The Manchu and Qing troops came out of the customs, and King Qin's army returned triumphantly. However, while they were still on the road, the approximate losses of the war against the captives, which began when they entered the customs in October of the 11th year of Chongzhen, were also calculated.
The Manchu and Qing troops moved for more than two thousand miles, causing harm to Hebei Province, Shuntian Prefecture, and the western and northern areas of Shandong. In addition to Jinan Prefecture, three other prefectures, fifty-five counties, and two Great Wall checkpoints were breached. Governor Ji Liao Wu Aheng was killed, and he captured alive Zhu Youshu, the king of virtue, Zhu Ciying, the prince of the county, Zhu Cishang, the general of Fengguo, Feng Xuxin, the eunuch of the army, and Sun Chengzong, who retired and returned to his hometown. Hundreds of his family members all died fighting to resist the Manchus. Countless people were destroyed, including nearly 200,000 people from the Ming Dynasty who were plundered to Liaodong alone. Not to mention gold, silver and jewelry.
After this battle, the areas ravaged by the rebels needed to be rebuilt, and the nearly 200,000 rescued people needed to be resettled, and many more refugees needed to be resettled properly. Although the war is over, there is still a lot that needs to be done.
But no matter what, after all, we have won several great battles and rescued many people. Compared with the previous times, when we could only watch the Tatars plunder and come out, we have made progress after all. .
More importantly, Emperor Chongzhen needed this victory and publicized this victory to boost the morale of the people across the country, to enhance the prestige of the court and his reputation as an emperor. Therefore, the victorious King Qin's army must be treated with great dignity. .
However, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and there will always be struggles in the court.
The war had just ended when someone in the court jumped out and demanded accountability for the fall of the clan! This is a major matter, and if it is brought to light, even Emperor Chongzhen must take it seriously.
I don't know if it was a coincidence, but the clans of the vassals from all over the country also went to the court to cry out for King De.
In the original history, Emperor Chongzhen started beheading him for this matter. In August of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, thirty-six civil and military ministers including Yan Jizu, Zu Kuan, Ni Chong, Deng Xizhao, Sun Maolin and other governors were collectively escorted to the West Market of the capital, where they were stabbed and interrogated on the street. cut.
The person who drew up the list of these people and executed them was Yang Sichang.
Faced with the fierce demands for justice for King De, Emperor Chongzhen of course had to comply with the "public opinion". During the discussion in the Wenhua Hall, he angrily expressed his position: "This matter has rarely happened since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. It is so appalling. If I don’t punish those responsible for this matter, I will be ashamed of King De and Taizu Chengzu!”
Hearing this, the cabinet minister Yang Sichang smiled. It seems that after the war is over, Emperor Chongzhen will finally return to the original Emperor Chongzhen. Lu Xiangsheng has been used up, and it’s time to deal with him. Haha, it's a shame that I thought the emperor had changed his temper before, but he was still protecting Lu Xiangsheng. It turns out that he is just going to fight with him!
Above the court, basically all officials have this idea. After all, in their opinion, Lu Xiangsheng was in charge of King Qin's army this time. When he led King Qin's army to fight against Jianlu, he ended up losing the clan. If he was not the first responsible person, then who was the first responsible person? If you want to punish others, then Lu Xiangsheng must punish him first!
For this reason, they believed that when Lu Xiangsheng led King Qin's army back to the capital and handed over military power, he would be imprisoned.
In this regard, Yang Sichang even "kindly" reminded Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, now that Lu Shangshu has military power, in the opinion of a humble minister, it is better to postpone the investigation of responsibility for the time being!"
"Yes, yes, this matter needs long-term consideration!"
"Your Majesty, I also second my opinion!"
"..."
Listening to these ministers expressing their opinions like this, as if they were determined to deal with Lu Xiangsheng, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but sneer in his heart.
