Chapter 223 Who told Chongzhen not to open his eyes?
Sun Chuanting's death seemed a bit sudden. Li Zicheng was clearly weakened last year, so why did he finally completely defeat Sun Chuanting?
But it can only be said that his life was not good. The factors that led to the collapse of military morale all came together - historically, Chen Xinjia died in the late autumn and early winter of last year, not until April of the 16th year of Chongzhen.
Therefore, the historical disunity among the top Ming army officials caused by the death of Chen Xinjia did not interfere with the decisive battle between Sun Chuanting and Li Zicheng. The cooperation between Huang Taiji and Li Zicheng was not as perfect as it is now. Sun Chuanting had less than half a year to slowly restore the low morale.
In actual combat, the key to the impact on morale is a dense, concentrated, and frequent outbreak of bad news in a short period of time, which can directly drive the enemy's morale to zero, and the troops will instantly disintegrate.
If the news that demoralizes people is not intensive enough, and the other party is given time to react, whether it is sending money or urgently talking to the generals to win them over, it is possible that the news will come back. In this case, most of the morale blows will be
Invalid output.
On the other hand, although Zhu Shuren severely damaged Li Zicheng's troops near Kaifeng last year, in order to expand his own strength, Zhu Shuren was also poaching the Ming Dynasty.
The remaining elite members of Kaifeng's general, Chen Yongfu, together with the King of Zhou and others, retreated southward along the Bianshui River and Yingchuan River to Xinyang, Fengyang, and Hefei.
You should know that in history, Li Zicheng's three attacks on Kaifeng lasted until September of the 15th year of Chongzhen, but failed to break the city. In the end, they relied on digging the Yellow River to flood the city. But after Kaifeng became undefendable, Chen Yongfu still moved to other places in Henan.
region, continue to support Sun Chuanting,
And in the historical decisive battle between Sun Chuanting and Li Zicheng in the 16th year of Chongzhen, he helped Sun Chuanting fight until the end, until the Ming army in Henan completely collapsed.
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Now, due to Zhu Shuren's poaching, the main force of Chen Yongfu's Henan Ming Army was diverted to the rear to rest in advance, and indirectly fell into Zhu Shuren's sphere of influence, and no longer fought side by side with Sun Chuanting.
Therefore, in the final decisive battle between Sun Chuanting and Li Zicheng, a large part of the combat power of the Henan Ming Army was actually removed. Sun Chuanting could only rely on his own Shaanxi Ming Army to fight alone. It is not so strange that he died in defeat.
To put it bluntly, Zhu Shuren's Henan operation last year weakened the Henan official army and the bandits at the same time. The bandits were mainly annihilated and forced to surrender, while the official army was mainly evacuated to preserve their strength.
Li Zicheng's side was taken away by Zhu Shuren, Li Jiyu, Yuan Shizhong's fighting strength of the newly attached bandits in Henan, the official army's side was also poached from the most elite backbone of the local defenders in Henan, Sun Chuanting's fighting strength in the final decisive battle
It is no cheaper than the same period in history.
At this point, Zhu Shuren also knew that Chongzhen was bound to die, and he did not hope that there would be too much mutual killing between the Han rulers and the bandits before Chongzhen's death. Wouldn't it be better to save lives and fight against the Tatars in the future?
Therefore, if Chongzhen died early, he would put Li Zicheng in a difficult position and let the world see Li Zicheng's true face as soon as possible.
As for Sun Chuanting, there is nothing he can do. He has been in a high position for too long, and his status is higher than that of Zhu Shuren, who was the one who killed Gao Yingxiang. Even if Zhu Shuren killed Zhang Xianzhong later, his credit was almost the same as that of Sun Chuanting who killed Gao Yingxiang.
In addition, Sun Chuanting was too loyal and loyal to Chongzhen. He would not be able to die even if he did not die to Chongzhen. Zhu Shuren had no choice but to let nature take its course. As for other generals whose status was lower than that of Zhu Shuren, they could be controlled in the future, such as Chen Yongfu. Of course they could make a profit.
