Ming Zuo

Chapter 149
At the beginning of Chongzhen's ascension to the throne, his reputation was so high that it may be difficult for the emperors of all dynasties to surpass him.

Everyone regarded him as the master of ZTE, especially the matter of cutting off the eunuchs, which made him gain unprecedented support.

Although the subsequent lottery in the golden bottle and the suppression of the Donglin Party seemed like nonsense, it did not reduce the confidence of the imperial court in Chongzhen.

After all, the emperor's practice of balancing the court is common to everyone, and it is not surprising.

Until when did Chongzhen and the ministers become dissension?
It started when Geng Ruqi was cheated.

During the reign of Chongzhen, there were not a few courtiers who were sad, and they even sang praises for later generations, such as Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting.

But to say that the most wronged person must be Geng Ruqi.

At the end of October, Geng Ruqi, the governor of Shanxi, received an order from the imperial court, King Qin. He didn't delay at all, and immediately summoned his troops to set off in a hurry.

Shanxi is so far away, he has arrived with soldiers from Xuanfu and Datong.

Geng Ruqi's loyalty to the emperor and patriotism is a testament to his sincerity.

It stands to reason that such a loyal person should be treated kindly.

As a result, Geng Ruqi couldn't take care of himself after being cheated.

Shanxi soldiers were transferred to three places for three consecutive days. Tongzhou was to the east of the capital, Changping was to the north of the capital, and Liangxiang was to the southwest of the capital.

Pure infantry troops don't say anything else, even if this marching speed, few people can do it throughout the ages.

What is the most excessive?

There is no food.

Geng Ruqi's troops came in a hurry, without any food and grass.

Originally, I thought that when I arrived in the flood area (station), after I was stable, the Ministry of War would allocate food and grass supplies.

As a result, the Ministry of War not only did not give food, but gave orders to re-mobilize.

On the third day, when Geng's tribe arrived in Liangxiang, the soldiers under his command couldn't bear it anymore, mutinied on the spot, and plundered wantonly.Then the soldiers were afraid of being held accountable, so they simply ran away.

Some wandered into the mountains and became bandits; some joined the peasant army and caused even worse disasters.

Because of this incident, Geng Ruqi was held accountable, arrested and imprisoned. In the fourth year of Chongzhen, he was even beheaded for public display.

It was obviously the court's problem, but in the end, Geng Ruqi was blamed.

The courtiers saw it, how could they not feel chilled?

In fact, even if Shanxi soldiers were blamed for the mutiny, it had little to do with Geng Ruqi.

Because it was Zhang Honggong's subordinates who mutinied, not Geng Ruqi who led the soldiers himself.

According to historical records, the Geng tribe behaved as usual until the end, without any mutiny.

Although Geng Ruqi and Zhang Honggong belonged to Shanxi Qinwang soldiers and horses, they arrived one after the other, pushing the responsibility for the mutiny under Zhang Honggong's troops to Geng Ruqi, and sentenced the loyal ministers to death. It has to be said that Chongzhen was throwing the pot away There is really nothing to do with it.

The only thing that Zuo Menggeng didn't expect was that Geng Zhangguang was different from the history. He was in Geng Ruqi's army at this time, saw the situation on the spot, and ran to Sun Chengzong for help.

However, Geng Zhangguang has no name and no distinction. He is an ordinary scholar. How could the soldiers guarding the gate let him enter the city?

If it wasn't for meeting Zuo Menggeng, I'm afraid Geng Ruqi's tragedy would repeat itself.

The matter is of great importance, Zuo Menggeng didn't dare to delay, he hurriedly said to Geng Zhangguang: "Brother Geng, come with me."

The city that Geng Zhangguang couldn't enter, but Zuo Menggeng was unimpeded.

Because he is a military general who came to Yingmao, and he has customs clearance documents.Following him, Geng Zhangguang finally entered Tongzhou City.

When everyone rushed to the commander's mansion, there were already heavy guards and soldiers gathered here.

Zuo Menggeng asked Hou Ke and Geng Zhangguang to wait, and went inside alone.

At this time, the generals and schools gathered in the handsome tent, and the atmosphere was dignified.

The arrival of Zuo Menggeng attracted everyone's attention.

One person in the school was even more dumbfounded and almost cried out.

It was Zuo Menggeng's father Zuo Liangyu.

Although he is the capital of Baoding, Zuo Liangyu did not follow Cao Minglei, the general of Baoding, but always followed the boss.

It was the old man sitting upright in the middle of the handsome tent at this time, staring at Zuo Menggeng who walked in vigorously.

Zuo Menggeng had no choice but to worship in the army.

"Zuo Menggeng, general manager of the Empress Battalion of the Linqing Association, came here according to the order, to pay respects to the old man and the general political party."

The majestic old man sitting upright is naturally Sun Chengzong.

Hearing his words, he couldn't help snorting angrily: "Since you came from Linqing, why are you so slow?"

Zuo Menggeng had already dealt with it.

"Elder Ge doesn't know something. Now that the water transportation is blocked, our camp is going north on foot, so it has been delayed for a while."

This explanation is reasonable, and Sun Chengzong's color is a little pale.

Only then did Hou Xun say: "Master Ge, guess what this son is from?"

Sun Chengzong asked: "Can Ruogu teach me?"

Hou Xun laughed out loud.

"This is the son of Zuo Kunshan."

"Oh?"

When he heard that he was Zuo Liangyu's son, Sun Chengzong couldn't help showing a smile, and looked into Zuo Menggeng's eyes carefully.

"Not bad. Kunshan is brave, and this little guy is also extraordinary."

