On December 30, the second year of Chongzhen, Zishi.
There were a few dark clouds in the sky, covering up the bright moon in the sky.
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve.
The palace is decorated with lanterns and colors in preparation for the New Year.
Cao Huachun, the eunuch and eunuch responsible for the ceremony, carefully walked to the gate of Qianqing Palace.
He held the question book in his hand and stared at Qianqing Palace, hesitating.
This was Jin Yiwei's 500-mile rush. Several horses were killed and the question book was delivered to Jin Yiwei.
It could have been faster, but the first batch of Jin Yiwei who delivered the message were catching up with the slaves who had joined the invaders.
They directly encountered a small group of Jiannu scouts and killed most of them, with only a few of them escaping back.
Jinyiwei waited until Jiannu retreated before he dared to continue delivering the message.
The commander of the Jinyiwei received the question book, and it was already night.
He did not dare to neglect and immediately rushed to the palace to report.
Cao Huachun was on duty today. He looked shocked when he saw the contents in the question book.
"I'm so unlucky. If I don't get this right, my head will be gone."
After reading the contents of the question book, Cao Huachun did not dare to waste any time and entered the palace immediately.
"How is your Majesty?"
Cao Huachun asked Wang Chengen, the eunuch on duty.
This is the eunuch under his name, now serving the emperor personally.
Cao Huachun could feel more relaxed when talking to him.
"Your Majesty stayed up very late reviewing the question books and just went to bed.
Eunuch Cao, you don't have anything important to do, so please don't disturb the emperor.
The emperor has not slept well these past few days because of the invasion of the capital by slaves.
Good news came today: Jiannu has been besieged in Zunhua.
Jiannu does not have the strength to attack the capital again, so the emperor can sleep with peace of mind after receiving the good news."
Cao Huachun looked at the title book in his hand. The content on it was no less than that of setting up slaves to invade the capital.
He walked into Qianqing Palace and knocked gently on the door.
Bite the bullet and wake up Emperor Chongzhen.
He had no choice, this matter was too important.
Emperor Chongzhen must know the news as soon as possible.
If he dares to delay reporting, his head will be moved.
Chongzhen heard the knock on the door and was already awake.
"come in!"
Cao Huachun gently opened the door and walked in cautiously.
When he saw Chongzhen, he immediately knelt down and held the title book in his hands above his head.
"Your Majesty, forgive me. The Jinyi Guards are rushing five hundred miles away. Hanzhong City has been captured by the yellow-robed thieves. The King of Rui, Zhu Changhao, has died for his country."
When Chongzhen heard the news, he was shocked.
He immediately took the title book from Cao Huachun's hand and read the contents carefully.
Chongzhen saw King Zhu Changhao of Rui being hung from a street lamp by the rebels.
He was so angry that he threw the question book to the ground.
"A bunch of trash, there are so many soldiers in Hanzhong Mansion, but they can't stop the thieves in yellow who only have a few thousand people.
Civil servants and military generals are all trash.
Why aren’t there any virtuous ministers?
Jian Nu and others could not stop him, so they all allowed Jian Nu to attack the capital.
Now the civil uprising in northern Shaanxi has developed to such an extent that even Prince Rui was hanged by the rebels."
Chongzhen looked at the deteriorating Ming Dynasty and felt extremely anxious.
He activated Yuan Chonghuan in order to curb Jiannu, but he did not expect that Jiannu would take a detour and invade the capital.
If Yuan Chonghuan hadn't led Guan Ning's army to arrive in time and repelled the Jiannu, the consequences would have been disastrous.
When the Jian slaves invaded, the Northern Zhili suffered heavy losses. Hundreds of thousands of people and a large amount of materials were plundered by the Jian slaves.
Now Guan Ning's army is fighting fiercely with Jiannu in Jibei area.
Many places have been devastated by war and have become empty.
Chongzhen was worried about how to rectify the military affairs and prevent the slaves from joining the invaders again.
He suddenly heard that the rebels in Shaanxi were getting bigger and that King Zhu Changhao of Rui was hanged by the rebels, and his mentality suddenly collapsed.
"Cao Daban, immediately bring over all the inscriptions submitted by Shaanxi officials."
Chongzhen looked through the question books of Shaanxi officials and wanted to understand the development process of the civil uprising, especially the thieves in yellow.
…
Just after Mao Shi, many ministers in the Ming Dynasty cabinet received an urgent summons from Emperor Chongzhen.
Outside the Meridian Gate, Zhou Yanru asked Chief Assistant Han Xu for advice: "Han Chief Assistant, do you know why the emperor summoned us urgently this time?"
Han Xu was also thinking in his heart, but his expression remained as usual.
"It shouldn't be military affairs. Guan Ning's army is already in Zunhua and other places, besieging the Hou Jin army.
The Hou Jin army was unable to capture the capital. They had looted enough and would soon retreat.
I haven’t heard much changes in the war either.”
Han Xu thought in his mind: "This time it is not about the appointment or dismissal of cabinet ministers. Although the emperor is a little impatient, he will not be so anxious when it comes to appointing and dismissing cabinet ministers."
