Great time travel

Chapter 84, Rise of Rogues

In July of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Shanxi, Taiyuan
There was a mess everywhere, black smoke curled up, corpses lay all over the street, and rivers of blood flowed.

It has been three days and three nights since the city was breached by the refugees from Shaanxi.

The last resistance of the remnants of the imperial government and army in Taiyuan City has long been crushed by the red-eyed refugee army one by one, but in the streets and alleys of Taiyuan, peace still cannot be restored-killing, looting, rape, arson, Latino... …All kinds of atrocities of war are being staged in every corner of the city, but the residents of the city can only hide in their houses anxiously, waiting for the judgment of fate with infinite fear.

Fortunately, most of the atrocities after the fall of the city did not fall on the poor people who could not squeeze out a little bit of oil and water.When they finally plucked up the courage and peeked out through the crack of the door, they were only a little excited and panicked to see groups of rogues full of longing faces rushing towards the Jin Palace, The governor's yamen, the general soldier's yamen, the magistrate's yamen, and the deep mansions full of extravagance and carved beams and paintings.Soldiers kept moving boxes, cages, and all kinds of belongings out of these places, loaded them on chariots, horses, mules, and camels, and transported them out of the city in an endless stream. The rope was dragged out dejectedly.

At the same time, another group of rogue leader's personal soldiers with brighter and neater armor passed by the empty street, led by a big man with a loud voice. An Min's Annunciation - So far, after being repeatedly beaten by the governor of the three sides, Hong Chengchou, and forced to escape from Shaanxi, the Northwest Refugee Army, which was once in a difficult situation, finally won a significant turnaround.

——Because the earth entered the Little Ice Age and the global climate was in turmoil, throughout the late Ming Dynasty, northern Shaanxi suffered from frequent droughts and floods. The Northern People's Revolution came and went one after another, and finally died together with the Ming Empire.

How severe were the natural disasters in northern Shaanxi at that time?As early as the Wanli period, there were 48 years of famines in Shaanxi in 25 years. By the time of Tianqi and Chongzhen, there were almost every year of famines, and the good years without famines became rare.

During the Wanli period, by taking advantage of the gap between the disaster years and the disaster years, the common people might still be able to take a breather in front of them.Such continuous super natural disasters happened to meet the Chongzhen Dynasty, which was fiercely contested and chaotic like flies, and it was like adding fuel to the fire. In the first year of Chongzhen, when the civil uprising in northern Shaanxi began, the court The Central Cleansing Eunuch is in full swing.Emperor Chongzhen was suspicious by nature, and the Donglin Party contributed to the flames, and was involved in the process of dealing with Wei Zhongxian Group.

This cleansing movement lasted for more than two years, making everyone feel insecure and no one involved in political affairs. The chaos in the Northwest became more and more serious, and finally added a mutiny in addition to the civil uprising—due to the long-term arrears of military pay and The rations, as well as the personnel earthquake of the Donglin Party to wipe out the remnants of the eunuchs, led to the mutiny of the frontier troops in Guyuan, Lintao, and Yansui towns one after another, and a large number of Shaanxi soldiers left the army in small groups.Then, these deserters with military experience returned to their hometowns one after another to form a team, each occupying a poor village to open up soil, and the fallen grass turned into bandits, and soon there was a trend of sparks starting a prairie fire.

Facing the rapidly eroding situation in the Northwest, the Ming court finally began to react. First, they sent people to appease them in an attempt to resolve the Shaanxi issue peacefully. At first, the refugees from Shaanxi also obeyed and were appeased. But he is not a big evil person, but the drought has been repeated for many years, and it is difficult to get half of the harvest in the fields, but the landlords and servants still have to press for rent and taxes.The crowd had no food, so they had to rely on their survival instincts to attack and kill everywhere in order to survive.Now that the imperial court came to appease them, it seemed that there was a way to survive, and the hungry people naturally put down their weapons and prepared to become good people again.

But the problem is that the stingy Beijing court can't provide enough money and food to deal with the aftermath. It is called appeasement but there is no food relief, and the natural disasters show no signs of slowing down. , So they all felt that they were deceived.

At the same time, because of Yuan Chonghuan's opening the door and stealing, the Great Wall's defense line collapsed, and the capital was besieged in the "Ji Si captive change".In order to cope with the advance of the Jin army, the imperial court issued the Order of King Tianqin in a panic, and forcibly transferred tens of thousands of elite northwest frontier troops from Shanxi and Shaanxi to the capital. Liu Guangsheng, the governor of Shaanxi, had no choice but to suspend the bandit suppression and hurriedly led the army. The pro-army went to Beijing to serve the king, which resulted in the emptiness of Shaanxi's troops.

