"General? Since he is a general, why does Chen Qing insist on killing him?"
Zhu Ling had a relatively general understanding of Liu Zeqing, who was named Shandong General Soldier, but he generally knew that this man was treacherous and had both sides. He was first promoted by Chongzhen, and later defected to Nanming. When the Qing troops came, he surrendered immediately.
The Qing Dynasty. Finally, he rebelled against the Qing Dynasty and ended up being killed.
But I have read a few reviews of him in history books, and most of them are curse words. If Chen Liangmo hadn't mentioned this person in the court, I would have forgotten him.
"Your Majesty, although this man is a general, but based on his performance over the years, I'm afraid it's not an exaggeration to call him a second minister!"
Chen Liangmo's words immediately caused some commotion among the ministers in the court. His colleagues generally would not characterize him in this way. After all, the name "Second Minister" was too vicious and too terrifying.
"go on."
Noticing that Zhu Ling was a little unhappy, Wang Chengen, who was standing on one side, immediately loudly maintained order in the court, and the ministers also fell silent instantly.
Chen Liangmo continued seriously:
"When this man was in Chongzhen for three years, he built slaves and attacked the iron factory. Yang Zhaoji, the commander-in-chief who was stationed in Santun, sent Liu Zeqing to help. A fierce battle started fifteen miles away from the iron factory. From early morning to noon, there was still no break.
After winning or losing, he later received reinforcements and moved to Zunhua, whereupon he defeated Jiannu. Judging from the records of battles between our Ming army and Jiannu in recent years, it is rare."
"So, this Liu Zeqing is also a person who dares to fight."
"Your Majesty thought this person was too simple." Chen Liangmo laughed and continued: "Later, when the military merits were evaluated, he was directly promoted two levels to deputy general soldier, which was considered a good deal for him. But by the fifth year of Chongzhen's reign,
, but he withheld military rations and was impeached. At that time, I had not yet become an official. I only heard that he was sent to Liaodong to make up for his mistakes."
"Another year later, he made military exploits in the Battle of Dengzhou and was promoted to the rank of commander-in-chief. In the winter, he was promoted to governor-general of the left." Speaking of this, Chen Liangmo couldn't help but smile bitterly: "This man had bad character, and in the end he was promoted to commander-in-chief."
It’s so fast.”
Hearing his complaints, the ministers around him couldn't help but secretly remind him not to talk too much, just say what you should say. When Wang Chengen, who was standing next to Zhu Ling, saw this, he also felt that this person was a bit stupid and unhappy.
Said: "Chen Yushi just wants to talk to Liu Zeqing. We will discuss the rest in private. Don't waste the time of His Majesty and all the ministers."
However, as the emperor, Zhu Ling did not complain about this. After all, this promotion and salary increase were all done by Chongzhen and not by himself? Even if you want to blame me, you are actually just complaining about Chongzhen.
"You keep talking."
As Zhu Ling did not blame him, Chen Liangmo felt relieved and continued: "I am afraid that what I will say next will involve several ministers in the court. Please don't blame me, adults."
"I won't blame you, and they won't blame you."
"In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, Zhou Yanru re-entered the cabinet, but Liu Zeqing was demoted by the cabinet at that time. However, this man was very cruel to the local people. During his tenure, he plundered a large amount of silver coins in order to re-promote himself to the post of Shandong Commander-in-Chief.
, he personally escorted Zhou Yanru and then gave him 20,000 taels of gold as travel expenses."
Chen Liangmo suddenly stopped, raised his head slightly and said to Zhu Ling: "Does your Majesty know how much silver these 20,000 taels of gold are?"
"I don't know."
Perhaps seeing the hatred in Chen Liangmo's heart, Zhu Ling moved forward, wanting to get closer.
"Twenty thousand taels of gold is equal to 160,000 taels of silver. In other words, the salary of a soldier in the Beijing camp is twenty taels. The travel expenses given to Zhou Yanru alone can support eight thousand soldiers!" Chen Liangmo's tone became colder and colder.
, said: "You can imagine that Liu Zeqing treats the people of Shandong too much and how hateful he is!"
Having said this, Zhu Ling and the ministers below could not help but hate Liu Zeqing. The court could not collect taxes. The taxes collected in the whole year were only a few hundred thousand taels, and at most they were only a few million cars.
, this is still the case where Chongzhen received such a small amount of silver for thirty or forty years.
And just a general soldier in Shandong could easily bribe the court official with 20,000 taels of gold, which was a bit too much!
"Moreover!" Chen Liangmo saw that His Majesty and the ministers hated Liu Zeqing more and more, so he continued: "This man is said to be a general, but he only fought in one battle. He was lucky to survive and was promoted. He has a cowardly character and harbors ambitions.
He waited and watched privately, falsely reported his merits, and invited rewards. His Majesty ordered him to go to the capital to serve the king, but he lied and claimed that he had fallen off his horse and was injured in the fall. He was still delayed in leaving. The court allocated him forty taels of silver to treat his injuries, but he simply turned a blind eye to the document!
"
"How can such a thief not die?"
After Zhu Ling finished what Chen Liangmo said, the anger in his heart became more intense. However, as Chongzhen in the late Ming Dynasty, it was quite difficult to deal with a commander-in-chief who had a strong and self-respecting army. After all, he could not just kill him and then take action, so he thought first
He asked the ministers for their opinions and said: "Everyone, what do you think about how to deal with Liu Zeqing?"
His Majesty asked, and the ministers also had different opinions and disagreements. Some people felt that this person was entrenched in Shandong, and now that the court had just been surrounded by intruders, it had a little breathing space and could not be so reckless.
But while some are relenting, others are radical.
Wen Yao, the governor of the left, was rejected by Meng Zhaoxiang yesterday, and today he is still a little sulky in his heart, so he immediately said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, we must kill these traitors! Only in this way can we show the importance of the Ming Dynasty's laws.
!Other ministers would not know the law and break it, or even do such a shameful thing."
The day before, Zhu Ling thought that this person had some courage, but today it seems that this person only has courage and does not have any wisdom.
When the surrounding ministers heard Wen Yao's retarded words, they couldn't help but chuckle a few times, with sarcastic expressions on their faces. No wonder people in the world say that military generals have no plans and only have force, and they cannot stand in the court. This is
Wenyao is one of them.
"Nadu Governor Wen, what are you going to do?" Zhu Ling did not rebuke him, but smelled it with a smile.
"minister……"
Wen Yao didn't know how to answer at this time, so he could only hesitate and hesitate.
Seeing that he was just full of enthusiasm, Zhu Ling was not angry and ordered him to go back. Then he expressed his opinion: "This man has his own private soldiers in Shandong. Who can the court rely on now? Isn't it Wu Sangui?"
?”
Zhu Ling stood up and walked around the stage and continued: "Tang Tong, the general of the Xuanfu, rebelled against the intruders. I don't blame him. If a traitor hadn't opened the city gate, he wouldn't have been flanked. Besides, the Governor of Jiliao
Wang Yongji, he doesn't have many troops, probably less than 20,000, and he should eventually join forces with Wu Sangui."
"What we are most concerned about now is the reason why the intruders retreated and where Wu Sangui's army is now? Let's put the rest aside for now."
With His Majesty taking the lead, the others stopped talking. However, they had no idea about the two questions raised by His Majesty. They all lowered their heads and said nothing, and the originally lively court became cold again.
"Your Majesty, although I can't talk about state affairs, I can't help but panic when I have ideas." Wang Chengen on the side suddenly spoke, and the ministers immediately looked at him.
When did this father-in-law dare to speak in court?
However, Zhu Ling didn't mind this and simply asked him to continue, completely ignoring the reactions of the ministers in the court.
"The thieves retreated? I don't think the peace talks worked. If they were so trustworthy, Master Yang He would have settled them once and for all. Then there were other reasons for them to retreat. Why don't Your Majesty and the ministers think about it?
General Wu's army arrived in the Gyeonggi area? They just retreated."
Wang Chengen's words really gave Zhu Ling and the ministers some ideas. What he said was indeed reasonable, but had Wu Sangui's troops really arrived?
Suddenly, there was an urgent call from outside the main hall. Judging from his attire, he should be a man from the Army and Horse Department. He entered the main hall and immediately knelt down and said: "Your Majesty! Sir Li, there is an urgent report. An army has appeared in the east of the capital. The number should be about the same."
There are ten thousand people, Your Majesty asked us to wait and listen to Your Majesty’s opinion.”
"Ten thousand people?"
Zhu Ling's eyes lit up. There were no intruders in the east. They were Wang Yongji and Wu Sangui, the governor of Jiliao!
"Tell him that I will go upstairs myself!"
[Author's digression]: It's about to climax, it's about to climax! Everyone, please work harder