Chapter 92 All the credit goes to the living, all the blame goes to the dead
It was already March 22 when Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong returned to Suzhou.
Including sailing upstream from Suzhou and sailing more than a thousand miles along the Yangtze River, passing through Nanjing, Jiujiang and finally Wuchang, it would take at least early April to get in touch with the Shenshu people.
In comparison, the city of Beijing was much closer to the Liaodong battlefield. On the evening of the 10th day of March, the first wave of gossip came back, saying that the Songshan City guarded by Commander Hong had been captured by the Tatars.
In contrast, the fact that some troops in Tashan, Xingshan and other areas were rescued by sea by grain transport fleets did not have such a great impact. Shanhaiguan was not in a hurry to spend 600 miles to expedite the return, but it was better than Songshan.
News of the fall was sent back to the capital even later.
After the Ministry of War received the letter, Chen Xinjia did not dare to let Chongzhen know immediately. He was still afraid that it would be inaccurate and asked others to verify it - because the news of the fall was sent back by Wu Sangui of Shanhaiguan, and there was no direct witness as a witness.
Unfortunately, the Ministry of War could only keep it secret for one night. During the morning of the next day, some officials who had heard clues from nowhere jumped out.
Of course, these first group of opponents are not Chen Xinjia's political opponents, but some "upright people" who think they are public-minded. Opponents in the open are often not the most terrifying, nor the most insidious.
Those who hide behind to fan the flames and let their hot-tempered colleagues get in first are the most terrifying in the officialdom.
Therefore, the first batch of officials were headed by Liu Zongzhou, the imperial censor of Zuodu, Lin Yuji, the minister of Zhan of the East Palace, and Huang Daozhou, the minister of Shao Zhan.
Liu Zongzhou was the first to speak out and criticize: "Your Majesty! I heard that Songshan fell, Hong Chengchou's tribe was destroyed, and the battle of Songshan was postponed for half a year, but the Ministry of War was unable to save it. This shows that the Ministry of War is overstaffed, slow and incompetent!"
Lin Yuji followed closely: "I second the proposal, and I also impeach Chen Xinjia, Secretary of the Ministry of War, for dereliction of duty and laziness!"
To be honest, Liu Zongzhou, Lin Yuji, and Huang Daozhou all have good character and integrity. Historically, they were able to die for their country when the Ming Dynasty fell. They are just a little too pedantic and do not know how to adapt.
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For example, Liu Zongzhou was dismissed from office for the first time because he opposed Yang Sichang's advice to the emperor to increase "training pay". He believed that the rise of bandits was due to excessive tax burdens. The emperor should not increase money to train troops, but should disband some armies to reduce the financial burden. Then
Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong could be persuaded to put down their weapons with light corvee and small gifts.
This statement makes some sense and is in line with the Confucian requirements of "benevolent government". Unfortunately, it is not practical - Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong have already tasted the benefits. How can the emperor give up the rebellion by cutting taxes?
The reason why another Huang Daozhou was dismissed from office was because he opposed Yang Sichang and Chen Xinjia, who negotiated peace with the Tatars and temporarily agreed to compromise.
Historically, Yang Sichang died of illness, and Huang Daozhou was invited back by Chongzhen. But in this life, due to Shen Shuren's butterfly effect, Yang Sichang was not dead yet, but he was seriously ill and left the center of power in the capital, and stopped Li Zicheng when he was dying in Nanyang. However, this did not
It does not prevent Huang Daozhou from being invited back by Chongzhen.
As a result, these civil servants who had opposed either the payment system or the peace negotiation felt that they were selfless and took the lead in attacking.
Chongzhen didn't know the news of Songshan's fall. He was shocked when a few officials revealed it. He quickly asked Chen Xinjia: "Chen Qing! Is this true? Why didn't the Ministry of War report it?"
Chen Xinjia was sweating profusely and hurriedly came out of the queue to apologize: "I only got the news last night, because it was just a failure report sent back by Wu Sangui at Shanhaiguan. Some details have not been verified, and I don't know whether Hong Chengchou is alive or dead, so I didn't dare to disturb Shengting all night."
Chongzhen had heard the experience of hearing the defeat reports over the years, and immediately sighed in pain: "That means it is probably a big defeat! I just don't know the specific losses!"
Chen Xinjia's tone became more humble: "Your Majesty, Songshan has been besieged for half a year. I sent reinforcements twice, each time with 6,000 troops, but they were repelled by Jian Nu or directly annihilated before they passed Ningyuan.
We, the Ming Dynasty, can no longer afford to suffer losses. Otherwise, how can we still have the strength to defend the capital? Your Majesty, please give me a few days to slowly understand the details of the losses on the front line!"
