What Zhou Yanru said was clear enough, and there was nothing more he could say.
He didn't even wait for Fang Kongzheng to leave the meal, so he just ran away, leaving the Fang family with mixed feelings and confusion.
Of course, the joy is definitely far greater than the worry.
In these troubled times, it is much safer to have an official position and find peace than to stay idle in the northern capital. The marriage of a young girl is really insignificant compared with the interests of the family.
Many dignitaries of the Ming Dynasty were destroyed when the city was destroyed because they went to the wrong place. Not to mention Fang Ziling's two aunts, both of whom were uncles, were killed by bandits who broke into the city and were left widowed. The whole family was gone. Personally, he was happily married.
What kind of.
A woman in troubled times has a bucket of rice, although it sounds cruel and a bit incorrect, but it is aimed at this kind of situation.
Of course Fang Kongzhen also knew the choice, so after watching Zhou Yanru leave, he just sighed guiltily to his daughter:
"Ling'er, it's my father who feels sorry for you... But in these troubled times, it would be great if our family could find peace. Shu is rich and has natural dangers. As long as Zhang Xianzhong can be wiped out, it will be a peaceful paradise in troubled times."
"Father, you don't have to say it. This is what we should do. What's more, His Majesty has already moved to re-employ you. Do you still want to resist and disobey the decree?" Fang Ziling had regained his composure after the initial shock and hesitation.
Shuang couldn't see anything bad and said coldly,
"My child only wants one thing from my father. Don't mention my child's marriage in the future. My child doesn't want to talk about marriage anymore. Although the appointment with Mr. Shen has not been made clear, this matter is just the king's fate and the current situation. I don't believe in his heart.
If you don't let me marry you, I won't marry you. I'll bow down and wait for the right time, but you don't want me to marry anyone else."
Fang Kongzhen originally wanted to persuade him, but his daughter's last words shut him up.
Indeed, the emperor could only prohibit the Fang family from marrying anyone, but it did not stipulate that the Fang family had to marry anyone. In this case, the method of active action was banned by the emperor's order, so he could use passive and inactive confrontation, that is,
It's a kind of self-esteem.
Fang Kongzhen knew that his daughter had self-esteem, so he would fulfill her self-esteem.
"It doesn't matter, it's all fate. Although our family has also encountered twists and turns, compared to most of the local officials' families who have been wandering and struggling in these troubled times, they have already made up for it. In these years and years, it is right to wait and change things in a hurry.
Maybe we will step into a bigger mud.
That’s all, let’s pack up and prepare as soon as possible. Maybe we’ll receive the order tomorrow, and then we’ll go south to take up our post immediately.”
Fang Kongzheng sighed and ordered, and Fang Ziling went in without crying or making a fuss, and packed up his luggage without mentioning it.
…
The next day was also a formal court meeting held once every five days.
Sure enough, at Chongzhen's court meeting, Chen Xinjia formally reported to the ministers the recent progress of the war and the new dangerous situation in Sichuan and other places, and asked the ministers to discuss and go through the motions.
At the end of the court meeting, during the announcement stage, Chongzhen also presented the discussion results of Zhou Yanru and Chen Xinjia,
Officially due to his victory in Henan and his role in repelling Li Zicheng and siegeing Kaifeng and rescuing the kings, Huguang Governor Shen Shuren was given the national surname and the title of Count of Kru.
After hearing about this reward, many uninformed civil servants in the court were quite surprised, because in the late Ming Dynasty, it was not easy to be awarded a title based on military merit, so a relative might be awarded a count or something.
Therefore, don't look down on a count. Although he has no real power, in terms of scarcity, he is much rarer than a governor.
For example, from Jiajing to Wanli, among the three generations of ancestors and grandchildren, Li Chengliang was the only one who was awarded the title of count due to military merit. He earned the title of "Uncle Ningyuan" by repeatedly raising bandits and relying on his own respect. In contrast, Li Chengliang was not the only one who was awarded the title of "Bo Ningyuan" during the same period. Qi Jiguang, who knew how to respect himself as a bandit, could only "I don't want to be granted the title of marquis, I hope the sea will be peaceful" for the rest of his life.