After hearing this, the generals present couldn't help but look at Zuo Menggeng a few more times.

When everyone came here, they were scolded by Sun Chengzong all the time.And this young man fell into the eyes of Mr. Sun Ge.

Zuo Liangyu stood up and broke down for his son.

"The dog has just passed the battlefield, and needs to be trained by the old man."

This is a cryptic expression, my son is a rookie on the battlefield, you have to know it well, boss, you can't send him to die.

Sun Chengzong was really kind to Zuo Liangyu.

"Kunshan don't worry, the old man has his own arrangements."

Next, is Sun Chengzong's military affairs arrangements.

There are a lot of generals and generals present here, Zuo Menggeng is only a thousand generals, so naturally he has no cards.Just hide behind and listen quietly.

After a full hour, all the generals and schools left one after another.

Zuo Liangyu also took the job of looking after Gu Chengfang, so he had to leave before he could say a word to Zuo Menggeng.

Seeing that the affairs in the account were completed, Zuo Menggeng stepped forward.

"Elder Ge, the general manager, I will report something important at the end."

When Zuo Menggeng told about Geng Ruqi, Sun Chengzong slapped the table on the spot.

"Shen Yongmao, man!"

Zuo Menggeng didn't know why, so Hou Xun explained it for him.

"Now the Minister of the Ministry of War is Shen Yongmao. This person is a remnant of the eunuch party. Unexpectedly, he completely disregarded the overall situation and did such an evil thing that both people and gods are angry with."

Zuo Menggeng suddenly realized, and many mysteries became clear instantly.

Regarding the matter of Geng Ruqi being cheated, there are different opinions in later generations.

Some blamed Yuan Chonghuan, some blamed Sun Chengzong.

Because these two are the commander-in-chief of the entire Gyeonggi defense, it seems that they do have the power to mobilize Geng Ruqi's department.

But if you think about it carefully, you will know that it is impossible.

Geng Ruqi and Yuan Chonghuan had a good personal relationship, so Yuan Chonghuan had no reason to cheat him.

And Geng Ruqi and Sun Chengzong are both close to Donglin, and the latter has no reason to do so.

Then the only person who can do such a thing is Shen Yongmao who has just taken over as Minister of the Ministry of War.

The remnants of the eunuchs mentioned in a few pens in the historical materials are probably this guy.

And it is almost certain that Shen Yongmao did it on purpose.

Reminiscent of the attacks on Yuan Chonghuan by Wang Yongguang, Xue Guoguan and others later, it is obvious that the remnants of the eunuchs took the change of their own as an opportunity to counterattack and reckon.

For this reason, the country and the people did not care about it, and made such a frenzied act.

"Geng Zhongcheng's son is out of the account right now. What about the Ministry still needs to be decided by the elders and the chief political officer."

He added another sentence, which was to Hou Xun.

"On the way the last general came, he happened to meet Ruopu Gong, who is also out of the tent now."

Hearing that Hou Ke actually came, Hou Xun was very happy and hurriedly ordered someone to invite him.

Not long after, Geng Zhangguang rushed into the tent first, without saying a word, he knelt down in front of Sun Chengzong and Hou Xun.

"Elder Ge, Lord Ruogu, please save my father."

Hou Xun couldn't bear it either, so he came over to help him himself.

"Don't panic, now that the old man is in charge, you won't be wronged by your lord."

With these words, Geng Zhangguang finally became a little more stable, and wiped his tears while getting up.

Poor guy, this time was really scared.

Then Hou Ke came over to greet Sun Chengzong and Hou Xun, and everyone began to think about how to save Geng Ruqi.

"My father is probably leaving now, and he will be able to reach Liangxiang tomorrow at the latest. If there is no more food and grass to help, I'm afraid mutiny is inevitable."

When Geng Zhangguang said this, everyone frowned and realized that things were not easy to handle.

If Geng Ruqi's department is still in Changping, Sun Chengzong can order to go there together and let the local people release food for relief.But since he had already set off, if he sent the order to go there at this time, he might not be able to catch up.

Once Geng Ruqi's troops arrive in Liangxiang and there is no food and grass supplies, the mutiny of the army may become a foregone conclusion.

Unexpectedly, when Liangxiang was mentioned, Hou Ke was shocked first.

"Oh, my student is in Liangxiang, isn't he going to be in danger?"

After hearing what he said, everyone knew that Dang Huanchun, the magistrate of Liangxiang at this time, was Hou Ke's student.

But after learning about this, Zuo Menggeng always felt that he could take advantage of it.

　Regarding the time when Geng Ruqi arrived in Gyeonggi, many historical materials say it was December. "Chongzhen Long Story" more clearly stated that Geng Ruqi only left the state on December [-]th.

　　In the "Shidutang Manuscript" written by Geng Ruqi, it is stated that he only arrived in the capital on December [-].

　　But I suspect that Geng Ruqi had already been imprisoned at that time, and this manuscript may have some supplementary parts by Geng Zhangguang, which may not be true.

　　However, I searched a lot of information, but I didn't find a place called Chuzhou in Gyeonggi and Shanxi.

　　It is recorded in "Records of the Post-Governor" that until November [-]th, "Datong's five thousand were killed in battle... Hou Shilu's five thousand... no one was defeated... Zhang Honggong's five thousand robbed the good town, and the birds and beasts scattered.

　　"Ming File" No. 501, the draft of the Ministry of War instructing Hou Shilu to take the crime and make meritorious service on the sixth day of December also mentioned that "Zhang Honggong has already been demoted to take the crime".

　　This shows that the Shanxi military mutiny must have occurred in November, and the exact date is unknown.

　　So I planned around November [-]th.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)