Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 169 Huairou

Chongzhen didn't take Sun Chuanting's pleading guilty seriously.

No one could have predicted such an emergency, and Sun Chuanting's handling of this matter was very appropriate; Zhang Wenyao's move also proved to be a useful talent. Regardless of whether his behavior was speculative or out of loyalty, I believe Sun Chuanting would make an appropriate handling.

Under the proposal of Chongzhen, the Ministry of Officials has prepared to write a document for each province to make clear regulations on the appointment of officials.

Chongzhen intends to take advantage of the new regulations formulated by the Ministry of Officials to impose mandatory constraints on the officials of the so-called Donglin Party in later generations, so as to change the situation that officials in the Jiangnan area have their own system and are free from the jurisdiction of the imperial court.

Literati have developed a bad habit since the Song Dynasty: blatantly refusing to be recruited by the court.

Wang Anshi is a typical example.

For the recruitment of the emperor and the court, under the bewitching of the people around him, for the purpose of raising favors, he repeatedly shirked and refused with various reasons, which invisibly caused the court's prestige to be greatly lost.

Wang Anshi's purpose is actually very simple. He thinks the officials given by the court are too small, and he doesn't want to give in. He wants me to leave the mountain?Yes, I have to give a position that has the final say.

This bad habit has continued to Ming Dynasty, especially now that the situation is turbulent, the court's right to speak is greatly reduced.

For example, if the imperial court wanted to transfer the prefect of Suzhou to Fengxiang Mansion as the prefect, needless to say, the outcome would be that the prefect of Suzhou would rather resign than go to the dangerous and unprofitable Northwest.

This is by no means an exaggeration, with the peeing nature of some Ming officials, this kind of thing is absolutely possible.

This is no different from generals not listening to the tune.

Its essence is to contempt the court, and there will be no serious consequences.

In the court where all kinds of forces are intertwined, even if you are the emperor, if you want to pursue his responsibility according to the law in a fit of anger, you will encounter many obstacles, and in the end you can't make up your mind after refusing.

Following Chongzhen's wishes, the Ministry of Officials imposed restrictions on this behavior.

Wherever the imperial court calls officials at all levels, all officials should obey unconditionally.

If you resist the imperial court's order with various excuses, that's fine, the emperor is merciful and will not send someone to raid your home, but you will be deprived of your official status, and then sent back to your original place of origin, and your descendants will be permanently disqualified from serving as officials.

This new rule did not cause much disturbance in the imperial court. The new rule was obviously made to strengthen the authority of the imperial court, and of course the members of the cabinet would not object.

They haven't realized the meaning behind Chongzhen's move.

Zhenbei Fort is the headquarters of the general army of Ningxia Township. This morning, around six o'clock in the morning, in the simple and spacious general hall of the general army, the guards from all walks of life in Ningxia, the guerrillas, and the chief generals of the Lingzhou and Heping prisons all arrived, and they lined up in the main hall. On both sides, listen to the instruction of Sun Chuanting, governor of Shaanxi.

After Sun Chuanting led [-] troops and arrived at Fort Leifu in Ningxia Wei a few days ago, he handed over the army to Huo Bin, the general of the Qin Army, and then led a hundred soldiers, accompanied by Ma Ke, the general soldier of Ningxia, to patrol east. After visiting several forts such as Zhenbian Fort and Lijiabao, and then went north along the side wall to check the Ping prison, and finally arrived at the northernmost Zhenyuan Pass and returned to Zhenbei Fort.

Sun Chuanting and his party spent more than ten days and traveled nearly a thousand miles to gain a preliminary understanding of the situation in Ningxia Town.

This first impression was not good. In summary, I can say four words: desolation and extreme poverty.

There are different numbers of frontier soldiers and their families stationed in each fort, and they all live in low and dilapidated dry forts built with yellow mud.

Most of the frontier soldiers in the fort wore mandarin duck jackets that had been handed down for many generations. The original bright red had been washed and turned white, and there were patches all over the jacket. From a distance, they looked like beggars. Only the swords and guns in their hands were polished. Very sharp.