Haha, the chief culprit I am talking about and the one who is to be held accountable for the fall of the clan is not Lu Xiangsheng, but Yang Sichang, Chen Xinjia, the eight major Shanxi merchants and other related people. If it weren't for you people, why would Jianlu be so rampant! Why did he fall into the vassal state!
Just wait, wait until I have restructured King Qin's army and reorganized the army under Yumajian. After I have a reliable army, I will kill you all with thunder!
However, it is actually quite difficult to complete this adaptation.
Because Sun Chuanting's army was better off, his policy of "clearing the villages to replenish wages" gave him enough money and food. In addition, the Qin soldiers under his command were newly formed after he took office as governor of Shaanxi. Therefore, the soldiers and horses under his command are all regular soldiers, and there is no retainer system common to other armies.
As for Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides, he did not train new troops. He mobilized the generals and other generals who were able to fight in various places under his jurisdiction. At this time in the late Ming Dynasty, basically all the general soldiers were servants. Including Cao Bianjiao, He Renlong and others. And this kind of situation will naturally no longer exist after it is reorganized into the jurisdiction of the Royal Horse Supervisor.
Of course, the reason why it is a servant system cannot be said to be that Cao Bianjiao and others are corrupt generals. Therefore, the formation of the servant system actually has historical origins, and it is not that Cao Bianjiao and others wanted to deduct military pay to support the servants.
Since Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty abolished the Kaizhong Law, the military grain reserves on the northern border have been catastrophically damaged, and the combat effectiveness of the border troops has been greatly reduced. The Mongols often came to plow the valleys, sometimes on a very large scale, which aggravated the desolation of the farmland and strengthened the Mongols. After this situation continues for a period of time, the border army will naturally take corresponding measures.
Starting from the Jiajing period, the frontier army began to adapt. This adaptation is aimed at the characteristics of the Mongols.
The characteristic of the Mongols is to concentrate their forces first to break through the border wall. After breaking through the border, they dispersed and plundered in cavalry groups of about a thousand people due to their high mobility.
One of the characteristics of the Mongols is that they are poor; therefore, the equipment and combat effectiveness of their cavalry are not actually of the same level for all of them; rather, only a few cavalry are standing armies, with excellent armor and high-quality weapons, and are trained regularly. Very high combat effectiveness.
As for those herdsmen, they only know how to ride horses and shoot arrows. If an army wants to be strong, it must have good military discipline. At least it must be able to obey military orders, know all the rules in the army, be able to cooperate in fighting, have a strong will to fight, etc. Ordinary herdsmen just herd sheep, so they would naturally know how to fight if they went into battle. To put it bluntly, when they invaded the Ming Dynasty, they were just armed herdsmen, just herdsmen.
Under such circumstances, the Mongols' thousand-man cavalry army was often just a handful of elite cavalry leading a large group of armed herdsmen to plunder.
In addition, the population of the Mongols and their lack of supplies determined that they could not bear the heavy losses of their elites. Therefore, in response to this situation, the Ming Dynasty border army only needed to defeat or eliminate those elite Mongolian cavalry, and the remaining Those armed herdsmen themselves will be scared away.
From this, the Ming army also formed an elite cavalry army. This cavalry army was required to defeat the Mongolian elite cavalry army, so naturally the number of people could not be that large. And these cavalry must be following the general, so they can easily evolve into the general's personal followers, that is, the servants.
It was right that the servant system was introduced at the beginning. After all, the army's pay was insufficient and it was impossible to train the entire army into elites, so it was necessary to have an army that could fight.
But as the years went by, the shortcomings of this military system emerged. The resources in the army were inevitably tilted towards servants, making Ming's millions of border troops basically become decorations.
Regarding this situation, in fact, after the Ming Dynasty War God Qi Jiguang arrived in the north, he also saw the disadvantages and wrote to the court. At that time, he had a backer in the court, who was holding Zhang Juzheng's thigh, so he was able to delegate power. The newly formed army did not have the system of servants.
