Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table
Chapter 171 Sincerely Exchange Tradition
Chapter 171 Sincerely Exchange Tradition
In winter and spring, there is a typhoon?If the record is correct, it may have happened during this time.
In fact, Emperor Chongzhen did not know that there was also the possibility of typhoons in winter and spring, but the probability was just lower.For example, on February 2004, 2, tropical storm "Fengxian" appeared in the coastal areas of Jiangsu Province.
However, Emperor Chongzhen knew one thing: the ships at this time had very poor resistance to typhoons.
Let’s not talk about the distance, let’s talk about the Chongzhen period. When Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming fled Shandong by boat and were going to join the Jianlu, Shang Kexi was ordered to intercept them at Lushun. As a result, they encountered a storm and all the intercepted ships were destroyed by the storm. .
Let’s talk about another case that happened in the Yangtze River. In 1658, Zheng Chenggong and the Northern Expeditionary Army led by Zhang Huangyan, the Minister of War of the Southern Ming Dynasty, entered the Yangtze River, but encountered a hurricane when they reached Yangshan. One-third of the more than 1000 warships were destroyed, and more than 8000 soldiers drowned. Zheng Chenggong's three sons were also killed in this incident.Due to heavy losses, Zheng Chenggong had to withdraw his troops and go south.
Thinking of these cases, Emperor Chongzhen hesitated for a moment, and finally said to Fang Zhenghua: "The army has been supplied with food and grass in Yangzhou, so don't rush to Yingtian Mansion. Turn around and raise the flag, march west along the north bank of the Yangtze River, attract If the thief army comes to attack, they can also defeat the thief army's plan to besiege Yingtian Mansion."
Fang Zhenghua felt a little hesitant after hearing this.
If the emperor leads the army into Yingtian Mansion, even if it is only an army of [-], relying on the tall city walls of Nanjing, it can consume several times the enemy's energy, and then counterattack, the chance of victory will be greater.
But now the [-] troops are not going to Nanjing, but are just heading north along the Yangtze River to fight against the rebels. This pressure is definitely very high.
However, he had always been by the emperor's side, and of course he knew what the emperor was thinking. Therefore, after hesitating for a moment, he finally said nothing.
After the Beijing camp was in Yangzhou Fucheng for another day, it handed over the city defense to Shi Dewei's local army, withdrew from Yangzhou City, and prepared to march westward.
As the soldiers from the Beijing camp left the city, the people of Yangzhou City began to go out for activities.They were still afraid of the emperor's army stationed outside the city, and did not dare to approach, let alone contact.For some purchasing needs of the military, many shops often close early when seeing the military in the past and dare not do business.
This surprised Emperor Chongzhen who received the news. Logically speaking, he had eradicated powerful men in Yangzhou City, reformed the salt policy, greatly reduced the price of salt, and implemented food control. These were all measures that were beneficial to the people. They should It’s only right to be grateful, why are you still afraid of Beijing Camp?
So, he asked Fang Zhenghua to arrange for someone to inquire about the situation.By the afternoon, Fang Zhenghua had news and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Long live my lord, many people in Yangzhou Prefecture used to make money from the big salt merchants. Now the big salt merchants have been killed and brought to justice. Among their shops, Classes have also been banned, and those clerks are afraid of the imperial court. Under their influence, most of the people in Yangzhou Prefecture do not know what is good and what is good. They are also afraid of the imperial court and the Beijing camp!"
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen thought about it and let it go. Anyway, time will tell people's hearts.Although I am the biggest beneficiary of these measures in Yangzhou, the common people also benefit a lot!
Thinking like this, he didn't care anymore and started thinking about the transportation of grain and grass.
Previously, we had to go south from the capital along the canal. The advantage was that food and supplies could be transported by ship, which was very convenient.
However, if we want to move westward now, the transportation of grain and grass supplies will be a problem.
If you travel by land, you will need to recruit many large vehicles to transport supplies. If there is no special supply camp, you may have to recruit a large number of civilians to transport supplies and food.
Of course, there is another option, which is to travel up the Yangtze River by boat.But in this way, the army will not be able to leave too far from the bank of the Yangtze River.
In a compromise, Emperor Chongzhen decided to transport part of the goods by land and part by ship.
Therefore, instead of forcibly recruiting vehicles and ships, he sent an order to Shi Kefa to obtain vehicles and ships through employment.
As a result, the problem came. Not many people in Yangzhou Prefecture were willing to be hired by the Beijing camp.
Fang Zhenghua was annoyed by this and suggested to Emperor Chongzhen: "Long live the Lord's mercy, so there is no need to conscript vehicles and ships for apportionment. As a result, the unscrupulous people here are ignorant, so let's just issue an order to conscript apportionment!"
Of course Emperor Chongzhen was unhappy, but he created a persona who was invincible militarily and put the people first in civil affairs, and he persisted in doing so.Even when he went south this time, he laid the groundwork many times for the sake of the Kong family in Qufu and the big salt merchant in Yangzhou, emphasizing the people-oriented approach.
If you change to the old-fashioned method because you are unhappy at this time, although others can't say anything, after all, the court has this power, and it has been done so in all dynasties, but this is also inconsistent with Emperor Chongzhen's own ideals. .
In troubled times, people's hearts are important, and he knows more than people of this era!
Therefore, in the end, Emperor Chongzhen decided to keep his character intact, shook his head, rejected Fang Zhenghua's proposal, and said: "Then I will send an order to Admiral Cao Jiang to allocate some transport ships."
When Fang Zhenghua saw that the emperor had made his decision, he had no choice but to reply: "I obey the order!"
The so-called unpredictable situation is not just a casual saying.
That night, there was a sudden strong wind, mixed with heavy snow, covering the south of the Yangtze River.
The sound of the wind "wuwuwu" is like the howl of doomsday.
Fortunately, the Beijing Camp was the most elite army. Even when they set up camp, they strictly followed the procedures. The tents were all firmly set up, and only a few tents were blown over. The soldiers were quickly divided into other tents to spend the night.
However, Yangzhou Prefecture suffered under the typhoon.
No one thought that in this winter, a typhoon would come with heavy snow.
In other words, even if they know that given the conditions of this era and their family circumstances, most people are unable to fight against natural disasters on their own.
Therefore, when daybreak came, the heavy snow was still falling, and although the wind was a little lighter, the people of Yangzhou Prefecture were all wailing.
Emperor Chongzhen went out of the Chinese military tent at dawn to check on the situation.
Really, wherever you look, some of the big trees that were there have fallen to the ground and are covered with snow, with only some branches exposed.
Most of the shantytowns outside Yangzhou City have been damaged to varying degrees.Some sheds were blown away by the wind, and some roofs were collapsed by the weight of snow.
There were some people, men, women, old and young, digging around in their collapsed homes, calling for their families, or crying while holding their dead family members.Under the wind and snow, many people turned into snowmen.
The city of Yangzhou is not much better. Most of the people's houses have thatched roofs and yellow mud walls. Not to mention this kind of thing, even those with tile houses have been damaged by wind and snow.
Even outside the city, the same cries and shouts could be heard inside the city.
In the military camp, the generals of each army rushed to the central military tent after dawn to report the situation of each camp.
Except for a few soldiers who were injured by objects blown by the strong wind, there was basically no much damage.
The emperor was watching the situation inside and outside Yangzhou Fucheng, and they followed him to watch.
After a while, Fang Zhenghua reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Long live my lord, Yangzhou Prefecture has suffered such a severe disaster. It is impossible to hire any more cars and boats."
The generals in the army naturally know the general situation.
After Gao Jie heard this, he gloated and said: "If they don't recognize good people's hearts, if they are hired, they can reduce their losses, but now they deserve to be punished by God!"
The other generals didn't say anything after hearing this, but judging from their faces, they probably agreed with Gao Jie's words.
If there were another emperor, there wouldn't even be an emperor, just generals like them. If the army wants to fight bandits and needs some vehicles and ships, they can just recruit them directly. This has been done since ancient times.But they didn't want the emperor to be kind and just hire them and give them money, but these people in Yangzhou Prefecture were still unwilling. Now they have suffered from the wind and snow, and they really deserve it!
But who would have thought that Emperor Chongzhen only said seriously after hearing this: "Don't gloat about misfortune, prepare for disaster relief!"
Upon hearing this, all the generals were a little confused and immediately turned to look at Emperor Chongzhen.
