"What about Yingtian and Fengyang?" Emperor Chongzhen asked next.
Yang Sichang did not answer directly. He analyzed: "Yingtian and Fengyang are important places. Officials who are close to the people here should not move without permission. I know what the emperor is thinking, and I also know that Yu Shilang is a rare talent. But now it is difficult to arrange for Yu Shilang
Official position, let me take a bold guess: the emperor is probably worried about this matter!"
"Exactly!" Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said, "Ai Qing is telling me what I am worried about."
"For Mr. Yu to build a strong army with his own hands, it cannot be said that he is incompetent; to lead his troops personally and dare to fight is not to be said to be uncourage; to think of the emperor's difficulties and retreat, it cannot be said to be disloyal; to know the party and stay away from others is not to be said to be unfaithful.
It can be said to be unwise. But he has lived in a local place for a long time and does not know how to manage the temple. He suddenly rises to a high position and is at a loss. The emperor should use his strengths and avoid his weaknesses!"
These words immediately aroused the interest of Emperor Chongzhen. He immediately straightened his body forward and asked eagerly: "Yang Aiqing, please tell me!"
"Why is it short? His foundation is too shallow, and his achievements are not obvious. Yu Shilang has been in the officialdom for more than ten years, and he was the first county magistrate for six years. Except for his Shangguan in Henan, he has no friends in the officialdom. And he is in the officialdom.
In just three or four years, he was suddenly promoted from a county magistrate to a minister. To be honest, many ministers in the court only know their names but not their people, so how can they respect and obey orders? There will definitely be a discount in uploading and issuing orders, and their work will also be compromised.
It is a great fallacy to not be able to go as you wish."
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen nodded repeatedly, indicating to Yang Sichang to continue.
"As for the merits of Mr. Yu, the rumors among the government and the public are that King Qin killed more than 500 Tatars this time. Most of the other achievements are unknown to outsiders, and it is difficult to convince the public. However, the emperor and the ministers know very well why Mr. Yu is so famous.
It’s difficult. With no pay and no soldiers, you can build an army of over 10,000 people. It has fought many times and remained undefeated. There have been many ministers in the government and the public, but no one can come up to you. Shilang Yu is truly the most outstanding person in the government.
minister."
"Therefore, Director Yu Shilang trains troops and fights in the local area. If he puts it in Yingtian or Fengyang, it will be difficult to make full use of his strengths if it is left vacant. On the contrary, it will be unsightly. It will be like a tiger in a cage, which is a pity."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen immediately asked: "Does Yang Aiqing want me to make use of Yu Aiqing? How can I use him if I can leave him idle?"
"Of course! Weichen is just optimistic about Minister Yu and wants the emperor to make great use of him." Yang Sichang said with a smile. "According to Weichen's opinion, the Nanjing Military Department is the right place for him. Because Minister Yu's department has been retained.
The capital, it is difficult to use it with bare hands, so it needs to be given a strong army. And Nanjing just has two generals, Huang and Liu, and it is also in need of civil servants to lead the army. In the future, there is no need to guard Eunuch Lu in Nanjing to rescue him. As the saying goes, all the people will be used.
Useful."
"Also, Commander Xiong of Xiangyang only recruits people. Military affairs are beyond his control. If there are any mistakes in the war, I will have Minister Yu to make up for it in Nanjing, so that the situation will not be difficult to deal with."
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen felt quite comfortable and had a feeling of enlightenment. He smiled and asked: "What Yang Aiqing said: Do you want to be of great use to Yu Aiqing, but are not in a hurry to use it?"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" Yang Sichang immediately saluted.
"But...but..." Emperor Chongzhen frowned again. He stammered out a few words, and subconsciously looked at the curtain behind him.
Wang Cheng'en, who was behind Emperor Chongzhen, was quite familiar with Emperor Chongzhen's habits and movements. Behind the curtain was the Hanlin who recorded "Notes on Living Life", so the current Emperor Chongzhen must have something unspeakable to say.
So Wang Chengen rolled his eyes and immediately asked what Emperor Chongzhen was saying: "I'm afraid that Minister Yu doesn't know the emperor's painstaking efforts and feels resentful!"
"Insolent! How can you talk about my humerus behind my back?" Emperor Chongzhen immediately scolded him loudly.
Wang Chengen shrank his head. Anyway, he had completed his mission. If Emperor Chongzhen scolded him a few words, just scold him, as long as Emperor Chongzhen knew what he was doing. And Yang Sichang also understood Emperor Chongzhen's little tricks, and he seemed not to listen.
As if he was scolding, he replied unhurriedly: "Tomorrow, I will personally visit Minister Yu and let Minister Yu understand the emperor's good intentions."
Emperor Chongzhen was relieved to hear that Yang Sichang personally agreed to be this evil man. The matter could be resolved and his reputation could be guaranteed. This made Emperor Chongzhen quite satisfied. Today's matter was finally resolved.
Emperor Chongzhen and Yang Sichang did have good ideas, and their opinions seemed to be unified. However, in fact, they were very different in their arrangements for Yu Zilian. Emperor Chongzhen wanted to make Yu Zilian the Five Provinces
Governor Xiong Wencan's replacement, and Yang Sichang wanted to use Yu Zilian as Xiong Wencan's tinkerer. Although on the surface, there seems to be no difference between the two, in fact, Yu Zilian's future status will be very different.
After all, Yang Sichang did not want Yu Zilian to take over as governor of the five provinces.
As for whether Yu Zilian can successfully control the two Ming armies, Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo, after he goes to Nanjing? Are the Nanjing garrison eunuch Lu Jiude and the Nanjing Minister of War willing to give their rights to Yu Zilian? That is even more questionable.
It's a troublesome thing.
