Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 362: Changes in Kunming (Part )

Sun Kewang's intention was quickly conveyed back to the Yongli court. Ding Kuichu and Qu Shisi knew immediately that Sun Kewang was against the emperor's return to the capital.

Yongli didn't believe it in his heart, but he still had a glimmer of fantasy. He said to Ding Qu and the others, "Although I am a poor ruler, I am not a cruel ruler. If the King of Zhou obeys the edict, I will treat him with sincerity."

Ding Kuichu judged others by himself. Even if he drank three kilograms of rice wine, he would not dare to imagine that Meng Jun would abandon his foundation and become a prisoner under Sun Kewang?

Qu Shisi shook his head and said to Emperor Yongli: "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Kunming is thousands of miles away and the journey is long. Moreover, Yunnan and Guizhou are all under the jurisdiction of the King of Qin. How can the King of Zhou come? This edict cannot be sent out. Sending it out will damage the prestige of the court."

Emperor Yongli secretly shed tears and said, "The King of Qin does not want me to return to the Southern Capital, so I am willing to move to Changsha, closer to the Central Plains!"

Ding Kuichu immediately replied: "Going to Changsha means getting out of the control of the King of Qin. Besides, there is already a rift between the Kings of Qin and Jin. The King of Qin will never agree to move the court to Changsha!"

The emperor and his ministers discussed for a long time and all agreed that the imperial edict should not be issued. Meng Jun would never obey the edict, and it would be a blow to the Yongli Emperor, whose prestige was already low.

As the Yongli court refused to issue an edict, Sun Kewang became furious and ordered people to force Yongli to issue an edict, but was scolded by Zhang Juan in court. Although Sun Kewang did not want Yongli to leave Kunming, he became increasingly dissatisfied with many court officials.

In Kunming, Sun Kewang recruited civilian workers and began to build a palace. He set up five prefectures, six ministries and three yamen, and appointed civil and military officials. He also ordered the civil and military officials of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces to come to the Qin Palace to pay homage as soon as possible.

At the same time, he established the Taimiao and Sheji, and formulated court rituals. In name, he was establishing order in the Ming court, but in fact he was accelerating the pace of usurping the throne. Those who were loyal to Sun Kewang were vigorously promoted, and those who were unwilling to submit were all demoted. These actions made the Yongli emperor and his ministers feel uneasy.

Emperor Yongli was intimidated by Sun Kewang's power and was uneasy day and night. He would often get up in panic in the middle of the night, fearing that a large army would rush into the palace. At that time, he would drink a pot of poisoned wine and make himself disappear silently.

In order to break free from control and flee Kunming, Yongli conspired with more than a dozen court officials including Wu Zhenyu, Li Yuankai, Hu Shiduan, and Jiang Ganchang to use Li Dingguo, who was still in Changsha, to order him to return and force Sun Kewang to release the emperor and leave.

Wu Zhenyu, Li Yuankai and others carefully planned, drafted a secret decree, privately cast a golden seal for a loyal minister, and sent a secret envoy to Changsha to secretly order Li Dingguo to return.

On June 18th of the third year of the Yongli reign, the secret envoy arrived in Changsha and handed the emperor's secret edict to Li Dingguo.

The imperial edict reads: "Since I ascended the throne, I have worked hard day and night, but my fate has been unfortunate and every step has been difficult. The King of Qin has usurped power, bullied the emperor, whipped the ministers, built palaces, established his own government, appointed civil and military officials, issued orders to the southwest, coveted the sacred artifacts, and attempted to usurp the throne.

My intentions are obvious to me. I cannot sleep or eat well, and I am in fear day and night. Every night, I am afraid that a large army will suddenly attack or poison will be dropped, which will lead to the overthrow of my country.

The minister of the Kingdom of Jin is my pillar of support. I place my hopes on the King of Jin to lead his army to save the Ming Dynasty from danger. I hope that when the King of Jin receives the edict, he will return as soon as possible and not let me down. Keep this edict carefully to prevent any accidents. "

This secret decree revealed Zhu Youlang's worry and panic between the lines, and at the same time, he pleaded with Li Dingguo like the last straw.

After receiving the secret edict, Li Dingguo was horrified and said, "Your Majesty has suffered such humiliation. I hope you can bear with it for now. I will lead the army back immediately!"

Li Dingguo immediately mobilized his troops and marched southward, leaving only troops to maintain law and order in Huguang, while the rest were all sent to Kunming.