Wu Sangui also reminded Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, we are the capital camp!"
The implication is that the Beijing Camp is the imperial army, your emperor's personal army, and it is his duty to accompany him on expeditions, but what is disaster relief in a place like this?
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen turned around and looked around at his generals, knowing what he was doing.
In ancient times, there were hierarchies. It could even be said that there were strict hierarchies. There were not many people who could really think about things from the perspective of ordinary people.Why do you ask for life for the people? Although there is such a saying, these people are not necessarily ordinary people.
Throughout Chinese history, there are definitely not many people who have the enlightenment of later generations.
Hai Rui is one of those who is not afraid of high-ranking officials and dignitaries. He dares to make decisions for ordinary people even when they have grievances!
Yue Fei is one of them. The slogan of the Yue Family Army is, "Don't demolish the house to death if you freeze, don't plunder to death of starvation." This is something that few armies can achieve.
Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at the generals in front of him seriously and said, "What's wrong with the Jingying camp? The Jingying camp is also the army of the Ming Dynasty, it's my army! What does the army do? Protect the family and the country, do you know?"
Hearing his harsh tone, all the generals did not dare to speak.
So, I heard the words of Emperor Chongzhen, speaking loudly in the wind and snow: "The country is composed of countless families, and only by protecting the families and defending the country can they be connected together. I lead the ministers and others to conquer the bandits in order to ensure that the people of Ming Dynasty can live a better life." In a stable day, my people can live and work in peace and contentment, and achieve peace in the world! But now, in addition to bandits and bandits harming the people, there are also natural disasters."
Having said this, he pointed in the direction of Yangzhou City with his finger, and then said seriously: "Please, wait and see, can my people live and work in peace and contentment? I lead you to make sure that they can live and work in peace and contentment! Who wouldn't let my children live and work in peace and contentment?" If the people live and work in peace and contentment, I will attack anyone! I will attack thieves and bandits; I will also fight against natural disasters! Is there any difference between these?"
After asking, he glanced at the generals of this era. Wherever he looked, these generals lowered their heads and did not dare to look at the emperor.In other words, Chen Yongfu, the commander of Longwei Camp, did not avoid it, but his eyes shone.
Emperor Chongzhen looked at them and said earnestly: "I hope you will remember that everything we have comes from the people. If the people are uneasy, it will definitely harm us. If the people are safe, the country will be strong. My soldiers, They all come from the people. Think about the officers and soldiers in the army, think about your parents, relatives and friends like you. If they suffer a disaster, can they not lend a helping hand just because they are soldiers in the Beijing camp? "
At this point, he said in a more stern tone: "I am now leading you to fight the war in Yangzhou. The enemy is natural disaster. The goal is to treat as many people as possible and solve the problem of housing and food for the people. When encountering those who take advantage of the situation, , Severe punishment will not be spared. I will send Jin Yiwei to patrol, and each army will be credited if they do well; if there is anyone who does not do well, I will not give mercy lightly!"
Hearing this, whether it was Gao Jie and others who came from Cao Mang, or Wu Sangui and others who came from a family of generals, they all understood that this was a war, a special war that the emperor valued very much.
So, they immediately clasped their fists and echoed: "The general will obey the order!"
Seeing that they all understood, Emperor Chongzhen softened his tone a little and said: "Yangzhou Prefecture governs 3 states and 7 counties, and directly governs Jiangdu, Yizhen, and Taixing counties. Each army is assigned to fight against natural disasters on a county-by-county basis. My What I mean is that you will convey it to the lieutenants when you go back, and ask them to treat this disaster relief as if they are providing disaster relief to their own families. If you perform well, you will be rewarded according to military merit!"
"The general obeys the order!" Many generals heard this and responded in unison.
This natural disaster should affect the entire Jiangnan.However, Emperor Chongzhen's power was limited, and he happened to be in Yangzhou Mansion, so he could only save Yangzhou Mansion first.
After receiving the mission, these generals treated it as if they were fighting a war. They went back immediately, gathered their troops, conveyed the emperor's wishes, and then went out to start disaster relief.
There are three counties in Yangzhou Fucheng. The three armies marched in separately. Then they spread out in small flag units, that is, a group of ten people. In the wind and snow, they began to help the people clean up the collapsed houses and treat the buried people. of people.
If there are soldiers who can talk, when they see them approaching and the people are frightened, someone will explain a thing or two first; if they can't talk, they will go directly to work and use actions to explain what they are going to do.
At the beginning, the people of Yangzhou were frightened when they saw the army approaching. But when they saw that these soldiers were helping them, they were a little frightened. For a while, it was difficult to accept that the emperor's army was actually Helping them!
However, no matter what their original mood was, after waiting for a while and seeing the emperor's army so busy in the wind and snow, they naturally felt grateful.
In Yangzhou City, Shi Kefa was already troubled by the salt policy reform.As a result, I was woken up in the middle of the night and found out that it was a rare wind disaster and there was heavy snow at the same time. Suddenly, everyone was numb.
The main officials of Yangzhou Prefecture have all been wiped out by the emperor. The burden of the whole government is on him, and then they encounter such a natural disaster. Looking at the severity, I don't know how many people will die!
For him, it was just adding insult to injury!
What's more important is that the emperor is still in Yangzhou and must be watching him.In particular, this emperor still values people-oriented. If there are too many casualties among the people, I wonder if he can resign and return to his hometown?
At this time, Shi Kefa was faced with one report after another from the government officials, saying, "What's wrong with that?"
The wind and snow were howling outside, and the cold wind was biting. Inside, Shi Kefa was sweating profusely and at a loss.
At this moment, he saw his adopted son Shi Dewei hurriedly entering the room and gave Shi Kefa such a shock that he almost froze to death.
Seeing Shi Dewei in such a hurry that he didn't even close the door, Shi Kefa, who was already furious, shouted, "Why don't you close the door quickly?"
When Shi Dewei heard this, he came back to his senses, quickly closed the door, shut Feng Xue out, and reported to Shi Kefa with a shocked look on his face: "Sir, the Jingying... The Jingying camp has been mobilized, and they are coming to the city. ,them……"
When Shi Kefa heard this, he was immediately frightened and said, "Are you here to arrest me?"
If such a big storm occurs, we don't know how many people will die. Someone must be responsible.And now in Yangzhou Mansion, no one else but him is qualified to take charge!
But who would have expected that when Shi Dewei heard this, he pointed outside and continued to say in a very surprised tone: "No... no, they are all doing disaster relief and rescuing people!"
"What?" When Shi Kefa heard this, he immediately showed an incredulous expression, and immediately confirmed, "You said soldiers from the Beijing Camp came to the city to provide disaster relief?"
It’s really hard to imagine, that’s the Royal Forest Army!It is the most elite army in the imperial court, and it is preparing to fight against the bandits. But now it has put down its swords and guns to save people in such a huge storm disaster in Yangzhou Prefecture?
"Yes, yes!" Stewie nodded repeatedly and replied, "There are soldiers from the Beijing camp everywhere in the city, and there are also outside the city, all of them are providing disaster relief!"
Shi Kefa confirmed the fact. After being stunned for a while, he couldn't help but look up to the sky and sighed: "Your Majesty is truly a benevolent monarch through the ages!"
After saying that, he quickly asked his family to put a thick cloak on him, and immediately left the yamen and went to the street to see the situation.
I saw a patch of red on the street.
The regular army of the Ming Dynasty wore red mandarin duck war jackets, which were very eye-catching.Teams of soldiers were busy everywhere, cleaning collapsed houses, rescuing trapped people, clearing snow, reinforcing houses, etc.
He looked at all this in shock. As he walked, he found that there were soldiers from the Beijing camp all over the city working to provide disaster relief.Finally, he pulled a general flag and asked about the situation.
The commander-in-chief recognized him as the Minister of War in Nanjing and reported to him: "Your Majesty, we are fighting a war here, not to exterminate bandits, but to fight against natural disasters. All states and counties under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture have sent troops there!"
After saying that, he hurriedly went to work again.
The emperor has said that disaster relief will be rewarded based on merit, so we must not fall behind.
Shi Kefa stared blankly at these Beijing soldiers desperately trying to provide disaster relief, and suddenly sighed: "The arrival of your Majesty's army is really a blessing to the people of Yangzhou!"
At this time, he was deeply touched and truly understood what the emperor meant by putting people first!