During the Chongzhen period, the war situation became more and more dangerous, but when Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting killed the previous Chuang king Gao Yingxiang, they also did not have the title of Bo or Hou.
Even though due to the butterfly effect, in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, the Ancestral Temple finally swore that "whoever kills Zhang Xianzhong will be crowned a duke." However, Zhang Xianzhong is still alive and no one has been knighted for it.
Historically, the Ming Dynasty saw the devaluation of counts and marquises. Basically, it was not until Chongzhen died and Beijing was captured that the Southern Ming court began to randomly issue titles.
It was also because the world was in turmoil, and the world was about to end, and there was no need to worry about so much, so the warlords with heavy troops in the four towns of Jiangbei were given titles in exchange for their loyalty to the Southern Ming court.
The counts issued by Zhu Yousong in history are definitely not the same as those issued by Chongzhen Jinkou Yuyan himself.
In the same way, the national surname given by Emperor Longwu to Zheng Chenggong in history is definitely not the same as the surname given by Chongzhen at this moment.
This time the earl has taken the first step. If Shen Shuren was not too young and promoted too quickly, and could not be promoted to governor and governor within a year, he would not have taken out the earl to reward him.
Even so, there were still many imperial censors who came out to protest and earnestly obstructed it, saying that this was not in line with the ancestral system. Since Jiajing, it has not been so easy to be granted the title of earl for military merit. It is nothing more than Liu Zongzhou, Huang Daozhou and the like. people.
It's just that Chongzhen, Zhou Yanru, and Chen Xinjia all agreed on the same view and made the decision in advance, so these people's "sophisticated and prudent opinions" did not make waves, and it was decided like this.
In addition, of course, the rewards at the court meeting could not be targeted only at Shen Shuren, so many other generals and civilian officials who participated in the Henan Campaign also received rewards.
Huang Degong, who ranks first in military merit, has also been the chief soldier since the ninth year of Chongzhen. He has been in the position of chief soldier for six years.
Originally, the General Soldier was already the highest among the normal military attaches and could not be promoted. This time, Chongzhen gave him the additional title of "General of Defeating Rebellion" - the title of "General" was added in the late Ming Dynasty. It was mainly based on the ancient concept of "pacifying thieves and destroying bandits" and "pushing down rebellion". Choose from a variety of generals such as Polu.
A few years ago, Zuo Liangyu was given the title of General Ping Thief. Later, Zuo Liangyu was taken away again because he was convicted of avoiding battles without losing his tail. However, this also caused the title of General Ping Thief to be a bit stinky, so naturally he would not give it to anyone else. Others will also find it unlucky.
Even if it is to be reused in the future, it will have to wait a few years, or even wait until Zuo Liangyu leaves office or passes away. Time will heal everything so that it will not be unlucky.
As for the Dang Kou Keru, they were occupied by Liu Guoneng and Shen Shuren respectively, so Huang Degong basically had no choice but to rebel against the general.
Huang Degong was given the rank of general, and Zhang Mingzhen and others also had military merits, but they were all general soldiers, and their military merits were not that outstanding, so they could not be promoted, and they were only rewarded with gold, silver and property.
As for those who have not yet reached the rank of general, you can generally select those with outstanding performance and move them around. For example, Zhu Wenzhen's general can be moved to deputy general, and the other naval battalion garrison under Zhang Mingzhen can all be promoted. , can also be upgraded again.
It's just that for most of the people below the rank of general, there is no need to deal with them in court. Chen Xinjia can just deal with them privately at the Ministry of War.
After all the promotions of military officers have been dealt with, there are still some matters involving civilian officials.
Fang Yizhi, Yan Yingyuan, etc. under Chen Shuren also made some achievements in logistics preparations, but they were not as significant as those who went into battle to kill the enemy.
Fang Yizhi is already the magistrate of Wuchang and has not been moved for the time being. Yan Yingyuan is still at a very low level and is only an official in the prefecture. We will go back to Zhou Yan to deal with it with the Confucian and Civil Affairs Department, and we can find a way to move him to Tongzhi first.
