As the harsh sound of whips sounded, the ministers who had arrived outside the gate of Qianqing Palace early. A few ministers who were still rubbing their palms and yawning suddenly became energetic and walked to where they should stand. Stand next to each other.
This time is just the beginning of Chen, which is seven o'clock in the morning, and it is also seven o'clock in the morning on the twentieth of the first lunar month. It is the first lunar month in Beijing, and it is still the early morning of the first lunar month in the eleventh year of Kangxi's reign before the Little Ice Age. On this day How cold it must be!
If you stand on Jingshan Mountain and look down, the city of Beijing is still white at this time. The snow has not yet melted!
At this temperature, at this time, the top bureaucrats in the Qing court had to get up early, run outside the imperial gate of Qianqing Palace, endure the biting cold wind, and wait for the Qing official. The little Holy Lord sat under the Qianqing Gate and listened to the government.
This is Yumenzhengzheng, also known as going to the morning court!
Unlike later TV dramas in which a bunch of ministers wearing flower feathers stand in a large hall to attend court, Kangxi liked to attend court outdoors - of course, if the ministers were outdoors, he would not necessarily do so.
It was too cold in winter, so he listened to politics in the Xinuang Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, while the ministers were freezing outside the Qianqing Gate. It was too hot in the summer, so Kangxi went to the Qinzheng Hall on Yingtai Island to listen to politics. The ministers were basking in the sun outside the Qinzheng Hall. If Kangxi went out, for example, to hunt rabbits on the grassland north of Yanshan Mountain, the ministers would have to go to court in the wild.
Moreover, Kangxi was not like those later Qing emperors who became more and more lazy, and only went to court every now and then. He went to court every day. Unless there is rain or snow, he will change the time. If it rains non-stop all day, then it will probably be canceled.
In addition, this imperial court is not like a vegetable market. A large group of courtiers are there to discuss politics one by one. Instead, they take turns kneeling in front of Kangxi to talk things over. According to the system, the ministers of the Zongren Mansion went to kneel first, and then the six ministers and nine ministers and other imperial ministers went up to kneel and present themselves one by one. The officials of the Ministry of Personnel were the last to "stay in court", that is, after everyone else left, the officials of the Ministry of Personnel and others knelt down. The emperor made a small report.
However, the rules have changed a bit today. When the ministers arrived outside the Qianqing Gate, they saw that the royal couch had been placed in the middle of the Qianqing Gate, and a screen and table were set up behind the couch. Seeing this, the emperor was pretending to be the emperor today. In the biting cold wind, I am holding an imperial court hearing at Qianqingmen. Maybe I will use this opportunity to announce something important to everyone, right?
Recently, there have been rumors in the capital that the young emperor also followed Cao Rui's example and went to Xi'an to supervise the war. This young emperor compares himself to Cao Rui, so the question arises. In his eyes, who is Cao Zhen and who is Sima Yi? Woolen cloth?
Also, if the young emperor is Cao Rui, then who is Zhuge Liang? Could it be Wu Sangui? Isn't this a huge compliment to this slave with three surnames?
When the whip was sounded, the officials who were freezing outside Qianqing's door were all thinking deeply about these issues. When they looked at each other, they both looked worried.
Even if the little emperor, Wu Sangui, and Yue Le are not matched up with the characters in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", just talking about this imperial chariot's personal expedition makes people a little worried. The little emperor is not an entrepreneurial leader who will take over the world immediately. He is addicted to war, so A war-oriented person, going into battle is a personal hobby. The little emperor is a comfortable emperor who grew up in the palace since he was a child. He is about to lead a military expedition in person. How can this situation get better?
In addition, in recent days, there are rumors that the emperor wants to develop the wasteland outside the Pass. A total of 80,000 landless households from the six provinces of Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Zhili will be recruited to help the Eight Banners outside the Pass. Farm!
This thing always sounds a little wrong!
Isn't the land outside the Pass reserved as a retreat for the Manchus?
Is this going to be used?