Later, he also participated in disaster relief.
Those families in Yangzhou who are in good condition and have solid houses were moved after seeing this scene on the street. They opened the doors of their houses one after another so that the homeless people could go in to avoid the wind and snow, and gave them beakers of hot water. The soldiers of the Beijing camp on the street.
Under this natural disaster, and under the influence of the soldiers from the Beijing camp, everyone in Yangzhou City worked together to fight against the natural disaster.Even romantic places opened their doors to let people in the wind and snow come in to avoid the cold and warm themselves without taking any money.
In the afternoon, the wind and snow finally subsided a lot, and the disaster relief work was faster.
Both the living and the dead were moved to the places they should be moved to; the collapsed ruins were also cleaned up, and dangerous houses were reinforced if they could be reinforced, while those that could not be reinforced were dismantled and rebuilt.
Although it was freezing cold, the entire Yangzhou Prefecture was in full swing.
The participation of the army, especially the elite army, which has military discipline, knows how to cooperate, and is young and strong, greatly improves the efficiency of disaster relief.In the next ten days, the typhoon passed, but heavy snow fell from time to time. The snow on the ground could reach a person's thighs.
However, in Yangzhou Fucheng, there was not much snow on the streets, not because it did not fall into the city, but because it was cleared out of the city by the soldiers of the Beijing camp.
The entire Yangzhou Prefecture, including Fucheng, had disaster reports reported to Emperor Chongzhen.
In the entire Yangzhou Prefecture, about 1 people froze to death or froze to death after being smashed. Nearly one-third of the houses in various towns collapsed to varying degrees.
It must be said that this winter's typhoon brought heavy snow to the world, causing great harm to the people of Ming Dynasty.
However, the parents of the various states led the squires and elders to kneel down in front of the military camp and thank the emperor for sending the soldiers from the Beijing camp to provide disaster relief.It is not an exaggeration to say that if it were not for the relief efforts of the soldiers from the Beijing camp, the casualties in this disaster would have been ten times higher.
Ordinary people have limited clothing to keep out the cold. Once their sheltered houses are blown away, those who are waiting for them, at least those who are not strong and healthy, will probably freeze to death!
It was also because of the disaster relief provided by the soldiers of the Beijing camp that everyone helped each other in the face of the disaster, regardless of high or low, just to work hard to survive this disaster.
In fact, in addition to this, Emperor Chongzhen also deserves credit for ordering food control early in the morning. At least there is no need to worry about food problems after the disaster.
Otherwise, after the disaster, prices will definitely skyrocket, and profiteers will take advantage of the opportunity to seek the greatest benefits. Who knows how many people will die as a result!
Although ordinary people don't know how to calculate these accounts, they can distinguish the good from the bad.
The middle-level people in Yangzhou Prefecture, that is, ordinary officials, gentry, businessmen, etc., were originally afraid of the emperor's butcher knife, but disappeared with this disaster relief, and were replaced by tears of gratitude.
Based on the summary of the disaster relief situation, Emperor Chongzhen immediately issued a decree requiring all states and counties in southern Zhili to form a Minzhuang. All males between fifteen and forty, except those with meritorious status, must participate. Money and food can be used instead. , The recruited people must be properly trained. They can defend the city when there are thieves, and can be used for disaster relief when there are thieves.In his plan, this is regarded as the reserve model of the future universal compulsory military service.
At this time, the time has reached the end of the twelfth lunar month in the 17th year of Chongzhen, and the New Year will soon be coming.
Emperor Chongzhen stayed in Yangzhou City for almost a month.
There is a strange phenomenon. Across the river is Yingtian Mansion.Under normal circumstances, the officials of various yamen in Yingtian Mansion, as well as the royal family and nobles, must have rushed over to meet the emperor. If they hang out in front of the emperor, they might get the chance to be reused.
However, Emperor Chongzhen had been here for almost a month, and no one from the Nanjing city officials came to see him!It seems that he is really doing his duty and is busy protecting Ying Tianfu.
Fang Zhenghua, who served the emperor personally, was very dissatisfied with this, but he did not dare to say it in the emperor's ears. He just remembered it in his heart and said to the emperor: "Long live the New Year, it seems that the New Year is about to come. Why don't you just show off to Yingtian Mansion?"
There is a palace in Yingtian Mansion. When the emperor goes there, the conditions will be much better, at least much better than staying in the Chinese military tent in the wild.
Emperor Chongzhen's original plan was to cross the Yangtze River and go north along the Yangtze River to find and fight the bandits.But one of the reasons for planning that way was the fear of typhoons.
Now that the typhoon has passed, there are very few typhoons in winter and spring. There has been one because there is no chance of another one.The typhoon described in history books was the one that just passed.Considering the safety from natural disasters, it should be no problem.
Emperor Chongzhen also considered that the soldiers of the Beijing camp fought in the Yangzhou War. Although they were not fighting bandits, they were still very tiring fighting against natural disasters.You need to rest before going to the battlefield.
Therefore, he agreed.
Subsequently, military orders were passed down, ordering all armies to pack up and set a date for departure, which was the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month. Admiral Cao Jiang would lead a fleet to pick him up.
As soon as the people of Yangzhou Prefecture heard that the emperor was going to lead the army and left, the news spread from ten to ten, and soon spread throughout Yangzhou Prefecture.
The prefectures and counties under Yangzhou Prefecture, which were far away from the capital city, all set off early to see him off.
They were afraid that they would be late, so they even traveled through the night.
On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, people were already standing outside the military camp outside Yangzhou City.
The news was naturally reported to Emperor Chongzhen of the Chinese Army, and he just smiled slightly.It seems that the people of Yangzhou Prefecture now understand what kind of emperor he is!
Afterwards, he didn't care. If the people wanted to give it, just give it away. At least it would give the soldiers in the Beijing camp a feeling that their efforts would be rewarded!
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was concerned about another matter and asked Fang Zhenghua: "Has Admiral Cao Jiang not arrived yet?"
The current Admiral Caojiang is Chengyi Bo Liu Kongzhao, a descendant of Liu Bowen, who was famous during the founding of the People's Republic of China.
When Fang Zhenghua heard the emperor's question, he quickly replied: "I will arrive at noon when I return to Long Live Lord. There is no news yet. I'm afraid I might be delayed on the way."
At this point, he also complained: "This is the same for Uncle Cheng, can't we set off in advance?"
In fact, this is regarded as a military order. If it is not delayed, it is not an exaggeration to judge the crime and be executed.It depends on what the emperor thinks!
Emperor Chongzhen was obviously unhappy. It would be fine if he didn't lead troops, but after leading troops for a long time, he took this kind of thing seriously.
At this time, he didn't speak, and even Fang Zhenghua felt the pressure.
At this moment, a member of the Jinyi Guards entered the Chinese military tent and reported, "Your Majesty, Nanjing Navy Vice Admiral Lu Rongchun is here to see you."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen and Fang Zhenghua were both a little surprised: Why is it that a deputy general is here instead of Uncle Chengyi himself?
After the order was conveyed to the audience, a short general stepped inside, knelt down on one knee and said: "The last general, Lu Rongchun, the deputy general of the Nanjing Navy, has been ordered to lead the ship to the audience. Long live my emperor, long live, long live the emperor." !”
Emperor Chongzhen frowned slightly and immediately asked him to lie down, and then asked: "Where is Liu Kongzhao?"
The emperor addressed his ministers by their first names, which seemed to express his dissatisfaction with the ministers.
When Lu Rongchun heard this, he quickly replied: "Back to your majesty, in the previous hurricane, many naval warships were blown away, and the remaining ships were also seriously damaged. Uncle Chengyi, who was repairing the warship, accidentally fell into the water, contracted the wind cold, and was bedridden. Get up, I will plead guilty to him and take His Majesty across the river!"
When Emperor Chongzhen heard that Liu Kongzhao actually fell into the water in this cold winter month, his previous dissatisfaction was much lessened, and he quickly asked with concern: "How is Uncle Chengyi's condition?"
After hearing this, Lu Rongchun immediately responded: "I heard from the doctor that I need to recuperate. I can't get out of bed until I recover. Otherwise, if I catch the cold again, I'm afraid something unexpected will happen!"
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said, "In that case, let Uncle Chengyi rest in peace and recuperate."
Then, he ordered Fang Zhenghua: "Send the order, the army will set off, get on the ship and set off!"
