Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen Next target, Zhang Shicheng!

After solving Chen Youliang's problem, Landlord Zhu launched an attack on Landlord Zhang who was richer than him. Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Shicheng can be said to be irreconcilable, especially what Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't figure out was that he didn't provoke each other much, so why did he regard himself as the biggest enemy? Now that Chen Youliang is finished, it's time to deal with Zhang Shicheng, a private salt dealer. Zhang Shicheng was not easy to bully at first, and it was a coincidence that his nickname was also called Jiusi, which was different from Chen Youliang's name which was rumored to be, but his nickname was clearly recorded in the official history, he fought wars and ruled the local area Mainly rely on his brothers: Zhang Shiyi, Zhang Shide, Zhang Shixin.Except for Zhang Shixin, the other two were very powerful, but they had already died in battle. Now Wu, under the leadership of the playboy Zhang Shixin, has gone downhill.

It seems that there is no God's blessing this time. In the first month of the twenty-fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1364), Zhu Yuanzhang took the throne of Wu. He finally completed the transformation process from a peasant to a prince (he had not been crowned king before). More.In order to distinguish him from Zhang Shicheng's Wu in history, this regime was called Western Wu, and Zhang Shicheng was called Dongwu. However, some historical materials record Zhu Yuanzhang's self-reliance as the king of Wu. If you study it carefully, you will find that the word self-reliance in this sentence is worthy of scrutiny.Because Han Lin'er was still the emperor in name at this time, he had to get his approval to become king of Wu, and it would be legal after approval. If Zhu Yuanzhang was self-reliant, it would obviously be a criminal act, and Han Lin'er's edict had not been obtained.Whether Han Lin'er was dissatisfied and refused to issue an edict to appoint Zhu Yuanzhang, this is also a question worth exploring.

In the twenty-fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang sent troops to attack Soochow after careful preparations. The troops were dispatched in August, and in less than half a year, large areas around Jiangsu were conquered, such as Xuzhou, Yancheng, Taizhou, etc., and even Zhang Shicheng's original base Gaoyou. Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was about to kick away the last block on his way forward and fight the Yuan government, at this moment, he was stunned by an unexpected news. When he was fighting in Jiangsu, the spies told him that his nephew, Zhu Wenzheng, who had outstanding military exploits, had colluded with Zhang Shicheng and planned to send troops to attack him.

Zhu Yuanzhang had also been betrayed before. In the 22nd year of Zhengzheng, generals Shao Rong and Zhao Jizu conspired to kill him. After being accused, Zhu Yuanzhang executed them both. General Xie Zaixing rebelled, Zhu Yuanzhang dealt with it in time and suppressed the rebellion. However, Zhu Wenzheng's betrayal made him really fall into pain. Even his most trusted nephew, a powerful general, wanted to betray him. Why? In fact, the reason is very simple, just for the official position. After Zhu Yuanzhang defeated Chen Youliang, he rewarded him for his merits. Because Zhu Wen was his nephew, he made the most contributions.So he first asked Zhu Wenzheng what requirements he wanted and what official he wanted to be appointed.Zhu Wenzheng had the demeanor of a general, and said to Zhu Yuanzhang, we are relatives, you should seal someone else first, I am not interested in these things.

Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed when he heard this, and felt that his nephew was really talented, knew the general situation, and cared about the overall situation.So he sealed the good position to others, and still let Zhu Wenzheng come to guard Jiangxi. How did he know that Zhu Wen was being polite to him, just like asking the price in an auction house. He was waiting for Zhu Yuanzhang to raise the price, to keep him, and to say something like "You must not refuse." Price, hit the hammer directly. make a deal! Zhu Wenzheng's dissatisfaction finally erupted. I contributed the most to guarding the flood, but I was not rewarded in terms of meritorious deeds. He couldn't figure it out no matter what he thought.But this still can't make him achieve psychological balance. Whenever he sees those subordinates showing off their power in rich places like Yingtian, while he can only guard Jiangxi, he will express his dissatisfaction with Zhu Yuanzhang from the bottom of his heart.When this dissatisfaction reaches its peak, he will inevitably go to extremes.

Who in the world can compete with Zhu Yuanzhang? Only Zhang Shicheng left. Just as he was making intensive preparations, Zhu Yuanzhang learned the news. He left his job and came to Hongdu in person. He's going to clear the door. The meeting between Zhu Wenzheng and Zhu Yuanzhang was very dramatic. When he saw Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Wenzheng was stunned.Zhu Yuanzhang was not ignorant at all, he fully demonstrated his simple nature, he did not say such pleasant words as today's weather is very good, you seem to have gained weight, he did not play tricks at all, and directly whipped Zhu Wen Just as he was beating, he said: boy, what do you want to do!

