Ming politicians

Shi Kefa never expected that he would encounter such a situation when he became the governor of Liaodong. Although he was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of War, which is completely reused, he was not happy at all.When I first came to Liaodong, the situation was very calm. At that time, although the signs of Su Tiancheng's rebellion were very clear, the surrender of the Houjin Tartars still gave Liaodong a prosperous situation. The mood was relieved, whether it was the Han people living in Liaodong or the people who moved from the inland, they all felt that they could live in peace of mind, and Shi Kefa was also happy to relax.

But the situation changed very quickly. First, the emperor's suspicion of Su Tiancheng became public, and then Su Tiancheng's resistance. Once this situation began to deteriorate, it eventually led to Su Tiancheng's rebellion, and the emperor began to attack Su Tiancheng on a large scale in the capital. Officials who had relations with Su Tiancheng were purged.

Even during this period of time, Shi Kefa didn't have much to worry about. After all, he and Su Tiancheng didn't have any contact, or even met each other. Naturally, this kind of cleaning has nothing to do with him, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't mean that Shi Kefa doesn't care about these things. Liaodong is not far from the capital, and the piecemeal situation spread to Liaodong. Shi Kefa feels that such an approach will eventually lead to big problems. This is destroying the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, at this time , Countless civil and military ministers who raised objections in Shangzuo were punished, and Shi Kefa, who was in Liaodong, was even more unlikely to raise any objections.

After Su Tiancheng started to send troops to Zhejiang and Fujian, the situation took a turn for the worse. A large number of imperial troops were wiped out. In a short time, the entire south was occupied by Su Tiancheng, especially after the establishment of the Jin Dynasty and Su Tiancheng proclaiming himself emperor. It's getting subtler.The imperial court's attention has begun to turn to Liaodong, because there are nearly 30 Liaodong frontier troops here.

Shi Kefa knew that the military pay allocated by the imperial court was not sufficient. In the past, considering the bravery of the Jiangning battalion and preventing Su Tiancheng from rebelling, the imperial court expanded the Liaodong Frontier Army and the Datong Frontier Army on a large scale. Unfortunately, there was no financial support. Can keep up in time.Fortunately, in the mutual markets of Jingbian, Anning Fort and Guangning, all the income is at the disposal of the Liaodong frontier army, and there is also Liao's salary, so the calculation is similar, and the gap is not too big. However, with the expansion of the war between the imperial court and Su Tiancheng , the Ministry of Households gradually became unable to allocate military salaries and food, and the Liaodong Frontier Army began to feel unprecedented difficulties.

There was a debate in the imperial court, thinking that since the Later Jin Tartars surrendered.You can mobilize the Liaodong frontier army on a large scale and participate in the fight with the Jiangning battalion. After all, the Liaodong frontier army still has good combat effectiveness, but this view is not only disagreed by many civil and military ministers, but even those who have not been in Liaodong for a long time Shi Kefa disagreed, and the ambitions of the post-Gold Tatars are very clear, once Liaodong is empty.The Houjin Tartars will definitely make moves, losing the Guan Ningjin line of defense that they relied on.The capital is in danger, maybe without Su Tiancheng attacking the capital, the Golden Tartars will directly surround the capital.

Under the support of this view, the Liaodong Frontier Army did not mobilize in the end.

Before the Battle of Cangzhou, the imperial court once again discussed the Liaodong frontier army, this time because the Hou Jin Tartars fought jointly with the imperial army.Some people suggested mobilizing the Liaodong frontier army. Since the later Jin Tartars and the Ming army have joined forces, there are not many major events in Liaodong. It is a loss to leave the powerful Liaodong frontier army.But at that time, the request to send the Datong frontier army prevailed, so the Liaodong frontier army still did not move.

After the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Cangzhou and the Battle of Tianjin, the only troops that the court could mobilize were the Beijing Camp and the Liaodong Frontier Army. At this time, Shi Kefa was ready. He knew very well that the Liaodong Frontier Army might rush to the capital to fight.

Just at this time, the situation in Liaodong began to deteriorate. First, Dorgon evacuated without authorization during the joint operations, and looted along Baoding, Zhendingfu and Shanxi, causing great panic and pain to the common people. Then the Houjin Tatars sent heavy troops and gathered in the Liaohe area, and small-scale conflicts in Guangning gradually began to appear. Finally, Daishan and Jierhalang led the Houjin Tatars and crossed the Liaohe River. The place where they were stationed began to set up camp.

This kind of action has a very clear meaning, that is, it is ready to do something in Liaodong.

Shi Kefa is very clear about the consequences of the large-scale withdrawal of the Liaodong Frontier Army. To be honest, the combat effectiveness of the Liaodong Frontier Army is not as good as that of the Later Jin Tartars. Later, the Golden Tatars suffered heavy losses in the battle with the Jiangning Camp in the past few years, and it was difficult to recover for a while, so the two sides were able to live in peace, but now the situation has changed. Here comes the Jiangning camp, which used to be the strongest in the Ming Dynasty, is now turning its guns and starting to deal with the imperial court. How can the Houjin Tatars miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

How to make a choice; Shi Kefa fell into deep pain.

