The puppet Tang rebel army defeated the official army one after another, and even the governor of Guizhou, Zhu Zhihai, died on the battlefield. This finally made the Ming Dynasty pay attention to it, and began to let the governors and governors of Huguang, Guizhou, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces send troops to suppress it.
We must destroy the thieves as soon as possible and use thunderous means to intimidate the area in order to respect those who come after us.
However, before the good news came from the armies in these provinces, bad news was received again: the puppet Tang rebel army had actually fled to Guangxi!
Now they have captured Liuzhou Prefecture!
At this time, if anyone says that the puppet Tang bandit army is a group of bandits and can be easily wiped out, then Emperor Zhengde will definitely smash the chamber pot on his head. Do you think I am a fool?
Although the puppet Tang thief army was just a bandit at the beginning, it has now basically occupied most of Guizhou. According to the information reported by officials in Guizhou, the puppet Tang thief army has tens of thousands of soldiers in Guizhou province.
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Now in Guangxi, the bandit army also captured Liuzhou and defeated tens of thousands of official troops. The governor of Guangxi, Wei Yan, reported that there were no less than 50,000 bandits in Liuzhou.
Although the Ming Dynasty has not figured out how many people there are in the puppet Tang bandit army, judging from the situation in Guizhou and Guangxi provinces, there are probably not 100,000 people in the puppet Tang bandit army, but there are still 70,000 or 80,000 people.
It's a slight exaggeration. It's not an exaggeration to say that the puppet Tang rebel army had one hundred thousand soldiers.
Li Ni, who had an army of 100,000, was entrenched in Guizhou and Guangxi provinces, causing harm to millions of people in the two provinces. This could no longer be annihilated by one province alone. It was necessary to gather troops from several provinces, but even if it was necessary to assemble
The forces of several provinces should be used to encircle and suppress the army, and each province should not be allowed to fight independently, otherwise it will only be defeated by the puppet Tang rebel army one by one. There must be a strong minister to coordinate the military affairs of several provinces.
But who should be sent to the southern provinces to suppress the bandits?
Emperor Zhengde's gaze kept scanning the group of ministers in front of him. Naturally, everyone felt the gaze from Emperor Zhengde, but all of them lowered their heads involuntarily!
Because everyone can guess that Emperor Zhengde is now recruiting people to go to the southern provinces to quell Li Ni's rebellion. This job is not a good job. If one person does not do it well, he will be dismembered, even if he does not die on the battlefield.
Disgraced and beheaded because of defeat!
In the past two years, few officials and generals who fought against the puppet Tang rebels had a good ending. From the beginning, Su Jiakang was captured, to Song Zhiwen, who was defeated and escorted to the capital to await trial.
Then Zhu Zhihai was defeated and died. In Guizhou, not only the governor Zhu Zhihai was defeated and died, but other high-ranking officials also died. Those who were held accountable, such as those who were defeated in the Tonggu Acropolis and Liping Mansion.
A group of senior civil and military officials, many of whom were brought back to the capital by imperial envoys to await trial, followed in the footsteps of Song Zhiwen.
The rise of the puppet Tang bandit army also caused officials in Guizhou's officialdom to die in battle, commit suicide, and be beheaded. In short, few had a good ending.
The officials in Guizhou were finished, and now it was Guangxi's turn. After Liuzhou City was captured, many people below the prefect committed suicide. Some of them surrendered to thieves to save their lives, but most of their families could not be saved. The imperial court
There has always been zero tolerance for officials who surrender to thieves. You can surrender to thieves, but your family can't expect to save their lives. Home confiscation is 100% possible.
As for Xiangzhou's fiasco, although Wei Yan, the governor of Guangxi, covered up some of his responsibilities, and Wang Yue, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, tried to protect him, he was not actually punished. However, several generals and officials under him were used as scapegoats and were punished.
Killed quite a few.
Even so, the life of the governor of Guangxi and the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Wang Yue, is not easy. If things go wrong, they may follow in the footsteps of Zhu Zhihai, the governor of Guizhou, and either commit suicide or be killed.
Now that it is so dangerous for officials there, will they be asked to suppress thieves? Naturally, they are unwilling to do so.
This is something that could cost you your life if you're not careful. Whoever wants to go can go, but I don't want to go anyway.
These ministers avoided their gazes, but Emperor Zhengde did not take them seriously. Having been in charge of the government for more than forty years, he possessed power and political wisdom that many previous emperors had never had.
If a fool had been the emperor for more than forty years, he should know how to be the emperor.
He knew that all the ministers below wanted to hide in the capital and enjoy their happiness, while others went to the smoky land over there to suppress thieves.
But do the ministers’ own wishes matter?
It doesn't matter. Since no one has come forward and said to go south, it would be the same if he directly ordered the general.
So Emperor Zhengde glanced around among the crowd, and finally focused on a person slightly behind the crowd, and then said: "Zhang Aiqing, you were the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi before, and you also served in Huguang.
