The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Chapter 296 Entering Nanjing ([-])

The Yamen of the Ministry of War and the Yamen of the Li, Li, Hu, and Gong Ministries in Nanjing City are all not far from the southeast outside the imperial city.

As for the Yamen of the Ministry of Punishment, it is located between Zhongshan and Houhu (Xuanwu Lake) in the north of the Imperial City (outside) due to the supporting facilities such as the Prison of the Ministry of Punishment and other departments with interrogation systems such as Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Liu Sheng took everyone to the Wubu Yamen and found that there were no officials inside. Only soldiers of the Yangtze River Navy were guarding outside the Yamen.

So he called Wang Duo and Hou Xun over and asked, "Where are the officials in these five yamen?"

Wang Duo didn't know what to say for a moment.

However, Hou Xun next to him reacted faster and replied: "Back to the king, I heard that Zuo Menggeng left the capital and there was a war outside. The officials were worried about their children, so they all went home."

Liu Sheng knew that those officials were not only afraid of the rebels, but also the "thieves" like them.

However, if he wanted to control the southern Zhili prefectures and even the Jiangnan provinces as soon as possible, he would always have to select some available talents from the former Ming officials.

Maybe these people have problems of one kind or another, or even secretly engage in corruption and power manipulation, but after all, they are familiar with various government affairs, which is better than suddenly sending some novices with no experience at all.

During the transition period, all he needs to do, besides selecting available talents from these people, is to strictly supervise them.

If an official found something wrong, his house would be confiscated and his head would be beheaded.

It can not only relieve the grievances of the people, but also obtain money. It kills two birds with one stone.

When the Wei tribe has indeed taken control of the prefectures and counties, it will establish the Wei tribe's administrative system in Nanzhili and other provinces south of the Yangtze River, train its own officials, and then replace those unusable Ming officials.

Thinking of this, Liu Sheng asked again: "How many of the six ministers in Nanjing are there now?"

Hou Xun said: "There are only three at present, Zhang Shenyan, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Household Affairs, Wang Duo, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War, and He Yingrui, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry."

"Zhang Shenyan, where is He Yingrui?"

On the side, Liu Changhe clasped his fists and said: "To report to your Majesty, Zhang Shenyan was rescued after jumping into Mochou Lake. He was later captured by our army and refused to surrender. He is currently being detained in the military camp of Daxiaochang. Also imprisoned are Fengyang Governor Ma Shiying and others. "

Hou Xun said: "He Yingrui heard that the rebels were entering the city, so he signed up and went home."

After hearing this, Liu Sheng nodded slightly and led everyone back to the Yamen of the Ministry of War.

In his heart, he was thinking about the arrangements for Hou Xun, Wang Duo and other surrendered ministers.

The reason why he didn't like Hou Xun was mainly because of the other two people.One is Zuo Liangyu, and the other is Hou Fangyu.

Not to mention Zuo Liangyu, he was a warlord in the middle and late period of Chongzhen. In history, the Ming army encircled and suppressed rogue bandits several times, but they were all defeated because Zuo Liangyu escaped or refused to save him.

As for Hou Fangyu, Liu Sheng mainly remembered that this man seemed to have made suggestions for the Qing army later. He proposed the poisonous plan of burning the trees in Yuyuan and diverting water from the Yellow River to flood the Yuyuan tunnel. He assisted the Qing army in encircling and suppressing the Yuyuan rebels, causing the displacement of millions of people.

However, this matter first came from the "Manuscript of Qing History" written by Zhao Erxun, an official in the late Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, there is also a theory that Zhao Erxun felt that Zhang Cunren, a general in the early Qing Dynasty, had committed too many crimes and was worried about damaging the image of the Qing Dynasty, so he asked Hou Fangyu to take the blame.

What makes Hou Fangyu's affairs more solid is that he participated in the provincial examination in the eighth year of Shunzhi and wrote five policy papers such as "Diligence in Reading" and "Kai Jing Banquet".

