Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"Wang Banban! What is the meaning of this?" Emperor Chongzhen handed the memorial to Wang Chengen in puzzlement.

That memorial was written by Gu Zhengqing, the prefect of Runing.To be precise, this is not a complete impeachment memorial, but a memorial to the government.The content of the memorial is to transfer Wu Shigong away from Runing.

At the beginning of the memorial, Gu Zhengqing listed Wu Shigong's crimes.Anyway, there are more than a dozen eloquent articles, such as corruption, robbery, and forced robbing of women, etc., first of all, Wu Shigong's reputation is stigmatized.

Then, Gu Zhengqing began to detail the disadvantages of the three evil laws.What people are complaining about!What are you competing for profit with the people!From a general point of view, Gu Zhengqing's statement is also very reasonable.

It would be fine if the memorial ended here, anyway, Emperor Chongzhen was already used to this kind of dog-eat-dog memorial.But the content that follows is a bit embarrassing.

First of all, Gu Zhengqing introduced what Wu Shigong did in Runing Mansion.Although Wu Shigong committed so many crimes, he lived a simple life, did not participate in banquets and entertainment, set up more industries, made friends with local officials, was diligent in enlightenment, and so on.

So what does Wu Shigong want to do?Gu Zhengqing concealed that Wu Shigong wanted to buy people's hearts and amass private soldiers.Anyway, this behavior is quite abnormal.Don't say it, Gu Zhengqing has told the truth.

Then, Gu Zhengqing mentioned the importance of Runing Mansion.What is the barrier of Fengyang in the central capital!What a land of abundance!Therefore, the military officer defending here needs loyalty first, and Wu Yong is the second.

After that, Gu Zhengqing described the surrounding situation.Due to the successive victories of the Ming army, the strength of the peasant army has been weakened a lot.But now, Huguang has Zuo Liangyu, Ruzhou has Yu Zilian, Kaifeng and Luoyang have Li Xianfeng's Henan main force, and of course Nanyang also has the "famous general" Li Lu, so the entire line of defense is complete.And Wu Shigong of Runing no longer needed to maintain such a huge army.

Finally, Gu Zhengqing pointed out: since the conflict between Wu Shigong and Chong Wang.The two sides actually live in peace.From Gu Zhengqing's point of view, it is very abnormal anyway, so we need to take precautions.

Don't mention it, this last point is the most poisonous.

After complaining, Gu Zhengqing came up with a solution: he asked the court to divide the Runing Army into two branches, one led by the "famous general" Qiao Song and still stationed in Runing; line.Two directions: one in Liaodong and one in southern Shaanxi. Wu Shigong's specialty in fighting must be brought into play, and hidden dangers should be eliminated in the bud.

But Emperor Chongzhen saw this memorial.But I was really puzzled for a long time.It's very simple, he doesn't believe that Wu Shigong will rebel now.Because there are no rebels, they will leave all their families in Beijing.

Moreover, in the past six months, Wu Shigong has achieved two major victories in succession, and both of them were decisive victories.Just out of bad taste.Emperor Chongzhen has been procrastinating without meritorious service.After the great victory in Xiangyang, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't escape.So since the beginning of the year.He was planning to promote Wu Shigong, but now Gu Zhengqing came with such a memorial.

If the memorial is unreasonable, then it is easy to deal with it, at most it will not be published.But Gu Zhengqing's memorial was very reasonable, which made Emperor Chongzhen feel difficult, so he asked Wang Chengen to give advice first.

Wang Chengen read the memorial at a glance.He wisely did not express his opinion, but just said with a smile: "Your Majesty! According to this old slave, the Gu Zhifu wants to drive Xuehou's son-in-law out of the Runing Mansion. There must be discord between these two people."

What Wang Chengen said was like saying nothing, and Emperor Chongzhen didn't really want to listen to Wang Chengen's idea.should say.If Wang Chengen had often suggested ideas, Emperor Chongzhen would have driven him away long ago.

So Emperor Chongzhen thought briefly, and finally decided to stay in China.The charges against Wu Shigong mentioned by Gu Zhengqing were either pretentious, or a common fault of military officers, so it is not worth mentioning.And recklessly mobilizing the Runing Army will definitely cause Wu Shigong's backlash.But the current Emperor Chongzhen is bombarded by internal and external troubles every day, so for such a trivial matter, it is better to have one more thing than one less thing!

But Emperor Chongzhen wanted to save one thing, but the son-in-law Xue Hou didn't let him worry.Then, Qi Zheng's weeping blood memorial and Huanggang magistrate's impeachment memorial came up.Seeing Wu Shigong's Runing Army act so recklessly, Emperor Chongzhen immediately turned pale with shock.

Wu Shigong's behavior has actually challenged the entire civil society, so as soon as the incident spread, the civil officials all supported Qi Zheng and wanted justice for him.

But the civil servants below can make a fuss, call it whatever you want, but Emperor Chongzhen and the scholars are different, they need to consider the overall situation.Even if Wu Shigong is convicted, the impact must be minimized.

Some scholars pointed out that the one who went to Huanggang County was only a partial division of the Runing Army, and Wu Shigong might not know what his subordinates were doing at all.Therefore, it is enough to pursue the responsibility of the general who is partial to the teacher. For Wu Shigong, at most one leader should be held accountable.

