The news that King Wu Lie Ding Yunyi was coming to Nanjing also shocked Ma Shiying and others immediately.
Does Ding Yunyi really have that much courage? How dare you come to Nanjing? Or did he have other purposes and wanted to capture Nanjing by force?
The strength of the Tiger Guards is well known to the world.
Are rogue bandits considered rampant? Destroyed by the Tiger Guards! Can Jin Lu be considered arrogant? He was also destroyed by the Tiger Guards! One after another, the enemies fell at the feet of the Tiger Guards!
If Ding Yunyi is really determined to attack Nanjing, can he resist it with just the strength of Nanjing? No one can answer this question.
Ma Shiying was worried, but Shi Kefa and the Donglin Party members were happy.
In the minds of Shi Kefa and these Donglin Party members, Ding Yunyi has a high opinion. The willingness is very simple, and it lies in the extremely high evaluation of Ding Yunyi by the scholar class headed by Zhang Pu.
On the issue of establishing an emperor, Shi Kefa and the Donglin Party members were completely plotted by Ma Shiying and others, and were defeated miserably in their hands. However, the appearance of Ding Yunyi gave them hope.
¡°It would not be a bad thing if they could use Ding Yunyi¡¯s help to find a new king that satisfies them.
The atmosphere in Nanjing suddenly became extremely strange. . . . . .
But what is supposed to come will still come. As each day passes, news finally comes:
Ding Yunyi, King Wu Lie of the Ming Dynasty and the marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, will arrive in Nanjing soon!
Ma Shiying and others immediately raised their voices and kept delivering news to the city of Nanjing. What was surprising was that Ding Yunyi only brought more than a hundred followers, which made Ma Shiying and others feel relieved.
No matter how strong Ding Yunyi is, can a hundred people be able to overturn the city of Nanjing?
"Ding Yunyi seems to agree with us to support His Majesty." Ma Shiying breathed a sigh of relief: "A hundred people are his guards along the way. I don't have to worry anymore."
Jingnan Marquis and Commander-in-Chief Huang Degong said: "I have long said that King Wu Lie is unparalleled in his loyalty and righteousness. He will never do anything that will cause pain to his relatives and pleasure to his enemies."
Before he could finish his words, someone already said coldly: "Jingnanhou is too optimistic. It's a pity that Hu Benwei didn't recruit talents like Jingnanhou."
??Look back. The speaker was Xingpingbo Gaojie. Hearing his sarcasm, Huang Degong could not help but glare at each other in anger.
The relationship between Huang Degong and Gao Jie was originally full of irreconcilable conflicts.
When Zhu Yousong established himself in the south of the Yangtze River, Huang Degong was granted the title of Marquis. He, Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing and Gao Jie formed the four towns. at first. Shi Kefa thought Gao Jie was domineering, so he ordered Huang Degong to station in Yizhen to contain him secretly. Huang Fei and Huang Huang Degong have the same surname and are considered brothers. When he was about to take up the post of commander-in-chief of Denglai, Huang De led 300 cavalry from Yangzhou to Gaoyou to greet him. Gao Jie had always been afraid of Huang Degong, and suspected that he wanted to attack him, so he ambush elite soldiers on the road. Huang Degong walked to Tuqiao and was cooking. Ambushes were everywhere, so he mounted his horse and raised his iron whip to fight. Arrows rained down all around, and his horse fell. He jumped on another horse and continued fighting. An enemy knight Wu Li rushed over. Huang Degong shouted and turned around, grabbed Li Wu and dragged him off his horse. Both the enemy knight and his horse were killed. He killed dozens more people and jumped into the collapsed house, roaring like thunder. The pursuers dared not approach, so he galloped back to where his troops were. When Huang Degong was fighting, Gao Jie took the opportunity to sneak attack Yizhen. Huang Degong's troops suffered heavy losses, and all 300 cavalry accompanying him were killed in the battle. He then appealed to the court. Expressing his intention to fight to the death with Gao Jie, Shi Kefa persuaded him many times before he had no choice but to reconcile with him.
Although they have reconciled for the time being, this grudge cannot be forgotten. At this time, Gao Jie made another sarcastic comment. How could Huang Degong not be angry?
