Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Therefore, Yang Sichang is a man with a very strategic vision. Compared with the past, Emperor Chongzhen and his courtiers were too busy to cope with headaches and feet.

And Emperor Chongzhen had never listened to anyone systematically analyzing the situation for him from a strategic perspective, so when he heard these words, he felt a sense of enlightenment, and he said with emotion: "I only hate that it is too late to use Qing!"

So after the strategic conception is completed, what specific implementation strategy does Yang Sichang have?

In view of the characteristics of the peasant army's scattered and mobile operations, Yang Sichang proposed a plan of "opening the net on ten sides" that combined the main corps' mobile advance and suppression with the local corps' solid assistance, fighting steadily and step by step.In fact, we can see that this plan is very similar to Wu Shigong's full-court pressing plus zone defense.

According to this plan, the prime ministers of the five provinces and the governor-general of Shaanxi will respectively lead various aid and suppression troops and the powerful forces of the three sides, as the main force to attack and wipe out large groups of peasant armies in the Central Plains and Northwest; the four governors of Shaanxi, Henan, Huguang, and Fengyang The local corps in the jurisdiction defended their own area while cooperating with the main corps in the encirclement and suppression campaign. The so-called "separate responsibilities for suppression and full-time defense" are called "four positives", which are the four fronts of the encirclement and suppression network.

In addition, the local corps of Yansui, Shanxi, Shandong, Yingtian, Jiangxi, and Sichuan, which were under the jurisdiction of the six governors, served as the "six corners" and were the six corners of the big net. They were mainly responsible for strictly guarding their own areas and assisting in the encirclement and suppression accordingly.Yang Sichang thought that once the deployment of the net was completed, the entire peasant army could be completely wiped out in only three months.

As far as the military plan is concerned, the plan of "stretching the net on ten sides" is quite strict, but it needs many basic conditions to implement it seriously.First of all, there must be sufficient and capable troops, otherwise the net will be big and the eyes will be thin, and the actual effect will be achieved only by the empty air method.

Therefore, it is necessary to increase troops.According to Yang Sichang's deployment, the two main armies of the premiers of the five provinces and the governor of Shaanxi each added 3 troops.The two governors of Huguang and Henan each increased their troops by 5000, and the two governors of Fengyang and Shaanxi each increased their troops by 1. In addition, the ancestral mausoleum of Fengyang and Chengtian (now Zhongxiang, Hubei) each added five special defense troops. Thousands, the total number of additional troops reached a staggering 12.

Up to now, together with the original number of troops in the Central Plains, Northwest Theater and the "Liuyu" area, the number of troops used in the Ten Face Net has exceeded 20.It is extremely rare in the history of the Ming Dynasty to mobilize so many troops to complete a general campaign, and in terms of numbers alone, it is at least enough to compete with various peasant armies. [

But here is a problem: in the late Ming Dynasty when the military system was corrupt, these hastily recruited troops.How much combat power is there?God only knows.

Of course, after the increase of troops, the salary will be increased. After careful planning by the household and military departments, a total of 280 taels of military salary needs to be increased.Another astronomical figure.And this huge expense is really nerve-wracking.

Emperor Chongzhen had previously ordered the family of his relatives to donate, but they met with widespread resistance.Those officials, gentry and nobles have no desire to be in a hurry to govern the country.Even the gentry in the war zone were unwilling to donate.Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help complaining: "When the thieves come."became theirs.How can you be so stupid?

But Emperor Chongzhen didn't have to laugh at fifty steps.Even he himself is a miser by nature, and would rather ruin his country and family than take out money from the internal treasury to help pay.See here.Can't help but think of the notorious Wei Zhongxian again.When he saw that the national treasury was empty, he used his family wealth to pay for Liaodong's army.It's also hard to tell whose level of thought is higher.

Then everyone is unwilling to pay, and the huge military salary can only be squeezed from the people.Therefore, Yang Sichang proposed his famous plan to increase the "suppression of wages". In addition to the Liao wages, he added grain to Liuhe per mu, and converted silver to eight coins per stone.Coupled with the so-called "overflow land" - that is, to re-check the tax-paying land - and other items, the country's annual additional distribution totals 1902 million taels.

Emperor Chongzhen and Yang Sichang thought that long-term pain is worse than short-term pain, but they did not expect that the salary increase did not go to the officials and gentry at all.But it was all added to the local people.Coupled with the random collection and consumption by the local government, more than ten million taels were eventually seized from the people.

What's even more frightening is that this "suppression of payment" was temporarily established to complete the "ten-sided net" campaign, so the "ten-sided net" was not completed in one day, and the temporary "suppression of payment" was only one day. Continuing, coupled with natural disasters, the number of refugees has really increased, providing sufficient supplementary soldiers for the peasant army.

Perhaps Emperor Chongzhen and Yang Sichang also understood this, but they could no longer care about it.In order to wipe out the peasant army, the two of them were already red-eyed.

To solve the problem of increasing troops and increasing salaries, we must solve another problem of appointing generals.In particular, whether the prime minister, the governor, and the ten governors in the four positive and six corners can effectively control the army, use tactics flexibly, and actively take encirclement and suppression as their mission to wipe out the enemy bravely is really the key to the success of the entire campaign.

As for the ten governors, Yang Sichang was inconvenient to intervene due to the comprehensive personnel arrangement involved, so he could only continue to use the original serving officials.Among them, Sun Chuanting, governor of Shaanxi, is the most deep and sophisticated, and his troops have the strongest combat effectiveness; followed by Governor Yu Yinggui of Huguang, Governor Zhu Dadian of Fengyang, and Governor Wu Sheng of Shanxi, etc., are also mature and capable.

