Great time travel

Chapter 1, The Great Chaos of the Capital

PS: Explanation on why there are so many generals and servants in Jingzhong Xungui's mansion, why they can't stop the bandits from looting: Even though these people are more capable of fighting, they are only bodyguards after all, and they only guard the mansions of each family. , and crucified.The rogues can concentrate their forces at any time, and usually spread out to plunder everywhere. When encountering difficult ideas (mansions with many bodyguards), they call people to join them everywhere, and even pull up cannons to bombard the door.

Moreover, even if a certain mansion is well-defended and cannot be attacked for a long time, so that the rogues give up and turn to other easy-to-attack fat meat, the soldiers guarding the mansion will not come out to meet them, but will only continue to attack. Huddle inside, just care about the snow in front of your own house, don't care about the frost on other people's roofs.

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Northern Zhili, Shuntian Prefecture, Wuqing County, the imperial camp of the Great Khan Huang Taiji of the Houjin Dynasty
In the fields overgrown with wild grass, tents dotted all over, countless bright flags fluttering in the wind, like colorful clouds.

Hundreds of ox horns blew a long and rough sound. Accompanied by the large group of mules and horses that had been captured by carrying the luggage, Huang Taiji led two elite soldiers of the Yellow Banner to come triumphantly from Baoding Mansion, preparing to face the biggest goal of the Southern Expedition. — Beijing, personally directing the final blow.

In the past, because of the hustle and bustle of the army and the frequent battles, even if it was the royal driver of the Great Khan, he was not very impressive.But now that the victory has been decided, under the suggestion of a group of Han officials, Huang Taiji also began to pay attention to the ostentation-cannons must be fired to start the journey. He rides on an oolong colt with a yellow canopy in front of him, and the silver saddle and gold stirrups under his body are shining.I saw him holding the apricot-yellow silk rein with his left hand on the horse, and pointing the mountains and rivers to the generals with his right hand, talking about how easy it is to break through the customs and defeat the Ming Dynasty, with a smile on his face.

——Since Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army was defeated and Hong Chengchou's Qin Army was annihilated, the entire Northern Zhili Plain has become a racetrack where the Jurchen Eight Banners run wild.By the end of October, except for a few suburban counties within [-] miles near the capital, most of the prefectures and counties in Gyeonggi had been captured by the Houjin Eight Banners.At this time, Huang Taiji personally supervised the battle again, and captured the fortified city of Baoding. The last small mobile force of the Ming Dynasty in Beizhili, the Jiuqianchuan Army who fled from Shanhaiguan all the way to Baoding, was also pursued. She's Jurchen Eight Banners and Guanning Iron Cavalry were completely wiped out.So far, from the capital to Jinan, the Ming court no longer has a single soldier to use, and the collapse is irreversible.

As the dust of the battle in Northern Zhili settled and taking over Beijing was just around the corner, Huang Taiji also began to restrain his troops and stabilize his rule over the occupied areas.So different from the previous robberies at the customs, after the Eight Banners soldiers won the complete victory this time, they did not loot everywhere like before.Therefore, although the people in Beizhili were panicked, the markets in various prefectures, prefectures and counties were still relatively stable.

Then, Huang Taiji recruited the officials of the Ming Dynasty with great measure and courage, because the Liaoxi generals related to the Ning Army were able to thread needles through them, and the collapse of the Ming court in Beizhili was already set, so the effect was not bad. Hundreds of low-ranking officials successively surrendered and surrendered, setting up the official airs of newly occupied places, but there are still many officials who hide or hide, and continue to wait and see the current situation, unwilling to come out easily to become Jurchen officials.

Especially Hong Chengchou, the highest-ranking prisoner captured in this Southern Expedition, although he has been reduced to a prisoner, he still refuses to submit to Houjin, which makes Huang Taiji feel very sorry—although in Beijing at this time, there are already Quite a number of ministers, ministers, academicians, and relatives of the emperor secretly sent envoys to have an affair with Huang Taiji. Presumably, they were already looking forward to changing their families and waiting to become Jurchen officials.However, although Huang Taiji is superficially friendly and comforting to this group of grasshoppers, he actually knows that this generation is mostly a poor man, a rotten person... In short, it must not be reused.

In this old and decaying Ming court, there are really very few outstanding military and political talents like Hong Chengchou who can really manage the army when they are on the horse and calm the people when they are off the horse.It is really impossible not to let Huang Taiji favor him, and even prepare to entrust him with important tasks.

——Although there are many Han officials who surrendered to the Jurchens, the number of truly outstanding talents, especially those who can qualify as "national scholars", is really limited.

