In the current situation, Hong Chengchou is the governor of the six provinces, and Wang Jiazhen, the Minister of War, is the prime minister of the six provinces.
Yang Sichang felt that Wang Jiazhen was mentally retarded, so he recommended Xiong Wencan as his replacement, and Chongzhen quickly agreed to the appointment.
Therefore, Xiong Wencan had to thank Yang Sichang for his promotion and transfer.
As for Lu Xiangsheng, he was highly regarded by the emperor and was transferred to the governor of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi, specifically responsible for defending against Manchu invasion from the grasslands.
At this time, Lu Xiangsheng was farming in Anxin and recruiting a large number of refugees to settle the land. In one year, he saved more than 200,000 dan of grain. There was no need for the court to spend money on raising troops!
Emperor Chongzhen was very happy and issued a special commendation order, asking Jiubian to seriously study Lu Xiangsheng's advanced experience.
Let’s talk about the incident in the court.
Wen Tiren, the first assistant, finally fell.
The reason was that after the recommendation system was restored, a large number of Donglin Party members were reinstated and a large number of Fushe members were recommended. Coupled with the old grievances, Wen Tiren believed that Qian Qianyi and Qu Shichu were behind the scenes.
Therefore, Wen Tiren instigated Zhang Hanru to accuse the two of illegal crimes.
Qian Qianyi and Qu Shishu had been dismissed from office for many years, and they had been retreating to their hometowns to carry out the literary reform movement of "repairing the source." Suddenly, disaster fell from the sky, and Qian Qianyi immediately asked two people to help him get out of jail.
One is the eunuch Cao Huachun, Chongzhen's old teammate when he was the prince.
One is Feng Quan, who is an eunuch and has been dismissed from office and returned to his hometown.
Although Feng Quan was an eunuch who was dismissed from office, his father gave birth to ten daughters and recruited a lot of powerful sons-in-law. Feng Quan originally didn't want to meddle in other people's affairs, but when he heard that Cao Huachun was willing to help, he also mobilized his connections to help.
Why did Cao Huachun want to help Qian Qianyi?
Because after the death of the great eunuch Wang An, Qian Qianyi wrote an inscription for Wang An.
And Wang An was the companion of Emperor Taichang, and once participated in supporting the establishment of Emperor Tianqi. Even 9,000-year-old Wei Zhongxian came to power by relying on Wang An's mazi. Wei Zhongxian and the Hakka family grew bigger, framed Wang An for treason, and sent him to exile.
Nanhai starved to death.
After Chongzhen ascended the throne, he gave Wang An's ancestral hall the title "Zhaozhong".
As for Cao Huachun, he is also Wang An’s disciple!
Qian Qianyi sent someone to deliver the inscription he wrote to Wang An to Cao Huachun. Thinking of Wang An's past kindness, Cao Huachun became increasingly dissatisfied with Wen Tiren, so he took the opportunity to defend Qian Qianyi.
Wen Tiren was overjoyed when he heard this, and wanted to kill both Qian Qianyi and Cao Huachun, so he went to Chongzhen to report them.
Chongzhen was the most ruthless in forming cliques, Qian Qianyi and Cao Huachun were the ones who formed cliques!
At the same time, Wen Tiren had someone put up a big-character poster saying that Qian Qianyi had given Cao Huachun 40,000 taels of silver.
This action seemed redundant. It was probably because he really didn't send the money. Cao Huachun insisted on sending the money and asked Chongzhen to send Jin Yiwei and Dongchang to investigate.
After repeated investigations, it was found that Wen Tiren was colluding with Zhang Hanru, and that Chen Luqian was instigating the incident. It was also found that Wen Tiren sent someone to post the big-character poster.
Seeing that the situation was not going well, Wen Tiren hid at home and pretended to be sick, but waited for three words from Chongzhen Zhupi: Let him go.
At this point, Wen Tiren resigned from office and returned home.
The eunuch Cao Huachun also exposed many problems, and he began to be jealous of Chongzhen.
The chief minister of the cabinet, the eunuch Bingbi, can be described as losing both sides.
Will the Donglin Party win?
Chongzhen has been keeping an eye on the Donglin Party. How could he let the Donglin Party fishermen benefit?
Zhang Zhifa, who was born in the Qi Party, became the first minister in a daze. The cabinet ministers in front of him were either fired by Wen Tiren or Chongzhen.
This man was once passionate, but now he has become an official fan. After he became the first assistant, he learned everything from Wen Tiren. He can be regarded as a "less honest and less sensible copycat version of Wen Tiren".
…
Qianqing Palace.
The accompanying eunuch came with a smile and said to Liu Tongsheng: "Please, the number one scholar. Your Majesty has been waiting for a long time."