Shi Kefa's advantages and disadvantages are very obvious. Integrity and integrity are his undeniable advantages, but indecision is also his most obvious defect. Especially when encountering major matters of principle, it is often difficult to make a decision. As for losing the best opportunity.

Abandoning Liaodong means bearing huge responsibilities. If the capital is captured by the Houjin Tartars, Shi Kefa will become a sinner in history, leaving a stain that cannot be erased forever. But if he sticks to Liaodong and allows Su Tiancheng to attack the capital, Ming Dynasty The guilt of the dynasty's downfall would also make him miserable.

History and choices are often such cruelty, and Shi Kefa has no way to avoid it.

Although the Spring Festival is approaching, Shi Kefa feels that the days are like years.

The two main generals of the Liaodong Frontier Army, Zu Dashou and Zu Dale, had high prestige in the army. After Su Tiancheng started rebelling, these two never commented on the Jiangning Camp, even though they had a very close relationship with the Jiangning Camp. With the general intersection.

From this incident, Shi Kefa also felt the crisis. Shi Kefa knew the bravery of the Jiangning battalion. The soldiers of the Beijing battalion he led in Nanzhili often talked about the Jiangning battalion, saying that the Jiangning battalion was invincible. Su Tiancheng once As the governor of Jiliao, he personally took charge of Liaodong and dealt with the Houjin Tartars. Moreover, Su Tiancheng led the Jiangning Battalion and the Liaodong Frontier Army to recover Dalinghe City in one fell swoop, and completely stabilized the Guanning Jin defense line. Faith and worship cannot be erased in a short time.

Under such circumstances, even if the Liaodong frontier army is pulled to resist the Jiangning camp, who knows if there will be a mutiny situation, and because of the lack of military pay, the sergeants below already have a lot of opinions.

After Shi Kefa came to Liaodong, he discovered an open secret, that is, the backbone officers and sergeants of the Liaodong Frontier Army actually wanted to enter the Jiangning Battalion. The generous treatment of the Jiangning Battalion was the biggest attraction. The Liaodong Frontier Army is obliged to deal with the Houjin Tartars, and regards this matter as its own responsibility, but it is not clear when it comes to dealing with the Jiangning Battalion.

Shi Kefa once asked Zu Dashou and Zu Dale for their opinions, and wanted to see what their attitude was. If they were to properly mobilize some soldiers from the Jiangning Battalion to defend the capital under the premise of sticking to the Guanning Jin defense line, the two Did they agree? I didn't expect that the two of them would not object to such an arrangement, but they just didn't agree to lead the army by themselves.

The mobilization of the Liaodong Frontier Army means that Guangning, Xipingbao, Yizhou and other cities may be lost. The Guan Ning Jin line of defense resisted the attack of the Hou Jin Tartars. This is equivalent to returning to the situation of Chongzhen for about ten years, but the situation is different now. Maybe the Hou Jin Tartars will directly bypass the Guan Ning Jin line of defense and attack Beizhili.

Dorgon was stationed in the Datong area, and he has not entered the grassland and returned to Shenyang for a long time, which is the best proof.

There are not many places that the imperial court can control. If the Houjin Tartars suddenly launch an attack and directly besiege the capital, the imperial court has no army capable of supporting the king. This makes the Houjin Tartars have no worries and can attack boldly. Not to mention that the later Jin Tartars can detect it, even ordinary people are basically aware of it.

So from this perspective, places like Guangning and Xipingbao must be defended. Under such circumstances, there is still a huge danger for the Hou Jin Tartars to attack and besiege the capital for thousands of miles.

Just when Shi Kefa was hesitating, he received a letter from Su Tiancheng.

When he received the letter, Shi Kefa was dumbfounded. He didn't expect that Su Tiancheng would write a letter to him. What time is this? Originally, Shi Kefa dismissed it. He believed that Su Tiancheng was a traitor. He even thought about handing the letter directly to him. To the court, but after thinking about it, he opened the letter anyway.

After reading the letter, Shi Kefa had to fall into deeper thinking. In the letter, Su Tiancheng analyzed the importance of Liaodong, and clearly told Shi Kefa that if he completely abandoned the entire Liaodong, he would become a sinner in history. The cruelty of the sons has long been known, and because the Houjin Tartars suffered heavy losses in the previous battle with the Ming army, they have a lot of resentment in their hearts. This kind of resentment is violent. The Tartars occupy the entire Liaodong, and that kind of uninhabited situation will definitely reappear. Under the situation where it is difficult to hold the Liaodong, the Later Jin Tartars will loot and massacre on a large scale, or after losing wealth and population, Withdraw from Liaodong.

Shi Kefa also thought of this, and he had to be convinced that Su Tiancheng, who was thousands of miles away, was able to analyze these situations and make accurate predictions.

Under such circumstances, Shi Kefa did not dare to evacuate Liaodong easily, he did not want to become a sinner through the ages. (To be continued..)