Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 359 Jiang Xiang's Rebellion

Although Jiang Xiang believed that Meng Jun had a greater chance of conquering the world, Datong was thousands of miles away from Nanjing, so Jiang Xiang would not rush to join Meng Jun. If one day, Meng Jun led his army with great momentum and marched north, and the country was within sight, Jiang Xiang would naturally bow down to him. But now, if Jiang Xiang decided to start a rebellion, he would still regard the Yongli court as the legitimate government. After all, no matter how terrible the Ming Dynasty was, it was still more famous in Shanxi than the Zhou army.

Therefore, Jiang Xiang pretended not to understand Meng Bian's implicit proposal to serve King Zhou as his leader, and did not reach a formal alliance. He just hoped that after Zhou's army started the rebellion in Shanxi, they could pretend to launch a large-scale northern expedition south of the Yangtze River to tie down the Qing army's strength.

By now, the news of the defeat and death of Duoduo, the Prince of Henan of the Qing Dynasty, had already spread to every corner of the world, and people were worried for a while.

On the sixth day of June, Jiang Xiang took advantage of the opportunity when Geng Yun, the governor of Xuanda, and others went out of the city to inspect the draft, and suddenly closed the city gates. He ordered people to change their clothes and formally raised their troops. He led the people in an uprising in Datong, and recognized Yongli as the legitimate ruler. His officers and soldiers raised the flag of the Ming Dynasty. Jiang Xiang proclaimed himself the general and raised the banner of resistance against the Qing Dynasty.

Upon hearing the news, Geng Yun, the governor of Xuanda, immediately fled to Yanghe, but all his family members who remained in Datong were executed by Jiang Xiang.

After Jiang Xiang rebelled against the Qing Dynasty, he issued proclamations in all directions. The nearby cities of Hunyuan, Yanggao, Tianzhen, Guangling, Lingqiu, Zuoyun, Shanyin, Yingxian, Youyu, Huairen, and Shuozhou all raised the Ming flag.

After Jiang Xiang launched the uprising in Datong, Han officials and gentry from all over Shanxi responded. The northwestern part of Shanxi, which was originally a border during the Ming Dynasty and was now deserted, was also re-garrisoned by Jiang Xiang, who promoted generals and entrusted them with important tasks to strengthen the defenses around Shanxi.

The Jinzhong area, Wutai, Xinzhou, and Yu County were all inspired by Jiang Xiang's huge momentum and vied with each other to rebel against the Qing Dynasty. The righteous soldiers rushed to gather, reaching tens of thousands, and the army with flags swarmed like ants. Ran Yu, the commander of Ningwu Pass, also surrendered to Jiang Xiang. The situation changed drastically.

In Shanxi, sometimes the head of a county was unwilling to rebel against the Qing Dynasty, and the garrison was unwilling to obey the orders of the county magistrate, so they were driven out by the righteous people of the Three Jins with their farm tools. The anti-Qing actions were carried out in the Three Jins one after another.

In the southeastern region of Jin Dynasty, righteous armies rose up in Fen, Lu, Ze, Liao and other states and counties. Hu Guoding gathered troops in Lu'an, and their power was very strong. Chen Du, Zhang Douguan and others led troops to capture Zezhou, and Pingshun was occupied by Niu Guangtian, a general sent by Jiang Xiang.

From Puzhou in southwest Shanxi to Hancheng in Shaanxi on the west bank of the Yellow River, Yu Yin, Han Zhaoxuan, Li Qisheng and others responded to the news.

In neighboring Shaanxi, Meng Qiaofang, then governor of the Three Borders, reported to the Qing court: "Jiang Xiang has set up a fake organization and raised an army of 280,000!"

In a very short period of time, except for Taiyuan County, the only cities in Shanxi Province that defended themselves were Yuci, Pingding, Leping, Taiyuan, and Gang County. The rest of the places were basically occupied by the righteous army. The anti-Qing and restoration movement in Shanxi quickly spread to Shaanxi and other places. Wang Yongqiang, the lieutenant general of Yan'an, and Milayin, the deputy general of Ganzhou, successively announced their rebellion and returned to the Ming Dynasty.

For a time, smoke of war was everywhere, and it seemed that the Qing Dynasty's rule in this northern area was already in jeopardy. The Qing court was very nervous when it heard about the change. Shanxi and Beijing were very close, and the Qing court's heavy troops were tied up in the south by Meng Jun. After receiving the urgent report of the Datong mutiny, Dorgon got up overnight, left the Cining Palace, and summoned important officials in Beijing to discuss the matter.

