In early September of the second year of Tianqi, the Protector devoted his limited energy to directing Shaanxi to quell the chaos, hoping to once and for all solve the stubborn problems that had plagued the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years.
In comparison, the conflict on Sakhalin, thousands of miles away, seemed less tense and urgent.
However, Liu Zhaosun was well aware of the Russians' desire for territory. If Mao Zi was left alone, their next goal would be Liaodong, so he asked Ma Shiying to select elite soldiers and generals to teach the Cossack bandits a lesson.
The New Deal reforms that were originally scheduled to begin this fall (abolition of North-South water transport officials, abolition of six departments in Nanjing, etc.) had to be postponed due to the sudden deterioration of the situation in Shaanxi.
The Lord Protector's wish to be Zhang Juzheng's second best cannot be realized in a short period of time.
Compared with the early days of Longqing and Wanli, the current situation in the Ming Dynasty is undoubtedly more difficult.
Liu Zhaosun had little hope for the conduct of civil servants in the Ming Dynasty, but the actions of officials in Shaanxi and Shanxi still refreshed his outlook.
In August and September, Tangma and Pu soldiers from all Shaanxi provinces galloped on the post roads day and night, constantly traveling between the capital and Sanqin.
Shortly after Deng Changxiong, Sun Chuanting, Wang Zengbin and others led their troops to the west, bad news spread to the capital one after another.
Reports from prefectures and counties in northern and central Shaanxi requesting for help spread to the capital like snowflakes and gathered in front of the Duke Protector's desk.
The bandits walked like the wind and swept through eastern Shaanxi. Before Mangui led his cavalry to reinforce Henan, the bandits and horse soldiers swept through the prefectures and counties in western Henan, northwestern Shanxi and other places like strong winds and showers.
Every time a city was conquered, the bandits did not stop. They just swept away the people in the city and then continued to move towards the next target like locusts.
Many refugees initially joined the armed march because they were forced to do so.
Later I found out that by joining in the robbery, I could make ends meet and save the lives of the whole family.
As a result, with the continuous siege of cities, burning, killing, and looting, many people began to change their minds after tasting the benefits.
In this era, geographical barriers were widespread. Not to mention different states and counties, even two villages half a mile apart could break out into life-and-death fights over water sources or farmland disputes.
Walking hundreds of miles and entering prefectures and counties is like entering another world for most farmers.
Therefore, the guilt of burning, killing and looting is not so deep.
People turn from victims into perpetrators.
Finally, he became the backbone of the bandits.
After several rounds of burning, killing and looting, humanity was completely gone and only the bestiality remained.
~~~~
The first day of September.
Liu Zhaosun took the stack of information handed over by Shen Lian and read it roughly by the bright candlelight.
Shen Lian explained from the side:
"Duke Protector, these are the details of bribes accepted by the imperial censors from various provinces, prefectures, prefectures and counties over the years."
"Where did you get it?"
"Eunuch Zheng, the Supervisor of Ceremonies, gave it to his subordinates. He said that he still had a lot of evidence of the censor's crimes."
Liu Zhaosun smiled and nodded.
The ceremonial supervisor and the censor Yanguan have never dealt with him.
The censor often found various reasons to attack the eunuchs, and often impeached the eunuchs for their poor conduct and for their interference in politics.
In the Ming Dynasty, the downfall of several famous eunuchs such as Wang Zhen, Feng Bao, and Wei Zhongxian were directly related to Yanguan Yushi.
In the same way, the hatred of eunuchs and eunuchs towards Yanguan is much higher than that of other civil servants.
This is also one of the reasons why Yang Lian Zuo Guangdou and other imperial censors were tortured to death by Wei Zhongxian in history.
He had already heard about the censors blackmailing hundreds of officials, but he didn't expect that these censors would dare to ask Liaodong Governor.
The Protector held a thick stack of accounts in his hand, opened a page at random, pointed to a few of the names and said:
"Zhang Fengyi, He Tingshu, Pan Yunyi."
"These three censors impeached Liaodong administrator Xiong Tingbi in the 46th year of Wanli, and extorted 500 taels from Xiong Jinglue but failed. Then in the second year of Taichang, they impeached Liaodong administrator Wang Zaijin and extorted 3000 taels from Wang Zaijin. Tianjin governor, Denglai The governor has been blackmailed by them, and he is really courageous. No wonder he is so good at cursing people."
