Wu Sangui was from a family of generals, and his family power was deeply rooted in the court and the army. In his hands, he held the strongest and last 30,000 Guanning cavalry in the Ming Dynasty. He also insisted on guarding the only territory outside the Ming Dynasty, the isolated city of Ningyuan!
The month before last, when the Qing army invaded, Wu Sangui defeated more than ten of Dorgon's armies and won a rare victory in the Ming Dynasty, which excited the government and the public.
Let me ask, what should the court reward him for such great achievements and power?
All the civil and military officials on the stage were thinking about this problem, and Wu Sangui was also thinking about this problem when he came on stage. Before entering Beijing, he was uneasy, fearing that Emperor Chongzhen would accuse him of negligence in order to restrain him from a surprise attack by the Qing army.
He also thought about Ning Yuan's great merits. At most, he could atone for his faults but nothing big would happen. When he was worried about gains and losses, he went to visit Chang Yu. He got a sentence: "This trip is worry-free and my heart is at peace. I know that Emperor Chongzhen will not use the blame for negligence as an excuse. After all,
The court is not the emperor's utterance. The ministers in the cabinet have more to consider, and he has many connections in the court. What's more important is that Emperor Chongzhen fell out with him before he even had the strength to do so.
In addition, he still has a spare hand, so... maybe the door of Zhuguo will still be open to him.
"Your Majesty, Wu Sangui, your Majesty." After Wu Sangui came on stage, he knelt down in front of Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen stood up and came forward to help his arm: "Chang Bo (Wu Sangui's nickname), you always surprise me!"
"Your Majesty, your Majesty..." Wu Sangui was stunned and wanted to say something, but saw Emperor Chongzhen waving his hand to listen to the seal, and nodded to Wang Chenen.
"Wu Sangui, Jia Guozhu, Prince Taifu".
Phew, Wu Sangui from Taishan and all the civil and military officials in the audience could not help but heave a sigh of relief. Sure enough, they were ranked among the pillars of the country. But Chang Yu, who was standing by and watching from Taishan, frowned because it was so unexpected.
After returning to the capital, he entered the palace and had a deep conversation with Emperor Chongzhen about his merits. The target was pointed at Wu Sangui. He was so powerful that he would pursue it slowly. He could use the responsibility of inspection to offset his merits, neither suppressing nor exaggerating. To put it simply, he said:
, I won’t punish you or reward you, just come here to watch the ceremony.
Emperor Chongzhen also thought so, but the cabinet did not think so. They united with the courtiers to put pressure on Emperor Chongzhen. For this reason, Emperor Chongzhen even asked Chang Yu to hear his opinions. At that time, Chang Yu strongly supported Emperor Chongzhen and asked him to hold on.
put.
But now, Wu Sangui is still ranked among the pillars.
What's going on?
It turned out that Chongzhen reminded him that things had changed when he left the palace early in the morning, so he was mentally prepared for this.
Jia Zhuguo, and then...
Ah, and then it’s gone?
The officials waited for a long time, but saw that Wang Chengen did not read anything anymore, and handed a book with a gold seal to Wu Sangui. They were mostly surprised, no, he only gave it to Zhu Guo!
Wu Sangui thanked him with mixed feelings in his heart. If Zhou Yuji, Huang Degong, and Tang Tong were not the first to be ennobled, he would certainly be happy to be among the pillars of the country, but now... I always feel that something is missing.
There was a loud discussion in the audience, and both civil and military officials seemed confused.
But Emperor Chongzhen didn't listen. Li Banghua and Shi Kefa looked at each other without saying anything. Wang Chengen continued to read out the awards. Ma Ke, Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, and Liu Liangzuo came on stage in sequence. However, although the four of them were also big bosses, they didn't gain much.
, none of them entered the Zhu Kingdom, nor were they awarded titles, only military ranks. This made a few people very unhappy, but they also knew it well and knew that they had not yet achieved any great achievements that could be rewarded.
After conferring awards, it was already noon, and Wang Chengen went to the edge of the generals' platform: "Those who were called came to the front of the platform, and the emperor personally awarded the medals."
Medal? The officials were confused again.
There are two types of medals, one is the Ming Dynasty Military Medal, and the other is the Royal Medal of Honor.
They are all made of pure gold and are specially used for this military parade. They are the highest honorary medals of the Ming Dynasty.
Awarded to generals or soldiers who are brave in battle and have made outstanding contributions to the Ming Dynasty.
And this time, the total amount is only eight yuan, and the honors are awarded to Wu Sangui, Zhou Yuji, Huang Degong, Li Yan, Hao Yongzhong, Wuzhong, Tu Yuan, and Ji Jike.
This was obviously another unexpected surprise. The eight people thanked them one after another, which made others envious. Even Wu Sangui's unhappiness was relieved a lot.
Seeing that it was already noon and the generals had finished awarding rewards, I thought the emperor was about to drive back to the palace. Unexpectedly, Wang Chenen on the general stage shouted again: "Admiral Chang Yu of the East Jishi Factory listens to the order."
Chang Yu was startled and hurriedly knelt before Emperor Chongzhen, and the originally agitated civil and military officials in the audience also fell silent. Could it be that the emperor wanted to reward the young eunuch?
Everyone knows that the Ming Dynasty has been able to resist defeat in the past few months because of the young eunuch's efforts to turn the tide. No one except him is sure that there is no silver in the treasury and no soldiers in hand.