"The Emperor has arrived!" Following the shout of a guard with a loud voice, all the important officials of the Qing Dynasty, who were standing in the cold wind and freezing, fell down on the mountain and worshiped. Then I heard the sound of footsteps, and then the voice of the little Emperor Kangxi who was in the process of changing his voice: "Pingshen, Pingshen!"
Everyone got up and peeked up. They saw Kangxi wearing thick court clothes, sitting on the imperial couch, smiling and twirling court beads, with a confident expression on his pockmarked face, as if he had won a great battle. Seeing that the ministers had climbed up and took their seats, he smiled and said: "Today I came to the imperial gate in person to tell you two important things. One is that I plan to imitate Emperor Wei Ming's personal expedition to Xi'an. Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdoms period did that But the god-like figure was countless times more powerful than the Wu Sangui who is causing trouble today. How much noise did he make when he came out of Qishan? Cao Wei almost couldn't stand it!
But when Cao Rui announced that the imperial commander would go on a personal expedition, the people of Yongzhou suddenly felt at ease. Once the people's hearts are stabilized, Zhuge Liang, no matter how talented he is, can only take one step at a time and fight steadily. But once this is established, how much capital does Shu Han have? How much capital does Cao Wei have? No matter how talented Zhuge Liang is, if one Han soldier replaces three Wei soldiers from the Cao family, Cao Wei will definitely win!
Now that Wu Sangui suddenly rises, the world is shocked, just like when Zhuge Liang came out of Qishan. The key to resisting Wu Sangui is to stabilize people's hearts. With people's hearts stabilized, wouldn't it be a matter of time before the imperial court's manpower and material resources were used to drain Wu Sangui's energy? What is the population of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan now owned by Wu Sangui? How many people does the imperial court have? As long as we can hold on, Wu Sangui will be crowned sooner or later!
In addition, in the past, the reason why Cao Wei was able to defeat the heroes of the Central Plains and pacify the world in one breath was that even with opponents like Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu, he could still stabilize the Central Plains. In addition to the ruthlessness and insidiousness of Emperor Wu of Wei, the reason why Cao Wei was able to stabilize the land and stabilize the people was method. Cao Wei did a good job in farming, allowing the people of the Central Plains to live in peace, and the Cao family was able to collect enough money and grain. If you have money and food, you can last forever!
Now I also want to learn from Cao Wei. Not only do I have to personally fight against Wu Sangui, but I also recruit a total of 80,000 poor farmers from the six provinces of Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Zhili to work outside the pass. Of course, these 80,000 households All will be under the name of the Eight Banners!
I plan to set up the Eight Banners Tuntian Dutong to be responsible for this matter, and select 10 million acres of good land from outside the customs that used to be fertile land but are now abandoned for reclamation. I have already calculated it. Ten million acres of fertile land, even if the rent for one acre is only five bushels of wheat, it will be five million dan a year! Five million stones, how much can be transported by water in a year? With this number, the Eight Banners’ rations are enough! If it can be increased to 20 million acres or 30 million acres in the future, am I still afraid that I will not be able to defeat Wu Sangui?
In addition, the six provinces of Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Zhili in Guanhuan have a relatively large population, and the land is not very fertile. They often suffer from disasters and are prone to civil unrest. Since ancient times, as long as these provinces are stable, the world will be stable! If the world is stable, then we, the children of the Eight Banners, can live a good life from generation to generation! "
He talked a lot, and the ministers below thought it was quite reasonable. Although this little emperor was not old, he was not rough at all in his work. He was not eager to put out Wu Sangui's rebellion, but took a steady and steady approach. The method of keeping is prepared to grind slowly with Wu Sangui.
And he also prepared for the worst and started to manage the retreat outside Guanwai. If Guanwai could really cultivate 30 million acres of fertile land and deliver five measures of wheat per acre, he would have 15 million shi a year! On average, 50 shi of wheat can be used to raise an Eight Banners soldier, which can also support 300,000 Eight Banners soldiers!
There are 300,000 Eight Banners troops, but are you afraid that Wu Sangui won't be able to use them all?
After Kangxi said these words, he paused for a moment, and then said: "This is my way to deal with Wu Sangui. What ideas do you have, you can share them today, and follow the order of the past. Starting from the People's Government, one yamen after another came to tell me!"