Moreover, Hong Chengchou, as the three-sided governor of Shaanxi who is fully responsible for clearing the rogues in the pass, can be said to be a high-ranking, well-connected person, and has a huge influence in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu. If Hong Chengchou can submit to Jurchen, then the Eight Banners will continue to move south The journey of the Han land in the Central Plains is tantamount to having a leader... In view of the above considerations, Huang Taiji naturally paid more and more attention to Hong Chengchou.

But the problem is, the more talented you are, the more arrogant you are, and the harder it is to convince you... When Huang Taiji walked outside the tent where Hong Chengchou was imprisoned alone, he heard his confidant Fan Wencheng, a Han official, trying to persuade Hong Chengchou to surrender Returned, but Hong Chengchou repeated cynicism:
"...I don't know why Mr. Fan condescends to come here? Although there is no friendship before, I also know that Mr. Fan has a very high status in Huang Taiji, and Mr. Fan participates in the planning of political affairs and military affairs. See how Mr. Fan is doing. It’s quite nourishing! How’s it going? Are the Jurchens’ lackeys doing well?”

Although he was scolded by poking his spine, Fan Wencheng was not annoyed, and still smiled gently: "...don't be angry, my lord. I have always admired your reputation. I heard that your lord is in this situation now, so I beg you." The Great Khan came to visit your lord, so that you can talk with him about ancient and modern events..."

But Hong Chengchou didn't appreciate it, and immediately turned back with a cold face: "...Mr. Fan doesn't know where to start with this? Now that I am defeated and reduced to a prisoner, Mr. Fan is proud of himself. Under one person, ten thousand You are above people! I am afraid that if you talk to us lowly people, you will lose your status!"

"...Master Hong's words are wrong," Fan Wencheng said with a smile: "...The Great Khan did not treat His Excellency as a prisoner, on the contrary, the Great Khan has always admired His Excellency's talent, and wanted to take His Excellency under his command and discuss the world together Big plan. And I can also be a minister with the adults and listen to the teachings..."

Before Fan Wencheng finished speaking, Hong Chengchou interrupted him: "...dream! Although Hong is not talented, he will not betray the court and be that vulgar running dog! Even if a man is not capable of turning the tide, he is just a generous death in return Just a king!"

"...Hehe! It's really rare that your lord is still wholeheartedly loyal to that Chongzhen child!" Fan Wencheng kept shaking his head, "...It's just that I, Dajin, have won the fortune of the world. Entering Gyeonggi, wherever the soldiers go, they are all invincible. The Iron Cavalry of the Eight Banners will sweep the Central Plains just around the corner. However, in the Ming Dynasty, the government was chaotic, and traitors were in power. What can I do? The top and bottom of this Ming Dynasty are already rotten. Even if the Governor-General has a genius, can he turn the tide? Even if you don’t know it, why bother to struggle? My lord is a rare wise king. Cherish talent and love talent, if Mr. Zeng Yunhong can vote, he will be rewarded with the position of prince..."

Hong Chengchou interrupted him again, "...Mr. Fan, the imperial court has some immorality, but what about building slaves? Isn't it the same hypocrisy and violence? The watchdog, who doesn't want to be blinded by profit, tries to swallow the elephant with a snake!
At that time, Nurhachi rebelled and said seven great hatreds.The most important one is that Li Chengliang killed his father, but even if Li Chengliang had done this, he was also instigated by Nikan Wailan. Give Nurhachi execution.If you talk about hatred, let's stop here!But Nurhachi is a wolf with ambition, using these old accounts of old sesame seeds and rotten millet as an excuse to plot wrongdoing, and wholeheartedly plot to take over our Daming Liaodong country.After Huang Taiji came to the throne, he repeatedly invaded Beizhili, killed our people, raped our children, destroyed our farms, and destroyed our cities!As a citizen of China, how could Hong see the tragedy of Hu Yuan's chaos in China for nearly a hundred years, and it was staged in China again?Mr. Fan, you are a Han Chinese, but you are a minion for a foreign race, harming your own compatriots, and now you are here to persuade me to abandon my ancestors and become such an unfaithful and unfilial person.snort!Different road non-phase plan! "

"...Your Excellency is deeply attached to the world, and I am very grateful. However, now that Beijing has become an isolated city, and the Ming court is about to fall, how can you win the world by your own strength? My lord has always loved the people like a son. What’s more, both inside and outside are famous, the country is booming, and it’s only a matter of time to rule the world! My lord is concerned about the people of the world, but he is categorically an enemy of the Great Khan. Wouldn’t it delay the war and make the people suffer more from the war? If your lord Surrender to my lord and help me rule the world, and then the people will live and work in peace and contentment, and your name will go down in history!" Fan Wencheng shook his head and sighed.

