Chapter 228 I have always admired His Majesty's heroism
"My father-in-law Wang is really working hard from afar. My whereabouts are uncertain, which makes my father-in-law suffer. My cousin Zhang Bingbei didn't neglect my father-in-law when he was in Chongqing."
On the sixth day of August, in Nanzheng County, at the Yamen of the Hanzhong Prefecture, Zhu Shuren finally received the emissary, Eunuch Wang, who had traveled a long way for two months.
Eunuch Wang looks much thinner than the last time we saw him in April. It seems that he is really uncomfortable having to travel back and forth between Beijing and Chongqing all the time.
Basically, in the past four months, the prince and the people around him spent more than two-thirds of their time on the road, traveling through mountains and rivers, taking cars and boats, and running around.
However, when he met Zhu Shuren, the prince's attitude was still polite and he always kept a smile on his face: "You are so polite, Mr. Guo. Mr. Guo is the pillar of the country and has unparalleled loyalty. Even though he holds such a high position, he still works hard and always shows up."
In the most critical place of the country, His Majesty will definitely be moved if he knows about it."
The main reason why Wang Gonggong spoke so politely was because Zhang Huangyan sent someone to take care of his food and daily life along the way. Although he was a little tired, his material comforts were not lacking.
What's more important is that every time he went to Sichuan to deliver an edict, the gifts he received were worth at least five figures in silver. There were always tens of thousands of taels, and some property was brought back to others through the princes and father-in-law.
The eunuchs who handled the key points in the capital were able to share their profits.
After all, Zhu Shuren still hopes that these people who upload and distribute things will help him buy time and say good things.
Although Chongzhen was already dead in his eyes, the closer he got to the last moment, the less likely he was to make any mistakes. Only in this way could he maintain his image of loyalty to the last moment.
Compared with the huge gains in the future, money on the scene must not be saved at this time. The Shen family has been the richest man in Suzhou for generations, and others know that you are rich. The more you do this, the more you must maintain the original rhythm of giving money, so as not to let people
I doubt you predicted anything in advance.
As a result, the communication between the two parties has always been maintained in such a cordial and friendly atmosphere.
Zhu Shuren asked people to arrange some refreshments first and entertain them well. He himself asked people to decorate the hall with eucalyptus, so that he could formally go through the formal process and receive the order later——
Chongzhen's decree to grant him a new title and order him to temporarily supervise Sichuan has not been read out yet, so it cannot be made more formal.
…
After entertaining the prince and his father-in-law with good tea and snacks, and giving some jewels privately, and preparing the fragrant eucalyptus, Zhu Shuren went through the formal process and received the decree first.
When Zhu Shuren heard that he had only been promoted from Krupp to Krupp Marquis, and not directly made a Duke according to the oath of the Taimiao Alliance three years ago, Zhu Shuren felt a little disappointed in his heart, but he quickly recovered.
And he didn't show any emotion on the surface, he looked like "I'm very satisfied to be a marquis".
Chongzhen's excuse is quite reasonable. He already regards him as a dead person. It is conceivable that the other party should be wary of him and make better use of him.
What's more, in the past two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, no one was awarded the title of Duke for meritorious service. The only Dukes were handed down from the time when Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country and Zhu Di usurped the throne. Being a Marquis would avoid being jealous of colleagues in the world.
It is not a good thing for young people to suddenly rise to high positions. People who do not match their virtues will be hated by others.
Now that Chongzhen has become such a villain, and the people of the world know that Zhu Shuren has done his best for the country and has done great service, but he is still suppressed by the Ancestral Temple Alliance and will be rewarded slowly, the people of the world will sympathize with him.
In fact, the title of "temporarily" supervising Sichuan's military affairs is also very valuable to him. It allows him to interfere in various internal affairs of Sichuan and stay in Chongqing and other places for a long time without any nominal obstacles. If there is a thorn in the side
, if he wants to clean it up, it will be much easier,
For those subordinates who are loyal to the Ming Dynasty, the cohesion can be further improved, so that no one will doubt their life and feel that the governor wants to separatist rule.
After Zhu Shuren expressed his gratitude to Tian En, he chatted with Wang Gonggong about his next plan without any complaints.