Zhu Yuanzhang originally wanted to execute Zhu Wenzheng, but because of Queen Ma's dissuasion, he did not do so, but locked him up.Objectively speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang treated Zhu Wenzheng well. In the third year of Hongwu (1370), he made Zhu Wenzheng's eight-year-old son king, and he became a vassal in Guilin. In any case, the fault is on Zhu Wenzheng's side. This brilliant and talented general ended his glorious life in this way, and finally died in captivity.His tragedy stems from his character. This man with military genius doesn't know how to behave. He has a perverted personality, narrow-mindedness, and bad conduct. Other things to blame.From this perspective, his tragedy is doomed.

Character determines destiny! This incident caused a great psychological shadow to Zhu Yuanzhang. From then on, he couldn't trust anyone, even his nephew, who was the most reliable and powerful, betrayed him, who else could he trust? For Zhu Yuanzhang, gunpowder has been buried in his heart, and it depends on when it will explode. After solving this matter, Zhu Yuanzhang went on to deal with his old enemy, Zhang Shicheng. The war in the 25th year of the Yuan Dynasty had already driven Zhang Shicheng out of the north of the Yangtze River, and the Soochow Army shrank in the Jianghang area, which is today's Suzhou and Hangzhou.Zhang Shicheng still doesn't seem to understand his situation. He still wants to occupy the so-called half of the south of the Yangtze River and become his rich landlord.

But landlord Zhu told him with his actions that there can only be one biggest landlord in the world, and this person will definitely not be you, Zhang Shicheng. In the twenty-sixth year of Zhiyuan (1366), Zhu Yuanzhang led all his elites to attack Zhang Shicheng with Xu Dachang Yuchun as the commander. When discussing the battle plan, a dispute arose. Chang Yuchun believed that Pingjiang (now Suzhou), the old nest of Soochow, should be directly captured. Xu Da also agreed with him. They all believed that as long as Pingjiang was obtained, all of Zhang Shicheng The territory will be surrendered without a fight.

Zhu Yuanzhang disagreed. Zhu Yuanzhang once again showed his genius strategic vision. He believed that if Pingjiang was directly attacked, Zhang Shicheng's troops in Hangzhou would definitely come to rescue, and Pingjiang would be extremely difficult to conquer.But by attacking Hangzhou and other regions first, Zhang Shicheng's wings can be cut off, and Pingjiang will naturally be in his pocket. Facts have proved that Zhu Yuanzhang is indeed a genius military strategist, and he was right again this time. Before setting off, Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly emphasized one thing, that is, after conquering the city, you can't kill casually, because what's the use of getting an open space after killing people? beneficial).

