Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

At that time, the Runing army was on the way to retreat and cleared the fields. The local people in Ruzhou, except those who entered the city and hid in the mountains to protect themselves, the rest were raided by the Runing army.

From a military point of view, the actions of the Runing Army are very necessary. No matter in terms of manpower or supplies, the strong wall and clearing the field have cut off the supply of the peasant rebel army, forming a vacuum, preventing the peasant rebel army from moving towards Runing. Army-controlled areas invaded.

From the perspective of self-interest, the Runing Army also added a large amount of coolies and supplies to themselves by doing so.

But from a political point of view, this is an ambiguous matter.Because the Runing Army did this, there was a missing step in the procedure, that is, they did not get the approval of the local civil officials.

Of course, if you go to the local civil servants to make up for it afterwards, you can open your eyes and close your eyes for this kind of mistake.But in such a short period of time, it is impossible for the Runing Army to send someone with heavy gifts to make up the relationship. Coupled with Li Bingbeidao's leadership, a round of impeachment against the Runing Army's strong walls and clear fields began.

During the time when the walls were clear and the country was cleared, the actions of the Runing Army must not have been gentle and considerate. Those people also had fierce resistance to leaving their homes, so the Runing Army must have used knives to persuade them.Saying that the Runing Army killed the people is not wronging them.

What's more, Li Bingbei's way is bad. In his impeachment memorial, he fiercely criticized the fact that a large number of local people were mixed among the captives captured by the Runing Army, and hinted that among the heads captured by the Runing Army, there were also a large number of murderers who committed suicide. work.Therefore, the entire memorial is full of doubts about the victory of the Runing Army in Ruzhou.

Don't say that the impeachment of Li Bingbeidao is quite destructive. He did not fabricate the facts, and his guesses are reasonable.It fully embodies the profound skill of an old official in playing with words.

And after so many years, although the Shanchuan Division couldn't open up the situation with the senior officials in Henan, it had bought some low-level officials in the major yamen to some extent.In order to show that his impeachment was not a personal enmity, but a selfless one, Li Bingbei said that his impeachment memorial was published clearly, so as soon as the memorial was changed hands in the Henan Governor's Yamen and the Chief Executive's Yamen, Shanchuan Division's fast horse passed the news back. Runing Mansion.

Seeing this information from the Shanchuan Division, Deng Qifan was in a hurry. He approached Wu Shigong and said, "My lord, shall we also send someone to the capital to clear it up? If the impeachment of Li Bingbeidao provokes the emperor's fire, our Runing Army will not Good fruit to eat!"

Wu Shigong thought about it carefully, then shook his head and rejected Deng Qifan's suggestion: "Mr. Deng, the capital city is a bottomless pit, how much money do we have to throw into it? Besides, we are born at a disadvantage in arguing with civil servants."

"But there's no need to worry. No matter how clever Li Bingbei's words are, he can't deny the victory in Ruzhou. It's nothing more than a dispute over the outcome. In this troubled time, the emperor and the court will never blame us for winning the battle."

"Some trivial punishments don't matter. At most, the credit should be given to us. We don't care about official titles. The only big loss is the decrease in the number of troops that should have been increased. But what loss does this have for us? ? We can’t get the military salary of [-] soldiers, even if we are given the military salary of [-] soldiers, we still can’t get it. Instead, we have no desires and just got up.”

"However, Mr. Deng is also right. We have to take precautions. If Li Bingbei goes too far, we have to protect ourselves. We can't let my Runing Army suffer too much."

So Wu Shigong began to carry out self-protection actions.Going directly to the memorial to refute is not a good strategy.That is to say, the secret agents of the Shanchuan Division who had finally laid nails in the yamen were exposed, and they may not be able to play against civil servants like Li Bingbeidao when they play pen and ink lawsuits.So Wu Shigong simply acted like a fool.

Wu Shigong pretended not to know about the impeachment of Li Bingbeidao and Ruzhou officials.He wrote a private letter first, and sent someone to deliver it to Eunuch Qin in the capital.

In this private letter, Wu Shigong wrote it himself, using very vernacular language.

First of all, Wu Shigong said bluntly: This letter is not only for Qin Gonggong, a good friend, to understand the situation of Henan locals and peasant rebels, but also for Qin Gonggong to convey the content of this letter to the ears of Emperor Chongzhen and the court princes.Because this is the view of a military attache who understands the local situation in Henan, fought head-on with the peasant rebel army, and has first-hand information.

Moreover, Wu Shigong also spent a lot of space in the letter recalling the details of his relationship with Qin Gonggong in the capital, expressing his longing for his hometown in the capital, as well as his condolences for his mother's death and guilt for not being filial.The language is very plain, but the emotion goes deep into the heart.

Wu Shigong also pointed out his identity as the descendant of Xungui, implying that his Xungui family is closely related to the Ming Empire, and they share weal and woe.Expressed his loyalty to the Ming Empire.

Wu Shigong played these emotional cards, of course, he did not hope that the political veterans such as Eunuch Qin would believe in friendship. His main purpose was to make Emperor Chongzhen and Eunuch Qin think that he actually wanted to return to the capital as soon as possible to enjoy the blessings and return to Yangwu. The whole family of the Hou Mansion was reunited.