"Thank you very much, father-in-law, for your kind words in front of your majesty. It is inseparable from your majesty's ability to reward me so impartially and to have smooth communication with my father-in-law, and to listen to my wishes.
I have received so much favor from the country that I promised to deal with Sun Kewang within three months. However, this really has to start from now on. Before August, I don’t know what your majesty means, so I can’t count the time.
Yes, by the end of November, I will definitely give you some new progress."
After Zhu Shuren spoke openly like this, Wang Gonggong also breathed a sigh of relief. He was worried that Zhu Shuren would not be satisfied and prepared a lot of excuses. Now it seems that it is not necessary.
But since those words to help the emperor win over people's hearts must have been prepared, they must be said, otherwise they would not have been prepared in vain. The prince said cheerfully:
"Guo Xingye is so loyal and loyal. He is really a model for the world. In fact, your majesty's trust in Guo Xingye is the highest in the world. It is difficult for anyone in the civil and military circles of the dynasty to be so valued by your majesty. But Guo Xingye is too much."
You are too young, you are only twenty-four this year, right? No one would be jealous of anyone over thirty who would be crowned a duke. After all, Huo Qubing was twenty-four years old back then, and he was only a champion.
Even so, His Majesty also said privately that after Sun Kewang is dealt with, or if Sun Kewang is difficult to deal with, he will lead his troops back to the north and round up the intruders. If he has done a good job, he will be crowned Duke within a year and a half.
Just leave it to Mr. Guo."
The example given by Wang Gonggong is actually not appropriate. Huo Qubing was twenty-four years old. That was because he only lived to be twenty-four years old, and there were no dukes in the Han Dynasty, and the princes were the highest.
But Zhu Shuren didn't care about what the other party said. He just accepted it completely and showed a happy expression to show that he would definitely work hard.
Then, he went on to describe his military plan without leaving any trace, especially "Why did he delay his pursuit of Sun Kewang in the two months of June and July before the imperial envoy came, but came in person?"
Go to Hanzhong and focus on the northern route."
After all, if this problem is not explained, there will be poor communication after returning, and Chongzhen may still be suspicious. Each time the two parties communicate, they are disconnected for at least three months, and it is not easy to go back and forth. Zhu Shuren can think of the vaccination in advance, so of course he has to take it
enough.
"The reason why I did not personally take advantage of the victory and pursue the poor bandits in June and July is because the summer in Yunnan and Guizhou is too hot, and the soldiers often suffer from diseases. If we continue to pursue deeply, I am afraid that many soldiers will die of illness every day. I am not showing sympathy to the soldiers.
way.
I have also sent scouts to investigate. Where Sun Kewang has passed, the deaths and injuries of Shaanxi thieves are not counted. Every day, many old thieves fall to death due to the unfavorable climate and the epidemic. Therefore, in the past two months, we have not pursued
The results are better than those of previous pursuits. It is now August, and the autumn weather is getting colder. It is a good time to continue the southward pursuit. I will definitely succeed in three months.
As for Hanzhong, it was really important before. Although the intruder did not have the courage to enter Sichuan, he still had some courage to seize Hanzhong. At the end of the day, he still hoped to capture Baoji and break up the pass.
After blocking the mountain danger in this way, intruders would often have the opportunity to enter Hanzhong, or even go further south into Sichuan, but the imperial officers and soldiers would fall into the dilemma of passively defending and fortifying everywhere.
That’s why I personally came here to supervise the defense, and urged to restore people’s livelihood and speed up the collection of military rations for a long-term plan. I estimate that the intruders will definitely try to attack Baoji County and Dasanguan at any cost this autumn, because once winter comes
, given the dangerous location of the Qinling Mountains and the heavy snow blocking the mountains, he had no chance.
The winter in the north is cold and freezing, which is conducive to the use of troops in spring and summer but not in autumn and winter. The hot weather in the south is conducive to the use of troops in autumn and winter but not in spring and summer. If His Majesty had allowed me to pursue Zhang Xianzhong in autumn and winter last year, Zhang Ni and Sun Kewang would have been able to do so long ago
Completely destroyed.
