A few days later, the Ming army camped outside Chaoyang Gate.
Chongzhen, Xu Yingwei, Jiang Tianyi and other scholars gathered together to have lunch. Because the weather was getting hotter and hotter, the emperor and his ministers were all topless, which was completely shameless.
Fortunately, Huang Daozhou and other Taoists are not here.
Fortunately, the imperial censors are not here.
Otherwise, Chongzhen and Xu Yingwei would be sprayed with blood.
They ate field rations, with just a few types, either steamed buns or rice, and occasionally a meal of sweet potato noodles. In addition, each person could have two cans of sake, which was one liter, per meal.
In order to prevent the epidemic at the beginning of spring, Chongzhen increased the ration of Mingjiu for frontline soldiers.
One hundred and fifty thousand soldiers drank three hundred thousand liters of Dendrobium wine every day.
With large orders from the army, the beer brewing industry in Jiangnan prospered rapidly.
The prosperity of the beer brewing industry has given rise to the habit of drinking beer among the people in Jiangnan, so now, the brewing industry has become an important industry in Jiangnan.
This can also be regarded as an example of military products driving civilian use.
Zhang Huangyan put down the wine can and said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, according to the latest news obtained by our secret investigation department, the slaves in Yanzhou Prefecture and Shanhaiguan have begun to withdraw their troops."
"As expected." Chongzhen asked again, "Where are the Jiannu slaves in Tianjin?"
Zhang Huang said: "There hasn't been much movement among the Jiannu slaves in Tianjin. I don't know what's going on."
"Is there still no movement among the slaves in Tianjin?" Chongzhen asked in a deep voice, "What the hell is Hong Chengchou doing? Does he want to show off to the little emperor Shunzhi that the general will not accept the emperor's orders?"
Jiang Tianyi immediately asked: "Your Majesty, how about trying to recruit Hong Chengchou to surrender?"
"Recruit Hong Chengchou to surrender?" Chongzhen asked Jiang Tian, "Do you think Hong Chengchou will surrender?"
"It's hard to say." Jiang Tian thought for a moment and then said, "But it doesn't hurt to give it a try."
Gao Qiqian, who was standing by the side, immediately felt that an opportunity had come and said immediately: "Long live my lord, I also think that Jiang Gai's advice is reasonable. No matter whether Hong Chengchou and the other ministers are willing to surrender or not, there is no harm in trying."
.”
When he said this, Gao Qiqian was already looking forward to it. If the Holy Emperor agreed to surrender, he would immediately accept this good job. By then, he only had to visit the Hong Chengchou Army and Shanhaiguan and other places, and not only could he harvest a large amount of gold and jewels, but also
You can also pick up the unparalleled feats of "horse talk about reducing floods, Chengchou and Wu Sangui, etc." for free.
With such great achievements, the eunuch king has no doubts.
"Them?" Chongzhen turned around and stared at Gao Qiqian, "Besides Hong Chengchou, who else is there?"
Therefore, Chongzhen was the one who knew these slaves best. As soon as Gao Qiqian spoke, Chongzhen guessed his thoughts exactly. This old eunuch was probably thinking wrongly again.
Gao Qiqian was startled, but was caught by Long Live Master again?
However, Gao Qiqian still said calmly: "Of course it's Wu Sangui, Kong Youde and Shang Kexi, the other two ministers."
Seeing that Chongzhen didn't say anything, Gao Qiqian continued: "Speaking of which, these two ministers are really hateful. In the past, when our Ming Dynasty was in dire straits and the country was in turmoil, they didn't want to repay the kindness of the emperor and protect the common people. Instead, they took refuge in establishing slaves to help the tyrants. Now, now
Now that our country, the Ming Dynasty, is booming and ZTE is in sight, everyone wants to come back. How can there be such a good thing in the world? We can't let them take over all the good things in the world, right?"
"Eunuch Gao is right, these two ministers all deserved to die!" Zheng Sen slapped his thigh hard and said angrily, "For ministers like Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui, Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexi, whose hands are not stained with the soldiers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty?
The blood and tears of innocent people? If we accept their surrender this time, wouldn’t we have to forgive them?”
After a pause, Zheng Sen said sternly: "If such treasonous behavior does not have to be punished, those Ming soldiers who were loyal to the imperial court and the innocent people who died under the iron heel of the slaves will not be punished.
It’s hard to rest in peace, I’m afraid that future generations will poke holes in our bones.”
"That's good!" Xu Yingwei echoed, "When the country was in crisis, they refused to come to help us in times of need. Now we are on the verge of reviving the Ming Dynasty, and we don't need them to add to the cake."
After a pause, Xu Yingwei said domineeringly: "Now, whether these two ministers surrender or not, has nothing to do with the overall situation. Their surrender will not make the situation better, and their failure to surrender will definitely not make the situation suddenly change."
Damn, if that’s the case, why should we allow them to surrender? Absolutely not!”
"Xu Jiejian is right, these officials must be severely punished!"
"Yes, these traitors and traitors must be punished for their treasonous behavior!"
"If these traitors who forget their ancestors are not punished, how can the laws of heaven exist?"
The dozen or so scholars present here, as well as the scholars outside, all agreed.
Gao Qiqian's face suddenly became a little embarrassed, thinking to himself, what are you nerds doing? You all look so indignant, how can we continue talking?
You are destroying our family's financial resources, do you understand?
You've made our family anxious, and we insist that you look good...
But thinking about it carefully, there seems to be nothing we can do against these nerds.
