After Chen Xinjia received the good news, he came to Chongzhen to express his merits without notifying Zhou Yanru.
So much so that Zhou Yanru was frightened when he learned that the emperor had summoned him late at night, thinking that something had happened again or that he had received bad news.
Fortunately, Wang Cheng'en, who came to deliver the message, was quite kind. Although he did not make friends with foreign ministers, he was still good at observing people's emotions. Seeing Mr. Zhou Ge's frown, he couldn't bear it and gave a reminder:
"Why are you doing this, Mr. Ge? Tonight is a happy event. Someone has made meritorious service in the Liaodong War. Your Majesty would like to ask Mr. Ge to discuss the reward."
After hearing this, Zhou Yanru made up his mind and said, "Thank you so much, Mr. Wang, for your advice."
After a while, I arrived at the Wenhua Hall, and there was a messenger, and Chongzhen didn't seem to care about the messenger, so that when Zhou Yanru entered, he was still chatting with Chen Xinjia.
Zhou Yanru did not eavesdrop on purpose, but he did not overhear it inadvertently. The discussion between Chongzhen and Chen Xinjia seemed to be the final determination of the culpability of the Liaodong War.
According to Chen Xinjia, the main blame for the defeat was placed on Hong Chengchou. After all, there was no problem with the dispatching of the base war department, but the front line command was ineffective. In particular, Hong Chengchou was unable to organize the troops well and was unable to maintain military discipline and morale.
After Zhou Yanru heard this, he shook his head secretly, but he would not undermine Chen Xinjia. He had a good relationship with Chen Xinjia, and there was no need to be a bad person.
Liu Zongzhou and Huang Daozhou were enough to give Chen Xinjia a bottle of trouble.
Chongzhen didn't dwell on this issue any more, so he accepted Chen Xinjia's statement and sighed:
"Oh, I didn't expect that Hong Chengchou had been able to boost morale and improve military discipline in dealing with bandits in previous years. How come he encountered the Tatars and his military morale was so disorganized?
Forget it, for the sake of his sacrifice for the country, I will treat the deceased as a great person, pay homage to him, and let the courtiers work hard to serve the country with great morale. But in private, I still need to summarize his lessons clearly and prepare them for the Ministry of War.
Eucalyptus, for those who come as a warning."
What Chongzhen meant was that for the common people, the general public, they should not publicize Hong Chengchou's sins and openly mourn and honor him. However, people in the circle should still learn a lesson.
This is to take into account the morale of illiterate soldiers and prevent the cunning people in the court from becoming lazy.
After talking about Hong Chengchou, Chongzhen turned to Zhou Yanru and said, "Zhou Qing came just in time. I am about to discuss some matters regarding reward promotion. Chen Qing, please tell me about the situation."
Chen Xinjia then recounted to Zhou Yanru the situation of those who had contributed to the rescue of Cao Bianjiao and Li Fuming's series of battles, especially the civil servants involved.
Zhou Yanru listened very carefully, and it can be seen from this how cautious Wang Chengen was when he called him just now - Wang Chengen just told him not to be nervous, which was a good thing. But about the specific battle situation and who made the meritorious service, Wang Chengen didn't say a word.
When working around the emperor, you need to be as tight-spoken as possible.
Chongzhen was originally a suspicious person. Seeing that Zhou Yanru listened carefully and didn't rush to answer at all, it was very natural, so he knew that he didn't know anything on the way here.
If Zhou Yanru dared to show even a hint of "premeditated plans", he would be immediately suspected by Chongzhen for "making friends with the ministers"——
This is really not Chongzhen's fault. Zhou Yanru's right-hand man in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Wu Changshi, the doctor in charge of the literary selection department, historically was killed by Chongzhen a few months later because he made friends with the ministers in advance to get information.
Thanks to Zhou Yanru's talent, this little flaw was perfectly avoided.
After listening, he carefully considered and said: "Your Majesty, civil servant promotions are supposed to be verified by merit examinations by the Department of Literature and Art. However, after your Majesty inquires, I can draw up one or two based on established rules.
This battle involved civil servants, and the first contribution was undoubtedly made by Shen Tingyang, the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, who made plans to build a canal defense division. In order to rescue 15,000 official troops and annihilate the two Jialas of Zhentar, the scale was
It is not an exaggeration to be promoted to Nanjing Minister of Household Affairs.
However, as far as I know, the current Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, Qiu Weizhen, is sixty-five years old. It seems that he has reached the age of retirement this year. It is better to wait for Qiu Weizhen to retire and then let Shen Tingyang take over his post."