Fang Zhenghua listened, but before he could answer, he heard Lu Rongchun preemptively say: "Your Majesty, due to the storm, many naval vessels were damaged. After repairs, there is only one No. 3000 Fortune Ship, and the rest are small boats. , it can only transport about [-] people at a time."
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he immediately frowned.
The previous typhoons were indeed very powerful and mixed with heavy snow. It was normal for naval ships to be blown away.
There's nothing we can do about the lack of boats, just three thousand at a time.
With this in mind, he sent a message to the river and arranged the order of the various ministries to board the boats and cross the river.Later, accompanied by the generals, he left the Chinese military tent and went to the canal to see the situation.
The canal in Yangzhou Fucheng leads directly to the Yangtze River, so the army does not need to move forward to the Yangtze River and can take boats directly on the canal.
As soon as we left the camp, we saw a huge crowd of people, all waiting quietly by the canal, no longer hiding away because of the army.Even after seeing the emperor appear, the crowd started to commotion and knelt down one after another.
They didn't shout anything, they just knelt there, no matter men, women, old or young, no matter how high or low they were.
This silent scene made Navy Vice Admiral Lu Rongchun stunned.
Shi Kefa, who had been waiting outside, led a few people to the emperor's side.
The few behind him should be his sergeants. The one at the head, Emperor Chongzhen recognized, was his adopted son Shi Dewei.
Several sergeants were carrying something long, but it was covered with cloth, and they didn't know what it was.
Seeing that Shi Kefa was still a little far away from Emperor Chongzhen, he lifted his official robe, knelt down and kowtowed: "I have seen my emperor, long live, long live, long live!"
When Emperor Chongzhen saw it, he smiled slightly and said, "Shi Qing, please be flat!"
Although Shi Kefa covered the things behind with a cloth, he naturally knew because he had the Jinyi guards checking the surroundings.
Sure enough, after listening to his words, Shi Kefa raised his head and straightened his waist, but did not stand up. He still knelt there and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty has shown great kindness to Yangzhou Prefecture, and the people of Yangzhou have no way to repay it. Then they all cut off a corner of their clothes and made a giant piece of cloth to express their feelings!"
After he finished speaking, the sergeants behind him put down what they were carrying. They worked together to tear off the covering cloth, and then unfolded the rolled up cloth.
Emperor Chongzhen took a quick look and saw that this piece of cloth was made up of countless square and small pieces of cloth.Almost every piece of fabric is different, available in various colors and materials.Lingluo silk and satin, Jingchai cloth skirt, coarse linen clothes, etc., there is nothing you can’t imagine but you can’t see it!
Each piece of cloth represents a Yangzhou citizen.Densely packed, I don’t know how many there are?
Emperor Chongzhen knew that this was because he had set the time for the departure, and many people had no time to participate. Otherwise, this piece of cloth would have been dozens of times bigger.But even so, he also learned from Jin Yiwei that the people of Yangzhou, regardless of whether they could finally put the fabric together on this giant piece of cloth, had cut off a corner of the hem of their clothes.
No, Shi Kefa was kneeling on the ground, and the clothes under his official robe were also exposed, and there was also a corner missing.
As for Shi Dewei and the sergeants, when the river wind blows, anyone who cares can see that a corner of their clothes is missing.
Shi Kefa kowtowed to the ground again and said at the same time: "Although it is simple, this is the heart of the people of Yangzhou!"
The people of Yangzhou, who had been kneeling there and watching what was happening here, knew what was going on when they saw this scene, and they all kowtowed, silently, but almost at the same time.
This scene was very shocking.
At least the generals in the Beijing camp who surrounded Emperor Chongzhen had solemn expressions, and they could truly feel what public opinion was!
When Emperor Chongzhen saw it, even though he knew in advance that the people of Yangzhou would do this, he was still a little excited at this moment.Although for the sake of reviving the Ming Dynasty, or for the throne under his butt, and some conscience from later generations, what he has been doing is to make the people live better and think more about the people.
In his opinion, he should pay for these things.
When he left Taiyuan after the disaster relief and returned to Beijing in triumph, he was welcomed by the people, but the shock and touch in his heart were far less than at this time.
Emperor Chongzhen didn't know why. It couldn't be because he was receiving gifts this time, right?
Looking at all this, he stepped forward and arrived in front of Shi Kefa, who represented the public opinion of the Yangzhou people. He personally helped him up and said as calmly as possible: "The courtesy is light but the affection is heavy. I am very happy. I accept this gift." Down!"
After finishing speaking, he walked behind Shi Kefa, came to the unfolded giant cloth, stretched out his hand to touch it, then looked up at the people of Yangzhou behind, hesitated for a moment, and said loudly: "I accept it!"
When Fang Zhenghua heard this, he quickly directed a group of imperial guards to come forward and take the giant piece of cloth. At the same time, he carefully ordered: "Put it away carefully!"
When Emperor Chongzhen saw that the people in Yangzhou were all looking up, he stretched out his hands to help them stand up.
When the people of Yangzhou saw that the emperor accepted his wishes, they stopped kneeling and stood up one by one.He didn't speak, just looked at the emperor.
The river wind blew through their clothes, and one could indeed see that every corner of their clothes had been cut off.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen never expected that in order to commemorate his events in Yangzhou, all the clothes of the people of Yangzhou Prefecture would be missing a corner, which eventually became Yangzhou's unique clothing style and has been passed down to later generations.
Without a loudspeaker, Emperor Chongzhen could not speak to the people. He could only tell Shi Kefa: "I have accepted the wishes of the people of Yangzhou. It is cold and freezing today, and the people will easily catch cold if they stay in the wilderness. Let them all go back. !”
After hearing this, Shi Kefa said with a bit of embarrassment: "Your Majesty, they were not called by the humble ministers, but spontaneously gathered because of His Majesty's kindness. The humble ministers may not be able to let them leave, so they are all here to see off Your Majesty."
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen turned his head and looked at the canal. He did hear a big ship, and the other ships were small. He said to Shi Kefa: "The ships of the Nanjing Navy were also hit by the storm, and now there are only so many ships. , only about [-] people can be ferried at one time. If the people of Yangzhou wait here, they won’t be able to finish the ferries even after dark."
Hearing this, Shi Kefa hadn't spoken yet, but Shi Dewei suddenly said: "Your Majesty, the general will go and talk about it. We should be able to get some more ships out."
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he understood what he meant.
In the past, he didn't hire many cars and ships from Yangzhou because the people in Yangzhou didn't want to get close to him.But now, things are different.
Emperor Chongzhen thought it was best for the army to cross the river as soon as possible, so he nodded and let him go.
On the Yangzhou people's side, after hearing Shi Dewei go over and shout, many people immediately started to move.Then, from nowhere, ships sailed out one after another, large and small, not to mention merchant ships, painted boats, etc., the number was so large that it even exceeded Emperor Chongzhen's expectations.
After thinking about it for a while, he actually figured it out.
Yangzhou is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River in the canal, so shipping is naturally developed.In the past, the people hid the ships because they did not want to be hired by the emperor who was going on a killing spree.
Perhaps because of this, most of the ships in Yangzhou just escaped the storm.Therefore, after knowing that the emperor wanted to use ships this time, the number of ships exceeded the emperor's expectations.
After a while, Shi Dewei came to see Emperor Chongzhen, sweating profusely, and reported to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the people of Yangzhou have said that if Your Majesty wants to use a boat, they will voluntarily carry the soldiers from the Beijing camp across the river for free. No. If you give us money, they won’t carry you!”
Shi Kefa on the side heard this and quickly explained to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this is their intention!"
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen did not insist. After all, he was the emperor and had many ways to repay the people's kindness.
So, the army set off, boarded the ships in an orderly manner, and the mighty fleet sailed to Zhenjiang Prefecture on the other side of the Yangtze River.
Emperor Chongzhen was naturally seated on a warship of the Nanjing Navy, which was the largest No. [-] Fortune Ship.
He was one of the first, in the middle of the fleet.
The Yangtze River was a natural hazard in ancient times. The river surface was extremely wide. Even if there were no typhoons, the waves in the center of the river would be quite large.
However, for large ships, ordinary Yangtze River waves will not feel special.
In his previous life, Emperor Chongzhen also crossed the Yangtze River, but by train.When I got on the boat, I also admired the surging river water of this era on the deck.
