On this day, Zhang Lei and others had just fought a battle with the Qing army and killed tens of thousands of Qing soldiers. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhang Lei and his army advanced fifty miles forward. This distance was already very close to Shengjing. No longer able to get any closer, Dorgon immediately ordered martial law in Shengjing. Only then did the people know that they were already facing a huge threat.
So everyone started to panic. Shengjing has been in business for such a long time, and their territory of the Qing Empire has always been expanding outwards. When has there ever been such a frustrating moment? It is really unreasonable to be beaten into the house by people.
Dorgon mobilized all the troops who attacked Ningyuan and Jinzhou, and went directly to Zhang Lei's place. Together with an army that had been stationed there, the three armies were divided into three groups and headed towards Zhang Lei's place. March into the place.
The defenders in Jinzhou and Ningyuan were surprised to find that the Qing troops had suddenly retreated. Although Zhang Lei had sent troops to repel the troops in the two places, giving the two cities a little buffer time, But it didn't take long for the Qing army to come back again.
After asking around, everyone realized that the army led by Zhang Lei had arrived near Shengjing, and they immediately felt extremely encouraged. Not only that, after discussion, they actually sent troops to chase the Qing army. This was unexpected by everyone, including Zhang Lei and Dorgon.
As the saying goes, when a wall falls and everyone pushes it, when a broken drum is beaten, it probably refers to such a situation. Dorgon wanted to lead three troops to besiege Zhang Lei and drive him back, but in fact it was , Shengjing is about to accept attacks from the Ming army from three different directions.
When Zhang Lei heard about this incident, he immediately felt very excited. He seemed to be able to predict that the three-way army would directly blow up Shengjing, so he ordered the march without hesitation.
Dorgon had no choice but to distribute all his troops around Shengjing, forming a strong encirclement. He knew that he seemed to have made a very absurd decision. He should not evacuate the troops from Jinzhou and Ningyuan, but should mobilize troops from other places. But it's too late to say that now. However, as the saying goes, knowing mistakes can greatly improve things, and it is also said that it is not too late to remedy the situation. Dorgon immediately wrote an edict in the tone of Shunzhi Emperor Fulin, ordering cavalry from all over the country to come to Beijing to serve the king.
Zhang Lei clearly understood the situation and did not forcefully attack Shengjing. Instead, we adopted a policy of siege but not attack. People inside could not get out, and people outside could not get in.
When the news reached Beijing, the entire government and the public immediately became excited, especially Chongzhen, who had been living in the shadow of the Manchus since he came to the throne. He always paid attention to the movements of the Manchu and Qing Dynasty to prevent them from attacking the capital, and even had trouble sleeping. But today, he was finally proud and proud. He finally no longer had to be afraid of the Manchu and Qing Tatars.
In the morning of the morning, he opened his mouth and said: "Dear dear friends. I believe everyone already knows that Zhang Aiqing has not only driven the Manchu Tatars back from Jinzhou and Ningyuan, but also surrounded the Qing army's home base. When I think about it, this is really a very satisfying thing. It also proves that the Manchu Tatars are not invincible. As long as we work together, we will definitely be able to bring peace to the Ming Dynasty again. Zhang Aiqing once wrote a memorial to I. There is only one sentence above, civil servants do not love wealth, military generals do not hesitate to die, and the world is peaceful. You guys should tell me, what does he mean by saying this? What does he want to express? "
The Ming Dynasty was a dynasty that was highly controlled by a civil servant group and whose politics and economy were gradually disconnected. At that time, capitalism sprouted and the economy developed. But as far as the character of the Chinese people is concerned, the first thing they think of when they have money is not to circulate it, but to save it. Even hundreds of years later, it is still the same today. Money is only money when you spend it. If you keep it at home, it is nothing. This behavior hinders the circulation of currency. This is not the most important thing. The most important thing is the civilian dictatorship. These people who rely on it to get rid of poverty and become rich are not diligent in their limbs and cannot distinguish between grain and grain. They are loyal supporters of Confucius and Mencius's theory. I want them to go It is simply impossible to recognize and develop a capitalist economy. Coupled with the increasingly serious phenomenon of official corruption, it eventually led to a complete collapse of the economy. Also, because of official corruption, the treasury cannot collect money, so it cannot spend money to suppress rebellions in various places. For this reason, they must increase taxes, which arouses even more dissatisfaction among the people, and the rebellions become more and more serious. This is a vicious cycle.
