Daming: Stealing Chen Yuanyuan at the beginning

Chapter 59 Iron Horse Binghe Comes to Dream, Zhang Huangyan Goes to Dashun
The Battle of Huaiqing ended with the victory of the Dashun Army. In this battle, [-] Qing soldiers were killed. The biggest result was the killing of [-] Guanning cavalry, and Wu Sangui fled in embarrassment.

The second is to kill Jin Yuhe, a general of the Qing army, who was a military officer of the second rank by Bai Meile Ezhen.

The death of Jin Yuhe greatly shocked Jiannu, and even Dorgon was afraid.The Qing soldiers retreated again and again, their arrogance weakened.

Before the war started, everyone in the Dashun court knew that the significance of this battle was extraordinary.Although Li Zicheng did not believe that this battle was a battle of national destiny like Li Cunming did, he mobilized all the elite troops in his hands, and all the brave generals under his command showed up.

After brewing for such a long time, the battle ended in only one day, and it felt quite anticlimactic.

Liu Zongmin couldn't get enough of it, thinking about taking advantage of the victory to pursue, and even had the idea of ​​fighting back to the Forbidden City.

Li Guo said: "Don't chase after the poor. It's not easy to win this battle. One is that our soldiers are united, and the other is that Chongzhen has helped us a lot, so we won in danger. How can we continue to take risks?"

Song Xiance said: "It is true. Our army has suffered heavy casualties in the past few months. We have lost our troops and lost our generals. We are unable to attack the capital again. We can only rest and recover for the time being, and wait and see what happens. I dare to say, what should we do next? It depends on the movement of Chongzhen."

"Enhance the ambition of others and destroy one's own prestige. The battle of Huaiqing was won by the emperor's strategizing. What does it have to do with Chongzhen?" Niu Jinxing said contemptuously.

Li Zicheng was also a little unhappy, but it was rare for him to stay clear-headed. He said: "From now on, don't mention Chongzhen in front of me. You must remember that the Manchu Tartars are our enemy, and Chongzhen is also our enemy!"

"However, we are really powerless to start another war. I decided to clean up the mess first. When the soldiers recover, we will make a comeback!"

At the same time, Zhou Yuji took Kaifeng City and chased the Qing soldiers for thirty miles.After completely driving the Qing soldiers out of Kaifeng, Zhou Yuji followed Li Cunming's instructions and retreated to Kaifeng.

Kaifeng has been torn by war for a long time, and it is already dilapidated.Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng three times, especially the last time he dug up the embankment of the Yellow River to divert water and flooded the city.

Liu Zongzhou sighed: "A dream in Bianliang is heartbreaking!"

Many buildings in the city had been buried by sand, and Zhou Yuji led soldiers to clean up the sand.Liu Zongzhou persuaded: "General Zhou, Kaifeng has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. The top priority should be to repair the city wall first, and clean up the mud in the city. Otherwise, how can we defend it if the enemy comes to attack?"

"The enemy is coming, Mr. Liu can defeat them with benevolence, justice and morality!" Zhou Yuji jokingly said, shrugging his shoulders, "Who said this general is going to occupy Kaifeng City? I came here to make a fortune!"

It turns out that after the city of Kaifeng was flooded, the palace of Zhou Wangfu also suffered disaster.King Zhou fled from Lifeng with his family, but he did not take away his money. These vassal kings in Ming Dynasty were very rich, and Li Cunming had already made up his mind.

When Zhou Yuji was excavating the treasures of the Zhou Palace in Kaifeng, the news of the Battle of Huaiqing reached Xuzhou.Li Cunming was in a good mood, and invited Yan Ermei to drink, and the two monarchs and ministers discussed the next step.

"In order to promote the situation of the three kingdoms, I and the military division have spent a lot of effort step by step. The first step is to send Weng Zhiqi to entangle the Duduo army, and the second step is to send Zhou Yuji to take Kaifeng and start the propaganda work. Now it is time to go to the third Let’s go, send envoys to Pseudo-Shun to form an alliance with Li Zicheng.”

