national surname chiming

Chapter 237
After Zhou Yanru had a first-hand understanding of the insider details of the Huguang battle, he would naturally be fully prepared and targeted when he went to court.

But he will not be reckless, he knows that Fang Kongxuan's case can only be regarded as a trivial matter.The topic of today's court meeting must still be the general rewards and punishments for the generals and governors of Huguang, so he doesn't need to rush to bring it up immediately.

As the time came, all the ministers came in one by one, Chongzhen also walked up with the support of Wang Chengen, sat upright, and the court meeting officially began.

Chongzhen was also unambiguous. As soon as the scene started, he directly mentioned Yang Sichang's legacy watch that he had seen the day before yesterday to Zhou Yanru and Chen Xinjia, and asked everyone to discuss it.

"My lords, Yang Sichang has a statement, talking about the victory in the Huguang war, the restoration of the state capital, and the severe injury to Zhang Xianzhong. Everyone discusses the merits and demerits of rewards and punishments. Chen Xinjia, you know the situation best, and tell everyone first."

Among the courtiers, Chen Xinjia was the first to know of the great victory against Zhang Xianzhong, so he was also full of energy, and in front of many colleagues, he recounted the latest battle situation in Huguang.

When he said it, his face was flushed, he was full of energy, and he was very proud, and he described every detail in Yang Sichang's memorabilia without omission.

It seems that even he, the Minister of the Ministry of War, has a part in this great achievement-although strictly speaking, the Minister of the Ministry of War does have a part, at least he has the merits of overall planning and dispatching, selecting talents and appointing generals.

As for the other civil and military officials, some were slightly surprised, but most of them naturally took the opportunity to shout long live and congratulate Chongzhen.

"It turns out that the situation in Huguang has been reversed!"

"Your Majesty is wise, the blessings are equal to the sky, and the soldiers are ordered to use their lives to win this victory!"

"It won't be long before Zhang Xianzhong suffers such a serious injury! Soon he will present his head to the temple to comfort the Taimiao!" Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant of the cabinet, led the play.

"If Zhang Xianzhong is destroyed, the imperial court's 'suppression of salaries' expenses will definitely be much more lenient, the people will have a breather, and the number of foolish people who can coerce thieves into rebellion will inevitably decrease sharply. There is hope for the Ming Dynasty to rejuvenate!"

The person who said this was Jiang Dejing, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, who was also closely related to the Shen family, so he naturally wanted to take the opportunity to say a few good words for Shen Shuren from the perspective of his work, and to emphasize the significance of Shen Shuren's victory in a different way.

"Okay, okay, what you said really touched my heart! Then let me tell you, is it appropriate for Yang Sichang to represent Shen Shuren as the governor of Huguang?" Chongzhen inevitably drifted away once again, forgetting the recent series of hardships, Temporarily anesthetized by ZTE's illusion.

Some courtiers who were relatively flattering, seeing that Chongzhen was in a good mood, after trying to figure out what he wanted, thought that Chongzhen really wanted to be reused, but they were afraid that the promotion would be too fast and he would not be able to convince the public, so they immediately jumped out to help Chongzhen solve problems.

The selection of officials is mainly the responsibility of the Ministry of Officials, but the Ministry of Rites is in charge of the imperial examinations and has a certain understanding of the selection of talents.At this moment, Zhou Yanru, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, who was the first assistant, was reserved and did not express his position immediately, so the people in the Ministry of Officials were also waiting and watching, and they were preempted by the people from the Ministry of Rites.

Wei Zaode, the right servant of the Ministry of Rites, came out of the class and said: "Your Majesty! It is my great honor for Shen Shuren to make this battle. Now it is time to eliminate all evil and chase down the poor. It is not conducive to crossing the border to suppress bandits.

It's better to make an exception and promote him as the governor of Huguang, and give the governor the right to suppress Zhang Xianzhong!No matter where Zhang Xianzhong fled, he must get rid of the evil! "

Maybe some judges will be surprised - how does Wei Zaode, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, have the same name as the No.

But the reality is so ironic, this Wei Zaode is really the same person as the champion two and a half years ago.

