Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 93 The world is shocked
The next day, Chongzhen continued the examination.

The provincial examination consisted of three parts: copying scriptures, essays, and policy essays. The first two lasted for one day each, and the third lasted for two consecutive days.

The first test is about writing down the contents of a book. Candidates are required to write down the contents of a book as required, which mainly tests their memory.

The second test is essays, which mainly include some essays, tables and other styles, and mainly examines the candidates' calligraphy and writing skills.

Chongzhen was confident and began to write quickly.
As for tomorrow, it will be the third round of the policy essay test, which mainly examines the candidates' understanding and views on laws, current affairs, and official administration.

At this moment, in the prefectural government, the legal advisor walked in and said, "Master, the King of Xiang wants to see you."

"Prince Xiang?" Dai Bangzhen, the prefect of Xiangyang Prefecture, was lying on the kang, humming a little tune. Hearing this, he snorted, "No."

"He said that His Majesty has ordered him to come to the capital in a few months..."

Before he could finish his words, Dai Bangzhen, the prefect of Xiangyang, suddenly sat up and asked, "He wants to go to the capital to see the emperor?"

"Yes, the emperor's decree arrived the day before yesterday, saying that he missed the lineage of Prince Xiang." The master replied truthfully: "Master, do you want to meet him?"

Dai Bangzhen's eyes flickered. "Of course I have to meet him. The princes who can see the emperor are completely different from those who can't. If I make him my enemy and His Majesty asks about it, it will be difficult to advance in my career, but it will be much easier to ruin it."

"Hurry, please come in. No... let me go." Dai Bangzhen asked the lawyer to help him put on his official uniform, and then trotted out.

"Hey, Prince Xiang, how come you have time to come to my place today?"

"My son is here to take the provincial examination. He hasn't been to the prefectural government residence for a long time, so I came here today to visit him."

"Come on if you want to. Why do you have to bring so many things? It's really embarrassing for me!" Dai Bangzhen's face suddenly turned red and he kept making excuses.

"The governor has served the country and the people. I came here to bring some things for the governor to replenish his body. Now that I have taken them out, there is no reason to take them back."

The two pushed and shoved for a long time, and Dai Bangzhen finally gave in, "Come in, please."

Next, Prince Xiang and the prefect Dai Bangzhen chatted for a short while and then left. No one mentioned the topic of the prefectural examination.

But the two of them knew everything in their hearts.

As soon as Prince Xiang left, the prefect Dai Bangzhen said to the back: "Bring over the examination paper of Prince Xiang's son."

"Yes, sir." The lawyer quickly took Chongzhen's paper.

Although the names were covered, it was still very easy for the prefect, the chief examiner, to look at a person's paper, and the legal advisor was not just there to do nothing.

Dai Bangzhen looked at the test paper and couldn't help but praise: "Good handwriting, outstanding talent, I didn't expect that King Xiang actually has such an outstanding person."

"Good, good, good..."

Then he said several good words in succession, his eyes flashing.

"Master, are we going to help the King?" The master couldn't help but ask, "All the places for the Tongsheng have been promised."

In the territory of Xiangyang Prefecture, officials and gentry did not take the Prince of Xiang seriously, and even bluntly said that the prince of the palace was just a playboy.

Some officials and gentry even hinted to him, overtly or covertly, not to allow the prince of Xiangwang Mansion to take part in the imperial examination.

At this moment,
"Master, the Ming Times has arrived."

The emperor issued an edict that the Ming Times should be distributed not only in Kyoto but also to officials across the court.

The benefit of doing this is that officials from all over the country can be informed of the emperor's decrees and court policies at the first opportunity, thus strengthening the cohesion of the entire Ming Dynasty.

Although it has only been published for a short time, officials from all over the country have already developed the habit of reading the newspaper.

"Great victory? We actually annihilated 13,000 enemies?" Dai Bangzhen looked at the big words on the "Da Ming Times" and his head buzzed, with blood rushing up.

He watched it several times in succession, and his mood could not calm down for a long time.

Finally, Dai Bangzhen took a deep breath and made up his mind, "Go and send some of the food in the mansion to this prince, and also prepare some clean water to send over."

The master immediately understood what the prefect meant, "Yes, sir."

After the master left, Dai Bangzhen clenched his fingers and murmured, "Not only will I not suppress you, but I will also do my best to help you."

"I'll do it first and then I'll talk about it." Dai Bangzhen thought for a while and spread out a piece of paper.

He was a Jinshi candidate for Dai Bangzhen and ranked ninth in the second class, but he was never employed in the court until he became a student of Wen Tihen. Then he gradually rose to his current position as the prefect. However, when Lord Wen fell from power, he felt very uneasy.

