Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 870
The situation in the DPRK and China at the end of the eighth year of Chongzhen can only be described as "chaos".And it's a new realm of chaos. Although the political situation of the Ming Dynasty has been chaotic since Jiajing, it has never been as chaotic as it is now!
The Heluo wind and thunder set off by Yang Menglong shook this ancient land. The governors of Shanxi, Gansu, and Henan... were taken down one by one. The speed and strength were shocking.They used this to prove to the world: the power of the world is still in their hands, and they still have the final say in this world!
But when trying to take down Shaanxi Governor Sun Chuanting and Minister of War Fu Zonglong, they encountered strong resistance.This resistance comes from Chongzhen.For Chongzhen, it is a pity that the former governors were taken down, but it doesn't matter. Not a good thing, but Sun Chuanting and Fu Zonglong can't move!Sun Chuanting is both energetic and capable, and managed Shaanxi to flourish. Fu Zonglong was lacking in ability, but he did his best and got along well with the new army --- this is very important.Chongzhen no longer dared to expect his Minister of War to have any great talents, as long as he could cooperate well with the new army, the new army would naturally destroy all enemies with its strong combat effectiveness.If these two are taken down, there will be trouble!Therefore, he has been resisting, and Ren Wenchen Group has talked about it in a hype, but refuses to take these two down, even if Wenchen Group has sacrificed all the "dead remonstrances", it will not give in.

The struggle for power has reached a fever pitch. It is rare for courtiers and Chinese ministers to form a single rope to put pressure on Chongzhen. This situation only appeared during the Wanli period when they "struggled for the foundation of the country". non-stop.During the Wanli period, they "struggled for the foundation of the country" and they seemed to be making a living for the people of the world, but in fact they were doing it for their own self-interest, and it is still the same now.Facing this group of powerful ministers, Chongzhen felt fearful and helpless, and wanted to transfer Yang Menglong to Beijing more than once, at least someone would disperse the firepower for him.However, bad news soon came from Taiwan: Yang Menglong was assassinated!

It was a bolt from the blue!
Chongzhen was stunned, what are you doing, just now he planned to transfer Yang Menglong to Beijing after recovering Taiwan, let him deal with those civil servants, but now he has been assassinated! ? Chongzhen felt as if an arm had been cut off.The Wenchen Group was ecstatic, thank God, after being suppressed by that bastard for so long, they can finally feel proud!They immediately turned their guns and pointed at Yang Menglong. The memorial to impeach Yang Menglong was not like snowflakes, but flew like machine gun bullets:

"The minister impeached the champion Hou, who is extravagant and desperate, and the fish and meat of the common people!"

"The minister impeached the champion Hou Qingminli, and recruited a large number of civilian men to dig stones and pave the road for the convenience of his own travel, which caused the separation of the wives and children of the common people!"

"The minister impeached the champion Hou for being obsessed with strange and obscene techniques, refining green vitriol oil and causing a large number of people to be poisoned and killed!"

"The minister impeached the champion Hou for violating the ancestral system, attacking Japan, and killing countless people!"

"The minister impeached the champion Hou and befriended the vassal king!"

"The minister impeached..."

"The minister impeached..."

Look at this firepower, it can compete with a group of Katyusha rocket launchers. These guys who mentioned Yang Menglong in the past either had a headache or were terribly silent all rushed towards him screaming like they had taken aphrodisiacs. Eat a few pieces of meat off your body!Their eyes could almost speak: Hey, Big Boss, Yang Menglong is down, he is dead!The huge property he has accumulated is waiting for you. As long as you take the Heluo area, it will be enough for you to eat and drink for several years. Why are you still hesitating! ?
Chongzhen was also moved. His concept is different from Yang Menglong. He still believes that the whole world is his private property, and he can take whatever he likes. jealous.There are large-scale iron and steel factories, excellent salt fields, well-managed farms and factories, and most importantly, an invincible iron army. If he can take down the Heluo area, he will be able to reinvigorate his glory, and it will be so difficult to reproduce the majesty of Taizu and Chengzu!Yang Menglong is down, he doesn't feel at ease who will control this amazing asset, he might as well hold it in his own hands directly!
The queen seemed to see through his thoughts, and said with a sigh, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten what happened a few years ago?"

Chongzhen frowned and asked: "What happened a few years ago? How have I ever forgotten it!"

The queen sighed again and again: "You must have forgotten... the emperor took down Wei Zhongxian as soon as he came to the throne, the decisive strikes and the careful deployment were praised by the world, and the emperor was called Mingjun, but after taking down Wei Zhongxian?"

Chongzhen's expression suddenly became weird.

The queen went on to say: "Wei Zhongxian is not guilty of death, but with him, the world's taxes can still be collected. Although border wars continue, fierce battles continue, and money is spent like water, the frontier soldiers have never been short of food and salaries, and the people have not paid much. Taxation, because the salt tax, tea tax, mining tax and the commercial taxes collected by various shipping companies are very large, so the burden on the people is not so heavy. But after he is taken down, these taxes can no longer be collected. He was able to raise taxes on the common people again and again, and finally made refugees all over the place. If it weren't for the Champion Hou and Su Yihou, what troubles would have arisen. Moreover, Wei Eunuch has been in power for more than ten years, and all civil and military officials have treated him Contributing filial piety, how much money he has collected and saved, I am afraid that even he himself does not know, but how much money will be handed over to the treasury after Wei Xie is killed?"

