The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 316 Partisanship

Chongzhen was furious in the Forbidden City.

The order he issued met with no resistance.

The chief eunuch of the Director of Ceremonies is Wang Dehua. He is not Cao Huachun. He does not have the friendship between Cao Huachun and Chongzhen for many years. There are also threats from Wang Zhijun, Wang Chengen and others. In order to secure his position as the chief eunuch, he will naturally not raise any objections.

In the cabinet, Xue Guoguan, who is currently the chief minister, has actually always been in cahoots with Yang Sichang.

The former chief assistant Liu Yuliang was dismissed because of the layout of Xue Guoguan and Yang Sichang.

Xue Guoguan replaced Liu Yuliang as the first assistant in February of the twelfth year. He took charge of the cabinet and the Ministry of Personnel as the Minister of Personnel, and he became famous for a while.

This time the attack on Sun Chuanting was actually handled by Xue Guoguan in the court.

Although a few of the remaining ministers in the cabinet hold opposing opinions, the rest are all party members of Xue Guoguan and Yang Sichang, so naturally they will not stop it, but will help implement it.

Yang Yijun and Sun Chuanting were dismissed one after another.

Yang Yijun was dismissed from his post and was even deprived of his qualifications to become an official.

After Sun Chuanting was dismissed, Chongzhen soon issued another order, ordering the Jinyi Guards to go to Baoding and arrest Sun Chuanting, who was recuperating in Baoding Mansion, and imprison him.

Sun Chuanting's sudden imprisonment caused great shock throughout Jiubian.

In the battle of Jiazhuang, Sun Chuanting accumulated great prestige in the towns of Shanxi, Datong, Xuanfu and other towns because he was forced to retreat the Qing troops and rescued Lu Xiangsheng.

Then the great victory at Qingshan Pass caused all the towns in Jiubian and even the camps in Jiliao to remember Sun Chuanting.

They had been looking forward to it for many years, and finally wanted to have a governor who had clear rewards and punishments, who would not deduct their pay or their military achievements, and who could lead them to victory. How could they want to give up?

Sun Chuanting's prestige in the entire Jiubian can be said to have already reached its peak.

All the towns in Jiubian were in uproar because of this, and many generals interceded for Sun Chuanting.

The reaction of the Shaanxi camp soldiers who were left in the north was the most violent. When the Jin Yiwei wanted to take Sun Chuanting away, they almost drew their swords at each other several times. In the end, Cao Wenzhao stepped forward and suppressed all the turmoil.

In the Ming army camp in the north of Baoding Fucheng, a group of generals from Shaanxi and Baoding gathered in the Chinese army tent.

"Supervisor Sun is jealous of his great achievements. There are treacherous ministers in the court who want to harm the governor. Why can't the emperor see it? Alas..."

"None of those censors are good!"

"Governor Sun is seriously ill now. If he is taken to prison at this time, what if his condition worsens again?"

The tent was abuzz with arguments, curses, and shouts.

While everyone was making noise, Cao Wenzhao had already led a group of armored soldiers from outside the tent and walked into the tent.

"Shut the fuck up for me!"

Cao Wenzhao's expression was livid, and he threw the riding whip to the ground.

Seeing Cao Wenzhao's anger, all the generals who were still shouting were shocked and did not dare to say another word.

"What do you want to do in Fucheng?"

"Standing outside the governor's office and facing each other with swords from the Jin Yiwei, do you want to rebel?!"

Cao Wenzhao's eyes were horrified, and he pointed angrily at the people in the tent and cursed.

"You think you are helping the governor, but have you ever thought about what the emperor would think if this matter were heard in heaven!"

Cao Wenzhao's words were like a basin of ice water, pouring down on the generals in the tent.

In an instant, the faces of all the generals in the tent who were still brimming with anger and anger turned pale.

Only now did they realize that their previous actions had indeed harmed Governor Sun.

If there really was someone with ulterior motives, such behavior would be enough to give Sun Chuanting a reputation as a self-respecting soldier.

