Nanming Yiming

Chapter 59
Hong Chengchou, who returned to Beijing, hadn't received any news from Xie Sanmu for many days, so he knew that the situation was not good, probably something happened to the 500 million taels of silver.

In fact, Hong Chengchou's situation at this time is not good.

After surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, Hong Chengchou's official career was not all smooth sailing.

Although Huang Taiji attached great importance to the surrender of Ming Dynasty officials of Hong Chengchou's level.

According to legend, after being captured, Hong Chengchou went on a hunger strike for several days and refused to surrender.Huang Taiji sent all the people he could use to persuade him to surrender, but they were all scolded and returned.

Huang Taiji still did not give up, so he specially ordered Fan Wencheng, the most favored official minister, to persuade him to surrender, to see if he really had the determination to rather die than surrender.

When Fan Wencheng arrived, Hong Chengchou yelled loudly, but Fan Wencheng was patient in every possible way, did not mention the matter of surrender, talked with him about the past and the present, and at the same time quietly observed his words.

During the conversation, a piece of dust fell from the beam and landed on Hong Chengchou's clothes.While Hong Chengchou spoke, he "wiped it repeatedly".

Fan Wencheng said goodbye calmly, and returned to Huang Taiji: "Chengchou is not dead. Chengchou still loves this robe so much, let alone his body?"

Huang Taiji accepted the professional advice of Fan Wencheng, Zhang Cunren, etc., and took good care of Hong Chengchou with great kindness and courtesy.

The next day, Huang Taiji came to the Taimiao in person, and Hong Chengchou stood without kneeling.

Huang Taiji asked about the cold and warmth, and seeing that Hong Chengchou's clothes were thin, he immediately took off his sable fur and put it on Hong Chengchou's body.
However, there are also unofficial records that the reason why Hong Chengchou surrendered was related to a woman, who was Huang Taiji's official wife Borzigit Bumbutai.

This woman is the well-known Da Yuer, who later became the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang.

It is said that Huang Taiji used Bumubutai to trick Hong Chengchou with secret medicine
Afterwards, Hong Chengchou surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.

Regardless of the reasons for Hong Chengchou's surrender, his surrender was indeed a precedent for a big official in the frontier and a central official to surrender to the Qing Dynasty.

But after Hong Chengchou surrendered, Huang Taiji was very afraid of him, and it was a form of strict precautions.

Although Hong Chengchou was treated with courtesy, he was only used as a consulting staff member, and he was never granted any substantive official position.

It wasn't until after Huang Taiji's death that Shunzhi ascended the throne and Dorgon supervised the country that Hong Chengchou was reactivated. After being released, Hong Chengchou didn't miss the old feelings at all. He suppressed the peasant uprising army, suppressed the Nanming army, etc., and was more diligent than the Manchus. .

Hong Chengchou advocated Confucianism, put forward his opinions on Emperor Shunzhi's disrespect for Confucius and Mencius, and laid the foundation for the integration of Manchu and Han.Hong Chengchou also suggested that the Qing court adopt many rules and regulations of the Ming Dynasty, and contributed a lot of suggestions, most of which were accepted by the Qing court and implemented to improve the state machinery of the Qing Dynasty.

In order to consolidate the rule of the Qing Dynasty, Chengchou suggested that the Manchurian ruling group should also "learn Chinese and understand Chinese", understand the etiquette and customs of the Han people, and downplay the differences between Manchu and Han.

Many of the propositions in Qian Mo's "On Huaxia" are actually very appetizing to Hong Chengchou, and Hong Chengchou himself also advocates the same.From this point of view, they really have a "teacher-student relationship".

So even though he was deeply suspicious of Qian Mo's true intentions, Hong Chengchou readily accepted Qian Mo's apprenticeship, and publicized this "On Huaxia" through the residence newspaper to test the reactions of all parties.

This return to Beijing is also to see the reaction of the court, whether there is a chance to promote Qian Mo's proposition of "national integration and unification of China".

