Great time travel

Chapter 131, Hangzhou Bloodless Kaicheng
Ordinarily, things like running away from battle should be done in secret.But the problem is, just like Gou Xunli did not dare to abandon Zhang Dai and flee back to Nanjing by himself, Zhang Dai also did not dare to lure a large group of scholars into death, and then run away alone - this will definitely ruin his reputation as a scholar!
If he left a reputation as a professional deceit, he, Zhang Dai, would no longer have to hang out in the circle of scholars in the future.

Therefore, while ordering the housekeeper to pack up his belongings and prepare to leave the city, Zhang Dai also ordered his people to quickly inform those passionate scholars who came to Hangzhou with him to "defend the enemy and face disaster", telling them that Hangzhou is no longer defendable, and the road to the south will not work. Therefore, I had to turn back to Jinling and plan another plan...

In addition, Zhang Dai has lived in Hangzhou for many years after all, and has many friends and family acquaintances in the city.At this moment, it is reasonable to inform and warn them before leaving.Anyway, the news has been leaked to so many people, so it shouldn't matter if there are more!
Unexpectedly, the result of doing so was that one stone stirred up thousands of waves, and in an instant, a vigorous tide of fleeing was set off in Hangzhou City!

——With the level of secrecy that the Ming government has always been comparable to a sieve and a funnel, as early as yesterday, when the magistrate Liu Mengqian entertained Zhang Dai and other "righteous men" to drink flowers and wine, about the "Nanjing court could not send reinforcements, the princes of the court decided to let Hangzhou The city will fend for itself, and it is best to fight to the death.” The bad news has already spread throughout the entire Hangzhou city like wildfire, making all the gentry and wealthy households in the city sleepless nights.

Although Zhang Dai only notified a dozen or so family members before leaving, those people who were notified also had relatives and friends. In addition, the atmosphere in Hangzhou is tense and everyone is paying attention to this matter, so the relevant news The spread was comparable to the speed of light—the news that Zhang Dai and others had not had time to leave the city, that they thought nothing could be done when they first came to Hangzhou and were scared away by the crisis, had already spread to every street and alley in Hangzhou City.

To make matters worse, it seems that because of the exaggerated atmosphere of war, some people even casually said that the Nanjing court planned to beggar its neighbor by sacrificing the property of the gentry in Hangzhou to bribe the thieves in exchange for the safety of those prefectures in Southern Zhili.And Zhang Dai came to secretly ventilate to the magistrate, and was going to collude with the thieves to slaughter the city, so that the blood of the Zhejiang gentry could be used to ensure the safety of the southern Zhili officials and eunuchs... Under the false rumors, all kinds of increasingly terrifying rumors, In this way, it spread ten or ten times in the market, and finally caused a commotion in the whole city!Everyone felt that if they didn't leave, it would be too late!
Therefore, when Zhang Dai and other "righteous men" just opened the city gate with the prefect's token, they dragged countless suitcases and boarded the black-covered boat in the Grand Canal, and were about to set off to the north.Hundreds of local gentry families from Hangzhou also flocked to the city, easily overwhelmed the Ming army defending the city, and flocked to the pier of the canal in a chaotic manner.Then, they showed their talents and got a lot of ships of all kinds, carrying the whole family and the gold and silver and soft oars to the north - as the battle situation became increasingly unfavorable, many people had already made plans to flee at any time , it's just that I haven't made up my mind before.Those who couldn't get a boat would stagger north along the snow-covered official road with a wheelbarrow or a cart.

The Ming army guarding the city did not dare to stop this sudden doomsday escape—the Ming army guarding the gates of Hangzhou today is very complicated, including hereditary military households from the local guards and subordinate officials from various yamen , as well as the temporary collection of local folks.But they have one thing in common, that is, they are basically locals from Hangzhou, and they are inextricably linked with the rich gentry and wealthy households who are the de facto ruling class in the city.Many of those Hangzhou Minzhuang who were temporarily expropriated were still working as hired labor in a certain gentry's house a few days ago, and their sons and daughters might still be serving as servants in the master's house.Seeing that the master is going out of the city now, how dare they stop him?Those subordinate servants are also locals, and their positions are basically secured by the support of big gentry families, and their loyalty to their benefactors is far better than that of prefects from other provinces.And they are more aware of the dangers of the war situation than ordinary people, and they are also not optimistic about the prospects of Hangzhou City, so they also followed home to pack up their belongings and prepare to flee.