Shen Lian added:
"Duke Protector, these three people are now in the capital. My subordinates sent people to sneak into Zhang Fengyi's house. They found nearly one million taels of silver hidden in the Zhang family's cellar, as well as many antique calligraphy and paintings."
Liu Zhaosun stood up and said angrily:
"You bastard! All of them usually claim to be incorruptible. They are the conscience of the Ming Dynasty. I didn't expect that one of them is more greedy than the other."
Shen Lian asked tentatively:
"Should we arrest them and bring them to the Zhenfu Department for trial?"
Liu Zhaosun thought for a moment, nodded in agreement:
"Okay, we'll catch the three together. No matter what method you use, you must let them bite out the other censors. This time, you will catch all these flies. Even if you cannot convict them of death, you must send them far away."
"remember."
The Protector added:
"This time we will only deal with the censor. No officials from other yamen will be held accountable."
"Yes, sir."
Shen Lian took the order and left.
Before he could retreat, Zhang Dong suddenly barged in.
"Duke Protector, it's not good, the bandits have crossed the Yellow River!"
Liu Zhaosun said angrily:
"This group of losers in Shanxi are more hateful than the officials in Shaanxi. They are too smart to sell food to neighboring provinces. Now the retribution has come! Now, the Central Plains will also be in chaos!"
~~~~
Shortly after the Shaanxi Civil War, a small group of thieves crossed the Yellow River and entered Shanxi.
At first, the bandits came and went suddenly, but later, under the pretext of "preventing theft," local officials in Shanxi ordered a closure and banned the transportation of grain into the famine-stricken areas where the bandits were active. In this way, the number of thieves from Shaanxi who forcibly crossed the river to enter Jin continued to increase.
In August of the second year of Tianqi, when the Western Expeditionary Army marched into Qin, Shaanxi bandits began to enter Shanxi on a large scale.
Beginning on the second day of August, Laohui troops such as Ma Shouyi, Ba Jingang, Wang Zishun, and Zhuanjishu crossed the Yellow River and captured Pu County. Then the troops were divided into two lines, the east line was along the Zhaocheng, Hongdong, Fenzhou, and Huozhou lines; the thin line was along the Shilou, Yonghe, Jizhou, and Xixian lines.
On August 20, relying on the internal response of the hungry people, the bandits occupied Hequ, an important town in northwestern Shanxi, and controlled the Yellow River ferry (see Note 1).
The bandits poured into Shanxi. Prefecture and county officials in Taiyuan, Datong, Pingyang and other places sent troops to suppress them. On the other hand, they impeached Shaanxi officials for "beggar-thy-neighbor" and deliberately allowed the bandits to enter Shanxi.
Zheng Zongzhou, the minister of Taipu Temple, said:
Since the forty-fifth year of Wanli, Gaijin Tu has been free from disasters for five years, especially last year. Focusing on the Yanhuang faction, eager for sparks, the transfer will be difficult. Although the price in the imperial court was 220,000, the actual cost among the people was more than one million. There is a secretary but he wants to pass the examination, and he urges the old and the new together. He sells his wife, cuts out the new and knocks out the marrow, and the skin and bones of the people are gone. Today, the spring rain has not touched (meaning that the court will not provide any relief), the wind and haze are changing day by day, the four seasons are not right, people's hearts are anxious, and the situation is precarious. The weak turn to the ravine, and the strong are angry and find it difficult to speak. It is inevitable that the beheading will occur everywhere. (Note 2)
The Western Expeditionary Army was blocked on the east side of the small county of Hequ. Refugees in several surrounding states and counties started to revolt. For a while, Deng Changxiong was at a loss of ground.
The army camped on the east bank of the Yellow River, preparing to attack Niangniangtan and enter Shaanxi.
Niangniangtan is a small island in the middle of the Yellow River near Hequ County.
In the early Western Han Dynasty, Empress Lu was in power. Bo Ji and her son Liu Heng were sent to this small island in the middle of the river by Empress Lu, and were actually placed under house arrest.
Later, the Lu family was destroyed and Liu Heng became emperor, becoming Emperor Wen of Han. This place is called Niangniang Beach to commemorate it.
Note:
(1) "Records of the Huailing Rogue Bandits" and "Hequ County Chronicles" in the seventh year of Shunzhi: Wang Kegui, the king of the disorderly people, led the thieves in, and the city fell.
(2) "Chongzhen Changbian" Volume 44
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