Yan Ermei said: "Sending people on a mission to pretend to be obedient is the most critical step. If this step is wrong, the previous efforts will be in vain. The most important thing is to select suitable talents. I wonder if there is someone in your majesty's mind?"

Li Cunming frowned and said: "I have been worrying about this for the past few days, and there is no one around me to use."

"If you really can't find a suitable candidate, I am willing to go to Xi'an for a while."

"A military division has a lot of affairs, and I can't do without you here for a moment. Let me think about it again..."

Just as he was talking, a Jinyi guard came to report: "Your Majesty, Lord Li Banghua is back, and he brought Du Yinxi and Zhang Huangyan to ask for an audience."

"Okay, there are candidates for the mission!" Li Cunming got up abruptly, and greeted Yan Ermei, "Let's go, let's meet Li Banghua together. I haven't seen him for a few months, and I really miss him."

He walked quickly to the lobby of the government office, but Li Cunming frowned. He saw Li Banghua lying on a stretcher, who seemed to be seriously injured.

"Li Aiqing, what's wrong with you?" Li Cunming ran over and leaned over to hold Li Banghua's hand.

"Your Majesty..." Li Banghua was weak.

A person next to him said: "Chen Huguang's deputy envoy Du Yinxi met His Majesty and told His Majesty that Li Butang was unfortunately injured in Zhejiang and hurt his heart. Li Butang thought of His Majesty's kindness and was unwilling to stay in Zhejiang to recuperate. I rushed all the way back to Xuzhou, and now my injury is even worse."

Li Cunming said angrily: "Who dares to hurt Li Aiqing, what's going on?"

Du Yinxi said: "Slave revolts occurred in many places in Zhejiang, especially in Jinhua County. When we arrived in Jinhua, hundreds of slaves surrounded the county government. Li Butang went to quell the rebellion. He was shot and was in a coma for days."

In the late Ming Dynasty, it was common for the southern gentry and scholar-bureaucrats to keep slaves.Later, the servants couldn't bear the inhuman treatment and torture, and turmoil broke out from time to time, which did not subside until the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty.

"Quickly, call Dean Fu, we must cure Li Aiqing!" Li Cunming ordered a guard in Jinyi.

Li Banghua grabbed Li Cunming's arm as hard as he could, and said with all his strength: "Your Majesty, I have something to say. After I went south, I traveled many places to observe the people's conditions, and I felt that it was not easy for your Majesty. The wind is not calm, there are many natural disasters, and people's hearts are unstable. Reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles. Some of my previous ideas were completely wrong."

"Your Majesty can see that what His Majesty did in Ningling County is the best way to save our Ming Dynasty. I hope Your Majesty will stick to it and don't give up halfway. I have been promoting the cultivation of potatoes and corn in Zhejiang and Fujian, and it has achieved little success." ..."

Seeing that he was struggling to speak, Li Cunming persuaded him: "I understand, I understand. Li Aiqing is old enough to seek the country, and I have always regarded you as a minister, but you are too weak now, it is better to talk less."

"No, Your Majesty, please let me finish my sentence!" Li Banghua was very urgent, as if he knew that his time was running out.

He turned his head with difficulty, pointed at Du Yinxi and Zhang Huang and said: "These two have the talents of prime ministers, I hope your Majesty will use them. I invited them to come out of the mountain, but I didn't bring them to face the saint immediately, but in the south I stayed for a few months and took them to see the misery of the people's livelihood, in order to hone them, and to support the soldiers for the country..."

Speaking of this, Li Banghua exhausted all his strength and fell into a coma.

Li Cunming hurriedly ordered people to place Li Banghua in a clean house, and ordered Fu Shan to do his best to rescue him.But Li Banghua was injured too badly and was delayed for too long, and his condition worsened.