It's a pity that last autumn and winter, we wasted on fighting the intruders and rescuing Kaifeng. So when we came to Sichuan to attack the thieves this year, the season suitable for using troops was not long ago, so we couldn't solve it immediately.
If your Majesty can allow me to make my own arrangements, and if I insist on using troops against the north in the spring and summer, and against the south only in the autumn and winter, why not worry about defeating the thieves in the most economical way of saving national money and troops!"
Zhu Shuren was eloquent. Regardless of whether the prince had thought of so many points, he first explained his strategic plan in detail.
After all, the prince doesn’t know much about military affairs. It’s probably impossible to expect him to ask such technical questions in person. In this case, professional people need to take the initiative before the leaders and messengers realize the problem.
Check and fill in the gaps.
Even if you didn't expect it or you didn't ask, Zhu Shuren still has to answer. After they go back, it will be at least three months before Chongzhen sends someone next time.
During those three months, they would naturally encounter these questions, think about them, and want to ask them. When the time came, they would recall: Damn it, it turns out that these questions that they didn’t ask at the beginning were already predicted by Mr. Guo Xing three months ago.
If you encounter someone, you are bound to ask questions, so I will answer them before you ask.
Then, Zhu Shuren's reputation in the Beijing court could be maintained very well until the end.
The prince listened very carefully, and finally thought that it really made sense.
It's hot in the south and cold in the north. This is common knowledge that anyone with a normal IQ knows. If Sun Kewang fled to Yunnan and Guizhou, he would have to fight in a tropical rainforest climate area and only use troops in autumn and winter. It couldn't be more reasonable.
And Li Zicheng looked arrogant now, and he didn't know if Li Zicheng had done anything new on the northern front in the past month and a half since the prince entered Sichuan and was isolated from the world.
But based on common sense, once winter comes, Li Zicheng will definitely not be able to make any big moves towards the north, right? Isn't he afraid that a large number of his subordinates will freeze to death? Nowadays, the climate is relatively colder than normal every year.
Some! (People at that time already knew that the weather was getting colder, but they didn’t know the term “Little Ice Age”)
The prince smoothed out all the cause-and-effect thinking and said with admiration: "It turns out that Mr. Guo has already thought so clearly. After our family returns to Beijing, we will make a detailed report to His Majesty so that Mr. Guo will not be wronged.
of.
However, Mr. Guoxing, you just said that Li Zicheng is likely to attack Hanzhong this autumn, is this reliable?"
Zhu Shuren: "Of course! To be honest, as early as July, about half a month ago, I asked the scouts sent by Cao Junmen to detect the intruders who had completely occupied the surrounding areas of Xi'an and divided their troops into groups.
All over Guanzhong, approaching Baoji County.
I have ordered people to transport two batches of military rations through the Chencang Ancient Road to the front line and Dashan Pass in Baoji County. The Hanzhong side is temporarily tightening their belts and living a hard life. By the end of October and the beginning of November, the corn supply here will be reduced.
After collecting it, the people will be more comfortable and can barely eat half a meal.
The people of Hanzhong used to grow both rice and wheat. In recent years, due to the drought and cold, rice consumed too much water, so they almost stopped growing it, and now they only grow wheat.
But wheat still consumes more water than corn. Now that corn is planted, even if it is planted in late summer, it does not have to wait through the winter to harvest like wheat. Therefore, if you keep less local grain, you will not risk starving to death. With enough military rations
If we support Baoji County and Dashan Pass, we will not be afraid even if we are besieged by bandits for several months.
The intruders have been besieging Baoji County for more than ten days now, and have been frustrated at Dashanguan for seven or eight days. I will give them a hard blow in the next few days! At least Hanzhong will be peaceful for half a year, so that the intruders will not dare to move again.
The heart of going south!
After the intruders killed Governor Sun, his main force in Heluo Land should also shrink back to Guanzhong, right? If I go north from Xiangyang in Huguang, even if I can go through the Funiu Mountains from Yangcheng Road and recapture Luoyang with all my efforts, but in the end
If you want to regain Guanzhong, you must face the danger of Tongguan.
