I want to be emperor

Chapter 319 Checking and Balancing and Entering the East

When Xu Zhixian led people to inspect the front line of Ruichang, other high-ranking civil and military officials in the Great Chu Empire were not idle.

Minister of Counseling and Minister of Industry Yuan Gaofeng is currently inspecting Daye Industrial Base in Daye. He will inspect core factories such as Hantian Armory Factory, Hantian Machinery Factory, and Daye Iron Works in Daye, and urge all subordinate factories to improve steadily production capacity to ensure the supply of various military products.

Especially in the Hantian Arsenal, the construction of the production line of the two-year-style sudden-fire rifle was urged.

Counting Yuan Gaofeng, three of the top officials in the Great Chu Empire, that is, the ministers of affairs, have already gone out for inspection.

In the Great Chu Empire, there are only seven Ministers of Counseling, and there are only five people in the civil service system: in charge of official affairs and internal affairs, and at the same time serving as Shangshu Guo Quanshu of the Ministry of Official Affairs; Qin Gaolin; Yuan Gaofeng, who is in charge of industrial and commercial economic affairs and concurrently serves as Minister of Industry; Chen Xingkai, who is in charge of taxation and financial affairs and concurrently serves as Minister of Taxation; in charge of agriculture, forestry, livestock and fishery, infrastructure construction, people's livelihood relief, education, etc., and supervises the Ministry of Rites and Education Song Zhang of Shangshu.

The remaining two are Xu Zhixian, Chief of Staff of the military, and Wei Kaifu, Minister of Military Affairs.

Generally speaking, Xu Zhixian was in charge of military order affairs, and Wei Kaifu was in charge of military and political affairs.

One for war and one for construction.

Of the seven ministers of affairs in the Great Chu Empire, three of them have gone out for inspections, and only four ministers of affairs have stayed in Beijing to handle government affairs.

This immediately increased the work intensity of these four people.

These were also seen by Luo Zhixue, so on the fourth day of the seventh month, Luo Zhixue issued an order to specialize Huang Chengxuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Finance, Zhang Xu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and Song Jingwei, the left servant of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, due to the busy work of the ministers A total of ten people, including Sun Tianhong, Deputy Director of Operations of the General Staff Department, walked into the palace to assist in military and political affairs.

This 'Council Minister' has also been planned by Luo Zhixue for a long time.

On the one hand, the current minister of counselors has too much power and needs certain checks and balances.

On the other hand, the current ministers of counselors are too busy with their work. These ministers of counselors are not only counselors on important military and political affairs in name, but they really need to take turns to be on duty 24 hours a day in the palace, and when urgent matters occur, the first time for processing.

At the same time, in addition to being on duty in the palace, they also have extremely heavy duties.

In the past, the seven people were all fine when they were in Gyeonggi, and they could barely be arranged to come over. Now three people were arranged to go out of Beijing for inspection, and when there were only four people left, they couldn't be rotated.

At the same time, the Minister of Counseling has no other deputy, at most there are only a few low-level rotating officials who are transferred from various yamen to handle ordinary clerical work.

And Luo Zhixue is really worried that the four ministers who are staying in Gyeonggi will be exhausted to death...

So taking advantage of this opportunity, Luo Zhixue directly promoted the Counselor Minister system, assigning a deputy to those Counselor Ministers.

These Ministers of Counseling and Counseling are not in charge of multiple affairs like the Minister of Counseling.

Their daily work is still essential work, but they need to be on duty in the palace in rotation, and act as the deputy of the minister of affairs to handle affairs when they are on duty, so as to reduce the workload of the minister of affairs.

From the perspective of power checks and balances, these assistant ministers can also check and balance the power of the ministers of affairs to a certain extent, so as to prevent the ministers of affairs from being too powerful, and it is difficult to effectively check and balance other than the imperial power.

However, using the Minister of Counselors as a check and balance is just a precautionary measure.

The best check and balance candidate for the minister of affairs is the minister of affairs himself!
As for the seven Ministers of State Affairs, they represent different interests and have different ambitions. At the same time, their political status is at the same level, and no one says they have a higher status.

In this way, contradictions naturally arise.

Luo Zhixue is very good at making mountains.

The first is to separate the military from the government, causing many conflicts between the civil servants and the military.

The system of ministers of counselors was also implemented, and some adjustments were made in the management of affairs, and then there were conflicts among the ministers of counselors.

Even within the military, there are now internal conflicts.

For example, the army is very dissatisfied with the generous treatment of the guards...

On the other hand, the navy also has a lot of opinions on the fact that the army took a huge amount of military expenses and left only a little silver dross for the navy.

The generals of the garrison division were also particularly displeased with the superiority of the generals of the main division.

Recently, some generals in the garrison division, including some generals who have a greater relationship with the interests of the garrison division, are calling for the reform of the garrison division.

How to reform?

Directly expand the garrison division into the main division.