Not to mention, Kangxi is quite "democratic" today. He does not have the Sacred Heart to be arbitrary. Instead, he is willing to discuss things with everyone.
Of course, before today's "conference", he had already held a small meeting with the bachelors below, the heads of the six ministries and nine ministers, and several clan princes. Everyone basically agreed with his "steady and steady" approach. After all, Yue Le was so good at fighting that Wu Sangui jumped into the Tuojiang River. Would anyone else dare to think of a quick victory?
Now, as long as the war can be dragged into a protracted period, it will be a great success!
Hunan, Lizhou, Shimen County, Jiashan Temple.
On the second floor of the Sutra Pavilion, in the study room where Fengtian Jade Monk Li Zicheng recited scriptures and studied (learned to rebel), a secret meeting was also taking place at the moment. A secret meeting to discuss launching an armed uprising!
The old monk Li Zicheng looks much more energetic now than he did a few months ago. His old face is full of energy, one eye is shining, and his voice is much louder. He looks at least ten years younger.
It seems that Lao Li's favorite job is to rebel. He has endless energy to do it!
"Your Majesty, I have already gone to Kuizhou Fucheng to meet Wu Yingxiong, and we have agreed with him that we will start a big fuss here in Lizhou. We will cooperate with the Wu Guogui soldiers to leave Hunan and destroy the Qing army in Huguang, especially the Qing army in Huguang. All the Eight Banners soldiers from Jingzhou will be attracted to Hunan. Then the Wu army will take the trail between Kuizhou Prefecture and Xiangyang Prefecture to surprise Xiangyang Prefecture."
The one who was talking to Li Zicheng was still Liu Yihu. He had been very busy in the past two or three months, traveling back and forth between Kuizhou and Lizhou. After meeting Wu Yingxiong, he came to discuss launching an uprising with Li Zicheng.
"It's not Xiangyang, it's Xiangjing!" Li Zicheng suddenly interrupted Liu Yihu.
When the new and old rebels who attended this secret meeting with Liu Yihu heard the word "Xiangjing", their eyes lit up!
Xiangjing was the name Li Zicheng changed to Xiangyang Prefecture after he formally proclaimed himself king in Xiangyang!
In a sense, Xiangyang Mansion was the place of Longxing in Dashun Dynasty!
Li Zicheng continued: "Xiangyang is an iron-clad city and the place where we have great success and prosperity. Unfortunately, we were too impatient back then and did not calm down and manage the territory of Xiangyang Mansion properly. This time our opportunity has come again. , can’t miss it again!”
Liu Yihu was stunned, "Your Majesty, aren't we planning to establish a base in Lizhou?"
Li Zicheng smiled: "How can Lizhou be as good as Xiangjing? I want you to take Lizhou first because Lizhou is easy to capture and is located in a corner, so it is not easy to attract the attention of the Tatar court. And Xiangyang is an iron-forged city. Uh-huh. It's hard to chew it down. But now that Wu Sangui wants to attack the south, Lizhou will become the first target that the Tatar army will attack when they come south. It's not cost-effective for them to stick to Lizhou, and they still have to cross. Go north of the Yangtze River. Let Wu Guogui and the Tatars struggle in Hunan, and we can go to Xiangyang to fight. Even if it fails, as long as Wu Yingxiong takes Xiangyang, we can retreat and do the next best thing, to capture De'an and Xinyang, and Dabie Mountain and Tongshan. It shouldn't be too difficult for Baishan to become our base."
After all, Li Zicheng had been a bandit for more than ten years. He couldn't be more proficient in how to avoid the truth and make false claims, and how to attack the east and the west.
He previously planned to turn Lizhou into a base area, but that was because he didn't know the big plans of Wu Sangui and Wu Yingxiong. Now he already knew that Wu Sangui and Wu Yingxiong wanted to mobilize the Huguang Qing army to go to Hunan first, and then surrender to Xiangyang Prefecture. Of course, he discovered something new from it. Opportunity.
