Chongzhen Chat Group

For the Ming Dynasty, there was freedom of speech. At least it was not like the Manchu Qing Dynasty who would engage in literary inquisition. Saying a wrong word, writing a wrong word, or even having an ambiguous word could lead to death.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't even think about it. He would be beaten and killed just because of an article. Being punished for words is not the style of the Ming Dynasty. And the more important point is that if the mouth is on someone else's body, it will not be blocked if you just blindly block it. But this does not mean that anyone can criticize the government without any scruples!

In fact, for ancient people, whether the government and the public can discuss politics smoothly or not is one of the important criteria to measure whether a monarch is enlightened. In other words, it means that he will be praised by literati. After all, public opinion is controlled by literati, and so is history. Written by literati.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty has always attached great importance to freedom of speech. For example, Emperor Taizu gave the censor and officials not to be punished for their words, which is a good example.

However, in Emperor Chongzhen's view, Taizu's original intention was good, but the rules he set were broken by civil servants, who used them to fight party conflicts and eliminate dissidents. As a result, he changed the rules since Taizu. Any impeachment by the imperial censor must have real evidence. To this end, he even reformed the Metropolitan Procuratorate and increased the subordinate institutions and manpower of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Although Zhang Pu is well-known among the scholars in the south of the Yangtze River and among the officials' children, so what, I have even cured the Yushi Yanguan, why can't I still cure him? With this in mind, Emperor Chongzhen replied to Dongchang Admiral Huang Chengen: "Since Zhang Pu has written an article and spread it widely, your Dongchang should ask him who Yan Song is in the court. If there is no real evidence, he will speak openly and openly. If the slander has caused a bad impact, he must take responsibility for his words. Contact the academic administration and remove his title as punishment."

"My slave obeys the order!" Wang Chengen replied quickly after hearing this. He naturally knew in his heart that Zhang Pu was just talking nonsense, thinking that it would be the same as before and it would not matter. Haha, if you want to get rid of your meritorious service, you have read this book in vain!

After issuing this decree, Emperor Chongzhen thought for a moment and then ordered Wang Chengen: "As an opposition official, Zhou Yanru allowed the scholars to slander the government and failed to guide the scholars correctly to become a useful talent in the Ming Dynasty. This is Such behavior is inconsistent with official conduct and will be recorded in the East Factory to see the consequences."

When he said this, something suddenly occurred to him. In addition to the assessment of officials by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Dongchang side should also investigate officials, even those quasi-officials, such as Juren. Anyone whose moral conduct is dirty will not be in the official position in the future. Just give them a question mark on the way!

This matter, that is, privately investigating civil and military officials, is not something Dongchang has never done before. But in the past, it was not done systematically. If it really goes as planned, this project will be huge.

Emperor Chongzhen thought carefully for a while and felt that it was necessary to let Dongchang do this. As for the military attachés, Jin Yiwei will create the archives. With this in mind, he contacted Wang Chengen and Liu Xingzuo respectively and asked them to take care of the matter. Of course, the factory guards have to do it secretly. At that time, the assessment of civil and military officials will be carried out in combination with the assessment of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel.

Time flies so fast, and in the blink of an eye, the Chinese New Year is coming in seven days. At this time, the Liao army finally arrived in the capital, and the mighty tens of thousands of troops were temporarily stationed outside the capital city.

Undoubtedly, as the Liao-conquering army appeared in front of the people of the capital, the topic of the Liao-conquering army suddenly became the headline news in the capital's discussions. In the streets and alleys, in restaurants and teahouses, all the conversation was about the Liao army.

"Did you know? The Liao army is back!"

"Really? When did you come back? My old man has been nagging for a long time, wanting to see this mighty warrior!"

"No, it's the same with my family. My brother-in-law and his family were killed outside the capital city by the god-killing Jianlu. My mother-in-law wanted to say thank you in person! Thank you for helping her avenge her!"

"Same, same thing. In fact, many families here in the capital have this idea. After all, it was not just one family or two families that were tortured by the Jianlu!"

"..."

The people in the capital were obviously grateful for this army that conquered Liao. They even regard this army as truly their own army, not just the army of the imperial court.

