Chapter 36 8. Plan to kill King Ming and force Fang Guozhen to surrender

The strongest and richest enemies have all been eliminated by Zhu Yuanzhang. Now his biggest enemy is the Yuan Dynasty, and the second thing that needs to be wiped out are some small forces around him.At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang and his civil and military officers also understood that Xiao Ming Wang, who had been placed in Chuzhou, had actually become a bird in a cage, and had no use value for Zhu Yuanzhang, and it was really unnecessary to keep his name. Zhu Yuanzhang knew that he had played the role of a loyal minister under the banner of King Xiaoming for many years, and it was his name of benevolence and righteousness that won the hearts of the people and the loyalty of the soldiers.To get rid of King Xiao Ming, the only way is to act in the dark, let him die by accident, and let the people in the world think that King Xiao Ming's death was purely accidental and had nothing to do with him.

Of course, this strategy cannot be discussed with Liu Bowen, nor can it be discussed with Li Shanchang, and for Zhu Yuanzhang, it is a design to kill an inexperienced Xiaoming King. After thinking for a few days, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to act openly. During the early discussion that day, Zhu Yuanzhang said to the civil and military generals: "We have also called King Wu in Yingtian, but our master is still King Xiaoming. It was not intended to offend when we called King Wu at the beginning, but it was just to find a way to fight against Zhang Shicheng." Let’s have some reason, build up some momentum. Now that the strong enemy has been eliminated, we think it’s time to go to Chuzhou to welcome King Xiao Ming.”

When everyone heard that they were going to welcome King Xiao Ming, they immediately started talking, especially Tang He and Xu Da, who said angrily: "Our brothers are the ones who fought in the east and the west, and those brothers were killed and wounded. What kind of virtue does King Ming have?" How can you come to the sky and call yourself king and emperor!" Zhu Yuanzhang stopped immediately and said, "Don't be rude. Since the uprising, the Red Scarf Army has believed in the Ming religion, and in the name of loyalty, it has won such a situation. We think that at this time, we should go to meet King Xiaoming to establish a great cause."

Everyone's discussion still didn't stop, when everyone was surprised, only Liu Bowen couldn't help but smile. Zhu Yuanzhang saw it, and sighed in his heart: "Liu Bowen is really called Little Zhuge, he is too smart, I hope his smartness will not hinder his ambition." Zhu Yuanzhang got up and said: "Everyone, don't talk about it anymore. At the beginning, Zhu Sheng, a scholar of Huizhou University, advised us to 'build high walls, accumulate food widely, and slowly become king'. This suggestion is good. It is this nine-character policy that established our territory today. .Tomorrow, I will go to welcome King Xiaoming, King Xiaoming is our Lord Yingtian, everyone, don’t hold any more selfish thoughts.”

Early the next morning, Zhu Yuanzhang sent General Liao Yongzhong to Chuzhou to meet King Xiao Ming. As soon as Liao Yongzhong arrived in Chuzhou, he didn't rest for a moment, he asked Xiao Ming Wang to pack some things, saying that the date has been fixed and he had to hurry, otherwise the wind in the river would be too dangerous.King Xiaoming wanted to take his bodyguards with him, so Liao Yongzhong said to him, "Yingtian is much better than this Chuzhou, you don't need to bring anything, just you and I will take a boat to Yingtian, King Wu is already King Ming. Everything is arranged."

Liao Yongzhong and Xiao Ming Wang were in a small boat, and the first half of the journey was safe and sound, but Xiao Ming Wang felt a little uneasy, so Liao Yongzhong just drank by himself and ignored the questions.When the boat arrived at Guazhou, it was already dark. On a December night, it was still chilly even in cotton-padded clothes. Xiao Ming Wang, who did not drink, felt even colder. Looking at the vast night, he felt uneasy, and he was the only one on board. He and a general couldn't help worrying about their own safety. Liao Yongzhong didn't touch King Ming either, they sat separately. "It's Guazhou." Hearing Liao Yongzhong look outside and say something, he got up and went to the bow.