Therefore, it is better to show weakness and lure the enemy at the Chencang Pass before dispersing at the pass, annihilate the effective strength of the army that has consumed several incursions, make the soldiers tired and frustrated, and then lead the army to fight out of the Chencang Pass and directly regain the pass!
After all, Dashan Pass is in my hands. It is easy to enter the pass. The only difficulty is to raise food. Therefore, we cannot fight the invaders on a large scale in the pass. We must first attack the defense to consume their troops, and then weaken them and then use the troops.
expedition."
Zhu Shuren analyzed the truth very clearly: If Tongguan was not lost, it would be advisable for the army to go directly from Xiangyang to Nanyang and then to Luoyang, and finally to Xi'an.
If you don't go to Luoyang, it is also possible to take the Wuguan Road directly from Nanyang into Qin. But there is also a problem, that is, the old Wuguan Road is now controlled by Li Zicheng.
Even if the specific ancient place name "Wuguan" is controlled by Zuo Liangyu, Wuguan Road is so long. As long as the northwest entrance of Gunao Pass in Lantian County, near Xi'an, is in Li Zicheng's hands, it will still be troublesome to attack by surprise.
A pass of the "Four Fortresses of Qin" level.
Among the four fortresses of the Qin Dynasty, the "Sanguan", including the entire Chencang Valley Road, and the Baoji County town guarding Weibin at the mouth of the valley in the north, are now completely in the hands of Zhu Shuren.
With such a favorable geographical situation, there is no reason to give up the easy thing to the difficult one. He must attack Li Zicheng from Huguang instead of leaving Sichuan and heading north to fight against Li Zicheng, right?
After analyzing the truth so clearly, even if Chongzhen wanted Zhu Shuren to use more efforts to deal with Li Zicheng in the future, Zhu Shuren would still be able to pat his chest and say firmly:
Your Majesty, you asked me to deal with Li Zicheng, isn't that what I am dealing with! We only have our own ideas on specific tactical arrangements, but the general direction is correct. We have been dealing with Li Zicheng! There is no passive sabotage.
After Zhu Shuren finished speaking, Wang Gonggong also completely understood his train of thought. Only then did Zhu Shuren finally add a few words of precaution:
"Alas, there is no perfect strategy in the world. In fact, there is a hidden danger in my idea of conquering the enemy. That is, there is a shortage of food in Guanzhong and the land is thousands of miles away. Once our army defeats the intruders here, the intruders will abandon Guanzhong and continue in another direction.
If they flee, our army may not be able to catch up.
Transporting grain from Sichuan to Guanzhong and then pursuing it all the way east, the grain and grass will definitely not be supplied, so when the time comes, the imperial army can only defeat the intruders in Guanzhong, and then they have to withdraw their troops and return south, back to Sichuan, and go down the Han River to Xiangyang
, and then go north from Jingxiang to ensure the food route.
But this may delay several months. After all, how easy is it to dispatch hundreds of thousands of troops thousands of miles away?
In fact, I have thought of another more reliable way to prevent the intruders from being corrupted, but it will only cause hardship to the people of Shaanxi - if we go north from Jingxiang, we first collect Heluo, and then knock on Guan and Tongguan. Forget it.
It doesn't matter if you can't attack Tongguan. Just use a small number of troops to block the four fortresses of Qin so that the intruders can't escape!
In this way, the imperial court will grant Shaanxi tax exemption for ten years at most, and will not bother the government there. Within three years, the intruders will definitely kill each other, and the thieves and soldiers will eat each other's corpses, and the number will be reduced by more than half——
However, His Majesty's resoluteness is far beyond those of those who are weak and weak. He always insists that the emperor will guard the country and will not retreat even half a step. No inch of our Ming territory will be allowed to fall into the hands of thieves for a year. He is unwilling to agree to temporarily let the people of Shaanxi survive.
If it means "self-destruction", this idea is just empty talk, so let's use the strategy I mentioned at the beginning."
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Zhu Shuren's words finally cleared away his suspicions from a legal point of view: It's not that we never gave Chongzhen a way to survive. We even showed him the way until the last moment. It was because Chongzhen himself was too principled and liked to die for his country.
If you don't retreat, there's nothing you can do about it.
Your Majesty is so heroic that he would rather die than surrender. I admire you!