In the battle of Xiong County, Shenwu Zhongwei was destroyed, and the government and the public were in an uproar.
For the imperial court, the Wen'an Rebellion was just a scabies disease at the beginning, but now it has evolved into a serious problem. In just over half a month, the situation has evolved into such a situation, and now the scale of the rebels has further expanded, reaching 30,000 people.
, this is no longer a small problem.
Zhu Houzhao was furious. He never expected that in a few counties in a small area, the rebels could escape the eyes and ears of the imperial army and succeed in a sneak attack. It was originally a situation of annihilation, but it turned out to be a mess.
Liu Jin was also extremely annoyed. How could he have thought that things would turn into this situation? Hui'an Bo Zhang Wei was simply a fool, he could not be reused at all, and he betrayed his trust. But Liu Jin knew that Zhang Wei could not bear the blame alone, otherwise
It’s just that I didn’t recommend it well enough.
But the question now is not about who is right or wrong, but who is going to clean up the current situation.
At the imperial meeting on the third day of February, Yang Tinghe opened fire.
"Your Majesty, I believe that we should prepare for two things now. One is to quickly mobilize heavy troops and rush to Hebei, especially the Bazhou area. No mistakes can be made. If necessary, the troops from the Beijing camp can be mobilized to go there. Now the enemy troops are directed towards Bazhou.
Threaten the security of the capital, things
The situation is extremely urgent and cannot be treated with any slightest contempt. In addition, I feel that in addition to military affairs, we also need to use gentle strategies. I know that it is inappropriate to say this now, but I sincerely ask the emperor to let me continue." Yang Tinghe said loudly.
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said: "After you finish speaking, who won't let you speak? What kind of gentle approach?"
Yang Tinghe said: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I believe that the reason why Hebei is in today's situation is because the people really can't survive anymore, so they take risks. If the people are not desperate, how can they be willing to rebel. Therefore, I have adopted a gentle policy.
That is, to appease the rebels and recruit them. At the same time, the imperial court also made a gesture to comfort the rebellious people in Hebei and promised not to pursue them for the crime of being a traitor."
As soon as Yang Tinghe finished speaking, he aroused opposition from many people.
"Did we hear you right, Yang Tinghe, you came up with such a bad idea? Making peace with the rebels? Recruiting them? Doesn't it mean that the court must bow to them? These rebels must be wiped out, otherwise where is the majesty of the court? What is the law of the Ming Dynasty?
Cun? What are you talking about?" Liu Jin retorted loudly.
Zhu Houzhao also frowned. He also felt that Yang Tinghe's gentle policy was too outrageous.
"Eunuch Liu, do you still have the nerve to object? Isn't it you who caused the situation in Hebei? If you hadn't implemented the so-called New Land Deal and carried out some political changes, which made the sky angry and people resentful, and the people were in dire straits, how could the situation have reached this point? People are doing it.
, God is watching, don’t think
Others are deaf and blind, but your Eunuch Liu covers the sky with one hand, and no one else knows? The policy of being gentle is the best policy. The first thing to be abolished is the new land policy you made. This is the source of disaster." Yang Tinghe finally said
Unable to bear it any longer, he yelled loudly.
Liu Jin stood up, knelt down in front of Zhu Houzhao, and said in a mournful voice: "Your Majesty, is this slave guessing true? I knew someone would seize on the New Land Deal and put the Wen'an rebellion on my slave.
.Yang Tinghe is the chief minister of the cabinet. When he said this, he must have represented the wishes of the outer court. I won’t argue, the emperor should let me go. If my head can silence the rebels, I will be willing to die."
Liu Jin is so smart, he has been on guard against this move for a long time. During this period, he had already blown the wind in front of Zhu Houzhao and exposed this matter. Originally, Zhu Houzhao actually felt that the events in Hebei might be related to Liu Jin's new land policy and horse administration reform. It had something to do with it. But when Liu Jin took the initiative, Zhu Houzhao thought Liu Jin was aboveboard and loyal.
"What are you doing? Why did I ever want your head? Now we are discussing the matter of dealing with the rebel soldiers, why did it get involved in this matter again?" Zhu Houzhao frowned.
Liu Jin said with a mournful face: "Your Majesty, you should punish the slaves. I finally understand. Ningxia's rebellion against the vassal Zhu Zhixiu was also under the banner of killing the slaves. Now that the rebels in Hebei are rebelling, some people are making trouble with the slaves. After all, It’s just that slaves have a hard life and are soft persimmons. Everyone dislikes slaves. The emperor chopped off the slaves’ heads and fulfilled their wishes.”
