mtl008 Chapter 92 News from Lingao
Chapter 92 News from Lingao
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After the fall of Dengzhou, Sun Yuanhua was trapped, and the Shandong governor Yu Dacheng was helpless, spending his days in seclusion chanting scriptures and practicing Buddhism, earning him the derisive nickname "White Lotus Temple".
On the thirteenth day of the first month of the eighth year of the Chongzhen reign (1644), the rebel army reorganized its forces, marched from Dengzhou, and captured Huangxian. Yu Dacheng was dismissed from his post and escorted to the capital for trial. Sun Yuanhua, who was still in Dengzhou, was also dismissed from his post as governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou.
On the 29th, General Yang Yufan led troops from Tongzhou, and Wang Hong led troops from Tianjin to engage the rebel army in battle at Xincheng Town, 80 li outside Yexian County. At that time, the rebel army had 5,000 cavalry and over 10,000 infantry, while the Ming army had less than 1,000 cavalry and less than 4,000 infantry. As a result, Wang Hong's Tianjin troops collapsed before the battle even began, and the rebels used their cannons to attack Yang Yufan. The Ming army eventually scattered and collapsed, with only Yang Yufan leading 300 personal guards to retreat to Laizhou.
On the first day of the second lunar month, Xu Congzhi, the newly appointed governor of Shandong, and Xie Lian, the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, both arrived in Laizhou.
On March 27th, Liu Yulie, the Vice Minister of War, swore an oath to lead the army from the capital to Laizhou in his capacity as the supervising commander. He mobilized reinforcements and local militia from Jizhou, Miyun and other places, totaling 25,000 cavalry and infantry. Accompanying them were six cannons specially allocated by Emperor Chongzhen. The imperial reinforcements gathered in Laizhou.
Perhaps it was Liu Ye's influence that worked; instead of besieging Laizhou as in the original history, the rebels split into two groups, bypassing the city. Li Jiucheng led his troops to attack Pingdu Prefecture, while Kong Youde led his troops to attack Qixia, leaving the two governors, Xu Congzhi and Xie Lian, empty-handed. Learning from the mistakes of Yang Yufan and Wang Hong, the Laizhou garrison dared not engage the rebels in open battle before Liu Yulie's army arrived. They could only watch helplessly as surrounding prefectures and counties fell one by one, while letters pleading for help poured into Laizhou, but they were powerless to do anything.
Contrary to historical precedent, the rebels did not attack Laizhou, which ironically saved them from being tied down by Laizhou and forced them into a direct confrontation with the imperial army. During their attacks on prefectures and counties, rebel generals like Li Jiucheng not only amassed enormous wealth, but their forces also grew exponentially. By early March, the entire eastern three prefectures of Shandong, except for Laizhou, were under rebel control. Officials were massacred, wealthy merchants and landlords were ruined, farmers and tenants were conscripted, and vast tracts of fertile land became unclaimed.
Inside Dengzhou, Wang Bao, taking advantage of the promises made to the rebels by Liu Ye, expanded his followers on a massive scale. After Dengzhou suffered massacres and looting, many people needed a source of faith and joined Wang Bao's army of believers, making Wang Bao extremely wealthy.
Liu Ye had been away from Lingao for almost half a year since he left Bofu Port aboard the Far Voyage, while Lin San had been gone for two months. Just as the rebels and Wang Bao were busy with their own affairs, he finally received his own good news—Bai Lian's mole near Huang County had made contact with Lin San, and he had a chance to return to Lingao.
Upon hearing the news, Liu Ye almost burst into tears. Being among the rebels, news from Lingao felt so comforting. Here, every day was filled with fear and felt like an eternity; nothing compared to the carefree life of being a local tyrant in Lingao. Of course, this trip to the rebel camp was his own decision; he had chosen this path, and he would see it through, even if it meant tears.
