Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 294
Chen Qianfu said: "There is no inconvenience at all, but [-]% of the arable land of the various prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Henan Chief Envoy is under the names of the Fu Fan, Zhou Fan, and Tang Fan. If it is Juntian..."

Chongzhen said: "Just take care of the average land, and leave the rest alone."

"Leadership." Chen Qianfu cupped his hands and said, "In this way, there are countless ministers."

There must be resistance to taking back the cultivated land under the name of the vassal king, but the help far outweighs the resistance.

Because the vassal kings and relatives of the emperor occupied too much cultivated land, the emptiness of the Ming treasury has become a broad consensus among officials, gentry, and gentry groups. Now most of the officials and gentry agree to take over the land of the vassal kings.

And even if someone wanted to stop it, they couldn't find any meaningful arguments.

As before, the censor who opposed it could still talk about the millions of acres of Huangzhuang in Gyeonggi, but now that Chongzhen has returned all the cultivated land in Huangzhuang to the country without repayment, what can the censor say?
In the next half a month or so, Chongzhen patrolled around.

After visiting Heyin, Xingyang, Mi County and even Xinzheng counties, it turned out that the number of residents in these counties was no more than a few hundred households, and that there were as few as Heyin County with only a dozen households or dozens of people.

This is no longer a county seat, not even a village.

Seeing this scene, Chongzhen was naturally in a bad mood. Since ancient times, Henan has been a fertile land with the most dense population, but now it has almost become a barren land.

Lu Jiude, who was on the side, said: "When Dingkou was investigated in the sixth year of Wanli, there were [-] Dingkou in total, second only to Nanzhili, Shandong, and Zhejiang. Chief Envoy."

[Note: The statistical population of the Ming Dynasty only counts Cheng Ding, because Cheng Ding needs to pay Ding Yin]

Chen Qianfu on the other side said: "But now, even counting the men threatened by Liu Hongqi of Runing Mansion, Han Jiadi of Xuzhou, Li Jiyu of Yuzhou, and Liu Xuan of Xiangcheng, it may not exceed [-] men!"

After a pause, he continued: "The ancients used to describe the tragic loss of Dingkou, but today's Henan Chief Secretary, let alone one out of ten, may not even be able to make up one out of twenty. .”

Chongzhen said solemnly: "So it is even more necessary for you, Chen Qing, to work hard to restore the population of Henan as soon as possible."

Chen Qianfu said: "Your Majesty, the ministers within the duties of the minister will never refuse. Clear the Zhang, re-cultivate and equalize the land, so that the people who migrated to Henan from all provinces can have their land. This is all right, but there is only one thing. If the slaves or bandits invade in large numbers, everything that the ministers have done in Henan will be wiped out in an instant, and the common people will probably die."

Chen Qianfu is still worried about Huang Zongxi's lending Kaifeng Mansion to the bandit soldiers.

Chongzhen said: "There is no need to worry about bandit soldiers in a short time, but Jiannu must guard against it."

After a pause, Chongzhen said again: "The good news is that the slave-building army has already retreated through Weihui Mansion, and only a few thousand surrendered troops stayed behind in Huaiqing Mansion and Weihui Mansion."

Chen Qianfu said: "Even if there are only a few thousand surrendered troops, it is difficult to resist."

"Don't worry, I already have a complete arrangement." Chongzhen turned his eyes to Du Yinxi, "Du Qing, from today on you will take on another post, admiral of military affairs in Henan and Xuzhou."

People around looked at Du Yinxi in unison.

It's just admiral of military affairs in Henan, but it's not easy to admiral of military affairs in Xuzhou.

There are [-] frontier troops stationed in Xuzhou now, and if Du Yinxi is asked to supervise the military affairs of Henan and Xuzhou, the meaning of the sage is to hand over the [-] border troops of Xuzhou to Du Yinxi to command.

"This..." Du Yinxi was grateful and frightened at the same time.

What is grateful is that Chongzhen actually trusted and valued him so much.

What is frightening is that I am worried that I will not be able to bear such a heavy responsibility.

Because Chongzhen's move is equivalent to putting the safety of the entire Ming Dynasty on him.

Du Yinxi is only a civil servant of the fourth rank at this time, so I'm really worried that he won't be able to handle it.

"Why?" Chongzhen said, "Du Qing thinks that this appointment and dismissal is not from the selection of the Ministry of War, but only from my central purpose, so I think it's a bit out of order?"

"No." Du Yinxi shook his head and said, "The emperor originally had the right to take up military positions such as general soldier and admiral military affairs before the battle. If everything needs to go through the Ministry of War, it will miss the big deal."

After a pause, he continued, "I'm just worried that I won't be able to do the job."

"You don't have to worry about it." Chongzhen said, "I think you can do it, Du Qing, you will definitely do it."

