First Minister of Ming Dynasty

Helpless, the two children left, leaving only Chen You as one.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

"Let's call him Third Brother!" Chen Youliang laughed at himself, "Now that things have come to an end, I'm the last emperor, and those civil and military officials are unreliable. In the end, it's our brothers who are the ones who live and die together."

Chen Youdang hesitated a little, and hurriedly said: "Third brother, don't panic, the city of Wuchang is strong. I heard that Chahan Timur has stationed a heavy army in Luoyang. He may go south to Xiangyang. When Zhu Yuanzhang is attacked by the enemy, he may not be able to hold on." !"

Chen Youliang was slightly stunned, pointing at Yuan Jun to save him?

maybe!

He smiled faintly, "Then let's hold on... But fourth brother, you have to do something for me."

"What's the matter?" Chen Youdang said in a low voice, his heart throbbing inexplicably, this matter will not be easy to do.

"You, you killed both Shaner and Lier!"

"What?" Chen Youdang turned pale with shock, his brother must have gone crazy, right?

"I'm not crazy. Brother Yu is the emperor after all. I can't let Zhu Chongba look down on me! I want face! When the city is broken, you can kill these two children. Our father and son died together for the country, so that we can let him die." Everyone in the world knows that Chen Youliang is not useless, at least he still has two or two bones!"

Chen Youdang is extremely difficult to understand, how can he be decent when he drags his two sons to be buried with him?

But Chen Youliang was so persistent, he was helpless.

"Brother, the younger brother is also a member of the big man. The younger brother is willing to follow the elder brother and share life and death together. When he goes underground, he will also be a pawn for the elder brother!"

Chen Youliang frowned, and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to persuade him, but finally he said: "The country is ruined and the family is destroyed, and righteousness is done by benevolence. Our brothers have no shame in the world, and we can be regarded as a man!"

Chen Youliang was muttering, his expression was in a trance, as if he had gone mad.Chen Youdang didn't dare to say anything, and hurriedly retreated, but his heart was beating wildly, and he couldn't live in peace.

Has it come to this point?

It seems that this country is not going to last long.

While Chen Youliang was encouraging his family to be benevolent, the Ming army camp was also making final arrangements.

"Yu Tonghai and Liao Yongzhong command [-] warships, block the river, and don't let a single ship go!" Zhu Yuanzhang coldly issued an order, "On land, Governor Chang Yuchun will launch an attack and surround the city on all sides. Leave a vacancy. There is no need to encircle, three and one, but as long as one is breached, the Chen army will show signs of collapse, and it is not allowed to abuse prisoners, let alone kill and surrender at will."

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Chang Yuchun, and added, "Those who disobey the order will be beheaded!"

Chang Yuchun's heart was shocked, he hurriedly bowed and said: "I know, please rest assured."

At this time, Zhang Ximeng said hoarsely: "Not only you, but also the soldiers below must feel a string in their hearts. What we want is a complete city, the entire Huguang, and the hearts of the people in the world... The battle must be fought beautifully and simply, not only to win on the battlefield, but also to win the hearts of the people."

Chang Yuchun nodded quickly, wrote down one by one, and then went to deploy troops.

In fact, Chang Yuchun has practiced the siege operation more than once.

Even though the Ming army had a lot of siege experience before, but in all fairness, it is still very troublesome to open a well-defended fortified city.

The long siege and fierce offensive, how much it will cost, is really not good.Gu Nian

But in the Ming army at this time, there is a group of very special people, they are the miners from Daye.

In the past, the Ming army also used gunpowder to break the city, and after this group of miners joined, they quickly grasped the essence of gunpowder breaking the city.

"Chang Dadu, the most important thing is to dig a tunnel, get close to the city wall, and then put the gunpowder under the city wall, and blow it up in one fell swoop. The subordinates have already drawn up a plan, please take a look at it."

Chang Yuchun did not answer, but looked at these miners seriously, and said: "You are all experts, so you naturally know what to do is correct. I can only tell you that the superiors attach great importance to miners, and there will be many measures in the future. , please rest assured."

The miners nodded. Although they had not been in contact with the Ming army for a long time, they already knew very well that this is a group of people who keep their word and they will never deceive them.

"Don't worry, the governor, the subordinates will not be ashamed!"

Everything is ready, without any hesitation.

In the morning light, the catapults of the Ming army took the lead in kicking off the siege.

Stone bullets weighing hundreds of catties pierced the sky, like meteors, hitting the head of Wuchang city. In an instant, the bricks and stones were shattered, and the sky was full of smoke and dust.

Under the vermilion banner, the soldiers shouted and rushed to the top of the city with momentum like a rainbow.

The bows and crossbows of the two sides clashed, and locusts flew by. Every moment, someone was injured and fell down, but soon someone was added, and it didn't stop for a while.

Even though Chen Youliang was at the end of his rope, after ten years of fighting, he still had a group of tough and fierce fighters, and not everyone in this group was willing to submit to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Not everyone agrees with the Ming army's set of things.

