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

Late November.

The weather in the capital has already turned cold, and the bleak cold wind is not blowing. The entire capital is very deserted, with few people on the streets.

But what was colder than the weather was the mood of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty. He sat helplessly on the imperial couch in Qianqing Palace, feeling extremely sad.

Until September of this year, Yang Sichang achieved preliminary results in the encirclement and suppression of Zhang Xianzhong. He defeated Zhang Xianzhong's main force in Agate Mountain, and the Ming Dynasty seemed to have the dawn of ZTE again.

But since October, there has been one bad news after another. First, a hundred thousand Manchu and Tatar troops invaded. Lin Feng's Zhenming Army was blocking the attack in Datong Mansion, so he was not under any pressure.

However, he could not stand the repeated lobbying of the courtiers, especially the chief minister Xue Guoguan, and he made up his mind to take the opportunity to eliminate Lin Feng who listened to the announcement but refused to listen.

After finally scraping together some funds and mobilizing Hong Chengchou's 50,000 troops, unexpectedly it was the beginning of a nightmare.

This time, Lin Feng's Zhenming Army was stabbed in the back and achieved good results at the beginning. While the Zhenming Army was fully resisting the Manchu Tatars, they recaptured the Datong City they occupied.

However, the subsequent development was completely beyond Emperor Chongzhen's expectations. The Zhenming Army was not wiped out by the Manchus at the critical moment. Instead, they took the initiative to withdraw south after severely inflicting heavy losses on the Manchus.

After retreating south, they did not attack Datong City, which was heavily defended by the imperial court. Instead, they went all the way south and attacked Taiyuan Prefecture.

Without the control of the Zhenming Army, the Manchu-Tatar army began to plunder as if entering and leaving uninhabited territory, causing chaos in the northern part of Datong Prefecture and Xuan Prefecture.

If the capital had not been plundered just now, and the land was still completely white, the Manchu and Tatar armies would probably be pressing on the capital again. Why bother?

What's even more frightening is that the Zhenming Army, who was blackmailed by the court, immediately tore off the seemingly gentle veil revealed in the peace talks with the court and began a violent revenge.

First, he captured Yanmen Pass, entered Taiyuan Prefecture, and captured Daizhou without any bloodshed. Then the news came that Taiyuan Mansion was missing, and the urgent military information from Xi'an Mansion two days ago was also rushed over by Babaili.

For a time, the entire northern Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces of his Ming Dynasty were in flames of war. What was even more sad was that as the majestic emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he had no troops to mobilize, or no money to mobilize them.

They could only watch helplessly as the Zhenming Army captured the city and rapidly expanded their territory. Originally, he thought that negotiating peace with the Zhenming Army was a reward from the imperial court, which gave him the illusion that the imperial army was quite strong. Now it seems that the Zhenming Army gave the imperial court a break.

When Emperor Chongzhen thought of these troubles, he became very angry. He picked up the urgent military information from Xi'an that had just been sent by the cabinet, pointed it at Xue Guoguan, the chief minister of the cabinet, and said angrily: "Yuan Fu, you have repeatedly suggested I want to take this opportunity to get rid of Lin Feng, but now there are wars everywhere and there are emergencies everywhere, what do you think we should do?"

"Your Majesty, I don't know that Lin Feng has such power. Now the imperial troops in Shaanxi and Shanxi are limited. We can only wait for Mr. Yang Ge to pacify Zhang Xianzhong before leading the army to suppress the rebellion." Xue Guoguan could only helplessly say Place your hopes on Yang Sichang.

"Does Mr. Yang Ge have three heads and six arms? It's already very difficult to deal with Zhang Thieves and intruders, how can he still fight against Lin Feng? Are you, the chief assistant, just for a living?" Chongzhen shouted angrily.

When Xue Guoguan heard this, he immediately panicked. He knelt down and said, "I have not thought well and I am guilty. However, I am loyal to your majesty. It is entirely for the sake of my Ming Dynasty."

Chongzhen looked at Xue Guoguan who was kneeling on the ground with great disgust. He hated people who could only create problems but could not solve them.