Although this sentence written by Zhang Lei comes from Yue Fei, it couldn't be better used now. Think about the measures he implemented to deal with corruption among civil servants a few years ago when Zhang Lei was on his way, and even It was even more severe than when Zhu Yuanzhang was founding the Ming Dynasty, and he was skinned after he had embezzled ten liang. Although it was not so barbaric, the specific details were handled even better. During that period, officials in remote areas did not talk about it, as far as the capital was concerned There are several scriptures nearbyIn places with relatively strong economic strength, basically all officials have no chance of corruption. Blocking other people's way of making money is a very hateful thing. Zhang Lei was ostracized by all officials because of this incident. In the end, Chongzhen dismissed him from his post. There was a reason.
In fact, Chongzhen himself felt the most profoundly. During the period when Zhang Lei was here, the money in the treasury could be said to be increasing day by day. He had never seen so much money since he was born. But as soon as Zhang Lei left, various places used the excuse that natural disasters required a lot of money, and tried various ways to reduce tax payments. Chongzhen once again watched the money in the treasury become less and less day by day, even though he was so smart. It is impossible for a person to know what these reasons are, but he has no way to do it, because he does not have enough soldiers, not even enough to fight, so how can he have the time to do such work as fighting corruption and promoting integrity?
Now Zhang Lei wrote this sentence to Chongzhen again, just to tell him that this is not a small matter, and if he is not determined to solve it, it will eventually lead to a catastrophe.
After Chongzhen said this, the ministers below did not speak. Who among them dared to say that his hands were clean? Seeing that everyone was silent, Chongzhen put the things on the table and said, "Forget it, I'm in a good mood today, so I won't talk about this. Let's discuss other things. Is there any progress in the recent rebellion and suppression of rebellions in various places?"
Seeing that Chongzhen took the initiative to change the topic, everyone seemed to relax, and the atmosphere at the scene became active again, and they started to play according to the previous situation. Everything seemed to be getting better.
After everyone's business was finished, Chongzhen's face was flushed, and it seemed that he was very excited. He asked: "Now that we have swept away the haze of more than ten years and defeated the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Shengjing has been conquered by us. Hundreds of thousands of troops from the Ming Dynasty were surrounded, and I heard that their new emperor had just ascended the throne. Do you think we should directly order Zhang Aiqing to capture Shengjing and bring Shengjing into the territory of the Ming Dynasty? "
"Your Majesty, this is necessary. It is best for their new emperor to surrender to our Ming Dynasty. Then the Manchu Qing Dynasty will be destroyed. How great." A minister said.
Another minister said: "Your Majesty, make all their prairie ours. In the future, we can raise horses, cattle and sheep. The number can reach at least millions. It will be of great benefit to the Ming Dynasty."
"Yes, yes, it's okay"
The entire court was extremely lively, as if the Qing Dynasty had ceased to exist during their discussions, and the grassy prairie in the north had become the possession of the Ming Dynasty.
Just at this time. A soldier came outside. He held up the memorial in his hand and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang, there is an urgent report from the front."
"Oh? Just after the discussion came to this point, he sent a battle report. Has Shengjing been captured?" Chongzhen said with a wide smile, and Wang Chengen beside him couldn't help but murmur. Even if he suddenly obtained the position of emperor, he didn't seem to be as excited as he is today. Wang Chengen ran down and showed the memorial to Chongzhen. Chongzhen snatched the memorial and looked at it.
However, as he looked further back, his face became gloomier, and the smile on his face disappeared little by little. At the end, it was so gloomy that it seemed like it was about to drip. He suddenly turned the memorial Close up. He said harshly: "These people are eating things inside and out."