"Okay. Okay, when has this happened?" Ma Shiying persuaded: "No matter what, Ding Yunyi will arrive in Nanjing soon. Everyone should be careful and don't make a fuss for the time being. Although he has more than a hundred people, It¡¯s not scary, but his Tiger Guards are still very scary to us.¡±
Thinking of the Tiger Guards, everyone in the group fell silent. . . . .
"Your Majesty, you can arrive in Nanjing tomorrow." Duan San'er said at the side.
Ding Yunyi nodded. The last time he came to Nanjing, he brought back a large number of beauties. This time he came to Nanjing, but there may be a bloody storm. Thinking about it, it is very sad.
"Your Majesty, what kind of people are those in the Four Towns of Jiangbei?" Duan Saner was a little confused. After thinking about it, he asked: "It seems that Zhu Yousong was able to get to that position all because of the Four Towns of Jiangbei." The power of the town?¡±
"These four towns in Jiangbei still have some background." Ding Yunyi was silent for a while and said: "?Speaking of Gao Jie, he was originally the most powerful among the four towns. Gao Jie was originally a subordinate of Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng once robbed a good woman named Xing, who was not only beautiful, but also cheerful, generous, and resourceful. Li Zicheng liked her very much and put her in charge of the army's money and food. When Gao Jie went to collect money and food, he saw this Xing family and was immediately shocked. Xing family also had a good impression of Gao Jie at first sight. After a long time of contact, the two hooked up. When Li Zicheng was in Qinzhong, he was defeated several times by Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi in the Ming Dynasty. Sun Chuanting had a general named He Renlong, who was also from Mizhi, Shaanxi Province, and was from the same hometown as Li Zicheng and Gao Jie. When Sun Chuanting was besieging Li Zicheng the most, Li Zicheng instructed Gao Jie to have secret discussions with He Renlong, hoping that for the sake of his fellow villagers, they would be more liberal and not push too hard. In troubled times, heroes are everywhere, and those who have soldiers are the grass-headed kings. In order to preserve his strength and not want to use his soldiers to fight to the death with Li Zicheng, He Renlong secretly agreed, which reduced Li Zicheng's threat. At this point, it was originally a happy situation. Unexpectedly, Li Zicheng became suspicious when he saw Gao Jie's close relationship with He Renlong. He concluded that Gao Jie was going to betray him and surrender to the army, so he wanted to get rid of him.
Unfortunately, the news leaked out. After hearing this, Gao Jie was shocked and angry, so he went to Xing to discuss the matter. Gao Jie had no choice but to lead 10,000 men and the Xing family to surrender to He Renlong. This is a popular saying in historical records, but I think it may not be the case. Li Zicheng, a great hero of his generation, was not a dim-witted person. He would not have been unable to tell the difference between Gao Jie and the Ming army's fake show, and the difference between a fake show and a show on the spot. He wanted to kill Gao Jie. I think he must have noticed the adultery between Gao Jie and Xing. It would really harm his reputation to kill Gao Jie. After all, he was cuckolded by his subordinates. Spread the word, whether it's good to say or not. Therefore, he fabricated the plan to demote the army. "
"It turns out he's just a bandit." Duan San'er said contemptuously.
"Yes, he is a bandit, but he still has some abilities. After Gao Jie surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, he really gave up his strength for a while. He made many military exploits in the battle with the peasant army. The Ming Dynasty was also good to him and promoted him within a few years. To the Commander-in-Chief." Ding Yunyi nodded and said slowly:
"Later Sun Chuanting died in the battle, how could the others still have fighting spirit? All the generals in Qin surrendered to the peasant army. But Gao Jie did not dare. The hatred of killing his father and the hatred of taking his wife were irreconcilable. He was worried that Li Zicheng would not let him go. Looking at the world, where could they find a place to stay? So Gao Jie led his remaining troops to flee eastward, and sent someone to contact Fengyang Governor Ma Shiying to ask for help. He was overjoyed that he had troops in his hands, so he gave up Xuzhou and allowed Gao Jie to garrison and follow his command. "
At this point, he paused briefly: "As for the other four people. Liu Zeqing was born in the army and was the general soldier of Shandong. When Li Zicheng attacked Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen issued an edict requiring generals from all regions to lead troops to serve the king, so Liu Zeqing was naturally recruited. . But Liu Zeqing was really frightened by Li Zicheng's name, and he didn't want to be known as disloyal, so he made a plan and deliberately fell off his horse when he was dispatching troops, pretending to be injured. When the Shun army attacked Shandong, Liu Zeqing did not dare to fight and led his troops to flee south, stationed in Huai'an. Liu Liangzuo was nicknamed "Huama Liu" because he often rode a flower horse and was stationed in Henan when the capital fell. In the Zhengyang area, Ma Shiying wrote to him, urging him to go south. Liu Liangzuo was alone in the north and was worried about the attack by the bandits. He was so happy that he immediately led his army southward, burning, killing and raping all the way, causing great resentment among the people. , Ma Shiying designated Shouxian as his base. As for Liu Liangzuo, he had connections in the Qing Dynasty. His younger brother Liu Liangchen was a surrendered general in the Ming Dynasty and had already surrendered to the Qing Dynasty outside the pass. The last one, Huang Degong, was the cleaner among the four. one"
Only then did Duan Saner understand the relationship between the four towns in Jiangbei.
