Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 194
At this time, it was almost a year since Emperor Chongzhen led his troops from the capital.

During this year, Emperor Chongzhen went all the way south. He first dealt with the Confucian family in Qufu and took away the Duke of Yansheng. He also sent all the Confucian family members to Jiubian and confiscated millions of acres of private land, solving the largest problem in Shandong. landowner.

Then when they arrived in Yangzhou Prefecture, they raided the homes of major salt merchants and reformed the salt policy. From merchants selling salt to government monopoly selling salt, they also dispatched troops for disaster relief when there was a storm. So grateful that the people of Yangzhou consciously sent the troops by boat. River.

Later, the shipwreck incident served as a trigger for Emperor Chongzhen to attack nobles and officials in Nanjing. In the end, Du Yinxi brought back the news that Nanjing nobles and Zuo Liangyu's men colluded, which triggered him to raid the homes of Nanjing nobles and behead them. , thus innovating the honorary system.

These things were all systems that had influenced the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years, but they were changed by Emperor Chongzhen within one year.

He has this ability, and the reason is very simple, because he has a powerful army in his hands, and in the subsequent period of time, he used great victories to prove his invincibility.

With the power of great victory, Emperor Chongzhen quickly went south again and eliminated Zheng Zhilong, the hidden pirate king, and collected 100 million shi of food for the court in a short period of time.

It seemed like everything went smoothly and so many great things were accomplished.But if someone looks back carefully, they will know that these things are definitely not something that an ordinary emperor can do, let alone sit in the Forbidden City and discuss with his ministers.

These major events were all accomplished by Emperor Chongzhen at the risk of his life.As the saying goes, the greater the risk, the higher the return, nothing more than that!
When Emperor Chongzhen returned to Nanjing, all the general soldiers who had been chasing the remnants of the rebel army since April and May had returned.It lasted about four months, and all the soldiers who were still alive were exhausted, but they were full of expectations. Next, they would be rewarded based on their merits!
At this time, Taikang Bo Zhang Guoji had also led his men to Nanjing from the capital. When the emperor arrived, he, along with various generals and other officials, went out of the city to greet him.

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

There is a kind of piety and reverence in the voice of the mountain shouting "Long Live the Mountain!"

No one could have imagined that the country was in danger of subjugation due to a change of dynasty, but after just two years, the dawn of peace in the world had already been seen!And this change was the result of the emperor personally leading his troops into battle to reverse the situation!
Except for Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu, no other emperor could match this emperor's illustrious martial arts!

Regardless of whether he is a civil servant or a military general, how can he not revere and be pious when facing such an emperor?
This is the true emperor!

The people of Nanjing knew that the emperor was probably back from the south because of the behavior of the civil and military officials.So, those who could put down their work all put down what they were doing and rushed to see the emperor inside and outside the city gate.

Before the Battle of Dasheng Pass, the current emperor had a favor for their survival. If the current emperor had not issued an order to control food, so that everyone could provide basic food to survive the winter, it is estimated that many people would starve to death.

At that time, because the main force of the million-strong bandit army came to attack, the people in Nanjing were very scared and most of them hid at home. After the emperor won the battle of Dashengguan and wiped out the main force of the bandit army, they finally felt relieved and walked out. Door celebration.At this time, they wanted to see what the emperor was like who could not only save their lives, but also bravely defeat the main force of the thieves!

Unexpectedly, the emperor had already led his troops south, causing them to miss the opportunity to pay homage to the emperor.

But now, the current emperor finally returned from the south and visited Nanjing again.How could you miss such an opportunity?
When Emperor Chongzhen led the civil and military officials who greeted him back to the city, people inside and outside Nanjing were already full of people who had heard the news. They knelt down to welcome the emperor. Hundreds of thousands of people shouted in unison, shouting "Long Live the Mountain" in a voice that could shake the world. To describe it.

It can even be said that none of the emperors in Nanjing welcomed Emperor Chongzhen with a louder voice this time.

This is not to say that the prestige of Emperor Chongzhen is higher than that of Emperor Taizu; it is because Emperor Taizu had a population of only a few hundred thousand at that time.Today's Nanjing City is one of the two towns with a population of one million in the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, it can also be considered that Emperor Chongzhen's prestige today is almost the same as that of the founding emperor at that time.

Emperor Chongzhen was very pleased when he saw this situation.

Because he knows that if he prints new money here in Nanjing and opens the Nanjing branch of Royal Bank, he will already have a sufficient credit foundation.

After entering the Forbidden City, matters could only be discussed in the Wuying Hall.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't care about this.

Civil and military officials were on both sides, and all the officials' faces were beaming with joy.

Fighting bravely and risking your life on the battlefield, now is the time to reward based on merit!
Emperor Chongzhen glanced at the courtiers below, especially the generals. They had been chasing them all the way west since they rushed out of Nanjing City. He had not seen them for more than half a year.

He discovered that Wu Sangui originally had a scar on his left face when he saved his father. It was on the left side of his face, but now, there was a scar of about the same length on his right face.