Back in the cabin, the two of them still didn't speak. When it was mid-stream, the boat could barely move. It turned out that a lot of water had entered the stern and bow, and the water was pouring into the cabin.Xiaoming Wang shouted: "I can't swim, you still don't make up the boat!" Liao Yongzhong didn't speak, and then jumped to a nearby fishing boat and left. In the early morning of the next day, Liao Yongzhong went to Yingtianfu to plead guilty. He said that when the boat was sailing, the boat hit a reef and leaked. It was dark at night and could not be repaired. Rescued Xiaoming Wang, almost died, was rescued by fishermen, and returned to Yingtian.

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily, "Prince Xiaoming is our monarch, how could he be so negligent. Although General Liao has made meritorious service many times, his meritorious service is not worth it, so he beheaded him." Veteran generals like Tang He and Xu Da came out to persuade him, but Zhu Yuanzhang still refused. Only Liu Bowen knew it was acting, and Li Shanchang and Li Shanchang stood up to persuade them, and then they stopped. Zhu Yuanzhang immediately decided to set up a mourning hall for King Xiaoming in Yingtian to announce the misfortune of King Xiaoming to the world. Zhu Yuanzhang then staged a crying scene of "loyal ministers crying for the hero" in King Xiaoming's mourning hall.

Xiao Ming Wang's death, of course, had a reason for his death.Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang is not the only one who knows the reason.But after the death of King Xiao Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang no longer used the title of Dragon and Phoenix. He became a veritable monarch, but he has not officially declared it to the world. While planning to kill King Xiaoming, Zhu Yuanzhang had another plan-to force Fang Guozhen, who was guarding the coast of eastern Zhejiang, to surrender.Zhu Yuanzhang, who has experienced many battles, knows that after the fierce battle with Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, it is inappropriate to launch a large-scale battle again, so let's use the opportunity of recuperation to deal with the weaker forces around him.Zhu Yuanzhang focused on Fang Guozhen. In fact, apart from Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, and Zhu Yuanzhang, Fang Guozhen could be regarded as a powerful rebel army.Fang Guozhen took Qingyuan (now Ningbo, Zhejiang) as his base, occupied Wenzhou, Taizhou, and the coastal areas of eastern Zhejiang. He owned thousands of warships and controlled abundant fish and salt resources. For Zhu Yuanzhang’s development, he must annex a fertile land .