Liu Tongsheng, who fled from Jishui to Nanchang, studied hard and became a Jinshi, and was even selected as the number one scholar.
According to the original historical trajectory, he would be involved in the political struggle between Yang Sichang and the Donglin Party. Because Shangshu criticized Yang Sichang for seizing his love to become an official, he was demoted by Chongzhen to be the governor of Fujian Anchasi. In anger, he claimed to be ill and returned home.
But after experiencing Zhao Han's rebellion and his family's escape, Liu Tongsheng became more mature.
He did not directly go to court and scold Yang Sichang, but instead impeached Xiong Wencan for colluding with the rebels. Anyway, Yang Sichang and Xiong Wencan were also in the same group.
Chongzhen is reviewing memorials. This emperor is very diligent.
Liu Tongsheng came forward to pay homage, and Chongzhen said, "Sit down."
At any time, the eunuch brought a stool, and after Liu Tongsheng sat down, Chongzhen was still reviewing the memorial.
After a long time, Chongzhen put down his ink pen and said, "I have carefully read all your memorials. Are the Zhao thieves in Luling really so difficult to control?"
"His Majesty!"
Liu Tongsheng got off the stool, knelt on the ground, and cried: "Xiong Wencan seems to be a favor, but in fact he is an enemy. A letter from my friend in Nanchang said that the entire Nanchang mansion and the countryside were stolen by Zhao thieves. Only Nanchang City is still the imperial court. The place is Nanchang City, where the people were also bewitched by the Zhao thieves, and Wang Yongzhong, the eunuch guarding Jiangxi Province, was beaten to death by the unruly people."
Emperor Chongzhen asked: "What was the cause of Wang Yongzhong's death?"
Liu Tongsheng replied: "After Wang Yongzhong took office, he wanted to build a house outside the city and sent his minions to exploit the common people. The people outside the city were all bewitched by the Zhao thieves and formed peasant soldiers and peasant associations to drive Wang Yongzhong back to Nanchang City. Wang Yongzhong exploited merchants in the city again, and even ordinary vendors were levied heavy taxes. Because the Zhao thieves were so powerful, the merchants in the city were no longer afraid of the majesty of the imperial court, and out of righteous indignation, they beat Wang Yongzhong to death."
"This thief deserves to die!"
Chongzhen was so angry that he looked livid: "I sent him to guard Jiangxi, but he provoked a popular uprising. Wouldn't it make the people's hearts turn towards the traitor Zhao?"
"Your Majesty," Liu Tongsheng knelt straight and cupped his hands, "many officials in Jiangxi are indeed exploiting and exploiting the traitor to an extent, which has led to the growing arrogance of the Zhao thief. Take Ding Kuichu, who was imprisoned, colluding with Li Maofang to set up a private banknote checkpoint outside Nanchang City. His name is In order to raise military expenses, he actually enriched his own pockets, and the merchants and people who came and went hated his government. Therefore, many merchants and their families defected to the Zhao traitors."
"Poof!"
Chongzhen was extremely angry. He slapped the table and said, "Ding Kuichu should be killed!"
Liu Tongsheng also said: "Since the Zhao bandit rebellion, among Jiangxi officials, only four officials can be called loyal and Qin."
"Which four?" Chongzhen asked.
Liu Tongsheng said: "The late governor Xie Shifan (Xie Xuelong) recruited troops to suppress bandits, and was defeated and died for his country. He can be counted as one. The late governor Zhu Hengyue (Zhu Xieyuan) loved the people as his son, worked hard to kill the bandits, and died of illness due to overwork. He can be counted as one..."
Chongzhen immediately interrupted: "Zhu Xieyuan underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, resulting in the loss of Jiangxi's elite. From then on, the court was unable to wipe out the Zhao thieves. Does he count as one?"
Liu Tongsheng said: "There is another hidden story in this matter. Jiangxi's elite were all lost in the hands of Li Maofang. After Zhu Hengyue arrived in Jiangxi, he helped the people train troops, and the people praised his virtues. The defeat in Fengcheng was actually due to Zhu Guoxun, the commander-in-chief of Jiangxi, sitting back and watching the friendly forces. Trapped and indifferent, Commander Zhu was surrounded on three sides by the rebels and attacked halfway across the river. Zhu Guoxun held the navy in hand and has not fought a single battle so far. He did not even dare to send warships to the territory of the rebels."
"Is this true?" Chongzhen frowned.
Liu Tongsheng said: "If your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can send Jin Yiwei to Nanchang to investigate closely. Who in Nanchang Mansion knows about this?"
Chongzhen closed his eyes and remained silent, deciding to vindicate Zhu Xieyuan and grant him the title of bachelor.
