Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 401 Summoned
"My lord, Governor Ruan is here."

A palace official came in with a bouquet of flowers, which were in full bloom.

Zhu Yihai put down the work at hand, stood up and watched the palace servants put the peach blossoms into the vase, "The peach blossoms are blooming, it should be the busy time of spring plowing outside."

The palace servant smiled slightly, "Governor Ruan also brought this flower from Linhai City, Taizhou, Zhejiang. Eunuch Liu asked his servants to plant it in the emperor's study."

This palace lady is not very young, and she is not even very beautiful. She is about 20 years old, and even has a light scar on her face, but she is tall and healthy.

In fact, she is the same as many maids in the Nanjing Imperial Palace today, only a few of them used to be in this palace. Because of the war, there were no servants in the Nanjing Imperial Palace. After Zhu Yihai entered the imperial palace, he did not agree with the court. Palace ladies even began to castrate people for eunuch training.

He selected a group of women from the people, not the young and beautiful ones, but the poor women who suffered from the war. Some women lost their families in the war, some lost their children, and some were even hurt. They are now No family, all alone.

Very poor.

Zhu Yihai selected some relatively healthy women in their 30s and [-]s to enter the palace as palace servants, and called back some women who had been palace servants from the people.

Nowadays, there are not many maids and servants in the Nanjing Imperial Palace, and they mainly serve in the harem.

In the previous dynasty, he mainly used bodyguards and Qianniu young army as attendants.

"You take two peach blossoms and send them to the harem to Ruan Pin and sisters. These are brought by Governor Ruan from Zhejiang, and they should also be shared with them."

Zhu Yihai summoned Liu Chao.

"Let Ruan Dacheng wait for me at the Hall of Martial Arts. By the way, Ma Shiying should also go to Nanjing. Let him meet with him. Also, invite Yan Qing."

The Hall of Martial Arts is sideways.

Ruan Dacheng, Ma Shiying, and Yan Wogong were sitting here waiting to be summoned. The eunuch Liu Chao, the supervisor of ceremonies, accompanied the three of them. It was morning, and the emperor gave them a snack, a pot of Anji's white tea, and A few snacks.

It is relatively simple, not exquisite, and even inferior to the ones in the big restaurant outside, which is not in line with the dim sum status of the royal court, but Ruan Mayan and the others are very clear that today's people don't like to pay attention to flattery, let alone luxury .

It has been said more than once that we must be frugal.

So not only are they used to this simple imperial tea, but even when they came to face the saint today, they also paid special attention to the decoration of their clothes, and even chose a slightly old official uniform, and they didn't even dare to use any expensive incense. Smoked, just smoked casually with ordinary incense.

Not to mention any gold and jade decorations, trying to look as simple as possible.

"Your Majesty has summoned you, please come with your servants." A servant came in.

Ma Shiying and others hurriedly got up.

In the Hall of Martial Arts.

Zhu Yihai changed into a set of Silongtuan casual robes. In the late spring of March, and the weather was getting warmer, Zhu Yihai was wearing a lot thinner. When he saw Liu Chao leading the three ministers in, he got up and walked out of the imperial case to greet him.

"Oh, my three ministers are here, and I will greet you at the door in person." He laughed and stepped forward.

Several people seemed a little restrained.

"Three lovers, I have called you here this time because I want to hear your face-to-face presentations, and listen to you talk about your specific actual work, what problems you have encountered, etc. Sit down and don't be restrained."

"Go pass the fruit."

The fruits in the palace are actually relatively simple. Apples and oranges are from last year, and only loquats are in season.

As the emperor, in fact, there are still a lot of fruits that can be eaten at this time, even if you want to eat watermelon, there is no problem, but Zhu Yihai doesn't like to do this.

Eat whatever you have. You can’t eat eggs like those salt merchants, and you have to raise a group of hens that only eat Cordyceps ginseng to lay eggs. The cost of an egg costs one or two silver, which is too much.

In the current situation, Zhu Yihai pays more attention to setting a good example, even if he has the conditions to eat better and use better, but in order to lead the way, he has to pay special attention to thrift.

