Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

The warm winter sun makes people lazy and can't lift their spirits.The official road leading to the capital was cleaned very cleanly, and the snow had piled up on both sides of the official road.

But the official road is sparsely populated, and there are few pedestrians walking around.But when these pedestrians came to Shili Pavilion and wanted to rest here, they were immediately driven away by the pavilion officials of Shili Pavilion.In today's Ten Mile Pavilion, there are some big figures, they are waiting here, waiting to welcome three guests who come to Beijing.

Finally, a group of people and horses appeared in the distance, and beside that group of people and horses, there were even two lines of cavalry guarding them.And when the pavilion official of Shili Pavilion received the report from the first messenger sent by the team, he immediately ran into the back room, and knelt outside the room and said: "Old Zhou Ge! My lords! Yan Sheng Gong, Governor Yan and General Liu are about to arrive."

So Zhou Yanru and the others who were resting in the back room immediately adjusted their clothes and left the house immediately.Then Zhou Yanru smiled and said to the officials who followed him: "Everyone! Come with me to welcome you!"

When Wu Shigong was about to establish a new dynasty and become emperor, he first had to face the power vacuum created by the disappearance of the Ming Dynasty when the Ming Dynasty collapsed.So Wu Shigong will establish his own central government immediately.The most important thing among them is, of course, the appointment of cabinet members who are the heads of civil servants.

In order to allow the smooth handover of the old and new dynasties, Wu Shigong adopted an open policy of taking everything.He retained all the former Ming Dynasty cabinet scholars in Beijing, and the Runing Army only appointed Deng Qifan, Zhang Zhiheng and Ma Shiying, and of course, Yu Zilian who surrendered his military power was also included.And in the future, Wu Shigong's cabinet members will also be further expanded.For example, Hou Xun who was still in Huguang, and the qualified former Ming Dynasty officials who later surrendered to the Runing Army.Wu Shigong will arrange for him a superior official position, including a position in the cabinet.

As the oldest and highest official in the original cabinet——Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant, he was naturally appointed by Wu Shigong as the second assistant in the new dynasty.Surprisingly, the chief assistant of the new dynasty turned out to be Wu Shigong himself.

The reason why Wu Shigong adopted the extreme method of shouldering the power of the monarchy and the power of the prime minister was to adopt a dictatorial method to unify the whole country as soon as possible and straighten out the institutions and policies of the new dynasty.

This time Wu Shigong proclaimed himself emperor and founded the country, in fact, there were also factors of trickery.In the south, there are a large number of officials and troops left by the remnants of the Ming Dynasty.And in the West.There are the remnants of Li Zicheng's Dashun Army and Zhang Xianzhong's Daxi Army in Sichuan.Even in the north, there are Manchus whose strength has not been damaged at all, and the dilapidated Great Wall defense line cannot stop the Mongolian tribes on the grassland, and Shanhaiguan is in the hands of the Manchus. This makes Wu Shigong's new dynasty face a kind of enemy dilemma.

The Ming Dynasty was established for more than 200 years.Indeed, a mature feudal regime system was established.However, due to the limitations of the ancestral system, the development of the times, the inaction of some Ming emperors, and the limitations of the ancient people's vision, it is true that some imperial institutions and policies cannot adapt to the development of the times.In addition, Wu Shigong traveled from modern society.He always has some advanced ideas.Moreover, the Runing Army's policy of emphasizing business is also developing towards a capitalist society.Therefore, Wu Shigong wanted to revise inappropriate government institutions and policies and decrees at the beginning of the establishment of the new dynasty, and set the framework of the new dynasty's institutions and policies, so that the new dynasty can flourish and last forever.

For this reason, Wu Shigong couldn't tolerate wrangling with civil servants.Therefore, it is necessary to formulate new institutions and new policies in the shortest possible time.The unification of monarchy and ministerial power will allow Wu Shigong to promulgate new decrees without hindrance, saving a lot of time and energy.

certainly.Before Wu Shigong made this shocking decision, he also obtained the understanding of the cabinet elders.He solemnly pointed out: It is precisely because Wu Shigong himself respects the rights of civil servants, especially the most important power of prime minister, that he shoulders this challenge.If the cabinet was completely abolished like Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, Wu Shigong would not need to be the chief assistant at all, and he would be able to monopolize power.But the current special situation is temporary, and sooner or later Wu Shigong will exchange the position of chief assistant to the civil servants.

And Wu Shigong also promised: Wu Shigong will only hold the position of chief assistant for three years, and will return it to the cabinet after that; and in the whole new dynasty, there will be no such special situation where the emperor serves as the chief assistant.This point will also be defined as the ancestral system of the new dynasty.

However, Wu Shigong also explained: After three years, the number of veterans in the new cabinet will be reduced to seven.However, there are so many elders in the pavilion that they will either retire because of old age, or they will be demoted for use, and they will certainly not all stay in their posts.

And at that time, Wu Shigong will also select ten elders from the list of cabinet elders recommended by the important ministers, and then let the important ministers elect by difference, and then designate the chief assistant and second assistant among the three elders with the highest votes.The term of office of each cabinet will be fixed at five years, and the chief assistant will be re-elected at most once, and serve at most ten years.

But at that time, the emperor Wu Shigong could not replace the cabinet elders at will, and there will be certain procedures for the replacement of the elders during their term of office (not detailed here), and the principle of replacement will also be adopted. It's the best among people.