Good guy, this looks a bit ferocious, but it is also a sign of his military merit!
And Gao Jie, who was originally a handsome man who could steal the heart of Li Zicheng's wife, now has a scar on his face, making him less handsome and more domineering.

……

After slowly glancing around, it can be seen that these generals were really desperate back then.

He had already seen the merit book, and all of these soldiers were injured to varying degrees.That is to say, Wu Sangui and Gao Jie injured their faces, and others injured their hands and feet, but no scars could be seen at this time.

After looking around, Emperor Chongzhen said with a smile: "The battle of Dashengguan has ended. The armies have triumphed and the results have been brilliant. I am very relieved..."

Hearing him mention this matter as soon as he opened his mouth, everyone's spirits were immediately lifted, and they all looked up at the emperor, with expectations in their eyes.

After Emperor Chongzhen made his opening remarks, he ordered Fang Zhenghua, who was waiting by his side, to read out the imperial edict of the award.

In Wuying Hall, Fang Zhenghua's melodious voice suddenly sounded.

Although Emperor Chongzhen announced before the war that the first one to capture Dasheng Pass would be named Dasheng Bo; the one who caught or captured the leader of the bandits, Li Zicheng, would be named Marquis.One of these two promises, Dashengbo, was obtained by Yan Yingyuan without his knowledge because of his initiative.

As for the other one, no one could catch or capture the leader of the thieves, Li Zicheng.Then Li Zicheng is still jumping around in the Yunnan-Guizhou Mountains!
Without these two fixed titles, Emperor Chongzhen himself had the greatest contribution to the battlefield.If he hadn't been so invincible, whether he would have won or not would have been a question.As for the subsequent pursuit, ordinary generals could actually do it, and it didn't show much merit.

However, in the Battle of Dashengguan, these general soldiers did fight with their lives, and they must have deserved the credit.

As for whether this merit is enough for a knighthood and what kind of title, the key depends on whether the emperor is generous enough?

Therefore, when Fang Zhenghua began to announce the imperial edict, Wu Sangui, Huang Degong and others listened with their ears pricked up.

What they didn't expect was that their names were named at the beginning of the imperial edict.Wu Sangui completed the reorganization of Guan Ning's army, accompanied him to Yangzhou for disaster relief, and won a great victory in the battle of Guan. He fought bravely against the enemy and was not afraid of death. He chased the rebels thousands of miles away. He was granted the title of Uncle Ning Yuan and was made the second-class earl;

Huang Degong, who had meritorious service in guarding Fengyang, accompanied him to Yangzhou to provide disaster relief, and won a great victory in the battle of Guan Pass. He bravely killed the enemy and was not afraid of death. He chased the rebels thousands of miles away. He was granted the title of second-class earl to Uncle Yuan;

Gao Jie, who contributed greatly to the annihilation of the silver rat army in Xuzhou, accompanied him to Yangzhou for disaster relief, and won a great victory in the Battle of Guan. He fought bravely to kill the enemy and was not afraid of death. He chased the army thousands of miles away. He was granted the title of Mizhibo, the second-class earl;

Ma Ke, accompanied him in the battles in the capital, and made many contributions. He also accompanied him to provide disaster relief in Yangzhou, and won a great victory in the battle of Guan. He fought bravely and bravely, and was not afraid of death. He chased the rebels thousands of miles away, and was promoted to the rank of Xining Bo. The rank is a first-class earl;
Tang Tong, who accompanied him in the battles in the capital region, had many merits. He also accompanied him in Yangzhou to provide disaster relief, and won a great victory in the battle of Guan. He fought bravely to kill the enemy, was not afraid of death, and chased the rebels thousands of miles away. He was called Jingyang Bo. He is a second-rate earl;

Chen Yongfu was instrumental in wiping out the Silver Rat bandit army in Xuzhou. He accompanied him to Yangzhou for disaster relief and won a great victory in the Battle of Guan. He led the Longwei Battalion to repeatedly defeat powerful enemies, chased the bandit army thousands of miles away, and was granted the title of Second-Class Earl.

Gao Yigong and Li Laiheng had meritorious service in chasing down the rebels. They accompanied them to Yangzhou for disaster relief and won a great victory at the Battle of Guan. They bravely killed the enemy, chased the rebels thousands of miles away, persuaded numerous rebels to surrender, and were granted the title of Lushan Bo and Sanyuan Bo. Waiting for Count;
During the battle of Dashengguan, Ma Jinzhong and Hui Dengxiang served as internal responders for the imperial court. They fought to the death in the siege of the bandits. They were not afraid of death. They held back the bandit leaders to stabilize the battle situation. They also chased the bandits thousands of miles away and granted the title of Wuchang Bo and Wuchang Bo. Qing Jianbo is the third-class earl;
Liu Lanyu, the commander of Lanling Camp, rescued countless injured soldiers from north to south. He made great contributions and was named Lanling Bo, a third-class earl.

Du Yinxi risked his life to spread the news that the bandits were colluding with the nobles to seize the emperor. He led the army to pursue and capture countless bandits, and granted him the title of Guanghua Bo, who was the second-class earl.