"Don't underestimate the four towns in Jiangbei. They pose a great threat to our Ming Dynasty." Ding Yunyi's eyes were profound: "After the formation of the four feudal towns, it 'created' a situation and a demonstration effect, that is, the general commanding the army The government began to control the government, and the government was in the hands of the generals! What does this mean? It means that the emperor is just a puppet, and the government changes, but it is important to prevent unification. In terms of military generals controlling the court, every emperor and every dynasty has the same idea, which is to try their best to avoid this situation. If this situation is allowed to develop, even if it is not destroyed by the enemy, it will eventually be usurped! The most well-known one is Cao Cao! Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty made many efforts to prevent this situation, including abolishing the generals and establishing the commander-in-chief of the front, left, right, center and five armies, so that the soldiers and generals could be separated and restrained from each other, and finally the power returned to the emperor; Including emphasizing civility over military affairs; including dispatching supervisory troops, etc. In the Ming Dynasty, military generals did not have authority. Even before the capital was destroyed, the generals still did not dare to disobey the imperial orders! It will be destroyed soon.?
Ding Yunyi suddenly thought, isn¡¯t he the same to some extent?
The general in charge of the army controls the affairs of the state. But fortunately, I am working hard to change this situation.
"The soldiers are in charge of the government, but what about the civil servants? The party will fight against each other." Ding Yunyi pointedly said: "The Ming Dynasty did not have to be defeated in the capital and the emperor died for the country. If Emperor Chongzhen manages it properly, the Ming Empire can continue It's not that Emperor Chongzhen didn't work hard to revive the Ming Dynasty, it's just a pity that his efforts were in the opposite direction from his dream. Why? The party struggle in the Ming Dynasty became more intense after Zhang Juzheng in the Wanli Dynasty, and eventually the party and the country were destroyed. This man is a well-deserved great statesman, outstanding among the thousands of prime ministers in ancient China! When he was entrusted with the task, the Ming Dynasty was already riddled with holes. In order to make the imperial car of the Ming Dynasty go further, Zhang Juzheng The tax reform based on the One Whip Law had a profound impact on that time and later generations. It made the treasury rich and made the later generations to collect taxes in kind. "
Although Duan Saner didn¡¯t understand some things, he still listened to what King Wu Lie Ding Yunyi said:
"Any reform will inevitably touch the interests of some vested interests and will inevitably encounter resistance. Reforms in ancient China that achieved results and carried them to the end were all backed by power and not supported by power. Reforms are destined to die prematurely! In the tenth year of Wanli, a generation of famous Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng came to the end of his life. When he was dying, officials from the DPRK and the Central Government jointly donated money to the temple to pray for him, but there was only one person. He neither signed nor donated money. His friend was worried that he would be ostracized in the future, so he signed and donated money for him. When Gu Xiancheng heard about it, he rushed to the temple and blackmailed his name. I want the money back. At that time, Zhang Juzheng was in power. No one should fawn over anyone who serves the people. This action shows that Gu Xiancheng is strong-willed!"
"Well, so this person can be considered a figure." Duan Saner said involuntarily.