Shen Shuren has made so many military exploits outside, wiped out four of Gezuo's five battalions, and now he has severely injured Zhang Xianzhong, and he is just about to be promoted to the governor of the first province. Compared with the governor half a year ago, it has only expanded a lot The governed area is a little more affordable, but the administrative level is not considered high.

And this Wei Zaode was in the capital, relying on flattery and singing high-profile, being a moral model of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism and calling on everyone to donate to help the army, and he has actually reached the level of the six ministers!
In just two and a half years, from the revision of the Imperial Academy to the right servant of the Ministry of Rites, it can only be said that some Beijing officials in the last years of Chongzhen were really degraded!

Wei Zaode's words, of course, immediately muddied the water.

First of all, his boss, Huang Jingfang, Minister of Rites, felt that Wei Zaode had always been good at figuring out what he wanted.Moreover, he had already expressed his position on behalf of the Ministry of Rites, and if he insisted on confronting him, he would just ignore him on both sides.

So Huang Jingfang quickly said: "Your Majesty, the minister also seconded the proposal. Previously, Li Chuang and Zhang Ni were repeatedly suppressed, all because of the local government's prevarication. Now that Yang Sichang is old and sick, he needs loyal and upright people to carry on his legacy."

But at the same time, the statement made by the Ministry of Rituals of course also attracted dissatisfaction from many mature and prudent imperial officials.

When Shen Shuren was about to be promoted last year, Liu Zongzhou, the censor of Zuodu, who had jumped out to oppose him, and Huang Daozhou, who was under Liu Zongzhou, really jumped out again this time, and they all reprimanded Wei Zaode for talking nonsense.

Liu Zongzhou: "Your Majesty! Wei Zaode's words are really absurd! Shen Shuren is so young, how can he be a governor? What's more, he won't be rewarded for a year. He became a governor only in February of the first year of the year, and now only seven or eight years have passed. In a month, he was promoted to governor again, how will His Majesty use him in the future?"

Huang Daozhou: "Your Majesty! Wei Zaode and Shen Shuren had a friendship of the same age, and they both had previous convictions. Could it be that he has selfish intentions in recommending him like this? Is he suspected of cultivating party members? Does he think that Shen Shuren will be promoted quickly, and no one will speak of them again in the future? Has this group of Chongzhen 13-year-olds been promoted too fast?"

Wei Zaode was also very angry when he heard this, and quickly retorted: "Zhuang Daozhou, you are so bloody! In front of His Majesty, how dare you be so pretentious? The fairness of my words can be learned from the sun!

What's more, during the imperial examination, His Majesty personally summoned him, knowing that I disagree with Shen Shuren's political views, and I have never had any friendship with him. "

Wei Zaode's words are quite good. Chongzhen personally heard the whole process of calling for a match after the imperial examination two and a half years ago. He knew that Wei Zaode and Shen Shuren belonged to two factions with different political opinions, and they had criticized each other at that time.
So Chongzhen was really not worried at all that Wei Zaode would collude with Shen Shuren.So he warned Huang Daozhou a little bit, telling him not to talk nonsense.

Seeing that the emperor personally testified, Huang Daozhou lost his temper.

However, Liu Zongzhou's mature and prudent statement that "Shen Shuren is too young to be promoted again for a year" still played a big role, and many ministers in the court also echoed it.

As for the people from the Ministry of Officials, seeing that the old god Zhou Yanru was still on the ground, they wondered if Mr. Zhou Ge had disagreements with the Ministry of Rites, and wanted to wait and see.

Therefore, Wu Changshi, Zhou Yanru's confidant student and the Secretary of the Ministry of Officials, also jumped out and said some kind words:
"Your Majesty, I believe that Shen Shuren is indeed extremely talented, and he is good at serving soldiers. However, considering his age, after all, he is young, and he is easy to be impulsive and aggressive. If he is afraid, he will be easily broken, and it is difficult to take a big job. He should be used slowly."

After all, Shen Shuren is only 23 years old. At such a young age, being a governor is too heaven-defying.

In the final analysis, it was his age that hurt him. If he was ten years older, preferably 15 years old, then no one would stop Shen Shuren from becoming the governor.