But who knows, just when the warship arrived at the center of the river, an accident happened.
(End of this chapter)
In winter and spring, there is a typhoon?If the record is correct, it may have happened during this time.
In fact, Emperor Chongzhen did not know that there was also the possibility of typhoons in winter and spring, but the probability was just lower.For example, on February 2004, 2, tropical storm "Fengxian" appeared in the coastal areas of Jiangsu Province.
However, Emperor Chongzhen knew one thing: the ships at this time had very poor resistance to typhoons.
Let’s not talk about the distance, let’s talk about the Chongzhen period. When Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming fled Shandong by boat and were going to join the Jianlu, Shang Kexi was ordered to intercept them at Lushun. As a result, they encountered a storm and all the intercepted ships were destroyed by the storm. .
Let’s talk about another case that happened in the Yangtze River. In 1658, Zheng Chenggong and the Northern Expeditionary Army led by Zhang Huangyan, the Minister of War of the Southern Ming Dynasty, entered the Yangtze River, but encountered a hurricane when they reached Yangshan. One-third of the more than 1000 warships were destroyed, and more than 8000 soldiers drowned. Zheng Chenggong's three sons were also killed in this incident.Due to heavy losses, Zheng Chenggong had to withdraw his troops and go south.
Thinking of these cases, Emperor Chongzhen hesitated for a moment, and finally said to Fang Zhenghua: "The army has been supplied with food and grass in Yangzhou, so don't rush to Yingtian Mansion. Turn around and raise the flag, march west along the north bank of the Yangtze River, attract If the thief army comes to attack, they can also defeat the thief army's plan to besiege Yingtian Mansion."
Fang Zhenghua felt a little hesitant after hearing this.
If the emperor leads the army into Yingtian Mansion, even if it is only an army of [-], relying on the tall city walls of Nanjing, it can consume several times the enemy's energy, and then counterattack, the chance of victory will be greater.
But now the [-] troops are not going to Nanjing, but are just heading north along the Yangtze River to fight against the rebels. This pressure is definitely very high.
However, he had always been by the emperor's side, and of course he knew what the emperor was thinking. Therefore, after hesitating for a moment, he finally said nothing.
After the Beijing camp was in Yangzhou Fucheng for another day, it handed over the city defense to Shi Dewei's local army, withdrew from Yangzhou City, and prepared to march westward.
As the soldiers from the Beijing camp left the city, the people of Yangzhou City began to go out for activities.They were still afraid of the emperor's army stationed outside the city, and did not dare to approach, let alone contact.For some purchasing needs of the military, many shops often close early when seeing the military in the past and dare not do business.
This surprised Emperor Chongzhen who received the news. Logically speaking, he had eradicated powerful men in Yangzhou City, reformed the salt policy, greatly reduced the price of salt, and implemented food control. These were all measures that were beneficial to the people. They should It’s only right to be grateful, why are you still afraid of Beijing Camp?
So, he asked Fang Zhenghua to arrange for someone to inquire about the situation.By the afternoon, Fang Zhenghua had news and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Long live my lord, many people in Yangzhou Prefecture used to make money from the big salt merchants. Now the big salt merchants have been killed and brought to justice. Among their shops, Classes have also been banned, and those clerks are afraid of the imperial court. Under their influence, most of the people in Yangzhou Prefecture do not know what is good and what is good. They are also afraid of the imperial court and the Beijing camp!"
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen thought about it and let it go. Anyway, time will tell people's hearts.Although I am the biggest beneficiary of these measures in Yangzhou, the common people also benefit a lot!
Thinking like this, he didn't care anymore and started thinking about the transportation of grain and grass.
Previously, we had to go south from the capital along the canal. The advantage was that food and supplies could be transported by ship, which was very convenient.
However, if we want to move westward now, the transportation of grain and grass supplies will be a problem.
If you travel by land, you will need to recruit many large vehicles to transport supplies. If there is no special supply camp, you may have to recruit a large number of civilians to transport supplies and food.
Of course, there is another option, which is to travel up the Yangtze River by boat.But in this way, the army will not be able to leave too far from the bank of the Yangtze River.
In a compromise, Emperor Chongzhen decided to transport part of the goods by land and part by ship.
Therefore, instead of forcibly recruiting vehicles and ships, he sent an order to Shi Kefa to obtain vehicles and ships through employment.
As a result, the problem came. Not many people in Yangzhou Prefecture were willing to be hired by the Beijing camp.
Fang Zhenghua was annoyed by this and suggested to Emperor Chongzhen: "Long live the Lord's mercy, so there is no need to conscript vehicles and ships for apportionment. As a result, the unscrupulous people here are ignorant, so let's just issue an order to conscript apportionment!"
Of course Emperor Chongzhen was unhappy, but he created a persona who was invincible militarily and put the people first in civil affairs, and he persisted in doing so.Even when he went south this time, he laid the groundwork many times for the sake of the Kong family in Qufu and the big salt merchant in Yangzhou, emphasizing the people-oriented approach.
If you change to the old-fashioned method because you are unhappy at this time, although others can't say anything, after all, the court has this power, and it has been done so in all dynasties, but this is also inconsistent with Emperor Chongzhen's own ideals. .
In troubled times, people's hearts are important, and he knows more than people of this era!
Therefore, in the end, Emperor Chongzhen decided to keep his character intact, shook his head, rejected Fang Zhenghua's proposal, and said: "Then I will send an order to Admiral Cao Jiang to allocate some transport ships."
When Fang Zhenghua saw that the emperor had made his decision, he had no choice but to reply: "I obey the order!"
The so-called unpredictable situation is not just a casual saying.
That night, there was a sudden strong wind, mixed with heavy snow, covering the south of the Yangtze River.
The sound of the wind "wuwuwu" is like the howl of doomsday.
Fortunately, the Beijing Camp was the most elite army. Even when they set up camp, they strictly followed the procedures. The tents were all firmly set up, and only a few tents were blown over. The soldiers were quickly divided into other tents to spend the night.
However, Yangzhou Prefecture suffered under the typhoon.
No one thought that in this winter, a typhoon would come with heavy snow.
In other words, even if they know that given the conditions of this era and their family circumstances, most people are unable to fight against natural disasters on their own.
Therefore, when daybreak came, the heavy snow was still falling, and although the wind was a little lighter, the people of Yangzhou Prefecture were all wailing.
Emperor Chongzhen went out of the Chinese military tent at dawn to check on the situation.
Really, wherever you look, some of the big trees that were there have fallen to the ground and are covered with snow, with only some branches exposed.
Most of the shantytowns outside Yangzhou City have been damaged to varying degrees.Some sheds were blown away by the wind, and some roofs were collapsed by the weight of snow.
There were some people, men, women, old and young, digging around in their collapsed homes, calling for their families, or crying while holding their dead family members.Under the wind and snow, many people turned into snowmen.
The city of Yangzhou is not much better. Most of the people's houses have thatched roofs and yellow mud walls. Not to mention this kind of thing, even those with tile houses have been damaged by wind and snow.
Even outside the city, the same cries and shouts could be heard inside the city.
In the military camp, the generals of each army rushed to the central military tent after dawn to report the situation of each camp.
Except for a few soldiers who were injured by objects blown by the strong wind, there was basically no much damage.
The emperor was watching the situation inside and outside Yangzhou Fucheng, and they followed him to watch.
After a while, Fang Zhenghua reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Long live my lord, Yangzhou Prefecture has suffered such a severe disaster. It is impossible to hire any more cars and boats."
The generals in the army naturally know the general situation.
After Gao Jie heard this, he gloated and said: "If they don't recognize good people's hearts, if they are hired, they can reduce their losses, but now they deserve to be punished by God!"
The other generals didn't say anything after hearing this, but judging from their faces, they probably agreed with Gao Jie's words.
If there were another emperor, there wouldn't even be an emperor, just generals like them. If the army wants to fight bandits and needs some vehicles and ships, they can just recruit them directly. This has been done since ancient times.But they didn't want the emperor to be kind and just hire them and give them money, but these people in Yangzhou Prefecture were still unwilling. Now they have suffered from the wind and snow, and they really deserve it!
But who would have thought that Emperor Chongzhen only said seriously after hearing this: "Don't gloat about misfortune, prepare for disaster relief!"
Upon hearing this, all the generals were a little confused and immediately turned to look at Emperor Chongzhen.
Wu Sangui also reminded Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, we are the capital camp!"
