national surname chiming

Chapter 235 Promoted to Governor of Huguang
The timeline goes back to the third day of September, that is, three days before Fang Ziling's arrival in the capital, and the day when Yang Sichang's dying watch was delivered to the capital.

The entire Forbidden City seemed to be shrouded in a cautious and terrifying atmosphere because of the emperor's bad mood.

Chongzhen had been in a depressed mood for a whole month, so he had no choice but to slow down.

More than a month ago, he heard that on the Huguang battlefield, Zhang Xianzhong suddenly broke out from the mountains controlled by the Miao people and natives in western Hunan, and attacked Changde, Changsha, and Hengzhou.It was fine to kill King Rong and King Ji one after another, but in the end even the family of King Gui, the emperor's uncle, was wiped out.

King Gui Zhu Changxun went to Hengzhou in the seventh year of Tianqi, when Chongzhen was already 17 years old.Therefore, it can be said that among all the uncles in Chongzhen, King Gui is the most familiar with him. When he was a child, he often walked around and went to play at Uncle Qi's house.

In contrast, those uncles who had a bad relationship with Chongzhen's father left Beijing much earlier.For example, the third uncle and Fu Wang Zhu Changxun, who was suspected of seizing the throne, became a vassal in 42 years of Wanli. Chongzhen was only three years old at that time, and he didn't remember anything at all.

When the other fourth and fifth uncles came to the feudal domain, Chongzhen was still young and did not have a deep impression.Uncle Seven was a late feudal vassal because he was young, and he had no threat to the imperial power at all, and he was the closest to Chongzhen, so he didn't expect that his whole family would be killed by Zhang Xianzhong.

When he got the news, Chongzhen cried and mourned with sincerity, much more sincerely than when his third uncle Zhu Changxun was killed last year.After being sad, his anger towards the local officials and guards in Huguang became more and more intense, and he wished to increase their punishment.

It's just that after the fall of Changsha and before the fall of Hengzhou, Chongzhen sent envoys to severely punish the officials in Huguang, and decreed that the governor of Huguang, Fang Kongzhang, was removed from his post and taken to Beijing for questioning.

So just seven or eight days later, when he heard that King Gui was killed again, it was inconvenient for Chongzhen to increase the punishment immediately.I had no choice but to hold back my breath, hoping that after Fang Kongxuan and others were escorted to the capital, they would investigate and interrogate the crimes in detail according to the latest situation.

Anyway, the battle situation in Huguang has become so rotten, maybe there will be more bad news every few days, so it's better to save together to settle the score!If the imperial decree is issued every time a bad news comes, the imperial decree is too worthless and not serious.

From then on, Chongzhen chose not to watch the bad news from Huguang for the time being, and wanted to save up for it until Fang Kongxue arrived.

And soon, a series of new bad news broke out on the battlefield in Henan. Li Zicheng plundered Huaiqing, Weihui, Zhangde, Daming and other prefectures around Kaifeng, killed Zheng Wang and Zhao Wang, and Yang Sichang, Sun Chuanting, and Zuo Liangyu were forced by the imperial decree. He rushed forward and was defeated by Li Zicheng in Zhuxian Town.

These bad news are far more serious than Zhang Xianzhong's problem in Huguang, especially since the Daming Mansion is already in Beizhili, which means that Li Zicheng's tentacles have reached the edge of Beizhili!

So for the next half month, all Chongzhen's attention was attracted by Li Zicheng, and he had no time to care about what was going on with Zhang Xianzhong.

With the country's decline so far, Chongzhen has been completely confused.

This year, all fronts of Ming Dynasty have been completely defeated!

Hong Chengchou has made it clear that the news has been cleared, and most of the 10,000+ nine-border elites have been wiped out. In summer and autumn, the Tartars have not been idle outside the pass. They continued to attack and removed all Wu Sangui's strongholds outside Shanhaiguan one by one. Increasingly lost blood.

Recently, as winter approached, it has calmed down a bit, but according to Jin Yiwei's inquiries, it seems that it is not that the Tartars are weak in combat power, but that Huang Taiji is finally critically ill.

Daming's only hope outside the pass is that after Huang Taiji's death, the Tartars' power transition will not be smooth and civil war will break out.

Li Zicheng ruined the whole of Henan, plus a corner of Hebei, Shaanxi, and Shanxi, and Zhang Xianzhong corrupted Huguang.

Chongzhen almost felt that he was completely hopeless.