Chongzhen was uncomfortable being quarreled by his subordinates, so he waved his hands and called his names: "Zhou Yanru! Chen Xinjia, you two, talk about how to dispatch the southern suppression affairs!"

And Zhou Yanru had already thoroughly figured out Chongzhen's true intentions in the observation just now, and then the old god put on an impartial and fair look on the ground and said:

"Your Majesty, Shen Shuren is young, not to mention that he won't be promoted for a year. It is indeed not appropriate to become a supervisor suddenly. However, His Majesty can temporarily grant him the authority to pursue and suppress Zhang Xianzhong on the basis of Huguang Governor.

It's just that this authority must be limited by time and responsibilities, and it can only be used to pursue Zhang Xianzhong, and cannot be used for other purposes, so as to avoid repeated thieves and thieves. "

Chongzhen originally felt that both sides were reasonable. Seeing Zhou Yanru's detailed explanation, he thought it made sense for a while, so he asked more detailedly: "Then Zhou Qing thinks, what is the appropriate period of authority?"

Zhou Yanru thought for a while: "This matter needs to be dispatched and approved by the Ministry of War. I don't know the soldiers, so what I said may not be appropriate. From my point of view, since Zhang Xianzhong has lost a lot of troops and even lost a few fakes, I want to focus on specializing in suppression next year." , with a period of one year, or it will work.

In the fall and winter of this year, Shen Shuren's soldiers and horses have been recalled. He wants to help Sun Chuanting defend Li Zicheng and rescue Kaifeng, and cannot use troops against Zhang Xianzhong for the time being.Counting from next year to the end of the year, if the record is really outstanding, it will not be too late to promote him to the governor, if it doesn't work, he will be replaced by other governors and generals. "

Chongzhen stroked his beard and turned to Chen Xinjia: "Chen Qing, you know about military affairs, is it appropriate for a one-year period?"

Chen Xinjia thought for a while: "Zhang Xianzhong is treacherous and can't be judged by common sense. I think the one-year period is still somewhat difficult. However, His Majesty didn't say that he would be held accountable if he couldn't do it. It is not inappropriate to suggest that he should replace him.

Now that Yang Ge is old and in danger, there is no one to coordinate the suppression of bandits, but the number of bandit chieftains has also been greatly reduced. This year, the bandits have merged with each other and tried to harm each other, and the situation is very miserable.Last year there were more than a dozen thieves, but now there are only two major culprits, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

The minister thought that Shen Shuren could have the power to suppress Zhang Xianzhong in addition to the governor of Huguang, and Sun Chuanting could have the power to suppress Li Zicheng in addition to the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu.The period is next year, but this autumn and winter, the two governors need to work together to untie the siege first. "

Chongzhen thought about it carefully, and Chen Xinjia's idea was more detailed than Zhou Yanru's.The new powers given to Shen Shuren and Sun Chuanting are also temporary assignments, only for specific matters.In this way, the imperial court's control over these governors should still be maintained, and it will not be too big to lose.

If Shen Shuren can really get Zhang Xianzhong's head to present next year, then of course there is nothing to say, even if he is the governor of Huguang or even the governor of several provinces, it will be no problem.

Because there was an oath from the Taimiao alliance before, whoever killed Zhang Xianzhong could immediately become a duke.Can the governor be more valuable than the duke?

Chongzhen completely straightened out his thinking, and formally issued an order: "That's it, the Ministry of Officials drafted an order to promote Shen Shuren to be the governor of Huguang, and to take care of Xinyang, Jiujiang, and Anluchi Taifu. Let him lead the army to go north , First assist Sun Chuanting to untie the siege.

Once Kaifeng is cleared, Sun Chuanting will be able to gain a firm foothold if he wants to come.Since Yang Sichang was too ill to take care of things, Zuo Liangyu's department should also be placed under the command of Sun Chuanting.

Next year, Sun Chuanting will specialize in suppressing the north and coordinating the war against trespassers.Use Shen Shuren to suppress the south and make overall plans to pursue Zhang Xianzhong. "

Seeing that Chongzhen didn't directly promote Shen Shuren to the governorship, those old-school censors only gave him some temporary dispatch authority, so they didn't cause any more trouble, and this was considered passed.