That night, Li Banghua woke up leisurely.He ate some porridge, and his spirits lifted, his face was covered with a strange red light.

It's autumn, and there is a drizzle outside the window.Li Banghua suddenly wanted to write, so he ordered Zhang Huangyan to bring him paper, ink, brush and inkstone.

"Li Butang, it's better not to bother yourself, and get some rest." Zhang Huangyan persuaded.

Li Banghua was stubborn, so Zhang Huangyan had no choice but to bring him a pen and paper.Li Banghua pondered for a moment, and then he wrote a line of poetry: "Lying in the night to listen to the wind and rain, the iron horse and the ice river fall into a dream."

After writing, I laughed out loud, and then vomited blood.

Zhang Huangyan turned pale with fright, and hurriedly stood up to look for Fu Shan.When I ran to the door, I heard Li Banghua shouting: "Fight the Yellow River, fight the Yellow River, fight the Yellow River..."

Then there was no movement, Zhang Huangyan looked back and saw Li Banghua lying on the bed, waving his fists, his eyes wide open.

He walked back and called "Li Butang" several times, but there was no response.He reached out and poked under Li Banghua's nose, and his breath stopped.

"Li Butang!" Zhang Huangyan knelt down, crying heartbroken.

When Li Cunming heard the news of Li Banghua's death, he sat alone behind his desk.It was stormy outside, and the candlelight in the room was dim. He was immersed in grief and couldn't extricate himself.

After a long time, Li Cunming spread out a piece of rice paper, and solemnly wrote four large characters: "National scholar Wushuang!"

Then it was decreed: "Posthumously present Li Banghua to the Crown Prince Taifu, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Bachelor of Wuyingdian. The emperor personally wrote the inscription and presented him with the title of "National Scholar". Stop the court and mourn for one day."

……

After Li Banghua was buried, Li Cunming met Du Yinxi and Zhang Huangyan in his study.These two have been with Li Banghua for a long time, and they have regarded him as a teacher, and there is still a look of sadness on their faces.

Li Cunming looked at the two of them, and saw that Du Yinxi was about 40 years old and a little short in stature; Zhang Huangyan was much younger, about 24 or [-] years old, tall and handsome.

Du Yinxi and Zhang Huangyan in history were both loyal ministers and benevolent people who persisted in resisting the Qing Dynasty during the Southern Ming Dynasty.Not to mention their anti-Qing deeds, Li Cunming valued their strategic vision most.

Some historians once said that in the Southern Ming Dynasty, only Du Yinxi and Zhang Huangyan could be called strategists, and they could be compared with Zhuge Liang, Zhang Liang and others.

Because after the defeat of the Hongguang Dynasty, the two of them were the first to put forward the strategic concept of uniting the peasant army to resist the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and they also practiced it personally, treating the peasant army who surrendered with equal care and love.

The literati and bureaucrats in Nanming faced the situation of their country being ruined and their families being ruined.For example, Li Guo and Gao Yigong surrendered to He Tengjiao's command, and they were never trusted.

Zhang Xianzhong's subordinates Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang and others also wanted to cooperate with the Yongli court at first, but they were suspected by Qu Shixu and others. In the end, they separated from each other, and the anti-Qing cause fell into a slump.

Comparing the two, we can see how valuable Du Yinxi and Zhang Huangyan are!

Li Cunming said: "I plan to send envoys to the pseudo-shun court. The two sides have reached an alliance agreement. Which of you is willing to go?"

Both of them expressed their willingness to take on the heavy responsibility. Li Cunming pondered for a while, then smiled and said, "I think I'll let Zhang Huangyan do it. After all, you are younger and have sharp legs. Zhang Aiqing, this mission is no small task. You can only succeed and not fail. Do you understand?"

Zhang Huangyan knelt down and said, "I will not disgrace my life!"

(End of this chapter)