12dz Chapter 403: Pingshandong
Chapter 403: Pingshandong
The capital of Qingzhou Prefecture, Yidu.
Lu Fengchun was determined to retreat, and a few generals in the army held different opinions. Lu Fengchun did not stop those generals who thought they might still be able to fight back. Instead, he divided his troops and stationed them in important places, asking them to stop Zhao Yongping.
It's a pity that, except for Zibo City which resisted for a while, the rest of the county towns basically surrendered or abandoned the city and fled. Even if there were occasional generals who wanted to defend the city, they would not necessarily meet the county magistrate who wanted to defend the city.
Now the people's hearts are shaken in Shandong. To be honest, if the Green Camp is not counted, the Eight Banners were defeated by Meng Jun only three times: once at Bolo on Qiantang River, once at Lekedehun on Jilong Mountain, and once at Duoduo in Huguang.
But the Qing court was defeated three times. Not only did the gentry in the interior change their minds, but there were also disagreements within the Eight Banners. Many people said they wanted to retreat outside the Great Wall. Although the Central Plains was good, it seemed that the Qing Dynasty would not last long, just like the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties of the past. However, Dorgon suppressed these different opinions and said privately to Xiaozhuang: "If the Qing Dynasty rises, it will rise because of me. If it fails, it will also be because of me!"
Lu Fengchun was not prepared to defend Qingzhou City. If his family had not been in Beijing, he would have wanted to surrender long ago. As early as when Zhao Yongping arrived in Zibo, Lu Fengchun was ready to run away. What Lu Fengchun did not expect was that the Zhou army was stopped by the weather for ten days.
Lü Fengchun's good friend, Wang Dian, the governor of Shandong, privately persuaded Lü Fengchun to follow the example of Chen Shaozong, the naval commander of Guazhou, and fake his death and surrender. If he continued to run away like this, sooner or later he would have nowhere to go and would also offend King Zhou. Even if he surrendered, he would suffer the consequences.
Lu Fengchun thought hard for a long time but still could not make up his mind. Until the news that Zhao Yongping broke through Zibo and killed the county magistrate Chen Xuanyi and the defending general Liu Qichang reached Lu Fengchun's ears, Lu Fengchun did not hesitate and immediately sent someone to submit a memorial to the court that he had already written, and then fled to Laizhou Prefecture with Shandong officials of all ranks.
After Zhao Yongping easily occupied the Qingzhou city, he had lost the desire to continue the pursuit with his army. From the Qingzhou city, Zhao Yongping sent messengers to Linzi, Le'an, Shouguang, Boxing, Changle, Linqu, Anqiu, Zhucheng, Gaoyuan, Mengyin, Juzhou, Yishui, Rizhao and other counties under the jurisdiction of Qingzhou Prefecture, ordering them to surrender. If there were those who were unwilling to surrender, he would send troops to attack them.
When Lu Fengchun fled, many officials who accompanied him were displaced. Some officials, for the sake of dignity, left letters to Lu Fengchun before leaving. Some said that being an official was hard and they wanted to return to their hometown to farm and study to pass on their family business. Some said that there were urgent matters at home and asked for a few days' leave. But more people simply resigned and left.
By the time Lü Fengchun arrived at Ye County, seven or eight out of ten of the accompanying officials had already left, but there was no resistance in any city against the envoys sent by Zhao Yongping. It was truly a case of the flags on the city walls changing with the times.
These officials could be said to be greedy or inactive, but all of them who had passed the imperial examination were smart people. Even if some of them were nerds and not smart, there would naturally be people who called them smart.
In the current situation, no one is not concerned about their own interests. After Lu Fengchun failed to defend a city and fled all the way, even in Laizhou Prefecture, counties such as Gaomi, Jimo, and Changyi changed to Zhou flags.
In the city of Laizhou.
Lü Fengchun had already fled to Ye County, the capital of Laizhou Prefecture, but Zhao Yongping had not yet caught up with him. Moreover, Changyi, which was adjacent to Ye County, had actually surrendered to Zhou. This made Lü Fengchun deeply uneasy. If he wanted to escape again, he could only go to Dengzhou, and those warriors looked very strange.
