Emperor Chongzhen was too extreme.

Chapter 149 What a coincidence!

Hebei province.

The Huang family of Wuliu is the same Huang family that the former Grand Secretary Huang Liji belonged to.

The current head of the family, Huang Ze, and the heads of the other three major families in Hebei.

After the four returned from Nanjing after attending Prince Fu's enthronement ceremony.

They immediately gathered here to discuss how to deal with the emperor.

The cavalry force dispatched from the capital has been committing atrocities in Hebei for several days.

Although the deaths of some local gentry and wealthy families did not bring them any real blow.

But undoubtedly, the other person is as annoying as a buzzing mosquito next to your ear when you're trying to sleep.

Therefore, the thing the four parties want to do most right now is to deal with that cavalry force of several thousand men.

As long as we wipe out that cavalry unit.

The morale of the entire Hebei army will be greatly boosted, and they will then turn from defense to offense, making it easy for them to lead their troops to attack the capital.

And for them, doing this is not too difficult.

Although the aristocratic families were busy enjoying their wealth and luxury, they still had a sense of vigilance and preparedness for potential dangers.

Otherwise, it would not have been able to be passed down from generation to generation to this day.

Therefore, the aristocratic families throughout the Hebei region could still muster tens of thousands of elite troops.

With the addition of various miscellaneous troops and aid from the south, it wouldn't be difficult to assemble a massive army of over 100,000 men.

the most important is.

Now the Later Jin have agreed to their request and will send troops to attack the capital from the north.

So what is there to worry about?
what's going on?

No matter how powerful the emperor's cavalry is, can a few thousand men really fight against tens of thousands of them?

Their equipment was in no way inferior to that of the emperor's army.

Although he may not be as good as his opponent in terms of combat experience and bravery.

But don't forget, they were far, far richer than the emperor.

Under the reward, there must be a brave man.

Silver can largely compensate for this shortcoming.

Therefore, they could confidently send troops to encircle and annihilate that cavalry force.

As for whether the Later Jin would send troops to invade the capital, they didn't think about it any further after receiving the reply.

Promises can be false, but benefits cannot be faked.

They wanted to get rid of the emperor, but the Later Jin were definitely more eager to march south and enter the capital than they were.

What is there to worry about?
Would the Later Jin dynasty simply let such a good opportunity slip away?
If Huang Taiji had any sense, he would never have done something so harmful to others, himself, and others.

With that in mind, the four of them began to devise a plan of how to deal with the cavalry unit.

Huang Ze looked at the other three first and said, "My opinion is that while they are still lingering in Hebei, we should immediately send troops to wipe them out!"

"The enemy only has a few thousand men. We only need to send three times the number of their troops. Even if we can't annihilate them all, we can still inflict a heavy blow on them."

“Several thousand cavalrymen is a considerable loss for the emperor, and it will surely make him feel the pinch.”

After he finished speaking, two of the three nodded in agreement.

But one of them lowered his eyes and expressed a different opinion.

"I think it would be safer to wait until the Later Jin army is in place."

Huang Ze, who has a somewhat impatient personality, immediately lost his temper upon hearing this.

"Insurance is insurance, but you know how cunning the emperor is!"

"It would take the Later Jin army more than ten days to reach the capital, even without considering logistical issues."

"Who knows what kind of trouble that person might cause in the next ten days or so!"

This statement came out.

The two who had just expressed their agreement nodded even more enthusiastically.

Everyone understands the importance of speed in warfare.

In addition, the emperor's style of doing things has always been radical.

If we don't deal with that rebel army as soon as possible, who knows what other unexpected things might happen.

What if he were to capture several cities directly?
Huang Ze took a breath, his tone softening slightly:
"I know you are also acting cautiously, worried that the emperor might send troops to our aid, which could lead to our losses."

"But you also have to think about it. If it drags on for a few more days, those people will probably run away back to Beijing after killing everyone in Hebei."

"This is a significant blow to the morale of our entire army."

"Moreover, the capital is easy to defend and difficult to attack. At that time, the Later Jin's strength alone will probably not be able to pose much of a threat to it in a short period of time."

"If we don't take this opportunity to weaken the emperor's power, our losses will only be greater when we cooperate with the Later Jin army to attack the city."

Done.

Huang Ze didn't say anything more, but simply picked up the teacup beside him and slowly sipped his tea.

That’s all for the sake of talking about it.

The person who had previously voiced his opposition nodded slowly after a moment's thought.

