Mr. Yang Ge is very busy, so he cannot remember many details.
At this moment, he suddenly asked his master to draft a memorial to discuss merits for his subordinates. The master had to think about it all and reminded him:
"Mr. Ge, should we discuss this matter with School Wanjian? The student remembers that this Shen Shu man was impeached by other town generals a few days ago, and the merits are not clear yet."
Yang Sichang was stunned when he heard this. Then he recovered from his initial joy and realized that he was indeed old and had forgotten things.
He scratched his sparse beard and ordered: "Call Ji Ren."
The master immediately withdrew, and after a while he found a civil servant in his thirties to inspect the school's military records.
Wan Yuanji was a Jinshi in the fifth year of Tianqi's reign. He had been an official for more than ten years and had been working in the Nanjing Ministry of War's Staff Department. He worked his way up from an ordinary job to a doctor.
After Yang Sichang went south to supervise the division, he trusted him very much and took him with him. He was responsible for inspecting the military discipline of various generals and rewarding and punishing them for their merits and demerits.
As soon as he entered the door, he went straight to the point and said, "I've met Mr. Ge. I heard that the Shenshu people from Huangzhou have good news?"
Yang Sichang pushed the letter and the wooden box containing the human head, and after reading it he asked: "Shen Shuren has made a lot of contributions this time, but was he criticized a while ago?"
Wan Yuanji knew the whole story very well and responded: "I remember that seven or eight days ago, Yuan Bingbei's people submitted documents to the governor of Huguang and the inspector general.
It is said that Shen Shuren was timid in avoiding the enemy and was incompetent in defending his territory, allowing Liu Xiyao to massacre innocent people. He also speculated that Shen Shuren intended to punish dissidents and acted arbitrarily.
The report submitted to the governor's Yamen was withheld, and the report submitted to the Inspector's Yamen was later transferred to you, Mr. Ge, and you left it to the students to deal with.
A few days later, Wuchang Zuo Liangyu also sent similar documents, and the students also stayed behind. He was about to write an essay for Huangzhou and let Chen Shuren defend himself. Unexpectedly, before the accusation was sent, he came to report the victory first. .”
From the time Chen Shuren "avoided the enemy and fought cowardly" to the time he finally succeeded in counterattacking by pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger, this process seemed long, but in fact it only took seven or eight days.
Coupled with Yuan Jixian and Zuo Liangyu, it was impossible for them to know the situation immediately. When they reacted and launched the impeachment, and then went through the process to Yang Sichang, they would not have to wait until Chen Shuren to recover several counties.
Yang Sichang nodded: "In that case, the matter should be clear. The so-called Shen Shuren avoids the enemy and fights timidly is probably just his tactic to lure the enemy and tire him out. Only after Liu Xiyao became careless did he catch him by surprise.
How can there be no casualties in a war? If the bandits enter and the city is not lost, it will be regarded as no fault. The common people and gentry outside the city are harmed, how can they be blamed on the guards! How come Yuan Jixian and Zuo Liangyu suddenly lose sight of right and wrong? ?”
Wan Yuanji smiled bitterly: "Elder Ge doesn't know. I heard that this time, in order to force Shen Shuren to fight, Liu Xiyao even scraped three feet of the ground to search for and kill the family members of the courtiers on the Huangzhou territory.
Yuan Jixian and Zuo Liangyu both had relatives who died at their hands, and even the Huguang Inspector’s Office had relatives who were killed as well. Only then..."
Yang Sichang originally had no interest in knowing these dirty details. Now that he needed to make a decision, Wan Yuanji reported everything.
After Yang Sichang heard this, he became silent: "It turns out that there were such twists and turns, which offended so many people. If I had supported Shen Shuren, I am afraid that the Huguang envoy would have passed me and been sent directly to the capital.
That's all. In troubled times, there should be no strict rules when it comes to hiring people. I will protect him on my own. Those mediocre people should hate Liu Xiyao if their family members are killed! Shenshu people can avenge their families, so what else is there to hate?
