The ruthless emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning Chapter 147 The Concubine Is Not Bullying the Empress Dowager
Chapter 147 The Concubine Is Not Bullying the Empress Dowager
Chapter 147 The concubine is not here, bullying the Queen Mother
The Jiangnan area was undoubtedly the richest place in the Ming Dynasty, with developed commerce and numerous people with huge fortunes.
The greatest guarantee of wealth and prosperous business was not the emperor and the Ming Dynasty.
Rather, it was the civil servant group from Jiangnan and their disciples all over the world. This force was extremely huge and had always occupied the mainstream of the court. It had also always been invisible on the heads of the kings of the Ming Dynasty, subjecting them to various constraints.
They are like a paper wall. The emperor can break it at will, but if it is broken, it will be repaired immediately, always trapping the emperor.
Tactically, the emperor controlled the life and death of the civil servants, but strategically, the civil servants firmly controlled the emperor.
This was true for Zhengde, Jiajing, Wanli, and Tianqi. They all knew where the problems of the Ming Dynasty were, but they couldn't change anything at all.
Zhengde and Tianqi refused to admit defeat and both wanted to use eunuchs to break the situation, but in the end they both died inexplicably.
Jiajing and Wanli were more afraid of death and hid in the palace. They only dared to use civil servants to check and balance civil servants and engage in power schemes, but they did not dare to completely delegate power to eunuchs.
Although he died happily, he lived a miserable life and achieved nothing.
In fact, the one with the best situation and the easiest to break the situation belongs to Chongzhen. As the saying goes, if there is no chaos, there will be no cure, but if there is chaos, there will be no cure.
It's a pity that Chongzhen's ability was limited and he woke up too late.
Zhu Cixiang took advantage of the chaos and used the Red Lady and other rebels to override the civilian officials and conquer all the general soldiers in one fell swoop.
He directly controlled the military power that all the kings of the Ming Dynasty had only dreamed of obtaining, and was no longer restricted by any force.
Therefore, in the past six months, the big government and businessmen in Jiangnan have been in a state of insecurity and tension.
Because the civil servants who had given them a sense of security in the past had been completely marginalized by the emperor. They could not even see the emperor's face, let alone influence the affairs of the court.
Zhang Yan's arrival only gave everyone a temporary peace of mind, but the emperor's true attitude and thoughts remained unpredictable to everyone.
But it is certain that with today’s emperor’s talents and methods, it is impossible not to know the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty, and he will definitely carry out drastic reforms.
Otherwise, the imperial concubine would not have been allowed to come to Nanjing to recruit and train troops, obviously to prepare for subsequent reforms.
Only then was the cotton incident aroused, and the anxiety and fear in my heart completely broke out. I began to think wildly and everyone was in danger.
Because Your Majesty is not trying to reform and snatch food from their pots, but to take away the pots and cook your own food.
………
Under such panic, in just half a month, all the prefectures and counties in Jiangnan were talking about cotton cloth.
Of course, no one dared to point the finger at the emperor directly, but pointed the finger at the nobles.
He labeled those nobles as treacherous ministers, accusing them of inciting His Majesty to engage in business for personal gain, instead of doing business properly, and competing for profits with the people, so that the people in the south of the Yangtze River were in dire straits, and then they signed a letter one after another, like a thousand-word letter in Nanjing.
For a time, the whole Jiangnan was in a state of excitement, as if the emperor was going to impose some tyranny.
Hundreds of thousands of workers spinning, weaving and dyeing also gathered from all directions outside Nanjing with their families and their families. They did nothing all day long except kowtow and cry begging.
At the entrance of the palace, countless scholars were kneeling. Most of these scholars came from various states and counties in the south of the Yangtze River to petition on behalf of the people.
Where had Zhang Yan seen such a formation before? She was caught off guard and frightened to the point of confusion.
Most of them just can't figure it out.
How could everything go so well, the whole of Jiangnan suddenly exploded? If it was really caused by those nobles selling a few pieces of cotton, she would never believe it.