Ding Yunyi smiled:
"This Gu Xiancheng has a widely circulated couplet, which fully shows his political ambitions. 'The sound of wind and rain, the sound of reading, can be heard; state affairs, family affairs, world affairs. He cares about everything.' In the 22nd year of Wanli, Gu Xiancheng served as the official Wenxuan The Liangzhong, the Literary and Selection Department, was responsible for the promotion and transfer of officials. At this time, Wang Xijue, the chief assistant, retired and returned to his hometown. Wanli ordered the Ministry of Personnel to select cabinet ministers. After some discussion, Gu Xiancheng and the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel proposed seven candidates. Unexpectedly, the report was submitted. After becoming emperor, Emperor Wanli was immediately furious because most of the people here were officials whom Emperor Wanli hated! So in anger, Wanli demoted Gu Xiancheng to his hometown and rebuilt Donglin Academy in Wuxi, where he preached and taught. After criticizing the current affairs, some people from the government and the opposition gathered together to form a group, and these people were called Donglin Party members. There is no doubt that the Donglin Party members at this time took the world as their own mission. After a century of decadence, there has been an elite group of people with good political skills. It should be said that the Donglin Party members act with integrity and hate evil, and they are merciless in criticizing those who are doing nothing, committing crimes, and forming cliques for personal gain. Because the Donglin Party members care about people's livelihood and act fairly and selflessly, they are naturally favorable to people's support, especially from the middle and lower classes. Therefore, once a Donglin Party member criticizes a certain person or something, it is final. ."
Duan San'er felt vaguely that there was something wrong with this, but he didn't ask.
Ding Yunyi continued:
"This will inevitably arouse fierce resistance from some people in the court. This group of people is divided into several cliques, led by Chief Assistant Shen Yiguan and mainly officials from Zhejiang, known as the 'Zhejiang Party'; headed by Wu Siliang, Those mainly composed of officials from Hubei were called the "Chu Party"; those mainly composed of officials from Shandong were called the "Qi Party". These three parties joined forces to deal with the Donglin Party, so they were collectively called the "Qi Chu Zhe Party". This started the party struggle. At the same time, officials in both the government and the opposition no longer have the ability to take matters into their own hands and can no longer manage affairs, because every issue, policy, and political arrangement, regardless of whether it is right or wrong, will immediately be attacked by cronies, and they will find fault with it. Let your ideas fail in the court! Therefore, the best way to protect yourself is to do less and do nothing, so that you will not give people any excuse. They are like poisonous snakes lurking in the grass, always waiting for opportunities. The most terrible thing is that Emperor Wanli has been hiding in the palace for twenty-eight years and has not been in charge of government affairs. There is no one to mediate the party struggle, so it naturally intensifies. "
¡°No wonder, no wonder.¡± Duan Saner murmured.
"If it weren't for King Wu Lie, he really wouldn't have known that there were so many contradictions in the court.
"The same is true for us now." Ding Yunyi's face gradually darkened: "The current party struggle is Donglin's.It was instigated by party members, and its cause was the succession to the throne! When the whereabouts of the late emperor's three sons were unknown, King Fu Zhu Yousong was the nearest branch of the imperial line and the most qualified to inherit the Ming Dynasty throne. The Donglin party members were just worried that his succession would be detrimental to their party, so they stepped in and offered support. King Li Lu's proposal provoked disputes. And they also euphemistically call it "Li", which is tantamount to saying in disguise that King Fu is unworthy and unworthy of inheriting the throne. The birthplace of the Donglin Party is in the south of the Yangtze River, and the relationship between the Donglin Party in Jiangnan is intricate. The impact can be imagined. Take things out of context, distort facts, and make your reputation worse first. Donglin Party members often think of themselves as gentlemen, and they often put the names of villains on their opponents. The Chinese are very good at it. The thing that cares about the judgment between a gentleman and a villain is that nowadays, if you describe a person as a villain, he will definitely be jealous of you, which means that he has no friends and no one wants to associate with a villain."
Speaking of this, he sneered and said: "Zhu Yousong succeeded to the throne amidst the opposition of the Donglin Party. In his heart, it was impossible to rely on the Donglin Party members to maintain his rule, and even to Donglin Party members have always been on tight guard. Shi Kefa was not a Donglin Party member, but Zhu Yousong asked him to supervise Jiangbei and stay away from the center of power of the imperial court. It cannot but be said that he was influenced by Donglin Party members. It is up to the ministers and the four townsmen to get the throne. The other ministers are all interested in Lu Fan. Today they will go to Lu Fan, and tomorrow they will support Lu Fan! This is clearly to tell Zhu Yousong who he should rely on. "
Ding Yunyi then loudly said: "But as long as my sphere of influence is within reach, party strife will never be allowed to occur!"