Otherwise, it will be a bad atmosphere if everyone has the conditions to do the same.

"Three lovers, March is coming to an end, the weather is going to warm up, and the Tatars will become more active. When I think of the empty treasury, I can't help feeling anxious."

Yan Wogong is a cabinet bachelor newly appointed by Zhu Yihai, and he is also the governor of Zhejiang, responsible for supervising the military and administration of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Anhui.

Ruan Dacheng was the governor of Zhejiang, and Ma Shiying was the governor of Jiangsu.

Yan Wogong's current position is actually the original Governor of Liangjiang. After Zhang Guowei was recalled to the cabinet to assist the government, Huang Daozhou, a scholar, was reassigned as Governor of Liangjiang, in charge of Jiangxi, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces.

Originally, with the governor of Liangjiang, there was no need to set up another supervisor, but Zhu Yihai still gave Yan Wogong this post.

Huang Daozhou, the governor, sits in Nanchang, Jiangxi, and Yan Wogong, the governor, sits in Yangzhou, divided into upstream and downstream towns.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Although the weather is getting warmer, it is still impossible for the Tartars to go south in a short time. Besides, the canal is now unblocked and open. In fact, it is actually beneficial to our Ming Dynasty, and we can give full play to the advantages of the navy." Yan Wogong laughed. on the road.

After the Tartars suffered successive defeats last year, they are now awakened.

From being unacceptable at the beginning and becoming angry from embarrassment, they have become pragmatic and cautious now.

Except for Wu Sangui on the western front and the Hauge Legion who are still using troops, other places are very honest.

Hong Chengchou, manager of Huguang and other six provinces, was dismissed and recalled to Beijing. It is said that he is still being investigated by various ministries.

It is obvious that my father is widely involved in the strict management of the five provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.

After Hong Chengchou was recalled, Tong Yanghe, the former governor of Huguang, was also recalled to Beijing. Although he made great achievements in breaking the siege of Wuchang and defeating the Ming army last year, the court is still pressing him very hard now. The reason is that Beijing believes that Tong Yanghe And after staying in Huguang before, the handling was improper, and we shouldn't spend too much energy to recruit the Shunjun.

The Wuchang victory was not recognized by Beijing, because they thought it was not a great victory at all, and there was not even a single Zhu Yihai's imperial army.

Beijing's current view of Nanming is that Zhu Yihai's imperial camp is the same as the Qing army's Eight Banners. No-name troops are not considered meritorious service.

Tong Yanghe didn't have any credit for the last point, instead he was questioned and dismissed from his post to reflect at home.

Luo Mianxiu governor of Huguang, but only a simple governor of Huguang, and no longer concurrently governor of Sichuan. Sichuan is under the concurrent administration of Shaanxi Governor Meng Qiaofang, as well as Gansu. Naturally, the reason is that Meng Qiaofang played very well in Xi'an this time.

Although Tong Yanghe felt it was unfair, Meng Qiaofang only defeated the mobs of He Zhen, Hu Xianghua, Wu Dading, and Sun Shoufa, and there was no Zhu Yihai's imperial army.What's more, Meng Qiaofang didn't defeat the siege of Xi'an by the Ming army himself, it was Wu Sangui and Li Guohan who rushed to save his life.

Why is he meritorious, but he himself has done it?

But Tong Yanghe also admitted it in the end, because his matter actually involved the internal struggle among the upper class of the Tartars. The Tong family is a relatively famous Han family in the Tartars. Although they had told Huang Taiji earlier, their Tong family was actually a Manchus, but later became Liaodong Han nationality, so they changed their surname to Tong. In fact, they are Manchu Tongjia.

However, it doesn't matter whether Tong's surname is Tong or Tong Jia. The important thing is that Nurhachi's first concubine married Tong's daughter, and Prince Li Daishan was born of Tong's family. Therefore, the Tong family in the Eight Banners Han Army has always been the representative The people on the good side are naturally not from the regent Dorgon.

