Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 400 Three Strategies to Control Yang
On June 23, Yang Chao recovered Huai'an, on June 24 Li Wuliu captured Suqian, which was guarding emptiness, and on June 25 captured Pizhou.

So far, Yang Chao has recovered the entire Huai'an Mansion, south of Xuzhou, there is no place for the Qing army to gain a foothold.

With an army of more than [-], the final loss was less than [-], which can be said to have completely defeated the Qing army, but Duoduo ran away again, at least Yang Chao thought so.

But he doesn't care, an opponent who has been defeated by him twice in a row is not worth noting.

Let Li Wuliu continue to march north, lead two phalanxes, bring Hu Quan artillery, Zhao Kang leads cavalry, and the next goal is Xin'an!
At the same time, report victory to the court.

At the middle left door, Liu Zeqing is asking Yu!
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a tradition of the emperor and his courtiers playing against each other. Sometimes it was at a certain city gate, and sometimes it was at a certain hall. The courtiers summoned were usually censors and assistant ministers, and some related courtiers would also be called. , This time the little emperor summoned Liu Zongzhou and Bing Ke to Shizhong, as well as Ma Shiying, Minister of the Ministry of War and Chief Assistant of the Cabinet of Dongge University Scholars, Minister of Rites Wang Duo, Minister of Rites and Minister of Dongge University Cabinet, Qian Qianyi and others.

Liu Zeqing was forgiven by the emperor. Although Yang Chao strongly opposed it, there was a tendency in the court situation to say what Yang Chao said, but not to do anything. Yang Chao really didn't know why this situation developed. They are all extremely restrained. They have never been as domineering as the four towns in Jiangbei, but they have not been completely submissive to civil servants, but they don't want to be guarded everywhere.

This can be regarded as a lesson for Yang Chao, sometimes your situation is not because of what you have done, but because of what you can do.

It is a sin to hold a heavy army in one's hand, not be coerced by others, and be self-sufficient.

Of course, the imperial court did not provoke Yang Chao, they had reasons for every step they took, such as rejecting Yang Chao's army expansion, they said that the world was surrounded by soldiers and the people were sleepy for a long time, so they should rest and recuperate, so they could not be transferred too much.

Of course, this is nonsense. He opened his eyes and didn't see the displaced people, the idle young men with no land and no work, and insisted on giving the people a rest, but even so, it was an explanation to Yang Chao.

As for Yang Chao’s other memorials, they were all denied on the grounds of the ancestral system. For example, Yang Chao requested the abolition of the artisan household system, the abolition of the music registration system, the abolition of the cheap registration system, the abolition of the military household system, and so on.

Almost except for the Kaihai incident, the imperial court rejected a series of reforms proposed by Yang Chao. This is also one of the reasons why Yang Chao suddenly left the court, because he found that he was useless in the court, and everything he proposed was useless. When a person accepts it, at first he feels that it is because of the pedantry and stubbornness of these civil servants, as well as the limitations of his worldview, but later he finds that some of these people seem to oppose it.

Only then did I realize that party struggle had unknowingly happened to me.

So Yang Chao opposed the pardon of Liu Zeqing, but Liu Zeqing was pardoned.

He didn't even deprive him of his title, and he could still stand in the hall and make a memorial.

"The sinful minister said to your Majesty, Jiangbei Chengyi Bo is domineering and arrogant, disregarding the court's sympathy for the people, and expanding the army by [-], this case must not be opened. Your Majesty, please make an order to dismiss Chengyi Bo as the commander-in-chief and transfer him back to Nanjing to listen. !"

Liu Zeqing not only returned to Nanjing smoothly, entered the court, and then openly impeached Yang Chao.

Perhaps it was because he would impeach Yang Chao that he was able to return to Nanjing and enter the imperial court.

Sure enough, just after he finished speaking, many people took the opportunity to impeach him.

"Veteran Liu Zongzhou committed three crimes of sincerity: first, disobedience to the imperial court; second, no courtiers; third, evil intentions!"

"Disobeying the order of the imperial court to recruit troops without authorization, recruiting local bandits and bandits in many places in Taizhou and Tongzhou; treating the imperial court supervisors as nothing, arbitrarily deciding military plans, and having no subjects; recruiting more than [-] leftist and puppet Qing soldiers , placed on the side of the couch in the important place of the capital of Xinjiangkou, the heart of misconduct is clearly revealed."

Liu Zongzhou was talking about Yang Chao’s expansion of the army without authorization. He was talking about Liu Kongzhao’s arrival in Yangzhou, but Yang Chao ignored him at all. work.

"Your Majesty, I beg your Majesty to punish him for his crimes and set the court order!"

After Liu Zongzhou finished speaking, several military departments came forward to impeach him. One was more severe than the other, and the other was more ruthless. It seemed that if Yang Chao was in front of him, he would not be able to eat Yang Chao's flesh or drink his blood. Chao is a heinous, treacherous, vicious minister and thief.

He even suggested that the three clans should be punished, and asked the imperial court to immediately send someone to put the Yang family in prison, and asked the three divisions of Dali Temple to interrogate.

The little emperor tried his best to play the role of a wise emperor, calling courtiers to question the imperial court twice in three days, which can be regarded as diligent administration. After hearing the impeachment from the speech officer, he was noncommittal and asked Ma Shiying instead.

"Ma Fu, what do you think?"

Ma Shiying observed the words and expressions for a long time, and couldn't help crying in his heart. Today's performance was right. I'm afraid the little emperor made him narrow-minded. To get it, I'm afraid this is also the little emperor's idea.

Thinking of this, Ma Shiying said: "Report to the emperor, I believe that loyalty and righteousness are not lacking in great gifts, but in small details. Please issue a decree to reprimand, but the soldiers are fierce and dangerous, and the false and pure are false. In the front, you can't change generals in battle. I ask the emperor to reprimand, but the punishment seems to be biased."