He simply wanted to deal with the emperor in a more secure way; he wasn't actually afraid of the emperor.

Seeing that everyone agreed with his idea.

Huang Ze put down his teacup, pointed to the map beside him, and said to the other three:
"According to intelligence, the cavalry force dispatched by the emperor is currently operating mainly in the Shuntian Prefecture area."

“Shuntian Prefecture faces the capital directly, and it certainly cannot spare too many troops to pursue and encircle them in a short period of time, otherwise there is a risk that the emperor will take advantage of the situation.”

"Therefore, I plan to gather 5,000 troops from Shuntian Prefecture and send 10,000 cavalry from Daming Prefecture as reinforcements."

"Fifteen thousand men are enough to wipe out that cavalry force."

Shuntian Prefecture and Daming Prefecture.

These two prefectures were located at the northernmost and southernmost parts of Hebei Province, respectively.

Geographically speaking, it's definitely not cost-effective to send reinforcements from the southernmost point to the northernmost point.

But Huang Ze didn't make arrangements haphazardly.

Daming Prefecture was the furthest from Shuntian Prefecture.

However, Daming Prefecture was a crossroads of three provinces and the most prosperous prefecture in the entire Hebei province.

The powerful families had a part of their foundation there, which is why their soldiers were the strongest in the entire Hebei province.

Huang Ze wanted to annihilate the cavalry force sent by the capital in one fell swoop, so he naturally had to send out his strongest forces.

There is.

Although Daming Prefecture is the farthest from Shuntian Prefecture, it is also the prefecture closest to the south.

In this way, they can receive supplies from the south as quickly as possible.

Therefore, no matter what, transferring troops from Daming Prefecture is the most cost-effective option.

Regarding Huang Ze's arrangements.

The group raised no further objections and, after discussing some details, immediately went their separate ways.

Someone personally went to Shuntian Prefecture to keep a close eye on the movements of Xiao Hongzi's cavalry, while also being wary of the enemy noticing anything amiss.

Someone contacted the prominent families in the south and urged them to send the salary over as soon as possible.

Huang Ze, on the other hand, planned to personally go to Daming Prefecture to select elite soldiers and generals.

At this moment.

Inside the Daming Mansion.

Twenty-seven-year-old Lu Xiang-sheng was pacing back and forth in his own residence.

Lu Xiang-sheng's emotions were clearly very unstable at this moment, and several blisters appeared on his fair face.

For Lu Xiang-sheng, who was like a chosen one of heaven.

What makes him feel so indignant and helpless is the current situation of the Ming Dynasty.

The second year of the Tianqi reign.

Lu Xiang-sheng passed the imperial examination at the young age of twenty-two.

Unlike those impoverished scholars who wasted most of their lives in the Hanlin Academy.

Lu Xiang's path to officialdom after passing the imperial examination was remarkably smooth.

While Lu Xiang-sheng passed the imperial examination, he secured a position as a principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue.

Then he was sent by the imperial court to supervise the Linqing granary.

Because of his outstanding performance at Linqing Warehouse, the amount of work he accomplished in three years was equivalent to what others did in thirty years.

Therefore, in March of this year, Lu Xiang-sheng consistently achieved the highest scores in the examinations and was promoted all the way to the position of Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

He hadn't even had a chance to report to the Ministry of Revenue yet.

With a single transfer order, Lu Xiang-sheng was directly appointed as the Prefect of Daming Prefecture in Hebei Province.

At this time, Lu Xiang-sheng was only twenty-seven years old.

At the age of twenty-seven, he became a high-ranking official in a remote region.

A high-ranking official of the fourth rank.

He is definitely a future prime minister.

This kind of rapid promotion is like having firecrackers strapped to your buttocks.

Someone with a slightly weaker mental fortitude would have become incredibly arrogant long ago.

However, Lu Xiang-sheng did not become complacent because of this.

He knew that everything he had now was due to the favor of the Tianqi Emperor.

Therefore, since becoming an official, Lu Xiang-sheng has always kept this kindness in his heart and constantly encouraged himself with it, only hoping to do more for the court to repay the emperor's kindness.

As a result, he had only been the prefect of Daming for two months and hadn't even had a chance to make a name for himself yet.

The Tianqi Emperor passed away.

Upon hearing the news of the late emperor's passing, Lu Xiang-sheng burst into tears and, like Hai Rui, vomited up everything he had eaten that day.

But Lu Xiang-sheng also knew that.

Sadness is for the dead; the living must move forward.