It can't be done without grinding.Because of the proximity to the side wall, the Mongols outside the wall often crossed the wall from the damaged place to plunder inside the wall. Without weapons and bows at hand, how could they fight those Tartars?
The Mongols mainly came to grab the iron pot.

Since the imperial court prohibited trading with Mongolian tribes, these Tartars outside the wall could not exchange daily necessities with fur and money, especially iron pots. No matter how many cattle and sheep you have, you must cook them in pots, right?
And because Ningxia Town is located in a remote place, and horse bandits are active, most businessmen don't want to go here to do business at all.No matter how high the profit is, no one will take his life if he accidentally dies here.

The family members and children of the frontier army also wore tattered robes and skirts, and all of them had disheveled, sallow and emaciated faces, which were caused by long-term lack of nutrition.

There are several deep wells in each fort to provide daily water for the people in the fort.In Ningxia Town, where dripping water is like oil, water is more important than food.

The mental state of the frontier soldiers is not bad. Most of them have been guarding for several generations and are used to this kind of poverty.

The frontier army's food mainly comes from the fields they have reclaimed outside the fort. In the northwest where there is drought and little rain, and relying on the weather for food, it is very common to plant extensively and harvest poorly.There are large fields outside each fort, all of which are wheat.

On the way back after visiting several forts, Sun Chuanting felt extremely heavy.

The imperial court did treat these frontier soldiers a little lightly.

For 200 years, the ancestors and descendants of these frontier soldiers made huge sacrifices in order to resist the invasion of the Tartars; after so many years of consumption, the Tartars finally gradually declined, and these soldiers guarding the border became no one cares about them. where.

Ma Ke, the commander-in-chief of Ningxia, is about [-] years old. He has been serving in the army since his ancestors, so he was born as a general.In the seventh year of Chongzhen's achievements, he was promoted to the general army, and was transferred from Yansui Town to Ningxia Town.

Through conversations with Ma Ke along the way, Sun Chuanting learned that since he arrived in Ningxia, the imperial court has only paid out his salary once, and he has not sent a tael of silver to Ningxia since last year.If the accumulated debts over the years are added, the imperial court owes Ningxia more than [-] frontier troops. It is already beyond counting.

When Sun Chuanting asked how these frontier soldiers survived since they lacked so much money, Ma Ke smiled and replied: "The Zhongcheng doesn't know something. It's not just the Tartars outside the wall who came to rob us. We They also often went out of the wall to rob them, and then gathered the plundered cattle, sheep, horses, fur and felt cloth, and the generals sent troops to escort them to Pingliang and Qingyang to sell to merchants, and the money they got might be exchanged for oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar. , or directly distribute the money to the soldiers and soldiers, this has been maintained for many years!"

Sun Chuanting hummed, and understood the truth at a glance.

The soldiers went out to work hard, and the generals sat on the ground to collect money.

The soldiers had no way of knowing the value of the spoils sold to the merchants. Most of them must have fallen into the pockets of the general, and the soldiers received the minimum guarantee to maintain the survival of their families.

Sun Chuanting snorted coldly and said: "Among the thieves in Shaanxi, there are also many Ningxia border army followers of thieves, right? The soldiers and armor they use are also equipped by the official army. Don't think that the official doesn't know! If you follow the court regulations, you will inevitably have a royal servant." Not strict responsibility!"

Although the Ningxia frontier army deserves sympathy, Sun Chuanting cannot show it.This group of generals are all people who push their noses and faces, and those who should be beaten must be beaten.

Ma Ke hastily let go of the rein, clasped his fists in his hands to defend, and said, "I want to report to Zhong Cheng, although this matter is true, it's a shameful job!"

Sun Chuanting controlled the reins with both hands and walked slowly, without turning his head, he said in a cold voice: "Since it is true, where did your grievance come from?!"

Ma Ke, who was one step behind Sun Chuanting at the head of the horse, reported: "If you return to Zhongcheng, although the humble position is the commander-in-chief, it has no jurisdiction over the various generals and co-leaders in the territory. Really powerless! There are thousands of miles of walls around Ningxia Town, and all the ministries are guarded by divisions, with low-ranking posts in the middle to support them; For the reason, I hope Zhongcheng will understand me a little bit!"