Chongzhen was so angry that his decree lines twitched wildly, and he got angry again and again. At this moment, Huang Daozhou also jumped out, and after Liu and Lin, he made up for the third blow:
"Your Majesty! Even though the Ministry of War has no troops to mobilize and cannot rescue. But before the decisive battle between Hong Chengchou and Huang Taiji last year, the Ministry of War's Staff Department had several interesting battles, which forced Hong Chengchou not to be cautious.
"He who has capable generals but does not control them will win." The generals are outside, but the civil servants in the rear do not know the enemy's situation and give random orders. This has been a taboo for military strategists since ancient times! Now that more than 100,000 elite soldiers outside the pass have finally been lost, I think that everyone related to the Ministry of War should be held accountable.
The crime of misleading the army!"
Chongzhen actually knew that Chen Xinjia had no fault, but there must be a group of trolls in the Ministry of War who should be held responsible. After being reminded by Zodiac on Monday, he immediately recalled it and found an outlet to vent his anger.
So Chongzhen immediately remembered the matter and shouted angrily: "I remembered it! This has indeed happened, Chen Xinjia! How many people from the Fang Division under your Ministry of War repeatedly wrote to me last year, urging me to urge Hong Chengchou to fight quickly?
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Chen Xinjia secretly complained in his heart, but he could only tell the truth: "This has indeed happened... Before the decisive battle in September last year, Ma Shaoyu, a lieutenant on the side, and Zhang Ruoqi, a member of the foreign service, both wrote to urge Hong Chengchou to fight quickly.
Of course, I was also guilty of neglect, and I felt that what they said was reasonable at the time. Because the Battle of Songjin was delayed for more than a year, hundreds of thousands of imperial troops were stationed outside for a long time, and the extravagant expenditure on military food could no longer be consumed..."
Chen Xinjia knew very well that in fact, Chongzhen wanted Hong Chengchou to fight quickly because the logistics could not afford it.
As for Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi, they are nothing more than villains who want to figure things out to please their superiors. They want to pick out the things that the emperor wants to say but no one dares to say, so that they can say them in exchange for promotion and wealth.
The situation at that time was a bit like the Battle of Changping. In fact, King Zhao himself was dragged down by Lian Po until the logistics could not bear it, so Zhao Kuo was asked to make a quick decision. Zhao Kuo just carried out King Zhao's wishes.
Hong Chengchou's situation at that time was a bit like Lian Po. He knew that there was little hope of actively seeking a decisive battle, but he still had to move forward.
When Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi first played last year, Chongzhen felt that these two people were responsible and praised them a few times. Now that Hong Chengchou's army was finally wiped out, Chongzhen needed to find someone to vent his anger on. As soon as Chen Xinjia said these names, Chongzhen grasped at straws to save his life.
Same, he ordered angrily:
"How about we capture the two thieves Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi! They must at least bear most of the responsibility for Hong Chengchou's downfall! It is an unforgivable crime to deceive the saints and mislead the ministers!"
Seeing that Liu Zongzhou and Huang Daozhou had bitten off at least two of Chen Xinjia's minions, they decided not to do anything wrong for the time being.
After retreating from the court, the Ministry of War was also in chaos. While they had to arrest the two lieutenants and Yuan Wailang and transfer them to Yousi, they were also frantically collecting more military intelligence information about the front.
Try to find some good news about victory in defeat, or hope that Hong Chengchou himself would not die and break out, or fight and die for the country. As long as there is good news, the Ministry of War's guilt can be alleviated.
Chongzhen was very busy and did not have time to question Chen Xinjia once a day. After he returned to the palace, he became more and more angry. He was so angry that he fell ill and had to recuperate for a day or two. After he recovered, he would settle the accounts with Chen Xinjia.
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Of course Chen Xinjia knew how precious these two days when the emperor was ill were.
Therefore, he first personally participated in the preliminary trial of Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi, and also tortured relevant confessions with the people sent by the Ministry of Punishment to assist in the investigation.
Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi, the two big trolls who forced Hong Chengchou to fight last year, were certainly not willing to sit back and wait for death, so they fought hard in the past two days.
They also tried their best to collect detailed intelligence and evidence of the various stages of the battle ahead, hoping to prove that "it was not the original decision to urge Hong Chengchou to fight decisively that was problematic, but that Hong Chengchou was incompetent in tactical command, incompetent in dispatching, and incompetent in commanding troops."
After finding some evidence, they discussed with Chen Xinjia and selected the ones that were beneficial to the Ministry of War to keep, while those that were detrimental to the Ministry of War were tried to hide them.
To put it bluntly, it is to put as much blame as possible on Hong Chengchou.