It's just a pity that after Zhang Juzheng's fall, he, as a member of Zhang Juzheng's family, was also liquidated. The army he trained finally returned to its original state because of his departure. Even in the Tianqi years, even the last remaining bloodline, the Qi family army led by Qi Jin, was completely wiped out in the Battle of Hunhe.
When Emperor Chongzhen was thinking about these things, the imperial censor Yang Zhiqi went out to report again: "Your Majesty, I heard that those soldiers and ruffians killed and ate many of the animals that the emperor had collected for them. They didn't care at all. Considering the preciousness of animal power, such behavior shows that he has won several battles by relying on it, and he is suspected of being an arrogant and fierce general. The minister thought that when he came to Beijing this time, he should show them some color and let them know the majesty of the imperial court! "
Emperor Chongzhen was stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect that someone would say such a thing.
"I second the proposal!" Another censor, Liao Guolin, also jumped out and said, "The imperial court spent such a high price, allocating millions of taels of silver to them, and recruiting countless animals, those proud soldiers and brave generals Maybe their tails will fly up to the sky, so they must be suppressed. The three leaders should be held accountable if they fail to properly discipline the three armies and allow them to be arrogant."
"Your Majesty, I think something is wrong." At this time, Xue Guoguan, the first assistant, stood up and said, "The army has just won the battle. Even if it only eats some meat, there is nothing to make a fuss about. Everyone in the capital eats it every day. Meat, right?”
"..." His words immediately silenced the hall. Xue Manzi’s bad mouth is well-deserved!
After being stunned for a moment, although Xue Guoguan was the first assistant, it immediately caused a violent rebound.
Many ministers were still watching the show. They knew that their colleagues were envious and jealous of King Qin's unprecedented achievements and wanted to suppress them. They were also happy to do so. However, they did not expect that Xue Guoguan would offend them with just one sentence. Naturally, they About to fight back.
So, some people said that Xue Guoguan himself ate meat every day, and others said, how can those soldiers and ruffians be compared with them? Some people even asked Xue Guoguan, if King Qin’s army arrives and they are not suspected of being arrogant and arrogant, and they are not arrogant and arrogant, they will lose. But if they are suspected of being arrogant and arrogant, then Xue Guoguan will swallow his words...
In the main hall, there was a huge quarrel just because of Xue Guoguan's words.
Emperor Chongzhen watched this with a cold eye. He wanted to see how many more people would jump out and accuse the soldiers who had just returned from a desperate fight in front.
He did not deny that King Qin's army might be a little arrogant because of their great victory. After all, this time, the Qin army first surrounded and annihilated about 5,000 Jianlu infantry; and then in the battle on the north bank of the Wei River in Tianjin, they annihilated more than 10,000 Manchu troops on foot and cavalry. In the ensuing war of attrition on the Weihe River, more than 5,000 Tatars were killed and injured. In the battle of Tianjin, the Tatars lost at least 20,000 troops.
In total, when the Tatars entered the customs this time, the casualties of the 100,000-strong army should be 30,000. Since the rise of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, when did it suffer such a major defeat? The Ming Dynasty army, which army has ever achieved such an impressive record? It would be a bit strange if there was no pride at all!
Perhaps these civil servants had estimated this and would not let go of it to attack the victorious King Qin's army!
Everyone has selfish motives, and these civil servants naturally become jealous when they see others making great achievements. On the one hand, he emphasized the guilt of the loss of the vassal vassal, and on the other hand, he began to blame King Qin's army himself. If Emperor Chongzhen is persuaded, the merits and demerits will be equal to each other. Even if the merits cannot be offset in the end, at least there will not be too many rewards and promotions.
From a humanistic point of view, Emperor Chongzhen actually felt that it would be difficult to restructure the army based on this consideration. After all, changing from the servant system to the previous regular soldier model is equivalent to taking away all the benefits of generals. These generals have just won a battle and their personal interests have been harmed. How can they be happy?
