Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 211 Alliance and Imperial Examination

Emperor Chongzhen was indeed right. Another year later, there were indeed many people on the Manchu and Qing side who wanted revenge and sent troops to the pass.

In the Chongzheng Hall, when Prince Beile of the Manchu Qing Dynasty gathered together for another end-of-year meeting, Duduo, Haoge, Nikan and others all raised their concerns with the regent Dorgon.

"Why has our Qing Dynasty suffered such a disastrous defeat since Taizu raised his army? Now that we are stronger, it's time to take revenge!"

"That's right, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is not in the capital yet, and we are entering the pass just in time. It will be difficult to attack him from head to tail!"

"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty cannot be given another chance to calmly suppress the rebellion. He must enter the border immediately!"

"..."

Dorgon listened to them talking there, but he remained silent, obviously thinking too.

Last year, from various channels, the Qing Dynasty finally learned some news about the customs.

What they didn't expect was that the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom personally led troops to conquer the north and south, and actually defeated the rebel armies from all walks of life. Except for a few places, the world was almost pacified!

A Ming Dynasty without civil strife is definitely a powerful Ming Dynasty. There is no doubt about this.

To be honest, after hearing the news, Dorgon really wanted to lead his troops into the pass immediately, without giving the Ming Emperor a chance to calmly pacify the pass.

However, he was the regent of the Qing Dynasty and had many things to consider. He could not do anything just because of an idea.

First of all, what Dorgon has to consider is whether he can win if he breaks into the pass again. This issue must be considered.

Although the Qing Dynasty annexed North Korea and could raise more troops and food, it could never suffer a disastrous defeat like the last time.If it failed again and again, it would have a great impact on the morale of the Qing army!
Although the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was fighting abroad, his capable generals, such as Zhou Yuji and others, were guarding the front line of the Great Wall and were not so easy to deal with.

Of course, the most critical factor that influenced Dorgon's decision was within the Qing Dynasty.

After this year, the rifts between the various ethnic groups within the Qing Dynasty have been somewhat healed in the process of annexing North Korea, unlike the last time when the prisoners were exchanged.However, there are still cracks after all, especially the cracks towards the Han people, which are the most obvious.

However, let alone the governance of North Korea, thanks to the Han people, especially Fan Wencheng and Hong Chengchou, who governed the northern and southern parts of North Korea respectively, they were able to quickly stabilize the people's hearts and expel the rebels at sea without disturbing the land. That's their ability.

However, Hong Chengchou, who was in charge of southern Korea, also sent news that Dorgon did not dare to take lightly, and that was the problem of Japan.

While he was thinking about it, the noisy scene in Chongzheng Hall finally became quieter. Duduo asked Dorgon loudly and asked him to make a decision.

After hearing this, Dorgon came back to his senses and said with a serious expression: "I know what you said is reasonable, but don't forget that we still have the problem of the Japanese country in the Qing Dynasty. If it is not handled well, once If we launch a war against the Ming Dynasty and the Japanese invade Korea, we, the Qing Dynasty, will be fighting from both sides, which is something we, the Qing Dynasty, cannot bear!"

Since the annexation of North Korea, Dorgon has been honored as the emperor's uncle and regent, and he has called himself "I".

Upon hearing his words, Prince Baylor in the Chongzheng Palace was stunned for a moment.

Of course they knew about the affairs of Japan.When North Korea was annexed before, some Koreans fled to Japan, and then Japan began to come into contact with the Qing Dynasty.

It is obviously impossible to say that the Japanese country came out for North Korea and wanted to help North Korea regain the territory that was eaten by the Qing Dynasty. It was just that the Japanese country saw that North Korea, which they had not eaten before, was actually eaten by the Qing Dynasty. It's just a little jealous, and I want to share some benefits.

However, the Qing Dynasty had already had differences before. They felt that they had finally swallowed North Korea, so why should they give benefits to the Japanese country?

Dorgon had just suffered a major defeat in the pass and was eager to recover his losses from North Korea, so he ignored the Japanese state.

But this time, Hong Chengchou's memorial also made him pay attention.

No, after he asked the question, no one said anything to Prince Baylor in the Chongzheng Palace. He knew that these people present were all from war backgrounds, and they must have known that the current Qing Dynasty could not bear to fight on both sides, especially with the Ming Dynasty. It is even more unrealistic to fight two major powers, Japan and Japan.

