Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 191 Loyal ministers and non-competent ministers against the overall situation
"Sanxiang Engagement Record" records, "He and Zhang led the army to Hukou, and saw that Ma and Wang's townships collapsed to the south. He and Zhang were surprised and didn't know where they came from. When the four towns arrived, they asked them face-to-face. It is known that it is because Qing Baylor crossed the lake. In fact, the northern soldiers went to the west of Dongting to rush over a tiger and plum, and they did not come to Changsha. The servant (Zhang Kuang) cried to the supervisor (Tengjiao) and said: I intend to drive long Straight ahead, the southern capital is on the lookout, I haven’t left the mainland yet, if I’m so frustrated, I’m going to return my face to Changsha, I’m going to swear that I’ll never return. The supervisor kindly comforted me, and invited the servant to return, and I’ll try again later.”

In Huguang Governor's Mansion, He Tengjiao was annoyed for a while. He returned to Changsha in a daze before he fought a battle, which made him feel very aggrieved.

Before he sent his troops, he was full of ambition, thinking that he would definitely defeat the Qing soldiers and establish an invincible merit. He even took the credit for defeating Jingzhou on himself in the memorial to the emperor.

But now Du Yinxi is still attacking Jingzhou, and not only has he failed to achieve an inch, but he has lost Yuezhou, the gateway to Hunan, which completely discredits him, the governor of Huguang.

For this matter, He Tengjiao could have used brushwork to perfunctory the past, but when he returned to Changsha today, he happened to be seen by Chu Guogong who was transferred to Hunan by the court, so he couldn't hide it.

In the land of Hunan, he and governor Du Yinxi have already disagreed in terms of political views, and he basically can't interfere in the affairs of Changde. Now that the imperial court has sent another upstart, who should direct the Huguang anti-Qing cause?

In He Tengjiao's view, as the governor of Huguang, he naturally wants to control all the soldiers and horses in Huguang and share the greatest share of credit. That's why when Wang Yan sought him out just now, he deliberately disappeared to suppress Wang Yan's momentum and make him Be able to take the initiative in the next meeting.

It's just that he didn't expect that Wang Yan didn't wait any longer, but directly stopped Zhang Kuang and took him back to the camp for questioning. This made He Tengjiao feel unhappy, and at the same time let him know that Wang Yan would become his man in charge of the Huguang battle. A big obstacle.

At this time, He Tengjiao couldn't help but move, Wang Yan and him were already in the top ranks, and Du Yinxi was second. The command of the Huguang war situation will finally fall into whose hands, the key depends on who is the most capable in the eyes of His Majesty. So, he sat at the table, picked up a pen and began to write the memorial.

At that time, although he retired, Du Yinxi was still playing brilliantly in Hubei. He had to polish it up and take the credit for himself, while Ze Ren, who was thrown into Yuezhou, was pushed onto the surrendered general Ma Jiaolin .

The Ming Dynasty had a long history of lying about the military situation, and He Tengjiao was even more familiar with it. He wrote a memorial that clearly described the situation under his leadership in a short time.

After He Tengjiao finished writing the memorial, his mood immediately improved a lot, and he was about to rest and go to sleep, but at this moment, his servant came to report again: "Your Excellency, Duke Chu and Governor Zhang are asking to see you."

Hearing the words, He Tengjiao couldn't help frowning slightly. He returned to Changsha today, and his face was very ugly. If he saw Wang Yan at this time, he would always feel a little embarrassed, so he waved his hand impatiently, "No, just say Ben Du has fallen asleep."

Hearing the words, the servant had no choice but to retreat respectfully.

At this time He Tengjiao also stood up, ready to go to the bedroom to rest, but just as he walked out of the study, there was a sudden commotion behind him, and it was Wang Yan and Zhang Kuang who forced their way in, blocked by the guards.

Seeing this, He Tengjiao couldn't help being embarrassed, but immediately his face darkened, and he snorted coldly and said, "Isn't it a little wrong for the Duke of Chu to break into the governor's mansion late at night! You are also from Juren, a disciple of the sage, Why are you so rude?"