Today's garrison divisions belong to the typical second-line troops in the Chu army system. The tactical organization and equipment are all the same as the traditional army, that is, the set of sentinels in the Ming army camp, and even many new garrison troops. The military uniforms of the soldiers are still the military uniforms of the Ming army...

In the long run, it is natural that many generals of the garrison division were dissatisfied, and tried to promote the reform of the garrison division and enhance their combat effectiveness.

Among them, Huang Guangmao, the commander of the West Route Army, and several major generals in the garrison, mainly Wang Dazhuang, Ma Dapao, An Yongduo, etc., as well as Chen Yongfu, He Renlong and others who were better among the senior generals who surrendered, were all there Actively engage in this matter.

In the past, the garrison division was equipped with two and a half catties of field artillery, and their promotion was indispensable.

How should I put it, people also have progressive ideas.

However, they are also very clear that with the current situation of the Great Chu Empire, it is impossible for the garrison to be reorganized into the main division on a large scale.

This is unrealistic. After all, the size of the garrison is comparable to that of the main force. So many people have to be converted into the main force, and the required guns and armor are a huge amount.

Nowadays, the main divisions are still unable to be fully staffed. Many main divisions are still in short supply of guns, especially artillery. How can it be possible to equip the garrison with the scarce guns on a large scale.

At the same time, they are unlikely to expect to be transferred directly to the main division.

They know their own family affairs, and their own abilities are still lacking, otherwise they would not be sent to serve in the garrison. If they are really asked to command a main division, they have to be blinded first.

After all, the tactics and tactics of the main division and the garrison division are completely different, and it is difficult for the generals of the garrison to adapt and effectively command the main force.

And since this is the case, they set their sights on improving the combat effectiveness of the garrison division itself.

For example, equip more field cannons, replace some of the bird guns with first-year-style matchlock guns, and replace some messy short robes with standard two-hundred-jin short robes, such as equipping more armor.

These are all able to effectively enhance the combat effectiveness of the garrison.

Especially artillery!
Once the garrison itself is equipped with long-barreled field artillery on a large scale, it will be able to gain a huge advantage in the process of fighting the Ming army.

At that time, without the help of the artillery units of the main division, they will be able to fight alone against a large number of battalion sentinels and guard soldiers in the Ming army.

Artillery, this is the biggest factor that determines the outcome of the two sides in the current war.

It's just that the production capacity of field artillery in the Great Chu Empire seems to be large, but the demand is even greater. The main force is waiting to use it. At the same time, the navy's warships are also waiting for a large number of long-barreled artillery to be used.

This can be freed up for the long-barreled artillery of the garrison, so naturally there will not be so many in number.

This also led to the contradiction between the garrison and the main force.

These contradictions within the military, the contradictions between the military and the civil service system, and the contradictions within the civil service system, there are many of these contradictions, and some of them were even intentionally created by Luo Zhixue.

For Luo Zhixue, a powerful Great Chu Empire is certainly his pursuit, but a Great Chu Empire that belongs to him is his real pursuit.

Therefore, in any matter, stabilizing one's own power is his first priority.

That's why he allowed and even intensified the conflicts, just to prevent the courtiers from huddling together and restraining and balancing each other.

That day, when all the ministers under him were like a family, he would not be able to sleep well.

The Minister of Counselors is the product of checks and balances.

Of course, there is no need to express these considerations to the courtiers.

After the establishment of the Minister of Counselors, Luo Zhixue struck while the iron was hot, and once again made some changes to the Gyeonggi government agencies, and established two new ministerial-level agencies:
The Ministry of Water Resources is responsible for flood control, irrigation and other matters.

The Ministry of Communications is in charge of transportation, including land transportation, water transportation, etc., as well as the construction of official roads.

In fact, these two organizations had relevant Water Conservancy Bureaus and Departments of Justice before. Now Luo Zhixue just expanded these two organizations and merged some other agencies, finally creating the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Communications.

As a result, the number of ministerial-level agencies under the Great Chu Empire Council increased from the previous nine to eleven, and there were six independent divisions and bureaus.

In the process of adding the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Communications, Luo Zhixue also made some adjustments to the functions of the original departments to make their functions clearer.

And this adjustment was Luo Zhixue's last large-scale change before the Eastward Campaign, and even before taking Jinling City and moving the capital.

In the subsequent eastward campaign, and even before the capital was moved, Luo Zhixue would not make too many changes to the existing government affairs system, and would devote all his strength to the eastward campaign.

And when Luo Zhixue was making final preparations for the Eastward Campaign in the south, the Forbidden City in the north was in a state of panic!
Dongyao once again bypassed Mongolia to attack the south, and was about to kill the capital!
Dong captives detoured through Mongolia to enter customs and plunder, which is nothing new in recent years.

Since the captive leader Huang Taiji came to power, he gradually conquered Mongolia, and began to use Mongolian cavalry to detour through Mongolia to enter and plunder.

