Dragon Soul in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 44

If according to the original history, in the seventh year of Chongzhen, the peasant army feigned surrender and Chen Qiyu fell into the trap, causing the rebel army to escape from the Chariot Gap, and Chen Qiyu was dismissed by Chongzhen, but the history is very different now. The battalion chased and suppressed, while the red army went south along the canal to make trouble, and took Jiuda Tianqu, Dezhou City, the gateway to Shenjing, without a single soldier.

Tongzhou City has already been destroyed by the red army. Millions of stones of food in the city disappeared, prices in the capital soared, and there was a lot of mourning. Zhang Yan tried her best to turn the tide. Some grain was shipped from nowhere and sold to the common people at a low price. During the period, no one got any news. The grain merchants panicked and waited and watched for three days, but the grain was still enough. Jian merchants lost all their money, and in serious cases, their entire family went bankrupt and hanged themselves.

For these hateful profiteers, who tasted the evil results they brewed, both the common people and the officials applauded, and few people sympathized.

This time the food shortage, there are court officials behind the scenes of the participants, and there are even rumors that the fathers of the queens of the two palaces, Tian Guozhang and Tai Kangbo are also involved. I thought this matter would be calmed down by the palace soon, but I didn’t expect it It was Zhang Yan who was very decisive in doing things, and made a decree to announce to the world that the prince committed the same crime as the common people, which means that he must be investigated to the end.

She is going to start a war with the entire civil official group. Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the imperial court cannot collect commercial taxes, let alone open sea trade, which involves the scholar-bureaucrat group. , Among them is the backing of scholar-officials.

Now that Zhang Yan has leveled the food price, she should have stopped, but instead of stopping, she wanted to draw the fire from the bottom of the pot, and even pursued the two princes who participated in it, which is simply unreasonable, but what can they do at this time However, although Zhang Yan touched their interests, he did not touch the bottom line of the rules. He still fought with them within the rules, and even dragged their father out at the expense of a strong man.

Meeting such a fierce and fierce woman, they could only compromise in the end, handing over the illegal grain merchants, and sealing up many shops, which also allowed the court to obtain a lot of grain, but the seeds of hatred were sown.

However, the two parties have already used each other and hated each other. As the saying goes, if you have too many debts, you don't get overwhelmed, and if you have too many lice, you don't get itchy, that's it!Let her win the game first.

Years of natural disasters, as well as countless wars, every time taxes are collected from the people, the impression of the royal family has plummeted in the eyes of the people. Now what Empress Yi'an has done has made the royal family's prestige soar like never before.

Even in the recruiting of the [-]th Regiment Battalion, many people voluntarily joined, not limited to those refugees who had nowhere to go. Immediately, the morale of the [-]th Regiment Battalion also soared. The army of scholars is in the hands of Zhang Yan, which makes the whole court very uneasy.

There are even censors and censors manipulated by literati and bureaucrats who continue to attack, asking Zhang Yan if she wants to learn from Empress Lu of the Han Dynasty, control the government, and murder Zhongliang. To usurp the throne, the implication is that she killed Emperor Tianqi and helped Chongzhen, but Chongzhen didn't want to be her puppet, and was bedridden by her, so she chose the young prince. Now she controls the army , the ambition to be the emperor has begun to emerge, that is, to prepare for a coup d'état.

Wave after wave of memorials were handed over to Zhang Yan like a violent wind and waves, all of which were handed over to Zhang Yan's desk by the cabinet intact. There was even a certain person surnamed Huang who walked south of the Jinshui Bridge excitedly and shouted: "National support!" For more than 200 years, the scholar died adhering to the integrity and righteousness, and it is today."

The excited students, regardless of some officials' good words to persuade them to stay, knelt in front of Zuo Shun's gate and asked Guangzong to issue a decree to let Empress Yi'an return to Qianxi Palace for the elderly. Sister-in-law was thrown into limbo.

The capital city is really lively at this time, and many people speculate whether this will be another big etiquette event.

Even Zhang Yan didn't expect that these literati fought back so quickly and were so disgusting, but she couldn't touch the censors in front of Zuo Shun's gate. The best way for her to move these officials was for Zhu Youjian to come forward Clean up, but the emperor has disappeared, where can I find someone to come forward.