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that there was no need to be too nervous about dealing with Fang Guozhen, and as early as the nineteenth year of Yuan Zhizheng (1359), Fang Guozhen sent envoys to Zhu Yuanzhang to offer Wen, Tai, and Qing counties to Zhu Yuanzhang when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang's development was overwhelming. willing to accept.Because Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't see that Fang Guozhen's temperament was capricious, and he could change the rudder when he saw the wind, rebelling from time to time and surrendering from time to time, and he only said to offer the land without actual action, so it was better to refuse.Fang Guozhen has been vacillating between being strong. In fact, his life is not easy. He attacked Western Wu and transported food for the Yuan army. Well, the south contacted Chen Youding again to resist Zhu Yuanzhang's attack.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw that Fang Guozhen was busy with "diplomacy" these days and did not forget to pay tribute to himself, he secretly smiled in his heart: "This is strength. If you are strong, others will respect you three points." Zhu Yuanzhang discussed with Liu Bowen and Li Shanchang how to get Fang Guozhen to surrender with the least effort. Li Shanchang believed that Fang Guozhen, who was a man of the wind, could write a crusade letter directly to frighten him, and then persuade him with reason, and directly make him surrender without any effort. Zhu Yuanzhang said: "This idea is good or bad, but people like Fang Guozhen are constantly changing in their hearts. It is impossible to say that he will not surrender again one day. When we are attacking other places, there is a sudden change of mind. It is very possible to stab you with a knife." Liu Bowen pondered for a long time and said: "It seems that the war is inevitable. After the long war before, it is not appropriate to send heavy troops this time. Moreover, Fang Guozhen's troops are not sufficient, lack of training, poor quality, and have not been on the battlefield for a long time. The minister thinks This time, we only need to mobilize troops to be stationed in eastern Zhejiang and attack from the land first. On the one hand, we will occupy the land, and on the other hand, Fang Guozhen will have nowhere to escape." Zhu Yuanzhang said loudly: "Okay! Fang Guozhen has no way to escape. Your words are reminding us that there is no way, but there are boats. Fang Guozhen has thousands of ships. If he really escapes to the sea and becomes king, there will still be troubles." what." Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen looked at each other, and both had to admire Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughtfulness. After the discussion, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to let Li Shanchang write a letter of surrender first, to see Fang Guozhen's reaction, and at the same time plan a military offensive strategy. Rather than saying that the letter sent in the name of Zhu Yuanzhang is a call for surrender, it is better to say that it is a crusade and condemnation of Fang Guozhen.The letter listed Fang Guozhen's twelve crimes, each of which was his most undignified act of begging for forgiveness and offering gifts.When Fang Guozhen received this letter, she was so angry that she almost vomited blood. Of course, this was Zhu Yuanzhang's strategy. He just wanted to make Fang Guozhen angry.But Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that with Fang Guozhen's temperament, of course he would be furious, but not so angry that he became seriously ill. Sure enough, soon, Zhu Yuanzhang received a reply from Fang Guozhen, which was a begging letter to be precise, praising Zhu Yuanzhang's bravery and strength, and sincerely expressing his loyalty.Of course Zhu Yuanzhang wouldn't believe him, and Fang Guozhen didn't provoke him, so he had to find a reason to send troops. After Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it, he felt that since you have come to surrender, well, you can pay tribute.Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Fang Guozhen to donate 230,000 shi of grain, and at the same time, he attached a letter threatening him that if he did not pay the tribute on time, he would confront him by force. Of course, Fang Guozhen didn't have that much food, and she felt anxious, thinking that Zhu Yuanzhang was going to push herself to a corner, and she couldn't wait for the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas.Well, let’s run away. As early as when Zhu Yuanzhang defeated Zhang Shicheng of the Eastern Wu, Fang Guozhen had a dream of a maritime empire—in case he was caught in the middle, there was really no way to get along. If someone attacked, he would move his family to On the ship, lead thousands of sea ships, carrying gold, silver and treasures, and live on the sea. Therefore, Fang Guozhen hinted that Zhu Yuanzhang was raising food, but on the other hand, he collected gold and silver treasures day and night, mobilized sea ships, and prepared to go to sea and flee when all the materials were ready. After Zhu Yuanzhang learned of this information, he acted immediately.The troops were divided into three groups and entered Fang Guozhen's sphere of influence. Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Zhu Liangzu to lead troops to attack Zhejiang, Jinhua and other places, and also ordered sailors to attack Taizhou. At the same time, Tang He and Wu Zhen led the garrisons stationed in Changzhou, Changxing, Yixing, Jiangyin and other places to jointly attack Qingyuan.Under the command of these veterans, some of the coastal areas in eastern Zhejiang were afraid of Zhu Yuanzhang's forces, and they would break through without attacking, and some would break through without attacking, and they were quickly taken over and occupied.Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang would not let Fang Guozhen, who had accumulated a lot of money, let Liao Yongzhong lead the navy to surround and attack from the sea, cutting off Fang Guozhen's escape into the sea. Fang Guozhen was attacked from many sides, especially the joint attack by Liao Yongzhong from the sea and Tang He from the land, which made Fang Guozhen unable to bear it, and most of his generals had already surrendered, so he had to surrender all his property and ships, and completely surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang. From launching the attack to finally occupying Fang Guozhen's sphere of influence, and then forcing him to surrender, it took only three months. This year, Zhu Yuanzhang completely got rid of King Xiaoming, and successfully forced Fang Guozhen to surrender, and most of Zhejiang was pacified.Zhu Yuanzhang's territory ranged from the two lakes to the southeast of Henan, from Anhui to Jiangxi and Zhejiang, and also included the lower reaches of the Han River and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. These areas were the places with the most abundant products, the most fertile land, and the densest population at that time. established a solid foundation.