After hearing Hong Chengchou's words, Li Zhi was silent.
Speaking of which, this time when Guan Ning's army entered the Pass and attacked Tianjin, Hong Chengchou was originally going to lose his head as the coach - the Shandong gentry who raised money to betray Li lost his head, and the Donglin Party boss who dispatched Guan Ning's army in the court lost his head.
, Logically speaking, Hong Chengchou, who was commanding from the front, could not escape no matter what.
However, Li Zhi thought that Hong Chengchou was just following orders and said a word for him in the memorial, and finally asked the emperor to release him.
It can be said that it was Li Zhi who saved Hong Chengchou's life at the critical moment.
Today, the Ming Dynasty has reached its twilight years, and is full of stagnation, corruption in official circles and corruption among the people. But in Tianjin and Shandong under Li Zhi's rule, everything is full of vitality. Li Zhi's various policies have made the entire society in the two places glow.
Unprecedented vitality.
Anyone with a discerning eye can definitely see that the most promising places in the Ming Dynasty at this time are undoubtedly Tianjin and Shandong under the rule of Li Zhi. Li Zhi can completely understand that Hong Chengchou came to join Li Zhi at this time.
However, Li Zhi could not completely trust Hong Chengchou.
Standing up and helping Hong Chengchou up, Li Zhi smiled and said: "Although Mr. Hong is in trouble today, his reputation as a Jinshi is still there, and people at home still hope that he will have a chance to make a comeback and restore his official status? Li Zhi is willing to write another memorial to Mr. Hong.
Speak and suggest that the emperor should use Hong Gong again."
Will Li Zhi advise the emperor to use Hong Chengchou again? Hong Chengchou knew that Li Zhi was testing him and said: "Today's court is out of control, and all important positions are occupied by the Donglin Party, and these party members feel that the rise of Jin Guogong is unstoppable, so they act
It is becoming more and more desperate. The cause of suppressing bandits in the south is in ruins, and the territory of western Liaoning four hundred miles to the north is completely abandoned."
"Anyone with a little discernment knows that there is no place for people outside the party in the court."
"Even if the emperor uses Hong Chengchou again, the outcome will not change. Hong Chengchou will eventually be killed."
Li Zhi saw that Hong Chengchou was determined to work under him, so he thought about it and said, "In that case, you can become a staff officer here."
Li Zhi still had some distrust for Hong Chengchou, who was born in the imperial examination. Li Zhi needed time to observe whether this famous general of the Ming Dynasty could become a part of his own system. The position of consultant sounds respectable, but in fact it can only give suggestions and nothing else
that power.
Moreover, the position of staff officer has very erratic authority and does not have access to many secrets, which is suitable for Li Zhi to observe Hong Chengchou.
Hong Chengchou had been fighting for more than ten years and was very familiar with various forms of war. If Hong Chengchou could really make a contribution in his position, Li Zhi might not be able to promote Hong Chengchou a few years later.
Hong Chengchou was overjoyed to hear that Li Zhi was willing to accept him.
"Hong Chengchou is willing to offer advice to the Duke!"
Li Zhi smiled and said: "But in Tianjin, we talk about public morality, not Confucianism. Hong Gong was born as a Confucian scholar, and he had to re-receive public morality education. From now on, Hong Gong will go to the middle school in Aicheng, Tianjin every two days to attend class.
"Public Morality" class. Mr. Hong must listen carefully and complete his homework. I will personally check Mr. Hong's homework."
Hong Chengchou was stunned for a moment, a little embarrassed, but he still said: "Hong Chengchou has the order. Nowadays, the court is full of great Confucians, but the country and the country are in ruins. It can be seen that Confucianism may not be able to save the country. Hong Chengchou must study the "Public Morality" course of the Duke of Guo seriously.
Try to understand the Duke’s good intentions as soon as possible.”
Seeing that Hong Chengchou was interested, Li Zhi laughed loudly and patted him on the shoulder.
It is also a good thing to have an experienced celebrity to advise you.
####
Outside Kaifeng, Li Zicheng surrounded the ancient capital for the third time.