So Dorgon spoke again: "According to what Hong Chengchou said, the current power in the Japanese country is the Tokugawa shogunate. In fact, it has no intention of foreign war and only wants to consolidate the power of its island country. It is different from when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was king. Therefore. , he suggested that the Qing Dynasty might as well give it some benefits, and cooperation can be a win-win situation!"

This was the first time he said it publicly, so many people present were a little surprised.

Duduo was the first to speak and immediately said loudly: "Han Gou cannot be trusted. Who knows if he is hiding any evil intentions?"

Jilharang, who no longer serves as the regent, showed concern and asked: "How can we cooperate to achieve a win-win situation?"

When Dorgon heard what they were saying, he had no idea what to do about his staunch supporter Dodo's hatred of the Han people. He didn't want to talk to Dodo at all. He just turned to look at Jierhalang and said, "Buy the Japanese country." The Japanese can make money, and the strength of the Qing Dynasty can be further strengthened. If necessary, we can also hire Japanese pirates to harass the coast of the Ming Dynasty for the Qing Dynasty, so that the Ming Dynasty cannot concentrate on suppressing thieves. !”

"He thought that the first thing should be easy to achieve. The second thing, according to the information he learned from the Japanese, was actually not difficult. The Tokugawa shogunate actually didn't want too many samurai in his country. If he could If you can make a lot of money by getting rid of those warriors, you might not be willing to do it."

After hearing this, Jierhalang showed approval and said: "This suggestion seems good. If possible, it is also possible to buy food from the Japanese country. There are severe droughts in several places in North Korea, and many people starved to death last year."

There are constant natural disasters in the Ming Dynasty, and places such as Liaodong and North Korea are naturally no better.

The Manchu and Qing Dynasties annexed North Korea. Although they wanted to turn North Korea into the real territory of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, when encountering disasters, there were still internal and external differences.The grain earned in a year is transported back to Liaodong first. After Liaodong is satisfied, it can be North Korea's turn.

Therefore, in the 19th year of Chongzhen, people still starved to death in North Korea.

Hauge heard this and interjected: "It's okay to buy firearms. Buy grain for Korean dogs. If you have too much money, you can burn it." Dorgon frowned slightly and said: "After the Qing Dynasty did not enter the customs, the income decreased, and the money In order to trade, you still have to use the edge of the knife. The harvest in the Japanese country is not very good. If you want to buy grain from the Japanese country, the price will be very high. "

Most of the money in the Qing Dynasty came from robbery.

In the past, when I ate less and drank less, I would go into the customs and rob once, and I would be able to rob a lot of money. I could then use the stolen money to buy supplies from Shanxi merchants.But now, it is impossible to enter the customs and rob them, and the Shanxi merchants who were able to trade with the Manchus were also taken away by the Ming Dynasty court.

The Manchus were poor again!
After hearing what he said, Jilhalang replied: "In this case, I agree to buy firearms and gunpowder first."

The lives of North Koreans, even in the most stable place of Jierhalang, are still bullshit.

Daishan had died of illness, and Azig was captured and executed by the Ming Emperor, so Jierhalang's opinion was very important.Although Duduo howled from time to time, he basically would not object to Dorgon's wishes.As for Hauge, Nikan and others, they are not enough.

In the end, Dorgon made a decision and sent a message to Hong Chengchou, asking him and the Manchu ministers there to communicate with the Japanese and express their goodwill to the Japanese. They were willing to buy Japanese firearms and gunpowder at a high price; if possible, they were also willing to pay part of the money to the Japanese. They were named Japanese pirates and asked them to send their warriors to plunder the coast of the Ming Dynasty in the name of Japanese pirates. The materials obtained belonged to the Japanese country and were not wanted by the Qing Dynasty.

Internally, Dorgon continued to migrate the Koreans who had shaved their heads and changed clothes to enrich Liaodong, reclaiming wasteland and planting crops.Of course, some people were also selected for training and became soldiers of the Qing Dynasty.

As for the grasslands, the Qing Dynasty still relied on its hard-core allies, the Horqin tribe, to continue to implement marriages, marry each other, and asked them to pay tribute to war horses, furs, etc., either for their own use or for trade with the Japanese.

In this way, the national policies of the Manchu and Ming Dynasties were basically the same, focusing on recuperation and recuperation.Like two tigers, licking their paws and recharging their energy for another fight in the future.

………………

After Emperor Chongzhen led the direct-affiliated Biaoying camp southward by boat from the canal, in the Wenhua Palace, Prince Zhu Cixiang held a meeting to discuss the matter assigned to them by his father, which was to select the top pick, top pick, and second pick in each industry.

