I want to be emperor

Chapter 336 Pessimistic Shi Kefa
Hukou.

After Shi Kefa heard that Xie Xuelong and Huang Xingwen had voted for the thieves, he was not furious, but depressed.

"Could it be that the situation has really reached such a point that it is enough for the governor of a province to vote for a thief?"

"Could it be that the Chu thief's offensive is really unstoppable? Is Jiangnan really going to be surnamed Luo?"

"Is this world really going to change?"

Shi Kefa couldn't help but have this pessimistic thought.

And this kind of thought was something he had never had before.

Even if the Chu thieves had occupied Huguang strongly before, and Chen Bing was menacing outside Jiujiang City.

But Shi Kefa still firmly believes that the strength of the Chu thieves is only temporary, and it is absolutely impossible for the high-ranking pseudo-Chu who were born as thieves to overthrow the mighty Ming Dynasty!

Stronger than Dongyao, who has risen in Liaodong for so many years, claims to be invincible, but it still keeps the imperial army out of Jinzhou, let alone the Shanhaiguan Pass, and even the Liaoxi Corridor cannot be killed.

That is to say, after the conquest of Eastern Mongolia, the Eastern captives could detour through the Mongolian grasslands and break through the Great Wall defense line from Xuanda and Jizhou to enter the northern Zhili and plunder.

But it was only for a moment of looting.

In the past, the Eastern Captives detoured through Mongolia to enter the customs so many times, and each time they were in a hurry. The first and most important thing they did after entering the customs was to plunder. After the plunder, they would withdraw their troops and return without hesitation. .

why?
Because Qiangru Dongyao also knows that once they detour through Mongolia to enter the customs for too long, after the reinforcements from all over the Ming court arrive, the Dongyao army that enters the customs is likely to become a turtle in the urn, and they will be directly surrounded and wiped out. Very likely.

That is to say, even if it is as strong as the Eastern Captivity, it still cannot shake the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.

However, the rise of Shaanxi has harmed Henan, Shaanxi, and northern Chu. The thieves from all walks of life seem to be very noisy, and they have also made the local people's livelihood miserable. They even dug up the Fengyang Imperial Tomb last year.

However, these thieves are still nothing to worry about, at least from the current perspective.

In terms of military affairs, the officers and soldiers of the Ming army still maintained a strong posture of suppressing the rogues from all walks of life, chasing and fighting all the rogues all the way, leaving Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others with no time to breathe.

Because it is impossible for them to really gain a foothold in a certain place under the siege of officers and soldiers, and without a foothold, there will be no stable territory, no stable ruling system, and no stable taxes and soldiers.

They have always been rootless duckweed!
Under such circumstances, those bandit leaders were killed or captured by officers and soldiers one by one.

In July of this year, even Gao Yingxiang, the most famous commander among the thieves, was captured by Sun Chuanting.

As for the other slightly inferior gangsters, they didn't have a good end.

Not to mention, the Qin army under Sun Chuanting's command is quite sturdy now. This Qin army is different from the Qin army in Hong Chengchou's era.

The Qin army in Hong Chengchou's era was just an ordinary battalion sentinel.

But after Sun Chuanting served as the governor of Shaanxi and urgently took over as the governor of the three sides, the so-called head of the Qin army was replaced by the new standard army under Sun Chuanting's command.

The new standard army under Sun Chuanting's command has been very strong in recent months, defeated the main force of the rogues many times, and captured Gao Yingxiang, forcing Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other remnants of the rogues to hide in the mountains again.

Because the new standard army has performed quite well, and Sun Chuanting has been appointed by the Ming court as the governor of the three sides, thus gaining more power and resources.

Therefore, the size of the new standard army under its command is also continuously expanding. In June, it had only 3000 people, but by August, the size had expanded to more than 6000 people. It is estimated that it will expand to more than [-] people in a short time.

And a very important point is that the new standard army under Sun Chuanting's command has a lot of mules and horses. Not only are the infantry and artillery highly mobile, but more importantly, they have a large-scale cavalry.

Under such circumstances, the thieves in Shaanxi basically have no room to move, and now they can only hide in the mountains to survive.

Even Sun Chuanting was thinking about starting a counterattack against Hanzhong Mansion, trying to expel the Chu army entrenched in the eastern area of ​​Hanzhong Mansion.

Whether it is the captives or the thieves, even though they have brought a relatively large threat to the Ming Dynasty, and even made the Ming court very embarrassed, so far, the Ming Dynasty is still able to resist these two main threats.

but……

Chu thief is different!
The Chu bandits came out from Funiu Mountain last year to occupy Nanyang Mansion, and they quickly attacked the city at a speed that outsiders, especially the high-level civil and military officials of the Ming court could not understand, causing great shock and even panic to the Ming court.

