The great victory at Nanguan resulted in over 10,000 casualties among the Jiannu slaves and the beheading of more than 8,000 people. News of the victory reached the capital and immediately caused a sensation from top to bottom.
There are good news every year, which seems to have become a tradition since the war to aid Korea in the seventh year of Tianqi. Every time, more gains are made, which is more exciting.
However, the news spread in the capital around the same time as the good news confused the imperial court. Even the emperor heard it and was very surprised.
After Luo Yangxing knelt down, he stood in front of His Highness and reported the news that had been spreading widely in the capital recently.
Chongzhen frowned slightly, thought for a long time, and said slowly: "Fang Zhenghua, the eunuch who supervises the army, did not mention this in his memorial to report the victory. Is it because Jiannu has not had this idea yet, or is this simply a rumor?"
Luo Yangxing was not sure. He could only guess and said: "I can't rule out that Jiannu used a stratagem to alienate people and sent spies to spread rumors. It's hard to say whether this is true."
It is also possible that Mao Wenlong did this deliberately to demonstrate to the court and express his dissatisfaction to me.
Chongzhen lowered his eyes, feeling angry in his heart.
In the first year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen decreed the pay and rations of the Dongjiang Army, and based on the evidence, anything more than this amount during the Tianqi Year would be regarded as Mao Wenlong's fraud and must be returned to the court.
After the calculation, there were actually seven to eight hundred thousand taels of silver and a similar amount of rice grain. Therefore, Chongzhen instructed the Ministry of Revenue and Denglai Road to stop paying Dongjiang Town's wages to make up for the previous fraud.
After July of the first year of Chongzhen, the court discussed that "Mao Wenlong was difficult to control" and there were many bullets, but Mao "had a heavy army on the island and could not control it."
The impeachment and criticism of the civil servant group had a great impact on Chongzhen, making his impression of Mao Wenlong very bad.
But the facts are very speechless. Governor Yuan, who Chongzhen believed in, and Liao Town, who invested heavily, only regained Jinzhou, Dalinghe and other cities, but achieved nothing.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the so-called recovery is nothing more than taking over without a single blow. Jiannu has demolished Jinzhou and Daling River into ruins and abandoned them.
Anyone with an online IQ should know that cities such as Jinzhou and Dalinghe are not important to the Guangning area, and even Jiannu can occupy them.
Only the officials in the court and Governor Yuan would attach great importance to Jinzhou and other places, so they quickly picked it up and invested heavily in rebuilding it.
Compared to Dongjiang Town, which only earns two to three hundred thousand yuan in food and salary per year, Liao Town, which earns millions in food and salary, is really lackluster in terms of performance.
This made Emperor Chongzhen very angry, thinking that Dongjiang Town did it deliberately.
And Commander Yuan, whom he firmly believed in, was working hard and would train Guanning cavalry that could compete with Jianlu in the field, completing the five-year plan to pacify Liao!
Luo Yangxing didn't know what the emperor was thinking, so he continued after thinking: "There are some rumors, please don't pay attention to them. Since Mao Wenlong has reported his victory and the heads he captured, he will not negotiate privately with Jiannu."
More than 400,000 taels of reward silver is really not a small amount. Where can I raise it? Otherwise, even if Mao Wenlong makes up for his previous fraud, it will be enough to cut off his salary for two months.
Chongzhen said in a deep voice: "I understand. The intelligence work of the Zhenfu Division must be strengthened, and external reconnaissance and spying must not be slackened."
"I obey the order." Luo Yangxing bowed and said yes. When he saw the emperor waving his hand, he retreated.
The hall fell silent, and Chongzhen couldn't help but sigh softly, worried about the lack of money in the court.
It was precisely because of the lack of money that we were unable to properly provide relief to the victims, which led to civil unrest in the northwest, which has become a prairie fire.
Also because he wanted to save money, Chongzhen appointed the governor of Jizhou and began to lay off the officers and soldiers of Jizhen. At the same time, he also repeatedly defaulted on the wages of the border towns.
When other military towns were in arrears, they only asked for payment, but Dongjiang Town wanted to spread the news and demonstrate to the court, embarrassing me!
Chongzhen's face darkened, and he became increasingly dissatisfied with Dongjiang Town and Mao Wenlong.
At this moment, Wang Chengen hurriedly walked into the hall, knelt down and kowtowed, and submitted a memorial, "Your Majesty, this is an urgent memorial from Fang Zhenghua, the eunuch of the Dongjiang Town Supervisory Army."
Chongzhen reached out and took the memorial, opened it and read it, his face became uncertain and his brows frowned tightly.
"Wang Ban, you should also take a look!" Chongzhen thought for a long time and put the memorial on the table.
Chongzhen overthrew Wei Zhongxian and vigorously eradicated the eunuchs. But it didn't mean that he didn't trust eunuchs, but that he trusted the eunuchs around him more.
Eunuchs such as Wang Cheng'en, Cao Huachun, Gao Qiqian, Wang Dehua, Yuan Li, Fang Zhenghua, Yang Chaojin, Lu Zhide and others were all reused.