In other words, Wu Shigong's promise will greatly increase the power of the cabinet and ensure the political security of civil servants.It is a major concession of the power of the monarch to the power of the prime minister.

So all of this is quite satisfactory to Zhou Yanru now.His current secondary assistant is actually equivalent to the original first assistant.And three years later, Zhou Yanru still has the opportunity to become the chief assistant of the new dynasty.Even if he can't get what he wants, Zhou Yanru will return to his hometown as the de facto chief minister of the new dynasty, and he can always keep his family rich and "famous in history".

The team finally came to Zhou Yanru and the others.The three leaders got off the car and horse one after another, and saluted Zhou Yanru and others.But Zhou Yanru hurriedly returned the salute. He saw that Yan Jizu and Liu Zeqing wanted to pay respects, so he immediately asked his followers to stop the two people and only let them make a half salute.

This time, these three people came to Beijing to participate in the New Year's Day, the founding ceremony of the establishment of the new dynasty.As Wu Shigong's nominal teacher and a descendant of Kong Shengren, Yan Shenggong's status is of course extremely noble.And Yan Jizu will also enter the cabinet this time when he enters Beijing, and Liu Zeqing will also be awarded the Marquis of the new dynasty.

When Wu Shigong occupied Beijing in August, he first faced a strategic choice, which enemy army on all sides had to be dealt with first.And the Shandong Yuanming Army, who has friendship with Wu Shigong and is also the weakest, became the first choice.

And the first is to attack the army, and the second is to attack the diplomatic relations.Wu Shigong thought that the Lu army could fight for it, so he sent envoys to persuade Shandong Governor Yan Jizu and Shandong General Soldier Liu Zeqing.The focus of this negotiation is: Wu Shigong asked the Lu army to fully accept the reorganization of the Runing army, and generals such as Liu Zeqing would give up their military power and would no longer be able to command the Lu army.

Of course, in order to prevent the breakdown of the negotiations, the Runing Army is also ready to attack Shandong. In the direction of Beizhili and Henan, the Runing Army has also concentrated [-] troops, and is ready to send troops immediately if the negotiations fail.

Wu Shigong was quite satisfied with the outcome of the negotiation. He listened to Wu Shigong's conditions, and under the threat of heavy troops, Liu Zeqing, who knew the strength of the Runing Army, decided to give up resistance, and Shandong announced its submission to Wu Shigong's new dynasty.

Correspondingly, Yan Jizu joined the cabinet as prime minister, while Liu Zeqing gave up his military power to the Marquis, and the new dynasty will also compensate Liu Zeqing and these Lu army generals with a large amount of compensation.And this time Shandong's surrender made Wu Shigong's new dynasty no longer threatened by the east.Moreover, the control of the Grand Canal and the mouth of the East China Sea have been obtained, and a better situation has been achieved for the future operations of the Runing Army.

"Old Zhou Ge! What is the name of this new dynasty?" Yan Sheng Gong Kong Yanzhi asked.He is the only one who can ask this kind of question so casually.

"Ping Dynasty, Daping Dynasty. Take the meaning of both peace and peace." Zhou Yanru replied.

"That's a good word!" Yan Shenggong nodded and said, "Please trouble Zhou Ge to come all the way to welcome you, I'm not very ashamed!"

"It should." Zhou Yanru smiled very politely, "It's freezing cold, so I won't talk too much on the side of the road. Let me follow the old man into the city quickly. The city has prepared thin wine, and I want to wash the dust for the father-in-law and the two of you."

"Will the emperor come?" Kong Yanzhi asked again.

"It was the emperor who asked me to welcome you first. But you may have to wait for a while, the emperor is seeing off the Queen Mother." Zhou Yanru laughed.

"Empress Dowager Qin?" Gong Yansheng Kong Yanzhi and the others were immediately at a loss.

"It's General Qin who led the white-armed soldiers. She is the emperor's adoptive mother and has been named the empress dowager. She is leaving Beijing today, and the emperor is going out of the city to see her off." Zhou Yanru replied.

"At this time?" Yan Sheng Gong Kong Yanzhi was a little strange, "New Year's Day is the founding ceremony, so why didn't the Queen Mother stay for two more days and leave Beijing now?"

"Hey! It's hard to say." Zhou Yanru made an inviting gesture, and then said, "Everyone, let's walk and chat with the old man!"

……

Seven or eight miles to the west of the capital, there is a military camp, and the three thousand white soldiers led by Qin Liangyu, Wu Shigong's godmother, are stationed in the military camp.

When the news that Li Zicheng swept across the northwest and then pointed his sword at the capital reached Qin Liangyu's ears, this loyal old lady gathered the remaining [-] white soldiers and made a long journey to the capital to Qin Wang.

However, when Qin Liangyu came to the territory of Beizhili in a hurry, the situation had already changed. Her godson, Wu Shigong, had already defeated all kinds of powerful enemies, and began to prepare to establish a country and proclaim himself emperor.

After hearing the news, this stupid, loyal and stubborn old lady Qin Liangyu was immediately furious. Regardless of the disparity in her military strength, she raised the banner of "Reviving the Ming Dynasty" and commanded the troops to the capital.

After discovering this "enemy army", the Runing Army did not dare to neglect, and the officers who discovered it immediately sent someone to report to Wu Shigong.But they didn't dare to start a war rashly, they could only monitor every move of the white soldiers from a distance. (To be continued..)