After Wang Yan learned about the movement of the Qing soldiers from Zhang Kuang, he was very anxious, knowing that Du Yinxi and the others did not know that He Tengjiao had given up Yuezhou, which completely exposed the flanks of Li Guo's troops and might be raided by the Qing army at any time, so He immediately pulled Zhang Kuang, and came to the Governor's Mansion again to find He Tengjiao, and asked him to redeploy the army to recover from the disadvantaged situation as soon as possible.

The two came to the mansion, asked the guards to report, and then waited anxiously, but they didn't expect He Tengjiao to disappear again. Wang Yan was immediately furious, and directly dragged Zhang Kuang in.

At this time, Wang Yan was already annoyed that He Tengjiao retreated and ruined the good situation in Chu, but now he heard his words, he was furious: "He Tengjiao, you will kill 30 lions in Chu, don't you know it? "

He Tengjiao couldn't help being taken aback when he heard the words, thinking that Wang Yan was laughing at him for retreating without a fight, and immediately retorted: "Wang Yan, don't be alarmist. Fortify the city to defeat the enemy. The governor saw that you came to Chu for the first time and did not understand the military situation, so I will not argue with you this time, but if you dare to be rude to the governor again, the governor will definitely write this book to refer to you!"

When Wang Yan heard the words, he laughed back angrily, "I don't know the situation of the army? Let me ask you, when you retreated, did you have Qing soldiers chasing you? No way! You didn't even see the Qing soldiers, so you withdrew to Changsha. Retreat, losing an important town! Let me ask you again, when you retreat, can you send a fast horse to notify the governor? Or not! If you retreat before the battle, it will be disadvantageous to trap the friendly army! Let me tell you that the Qing army did not come to fight at all. Changsha, but to break the siege of Jingzhou. You retreated without authorization, opening Li Guo’s flanks, and 30 sons were killed by you!”

He Tengjiao's expression changed when he heard this, but he did not admit his fault, "Wang Yan, this governor knows that you want to take advantage of this governor's return to Changsha to seize the power of Chu, but this governor tells you that it is impossible! This Governor is the Governor of Huguang. Although you are the Duke of the state, you have to obey the orders of the Governor when you enter our land of Chu! You don’t need to be alarmist, Du Yinxi has 30 troops, how could you fail so easily, and how do you know that the Qing army is not strong? If you will attack Changsha, the governor will not believe your words."

Looking at He Tengjiao, Wang Yan couldn't help but feel a murderous intent flash in his heart. He is loyal to Daming, but his ambition is great, his talents are sparse, and his mind is narrow-minded, which is definitely not the blessing of the imperial court.

This reminded Wang Yan of Shi Kefa, Ma Shiying and others.

Shi Kefa was loyal to Daming, but he was pedantic and lacked great talent. He spent countless money, food and taxes from the court. Yangzhou City, which was personally guarded, was broken by the Qing soldiers in just ten days.

Shi Kefa was a loyal minister, but he ruined Jiangbei of Ming Dynasty.

Ma Shiying is a traitor, but he is also loyal to Ming Dynasty.

During the Hongguang Dynasty, the Donglin party members who regarded themselves as loyal ministers scolded Ma Shiying badly. But when the Qing soldiers came, Qian Qianyi, the leader of the Donglin party, surrendered to the Qing court first, and Ma Shiying took the empress dowager to Zhejiang.

After Lu Wang surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Ma Shiying's reputation was too poor, and the Lu Wang regime and the Longwu regime did not accept him, but Ma Shiying still ran to the east of Zhejiang and continued to fight against the Qing Dynasty with thousands of troops, so Ma Shiying was a traitor and a loyal minister.

It's just that he also has little ability. Both Hongguang and King Lu were defeated by the Qing court when he was in power, so he was basically loyal to Ming Dynasty, but he ruined the two regimes of Nanming.

Now He Tengjiao is such a character in Wang Yan's eyes. He is loyal to Daming. When Zuo Liangyu went east, he firmly opposed it. After fleeing back to Changsha, he wanted to restore Chu. He is a loyal minister, but his position is not right. However, if he sits on the position of governor of Huguang, it will be harmful to Daming.

(End of this chapter)