Moreover, as Chongzhen became more and more disappointed with civilian officials and military generals, more and more eunuchs were reused.
For example, the emperor ordered Zhang Yixian, the eunuch, to be the Prime Minister of Households and the Second Ministry of Works, above the Second Ministry of Ministers. He also established an office for him and was called the "Prime Minister of Household Workers".
Later, he also "ordered eunuch Yang Xianming and Prime Minister Lianghuai Salt Class" and directly used eunuchs to manage national finances.
As for the eunuchs who supervise the army, Chongzhen also sent more and more eunuchs. For example, eunuchs Chen Daquan, Yan Siyin, Xie Wenju, Sun Maolin, etc. were all members of the inner army, and were sent to the camps of Cao Wenzhao, Zuo Liangyu, and Zhang Yingchang respectively to perform the duties of supervising the army.
Wang Chengen read the memorial, thought about it for a while, and then bowed and said: "Your Majesty, since it was Jian Nu who took the initiative to send envoys to negotiate to buy back the head, it would not be Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang Town who spread the news."
Chongzhen nodded slightly and said, "I think so too. However, Mao Wenlong is hesitant about this matter and quite contemptuous of the imperial court."
In Chongzhen's view, Mao Wenlong should have sternly refused and obediently delivered all the heads to the capital. This would boost the morale of the army and the people, and also highlight the emperor's wisdom and prowess.
Think about it, Chongzhen's grandfather, father, brother, and three emperors have never achieved such great results. But if he did it, doesn't it mean that he is the most powerful and a wise emperor who can realize the resurgence of the Ming Dynasty?
With eyes open to money and ignoring court decrees, Chongzhen only saw that Mao Wenlong intended to sell people's heads for money, but did not think that it was his harshness that was the fundamental reason why Dongjiang Town had to find its own way out.
Wang Chengen said: "Despite this, Dongjiang Town has achieved an unprecedented victory. The emperor can thank the Jiao Temple. The small reward also shows the emperor's great kindness and clear rewards and punishments."
Chongzhen's face softened a little, he chinned his head slightly, and said, "What Wang Ban said makes sense. Rewarding merit and punishing punishment is the way for a wise king to control his ministers."
After pondering for a while, Chongzhen said: "Now that he has the head, the imperial court will distribute the reward money in full, and then reward Mao Wenlong and the Dongjiang generals. In addition, Yuan Chongzhen proposed to use Guan Ning's quota to include Dongjiang pay, which can be submitted to the cabinet for discussion.
Place."
Yuan Chonghuan had previously changed the Dongjiang Pay Route, changing the pay from the Chief Secretary of Shandong to Ningyuan.
Recently, Yuan Chonghuan proposed to use Guan Ning's quota of 4.8 million to include Dongjiang salary, which was nominally to save the court money.
The imperial court has cut off Dongjiang's food and salary to make up for the previous hypocrisy. Yuan Chonghuan has taken over Dongjiang's future food and salary supply. As for whether to pay or not, and how much to pay, it is naturally completely under his control.
Four million and eight hundred thousand, such a large amount of money. The two or three hundred thousand taels in Dongjiang Town are not even comparable to other people's fractions.
Because of such a disparity, Chongzhen refused to give Dongjiang Town food and salary, insisting on deducting all the so-called false profits. He did not consider the life and death of the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town at all, he just stared at the money, money, with red eyes.
What should be saved should not be saved; whether it is disaster relief or food and salary for soldiers to support their families. In the capital of Chongzhen, the pearls must be compared, and the feathers of the geese must be plucked.
He calculated small accounts carefully, but was stupid and short-sighted in big matters. This is Chongzhen, who still thinks he is a wise king and wants to work hard to revive the Ming Dynasty!
"There is also Guo Dajing. Although he is a fierce general and has considerable military exploits, he has won the trust of Mao Wenlong." Chongzhen pondered and said slowly: "Mao Wenlong recommended him as deputy general. He is not allowed to play for the time being and will give some rewards."
Wang Chengen felt that the emperor had just said that rewards and punishments should be clearly defined, but this did not promote Guo Dajing, which was very contradictory.
It is said that the way to be a king is to be kind and powerful at the same time. However, it was common for Chongzhen to be harsh and unkind to his ministers, but he did not feel it.
"I have issued an order to Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Jiliao. If there is no solid evidence that Mao Wenlong and Jiannu smuggled themselves to enrich themselves, then lift the sea ban!" Chongzhen said in a deep voice: "Lest there be any material disputes and say that he suppressed the Dongjiang River to negotiate for peace."
Wang Chengen bowed to accept the order and retreated.
Chongzhen stood up from the imperial chair and walked around the hall with his hands behind his back, thinking that no matter how hard it was, he would support Governor Yuan, whom he believed in and valued.
During the five years of Ping Liao, four to five million silver were given each year. Thinking of the financial embarrassment of the imperial court, Chongzhen sighed helplessly.
Yuan Qing, you must not disappoint my expectations. With my support, Liaodong will be pacified within five years.
………………
Shenyang.