The implication is that the Beijing Camp is the imperial army, your emperor's personal army, and it is his duty to accompany him on expeditions, but what is disaster relief in a place like this?
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen turned around and looked around at his generals, knowing what he was doing.
In ancient times, there were hierarchies. It could even be said that there were strict hierarchies. There were not many people who could really think about things from the perspective of ordinary people.Why do you ask for life for the people? Although there is such a saying, these people are not necessarily ordinary people.
Throughout Chinese history, there are definitely not many people who have the enlightenment of later generations.
Hai Rui is one of those who is not afraid of high-ranking officials and dignitaries. He dares to make decisions for ordinary people even when they have grievances!
Yue Fei is one of them. The slogan of the Yue Family Army is, "Don't demolish the house to death if you freeze, don't plunder to death of starvation." This is something that few armies can achieve.
Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at the generals in front of him seriously and said, "What's wrong with the Jingying camp? The Jingying camp is also the army of the Ming Dynasty, it's my army! What does the army do? Protect the family and the country, do you know?"
Hearing his harsh tone, all the generals did not dare to speak.
So, I heard the words of Emperor Chongzhen, speaking loudly in the wind and snow: "The country is composed of countless families, and only by protecting the families and defending the country can they be connected together. I lead the ministers and others to conquer the bandits in order to ensure that the people of Ming Dynasty can live a better life." In a stable day, my people can live and work in peace and contentment, and achieve peace in the world! But now, in addition to bandits and bandits harming the people, there are also natural disasters."
Having said this, he pointed in the direction of Yangzhou City with his finger, and then said seriously: "Please, wait and see, can my people live and work in peace and contentment? I lead you to make sure that they can live and work in peace and contentment! Who wouldn't let my children live and work in peace and contentment?" If the people live and work in peace and contentment, I will attack anyone! I will attack thieves and bandits; I will also fight against natural disasters! Is there any difference between these?"
After asking, he glanced at the generals of this era. Wherever he looked, these generals lowered their heads and did not dare to look at the emperor.In other words, Chen Yongfu, the commander of Longwei Camp, did not avoid it, but his eyes shone.
Emperor Chongzhen looked at them and said earnestly: "I hope you will remember that everything we have comes from the people. If the people are uneasy, it will definitely harm us. If the people are safe, the country will be strong. My soldiers, They all come from the people. Think about the officers and soldiers in the army, think about your parents, relatives and friends like you. If they suffer a disaster, can they not lend a helping hand just because they are soldiers in the Beijing camp? "
At this point, he said in a more stern tone: "I am now leading you to fight the war in Yangzhou. The enemy is natural disaster. The goal is to treat as many people as possible and solve the problem of housing and food for the people. When encountering those who take advantage of the situation, , Severe punishment will not be spared. I will send Jin Yiwei to patrol, and each army will be credited if they do well; if there is anyone who does not do well, I will not give mercy lightly!"
Hearing this, whether it was Gao Jie and others who came from Cao Mang, or Wu Sangui and others who came from a family of generals, they all understood that this was a war, a special war that the emperor valued very much.
So, they immediately clasped their fists and echoed: "The general will obey the order!"
Seeing that they all understood, Emperor Chongzhen softened his tone a little and said: "Yangzhou Prefecture governs 3 states and 7 counties, and directly governs Jiangdu, Yizhen, and Taixing counties. Each army is assigned to fight against natural disasters on a county-by-county basis. My What I mean is that you will convey it to the lieutenants when you go back, and ask them to treat this disaster relief as if they are providing disaster relief to their own families. If you perform well, you will be rewarded according to military merit!"
"The general obeys the order!" Many generals heard this and responded in unison.
This natural disaster should affect the entire Jiangnan.However, Emperor Chongzhen's power was limited, and he happened to be in Yangzhou Mansion, so he could only save Yangzhou Mansion first.
After receiving the mission, these generals treated it as if they were fighting a war. They went back immediately, gathered their troops, conveyed the emperor's wishes, and then went out to start disaster relief.
There are three counties in Yangzhou Fucheng. The three armies marched in separately. Then they spread out in small flag units, that is, a group of ten people. In the wind and snow, they began to help the people clean up the collapsed houses and treat the buried people. of people.
If there are soldiers who can talk, when they see them approaching and the people are frightened, someone will explain a thing or two first; if they can't talk, they will go directly to work and use actions to explain what they are going to do.
At the beginning, the people of Yangzhou were frightened when they saw the army approaching. But when they saw that these soldiers were helping them, they were a little frightened. For a while, it was difficult to accept that the emperor's army was actually Helping them!
However, no matter what their original mood was, after waiting for a while and seeing the emperor's army so busy in the wind and snow, they naturally felt grateful.
In Yangzhou City, Shi Kefa was already troubled by the salt policy reform.As a result, I was woken up in the middle of the night and found out that it was a rare wind disaster and there was heavy snow at the same time. Suddenly, everyone was numb.
The main officials of Yangzhou Prefecture have all been wiped out by the emperor. The burden of the whole government is on him, and then they encounter such a natural disaster. Looking at the severity, I don't know how many people will die!
For him, it was just adding insult to injury!
What's more important is that the emperor is still in Yangzhou and must be watching him.In particular, this emperor still values people-oriented. If there are too many casualties among the people, I wonder if he can resign and return to his hometown?
At this time, Shi Kefa was faced with one report after another from the government officials, saying, "What's wrong with that?"
The wind and snow were howling outside, and the cold wind was biting. Inside, Shi Kefa was sweating profusely and at a loss.
At this moment, he saw his adopted son Shi Dewei hurriedly entering the room and gave Shi Kefa such a shock that he almost froze to death.
Seeing Shi Dewei in such a hurry that he didn't even close the door, Shi Kefa, who was already furious, shouted, "Why don't you close the door quickly?"
When Shi Dewei heard this, he came back to his senses, quickly closed the door, shut Feng Xue out, and reported to Shi Kefa with a shocked look on his face: "Sir, the Jingying... The Jingying camp has been mobilized, and they are coming to the city. ,them……"
When Shi Kefa heard this, he was immediately frightened and said, "Are you here to arrest me?"
If such a big storm occurs, we don't know how many people will die. Someone must be responsible.And now in Yangzhou Mansion, no one else but him is qualified to take charge!
But who would have expected that when Shi Dewei heard this, he pointed outside and continued to say in a very surprised tone: "No... no, they are all doing disaster relief and rescuing people!"
"What?" When Shi Kefa heard this, he immediately showed an incredulous expression, and immediately confirmed, "You said soldiers from the Beijing Camp came to the city to provide disaster relief?"
It’s really hard to imagine, that’s the Royal Forest Army!It is the most elite army in the imperial court, and it is preparing to fight against the bandits. But now it has put down its swords and guns to save people in such a huge storm disaster in Yangzhou Prefecture?
"Yes, yes!" Stewie nodded repeatedly and replied, "There are soldiers from the Beijing camp everywhere in the city, and there are also outside the city, all of them are providing disaster relief!"
Shi Kefa confirmed the fact. After being stunned for a while, he couldn't help but look up to the sky and sighed: "Your Majesty is truly a benevolent monarch through the ages!"
After saying that, he quickly asked his family to put a thick cloak on him, and immediately left the yamen and went to the street to see the situation.
I saw a patch of red on the street.
The regular army of the Ming Dynasty wore red mandarin duck war jackets, which were very eye-catching.Teams of soldiers were busy everywhere, cleaning collapsed houses, rescuing trapped people, clearing snow, reinforcing houses, etc.
He looked at all this in shock. As he walked, he found that there were soldiers from the Beijing camp all over the city working to provide disaster relief.Finally, he pulled a general flag and asked about the situation.
The commander-in-chief recognized him as the Minister of War in Nanjing and reported to him: "Your Majesty, we are fighting a war here, not to exterminate bandits, but to fight against natural disasters. All states and counties under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture have sent troops there!"
After saying that, he hurriedly went to work again.
The emperor has said that disaster relief will be rewarded based on merit, so we must not fall behind.
Shi Kefa stared blankly at these Beijing soldiers desperately trying to provide disaster relief, and suddenly sighed: "The arrival of your Majesty's army is really a blessing to the people of Yangzhou!"
At this time, he was deeply touched and truly understood what the emperor meant by putting people first!
Later, he also participated in disaster relief.