After taking a sip of tea, Emperor Chongzhen asked: "Yang Aiqing! Are you fully prepared for Huguang?"
Yang Sichang immediately bowed and reported: "The Ministry of War has issued a document: Gansu General Army Chai Shihua Department and Ningyuan General Army Zu Dabi Department have moved south from the capital to Huguang. Shaanxi Governor Zheng Chongjian led the Shaanxi army out of Tongguan towards Xiangyang and Yunyang, while Sichuan Governor Fu Zonglong led the army.
When the Sichuan army entered Yunyang, together with Governor Xiong's Huguang army, they surrounded Gucheng and Fangxian areas. This time, they added Li Lu, the Nanyang general, and Wu Shigong, the Runing general, to attack with a thunderous blow.
Fight and decide the affairs of the people and thieves."
As the main force of the Ming army in the interior was transferred to King Qin in the north in large numbers, in addition to the small groups of peasant armies from various parts of the Central Plains who were still moving around, the two main forces of the peasant army, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, who had already been supported, were also ready to move.
Local officials in charge of Gucheng and Fang County constantly reported the ulterior motives of the two armies, saying, "Zhang Xianzhong entered Gucheng and repeatedly refused to listen to his orders. He was about to wait for the people's fields to ripen and divide the summer and autumn grains among them. It was a little unsatisfactory.
They will start fighting again"; "Luo Rucai falsely claimed that his troops were stationed in the fields and did not let the troops cultivate the land. If they plow with knives like this, if they are slightly dissatisfied, they will start again and take risks."
Therefore, Yang Sichang, who had always been the backbone of the main militant faction and adhered to the strategy of "pacifying the enemy's territory before resisting foreign aggression," proposed that he take the opportunity to mobilize a large army for a preemptive strike and completely eliminate the main force of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai's peasant army stationed in Gucheng and Fang County.
Emperor Chongzhen was originally bent on appeasement and had no opinion on conducting such a large-scale military operation. However, he also felt that he could not rest assured until a serious disaster was eliminated, so he finally agreed to Yang Sichang's plan.
In fact, the court's plan this time made sense. Because Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, had grown up in the mountains and forests and had not been seen in the outside world for a long time, the court thought that Li Zicheng might have died and no longer posed a threat. Now, as long as Zhang Zicheng is completely eliminated,
Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, the three giants of the peasant army will be completely wiped out, and the rebellion among the people and thieves in the pass will also be extinguished in one fell swoop.
If the war goes well, the imperial court will save a lot of food and pay, and will also dispatch a large number of the main force of the Ming army to fight the peasant army to Liaodong. Then, under the leadership of Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, all the elites of the Ming Dynasty will be gathered to conquer Liaodong in one fell swoop.
The Manchu and Qing Dynasties were pacified.
"Runing Wu Changjing?" Emperor Chongzhen was a little surprised when he heard Wu Shigong's name. "Then Wu Changjing has been asked by Governor Hong to go to fight against the Tartars outside the customs?"
When Wu Shigong killed Qiu Lei, the commander-in-chief of Shandong, the court was in an uproar. This was a naked challenge to the court's authority. But when the ministers discussed what crime Wu Shigong should be punished for, the court could not make up his mind.
It stands to reason that killing an official of the imperial court without permission is a capital offense. In the Ming Dynasty, even the common people's collusion was only the emperor's right, let alone the official, so the power of life and death would never be given to a military attache.
.
However, Wu Shigong had just achieved great military exploits, causing tens of thousands of casualties to foreign enemies. This happened only a few times in the three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, so Wu Shigong's merits and demerits could be completely offset. So what happened to the court?
What reward should be given to Wu Shigong?
At this time, Hong Chengchou, who had just taken over as the governor of Jiliao, solved this problem for the court. Because Hong Chengchou knew the combat effectiveness of Wu Shigong's Runing Army very well. In the past, he also wanted to transfer the Runing Army to Shaanxi to encircle and suppress the peasant army, but because
This idea was not realized for various reasons. This time Hong Chengchou wanted to mobilize the elite of the Ming army to fight in Liaodong. Of course, he would not let go of the Runing army, which had just established meritorious service in the war with the Qing army.
So the imperial court agreed to Hong Chengchou's request, and Emperor Chongzhen also approved the transfer order from the Ministry of War. But now Emperor Chongzhen heard that the Runing Army was going to participate in the peasant army's encirclement and suppression, which surprised him.
"Although Commander-in-Chief Wu and Commander-in-Chief Li made great achievements in Hejian, their troops suffered heavy casualties. They are returning to Runing to reorganize their troops in Nanyang. And now the imperial court is also gathering the civilian bandits around the government troops to suppress the bandits. These two groups
The addition of a powerful force also added a third of certainty. Once this battle is over, General Wu will be transferred to Liaodong. Although General Wu's moral character is lacking, his army is still very strong. After these two battles are over, the court will discuss merits afterwards.
I'll give you a reward. And General Wu's Runing camp has no worries." Yang Sichang replied.
Yang Sichang's meaning is very clear. The reason why the imperial court wanted to transfer Wu Shigong's Runing Army to Liaodong was that it hoped that the Runing Army could continue to consume strength with the Qing Army. But now there is an opportunity for the Runing Army and the Peasant Army to consume strength. That consumption
It’s much better to consume it twice than once.
"Good!" Emperor Chongzhen was indeed very satisfied with Yang Sichang's arrangement.
Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen showed tiredness on his face and was about to end the conversation, Yang Sichang quickly reported what happened to Sun Chuanting: "Your Majesty! Governor Sun petitioned for the bones again, saying that he was deaf and could not serve as the governor of Baoding. I am afraid that he is still afraid.
Let the Liaodong Tatars enter the border again within their defense lines! Your Majesty! How should we respond to this memorial?"