The cabinet has always been well-informed, but they really don't know where the problem is.
Under normal circumstances, the cabinet knows some important things before the emperor does.
The ministers, led by the eunuchs, came to the platform of Jianji Hall.
When they saw Emperor Chongzhen's appearance, they suddenly felt something bad in their hearts.
Emperor Chongzhen had a pair of dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes were bloodshot, probably because he had not slept all night.
Chongzhen threw out the question book in his hand and said angrily: "Look, what has become of the Ming Dynasty? There are civil unrest everywhere.
The civil uprising in Shaanxi was so serious that one group of thieves in yellow hanged my uncle, Prince Rui, to death."
Han Xu picked up the question book on the ground. He opened it and glanced at it, and his expression suddenly changed.
King Zhu Changhao of Rui was hanged to death by the rebels.
In particular, the rebels took all the gentry in the city and put them in prison to prepare for execution.
The first batch of people killed were all officials and gentry.
This is simply a heinous crime and must be eradicated as soon as possible.
Han Xu passed the title book in his hand to many cabinet ministers.
After many cabinet ministers read it, they all agreed that the thieves in yellow were extremely harmful.
Zhou Yanru took a step forward and said: "Let me report to your Majesty that Yang He, the governor of the three sides, is incompetent and is just sitting back and watching the thieves in yellow grow stronger.
Your Majesty, please issue an order to bring Yang Hesuo to Beijing immediately and let the Three Laws Division examine the crime."
Zhou Yanru knew that Yang He, the governor of the three sides, would definitely not be able to survive this disaster.
Yang He is the scapegoat, and he must bear the blame.
If someone takes the blame, the emperor will be angry and the matter will be smoothed over.
Cheng Jiming immediately retorted: "Your Majesty, the reason for the increase in the number of people in Shaanxi is that there has been severe drought for many years and the food harvest has been cut off.
An edict should be issued to reduce or reduce local taxes, so that there would be no ground for rebels to exist and they would naturally disappear.
Yang He has wiped out most of the rebels in northern Shaanxi.
The Hanzhong Mansion was captured by thieves in yellow. This was due to the improper command of the Hanzhong Prefect in Taiwan.
As a result, the Hanzhong Mansion was empty and was taken advantage of by the yellow-clad thieves' partial army.
Now Guan Ning's army and King Qin's army are fighting fiercely with Jiannu in Jibei.
This time it cost a lot to establish slaves and join the invaders, and the household department was already empty.
The imperial court wanted to send troops to encircle and suppress the yellow-robed thieves, but it could not pay them.
Yang He recruited many rebels and did not need to pay military salaries, so that these rebels could carry out their crimes and perform meritorious service.
These rebels trusted Yang He.
Please allow the emperor to allow Yang He to take the blame and perform meritorious service to destroy the thieves in yellow."
Emperor Chongzhen became worried when he heard that Cheng Jiming was talking about money and food.
If they want to send heavy troops to encircle and suppress us, the court really can't afford this money now.
Han Xu saw that Chongzhen was hesitant, so he stood up and advised: "Your Majesty, the people are already overwhelmed by the increase in Liao's salary. We can't increase Shaanxi's salary.
Most of the officers and soldiers in the north have gone to Beijing to serve the king.
Mobilizing the southern army will cost more money and food.
The thieves in yellow are very rampant. We cannot give them a greater chance to develop. We must eliminate them as soon as possible.
When a new governor is sent, he needs to familiarize himself with military affairs again.
I support allowing Yang He to take the blame and serve meritoriously.
This is the method that costs the least money and is most suitable for the current situation.
It is not enough to rely solely on rebels, the main force should also be the army.
Yang He should be allowed to use the local tax bank and be allowed to raise food on his own.
If Yang He is incompetent and unable to check and balance the thief in yellow, it will not be too late to hold him accountable."
Chongzhen thought for a long time and adopted the advice of his first assistant Han Xu.
He said to his ministers: "The death of King Zhu Changhao of Rui is a shame to me.
We must catch the thief in yellow and execute Ling Chi, the leader of the thief in yellow.
Yang He, the governor of the three sides, committed a crime and made meritorious service, and made every effort to encircle and suppress the thieves in yellow.
If the thieves in yellow cannot be wiped out this year, they will be locked up and sent to Beijing immediately."
Chongzhen also knew the current situation of the Ming Dynasty.
If you want to send soldiers and horses from several provinces to encircle and suppress, you can't even get the military pay.
Liao rates have already been increased, but if Shaanxi rates are to be increased, more civil unrest will occur.
Chongzhen could only compromise with reality, but he looked through the question book last night and found a talent.
Hong Chengchou predicted that the bandits in yellow would develop and grow when they first gained momentum.
Chongzhen promoted Hong Chengchou to governor of Yansui.
He was more strategic in suppressing bandits, allowing him to pacify the rebel bandits in northern Shaanxi.
Chongzhen experienced the incidents of slave-building and banditry and the yellow-clothed thieves.
He found that there were some civilian officials who were incapable of commanding the army.
Chongzhen decided to re-enable the supervisory army and let his confidant eunuchs supervise civilian officials and let the army carry out his will.