The key to employing personnel is of course the choice of the two coaches, the prime minister and the governor.Hong Chengchou has been the governor of Shaanxi for many years, and his experience and ability are obvious to all, so there is no need to discuss it again.After Lu Xiangsheng was transferred to be the governor of Xuanda, the position of prime minister was taken over by the mediocre and capable Wang Jiazhen. In the current war, it is obvious that they must be replaced.

Considering the actual situation at the time, repatriating Lu Xiangsheng must be the best plan, because after all, he has many years of experience in suppressing the peasant army, and his courage is the number one in the court.But Yang Sichang was not interested in Lu Xiangsheng, half of it was due to the disagreement in personality and temperament, which may also be mixed with a bit of jealousy, and the other half was due to party disputes.

Both Yang Sichang and his father Yang He were dismissed from office during the Tianqi period because they were dissatisfied with Wei Zhongxian's dictatorship, and their relationship with the Donglin party members was not bad.However, during the period of Ren Yongping and the governor of Shanhai, Guo Gong, the former minister of Qian'an, was accused of being wronged because someone in the area under his jurisdiction was included in the "reverse case".Guo Gong was not pardoned because of this, but he himself was notorious for overturning the case for the eunuch party

Donglin party members hated those who tried to reverse the "reverse case" the most, and they all regarded them as treacherous and evil, and Yang Sichang was classified as a separate book from then on.But Yang Sichang is a person with a circle on the outside and a square on the inside. He would rather fight the Donglin party members to the end over a trivial matter, and never give in.

But Lu Xiangsheng came from a family of gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, and was deeply influenced by Neo-Confucianism, but he was a member of the Donglin School.He was very disapproving of Yang Sichang's practice of serving in mourning and suggesting additional assignments, which he expressed from time to time.In this way, the two most outstanding military talents at the time could not help each other. [

Therefore, party struggle is indeed harmful to the country!

So Yang Sichang chose Xiong Wencan, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.And Xiong Wencan became famous because he once recruited the famous pirate Zheng Zhilong who had been rampant at sea for many years when he was the governor of Fujian, and later pacified a large group of pirates Liu Xiang in Guangdong and Guangxi.Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen has always paid great attention to this military talent who has repeatedly made great achievements, and specially sent his trusted eunuchs to conduct field inspections on him in Guangdong under the pretext of purchasing medicinal materials in Guangxi.

There are also some stories about Xiong Wencan's appointment:

Xiong Wencan didn't know that the eunuch came to inspect him, but the reception was still very hospitable, he gave a large number of gifts, and held a big banquet, drinking heavily.

One day at a banquet, the eunuch deliberately brought up the topic, saying that the bandits in the Central Plains will never be pacified, and people are willing to do their best for the court.

But Xiong Wencan drank a few more glasses and then got carried away. He patted the table and said loudly: "It's all the ministers who have misled the country! If I, Xiong Wencan, were to go, how could I let those rats run rampant?"

So the eunuch got up immediately and said, "I didn't go to Guangxi to purchase, but I specially inspected Mr. Xiong by the order of the emperor. Mr. Xiong is really a talent in the world, and non-officials are not enough to catch thieves. Please be prepared, it will probably happen soon. There will be an imperial edict coming down." Xiong Wencan was so frightened that he woke up, and the author believes that he must have a pooping face at that time.

When Xiong Wencan left the relatively comfortable Guangdong and Guangxi, he embarked on the dangerous career of the prime minister of the five provinces.When passing by Lushan Mountain, he visited the monk Kongyin who was familiar with him.So there was an interesting conversation between the two of them.

Monk Kongyin asked: "You made a big mistake. Do you think the soldiers you command are enough to kill the thief?".

Xiong Wencan shook his head and said no.

Monk Kongyin asked again: "Is there any general under his command who can entrust him with great responsibility, take charge of his own side, and win victory without bothering to command?".

Xiong Wencan shook his head and said yes.

So the monk Kongyin said: "Neither of them can deal with the bandits, but the emperor is very famous and responsible for your Excellency. If it doesn't work, shouldn't he be beheaded?".

Xiong Wencan stood for a long time before asking back, "How about using the method of appeasement?"

Monk Kongyin said: "I expected that Your Excellency will use Fu, but rogues are different from pirates, please be careful."

Therefore, Xiong Wencan came to serve as the commander-in-chief of the theater with the purpose of focusing on comfort, which is at least inconsistent with the original intention of the "Ten Faces Spreading Net" plan.However, the commanders have their own opinions, which will inevitably have a negative impact on the implementation of Yang Sichang's plan.

Not only that, for example, Sun Chuanting, who has a relatively rigid personality, was very disapproving of Yang Sichang's "ten-sided net" from the very beginning.Sun Chuanting thought: "Thieves have always been powerful, Zhang will go out everywhere, and if they are trapped, they will return to Qin, and the land of thieves will be beneficial to Qin and Ming."If the encirclement and suppression were scattered, "the thieves will occupy the whole Qin Dynasty as a cave, and the four sides and six corners will almost be empty nets."

Sun Chuanting's views are not unreasonable, but the starting point is to consider the local interests of his own province of Shaanxi.Similar sentiments of localism were also quite common among governors and governors, and they also brought quite a lot of hidden dangers to Yang Sichang's battle plan. (to be continued...)