Hearing this, the little emperor couldn't help showing a trace of satisfaction. Obviously, what Ma Shiying said was very suitable for him. I have to say that a treacherous official like Ma Shiying, in terms of human understanding, is never comparable to a self-proclaimed important official like Liu Zongzhou. Ma Shiying To be able to climb up to the position of chief assistant step by step after the downfall of Fu Wang Jianguo is by no means a mediocre person.

"Wang Fu, what do you think?"

The little emperor asked his teacher Wang Duo again.

Wang Duo hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, you can't. Uncle Loyalty wants to be cautious and has no two minds. There are reasons for expanding the army, ignoring the supervisor, and accepting the rebels. You must not blindly criticize. Your Majesty, please issue an order to inquire. And don’t just blame it.”

Wang Duo felt that this was nothing short of nonsense. Liu Zongzhou boasted of being loyal and upright, and was praised by a lot of people. The late emperor repeatedly annoyed the late emperor and won the name of a straight minister, but now he still has a good reputation, regardless of the general situation. If the four towns are strong, then the four towns will be impeached, and if Yang Chao is strong, Yang Chao will be impeached. If he meets such a little emperor with little governance experience, troubles will really happen.

So he tried hard to persuade the emperor.

But the emperor showed a slight displeasure.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the guilty minister has three strategies to control Yang Chao's domineering!"

The little emperor nodded.

Seeing that the emperor did not stop him, Liu Zeqing immediately went on to say: "Policy one, control the big with the small; policy two, pay the nuclear soldiers; policy three, control the military power yourself."

"Your Majesty, I have heard for a long time that this man knows the soldiers, and he is the number one brave general in the account of Uncle Zhongyi. The brave general is only abandoned because of personal grievances, and the minister cherishes talents for the court, please promote Wang Pu as the commander-in-chief, and let his soldiers enter Jiangbei to guard, this is the first strategy."

"Loyal and loyal officials raise their own salaries, which is a great violation of the ancestral system. The loyalty and righteous officials are the first to have the power of market ships, and the second is the military power. I ask your majesty to use the power of the market ships for the imperial court, and the benefits of the market ships belong to the imperial court." For what he enjoys, the number of troops of the loyal and righteous uncle is paid by the soldiers, so the loyal and righteous uncle will not dare to take the court lightly, this is the second strategy."

"Uncle Loyalty accepted Zuo Ni and the puppet Qing rebels to work in Xinjiangkou. It was really out of personal grievances, and the ministers didn't take it seriously. Zuo Ni advocated chaos. , or forced by the situation, had no choice but to pretend to surrender, most of the soldiers and horses in their troops are loyal to the court, and there are many elite soldiers in this army and horses, I ask your majesty to choose their loyalty and reorganize an army, and choose loyal men If it is unified, the military power will not be given to others, and there is no need to recruit the people from the people.

After Liu Zeqing finished speaking, many courtiers immediately looked at him with admiration. They used to think that Liu Zeqing was a rough man, and they didn't pay attention to him. They never thought that he would make these three tricks, and all of them hit Yang Chao's vitals. They were so vicious .

The promotion of Yang Chao's officers who have grievances will definitely cause discord within Yang Chao's department.Accepting Yang Chao's power to control the Shibo Department is equivalent to cutting off Yang Chao's military salary, and then verifying his military strength, and then paying according to the amount of troops, it is tantamount to returning to the era when civil servants controlled generals.Find someone to lead the surrendered soldiers gathered by Yang Chao in Xinjiangkou. These surrendered soldiers are indeed soldiers from Zuo Liangyu, Liu Liangzuo, Gao Jie and other ministries. They were forced by Yang Chao to work as coolies. Such an army might see Yang Chao as a thorn in their side in the future.

"Your Majesty!"

When Wang Duo heard this, he immediately panicked, thinking that it would be strange if Yang Chao was not forced to fight against these three strategies. If Yang Chao rebelled on the front line and brought Man Qing directly to fight, the court might be overthrown.

But the little emperor was very excited when he heard it. He heard a lot of people telling him behind his back that Yang Chao was domineering, and he felt a deep crisis. Now he heard that he could control Yang Chao and let the court take control of the military. , Immediately felt that it was a rare and good strategy, and thought in his heart that if it was implemented in sequence, it would really be possible to reverse the current situation where generals are overwhelmed.

But at this time, Wang Duo objected, tantamount to pouring ice on the emperor's happiness, which made the emperor extremely displeased.

So he ignored Wang Duo and asked Ma Shiying instead, "What does Ma Fu think?"

Ma Shiying wanted to understand the little emperor's mind in a blink of an eye.

But he also knew that implementing all of them would be tantamount to forcing Yang Chao to rebel, but he could not disobey the emperor's will.

So he respectfully said: "Your Majesty has learned from you. As a soldier, I know very well that Wang Pu under Yang Chao's account has made many military exploits and was placed in another town. He has already been promoted to the general army. Yang Chao's account is like a cloud of fierce generals, and Wang Pu is not alone. , In fact, it is an empty pillar, and the humble minister thought that Wang Pu was promoted to be the general of Jiangpu, and his troops were dispatched to defend the capital, and he also rewarded the important ministers generously, showing the court's kindness to the heroes."

The little emperor was very satisfied. He promoted Wang Pu to let them fight each other and control Yang Chao. He also transferred people like Wang Pu to Jiangpu in the north of the Yangtze River. It is also reassuring to stay away from Nanjing. If one Yang Chao leaves, there will be one more Wang Pu, isn't the imperial court still subject to others?

(End of this chapter)