There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

The Forbidden City and Qianqing Palace in the capital.

After the imperial court received Sun Chuanting's urgent report on recruiting the Zhenming Army, Emperor Chongzhen immediately summoned a group of important court officials for discussion.

"Wen Ruo, please tell the ministers first about Governor Sun's report on recruiting Lin Feng." Chongzhen said to Yang Sichang, the Minister of War.

"According to the decree. Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi Province, reported that in mid-June he led the Qin army to the outside of Suide City, which was occupied by the rebel Lin Feng, and fought two fierce battles with the rebels in Suide and Wubao.

More than 3,000 rebels were killed and injured, but Governor Sun's Qin army also suffered heavy casualties, losing more than 2,000 people. Due to the serious lack of pension silver and salary shortage, it would be difficult to fight again in the short term.

In addition, the city defense occupied by Lin Thieves was solid, and Lin Feng was always good at deceiving the people. The people helped them defend the city, making it very difficult to attack by force.

Under the persecution of the imperial army, Lin Feng proposed a truce and acceptance of recruitment. Governor Sun negotiated a four-point agreement with him. The main content has been sent to everyone. Please discuss whether to accept Lin Feng's recruitment. "Yang Sichang introduced the background of this recruitment.

"Your Majesty, I firmly object. This Lin Feng did not just surrender, but made many demands. He also demanded that the city he occupied be handed over to the Zhenming Army to manage. How can the court agree to such unreasonable demands?" Guo Jingchang, the left inspector of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, was the first to stand up and object.

"I dare to ask Guo Yushi, Governor Sun also proposed the idea of ​​​​appeasement when the attack on the rebels was frustrated. If the court did not accept it, where would they send troops, money and food to annihilate it? Can you rely on Mr. Guo's mouth?" The chief assistant of the cabinet Kong Zhenyun said sarcastically.

"Sending troops and money to suppress bandits is a matter for the cabinet and the Ministry of War. Whenever necessary, the Procuratorate will take care of these matters." Guo Jingchang replied.

"Why quarrel? The key is to solve the problem. What about other people's opinions?" Chongzhen said angrily. He was now increasingly dissatisfied with the chief minister of the cabinet and the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

"Your Majesty, I have no objection to the recruitment or not. It's just that the Ministry of Revenue really has no money. If we want to continue to attack the rebels, I'm afraid we have to think of another source of money." Cheng Guoxiang, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, is only concerned about whether he should provide money. .

He has only one attitude towards giving money, that is, if he doesn't have money, his life will be at stake.

"Wen Ruo, do you think this government can be trusted?" Chongzhen asked.

Yang Sichang had already expected that Chongzhen would ask him this question sooner or later, and he was prepared in his heart. He was skeptical from the beginning about Lin Feng's acceptance of recruitment, including the surrender of Zhang Xianzhong and other giant bandits.

However, his plan of "four righteousnesses and six corners, and a network of ten sides" and the three-month deadline to eliminate the peasant army have all come to nothing. The court is in short supply of money and is overwhelmed by the deployment of troops in many directions.

The method of appeasement is currently the only way to make the court breathe a sigh of relief.

So he pondered for a moment and said: "You can and cannot rely on the Fu Bureau."

"how do I say this?"

"In the current situation where the imperial court has no troops to send, pacifying the situation is beneficial to stabilizing the situation and can be relied on for the time being. If we can take advantage of this time to warn the soldiers, reorganize the armored battles, rest and replenish them, and quickly wipe out the bandits such as Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai, then If we concentrate our efforts on monitoring Lin Feng, the Fu Bureau will be more reliable. Otherwise, it cannot be relied on." Yang Sichang elaborated.

"What you said is very true." Chongzhen praised. Every time Yang Sichang spoke, he heard that it was very reasonable. This was the reason why his trust in him increased day by day.

"Your Majesty, I have no objection to the recruitment. The imperial court has limited money and food, so it can only focus its troops in one direction. Temporarily stabilize the Lin thief with recruitment. There is nothing wrong with dealing with the Lin thief again after the imperial court concentrates its efforts to deal with the other bandits.

However, Chen's Jinyi Guards detected on the front line that after Governor Sun reached a four-term recruitment agreement with Lin Thief, he took orders without authorization and retreated to Qingjian, which greatly reduced the pressure faced by Lin Thief.

Originally, our Jin Yiwei were planning to take advantage of the battle between the Lin bandits and the Qin army to launch internal forces in Suide City to seize the city anyway. Because the Qin army retreated, the Lin bandits had time to raid the city, and our Jinyiwei secret posts suffered heavy losses. "Luo Yangxing, the commander of Jinyiwei, took the opportunity to reveal their merits and blamed Sun Chuanting for the investigation of the spy in the city.

