Chapter seven hundred and seventy-five the insensitive court
"What do you say in the city?" Wu Shigong asked the caller without any hope.
As expected, the general replied: "General Wu in the city is not willing to let us enter the city."
On August 27, the 14th year of Chongzhen, the Runing army finally arrived at Ningyuan City. The soldiers who had just escaped from danger were all ecstatic, but then a basin of ice water poured over them, which made them feel cold. Wu Sangui, who was in charge of Ningyuan City,
Don't let Runing's army enter the city.
Wu Shigong touched his beard and felt that his body was itchy after not taking a shower for nearly a month, so he half-jokingly said: "Since they don't let us enter the city, let's fight them down!"
After listening to Wu Shigong's words, Yu Ji, Chi Ming and other Runing Army officers laughed and disagreed. However, even if Wu Shigong really ordered to attack Ningyuan City, they would carry out the order to the letter, let alone attack the imperial court.
What's the big deal about the heavy city located in Liaodong?
But other people's little hearts couldn't bear it. Zhou Junwu, Yan Sanling, Wang Sheng and others all exclaimed in unison: "You can't do this! That's a rebellion!"
Wu Shigong didn't expect these people to take his words seriously. In order to add some fun to the boring escape moment, he then teased these people like a joke and said: "Whoever doesn't give me a bath, I will take revenge on you!"
No one can stop me!"
Yu Ji, Chi Ming and the others couldn't help laughing. Only then did Zhou Junwu, Wang Sheng and the others realize that Wu Shigong was playing tricks on them.
After traveling to the Ming Dynasty, Wu Shigong has always maintained good hygiene habits from modern times. Therefore, he has always bathed every day and shaved his face. If he didn't want to be too shocking, Wu Shigong even wanted to stop growing his hair and shave it short.
.
So everyone who is close to Wu Shigong knows that he has a very luxurious living habit. Why is it said to be luxurious? That is because at that time, four or five maids were required to take a hot bath. It is not like modern times, it only requires
A water heater. Therefore, if those Runing military children who were written by Fu Wenzhai to promote how diligent and thrifty Wu Shigong were would be shocked when they learned that the contemporary "saint" in their minds was such an image.
However, the upper echelons of the Runing Army were somewhat disapproving of Wu Shigong's lifestyle. They all believed that this was the noble behavior of Wu Shigong who came from a wealthy family, and many people even imitated Wu Shigong's behavior. Therefore, among the Runing Army, long beards were worn
There were only a few people there, and they all took baths frequently. Even the barracks of the Runing Army had large bathhouses built for soldiers to use. It can be said that the Runing Army was the most hygienic army in this era.
Seeing Zhou Junwu, Wang Sheng and the others were all smiling bitterly, and Wu Shigong stopped joking. He told the commander who called out: "Go again and ask the city to send out grain and grass. We must be able to get there."
Let’s go to Shanhaiguan! Otherwise, don’t blame me for turning against you.”
Although the current Runing army does not lack food and grass from Ningyuan to Shanhaiguan, Wu Shigong still wanted to blackmail him if he had the opportunity. After all, after such a defeat, Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, was trapped in Songshan. The future food and salary of the Runing army will still be lost.
Don't know how to solve it.
When the two representatives of the Ministry of War, Zhang Ruoqi and Ma Shaoyu, fled to the mouth of the Xiaoling River and took a sea ship back to Ningyuan. Undecided, they immediately reported to the court that Hong Chengchou's negligence in command led to the defeat, in order to escape their own culpability.
After Emperor Chongzhen and the Ming Dynasty heard the bad news, they no longer cared about the small thoughts of these two little people. They were immediately shocked by the huge bad news.
Then, the governor Fang Yizao and the supervisor Gao Qiqian who stayed behind reported to the court in a hurry: of the 150,000 Ming army, only more than 30,000 people had escaped back. (At this time, they did not know that there were still more soldiers.
The Runing Army will return in January)
In this battle, the Qing army annihilated more than 53,000 Ming troops (all with heads), and seized nearly 5,000 mules and horses, a huge amount of armor and other military supplies. If not for the return of the Runing army,
They suffered several losses repeatedly. The casualties of the Qing army were simply negligible.
From this, we can see how huge the number of people drowned in the sea and dumped in the wilderness by the Ming army was, excluding those who escaped (including the Runing army) and those who were besieged Songshan City.
When Emperor Chongzhen and the court received the report of Songshan's disastrous defeat, they were shocked and didn't know how to react. After such a long period of planning, the mobilization of so many troops and provisions, and such a huge hope of victory,
The decisive battle turned into a complete failure inexplicably.
By this time, Emperor Chongzhen was not only shocked, but he also doubted whether the destiny had really been transferred. He was so discouraged that he could hardly muster the energy to deal with the difficult military issues in Liaodong. Therefore, when it was most necessary to take urgent measures to deal with the disastrous defeat,
When the situation in Liaodong was adjusted later, Chongzhen's monarchs and ministers showed puzzling slowness and insensitivity.
And what was Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant, doing at this time? He was busy "rectifying the chaos."