Those families in Yangzhou who are in good condition and have solid houses were moved after seeing this scene on the street. They opened the doors of their houses one after another so that the homeless people could go in to avoid the wind and snow, and gave them beakers of hot water. The soldiers of the Beijing camp on the street.
Under this natural disaster, and under the influence of the soldiers from the Beijing camp, everyone in Yangzhou City worked together to fight against the natural disaster.Even romantic places opened their doors to let people in the wind and snow come in to avoid the cold and warm themselves without taking any money.
In the afternoon, the wind and snow finally subsided a lot, and the disaster relief work was faster.
Both the living and the dead were moved to the places they should be moved to; the collapsed ruins were also cleaned up, and dangerous houses were reinforced if they could be reinforced, while those that could not be reinforced were dismantled and rebuilt.
Although it was freezing cold, the entire Yangzhou Prefecture was in full swing.
The participation of the army, especially the elite army, which has military discipline, knows how to cooperate, and is young and strong, greatly improves the efficiency of disaster relief.In the next ten days, the typhoon passed, but heavy snow fell from time to time. The snow on the ground could reach a person's thighs.
However, in Yangzhou Fucheng, there was not much snow on the streets, not because it did not fall into the city, but because it was cleared out of the city by the soldiers of the Beijing camp.
The entire Yangzhou Prefecture, including Fucheng, had disaster reports reported to Emperor Chongzhen.
In the entire Yangzhou Prefecture, about 1 people froze to death or froze to death after being smashed. Nearly one-third of the houses in various towns collapsed to varying degrees.
It must be said that this winter's typhoon brought heavy snow to the world, causing great harm to the people of Ming Dynasty.
However, the parents of the various states led the squires and elders to kneel down in front of the military camp and thank the emperor for sending the soldiers from the Beijing camp to provide disaster relief.It is not an exaggeration to say that if it were not for the relief efforts of the soldiers from the Beijing camp, the casualties in this disaster would have been ten times higher.
Ordinary people have limited clothing to keep out the cold. Once their sheltered houses are blown away, those who are waiting for them, at least those who are not strong and healthy, will probably freeze to death!
It was also because of the disaster relief provided by the soldiers of the Beijing camp that everyone helped each other in the face of the disaster, regardless of high or low, just to work hard to survive this disaster.
In fact, in addition to this, Emperor Chongzhen also deserves credit for ordering food control early in the morning. At least there is no need to worry about food problems after the disaster.
Otherwise, after the disaster, prices will definitely skyrocket, and profiteers will take advantage of the opportunity to seek the greatest benefits. Who knows how many people will die as a result!
Although ordinary people don't know how to calculate these accounts, they can distinguish the good from the bad.
The middle-level people in Yangzhou Prefecture, that is, ordinary officials, gentry, businessmen, etc., were originally afraid of the emperor's butcher knife, but disappeared with this disaster relief, and were replaced by tears of gratitude.
Based on the summary of the disaster relief situation, Emperor Chongzhen immediately issued a decree requiring all states and counties in southern Zhili to form a Minzhuang. All males between fifteen and forty, except those with meritorious status, must participate. Money and food can be used instead. , The recruited people must be properly trained. They can defend the city when there are thieves, and can be used for disaster relief when there are thieves.In his plan, this is regarded as the reserve model of the future universal compulsory military service.
At this time, the time has reached the end of the twelfth lunar month in the 17th year of Chongzhen, and the New Year will soon be coming.
Emperor Chongzhen stayed in Yangzhou City for almost a month.
There is a strange phenomenon. Across the river is Yingtian Mansion.Under normal circumstances, the officials of various yamen in Yingtian Mansion, as well as the royal family and nobles, must have rushed over to meet the emperor. If they hang out in front of the emperor, they might get the chance to be reused.
However, Emperor Chongzhen had been here for almost a month, and no one from the Nanjing city officials came to see him!It seems that he is really doing his duty and is busy protecting Ying Tianfu.
Fang Zhenghua, who served the emperor personally, was very dissatisfied with this, but he did not dare to say it in the emperor's ears. He just remembered it in his heart and said to the emperor: "Long live the New Year, it seems that the New Year is about to come. Why don't you just show off to Yingtian Mansion?"
There is a palace in Yingtian Mansion. When the emperor goes there, the conditions will be much better, at least much better than staying in the Chinese military tent in the wild.
Emperor Chongzhen's original plan was to cross the Yangtze River and go north along the Yangtze River to find and fight the bandits.But one of the reasons for planning that way was the fear of typhoons.
Now that the typhoon has passed, there are very few typhoons in winter and spring. There has been one because there is no chance of another one.The typhoon described in history books was the one that just passed.Considering the safety from natural disasters, it should be no problem.
Emperor Chongzhen also considered that the soldiers of the Beijing camp fought in the Yangzhou War. Although they were not fighting bandits, they were still very tiring fighting against natural disasters.You need to rest before going to the battlefield.
Therefore, he agreed.
Subsequently, military orders were passed down, ordering all armies to pack up and set a date for departure, which was the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month. Admiral Cao Jiang would lead a fleet to pick him up.
As soon as the people of Yangzhou Prefecture heard that the emperor was going to lead the army and left, the news spread from ten to ten, and soon spread throughout Yangzhou Prefecture.
The prefectures and counties under Yangzhou Prefecture, which were far away from the capital city, all set off early to see him off.
They were afraid that they would be late, so they even traveled through the night.
On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, people were already standing outside the military camp outside Yangzhou City.
The news was naturally reported to Emperor Chongzhen of the Chinese Army, and he just smiled slightly.It seems that the people of Yangzhou Prefecture now understand what kind of emperor he is!
Afterwards, he didn't care. If the people wanted to give it, just give it away. At least it would give the soldiers in the Beijing camp a feeling that their efforts would be rewarded!
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was concerned about another matter and asked Fang Zhenghua: "Has Admiral Cao Jiang not arrived yet?"
The current Admiral Caojiang is Chengyi Bo Liu Kongzhao, a descendant of Liu Bowen, who was famous during the founding of the People's Republic of China.
When Fang Zhenghua heard the emperor's question, he quickly replied: "I will arrive at noon when I return to Long Live Lord. There is no news yet. I'm afraid I might be delayed on the way."
At this point, he also complained: "This is the same for Uncle Cheng, can't we set off in advance?"
In fact, this is regarded as a military order. If it is not delayed, it is not an exaggeration to judge the crime and be executed.It depends on what the emperor thinks!
Emperor Chongzhen was obviously unhappy. It would be fine if he didn't lead troops, but after leading troops for a long time, he took this kind of thing seriously.
At this time, he didn't speak, and even Fang Zhenghua felt the pressure.
At this moment, a member of the Jinyi Guards entered the Chinese military tent and reported, "Your Majesty, Nanjing Navy Vice Admiral Lu Rongchun is here to see you."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen and Fang Zhenghua were both a little surprised: Why is it that a deputy general is here instead of Uncle Chengyi himself?
After the order was conveyed to the audience, a short general stepped inside, knelt down on one knee and said: "The last general, Lu Rongchun, the deputy general of the Nanjing Navy, has been ordered to lead the ship to the audience. Long live my emperor, long live, long live the emperor." !”
Emperor Chongzhen frowned slightly and immediately asked him to lie down, and then asked: "Where is Liu Kongzhao?"
The emperor addressed his ministers by their first names, which seemed to express his dissatisfaction with the ministers.
When Lu Rongchun heard this, he quickly replied: "Back to your majesty, in the previous hurricane, many naval warships were blown away, and the remaining ships were also seriously damaged. Uncle Chengyi, who was repairing the warship, accidentally fell into the water, contracted the wind cold, and was bedridden. Get up, I will plead guilty to him and take His Majesty across the river!"
When Emperor Chongzhen heard that Liu Kongzhao actually fell into the water in this cold winter month, his previous dissatisfaction was much lessened, and he quickly asked with concern: "How is Uncle Chengyi's condition?"
After hearing this, Lu Rongchun immediately responded: "I heard from the doctor that I need to recuperate. I can't get out of bed until I recover. Otherwise, if I catch the cold again, I'm afraid something unexpected will happen!"
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said, "In that case, let Uncle Chengyi rest in peace and recuperate."
Then, he ordered Fang Zhenghua: "Send the order, the army will set off, get on the ship and set off!"