As a result, countless "surrendered" hungry thieves took the opportunity to raise their flags to rebel again. A small group of thieves either overtly or secretly divided between the mountains and valleys.Because there was no food to grab in Shaanxi, a large number of thieves began to cross the Yellow River and enter Shanxi.Then it continued to infiltrate into Henan, Beizhili and even Shandong, avoiding confrontation with the government and army, while launching a mobile war that avoided reality.

At this point, the strategy of appeasement could no longer be carried out, and the imperial court switched to the strategy of killing and suppressing civil unrest everywhere.At this time, the refugee army was still very weak, and the organization was even more disorganized. The official army easily defeated these mobs, and the battle was overwhelming.However, due to the widespread distribution, large number and high mobility of the refugee army, these victories by the official army did not solve the problem.The failure of any battle or any refugee army will not affect the overall situation and cannot change the deteriorating war situation.The ensuing abolishment of post stations and a new round of border mutiny caused a large number of unemployed postmen (such as Li Zicheng) and frontier deserters to join the ranks of rogues, further strengthening the ranks of the Northwest refugee army.

But after all, the Ming Dynasty was a big tree with deep roots, and it was not easy to bring it down.The new trilateral governor, Hong Chengchou, ruled the army with iron and blood, massacred the hungry people with extreme cruelty, and finally reversed the chaos in Shaanxi for a while. His solution to the corrupt and chaotic situation in Northwest China is only one word: kill!Kill all the people, and the world will be fine!
In the first half of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Hong Chengchou won the Battle of Hequ and killed Wang Jiayin, the general leader of the rogues in northern Shaanxi. They had nowhere to stay in Shaanxi, so they crossed the river and fled into Shanxi one after another.

As a result, while the "banditry" in Shaanxi gradually subsided, the situation in Shanxi became more and more chaotic.In the spring of the fifth year of Chongzhen, at least 20 rogues were active between Luliang Mountain and Taihang Mountain, and many prefectures and counties in Shanxi, Henan, and North Zhili were all disturbed.

But at this time, the Beijing court was busy dealing with the Battle of the Daling River in the west of Liaoning, and the Tartar army who broke through the pass and went south again, and then had to deal with the Dengzhou rebellion and the Wenxiangjiao uprising in Shandong. Instead of organizing reinforcements from elsewhere, To strengthen Shanxi's military strength, it is necessary to transfer troops from Shanxi to support the king and assist other battlefields... and most of these troops are gone forever, resulting in Shanxi's defense becoming extremely empty.

As a result, dozens of Shaanxi bandits gathered in the remote mountainous areas of Shanxi gathered together to form an alliance to discuss the next attack direction, but they refused to give in to each other. In the end, they only divided their troops into two groups and launched major operations.One of them, led by Wang Ziyong, the new leader after Wang Jiayin's death, went south from Luliang Mountain to Henan, recruiting victims from the Yellow River Flooding Area to build up momentum and prepare to sweep the Central Plains in one go.Another group of rogue bandits elected Gao Yingxiang, who called himself "Chuang Wang" as the leader, and was going to do everything possible to attack Taiyuan, the provincial capital, and seize a large amount of food and materials hoarded in the city.

On the other hand, Xu Dingchen, the governor of Shanxi at that time, was much worse than Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides. Generally speaking, he was a parallel importer who claimed to be a genius in military art. There are some soldiers and horses, and there are three general soldiers alone, but they don't think about how these unaffiliated troops cooperate with each other, and they don't prepare logistics supplies, as if these provincial officers and troops can fight only by drinking northwest wind.

To make matters worse, this governor Xu Dingchen, like Comrade Li De, who was sent by the Soviet Union as an advisor to the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in later generations, likes to sit in the governor's office in Shaanxi thousands of miles away, facing his comrades, because he has read several volumes of military books. Hundreds of ancient maps line up troops and move troops around all day long. The command is messy. Often before he can make a shape, the officers and soldiers are exhausted from walking, and the rogues also come to kill them. .

The most terrible thing is that at this time, the Taiyuan defenders mutinied due to lack of payment, and then internal strife broke out, killing people from inside and outside the city.However, Gao Yingxiang led [-] bandits to attack suddenly, and the chaotic government army collapsed immediately. Even if Taiyuan had a high city and solid fortifications, it would be of no avail...

On the eighth day of July in the fifth year of Chongzhen, Shaanxi bandits broke through Taiyuan, Shanxi governor Xu Dingchen hanged himself, and Jin Wang Zhu Qiugui was killed while fleeing with his family.

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Accompanied by the cheers of all the minions, Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang, as usual, wore a green cloth arrow jacket, a gray cloak, and a half-worn white felt hat that northern farmers like to wear, and rode a black horse. Ma, under the escort of dozens of old battalion soldiers in armor, slowly walked into Taiyuan City.

