Upon hearing this, whether it was Lu Xiangsheng, Hong Chengchou or Sun Chuanting, all three of them respectfully listened to the order. They believed that the emperor would never treat them badly.
Emperor Chongzhen said with a sincere face: "There were many people in the court who impeached the ministers, but I kept them all in check. I also have some understanding of their thoughts behind them. I will definitely catch a few examples and punish them severely."
Hearing this, Lu Xiangsheng and the others secretly sighed in their hearts, "The Emperor's Holy Might!"
Then, they heard Emperor Chongzhen say: "Although the Jianlu were released, the northern part of the Ming Dynasty is still in a mess. I want to stabilize the northern part of the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible. After the chaos, there will be a great epidemic, which must be prevented; the victims must return to their hometowns. Arrangements are made for them to rebuild their homes; although today's bandits have been suppressed by Qing and others, they are no longer as arrogant as before; but the bandits cannot be eliminated unless the root cause is eliminated, and we must guard against and eradicate the root causes; Jianlu enters the pass Once, the people in the customs will be seriously injured, and this must be prevented, and they must not be allowed to enter the customs again."
After saying these words, Emperor Chongzhen's face became serious. He looked at the three of them and said: "I have confidence in the court and will definitely not be deceived by others again. Therefore, what I need most now is the local government." Political and military affairs. My dear friends, would you like to work harder and help me stabilize the place?"
What he had said ended here, and Lu Xiangsheng and others felt his sincerity in such a heart-to-heart conversation. Without even looking at each other, they all directly replied to Emperor Chongzhen, indicating that they obeyed the emperor's arrangements in everything.
Emperor Chongzhen was very satisfied after hearing this, nodded and said: "I knew that the three beloved ladies would not let me down. I will also remember the merits of the three beloved ladies. I believe there are portraits of the three beloved ladies in Lingtian Pavilion."
Hearing the emperor mentioning Lingtian Pavilion again, thinking that he would be as famous as the twenty-four heroes of Lingyun Pavilion in the Tang Dynasty, Lu Xiangsheng and other three civil servants could not help but feel excited. For the three of them, they pursue fame more than other civil servants. And this just scratches their itch.
Emperor Chongzhen looked at them and immediately continued: "My idea is this. At present, the main enemy of the Ming Dynasty is still the Liaodong Jianlu. And the original governor of Jiliao, Wu Aheng, died in the battle this time, and the position is vacant. I think, from Sun Qing takes over. Would you like to move the governor's palace to Shanhaiguan?"
Sun Chuanting was originally the governor of Shaanxi, and his promotion to governor of Jiliao was naturally a promotion. Although it was very difficult, he didn't care at all how difficult things were. I remember when he recommended himself to be the governor of Shaanxi, he wanted money but no money, no soldiers, and he was alone. With an appointment from the court, he came up with money and food, pulled out an elite army, and fought wildly. Many bandits fled everywhere, and even the biggest bandit at that time, Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang, fell into his hands and was escorted to the capital to be executed.
Therefore, after he heard what Emperor Chongzhen said, he immediately bowed down to receive the order and said: "I accept the order and will never disappoint His Majesty's trust!"
"Well, Sun Qing, feel free to do it. I will watch over you. There is no need to worry about anything later." Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said seriously, "One of the difficulties you may encounter is the Zuwu family in Guan Ning's army. They are in The forces in Guan Ning's army are intertwined, and we must handle them carefully. We can neither be controlled by them nor cause trouble. Of course, if they have ulterior motives, you don't have to worry, do you understand?"
Sun Chuanting knew as soon as he heard that the emperor was a little dissatisfied with Guan Ning's army, especially the Zuwu family in Guan Ning's army.
Originally, at the end of the second year of Chongzhen, Zu Dashou was able to privately lead his troops back to Shanhaiguan when Jianlu entered the pass and appeared near the capital. This kind of thing is definitely a thorn in the heart for the emperor. Although the emperor had pardoned the prisoners, in the following years, Zu Dashou and others never entered the customs to do any official work. They had been staying in Shanhaiguan, asking for soldiers and food, but they could not contain the Jianlu, and they did almost nothing. The Jianlu army entered the pass and plundered.
Although it is said that Guan Ningjun failed to enter the customs several times, there are indeed objective reasons. But has Zu Dashou tried his best? Or should we preserve our strength, support our troops with self-respect, and stay at the key pass from Shanhaiguan to Ningjin? This is really hard to say!