"...Don't you hear that people who are not of my race will have a different heart! The crime of Hu Yuan's chaos is vivid in my mind! Mr. Fan has fantasies in his heart, heh! Childish!"

"...My lord's words are wrong! Hu Yuan has no way, this is exactly what my emperor took a deep warning... Although the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry entered the pass, although there were some murders, Brother Hong never thought that the emperor of Ming Dynasty listened to the slander and punished him... Loyal ministers who have lost the hearts of the people and made the people complain. Even if there were no Jurchen Eight Banners to punish the people, the rogues in Shaanxi, the demons of Wenxiangjiao in Shandong, and the rebel generals in Fujian in the south are also Han people? He used to be the favorite general of Emperor Tianqi and the ever-victorious warrior of the Ming Dynasty, but now he still raises the banner to attack the court? This is because the Ming Dynasty has exhausted its strength and all the heroes are obeying God's will!"

"...Huh! It's nonsense, and it's so unreasonable!" Even so, Hong Chengchou frowned, and fell into deep thought for a while.

Fan Wencheng saw that this remark seemed to be effective, so he took advantage of the victory to chase after him: "...Confucius said to be benevolent, Meng said to take righteousness, but it is righteous, so benevolence is the best. The scholars of my generation read the books of sages, what do they learn? Isn't it just to assist Mingjun, Do you want to stabilize the world? But think about it, what did Emperor Chongzhen do for the people of the world after he ascended the throne? It was nothing more than exorbitant taxation! Master Hong should understand the principle that good birds choose trees to live in..."

In short, Fan Wencheng said all kinds of good things to Hong Chengchou, and he kept his low profile in every possible way.But Hong Chengchou still kept his eyebrows cold, his words were stinging, and he seemed to have no intention of softening at all.Even Huang Taiji, who was standing outside the tent, felt a little discouraged.

However, when Fan Wencheng left the camp and reported to Huang Taiji about the task of persuading him to surrender, he said with confidence: "... Big Khan, according to my opinion, Hong Chengchou's mind has been shaken, and he won't be willing to die—— If he really wanted to seek death, he could have swung his sword to kill himself when he was captured, and he could have gone on a hunger strike to kill himself after being captured, but Hong Chengchou did not do this... On the contrary, since he was captured, he ate and drank as usual, it can be seen He doesn't have the desire to die, he doesn't want to die, he just wants to live. If he wants to live now, how can he not surrender?"

"...but he clearly doesn't have any intention of submitting or surrendering?" Huang Taiji asked in confusion.

"...Oh, Your Majesty, the more talented you are, the more troublesome it is to persuade you to surrender. If you don't put in enough effort, how can you make the national scholars work?"

Fan Wencheng explained, "... Hong Chengchou was a very arrogant man. As a literati, he led the army to sweep up the Northwest bandits. He was wise and brave, and had a great reputation. He was not defeated when he confronted the Holy One, but because of an accidental mutiny, an accident It was broken by me, so it is inevitable that I am not reconciled, but it is also reasonable. What's more, the decline of the Ming Dynasty is common to all the world. Could this wise person turn a blind eye? Hong Chengchou's refusal to surrender at this moment is not mainly for what reason Hua Yi's view is that firstly, he is not convinced, and secondly, he still has illusions, thinking that the city of Beijing may not fall. If His Majesty can make an exception to summon him, so that he can see the sky, and then warmly solicit, it will surely shake him. Heart. When Beijing is broken in the future, and then persuaded to surrender, it will be more confident..."

Therefore, Huang Taiji ordered a large banquet, rewarded the whole army, prepared to swear an oath to conquer the city of Beijing, and let Hong Chengchou go to the banquet and drink together by the way.

——Before, the Houjin army was divided into multiple groups, raided in all directions, and reported successes again and again. At present, Jifu has been basically wiped out, crushed the last resistance of the few remaining Ming troops, and plundered a large amount of wealth and young men.Now it is gathering troops again at the Daying Camp in Wuqing County, preparing to launch a general attack on the city of Beijing.

At this time, in Huang Taiji's imperial camp, crowns gathered and famous generals gathered for a while.Jurchen brave generals such as Mangguertai, Daishan, Jierhalang, Dorgon, Hauge, and Abatai, Guan Ning surrendered generals such as Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou, and civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty who surrendered since entering the customs, hereby At that time, they were all ordered to gather together to toast Shanxi Fenjiu, Kweichow Moutai and other fine wines in the world, and even a few bottles of "Guoshi Wushuang" wine made by "Australians" in Lingnan... and Hong Chengchou, who was a prisoner of war, was also arranged alone A feast of food and wine, accompanied by Fan Wencheng, feasted with everyone.