Lin San sent a message that they should still land at Huang County, avoiding the rebel army in Dengzhou. Although Huang County had been captured by the rebels, they were only concerned with looting and their main force had already left, so it was relatively safe at the moment. Liu Ye decided to leave through Huang County again; the most important thing now was to go to Huang County to make contact with Lin San and the others.
As he passed the front yard, Sun Yuanhua was pacing in the yard. Seeing him appear, he reached out to stop him and said, "Brother Liu, please wait a moment, I have something to say to you."
Liu Ye hesitated for a moment: "Lord Sun, I have some personal matters to attend to. Could we talk about it when I get back?"
“I am no longer the governor, so please don’t address me as such. I have thought about these words for a long time, and they are the only ones I can say to you. I also want you to pass on this to Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde.” Sun Yuanhua’s words were gentle, but his attitude was firm.
Since it involved rebels, Liu Ye had to take it seriously. After thinking about it, he agreed.
Inside the flower hall, Sun Yuanhua personally brewed a pot of tea and poured a cup for Liu Ye. Although the rebels had placed him under house arrest, they hadn't deprived him of his food, clothing, or other necessities. Liu Ye looked at Sun Yuanhua, who seemed to have aged ten years, and sighed deeply. The once powerful governor, who held considerable military power, had now been reduced to personally brewing tea for him. Stripped of his fourth-rank official robes, he was just an ordinary old man.
"Although I am trapped in this small place, news has not been cut off. This traitor Li Jiucheng is now acting against the tide, and the people of the three eastern prefectures are suffering. I feel very guilty. This sin is all because of me. If I hadn't made a mistake and wanted to appease this traitor, the situation today would not have happened."
"The fault doesn't lie with you. Given Li Jiucheng's character, he was bound to cause trouble sooner or later; it's just a matter of time," Liu Ye reassured him.
"You don't need to say those comforting words. I've thought it through. The rebels are too powerful to control now. All the court's capable troops are in Liaodong. If we were to mobilize troops from other places to Shandong, it would probably take a year or two to achieve any results. In order to relieve the court's burden, I've decided to ask Li the traitor to let me return to the court and persuade the officials to pacify the rebels so that the officials and people of Shandong can escape their suffering as soon as possible."
Liu Ye remained silent. Although history had been slightly altered by the flapping of his butterfly wings, the powerful inertia remained. Sun Yuanhua's initiative to return to the capital to explain his reasons would return him to the original historical trajectory; upon arriving in the capital, he would inevitably be framed and imprisoned by Wen Tiren's faction, ultimately losing his life unjustly. Much of what Liu Ye had done was to save Sun Yuanhua's life; he couldn't let him seek his own death. But how could he bring it up?
It would be difficult to persuade him not to return to the capital. Such a scholar-official is outwardly gentle but inwardly firm. Once he has made up his mind, it is hard to change it, especially for such a noble cause as saving the people from suffering. It seems that directly persuading him to go to Lingao is also not feasible. Even if he is dismissed from his post, a phoenix that has plucked its feathers is still a phoenix. It is impossible for him to fly to the branch of this country bumpkin.
He was about to flee, and didn't have time to waste on this drawn-out affair. He might as well just get back to Lingao. Thinking that Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde had led their troops out of the city to plunder, and that the key figures of the rebel army were not in Dengzhou, while Sun Yuanhua was under house arrest and unable to directly contact the rebels, he could use this opportunity...
"How about this, I'll go talk to Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde about this and see what they have to say?"
"Alright. Although Kong Youde is in cahoots with Li Jiucheng, he still has some goodwill towards me, so I don't think he will object. As for Li Jiucheng, he ultimately wants to be recruited, but he just wants to sell him for a good price. I am unwilling to join forces with them. Trapping me here will not help. Rather than killing me, it would be better for me to act as a go-between for their recruitment. I think they will all agree."
That's the truth. You were sent back to the court by the rebels, and then the emperor beheaded you, Liu Ye thought to himself.
"Alright, I'll go find them now. I'll come back and let you know as soon as I have any news."