Despite repeated attacks by the Qing army, the capital was still able to be defended.
In terms of merit, the young eunuch should be the biggest contributor.
Although many people are unconvinced and unwilling to admit it, they also know that this is a fact.
However, if a eunuch cannot be an official, what will the emperor reward him?
"For Governor Chang Yu's meritorious service, the emperor granted him a palace and a military memorial arch. His fourth battalion was reorganized into the East Factory Guards and became the 27th Guards Corps."
Hold the grass!
The discussion in the audience reached the highest level today, and all the civil and military officials started shouting. This must be too exaggerated.
It's nothing if the emperor gives a mansion to a minister, and it's nothing if he gives it to a favored eunuch. After all, Chang Yu has meritorious service, and a house is not an exaggeration.
But the last two have a lot more thought in them!
Military merit memorial archways have always been awarded by the emperor to military generals who built great military merits. They were mostly during the founding period of the People's Republic of China and are rarely seen on ordinary days. In this ceremony, it is rare that Zhou Yuji and Huang Degong were given to them by the emperor. At this time, they were also given to a eunuch!
It is unique in all dynasties.
But the officials also understood what Emperor Chongzhen was thinking. Chang Yu was a eunuch and could not be an official, but he did have military merit, so he built a military merit memorial arch.
The ancestral regulations did not say that military merit memorials could not be built for eunuchs, so even though the officials felt it was inappropriate, they could not find any excuse to object.
However, classifying Dongchang's four battalions as the emperor's personal guards was obviously selfish, and many people saw the deeper meaning.
The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty also had twenty-six guards of his own bodyguards. The military power was under the direct control of the emperor and did not belong to the commander-in-chief of the five armies. At this time, Emperor Chongzhen wanted to recruit the four battalions of the young eunuch's Dongchang Guards into the twenty-seventh guard. See
It seems that he wants to take away the military power from the young eunuch, but in fact he is giving him military power.
The fourth battalion under Chang Yu was actually just to train confidants for self-protection at the beginning. The world is so chaotic these days, and there is no one he can trust around him who dare not go far away, let alone go to supervise the army.
These confidants are absolutely loyal to him. They can be called his bodyguards on weekdays, they are also a powerful force in war, and they can also intimidate those warlords when they supervise the army.
To put it bluntly, it is his private army.
But the imperial court would not allow a eunuch to have a private army!
Just because it was an emergency at that time, the court could only turn a blind eye. But now after returning to Beijing, some people have begun to gossip and impeach him every day.
Emperor Chongzhen naturally trusted Chang Yu and knew the importance of this army to him. Otherwise, if you asked him to go out alone to supervise the army with a blank seal, those arrogant and domineering warlords are vegetarians, who would be shocked?
Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen would never restrict Chang Yu, because that would be equivalent to restricting himself, but it would not work if he continued to do so, as others would stare at him and bite him.
So, he came up with such a way to form a new personal guard, Dongchang Guards, under the jurisdiction of Dongchang. Others can no longer point out this. It is normal for other yamen to take charge of the personal guards, such as
The four guards of Tengxiang were hung under the Yumajian Yamen.
In this way, Chang Yu takes charge of the fourth battalion, which is not only justified, but also very good to the soldiers of the fourth battalion. At first, they were temporary workers at best, without military status and no military rank, but now they are serious soldiers of the emperor.
In addition to being the official commander of the four battalions, Chang Yu also has certain authority to promote his officers and soldiers. For example, he can raise a general banner and promote hundreds of households to thousands. He does not need to report to any yamen at all. He is self-sufficient and has the final say. Of course, the four subordinates under his command have the final say.
The battalion commanders have just been promoted to the rank of Thousand Households.
As expected, the emperor trusted the young eunuch, and now he was in charge of an army of the emperor's personal guards. His position was more secure and he was increasingly unable to defeat him.
All the officials were whispering, some were disdainful, some were shameless, some were secretly scolding, and some felt that it was not an exaggeration for the young eunuch to achieve such great military achievements, and the emperor did not make any truly unacceptable rewards, not just a military merit.
Archway, at least the young eunuch didn't learn from Wei Zhongxian in building a shrine, nor was he called a thousand years old.
Chang Yu quickly thanked him on the stage. He never expected that Emperor Chongzhen would give him such a big surprise. He didn't even notice the palace or the military memorial arch. He even thought that the military memorial arch was too eye-catching and was simply trying to attract trouble for him.
Fans scolded him, but they were happy that the Fourth Battalion was incorporated into the Emperor's 27th Personal Guard, the East Factory Guards.
The duties of the other twenty-six guards were to inspect the imperial city and palace, but his Dongchang Guard was to inspect the soldiers and horses of the world. It was obvious that Emperor Chongzhen was trying to create an advantage for him.
Emperor Chongzhen was very proud when he saw Chang Yu's happy face, and whispered: "I didn't expect that I would give it to you..." As he said this, he suddenly frowned and looked at Zhengdong. Chang Yu turned his head and looked back, only to see Zhengdong watching in the distance.
The crowd of people suddenly became confused and fled in all directions. Soldiers and horses could be vaguely seen fighting, so they stood up and shouted: "Protect!"
All the officials in the audience were shocked and became confused.