Sun Chuanting has been in office for nearly two years, and he has already fully understood and understood the complexity of the border affairs. He has already known what Ma Ke said, and this is also the problem he wants to solve in the next step.

After inspecting many forts and piers, Sun Chuanting changed his original idea of ​​the frontier army.

Originally, he thought that the generals on the Nine Sides were rebellious and difficult to control, and it was a common phenomenon to deduct military pay and engage in adultery with thieves, but the actual situation was that there was a huge deviation in his cognition.

He originally planned to adopt the method he used to deal with the guards in Xi'an, single out the many evil deeds among them, liquidate and kill the generals who had a bad influence after the soldiers were hit, and then distribute the gains from the house raids so that they can quickly win the morale of the army. Pave the way for the next series of actions.

But now it seems that Xi'an's approach will not work in Ningxia.

Although the people in Ningxia town were generally poor, Xie Renxing and others visited many frontier soldiers and their families privately during the inspection.

Although the current life is very bitter, it has been like this for many years. Anyway, the court can no longer count on it; usually, the generals of their own family will lead them out of the side wall to dig grass and valleys. Every household has fields. Although the harvest is not high, they will not be hungry. Fleeing to death, the money obtained from digging the grass valley was bought by the general of the family from Pingliang Mansion, which was barely enough for the whole family.

Sun Chuanting knew that it wasn't that the generals didn't want to deduct money, but that there was no money to be deducted at all.The imperial court did not issue any payment, so how could it be withheld?
As for the fact that the general did not torture the soldiers, it was because the frontier troops were passed down through generations, and everyone was familiar with them from their ancestors. Who would dare to go too far?

What's more, I have been at the border for a long time. Although there have been no large-scale wars for many years, small-scale conflicts with the Tartars have occurred from time to time.If a general treats his subordinates too harshly at ordinary times, he may be shot to death by a cold arrow in a certain battle, and then push it to the Tartars. Who will pursue the truth?

After much deliberation, Sun Chuanting believed that when dealing with the border army in Ningxia, Huairou should be the main method, and the original simple and rough handling method should not be used.

This time, in order to prevent disharmony in Ningxia, he led a large army to suppress it, and Luo Shifang from Pingliang responded later, so that if there was a disturbance during the rectification process, he could quickly quell it.

Seems to be overthinking now.

Judging from the attitude of Chief Soldier Ma Ke and his subordinates, the frontier army still fears and respects the imperial court.

In the battle of exterminating Ma Jinzhong and other bandits, the Qin army gained a lot. They seized hundreds of war horses, more than [-] taels of gold and silver, but no food and grass.

The thieves were trapped in Baishiyuan for eight days, and failed to break through several times. After all the food and grass were cut off, they asked to surrender, and Ma Jinzhong's more than [-] war horses were also eaten.

After taking out the 20 taels of stolen silver rewards, the remaining 10,000+ taels, plus the 20 taels of silver brought by Zhou Yuji, Sun Chuanting still has more than [-] taels in his hands. This is a huge sum of money, especially for Ningxia For the army.

Sun Chuanting, who sat at the head of the official hall, coughed, and the hall was suddenly silent.

He glanced at the generals on both sides, and said in a majestic voice: "I have been serving as the governor of Shaanxi for nearly two years. The important town also belongs to Shaanxi; this official came this time to inspect and investigate on behalf of the heavens, so as to eliminate the danger of the border troubles and relieve the worries of the border army, so that you can enjoy the grace of the gods and remember the virtues of the court. Soldiers from the Nine Frontiers, specially order me to come here with my salary to comfort the frontier army and guard the frontier. After I send someone to check the number of soldiers, I will distribute them! Considering that the generals are divided into different routes, it is difficult for the soldiers to gather in Zhenbei Fort , Therefore, I will send people to accompany the generals to the place where they are stationed, and the general's salary will be distributed to the soldiers! I have sent people to the court yesterday, and the lack of weapons and armor for the frontier army will be sent here by the court. The generals need to convey In the army, use the heart of the soldiers!"

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　　Then I declare that I do not discriminate against people of any religious belief.

　　56 ethnic groups, 56 flowers, 56 brothers and sisters are a family, playing tambourines and singing songs, sitting in rows, eating fruit, hahahaha.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)