In September of the 22nd year of Chongzhen (1649), hundreds of guardsmen including Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexi and Wu Sangui were sentenced to death and then taken to Caishikou to be executed in Lingchi.
It is said that Wu Sangui suffered a total of 3,600 cuts before finally dying.
Because Zu Dashou was old and frail, he died of illness before the public trial, so he was able to escape. However, his sons and grandsons could not escape punishment and were all executed by Lingchi.
As well as all the men from Kong Gengshang's family, they were all executed late.
This was actually not Chongzhen's original intention. Chongzhen did not want to kill so many people.
Of course the chief criminals like Wu Sangui and Kong Youde should be executed by a thousand swords, but there is really no need to execute people like Zu Zeqing, Geng Jingzhong, and Shang Zhixin. Geng Jingzhong and Shang Zhixin were still just children at this time.
But there are some things that not even Chongzhen can stop, because public anger is hard to offend.
If the people are not allowed to vent the evil spirit in their chests, it may fall on him. To choose the lesser of two evils, Chongzhen can only choose to surrender Wu Sangui, Kong Youde and other generals to destroy the family.
In late September, the affairs of the capital finally came to an end.
Chongzhen was finally able to lead the Imperial Guard Brigade to leave the capital and go south.
The Guards Brigade has also been regularized. Eight hundred Yiding including Wu Ba Tan have been transferred to Liaodong to serve as officers of the five cavalry divisions that will be formed. The current officers of the Guards Brigade are all composed of scholars and national officials.
Zisheng served as the commander, and more than 5,000 soldiers were selected from among the more than 100,000 soldiers in Beizhi Town.
In order to rush for time, Chongzhen did not take water or sea routes.
Instead, he rode directly overland and went south via Xuzhou.
By the end of September, Chongzhen led the Imperial Guard Brigade to Xuzhou.
Du Yinxi, the governor of Nanzhi, knew that Chongzhen hated formalism, so he did not organize officials to hold any ceremonies. He just asked Yang Ponu, Wang Laoshi and several other veterans to come to Xiazhen to greet him.
Chongzhen was really happy to see a few familiar faces such as Yang Ponu and Wang Laoshi.
"Yang Ponu, you have gained a lot of weight." Chongzhen teased, "Can you still run? In the battle of Xia Town, you couldn't even chase away a dog when you charged up."
Yang Ponu then said: "Long live my lord, I have to blame you for this."
Du Yinxi was shocked when he heard this, and said to himself, Yang Ponu, what nonsense are you talking about? Don't just rely on being familiar with the saint to talk nonsense. As a minister, you need to know how to advance and retreat, and know your duty.
Wang Laoshi and others were so frightened that their legs trembled.
But Chongzhen laughed and said: "What? I blame you for being too kind to you and letting you eat and have nothing to do, so you gain weight? Or should I reduce the amount of your land in Nanzhi Zhentai by half?"
"That's not it. Long Live Lord, you know that's not what I'm talking about."
Yang Ponu knew Chongzhen's temper, so he didn't panic at all and even called himself me.
"What I'm talking about is that we in Nanzhi Town always have nothing to fight for. All we do all year round is farming, or just sitting at home and having babies. This kind of peaceful life has been too long. How can we not gain weight?"
"That's what you said, then your wish will be realized soon." Chongzhen said.
"Long live Lord, are you serious about what you said?" Yang Ponu immediately became energetic after hearing this. He had been looking forward to fighting for these years. The last time he didn't catch up with the Battle of Bali Bridge, he almost suffered from internal injuries.
The accompanying Gao Qiqian almost blurted out a bold sentence.
But when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back, because this Yang Ponu was no ordinary soldier. This boy's name was given by the Lord Long Live.
"When have I ever lied to you?"
Chongzhen laughed and scolded: "The next time we use troops, we will definitely send a division of troops to Nanzhi to suppress Taiwan."
