When Chongzhen ascended the throne, his reputation was so high that none of the previous emperors could surpass him.
Everyone regarded him as the leader of the ZTE, especially the removal of eunuchs, which gained him unprecedented support.
Although the subsequent draw of lots from the Golden Vase and the suppression of the Donglin Party seemed to be nonsense, they did not diminish the confidence of the imperial court in Chongzhen.
After all, the emperor's practice of balancing the court is commonplace and not surprising.
Until when did the estrangement between Chongzhen and his ministers begin?
It started when Geng Ruchi was cheated.
During the Chongzhen period, there were many mournful officials, and some even praised his virtues for later generations, such as Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting, etc.
But the one who was most unjustly accused must be Geng Ruqi.
At the end of October, Geng Ruqi, the governor of Shanxi, received an order from the imperial court. Without any delay, he immediately gathered his troops and hurriedly set off.
Shanxi was so far away, and he could reach it with the soldiers and horses of Xuanfu and Datong.
Geng Ruqi's loyalty to the emperor and patriotism clearly shows his sincerity.
Logically speaking, such a loyal person should be treated well.
As a result, Geng Ruqi was trapped in a life where he could no longer take care of himself.
Shanxi soldiers were mobilized to three places for three consecutive days. Tongzhou was to the east of the capital, Changping was to the north of the capital, and Liangxiang was to the southwest of the capital.
For a pure infantry army, apart from anything else, even this marching speed has been something few have been able to achieve throughout the ages.
What's the most outrageous thing?
No food was given.
Geng Ruchi's troops came in a hurry and didn't bring any food or grass with them.
Originally, I thought that after arriving at the flood area (station) and stabilizing, the Ministry of War would allocate grain and grass supplies.
As a result, the Ministry of War not only failed to provide food, but also gave orders for redeployment.
On the third day, Geng's troops arrived in Liangxiang. Their soldiers couldn't bear it anymore. They mutinied on the spot and looted wantonly. Later, the soldiers simply fled for fear of being held accountable.
Some wandered into the mountains and became bandits; others joined the peasant army and caused even greater disasters.
Because of this incident, Geng Ruqi was held accountable, arrested and imprisoned. In the fourth year of Chongzhen's reign, he was beheaded in public.
It was obviously the court's problem, but in the end, Geng Ruqi took the blame.
How could the ministers not feel chilled when they saw this?
In fact, even if the Shanxi soldiers were blamed for the mutiny, it had little to do with Geng Ruxi.
Because those who mutinied were the subordinates of Zhang Honggong, the commander-in-chief, not Geng Ruxi himself.
Historical records record that the Geng tribe behaved as usual until the end and did not engage in any mutiny.
Although Geng Ruqi and Zhang Honggong were both under the command of King Qin of Shanxi Province, they arrived one after another. They put all the responsibility for the mutiny of Zhang Honggong's troops on Geng Raqi, and sentenced their loyal ministers to capital punishment. It has to be said that Chongzhen was blaming the blame.
There really is nothing you can do.
What Zuo Mengeng didn't expect was that unlike in history, Geng Zhangguang saw the situation on the ground in Geng Ruxi's army and came to Sun Chengzong for help.
However, Geng Zhangguang had no name or status and was an ordinary scholar. How could the gatekeepers let him enter the city?
If it hadn't been for Zuo Mengeng, I'm afraid Geng Ruqi's tragedy would have happened again.
The matter was so important that Zuo Mengeng did not dare to delay and hurriedly said to Geng Zhangguang: "Brother Geng, please follow me."
Geng Zhangguang could not enter the city, but Zuo Mengeng could enter the city unimpeded.
Because he was a general who came to Yingmao and had customs clearance documents. Following him, Geng Zhangguang finally entered Tongzhou City.
Everyone rushed to the Commander's Mansion, which was already heavily guarded and heavily armed.
Zuo Mengeng asked Hou Ke and Geng Zhangguang to wait, and then went inside alone.
At this time, the generals gathered in the commander's tent, and the atmosphere was solemn.
One of the generals was even more stunned and almost screamed.
It was Zuo Liangyu, Zuo Mengeng’s father.
Although he was the capital of Baoding, Zuo Liangyu did not follow Cao Minglei, the commander-in-chief of Baoding, but always followed the big boss.
It was the old man sitting in the middle of the handsome tent at this time, staring at Zuo Mengeng who was walking in vigorously.
Zuo Mengeng had no choice but to bow to the army.
"Zuo Menggeng, the general manager of Linqing Xiehouyingqianqian, came here according to the order to meet with the elder Ge and the general secretary."
The majestic old man sitting upright is naturally Sun Chengzong.
Listening to his words, I couldn't help but angrily said: "Since you are from Linqing, why are you so slow?"
Zuo Mengeng had already responded.
"Mr. Ge didn't know something. Now that the water transportation is blocked, our camp went north on foot, so it was delayed for a while."
This explanation is reasonable and reasonable, and Sun Chengzong looks a little brighter.