"Jin Yiwei has left. Now the matter is a foregone conclusion. You have done everything you should do and what you shouldn't do."

"Now go back to the military camp, and stay inside during this period. No one is allowed to leave the camp without a military order. Don't let anyone catch you!"

After Cao Wenzhao's words fell, all the generals bowed their heads and obeyed the order. They all knew that they had done something wrong before.

Watching the generals leaving the camp, Cao Wenzhao's mood did not get much better.

Cao Wenzhao was in a high position and knew many things above the court better than ordinary generals.

Everything happened in just two months, and the real outbreak only lasted three days. From the siege to the issuance of the edict, there was no room for turning around.

The imperial court was firmly controlled by civilian officials, and they, the military ministers, did not have many ways to interfere in politics.

Even if he reaches the level of Cao Wenzhao, knows how to deal with people, has accumulated countless achievements, and is the chief military officer of an important town, he can still only be a bystander most of the time.

The current situation is extremely bad. The pleas of the generals in various towns and the conflict between Baoding Mansion and Jin Yiwei will bring huge trouble to Sun Chuanting.

Cao Wenzhao wanted to save Sun Chuanting, but he did not have the ability to save him, and he could not save him.

There were too many people involved in this storm against Yu Sun Chuanting, and those hidden behind the scenes were all important officials of the imperial court.

Along the way until now, Cao Wenzhao has become as hard-hearted and tenacious as ever.

Although he had anticipated the current situation from the beginning, Cao Wenzhao was still shaken.

There is endless turmoil inside the pass, and powerful enemies are waiting outside the pass. It is obvious that it has reached a critical moment of life and death.

But the ministers in the court are still fighting with each other, eliminating dissidents and attacking political opponents, using all possible means.

First it was Lu Xiangsheng, then Sun Chuanting.

Lu Xiangsheng was convicted, dismissed from office, and could not return to his hometown to mourn.

Now Sun Chuanting has followed in Lu Xiangsheng's footsteps and was dismissed from his post and imprisoned, where he will be questioned and punished.

"Ugh……"

All the helplessness finally turned into a sigh.

Cao Wenzhao's expression was dark, and his eyes no longer had the same sparkle as before.

Outside Zhending City, when he recommended Chen Wangzhi to Sun Chuanting, he said, "Practice is higher than others, and others will reject him." Since he was talking about Chen Wang, he also wanted to persuade Sun Chuanting to restrain his sharpness.

The cold wind howled outside the tent, and the roar of the wind stirred up Cao Wenzhao's thoughts, and brought Cao Wenzhao back to the city of Fucheng.    …

Sun Chuanting's face was pale, his lips were white and colorless, and he was sitting on the bed.

"The trees are as beautiful as the forest, but the wind will destroy them. If the behavior is higher than that of others, the public will reject it... Urgency will lead to change... In fact, I understand..."

Sun Chuanting's eyes were as deep as wells, his voice was very weak, and his expression was exhausted, completely lacking the glory of the past.

"However, the country is weak and human relations have been playing for a long time. The bandits outside the pass have reappeared and are wreaking havoc on the land thousands of miles away. The slaves outside the pass are eager to eat flesh and blood."

"Rogue bandits are rampant and foreign invasions are becoming more severe. We have reached a critical stage of survival."

Sun Chuanting turned his head, the look in his eyes was slowly dissipating, and finally dimmed, his eyes were full of sadness.

After the war, he really began to take over the governorship of Baoding and took charge of the affairs of various towns.

Sun Chuanting slowly came into contact with the real core.

The imperial court is rotten to the core. Too many things need to be changed, and too many things are outrageous.

No matter what he wants to do, he will encounter various obstacles.

"Use heavy laws to punish a country that is in turmoil, and use strong medicine to cure serious illnesses."

It was precisely because of this that after careful consideration, Sun Chuanting decided to take the risk.

Sun Chuanting used the power of Mizuo and then started various reforms in a drastic manner.

The counterattack came as expected, and all the counterattacks, all the abuse and impeachment, failed to defeat him.