In July of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang, the so-called Chuangwang, was far from happy. He was often hunted down by the officers and soldiers, and he had nowhere to go, and he didn't even have a stable cottage. , fighting in ravines all day long, and often rushing to the front in person, naturally he doesn't pay much attention to food, clothing and ostentation, let alone Zhang Luo's guard of honor-so much so that when he entered the city, many people in the city were still completely unaware. Know.

Of course, Gao Yingxiang doesn't care about this kind of empty work right now, but puts all his thoughts on the spoils captured in Taiyuan City.

——This time the refugee army broke the city very quickly. Most of the gentry in Taiyuan City had not had time to transfer their family property. Although some wealthy gentry and landlords took advantage of the chaos before and after the city broke down to escape with their families with gold and silver, Gao Yingxiang Cavalry patrols had already been arranged outside the city. As a result, the men of these wealthy families lost their lives and the women became playthings.The gold, silver and jewels are all packaged and given away as military supplies to King Chuang.

And the harvest in the city is even more impressive. During the period after the capture of Taiyuan, teams of cavalrymen kept confiscating the money and food from Jinwangfu, the governor's yamen, the magistrate's yamen, and other officials and gentry's homes. Transported outside the city of Taiyuan, according to rough statistics, the food alone can feed 10 people for a year!As for the seized silver, it was more than 600 million taels, in addition to 30 taels of gold, and countless copper coins. In China at the end of Ming Dynasty, except for Jiangnan, which used the Donglin Party as its political spokesperson and relied on maritime trade to make a fortune. In addition to the wealthy merchant group, there is also a Shanxi merchant group that made its fortune from frontier trade. Although its political influence is slightly less, it is almost equal in terms of financial resources.Of course, the core base camp of Shanxi merchants is not in Taiyuan, but as the provincial capital of Shanxi, various Shanxi merchants have a lot of silver deposits in Taiyuan, which is all at the expense of the Shaanxi refugee army.

Then, the silks and satins, agate and corals, antique calligraphy and paintings, rare books, out-of-print inscriptions, ancient tripods, jade, jade, porcelain and lacquerware collected by various big families and gentry were seized. Unfortunately, it is not easy in troubled times. Realize, I am afraid that the price will not be too high.But even counting the harvest of grain and cash, Gao Yingxiang and others, who have been suffering from poverty and starvation for many years, were so happy that they almost lost their way.

"...Wow ha ha ha ha! This time, the brats are really crazy! You can put gold and silver in the bag... I just don't know if I have arranged for some beautiful ladies from the officials and gentry's family to relieve my fatigue, It must be thin and tender, so it feels comfortable to the touch..."

Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang was thinking so proudly, while riding his horse towards the most luxurious spoils of the conquest of Taiyuan this time - King Jin's Mansion.This place has become a large tent for the Chinese army who broke into the camp, and the generals and leaders from all walks of life are gathering inside, taking this opportunity to enjoy the glory and wealth of the prince.

Before entering the palace, Gao Yingxiang saw two bonfires being lit on the square outside the gate of the palace. From time to time, soldiers who broke into the camp would use spears to pick up paper that flew out into the fire, and the paper was immediately rolled up by the flames. They were devoured, and turned into black butterflies flying around in a blink of an eye.There were so many poor people onlookers, they shouted and applauded like thunder from time to time, and many people even burst into tears while applauding.

Seeing that King Chuang seemed a little puzzled, Li Zicheng, who was accompanying him, hurriedly explained that he was burning down the land account books, usury contracts, and slave sales contracts of Jin Wangfu and various landlords and gentry, so as to relieve the heavy burden on the people. , to do justice for the heavens and enjoy the joy with the people...

But, to be honest, it’s just to make the people happy temporarily. When the government and army regain Taiyuan, the gentry and landlords want to exploit the common people. If you are a servant of his family, you become a slave; if you say your land belongs to his family, you can confiscate it directly; if you say you owe money to his family, you have to pay it back in full. , whether there is an IOU is not important at all... This world has never been half-reasonable, and the Chinese at that time did not have any spirit of contract...

Therefore, Gao Yingxiang nodded and gave a nod to express his approval, then turned his head and entered the Prince Jin's mansion. There were countless pavilions, towers, pavilions, carved beams and painted buildings along the way. The country buns were amazed.

However, at this time, this place that was originally solemn, dignified and respectable was turned into a mess by the leaders of the peasant army from all walks of life. But everyone rides a horse, even owns two or three horses.So after a swarm of bees crowded into the Prince Jin's Mansion, the stables in the Prince's Mansion couldn't be put down at all, so they could only be left randomly in the yard and main room, causing more horses than people in the yard. Biting the flowerbeds, trees... and even horses wandered into the lobby, watching curiously that the rogue soldiers smashed plaques, couplets and antique racks, and lit a fire on the bluestone floor tiles to barbecue meat and drink.