After hearing what Liu Jin said, Zhu Houzhao was also a little excited.
"Liu Jin, get up. I know that some people don't like me to have caring people around me, so they are looking for trouble with you. Don't worry, I won't let them succeed."
Yang Ting's face turned pale and he said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, if the ministers are guilty, the crime should be punished according to the law, instead of the emperor just saying to protect him. If the emperor does this, what else does the national law do? Doesn't it mean that the ministers are at a loss what to do?"
Zhu Houzhao also realized that what he said was too much, so he hurriedly said: "What I mean is that now is not the time to judge who is guilty."
Yang Tinghe breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and said: "Okay, I don't care about this matter. Your Majesty, my gentle policy is not to show weakness, but it is actually a method. If you can use gentle methods to win people's hearts and divide the rebels, Isn't it better to give the people who have become thieves a way to turn back than to force them to a dead end and go all the way to darkness? In the past dynasties, there were many things to do to recruit rebel soldiers and avoid bloodshed. During the Zhao and Song Dynasties, the bandits in Liangshan, Shandong Didn't the Zhao and Song Dynasties just recruit them and use gentle means to resolve the rebellion? This is not shameful, it is precisely the wisest approach."
Zhu Houzhao was silent.
Liang Chu, the cabinet minister, said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I believe that the words of the chief minister are very sincere. This is the policy of courtesy first and then attack. The so-called strategy of attacking with troops is to subjugate the enemy's troops without fighting. After all, fighting is the worst policy. What's more, there are many thieves now. There are tens of thousands of thieves in Hebei, and hundreds of thousands of their families are implicated. If they can be recruited, wouldn't it avoid large-scale bloodshed and avoid more deaths and injuries? In the final analysis, what is injured is The vitality of the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Houzhao nodded slightly, turned to the British Dukes Zhang Mao and Xu Guangzuo and asked, "What do you think, the two Dukes?"
The British governor of the regiment, Zhang Mao, who dragged his sick body to attend the meeting, was panting and looked very unhappy. He bowed and spoke in a deep voice.
"Your Majesty, I think you can give it a try. Recruitment may not be a good method. It is best if you can avoid killing people and not damaging your vitality. After all, there are already thirty or forty thousand rebel troops. To wipe them out, the price paid is quite high. Heavy. So...ahem!"
Zhang Mao spoke so hastily that he couldn't breathe for a while and started coughing violently. After coughing for a long time, he calmed down and continued talking.
"So, I think I can give it a try. However...the thieves have arrived in Bazhou and are threatening the gateway to Gyeonggi Province. Although the three guards from Tianjin have arrived in Bazhou, their numbers are already at a disadvantage. Once the thieves succeed in attacking Bazhou, they can drive in Capital, we must make preparations in advance. I have ordered the regiments and battalions to be on standby at any time. Your Majesty has an errand, and I... ahem, I am willing to lead the army to resist the enemy."
Zhu Houzhao nodded and said: "What the British Duke said is very detailed. Duke Dingguo, what do you think?"
Xu Guangzuo stood up and saluted: "I agree with what the British Lord said. I have also ordered the troops and horses belonging to the Fifth Army Commandery in Gyeonggi to be ready. I feel that the reason why the battle of Xiongxian was lost was not that the thieves were stronger than our officers and soldiers, but that
The leading generals are incompetent. The veteran feels that
, it is necessary to let generals who are good at fighting to lead the troops. If they can recruit peace, it is best. If not, they must be destroyed with thunder. They will not hesitate to mobilize soldiers and horses from the capital camp and Hebei surroundings to carry out a large-scale encirclement and suppression. Veteran officials do not shy away from relatives, please invite the emperor.
The order is to order Marquis Jianchang to lead the army to suppress the bandits."
Zhu Houzhao said: "Is Marquis Jianchang leading the army? He is quite competent. But..."
Liu Jin said in a deep voice beside him: "The Marquis of Jianchang is currently suspended from duty and is being punished, so it is not appropriate to use him. In the Ming Dynasty, except for the Marquis of Jianchang, is there no one who can lead the army?"
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said nothing. The Marquis of Jianchang was a good candidate, but Liu Jin was right. Could it be that there was no one to lead the army except him? What happened last time, the Marquis of Jianchang went too far. Zhu Houzhao is still a little angry now. If so
This time he was asked to lead the army on an expedition. Wouldn't it make the Marquis of Jianchang think that the court could not survive without him, which would make him more arrogant and coquettish. How could he be able to control him in the future?