Du Yinxi bowed to the ground, and said solemnly: "In this way, I have no choice but to kill myself to repay the great kindness of the Holy One."

"I don't want you to lose your mind, and I don't want you to kill yourself in return." Chongzhen said, "I just want you to guard Xuzhou, Henan and then the entire Huanghuai line of defense."

Du Yinxi agreed generously: "The minister accepts the decree."

While talking, a group of people have come to the intersection.

Chongzhen turned around and asked Chen Qianfu: "Chen Qing, I have checked several surrounding counties, and the situation is basically the same. Where do you plan to set your governor's office?"

Chen Qianfu said without thinking, "Zhongmou."

"Well, Zhongmu is pretty good." Chongzhen nodded and said again, "Then I won't accompany you to Zhongmu. Although the Xuzhou battle was won, there are still a lot of things waiting for me to deal with in Xuzhou. I have to go back. gone."

"The ministers and others send you off respectfully." Chen Qianfu and a group of officials bowed to the ground.

……

When I came here, I was in a hurry, and I marched six hundred miles in five days.

But when I went back, I was much calmer. After walking for half a month, I finally returned to Xuzhou. At this time, it was the fifteenth day of July in the eighteenth year of Chongzhen, and half of the year had passed.

A dozen scholars including Huang Degong, Lu Zhenfei, and Yan Yingyuan have also arrived in Xuzhou.

Huang Degong and Lu Zhenfei's [-]th Town Commander-in-Chief, as well as the lieutenant generals, generals, guerrillas, and garrison generals were even more anxious, waiting for Chongzhen to come back to reward them for their merits.

According to the usual practice, after winning a battle, you will be rewarded for your merits.

No matter which standard is used to judge this Xuzhou battle, it is undoubtedly a great victory. Civilian and military generals will be promoted to rank, and the frontier army and the township will be rewarded, which is a sure result.

The border army in the town where Yang Ponu was located also followed Huang Degong to Xuzhou.

Yang Ponu seems to have become a star, surrounded by his former bosses, colleagues and subordinates.

"Po Nu." The general manager who used to call Yang Po Nu a mangy dog ​​didn't dare to bark at random now, and began to call Yang Po Nu's big name in a proper manner, "Do you think the Holy Majesty will renege on his debt this time?"

"That's right, the Holy Majesty won't renege on his debt, right?" Several other colleagues echoed.

"No, you just keep your hearts in your stomachs." Yang Ponu patted his chest and said, "I can assure you, the Holy Majesty will never renege on his debts, if there is only one person in this world who will not renege on his debts... , then this person must be the Holy One, and it can only be the Holy One, so don’t worry, everyone.”

"The Holy Majesty's credit is of course nothing to say." Wang Laoshi frowned and said, "But, don't you think the salary and rewards to be paid this time are a bit too much? It's several million taels!"

Wang Laoshi is now also the whistle chief, in charge of a blunderbuss platform.

"How many million taels?" Yang Ponu was taken aback when he heard that, "Are there so many?"

"That's not a big deal." The other general said, "There are a total of [-] frontier troops, and the five-month war pay alone costs [-] million taels of silver, which is not counted as rewards."

"We are not afraid of anything else, but of receiving white papers."

"Ah this?" Yang Ponu was also uncertain now.

At this moment, another general manager rushed over excitedly.

"Brothers, good news, great news."

The chief beckoned to Yang Ponu and dozens of others to surround the chief and the whistle chief.

When everyone gathered around, the boss lowered his voice and said, "Guess who I saw just now?"

"Who are you seeing?" Wang Laoshi was not honest at all, and joked, "You are so good at kung fu, you will not fly back to Cuiyun Tower in Yangzhou to meet your old friend, okay?"

"Go, go, Wang Laoshi, who is a mother-in-law thief."

The general laughed and cursed, and said again: "Didn't I tell you before that I have a fellow countryman who works in the palace? I saw this fellow countryman just now, and he told me that the Holy Majesty may reward us with grace!"

"Entian?" Yang Laipi immediately regained his spirits, "What's going on?"

"That's the way it is." Ba Zong said flatly.

……

At the same time, in the emperor's line.

Chongzhen, who had just returned to Xuzhou, also summoned Huang Degong, Lu Zhenfei, Du Yinxi, and the generals, deputy generals, generals, and garrison generals of the frontier army of Thirty Towns.

More than one hundred military generals almost packed the entire hall.

As far as the eye can see, there are mountain armor with phoenix-winged helmets, and tasseled spears of old elders on their heads.

Then, in front of the commander-in-chief of the thirty towns, lieutenant generals, generals, guerrillas, and guards, he announced the retirement of the [-] frontier troops and the reward of Entian quota.

The news was a little too shocking.

Except for Du Yinxi, this is the first time I heard of it.