In the final analysis, Tong Yanghe was guilty for nothing and was recalled to take over his post. He was still fighting with gods and harming the innocent.

Luo Xiujin, the governor of Huguang, did not dare to act rashly. Last winter, they lived in fear. He, Luck Dehun's [-] Banners, and the local green battalion all dared to stay In the big cities of Wuchang, Xiangyang, and Jingzhou, it took several months of hard work, but they were barely repaired. The rest of the destroyed cities did not have the energy and time to repair them.

I came here hungry last winter.

There is no way, the battle was fought last year, and even though we won, it was actually a disastrous victory. Huguang was almost demolished, and the population almost ran out. Last autumn, there was no harvest at all, and there was no place to collect food. Relying on a little grain transported from Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi and other places to help, the grain that was finally transferred was always robbed and attacked by the Ming army in the Yunyang Mountain area and the villages in the Dabie Mountains. In the end, [-]% only [-]% It was transported to the Qing army in Huguang.

We can only starve.

Even the [-] and Eight Banners horses were hungry and skinny due to lack of concentrates, and in the end they were eaten by even hungrier Eight Banners soldiers.

From last winter until now, the Qing army in Huguang, regardless of the Eight Banners or the Green Battalion, was very honest and didn't dare to go out. Anyway, it was all carried there, enduring, and hungry.

Among the more capable generals in the Huguang Green Camp, Zu Kefa was dying of illness, and followed Hong Chengchou and the others back to Beijing to recover from his illness. Zhang Yong, who made great contributions, was transferred to Shaanxi to be promoted to admiral.

The former Henan general Sun Dingliao was promoted to the admiral of Huguang, but he could only garrison Xiangfan. Folded three more times.

I had no choice but to stay in Xiangyang and continue to transfer grain and husbands from Henan and other places to repair the city, dredge the Han River, and transport grain and grass.

There is a precedent of the [-] Banners in the south of the Yangtze River being completely wiped out. Luck Dehun and the others were in fear every day in Huguang.

And Xu Huai's side is not much better.

In the Huainan area, there is no one inhabited for hundreds of miles, and all the people have run away. Most of them have fled to the south of the Yangtze River. If they don’t escape, they can’t survive. They have to undertake tasks such as transporting grain and building ships. , especially when the Ming army went deep into Xuhuai last year, and even hit Shandong, they did not miss Huainan.

Now the Ming army still has an army stationed in Anqing, and the Qing army only dared to deploy an army to garrison Hefei to prevent the Ming army from going further north and penetrating into Henan.

Tan Tai lost his reputation when he was beaten by Zhu Yihai last year, but fortunately he is still alive.

So from last autumn to this year's spring, he was still very cautious. He only entered Xuzhou before the Chinese New Year last year, and rushed to Huai'an after the beginning of spring.

Today, in the middle reaches of the north bank of the Yangtze River, the Qing army is stationed in the three towns of Wuchang, Jingzhou, and Xiangyang;

The western front is attacking, and the rest of the middle and eastern fronts are completely defensive.

Yan Wogong even dared to say that the Qing army would not dare to fight the Ming army in the Huaihe area, especially in the area south of the Huaihe River.

However, it is difficult for the Ming army to think about the Jiangbei Expedition now, because of the issue of food and payment.

"Many ministers in the court persuaded me to negotiate a peace with the Tartars temporarily, and buy some time to recuperate and accumulate strength." Zhu Yihai sighed with his hands behind his back, "We want to recuperate, but the Tartars don't know, we can't limit ourselves first."

"What I mean is that we still have to take the initiative. We can talk slowly with the Tartars, but we can't stop. This spring is coming to an end, and we have to launch the Northern Expedition again."

"I also know that there is a shortage of food and wages, and I also know how the south bank of the Yangtze River is being beaten up. The southern provinces around Taihu Lake, this area of ​​heavy taxation, is now a waste of time, but we can't stop.

We have to take advantage of the victory to pursue and make the Tartars breathless.

What I want to talk to you guys today is nothing else, but mainly hope that you can find a way to squeeze out some more money and food for the Northern Expedition! "

(End of this chapter)