However, Hou Fangyu said in the "Collected Works of Zhuang Huitang", which is similar to an autobiography, that he had to participate in the Henan Provincial Examination organized by the Qing court because his family members forced him to do so.

He deliberately only wrote half of the paper, but he never expected to pass the provincial examination's secondary list (the main list was added to show encouragement to scholars, and it does not count as a passing examination).

Therefore, it is difficult to tell the truth about Hou Fangyu's official career.

Regarding Hou Xun himself, Liu Sheng only remembered Zuo Liangyu from some online novels that he was a book boy and might have warmed Hou Xun's bed.

However, the content in the online novel is somewhat true and is worthy of discussion.

Now that Hou Xun has surrendered and has a positive attitude, although Liu Sheng is not emotionally happy, he is still ready to understand and try it out.

After sitting down in the lobby of the Ministry of War Yamen, Liu Sheng asked Hou Xun, "I heard that Zuo Liangyu once served as your scholar?"

Hou Xun was slightly stunned, then looked embarrassed. He understood that Liu Sheng had probably heard some rumors about him and Zuo Liangyu.

He immediately explained: "He is not a book boy - Zuo Liangyu went to Liaodong to join the army during the Tianqi period, and served as the capital of Cheyouying in Liaodong. In the first year of Chongzhen, he lost his official position due to the Ningyuan mutiny and was demoted to a pawn.

In the second year of Xia Chongzhen's reign, he was patrolling the border and was injured due to a fire in the army and a gunpowder explosion.At that time, Zuo Liangyu was serving as a servant in front of the tent. His subordinates felt that he was smart and had extraordinary skills, so they helped him reinstate him as a favor to him. "

Hou Xun and Zuo Liangyu only met two years after Chongzhen?
Liu Sheng was slightly surprised when he heard this.

If what Hou Xun said is true, then there is really no love between the two of them - because in the second year of Chongzhen, Zuo Liangyu was already 30 years old and had been in the army for several years, so he was probably a rough guy. Even if Hou Xun was as good as Long Yang , and it can’t be that heavy-flavored.

Of course, if Hou Xun had lied and the two had known each other for a long time, that would be another matter.

Liu Sheng had no intention of digging into the matter, he just wanted to find a reason to arrange a trial task for Hou Xun.

He said: "According to the report of our army's reconnaissance cavalry, Zuo Liangyu went to the southeast after escaping from Dasheng Pass. Now Zuo Menggeng also led more than 1 soldiers and horses to escape from Nanjing City. If Zuo Liangyu reunites Zuo Mengeng, our army's deployment in the southeast may not be able to stop them.

If Zuo Liangyu is allowed to lead the remaining troops into Zhejiang, it will probably hinder our army's subsequent plan to conquer the southern provinces.

Governor Hou is willing to be our army's envoy, wait for the reconnaissance cavalry to find out the traces of Zuo Liangyu's remaining troops, and go to persuade Zuo Liangyu to surrender? "

After listening to Liu Sheng's task arrangement, Hou Xun was secretly happy, thinking that he would be reused by Liu Sheng.

So his attitude became more positive and he asked: "As long as the king promises me an official title, I will be able to persuade Zuo Liangyu to surrender!"

Liu Sheng shook his head, "Zuo Liangyu only has a defeated army left now. I am only worried that his escape will cause trouble, so I surrendered. How can I grant him a title?"
What's more, our tribe has its own rules for treating surrendered generals. If Zuo Liangyu breaks the rules, what will the other surrendered generals think? "

After hearing this, Hou Xun vaguely felt something was wrong, and asked tentatively: "I wonder what the rules of the Wei tribe are for treating surrendered generals?"

"Counsellor Zhang, please tell me."

"Yes." Zhang Kuang responded, and immediately explained the process of transforming the army into a general.

After Hou Xun heard this, everyone was dumbfounded.

Only then did he realize that Liu Sheng had given him a difficult problem.

He had some suspicions that Liu Sheng was deliberately making things difficult, but he also felt that Liu Sheng had no enmity with him before, so there was no reason to make things difficult for him.