Just caught one.
From then on, the power of the Ming Dynasty no longer had to be sandwiched between the bandits and the Tatars. All the enemies were in the north, and there was no need for both the north and the south to be attacked from both sides.
…
Chen Xinjia died in April, and Huang Taiji's invasion lasted for one and a half months, from the end of April to the beginning of June. Sun Chuanting's death also happened in June, which almost overlapped with the final stage of Huang Taiji's invasion.
After sorting out this timeline, it is not difficult to understand that on June 18th, Zhu Shuren took Zhang Xianzhong’s lime-pickled head and a thousand slices of meat, plus a memorial to report his victory, as well as Sichuan Governor Fang Kongzhen, Sichuan military commander Zhang Huangyan, etc.
What was Chongzhen's mentality when all the memorials were sent to the capital?
This time point was only about ten days after Sun Chuanting's death.
Taking into account the distance between Xi'an and Beijing, the news of Sun Chuanting's defeat and death was rushed 600 miles to Beijing, and the journey took four days.
Therefore, Chongzhen also just received the good news five days after the news of Sun Chuanting's death.
The person who reported this good news to Chongzhen was Zhang Guowei, the newly appointed Minister of War - the same Zhang Guowei who had crossed paths with Zhu Shuren when he was in Nanjing two and a half years ago, during the thirteenth year of Chongzhen's reign.
At that time, in order to implement the Lijin policy, Zhu Shuren had to find an ally with real power in the southern Zhili territory to help him push it forward, so as to show the emperor that "all the pilot provinces in the south supported the collection of Lijin." So he naturally found Zhang Guowei, who was still the household secretary in Nanjing at that time.
The presence of a waiter.
Zhang Guowei later contributed a lot to the advancement of Lijin reform, and Zhu Shuren also secretly stuffed him with a lot of money. After the event was completed, he helped him run the business and transferred Zhang Guowei to Beijing as the Minister of Household Affairs.
At the same time, Zhu Shuren's father, Shen Tingyang, was also working in the Department of Shipping in the Ministry of Household Affairs in Beijing at that time. He could be promoted due to his merit, but there was no suitable position, so he went to Nanjing to fill the vacancy vacated by Zhang Guowei and became the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing.
Later, he used this as a springboard to rise to the rank of Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing.
This set of personnel operations can be said to be more complicated than those three-world revolving doors in Washington in later generations. Therefore, the relationship between Zhang Guowei and the Shen family is very intricate.
As early as more than ten years ago when he was the governor of Su Song, he had a good relationship with Shen Tingyang. After more than ten years of official exchanges, they were already close friends.
As an aside, Zhang Guowei took over as the Minister of War in Beijing this time. It was purely a matter of historical inertia. Historically, after Chen Xinjia died, Zhang Guowei took over. Zhu Shuren did not have any operation or involvement in it.
The reason why historical inertia is so great is because Zhang Guowei is a rare loyal minister.
Historically, after the death of Chongzhen, he remained loyal to the Southern Ming Dynasty. Hongguang overthrew King Lu who continued to serve as a supervisor with Fang Guoan and Fang Guoan. After Fang Guoan rebelled, he felt that the situation was over and a scholar could not save his life, so he committed suicide by drowning himself in a lake.
.
After Chen Xinjia's death this time, everyone in the court regarded the position of Minister of War as a daunting prospect. Even if he was originally just a minister or even an official at the rank of doctor, no one wanted to be promoted to fill this vacancy.
Chongzhen also left this position vacant for more than half a month. He originally wanted to give it a try and see who was willing to show loyalty and perform well. Unexpectedly, after half a month, it became quiet, so he had to put down his face and take the initiative to ask who was willing.
Take this important task.