By the way, why did Fang Kongzhen, the governor of Huguang, help Chen Shuren in the end? Didn't you say that only the inspector handed over the document, but the governor's Yamen withheld it? Isn't it Fang? No relatives were killed in your family?”
Wan Yuanji did not dare to speculate rashly, so he could only say in an uncertain tone:
"Students dare not judge a gentleman's heart with a villain's heart. Governor Fang really has no relatives in the local area. The concubines he took up as Xina are all from Jingzhou Prefecture, and none of them are in Huangzhou.
However, his son Fang Yizhi was in the same year as Shen Shuren, and they were both Jinshi in the second rank of Jinke. Perhaps this friendship made him favor Shen Shuren."
"So that's the case, so it's not surprising. According to my wishes, I suggest that Your Majesty confer the title of Chen Shuren." Yang Sichang did not ask any more questions.
Among civil servants in the Ming Dynasty, friendships of the same age were quite valuable.
Wan Yuanji accepted the order and was about to write a memorial, but after thinking about it, he reminded:
"Mr. Ge, as far as I know, Shen Shuren is only twenty years old. He has already moved to his official position for the second time this year. If we rush to report now, I am afraid that he will have to move to his official position for the third time in one year before the end of the year. I'm afraid it's unreasonable.
If it is delayed further and sent to the capital in the first month of the year, it will be easier for the officials to handle it, and there will be no need for His Majesty to show mercy outside the law."
Yang Sichang completely dismissed this hypocritical unspoken rule: "The capable are promoted and the mediocre are demoted. What's wrong with changing official positions three times in one year? When the Ming Dynasty reached this stage, it was to let talented people give full play to their potential.
Besides, Chen Shuren changed his official position for the first time this year because he actually won the Jinshi. After all, the time he was changed to Tongzhi was regarded as a promotion. Now he is promoted again, which is two promotions a year. .
I remember that Liu Xiyao's territory was not limited to the boundaries of Huangzhou. The spheres of influence of various gangsters were intertwined. Liu Xiyao, He Jin, and Lin Chengcheng each had their own differences.
This year has already entered winter, and it is impossible to expand the results of the victory. After the spring of next year, I still hope that Shen Shuren will take advantage of the snow melt in the Dabie Mountains and the early floods to speed up the in-depth suppression. By then, I will definitely give him another promotion, otherwise how will he get his name? Cross-border pursuit?
The Shen family in Suzhou is as wealthy as the country, so it would be a waste not to allow them to pay more to serve as officials and contribute more to the country."
…
It was already mid-November when Yang Sichang received the good news, confirmed the follow-up results, and took action.
This kind of thing doesn't need to be rushed, so it took the post courier more than ten days to deliver it to the capital at the end of November.
In addition, Yang Sichang also focused on suppressing Yuan Jixian, Zuo Liangyu and others who criticized Shen Shuren, but it was impossible to completely suppress this kind of thing. Coupled with the time difference, some people said bad things about Shen Shuren. The memorial is already on its way in advance.
At the end of November, Chongzhen received these memorials one after another.
The first memorial arrived on November 26th, and the person who presented it was none other than Zuo Liangyu.
Zuo Liangyu did not dare to attack Yang Sichang in the memorial, so he chose another focus of attack and modified his words appropriately.
That night, after reading it, Chongzhen was indeed quite angry:
"It's ridiculous! I criticized that Shenshu man for being practical, and expected him to live a good life in Huangzhou and make meritorious service to the country. He actually didn't know what was good for him, and dared to use excuses to avoid the enemy and fight cowardly. In fact, he used the knife to kill people and kill dissidents in an attempt to deceive the superiors and subordinates! This is unbearable! Intolerable!"
Seeing the emperor's anger, the eunuchs next to him did not dare to say anything, even Wang Chengen, for fear that his majesty would suspect that they wanted to interfere in politics.
Fortunately, it was already late at night, and the imperial concubine Tian, who happened to be favored by Chongzhen, came with several maids and brought supper to invite the emperor to have an early rest.