……

After Shen Shuren and Sun Chuanting's promotion and power distribution were settled, there were of course other issues to be discussed in the court meeting.

Zhou Yanru didn't worry too much, let other issues advance first, and occasionally expressed his opinions just right.

Until the time came, Chongzhen had already asked Wang Chengen to say, "If there is something to do, we will leave the court if there is nothing to do." Zhou Yanru saw that no one else was responding, so he came out of the class and said:

"Your Majesty, there is another small matter that should not be discussed by the minister. But the minister is the chief assistant, and if there is any inappropriateness in any aspect of the government, it is inevitable to step over and take over for him——

As far as I know, the imperial court has been quite negligent in determining the merits and demerits of the civil and military forces in Huguang in response to the Zhang Xianzhong campaign.Now that Shen Shuren, who made the first contribution, has been conclusively determined, the rest of the assistants and ministers guarding the land should also find out their merits and demerits.

Fang Kongzhang, the former governor of Huguang, was imprisoned for questioning because of the fall of Changsha and Hengzhou, and the vassal king was killed. Now he has been imprisoned in Beijing.However, the Criminal Ministry has not yet begun to investigate the reasons for the fall of Changsha and Hengzhou.

There are also witnesses of the same case, and the crime will be brought to the case, and the Ministry of Criminal Justice did not take over. It just shirks the responsibility and asks the Ministry of Military Affairs to conduct a self-examination on the grounds that the relevant persons are generals.The minister thinks that the Ministry of Punishment has acted improperly, and it should be rectified immediately. "

When Chongzhen heard this, he suddenly regained his spirits.

The recovery of Shen Shuren is indeed worthy of praise, but the rapid fall of Huguang Shufu before this is worthy of stern accountability.When the matter got into such a state, Chongzhen felt an evil fire in his heart, and really wanted to kill a few people as an example to others.

Now that Zhou Yanru brought up this topic, of course his expression turned cold immediately, and he turned to Xu Shiqi, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment: "Xu Qing, is there such a thing?"

Xu Shiqi looked bewildered, the criminal department really had a lot of work every day, and he didn't know the person who had just been sent, so he could only say: "I dare to ask Mr. Zhou Ge, when did the witnesses and criminals who are talking about the same case arrive in Beijing?" I really don't know, maybe there is a mistake in the various departments below, and it hasn't been reported yet..."

At this time, Zhou Yanru put on the attitude of a peacemaker: "This matter is indeed hasty, and your Majesty does not need to criticize Xu Shangshu. The person should have been sent to the capital yesterday evening. There are Changsha General Yin Xianmin and Hengzhou General. He Yide, the soldier, was not accepted by the Ministry of Punishment, so he was sent to the Ministry of Military Affairs for custody.

Theoretically, these two were controlled by Fang Kongzhang, the former governor of Huguang. Although they had thousands of troops, they couldn't even defend Changsha and Hengzhou for two or three days, so they directly surrendered the bandits.The reinforcements sent by Fang Kongzhao arrived in Changsha within five days after the war started in Changsha, but the city had already fallen. "

After hearing this, Chongzhen lashed out at Xu Shiqi, blaming him for not being diligent, and asked Chen Xinjia to quickly get someone to resign from his post.

After ordering, Chongzhen turned to Zhou Yanru with approval on his face: "Zhou Qing is very observant and diligent in state affairs. How do you know about the delays of the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of War?"

Zhou Yanru gained a good reputation for diligence, so he no longer concealed it, and told the truth directly, telling the story of being blocked by Fang Kongzhang's daughter for redress before he went to court.

Of course, what Zhou Yanru wants to emphasize is that he must be aware of the details, respond quickly to handling affairs, and have strong discrimination ability, so as to improve his impression in front of the emperor.

After hearing this, Chongzhen didn't ask more about the situation of the other Fang family members, but was just curious why the Fang family wanted to avenge their grievances with female sex.

"Could it be that Fang Kongzheng has no children? He let the woman seek justice."

