Chapter five hundred and ninety first autumn night
In the autumn season, the sky is high and the air is crisp, and the trees in Jinling City are lush and lush. Occasionally, a gust of wind blows off a few yellow leaves, reminding pedestrians that winter is coming.
At this time, although large-scale repairs on the outer city walls of Jinling City had not yet begun, and there were many defects, it had been more than two years since the Jinling Incident, and many traces of the war in the city had been left during the ongoing repairs. Many, it has restored its former prosperous prosperity as quickly as possible.
No matter how critical the situation was at the beginning of the year, it did not directly affect the south bank of the Yangtze River. On the contrary, under the strong external threat, there were fewer wrangling things in the court. Even the fact that the Queen Mother returned to the court to assist the government seemed very unusual. The situation was calm and no waves were caused.
It seems that as long as this continues, Da Chu will have a permanent foundation that will last forever.
It was getting late, and Shen Yang, whose temples were completely white with frost, and Qin Wen, who was talking to Zuo Shiyi and Zhang Qian, walked out of the government office and saw that several bright lights had been lit in the yard, but they looked so bleak in the dusk. No light.
A carriage has been prepared here to take Shen Yang back to the mansion.
Traveling in and out of the imperial city by carriage and horse is a privilege that Shen Yang and other governors as well as princes and ministers at the political level can only enjoy after being rewarded by Emperor Yanyou. Qin Wen, Zhang Qian and others can only walk out of the imperial city before they can stay in the imperial city as servants. The carriages and horses prepared outside the door went back to the mansion.
However, when they were about to say goodbye to Shen Yang, they saw Shen Yang frowning slightly and stopping in front of the steps. They didn't know what Shen Yang suddenly thought of at this time, so they stood there waiting patiently. .
"You two will go back with me first." Shen Yang came back to his senses and said to Qin Wen and Zhang Qian.
Xue Ruogu, Qin Wen, and Li Tang were expelled from Xuzhou by Han Qian, and were always used in important positions by Shen Yang. Xue Ruogu was demoted to Liyang as county magistrate, Li Tang served as the official department, and Qin Wen worked in clerical and government affairs, leaving him behind. By Shen Yang's side, he served as a minister in Menxia Province.
In the previous dynasty, he was in charge of the memorials and refutations of various court officials. In the later period, he gradually took over the power of sealing and refuting, and served as Zuo Shiyi with Zhang Qian, which had the meaning of admonishing officials and advocating for officials. He is not involved in political affairs, but he is also the core official of Menxia Province.
Zhang Qian was originally the head of Taowu Ji. Later, when he organized the hungry people into the Longque Army, Taowu Ji was recruited into the military camp. Zhang Qian served as an official under Shen Yang, and later he was very reluctant to serve. , was highly trusted by Shen Yang and Emperor Yanyou. In just a few years, he rose from a small clerk in the countryside to an important official in the Qing Dynasty.
Seeing Shen Yang's invitation, Qin Wen and Zhang Qian didn't know what was going on, but they could bear their temper. They got into the carriage and drove out of the imperial city to Shen Yang's prime minister's residence.
Before arriving at the mansion, Shen Yang told his family: "Go to Prince Shou's mansion and ask if Prince Shou would be willing to meet him if he is in the mansion at this time."
Hearing that Shen Yang was going to see King Shou Yang Zhitang at this time, and it seemed that he was going to take them there together, Zhang Qian asked: "The Prime Minister is looking for King Shou to discuss the expansion of the navy?"
Yang Zhitang wrote a letter of remonstrance, advocating that the remnants of the navy be brought under the Youlong Wujun who had moved to Runzhou, and be temporarily organized into a navy. Except for Shen Yang, all the people who did not want to see King Shou expand his power to the east of the Yangtze River were proposed. The officials also strongly opposed it and the matter was delayed.
Han Qian's relationship with the imperial court during this period was basically happy and tacit understanding. At the same time, more than 2,000 dependents of the navy's remnants were staying in Zhutunying Military Mansion. It would be unreasonable to forcibly detain them. It’s not sweet. After April, except for the nearly 300 generals from the old Zuo Guangde Army and the old Longque Army, almost 2,000 other navy generals were sent back to the south bank by Han Qian.
