stubborn thief

Chongzhen is still performing.

Wen Tiren is still cooperating.

He bowed his head and clasped his hands: "This old minister is stupid and ignorant, I only hope that Your Majesty will make a wise decision."

At the court meeting the next day, the proposal to exchange military rations for disaster relief grain was thrown to the court officials.

The focus was not on supporting the Marshal's Army to resist the Eastern Tartars, but on the fact that even if he had to give the rebels food and soldiers, the emperor, who loved his people like his own children, was willing to exchange them for disaster relief food from the rebels to help the people of Shanxi.

In fact, neither the Ministry of War nor the Ministry of Revenue agreed to this proposal.

It was normal for the Ministry of War to disagree. They were planning a strategy of attacking Tongguan from Henan and Xi'an from Yunyang, trying to take back Guanzhong which had been cleansed by the Marshal's Office.

At this time, the imperial court started a strategic cooperation with the Marshal's Office in the north, which no one could accept.

As for the Ministry of Revenue, it was a bit secretive.

From a public perspective, this is actually a good thing for the Ministry of Revenue. After all, it would be difficult for the provincial government to squeeze out the money, even if it is 100,000 taels, to buy grain for disaster relief in Shanxi.

It is possible for ordinary people, but if private merchants buy grain, they have to sell it, and if they sell it, it will definitely not fall into the hands of the victims who are starving to death.

The price of grain has never risen irrationally. When it rises to seven taels per stone, it means that someone can afford this price.

Instead, the grain from Tongzhou was exchanged for the grain from Hancheng. This grain could be transported directly to the provincial government and managed by Governor Wu Shen, so that it could reach the hands of the food-deficient victims to the greatest extent possible.

Wu Shen's disaster relief capabilities were evident to all, both in the government and the public.

At that time, he brought 100,000 taels of silver to provide relief to Shaanxi, and he also raised 36,000 taels of silver and 3,000 shi of grain as donations from the princes and wealthy gentry in Shaanxi to provide relief to the four prefectures of Yan, Qing, Ping and Xi.

The amount of silver spent was accurate to the millimeter, and the number of disaster victims rescued was accurate to the number of people, with a total of 243,450 people being rescued.

Cattle seeds were distributed, relief was given to the hungry, post stations were repaired, military supplies were replenished, mules were purchased, military salaries were paid, and city forts were built. In the meantime, more than 1,300 taels of silver were withheld and falsely reported by various counties. Later, we should try to recover as much as possible.

Of course, the result did not help the chaos in Shaanxi, but that does not mean that Wu Shen's disaster relief was a failure. On the contrary, he did his best at his job.

However, the budget given by the court was just to provide a few mouthfuls of food for each person. Even if he did his best, he could only ensure that the victims who deserved the food could eat those few mouthfuls of food.

At this time, if Shanxi received 100,000 taels of silver instead of 100,000 dan of grain, coupled with the administrative capacity of Shanxi province, the supplies would be more than ten times more abundant than the relief provided to Shaanxi that year.

Back then in Shaanxi, even if all 100,000 taels of silver were exchanged for grain, they could only be exchanged for more than 10,000 shi of grain.

But privately.

No official in the Ministry of Revenue could guarantee that the 100,000 shi of grain they took out from Tongzhou was the same as the 100,000 shi of grain in Liu Chengzong's mind on the other side of the wall.

This is Beijing!

It's not like the remote and poor place of Shaanxi. If Wu Shen, an imperial censor, goes there and speaks the imperial order forcefully enough, he can get things done exactly as expected.

One hundred thousand dan of white rice flour turned into millet flour, the millet flour turned into stale grain, the stale grain turned into stones and sand. The soldiers who were transporting the grain were so scared that they robbed themselves, and the people in charge of the grain were so scared that they set fire to the granaries.

These coincidences may not necessarily happen, but no one can guarantee that they will not happen.

They might even happen at the same time.

The officials of the Ministry of Revenue did not understand the killers under Liu Chengzong, so how could they not understand the conduct of the nobles and clerks in the court?