Not to mention those military households.The basic atmosphere of society in the late Ming Dynasty was that the gentlemen were noble and the military were humble.In Jiangnan, however, the style of writing is excellent and wars are rare, so the status of warriors is even lowered to a desperate level. A mere scholar dares to scold the third-rank commander in the street.As for the status of those low-level soldiers, they are almost the same as the untouchables of India in later generations. Their members are mainly composed of beggars and slaves. To be discriminated against by other beggars... Under normal circumstances, even if they were beaten to death by the gentry's servants in the street, they could only consider themselves unlucky. How dare they embarrass the noble gentry just for the mere military order?
Therefore, once the gates in the north of Hangzhou were opened, they could never be closed again.All kinds of chaotic traffic and people completely blocked the street, and thousands of people of all colors flocked out like crazy. With the fleeing of a large number of gentry and wealthy families, the ordinary people who got the news were also moved by the news: before In order to strengthen the determination of the soldiers and civilians in the city to resist, the magistrate Liu Mengqian carried out a considerable degree of demonization propaganda against the thieves, but at this moment, it turned into shooting himself in the foot-due to excessive fear, more people The people of Hangzhou were scared away.

All of a sudden, as long as they were able to raise money and dry food, everyone from noble clans, scholars and businessmen to peddlers and pawns began to follow suit and fled to the north of the city. In the end, even the soldiers and horses guarding the city were in large numbers. and ran away.They don't know that although the city of Hangzhou today is crumbling and in danger, the countryside in northern Zhejiang is also full of local bandits, and the roads are not safe.Many bandit road tyrants heard about the battle in Zhejiang and thought that the weather in the south of the Yangtze River was about to change, so they set up various banners to imitate the soldiers and horses of the bandits, shaved their own heads, and set up cards on official roads to collect road money. ,

In addition to these mountain kings on land, the heroes on the water were unwilling to be lonely, and began to use the canal to rely on the water to draw water, and wantonly robbed the rich fleeing with a lot of gold and silver.Especially those Cao Ding, boatmen, and trackers who have lost their livelihood since the fall of Beijing and the cut off of water transportation. During that time, all kinds of horror legends about man-eating black shops and black boats slaughtering customers blossomed everywhere in the south of the Yangtze River, causing rumors to spread everywhere in the prefectures and counties, and people panicked.

In short, Zhejiang Province is now out of control. Even in those prefectures and counties that are far away from the coastline and have not been directly attacked by the bandits, the security situation outside the cities is still in chaos.The officials firmly grasped the only troops at hand, and did not dare to go out of the city to enforce the law. It is conceivable that in the eyes of the powerful people on land and in the water, so many wealthy households and gentry who fled Hangzhou in a hurry are absolutely unimportant. It is a first-class fat sheep!
It can be seen from this that these Hangzhou people do not know how many bones they will fall during the journey of fleeing northward against the wind and snow...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

However, regardless of the future fate of these gentry who escaped from Hangzhou, at least those who remained in Hangzhou city jumped their feet in a hurry.

Poor prefect Liu Mengqian, who is good at cursive calligraphy, just got drunk in a luxurious brothel, and found a woman to solve his physiological needs that have been suppressed for many days. He is hugging two naked red girls in the hibiscus tent. The waiter, dreaming of the sweet dream of "righteous people from all directions gather in Hangzhou, smash the thieves and save me from Ming Dynasty"!Over there, confidants and family members rushed to report: Zhang Dai and others who just arrived yesterday actually incited the whole city to abandon Hangzhou and flee to the north!Now the rich households in the whole city are scrambling to rush out of the city gate, the market is in chaos, and even the city defense soldiers and horses have been completely wiped out...

—Well, isn't this a particularly peculiar way of expressing the phrase "every fortress is breached from within"?

So, as soon as the poor Zhifu Liu was woken up, he immediately fell on his back with anger: Zhang Dai, who originally thought that the helpless "righteous men" were at best a useless stimulant-of course, the ancients did not There is no such thing as doping.Right now, it has become a life-threatening poison!
Although these damn bastards didn't directly offer the city to the thieves, if all the big gentry escaped, how could the city of Hangzhou survive?
Without these big gentry households supporting daily labor, maintaining law and order, and repaying money and food, should he be allowed to lead a group of yamen servants to guard the city?