In addition, last year, Emperor Chongzhen granted He Zhen, who died in battle, the title of Marquis of Xuancheng, and his son demoted him to attack Xuancheng Bo.After the title reform, he will be the first-class Xuancheng Bo;

Zhou Yuji is the third-class Zhongyong Marquis, He Zan, Ninglong, Liu Jiuqing, and Wei Shizhen are the second-class earls.

Yan Yingyuan from the south is a second-class great master.

Calculated in this way, the titles conferred by Emperor Chongzhen are as follows:
The third-ranking marquis: Zhou Yuji and Zheng Zhilong.

First-class uncles: Ma Ke and He Zhen's sons Xijue.

Second-class uncles: Wu Sangui, Huang Degong, Gao Jie, Tang Tong, Chen Yongfu, Yan Yingyuan, Du Yinxi, He Zan, Ning Long, Liu Jiuqing, Wei Shizhen.

Third-class uncles: Gao Yigong, Li Laiheng, Ma Jinzhong, Hui Dengxiang, Liu Lanyu.

It has to be said that in addition to the founding emperor and Emperor Chengzu who rebelled and became emperor, they were awarded more titles, and the next one was Emperor Chongzhen.

To say generous, it is definitely generous.

There is naturally a reason why Emperor Chongzhen is so generous.

The most important point is that these are not demotions to inherit titles.In addition, these people all followed him and made great military exploits, and were awarded titles based on their military merits.The only one among them who was not knighted for military merit but changed his title was Zheng Zhilong.

Marco had the advantage. When the war in the north was going on, the war in the south was also going on, so he had a higher title than the others.

Although Du Yinxi was a civil servant, he was still doing the work of a military commander, and the Ming Dynasty had precedents for civilian officials to be ennobled. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen wanted to set up a model civil servant, so he made him a second-class earl.

In addition, Gao Yigong and Li Laiheng were the ones who bought horse bones with huge sums of money.They were not the main generals along the way, and logically speaking, they should not have been knighted, but Emperor Chongzhen wanted to show it to other thieves who had not yet surrendered. Of course, it was also related to the next plan.

The same goes for Liu Lanyu's third-class earl.A woman who can earn a title by virtue of her military exploits will definitely arouse the envy of all women in the Ming Dynasty and follow her as an example.Of course, Qin Liangyu will definitely be knighted. Emperor Chongzhen knew this.But not now, but after he leads his troops to pacify Shu.

At this time, these titles were sent out, which immediately aroused everyone in Wuying Hall to be excited.

The emperor is so generous in his actions. If he can perform more meritorious services, he might also get the chance to be knighted!
Especially those generals, such as Liu Zhaoji, Yi Bangcai, Ma Yingkui and others from Nanjing, as well as Gu Sanmazi and others who belonged to the Nanjing Navy.

On the civil official side, because of the example of Du Yinxi, Lu Daqi and others also had hope.

After Huang Degong and others expressed their gratitude, others were also awarded titles, but it was not titles, but titles in rank. Basically, all those who had made merit before and after the Battle of Dashengguan were rewarded.

In this battle of Dashengguan, there were more than 5 soldiers in the Beijing camp, but only about 3 people finally returned victorious.Of the other 8000 people, about 2000 died at Dasheng Pass, 8000 were injured, and the remaining 8000 were injured, tired, sick, or died in the pursuit of the rebels.

There may be about [-] injured soldiers who can return to the army in the future, but the rest will probably be disabled and need to be discharged.

As for Li Zicheng's troops, not many were killed, only about 8000, and most of them were killed during the pursuit. The rest of the Dashun Army soldiers basically surrendered. Therefore, the imperial court Along the way, a total of 25 horses were captured.

The remaining soldiers of the Dashun Army fled, either scattered in the mountains and deep valleys, or followed their leaders to Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other places.

When the emperor went south, the prisoners in Nanjing were ordered to be reorganized into the Hunan Army similar to the Song Dynasty. They were able to do any kind of work, which was somewhat similar to the labor camps of later generations.

Nowadays, Emperor Chongzhen issued a decree as usual to expand the capital camp to 10 troops. Almost all the original soldiers were promoted, and the new recruits were selected from those prisoners.

Emperor Chongzhen gave the remaining captives two choices: one was to go home and work in farming, and the other was to be organized into the Agricultural Reclamation Army and the Infrastructure Army to specialize in planting and road construction.

In the following time, Emperor Chongzhen stayed in Nanjing, whether it was the operation of Nanjing banks, the generation of new money, or the implementation of various post-war matters, such as the placement of injured soldiers, the reorganization of various yamen in Nanjing, etc. He needs to be here to take charge.

There are also the harvest conditions of grains in various places in the south of the Yangtze River, the harvest conditions of sweet potatoes, the situation of bandit suppression in various places, the post-disaster reconstruction of the people, and the water logging situation in the Yangtze River, etc., all need to be handled by Emperor Chongzhen.

The new Beijing camp has expanded several times, and integration will take time.

With all this in mind, Emperor Chongzhen decided that after the new year, when the new Beijing camp would be reorganized for about three months, he could cross the river to recover the Central Plains and northwest areas.

Of course, his plan is actually not selfish at all.

(End of this chapter)