"Nanzhi is suppressing Taiwan?" Yang Ponu said in astonishment, "Long live Lord, we are not suppressing Taiwan in Xuzhou. How did we become Nanzhi is suppressing Taiwan?"
"Nanzhi Zhentai is Xuzhou Zhentai, it's the same thing." Chongzhen said again, "The source of troops of the 2nd Division is Nanzhi Zhentai. Next time there is a combat mission, the 2nd Division will definitely not be able to escape."
Yang Ponu asked again: "Long live Lord, how many people are there in one division?"
"About 20,000 people." Chongzhen said, "There are 150,000 people in Nanzhi Town, which is equivalent to 1 in 7 Ding."
"Draw one out of seven? Well, long live my lord, you have to choose me first." Yang Ponu said anxiously, "Otherwise, I have to wait for who knows how long."
"If it were anyone else, I would definitely not break the rules, but who made you Yang Ponu?" Chongzhen smiled, then turned to Du Yinxi who was accompanying him and said, "Du Qing, I leave this matter to you."
Du Yinxi smiled and said: "President Yang should have been recruited first."
"Oh, that's right." Chongzhen said again, "This time I enlisted, I didn't take it as my responsibility to be the boss."
"It's nothing." Yang Ponu said, "As long as there is a war to fight, I am happy to be a pawn."
Not only Yang Ponu, but also Chongzhen could feel the strong desire for war from several veterans such as Wang Laoshi.
However, Chongzhen also knew very well that this was not out of patriotism, but driven by interests, because not only did he receive subsidies when he was drafted to fight, but he also received rewards for winning the battle.
Each of the new troops who participated in the Battle of Baliqiao was rewarded 55 yuan!
When the news reached Xuzhou, Yang Ponu and others' eyes widened.
This is 55 yuan, and you can buy more than ten acres of land in Yanzhou Prefecture!
Yang Ponu asked again: "Long live my lord, who will we fight in the next battle? Hypocrisy?"
"Maybe it's hypocrisy, maybe it's Zhang Xianzhong, or maybe it's war in several directions at the same time." Regarding this, Chongzhen is really not talking nonsense. Now the Ming Dynasty really has this strength.
For example, Zhang Xianzhong can be easily crushed by two divisions.
Li Zicheng was stronger, and his three divisions were enough.
Moreover, Ming Dynasty now has money and food, so it is really capable of fighting on multiple fronts.
Thinking of money and grain, Chongzhen asked Du Yinxi again: "Qing Du, how are the harvests of various prefectures in Henan this year?"
"It's pretty good, it can be considered a bumper year." Speaking of the grain harvest, Du Yinxi, who had always been calm, couldn't help but become a little excited, "Not only Xuzhou, Kaifeng, Guide and other prefectures, but also Ruzhou, Nanyang,
Runing is not bad, the official warehouse in Henan Province can harvest at least two million dan of grain this year!"
"Speaking of this, I almost didn't remember it."
"How did you deal with Ruzhou Liu Hongqi and the others?"
"Back to Your Majesty, these rebels have been wiped out by me a long time ago. I went to the pond to report them."
"Then it's probably because the cabinet handled it as an ordinary government matter and didn't report it to me."
After a pause, Chongzhen continued: "In other words, except for Henan Prefecture, which is still in the hands of Puppet Shun, the other prefectures are already under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. Is that true?"
"That's right." Du Yinxi said, "It's just that due to years of military unrest, Henan Province has lost a lot of population. Now, except for Guide Prefecture and Kaifeng Prefecture, the population has recovered a little, and the other prefectures have very small populations.
There are only tens of thousands of people, and Huaiqing Mansion and Weihui Mansion have only 10,000 or 20,000 people."
Hearing this, Chongzhen couldn't help but sigh.
The Central Plains has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. Whenever there is a war, it suffers the most severe military disasters. It is common to lose 90% or even 99% of the population.