However, he didn't know that sometimes, general guesses about human nature are often affected by many things and become inaccurate. Just like King Qin's army this time, Emperor Chongzhen made a mistake, and even the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty made a mistake.
But of course Emperor Chongzhen didn't know it at this time. He also came to another conclusion in his mind, that is, Xue Guoguan was far less smooth than the late chief minister Wen Tiren, and his prestige was not enough to convince the public. We still need to pay more attention to this aspect in the future.
He was thinking about it, and waited until the Wenhua Palace gradually became quiet and all the officials were waiting for his opinion, then he shouted coldly: "It is said that King Qin's army is proud of its merits and has become a arrogant and powerful general. That is They have this qualification! I didn't expect that you still want to suppress them. Then next time the Jianlu enter the customs again, it will be up to you to kill the enemy and serve the country. Are you willing to go? Can you do better than them? "
Emperor Chongzhen's words caused silence in the hall. No one expected that the emperor was not affected by them at all. It seemed that the emperor's opinion was becoming more and more determined. Couldn't they influence it?
While they were thinking about it, Emperor Chongzhen said coldly again: "Even if you can't do martial arts, how can you govern the country? Have you done your duties well? Have you made achievements? Come on, come on, show me Look, where is your credit? If there is a credit similar to that of King Qin’s army, I will allow you to parade around the streets to praise your credit, and then have the glory of being the number one scholar? You should let me see such credit!"
The entire hall was silent, and no one made a sound. Naturally, no one felt that their achievements could be used to refute the emperor's words.
Emperor Chongzhen glanced coldly below. In fact, the original Emperor Chongzhen had already realized the virtues of the civil servants group. He clearly exposed the darkness of officialdom in his second sinner edict in the tenth year of Chongzhen.
"Being an official is only for personal gain, and being an official is related to trade. To collect money and food first, compare the fire consumption, and then to be envious after finishing the salary. Even if you have been exempted, you will go against the order and recruit privately. Only after repairs are discussed, you will take the opportunity to enrich yourself. Or call for help. If you don't give the value when you buy, or the post road has a false name, you can carry it in a sedan chair. If you send someone to send someone, you will sell the rich to the poor, or if you ask for advice, you will be honest and in vain. If you go against your will, you will beat the people at will; if you are rich, you can tolerate treachery. . The recommendation and impeachment of care and support are distorted, and the reputation and reputation of Yinjin are reversed. Another example is that the relatives of the nobles are insatiable and indulge in corruption in the capital. The local officials destroy the defense, abandon the defense, and invade the village. They accept scoundrels as their pawns and are thrown into the trap by the traitors. Offer. The unworthy officials are afraid of power and crookedly accept the responsibility, and the evil beetles are seduced by evil. Who can rest peacefully on this humble citizen!"
Of course, this edict of sin could not have been written by Emperor Chongzhen himself, but by the late chief minister Wen Tiren. Shortly after Wen Tiren wrote this edict of sin, he was removed from his official position and returned to his hometown sadly.
Regarding official corruption, the original Emperor Chongzhen was incapable of managing it, but the current Emperor Chongzhen is confident. At least, the first step, the factory guard's knife has been sharpened; the second step, the military power, has also achieved its goal immediately. This will be done slowly, step by step.
Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen stood up and said in a cold voice: "King Qin's army will arrive in the capital tomorrow, and all of you will come with me to greet them. I will let the officers and soldiers of King Qin's army know that I am watching them throw their heads and blood." In the eyes! So what if I take credit and be arrogant? If I had such great achievements every day, I would be able to live and work in peace and contentment long ago and dominate the world!"
After saying that, he walked away on the spot, obviously determined in his heart, and did not allow his ministers to refute, so it was decided!
Seeing this, Xue Guoguan also waved his sleeves and left. Yang Sichang and others were left to look at each other, but they were helpless. Once the emperor is strong and reasonable, they will have no choice.
The next day, King Qin's army returned in triumph and arrived at the outskirts of the capital.