But it's useless to just be angry. The big gentry in Hangzhou are still pouring out of the city like a dam breaching.Liu Zhifu had no choice but to go to the north of the city to curb his escape and close the city gates regardless of his kidney deficiency. Deterrence by force will do.Otherwise, even if he, the magistrate, came forward, he would still be overwhelmed and trampled by the violent crowd.Therefore, as soon as he came out of the brothel, he summoned his subordinate officials everywhere, and went to the gates of other cities, trying to gather a troop to come over.Although the guards at the Wulin Gate had already been dispersed by the Kun bandits, and the officers at the two north gates had probably been swept away, there should still be some people at the other gates, right?
However, what made Liu Zhifu feel desperate was that after such a round of tossing, not only all the subordinate officials disappeared, even the defenders of the other gates seemed to have basically disappeared!He, the magistrate, has almost become a polished commander!

In general, except for not opening the city gates to meet the thieves, the Hangzhou defenders have done everything that can spoil the situation of the battle.

——Earlier, although Prefect Liu's strategy for preparing for war was a mess, at least a lot of military households and young men were conscripted from the city to defend various sections of the city wall.In the face of the government's recruitment, first of all, ordinary ordinary people dare not not come, and secondly, the magistrate's yamen has set up subsidies and rewards that look very good. It just so happens that all businesses in Hangzhou have withered due to the war, and many unemployed local young men think of it. Work hard on the city wall to earn some money to support their families; some daring rascals even got an old uniform from the magistrate's yamen, and are going to throw bricks and stones outside the city with the defenders, so that they can not only earn more money , I also fantasized about being photographed by an official, earning myself a personal soldier or even a small officer.

Obviously, under the bombardment of the gun thieves like a meteor shower, the fantasies of the above-mentioned guys were quickly shattered.The Houchao Gate, which was the first to be bombarded, and the Wulin Gate, which was the main battlefield next, all the strong men on the walls quickly fled.But at the remaining gates, there are still some people who are struggling.After the tide of fleeing the whole city broke out, the last straw that broke the camel's back was released, and the strong men who wanted to earn money immediately dispersed, and the rogue idlers who wanted to earn military merit also left behind the numbers they had just received. Clothes, ran home and hid under the bed.

As a result, Liu Zhifu stared at bloodshot eyes and ran from one city gate to another, only to find that the military households, government servants and civilians who were guarding each gate had all dispersed in a hurry, and there was no one left. Any way to shout them out from behind closed doors.When Liu Zhifu was dejected and returned to his private house as a temporary government office, he was hit by a bolt from the blue—just when he was running around Hangzhou city, a group of rout soldiers maliciously asking for salary raided the private house of the prefect , Not only wantonly burned and killed, but also looted all the eunuchs that the magistrate has worked so hard to accumulate for so many years!
——How can it happen now?If he didn't have the money to go to the Nanjing court to engage in activities, the crime of defeat and siege would be enough for him to confiscate his family and exterminate his family!

At this point, the magistrate Liu Mengqian, who was completely mad, immediately turned black, his body went limp, and he fell down with a grim expression, his trusted butler was in a hurry, and he didn't know whether to run out for a while. Please ask a doctor, or stay and take care of the master... Fortunately, probably for the sake of Liu Zhifu's hard work in supporting the Ming Dynasty for so many years, Lord Yan sent Liu Taishou back to Yang with a stroke of his pen.

And Liu Zhifu, who woke up leisurely, no longer has the energy to continue to stick to the end, let alone the idea of ​​dying in the city and committing suicide for the sake of his full name. Instead, a flash of light suddenly appeared in his mind, and the blessing came to his heart-I am a dignified Jinshi Scholars from birth should be loyal to the orthodoxy of the imperial family, so why should they bother to punish the court of the puppet emperor in Nanjing?Right now, the true emperor is still wandering in the Central Plains, and he must be thinking about how to flatten the false emperor, occupy the southern capital, and restore his great power.If I, the magistrate of Hangzhou, went to join Emperor Chongzhen's royal family, it might be a way out... At least it was better than staying in Hangzhou to join the bandits or going to Nanjing to die!

Therefore, the magistrate Liu Mengqian, who regained his energy, immediately ordered the servant Ding to take action. First, he packed some utensils needed for the trip from the messy mansion, and dug out a box of silver from a secret cellar. As a wrap.Then they dispersed a group of beggar military households who came to ask for payment, and then followed behind the fleeing tide of rich gentry and wealthy households in Hangzhou, quietly left the city, and went to southern Anhui.

At this point, with the final shutdown of the magistrate's yamen, the city of Hangzhou officially entered a state of anarchy where demons danced wildly.

At the same time, the Kun bandits outside the city still calmly stood still, and just continued to shoot Hale rockets into the city in a leisurely manner...