Yesterday, I heard from a classmate that Your Majesty has integrated the East Factory, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Beijing Camp, and has severely suppressed civil officials. There are now many vacancies among officials in various departments of the court. If he can seize this opportunity.

Thinking about his experiences over the years, he had pleaded for the people and had been whipped for opposing the emperor's imposition of mining taxes. However, when he came to the local area to serve as an official, he discovered that in the end he was just fighting for these officials and gentry, and had nothing to do with the real people.

In order to protect the interests of the civil servants, you said that the locust plague was severe this year and the tea harvest was completely destroyed.

As a result, the imperial court should have received more than one million taels of silver in tea tax revenue, but only 20 taels were paid to the court, and the remaining taels went into the pockets of officials and gentry.

Among them is the nephew of the Minister of Revenue, the nephew of the Minister of Rites, and...

But the peasants under his rule were pale and thin, ragged and unable to make a living.

Now that Wen Tiren has fallen from power, all officials in the court are busy distancing themselves from him and ostracizing himself, Wen Tiren's former student.

Dai Bangzhen was overwhelmed with emotion and wrote quickly, continuing in the letter:

"They really don't take bribes, but the more powerful they are, the poorer the people become. Every year, the country suffers from floods, droughts, and locust plagues. There is no money to provide disaster relief, and when farmers are hit by disasters, they still have to pay taxes, so they can only sell their land and become refugees.

"As the chain continued, the officials and gentry acquired more and more land, while the national treasury became even emptier."

"They once said that the situation in the Ming Dynasty could only be changed by God's will and not by human power. However, I have seen that Your Majesty has worked hard to change the situation. I speak from the bottom of my heart, and I hope Your Majesty will understand..."

After writing, blow dry.

Dai Bangzhen called the butler over and said, "Don't let anyone see it. Give the letter to Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming."

"Yes, sir!"

……

The power of the Ming Times is much greater than imagined. As it was continuously delivered to various places, both civil officials and military generals did not believe it at first, but after repeated confirmation, they were all shocked.

Won?
The Ming Dynasty actually defeated the Manchu Tartars?
And they defeated the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry?

People from all over the Ming Dynasty burst into cheers.

There was a military officer with white hair, but tears in his eyes, "Who said that the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were like floating dirt and could not withstand a single blow? Who said that the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were not able to withstand a single blow?"

He had participated in the Battle of Sarhu, and even though his life was not going well now, he couldn't help but burst into tears when he heard the news.

Victory is the most inspiring thing.

It is also the best way to gather people's hearts.

Whether it was the common people or the officials, they all cheered when they heard that the Ming Dynasty had won a victory, and this was not a civil war, but a defense against foreign enemies.

The Ming Dynasty had been weak for many years and suddenly won a great victory. How could the depressed people not be excited?

What made the people even more excited was the emperor's reward and pension system.

"One hundred and fifty taels, my God, if I can enter the Yongwei Camp, the Beijing Camp, and the White Spear Army, I will get one hundred and fifty taels after I die in battle, and I can also be exempted from tax for three generations..." "I want to sign up."

"I want to go too."

"I can't survive anyway, so why not go kill the Tartars? Killing one Tartar will earn you fifty taels. If you can kill three, my whole family will have enough food and drink for ten years."

"Let's go together."

"..."

It can be said that what the Ming Times brought was not only victory, but also confidence, the confidence of the Ming soldiers in fighting against the Tartars.

Confidence is a powerful fighting force. Confidence is greater than gold and more precious than gold.

At the same time, it gave the people who could not survive a hope of survival, which was to kill the Tartars.

Even Zhu Changgan probably did not expect that the problem of manpower supply that worried him would be solved by the Ming Times. Two months later, the Yongwei Battalion, the Beijing Battalion, and the White Spear Soldiers were unable to cope with the influx of recruits from all over the country.

Of course, this is something.

……

The Guanning front was shaken by Zu Dashou, Wu Sangui, and the three generals of Xuan, Da and Shanxi, Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Hu Dawei and other generals.

Compared with the people inside the pass, the waves in their hearts are even greater.

There is a saying that goes, the person who wronged you knows how wronged you are better than you do. Similarly, as the Guanning Front and the generals of Xuan, Da, and Shanxi who have been dealing with the Qing Dynasty for many years, they are too clear about the strength of the Manchu and Mongolian Tartars.

He even had secret contact with Huang Taiji these days, and his understanding of the power of the Qing Dynasty became more profound and three-dimensional.

But even such a powerful army of 80,000 Manchu and Mongolian cavalry who entered the pass were defeated twice in a row?

"This... how is it possible?" When Wu Sangui received the news, he felt like he was struck by lightning, his whole body went cold, and he was unable to express his horror in words.

Such a meeting that was bound to fail was actually turned around?
"Report!" A messenger came running in, "General, the Jinyiwei are outside the tent."

"Please."