In the second year of Chongzhen, he broke through the Great Wall from Xifengkou and plundered a point in Beizhili, and the gains were huge.

From then on, Dongyao especially liked to take a detour to Mongolia and go south if they had nothing to do.

In the seventh year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji led his troops to bypass Mongolia again and killed them in the Xuanfu area. Thanks to Huang Taiji's attack, the Ming court forced the Ming court to send troops from the Central Plains to encircle and suppress the thieves northward. Only Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng and others could break through the encirclement, otherwise Surrounded by officers and soldiers.

In the eighth year of Chongzhen, that is, last year, the Eastern captives came again, entered the Hetao area, and plundered the Taiyuan area of ​​Shanxi by the way.

The first three detours to the south of Mongolia have achieved a lot, which made Dongyao firmer in his determination to detour to the south of Mongolia.

No, this year after Huang Taiji formally proclaimed himself emperor following Luo Zhixue in Shenyang, he sent troops to detour through Mongolia again. This time their ambitions were even greater, wanting to break through the Great Wall for the second time and enter the hinterland of Beizhili to plunder.

In June, after Ming Ting sensed the danger, he also made corresponding arrangements to try to take strict precautions.

But I didn't expect that Dongyao's attack was ferocious, and after one defeat after another, they had already broken through the outer Great Wall, reached the Xuan Mansion, and approached Yanqing City...

This seems to be separated from the capital by an inner Great Wall, but it is less than a hundred kilometers away from the capital.

Under such circumstances, Chongzhen and other monarchs and ministers in the capital still have the mind to take care of the Chu thieves in the south. They have already started to deploy troops and prepare for it, trying to drive out the Dong captives who entered the pass.

It's just that the pressure in the south is also high, and it is not easy to adjust troops and generals.

After counting and counting, the troops in Shaanxi and Henan can be mobilized.

The main reason is that the Liu thieves have almost been wiped out, and at the same time, the Chu thieves have no intention of going northward on a large scale. The main force of the Ming army in the direction of Shaanxi and Henan seems to be fighting the Chu army frequently all day long, but It's all small talk.

In addition, the Ming court is now basically starting from the Chu thieves to make big moves along the Yangtze River, especially the Jiujiang line. Its strategic goal is estimated to be eastward, and the pressure on the northern line is not so great.

Originally, the Ming court was already preparing to mobilize northern troops to go south to Jiangbei and even northern Jiangxi to support Shi Kefa.

Now that the captives are going south, the Ming court can't care about the south. Anyway, the war in the south is to use guns, and the Ming army in Shaanxi, Henan and other directions doesn't have many guns.

It's better to be transferred to Beizhili to fight against the captives.

Ever since, in late June, Chongzhen issued an order to Hong Chengchou, asking him to quickly lead the main force north to rescue the capital.

Transfer orders were also issued to Zuo Liangyu, Wu Sangui and other powerful generals.

At the same time, the post of governor of the three sides was taken over by Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi who had done a good job before, and began to take charge of the military affairs of the three sides.

And what about Zuo Liangyu and Wu Sangui and many other generals with real power?

The other generals of the general army naturally had no nonsense, and followed Hong Chengchou to the north honestly.

But Zuo Liangyu and Wu Sangui are different.

Zuo Liangyu is very happy to be the local emperor in Ye County now. He has tens of thousands of soldiers under his command.

Even if the current governor of Henan is in front of him, if he is struggling to death, his tone will be tougher, but he dare not really do anything to him.

Even the former Chen Biqian and the new Wang Jiazhen who was in charge of the war on the Eastern Front, when they passed by Henan a while ago, saw Zuo Liangyu, although they still put on the air of being the boss, but well, there is only air left. , did not really dare to make a fuss about Zuo Liangyu, and even the war in the Central Plains also indicated that Zuo Liangyu was the main one.

Zuo Liangyu like this naturally didn't want to go to Beizhili and Dongyao to beat him to death.

Now that he is playing happily in Henan, he is focused on accumulating more guns and troops, but he has no intention of actually fighting with anyone.

However, the dispatch of the imperial court could not be ignored, so he sent a memorial saying that his legs were ill and he could not travel far, so he specially sent a capable general under his command to lead [-] troops to the north to rescue the capital.

Zuo Liangyu had an army of [-] to [-], and only sent [-] troops to the north.

But Wu Sangui's side is more straightforward, he has no plan to go north!
Anyway, Dongyao didn't break through the Shanhai Pass to enter the customs, but bypassed the Xuanfu area to enter the customs. This has nothing to do with their Guan Ning soldiers...

Anyway, the entry of the Eastern Captives into the Customs is to snatch a wave of people and leave. It is impossible to win the capital. As long as it is delayed for a few months, it will basically return to its original state.

So Wu Sangui ostensibly agreed to go north, but he lingered along the way, continuing his great cause of raising money and food...

As for Dongyao, whoever likes to make fun of him!
(End of this chapter)