After hearing this, Chongzhen frowned: "The imperial court will naturally increase the reward immediately after the merits have been verified. How can it be postponed? Where is the trust of the imperial court?"
Zhou Yanru quickly added: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, there are established examples that we can learn from in this matter - in the past, when the supervisors were sent out and controlled several towns, they would be given the title of Minister of the Ministry of War. Now, Shen Tingyang can be given the title of Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs first.
However, adding a title is not equivalent to actual teaching. You can send someone to comfort him and tell him that after Qiu Weizhen becomes an official this year, he will directly take over as the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing."
Chongzhen thought for a while and then nodded: "Okay, let's give Shen Tingyang the title of Minister of Household Affairs first, and coordinate and supervise the grain, salary, gold and other matters in several southeastern provinces, so as to ensure the financial resources of the south for the imperial court."
In the Ming Dynasty, the six ministers of the Northern and Southern Capitals all enjoyed the same level of treatment, but their actual power was very different. Therefore, after adding the title of minister, they could go to Nanjing to take over in the future, and there was no conflict.
Chongzhen and Zhou Yanru also considered that Shen Tingyang was promoted too quickly. He only became the minister of Nanjing last year. He was promoted to minister immediately after just one year, and there would be no reward later. It would be better to wait for Qiu Weizhen to retire naturally, which could take half a year.
.
After taking care of Shen Tingyang, Zheng Chenggong is left.
It was easier for Zheng Chenggong to handle it. After all, it was originally only a sixth-grade Haidao promotion, the director level of a department in the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs.
After Zhou Yanru's calculations, he believed that according to the old rules, the military merits of killing a Tatar leader and repelling Kong Youde should be attributed to him, and he should be promoted to the local magistrate.
Zhou Yanru had previously received a large sum of gold and silver from Shen Shuren and Zheng Chenggong, and had also promised the Shen family's "franchise rights", so of course he knew that he would find a residence for Zheng Chenggong within Shen Shuren's jurisdiction.
Fortunately, there were many cases where the prefects in Chen Shuren's jurisdiction were vacant or needed to be replaced. Zhou Yanru easily found two options for the emperor to decide directly——
In fact, even if Zhou Yanru wanted to give him only one option and repay the favor directly, it was not impossible. But he was a good person and hoped that the emperor would have more control, so he gave two options.
"Your Majesty, in Xiangyang Prefecture, Huguang, last year Zhang Xianzhong made a sneak attack and killed the king of Xiang and local officials. Since then, the prefect has been vacant. Tongzhi and other officials have assisted in pacifying the government. The imperial censor of Qiandu is in charge of the government. I think that Zheng Chenggong can be transferred to Xiangyang.
Prefect.
In addition, before Zheng Chenggong took up the post of water transportation, his original position was Huguang Yanfa Road Inspector, responsible for the collection of taxes on merchants between Huguang, Jiangxi, and South China. He once discovered gangsters and wealthy gentry in Jiangxi, and Zhou Huang, the prefect of Jiujiang, was dismissed from his post.
If His Majesty feels that Zheng Chenggong is too young and Xiangyang is a stronghold of military aircraft and close to the intruder Zhang Ni, it is not appropriate to hand him over to such a young person. It is also possible to transfer him to Jiujiang.
However, as far as I know, the Jiujiang Magistrate has actually approved a candidate a few days ago, named Shi Dun. He was originally a doctor in the Shandong Division of the Ministry of Household Affairs. During his tenure, he was also known for his uprightness and strict accounting of money and food."
Chongzhen waved his hand and felt that he had a strong sense of control: "Let Zheng Chenggong go to Jiujiang! Shi Dun's appointment has not been issued yet? Change him to the prefect of Xiangyang!"
Anyway, Chongzhen felt that as long as he adjusted the order of things reported below within the scope of the list, there would be nothing wrong, and it would also prevent people below from accepting benefits for personal gain and malpractice.
After getting the two most important promotions, Chongzhen only briefly asked about other related personnel with slightly less merit. Those who deserved to be rewarded were rewarded, and those who deserved to be promoted were promoted.
Anyway, after a big defeat nowadays, if there is an occasional small victory, it is best to do everything possible to promote it and boost people's morale.
The Shen family has obviously done a good job in planning in advance. After a little investigation, you can find that several officials of the Shen family have made contributions in helping Shen Tingyang "prepare" the canal protection army——
For example, part of the Shen family's five thousand "households" were apparently transferred from the Huangzhou Army, and Zhang Huangyan, the prefect of Huangzhou, was certainly credited with the early training and supply of this army. There were also several people involved in the surrounding area.