Rumors have spread that Dongjiang Town intends to sell the captured heads to Huang Taiji for a low price, but Huang Taiji is stingy with money and does not agree to the deal.
This is just one of them. There are also rumors that Huang Taiji just wanted to secretly buy back the head of Niu Lu'erzhen, who was an official. Another version said that Dorgon and Mang Gurtai sent people to negotiate privately, and wanted to buy back the head of Benqi who died in battle.
The head of the person.
In fact, such rumors have little impact on Huang Taiji, Dorgon or Mang Gurtai. After all, not all those who died in the battlefield can be buried properly and buried in peace.
But since it is a rumor, it has its own effect. For many family members of those who were killed in battle, while grieving, they will naturally become suspicious or slightly dissatisfied.
It's one thing to have no money to buy it, and it's normal for the enemy not to sell it, but now that you have the opportunity to let the dead rest in peace, why should you be stingy with money?
If the Khan refuses to pay, is it feasible for each family to collect enough money to redeem the body or head?
Although I didn't dare to express my thoughts like this, I could not help but complain in my heart. I complained that Huang Taiji and other high-level officials of the Hou Jin Dynasty did not care about the soldiers and the sorrow of their families.
"It's absolutely impossible to give money to Dongjiang Town and let them develop and grow." Huang Taiji seemed to be looking for excuses for himself, and also seemed to be telling his difficulties. He looked at Fan Wencheng and said, "The rumors outside, this Khan
Won't care."
Fan Wencheng bowed and said: "King Khan is wise, and it is absolutely impossible to do anything that harms oneself and benefits the enemy."
Huang Taiji nodded, seeming to get some psychological comfort, and said slowly: "As for the envoy, we still have to send it. How effective the alienation plan will be, we have to wait and see in the future."
"It must be effective." Fan Wencheng said firmly: "At least it will make the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the governor of Ji Liao feel dissatisfied and resentful."
Huang Taiji pondered for a moment and said: "In this Khan's view, Dongjiang Town is not very dependent on the Ming court, nor is it obedient to Governor Ji Liao."
Fan Wencheng said: "King Khan made an extremely accurate judgment. Dongjiang Town is indeed developing towards independence and has made great progress. The Ming court cut off food and salary twice, but it did not affect their improvement in equipment and combat power."
Huang Taiji nodded slightly and said: "According to incomplete information, Guo Dajing won Mao Wenlong's trust and replaced Shen Shikui, becoming Dongjiang Town's strong support for grain and grass supplies."
After a pause, he added: "If he presides over this negotiation, we can see the clues."
Fan Wencheng smiled faintly and said: "I think that the more trusted Mao Wenlong is, the harder it will be to be promoted or reused in the eyes of the Ming court."
"Of course, Guo Dajing's status in Dongjiang Town is constantly rising, but that's all." Fan Wencheng continued: "Not only the Ming court, but also the governor of Ji Liao must suppress and guard against him."
Huang Taiji nodded slightly and said: "But if he was not loyal to Mao Wenlong in Dongjiang Town, how could he have the official position and status he has today? Even if he is loyal to the court, I am afraid he will keep it in his heart and not let Mao Wenlong notice."
Fan Wencheng believed that the second and fifth boys were the most hated, and Guo Dajing had to be loyal to Mao Wenlong first before he could prosper in Dongjiang Town and rise through the ranks like a rocket.
Huang Taiji thought about the matter clearly, took out another letter, and said with a light smile: "Yuan Chonghuan has sent a letter, but he dare not agree to the demarcation conditions proposed by this Khan."
The peace talks between Yuan Chonghuan and Huang Taiji began in the Tianqi years, and were most frequent in the seventh year of Tianqi. They even discussed the specific amounts of tribute and annual coins.
Later, because Yuan Chonghuan resigned from office, the peace negotiations were interrupted. Shortly after Yuan Chonghuan returned to Liaodong, the second peace negotiation with Huang Taiji began.
Yuan Chonghuan first hinted at the conditions for wanting the territory on the grounds that "my emperor will succeed to the throne, be wise and decisive, and be strict with border affairs".
After all, he deceived Chongzhen with the big talk of "five years of peace and Liao Dynasty", and regaining the lost territory was the proper intention. At least, he had to make some achievements and let Chongzhen see that he was working hard to fulfill his promise.
Huang Taiji quickly gave a reply, demarcating the territory: "The Daling River should be our boundary and the Sancha River our boundary, so that between these two places, fugitives and thieves can easily detect, without causing trouble, and peace can be maintained forever."
"
This delineation basically maintains the current status and uses the Quang Ninh area as a buffer for both sides.
Huang Taiji thought it was reasonable, but Yuan Chonghuan did not dare to agree.
Therefore, this letter expresses his attitude, "Our country covers nine states, and the land lost in Liaodong was not originally owned by the emperor. Because it was not in line with everyone's wishes, I accepted it and dared not say anything, so I did not report it to the emperor.
.”
The meaning is very clear. Liaodong was originally the territory of the Ming Dynasty, how could it be assigned to you? I really dare not agree to this condition, let alone report it to the emperor.