However, Han Qian's goodwill and Shen Yang's efforts to rebuild the Dachu Navy were not realized.
Theoretically, military households in various military camps only have to serve for four months every year.
That is to say, under normal circumstances, one-third of the troops under the control of the Zhutunying Military Mansion are incorporated into active service, and two-thirds remain at home in the Zhutunying Military Mansion to engage in farming and recuperate.
These troop quotas are divided into three periods for rotation, with an average rotation period of four months per person per year; after casualties occur, brothers will succeed after the death of the father, and the father will succeed after the death of the son, keeping the total size of the troops roughly unchanged.
Only when encountering a major war and more sufficient military mobilization is required, up to all the troops can be requisitioned into the battalion, or the service period can be extended without limit, but long-term service extensions after the war must be discounted .
Otherwise, if the military household lacks a main labor force, the family members' small farming will be more difficult and they will become poorer. The generals will stay in the army for a long time, and their morale will be suppressed.
Not only before and after the main force of the navy attacked Hongzepu, in fact since the reorganization of the left and right Wuya Army, the number of troops in its camp military offices has basically been over-staffed and overdue for service.
The defeat of Hongzeupo resulted in the loss of so many generals, including more than 10,000 shipwrights and sailors, which directly led to a significant decrease in the number of naval forces and the number of troops that could be recruited became extremely limited.
Since Shen Yang and others were firmly opposed to the new naval force under Youlong Wujun, Yang Zhitang, who was appointed Privy Councilor in May, objected to adding more soldiers from other military camps to the navy.
From the early Left and Right Dragon Bird Army, to the later Yueyang Army, and now to the current Forbidden Army and the Guards and Guards, they are all in the same line. They have endured extremely frequent and heavy combat missions in these years.
Last year, not only did the Navy suffer devastating losses, but the Right Shenwu Army was almost destroyed. The two Huaixi Forbidden Forces suffered heavy casualties under Chaozhou City. The troops stationed in Dengxiang and Zhenghui also faced a huge defensive burden. The troops stationed south of Shaozhou The Chai Jian headquarters in Wuzhisiling were devastated by Miao Yong's defection.
In addition to the bodyguards and pro-combatants, the generals and generals of the Forbidden Army generally have problems such as excessive mobilization, overdue service, and the need to recruit new soldiers.
Not to mention the entanglement of other thoughts and interests, Yang Zhitang's proposition was supported by many generals in the army.
What's more, the central government's finances are so tight, and priority must be given to ensuring the suppression of the Shouzhou Army in Shuzhou and Tangyi, and to stabilizing the gateway to the north of Jinling. There are not many resources that can be used elsewhere.
Even Shen Yang agreed with Yang Zhitang's judgment that Liang's navy might raid the coast, but the importance of allocating troops and reorganizing the navy was still ignored by most generals in the court.
Most of the generals in the court still believed that the storms and waves of the sea would be the greatest protection along the Jianghuai coast.
Everyone believed that Liang Jun was inferior to naval forces and warships. Even if he had the upper hand on the frontal battlefield, he would divide his forces to attack the coast, but the scale would never be large, and the existing defense forces along the coast would be enough to withstand it.
Not only that, Yang Zhitang also insisted that the existing navy soldiers strictly implement the garrison system, and resolutely repatriated the disabled soldiers who were over-staffed and served beyond the period of service back to the military government for training.
This resulted in the naval establishment of Zuo Wuya Army not being abolished, but there were less than a thousand generals left who could be recruited into the battalion in rotation.
As for building new ships, warships, recruiting shipwrights and sailors, etc., there is no way to talk about it without allocating a large amount of money and food.
This actually puts the Left Five Tooth Army in the same state as the Dragon Bird Army before the Hungry People were compiled, in a state of near paralysis.
For most of the time, the remnants of Zuo Wuya Army only served as escorts for princes and ministers traveling by boat. They were simply unable to assume the important task of defending the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, let alone guarding the coastal areas along the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers from enemy attacks.