The situation in the Ming Dynasty could not allow him to remain depressed.

So after crying his heart out, Lu Xiang-sheng forced himself to pull himself together.

Although the late emperor is no longer here, my patriotic heart has not left with him.

Therefore, when Zhu Youjian had just ascended the throne...

Lu Xiang-sheng then submitted numerous memorials to His Majesty, explaining the current state of the Ming Dynasty, beset by internal and external troubles, and earnestly requesting His Majesty to diligently govern the country and restore the prestige of the Ming Dynasty.

However, Lu Xiang-sheng still had a major problem at that time: he had not yet figured out who was the culprit who had brought the Ming Dynasty to its current state.

This made his memorials to the throne seem rather formulaic, or rather, they felt like routine documents.

The answer to the fundamental problem of the decline of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, this is what Lu Xiang-sheng has been searching for all these years.

At first, he thought that the reason why the Ming Dynasty was constantly declining was because Wei Zhongxian, who was close to the emperor, was interfering.

How can a country be governed well if one spends all day with those ignorant, hypocritical eunuchs?!

Therefore, Lu Xiang-sheng harbored extreme hatred for Wei Zhongxian at that time. Two years earlier, while others had responded to the call to build a shrine for Wei Zhongxian, Lu Xiang-sheng, who was in charge of the Linqing granary, deliberately refused to do so.

Not only do they refuse to fix it, they also curse at you, saying "Fix your mother's fix it!"

At that time, Lu Xiang-sheng was still naively convinced that...

Once the eunuch faction is eradicated, the Ming Dynasty will naturally regain its bright and prosperous state.

By opposing the eunuch faction, Lu Xiang-sheng naturally viewed the faction's enemies as his friends.

Therefore, in recent years, Lu Xiang-sheng has had a lot of contact with those people from Donglin Academy.

In Lu Xiang-sheng's view at that time.

These gentlemen from Donglin Academy were the true pillars of the Ming Dynasty and the backbone of the nation.

When everyone gathered together, they all discussed how to achieve great things and make a name for themselves in history.

Although what they talked about was a bit grandiose and empty.
But it's still much better than the eunuchs who are always scheming and plotting, isn't it?
of course.

Lu Xiang-sheng's contact with members of the Donglin Academy was not for personal gain or to form cliques.

Rather, at that time, he genuinely believed that the Ming Dynasty could only become strong again by relying on these people.

As a result, the new emperor ascended the throne.

Lu Xiang-sheng found that his existing beliefs had been greatly challenged.

Many of those who accompanied the emperor to Shaanxi to provide disaster relief and rescue to the people were eunuchs.

The Donglin Academy, which always prided itself on being a pure and upright institution, remained completely silent at this time.

Even said.

Lu Xiang-sheng also heard rumors that those "pure" individuals were still causing trouble among them.

Is this something a human can do? !

When the emperor's procession passed through Hebei, Lu Xiang-sheng's idea was confirmed once again.

Why would bandits suddenly appear and attack the emperor's carriage for no reason?

Who's behind all this?!

When Lu Xiang-sheng heard that the Prince of Fu had ascended the throne in Nanjing, Qian Qianyi, a leading figure of the Donglin Academy, personally wrote a "Proclamation Against the Traitors" for him.

Lu Xiang-sheng's old ideas completely collapsed.

The Ming Dynasty has fallen to such a state, and the real reason is all because of these sons of bitches and bastards?!
These bastards, for their own selfish interests, are even capable of splitting the Ming Dynasty.
They even turned black into white, throwing all the blame on His Majesty?

Who truly cares for the Ming Dynasty? Even if others can't see it, how could I not?!
Humans cannot, at least should not, be such beasts.

It's not fair to blame Lu Xiang-sheng for being so naive.

to be honest.

He is, after all, only a 27-year-old young man.

He spent the first twenty-two years of his life striving for the imperial examinations.

After passing the imperial examination, he immediately devoted himself to serving the country through practical work.

I haven't really studied things in detail about the overall situation of the world.

That's why these recent events have had such a huge impact on Lu Xiang-sheng.

However, Lu Xiang-sheng, upon discovering the true enemy, did not act rashly and sever all ties with them.

He has become more pragmatic now that his views have been challenged.

He knows it very well.

If I truly want to help the current emperor restore order and prosperity to the Ming Dynasty...

His position as the prefect of Daming Prefecture was quite crucial.

He had heard that things were getting turbulent in Hebei recently.