When Zhou Yanru took office, he appointed some people, or dismissed some people from official positions, and did some "good things", but they were basically biased towards the Donglin Party members. This made Zhang Pu, Zhang Cai and others a little proud, and they naively thought
Zhou Yanru used to hate the Donglin Party, but now that he knew he was wrong, he could guide him to the right path. I really thought Zhou Yanru had become a gentleman overnight.
When he first became the second chief minister, Zhou Yanru was very trustworthy. After joining the cabinet, he changed the practices of the previous chief ministers and tried hard to persuade Emperor Chongzhen to appoint Dong Lin and implement the New Deal.
Emperor Chongzhen also had a "deep love" for Zhou Yanru, whom he hadn't seen for several years. When he first summoned him, he held his hand and greeted him warmly. When he gave him a banquet, he even served as the host himself. (Yang Sichang also didn't get it when he went on an expedition.
After such a privilege.) Returning to the palace, Emperor Chongzhen was still very excited and said to the chamberlain beside him: "It's still him!" It was like a lost business traveler suddenly saw an old horse that had lost its way, and finally knew what to do next.
To rely on.
But the prescriptions given to Emperor Chongzhen by this old horse are not actually new. They are just several major policies that the Donglin Party members have been calling for and striving for for many years.
Zhou Yanru first proposed to forgive the money and food arrears accumulated by the people over the years, and to exempt current taxes for this year and next in war-torn and disaster-stricken areas; as a representative figure of the Jiangnan gentry, he also requested a temporary suspension of floods in Jiangnan and northern Zhejiang.
The autumn grain supplies in Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou will be replenished next summer.
Emperor Chongzhen approved all these suggestions one by one. Although these measures cannot fundamentally solve the suffering of people starving and dying, they are after all a kind of "virtuous policy" to alleviate people's disasters. As for how to fill the further increasing financial deficit, Zhou Yanru
He and his Donglin backers couldn't think of any good solution for the time being. And the Ming Dynasty's finances officially collapsed.
Another important measure is to limit the power of the Factory and the Wei. Zhou Yanru proposed that the Factory and the Wei’s four investigations have caused panic among people and created a large number of unjust, false and wrong cases.
Handle important cases designated by the emperor.
This approach was enthusiastically supported by all the officials and citizens of the capital, because it eliminated the shadow of spy rule that always weighed heavily on their hearts. However, the people of Dongchang and Jinyiwei lost most of their power and considerable economic resources.
He hated Zhou Yanru and the political forces behind him.
The most critical aspect of the new policy was in personnel matters. Zhou Yanru was very loyal. After taking office, he recommended key Donglin cadres to important positions according to the orders issued by Fushe, and at the same time rescued Donglin Party members who were awaiting imprisonment.
As batches of Donglin Party members ascended to important positions, the imperial court was covered with nine rows of forests in the east, almost becoming their domination. Donglin Party members and others were also excited and gearing up, hoping to take advantage of this opportunity.
Do something good.
But the so-called good opportunity is actually just an elusive mirage. Things in the world have gone bad, the political situation of the court has gone bad, and it is impossible to turn the tide. The way Zhou Yanru was elected to power itself symbolizes the Donglin Party’s distrust of themselves.
The betrayal of political principles and the corruption of Donglin politics.
The major shareholders of the Eunuch Party did not receive much benefit after Zhou Yanru came to power. Only one of Ruan Dacheng's close friends, Ma Shiying, was deposed as the governor of Fengyang. For this reason, the Eunuch Party became even more resentful towards the Donglin Party members and Zhou Yanru himself.
mind.
The Donglin Party members who had become high-ranking officials and the arrogant restorationists followed the road of connecting joints and taking internal routes, and the integrity and integrity they had always flaunted were almost gone.
The most bizarre thing is that after eliminating the bad governance of the factories and guards, it opened the door for the bureaucrats to engage in wanton personal gains. In the last days of the Chongzhen Dynasty, the corruption of the government, the corruption and bribery of officials,
The shirking of responsibilities and the partisanship and opposition have reached an unprecedented level.
Zhou Yanru, who serves as the chief minister, is a representative of this kind of political politics. He is an extremely smart and smooth person. He has always been known for his lack of principles. He values humanity and rarely disputes. He is very fond of asking him to do things.
An accommodating person will do his best to help as long as he can. He will not refuse no matter how much bribe he is given, and he will not hesitate to give him a small amount. He will never ask questions when his relatives pretend to be middlemen and withhold part or even most of the bribe.
This loose attitude resulted in a situation where officials and gentry all over the world came to seek personal gain under the assistant ministers' door. His cronies and retainers took advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune. The traffic in front of the prime minister's house was more lively than the market and temple fair. However, because Zhou Yanru was smart and tactful
, he was once very popular with Emperor Chongzhen.
But anyone with a discerning eye can see that when Zhang Pu died at that time, the national society immediately lost its leader. Zhou Yanru was surrounded by Wu Chang's generation, and this was a sign that they began to really do whatever they wanted.
And with such a chief assistant, how could Zhou Yanru endorse the Songjin War made by the previous chief assistant? How could he step into the quagmire of rescuing the Liaodong crisis? (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature for better updates of the novel.