It was under such circumstances that Zhang Guowei took the initiative to ask for help, because he was the only one asking for help, and Chongzhen couldn't play a trick like "Civil servants must choose one of three for promotion, get a few more spare tires for me to choose from."
At this point, we don’t even care about the decent process. It’s simply a matter of equal bids, whoever comes will get the upper hand.
So Zhang Guowei became the 13th Minister of War in the Chongzhen Dynasty.
Of the twelve people in front of him, eight were dead and four were dismissed for investigation.
If nothing else happens, Zhang Guowei will be the last person to take the initiative to become the Minister of War, and will also be the last Minister of War to work hard and seriously after taking office.
(Note: Historically, after Zhang Guowei, there were two other ministers of the Ministry of War, Feng Yuanbiao and Zhang Jinyan, but their terms were less than three months, and they were replaced randomly before Chongzhen's death.
Neither of these two people did anything after taking office. They just carried on as usual without making any decisions. Success and Xini survived. In fact, after Chen Xinjia was killed, more than 90% of the courtiers had entered a state of inaction. Zhang Guowei was considered to be an extremely rare person who did not care about his personal life.
It's safe.
One of the biggest political characteristics of the Chongzhen Dynasty is: if you do too much, you will make mistakes; if you don't do something, it will be good; if you do more, you will not be rewarded; if you do something wrong, you will be killed.)
Perhaps it is God's will that occasionally rewards loyalty and kindness. This time, Zhang Guowei took advantage of such a huge achievement just over a month after taking office. Even if it was Zhu Shuren who directly performed the meritorious service, as Minister of the Ministry of War, he could also shine.
When entering the palace, Zhang Guowei was still sighing in his heart: If it was Chen Xinjia's fault and the delay was another two months, would Chen Xinjia not have to die? After all, the good news of pacifying Zhang Xianzhong came back, and according to the Ministry of War's decisions and arrangements, how could it be possible?
Should he pay for his death penalty?
It’s really a blessing in disguise.
…
After meeting the emperor, Zhang Guowei was filled with excitement and vigorously explained all the causes and consequences to the emperor.
Chongzhen was originally depressed and had not yet recovered from the death of Sun Chuanting.
After listening to Zhang Guowei's words, his whole body changed. His eyes were round and round. He was even more neurotic than a hyperthyroid patient.
Knowing that Zhang Xianzhong had been entrusted with the title, the main force of Zhang Xianzhong's troops had been wiped out, and only about one-third of the troops were left, led by Sun Kewang, who continued to resist in the mountainous areas of western Sichuan and southern Sichuan. Chongzhen's nerves were like a roller coaster. Of course, it must have been far away.
Much larger than falling.
This is the biggest victory since Gao Yingxiang was beheaded seven years ago!
The small fly in the ointment is that Sun Kewang still ran away, and he still led tens of thousands of people to resist, which was probably very harmful. It was a bit of a pity that Zhang Xianzhong was not escorted to the capital alive.
Chongzhen could only reluctantly ask Zhang Guowei to bring Zhang Xianzhong's head up, and asked Wang Chengen to lift the lid. Chongzhen stared at the head from a distance for a long time, then pulled out his sword and chopped it with seven or eight swords.
It was like venting a little bit of the resentment in my chest.
Chopping and chopping, Chongzhen suddenly lost control and fell to the ground, crying loudly again:
"My ancestors and ancestors! The traitors who took the lead in destroying Fengyang's ancestral mausoleum have finally been beheaded! May the spirits of our ancestors and ancestors in heaven calm down their grievances and continue to bless my descendants of the Ming Dynasty in peace!"
When Wang Chengen and Zhang Guowei saw this scene, they looked at each other in confusion and felt chills behind their backs. They both knew that His Majesty had a very strong and unyielding temperament, and they were afraid that outsiders would see his weak side.
Wang Chengen especially knew that if any eunuch in the palace accidentally saw His Majesty crying when he shouldn't have, he would probably die badly.