Sun Chuanting understood that Emperor Chongzhen's reminder may not be unreasonable. After he took office, the first thing he had to pay attention to was the behavior of Zu Dashou and his team. Thinking this, he immediately responded: "Your Majesty, I understand!"
"Okay!" Emperor Chongzhen heard this, praised it, and then asked, "If you go back to take up the post of governor of Jiliao, do you have any requirements? Anyway, if I can solve it, I will try my best to solve it!"
When Sun Chuanting heard this, he opened his mouth to ask for money, but he suddenly remembered that the emperor's money was all stolen from his home. It was rootless water and would not be much as much as he used it. Although the emperor had said something about money. , there is another source of living water, but the emperor has also said before that there are many places where money is needed. Just rebuilding the three camps under the Yuma Supervisor will require a large amount of money. The expenditure on armaments is simply a bottomless pit.
Thinking like this, he changed his mind and immediately said: "Your Majesty, the ministers only need to replenish the troops in various places under their jurisdiction and bring two months' military pay, and then the ministers will promote Qingtun in the areas under their jurisdiction to pay, and the rest will be done. no request!"
The lion opened his mouth and asked for millions of taels of silver. No matter who became the governor of Jiliao, if he spent enough money, he could always get something done. In this way, Sun Chuanting's importance among the ministers of Zhongxing could not be revealed. In addition, he already had relevant experience, so he just made such a request. In his opinion, the conditions were much better than when he went to Shaanxi alone to serve as governor.
Emperor Chongzhen was relieved after hearing this. Sun Chuanting did not disappoint him, so he nodded and said: "I'm sure. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can report it to me at any time. If I can solve it, I will definitely help you." Solve it!"
Hearing this, Sun Chuanting remembered that during this war with King Qin, didn't the emperor solve a lot of things for them? This promise of his was definitely not made casually.
Thinking this way, Sun Chuanting couldn't help but feel more confident.
After arranging things on his side, Emperor Chongzhen turned to look at Lu Xiangsheng and said: "Now that the matter of King Qin is over, Lu Qing was originally the governor of Xuanda. I thought that you are a versatile person in both civil and military affairs, so I would like to ask you to Are you willing to put it in an important place?"
Lu Xiangsheng's position as Minister of War was just an additional title to facilitate his command of King Qin's army. In other words, his job is to lead Qin Wang's army. Now that this job is gone, he has to find a new job.
"Your Majesty's decree, I should serve my best!" Lu Xiangsheng replied with a serious face.
In fact, he has always done so. Even if it was the position of commander of King Qin's army where the risks outweighed the benefits, and Emperor Chongzhen asked him to do it, he would go directly to Jianlu without saying a word. In the original history, he defended his words with his own life and truly dedicated himself to death. It can be said that he was the most responsible minister in the late Ming Dynasty. This is no exaggeration.
Emperor Chongzhen naturally knew this about him, so he expected that he would reply like this, so he immediately said to him: "I am going to establish a new post of governor of Shandong to lead the entire Shandong. The first thing Sun Qing has to do is to rebuild Dongjiang Town. Then you can threaten North Korea so that it does not dare to help the tyrants; secondly, you can threaten the western side of Liaodong Jianlu, so that they do not dare to divide their troops and go around the Mongolian grassland to enter the pass. These two goals are your most important responsibilities. Do you understand what I mean? ?”
This was actually made very clear, so Lu Xiangsheng naturally nodded immediately.
However, achieving these two goals is quite difficult.
The original Dongjiang Town has fallen apart since Mao Wenlong was killed by Yuan Chonghuan. Then, after Kong Youde and others defected to the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, they led the Manchu and Qing Dynasty troops to flatten Pidao. From this, there is no more Dongjiang Town. In the same way, the Manchu Qing Dynasty had no worries about flanking, and often sent troops to enter the pass via the Mongolian grassland.
The other one was also because Kong Youde and others led the old Dongjiang troops to join the Qing Dynasty and brought warships and boatmen to the Qing Dynasty, so that the Qing Dynasty also had a navy. Although they didn't pay much attention to it, it was better than before. If Dongjiang Town is to be rebuilt now, the Manchu Qing Dynasty will definitely send navy to attack. It is much stronger than before, but it is much better!
In addition, if Dongjiang Town is to be rebuilt and the Manchu military power needs to be contained, first of all, Dongjiang's combat power must be strong; secondly, the general must assess the situation and have sufficient warship sharpness. After all, Dongjiang Town at the beginning was actually similar to a base area behind enemy lines. Without some skills, it was impossible to gain a foothold. Even if Emperor Chongzhen has enough support for Dongjiang Town, it will not be easy across the sea.