.
After hearing this, Chongzhen felt a little wary and suspicious, and suddenly asked: "Does the new Anhui Fu Shen Shuren have any credit for this matter?"
When Chongzhen asked this question, his tone was slightly cold, and he obviously had some bad associations, fearing that the Shen family would cause trouble in the south.
However, after Zhou Yanru inquired about it, he told him straightforwardly:
"Your Majesty, Chen Shuren has no direct credit. It seems that after he took over as the governor of Anhui, he had other complicated official duties and was not as good as Xiang to help his father. However, Shen Tingyang and Shen Shuren are father and son. Even if they help each other, it is human nature.
."
When Chongzhen heard this, he felt relieved. Indeed, there was nothing to blame for the private help between father and son.
When thinking of Chen Shuren, Chongzhen couldn't help but sigh: "The Ming Dynasty has declined so much. It is rare that there are still a few loyal and good people who have lost their ambition. As far as I know, this Chen Shuren and Zheng Chenggong were originally classmates, right? They
They were all sent to Nanjing Imperial College by Yang Sichang.
Although Shen Shuren did not explicitly perform meritorious service this time, he would not refuse to work for the imperial court. He became governor at the age of twenty-two, and Zheng Chenggong became the prefect at the age of nineteen. The Ming Dynasty will rely on the efforts of these young people, and their future achievements will be
No matter how great you are, how can you reward me?"
Chongzhen sighed, obviously thinking that these two heroes were too young.
Zhou Yanru knew that he was in charge of the civil service and had to help the emperor share these issues, so he said casually: "Why do you need to worry about your majesty? It is a good thing to have someone to share the worries of the country. It shows that the people of the world are towards the Ming Dynasty."
Chen Shuren had indeed been promoted too quickly before. I remember that the order to promote him to Wan Fu was issued at the end of last month. I thought that if he had another military exploit in the future, he could make a fuss about it.
For example, when Zuo Liangyu made meritorious service, there was no military position to be rewarded above the general army, so he was given the title of general thief. Last year, Liu Guoneng collaborated with Shen Shuren to destroy Erhe, and he was given the title of general treason. If Chen Shuren himself has great achievements in the future, if it is inconvenient
If you are promoted to governor, you can also be promoted first."
Chongzhen laughed at himself playfully: "Is it possible to give Shen Shuren the title of general to defeat thieves and gangsters?"
Zhou Yanru: "Chen Shuren is a civil servant, so naturally he cannot be given the title of general, but he can be given the title of nobility. Starting from earl, there are also princes above him, so why worry about not being rewarded for his merits? It has been used by both thieves and bandits, so it is inconvenient to repeat it. Since ancient times,
The only other miscellaneous number at the same level is General Polu, so why not just call him Polupo."
Chongzhen frowned: "What an unlucky word to use. The mountains and rivers are broken, and the golden pot is full of flaws. I don't like this broken word!"
Zhou Yanru quickly changed: "Then let's call him Krupp. When Zuo Liangyu was given the title, he changed the old name from "General of the Thieves" to "General of the Thieves" to take the auspicious meaning of "Ping". The word "Ke" also means "Ke Fu".
The meaning of firmness is more auspicious than that of polu."
After hearing this, Chongzhen thought it was quite good. He thought about it for a while and suddenly burst into laughter: "What are I thinking about? I am wasting my time thinking about a way out for my ministers who have not yet done meritorious service. It is really unnecessary.
That’s all, Zhou Qing and Chen Qing, please step aside and handle all the matters assigned tonight as quickly as you’re told.”
"I excuse myself."
…
Zhou Yanru and Chen Xinjia hurriedly paid their respects and left. Chen Xinjia, in particular, was busy going back to finish preparations for Hong Chengchou's conviction and public memorial.
However, it seemed that God's will was not to let them stop. Just as the two of them slowly exited the Wenhua Palace, eunuchs and people who delivered reports to the Ministry of War came in from outside.
"Your Majesty! Urgent military situation! Urgent military situation in Henan! The ministry of Wang Qionian, governor of the three sides of Shaanxi Province, has been besieged by Li Zicheng since the middle of last month in the Xiangcheng area southwest of Luoyang. Recently it was reported that Xiangcheng has been captured and Wang Qionian died in battle.
Three generals under Wang Qiaonian sat back and watched the governor fall, refusing to rescue. In Yancheng, Yang Sichang and Zuo Liangyu of Ye County were also unable to make progress and were unable to rescue.