This is not for Xu Da, but for Chang Yuchun. This old man, since Mount Jiuhua, has not changed his bad habits. After the siege, he must kill. Zhu Yuanzhang gave him serious warnings many times, so he restrained himself. The army set off, and Zhu Yuanzhang sat in the tent with an indescribable sense of excitement. The world is coming! This time Zhu Yuanzhang assembled another 200,000 troops, and gave them to Xu Da and Chang Yuchun to command. These two famous generals did not disappoint Zhu Yuanzhang. They agreed to divide their troops to attack Hangzhou and Huzhou, and quickly captured them. Now only Pingjiang is left. Pingjiang is known as the number one strong city. Zhang Shicheng stayed at home for the past few years, watched Chen Youliang be defeated, and his territory was gradually eaten away by Zhu Yuanzhang. He only did one thing, and that was to build the city. There are eight gates in Pingjiangcheng, namely Fengmen, Huqiumen, Loumen, Xumen, Changmen, Panmen, Ximen and Beimen.The walls of each gate are extremely strong, made of large stones mixed with glutinous rice, and there are fixed crossbow positions on the city, and anyone who approaches the wall will be shot into a hedgehog in an instant.There is still a large amount of food in the city, enough to keep for several years. Although Zhang Shicheng is a person who does not think about making progress, he is a person with a strong will. When Yuan Yuan summoned millions of soldiers to attack the small Gaoyou, his inability to conquer it after three months fully demonstrated his willpower. At this time, Zhang Shicheng understood even more that if Pingjiang fell, he would have nowhere to go. He decided to fight to the death. Taking an attack on such a city requires careful planning, but when Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinates came to ask which gate to attack, Zhu Yuanzhang shouted to them: Hundreds of thousands of troops, which one should be divided into the main attack? Beat me to death! It seems that Li Yunlong, who has been around for hundreds of years, is not the only user of this trick. Zhu Yuanzhang made a military deployment. He fully mobilized his famous generals and assigned tasks, as follows: Xu Da attacked Feng Gate, Chang Yuchun attacked Huqiu, Guo Xing attacked Lou Gate, Hua Yunlong attacked Xu Gate, Tang He attacked Chang Gate, Wang Bi attacked Pan Gate, Zhang Wen attacked West Gate, and Kang Maocai attacked North Gate. Dazzled, what else! He felt that these people were not enough, so he arranged for Geng Bingwen to attack the northeast, Qiu Cheng to attack the southwest, and He Wenhui to attack the northwest. After counting, he deployed eleven troops outside Pingjiang City, attacking from different angles, not to mention humans, even gods couldn't bear it.In fact, there is no need to fight, as long as so many people squeeze into the city, Zhang Shicheng can be squeezed to death. Zhu Yuanzhang still felt that what he had done was not enough. He built a long wall outside the city to surround Pingjiang City. Not only people, but also rabbits could not escape. In order to solve the problem that Pingjiang City was too high and it was inconvenient for soldiers to attack upwards, he started to build a new type of real estate outside the city—a wooden tower, which was divided into three floors. Crossbows, firecrackers and Xiangyang Pao (new artillery).Really achieved where to hit. Ordinarily speaking, with such a few sets of outfits on display, if Zhang Shicheng knew the current affairs, he should surrender. But this private salt dealer insisted on admitting death, and must resist to the end. In January of the twenty-seventh year of the Yuan Dynasty, the attack began. Zhu Yuanzhang's infantry, archers, and artillery cooperated to attack the city day and night. The infantry attacked from below the city, and the artillery kept shooting arrows, guns, and cannons from the wooden tower. Zhang Shicheng's soldiers must pay attention to air defense while bearing the attack of the soldiers below the tower, and the wooden towers are guarded day and night. Going up, spitting, urinating and other behaviors, it is natural to greet the Soochow soldiers on the tower. It's really bitter, this is the real humiliation in the crotch! It was in such a difficult environment that Zhang Shicheng and his soldiers persisted for eight months with amazing perseverance. It was not until September of the twenty-seventh year of Zhizheng (1367 AD) that Pingjiang was captured. Zhang Shicheng had a lot of backbone. He persisted in street fighting in the city when the city was broken. Even though Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly publicized that as long as Zhang Shicheng surrendered, not only would he not be killed, but he and his relatives would be treated kindly.But Zhang Shicheng was determined to die. After killing all his relatives, he was about to hang himself, but was rescued by the generals.Later, he was captured and taken to Yingtian. On the boat escorted to Yingtian, he kept silent and did not eat, expressing his determination not to give in. Zhu Yuanzhang sent his important minister Li Shanchang to interrogate Zhang Shicheng. Li Shanchang sternly reprimanded Zhang Shicheng, but he didn't get any response from the other party. From the beginning to the end, Zhang Shicheng looked at Li Shanchang with contempt. Li Shanchang was furious when he saw him, and when he saw that he didn't speak, he was furious. After watching Li Shanchang's performance, Zhang Shicheng gave his only confession in this interrogation. "You are nothing but a dog, let your master come out!" There was no other way, Zhu Yuanzhang appeared on the stage. He looked at this old opponent who had fought for ten years, what kind of person he was! To completely defeat him, to completely conquer him! So he persuaded Zhang Shicheng to surrender in a rare kind tone, hoping that he could move him, but the answer he got was only one sentence: "You are not better than me. The reason why I failed is that God took care of you and not me" (it's just that the sun shines and it doesn't shine on me). Zhu Yuanzhang was finally enraged. He killed Zhang Shicheng and burned Zhang Shicheng's body to ashes. Zhang Shicheng is a man with a strong will, he started from nothing, and eventually achieved hegemony.But his shortcomings are as prominent as his strengths. As one of the heroes in troubled times, he has the mentality of getting rich if he is small, but he doesn't understand that in such an environment, it can only be a knockout match, and there is only one winner. If you can't be an emperor, you can't be a man anymore! But he is still worthy of our admiration. He has a strong will and resisted Yuan's tyrannical rule. Although he once surrendered, it was only an expedient measure after all.Fearless in the face of death, he persisted in his belief until the last moment. People who are not afraid of death are worthy of our respect! Zhu Yuanzhang finally cleared the two major obstacles on his way forward, and is about to face his last opponent. For him, this opponent is the real enemy and enemy.