"It's a pity that the military camp is under martial law and ordinary people like us can't get through. Otherwise, we would have to thank you in person!"

"It's okay, it's okay. I heard that in two days, the Liao army will come to the capital to show off their martial arts. Then there will be plenty of opportunities to pay homage to this mighty army of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Haha, don't you understand this? This is a military parade, something that has happened before!"

"..."

As the people in the capital talked, they became extremely looking forward to the day of the military parade, which would come as soon as possible.

At this time, it was approaching the end of the year, and the capital was located in the north. The weather was extremely cold under the howling cold wind.

In this cold winter weather, generally speaking, most people don't want to get out of bed until the sun rises over the hills. They all want to hide in the warm bed and stay in bed listening to the howling cold wind outside.

But on this day, the third day after the Liao army arrived in the capital, the situation was very different.

It was not yet dawn, but there was already movement on the street. Under the curfew, under the watchful eyes of the patrolling soldiers, official sedans one after another, and generals one after another, appeared on the streets one after another, and gathered towards the Forbidden City. Logically speaking, it's almost Chinese New Year, so there shouldn't be anything going on. Moreover, the emperor never advocates morning court, but these officials in Beijing went to the Forbidden City so early. It is really a rare scene in the capital!

When the sky in the east just showed a ray of light, the curfew had just ended, and the movement caused by the early officials disappeared, more soldiers from the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division appeared on the streets. There was movement again in the quiet street, with the sound of neat footsteps, the clanking of armor, and the shouts of soldiers and generals ringing out from time to time.

If the soldiers of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division were soldiers who acted under orders and had no control over them like civil and military officials, then this thing was even more abnormal.

In the capital city, every household also started to wake up. In just a short while, the sleeping capital seemed to wake up. Voices from every household rang out from time to time: "My dear, no pancakes, just eat whatever you want. It's time consuming!"

"You naughty kid, hurry up! You've been clamoring to go see it, and now you're still dragging your feet to get up! If you go late and there's no place, I can't beat you to death!"

"Dad, take your time, the kid has to go take a seat first!"

"..."

Amidst the commotion, many people walked out of their homes. Their first reaction was to shrink their necks, look up at the sky, and say, "It's so cold!" However, they all had smiles on their faces. Looking at the activities of the neighbors, many people would shout: "Old Litou, you are gone, and you are still staying in bed!"

"Old Wang, why don't you go? Today's incident is probably just this one. If you miss it, you won't be able to see it anymore!"

"..."

In various places in the capital, people were calling for friends, and it was very lively. It was much more lively than at noon in the past.

There were already many people on the streets of the capital, walking quickly in twos and threes.

As I was walking, I didn’t know who it was, and suddenly shouted: “Wow, it’s snowing!”

When the people nearby heard it, they all looked up and saw that it was true. I saw snowflakes floating sporadically in the sky, one, two, or three... In just a short while, the snow fell a little heavier and fell on the people. There was a patch of white, and even when it fell on the ground, there was no trace of it. Melt again.

The older people couldn't help but feel very happy when they saw this situation, and said loudly: "The auspicious snow heralds a good year! The crops should have a good harvest!"

Slowly, the snow became heavier and heavier, but it could not stop the enthusiasm of the people in the capital. They still ignored it and continued to pour into the streets. There were even some urchins who went to the streets with their parents and had a snowball fight while walking.

On this day, Emperor Chongzhen also got up early. When he heard the bustle coming from outside the palace, he couldn't help but feel very good. It seems that the enthusiasm of the people in the capital can be expected!

When Emperor Chongzhen drove to the top of Fengtianmen City, he saw countless snowmen standing there waiting in Fengtianmen Square.

Looking at all this, Emperor Chongzhen believed that the Ming army had changed in the hearts of the people. The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are no longer just big-headed soldiers, and they will not be despised as they were before. He believed that this would be helpful in changing the status of warriors!

Speaking of which, the military parade had actually happened once before, when Emperor Chongzhen was conducting his own military expedition. However, the military parade that time was relatively simple, but this time, the emperor had issued an order in advance to the chief minister of the cabinet, Wen Tiren, and Wen Tiren would organize it. Whether it was the experience of the people or the feeling of Emperor Chongzhen, it was more grand.

