golden scales

There is a saying: Before the world is in chaos, Shu will be in chaos first, and the world has been settled but Shu has not yet been settled.Judging from the situation, Sichuan is indeed a good place.However, no matter how good a place is, it is useless without strength.Different from the local thieves in Shandong, the local thieves in Sichuan have a long history. By the 16th year of Chongzhen, there were tens of thousands of horses at every turn, roaring in the north of Sichuan, with sharp firearms.

Because among them, Yaotiandong and Huanglong are the most powerful, so they are called the Thirteen Schools of Yaohuang.

Zhang Xianzhong subdued Yaotiandong in August 17th year of Chongzhen, but in fact he was unable to mobilize the [-] troops, and even divided his troops to guard against it.

After Li Zicheng lost Shaanxi, he refused to listen to Gu Junen's advice, and was blocked from going south to Huguang, so he had to turn around again and enter Sichuan from Hanzhong.First, Li Zicheng appointed Li Yutian as the governor of Sichuan, and Huairenbo Make led [-] troops from Hanzhong to Shu.Both of them were demoted officials from the Ming Dynasty, and after occupying Langzhong, an important town in northern Sichuan, they were unable to garrison troops.Later, news of Li Zicheng's defeat came, and this team lacked fighting spirit.

However, Zhang Xianzhong also suffered from insufficient strength and wanted to suppress the Tujia forces in the southwest. Although he established a national name in Chengdu, it may not be possible to unify Sichuan.

Zhu Cihong did not attack Sichuan for a long time. Apart from reorganizing more mountain divisions to facilitate operations in the southwest, it was also because the situation in Sichuan was too complicated, and it would inevitably lose prestige if it was not handled properly.

Now Zhang Xianzhong sent two Thai and Western missionaries to convey his intention to surrender, precisely because he also found it unsustainable.

No one is willing to go to the Yunnan-Guizhou Mountains unless they have to.Especially Guizhou has been a barren land since ancient times.Not to mention modern times, it is 20 years after the reform and opening up.Many mountain villages are so poor that the whole family only has one pair of trousers.Yunnan is also a land of miasma, and most of the western troops are from the north.Just being unaccustomed to the soil and water can kill a piece of it.

Zhu Cilang passed the news to Wu Tong, precisely because he wanted Wu Tong to try the wind.

In the eyes of pragmatism, real interests far outweigh face.Although Zhang Xianzhong dug the grave of the Zhu family ancestors, but how many generations of ancestors were there?Zhu Cihong didn't take it to heart at all.As long as the two important cities of Chongqing and Chengdu can be taken as completely as possible, why can't the problem be resolved through negotiation?

Of course, pragmatists like Zhu Cihong were not mainstream in Ming Dynasty.Emperor Chongzhen issued an edict a long time ago: Zhang Xianzhong's crime cannot be pardoned, but others can be pardoned.

If you say now that you want to make peace with the Western Thieves, pardon Zhang Xianzhong.Politically, it is bound to fall into a passive position.

After Wu Xuan got the news, he was finally relieved to know that the Crown Prince hadn't made any promises in private.He knew what the Crown Prince meant. If the Western Thieves surrendered, they would be able to completely stabilize the south of the Qinling Mountains by taking Sichuan, and the First Mountain Division in Huguang would be able to launch a counterattack from Hanzhong.

However, it is absolutely impossible for the imperial court to publicly pardon Zhang Xianzhong.

"Even if the western bandits are guilty and meritorious, Zhang Xianzhong may not be able to forgive him." Jiang Dejing wondered: "The change in Fengyang is really a threshold that cannot be passed."

"What if he captures and kills Li Zicheng?" Sun Chuanting probed, "Li thief's crime of insulting the national treasure is no less serious than that of Zhang Xianzhong."

Jiang Dejing frowned even more, and said: "None of these two people can be forgiven."

"Neither of them will be spared." Wu Tong also shook his head helplessly and said, "However, according to His Highness' estimation, to completely pacify Sichuan, one hundred thousand troops should be mobilized. The number of sacrifices may be nearly [-]%. If Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng are willing to surrender, it only takes five Tens of thousands of people can be incorporated, and the sacrifice is no more than [-]%. Not to mention the savings in human, material and financial resources. No matter how you look at it, it is the best to be reduced.”

"What do you think, sir?" Wu Tong asked Li Yuzhi, the chief assistant.

Li Yuzhi drank his tea as if he had just woken up.Fangcai said: "Your Highness is only asking if there is room for change in the court. We are limited by qualifications. If we can't think of it, we have no choice."

The three of them felt a little relaxed after hearing this, but these top Ming figures were unwilling to give up just yet.

Li Yuzhi said again: "You may as well ask Your Highness, whether it is worthwhile to exchange the filial piety of the world for a province in Sichuan. His Highness must be able to make this choice." Said: "The revised version of the "Draft Tax Law" must be submitted to His Highness as soon as possible. Besides, we must also send the letter of credence sent by the Donghu to Taiyuan as soon as possible."