If something goes wrong, the emperor will be held accountable.

So no one can express their true thoughts and can only talk about other things. Anyway, no one is willing to move forward with this matter.

At this time, urgent reports came from the border one after another, and Huang Taiji's secret letter was intercepted.

More than one.

The first letter intercepted was a letter from Huang Taiji to Chen Hongfan, the coastal commander-in-chief and general who pacified the Lu people.

This letter was written a month ago and was placed between pieces of wood on the shore of Lushunkou. It was discovered by the coastal defense soldiers, who quickly crossed the sea to report the letter to Shandong after reading its contents.

The content of the letter actually cannot stand up to scrutiny. It contains a lot of specious things that are obviously deliberately added to make it seem more real, such as the names of several people who are said to be diplomats sent by Chen Hongfan, and the mention of the official title of King Sanshun.

Later on, the fox's true colors were revealed. He said that if he came to surrender, his achievements would be no less than those of the three kings; or he could stay in the Ming Dynasty and serve as an insider. He could choose one of the two.

He even explained the reason why the letter was placed between pieces of wood and placed on the coast, saying that they were worried about the disclosure of important matters, so they did not let the envoy sent to Shenyang by Chen Hongfan return.

In fact, it is a counter-espionage tactic, saying both the truth and the falsehood.

In fact, it was at this time that Chen Hongfan received another threatening letter of surrender in Lushunkou.

It is said that the Ming Dynasty is now in a state where the external officials are treacherous and deceitful, and the internal officials are fighting against each other. Can the general reverse this situation? Think about it carefully!
The previous letter was deliberately intercepted by the Ming army and delivered to Chongzhen in person, but they did not dare to take any action against Chen Hongfan.

The reason why Huang Taiji wanted to alienate Chen Hongfan was that he received intelligence that Chen Hongfan had troops and planned to station them in Korea, but he did not know the exact number.

Of the so-called 100,000 heavenly troops and 400 warships, Huang Taiji felt that 30,000 to 50,000 would be the maximum.

Chongzhen also thought so. He really believed that Chen Hongfan had 30,000 soldiers.

Because Chen Hongfan's coastal general was in charge of Denglai Town and Shen Shikui's Dongjiang Town, including overseas troops, the imperial court thought that there would be at least 30,000 troops.

But in fact, Denglai and Dongjiang had been destroyed long ago.

Shandong has always been a relatively safe base for aiding Liaoning. There are many militiamen in the coastal logistics, but not many combat-capable troops, and there are many things to do.

The issue of the canal transport system led to the Luo Sect and the White Lotus Sect. Whenever there was a famine, people would rise up in rebellion, and when they did, they had to be suppressed.

This has always been the job of the soldiers under Yang Zhaoji and his son Yang Yufan.

Their elite troops are busy suppressing rebellions and militias everywhere, so it is impossible for them to hand over their headquarters to Chen Hongfan.

As for Dongjiang Town, to be honest, Shen Shikui did not dare to return to Shandong, and Chen Hongfan did not dare to go to Pi Island.

The country was already far away from the Ming Dynasty, and harassing the Later Jin was not for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, but just for survival. There were only a few thousand soldiers on the island, and when writing to the court to ask for supplies, they had to ask for 20,000 people.

After all, there are 20,000 people, and the court can only send armor and supplies for a thousand people, but no horses. How can they land and fight without horses?
Chen Hongfan didn't dare, and he couldn't order others around.

He had more than 3,000 people under his command and had been busy recruiting soldiers in Shandong. He did not dare to fight, nor did he dare to surrender. He did not dare to enter Korea, nor did he dare to go back. He was stuck in southern Liaoning.

It is also for this reason that when the ministers in the court who knew about Huang Taiji's letter to Chen Hongfan were not panicked, only Chongzhen was anxious.

But the second letter intercepted at the border wall made all the civil and military officials in the court tremble with fear.