Kaifeng was the capital of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and the city walls were high and thick. This time, Li Zicheng changed his past strategy of attacking by force, and instead prepared to use the power of gunpowder to blow open the towering city walls.
The banners of the invading army were fluttering, and tens of thousands of hungry people rushed to the foot of the city wall against the rain of arrows on the city wall, began to fill the moat, and then crossed the moat to dig holes under the city wall for placing gunpowder packets. The bodies of the hungry people were almost defenseless and exposed.
In front of the Kaifeng garrison on the city wall.
Rolling logs and stones kept falling, and every second, countless lives died tragically below Kaifeng City.
However, the hungry people in front had just died, and more hungry people came in behind. Henan suffered from famine for many years, and the gentry with rich food reserves did nothing to relieve the disaster. The hungry people were Li Zicheng's endless source of manpower. Wherever Li Zicheng went,
As long as you shout "Follow King Chuang to grab grain", the people will be like a prairie fire in a prairie that has been in drought for a long time.
Wu Sangui stood on a hill ten miles away, observing the tragic siege scene under Kaifeng City, his face turned pale.
This is not a war, this is simply risking human lives. It took tens of thousands of people to die before Li Zicheng could dig a hole under the city wall big enough to place the gunpowder packets.
Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong, looked at the nervous Wu Sangui and said with a smile: "Uncle Zhang now knows how terrifying it is to break into a bandit, right? In this land of Henan, where there has been constant famine, bandits are simply invincible."
"The intruder has ten thousand knights, thirty thousand old thieves, and one hundred thousand infantry. I don't know how many hungry soldiers there are. I guess the intruder himself doesn't know how many hungry soldiers he has. These hungry soldiers are not soldiers at all, they are Henan soldiers.
People suffering from famine. A robber gives them a spear and they become a robber."
"In Shandong, the Duke of Jin came to provide disaster relief. After a year of drought, there was no chaos. But in Henan, no one took care of it. If the people did not follow thieves, they would starve to death. How many people could be killed by 10 million hungry people and 100,000 officers and soldiers?"
"If we fight to the death with the intruders in Henan, these hungry soldiers can kill us with one bite. Not to mention the one hundred thousand infantry of the intruders. Most of them are soldiers and horses of our Ming Dynasty who surrendered to the thieves. They are quite capable. Officials are corrupt.
Our soldiers in the Ming Dynasty couldn't get military pay in the military camp, and many of them turned to thieves."
"Nowadays, Chao Gang is corrupt. It cannot be changed by one or two people. Even if you die fighting for the imperial court, who will remember you?"
"So it's better to take the head offered by the intruder and live in peace with the intruder."
Listening to Wang Pu's words, Wu Sangui was speechless.
In the Battle of Luanzhou, Guan Ning's army was defeated. The emperor was furious and cut the military pay of Guan Ning's army. The original four or five million soldiers' pay per year was reduced to two million taels, less than half of the original amount.
Wu Sangui's original 20,000 troops had to disperse half of them, leaving only 10,000 troops.
All four hundred miles of western Liaoning were occupied by the Tatars, and the Guan Ning Army was unable to recover. The imperial court transferred only more than 30,000 Guan Ning Army to Henan to suppress the bandits.
But Wu Sangui could not have imagined that the war in Henan had deteriorated to such an extent.
The officers and soldiers on the front line did not suppress the bandits at all. Instead, they followed Li Zicheng's bandits and watched them attack the city. And every month, Li Zicheng sent people to send some heads to the officers and soldiers for the officers and soldiers to report their merits.
Most of those heads were Ming emperors who were unwilling to follow Li Zicheng in rebellion.
Although Li Zicheng was doing everything he could in Henan, there were always those who were unwilling to become thieves. In an environment where most hungry people followed Li Zicheng, these people were extremely conspicuous, and the intruders would certainly not let them go. No matter where these people fled, they would not let them go.
, they will all be caught out by compatriots bent on committing thieves.
Become a thief or die, these are the only two choices in Henan where thieves are rampant.
The heads of those common people who chose to die were secretly sent to the army camp, where they served as a tribute to the hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers who suppressed thieves.