At the banquet, Huang Taiji first praised the contributions of the generals and encouraged them to continue to fight, and then asked people to present two documents and read them out in public.One of the proclamations showed Huang Taiji’s attitude towards Ming Dynasty officials’ solicitation, which read: “…Ming Dynasty officials surrendered, and their descendants’ hereditary father’s position remained unchanged; when an official was killed, he returned, and the official position was conferred; when one person surrendered, the state favored him; Lead the crowd to surrender, and assign duties according to their merits."

Another proclamation was an ultimatum to the Beijing imperial court: "... I saw that the people of the Li people were devastated, and they often sent letters to envoys for peace in mind. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty knew that the people were suffering and the people were dying, but he didn't care about it, and he didn't want peace? I kept making peace, but your ministers of the Ming Dynasty didn't reply. It is my responsibility, but the fault of the king and ministers of your country. From now on, wherever my army goes, whoever dares to oppose me and fight against me will be killed; those who escape from the mountains and forests will be captured; No criminals. This time the army will take all of Hebei, and it will never be as easy to withdraw as before!"

As soon as these two proclamations came out, those Eight Banners tyrants heard half of their understanding, but that's all for all the newly surrendered Han officials and generals, their eyes lit up and their brows were smiling.Immediately afterwards, he thanked and congratulated Huang Taiji again and again, the voice of flattery was like a wave, and all kinds of flattery were slapped like money.

And Fan Wencheng, who was tasked with persuading surrender, also took the opportunity to raise his glass to Hong Chengchou, "... Master Hong, can you see it? My Dajin Kingdom wholeheartedly admires Sinicization, accommodates all rivers, and stands proudly in Liaodong. Now there are more and more success stories. All the barbarians admire you! If there is anyone in this world who can bring peace to the world and return the people to a bright future, who else is there besides my lord? Why would your lord waste all his abilities for the sake of the Zhu family's child?"

"...Hehe, my Ming Dynasty bears the destiny, and the Holy Son of Heaven rules the world. Dingding Shenzhou has been established for nearly 300 years, and it is the honor of the mother country of all nations. How can it be destroyed by a few small setbacks?" Hong Chengchou snorted, There was a hint of anger in his eyes, but he looked slightly stern.

"...Holy Son of Heaven? Hehe." Fan Wencheng chuckled, "...Master Hong, do you know that the Holy Son of Heaven you speak of has already abandoned the capital palace and ancestral mausoleum, and fled in a hurry? Even guarding the capital to the death, with our army If you don't even have the guts to fight a battle, how can you be the master of the world?"

"...How is this possible?! The Son of Heaven is definitely not with such a temperament! Don't deceive me with lies!" Hong Chengchou was startled suddenly, with an inconceivable look on his face——Based on Hong Chengchou's knowledge of Emperor Chongzhen, this man wanted to save face His Majesty would never learn from Tang Xuanzong and easily leave the capital and flee.As for those ministers in the DPRK who have always been high-profile, no one is willing to be the first bird to make such a humiliating suggestion.

That being the case, why did the emperor leave the capital and flee?Are you not afraid of the eternal infamy and the ridicule of the world?
"...Master Hong, at this point, do I still need to deceive you? This is absolutely true!" Fan Wencheng said with a smile, and at the same time took out a thick stack of letter paper and spread it out in front of Hong Chengchou "...these are the secret letters written by high-ranking officials and relatives in Beijing to our lord in recent days, explaining clearly the matter of the emperor's departure, and even the arrangement of how to dedicate the city to our army has been discussed ...Does your lord think there will be a change in this battle?"

——These letterheads that the dignitaries in Beijing and the Jurchen Eight Banners secretly colluded with and voted for were obtained by Fan Wencheng from Huang Taiji and used as props in the work of persuading surrender—at this time, some things don’t need to be kept secret, anyway, Hong Chengchou can’t He is a prisoner, and he can't spread the news even if he knows it.Besides, the elite soldiers of the Eight Banners are about to go straight to Beijing, so what if these secrets are leaked?Could it be that there are still people in Beijing who can suppress rape?

As a result, Hong Chengchou was overwhelmed by the magnificence, and could no longer say any hard words about being loyal to the emperor and serving the country, and would rather die than surrender.