Therefore, if Emperor Chongzhen dismissed Wu Shigong and the other military attaches of the Runing Army, Wu Shigong and the others would be in the right hands.And after playing hard to get like this, Emperor Chongzhen punished the Runing Army at most, and finally wanted to keep Wu Shigong and the others in the local Runing Mansion.

Then Wu Shigong introduced in detail the situation of the Henan locals and the peasant rebel army in the letter.And this part of the content Wu Shigong wrote quite detailed.Anyway, tell the truth, without exaggeration, embellishment, or omission, just to tell Eunuch Qin the real situation in Henan.

Of course, Wu Shigong highlighted the situation of refugees everywhere in Henan and the situation of abandonment, and also described the situation of bandits in Henan.The reason why this point is highlighted is to let Emperor Chongzhen and Eunuch Qin understand that the people in Henan are no longer distinguished from the thieves, and their identities will change at any time. Therefore, the purpose of the Runing Army to capture those local people is to It is to prevent them from joining the peasant rebel army.

Then Wu Shigong introduced the situation of the Runing Army to Eunuch Qin.Anyway, I lamented the bitter experience first, and pointed out the fact that Henan had been suffering from drought for four years, and that the Henan Bingbei Road Yamen had not paid military salaries for several years.

But Wu Shigong also expressed his understanding of the imperial court's financial constraints, so he expressed his determination that the Runing Army will overcome such difficulties, grit their teeth and devote themselves to the Ming Empire.

Wu Shigong also introduced that Li Lu's Ye County Battalion and Zhao Ming's Guidewei had formed a trinity alliance with Wu Shigong's Runing Army.They will command together and advance and retreat together to ensure the tranquility of these garrisons.However, due to the great loss of the Ruzhou victory, the Runing army was unable to take the initiative to attack in a short time.So I respectfully ask for the understanding of Emperor Chongzhen and the imperial court.Because the Ru Ning army was short of food and clothing, it was not easy to win the victory in Ruzhou.

In the end, Wu Shigong suggested to the imperial court: The most suitable method to wipe out the peasant rebels fleeing indefinitely is-regional defense plus full-court pressing.

What does this method mean?It is to divide the garrisons of various local military attaches into their own areas, and those local military attaches will ensure the safety of their garrisons and prevent the entry of peasant rebels.

And the imperial court will set up an encirclement and suppression corps to follow the peasant rebel army to encircle and suppress continuously. There is no need to think about winning or losing in one battle, but to constantly harass and fight, so that the peasant rebel army will not have a chance to breathe.If things go on like this, the area where the peasant rebel army operates will become smaller and smaller, and their personnel and supplies will not be replenished. Although the encirclement and suppression may take longer and cost more, the peasant rebel army can be wiped out once and for all.

Of course, Wu Shigong not only wrote this private letter himself, he also sent someone to the mine supervisor Ye Zhong to state his interests, asking him to write a letter to his backer Wang Cheng'en as well.

Wu Shigong promised Ye Zhong: Although Ye Zhong's Nanyang Iron Mine had to stop working due to the threat of peasant rebels and bandits left behind by them, Wu Shigong still guaranteed that Ye County's private iron mine would pay Ye Zhong annual dividends.

In addition, Wu Shigong also analyzed with Ye Zhong that the suspension of production at Nanyang Iron Mine is likely to cause the inner court to recall Ye Zhong to the capital.So the heavy gifts that Ye Zhong sent out for the position of mine supervisor were all in vain?

Wu Shigong asked Ye Zhong to take the initiative to propose to Emperor Chongzhen and the inner court: to stay in Wu Shigong's Runing Army as a supervisor without fear of hardships.In that case, the Runing Army will benefit from Ye Zhong, and the Runing Army will not force Ye Zhong to go to the battlefield.

After Ye Zhong heard it, he felt suddenly enlightened.At that time, when the peasant rebel army crossed the Yellow River and threatened Nanyang, the reason why Ye Zhong did not flee to Nanyang Fucheng, but fled to Ye County was precisely because he knew that the Runing Army of Li Lu and Wu Shigong was powerful in fighting!And afterwards it proved that his vision was very accurate.

And after safety, Ye Zhong also worried about his future.But now Wu Shigong pointed out a way for him to serve as the supervisor of the Runing Army, which made him another village.

Ye Zhong knew that he voluntarily gave up the well-oiled mine supervisor, but went to serve as a dangerous army supervisor. Emperor Chongzhen and the inner court would not refuse such a request.Moreover, his courageous attitude may also win the appreciation of Emperor Chongzhen.So Ye Zhong immediately hit it off with Wu Shigong.

Therefore, Ye Zhong also wrote a private letter to Wang Chengen.In addition to expressing his willingness to become the Runing Army Supervisor, Ye Zhong also reported the performance of the Runing Army he saw.

They were all telling the truth, and some of them accused the Runing Army of arresting people and stealing money.However, Ye Zhong also analyzed the reasons for the Runing Army's strong walls and clear fields.In the end, it was pointed out that it was also a helpless move.

Finally, Ye Zhong also described the tragic scene of the disabled soldiers when the Runing Army withdrew.This implies that since the Runing Army suffered so many casualties in the Ruzhou Great Victory, even if the Runing Army has falsely reported some military exploits, the process of their death battle with the peasant rebel army is always true.So it is somewhat creditable. (To be continued..)