There are even some people who, knowing their sins are serious, have surrendered to the past and have no good juice to eat.

There is no way out, so the only option is to fight to the death!

Fight, keep fighting.

The Ming army went forward one after another, rushed to the bottom of the city again and again, climbed to the top of the city again and again, and was beaten back by Chen Han's soldiers and horses again and again.

The fierce battle between the two sides lasted all day, but Chang Yuchun didn't intend to stop. Instead, he set up a torch, and the flames shot up into the sky, illuminating the night sky.

Continue to attack the city!

"madman!"

Chen Youzhi spat hard, and could only hold up the weapon and continue to supervise the battle to the death.

Chen Youliang also appeared on the top of the city from time to time. He wore a conspicuous dragon robe, encouraging the fight to the end.

And the two words Chen Youliang likes to say most are Chengren!

A man was born between the heaven and the earth, he cannot be a king and overlord, but he must be benevolent and righteous, let the world know our bones!

Because of the number of times, even the subordinates got tired of hearing it.

The more benevolent you are, the more we think it's better to live!

As long as the Ming army breaks in, we are helpless, and we will surrender.

Anyway, it's better to die than to live.

The Ming army's offensive was still fierce, and the trebuchets were overwhelming, and they didn't stop for a moment.

I don't know where the Ming army got so many weapons?

Don't you want money?

The battle on the ground is so fierce, but the busyness underground is quite amazing.There are five hundred miners working day and night, digging tunnels with all their might.

They are busy working in the middle of the narrow tunnel, sweating profusely, the air is dirty, mixed with all kinds of smells, one breath is almost heavenly.

But even so, the miners had high morale and went all out to dig.

After three days and nights of struggle, a total of five tunnels were excavated, four of which were successfully excavated, but the remaining one collapsed, and seven miners lost their lives.

On the eve of breaking the city, I closed my eyes.

Naturally, their sacrifices were not in vain. Through the tunnel, tens of thousands of catties of gunpowder were delivered to the city at night.Then the miners connected the gunpowder bag with moso bamboo, and put a matchlock in the middle of the bamboo tube.

Then stones were used to block the tunnel.

ignition!

Just when dawn was the most tiring, there was an earth-shattering bang, and a gap of more than three feet was blown open in the city wall.Before the gunpowder smoke cleared, Chang Yuchun was the first to rush forward wearing armor and carrying a weapon.

"Tell the superior, the city is broken today, and Chen Youliang is finished!"

The city wall exploded, and Chen Youliang knew almost instantly that he was finished.

"I didn't expect it to be so fast?" He suddenly thought of something, "Where's Chen Youdang? Go tell him to act according to my will!"

Chen Youliang repeatedly yelled several times, but Chen Youdang disappeared. Not only him, but another brother, Chen Youzhi, also sneaked down from the city wall, took off his armor, and changed into ordinary soldier's clothes.

It's too difficult to become a benevolent, let's make a profit...

Chapter 433 Immigrants fill Huguang

When Chang Yuchun organized troops to besiege Wuchang from all sides, Zhang Ximeng was also doing something. He called Luo Furen to him and asked him carefully about his views on the governance of Huguang.

"Luo Shi, you use the word "not to kill" to persuade the lord. Judging from what you mean, you should have a lot to say, so why not talk about it!"

Luo Furen pondered slightly. He naturally knew Zhang Ximeng's status, and he was also very clear that the major policies of Ming Dynasty were all carried out by Zhang Ximeng. To solve Huguang's plight, Zhang Ximeng's support was naturally indispensable.

But it's a long story...

"Zhang Xiang, Huguang and other places can be regarded as the Red Scarf Army, the place where the incident was the earliest. At the beginning, Monk Peng entered Huguang and fought against the Yuan army. Tanzhou and other places were almost slaughtered... from Bashu and Henan. When the Yuan army arrived, they fought repeatedly with Monk Peng, and the people in Huguang suffered heavy losses. Then Ni Wenjun suddenly rose up, and Chen Youliang took his place. Although the Yuan army was driven away, neither of them knew how to restore the people's livelihood. For the fish, wantonly exploited, there is no mercy."

When Luo Furen arrived here, he couldn't help but paused before he dared to continue: "Master Zhang, according to my estimation, there are probably less than 500 million people in Huguang at present, and most of them are old and weak women and children. I advise Your Majesty, don't kill, just kill them." This is the reason. If there are no people left, what's the use of having Huguang empty?"

Hearing this, Zhang Ximeng really sighed in his heart, Huguang is not just as simple as two provinces, in fact, most of Guizhou was also included in Huguang during the Yuan Dynasty.

In other words, the land of the three provinces cannot even make up 500 million people.The devastation of war can be seen.

And because all the people lost in the war were young and strong, the shortage of labor force was even bigger, and things were more difficult.