After a long time, Chongzhen opened his eyes and said, "Who are the other two?"
Liu Tongsheng continued: "Wang Suidong (Wang Siren), the former Jiangzhou Military Preparation Officer, rectified the military equipment and organized and trained the navy. Although there was a defeat, the main reason was Li Maofang, who held a large army and was afraid of the enemy. Such delaying the war opportunity caused the water in the Gan River to rise,
The rebels used small boats to attack with fire. Even so, Wang Suidong withdrew the main force of the navy. Today's Jiangxi Navy was trained by Wang Suidong and is the only elite officer and soldier left in Jiangxi."
Chongzhen believed that Liu Tongsheng was telling the truth because Xie Xuelong, Zhu Xieyuan, and Wang Siren were not officials of the same faction.
Since he is a good official who can do things, he should be reused. Jie Xuelong, Zhu Xieyuan is dead, Wang Siren is still alive, Chongzhen decided to recall Wang Siren to the capital to listen to him.
"Where is the one left?" Chongzhen asked.
Liu Tongsheng said: "Wu Naru (Wu Shiliang), the chief envoy on the left, is mature and prudent, and tries his best to mediate. However, he is over eighty years old, old and frail, and can only be counted as half. Zhang Zhongyang (Zhang Bingwen), the chief envoy on the right, loves the people and is diligent in government.
I respect you. It’s a pity that you don’t have the power to command the army, and you are greedy for money and lust, so you can only count half of it.”
Chongzhen sighed and said: "What you said, I just know that the officials in Jiangxi are in charge. Raozhou and Duchang are in chaos, but is it the Zhao thief who instigates it?"
Liu Tongsheng answered truthfully: "My old friends in Nanchang have organized a return home meeting, all of them are the escaped scholars. I communicate with my friends once every two months. There is a rebellion in Raozhou and Duchang, and it is not instigated by Zhao thieves.
But this year Jiangxi suffered from drought first and then floods. The government pressed for pressure and the vassal kings exploited. The people were in dire straits and the people were in chaos because of this."
Chongzhen was speechless. He was the one who asked Jiangxi officials to collect taxes because he did not believe there was a disaster in Jiangxi.
Liu Tongsheng suddenly kowtowed and put his forehead on the floor: "The Zhao thieves are all in the name of the government. They sent troops to occupy Raozhou and Duchang. It is said that outside the city of Raozhou, thousands of clan members shouted long live the Zhao thieves."
"The clan shouted long live the bandits?" Chongzhen suddenly stood up and stood on the spot in shock.
Liu Tongsheng said: "There are many poor people in the clans of Raozhou, even the generals and captains. The money and food provided by the local clans to support the clans are mostly deducted by princes and county kings, and the children of the clans are not allowed to engage in various industries, and some clans even rely on begging to make a living.
born."
Chongzhen was completely dumbfounded. The descendants of the Zhu family became beggars? They really returned to their ancestral business!
Chongzhen asked doubtfully: "Aren't clans with distant bloodline allowed to make a living on their own?"
The clan problem has long been exposed, so in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, those with distant bloodlines could not receive Lumi and could make a living on their own like ordinary people.
Liu Tongsheng replied: "The prince colluded with the prince and filled in the family register indiscriminately, and the local government's decrees were not strictly enforced."
Chongzhen was furious and determined to check the clan records in various places and let the descendants of the Zhu family at the bottom to fend for themselves.
This is so fucking nonsense. The descendants of the Zhu family shouted long live the rebels? Chongzhen seemed to have been slapped in the face.
Liu Tongsheng kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, if Jiangxi is not rectified, it will definitely fall into the hands of Zhao thieves!"
Chongzhen was silent and sighed in his heart.
This year there has been a major disaster across the country, bandits have reappeared, and the taxation areas in the south of the Yangtze River have also been hit by disasters. Where can we find the money to suppress bandits in Jiangxi?
Rogue bandits are a disaster for the provinces, and the Tatars repeatedly invade the capital. These two groups of bandits must be fought first. As for Jiangxi, since the Zhao thieves have not crossed provinces to cause trouble, they can only let it go for the time being.
After thinking for a while, Chongzhen comforted him and said, "You are a great talent, and you can serve as your attendant. Please don't discuss matters in Jiangxi for the time being."
Liu Tongsheng could only obey the order and bowed with tears in his eyes: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Although Liu Tongsheng was only promoted to one level, he took a crucial step. As a minister, he could often see the emperor and could also go to the Forbidden City to discuss matters.
In order to appease Zhao Han, Chongzhen quickly issued an imperial edict, in the name of his achievements in suppressing thieves, promoted Zhao Han to the rank of Governor and Tongzhi (from the first rank), and even gave Fei Rulan a royal title.
