"I believe that if we want to increase food and salary, we must first appease the local area. The troubles caused by the Eastern captives are like a head disease. Although the pain is unbearable when it attacks, it is ultimately a temporary trouble. Although the captives who enter the pass plunder heavily, they have no place to stand in the pass. , during the Jisi Rebellion, the Tartars stole the four cities in our pass and were immediately destroyed by the king's army. The troops of Xuanda in Jizhen were used to strictly guard the surrounding areas of the capital, and the troops of Guanning were used to guard Ningjin. If the prisoners knocked on the pass again and were considered as intruders, they would be summoned. The elite soldiers in the world drove them out of the pass, and the Eastern captives could still support them. The Kun rebels had no development after taking Guangdong and Guangxi, and only used their navy to harass Fujian, Zhejiang, and the Bohai Sea. Although they pretended to be made by the Song Dynasty, they were nothing more. Langji, Wang Zhi, Xu Hai and their ilk focused on the benefits of trade and were greedy for money. Although the ministers who lost Guangdong and Guangxi talked a lot about the powerful ships and artillery of Kun, I think it was because Wang Zunde was good at provoking border provocations that nineteen of his military commanders were killed. . The successor Xiong Wencan was not good at running the army, and the newly built army was neglected in battle formations. Therefore, the plague of bandits is like skin moss. Although there are many inconveniences, they do not threaten the foundation of the imperial court. The most important patients in the imperial court are actually rogue thieves. The rogue thieves came from Shaanxi. Gan raised his troops and spread across three sides, wreaking havoc on the Central Plains. The fall of Zhongdu made the world uneasy. Treacherous people were everywhere, and they bullied the stupid people. The people did not engage in farming and production, and did not practice loyalty. . If we are to pacify the eastern bandits and drive out the bandits, we must first exterminate the rogue bandits. This is because in order to fight against the outsiders, we must first pacify the inside."
Chongzhen quite agreed with Yang Sichang's analysis that "to fight against foreign forces, we must first settle the domestic affairs" and continued to ask, "According to your plan, how should we pacify the traitors?"
Upon hearing this question, Yang Sichang's eyes flashed with keen light, and he answered in a loud voice;
"Four uprights, six corners, and a net spread out on ten sides! Shaanxi, Henan, Huguang, and Jiangbei are the four uprights, and the four governors divide them and defend them; Yansui, Shanxi, Shandong, Jiangnan, Jiangxi, and Sichuan are the six corners, and the six are The governor divides the defense and coordinates the suppression. This is called spreading a net on ten sides! The governors of the three sides, the prime ministers of seven provinces and two ministers follow the thieves' direction and specialize in conquering them. They use both kindness and power, and suppression and appeasement. The first rebel must be severely suppressed and eradicated. If there are other bandit leaders who are willing to surrender to the imperial court, they will send special personnel to recruit them and entrust them with military positions to help the officers and soldiers suppress the bandits. This is called using thieves to attack thieves. I plan to act in this way and within two years, I will be able to put an end to the bandits. Now that the bandits are in trouble, The peace will allow the provinces in the Central Plains to recuperate and replenish the troops, horses, money and food. Then use the troops from the Central Plains to attack the bandits and go south to attack Kun. The troops from the three sides will declare great power, and the towns in Jiliao will divide and attack the north to ping the bandits. Then the world will be settled!"
These remarks are encouraging, but the emperor has heard a lot of rhetoric over the years, and he knows where the key lies.
"According to your calculations, how many troops, horses, money and food are needed to defeat the thieves? The national treasury is empty now. Where should we deal with those who are short of it?"
"If we want to suppress the bandits from the Ping Dynasty, I propose that the ten provinces should increase their troops by 120,000 and increase their pay by 2.8 million. I heard that the previous report proposed the introduction of a levy of wages in Guangdong. This increase in annual revenue will be 2.1 million, and Pingkun will put the suppression of bandits first. , the military pay for the defeated bandits can be withdrawn from the Guangdong Pay Department first, and if the amount is insufficient, an additional pay for one year can be drawn from the three departments of Yin Liang, Yi Delivery, and Cases."
"Tell me more about it."