On April 18, the 29th year of Chongzhen, a group of envoys from the Eastern Captives entered Jinan City under the escort of the Ming army.Except for the so-called "envoys" who were Manchurians with white banners, the others were all Han officials who surrendered.This configuration is enough to show that Dorgon is suspicious and dare not send his real confidants to take risks.

Dorgon once again emphasized in the "Book of Nations" that the entry of the Qing Dynasty into the customs was for the Ming Dynasty to fight against the thieves and quell the chaos, and there was absolutely no indiscriminate thinking.If Dorgon had to bark a few words in the "Letter of Credibility" before, complaining that Daming didn't know good people, then this time the "Letter of Credibility" was already full of pity, without the slightest hint of arrogance.

"In the letters of the Nine Chieftains, it is nothing more than opening a canal to exchange people." Jiang Dejing said: "Can you present it to the imperial court?"

Jiang Dejing still firmly held the principle of loyalty to the emperor. Although he knew that the crown prince was in charge, he still believed that the emperor should make up his mind.Especially on the issue of the "Tax Law", he had obvious differences with the crown prince, and it was inevitable that he would be closer to the emperor.

The other three elders directly ignored the topic of Jincheng Yulan.Sun Chuanting said: "Once the canal is opened, the common people may not be saved, but the Eastern captives must be saved."

"It's hard for the eastern captives to ride a tiger now. Even if they return to the outside of the pass, they will be seriously injured and their morale will not be boosted." Wu Sheng said: "Maybe they will fall apart."

The four court elders present here are all important officials of the court, but they didn't realize that "intelligence" could be so meticulous until after the crown prince took charge, and they didn't really have the ability to analyze the internal contradictions of the enemy.If they were asked to talk about the Eastern Captives when Huang Taiji was in power, they would definitely be at a loss and have no idea.However, now in Beijing, whoever said something at Donglu's court meeting, they can get the information within five days.

This is the best way to talk to smart people, and the other three can understand Wu Sheng's assertion without any doubts.

"The letter of credence must be returned by His Highness," Sun Chuanting returned to the root of the problem, "The key is what kind of proposal the cabinet should give."

The cabinet was originally a secretarial organization, and the reason why it was able to seize power was precisely because of the existence of "bills".Although from a legal point of view, the emperor can completely disregard the "vote draft" and act according to the central purpose, but the result will definitely be resisted by the officials, and then blocked by the six divisions, which is embarrassing and laughable for a hundred years.

During the reign of Sanyang, as well as the Hongzhi, Jiajing, and Wanli dynasties, as long as the chief assistant was strong, the bills could be directly transferred to the emperor's "imperial approval".

I think that when Emperor Jingtai wanted to easily establish a prince, he even had to bribe the cabinet ministers first, so that the edict was successfully changed into a bill.

In the Chongzhen Dynasty, the imperial decree surpassed the bill, and we have to thank Wei Zhongxian at the time of the apocalypse for his arbitrariness.Later, civil servants lost their integrity, and the elders in the later period were unwilling to take responsibility at all, claiming that "it was only for the draft, not for the prime minister." Therefore, Feng Yuanbiao bluntly said: "The responsibility of the husband, the Chinese and the foreign, is greater than the draft."

Now that the country still has a cabinet, no matter how powerful the crown prince is, or even holds the imperial power in his hands, the cabinet still has the power to vote.In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor was superior and the ministers were inferior, but it was absolutely impossible to have the master and slaves like the Manqing.

Now is definitely not the time to curb the power of the monarch and expand the power of the ministers.Therefore, the final draft of the ticket must not only conform to the interests of the Ming Dynasty, but also conform to the values ​​​​of the scholar-bureaucrats, and finally the crown prince can agree.

In the cabinet, Jiang Dejing was young and smart, Sun Chuanting was ruthless and courageous, Wu Tong was a wily planner, and Li Yuzhi was wise and foolish. The four of them showed their talents and discussed for a long time. Finally, they came up with a proposal that was acceptable in all aspects, and ordered them to copy it and seal it to send To Taiyuan.

To put it simply, the cabinet's opinion is: it does not agree to open the canal, but it allows "replacing people with food" and exchanging people with fixed food in fixed places.

Kuaima ran back and forth in Jinan and Taiyuan, but the comment he brought back was: Donglu was a traitor to the people of Jianzhou, and it should not be judged as a country.The country can accept his letter of surrender, punish the chief culprit, and forgive the common people.this.loud.

From this point of view, there was a conflict between imperial power and ministerial power on this issue.However, this kind of matter is different from the "Tax Law" that cares about self-interest, so there is no value in the see-saw discussion.Li Yuzhi and Wu Yan quickly set the tone, and re-drafted the draft with the crown prince's decree. After completing the legal procedures, they were sent to the emperor's imperial approval by the supervisor of ceremonies.

Emperor Chongzhen knew that this was what Zhu Cihong meant, so he habitually picked up the pen and wrote the word "ke", and then read it carefully, as a pastime.

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