At this time, the Jinyi soldiers were under martial law in Fengtianmen Square, and there were many Han generals near the Fengtianmen city, all of them tall and mighty, showing even more momentum. On the top of the city, there were hundreds of civil and military officials, all wearing formal court uniforms, surrounding Emperor Chongzhen who had already taken his place.

In Wen Tiren's original plan, he wanted to send orders to the Liao army outside the city through a chat group, but Emperor Chongzhen vetoed this and still had people deliver the orders on fast horses, which was more ceremonial.

The commander-in-chief of this military parade, the former Ji Liao Governor and Cabinet Assistant, now the Second Assistant Sun Chengzong, gave the order as soon as the hour came, and saw a fast horse galloping away from Fengtianmen City.

Seeing this, the people who were whispering and stamping their feet and gasping for breath, many people stopped chatting and stopped moving, although they knew that the Liao army would not appear in front of them so soon. But they still stretched their necks and looked in the direction they came from from time to time. Take a look and look around, it seems that you have forgotten the cold.

I don't know how long it took, but in their expectation, the Liao army finally appeared.

Just like the last military parade, the first thing that appeared in front of everyone was the national flag of the Ming Dynasty, a flag that they were already very familiar with, and then came the Liao army.

The main body of this military parade is similar to the previous one, but this time there are more people, and it is so majestic that one cannot see the end.

At the front were the naturalized troops. The naturalized army this time was mainly composed of Li Guo and Wu Sangui. Their troops were all cavalry. The soldiers were very skilled in riding. They rode tall horses and marched together, which was very majestic.

When they appeared in the square, a ceremonial officer began to introduce the achievements of the naturalized army, and the soldiers with loud voices spread the introduction far away.

"This cavalry army was sent from the naturalized province. As we all know, the naturalized province is a newly-established province in the Ming Dynasty. However, this naturalized army is extraordinary. It gave full play to the advantages of the cavalry army. In the galloping campaign to conquer Liao, Li Li Join the general's headquarters, raid Fushun, and destroy Jianlu's lair..."

"What you see now is the young man from General Wu's command. He shouted that those who offend our Ming Dynasty will be punished no matter how far away they are. In this war, they also ran thousands of miles to capture the grain fields in the northeast of Liaoning for the Ming Dynasty. , greatly reducing the food pressure in Liaodong..."

After hearing these introductions, these naturalized soldiers held their heads high and tried their best to show their style. But at this time, in their hearts, it was actually very shocking.

They were shocked by the enthusiasm of the people in the capital. They really didn't expect that there were so many people in the capital, braving the heavy snow, standing on both sides of the road and in the square to welcome them. At this time, the naturalized army officers and soldiers actually felt very regretful in their hearts, regretting why they did not make greater contributions in this battle of conquering Liao!

Following them was the Guan Ning Army led by Cao Wenzhao. This time, basically all the Guan Ning Army who participated in the decisive battle came, including infantry and cavalry. Most of the soldiers participated in the military parade for the first time. Like the naturalized troops, they were also shocked by the enthusiasm of the people in the capital. Listening to the ceremonial officers introducing their achievements, they all held their heads high and tried their best to show their spirit. god.

Watching the majestic and high-spirited armies passing by, and listening to the introduction by the etiquette officer, the people watching were also whispering: "Did you see it? This is the real army, the real Ming army!"

"Look, it's different from the previous ones. It looks like an elite one!"

"No, this murderous aura is rushing towards you. What are you if you're not an elite?"

"..."

After the Dongjiang Army passed by, when the new army appeared, the people in the capital suddenly stopped talking in unison. They looked at the new army officers with more excitement on their faces. For them, this new army is the capital's army. They watched it being formed and went out to battle, just like they watched their relatives grow up.

They all also understood that the main force in recovering Liaodong and incorporating North Korea into the Ming Dynasty was actually the New Army. Watching the new army pass by, I don’t know who was the first to shout, “The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!”

Suddenly, in just a moment, the earth-shaking roar of "The Ming Dynasty will be victorious" rang out in the square! This voice shocked everyone's heart, including ordinary people, civil servants, military generals, royal relatives and nobles!