"Yes, your majesty. The so-called "for-grain" means that the amount of grain is increased according to the old amount. Since the previous Guangdong salary has lost 8 yuan per mu, the current plan to suppress the salary minister is mainly to give relief to the rich households, to forgive the poor farmers, and to hurt the land. No. You can get 1,500,000 silver per year. The person who delivers the post is the silver from the province that was previously cut off by the post office. 200,000 of it can be used as payment, and the rest can be offset by examples. Xu Fumin invests in becoming a supervisor and sharing the worries of the emperor and father. Only one year old.
"What should we do if the people are angry?
"Your Majesty, I'm not hurt. Most of the additional dispatches come from powerful wealthy households. The increase in silver per hundred acres is only one or two yuan, so it can be reduced and annexed. Moreover, many grain households are loyal to the emperor and the country. Suppressing thieves is related to the safety of the country. , he will surely be able to relieve the country's worries, and wait for peace in the Central Plains before he can live with the people again."
"I hate seeing you late! I hate seeing you late!" Chongzhen couldn't help but admired. "As you said, I will temporarily burden our people for a year to get rid of this serious problem!" After Chongzhen heard this, the emperor, who had been looking sad all day, actually raised a slight smile.
"Your Majesty's kindness to you will never be repaid by death!" After saying this, Yang Sichang knelt down to thank him.
"Previously I had discussed with Wen Tiren about the suppression of Kun. He recommended Lu Xiangsheng and Hong Chengchou as governors to attack Kun. Later, I considered that Governor Hong Chengchou would fight against the thieves on three sides and Lu Xiangsheng would guard Xuanda as a barrier for the capital. It was difficult for them to take up their posts, so I temporarily allowed Xiong Wencan to act on his own convenience. I have the power to check and balance the bandits. Now that I have obeyed your words, I will first suppress the bandits, but Xiong Wencan is incapable of running the army. What arrangements should be made for Guangdong and Guangxi? With the strategy of spreading the net on ten sides, in addition to Hong Chengchou supervising the three sides, I now use Lu Xiangsheng Supervisor of the Central Plains, who can win the post of prime minister of military affairs in the seven provinces of the Central Plains?"
Yang Sichang's heart was pounding, and he secretly complained that Xiong Wencan had a good relationship with him. Before going to court this time, Xiong Wencan also asked someone to ask him to find ways to keep him in office. Yang Sichang's plan originally wanted Xiong Wencan to be temporarily responsible for containing the Kun thieves. Now that he had lost his city and territory, he was already the governor without jurisdiction, and he, Xiong Wencan, couldn't complain because he had embezzled money from Cantonese. Just now, in order to persuade Chongzhen to put down the rogue bandits first, he deliberately made the emperor underestimate the strength of the Australians. In a fit of temper, he actually said that he was bald. If the emperor thinks that Xiong Wencan is an incompetent waste, things will be difficult to handle.
But with Xiong Wencan's performance, it is indeed difficult to forcefully protect him. After losing his teacher and losing his land, it would be extremely merciful for the court not to arrest him and send him to prison. It would be a fool's dream to want to keep him in office.
Naturally, Chongzhen didn't know what Xiao Jiujiu was thinking about in Yang Sichang's heart at this moment. After thinking silently for a moment, Yang Sichang said:
"Although Xiong Wencan is not good at running the army, he is still a capable minister because he was able to restore the situation after He Rubin lost his army in Qiongzhou and delay the Kun thieves. After the Kun thieves' army invaded, he resisted continuously and made it difficult for the thieves to leave Guangdong and Guangxi, which shows his loyalty and bravery. But for now, A man who is good at fighting will be sent to help the general army to check and balance the bandits. Governor Xiong said that the morale of the people of Guangdong can still be used, and he is recruiting rebels. The minister thought that he would first allocate 20,000 yuan in Cantonese salary to Xiong Wencan, so that he could reorganize his martial arts and recruit soldiers. Join forces with the Guangdong rebels to attack the Kun thieves. The Kun thieves have come from overseas and the army is short of troops. Xiong Wencancheng can regain the lost ground. If this fails, the Kun thieves will have no time to take care of them. The imperial army can take the opportunity to defeat the flat thieves. Send another knowledgable soldier. I am appointed as the governor of southern Jiangxi and select a place to train tens of thousands of troops, which can echo the east-west direction of Governor Xiong. If Xiong Wencan cannot pacify the two provinces, he will use this as the main force to go south to Pingkun."