These days, Hong Chengchou has had some simple communication with Fan Wencheng, Ning Wan and me, the veteran surrenders, as well as the "new generation" leaders like Chen Mingxia and Feng Quan, and these people have expressed their support both openly and secretly.

After all, this is an opportunity to cleanse their traitors. Anyway, they don't come out on their own, so they are happy to see it happen.

At that time, as long as Dorgon did not express any obvious objection, they would push the boat forward and facilitate this matter.

Of course, they will not easily express their position before they have figured out Dorgon's true attitude.

They didn't dare to get involved with this kind of matter that involved the national policy of the Qing Dynasty and related to the relationship between Manchu and Han. If they didn't do it, they would have to pay themselves for it and ruin their great "traitor career".

As an important minister in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Hong Chengchou is also an old fox in the court. It is impossible for him to do the stupid thing of colluding with his master behind his back to force the palace.

It's just a casual mention in the name of Qian Mo in a small area, just to try a few words.

He never dared to propose without Dorgon's approval.

Shunzhi and Xiaozhuang still trust Hong Chengchou very much, and they like to ask Hong Chengchou for advice on everything.

Even when Shunzhi succeeded to the throne, Hong Chengchou hinted that Xiaozhuang won the support of Dorgon, so Hong Chengchou was reused after Shunzhi succeeded to the throne, and was appointed as a military affairs scholar to appease the Southern Governor.

But at this time, the right to speak in the Manchu court was actually more in the hands of "Uncle Emperor and Regent" Dorgon.

In fact, the relationship between Hong Chengchou and Dorgon is also good, otherwise, only with the support of the emperor and the empress dowager, Hong Chengchou would definitely not be able to governor the south.

However, Hong Chengchou was really not sure about Dorgon's attitude, and he would not be so stupid as to take the initiative to test Dorgon's reaction.

In fact, for Hong Chengchou, everything is ready now and only Dongfeng is owed. This "Dongfeng" is naturally the 500 million taels of silver donated by Qian Mo and him.

To test Dorgon's reaction by offering 500 million taels of silver silently.If the regent was not happy, he would not reward Qian Mo.

If the regent rewarded Qian Mo a lot, it would show his attitude towards the remarks behind it.Then, if Qian Mo came to write the proposal of "national integration and unification of China", the resistance in the court would be much smaller.

Anyway, there is Qian Mo, the "back-up man" who is ahead.If Qian Mo could really be appreciated by the Prince Regent, Hong Chengchou would naturally be willing to endorse this beloved disciple politically.

On the contrary, Qian Mo can only be used to "take the blame".

The reason why Hong Chengchou is willing to take a certain risk to promote Qian Mo's remarks is, on the one hand, to whitewash himself and correct the impact of the "hair shaving order", on the other hand, he also hopes to divert conflicts and preserve his own political interests.

Although Hong Chengchou was in charge of recruiting the south, he spared no effort to fight against the Southern Ming Dynasty, recruited a large number of former Ming forces, and made a lot of contributions to stabilizing the situation in the south of the Yangtze River.

However, as a Hanchen, he had too much power and was dissatisfied by various forces.

The Eight Banners nobles have long criticized Hong Chengchou, believing that a Han should not have too much power.

As a southerner, Hong Chengchou was naturally attacked by the "Northern Party" headed by Feng Quan in the court.

But Hong Chengchou, an important minister with profound qualifications, naturally would not seek refuge with Chen Mingxia, the leader of the "Southern Party" who is a younger generation.

So Hong Chengchou, who had no intention of party struggle, was attacked by both the North and the South at the court.

The previous appointment of Ma Guozhu as the Governor of Liangjiang and Henan is an obvious signal that the imperial court is about to withdraw its authority.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou pushed the boat along the way, and took advantage of the silent donation of money to put forward the idea of ​​"national integration and unification of China" to ease relations with the North and South parties and re-reach political tacit understanding.

There was no news from Xie Sanmu, which made Hong Chengchou deeply feel that the situation was not good.

He had an ominous premonition for today's court meeting.