Especially when Hong Chengchou saw the signatures of Jiading Bo Zhou Kui (the father of Empress Zhou) and guerrilla general Tian Hongyu (the father of Concubine Tian) and their words of flattery to Huang Taiji in these secret letters of fornication and slavery. ...that is the head of the Chongzhen Emperor!

——Even his father-in-law wanted to collude with Jiannu and rebel, which shows how failed Zhu Youjian was as an emperor... I just don’t know if his bedside people (Empress Zhou and Concubine Tian Gui) also hooked up with foreign bandits?If it is true, then the life of Emperor Chongzhen can be called a tragedy!
In short, the dignified sons of heaven have already retreated, abandoned the capital and fled.So many servants of ministers, scholars of the cabinet, and relatives of the emperor in the capital are all vying to praise the stinky feet of the enemy chief Taiji.He is just a criminal who was defeated and captured, why is he still stubborn here?

However, just when Hong Chengchou was shocked by the incident of "the son of heaven abandoning the country", and his mind was out of control, all the generals in the tent were pushing each other to exchange cups, drinking and drinking.The Jurchen detectives sent by Huang Taiji to investigate in the direction of Beijing before reported an unexpected change.

"...What? The bandits from Shaanxi invaded the capital of the Ming Dynasty and plundered it first, taking advantage of us?"

This unexpected news stunned the half-drunk Houjin generals in the tent, not knowing what to say.After a while, someone began to yell and curse bitterly. It was nothing more than those Shaanxi thieves who robbed Da Jin of his meat.Only Fan Wencheng quietly got up and left the seat after contemplating for a while, leaned into Huang Taiji's ear, and whispered: "...profuse sweat, great joy! Really happy!"

"...Oh? This sounds really weird. How can I be happy about such a bad thing?" Huang Taiji, who was also slightly drunk, frowned and asked.

"...Report to the Great Khan, if our army enters and occupies the capital this time, if we wantonly massacre, the people will inevitably boil with grievances, which will not be conducive to future governance; if we don't take any money, we will let the soldiers down again. Now there are bandits from Shaanxi who are the king's pioneers and will do dirty work for us It's much easier to do the job and take the blame..."

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On October 27, the fifth year of Chongzhen, after learning of the changes in the capital, Huang Taiji personally led the Eight Banners cavalry to attack the capital, followed by various Han armies.

At this time, the city of Beijing was still in great chaos. The Shaanxi bandits were bent on looting the shops and mansions in the city. After a day of melee in the alley, the Shaanxi bandits were defeated.

Gao Yingxiang, the leader of the bandits, was staying in the Forbidden City, drinking and having fun with the bandits.Hearing the sound, he put on his armor immediately, and led his own soldiers to fight and leave, but the troops were scattered all over the city, unable to summon them in time, and finally unable to support them, they gave their heads outside the Meridian Gate.Most of the rest of the bandit leaders in Shaanxi were also captured and killed in the city, or they were lost in the chaos and did not know where they ended up.Only Li Zicheng, the general who broke through, restrained his subordinates in advance and camped outside the city. He was not dispersed by the Houjin cavalry, but he was also unable to reverse the situation of the battle.Seeing that it was impossible to do anything, Li Zicheng took in the rout soldiers and left the camp westward. After hearing the news, the Jin soldiers couldn't catch up, so they had to sit and watch their entire army go away.

After this war and catastrophe, half of the houses in the capital were destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people were devastated, and many places in the imperial palace and Forbidden City were burned down.It is said that many relatives of the royal family and wealthy households were slaughtered by the rogues. The gold, silver, grain and rice hoarded in their homes, after being passed through the hands of the rogues in Shaanxi, naturally became the spoils of the Jurchen Eight Banners. The amount of silver alone was as high as 5000 million taels, which made the dignitaries of the Eight Banners happy from ear to ear.

Because the imperial palace had been reduced to a battlefield and hadn't been cleaned up, Huang Taiji first stayed in Ziguang Pavilion, Zhongnanhai, where he summoned the Ming Dynasty's demoted officials, comforted them with warm words, and hired them according to their ability.A scholar of the Imperial Academy knelt down three times and kowtowed nine times, and presented a form of persuasion, asking Huang Taiji to proclaim himself emperor in Beijing, but Huang Taiji smiled and declined.Another Kodao speaker asked Huang Taiji for instructions, asking whether the surrendered Han officials should shave their hair and keep their braids. Huang Taiji said that such details can be learned as much as you can...

In short, with the passage of time, the situation in the capital began to stabilize, and the people numbly accepted the rule of the Jurchens, but the problem of food shortages still plagued the new masters of Beijing... So, at the suggestion of several Ming generals, , Huang Taiji set his sights on the Tianjin coast in the east...