Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 17: National disaster calls for good generals

"Your Majesty, Mao Wenlong already has Shangfang Sword."

"In March of the third year of Tianqi, the late emperor gave Mao Wenlong, the chief military officer of Pingliao, Shang Fangjian."

Wang Tiqian reminded carefully.

Zhu Youjian was stunned when he heard the words. He didn't expect that Mao Wenlong already had Shang Fangjian. He only remembered that Mao Wenlong was killed by Yuan Chonghuan's Jiao Zhao with Shang Fang's sword, so he wanted to give him Shang Fang's sword first to avoid being killed without authorization. Who knew that Mao Wenlong already had Shang Fang Sword, so there was no need to give it to him again.

"A civil official wielding a Shang Fang sword to execute an imperial edict and beheaded another general who had a Shang Fang sword. What is this? 』

"Yuan Chonghuan is too courageous, so you must use it with caution. 』

After passing this thought, Zhu Youjian thought of Mao Wenlong again. Although this man was said to be domineering, he was willing to die without restraint when he was chopped down, and it seemed he could still use it.

However, his subordinates were all unruly people, and later there were kings Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi, who had to be carefully restrained.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian said calmly:
"Give Mao Wenlong another Shangfang Sword and ask him to restrain the generals."

"By the way, take Yang Hao over and deal with him in front of Dongjiang soldiers and civilians."

Zhu Youjian didn't understand that Yang Hao had never been killed. This person's crime has long been determined and he should be punished. In addition, he now wants to reuse Mao Wenlong, so he simply sent Yang Hao to Dongjiang Town to let the surviving soldiers and civilians of Liaodong deal with him.

Wang Tiqian tactfully advised:
"Your Majesty, this is not appropriate."

"It is disrespectful to the minister!"

Zhu Youjian made up his mind and asked:

"Five million soldiers and civilians died in Liaodong. Who told them about dignity?"

"Besides, Yang Hao's death sentence has been sentenced a long time ago. There is nothing wrong with taking him to Pi Island and disposing of him in front of the survivors."

In order to let people know the tragic situation in Liaodong, Zhu Youjian continued:

"When delivering the decree, send a few more documents and ask them to record the military and civilian deeds of Liaodong. There is no need to add any more embellishments, just record the original words."

"Let the people of the world know the cruelty of Jianlu and what it means to kill poor people and kill rich people."

"Everyone in the world must understand that the war between the Ming Dynasty and Hou Jin Dynasty was a war between civilization and barbarism."

"Once we are defeated, civilization will be lost and our country will not survive."

These words were so heavy that Wang Tiqian did not dare to say more, so he turned to ask:

"How should Li Ruzhen, who was also convicted like Yang Hao, be dealt with?"

When Zhu Youjian heard the name, he immediately asked:
"Li Ruzhen is Li Chengliang's son, right?"

"What are Li Chengliang's descendants doing now?"

Wang Tiqian thought for a while and replied:
"Li Rusong, the eldest son of Li Chengliang, died in battle in the 26th year of Wanli."

"The second son, Li Rubai, committed suicide in the first year of Tianqi due to the defeat in Liaodong."

"The third son, Li Ruzhen, was unable to defend the city after the defeat in Liaodong. He was imprisoned and threatened with death. He has been locked up ever since."

"The fourth son, Li Ruzhang, captured and worshiped his second son in the battle of Ningxia. He successively served as the commander-in-chief of Guangxi and Yansui. He died without heirs."

"The fifth son, Li Rumei, succeeded Li Rusong as the commander-in-chief after the war. He was later impeached for supporting the army and fearing the enemy. He was dismissed and has died."

"The rest of Li Ruzi, Li Ruwu, Li Rugui, and Li Runan, the so-called 'Nine Tigers of the Li Family' and the 'Nine Generals of the Li Family', are all nephews of Li Chengliang, not his sons."

Glancing at him approvingly, Zhu Youjian was quite impressed that he remembered him so clearly, and asked again:

"Uncle Ning Yuan of Li Chengliang, who will succeed him now?"

Wang Tigan said:

"After Li Rusong died in battle, he was posthumously given to Uncle Ning Yuan." "Because Li Chengliang was still alive at the time, Li Rusong's eldest son Li Shizhong was awarded the commander of the Jinyi Guards, and he was in charge of Nanzhen Fusi. ,hereditary."

"Li Shizhong died not long after. There was supposed to be someone from the Li family who would be able to seize the throne. However, because of the Liaodong incident, everyone in the court hated the Li family. No one was willing to mention it, so there was no such thing."