On June 24, the third year of the Yongli reign, Li Dingguo's troops, with a total of more than 58,000 people, marched towards Yunnan. Li Dingguo also sent a secret envoy to contact Liu Wenxiu, urging him to protect the emperor at all costs.

Soon after the secret envoy left, Ma Jixiang secretly informed Sun Kewang and revealed the whole matter of Yongli's contact with Li Dingguo. When the truth was revealed, Sun Kewang was furious. On the one hand, he ordered Li Dingguo to stay in Changsha to guard Huguang based on the court's order. On the other hand, he persuaded Li Dingguo to stop advancing and not to fight against each other out of brotherly love.

At the same time, Sun Kewang urgently assembled his troops. For a time, the southwest was shrouded in war clouds and a large army gathered. It was as the saying goes, the world is like a stage, with one party taking the stage after another. The fighting in Huguang had just stopped, and Duoduo's prophecy that a civil war would break out in the south within a few months became a reality.

Sun Kewang's anger naturally had to be borne by the Yongli court. The fact that Yongli was unwilling to order Meng Jun to come to Kunming had already offended Sun Kewang. Now he was secretly colluding with Li Dingguo and wanted to drive him down. As the saying goes, this is intolerable. As soon as Sun Kewang made a move, there would be bloodshed.

Sun Kewang sent troops to imprison all the court officials in the palace and tortured them repeatedly. Pang Tianshou took the opportunity to falsely accuse all the officials who were not in harmony with him, saying that these people were suspected of conspiring to assassinate the King of Qin.

On June 26, the third year of the Yongli reign, Grand Secretary Wu Zhenyu, Military Affairs Clerk Zhang Juan, Imperial Academy Reviewer Jiang Hechang, Li Kaiyuan, Dali Temple Junior Secretary Yang Zhong, Imperial Household Secretary Zhao Gengyu, Guanglu Temple Junior Secretary Cai Ji, Wu'an Marquis Zheng Yunyuan, Jiangxi Province Censor Zhou Yunji, Censor Li Qi, Fujian Province Censor Hu Shirui, Eunuch Zhang Fulu, Quan Weiguo and 32 other officials, both large and small, were all arrested.

Sun Kewang ordered Wu Zhenyu to hang himself for the crimes of deceiving the emperor and harming the country, stealing treasures and forging imperial edicts. He also ordered the eunuch Zhang Fulu, Quan Weiguo and Zhang Juan, who had angrily cursed Sun Kewang, to be executed by slow slicing. The rest were all beheaded.

Before the execution, many ministers knelt down in front of the Yongli Emperor's palace with a sense of righteousness, wrote suicide poems, and died calmly. The people in Kunming were in a panic, and pedestrians on the road walked hurriedly, not daring to speak to each other.

…………

When the news of the Yunnan Incident reached Nanjing, Gu Yanwu could not help but sigh: "Sun Kewang is ambitious and kills court officials like killing chickens and dogs. This move is comparable to Zhu Wen's killing at Baima Station in the past. It is really sad and lamentable!"

Meng Jun was silent for a moment, then said to Gu Yanwu: "If Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo fight, no matter who wins, the imperial court will not be the winner."

Gu Yanwu was a little surprised and asked, "Your Majesty, if Sun Kewang wins, he might re-establish the Daxi Dynasty, but if Li Dingguo wins, he has no ambition to seize the throne!"

Meng Jun heard this and replied, "Sun Kewang is good at governing, while Li Dingguo is good at commanding the army. Sun Kewang lives in Yungui, a place with few people and poor land, but he can still support an army of over 100,000. Li Dingguo owns the land south of Changsha and half of Guangxi, but he can only support 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers, and they are short of food and money. If the two of them work together, both will benefit. If they separate, both will suffer. Now that the two of them are fighting, both will lose for the court."

Gu Yanwu asked: "Your Majesty, in the battle of the southwest, who will win between Sun and Li?"

Meng Jun shook his head. He really didn't know. In history, Li Dingguo must have won, but Meng Jun didn't know much about how he won. He only knew that if Li Dingguo lost, he would not be so famous.

But now, history has changed beyond all recognition. Will Li Dingguo fight with Sun Kewang? What will the fight be like? Who will win and who will lose? Meng Jun didn't know.

The war between the North and the South broke out almost at the same time. Jiang Xiang rebelled against the Qing Dynasty in Shanxi, and Sun Kewang and Li Ding were in internal strife. Meng Jun, who owned the land in the south of the Yangtze River, could only wait for the autumn grain to be stored in the warehouse. Only when he had grain in his hands could he not panic.