A centurion of the Jinyiwei came in from outside, holding up the imperial edict in his hand: "The Military Affairs Council has ordered General Wu to cooperate with Lu Xiangsheng in the operation."

"Cooperate with Lu Xiangsheng?" Wu Sangui took the document and frowned. "Your Majesty actually let Lu Xiangsheng lead the three generals of Xuan, Da and Shanxi, Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu and Hu Dawei?"

He was originally puzzled as to why the Ming Emperor had not issued an order for him to go to the capital to defend the country, but now he suddenly understood.

In this way, it is not just about saving oneself. Wu Sangui suddenly realized something and looked at the map inside the pass. "Eighty thousand people, can they be fed?"

He understood in an instant that the Ming Emperor was going to swallow up all the Manchu Tartars.

Wu Sangui's heart suddenly jumped, "Your Majesty is actually playing such a big game?"

He instinctively hesitated for a moment at this order, but then responded, "Please tell your majesty that I will do my best to cooperate with Lu Xiangsheng."

……

Zu Dashou in Jinzhou City was also unable to express his shock when he received the order.

Before this, he had never thought that the Ming Dynasty could fight such a big war.

This was a heavy blow to those who had been wavering and hesitating whether to surrender to the Qing Dynasty.

When did the Ming Dynasty become so powerful?
Artillery? What kind of artillery?
What kind of musket?
These things that he couldn't understand were crawling in Zu Dashou's heart like millions of worms.

Starting from his great-grandfather Zu Zhen, they were all high-ranking military generals in the Ming Dynasty. They were promoted to Zuodu for their merits and were later posthumously awarded the title of Ronglu Doctor.

Zu Dashou's father, Zu Chengxun, was originally the general commander of Liaodong. He fought against Mongolian tribes many times and made outstanding military achievements. This family also gained the reputation of "four generations of generals".

Wu Sangui, the general of Ningyuan, was his nephew. Zu Dashou's nephews and Wu Sangui's cousins ​​all held extremely high positions in Liaodong.

It was precisely because Zu Dashou had a long history and high status in the Liao army, as well as a high seniority in the Zu clan, that this team of people was very united and had strong combat effectiveness.

Therefore, Huang Taiji showed great patience and determination in persuading Zu Dashou to surrender.

Zu Dashou had already pretended to surrender once. Although he managed to escape and return to Jinzhou, his sons, nephews and subordinates were left hostage in the Later Jin Dynasty, which could cause him to defect again at any time.

However, Chongzhen did not punish him, but promoted him to the title of Junior Tutor and Left Commander. Huang Taiji personally led two expeditions to attack Jinzhou and Ningyuan, but both failed. However, he did not kill Zu Dashou's imprisoned relatives, but treated his descendants well.

Because of this, Zu Dashou was never able to eliminate Chongzhen's suspicion of him, and the level of mutual trust between the monarch and his subjects was extremely low.

It is precisely because of this that Zu Dashou hesitated, wandered, and tormented.

Zu Dashou's eyes were full of life. "Huang Taiji said something right. Those who have been guarding for a long time will benefit from reading and understanding the truth."

Then he sent a message to the Jinyiwei, "I am a minister of the Ming Dynasty, and I am willing to cooperate with Lu Xiangsheng in this battle."

……

Qianqing Palace.

"Your Majesty, I bow to you. Long live your Majesty."

"Your Majesty, I bow to you..."

"Gentlemen, please stand up." At this moment, Zhu Changgan was meeting with some officials and gentry from Shanxi, Shanxi, Huguang and other places.

That’s right, he wants to reward the Minister of Militia.

Later, Emperor Xianfeng appointed the first batch of 43 militia ministers, among whom was Zeng Guofan, who was a familiar minister in his official capacity, and Zhang Liangji, the governor of Hunan, who managed the militia together. After that, Emperor Xianfeng successively appointed more than 100 militia ministers.

But only one of them succeeded, and that was Zeng Guofan.

Because other ministers of militia were running militia, but Zeng Guofan was running the army.

Zhu Changgan learned from Zeng Guofan's lesson and let local governors and governors-general control the militia, so that the militia could not form an army in the strict sense.

The members were selected from the able-bodied men in each household, the required expenses were shared locally, and the head of the group was the officials and gentry present.

"I will provide you with training materials later."

Zhu Changgan did not require them to have formal and rigorous military training, nor did he allow them to have a unified leader, let alone set strategic and tactical goals.

The biggest goal of letting them organize militia is to defend the village and operate in the local area.

They don't need to take care of the large groups of rebels.

When encountering a small group of rebels, it is enough to surround them, confine them to small grids, and prevent them from roaming around.

The teaching materials are ready-made, and any bit of what is used to train militia in later generations will be enough for them.

……

　happy New Year

　　
　
(End of this chapter)