The Ming Dynasty of today is no longer the Ming Dynasty of the past, and the Long Live Lord of today is not the Long Live Lord of the past. The era of their eunuchs is gone forever.
Just when Gao Qiqian was at his wits end, Jiang Tianyi put forward a different opinion.
"Your Majesty, I have something to say, and I won't be happy if I don't say it." Jiang Tianyi said solemnly.
Chongzhen said: "Wenshi, if you have anything to say, just say it without hesitation."
"According to the decree." Jiang Tian bowed his head to Chongzhen, then stood up and said, "Those ministers like Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui, and Kong Youde certainly deserved their death, but it is undeniable that their surrender can also weaken the military strength of the slaves, thereby accelerating the
With the destruction of Jiannu, the people of several northern provinces can get rid of the enslavement of Jiannu as soon as possible, and the gentry of several northern provinces can return to the rule of Ming Dynasty as soon as possible. As the saying goes, whichever is the lesser of two evils
, For the sake of the common people in several northern provinces, and for the sake of the gentry in several northern provinces, the crimes of Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui and other officials are not worth mentioning. Do you think so?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Hearing this, Gao Qiqian wished he could hug Jiang Tian and give him a kiss, because Jiang would give advice on how to behave.
In the future, if we get the chance, our family will definitely say good things about Jiang Gai to you in front of Long Live Lord.
"Otherwise, what Brother Wenshi said is totally ridiculous!" As soon as Jiang Tian finished speaking, Zheng Sen retorted loudly, "Brother Wenshi just said that it is the lesser of two evils, but I would like to ask, is it really true to punish treason?" Is it less important than protecting the people of several northern provinces?"
"Isn't it?" Jiang Tianyi asked, "How can a few ministers be more important than the common people in several northern provinces? Our scholar camp has always admired Mencius' people-oriented thinking, so how can we ignore a few ministers? Count the people in the provinces?”
Zheng Sen said sternly: "Brother Wenshi, haven't you ever thought that if Hong Chengchou and other ministers are not severely punished, more villains will follow suit whenever something goes wrong in the country. Anyway, even if they forget their ancestors, they will betray the country and surrender to the enemy. Even if your hands are stained with the blood of a countryman, you can still be pardoned. Doesn’t this mean that gentlemen will become extinct and villains will run rampant in the world?"
"Brother Damu, I definitely don't agree with what I said." Jiang Tian said, "The reason why a gentleman is a gentleman is because of his own integrity and belief. How can he easily betray himself because of external things? And the reason why a villain is a villain is because of his own integrity. It's also because they have no bottom line and no moral integrity. Even if these villains didn't have a set example like Hong Chengchou before them, wouldn't they be able to sit on the fence? Not necessarily."
"You two are off topic." Wang Jiayan interjected, "Master said that if the people have no faith, they will not be established, the industry will not prosper without faith, and the country will decline without faith. Just like Hong Chengchou, if Wu Sangui and other ministers cannot punish them severely, then where are the laws and regulations of the Ming Dynasty? ?Where are the laws of the country? Where are the justice and justice? If justice and justice do not exist, how can the Ming Dynasty exist?"
Chongzhen nodded slightly, this was what he admired most about Wang Jiayan.
Although Wang Jiayan was born in Confucianism, his actions were based on Legalism. This is also the so-called Confucianism and Legalism.
China's two thousand years of history prove that if you only blindly promote Legalism, you will inevitably be attacked by harsh punishments and laws, but if you blindly promote Confucian benevolence, righteousness and morality, the country will inevitably be destroyed by human sophistication.
The virtuous ministers who made great achievements in history, such as Wang Anshi and Zhang Juzheng, were all based on Confucianism and Dharma.
This is also the main reason why Chongzhen chose Wang Jiayan as the future sacrifice wine in the Imperial College in Beijing.
Only a principal like Wang Jiayan, who adheres to Confucianism and Legalism, can possibly educate professional officials like Hai Ruina who ignore the world and only regard the people of the country and the country.
Chongzhen could not wait to see batches of Hai Rui graduate from the Imperial College in Beijing.
Jiang Tianyi calmly retorted: "If you only know how to implement severe punishments and laws blindly, how are you different from the Legalists? What Confucianism advocates is that legal principles are nothing more than human relationships. Of course, the laws of the Ming Dynasty are necessary, as are the laws of the country, and justice and morality are even less important. It may be lacking, but there are still human feelings on top of these. If the human feelings are gone and the human nature is cut off, will we still be human?"
When Wang Jiayan was about to continue to refute, he was stopped by Chongzhen with a wave of his hand.
"Okay, you can't reach an outcome on this topic," Chongzhen said.
"Instead of fighting over this, you might as well fight over which came first, the chicken or the egg."
After talking about this for a while, Chongzhen said again: "My opinion is that Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui, Jiang Xiang and other ministers can be allowed. Anyway, in order to save the common people and gentry in several northern provinces from suffering, I can give them the opportunity to make meritorious deeds." , but it is wishful thinking if they hope that they can use this small amount of effort to write off the heinous crimes they have committed before."
Jiang Tian said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, you can actually pretend to agree to their conditions and punish them later."
Chongzhen said angrily: "Confucius said: If the people have no faith, they will not stand. Have you forgotten all the Confucian classics that you have read?"
"Your Majesty, what kind of faith can we have with ministers like Hong Chengchou?" Jiang Tianyi argued forcefully, "It's no harm to lie."