It's even more impossible for her to issue an order of justice and ask for the order to take someone. Then it will be confirmed that she wants to take over the government and has ulterior motives.

The best way is to procrastinate, but this also has a serious consequence, that is, the influence is very bad, and the reputation she has just established is completely ruined. After all, three people become tigers, and rumors cannot stop with wise men, let alone these rumors are wise men Disseminated, used to fool the foolish people.

Dilemma, as expected, against the terrifying scholar-bureaucrat group, there will be no good end.

Looking back, Zhang Yan realized that she was still too confident and underestimated the means and shamelessness of civil servants. Although rumors were flying everywhere, she was helpless.I don't know that God really can't stand it, so many unscrupulous officials bully a weak girl, and an unexpected piece of news temporarily eased her embarrassment.

A few days later, the disaster struck again, and the price of grain began to climb slowly again. Those who cared found that the first to increase the price of grain was those few imperial merchants. Then the news came that Dezhou was taken by the red-clothed thieves. People with common sense should know that Henghuan, the city of Dezhou, is on the canal, and it is an important passage for the land route going south. Occupying Dezhou cut off two important passages. Too high, the court was almost caught by the red army.

This time the literati were completely dizzy, the price of food soared, and the imperial merchants also sent out the last news that crushed the camels. The rice shops were closed, and the words sold out were written on the door. Those two words were so dazzling. .

The people once again thought of Zhang Yan's goodness, the rumors stopped, the officials were in a hurry, and all the food was in Zhang Yan's hands after checking the food and sealing the shop, now it seems that this woman has gone crazy, regardless of The court is dead, and they want to die with them.

The lack of food in Beijing is most urgent not for the people, but for the officials. After all, the officials have to support more than just them. Which mansion does not have servants who come and go, the smaller ones have more than a dozen mouths, and the larger ones have a few mouths? With a hundred mouths, the money was sent out, but no food could be bought.

The few rice shops that had a little bit of grain stock were all guarded by soldiers who looked at them eagerly, and they could only line up to buy rice. Anyone who dared to raise the price and not sell it to the common people would be arrested and closed. It seemed that the front really pushed her into a hurry. If you lose your face, you must take care of these officials with big families and big careers.

Many people secretly sigh why men always control the world and women control men, because women are emotional and like to act rashly, while men are rational but like their straightforwardness, look!Now that she was driven into a hurry, she went crazy and desperate.

But it is a pity that five buckets of rice can not only bend the waist, but also make people break up. Few people can persist for the so-called righteousness. Make waves.

And that day in front of Zuo Shun's gate, the leading few students committed various crimes, such as peeping at the widow next door taking a bath at the age of three, stealing chickens at the age of five, and walking around the brothel at the age of seven without giving money to be a master. Suddenly, several of them became street rats, and had to go back to their hometown sadly, with no hope of official career in this life.

Those imperial merchants opened their doors to start business with the excuse of urgently transporting food from the sea. The price of food is generally high, but the supply is still in short supply. Some people quietly want to criticize the royal family for wantonly accumulating wealth and competing for the interests of the people, which is harmful to nature. And, but Zhang Yan has money and food in his hands, and there are fat and strong soldiers and horses that they can't get into. Under the harmony, there are all praises of praise.

In such an environment, Zhang Yan's authority soared, and the order was passed on quickly. Chen Qiyu was not dismissed and returned to Beijing to question the crime, and assisted the trilateral governor Hong Chengchou as a crime.He also told Chen Qiyu that Hong Chengchou had the right to make decisions on major matters, and he should try his best to assist and advise to make up for the inadequacy, and then use his heart to destroy the bandits in order to make up for his crimes and make meritorious deeds.

Apparently, Zhang Yan's gaze was very accurate, knowing that Chen Qiyu was difficult to make decisions on major issues, and he was a little dizzy, while Hong Chengchou seemed too radical in making major decisions. Putting the two together just complemented each other, but I don't know what the actual effect will be. .

Then he mobilized Lu Xiangsheng, who governed Yunyang, to go north to chase down the red-clothed thieves.