……

Chongzhen was depressed, stayed up all night reviewing the memorial, and fell asleep directly on the imperial case while he was busy.Empress Zhou saw that he didn't return to the palace very late, so she brought the maids and snacks to Wenhua Palace to visit the class.

Chongzhen has not favored her for more than a year, so that Empress Zhou did not dare to disturb her at night for a long time.In the past two weeks, I would occasionally spend the night at her place, but there was absolutely no love between men and women at all. It was only because Concubine Tian Gui, Chongzhen's favorite, had just died of illness in July.

When Concubine Tian Guifei died, the news of the fall of Changsha came back from the Huguang battlefield, almost at the same time, the double sadness and anger superimposed, which also made Chongzhen's mood more unstable, and the punishment of relevant officials was also increased.

After the death of Concubine Tian Gui, Chongzhen stopped court for three days and suffered a serious illness. It was only in August that he recovered a little bit, and then he changed his mind and allowed Empress Zhou to serve her sick.

Empress Zhou was not greedy for pets, she knew that she was old and fading, and she was very satisfied if she could show her face around the emperor and serve soup and medicine.

To make a digression, in history, after the death of Concubine Tian Gui, Tian Hongyu, the father of Concubine Tian Gui, in order to maintain the influence of the family in the palace, searched for beautiful women at the end of that year, and wanted to send them to the palace to replace her daughter's original position , was favored by the emperor, and then found Chen Yuanyuan.

Of course, all of this has been completely shattered by Shen Shuren's butterfly effect.Chen Yuanyuan has been taken into the back house by Shen Shuren for two and a half years, and she has played all kinds of tricks.

When Empress Zhou came to the Wenhua Palace, she wanted to go straight into the inner hall, but she met Chongzhen's confidant eunuch Wang Chengen at the door.Empress Zhou was curious, so she asked, "Why is Wang Daban here? Could it be that His Majesty is asleep again?"

Seeing that it was the empress, Wang Chengen saluted quickly, and then said: "Your Majesty came just in time, Your Majesty was just tired and fell asleep again, the slaves dare not disturb you.

However, Chen Shangshu of the Ministry of War sent the "legacy list" of Mr. Yang Ge from Huguang. Mr. Yang Ge seemed to be dying of illness, but the content of this list was indeed a good news. It said that Governor Shen Shuren of Anlu defeated Zhang Xianzhong.

Killed Wang Shangli, Zhang Hualong, and Ma Weixing, the puppet governors under Zhang Xianzhong, wiped out tens of thousands of enemies, recovered Changsha and Hengzhou, and captured surrendered generals Yin Xianmin and He Yide alive.

There are also other captured thieves who will report that Zhang Xianzhong himself was also injured in the battle of Hengzhou by the army's guns, his face was completely disfigured, his ear was cut off, and he was poisoned by lead.The servant hesitated for this reason, not knowing whether to disturb Shengjia to inform..."

Empress Zhou looked happy, then frowned again, and made a gesture first: "Wang Daban, how many times have I said this! This palace is only a female stream, the harem is not allowed to interfere in politics, and foreign court affairs, don't mention it in the future! "

After the virtuous queen's posture was finished, Empress Zhou changed her amiable expression again: "But let's forget it this time, I know His Majesty too well, how can I sleep peacefully on the imperial case like this? Woke up in the middle of the night, I am afraid that I will blame myself for neglecting government affairs, and I will have to toss in the end.

It's better to shout and tell the good news. His Majesty is happy, but he can put down the government affairs and go back to the palace to sleep all night.Ben Gong first goes in to deliver the soup and medicine, after waking up, you can get down to business. "

Empress Zhou knew Chongzhen too well, and knew that her husband would not be able to sleep well if he was so worried, so why not give him good news and make him feel better for a few days.

After receiving the blessing of the good news, Empress Zhou even stiffened her walking posture, walked into the inner hall gracefully, stroked her husband's forehead with her own hands, and watched her husband's body move slightly, then said softly:
"If your Majesty is tired, go back to the palace to rest. It's not comfortable here. The state affairs are busy, and you must take care of your body. Come, drink this bowl of medicinal food first to calm your mind. The sister of the Tian family is in the spirit of the sky. I must also hope that Your Majesty will be healthy forever. "

In a daze, Chongzhen opened his mouth subconsciously. Empress Zhou had already fed him a mouthful with a silver pickle in her own hand.