In the Qing Dynasty, court meetings that emphasized etiquette were divided into two types: Dachao and Changchao;
The Great Dynasty, that is, the three major festivals of New Year's Day, Longevity, and Winter Solstice, the emperor will visit the Hall of Supreme Harmony in person to accept the official celebration;

There are more frequent dynasties, which are held on the fifth, fifteenth, and 25th of each month, and the venue and content are similar to those of the great DPRK.

The daily court meeting that deals with daily government affairs and military affairs; it also has two forms:

One is "the imperial gate listens to the government", and the other is that the emperor receives the nobles of the Eight Banners and the officials of various yamen halls take turns to perform affairs.

For the first ceremonial dynasty, the venue is the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

As for the second court meeting, which deals with daily government affairs, especially the "Yumen Listening to Government" among them, it is mainly held at Qianqingmen.

Today is the fifth day of November and belongs to the Chang Dynasty, and the court meeting will be held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Early in the morning, the little Emperor Shunzhi, accompanied by the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, sat on the Golden Luan Hall.

However, at this time, Shunzhi was not yet in charge of the government. He only had the right to listen to the government and would not participate in the discussion of government affairs.

The court meeting was actually presided over by Dorgon.

Aixinjueluo Dorgon, the No.14 son of Nurhachi, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and the second son of Abahai.He was born in Hetuala (now the old town of Xinbin County, Liaoning Province) in the 40th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1612).

In the 11th year of Mandate of Heaven (1626), Dorgon was granted Baylor;

In the second year of Tiancong (1628), the 17-year-old Dorgon went out with Huang Taiji to conquer the Chahar tribe of Mongolia.Because of his military exploits, he was given the title "Mergen Daiqing" and became the owner of the inlaid white flag.

In the ninth year of Tiancong (1635), Dorgon and others led an army to take over Erzhe, the son of Lindan Khan of Mongolia, and obtained the Jade Seal of Chuanguo.In the first year of Chongde (1636), he was named Prince He Shuorui for his military exploits. In December, he accompanied Huang Taiji to conquer North Korea, participated in the Battle of Bingzi, conquered Ganghwa Island, and captured the family of the King of North Korea.

From the sixth year of Chongde (1641) to the seventh year (1642), he made outstanding achievements in the Songjin War.

After Huang Taiji's death, Dorgon and Jierhalang assisted Fulin, the ninth son of Huang Taiji, to assume the throne as the assistant kings, and became the king of regents.

In the first year of Shunzhi (1644), he commanded the Qing soldiers to enter the pass, and the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains. He successively named his uncle Regent, Emperor Uncle Regent, and Emperor Father Regent.

In the 5th year of Shunzhi, Dorgon was named "Emperor Father Regent", so his current title is "Emperor Uncle Regent".

Prince Zheng Jierhalang, who is also the assistant king, was fined [-] yuan in silver and dismissed from his assistant administration position in February this year because he violated the building regulations and used bronze lions, bronze turtles, and bronze cranes without authorization.

So the current court is Dole Gun's Yiyantang.

Dorgon's face was gloomy, and he said: "Yesterday, I received an urgent report from Ma Guozhu, a slave, saying that the fleet going north to offer silver encountered a storm on October 10 on the Yangtze River channel from Zhenjiang to Guazhou, and 26 million taels of silver When the Yangtze River completely disappeared, Zhou Boda, the governor of Jiangning who was in charge of the escort, Qian Mo, a gentleman from the south of the Yangtze River who offered silver, and the 500 soldiers and horses accompanying the escort were wiped out."

As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the hall.

Everyone whispered: "This is unbelievable, 500 million taels of silver and [-] soldiers and horses just disappeared in the Yangtze River?"

"Could it be that someone deliberately lied about military information for the sake of money? It must be strictly investigated."

It's no wonder that the ministers criticized it, but no one can believe that this is true, it is too unbelievable.

Just as several ministers were filled with righteous indignation and were about to make a statement, Dole waved his hand and said, "Here is a second report."