Of course Chen Xinjia knew that he would be responsible for doing so. But he also knew that Ma and Zhang's dirty operations would indeed be beneficial to the entire military department.
So he ignored his conscience, turned a blind eye, and poured more dirt on Hong Chengchou for the benefit of the small group.
This side has done pretty much the job that they just took credit for. On the other hand, the troops at the front have really brought back two pieces of good news about victory in defeat in the past two days.
On the evening of March 12, when Chen Xinjia was in dire straits, a newspaper from the Shanhaiguan direction was delivered to him.
"Master Bu Tang! What an unexpected joy! It can be regarded as a victory in defeat! Today, there was Cao Bianjiao in the direction of Shanhaiguan. Li Fuming reported that it was the canal fleet that previously transported military rations to Shanhaiguan Wu Sangui's Ministry. It has been transporting rations to Shanhaiguan since the end of last month.
Later, I learned that the defenders in Tashan, Xingshan and other places were still besieged by the Tatars.
Therefore, Zhang Mingzhen, deputy general of the canal protection, and Zheng Chenggong, the canal transporter, decided to take a circuitous route when returning to see if they could rescue some stragglers along the coast of Tashan and Xingshan.
Unexpectedly, they happened to catch up with Tashan. The defenders of the two cities of Xingshan ran out of food and supplies and had to break out. Zhang Mingzhen therefore raided the Bijiashanshui Village between Tashan and Xingshan, annihilated a Qing army, and successfully passed through the sea.
Assisted in rescuing more than 10,000 soldiers and horses! In the ensuing blockade, they also annihilated about one Jia La of the Qing army's counterattack on Bijia Mountain!"
"What? Rescued more than 10,000 people?! Annihilated 3,000 enemies? Bring it to me quickly!" Chen Xinjia felt dizzy for a while, and his mood and blood pressure fluctuated greatly.
He had been forced by the emperor's anger to cut off at least two of his subordinates. If there was no more good news, he might have to be demoted. He really needed this good news.
Although, it is just a victory in defeat.
It's like telling you that after Britain lost France, the expeditionary force partially succeeded in withdrawing from Dunkirk, but in the final analysis it was still a defeat.
After Chen Xinjia unfolded it, after taking a few glances, he decided to concentrate all resources, publicize this victory, and persuade the emperor to reward and promote as much as possible all those who contributed to the Tashan and Xingshan breakout battles, so as to stabilize the morale of the people. .
"Deputy General for Water Transport... This was requested by Shen Tingyang of the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs, right? I remember that Mr. Zhou Ge told me that he wanted to approve the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs to imitate the duties of the former Governor of Water Transport and set up canal protection troops.
Did Mr. Zhou Ge know about this in advance? Or did they just ask for the establishment, there was no battle plan at the time, and all of this was just a matter of improvisation on the way back to the convoy?"
Chen Xinjia decided to go to Zhou Yanru quickly and unify his views overnight.
Then, as if he remembered something, he immediately turned back and asked the subordinate who had just come to deliver the good news: "By the way, it's been two days! Has the situation at Governor Hong been confirmed? Has the entire Songshan garrison been wiped out? Is Hong Chengchou dead?"
The subordinate looked embarrassed and explained: "The Staff Division has used all the intelligence to investigate, and so far we can only find out that the Songshan garrison was probably wiped out, and Hong Chengchou failed to break out.
But whether Hong Chengchou died for his country or was captured is really impossible to find out. After all, everyone who was around Hong Chengchou when the city was destroyed also died or was captured. Where can we find out?"
Chen Xinjia nodded. It seemed that the only thing that could be confirmed was that Hong Chengchou would not come back.
He thought for a moment and gritted his teeth: "Then I will report to His Majesty and say that it has been confirmed that Hong Chengchou was martyred for his country! I think Governor Hong holds a high position and his holy grace is as deep as the sea. How can such a highly respected minister surrender to the Tatars? Even if he was captured alive at the time, he would probably end up martyring his country like Wen Tianxiang.
After claiming that he is dead, we can use the confessions of Ma Shaoyu, Zhang Ruoqi, and other intelligence to attribute all the blame for the defeat to Hong Chengchou's poor command and has nothing to do with the war department's urging of the war!
Also, when the time comes, some compensation will be sent to Hong Chengchou’s family. Your Majesty will still be lenient to the generals who died for the country. Even if he is responsible for the defeat, he will not offend his family. In this case, let Hong Chengchou use the waste and let others Let the dead bear all the blame."
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PS: To clarify, these despicable and shameless officialdoms are indeed beneficial to the protagonist, but they are really not Chen Shuren’s plan. It’s just that Chen Xinjia’s interests coincide with Chen Shuren’s for his own interests.
Chen Shuren never thought about framing Hong Chengchou.