The reason why Zhang Qian asked this was because the Huaidong Salt Farm had been attacked by Liang Jun's navy many times in the past month, resulting in heavy casualties.
Yesterday, the Salt and Iron Envoy formally submitted a letter requesting the imperial water diverter to reinforce the Huaidong Saltworks.
Although outside the Privy Council system, the Salt and Iron Bureau has thousands of salt soldiers to protect the Huaidong salt field. At the same time, not to mention the streams and rivers in the salt field, the transportation of fodder and salt is mainly by river, and there are also a certain number of salt soldiers.
A large-scale naval force, but the salt soldiers used to mainly control the salt people, arrest salt lords, and crack down on river bandits and lake bandits. How much combat effectiveness can be seen?
However, Liang Jun's new naval force in Haizhou was still exploring the mode of naval warfare at first. The scale of its troops was small, and it was not very familiar with the tides and the tidal flats along the Huaidong salt field, especially in June and July.
There were frequent storms, and Liang Jun did not dare to make any big moves. He only dared to conduct close-range, small-scale harassment and testing to accumulate experience and lessons.
Near Huaikou, the closest to the enemy, the Salt and Iron Transport Envoy's field-protecting salt soldiers were relatively well prepared, and several battles yielded considerable results.
In addition to hundreds of heads, more than ten Asakura ships were also captured. Emperor Yanyou also issued a decree to commend them. Zhang Chao, who took charge of the Salt and Iron Transport Department after the new emperor ascended the throne, was somewhat complacent.
Zhang Chao's appointment as salt and iron transport envoy was a compromise between Huang Hua's appointment as Hunan's propaganda envoy. At that time, Yang Yuanpu also needed a trusted minister to control the central government's largest financial resource besides the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Zhang Chao was also quite satisfied with this position. He mobilized many generals from his direct lineage and wanted to operate the Salt and Iron Transfer Department as his own territory. Therefore, he had previously opposed the intervention of Youlong Wujun in the defense of the Huaidong salt field, so he chose to cooperate with Shen Yang.
Stand together and oppose the formation of the navy under the banner of Youlong Wujun.
At one time, he even showed off to King Shou Yang Zhitang the early battles of the salt soldiers, showing that the salt soldiers were not weak in combat effectiveness, in an attempt to further seek to strengthen the support of the salt soldiers in the court.
Although the salt guard captain of Langzhou Department, who was the main general of the salt soldiers, did not get carried away and took the initiative, but when both sides did not make low-level mistakes, they still fought with hard power.
After three or four months of exploration in the early stage, Liang Jun's navy accumulated some experience. In mid-to-late August, taking advantage of the wind and rainy season to pass, they launched another raid on the salt field south of Huaikou. Not only was the scale larger, but the organization of the operation was also more impeccable.
At this time, the disadvantages of insufficient training of salt soldiers, armor and warships were fully exposed.
Three days ago, the largest fodder yard near Huaikou was attacked. Thousands of firewood stored for cooking salt were set on fire and destroyed. More than two hundred salt soldiers were wiped out. Dozens of nearby salt villages where salt people thrived were also attacked.
It was also destroyed, and thousands of salt people were forced to go to sea and evacuated to Haizhou.
Coupled with the previous results, in less than twenty days, nearly a quarter of the Huaidong Salt Farm was in mourning.
At this time, Zhang Chao realized that the problem was serious.
Every year after the storm season, the sea becomes calmer and calmer, with less rainfall and large areas of weeds turning yellow. It should be a good time of year to harvest fodder and collect brine for cooking salt. If the defense situation in the Huaikou area had not improved, even if the Liang Jun Navy
If the scale of the intrusion is not expanded, the salt incident in the next year will also be greatly affected.
However, the problem does not end there. This means that Shou Wang Yang Zhitang’s judgment in early April requesting the new navy under Youlong Wujun to prevent Liang Jun’s navy from attacking the Jianghuai coast is correct. It also means that Liang Jun’s subsequent expansion is very likely Harassment of coastal prefectures and counties along the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers and even east of the Yangtze River south of the Yangtze River Estuary.