She didn't dare to get involved in politics, but she dared to say a few common words and advised: "Your Majesty, please take care of your dragon body and don't get angry because of government affairs."
A trace of tenderness flashed in Chongzhen's eyes. He loved Concubine Tian more than Queen Zhou. Concubine Tian was not in good health, so he never spoke loudly to his beloved concubine, he only coaxed her.
Historically, Tian died of a heart attack a year and a half later. His father's cousin Tian Hongyu was afraid that the family would lose his holy family, so he returned to the south to search for beauties, and after finding Chen Yuanyuan, he offered her as a gift - of course, all this no longer exists, Chen Yuanyuan She has been hidden in the golden house of Shen Shuren for more than half a year.
"My dear concubine, you are not in good health. Why do you worry about these important national affairs? Go back quickly. I will rest after reading this." Chongzhen pulled Tian Guifei into his arms and said dotingly.
Concubine Tian said softly: "Your Majesty, who is in the world, can't even sleep peacefully. How can I care about my concubine Pu Liu?"
Chongzhen had no choice but to have some midnight snack with him first and prepare to go to bed after eating.
While eating, he couldn't help but take the initiative to mention the bad news he just saw.
Concubine Tian was not involved in politics, but she knew how to comfort the emperor, so she said tactfully:
"Your Majesty, I don't understand government affairs, but these bad news may have a chance to turn around or be a misunderstanding? I am a female prostitute, and I know the courtiers and generals who are reporting to me. If there is no special reason, I should report it to each level. .
This Zuo Liangyu is just a town general in Wuchang and other places. He does not go through the governor or the governor, but directly impeaches a local official in another defense area with Your Majesty. Your Majesty, why not wait a few more days, maybe all parties will defend themselves, and avoid going to waste in advance. I was angry, but in the end I found out that it was not the same thing."
Chongzhen was impatient, so he immediately said: "My beloved, you don't understand. There is a reason for Zuo Liangyu to go to the higher level this time - he said that he had already complained about this matter to the governor of Huguang before, but Huguang Governor Fang Kongzheng told him not to worry about it, thinking that there were twists and turns in it.
His normal memorial was blocked by the protection of officials, so he jumped to the next level. There is no problem. Although he did not say it explicitly in the memorial, it also hinted that Fang Yizhi, the eldest son of Fang Kongzhen, the governor of Huguang, was the same year as Shen Shuren. , all from Jinke!
In my opinion, this Fang Kongzhen may be the same year who promoted his son and helped cover it up. If it can be confirmed, it will be a major case of collusion to deceive superiors and subordinates!"
Concubine Tian saw that the emperor was getting more and more angry as he spoke, and she was too frightened to say anything more. She just added the last sentence:
"Your Majesty, calm down. If that's the case, why don't you wait a few days and see what Mr. Yang Ge has to say - it's not like there's no one above the governor of Huguang watching, so why should your Majesty personally come to vent your anger?"
Chongzhen was stunned, and then he remembered that this was a special period. There was Yang Sichang, the governor of the military affairs of six provinces in Hubei, Henan, Anhui, and Sichuan, and there were people pressing down on Fang Kongzhen.
"Well, isn't this Yang Sichang too old and confused? The people below are making such a fuss and criticizing each other, but he doesn't give me an explanation! Then give him a few more days. If there is no report from Yang Sichang by the end of the month, I will I’m going to order an inquiry!”
After getting angry, the events of the day were finally over. Chongzhen returned to Tian Guifei's palace and spent the night, and temporarily forgot about the matter the next day.
Chongzhen had to deal with a lot of government affairs every day and had no time to pay continuous attention to one thing.
Three days later, it was already the 29th, and Yang Sichang's memorial had also been delivered. When Chongzhen saw the memorial, he remembered that there was something waiting for Yang Sichang to explain three days ago, and he quickly opened it.
Please remember the first domain name of this book:. Mobile version reading URL: