Chapter three hundred and ninetieth private letter
At that time, the Runing army was on its way back to clear the country. The local people in Ruzhou, except those who entered the city and those who hid in the mountains to build strongholds to protect themselves, were all plundered by the Runing army until there was no grass left.
From a military point of view, the actions of the Runing Army were necessary. Both in terms of manpower and material supplies, the strong walls and clearing of the country cut off the replenishment of the peasant rebel army and formed a vacuum zone, preventing the peasant rebel army from moving toward Runing.
Invasion of military-controlled areas.
From the perspective of self-interest, the Runing Army also added a large amount of coolies and supplies to itself.
But from a political point of view, this is an ambiguous matter. Because in doing so, the Runing Army lacked a step in the procedure, that is, it did not obtain the approval of the local civil servants.
Of course, if you go to the local civil servants to make up for it afterwards, this kind of mistake can be ignored. However, in such a short period of time, it is impossible for the Runing Army to send people to make amends with heavy gifts, and Li Bingbeidao's
Taking the lead, a round of impeachment began to criticize the Runing army for its strong defense and clearing the country.
In the clearing of the country at that time, the actions of the Runing Army could not be gentle and considerate. The people also had fierce resistance to leaving their hometowns, so the Runing Army must have used knives to persuade them. To say that the Runing Army harmed the people is not considered a crime.
They were wronged.
Moreover, Li Bingbei was very bad. In his impeachment memorial, he fiercely criticized that the prisoners captured by the Runing Army were mixed with a large number of local people, and hinted that among the heads taken by the Runing Army, there were also a large number of murderers.
Therefore, the entire memorial is full of doubts about the victory of Runing Army in Ruzhou.
You should not say that Li Bingbeidao's impeachment was quite lethal. He did not fabricate the facts, and his speculations were reasonable. It fully demonstrated the profound skill of an old official in playing with words.
And after so many years, although the Shanchuan Division could not open up a situation with senior officials in Henan, it had bribed some low-level officials in major yamen. In order to show that his impeachment was not a personal vendetta, but selfless, Li Bingbeidao's impeachment
The memorial was discovered in advance, so as soon as the memorial changed hands at the Henan Governor's Yamen and the Chief Envoy's Yamen, the Shanchuan Department's fast horse delivered the news back to Runing Mansion.
When he saw this information from the Shanchuan Division, Deng Qifan was very anxious. He went to Wu Shigong and said: "Sir, should we also send people to the capital to clear the air? If Li Bingbeidao's impeachment caused the emperor to become angry, our Runing army would not
Eat the good fruit!”
Wu Shigong thought about it carefully, then shook his head and rejected Deng Qifan's suggestion: "Mr. Deng, the capital is a bottomless pit. How much money do we have to throw into it? Besides, we are inherently at a disadvantage in quarreling with civil servants."
"But there is no need to worry. No matter how brilliant Li Bingbeidao is, we cannot deny that Ruzhou's great victory is nothing more than a dispute over the outcome. In this troubled time, the emperor and the court will not blame us too much for winning the battle."
"Some trivial punishments don't matter. At most, the credit that should be given to us is only a small amount. We don't care about official titles. The only big loss is that the number of troops that should have been increased has been reduced. But what loss does this have for us?
?We can’t get the military pay of 1,200 soldiers. Even if we are given the military pay of 12,000 soldiers, we still can’t get it. On the contrary, we have no desire and become more rigid."
"But Mr. Deng is right. We also need to be on guard. If Li's military preparations go too far, we must also protect ourselves. We must not let my Runing army suffer too much."
So Wu Shigong began to carry out self-protection actions. Directly submitting a memorial to refute was not a good strategy. Even if he exposed the Shanchuan Division spies who had finally laid a nail in the yamen, he might not be able to outsmart civil servants like Li Bingbeidao by playing lawsuits with pen and ink. So Wu Shigong
He simply acted like a fool.
Wu Shigong pretended not to know about the impeachment of Li Bingbeidao and Ruzhou officials. He first wrote a private letter and sent it to Eunuch Qin who was in the capital.
In this private letter, Wu Shigong wrote it himself and used very vernacular language.
First of all, Wu Shigong said bluntly: This letter is not only for Eunuch Qin, a good friend, to learn about the situation in Henan and the peasant rebels, but also for Eunuch Qin to convey the content of this letter to the ears of Emperor Chongzhen and the princes of the court.
Because this is the opinion of a military attache who knows the local situation in Henan, has fought head-on with the peasant rebels, and has first-hand information.
Moreover, Wu Shigong also used a large section of the letter to recall every detail of his interactions with Eunuch Qin in the capital, expressing his longing for his hometown in the capital, his condolences for his mother's death, and his guilt for not being able to fulfill his filial piety. This language
It's very superficial, but this feeling goes deep into my heart.
Wu Shigong also pointed out his status as a noble, implying that his noble family and the Ming Empire are closely related, sharing weal and woe. He expressed his loyalty to the Ming Empire.
Wu Shigong certainly did not play these emotional cards in the hope that political veterans like 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 removes Wu Shigong and others from their posts as military attachés of the Runing Army, Wu Shigong and the others will play into their own ambitions. After such a desperate attempt, Emperor Chongzhen will punish the Runing Army at most, and ultimately he will keep Wu Shigong and the others.
Locally in Runing Prefecture.
Then Wu Shigong introduced the situation of the local and peasant rebel forces in Henan in detail in the letter. Wu Shigong wrote this part in quite detail. Anyway, he told the truth, no exaggeration, no embellishment, no omissions, just to tell Eunuch Qin
The real situation in Henan.
Of course, Wu Shigong highlighted the situation of refugees all over Henan, who were all abandoned, and also described the situation where bandits were rampant in Henan. The reason why he highlighted this point was to let Emperor Chongzhen and Eunuch Qin understand that the people of Henan had actually been fighting against thieves
Regardless, their identities will change at any time, so the purpose of the Runing Army in capturing those local people is to prevent them from joining the peasant rebel army.
Wu Shigong then introduced the situation of the Runing Army to Eunuch Qin. Anyway, he first lamented the bitter experience, focusing on the fact that Henan had been suffering from drought for four years, and the Henan Bingbei Dao Yamen had not issued military pay for several years.
However, Wu Shigong also expressed his understanding of the financial constraints of the imperial court, so he expressed his determination that the Runing Army would overcome such difficulties and grit his teeth and devote himself to the Ming Empire.
Wu Shigong also introduced that Li Lu's Ye County Camp and Zhao Ming's Guide Guard have formed a trinity alliance with Wu Shigong's Runing Army. They will jointly command and advance and retreat together to ensure the tranquility of these garrison areas. However, due to this
The losses in the Ruzhou victory were too great, and the Runing army was unable to take the initiative in a short period of time. Therefore, we sincerely ask Emperor Chongzhen and the court for their understanding. Because the Runing army was able to achieve the Ruzhou victory despite being short of food and clothing.
The victory was not easy.
Finally, Wu Shigong suggested to the court that the most appropriate method to exterminate the roving peasant rebel army was-regional defense plus full-court press.
What does this method mean? It is to divide the garrison areas of various local military attachés into their own areas, and those local military attachés will ensure the safety of their garrison areas and prevent the entry of peasant rebels.
The imperial court will establish an encirclement and suppression corps to follow the peasant rebel army in continuous encirclement and suppression. There is no need to think about determining the outcome in one battle. It will just continue to harass and fight so that the peasant rebel army will not have a chance to breathe. If this continues, the activities of the peasant rebel army will
The area will become smaller and smaller, and their personnel and supplies will not be replenished. Although the time and cost of encirclement and suppression may be larger, 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 state his interests to the mine supervisor Ye Zhong, asking him to also write a letter to his patron Wang Chengen.
Wu Shigong promised Ye Zhong: Although Ye Zhong's Nanyang iron mine had to stop operations due to threats from the peasant rebels and the bandits they left behind, Wu Shigong still guaranteed Ye Zhong's annual dividends from the private iron mines in Ye County.
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 Ye Zhong gave for the position of mine supervisor were not all bribes.
Is the water floating?
Wu Shigong asked Ye Zhong to take the initiative to propose to Emperor Chongzhen and the inner court that he would not be afraid of hardships and stay in Wu Shigong's Runing Army as a supervisor. In that case, Ye Zhong would be indispensable if the Runing Army had benefits, and the Runing Army would not be left behind.
Will force Ye Zhong to go to the battlefield.
When Ye Zhong heard this, he felt enlightened. When the peasant rebels crossed the Yellow River and threatened Nanyang, the reason why Ye Zhong did not flee to Nanyang Fucheng but to Ye County was precisely because he knew about the relationship between Li Lu and Wu Shigong.
Runing's army is very powerful in combat! And it was later proved that his vision was very accurate.
After it was safe, Ye Zhong was also worried about his future. But Wu Shigong now pointed out to him a way to serve as the supervisor of the Runing Army, which made him another bright and beautiful person.
Ye Zhong knew that he voluntarily gave up the well-oiled mine supervisor to serve as a dangerous supervisor. This kind of request from Emperor Chongzhen and the inner court would not be ignored. Moreover, his courageous attitude in taking charge may also win the favor of Emperor Chongzhen.
Appreciate it. So Ye Zhong hit it off with Wu Shigong immediately.
Therefore, Ye Zhong also wrote a private letter to Wang Chengen. In addition to expressing his willingness to become the supervisor of the Runing Army, Ye Zhong also reported on the performance of the Runing Army he had seen.
They all told the truth, and there were some words that accused the Runing Army of arresting people and grabbing money. However, Ye Zhong also analyzed the reasons why the Runing Army strengthened its walls and cleared the country. Finally, he pointed out that it was 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 such heavy casualties in the great victory of Ruzhou, the Runing Army had falsely reported some military exploits.
, but the process of their deadly battle with the peasant rebels is always real. So they deserve some credit. (To be continued...