"Your Majesty, I believe that we can try the strategy of recruiting peace, but what the British Duke and Dingguo Duke said about the Beijing camp's expedition cannot be done. The duty of the Beijing camp soldiers and horses is to defend the capital. How can we tamper with it? It must be done at this moment.
add
It is better to be on strong alert and guard the capital. If there are bandits and soldiers, wouldn't it be bad if they attack the capital? The slave suggested that it is also possible to mobilize the border troops from Datong and Xuanfu. This is safer." Liu Jin continued.
Zhu Houzhao nodded and said: "That's true. The border troops are good at fighting, and the border generals are all experienced in hundreds of battles. Sending a few border troops here can indeed solve the immediate danger. What do you think? Xu Jin, what do you think?
"
Xu Jin, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, this is the way it should be. I have the same idea. I will send one guard from each side of the Xuanfu in Datong, together with the three guards from Bazhou and the two guards led by Ma Zhongxi, for a total of seven guards and four
Fifteen thousand troops are enough to defend Bazhou
I also want to transfer the Xuanwu Guard from Zhengzhou Prefecture to the north, another guard from Jinan Prefecture in Shandong Province, and the Weihai Guard from Weihai to the north. Ten guards and horses will form an encirclement. If we can use the strategy of recruiting peace and delaying the troops, we can have
Sufficient time to complete the deployment of troops and encirclement."
Zhu Houzhao was overjoyed, clapped his thigh and said: "Okay, let's do it. Yang Tinghe, tell Ma Zhongxi and ask him to contact the rebel Liu brothers and talk to them about the conditions for recruitment. Try to delay as long as possible. If it can be done, it can be done, but it can't be done.
Wait for the troops and horses to be deployed in place. If the ten guards and horses fail to be recruited, they can attack at any time. Hey, the town wants to lead the army personally in this battle."
Yang Tinghe bowed and said: "I obey your order."
…
In Wild Dog Ridge of Xishan Mountain, Zhang Yanling and Xu Youtang were testing a new gun. It was a single-barreled bird gun with an extremely long barrel, about ten feet long. This was made by Zhang Yanling recently.
This gun has a telescope strapped to its barrel.
Zhang Yanling was lying on the snow, and Xu Youtang was lying next to him. She was looking ahead with a telescope in her hand.
"Brother, on the slope ahead, there is a rabbit among the thorns. Have you seen it?" Xu Youtang shouted.
Zhang Yanling squinted one eye and took aim, slowly moving the barrel of the gun. In the cross sight of the telescope, he saw the hare eating grass roots among the thorns in the snow.
"I saw it, I aimed at it." Zhang Yanling said.
"It's so far away. I don't know if I can hit it. It's a full five or six hundred steps." Xu Youtang said.
Zhang Yanling didn't answer, pointed the crosshair at the hare's heart, and pulled the trigger.
There was a loud bang, the muzzle of the gun jumped up, and the handle of the gun hit Zhang Yanling's shoulder painfully.
"I hit it, I hit it. It's really amazing. We have rabbit meat to eat tonight." Xu Youtang smiled and ran over to pick up the rabbit.
Zhang Yanling stood there, looking at the long-barreled blunderbuss in his hand, and nodded with satisfaction. This was probably the first sniper rifle in history. It might be useless, but Zhang Yanling still wanted to make it and have a look.
There was nothing special during this period. The imperial court was at war, but there was nothing wrong with me. Yesterday I learned that Xu Guangzuo proposed in front of the emperor that he would lead the army to counter the rebellion, but Liu Jin blocked him. Zhang Yanling was not at all surprised when he heard the news.
Not surprised.
Xu Guangzuo said that Liu Jin naturally did not want to allow himself to perform meritorious service, and he did not want the Beijing camp to take the credit. Therefore, the need to mobilize the border troops to come had aroused Zhang Yanling's vigilance. Originally, the Beijing camp could be used to mobilize two battalions of soldiers and horses.
Bazhou. But Liu Jin insisted on transferring the border troops, and there must be something fishy about it. That was not necessarily because he wanted to prevent the Beijing camp from participating in the fight against the rebellion.
But Zhang Yanling doesn't care about these things at all now. No matter how hard he and Liu Jin try, he may not live long. A public case that makes Liu Jin unable to survive has been investigated. Chen Shiyi has already led people out of Beijing.
After he came back, everything settled.
Liu Jin was like the rabbit in the scope just now, already locked and waiting to pull the trigger.