Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 531 Ennoblement

The generals of the Qian army did not take the news of the Rakshasa's impending invasion seriously. They all believed that if only a few thousand people dared to come and provoke Daqian, they must be mentally ill. Many people even believed that the news was false and that it must be the wild Jurchen tribe who were talking nonsense.

Regarding this matter, Zhao Yongping advised Meng Jun: "Your Majesty, regardless of whether the news is accurate or not, even if it is true, it is not a bad thing for our dynasty."

Meng Jun understood what Zhao Yongping meant, but he still said, "Tell me in detail!"

Zhao Yongping replied: "Your Majesty, during the Qing Dynasty, the management of the various Jurchen tribes in the Longjiang River Basin was also very loose. Those tribes can be said to live in peace with the world. If our dynasty sends a large army to the north and forcefully brings the tribes under its rule, it will inevitably cause hostility from those tribes. If these Russians really go south, then our dynasty's military action will be even more popular!"

Meng Jun nodded: "It makes sense to use plain words. It is better to help people in need than to add icing on the cake. I have a feeling that these Russians will move south."

Although Zhao Yongping was not sure, since the emperor said so, he could only keep it in mind.

Meng Jun pondered for a moment and said, "Although the Liaodong War has ended, Fulin and Bolo are still hiding in Hetuala, and there are still some Jurchen tribes in the north who have not yet surrendered. Now there is also a Rakshasa. I intend to keep you in Liaodong to help me wipe out all these evil spirits!"

Zhao Yongping nodded solemnly and said, "I will definitely live up to your majesty's trust!"

Meng Jun actually wanted to stay in Liaodong and fight the Russians. He wanted to understand the combat effectiveness of the Western army. However, there were only a few thousand of them, and it was unknown when they would come into contact. As an emperor, Meng Jun really couldn't stay here for so long.

On February 12, the third year of Zhaowu, Meng Jun returned to the capital. Zhao Yongping guarded Liaodong, Li Laiheng, Wang Fuchen, Hao Yongzhong, Yu Youtian, and the two towns' firearms soldiers, totaling more than 80,000 people, and the rest of the troops followed Meng Jun back to the capital.

After Meng Jun returned to the capital, he ordered rewards for the army that had conquered Liao. The world had been pacified, and the military generals who had pacified the world should be promoted.

Meng Jun was deeply aware of the drawbacks of the hereditary system in the early Ming Dynasty, but he also knew that everyone risked their lives to help him conquer the world. Now that he was the emperor, his son would be the emperor, and his grandson would also be the emperor. If he asked them to reduce their titles and inherit the throne, it would inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the generals.

Meng Jun thought about it again and again, and discussed with the generals for a long time, and decided to establish a system whereby the founding generals would be demoted to a lower rank and receive the title after three generations.

Some generals agreed with this, while others were unhappy. However, Zhao Yongping, Lin Shiqi, Han Xiong and others all agreed with this proposal. Han Xiong even said in a letter to Meng Jun: "If I had not followed Your Majesty, I would have lived a mediocre life. It is a great favor from Your Majesty that you have surrendered to me for three generations!"

As for the four nobility of duke, marquis, earl, and viscount, the court held several meetings. In the end, Meng Jun decided to treat these old friends who had helped him conquer the world well. Meng Jun divided the three nobility of duke, marquis, and earl into two classes. Those who had made special contributions would be demoted to viscount if their descendants had no merits. However, his favor would not be reduced.

There was a lot of discussion in the court about those who had made special contributions. Lin Shiqi and Zhao Yongping were promoted to Duke of Jin for their special contributions. The others, Han Xiong, Qian Biao, Bai Yongfu, Gao Yi, Gao Jinku, Shen Tingyang, and Huang Cheng, were made Dukes of Jin.

Sixteen generals including Wang Fugui, Zhang Shun, Jiang Xiang, Chen Changgong, Liang Sanhu, Wu Tiao, and Wu Sangui were conferred the title of marquis, twenty-seven earls, and sixty-eight viscounts.

Meng Jun posthumously conferred the title of Duke on Meng Bizhi, ordered the reconstruction of his tomb, and ordered Meng Bian's son to adopt one of his children to inherit the title.

As for the titles of civil officials, they were only exempted by personal reasons, and only a very small number of them were granted the title of marquis. Only Gu Yanwu and Yang En were given the honor of marquis.

After the titles were conferred, a group of nobles in the Qian Dynasty emerged and formed a powerful political group in the court.

While a large number of nobles were beaming with joy, Zhao Yongping in Liaodong did not feel any joy about being promoted to Duke.

Although Zhao Yongping knew that Luosha might come, his focus was still on Hetuala City. As long as the Qing Dynasty was not destroyed, the Jurchen tribes outside the Great Wall would have doubts. Only when the Qing Dynasty was truly and completely destroyed, the Qian Dynasty's rule in the entire Northeast would be stable.

After the fall of Jirgalang, the only remaining force of the Qing court was Bolo and the troops withdrawn from Shengjing. All the troops added up to no more than 13,000 people.

Now the burden of the Qing Dynasty fell on Bolo's shoulders alone. Bolo racked his brains for a way out of the impasse. After retreating to Hetuala City, Bolo gave the few treasures of the Qing court to the nearby tribes, hoping to gain their support.

At this time, many places outside the Great Wall had not yet been developed, and a large part of the supplies for Zhao Yongping's 80,000 troops had to rely on the interior of the Great Wall.

Bolo knew that it was impossible for the Qing Dynasty to invade the interior of China, and the only way was to negotiate peace with the Qian Dynasty. At the last moment, Jirgalang wrote to Bolo, asking him to persevere. Jirgalang believed that as long as the cost of the Qian army to destroy the Qing Dynasty was too high, Meng Jun might give up the siege of Hetuala. In this way, the Qing Dynasty could negotiate peace with Meng Jun and continue to survive in the mountains and forests.

Bolo strongly agreed with Jirgalang's idea. Therefore, against all odds, Bolo decided to give up defending the city of Hetuala when Zhao Yongping attacked, and instead retreat to the mountains and forests with Bumbutai, Fulin, and a large number of officials.

The conditions in the mountains were harsh and could not support tens of thousands of people. Therefore, Bolo did not relocate all the people who had evacuated from Shengjing to Hetuala City. Many people remained in the city and nearby villages.

Bolo believed that if Zhao Yongping attacked the city and carried out large-scale killings, it would certainly arouse the anger of the surrounding tribes, and many tribes would then join the ranks to resist the Qian army.

If Zhao Yongping is not killed, then the people in the city will become his Bolo's spies, allowing him to know the strength of the Qian army in the city.

Zhao Yongping personally led an army of 30,000 and attacked the city of Hetuala. It can be said that Zhao Yongping did not have to put in much effort, because Bolo ran away again, and ran into the vast mountains.

Zhao Yongping's idea of completely destroying the Qing army's vitality failed.

As for the Eight Banners people who remained in the city, there were many disputes among the generals. Some generals suggested killing them all, while others opposed it, saying that they were all unarmed civilians and it would be useless to kill them all.

Zhao Yongping had no intention of killing these people, but he thought they were unreliable. So with Zhao Yongping's order, these Eight Banners people who had fled all the way from Shengjing City to Hetuala City packed their bags again and left Hetuala City.