But in the end he did fall on the hospital bed.

"The sun and the moon have passed away, and the years are gone without me..."

The first diagnosis was just a small cold, but Sun Chuanting didn't take it seriously.

But this time the disease was coming with force and became more and more serious...

When Sun Chuanting was taken away by Jin Yiwei, the last words he left behind were a poem.

"There are still many bases on the nine sides today. When will the four seas rest their shoulders?"

……

The impact of Sun Chuanting's imprisonment is far from over.

A few days later, a memorial from the South broke the tranquility of the Forbidden City again.

This memorial was naturally sent by Yang Sichang on flying horses to tell the story of the war in the South.

Zhang Xianzhong's escape made Chongzhen furious.

Yang Sichang's memorial to impeach Shao Jiechun was directly transferred by Chongzhen to the Supervisor of Rites, and then handed over to the cabinet to order him to discuss Shao Jiechun's fault.

Chongzhen did not blame Yang Sichang at all for being the prime minister of the six provinces and responsible for suppressing the rogue bandits.

The most important reason why Yang Sichang was able to gain Chongzhen's trust was because he was eloquent and well-organized.

Shang Chen's memorials and various news were all polished by Yang Sichang.

Then the forces operating in the DPRK provided multiple intelligence supports.

Regarding Shao Jiechun and Fang Kongzhen, Yang Sichang began to make arrangements very early, and the news was mentioned many times.

When Shao Jiechun initially disobeyed orders and moved camp, Yang Sichang directly forwarded Shao Jiechun's reply to the capital.

So when the impeachment was finally carried out and the responsibility was thrown on him, Chongzhen's attention was naturally on Shao Jiechun and Fang Kongzhen.

In Chongzhen's eyes, Yang Sichang had only been in office for two months. He commanded the army to defeat the bandits. Bai Gui, the king of Xiao Qin, and Chang Guoan, the king of Tuotian, were captured and killed.

Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai had 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers and horses, but less than half of them were wiped out.

This result is already considered extremely good.

Yang Sichang was loyal and dedicated to suppressing bandits, but Shao Jiechun and Fang Kongzhen were motivated by their own selfish interests regardless of the overall situation.

The reason why the suppression campaign has deteriorated to this point is because it was dragged down by it.

The turmoil caused by Li Zicheng in Shaanxi was also attributed by Yang Sichang to the ineffective suppression of bandits and unclear investigation.

Chongzhen's anger was therefore diverted. It can be said that Chongzhen has always had great trust in Yang Sichang.

For those he trusted, Chongzhen spared no effort when promoting them and tried his best to help them.

At the beginning, Yuan Chonghuan deceived Chongzhen's trust with his big words about Pingliao for five years.

At that time, Chongzhen really asked for food and gave money when he asked. It was not until Houjin invaded the border, entered the city of Beijing, and surrounded the capital that Chongzhen was completely disappointed with Yuan Chonghuan.

It is precisely because of Yuan Chonghuan and other things that led to Chongzhen's current suspicious character.

However, although Chongzhen was suspicious because of this, most of the time.

As long as you trust someone, you will continue to trust that person unless he does anything extraordinary.

Therefore, when Yang Sichang attributed the responsibility for Li Zicheng's revival to the previous failure to suppress the bandits, Chongzhen did not feel that Yang Sichang was passing the buck.

But I think it makes sense. When Li Zicheng was in northern Sichuan, it was Hong Chengchou who was in charge of the conquest. At that time, Hong Chengchou was still the governor of the three sides.

Fu Zonglong had already taken over as the governor of Sichuan at that time. After Hong Chengchou led the troops to evacuate, Fu Zonglong took charge.

At that time, Hong Chengchou and Fu Zonglong reported that they had killed the main force of Chuangni, but Chuangni could no longer make trouble.

In this way, the situation of ineffective suppression in the south was due to Yang Sichang's operation.

Not only did Yang Sichang himself not receive any punishment, he even had greater power in his hands.

　one more chapter later

　　

　

(End of this chapter)