It’s just that the princes and ministers in the DPRK are more aware of the importance of coastal defense, but the focus of the question is whether to directly rebuild the Zuo Wu Ya Army Navy or to form a new navy under the You Long Wu Army. More To take over the defense along the river and coast east of Runzhou.
If we cannot reach consensus on this issue, we will end up arguing endlessly.
Shen Yang wanted to see Yang Zhitang in person at this time. Zhang Qian guessed that it was probably to rebuild the navy, which was understandable.
Although Shen Yang and Yang Zhitang could meet from time to time in the political hall, when they met, other ministers involved in the political affairs were also gathered together. There were too many interests and entanglements involved, and there were many things between the two that could not be explained clearly or thoroughly.
Even if he has to compromise, exchange interests, even if Shen Yang has to make certain concessions, he can only talk to the longevity king Yang Zhitang in private at this time, but he doesn't know what kind of disturbance will happen if this falls into the eyes of interested people. .
What Zhang Qian didn't understand was that Shen Yang seemed to want to bring him and Qin Wen with him. Or maybe he had other matters to discuss with them before going to Prince Shou's Mansion?
Shen Yang nodded and said that he wanted to visit Prince Shou's Mansion at this time, indeed for the purpose of rebuilding the Navy. However, he did not say anything more and invited Zhang Qian and Qin Wen to follow him into the mansion first.
After drinking tea for a while, the servant who had gone to contact Prince Shou's Mansion had not returned yet. Zhang Qian and Qin Wen saw Xue Ruogu walking in through the messenger.
Xue Ruogu still served as the magistrate of Lishui County at this time. Although Lishui County was not far from the center of Beijing and could be reached by horseback in one day, Zhang Qian and Qin Wen really didn't know that Xue Ruogu was in the center of the capital at this time.
Xue Ruogu was older than Zhang Qian and Qin Wen. Before being expelled from Xuzhou by Han Qian, he took up the post of Governor Shi. This was because he offended many noble families when he was serving as the Shi Yushi in Yueyang. Only then was he demoted to Lishui.
Zhang Qian and Qin Wen stood up and saluted Xue Ruogu. Xue Ruogu returned the gift and asked Shen Yang: "In the past two days since Ruogu returned to the capital, I have heard a lot of rumors about the marriage between Marquis Qianyang and Wang Wenqian's daughter. I’ve already told Prince Shou about the Chishan Meeting, right?”
"Not yet. If King Shou is in the mansion today, I plan to see him later." Shen Yang said.
"How could Prime Minister hesitate and delay for so long?" Xue Ruogu couldn't help but complain in his tone.
Qin asked, and Zhang Qian was a little surprised. Although they knew that Xue Ruogu would not give anyone face if he straightened up, they did not expect that Xue Ruogu would speak in such a tone to Shen Yang.
Of course, they could not guess at the moment what kind of secrets were hidden behind the Chishan Meeting. Shen Yang needed to clarify this with the Shou Wang Yang Zhitang as soon as possible.
After Han Qian guarded Tangyi, he had closer contacts with Huaidong. This was nothing special in the eyes of the generals in the DPRK. After all, Tangyi and Huaidong's Yangzhou had to face the enemy troops stationed in Chuzhou together. The lieutenant general also saw that the cooperation between Huaidong and Tangyi was cautious and preventive.
In August, Han Qian sent people to Yangzhou to recruit nearly 20,000 refugees to settle Tangyi by selling land and houses. There were no restrictions in Huaidong, so this incident was a bit special.
Although Huaidong has become increasingly distressed since the spring and summer and is in urgent need of a large amount of money and grain to make up for the shortage of military resources. Han Qian sold his land and house in Yangzhou and lent all the money and grain he earned from 200,000 to 300,000 yuan to Huaidong.
This can be regarded as the reason why Huaidong had to compromise with Han Qian and Tangyi, but the problem is that Huaidong has not publicly and formally asked the court for help.