Zhu Youjian frowned when he heard this and said:
"How could this be?"

"If he is found guilty, he will be expelled from the title. Now that he has not been convicted, he will not be allowed to seize the title. What's the point?"

"Send someone to talk to the Li family and ask them to apply for the title. The country's title system cannot be corrupted at will."

Keenly seeing the opportunity, Zhu Youjian decided to test it out to see if the power to seize and ennoble people was in his own hands. If he can control this, he will have something to do.

Therefore, he seemed very tolerant towards Li Ruzhen's life and death and ordered:

"Li Ruzhen will be detained first and allowed to be visited by the Li family."

"Li Chengliang's only son is still alive and cannot be killed easily."

"Maybe he needs to identify the people over there at Hou Jin!"

Thinking of Ma Gui, who was also called Li Chengliang, Zhu Youjian asked:
"They say that the Li family has withered away. How is the Ma family now?"

Wang Tiqian replied:
"The Ma family has also withered now. The most outstanding Ma Chengzong was the deputy commander-in-chief of Liaodong and died in the battle of Shaling in the early years of the Apocalypse."

"Most of the other Ma family members work in Datong."

Zhu Youjian sighed and continued to ask:
"Where is Yu Long Qi Hu who is further ahead?"

"Can the descendants be in the army?"

Wang Tigan said:

"The Qi family has the Dengzhou Guard Commander Qian Shishi, who is still inherited by Qi Jiguang's descendants. Qi Jiguang's nephew Qi Jin died in the Hunhe River in the first year of Tianqi."

"Yu Zigao, the son of Yu Dayou, made meritorious service when he recaptured Penghu, and is now the commander-in-chief of Fujian."

Finally found a usable one, Inspector Zhu You exhaled and said:

"I ordered Yu Zigao to go to the Hajj and give an order to praise the achievements of the Yu family, Qi family, Li family and Ma family."

"In addition, these eight characters are given to the four families to encourage the generals of the Ming Dynasty to follow Qi Jiguang's example and serve the country wholeheartedly."

He wrote the eight characters "Yu Long, Qi Hu" and "Dong Li Xima" with his own hands. Zhu Youjian ordered Wang Tigan to cut them open and give them to the four families.

Although this kind of praise has no practical content, it is a symbol of honor for the general. After the eight characters written by Zhu Youjian were spread, generals from all over the country were extremely envious. Later, the people added eight characters and called them:
Yu Long and Qi Hu kill thieves like dirt.

East Li and West Ma, a family of generals.

The Yu family, the Qi family, the Li family, and the Ma family are collectively known as the four major general families.

It is said among the people that Zhu Youjian has no control over them, but among the four families, only the Li family has a title, and Zhu Youjian is very dissatisfied.

After all, in his opinion, Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou's achievements were definitely higher than those of Li Chengliang, and Ma Gui's achievements were also considerable. If the Li family has a title but the other three families do not, that is definitely abnormal and inconsistent with his intention of praising meritorious service and encouraging military officers to perform meritorious service.

It's just that the matter of ennoblement is very troublesome. After thinking about it, Zhu Youjian decided to test the issue of Li Chengliang's descendants attacking the title before deciding on the follow-up actions.

Later, Zhu Youjian remembered Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Jixiao" that was passed down to later generations. When Wang Tiqian sent someone to give the calligraphy, he asked the four families to submit military books together for the study of military generals and future governors.

For the famous Qi Jiajun, he even summoned the remaining soldiers in the name of praise to see if he could train a new army using the methods Qi Jiguang used back then.

At the same time, under Wang Tiqian's reminder, Zhu Youjian also learned that after he ascended to power, he would give rewards to the border troops as a rule. Although he knew that the imperial court's finances were tight, Zhu Youjian knew better that this money could not be saved, so he ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs, Ministry of Works and other departments to raise money and distribute rewards to the border troops.

　"Chongzhen Changbian": Yuan Chonghuan beheaded Mao Wenlong in the second year of Chongzhen:
　　Chong Huan said: You have not known the laws of the country for a long time. If I don't kill you, a piece of land in Dongjiang River does not belong to the emperor. Invite Shang Fangjian, and order Zhao Buxie and He Lintu, the commanders of Shuiying Capital, to supervise the execution, and order Zhang Guobing, the flag officer, to hold Shangfang Sword and kill Wenlong's head in front of the tent.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)