Ming politicians

The [-] troops led by Liu Zeqing were stationed near Haining Guard, which belonged to Jiaxing Mansion. In fact, Liu Zeqing was fully aware of the entry of the Jiangning Camp army into Ningbo Mansion, but he had no intention of fighting Jiangning Camp at all. Ambitious, and the [-] troops stationed in Zhejiang, the imperial court simply cannot move.

To say that this Liu Zeqing also has a certain reputation in the imperial court. In the sixth year of Chongzhen, he was the commander-in-chief. However, the sudden emergence of Su Tiancheng and Jiang Ningying later caused his role to be gradually forgotten by the imperial court. Well, Liu Zeqing made great contributions to the Dengzhou mutiny and the subsequent suppression of the mutiny.

After Liu Zeqing was stationed in Zhejiang, many years passed and he lived a comfortable life. It's just that his sergeants were arrogant and extravagant, and they were fish and meat. For this reason, the local government had repeatedly impeached them, but in the end it was nothing. On the contrary, some people opposed it. His local officials all left in despair in the end, which further fueled Liu Zeqing's arrogance.

The Zhejiang area is also a land of fish and rice. The merchants here are generally relatively wealthy. If a large army is stationed in such a place, it may be very difficult to rely on the poor military salary allocated by the imperial court. Don't think about living a comfortable life, so it is a matter of course to exploit the people.

Hainingwei is close to the sea, and the business of making private salt here is extremely arrogant, and the government can't get involved at all. Many officials understand the reason why this happens. The biggest boss behind this is Liu Zeqing, sometimes.There will even be incidents where the army escorts private salt dealers, which is the case.How could the government intervene.

After receiving the emperor's imperial edict, Liu Zeqing didn't care at all. He was once granted the title of right governor, and his rank of military officer had reached the first rank. As for the false title of minister of the Ministry of War, it was just what he said. Besides, the emperor was worried.That's why I thought of asking myself to resist the Jiangning battalion. Who doesn't know the bravery of the Jiangning battalion. If I lead the soldiers to fight hard, if I am defeated and lose many soldiers, I will be nothing at that time. Such a thing.Liu Zeqing still understood.

Liu Zeqing's plan is perfect, he dare not think about being king and hegemony, and it is impossible under the current situation, but it is still possible to support the troops with self-respect, at least in Jiaxing Mansion, Huzhou Mansion and even Hangzhou government.These places can count on their own words, and their own army can also rely on these places to support them. He will never take the initiative to fight with Jiang Ningying. If possible, he wants to contact Su Tiancheng directly.Say your own wishes, you can be canonized a place.Just like the princes in the Spring and Autumn Period, isn't there such a thing in history?

After receiving the imperial decree, Liu Zeqing still discussed with his subordinates, but everyone's ideas were surprisingly unanimous. No one agreed to conquer the Jiangning camp, but everyone also made a request. Since the imperial court asked the army to attack, it needs to allocate money. If there is no money, who will go to war? If the court cannot allocate the money, then the army will find a way by itself.

Liu Zeqing felt that this opinion was very good, so he wrote the memorial in a pretentious manner. On the one hand, he thanked the emperor for his trust and canonization, and on the other hand, he reached out to ask the court for money, and also advised his officers and soldiers not to move for now, waiting for the imperial edict of the emperor. Well, Liu Zeqing actually knew very well that the emperor was so angry when he saw such a memorial, how could he allocate the money, he must have asked the army to solve it on the spot, or simply ignored it. [

Liu Zeqing was born in the military, and sometimes his thoughts are very simple. The battle between Su Tiancheng and the imperial court has just begun. It is still unclear who will win and who will lose. If both sides have their own advantages, the Jiangning battalion is strong. , but the emperor has an orthodox position and the support of many literati and bureaucrats, so he should not get involved in such a battle. Besides, Su Tiancheng's rebellion also reminded Liu Zeqing that it is king to have an army in his hands.

In less than ten days, Zhejiang governor Li Juesi rushed to Jiaxing, found Liu Zeqing, and brought the emperor's imperial decree, the meaning of the imperial decree, asking the Zhejiang governor's yamen to solve the army's food and grass issues.

Li Juesi, the governor of Zhejiang Province, is also a relatively powerful person. When he talked with Liu Zeqing, he was not polite, saying that the governor's office was trying to find ways to raise food and grass. However, it is impossible to gather too much food and grass in a short time, but the army still has to The conquest of Jiangning camp began.

How could Liu Zeqing listen to Li Juesi? He didn't expect the emperor to have an imperial decree, and he directly asked the Zhejiang governor's office to solve the food and grass problem. From this point of view, the court and the emperor were also very anxious, so Liu Zeqing promised the army to start preparations on the surface. But he mentioned many difficulties, including the low salary of the army, the lack of food and grass in the barracks, and the difficulty of maintaining the conquest of the army, etc. In fact, he was forcing Li Juesi to praise and agree to the army to collect food and grass along the way.