Only Shen Shuren’s cousin Zhang Huangyan was promoted among civil servants above the prefect level—but this was not because of the war with Li Zicheng, but because he was guarding against the remnants of Zhang Xianzhong in Jingzhou Prefecture and Yiling during the same period.
And when Sun Kewang's entire army withdrew to central Sichuan, Zhang Huangyan keenly attacked some of Sun Kewang's rear troops who were greedy for property and were procrastinating in their actions. He slightly annihilated more than 2,000 enemies, liberated Zigui, Wuxian and other places, and opened up connections with Qin Liangyu.
The passages in the defense zone can be regarded as regaining the territory of a mansion.
These places are extremely poor. There are only a few counties, but the area is still very large. From Zhangjiajie in western Hunan to Shennongjia in the north of the Yangtze River, the entire Three Gorges of the Yangtze River is a steep and poor place. Just looking at the map, a large area has been recovered, although most of it is no man's land.
and savage area.
Therefore, Zhou Yanru made plans in advance to change Zhang Huangyan from the prefect of Jingzhou to the prefect of Chengdu, and added the title of Sichuan Army Bei Dao Qianshi.
This appointment was a result of Zhang Huangyan's self-improvement and his performance was worthy of this reward.
Secondly, it was also for the military strength under Shen Shuren, who could be directly seconded to Sichuan in the future to suppress the rebellion and pursue Zhang Xianzhong. After all, Chen Shuren was not that stingy about lending his troops to his cousin.
A considerable part of Sichuan must have fallen now. Zhang Huangyan seems to have been promoted a lot, but he still needs to fight back the power by himself to regain and pacify the area under his jurisdiction. The court only gives him a title and does not provide money, food or troops. It is considered a business without capital.
.
Strictly speaking, the change from the prefect of Jingzhou to the prefect of Chengdu does not count as a promotion. Only by increasing troops and preparing for the affairs of the country can one be promoted. But even if they are both prefects, there is still a clear difference in real power depending on the level of the prefecture.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Jingzhou Prefecture was no longer the richest and most densely populated prefecture in Huguang. It was far inferior to Fang Yizhi, the prefect of Wuchang, and even slightly worse than Xiangyang Prefecture. It could only be tied with Changsha Prefecture, and it was barely tied for the top three in Huguang.
Look.
The wealth and economic value of Chengdu Prefecture are obviously much higher. It has been the most prosperous and blessed place in Shu since ancient times, the land of abundance. As long as it is not destroyed by Zhang Xianzhong for a long time and is settled as soon as possible, the economic potential can be restored quickly.
After Zhang Huangyan's appointment, it was his turn to renegotiate the candidate for governor of Sichuan.
Not surprisingly, Zhou Yanru recommended Fang Kongzheng, and everything passed after going through the process. This issue was the least controversial issue at the meeting, even Liu Zongzhou and Huang Daozhou, who always complained about everyone, stopped complaining.
Fang Kongzheng was originally innocent and had qualifications. He was waiting for a job in Beijing. He was fifty-three years old and had a few more years to work. He also had a long life as a governor, so he was completely deserved.
…
After the court meeting on November 21st, the relevant decree was revealed immediately. The marriage conferment between Shen Shuren and Prince Lu was not mentioned on that day.
This is a private matter for the emperor's relatives, and there is no need to discuss it at the court meeting. The emperor can decide it himself. If there is a time difference, it will also be more beneficial to Shen Shuren's face, because people will not think of "it turns out that the national surname is given today"
It’s to cover up the fact that Shen Shuren is the same as his wife.”
Now that the limelight has passed, Shen Shuren no longer has to bear the gossip of being a "brother-in-law". He was first given the national surname because of his military service, and later was given the marriage due to other reasons. One thing is the same thing, don't be blind.
Lenovo.
The decree did not require traveling six hundred miles to rush. Anyway, Fang Kongzhen and his family had to follow the decree to take office. The decree arrived in Huguang first, and if Fang Kongzhen and others did not arrive, they would not be able to take office.
So we traveled two to three hundred miles a day, spent seven or eight days, and rushed to Wuchang at the end of November.
At this speed, Fang Kongzhen almost felt that his old bones were about to fall apart, but the military situation was urgent and the emperor's life was at stake, so he could only endure it.