"October 10, Yang Wenqi, the former general of Wusong, and the national treasure of Chongming, raised troops against the Qing Dynasty and welcomed Zhang Mingzhen, the Ming bandit from Zhoushan, into Chongming. He gathered 27 bandits and blocked the waterway of the Yangtze River."

If there was an uproar just now, it is now a frying pan in the court.

Hong Chengchou was already sweating profusely. Yang Wenqi and Tu Guobao were recruited, appointed and promoted by him, and now they have betrayed him.

Sure enough, Feng Quan, a scholar of Hongwen Academy in Neihanlin, began to impeach him: "The minister Feng Quan impeached Hong Chengchou, a scholar of military affairs and governor of the South, for two crimes."

"First, dereliction of duty and ineffective bank transfer."

"As far as I know, Qian Mo donated 9 million taels of silver to the imperial court as early as September. During this period, Hong Chengchou, as the governor, made poor arrangements and procrastinated, which caused the silver taels to be delayed for more than a month before they were shipped, so that the silver taels finally sank in the Yangtze River. "

"Second, if you don't know who you are, you will lose your teacher and lose your ground."

"The rebellious general of Wusong, Yang Wenqi, was promoted to the general of Wusong by Hong Chengchou just last month, and this national treasure was formerly a pirate from Taihu Lake, and it was Hong Chengchou's efforts to recruit security that allowed him to be promoted to the general of Chongming. Hong Chengchou doesn't know who he is, The careless promotion has led to the loss of teachers and grounds today."

Hong Chengchou's great power in the south caused Feng Quan's dissatisfaction long ago, but he was cautious and highly valued by the emperor and regent, so he could not find a chance to impeach him.

It is a rare opportunity to beat a dog in the water this time, and Feng Quan will naturally not let it go easily.

After Feng Quan, the leader of the "Northern Party", made his statement, Chen Mingxia of the "Southern Party" feared that Hong Chengchou would have something to do with the "Southern Party", and immediately expressed his support for Feng Quan's impeachment, and must severely punish Hong Chengchou.

After the two expressed their views, the voices of impeachment of Hong Chengchou came one after another, as if they wanted to swallow Hong Chengchou alive!
Dorgon thought to himself: These Han people really can't make a fortune, and they fight each other at every turn.

So he stopped the impeachment of the ministers and asked: "Lord Hong, do you have anything to say in the face of these impeachments?"

Hong Chengchou was already sweating profusely at the moment, but he still wiped the smear on his forehead after a long time of ups and downs, and calmly replied: "The first time I learned about Qian Mo's donation of silver, I ordered the prefects of Yangzhou and Huai'an Dredge the canal and arrange Jiangning Governor Zhou Boda to prepare for the escort, why delay?"

"As for the sinking of Yinliang in the Yangtze River, this is a natural disaster, and it is beyond the control of the minister. I hope the regent will clearly investigate!"

"Yang Wenqi exterminated the water bandit 'Lang Li Fei' in Taihu Lake, and was promoted to the general army of Wusong because of his meritorious service. It was verified and deliberated by Wei Chen and Governor Ma Guozhu. It is true that Wei Chen was guilty of negligence, but there is no such thing as random promotion."

"Tu Guobao was indeed recruited by the minister, but he was previously assigned by the minister to the position of governor of Jiangning. After being impeached, he was demoted to the general army of Chongming. It was not deliberately arranged by the minister. After the minister recruited Tu Guobao, it was all over. His military power, but the minister is indeed guilty of negligence."

"Now that things have come to this point, I really owe the Emperor's kindness to me as a scholar of military affairs to appease the Southern Governor, and I can hardly absolve myself of the blame."

"Last month, my father passed away unfortunately. I invite Ding You to return to my hometown. I also hope that the regent will be granted by the emperor!"

Dorgon also understood that Hong Chengchou would never be transparent on purpose, and now that he asked Ding You himself, it was inconvenient to criticize him harshly.

So it was announced: "Remove Hong Chengchou to appease the southern governor of the Military Affairs University, and order him to return to his hometown Ding You!"

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