This was also the norm in the officialdom of the late Ming Dynasty, where credit and blame were always sought. Therefore, unless the governor who was leading the army could always win the battle, he would inevitably be the one to take the blame. "I also impeach Sun Chuanting for negotiating peace with the rebels without consulting the imperial court, which is an insult to the dignity of the imperial court." Guo Jingchang, the censor of the left governor, jumped out and said.

"Wen Ruo, what's your opinion?" Chongzhen asked for advice again.

"Your Majesty, the general will not accept the order of the emperor. Based on the current war situation, Governor Sun decided to recruit Lin Feng. There is nothing wrong with it. However, he did withdraw his troops too early. He should continue to confront the front line and wait for the court's decision. But if the court intends to appease the situation, , it wouldn’t hurt to withdraw our troops early.”

After all, Yang Sichang knew the military well and knew not to act on impulse when it came to important matters such as war. Although he had objections to Sun Chuanting's insufficient support for his "Four Positives and Six Corners" policy, he did not add insult to injury at this time, but only gave Sun Chuanting a little eye candy.

This is also the brilliance of his official position, especially when facing a suspicious king like Chongzhen, he must be made to feel that he has no selfish motives.

Chongzhen also got up at this time and walked around the imperial case a few times. He was also very hesitant in his heart. He was angry that Sun Chuanting could not destroy a rebellious county magistrate, and he took the initiative to appease him without permission. In fact, he was negotiating for peace, but he could not provide money or food to support it. In order to suppress the rebellion, we have no choice but to accept the method of drinking poison to quench thirst.

"Wen Ruo, how long will it take for Governor Hong to wipe out Li Kou?" Chongzhen asked next.

"Li Kou is very good at escaping. He has been wandering around the nomadic areas on the border of Shaanxi. It will take at least a few months to completely eradicate him." Yang Sichang did not dare to vouch for it, so he could only vaguely mention the time.

"Hey, the national situation is difficult, how can we help it!" Chongzhen sighed.

"Your Majesty, Governor Sun also told me some news. I don't know whether to tell it or not." Yang Sichang said.

"Tell me, what else is there?"

"Governor Sun wrote a letter privately to the minister, saying that the Lin bandits had a woman who was the princess of the Left Banner of Ordos, Mongolia. He received news from the Mongols that the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty were likely to bring the bandits from Datong, Shanxi again in the autumn. This was also an important reason why he decided to recruit Lin Feng.

According to his observation, Lin Feng still had national righteousness, and he offered to guard the northern Shaanxi border for the imperial court. If the Tatars invaded, they would be willing to cooperate with the court to drive away the enemies. However, because this news has not been confirmed, it was not included in the official report. "Yang Sichang reported.

"How credible does Wen Ruo think this news is?" Chongzhen asked.

"Your Majesty, the Tatars invaded the Ming Dynasty from here two years ago and caused us serious losses. I think it is better to believe that it is true. Anyway, it will be August or September soon.

If the Tatars invade, it would be best if the forest thieves and the Tatars could fight with twice as much damage. If the Tatars had not invaded, we should have confidence in annihilating the Li thieves by now, and then we could concentrate our efforts on dealing with the Lin thieves. "Yang Sichang continued his analysis.

"What you said is very good! Then according to your opinion, I agree with Sun Chuanting and let him be responsible for recruiting Lin Feng." Chongzhen said.

"Your Majesty, after recruiting Lin Feng, what official position should be given to him? Should he be given the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Army as suggested by Governor Sun, or should he be given something else?" Yang Sichang then asked.

"Do you have any opinions?" Chongzhen asked.

"Your Majesty, Lin Feng is asking to govern the territory he occupies. I'm afraid that the post of Commander-in-Chief is not suitable. The Commander-in-Chief has no authority to govern the area. This has set a precedent. I'm afraid other Commander-in-Chiefs will follow suit. Why not simply grant him a title? Forget the title of Governor of Northern Shaanxi, didn't he also proclaim himself the Governor? Anyway, the Governor is a temporary assignment and has no rank. If we don't add other titles to him, it will be equal to having no rank in the court." Tian Weijia, Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel, suggested .

"What Tian Qing said is true. He was given a name but no actual rank. Anyway, the place he occupies is under his control." Chongzhen said.

Therefore, after some deliberation, the Ming court approved the recruitment agreement reached between Lin Feng and Sun Chuanting, and named Lin Feng the governor of northern Shaanxi, in charge of the military and political affairs of the territory he occupied. (End of chapter)