Gao Yingxiang was a little dissatisfied with this, "...Look, look, what does this look like? The main hall raises horses, the second hall cooks, and the garden is used as a pasture? You still have a fire in the house! You are not afraid of a fire. The whole house? You give me orders to go down and tell the leaders to restrain the subordinates, don't make a mess here, look, there are horse manure everywhere, we have to rest here for a few days, look at this scene, I'm afraid there will be nothing tomorrow It's impossible to live!"

Next to him, a big man with a ghost-headed sword on his back bowed his hands and said yes, then turned and hurried away.And "Chuang Jiang" Li Zicheng continued to follow Gao Yingxiang, muttering casually, "...Chuang Wang, look, there are so many pavilions and pavilions in this place, just to build a house, plus the furnishings inside, the money spent will need to be paid for." How much money should be spent on just such a palace? How much people should be wasted? How many people should be forced to break up? How many craftsmen and peasants are exhausted? There are ten princely residences, and this Princely Jin residence is not the most extravagant, if the money is used to help the victims, we will not come out to be thieves, if it is used for military pay, it will be difficult for us to break into Taiyuan City..."

"...That's why they're too stupid. They searched for so many people's fat and people's anointing, and caused complaints. In the end, they still took advantage of us!"

Gao Yingxiang chuckled, and got off his horse in front of a hanging flower gate, "...this place is really nice, but it's a pity that we won't be able to stay for a few days before we have to leave!"

"... King Chuang, are we going to leave Taiyuan soon? It's rare for brothers to come to this colorful world..." Li Zicheng frowned.

"...I can't go away! That butcher Hong Chengchou has already led tens of thousands of Qin troops out of Xi'an, and they are slowly coming over from the west and south! Just two days ago, Cao Wenzhao, a killer, was sent under the city of Luoyang. Beat the leader of the Wang alliance (Wang Ziyong with the bandit name "Zijinliang") so badly..."

Gao Yingxiang sighed, "...But, this time, I won't shrink back into the poor mountain ditch again! We are going to play a big one!"

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Going further inside from the Chuihua Gate is the back house of Prince Jin's Mansion. Inside there is a tall water pavilion built on a lotus pond, which is beautifully decorated and extraordinarily luxurious.At this time, it is also the summer when the lotus is in full bloom. As the so-called Yingri lotus is red, it is particularly pleasing to the eye.

More than a dozen peasant army leaders are sitting around this luxurious water pavilion, hugging the beautiful concubines and singers who were snatched from the Prince Jin's mansion, and there are all kinds of delicious food and wine in front of them, toasting together Push the cup, eat and drink, drink and have fun.In addition, there were a few musicians, dancers and entertainers captured in the palace, forced to smile under the threat of a knife, played music and danced for them, and performed juggling...

Hearing the voiceless singing of the singers of the prince's mansion, and seeing the property accounts copied from the prince's mansions, government offices, treasuries, and gentry's homes sent by the accountants of various old camps, all the leaders laughed a little. Their eyes were narrowed into a line... Seeing Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang come in, everyone quickly put down their wine glasses and beauties, stood up and gave up their seats for him, and ordered the maid to come over to serve wine and vegetables, looking very happy.However, when they learned from Gao Yingxiang that Hong Chengchou, the notorious governor of the three sides, was about to lead the Qin army from Shaanxi to kill them, all of them changed their faces.

"...Alas, it seems that Taiyuan City won't be able to stay for a few more days!" A leader took a sip of wine in frustration, "...then we have to go into a ravine again..."

"...No, although Taiyuan can't stay here any longer, since we've seen the world, why don't we just make a big ticket and go to the east to go outside Beijing? The land at the foot of the emperor, Liaodong women If real people can go, why can't we Kanxi guys not go?"

Gao Yingxiang said confidently, "...would you brothers be willing to work together with me to create a peaceful world for the people of the world?!"

——In the first ten days of July of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides, ordered 10 troops to go out of Tongguan to the east, and defeated the [-] troops of the Shaanxi bandit king's own use under the city of Luoyang. Collect the remaining officers and troops in Shanxi Province, and prepare to recover Taiyuan, the provincial capital.

Upon hearing the news, Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang, who was entrenched in Taiyuan, immediately moved his luggage and treasures, and opened warehouses for the food that he could not take away to relieve the people. At the same time, the whole army abandoned Taiyuan and left.And Wang Ziyong also led the remnants of the Qin army to get rid of the pursuit of the Qin army, fled from Henan to North Zhili, and joined forces with the local Wenxiang believers to rebel.All of a sudden, as far as Xuanfu in the north and Daming in the south, half of the Chief Secretary of Northern Zhili was in a hurry.

So far, the water transportation to the capital has been cut off, and Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi are in chaos.