Because this letter was written to Liu Chengzong, and it mentioned things like making an alliance to attack the Ming Dynasty and waiting for him to get food and fodder from the Ming Dynasty, it was particularly frightening.

Minister of War Zhang Fengyi saw clearly that this was just an act of sowing discord, just like Chen Hongfan's letter.

Because if Liu Chengzong wanted to attack the Ming Dynasty, there was no need for him to lead his troops to the border of Jizhen. He could just cross the Yellow River from Fugu, Shaanxi and attack Shanxi.

Wang Jiayin did the same thing so many times, traveling across both sides of the Yellow River. There was no reason why Liu Chengzong, who was more than ten times stronger than Wang Jiayin, could not do it.

But it is one thing to understand it, and another to say it out loud. As the saying goes, don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be prepared for the one.

What if Liu Chengzong really has bad intentions?

When several officials from the Ministry of Revenue saw the letter, they were immediately delighted. This was ironclad evidence that they could not do business with Liu Chengzong.

The key point is that in Huang Taiji's letter, he also mentioned something very crucial to the Ming Dynasty. He told Liu Chengzong that Dai Qing wanted to negotiate peace with the Ming Dynasty, but was only planning to attack the Ming Dynasty because of Liu Chengzong's instigation.

This is actually not a very clever thing to do.

Because from Huang Taiji's point of view, although he had a slight advantage in military strength and combat power in Liaodong, that did not mean that his Eight Banners were really so powerful that they were invincible.

Instead, it happened that the Ming Dynasty was facing internal and external troubles, natural disasters and man-made disasters. Therefore, it dared not give the enemy any chance to breathe, and could only launch a torrential offensive, even if it cost the last drop of blood of the wild Jurchens, and it had to continue to expand its advantage.

If there is any slackness, the Eight Banners will be doomed.

There was no way he could make peace with the Ming Dynasty.

However, peace talks were something that the Ming emperor and his subjects tacitly understood and everyone was willing to believe.

The Ming Dynasty was about to be crushed by itself, and it really needed to take a breath.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

As a result, Huang Taiji always mentioned peace to the Ming Dynasty, but he continued to attack and blamed the Ming Dynasty for being insincere in its peace talks every day.

Such a simple trick made the Ming Dynasty fall into traps time and time again, and each time it was divided on the eve of the war.

This time was no exception. Some court officials truly believed that Huang Taiji intended to negotiate peace, while more people, with their own little thoughts, supported the peace talks.

But Chongzhen still didn't believe that Huang Taiji really intended to negotiate peace.

Or maybe it’s not a question of whether he believes it or not, but that he simply doesn’t want to believe it and refuses to analyze it.

He was notoriously stubborn and would not listen to what others said. He only cared about the possibility of Liu Chengzong moving south from the border of Jizhen.

At this time, the Minister of War Zhang Fengyi gave Chongzhen a shot of confidence and told him very firmly that Liu Chengzong's trip to the border of Jizhen was not intended to attack the Ming Dynasty.

Because Tongguan and Wugu Pass were in hand, sending troops from Guanzhong to Huguang and Henan would bring much greater benefits than attacking the capital via Jizhen.

What's more, even if we don't send troops from Tongguan, we have to cross the Yellow River to attack Shanxi. Then going directly south from the border of Xuanfu is much better than attacking the capital.

After all, there is no supply line on this road to Gyeonggi, so it is a risky move no matter how you look at it.

The Ministry of War was quite familiar with some of Liu Chengzong's previous battles and believed that although Liu Chengzong was good at commanding troops and fighting, he was indeed not fond of taking risks and rarely used conspiracies and tricks.

However, Zhang Fengyi also reminded Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, it is not that you should not use conspiracies and tricks, so the three associations should still be careful and not withdraw their defenses."

The three associations he mentioned were the three associations and twelve garrisons in Jizhen and Yanbian.

There were originally a large number of garrison troops in this direction, and in fact it had gradually become four towns, namely Jizhou, Miyun, Yongping, and Changping, with the highest number of troops reaching 140,000.