Some academicians suggested: No matter what, Wu Shigong should be given a memorial to defend. Such unilateral impeachment may lead to unclear facts.Besides, what if Wu Shigong was arrested and there was a mutiny?Moreover, in the eyes of outsiders, Wu Shigong is still a general who has won many battles and victories. Wouldn't such self-destruction of the Great Wall damage the reputation of the Chongzhen Emperor Yao and Shun?In fact, in the final analysis, it is better for those bachelors to do more than to do less.

During the discussion, Wen Tiren saw that the wind was not in the right direction, and the Emperor Chongzhen also seemed to want to make a big problem into a small one, so Wen Tiren didn't say a word.He never expected that solving a military attache would cause such a big backlash.

In fact, this is not surprising. By this time, no one dared to touch the military officers leading the troops. Their wings were already full, and even the imperial court had to accommodate them in many cases.On the contrary, the civil servants were relatively weak, and the Emperor Chongzhen killed him whenever he wanted, even the civil servants who led the soldiers.

So Wen Tiren decided to take a break.But this time, Wen Tiren was lucky enough to be a pig teammate of the Donglin Party.

First of all, after Qian Qianyi and Qu Shixu were sent to prison.Relying on their influence in the ruling and opposition parties, the Donglin party members first obstructed in every possible way in the Jiangnan area.Therefore, although the imperial decree ordering local investigations and investigations came down, local officials deliberately delayed in order to find a turning point.But the Donglin party members in the court presented a pleading memorial, and at the same time impeached Wen Tiren to death.

Wen Tiren, on the other hand, watched with cold eyes. He had already grasped the psychology of Emperor Chongzhen. The more the Donglin party members rioted, the more wary Emperor Chongzhen became, and the more serious the crimes of Qian Qianyi and Qu Shixu became.Seeing that Qian Qianyi and Qu Shixu were doomed.

But at this time, something triggered the fuse.Yang Guang, a Nanjing Xinanwei Qianhu, came to Beijing to attack Wen Tiren.And this Yang Qianhu was very eye-catching, and he even dragged the coffin with him by car to show his will to die.So there was an uproar in the capital, and those who donated poems and essays scrambled to be the first, and the coffin he brought was covered with plasters.

This immediately angered Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen hated Yang Qianhu's sensationalism, ordered him to be punished for eighty years, and sent him to the extreme edge of Liaoxi.It is said that when walking the stick, the spectators were so crowded that they all recited Amitabha Buddha for him.

So Wen Tiren took the opportunity to play Emperor Chongzhen in secret. He pointed out: Civilian cliques are not terrible, what is terrible is civil and military collusion. The Donglin party members have already extended their tentacles to the army, so they must be paid enough attention to.Necessary measures should be taken against Wu Shigong, the general of the Donglin Party.

This secret melody really made Emperor Chongzhen a little creepy.He hurriedly asked for a strategy, so Wen Tiren suggested: first discuss meritorious service for Wu Shigong, and then promote him to be the general soldier to reassure him.After that, let him go to Beijing to report on his duties. After arriving in the capital, the imperial court has the initiative in how to deal with it anyway.Emperor Chongzhen immediately took it seriously.So on the 27th of the first lunar month, the imperial envoy who delivered the decree and a group of Jinyiwei who carried out a secret mission set off from the capital to Runing.

Therefore, during this period of time, party struggles made the entire imperial court a little bit unscrupulous.But Emperor Chongzhen was also quite diligent in his administration. In February, he summoned Yang Sichang, the new minister of the Ministry of War.As soon as they met, Emperor Chongzhen asked: How can we get rid of the current military passive situation?

On the other hand, Yang Sichang comprehensively analyzed the situation from the perspective of a minister of the Ministry of War, and put forward a whole set of strategic concepts.And its core idea is: To fight against the outside world, we must first secure the inside.

Yang Sichang made a very vivid metaphor: the general trend of the world is like a person's body, the capital is the brain, the frontier defenses such as Xuanfu and Jizhen are the shoulders and arms, and the Central Plains south of the Yellow River and north of the Dajiang River are the heart.

And the most important thing in a person is the mind.Frontier wars are burning on the shoulders and arms, which are very harmful to the body; bandits are making trouble in the heart, which has a profound impact on the body.Of course, the urgent ones cannot be slowed down, but the profound ones should not be neglected.If the heart is safe and the viscera are intact, you can transport the essence and blood, move the bones to support the mind, and protect the wind and cold from the shoulders and arms, so what is there to worry about?

That's why Yang Sichang thought: the inside must be settled first, and then the outside can be fought, the food must be sufficient before the army can be filled, and the people must be protected before the bandits can be suppressed.This is the basis of today's diagnosis and treatment. It's not because you dare to talk slowly to fight against the outside world, because you are eager to fight against the outside world, so you have to settle down first.

Then Yang Sichang analyzed: No matter how fierce the Qing army's offensive is, it will not endanger the fundamental rule of the Ming Dynasty for the time being, so it is only a shoulder problem; and the peasant uprising in the Central Plains not only consumed a lot of troops and military pay, but also caused people's hearts to fluctuate. , Urban and rural decline, so that the empire was seriously injured, so it is a heartache.

Based on such an analysis, he believed that we should first concentrate on dealing with the peasant army, and take a defensive position against the Qing army, and even find ways to compromise with it, and make long-term plans after the internal strife is completely quelled in the future. (To be continued..)