Because the Chu thieves are not only good at fighting, but they don't just go away with a single vote like the Dongyao, nor do they run while looting like the Liu thieves.

It's the kind of model that does not leave after occupying a place, but continues to expand outward.

This is a small bandit, but it is a separatist regime or even a fight for hegemony in the world.

Such Chu thieves are the real biggest enemy of the Ming court, and the confidant's trouble.

In addition, Chubei occupied by the Chu thieves is located in the hinterland of China, and the threat to the Ming court is even greater.

Therefore, as the Chu army continued to attack the city and seize territory in northern Chu, its threat to the Ming court had risen rapidly, directly surpassing all kinds of rogues, and later surpassing the Eastern captives, becoming the real confidant of the Ming court.

In order to wipe out the Chu thieves, last year, Yang Sichang, who had just assumed the post of prime minister of the military affairs of the five provinces, wrote several times to propose: Xiangwai must first settle inside.

We must first concentrate all our efforts to wipe out the Chu thieves. As for Dongyao, we can take care of them slowly, and even hold peace talks with Dongyao in order to free up our hands to clean up the Chu thieves.

It's just that many people in the imperial court disagreed. Many central ministers all spoke very toughly. If the Chu thieves want to fight, the Dong captives will also fight.

Don't even think about peace talks.

Then at every turn, he said that the emperor guards the gate of the country, if the bandits attack, there is no one but to fight to the death.

At first glance, each and every one of them behaved like loyalty and loyalty.

But if you ask them what specific measures they have, how to fight wars, and how to collect money and food, they will all be caught blind.

When it comes to fighting, it means that the soldiers must use their lives, and they must fight to the death for His Majesty and Ming Dynasty.

When you talk about money and food, you talk about increasing income and reducing expenditure. What do you mean by increasing taxes, or increasing business taxes?

In short, if you don't do shit, you talk too much, and this group of people with a particularly tough tone directly vetoed Yang Sichang's strategy that Xiangwai must first settle inside, and they are very determined to continue fighting on multiple fronts. Thieves do it too, and so do captives.

Anyway, it's done...

As for how to do it?
Hehe, I have studied dozens of poems and books hard, and my heart is full of avenues for governing the country, and I disdain for trivial matters of military affairs.

Then, no one listened to Yang Sichang's words.

Ming Ting came to fight on the third front very proudly!
Then fighting and fighting, the thieves on the Shaanxi side were almost wiped out, but Dongyao's side entered the customs and looted again, which made Chongzhen lose a lot of face. The abduction was still an upright fight. Although it lost troops and generals, it barely blocked the Dong abduction's field attack, saved some face for the Ming court, and let the ministers of the Ming court see the powerful power of the bandit-killing cannon.

It is estimated that Chongzhen will change cabinet ministers again.

However, although the cabinet did not change, the Minister of the Ministry of War finally changed.

Although the news has not yet spread to the southern provinces, at the end of August, Chongzhen finally couldn't hold back his hands-on ability to Zhang Fengyi, Minister of the Ministry of War.

Chongzhen has been dissatisfied with this person for a long time, so I won't talk about those things before, let's talk about the past two years.

As Minister of the Ministry of War, Zhang Fengyi almost completely failed in coordinating all parties' wars.

At the beginning of last year, the thieves left Tongguan, then entered the hinterland of the Central Plains, and finally conquered Fengyang, digging up Chongzhen's ancestral graves.

In this regard, Chongzhen endured it!
Beginning in the first half of last year, the Chu thieves rose rapidly to occupy the northern part of Chu, but the officers and soldiers were more effective in encircling and suppressing the rogues, severely injuring all the rogues.

Chongzhen endured this.

In the first half of this year, Chu thieves took over Chu Nan forcefully, and Yang Sichang fled to Guangdong.At the same time, the officers and soldiers in Shaanxi completely suppressed the momentum of the thieves. In addition, Chongzhen had more ministers to do it at that time, which also involved changes in the cabinet level, and successively killed the two governors, Yang Sichang and Chen Biqian.

For the stability of the court, Chongzhen endured it again!
But now, Dongyao has once again entered Beizhili, and the frontier army has done almost nothing. The only battle that can be seen as a sight is the one under Hong Chengchou who came from afar to rescue.

In addition, the news that the Chu thieves broke through the Jiujiang defense line and captured Jiujiang City also rushed to the capital after five hundred miles.

Even if Chongzhen was a fool, he knew that after the heavily fortified Jiujiang was conquered, northern Jiangxi was in danger, Jiangnan was in danger, and the whole south was in danger.

At this time, Chongzhen finally couldn't bear it anymore!
He was planning to dismiss Zhang Fengyi directly, or even not only dismissed, but also planned to go to prison... But after Zhang Fengyi realized that the wind direction was wrong in advance, in order to save himself a face, he committed suicide directly...