Li Juesi understands what Liu Zeqing means. If Songkou agrees with Liu Zeqing to collect food and grass along the road, the common people will definitely suffer a lot. Moreover, Huzhou and other places have suffered major disasters, and they are still in the process of recovery. There are still many victims of disasters in various places. Well, Liu Zeqing led the army this time, the target is probably aimed at many merchants and even gentry in Zhejiang.

The imperial decree is hard to disobey. Since the emperor has issued an order to the governor's office, it means that the situation is serious. Li Juesi, who is helpless, only needs to agree to let Liu Zeqing collect food and grass on the spot.

Li Juesi knew what it meant to agree with Liu Zeqing to collect grain and grass on the spot, so he didn't stay in Jiaxing, nor urged Liu Zeqing to lead the army to go out, and went straight back to Hangzhou.

Liu Zeqing, who had achieved his goal, was very happy. He even secretly thanked Su Tiancheng. If it weren't for the Jiangning under Su Tiancheng's command to create a rebellion, the army would have no chance to collect food and grass on the spot. This is the emperor's intention. Looting, wouldn't the white money go into the pocket by then.

As for the crusade against the Jiangning camp, there is no need to be so anxious. Anyway, the army still needs time to collect food and grass, so let's get the money first.

Beijing.

Fan Jingwen finally set off.

When leaving the capital, Fan Jingwen was in a sad mood. His suggestion was not adopted by the emperor. Seeing that the atmosphere in the court became more and more tense, Jin Yiwei and Dongchang's fans ran amok, as if they had returned to the days of the apocalypse. Situation, if this situation continues for a long time, at some point, the Ming Dynasty will collapse to the ground.

All of this was caused by Su Tiancheng's rebellion, so when he set off, Fan Jingwen gritted his teeth and hated Su Tiancheng to the core. It is said that Su Tiancheng entered the imperial court by relying on the imperial examination, and was hand-picked by the emperor as the second place. I don't know Grateful, but openly rebelled.

When Fan Jingwen set off from the capital, the news of Su Tiancheng's self-proclaimed king had not yet reached the capital, but he had already heard the news on the way, and the news came from Zhejiang, so he learned of this After hearing the news, Fan Jingwen immediately decided to change his itinerary, instead of going to Shandong, he changed his route to South Zhili and went directly to Zhejiang. He must meet Su Tiancheng.

Fan Jingwen is indeed a rare loyal minister in the court, and his ability is also good. A few years ago, he was Su Tiancheng's direct superior. At that time, he was Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing. Soon, in less than ten years, he has become a Cabinet Grand Master, Prince Grand Master, Ji Liao Supervisor, and is the No.1 Cabinet Grand Master who directly leads the army. [

In any case, Su Tiancheng's status has risen so fast, it is impossible without the emperor's trust. Although Su Tiancheng has made a lot of contributions in leading the Jiangning camp, loyalty to the emperor is something that every scholar understands. If the emperor misunderstood his courtiers, if he couldn't explain it, he could only be patient, not rebellious.

Fan Jingwen's itinerary is still a bit fast. He left the capital this time without the company of other ministers of the court. At this time, there will be no one to accompany him. However, after thinking about it, Fan Jingwen decided to take people with him. In case some things were not clear, after much deliberation, he decided to take Wu Weiye and Yan Zizhang who were still in the prison. Both of them were imprisoned because of their relationship with Su Tiancheng.

The emperor still supported Fan Jingwen's decision and personally asked Jin Yiwei to release Wu Weiye and Yan Zizhang.

Along the way, Fan Jingwen discussed with the two of them many times, and Wu Weiye put forward many suggestions, but Yan Zizhang didn't say anything and remained silent.

Seeing that he had entered the territory under the jurisdiction of Hangzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang Province, Fan Jingwen let out a sigh of relief. It was not too late to come. At least Su Tiancheng had not been able to occupy Hangzhou. This was an opportunity. He must advise Su Tiancheng not to think about rebelling. Don't think about going against the way of heaven, otherwise you will be punished by heaven.

Zhejiang Governor Li Juesi specially received Fan Jingwen. Li Juesi admired Fan Jingwen's daring to come to Zhejiang and meet Su Tiancheng, and thought to himself that it was impossible.

Li Juesi also talked about the actual situation in Zhejiang. Because of the locust plague last year, the prefectures and counties mentioned have been affected in many places. Huzhou has suffered the most losses, and the number of people who have been reduced to disaster victims is also the largest. There are also expenses for the governor's office. There were many difficulties, so the money to solve the conquest of the army could not be gathered for a while, so Liu Zeqing could only ask Liu Zeqing to solve it by himself, that is, to raise the army's salary and food on the spot.

Of course, Fan Jingwen understood the meaning of this, but at this time, his main thought was to meet Su Tiancheng, say what he had to say, and try his best to persuade Su Tiancheng not to rebel. (to be continued...)