Li Sizhong arrived, because he knew that if he left the city, the Green Camp soldiers would be unreliable.

However, there were frequent chaos in Qingyang City. Nearly 30,000 Green Camp soldiers gathered from all over the place, 8,000 Green Camp soldiers came with Meng Qiaofang, and there were also Eight Banners soldiers and their families. With so many people gathered in Qingyang City, all kinds of conflicts were simply countless.

The Green Camp in various places were short of salary money, and Meng Qiaofang used them as an example to scare the monkeys. Many people were already in a bad mood, and on top of that, the food they were supplied with was moldy, stale, and short in weight, so there were problems with the supply almost every time.

The Eight Banners soldiers in the city were used to being arrogant. In order to find a good place to settle their families, they forcibly plundered the city. Those who were unwilling to move were killed by them for any reason. Therefore, this caused extremely serious conflicts with the local garrison.

Just as Wu Sangui was hesitating outside the city of Qingyang, the situation in the city changed quietly, like a hidden storm that would sweep away everything with just a spark.

Although Meng Qiaofang knew that there were many hidden dangers in the city and that the grievances among the various troops were difficult to reconcile, Meng Qiaofang worked hard every day, not only to guard against Wu Sangui, but also to appease the troops and prevent internal collapse.

Just eight days after Wu Sangui besieged the city, a fire broke out in a granary in the city late at night. The fire spread rapidly with the help of the wind, and some nearby houses were engulfed. Wailing and crying were heard everywhere.

In the chaos, some people took the opportunity to incite discontent, claiming that the fire was deliberately set by the Eight Banners soldiers, saying that these Tartars would rather burn the good food than give them food. This kind of nonsense, as long as you have a little bit of brains, you will know that it is nonsense, but it is this ridiculous nonsense that ignited the anger of the Green Camp soldiers, and a conflict broke out.

The Green Camp soldiers picked up their weapons and rushed towards the Eight Banners camp. In the dead of night, flames shot up into the sky. Many people fought in the narrow streets, and it was even difficult to distinguish between friend and foe.

The city of Qingyang turned into a living hell overnight. The sound of fighting even scared Wu Sangui so much that he thought Meng Qiaofang had sent troops to attack the camp. Until the flames in the city shot up to the sky, Wu Sangui didn't know why, but such a large-scale fire and the shocking sound of fighting made Wu Sangui think that it was definitely not a ploy to lure the enemy. Then Wu Sangui immediately called up his troops, lit torches, and took the opportunity to seize the city.

In this melee, some Green Camp soldiers saw that the situation was unfavorable, and immediately opened the city gates and chose to surrender to Wu Sangui after Wu Sangui attacked the city.

When the news reached Meng Qiaofang, he was extremely anxious and tried to save the situation. However, it was too late. As the Wu army entered the city, more and more soldiers defected. Even though Meng Qiaofang personally led the remnants to fight desperately, the situation was already hopeless in such a chaotic battle.

It was not until the next morning that Qingyang City was finally captured by Wu Sangui, and Meng Qiaofang was tied up and surrendered by his subordinates, falling into the hands of Wu Sangui.

(I haven’t written a long chapter for a long time, I will post a long chapter today╭(╯e╰)╮)