I have a better understanding of the situation, would you like to take a trip there?"
After hearing Emperor Zhengde speak, and the person calling was not them, many people secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but Zhang Yue, who was named by Emperor Zhengde, secretly complained!
I finally came back from the backwaters of Guangdong and Guangxi. Before I could enjoy the prosperity of the capital for a few months, I went to those mountains to deal with bandits?
Moreover, it has become a foregone conclusion that the puppet Tang traitor army is powerful. Going to the south to supervise the division is not an easy job!
And most importantly, he didn’t have a good relationship with his successor, the current Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Wang Yue!
When Wang Yue was the governor of Guangdong under him, that bastard used to be Yan Song's confidant but always made trouble for himself. He finally managed to get through the relationship with Mr. Xia, the chief minister of the cabinet, and was transferred back to the capital.
As the left minister of the Ministry of War, you have only had a few days of peace and quiet, and you are about to return to the misty land of Lingnan?
Although he said he was unwilling to do so, Emperor Zhengde personally gave his orders. How could he dare to refuse?
I can’t refuse, I don’t dare to refuse!
At that time, he went out with a very heavy expression on his face and said: "I...I am willing to go south to destroy the bandits for your majesty!"
This is called a tangle!
However, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. If Zhang Yue went, they wouldn't have to go. As for whether Zhang Yue would win or lose the battle, it didn't matter.
If the battle is won, the credit of these big guys in the DPRK will not be less. Without them strategizing in the DPRK, Zhang Yue can win the battle. What a joke!
If he lost the battle, it would be all because of Zhang Yue's incompetence, but what does it have to do with the princes in the court?
We are staying in the capital. Zhang Yue’s defeat is none of our business!
So whether they win or lose, they are winners in life.
As for whether Zhang Yue's defeat will cause an irreversible situation, is there any need to worry?
Are you kidding? Our Dameng Dynasty has a territory of thousands of miles and millions of troops. Even three or five more disastrous defeats will not shake the foundation of our Dameng Dynasty. At worst, we can just recruit more troops to encircle and suppress them.
This bandit army of the puppet Tang Dynasty can run around for several months or even a year or two, but in the end it will be annihilated by the imperial army.
Many ministers in the imperial court were convinced of this!
After deciding on the candidate to go south, Emperor Zhengde drove out a group of ministers with the words "I'm tired". However, he said to the ministers that they were tired, but after everyone left, he waved his hand again, and immediately
An elderly eunuch walked quickly to the bedside with small steps.
Just listen to Emperor Zhengde saying: "How is the prince's situation?"
Hearing His Majesty's sudden question about the prince, the old eunuch didn't react for a moment, with a trace of surprise on his face. However, he quickly reacted and said: "Long live the Lord, I heard from the boys below that, recently,
The prince, as before, studies hard behind closed doors in the East Palace every day."
After hearing this answer, Emperor Zhengde snorted softly: "To tell the important point, who did he meet during this period and what did he say?"
Hearing this, cold sweat broke out on the old eunuch's forehead, and then he knelt down on the ground: "Back to Lord Long Live, in the past two months, a total of three ministers have secretly entered and exited the East Palace, but every time these
When the ministers went to the East Palace, they were called to the study by the prince for questioning. What was said, the boys under the old slave really didn't know!"
Then he went on to name three more people!
After hearing this, Emperor Zhengde frowned slightly, and then said: "What are the other princes doing there?"
The old eunuch continued to answer: "His Royal Highness has been relatively close to several military attachés and nobles in the Beijing camp recently!"
"His Highness the Sixth Prince has been getting closer to Master Yan's son recently, and he often holds poetry gatherings with young scholars!"
Emperor Zhengde nodded slightly after hearing this, and then continued: "Keep your Dongchang watching. Whether it is the prince or those princes, if there is any movement, be sure to report it as soon as possible!"
"Old slave obeys the order!"
After waving his hand again, Emperor Zhengde let the old eunuch go out, then he lifted the quilt, put on his coat, got out of bed, walked to the window, and looked at the unmelted ice and snow outside, his eyebrows did not relax.
Came down.
After half a day, he sighed and left the window!
He didn't pay much attention to the rebellion caused by the puppet Tang rebel army over there. He had been emperor for more than forty years and had never encountered any troubles. There were several rebellions in remote places in the south every year, and the scale was not large.
Few, but they can be eradicated in the end.
What worries him even more is the issue of heirs!
Of course, if everything strictly follows the heir apparent system, the problem of heirs does not exist, but almost everyone in the civil and military circles of the dynasty knows that Emperor Zhengde dislikes the prince very much now, and has wanted to change the prince in recent years.
Many people have been killed here, but it is still of no use.
Because the current prince is the eldest son born to Queen Xia, this status destined him to be the most legitimate heir to the throne in the Ming Dynasty. Even if Zhengde wants to take his crown prince, it will be extremely difficult!