Zhou Yanru: "Your Majesty forgot, Fang Kongzhang's eldest son is Fang Yizhi, the magistrate of Wuchang. The year before last, he was in the same family as Shen Shuren and Wei Zaode. As far as I know, Fang Yizhi is going to Kaifeng because the armies of Huguang are currently fighting thousands of miles north and south. To get out of the siege, the logistics are all messy, and you can't get out, so loyalty and filial piety are abolished. This is an expedient measure."

After Chongzhen listened to it, the impression of Fang Yizhi improved a lot. Subconsciously, he felt that such a loyal and filial family member might not do things that failed the Holy Grace, and Fang Kong Xing's clearing of the suspicion also increased a little bit. Preconceived good impressions.

"This is like Tiying saving her father, she is a strange woman." Chongzhen said casually.

Soon, under the urging of Chen Xinjia, the Chief Fang of the Ministry of War escorted Yin Xianmin and He Yide to the main hall.

Chongzhen soon forgot about the Fang family, and began to severely interrogate these people about their surrender, whether they were attacked by Zhang Xianzhong, or whether they surrendered within two days of a siege.

Yin Xianmin He Yide did not expect that he had just arrived in the capital, and after only one night, he would be interrogated directly in the main hall, in front of the emperor, and he was already scared to pee.

Of course they also wanted to defend themselves, but Zhou Yanru showed great wisdom and sensitivity, and cross-examined the doubtful points listed in Fang Yizhi's complaint that he had read on the way here in the morning, and soon found a lot of flaws. .

There is absolutely no excuse for Yin Xianmin's surrender, it's just his own soft bones, deliberately following the thief!
He Yide's situation was a little bit better. Finally, when he knew that he was bound to die, he couldn't help shouting and criticizing: "Your Majesty! It's not a pity for the last general to die! But the loss of Hengzhou is really the king of Gui!

If King Gui was not greedy for life and afraid of death, and ordered the last general not to defend the city, but to gather the elite main force in the city and go out to fight in the field to protect him from the encirclement, how could our soldiers have given up the strong city and suffered heavy casualties from Zhang Xianzhong's troops in the field battle!
Since then, the morale of the army has mutinied, and the soldiers are united as one, unwilling to die for King Gui, who treats everyone's life like nothing.If there is no King Gui, the last general will definitely be able to defend Hengzhou until Shen Shuren's reinforcements arrive! "

Chongzhen was furious when he heard that he was going to argue like this before he died: "Presumptuous! Why don't you kill this thief! As a town general, it's only natural to protect the vassal king! How dare you find excuses if you are greedy for life and afraid of death!"

Soon there were soldiers in brocade clothes and a big Han general from the corridor outside the hall, came up with a staff, and beat He De directly, no matter where he hit, his head was bleeding with a blow.

Zhou Yanru was not too serious when he saw the blood in the hall, so he quickly said politely: "Your Majesty, both of them have committed the crime of being thieves, and it is too cheap to kill them directly. It is better to hand over to the Ministry of Punishments to investigate the details. If His Majesty cannot get rid of his hatred, he will order a severe punishment."

When Chongzhen heard this, he calmed down a little, and felt that it would be too cheap to kill him directly.If there is a trial, it is estimated that there will be a worse death than sticking, so Zhou Yanru's request was approved, and Zhou Yanru was also praised.

"Forget it, since Zhou Qing spoke, this matter will be handed over to the Ministry of Punishment, so as not to delay the time of the officials. Xu Qing, ask the whole story carefully, and I will wait for your report. Retire."

Xu Shiqi was already sweating profusely, and quickly said that it would be done.

The matter of Fang Kongxuan, Yin Xianmin, and He Yide sharing the blame for the fall of Changsha and other places has finally come to an end.

After retiring from the court that day, Xu Shiqi personally intervened and expedited the trial.

A few days later, it was concluded that all the crimes were indeed the responsibility of these general soldiers who surrendered without a fight. Fang Kongxuan had just been sent to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice for a few days, and was released soon.

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PS: It’s [-] words. Recently, there’s been a bigger chapter every day. In addition, it seems that the comment server is under maintenance these days. It’s normal that you can’t see other people’s new comments.

Book friends who want to wait for the barrage to grow fat before reading it, you can raise it for a few days and then come back to read it.

(End of this chapter)