The court meeting lasted all night. The next morning, the messenger rushed out of the capital and headed for Datong. On the one hand, Dorgon tried to persuade Jiang Xiang to surrender, announcing that if he repented and turned loyal, he would still be treated with kindness and would not be held accountable. On the other hand, he urgently assembled a large army and sent people to summon Bai Yintu's troops back and let him control Jiang Xiang's general Yang Zhenwei.

Seeing such a huge momentum, Jiang Xiang decided to gather troops to besiege Taiyuan. Jiang Xiang had a fierce general under his command named Wang Fuchen, who was known as Ma Yaozi in the army. The siege of Taiyuan was the battle that made him famous.

…………

Just as things were turbulent in Shanxi, Meng Jun in Jinling City also encountered some troubles.

It has been more than a year since Meng Jun claimed the throne of King Zhou. Some of the generals who had followed Meng Jun earlier have become impatient and are worried about Meng Jun.

In the eyes of Zhou Jun's generals, the Yongli court had long been in name only, and many of them were eager to support Meng Jun as emperor.

At a meeting in the shogunate hall, Qian Biao raised his arm and called out, and many generals at the meeting immediately echoed him, shouting: "Your Majesty has made unparalleled achievements, you should be enthroned as emperor immediately!"

"Yep!"

Gulbuha looked back with some surprise at Xu Fan, who was sitting at the end. He never expected that Xu Fan was so wise and what he said actually came true.

Seeing that the generals all agreed, Gulbuha also stood up and knelt before Meng Jun, saying: "Your Majesty is a man of genius, the embodiment of wisdom and courage, with a broad mind that can accommodate everything. Your Majesty's reputation can be called the Supreme Khan."

When the civil officials present heard Qian Biao's words, their faces immediately darkened. Then, after hearing what the Mongolian surrendered general Gulbuha said, it was like water dropping into a frying pan, and they exploded on the spot.

Since ancient times, there has been a set of procedures for becoming an emperor. There is a procedure for abdication, and there is also a procedure for offering sacrifices to heaven and becoming an emperor. These warriors don't understand anything and are simply talking nonsense.

The king nominally still regarded the Ming as the orthodox dynasty, and it was fine for him to be a king, but the meaning of being an emperor was very different. That was to kick out the old master, rebel and establish himself.

Besides, even if the king really wants to become emperor, it has to be arranged by civil officials. How can he let this bunch of warriors put on yellow robes and do things in such a rough way?

Lu Zhenfei immediately stood up and rebuked: "Playing the piano recklessly is harmful to the king!"

Qian Biao was furious when he heard this: "You can't bear to see the king live a good life, you have bad intentions."

Lu Zhenfei also got angry, and the two of them started arguing. Qian Biao called Lu Zhenfei a nerd who only read books, and Lu Zhenfei called Qian Biao uneducated and illiterate.

Seeing that Meng Jun looked unhappy, Yang En immediately stopped the quarrel between the two. Qian Lu and the other man snorted at each other and turned away.

The military generals were a little impatient, and many of them could not hold back and wanted to support Meng Jun to ascend the throne and become emperor so that they could be known as founding heroes, while most of the civil officials took a laissez-faire attitude.

Lu Zhenfei was not against Meng Jun becoming emperor, but he was against a military man taking the lead. In the past, during the rebellion of the feudal lords in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, emperors were changed as frequently as changing clothes. In the eyes of civil officials, such disasters must not have any signs at all.

After all, when it comes to Meng Jun's position, anyone who flips through a few pages of history books will know that it is only a matter of time before the Meng family replaces the Zhu family. However, in the eyes of most civil officials, this matter cannot be rushed. Whether it is to pacify the south first or to recover the capital, it will naturally come to fruition in time. There is no need to proclaim himself emperor now.

Yang En bowed respectfully to Meng Jun and said, "Your Majesty, the world is not yet settled. If you rashly declare yourself emperor, your rule may be unstable. You should know that there is the Zheng family in Fujian, Li Chengdong in Guangdong, Sun Kewang in Yunnan and Guizhou, and Li Dingguo in Changsha. You should not act too hastily!"

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Meng Jun straightened his face and scolded Qian Biao, "You idiot, you are talking nonsense. Let's discuss the matter. Why are you talking about this and that? This time I will fine you three months' salary. If you do it again, I will punish you severely!"