At this time, some rumors spread in Beijing about the engagement between Han Qian and Wang Wenqian's daughter. It was said that Ruan Yan had renewed the engagement in Fanchang, but Han Qian left Fanchang and returned to Xuzhou because he was mourning and did not discuss the marriage.
Observing filial piety does not mean refusing marriage.
At this time, discerning people also realized that these rumors were deliberately spread behind the scenes. Combined with the increasingly close cooperation between Tangyi and Huaidong during this period, it is natural to think that these rumors are most likely to prepare for Han Qian's official marriage to Wang Wenqian.
To pave the way for a woman’s marriage.
After Han Qian officially marries Wang Wenqian's daughter, it also means that the relationship between Tangyi and Huaidong will enter a new stage.
Qin Wen and Zhang Qian were in important positions, so they could naturally see these subtleties.
Although it has always been taboo for generals to form cliques for personal gain, under the current circumstances, Qin Wen and Zhang Qian did not find this unacceptable.
It must be said that Lu Qingxia, the former subordinate of the Shenling Division and the envoy of the Changchun Palace, was inseparable from the Queen Mother and secretly held the power to assist the government. Isn't it much more serious?
Of course, Xue Ruogu's rude words shocked them, and also made them realize that the problems hidden under the water may be more serious than they previously thought.
Shen Yang did not blame Xue Ruogu for his rude words. He sighed slightly and said: "I still neglected the incident of Liang Jun's navy attacking the coast and did not really pay attention to it. I thought that even if King Shou was bewitched, it would not be a big harm. Some things
I have delayed it until now and haven’t made it clear to King Shou..."
Zhang Qian couldn't hold back his temper at this time and asked directly: "But I wonder if there is something that Lord Shou is kept in the dark about?"
"..." Xue Ruogu glanced at Shen Yang and saw that he had no intention of stopping him, so he said, "When I was appointed to Lishui last year, I thought simply. At that time, I was thinking that even if the matter was not that simple, Shang Wensheng's assassination
If there is any hidden secret in the case, it should be revealed, and the truth should be revealed to the world. After arriving in Lishui, I also found some evidence to confirm that Wei Zhen and the Criminal Department had many concealments when investigating the assassination case, and they intended to retaliate against Han Qian during the Jinling Rebellion.
Suppression of Gyeonggi sects. However, when I sent people to Guangde Mansion to search for further evidence, I accidentally discovered that as early as June and July last year, a considerable number of the old Zuo Guangde Army gathered in the fishing villages along Taihu Lake.
I think Han Qian should already be in Jinling by then..."
"How is it possible?" Zhang Qian asked in shock, "Even if Chen Jingzhou had secretly colluded with Han Qian, how could there be so many officials in the prefecture and county not aware of this at that time?"
In his later period, Chen Jingzhou went to Guangde Mansion to stabilize the situation. He did not and did not have the power to remove a large number of official positions held by the descendants of aristocratic clans in Guangde Mansion.
It is possible that Chen Jingzhou is hiding something for Han Qian, but if there are really signs of a large-scale gathering of the old troops of Zuo Guangde, the officials of the Guangde Mansion who are descendants of aristocratic clans are not blind, and the whistleblower letters should not be sent to Beijing like snowflakes.
middle?
"The former members of the Zuo Guangde Army who gathered in the early stage were all people whose fields and homes had been taken away. Therefore, the local officials neglected the gathering of these people." Xue Ruogu said.
"..."
Zhang Qian took a breath of cold air.
The assassination of Shang Wensheng aroused public sentiment among the Gyeonggi clan clans, and Guangde government launched a large-scale prison litigation for a period of time. Instigated by many officials from the famous clan clans, a large number of the land and houses allocated by the old Zuo Guangde army after the war were destroyed.
Robbery.
There was a desire to expel these people from the beginning, so when these people left the territory, local officials naturally turned a blind eye, which created a big loophole where large-scale people gathered but were ignored by the local government.
As early as June and July last year, Han Qian sneaked to Jinling to secretly gather the old troops of Zuo Guangde Army. What was his intention?