At this moment, Lu Fengchun deeply felt what it felt like to see enemies everywhere. Even an unintentional glance from his generals in the army could make Lu Fengchun wonder if they were plotting something.
On the night he fled to Ye County, Lü Fengchun was in a state of panic and asked Wang Dian, "Pinren (Wang Dian's name) what should we do now?"
Wang Dian said bluntly: "For now, the only option is to surrender."
Lu Fengchun said: "My two sons and six grandchildren are all in the capital!"
Wang Dian whispered, "Chen Shaozong once pretended to be dead and surrendered to Zhou, and then the Qingluan Guard secretly took his family away. You can follow their example."
Lu Fengchun said uneasily, "But ever since the Qingluan Guards secretly took away the families of the surrendered generals in the capital, the court has been closely monitoring the families of high-ranking officials in various places. It may not be easy to take them out!"
Wang Dian thought about it for a while, then moved closer and whispered an idea.
Lu Fengchun agreed deeply with this idea and praised Wang Dian for his outstanding wisdom. Then Lu Fengchun sent a secret letter to Zhao Yongping in Qingzhou Prefecture, saying that he was willing to surrender Laizhou and Dengzhou prefectures, but asked him to keep the news secret. He also repeatedly requested Zhao Yongping to find a way to bring back Lu Fengchun's family.
Wang Dian secretly contacted all the generals and asked them to eat at the Meng family's house instead. All the generals readily agreed and said that the Manchu court's destiny had come to an end and that King Zhou was a wise ruler of the world.
What’s more important is that Lu Fengchun submitted a memorial to the Qing court, which must have deeply moved Dorgon.
………………
This is the last will and testament of Lu Fengchun, the governor of Shandong:
"I have been blessed by the Holy Dynasty and have been honored to serve in the imperial court. I dare not forget the important responsibility of serving the country. In this troubled time, wars are raging everywhere, bandits are everywhere, the country's territory has been repeatedly invaded, the people are suffering, and people's livelihood is declining. I have heard that the gentlemen of the ancient times were not afraid of great events and were more resolute when faced with great responsibilities. What's more, the country is in crisis. Although I am a poor talent, I have a sincere heart and I will follow the example of the ancients. I am willing to die for my country and live up to the great grace of the emperor.
Now the enemy has more than 200,000 soldiers and is approaching Laizhou. I swear to fight to the death, but there are few soldiers and generals in the city. The soldiers have no will to fight, and the generals have no intention of dying. The city is in danger at any moment. There are traitors who have colluded with the enemy. Now I am in a desperate situation, but I will never disgrace the great kindness of the court. I will build firewood around the house and wait for the enemy to arrive, and burn it down with the enemy!"
Afterwards, Lu Fengchun arranged for people to deliver the memorial to the capital, and filled the government office with wood and flammable materials. Lu Fengchun cut off his long beard that he had kept for decades, disguised himself, and left the government office. In the midst of a fire, Lu Fengchun faked his death and escaped.
The news that came out publicly was that Shandong Governor Lu Fengchun committed suicide by burning himself, and the entire city of Chengye County, Laizhou Prefecture, changed its flag under the command of Wang Dian.
Since Zhao Yongping divided his troops from Jinan City, there was no other fighting except a small battle in Zibo City. Laizhou Prefecture surrendered and Dengzhou Prefecture also surrendered.
The news that Lu Fengchun had committed suicide by burning himself and that the entire Shandong province had fallen into the hands of Zhou's army quickly reached Beijing by sea.
Dorgon was deeply moved when he received Lü Fengchun's posthumous memorial. He sighed and said, "Mr. Lü was so loyal. There are still loyal ministers and righteous men in our Qing Dynasty!"
Afterwards, Dorgon immediately issued an order to posthumously confer the title of Prince Grand Tutor on Lü Fengchun, and gave him the posthumous name of Wen'an, and enshrined him in the Temple of Virtuous and Good People. He also ordered that his two sons should be allowed to enter officialdom, and he also gave the Lü family 100 taels of gold and 1,000 taels of silver.