But he forgot that he was the one who caused the biggest problem, and he was not able to solve it. He could only say when he hung himself on the crooked tree: "I am not the king who destroyed the country, it was all because of my ministers who mistook me." Comfort yourself. But it would not help Chongzhen no matter how much he hated Xue Guoguan. He could only look expectantly at Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War, and asked: "Does Chen Butang have any countermeasures?"

"Your Majesty, the only plan now is to temporarily negotiate peace with the Mantars. Now that the Zhenming Army is powerful, it will definitely be the enemy of the Mantars in the future. They are sending troops this time specifically for the Zhenming Army. I think it should be better It can be discussed." Chen Xinjia replied.

"The outer court is firmly opposed to the policy of pacifying the captives, so what can we do?" Chongzhen asked worriedly.

"Then let's hide it from Wai Chao and contact Manta. If the conditions are not so harsh, we might be able to convince Wai Chao."

"That's all we can do. Let you handle this matter secretly." Chongzhen ordered.

"According to the order!"

"Your Majesty, most of Shaanxi and Shanxi are now occupied by Lin Feng's Zhenming Army, which directly threatens the safety of the capital. The capital is very dilapidated and the people are lacking. In addition, the Manchu and Tatars are not invading the border. It is difficult for Ming Dynasty to deal with it. Why don't you, Your Majesty, inspect Nanjing for the time being? , leaving the north to Lin Feng and Manta to fight each other.

Your Majesty can rely on the sufficient taxes from the south of the Yangtze River to strengthen your troops and train the new army. When Lin Feng and Manta are exhausted, you can lead the troops north and restore the north in one fell swoop. "Li Mingrui, a Hanlin scholar, put forward the suggestion of relocating the capital.

If they move south at this time, the Ming Dynasty still has a strong legitimacy, and Chongzhen still has some power in his hands. If Jiangnan can be rectified, it will be a great move.

Chongzhen was angry at first when he heard this, and then saw a pile of urgent documents on the imperial case. While angry, he also clearly realized that this statement was true.

But the arrogance and self-esteem in his heart made it difficult for him to agree to flee south. Because this is tantamount to a cowardly escape, and will be ridiculed by people as a shameful waste. Whether he can regroup and reorganize his army after moving south is unknown, but once Beijing falls, it will be a huge shame. How can he face the late emperor and his ancestors?
So he rejected Li Mingrui's intention to move south, but he did not punish him. He knew that Li Mingrui also had him in mind. However, it was far from the end of the road at this time, and it was impossible for Chongzhen to give up due to his headstrong personality.

He now still has a 100,000-strong army led by Yang Sichang, a 50,000-strong army led by Hong Chengchou, some Guanning troops in Liaodong, and a warrior camp and some capable Beijing camps in the capital. There are still many cards to play.

At present, the biggest problem of the imperial court is the lack of money. Although Xue Guoguan is incompetent, he still collected hundreds of thousands of taels by proposing a strategy of forcibly borrowing money from the emperor's relatives. Once the money is in place, we can still have a fight with the Zhenming Army.

Therefore, Chongzhen planned to let Xue Guoguan go for the time being, and then kill him to calm the public anger after he was fully utilized and the money from the emperor's relatives was forcibly collected.

Chongzhen has been in the imperial court for more than ten years, so he is naturally not a political novice, and he is also very skilled in using his subordinates.

Xue Guoguan did not know Chongzhen's plan. In order to atone for his sins, he became more active in forcing the emperor's relatives to borrow money. When he prepared to enter the palace with the 500,000 taels he had raised to announce the good news, Chongzhen borrowed money from Xue Guoguan to force Wu Qing to death. Regarding the incident involving Hou Li Guorui, he was ordered to be dismissed from his post and ordered to commit suicide.

Then the decree was issued to appoint Fan Fucui, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites and a bachelor of Dongge University, to replace Xue Guoguan as the chief assistant of the cabinet, once again changing the chief assistant of the cabinet.

The term of office of the chief minister of the cabinet in the late Ming Dynasty was changed from annual to monthly.

But no matter how Emperor Chongzhen changed the first minister of the cabinet, the government not only failed to improve, but became worse and worse. Anyway, no one knows how long they can work. If something happens, they will be held accountable. The courtiers can only be less dedicated and hide whenever possible. It is strange that Ming Dynasty's governance can be better.

(End of this chapter)