"Your Majesty, when will we be able to revolt?" Liu Yihu asked expectantly, "Wu Yingxiong hopes that we can raise troops in Lizhou as soon as possible. He also made a Lizhou deputy general and gave him A thousand taels of gold for military expenses and a large number of armors and weapons have all been transported to Jiashan Temple!"
Wu Yingxiong was still willing to spend money, and the price was one thousand taels of gold, as well as enough armor and weapons to arm five hundred elite soldiers - all good things pulled from the Eight Banners soldiers and Green Camp soldiers!
Li Zicheng said with great joy: "Well, there is a batch of armor and weapons hidden here, enough for a thousand people. With the 500 sets of armor you brought, we can make up 1,500 soldiers!"
One thousand and five hundred soldiers is not a small number. And it does not have armor and weapons. To be able to have one thousand five hundred soldiers, there must be strong men who can put on these armors and take up weapons to kill the Tatars!
When Li Zicheng said this, he seemed to be telling Liu Yihu that he still had a secret weapon in his hand and could raise troops to revolt at any time!
"Your Majesty, when can we start an uprising?" Liu Yihu asked again.
"Come on, come on," Li Zicheng said, "We will go down the mountain tomorrow. We will go to Lizhou City first, and then go south to attack Anfu County!"
"Go to Lizhou first? Do you want to revolt in Lizhou?" Liu Yihu asked, "Why not take Shimen first?"
Li Zicheng smiled and said: "Yihu, don't you know that rabbits don't eat grass on the edge of their nests? Shimen County is full of grass on the edges of their nests. Don't touch it easily. Keep it first and wait for the critical moment before launching it."
"Then Your Majesty, how many people are we going to send to capture Lizhou? This time we have brought two hundred warriors!"
"There is no need for so many," Li Zicheng said with a smile, "Lizhou City is so small, how can it need 200 elite soldiers? I don't even know if there are 200 green soldiers in the city defense camp in Lizhou?"
"What your Majesty said is that you don't know how many troops your Majesty is planning to send?"
Li Zicheng first stretched out a finger, and then turned the finger into an "eight" hand shape.
"One hundred and eighty?" Liu Yihu said as he thought, there is not much difference between one hundred and eighty and two hundred!
Li Zicheng smiled: "Eighteen people!"
"What? Eighteen people are going to conquer a state?" Liu Yihu was shocked, "Your Majesty, is it too few?"
"Quite a few," Li Zicheng said with a smile. "The key to taking Lizhou is to be surprised. If you want to attack the city by force, eight hundred people are not enough. But if you want to launch an attack in the city and scare away Huang Zhisheng, the magistrate of Lizhou, eighteen people are enough. That one is enough." The man surnamed Huang was a wealthy man from Xinhui, Guangdong. He was a Jinshi and spent money to buy a job in Lizhou. After taking office, he only thought about making money and never did anything serious.
As for the Lizhou city defense camp, it was the foundation of the old Ming army. If they were left to live in a small place like Lizhou, the officials would know how to eat their dues and drink the blood of the soldiers, and the soldiers would not be able to work hard. They all have their own They were making a living, and they were all looking forward to Wu Sangui's troops coming over. To take Lizhou with 18 people is conservative! "
Eighteen people take a state city. Still conservative! If there are 108 heroes, will he attack the city of Beijing?
Liu Yihu couldn't help but admire him. This King Chuang is still King Chuang. In his old age, the hero is still heroic. If you follow him in rebellion, your future will be bright!
"Your Majesty," Liu Yihu finally asked, "when will we take action?"
Li Zicheng smiled again and said, "I don't know when we will do it."
"I don't know?" Liu Yihu was stunned. Isn't this Li Zicheng an old fool? He didn't know when the rebellion was going to happen, and he even said he wanted to take Lizhou. Is this Li Zicheng, Emperor Li, really an old man?
Li Zicheng said: "Yihu, why are you confused? Rebellion requires sudden attack and waiting for the opportunity. How can we make an appointment? To tell you the truth, I have already sent seventeen heroes to put on makeup. They can start an uprising in Lizhou City at any time. We can just listen to the news here."
(End of chapter)