The scene immediately became quiet. Chongzhen's performance was obviously not because of the expression he should have had after hearing the good news after the Ming army captured Shengjing. Everyone speculated. Could it be that the Qing army suddenly burst out with infinite fighting power and defeated Zhang Lei?
Everyone looked at Chongzhen, but no one dared to ask. Finally, Wang Chengen, who was next to Chongzhen, spoke: "I wonder why the emperor is so angry?"
Chongzhen said angrily: "I don't want to say anything now. Just read it to everyone." As he said that, he casually picked up the battle report sent by Zhang Lei and threw it into Wang Chengen's hands.
Wang Chengen was also very curious. He read the memorial himself and immediately understood why Chongzhen was angry. However, based on his own objective evaluation, what Zhang Lei said was not treasonous, but very reasonable.
But since Chongzhen wants him to recite it, then he should recite it.
This memorial was not written by Zhang Lei alone, but by Zhang Lei, Lu Xiangsheng, Hong Chengchou, and Sun Chuanting. The memorial described in detail all the battles, large and small, during this period, saying that they had already Shengjing was surrounded. But the country has reached the brink of collapse. It is best to temporarily stop fighting and recuperate, and survive this continuous natural disaster**!
??In other words, the Qing court should be temporarily released, and after the domestic war has calmed down, we can fight the Manchus again. ??The last part of this memorial seems to be to dispel everyone's concerns. Zhang Lei also vowed that if he can defeat the Manchu Qing today, he can defeat them casually in the future.
Wang Chengen had just finished reciting the memorial, and the ministers present immediately became excited and excited. People who didn't know the truth would have thought that the Qing Dynasty had invaded Beijing.
"It seems that the Manchu Tatars can be completely wiped out. How can Mr. Zhang stop at this time? It really shouldn't be. According to me, Shengjing should be captured immediately, and then all the relatives of the emperor should be captured. Catch him and imprison him in the capital." A minister said, looking at the expression on his face, it was as if he was watching a piece of good pork but couldn't eat it while eating.
"That's right. At this critical moment, he started to think about other things again. It's really inappropriate. Do you think he did it on purpose? Does he think he has outstanding military achievements, so he used this to threaten the court?" Another minister said.
"It's possible that he thought he had been treated unfairly before, so by stopping at this critical moment, he was taking revenge for the injustice he had suffered before?" Another minister immediately followed his words and said.
The third minister said: "Who says otherwise? This is too obvious. Otherwise, why would he stop fighting and recuperate now when there was no news for such a long time? According to my opinion, it is obvious that he He just doesn't want to make progress and forgets the emperor's favor. Your Majesty, I think that now the emperor should immediately issue an edict to praise him, and then order him to march and be sure to capture Shengjing. Otherwise, those Tatars may come back."
When Chongzhen heard this, he immediately said: "Yes, yes, that's it. I ordered him to march and capture Shengjing. How can they not listen?" So he started writing the edict on the spot and asked people to take it to Zhang Lei. . One thing he seemed to have forgotten was that Zhang Lei seemed to have been strictly disobeying his orders. Wang Chengen looked beside him, opened his mouth and wanted to speak, but after thinking about it, he didn't say a word.
Soon, Chongzhen had written the edict. He asked Wang Chengen to take the edict to the soldier who brought in Zhang Lei's battle report, and gave a few more instructions, and then the soldier went out immediately.
Despite this, Chongzhen still couldn't calm down the anger in his heart, and said fiercely: "This Zhang Lei is really infuriating. Does he think that only he can do all this? That is too arrogant, I He was promoted from a commoner to the general he is today, and he doesn't even have the slightest kindness or gratitude, so tell me, what does this mean?"
Wang Chengen said quickly: "Your Majesty, calm down. Now that the Emperor has sent the edict, he will definitely obey the order and lead the army to attack Shengjing. We will definitely receive news of victory soon. Your Majesty, please don't do it because of something like this." If you get angry over trivial matters, that's not good."
Chongzhen glanced at him, stood up, flicked his sleeves, and said: "Retreat from the court." (To be continued.)