Later, at the beginning of Chongzhen's reign, due to lack of military pay, the number of soldiers in Jizhen was drastically reduced, which triggered a mutiny. Up to now, Jizhen has only more than 30,000 garrisons, which is not as many as the number of war horses in Jizhen during the Wanli period, when there were more than 40,000 horses.

Chongzhen thought about it for a moment and concluded that this was indeed the case.

People like Liu Chengzong cannot control themselves in anything, and Chongzhen did not dare to think that Liu Chengzong really did not plunder Jizhen.

After all, there are too many abstract things in this era, so it is not surprising that people would seek the faraway instead of the near.

"In this case, we have to put the grain transfer issue on hold for now, no."

Chongzhen just followed Zhang Fengyi's words and immediately changed his tone: "No, let Qian Butang go first with the imperial edict, and let Zhixuzi go with the eunuchs."

Cao Huachun was standing at the back with his whisk in his hand. When he heard these words, he felt like he was struck by lightning and stood there in a daze.

He was about to cry: Why is it me again!
Cao Huachun really didn't want to meet Liu Chengzong, but it wasn't because Liu Chengzong treated him badly. In fact, he wasn't that bad.

Moreover, based on past experience, Liu Chengzong was not very interested in him, and the chance of keeping him by his side was very small.

But what can be said about that group of lawless and vicious villains in the Marshal's Mansion? In the Forbidden City, he only served Chongzhen, but when he went to Liu Chengzong, there were Chongzhens everywhere who needed to be served.

It's too tiring to go on a business trip.

Unfortunately, his job was to serve the emperor, and he had to do whatever the emperor told him to do.

Compared to Cao Huachun's shock, Qian Shisheng had nothing to fear or worry about. He immediately put on the airs of an important court official who was about to be sent on a diplomatic mission to the rebels.

He even felt that this was Chongzhen's concession on the issue of Li Yan, and he also instructed Lord Wen that while he was on a diplomatic mission, Li Yan must be imprisoned.

Wen Tiren smiled and said: Okay, okay, good.

Wen Tihen had a very good grasp of Chongzhen's thoughts; he knew the emperor's character too well.

What happened in the past made the emperor extremely insecure about his own vision. However, his strong inferiority complex made him particularly arrogant, that is, he was stubborn and self-willed. He would not listen to others and would feel embarrassed, so he became even more stubborn.

This is also the reason why Wen Tihen never advised Chongzhen. When something happened, he always said, "I hope the emperor will make the final decision."

You can't persuade him. The more you persuade him, and the more right your persuasion is, the more embarrassed the emperor feels.

This kind of thing has happened many times. Whenever a good general died, the emperor would cry, and cry sincerely and be very sad.

But when he was alive, he would not be nice to anyone.

I'm sending you there now because the emperor thinks you're useless and wants Liu Chengzong to make you suffer and torment you. It would be best if he could detain you and help him avoid a trouble.

Lord Wen thought to himself that if Qian Shisheng didn't come back, the emperor would probably regret it and feel that he had thrown away a capable minister who had been certified by Liu Chengzong.

But the emperor will not feel guilty, because if you have the ability, why don’t you have the ability to come back?

On the surface, it seems that you are incompetent, but in fact, you are capable and the emperor has made a mistake.

But Liu Chengzong's bigger mistake was able to cover up the emperor's mistake.

All are happy.

So if you get released, that would be really fun.

What cabinet ministers and chancellors have nothing to do with you. Just go back to your hometown in Jiaxing and build a garden. Otherwise, you might end up in jail.

Because of the emperor's lack of confidence, it was confirmed by Liu Chengzong.

If Liu Zei thinks you are useless, then you must be really useless!

However, when all the civil and military officials in the court were seeing Qian Shisheng off on his diplomatic mission, a cloud of dust rose up from the northwest of the capital, covering the sky. From time to time, donkeys, mules and small carts carrying women, the elderly and the weak would approach the city, and all of them looked pale.

Soon, an urgent report was delivered to the palace.

Changping City was captured by the Jin army. (End of this chapter)