The more than one hundred military generals present were a little overwhelmed.

After a long while, Lu Zhenfei said: "My lord, is it too hasty to retire all the [-] frontier troops in the thirty towns? How can there be no frontier troops stationed on the Huanghuai defense line?"

Chongzhen sighed: "I'm afraid it will be impossible if you don't retire. The imperial court can no longer afford the salary of the frontier soldiers."

Lu Zhenfei immediately fell silent, [-] million salary, this figure is indeed a bit scary.

Chongzhen said again: "What's more, the [-] frontier troops have only retired and have not left the Huanghuai defense line. They still belong to the militia under the admiral of Xuzhou. Once slaves or bandits come, the admiral of Xuzhou can recall them at any time. They And still have the obligation to fight for Ming."

"My lord, what about us?"

Finally a lieutenant dared to ask.

The frontier troops in the thirty towns have all retired. Aren't we all polished?

Chongzhen said: "The soldiers are scattered in the government and will return to the court. Naturally, you generals will follow me back to Nanjing."

After a pause, Chongzhen said again: "Once slaves are established or thieves invade the country, the Xuzhou Admiral's Office does not have so many generals to lead these militiamen, and you will still have to come over then."

"That's okay." The lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief.

The other lieutenants, generals, guerrillas, and guards also breathed a sigh of relief.

They are actually used to being deprived of military power or something, but if they are not allowed to lead troops to fight, wouldn't they become useless generals?This will not work.

But how do these generals know,
After returning to Nanjing this time, it will be difficult to figure it out.

To be honest, Chongzhen had already had enough of these escaped generals in Bianzhen.

You can't charge into the battle, you are the first to escape, the Ming army's field battle is so hip, it is the fault of these generals in the border towns, the previous situation was forced, Chongzhen could only endure it.

Because there was really nothing available at the time.

But now that the situation has finally eased, Chongzhen no longer wants to bear it.

And in the long run, it can't be tolerated anymore, because with these border town generals who are habitually fleeing, the Ming army will never have the courage to fight against Jiannu.

After all, it will be the soul of soldiers!
What is the fighting power of an army with such a weak soul?

But there is a way to do things, not too rough.

After all, these military generals in the border towns have meritorious service, so they have to keep their dignity.

This decency is to award the corresponding titles and keep them in Nanjing for captivity.

Du Yinxi immediately said: "My lord, this time I was able to repel Jiannu and defend the Huanghuai defense line. The frontier troops of all towns and the township brave of Huai'an Mansion have made great contributions. I think the court should reward them."

"Naturally there must be a reward." Chongzhen said with a smile, "I have already drawn up it."

"The first one is the Marquis of Jingnan, Huang Degong, who worked hard in this battle and made great contributions. In terms of merit, he will be promoted to a higher level, from marquis to duke!"

"The flood land of the Marquis of Jingnan is Xia Town."

"That's why I was promoted to Duke Xia."

After a pause, Chongzhen smiled again and said, "Duke Xia, the decrees and edicts will be completed when we return to Nanjing."

Huang Degong was really surprised by this, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this is a bit too much. The minister is still in awe of being a Marquis, but he really dare not accept being a Duke. Please take back your sincere orders."

"You are not joking, there is no reason to take it back."

"Besides, Aiqing, you deserve the title of duke of the country."

Speaking of this meal, Chongzhen looked around again and said, "What are you still doing in a daze, why don't you hurry up and congratulate Duke Xia?"

Jin Shenghuan, Wang Zuntan, Ma Huabao, Zuo Menggeng and other thirty town commanders, as well as the lieutenants, generals, guerrillas and guards all congratulated Huang Degong.

"Congratulations to Duke Xia."

Now Huang Degong can't refuse if he wants to.

Because Chongzhen's meaning has been revealed very clearly.

If you, Huang Degong, resigned as the Duke of the state, how could those generals, lieutenants, generals, guerrillas, and guards under you have the face to receive titles?You can't stop others from being rich.

After a pause, Chongzhen turned his gaze to Zuo Menggeng again.

"Zuo Qing." Chongzhen said with a heavy tone, "You know about your father, right?"

"Your Majesty, I already know about it." Zuo Menggeng wiped away his tears and said, "As a son of man, it is truly unfilial to fail to see your late father for the last time."

"My condolences." Chongzhen sighed, "Loyalty and filial piety have been difficult since ancient times. Since I promised the country with this body, I can't take care of my family, but I will not let you heroes pay for nothing."

"Chu Guogong spent his whole life as a soldier of the Ming Dynasty, and finally died of exhaustion in office."

After waiting for a while, he said out of conscience: "Such a loyal minister should have a lot of mourning after death. I decided to posthumously present the Duke of Chu as King of Wuchang, and he deserves to enjoy the Taimiao."

(End of this chapter)