A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 647
After Ni Yuanlu left, Emperor Chongzhen summoned Chen Xinjia, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, to discuss matters.

In recent days, Chen Xinjia felt that the Holy Majesty treated him a lot colder, so he was quite cautious in his words and deeds.

"...Nanyang fell, Pingzei Town rushed back to Xiangyang, the intruders stopped going east, and joined forces with Gezuo Fifth Battalion, making a loud noise..."

Emperor Chongzhen's face was ugly, and he said bitterly: "Ding Qirui is a waste!"

In the 14th year of Chongzhen, the intruder had just been defeated, and he sacrificed himself to death. The only big thieves were Cao Cao, Ge and Zuo. military.

I thought that the generations of Cao thieves could be wiped out in a blink of an eye, but unexpectedly, they became more energetic.

According to the explanation given by Ding Qirui, officers and soldiers are no more than three steps and seven horses, or even two steps and eight steps. However, the Cao bandits, Ge, and Zuo generations have many cavalry soldiers under their command, reaching tens of thousands, and there is even one man who rides two horses, chasing extremely Disaster.

Often they can only be chased after the buttocks, the fat ones are dragged thin, and the thin ones are dragged to death, and then return to the soldiers for a blow, the officers and soldiers suffer unspeakably.

What's more, the common people all over the world are looking for thieves, and often the officers and soldiers can't even find a guide. Everywhere they go, the terrain is unknown, and they are often ambushed by left and right. Not to mention Emperor Chongzhen was angry when he heard the news, even Ding Qirui himself was exhausted physically and mentally. feeling.

Now, Nanyang fell, and he was killed like a tiger. The king of Tang was killed, and he was already the second vassal king to die.

Emperor Chongzhen hated and wanted to replace Ding Qirui, and even punished Ding Qirui, but unfortunately there was no suitable candidate for the time being.

Originally, Hong Chengchou was the best candidate, but he was seriously ill, so he had no choice but to give up. He hoped that Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen would go south to change the situation.

He flipped through several memorials without raising his head: "Uncle Jingnan, Uncle Ningnan, have you arrived in Kaifeng?"

Chen Xinjia cautiously replied: "Yes, Ding Qirui invited Uncle Jingnan and Uncle Ningnan to go south, but the two earls discussed with Governor Gao and gathered troops in Kaifeng to wait for the opportunity to force them to Henan Prefecture, Luoyang and other places, saying that they were A strategy to encircle Wei and save Zhao!"

Emperor Chongzhen said: "If you attack them, you must save them. Uncle Jingnan and Uncle Ningnan are right. Could it be that they are like Ding Qirui, who went south and ran behind the bandits, and then were dragged to pieces?"

"The intruders are guarding the city in Henan Province. If the officers and soldiers attack Luoyang, they will definitely return to the army to rescue them. The Wang Shi can take advantage of this opportunity. It doesn't matter if the intruders occupy the city. If they escape, the monks will not be able to escape the temple."

Chen Xinjia said: "The emperor is wise."

He looked at Emperor Chongzhen's face: "...Also, when the two counts went south, they impeached the officials along the way for negligence, the supply of food and grass was insufficient, and there were officials along the way. Many officials will impeach Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen, and now the ministries are investigating. , and officials from all over the place went up to discuss..."

With a loud noise, Emperor Chongzhen rose up against the crime, and his voice was stern: "Put these thieves under control, what do they want to do, and what do they want to do to our new army? How will the soldiers fight without food and grass? A group of idiots with ulterior motives!"

The emperor was furious, and Chen Xinjia was so frightened that he didn't dare to breathe out, and said repeatedly: "Yes, yes..."

"The Central Plains is the confidant of the world, and Kaifeng is the confidant of the Central Plains. If it falls, what will the world do? The war in Henan, the Ministry of War needs to take care of it, and the supply of food and grass for the army of Uncle Jingnan and Uncle Ningnan must also be top priority."

"Yes Yes……"

In response to the rise of Wang Dou, the current strategy of the imperial court is to support Yang Guozhu, Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tingchen, Tang Tong and others as much as possible. For Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen to go south, the government and the public are full of confidence and expectations, especially the Chongzhen Emperor.

If the Central Plains thieves were exterminated, he would be free to do a series of things. He didn't believe that without Wang Dou, this world would be impossible?
After talking about the suppression of thieves in the Central Plains, what troubled Emperor Chongzhen and others was the current dispute over food and payment in various towns, especially the intensified battle between Liao Town and Ji Town for food and payment.

In the past, the supply of Liao Township in Jiubian was the most abundant. In the middle of Wanli period, the total amount of salary in Jiubian at that time was about 280 million taels, which was shared among the towns. rise.

Liaozhen, quickly took a huge chunk of Ming's military expenses. Even now, Liaodong, including outside the customs and Shanhaiguan, although the food and payment quota has been reduced and reduced, it is still nearly 500 million a year. Yuzhen, generally only A few 10 taels, the same is true for Ji Town.

As for the income of the Ming Dynasty, in the mid-Wanli period, the imperial court’s annual summer grain and autumn grain amounted to about 600 million shi. Among them, the Taicang Bank of the Ministry of Households received about 360 million taels of silver every year, and those who had surplus military expenditures had been in deficit every year. With the war in Liaodong, the finances were even more difficult to make ends meet.

The three-payment increase, from the 46th year of Wanli to the present, has collected a total of about 2000 million taels of silver in these years. However, in these years, the annual military expenditure has reached more than 800 million taels. If you can't make ends meet, Liao's salary is one of the heavy burdens.

After the Jinzhou War, looking at the situation in the Qing Dynasty, it seems that Liaozhen’s expenditure can be reduced. Especially for Emperor Chongzhen, the focus is on supporting Yang Guozhu. There is a shift.