Lu Xiangsheng, styled Jiandou, nicknamed Jiutai, was born in Yixing, Changzhou, and a Jinshi of Tianqi.

To say that this man is a real fierce man, he was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi, and later served as the magistrate of the daimyo.In the second year of Chongzhen, the Hou Jin army entered the fortress and forced the capital. He recruited tens of thousands of soldiers to join the guard. From then on, he fell into the sight of Emperor Chongzhen and began his lifelong journey of leading the army.

He should have looked like a weak scholar, but the 1-strong Tianxiong army led by him is really powerful. In addition, he can share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers and lead the charge with a big knife. Most of the peasant troops are afraid of him and call him King Lu Yan.

And this nickname is comparable to that of the later Zeng Guofan who shaved his head.

Now Zhang Yan ordered him to travel thousands of miles north to Dezhou to chase down the red-clothed army instead of sending the newly formed [-]th Regiment of the Capital to go south to Dezhou. Many people criticized him, but some were smart enough to see how powerful Zhang Yan was, not only It's so simple to use recruits as an excuse to maintain strength.

The three major battalions encircling and suppressing the White Lotus Sect are now incapable of fighting at all, and it is also a little difficult for the White Lotus Sect to rebel. It is impossible to count on it. Only Lu Yanwang's Tianxiong Army and Qin Liangyu's white-armed soldiers were strong. At this time, Sun Chuanting had not led the Qin soldiers out of the mountain.

Zhang Yan chose Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army without hesitation. It was because the white-armed soldiers were better at fighting in the mountains and forests, while the Tianxiong soldiers were fewer but better at long-distance raids. Later, in the battle of Luoyang, the long-distance raids were brought to the extreme. The cavalry defeated Chuangwang Baili Company, which was enough to see Zhang Yan's vicious eyes.

Lu Xiangsheng took the Tianxiong army of less than [-] on the road, from Yunyang to Xiangyang along the Han River, and then took the post road through Yuzhou to cross the Yellow River, and arrived in Weihui in a few days. The speed of the march was amazing.

Facing Lu Xiangsheng who came quickly with his troops, Zhu Qian was always filled with gloom. After all, King Lu Yan was too famous, and he died at the age of 39, leaving Yue's family mourning, and Lu's family especially mourning.

Now in this city of Dezhou, the rumors of ghosts and gods are everywhere disturbing the peace. To face Lu Xiangsheng, first of all, he has to arrange his own way out.

In the Zhizhou yamen in Dezhou, Zhu Gan temporarily served as the magistrate of the state for a while. Outside the yamen, there were all spectators, and the people kneeling in the hall were just small vendors. The reason why Zhu Gan was alarmed to open the court for interrogation himself Because this thing is too amazing.

The peddler's surname was Shi. His family originally had a few acres of Susukida, but due to the perennial drought, there was no food to grow in the fields, so they had to sell the few acres of Susukida to a landlord. The landlord was said to be an official returning home for the elderly , Before becoming an official, I heard that he was quite big, the magistrate of a big official in Xinjiang.

A few acres of Susukida ended up being dismissed for a few taels of silver. He was angry and wanted to sue the officials, but the officials protected him. Not only did he suffer [-] slaps in vain, he almost lost his life, so he had no choice but to swallow the anger , Do a small business in Texas city to make a living.

Originally, this would be the end of it, but yesterday he was haunted by ghosts, his old wife disappeared, and the next day he was found hanged in front of the official's mansion, and the people who saw it all said that his tongue was sticking out and his eyes were wide open. Yes, the eyeballs are almost popping out, and the mournful face is full of grievances.

There was a sensation all over the city, and then the red-clothed army broke in, only to find that the whole family had already fled to the countryside.

This happened strangely, and Ma Qiao, the former commander of the Texas Guard who was in charge of handling the matter, didn't pay much attention to it, but when he casually mentioned it to Zhu Gan, Zhu Gan became suspicious, scolded Ma Qiao for being confused, and asked the official carefully. background.

Ma Qiao sent someone to find people he knew well, and there was nothing unusual about them one by one, but one sentence made Zhu Gan wake up, and it involved a person from Dezhou Wei, and this person's prestige in Dezhou was unparalleled. Well, the black hand behind the scenes has started to make trouble again, if this matter is left alone, it may lead to a catastrophe.