I only heard Zhu Cixiang say with a hint of embarrassment: "I have been thinking about it for a few days. It seems that the competition between various industries is not easy. The first thing is which industry should I compete first? I want to hear your thoughts?"

Having said this, he paused and then said: "Father, before I left, I told you that this matter must be handled well. Please pay attention to it and work together to handle this matter well!"

Hearing this, the six ministers, ministers, cabinet ministers and eunuchs who were summoned by Zhu Cihong all looked embarrassed.

At that time, the emperor said it very seriously, and said that whether this matter was done well or not was a test of whether an official was mediocre or talented. Therefore, after they returned, they actually thought about it.

If you think carefully about the emperor's one sentence, you will find that there are many problems.

After a moment of silence in the Wenhua Hall, Fang Yuegong, the assistant minister of the cabinet, came out and said: "Wei Chen believes that agriculture is the priority in all industries, so agricultural affairs should be competed. However, Wei Chen can't figure out how to compete."

Hearing him speak, Jiang Dejing, who was also an assistant minister, also came out and said: "Yes, farming is farming, but this kind of land cannot be built in one day. You can't allocate a grain field outside the city. Let’s see who can plant well and harvest more, right? If there are many people competing, I’m afraid there won’t be enough farmland in the capital to plant enough for them.”

Although the emperor has said that the top three in this competition will be treated as candidates, but they cannot be officials.But just the exemptions and exemptions that can be obtained by raising people are enough to drive those farmers crazy. If there are no restrictions, they will definitely give it a try.

Hearing Jiang Dejing's dilemma, Ni Yuanlu, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, also followed suit and said: "Is this competition to be conducted in the local area first, and then to the capital, or is it a direct competition in the capital? If the local area is tried first, I'm afraid it will be before your majesty's triumphant return. You can’t get the results, right? There is also the question of the cost. Should the candidates pay for it themselves or will the court pay for it? For example, if the old farmers pay for it themselves, how many of them will have the money to come to the capital to compete?”

After hearing this, the Minister of Rites and others also went out to explain the difficulties they thought of, which made Zhu Cixiang even more worried.

Not only farming, but also other things, it was far more complicated and difficult to handle than when he thought about it alone!
After talking for a long time, there was even a dispute over which industries were finally decided to compete first, not to mention how to compete!

In the end, after three consecutive days of discussion, these people were a little tired and wanted to end this tormenting matter as soon as possible.

So Fang Yuegong came out and said: "Your Highness, I think it is better to imitate the imperial examination to compete, such as farming. The court will set questions for local governments to take the exam first. Some questions related to farming can be asked, and the top few from all states and counties in the world will be admitted." The capital will conduct a competition again, and the method of answering questions will still be used, so that the top three can be judged."

Having said this, he immediately added: "Not only farming, but also blacksmiths, traders, etc., can do this!"

When the others heard this, their eyes suddenly lit up.

However, after Zhu Cihong heard this, he frowned and said, "Businessmen are okay, but most of the old farmers, craftsmen, etc. are illiterate. How can they take the exam?"

To imitate the imperial examination is to make questions, but the Four Books and Five Classics are not used as test questions.Similar to this, when the imperial examination first began in the Tang Dynasty, there were actually examinations in arithmetic and so on.

At this time, after hearing the words of the prince, Liu Zongzhou, the new censor of Zuodu, immediately went out and said: "Your Majesty seeks talents from various industries. If you can't even read, how can you become talents in various industries? Wei Chen thought that Fang Ge This proposal is feasible!"

After hearing this, other people also followed suit and agreed.

First, they are really tired of being tortured by this matter, and second, if they do this, most of the top three in each industry will be scholars, which is the most acceptable to civil servants like them.

Although Zhu Cixiang felt something was wrong, he couldn't stand all these civil servants saying the same thing. In the end, he also felt that how could he become the top talent in various industries in the Ming Dynasty if he couldn't even read?
And this comparison is the most feasible.Finally, he agreed to the proposal.

Because it would be easy to operate, they discussed a total of ten industries including agriculture, commerce, fishery, medicine, etc. for the competition.

Because Emperor Chongzhen left this matter to them, there was no need to request an order from Emperor Chongzhen, and a report was sent to all states and counties in the Ming Dynasty.

Suddenly, the whole world was shocked that there was such an imperial examination!

Emperor Chongzhen actually received secret messages from Wang Chengen who was beside the prince every once in a while.He did not express an opinion on this matter, but continued to rush to Yunnan and Guizhou to do his own thing.

(End of this chapter)