It can be seen that this governor of Shandong is not easy to be a governor. Compared with the previous commander of King Qin's army, he is actually almost the same.
Lu Xiangsheng knew this very well. He had been the prefect of Daming Prefecture in the past and knew something about Shandong affairs. He even knew that conditions in Shandong today were actually worse than before.
The rebellion of Kong Youde and others at the beginning devastated many places in Shandong, and the raging raging of the rebels this time has led to the decline of people's livelihood in Shandong.
Of course Emperor Chongzhen would not let Lu Xiangsheng do this alone, so he said to him: "The navy under the command of Fujian coastal defense guerrilla Zheng Zhilong is very large, and it has far exceeded his official authority. Therefore, I am going to mobilize part of his navy to go north. , belongs to Denglai Navy."
Having said this, he said seriously: "However, Zheng Zhilong was originally a pirate, and now he has become a big man. I am not sure whether my will will be of use to him. Lu Qing should also be prepared. , if he violates my will or does other things, there will be no Southern Navy available. Therefore, Lu Qing still has to rebuild the Denglai Navy himself. I will allocate the money needed to you. As for Manpower, since you are the governor of Shandong, you can recruit it under your jurisdiction."
Hearing this, Lu Xiangsheng frowned slightly and immediately said: "Your Majesty, if Zheng Zhilong has second thoughts, I am willing to lead the Denglai Navy south to quell the rebellion! He is just a pirate, advancing both by land and water, how can he still Resist the imperial army?"
These people in the north didn't know Zheng Zhilong as well as people in later generations knew him. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen knew in later generations that Zheng Zhilong at this time had already dominated the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty, and the protection fees collected from the sea alone amounted to thousands of taels of silver every year.
Moreover, this guy is very shrewd and understands that his roots are still on the land, so he uses money to make friends with people in the official circles, big and small, and also spreads money to fellow villagers in Fujian, which makes his reputation very good in his hometown in Fujian. In the early years, when the imperial court wanted to annihilate him, he was arrested as the commander-in-chief because he had informants of all sizes to inform him.
After Emperor Chongzhen traveled through time, and after the war against the captives came to an end, he immediately began to pay attention to Zheng Zhilong's situation. He found that most people didn't know him. Because his position is very low and he is a military commander, he is not noticeable at all. Moreover, his main power is in Fujian, which is very far from the capital.
Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen spent a lot of effort to find some information about Zheng Zhilong. After confirming it with later generations' understanding of him, he roughly knew what Zheng Zhilong was like at this time.
At this time, after hearing what Lu Xiangsheng said, he shook his head and said: "Zheng Zhilong can go from being a businessman to wandering around the sea, and finally stand out from many pirates and become a tycoon who dominates the area. His ability is beyond doubt. His ability The power is far greater than you imagined. Now our Ming Dynasty Navy cannot compete with it. Do you know how much money the imperial court earns from the treasury in a year, and he has tens of millions of taels from sea taxation alone? So many!"
Hearing this, Lu Xiangsheng and the others were shocked. Even Wang Chengen, who had been playing soy sauce beside him, suddenly woke up. What, ten million taels of silver? Did the emperor say something wrong or did he hear it wrong?
When Lu Xiangsheng came back to his senses, he understood that the emperor would never speak in vain, so his expression immediately became serious. Because he knows that the power and strength of those who can get tens of millions of taels of silver every year are much inferior to even the rogue bandits who are making a fuss now. Ten million taels a year, how many soldiers can be raised?
Seeing his expression, Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said: "You don't have to worry about Zheng Zhilong's affairs now. You can go to Shandong to do the basic things first. As for Zheng Zhilong, I will see how he reacts before making a decision. What to do with him!"
"I obey the order!" Upon hearing this, Lu Xiangsheng immediately restrained his emotions and bowed to accept the order.
Then, Emperor Chongzhen turned to look at the third person, the Governor of the Three Sides, Hong Chengchou, and said to him: "You have done a good job as the Governor of the Three Sides, but I have another appointment for you. As for the Governor of the Three Sides, I have position, who do you think can take over?"
What this means is that the position of Governor of the Three Sides was recommended by Hong Chengchou, which can be regarded as a trust in him.
Hong Chengchou was a smart man, so he naturally understood this. He couldn't help but feel grateful and began to think about it seriously.