At this moment, inside Fengtian Hall.
A civil servant knelt on the ground, holding a book in blood, and tearfully told Zhang Yan how public opinion in various places was turbulent. If no countermeasures were to be taken, the whole of Jiangnan would probably be in chaos.
"My beloved sirs, I have reported this matter to Your Majesty. I believe Your Majesty will give you a reply soon. My dear sires, we must appease the gentry and people everywhere and must not cause any trouble. The people outside the city must also be properly settled."
You can’t stay hungry and cold.”
Zhang Yan took a deep breath and said with a haggard look on her face.
Obviously he has been tortured a lot these days.
"The Queen Mother is merciful! I will obey the Queen Mother's decree!"
Seeing that Zhang Yan had said this, everyone knew that no matter how hard they pressed her, it would not have any effect. They just wanted to use Zhang Yan to express their attitude and test the emperor. Now they just need to wait patiently.
Otherwise, if you continue to push it, it will be counterproductive.
After all, counting the time, the red lady should be back soon.
The reason why the gentry and merchants in the south of the Yangtze River dared to make such a big noise at once was because they recognized Zhang Yan's kindness and kindness and would not use force.
And the red lady is not here, otherwise even if she wanted to do something, she would not dare to make such a big noise, let alone do it so radically.
Because the Red Lady left Nanjing at the beginning of the year and went to Huguang to personally reorganize Zuo Liangyu's millions of people.
After some reorganization, only 30,000 people were left for Zuo Menggeng to continue to lead. The others also set up guard posts for them to farm in accordance with the military household model of Datong Xuanfu.
To this end, the Red Lady brought five thousand old soldiers to serve as military attachés in various guard posts.
The Red Lady has also heard that Huguang is famous for its crops and knows that the Jianghan Plain is the main grain-producing area of the Ming Dynasty.
So after the reorganization was completed, he did not leave, but began to tour various places in Huguang. He stayed until the autumn harvest was completed before planning to return to Nanjing.
With the Red Lady personally in charge, the bandits and bandits were collected one after another and reorganized into households and farms. Officials in various places did not dare to collect taxes indiscriminately, which made Huguang have a rare bumper harvest this year.
Just when the Red Lady was busy transporting rice rations to Henan and preparing to report to Zhu Cixiang to attack King Chuang this winter, who would have thought that news of the Jiangnan frying pan came, and Zhang Yan summoned her to go back immediately.
This red lady was almost going crazy, she was frightened and angry.
"Zuo Menggeng, you will immediately go to Nanyang with your troops to station yourself. You are not allowed to go anywhere without orders from me and His Majesty, do you know?"
"But Madam, if the general is gone, what should we do if the thieves come from Guizhou to Huguang?"
Zuo Mengeng said weakly, obviously not wanting to leave Wuchang.
"Where do you come from with so much nonsense? When the traitors come, they will naturally be resisted by various guards. You don't have to worry about it. You have to arrive in Nanyang within half a month. You are violating military law!"
The red lady glared at him and said impatiently.
After she leaves Huguang, Zuo Menggeng will definitely be transferred, and she must not be allowed to stay in Huguang.
As for sacrificing thieves, she has already set up headquarters in Xunyang, Xiangyang, Jingzhou, Yuezhou, and Changde. She is stationed in the fields and training troops at the same time. In total, there are a million military households with swords and guns, so she is not worried at all.
"The general will obey your orders!"
Zuo Mengeng's heart trembled when she kicked him, and he no longer dared to say a word.
He knew that this red lady had always disliked him. If he hadn't been honest over the past six months and hadn't been caught by her, he would have been taken down long ago.
After returning to the military camp, Zuo Mengeng did not dare to delay. Early the next morning, he led the army north along the Han River and headed towards Nanyang.
The red lady hurriedly explained, without delay, she took the boat with her bodyguard, went down the river, and rushed to Nanjing. It only took three days and three nights to reach Nanjing.