He also knew Empress Zhou too well. Seeing that her brows were bright and confident, he was not afraid of him being woken up and getting angry, so he tentatively asked: "Could it be that there is some good news? I am anxious to let you know?"

Empress Zhou's heart trembled, she never thought that her husband would react so quickly, or that the old husband and wife were too familiar with each other's mannerisms to be seen through.

Empress Zhou hurriedly shy and coy: "No way, but I saw Wang Daban waiting outside the hall just now, and I didn't dare to disturb her. She said that there was a good news, and my concubines didn't understand the affairs of the foreign court, so they didn't ask carefully. Your Majesty Energy, it’s okay to call in and ask, if you’re tired, just go back and rest.”

Chongzhen didn't point it out, old couples and old wives, even if they asked a few words about the battle situation, they were not involved in politics, so he lightly exposed it, called Wang Chengen to come over, and asked about the business.

Wang Chengen's tone was very strict, he skipped the conversation with Empress Zhou just now, didn't mention a single word, but simply stated the content of Yang Sichang's legacy.

Chongzhen listened, his pupils suddenly zoomed a few times, and his hands stretched out like skinny chicken feet: "Hurry up and bring it to me to see! Has the Ministry of War inspected it?"

Wang Chengen hastily handed over another brochure: "This is Chen Shangshu of the Ministry of War, who just temporarily verified his military exploits when he was on duty just now. Elder Yang Ge's watch, along with the heads of some thieves and some captives, have been inspected by the Ministry of War. It’s just that Yin Xianmin and He Yide haven’t arrived in Beijing yet.”

Of course, the memorials that could be sent to Chongzhen could not be handed in casually. The relevant departments in charge of each link would check at every level to ensure that there were no false reports. Of course, Chen Xinjia of the Ministry of War also stayed up all night and worked overtime.

Chongzhen's eyes widened and he looked carefully, and it took him a long time to close the memorial that was crumpled by him: "Zhang Xianzhong is a thief! You also have today. It's a pity, it's a pity, why didn't Shen Shuren pursue it to the end? Mourning, catch them all! Why do you want to withdraw your troops and return to the north!"

Wang Chengen and others were by the side, listening to the emperor's regret and emotion, they could only be in a hurry, and it was not good to help the ministers speak.

On the contrary, Empress Zhou had no possibility of colluding with foreign ministers. Seeing that the emperor was not completely at ease, she said cautiously: "Your Majesty, the local governor withdraws troops. There must be another appointment and transfer? Didn't Mr. Yang Ge write it?"

Chongzhen looked carefully again, and found a few reasons from the follow-up texts that had nothing to do with the victory report: "...It turns out that Shen Shuren had already made an agreement with Yang Sichang. After defeating Zhang Xianzhong, he would draw troops to deal with Li Zicheng. up.

However, there is no way around this, the war situation in Henan is so rotten, if I were in Xiangyang, I would definitely let the people of Henan bear it a little longer, let Shen Shuren drive Zhang Xianzhong to death, destroy the family first and then talk..."

Neither Empress Zhou nor Wang Cheng'en next to him dared to say anything after hearing this, and thought to himself: It is your will to force Yang Sichang and Sun Chuanting to concentrate all troops at all costs and step up the siege of Li Zicheng to save Henan...

How come in the end, when I heard that Zhang Xianzhong had a chance of being hunted down and beheaded, I suddenly heard that it was true?

Chongzhen felt that the atmosphere was a bit cold, and recalled that he had indeed changed the order day and night, so he hurriedly ordered: "Forget it, seeing that Yang Sichang's expression is sincere, he has finally made some small efforts to make up for his mistakes, so let him ask for it.

After Fang Kongxue was imprisoned, Huguang really couldn't be in chaos, and he urgently needed someone to step up.Since Shen Shuren had the credit for defeating Zhang Xianzhong, restoring the three mansions, and beheading the three puppet governors, he was appointed governor of Huguang.However, he still caresses Xinyang, Jiujiang, and Anluchi Tai as before.After discussing with Zhou Yanru and Chen Xinjia at the court meeting in a few days, let's open up the world.

This Shen Shuren is really my Great Ming's towering giant, a model of loyalty and righteousness.I hope that after his promotion, he can help Yang Sichang recover from his decline and prevent Li Zicheng from going east and south. "

Although Shen Shuren's official title is the governor of Huguang, he can also govern the six prefectures in the three neighboring provinces that border Huguang, all of which are located in dangerous and poor places around the Dabie Mountains.

(End of this chapter)