Du Yinxi hesitated for a moment and then said: "Your Majesty, there is another difficult matter."
"There aren't many things that can stop you from blocking Yinxi." Chongzhen asked, "What's the matter?"
Du Yinxi said: "Since the beginning of this year, more than ten vassal kings, including King Zhou, King Tang, King Lu, and King Fu, have either returned in person or sent their trusted stewards back to their respective fiefdoms in an attempt to regain their farmland."
Chongzhen's face turned cold: "Qing Du, you didn't return the farmland to them, did you?"
"Of course I won't," Du Yinxi replied, "however, the vassals recruited a lot of green-skinned warriors on the road, and when they arrived in their territories, they forcibly expelled the refugees who were cultivating wasteland and usurped the harvest of their hard work for a year. Some of the refugees
He stood up to resist but was beaten to death. I wanted to stop him, but I had no right to interfere."
According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, local officials have no control over the vassal king.
Even if the vassal king committed murder and arson, only the clan government could control it.
"It will be under control from now on." Chongzhen said in a deep voice, "From now on there will no longer be a clan house. If the emperor's relatives break the law, they will be punished by the Ming law just like the common people. They should be caught or killed."
This was also one of the results of the Great Conflict of Rites and Education: the abolition of the privileges of royal relatives.
Originally, even if Chongzhen had this idea, he could not put it into practice.
Because this is seriously contrary to the idea of respecting relatives, relatives, and the virtuous advocated by Confucianism.
However, after several years of great controversy over ethics and education, the idea of equal rights has gradually begun to be accepted by the world. Especially as a large number of women break through the shackles of family and the constraints of ethics and education, and enter factories to work, the idea of equal rights has become more common.
So far, it has won the support of most of the gentry class.
…
For example, Zhang Shenyan, the current chief assistant, clearly supports equality for everyone.
Zhang Shenyan not only advocated the abolition of the privileges of imperial relatives, but also advocated the withdrawal of vassal states.
However, since consensus could not be reached within the cabinet, it could only be decided at the Wenhua Hall.
Zhang Shenyan, as the first assistant, has the priority to speak: "The reason why Emperor Taizu Gao established many vassal states in Jiubian was to protect the Ming Dynasty. At the beginning of the founding of this dynasty, the nine vassal states were indeed to protect the Ming Dynasty.
The imperial court made great military exploits, but nearly three hundred years have passed, and the situation has undergone earth-shaking changes."
"The vassal states that were enfeoffed back then had long since lost their protective role against the Ming Dynasty."
"Today's vassal kings have long since lost the legacy of Emperor Taizu Gao and Emperor Chengzuwen."
After a pause, Zhang Shenyan continued: "Therefore, it is meaningless to retain these vassal states. Instead, it will only increase the financial burden of the Ming Dynasty. Mencius said that the virtue of a gentleman can only be cut down in five generations, and the inheritance of the vassal states is more than five generations."
?In view of this, I think it is time to remove all vassal states and deprive all clan members of their salaries."
Immediately afterwards, Liu Lishun also made a speech.
Liu Lishun firmly opposed the withdrawal of the vassal vassal, and even more opposed the deprivation of family members' salaries. He believed that this was seriously contrary to the Three Cardinal Guidelines and Five Constant Rules of Confucianism and was an act of great rebellion. As a minister, what authority do you have to deprive family members of their salaries?
In fact, officials represented by Liu Lishun have another concern.
I am worried that the abolition of the privileges of royal relatives is just the beginning and will continue.
Will the tax-free privileges of the gentry be abolished in the future and they will be paid as one group?
Neither side could convince the other, so the decision could only be left to the Wenhua Palace.
It took more than half an hour before the final results were finally tallied.
Zhang Shenyan, the first assistant, won by a narrow margin, and the resolution to withdraw from the vassal and deprive the clan members of their salaries was passed. The good days for the Ming vassal kings and their relatives were gone forever.