Zhu Gan didn't dare to be careless, and decided to try the case himself. He wore a majestic Mingguang armor and a red cloak on his shoulders. With one shot, he shouted with murderous intent: "Who is in the hall, what grievances are there, come quickly."

The peddler surnamed Shi trembled in fright, and quickly kowtowed and said, "Little man Shi Awang, a local! Sue Sheng Yulin for using illegal means to seize the property of the villain's home and kill the villain's old wife. The master is the master, I beg the king in red to be the master."

As soon as this remark came out, there was a burst of discussion among the people watching outside the Yamen. Many people didn't know who Sheng Yulin was, but some people knew who his teacher was, and those who knew were immediately in an uproar. Ground breaking, tigers plucking their hair, or the red army is about to show their true colors.

"Silence! If there are any more critics, beat them out with sticks." Zhu Gan slapped the gavel and roared in a cold voice.

Standing on both sides are soldiers with big arms and round waists in the red-clothed army, each of them looked fierce and fierce. At this time, when Zhu Gan got angry, these soldiers immediately turned into an angry-eyed diamond shape, and hit the stone surface vigorously with the water and fire sticks in their hands. The sound was so terrifying that everyone shut up immediately.

Only then did Zhu Gan say: "I'm not some kind of king in red, just call me Master Zhu. Let me ask you, is there any conclusive evidence that Sheng Yulin seized your property and murdered your wife."

The red-clothed army has already sent troops to capture the absconding Sheng Yulin, and Zhu Qian is running out of time now, and he dare not stay in Dezhou City any longer. It would be better to start with the hawker.

The master who was writing a book on the side also watched the peddler nervously. He also got Zhu Gan's instruction to restore the facts as much as possible, and there must be no mistakes.

The peddler seemed terrified, trembling all over, and stammered: "Xiaomin has no evidence, but Xiaomin dares to guarantee his life, it is definitely done by the Sheng family."

There was laughter outside the yamen, and they dared to bite without evidence, and some people even accused it. Could it be that the Red Army wanted to do something to some people in Dezhou City, or they wanted to play some evil tricks, but they found such a bad people.

Although he expected that this matter would be very difficult, he didn't expect this guy to make such a move for himself. How could he continue the trial? Before he caught Sheng Yulin, he seemed to be stuck in a dead end, and this dead end seemed to be It's easy to come out and ignore it. This may be the real killer move of the manipulators behind the scenes.

There will definitely be a lot of evidence pointing to Sheng Yulin, and finally the person behind him will be involved. You must know that he has always appeared in the eyes of the people with an upright image, so how could he allow his disciples to do such outrageous things.

Zhu Gan had no choice but to withdraw from the dilemma and postpone the trial on how to break the situation.

Just as Zhu Gan was returning to the back hall, thinking about how to solve the matter, Wang Chengen suddenly said a word in a deep tone: "Your Majesty, this old slave made the decision to release the captured assassin without permission, but only to die."

After he finished speaking, he knelt down and kowtowed to the ground, as if he was at his disposal.

Zhu Gan was annoyed at this time, and when he heard his words, he immediately became angry, kicked him on the back, kicked him to the ground, and said through gritted teeth: "Death! Death! Death! Every time is death!" , why have I never seen you die, if you really want to die, you should die now!"

Wang Chengen got up and quickly knelt on the ground. Hearing Zhu Gan's words of angrily laughing, he kowtowed heavily and said, "The old slave thanked the Lord for his grace, and he will no longer be able to serve His Majesty."

After speaking, he actually stood up and slammed into the stone wall. Zhu Qianneng could feel that he didn't have the slightest sense of energy around him, obviously he really wanted to kill him, so he quickly grabbed him, but he was caught in vain. He didn't want to blurt out: "Big Companion! Are you really going to leave me?"

Wang Chengen was stunned by this sincere words, and Zhu Gan was also stunned. Those words were so true that they blurted out, it was definitely not in a tone that he could shout, it was unbelievable.

On the second day, the people of Dezhou were shaken. The red army stayed in Dezhou with less than 1000 people, and the troops divided into three groups.