Hou Xun then said, "Guess what this guy's background is, Mr. Ge?"
Sun Chengzong asked: "Can Ruogu teach me?"
Hou Xun laughed.
"This is the son of Zuo Kunshan."
"oh?"
When he heard that he was Zuo Liangyu's son, Sun Chengzong couldn't help but smile and looked at Zuo Mengeng carefully.
"Not bad, not bad. Kunshan is brave, and this little guy is also extraordinary."
After hearing this, the generals present could not help but look at Zuo Mengeng a few more times.
When everyone got here, they were scolded by Sun Chengzong countless times. But this young man actually fell into the eyes of Mr. Sun Ge.
Zuo Liangyu stood up and explained for his son.
"The dog is new to the battlefield and needs training from Mr. Ge."
This is a subtle expression that my son is a newbie on the battlefield. Boss, you have to be aware of this, but you cannot send him to die.
Sun Chengzong was really kind to Zuo Liangyu.
"Kunshan, don't worry, I have my own arrangements."
Next, is Sun Chengzong's military arrangements.
There are a lot of generals and generals here. Zuo Menggeng is just a thousand generals, so naturally he has no cards. He just hid behind and listened quietly.
A full hour passed before all the generals left one after another.
Zuo Liangyu also received the errand of guarding the city defense, and had to leave before he could say a word to Zuo Mengeng.
Seeing that everything in the tent was finished, Zuo Mengeng stepped forward.
"Mr. Pavilion, General Administration, I will report something important at the end."
When Zuo Menggeng told what happened with Geng Ruqi, Sun Chengzong slammed the table on the spot.
"Shen Yongmao, common man!"
Zuo Menggeng didn't know why, so Hou Xun helped him to solve his doubts.
"The current Minister of War is Shen Yongmao. This person is a remnant of the eunuch party. Unexpectedly, he completely ignored the overall situation and did this evil thing that is outraged by both humans and gods."
Zuo Mengeng suddenly realized, and many mysteries became clear instantly.
There are different opinions in later generations regarding the fact that Geng Ruqi was deceived.
Some blame it on Yuan Chonghuan, and some blame it on Sun Chengzong.
Because these two are the commanders-in-chief of the entire Gyeonggi defense, it seems that they do have the power to mobilize Geng Ruqi's troops.
But if you think about it carefully, you know it's impossible.
Geng Ruqi and Yuan Chonghuan had a good personal relationship, and Yuan Chonghuan had no reason to cheat him.
And Geng Ruqi and Sun Chengzong were both close to Donglin, so the latter had no reason to do this.
Then the only one who could do such a thing was Shen Yongmao, who had just taken over as Minister of War.
The remnant of the eunuchs mentioned in the few historical materials is probably this guy.
And it is almost certain that Shen Yongmao did it on purpose.
Thinking back to the attack on Yuan Chonghuan by Wang Yongguang, Xue Guoguan and others later, it is obvious that the remnants of the eunuch party took the change of Jisi as an opportunity to counterattack.
For this reason, the country and its people were so reckless that they did such a crazy thing.
"Now that Geng Zhongcheng's son has arrived outside the account, what happens to the ministry still needs to be decided by the cabinet minister and the chief minister."
He added another sentence, which was addressed to Hou Xun.
"On the way to the end, I happened to meet Duke Ruopu, who is also outside the tent now."
When he heard that Hou Ke was actually here, Hou Xun was very happy and hurriedly ordered people to invite him.
Not long after, Geng Zhangguang rushed into the tent first, and without saying a word, he knelt down in front of Sun Chengzong and Hou Xun.
"Elder Ge, Mr. Gu, please save my father."
Hou Xun couldn't bear it and came over to help him personally.
"Don't panic. Now that the elder is in charge, your Majesty will not be wronged."
With these words, Geng Zhangguang finally felt a little calmer and wiped his tears while getting up.
The poor guy was really frightened this time.
Then Hou Ke came over to chat with Sun Chengzong and Hou Xun, and everyone began to think about how to save Geng Ruqi.
"My father has probably left now and will be able to reach Liangxiang by tomorrow at the latest. If there is no more food and grass to support him, I'm afraid a mutiny will be inevitable."
When Geng Zhangguang said this, everyone frowned and realized that things were not easy to handle.
If Geng Ruqi's troops were still in Changping, Sun Chengzong could have sent an order to let the local people release grain for relief. But since they had already set off, if they sent an order at this time, they might not be able to catch up.
Once Geng Ruchi's troops arrive in Liangxiang and there is still no food and grass supplies, the mutiny of the army may become a foregone conclusion.
Unexpectedly, Hou Ke was shocked when he mentioned Liangxiang.
"Oh, my student is in a good hometown, isn't he going to be in danger?"
After listening to what he said, everyone knew that it turned out that the magistrate of Liangxiang County at this time was still a student of Hou Ke.
However, after learning about this, Zuo Mengeng always felt that he could take advantage of it.