Moreover, he would be able to find out after a little inquiry whether the rules of the Kuaibu towards the surrendered generals were true or false.

'Could it be that this person wants to test whether I am sincere in my surrender and whether I am capable? '

Thinking of this, Hou Xun became excited again, stood up and cupped his hands and said: "Wei Chen takes orders!"

Hearing Hou Xun change his name to "Wei Chen", Liu Sheng was speechless, but he didn't say much.

He then looked at Wang Duo: "Right now, our department is short of officials in Nanjing, so Wang Shangshu is responsible for persuading officials from various yamen in Nanjing to come back and serve. What do you think?"

Wang Duo was timid and did not dare to disobey Liu Sheng's orders. Although he felt that the matter was difficult to handle, he still said bravely: "Yes."

Afterwards, Liu Sheng asked Hou Xun and Wang Duo to stay at the Wubu Yamen, while he led Zhang Kuang and others to visit the former Fifth Army Governor's Mansion Yamen outside Hongwu Gate.

Due to being idle for many years, the Yamen of the Fifth Military Governor's Mansion, like the Imperial City, has many buildings in need of repair.

However, the scale of the buildings here is small, but it is easier to repair than the imperial city. After tidying up, it is barely usable.

Zhang Kuang followed him and couldn't help but ask: "Zuo Liangyu's military discipline is corrupt. Every time he is stationed and harassed, he has committed countless crimes. Is your Majesty really going to surrender him?"

Liu Sheng asked, "Why, Mr. Zhang thinks Zuo Liangyu will surrender unconditionally?"

"If he is in a desperate situation, he may not do it in order to save his life."

Liu Sheng smiled after hearing this, "Don't worry, I have asked Xunfengwei to collect evidence of his crime. Even if he surrenders, he will be punished."

After coming out of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, Liu Sheng led the bodyguard group to inspect Yingtianfu Yamen, Nanjing Imperial College, the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple, and the most important Houhu Huangceku!

The Yellow Book of the Ming Dynasty is equivalent to the household registration files of later generations. It is related to the population and its importance is self-evident.

Although it shows that the late official administration was corrupt, most of the Houhu Yellow Records Library cannot be updated every ten years according to the rules, and there must be considerable discrepancies between the population and land data and the real situation, but it still has considerable reference value.

Arriving at the Huke Guanhu Office on the edge of Houhu Lake (an independent government office specializing in the management of Houhu Yellow Register), Liu Sheng found that most of the officials here were actually there.

It was probably because the place was too remote that we were unable to get the news of the Eijun's entry into the city in time, so we let the officers and soldiers of the Eijun who rushed over take control of it.

When Liu Sheng saw that there were only three green-robed minor officials among more than a dozen officials, he asked, "Who is the chief official here?"

A green-robed junior official came forward and said: "The office is under the jurisdiction of the Nanjing Hu Ke Shizhong and the chief of the Qing Li Department. Neither of the two superior officials are here."

Liu Sheng was not surprised - in later generations, many department chiefs were only in name, and daily affairs were left to the people below, let alone the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing that the green-robed official had clear eyes and no fear, he asked, "Who are you?"

"Chen Yujie, Deputy Envoy of the Lake Guan Office."

　First more.

　　[What’s so special, I used to read novels and thought that Hou Xun was having an affair with Zuo Liangyu as a poisonous plot by Hou Fangyu. Today, I checked the information carefully and found out that it may not be true. Of course, the father and son are not talented people.Hou Fangyu even prepared to serve in the Qing Dynasty for a while, but later regretted it for some unknown reason. 】

　　[The story that Hou Xun had an affair with Zuo Liangyu is mostly false, but it is definitely true that Hou Fangyu offered a poison plan to help the Qing army suppress the Yuyuan Army.Because the Yuyuan Army's activities were close to Hou Fangyu's hometown, and the riots began in the 13th year of Chongzhen's reign, the Hou family, as a gentry and landlord class, may have had a grudge against the Yuyuan Army for a long time.History is shrouded in mystery, and sometimes it’s really hard to figure it out. 】

　　
　
(End of this chapter)