Chongzhen's expression became more and more strange... The answer is not much, really not much.At that time, he looked at the list handed in by the officials in charge of copying the house, and was shocked. He couldn't believe that Wei Zhongxian had been greedy for more than ten years, and he had only such a small fortune. However, all the officials said that Wei Wei's party members might have transferred the property long ago. What came out was pitifully small.At the beginning, he really believed this set of nonsense and ordered a strict investigation. As a result, a bunch of officials were implicated, and many people's homes were ransacked, but the property handed over was still pitifully small!He finally figured out that the part that was handed over to the treasury was left over by the ministers, and the beneficiary of taking Wei Zongxian was not him, but the ministers who were suppressed by Wei Zongxian!
Seeing that his expression was changing, the queen slowed down her tone and said, "This is still in the capital, under the eyes of the emperor. It is three thousand miles away from Beijing to Nanyang. Your majesty, can you guarantee that these old things will not happen again?" ? Which of your trusted ministers can take over the assets of the entire Heluo area for you, hand them over to you, and take care of them for you?"

Chongzhen's complexion changed continuously, and finally he let out a long sigh: "I didn't expect that I couldn't even get the property copied from the courtier's house!"

If an emperor is so messed up that he can't even collect the money from his courtiers, he is quite useless.Although he was very reluctant, Chongzhen had to admit that if he really wanted to copy Yang Menglong's property by hand, he might not even get any scum. Thinking of Champion Hou being a clean and honest official, with no money left in his family, he is a very good official, we have wronged him, we are guilty!" Thinking of this, he felt as disgusted as swallowing a hundred flies.And according to the queen's analysis, although Yang Menglong was seriously injured, he might not be able to take advantage of the danger. With his temperament, can he swallow this bad breath? He must rebel!And with his prestige, with a single call, hundreds of thousands of people gather in an instant, and it is so difficult to sweep the world!

"In these years, it is not the Chinese and military officials of the court who are tolerating the champion, but the champion is tolerating the civil and military officials of the court!" The queen said meaningfully.

Chongzhen was shocked, and completely gave up the idea of ​​making a fortune while Yang Menglong was down.Yang Menglong is his right-hand man, no matter how hungry he is, he can't cut off his own arm to eat, right? Calm down, and think about what happened over the years, the more he thinks about it, the more terrified he becomes.With Yang Menglong here, at least the business taxes in Huguang and Heluo areas can be collected, and the extra 400 million taels are mainly collected from the merchants. The merchants are quite conscious. It can be said that Heluo and Huguang have become the most important in Ming Dynasty Once Yang Menglong falls... No, Yang Menglong must not fall. Even if he falls, his New Deal cannot fall. Chongzhen does not want to live in a situation where smoke is everywhere and the treasury can starve rats to death. Hard times!
After making up his mind, Chongzhen threw all the memorials to impeach Yang Menglong into the trash can, and made several orders to send the most skilled imperial doctor in the palace to Taiwan to treat Yang Menglong. Live Yang Menglong!This move proved to the officials that Yang Menglong's position in Chongzhen's heart is still unshakable, and everyone's heart will be better if they die.

Fang Yishang reported to the court that after Yang Menglong's assassination, people in Heluo and Huguang areas were panicked and the market was depressed, and they were afraid of death.Chongzhen thought for a while, and drew up an imperial decree: everything in Heluo and Huguang areas will remain as usual, and the appointment and removal of personnel will be decided by the Huguang governor's yamen. for!

Well, the hereditary Wangdai has thrown out such a ruthless move, which means that the Heluo and Huguang areas are still in the hands of the Yang family. Even if something happens to Yang Menglong, his son will take over from him. Daqi, everyone wash up and sleep.Unsurprisingly, this decree was unanimously resisted by the officials. A group of old officials looked for death and life, tearing up and talking about the ancestral system, and Chongzhen was so annoyed that he just wanted to kill people.He issued the imperial edict three times in a row, and was beaten back three times by the cabinet. The cabinet's attitude is very clear: you don't want to take the opportunity to take down the Heluo area, and let everyone get a windfall. General? It's impossible!What if his son is stronger than him? Are we still alive? Absolutely not!The ministers pointed their guns at Fu Zonglong and Sun Chuanting again, diverting Chongzhen's attention first!

Facing the tough officials, Chongzhen was also very troubled. The attitude of the officials was very clear: Yang Menglong and Fu Zonglong choose one, you choose yourself!After weighing again and again, he had no choice but to find Fu Zonglong, explain his difficulties to him, and finally said helplessly: "Fu Qing, the champion Hou Zhen must be protected. This is related to the safety of the country, the country, and I must not back down. I have been wronging you for several years!"

Fu Zonglong said with emotion: "The humble minister has few talents and little knowledge. He has a shy face and holds the high position of Minister of the Ministry of War. He works conscientiously and walks on thin ice. He is afraid of making any mistakes and is already exhausted physically and mentally! The champion Hou Jing is extremely talented and can be compared to Wu Qi. No one can match him. He Now, the Ming Dynasty can rest easy! As long as we can keep him and his bloodline, it doesn't matter if the old minister suffers some injustice!"

Chongzhen was too moved to speak.

Finally, after repeated back and forth, Chongzhen finally gave in and dismissed Fu Zonglong, the Minister of War, for corruption and dereliction of duty. Yang Sichang, the son of Yang He, took over the post of Minister of War.At the same time, because Sun Chuanting was too involved in the crackdown on hoarding, he was dismissed from the post of governor of Shaanxi and demoted to the prefect of Xi'an, for his crime and meritorious service.

Politics is a mutual compromise. The emperor made such a big concession, so naturally the officials should not be too aggressive. Therefore, the decree of making Yang Xiaojun the Hussar General was smoothly issued, and the hearts of the people in Huguang and Heluo areas immediately settled down.

Chongzhen, who was relieved, did not know that the moment he ordered Fu Zonglong to be dismissed, his destruction entered the countdown.

(End of this chapter)