Fang Zhenghua listened, but before he could answer, he heard Lu Rongchun preemptively say: "Your Majesty, due to the storm, many naval vessels were damaged. After repairs, there is only one No. 3000 Fortune Ship, and the rest are small boats. , it can only transport about [-] people at a time."
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he immediately frowned.
The previous typhoons were indeed very powerful and mixed with heavy snow. It was normal for naval ships to be blown away.
There's nothing we can do about the lack of boats, just three thousand at a time.
With this in mind, he sent a message to the river and arranged the order of the various ministries to board the boats and cross the river.Later, accompanied by the generals, he left the Chinese military tent and went to the canal to see the situation.
The canal in Yangzhou Fucheng leads directly to the Yangtze River, so the army does not need to move forward to the Yangtze River and can take boats directly on the canal.
As soon as we left the camp, we saw a huge crowd of people, all waiting quietly by the canal, no longer hiding away because of the army.Even after seeing the emperor appear, the crowd started to commotion and knelt down one after another.
They didn't shout anything, they just knelt there, no matter men, women, old or young, no matter how high or low they were.
This silent scene made Navy Vice Admiral Lu Rongchun stunned.
Shi Kefa, who had been waiting outside, led a few people to the emperor's side.
The few behind him should be his sergeants. The one at the head, Emperor Chongzhen recognized, was his adopted son Shi Dewei.
Several sergeants were carrying something long, but it was covered with cloth, and they didn't know what it was.
Seeing that Shi Kefa was still a little far away from Emperor Chongzhen, he lifted his official robe, knelt down and kowtowed: "I have seen my emperor, long live, long live, long live!"
When Emperor Chongzhen saw it, he smiled slightly and said, "Shi Qing, please be flat!"
Although Shi Kefa covered the things behind with a cloth, he naturally knew because he had the Jinyi guards checking the surroundings.
Sure enough, after listening to his words, Shi Kefa raised his head and straightened his waist, but did not stand up. He still knelt there and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty has shown great kindness to Yangzhou Prefecture, and the people of Yangzhou have no way to repay it. Then they all cut off a corner of their clothes and made a giant piece of cloth to express their feelings!"
After he finished speaking, the sergeants behind him put down what they were carrying. They worked together to tear off the covering cloth, and then unfolded the rolled up cloth.
Emperor Chongzhen took a quick look and saw that this piece of cloth was made up of countless square and small pieces of cloth.Almost every piece of fabric is different, available in various colors and materials.Lingluo silk and satin, Jingchai cloth skirt, coarse linen clothes, etc., there is nothing you can’t imagine but you can’t see it!
Each piece of cloth represents a Yangzhou citizen.Densely packed, I don’t know how many there are?
Emperor Chongzhen knew that this was because he had set the time for the departure, and many people had no time to participate. Otherwise, this piece of cloth would have been dozens of times bigger.But even so, he also learned from Jin Yiwei that the people of Yangzhou, regardless of whether they could finally put the fabric together on this giant piece of cloth, had cut off a corner of the hem of their clothes.
No, Shi Kefa was kneeling on the ground, and the clothes under his official robe were also exposed, and there was also a corner missing.
As for Shi Dewei and the sergeants, when the river wind blows, anyone who cares can see that a corner of their clothes is missing.
Shi Kefa kowtowed to the ground again and said at the same time: "Although it is simple, this is the heart of the people of Yangzhou!"
The people of Yangzhou, who had been kneeling there and watching what was happening here, knew what was going on when they saw this scene, and they all kowtowed, silently, but almost at the same time.
This scene was very shocking.
At least the generals in the Beijing camp who surrounded Emperor Chongzhen had solemn expressions, and they could truly feel what public opinion was!
When Emperor Chongzhen saw it, even though he knew in advance that the people of Yangzhou would do this, he was still a little excited at this moment.Although for the sake of reviving the Ming Dynasty, or for the throne under his butt, and some conscience from later generations, what he has been doing is to make the people live better and think more about the people.
In his opinion, he should pay for these things.
When he left Taiyuan after the disaster relief and returned to Beijing in triumph, he was welcomed by the people, but the shock and touch in his heart were far less than at this time.
Emperor Chongzhen didn't know why. It couldn't be because he was receiving gifts this time, right?
Looking at all this, he stepped forward and arrived in front of Shi Kefa, who represented the public opinion of the Yangzhou people. He personally helped him up and said as calmly as possible: "The courtesy is light but the affection is heavy. I am very happy. I accept this gift." Down!"
After finishing speaking, he walked behind Shi Kefa, came to the unfolded giant cloth, stretched out his hand to touch it, then looked up at the people of Yangzhou behind, hesitated for a moment, and said loudly: "I accept it!"
When Fang Zhenghua heard this, he quickly directed a group of imperial guards to come forward and take the giant piece of cloth. At the same time, he carefully ordered: "Put it away carefully!"
When Emperor Chongzhen saw that the people in Yangzhou were all looking up, he stretched out his hands to help them stand up.
When the people of Yangzhou saw that the emperor accepted his wishes, they stopped kneeling and stood up one by one.He didn't speak, just looked at the emperor.
The river wind blew through their clothes, and one could indeed see that every corner of their clothes had been cut off.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen never expected that in order to commemorate his events in Yangzhou, all the clothes of the people of Yangzhou Prefecture would be missing a corner, which eventually became Yangzhou's unique clothing style and has been passed down to later generations.
Without a loudspeaker, Emperor Chongzhen could not speak to the people. He could only tell Shi Kefa: "I have accepted the wishes of the people of Yangzhou. It is cold and freezing today, and the people will easily catch cold if they stay in the wilderness. Let them all go back. !”
After hearing this, Shi Kefa said with a bit of embarrassment: "Your Majesty, they were not called by the humble ministers, but spontaneously gathered because of His Majesty's kindness. The humble ministers may not be able to let them leave, so they are all here to see off Your Majesty."
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen turned his head and looked at the canal. He did hear a big ship, and the other ships were small. He said to Shi Kefa: "The ships of the Nanjing Navy were also hit by the storm, and now there are only so many ships. , only about [-] people can be ferried at one time. If the people of Yangzhou wait here, they won’t be able to finish the ferries even after dark."
Hearing this, Shi Kefa hadn't spoken yet, but Shi Dewei suddenly said: "Your Majesty, the general will go and talk about it. We should be able to get some more ships out."
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he understood what he meant.
In the past, he didn't hire many cars and ships from Yangzhou because the people in Yangzhou didn't want to get close to him.But now, things are different.
Emperor Chongzhen thought it was best for the army to cross the river as soon as possible, so he nodded and let him go.
On the Yangzhou people's side, after hearing Shi Dewei go over and shout, many people immediately started to move.Then, from nowhere, ships sailed out one after another, large and small, not to mention merchant ships, painted boats, etc., the number was so large that it even exceeded Emperor Chongzhen's expectations.
After thinking about it for a while, he actually figured it out.
Yangzhou is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River in the canal, so shipping is naturally developed.In the past, the people hid the ships because they did not want to be hired by the emperor who was going on a killing spree.
Perhaps because of this, most of the ships in Yangzhou just escaped the storm.Therefore, after knowing that the emperor wanted to use ships this time, the number of ships exceeded the emperor's expectations.
After a while, Shi Dewei came to see Emperor Chongzhen, sweating profusely, and reported to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the people of Yangzhou have said that if Your Majesty wants to use a boat, they will voluntarily carry the soldiers from the Beijing camp across the river for free. No. If you give us money, they won’t carry you!”
Shi Kefa on the side heard this and quickly explained to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this is their intention!"
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen did not insist. After all, he was the emperor and had many ways to repay the people's kindness.
So, the army set off, boarded the ships in an orderly manner, and the mighty fleet sailed to Zhenjiang Prefecture on the other side of the Yangtze River.
Emperor Chongzhen was naturally seated on a warship of the Nanjing Navy, which was the largest No. [-] Fortune Ship.
He was one of the first, in the middle of the fleet.
The Yangtze River was a natural hazard in ancient times. The river surface was extremely wide. Even if there were no typhoons, the waves in the center of the river would be quite large.
However, for large ships, ordinary Yangtze River waves will not feel special.
In his previous life, Emperor Chongzhen also crossed the Yangtze River, but by train.When I got on the boat, I also admired the surging river water of this era on the deck.
But who knows, just when the warship arrived at the center of the river, an accident happened.
(End of this chapter)
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