Therefore, many people in Ji Town focused on Liao's salary, not too much, just move half of it, it would be enough for Yang Guozhu, and he could train a lot of new troops.

Of course, it's easy to say, but the facts are extremely difficult. Like Shanxi merchants, Liaojiao is a very large interest group. How many people benefit from it?It's the cabinet, but there is one person who didn't share the benefits?

Cutting off people's money is like killing their parents. Officials at all levels understand this deeply, so they dare not express their attitude deeply, and only dare to say a few vague words.

The supporters of Liao's salary also have plausible arguments. They say that Liaozhen and Shanhaiguan now have 20 to [-] troops.

Calculated on the basis of one shi per month per soldier, 200 million shi of food is needed a year, and there are various other expenses. In fact, the current military pay is far from enough. Soldiers are in arrears every year, not to mention, Also reduce military spending.

Also, after the Great War in Liaodong, although Dongnu suffered setbacks, the overall combat power was still higher than that of Ming Dynasty (if Wang Dou was excluded), only a temporary rest was needed to maintain the offensive pressure on Liaodong, so it was even more necessary to repair the city , Adding armor, it all costs money.

Therefore, Liao's salary cannot be reduced, let alone moved. Not only that, because the Liaodong defense line has increased to the Yizhou area, a part needs to be increased.

Although the recovery of the city was exciting at the time, the bitterness that it brings must be borne now. Except for a very small number of people, no one dared to abandon Yizhou and shrink the defense line to Jinzhou. It is also justifiable to ask for food and salary.

For Emperor Chongzhen, the Liaodong generals had to be appeased, fearing that these Qiu Bayi would be bad, mutiny, or even switch to Dongnu. He dared not bear the consequences. A large part of them came from Liao Town, and there have been precedents.

At the critical moment of exterminating the thieves, Liaodong cannot be chaotic, but if Liao's salary is not cut, where will Jizhen's expenses come from?
Looking at the disputes between the government and the opposition, even Chen Xinjia, who was the Minister of the Ministry of War, was also ambiguous, which gave Chongzhen a headache.

In the end, Chen Xinjia mentioned another matter in a low voice: "Dongnu has sent an envoy here, and he lives in the hall of the congregation secretly. Watching his intentions, he has the heart to discuss peace, but he doesn't know the intention of the sage..."

……

Three days later, the capital will be in the same hall.

The capitals of all dynasties in China have a place to receive guests. After the Han Dynasty, most of them were Honglu Temple. One of its important functions was to receive vassal tribute envoys. It can be called the ancient Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Huitong Hall was set up under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. There was one ambassador, who was the ninth rank, and two deputy envoys. .

Tomorrow, Huitong Hall is still the main hub of post stations across the country. It is located next to Wuman Post on Dongwangfu Street, Daxing County. At this time, a middle-aged man dressed in Han nationality hurried back to Huitong Hall. , I thought: "The Ming Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties is getting more and more declining, and even the streets in the middle of the capital are the same."

On the road in central Beijing, the bluestone slabs have disappeared in many places, and the dirt roads are full of potholes, with thick silt and dust accumulated. This person went out to do errands. In order not to attract people's attention, he walked in many places, and it turned out that he walked. Gray all over.

Going back to a certain place in the museum, and pushing open a door, there are also several people dressed in Han Chinese clothes, all of them have gloomy and fierce expressions on their faces.

The atmosphere in the room was serious, a man was about fifty years old, he looked quite like a warrior, he flicked his fingers on the table, and muttered: "We have been discussing for several days, it seems that these southern barbarians are quite interested in negotiating peace with me. I am not keen, and I don’t care about equal relations between China and China, as well as old coins and border matters, and it is difficult to negotiate the terms of the peace..."

This person is Bao Chengxian, a scholar of the Hongwen Academy of the Qing Dynasty. He used to be the governor of the capital and the deputy general of Shenyang Xinyongying.

Because of his loyalty to Houjin, Ning Wanwo, a think tank of Houjin at that time, recommended him to work in the Wenguan. After that, he, Ning Wanwo, Gao Hongzhong and others were loyal to the Qing Dynasty.

This time, Dorgon came to Daming with a secret order. In addition to negotiating peace, he also shouldered a series of important tasks.

After spending a lot of money, Bao Chengxian had to secretly meet Chen Xinjia, Minister of the Ministry of War. However, although the Manchus were quite sincere, Chen Xinjia and others did not take it seriously. With victory, it is even more impossible to negotiate peace with the enemy country, otherwise, in terms of public opinion, it will be difficult to pass.

Moreover, the external relations of the Central Plains, for thousands of years, have been either paying tribute and claiming vassalism, or making compromises to the two extremes. Generally, there is no concept of other kinds of treaties.

Perhaps, among the treaties of all dynasties in China, only local officials in Guangzhou who lived in Chongzhen for ten years reflected the superiority and equality of the treaty.

It was the Guangdong local navy that year that defeated the six ships sent by King Charles I of England and led by Captain Weddell, forcing them to sign a letter of guarantee, expressing their apology for the Humen incident, and paying 800 taels of silver as compensation. The first conflict between China and Britain ended in China's victory.

In the battle of Liuluowan a few years ago, the navy of the Ming army defeated the Dutch fleet again, but it was still the old way of thinking and did not ask for compensation from the Dutch.

Therefore, Dorgon, who is uncivilized, wants to die, as usual, and wants Daming to present a sum of old coins. Although it is euphemistic, anyone with a discerning eye can see the meaning inside. Of course, Chen Xinjia is furious. In anger, he beat out the door-to-door messenger with a stick.

(End of this chapter)