The New Year of the third year of Chongzhen passed in a state of solemnity.
The people in the capital have not yet felt the joy of the New Year, and the news of the defeat in Liaodong finally spread without any concealment.
The Tartar troops approaching the city last year are still fresh in our minds, and this year's defeat has cast a heavy haze on everyone's hearts. However, more details soon reached the ears of the people.
As a result, the people finally knew that this defeat was not due to Sun Chengzong and Sun Lao Shangshu's mistake in using troops, nor was it because the soldiers on the front line did not dare to use their lives.
But, there is a traitor in the court!
I don’t know where the news came from. It was circulated everywhere in teahouses and restaurants. It was said that the food and salary transferred to Liaodong by the imperial court had been embezzled by officials at all levels. The soldiers in Liaodong were not well fed and clothed, and even their military pay was not paid.
No.
Even in such a situation, these soldiers are still risking their lives to defend the imperial court from foreign humiliation. It is really heartwarming to sing.
The people feel more and more respectable the frontline soldiers, and hate the corrupt officials who deduct military pay. People are talking about this. In the past, those who served as officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War were revered as first-class people in the capital.
, and now when they go out, the people look at them strangely, as if they are also one of those corrupt officials.
However, the trend in official circles is somewhat opposite to that among the people.
Those who had nothing to do with themselves, or who were watching the wind, were still waiting slowly. However, a censor from the Metropolitan Procuratorate jumped out and said that there would be severe disasters in various places this year, coupled with the unfavorable military situation in Liaodong, etc.
Because no matter what the emperor does, the current intention is to ask the emperor to issue an edict to punish oneself!
This came up at the court meeting, so the imperial censor begged for mercy and received fifty imperial staffs from the furious emperor. However, after the imperial staff was used, the imperial censor could only vent his anger but not inward.
He is so angry that even gods can hardly save him.
With the emperor's anger, those Jin Yiwei who allowed the rumors in the market to ferment also began to take action. Within a few days, more than a hundred officials below the fourth rank were arrested. Almost every day, the Jin Yiwei could be seen taking people into custody.
Officials and their families swaggered through the city in the howling cold wind.
Even the people in the capital who had not had a good impression of the Jin Yiwei in the past, heard that the officials arrested by the Jin Yiwei were the officials who led to the imperial court's defeat in Liaodong. They all applauded and celebrated. The emperor and the people seemed to be in a state of confusion these days.
They are all linked by heart and hands.
The emperor must be the wise sage of this dynasty, those generals who died in battle, but the good men of this dynasty, the worst are these officials who distort the emperor's will and use their hands to bring trouble to the court.
The people's concept is very simple. If the emperor kills all these corrupt officials, they will only applaud and shout that the emperor is wise.
However, that's just it.
Although many officials of fourth grade and above were implicated in this matter, most of them were punished with fines and the prohibition of promotion within a year. Even the furious Zhu Youjian did not have the guts to put himself in trouble.
The courtroom was cleanly cleaned from inside to outside.
He also needs these officials to help him manage the country. The officials cannot afford to be harmed by the consequences of uprooting things, and he, the emperor, cannot afford to be harmed.
Compared with his ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Youjian's courage is not even two points.
But even so, no one in the court spoke about the incident in Dongjiang Town anymore. After arresting and questioning this group of officials, all the officials shut up almost at the same time, as if this incident had never happened.
A few days later, the emperor's decree came down, and these officials were convinced that this time, the emperor had indeed been pushed a little too hard, and it had exceeded the emperor's tolerance.
The first article in the imperial edict is to praise Dongjiang Town for its outstanding performance in the Liaodong War, and to promote Dongjiang Town's Chief Staff Officer Jiang Wan to Dongjiang Town's Chief Soldier, as well as several guerrilla officers under his command.
The second article is that the imperial court will send envoys to Korea to condemn and accuse Korea of colluding with Hou Jin to fight against the Ming Dynasty. The purpose of the imperial court is to use the word "crimination", which is already a very serious word. Under normal circumstances, this word
The next level should be subjugation.
The question of who would take over as governor of Liaodong after Sun Chengzong took office was also a matter of concern to all civil and military officials, but it was placed at the end of the decree. After Sun Chengzong, the court did not have a governor of Liaodong for the time being, but only replaced the governor of Liaodong.
A man whom many people had never heard of was appointed governor of Liaodong.
Lu Xiangsheng, the former right-wing political advisor and deputy envoy, was appointed governor of Liaodong.
After this decree was issued, the government and the public were immediately in an uproar.
Regarding the matter of Dongjiang Town's General Soldier, no one would foolishly continue to mention it. After a victory was won, the general who led the army was promoted to the General Soldier. Although it was rare, it was not unheard of.
The main reason is that the emperor's attitude is now very obvious. Jiang Wan is the emperor's confidant, and the emperor wants to reuse him.
Continuing to mention this matter, it is to fight with the emperor and force the emperor to fall out. The big bosses who seek good luck and avoid disaster all know it very well. Especially compared with the situation in Liaodong as a whole, Dongjiang Town is really nothing worthy of too much attention.
The place, the focus of everyone's attention, is still in Liaodong.
Regarding Lu Xiangsheng's appointment, many people are wondering.
However, since the emperor has chosen this person, he will give the civil servants a face when the time comes, which is a slap in the face and a sweet date.
There have been so many civil servants in the past, but later I will entrust an official with an important appointment, and he will still be your civil servant. This can be regarded as a disguised gesture.
This Lu Xiangsheng was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi. To the civil servants, this was a standard among their own people. They had no reason or reason to question this appointment. However, there were always concerns, could this person stabilize the situation in Liaodong?
There is no governor, which means that in Liaodong, the imperial court is now planning to take a defensive position, but even if it is a defensive position, it needs someone who is capable. It has been difficult to figure out the situation over the years. If it is replaced by an incompetent person,
, maybe in the blink of an eye, Liaoyang was lost, Jinzhou was lost, Ningyuan was lost, and the Tartars directly knocked down the Shanhaiguan Pass.
Lu Xiangsheng's resume was also revealed by everyone. At this time, everyone was surprised to find that our Ming Dynasty was not a good general. This Governor Lu, who was born as a Jinshi, not only served as the magistrate of the famous names, but also rectified the famous names.
Guangping and Shunde armaments, and even trained a troop of soldiers and horses to suppress the rebellion of the refugees, and won repeated battles.
This is simply an all-rounder in both civil and military affairs!
If it weren't for the fact that his current official position is of low rank, such a talent would be no less impressive even if he were to be employed as a minister in the Ministry of War.
The position of governor of Liaodong seems to have been tailor-made for him. He is not of high rank but has quite a lot of power. Moreover, he can not only manage civil affairs, but also military affairs. This governor also has huge rights.
Based on the Ming Dynasty's tradition of low-level civil servants restraining high-level generals, the emperor's move can be regarded as an extremely appropriate response to the current situation in Liaodong.
Of course, compared with the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town who was said to be a scholar, these civil servants in the court simply ignored the commander-in-chief's meager reputation and directly promoted him to the ranks of military generals.
, at all, the civil servants did not regard General Jiang as one of their own.