After Zhang Fengyi committed suicide, the affairs of the Ministry of War were temporarily handled by Wang Yehao, the left servant of the Ministry of War. As for the new Shangshu of the Ministry of War, it is estimated that there will be no result in the quarrel.

Anyway, those who are qualified are either incapacitated, or have just experienced defeat...

In fact, in the past two years, Yang Sichang was the most suitable person to succeed Zhang Fengyi as Minister of War.

However, this person was defeated in the south of Chu, and the entire south of Chu was lost due to the loss of soldiers and generals. As a result, the war situation in the south quickly deteriorated.

A few other people, such as Wang Jiazhen, Xiong Wencan, Hong Chengchou and others are also more suitable, but each has its own unsuitability.

Wang Jiazhen, this guy didn't do anything after he arrived in Jiangnan, not to mention that after he became the governor of Nanjing, the Jiujiang defense line was broken through.

Although Shi Kefa, governor of Anlu, presided over the Jiujiang defense line, Wang Jiazhen was the governor of the wars in the provinces on the eastern front, and Shi Kefa was also his subordinate.

Therefore, Wang Jiazhen is also responsible for the defeat of Jiujiang, and it is not small.

In this case, it would be great if Chongzhen could hold back and not remove him for questioning, and he would be promoted as Minister of the Ministry of War there.

Xiong Wencan, this person has now replaced Yang Sichang as the governor of the Southwest. The prime minister has fought in many provinces. However, he has only just taken office for a few months and has not made any achievements. It is not suitable to be directly promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of War.

Hong Chengchou, this person is actually more suitable, but Chongzhen deliberately let him sit in Jiliao, and the imperial decree for Hong Chengchou to be the governor of Jiliao has just been issued a few days ago.

Under such circumstances, Chongzhen will be busy for a while, but he really can't find a person who is suitable to be the Minister of the Ministry of War.

Therefore, for the time being, Wang Yehao, the left servant of the Ministry of War, can only act as an agent for the affairs of the Ministry of War.

As for Wang Yehao, the left servant of the Ministry of War... Although this person has served as the governor of Guangdong and the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, he really has no military talent. Chongzhen himself knows that this person is unreliable.

Besides, many bigwigs in the court now have different opinions on the candidates for the new Minister of War.

Although Chongzhen is strong, such important ministers of the nine ministers still need to respect the tradition and make court recommendations, so this involves intrigue among a group of bigwigs, so that the candidate for the Ministry of War has been delayed.

After the news of these high-level changes in the Ming court reached the south, it made the frontline generals like Shi Kefa even more pessimistic.

Shi Kefa's pessimism was not even because Chongzhen ordered him to severely reprimand him, demote him from office, and let him perform crimes and meritorious deeds.

It's because the southern and eastern front lines are now in such a mess, and the high-level officials of the imperial court are still in turmoil.

Some time ago, it’s okay to change the cabinet bosses, it’s okay to dismiss the minister of the Ministry of War, and it’s okay to kill Yang Sichang...

However, after the minister of the Ministry of War is killed, you should choose a new minister of the Ministry of War.

In such a tense situation, someone has to do something, otherwise, I really can only watch the Chu thief fight all the way to Songjiang Mansion and watch the sunrise on the sea.

The turmoil at the top of the imperial court made Shi Kefa, a frontline general, very helpless.

And Xie Xuelong, the Jiangxi governor's traitor, made Shi Kefa even more pessimistic.

So much so that he had some confidence in the defense of Hukou, but now he doesn't have much confidence.

Jiujiang City, which was so well prepared before, has now been conquered. Although the lake mouth has Poyang Lake and the Yangtze River as a natural moat, the Chu thieves also have a powerful navy and even more powerful ground forces.

If the Chu thief really launches a strong alliance against Hukou, can he really hold it?

Shi Kefa used to be confident, but now, his confidence has been shaken.

Then, Shi Kefa thought of a more serious problem.

If Hukou can't hold it anymore, what should we do in the future?
After Hukou, go all the way to Jinling City. Although the large area on the south bank of the Yangtze River cannot be said to be flat and safe, there is absolutely no way to find a second city with better geographical conditions than Hukou to garrison.

At that time, how should they resist the Chu thief's eastward advance?

Probably, it must be unstoppable!
When Shi Kefa was so pessimistic, Wang Jiazhen in Jinling City was also pessimistic, but unlike Shi Kefa who was pessimistic, he could only continue to stick to Hukou, unable to change the overall situation.

As the governor of Nanjing who presided over the wars in the provinces on the Eastern Front, Wang Jiazhen has the power and resources to change the overall situation.

(End of this chapter)