But after the two calmed down a little, they quickly realized that this situation was special and there was nothing to worry about——
The Ming Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety. Crying for the sake of filial piety is not only not a sign of weakness, but also an act of great benevolence. When the Fengyang ancestral mausoleum was destroyed, Chongzhen also went to the Ancestral Temple and cried for several days. He cried because of his ancestors. This is
Not shameful.
After Chongzhen finished crying this time, he had no choice but to go to the Ancestral Temple to burn a few sticks of incense and go through the process in two days.
The two of them waited quietly for Chongzhen to finish venting, and then Zhang Guowei carefully asked how he would initially deal with this matter.
The specific handling opinions will definitely have to be decided during the court meeting in a few days. Of course, it is also possible that with such great news, Chongzhen will temporarily convene an additional court meeting tomorrow morning. But at least today we can set the tone first.
After Chongzhen thought about it, his first reaction was to further regard Zhu Shuren as a firefighter, enslaved and thrown wherever the situation was critical. So he took the memorial back and looked at it several times, and asked reluctantly:
"Sun Kewang's escape is really as serious as what Zhu Shuren said? Do you still need to occupy so many forces of Huguang and Sichuan officers and soldiers to continue the pursuit?"
It turns out that Zhu Shuren's memorial exaggerated the threat to Sun Kewang as much as possible, and even exaggerated the size of Zhang Xianzhong's remnants that Sun Kewang took away, so that Zhu Shuren could continue to delay time.
Zhang Guowei has a good relationship with Zhu Shuren, and he also understands Zhu Shuren’s loyal character, so he chose to trust him completely, and now he also helps to say good things:
"Your Majesty, the best way to save the country's money and people's energy is to eliminate all evil. Last year, Zhu Shuren was only halfway through the pursuit of Zhang Xianzhong. In order to break the siege of Kaifeng, Chen Xinjia forcibly transferred him to Henan. Only then did Zhang Ni reappear and continue to entangle him to this day.
As the saying goes, boiling the soup to stop the boil is better than removing the pus. Although the ulcer is painful, it is better than nourishing the poison. Once the poisonous sore is broken on the body, it is necessary to squeeze out the pus and blood thoroughly and clean it. If a little bit is left, it will still appear in the future.
Then erode the body.
Your Majesty, have you forgotten that when the former intruder Gao Yingxiang was given the title of leader, Li Zicheng quickly took over the title of intruder within a year or two. If Sun Kewang did not take this opportunity to pursue him, he might not become the second Zhang Ni.
"
Zhang Guowei's words hit the mark and gave Zhu Shuren enough face.
There is absolutely no need to doubt Zhang Guowei's loyalty to Chongzhen and the Ming Dynasty. He also sincerely felt that this was the best for the Ming Dynasty. It was the most cost-effective and would avoid many setbacks in the future.
Of course, the reason why he said this was because he had an inner estimate of the time it would take to "hunt down Sun Kewang", and this estimate was actually far shorter than what Zhu Shuren would actually carry out when the time came.
time, it will be delayed.
Before Zhang Guowei met with the emperor, he had estimated in private that Zhu Shuren had promised to completely kill Zhang Xianzhong in a year and a half. That means more than half a year if the time was right, and a little more than a year if the time was slow.
Now, in fact, it only took more than half a year to at least kill Zhang Xianzhong himself. This shows that Zhu Shuren's promise is very reliable and can be trusted.
Now that there is still a little bit of finishing work left, let's cut the time in half and promise Zhu Shuren three months to deal with Sun Kewang, and half a year at the latest.
If Chongzhen couldn't bear half a year and bargained again, it would be to add one or two months to the three months, and the minimum would not be more than four or five months.
That is to say, by October of the 16th year of Chongzhen, or November at the latest, all remaining thieves in the south will be completely wiped out. Zhang Guowei feels that this pace is no problem.