"Luo Shi, you are right in admonishing not to kill him. It's just that given the current situation in Huguang, it might not be easy to restore life, right?"

Luo Furen was speechless for a moment, his face was miserable, and he looked very helpless.In the end, I had to sigh, "Mr. Zhang, if you want to quickly restore Huguang's vitality, there is no way out. If you just come out, I'm afraid there will be countless folks who will poke my back."

Zhang Ximeng thought for a while, then smiled and said, "Are you planning to immigrate?"

"Yes!"

"Immigrated from Jiangxi?"

Luo Furen nodded, and agreed again, the look of sadness on his face became more intense, he is from Jiangxi, he encouraged his fellow villagers to immigrate, he was afraid of being struck by lightning and being scolded as his ancestor.

Zhang Ximeng saw Luo Furen's embarrassment, so he said in a deep voice: "Luo Shi, let's be honest and talk about it... What is the difficulty of your immigration, and is there any way to resolve it?"

Luo Furen was miserable, if this matter was so simple, he wouldn't have to worry about it.

"Zhang Xiang, where did the immigrants choose, where did they go, which route did they take during the period, how did they settle down after arriving at the destination, how did they take root, and live a stable life... It can be difficult every step of the way. I'm afraid the road of emigration will be full of bones!"

Luo Furen sighed, but he didn't exaggerate at all.

Because in many cases, the complexity of things far exceeds the imagination of the works. There are millions of immigrants at every turn, and even the earth may follow.But the actual immigration, especially the ancient immigration, is simply too troublesome.

First of all, the common people are generally resettled and relocated, and they are unwilling to take risks. How can they find enough immigrants?

It must not be posted as a notice, and there are a lot of people who respond.

It is roughly to determine where there are many people, and then issue an order to ask the whole family to move, or three out of one, five out of two, support the old and the young, leave their hometowns, travel thousands of miles, and go to the destination.

The operation is similar to catching a strong man, even more cruel.

Latin grabbed the husband, that was staring at Qing Zhuang hard.

However, immigrants usually migrate with their families, including the elderly and children.

In order to prevent escape, people need to be tied up and driven forward like livestock.

Along the way, due to fatigue, injury, disease, acclimatization, countless people died.

It is not surprising that [-] to [-] percent, or even more, died on the road.

Isn't it bright after arriving at the destination after a difficult trek?

Obviously not.

Suddenly arriving in a new environment, and nothing else, even if you are an old farmer, you may not be able to adapt to the local environment immediately after you move from Jiangxi to Huguang.

You don't even know much about the local wild vegetables... If you want to get some wild vegetables and mushrooms, you might send your family away.

Not to mention having no place to live, eating and sleeping in the open, rain, snow, wind and frost...

These contents are just small things.

In addition, when you arrive at a new place, how do you get along with the locals, and what should you do if a conflict breaks out between the two sides?

So Luo Furen was right to worry. He really wanted to encourage the people of Jiangxi to move to Huguang. It is not impossible to lose half of the population.

If he did this, he would be scolded by the elders in his hometown for hundreds of years, and it was only natural.

"Zhang Xiang, I know that emigration is a good thing. For Daming, there are many benefits. It's just that I really don't have the best of both worlds now. I, I am ashamed!"

Zhang Ximeng listened patiently, but smiled, "Luo Shi, you didn't advocate immigration, nor did you blindly oppose it, but you can think of these things, and you are already better than many people. Let's think carefully, is immigration necessary? ?”

Luo Furen thought for a long time, and said helplessly: "It's not only necessary? I think Zhang Xiangli is in charge of equalizing the land. Jiangxi is densely populated, much more than Huguang. How can we balance the land if we don't relocate the people?"

Zhang Ximeng nodded, "That's good. Let's make sure that immigration is a must. The next thing we need is how to emigrate, how to avoid losses on the road, and how to let the people immigrate here and live and work in peace and contentment quickly..."

It was also the first time for Luo Furen to talk to Zhang Ximeng about government affairs. He could clearly feel that Zhang Ximeng was different. Things were difficult to handle. Some people opposed and some supported them, but Zhang Ximeng was more concerned about how to do it!

"Luo Shi, let me start first. This time, the immigration must not be ordered to evacuate a certain village or town, or move half of it, like livestock, and drive it to a strange place. We must make a complete plan. I plan to let some Jiangxi veterans and Jiangxi scholars pass the imperial examination and become officials of the Ming Dynasty! The first task for them is to organize the people from their hometown to immigrate, and let them explain things clearly and dispel them. concerns of the people."

"Secondly, the immigration route must be planned well. Rest stops, food and medicines must be prepared along the way, so that the people cannot be damaged on the way. Finally, at the destination, houses must be prepared, the land must be marked, and personnel must be arranged to help the people settle down. .Also, farm implements, seeds, and oxen must all be prepared and distributed to every commoner.”

Zhang Ximeng talked a lot, and Luo Furen was pleasantly surprised when he heard it, but after thinking about it, he couldn't be happy again.