This plan was very appropriate and did not disrupt the inherent administrative divisions of the imperial court. It could be seen that the emperor was very satisfied, and Yang Sichang continued: "I think that Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, captured Gao Ni alive. His talents are not inferior to Hong Chengchou, and Lu Xiangsheng is qualified for a big job. If your Majesty makes Sun Chuanting prime minister of the Central Plains military affairs, the rogue bandits will be overthrown in a matter of days." Wait."
"Good! Just what I want!" At this time, Chongzhen not only smiled at the corner of his mouth, but also his eyes became brighter. He thought of something again and continued to ask, "Governor of Southern Gansu, do you have any recommendations?"
"Fu Zonglong, the former right minister of the Ministry of War and governor of the three-sided military affairs, is worthy of the appointment."
Fu Zonglong was idle at home at this time. Although he was re-employed in the third year of Chongzhen as the governor of military affairs, he was dismissed soon after because of trivial matters. Since the Tianqi period, Fu Zonglong has been known as a "knowledge of soldiers". He has commanded and participated in many pacification wars in the southwest region, and he can be said to be a battle-hardened warrior. However, because of his upright character, although he won many battles, he was always activated for a short period of time and then idle at home for a long period of time.
The emperor nodded and asked again:
"Sun Yuanhua, the governor of Denglai, may be suspected of being a Tongkun. What do you think?"
After Sun Yuanhua stayed in office after the Dengzhou Incident, he became a popular and well-known military governor in the imperial court. In just a few months after the Denglai Rebellion was put down, the rebellion in Dongjiang Town was put down, and Shen Shikui, the deputy commander-in-chief of Dongjiang, who gathered a crowd to rebel, was killed. Completely controlled the Dongjiang Ming Army. He also reported to Chongzhen on how to pay for the farmland, purchase arms from the West and the West, organize and train the new army, and rebuild the tripartite arrangement. After that, the Dengzhou Army and the Dongjiang Army repeatedly attacked from the sea, with fruitful results. The leaders who reported to the Ministry of War were all Shintar who could find no fault with the most critical eyes. And unprecedentedly, many armored weapons, ordnance and documents and seals of the slaves were handed over that had rarely been captured by the frontier army before. Chongzhen and the Ministry of War ordered North Korean envoys and Jianzhou surrender people to identify it, and they all concluded that there could be no lie. During the Bingzi Incident last year, Sun Yuanhua led the Denglai and Dongjiang troops to harass southern Liaoning from the sea, conquered more than a dozen Tatar fortresses, killed and captured dozens of Tatars and surrendered Han officials, and killed 700 Tatar soldiers. , countless military resources. Huang Taiji was forced to urgently recall the main force of the Dorgon tribe who had left the Liaoxi Corridor to cover Azig's entry and plunder. After the war, Sun Yuanhua was awarded the title of Minister of War. Zhang Tao and other old people from Dengzhou, as well as Lu Wenyuan, Lu Zeyang and others, also waited for their rewards.
Yang Sichang naturally knew about these things. He also heard that behind these achievements, Kun Thief might have some dirty tricks involved. Not to mention, the so-called Dengzhou New Army he organized and trained had many rifles and artillery, and it is said that there were even thieves to guide them.
He had no interaction with Sun Yuanhua. Why did the emperor ask him this question? He soon remembered that the Ministry of War had received a report from Sun Yuanhua a few days ago, and the Dengzhou Navy and Dongjiang soldiers intercepted the Tartar cavalry on the banks of the Yalu River. Frustrated the slave chief's attempt to invade North Korea. His Majesty probably thought of Sun Yuanhua again from this.
Then I thought about the embarrassing situation of the imperial court during the Dengzhou Incident, the prosecution of relevant officials afterwards, and the important task of quelling the rebellion that I now shoulder. Regardless of whether Sun Yuanhua has Tongkun or not, if he made a remonstrance that was unfavorable to Sun, if the court really took action based on this, with Sun Yuanhua's achievements and military prestige, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no Dengzhou incident, and Yang Sichang's If you don't talk about "putting down the chaos" halfway, it will be difficult to get rid of it if the court investigates it afterwards.
Since Sun Yuanhua put down the Dengzhou Rebellion, his contribution has been obvious to all, from the emperor to the officials. The Dongjiang River can be maintained only because of Sun Yuanhua's support. Sun's influence in the imperial court is not small. He was originally promoted by the current chief minister Wen Tiren. Although his mentor and in-law Xu Guangqi is no longer in the cabinet, his influence has not diminished. He is now training troops for the imperial court in Tianjin. It is said that Also quite accomplished.
(End of chapter)