After all, the current Li Zicheng has just killed Sun Chuanting and has not revealed any greater ambitions. Zhang Guowei is not a time traveler. How could he have expected that within just two or three months after Li Zicheng killed Sun Chuanting, his ambitions would be so high that he would dare to go all the way?
Heading towards Beijing.
At this point, the understanding of many people in the Ming Dynasty still remains at "Li Zicheng's victory is indeed a major setback for the court, but the loss for the court is limited to the loss of one or two provinces for a while."
I didn't think this kind of loss would spread to the whole world.
If Li Zicheng really does not cause greater or more radical harm in a short period of time, and the imperial court does not attack him, he will not backfire on the imperial court. Then let Zhu Shuren completely clean up the chaos in the southwest, so as not to suffer twice in the future, absolutely
It's a good deal.
Sichuan is far away and the road is difficult and dangerous. It is not easy for a large army to enter Sichuan.
Chongzhen always felt that something was wrong, but then he thought about it and realized that he had indeed not heard of any more actions by the intruders, and the Shaanxi Diu had already been lost, within a month or two.
Considering that Zhang Guowei had just taken up his new post, he was a loyal minister who had the courage to do his job, and today's decision could be regarded as Zhang Guowei's first major decision after taking over. Chongzhen decided to give him a little more trust and listen to him.
Although Chongzhen was stubborn in employing people, there was still one advantage, that is, as long as he was willing to employ anyone, Chongzhen would basically listen to him and give him a chance to perform when the other party had just taken office.
Even though Yuan Chonghuan's braggadocio that the Liao Dynasty would be defeated in five years was so unreliable, as long as Yuan Chonghuan dared to issue a military order, Chongzhen would dare to believe it.
The worst case scenario is that it fails in the end, and it won’t be too late to kill him.
Moreover, what Zhang Guowei just said had one last clever point, which happened to capture Chongzhen - what Zhang Guowei said was "Last year, in order to break the siege of Kaifeng, Chen Xinjia forcibly transferred Zhu Shuren to Henan," which led to some evil consequences.
But in fact, the decision made last year was certainly not made by Chen Xinjia. In fact, it was forced by Chongzhen himself. But Chen Xinjia is dead, and Zhang Guowei also understands the principle of accompanying a king like a tiger, so he puts all the problems on the dead.
Pushed, pretended not to know, and got over the lake with the mud.
When Chongzhen heard this, he felt slightly guilty. For a moment, he actually felt a bit guilty for the dead Chen Xinjia: Chen Qing helped me take the blame again.
This feeling of shame and guilt made him choose to accept remonstrance temporarily.
Of course, if Li Zicheng makes greater moves and threats in the future and is not satisfied with being entrenched in Shaanxi, Hedong, and Heluo, then Chongzhen will definitely change his order immediately and force Zhang Guowei to send an order to summon Zhu Shuren to the north.
After thinking through all these twists and turns, Chongzhen said: "Well, in the autumn of the national crisis, last month I still hoped that someone would volunteer to take over the post of Minister of the Ministry of War. In the end, Zhang Qing was the only one who had the courage to take charge. It's a shame.
.
Since this is Zhang Qing's first major remonstrance after taking office, how can I not accept the remonstrance? It is limited to three months, and in the reply to Zhu Shuren's order, I also remind him to beware of any new moves by the Shaanxi thieves at any time.
The imperial court should also keep a close eye on it. Once it is discovered that the intruders are taking the initiative to attack and corrupt, they will immediately issue a supplementary order to ask Zhu Shuren to drop what they are doing and go to the north to serve the king immediately!"
Zhang Guowei first wrote down the emperor's guiding thoughts one by one, and then asked: "Your Majesty, I wonder if your Majesty has any extra-legal favors for the reward of Zhu Shuren?"
Chongzhen was stunned and a little ashamed. He was also shocked by Sun Chuanting's death, so that after receiving the good news today, his first thought was how to continue to squeeze Zhu Shuren, and he actually ignored the reward.