According to other rumors, Li Zicheng took advantage of the power of killing two governors in a row and gained great popularity among the bandits. He far away covered the Luo and Ma thieves. A few days after killing Wang Qiao Nian, Li Zicheng actually seduced Luo and Ma generals into rebelling at a celebration banquet.
Luo Rucai and Ma Shou should be killed. Now all the three thieves and soldiers have been annexed by Li Zicheng's family! I'm afraid there are no less than 300,000 people!"
After hearing the bad news, Zhou Yanru and Chen Xinjia were both shocked: "Wang Qiaonian was also wiped out? It was only three months at most since Fu Zonglong was killed, right? Fu Zonglong, the former governor of Shaanxi Province, was not killed just in the twelfth lunar month.
kill?"
The bad news of the Ming Dynasty was really one after another. Liaodong had just died, and Shaanxi and Henan were about to die again.
The two people were surprised on their lips, but they were extremely desolate in their hearts: It seems that Shaanxi is really a bottomless pit. There have been major disasters for more than ten years in a row. No one who goes to Shaanxi can stop the endless flow of thieves, alas.
However, the emperor was very stubborn and could not say these words.
Chongzhen was also shocked when he heard the bad news, but apart from his grief, he felt a chill rising from his spine: "He actually guessed it right!"
Zhou Yanru and others were confused for a while, looked at each other, and carefully asked: "What did your majesty say you guessed right?"
Chongzhen glared at them: "It's a pity that you are still ministers and elders, but you don't read! Haven't you read "On the Rogue Thieves" written by Shen Shuren? I told the world that all ministers should read it carefully!
Chen Shuren bluntly said that Zhang Ni, the intruder, had an advantage that the other thieves did not have. They cut off their descendants and allowed others to be used for their own purposes. Sooner or later, the thieves would merge and it would inevitably end with Li, Zhang Deli, Luo and Ma being harmed!
I originally thought that this was just a casual move by him to alienate the thieves, but I didn't expect that he was right! Such a miraculous calculation can be said to know the tactics. If such a genius is allowed to serve as the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, I wonder if he can predict the enemy's plan first and draw the enemy.
Kill the intruders!"
Zhou Yanru and Chen Xinjia were stunned when they heard this, and quickly persuaded the emperor to calm down: "Your Majesty! Shen Shuren has just been promoted to Wanfu, and Your Majesty is already worried that he is too young and will not be rewarded for his merits. Now that he has not made any new achievements, how can he be promoted to the third position?
Governor? The responsibilities of the governor of the three sides are even higher than those of the governor of a province."
When Chongzhen thought about it, he was indeed impulsive.
How can a country be governed by someone who is considered talented and promoted at all costs? The key is to have merit. This is not the end of the Qin Dynasty. The era when King Huai of Chu could directly make Song Yi a general just because Song Yi guessed a divine prophecy.
.
What's more, even in the dynasties that did not talk about seniority in officialdom in the early years, Song Yi, who rose to power by relying on divine prophecies, was still not killed by Xiang Yu with a sword because of his dissatisfaction?
Chongzhen sighed: "What is the plan for now? How can we get Shen Shuren to help contain the intruders and wreak havoc? There is always a way to help without promotion, right?"
Zhou Yanru and Chen Xinjia thought for a while, put it all together, and first made a compromise suggestion to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, please first select another minister who knows the military affairs to be the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi. If the name is correct, the words will be followed. The ministers will recommend one person: a few years
Sun Chuanting, who was previously accused and imprisoned, may be able to use it.
After Sun Chuanting takes over Wang Qiaonian's general, Your Majesty can issue another order to Yang Sichang. Zuo Liangyu must cooperate with Sun Chuanting and no longer be as timid as when he cooperated with Wang Qiaonian. In addition, you can issue an order to Shen Shuren to assist Yang Sichang."
Of course these people didn't know that Shen Shuren didn't want to compete with Li Zicheng at all, but only wanted to deal with Zhang Xianzhong, so they sold Shen Shuren without hesitation.
Chongzhen also learned the lesson this time. He was afraid that he would encounter generals and civil governors who would listen to the instructions but not the propaganda again. He quickly said that he could promise benefits first and asked Zhou Yanru to find a way to tell Chen Shuren that as long as he helped the battle well and had merit, he would be named the king.
"Krupp".
The newly revised and upgraded mobile site has the following address: data and bookmarks are synchronized with the computer site for refreshing reading without ads!