Therefore, in the past few days.

Lu Xiang-sheng then painstakingly wrote a secret letter to Zhu You-jian.

The main contents of that secret letter were:

A group of powerful families in Hebei are plotting against you.

Although there's not much I can do to help you as the prefect of Daming Prefecture, I do have several hundred loyal followers who have been with me for years.

All you need to do is give the order.

Then I will immediately take these people to join you!
Or rather, it wouldn't be a problem for me to consider you an inside man in Hebei!

at this time.

Two days after sending the secret letter, Lu Xiang-sheng was anxiously awaiting a reply.

He didn't know if His Majesty would believe him because of his letter, nor did he know what he could do for His Majesty.

But as long as His Majesty needs him.

Then he would definitely urge Yulong to die for his lord!
the other side.

In the Qianqing Palace.

Upon seeing the secret letter from Lu Xiang-sheng, the prefect of Daming Prefecture, presented to him by his subordinates, Zhu Youjian immediately ordered his men to retrieve the memorials that Lu Xiang-sheng had previously submitted.

After reading the previous rather "empty and pretentious" memorials and Lu Xiang-sheng's background and resume.

Zhu Youjian also roughly figured out Lu Xiangsheng's psychological changes.

However, whether or not this person can be trusted still needs to be verified through some specific events.

Zhu Youjian immediately ordered his men to rush to Lu Xiangshan overnight and send him a secret order: to maintain the status quo and not make any moves.

And to infiltrate the enemy's ranks as much as possible and gain their trust.

As for what to do next, we will make further arrangements based on the actual situation at that time.

After giving the instructions...

Some of the men who accompanied Wei Zhongxian to the Later Jin dynasty also returned to the capital ahead of him.

Those who returned first reported to Zhu Youjian everything that had happened in Jin that day.

After listening to his subordinate's account.

Zhu Youjian immediately ordered Zhang Weixian and Cao Huachun to secretly mobilize troops in the capital.

Now that the purpose of sending Wei Zhongxian to the Later Jin has been achieved, the Later Jin will not easily send troops in the short term.

Then he will have to completely unleash his power to deal with Hebei.

at the same time.

Inside the ancestral hall of the Huang family of Wuliu.

After discussing how to deal with the cavalry, Huang Ze first went to the ancestral hall to pay respects to his ancestors before boarding the carriage to Daming Prefecture.

Inside the carriage.

Huang Ze's trusted subordinates presented him with a list of resumes for more than a dozen people.

"Sir, this is a list of some of the more capable officials and generals in Hebei Province. Most of them are our people. Please take a look."

Huang Ze nodded and took the roster.

It's impossible for him to personally lead troops into battle, and most of the core members of the family are incompetent.

Therefore, it is necessary to select some people who are loyal enough and have real talent to serve him.

Because the opponent is the emperor.

These ten or so people were carefully selected before being presented to him.

Huang Ze casually flipped through a few names and then ticked them off.

These individuals are all direct descendants of their respective aristocratic families and have actual experience in holding office.

For example, Qi Wu, the commander of the garrison in Daming Prefecture, was actually a member of the Huang family.

As for why the Huang family members have the surname Qi, it's obviously to avoid using that surname.

Surely not all important positions in Hebei can be held by these four families?

This would have a bad influence, and it would be easy to be criticized if it were recorded in history books.

So we have to put on a show, no matter what.

After drawing a few checkmarks and crosses, Huang Ze's hand holding the pen suddenly paused, and a look of hesitation appeared on his face.

Because the owner of the list in front of him was named Lu Xiang-sheng.

Huang Ze had naturally heard about Lu Xiang-sheng's deeds.

In any case, this was a 27-year-old prefect.

With exceptional abilities, he deserves to be on Huang Ze's radar.

However, the reason why Huang Ze hesitated at this time was because Lu Xiang-sheng made him feel conflicted.

Lu Xiang-sheng's abilities are beyond question.

Although this person was a civil official, he had spent some time observing the administration of the Ministry of War shortly after passing the imperial examination.

Moreover, when he went to inspect Linqing Warehouse, he also personally led troops to suppress bandits.

Therefore, he was a civil official with the ability to lead troops, and could be considered a multi-talented individual.

Using him is definitely the right choice.

However, Lu Xiang-sheng's loyalty could not be guaranteed by Huang Ze.

If it weren't for the fact that Lu Xiang-sheng himself came from a small gentry family in a small county in Jiangnan, and that he himself was exceptionally capable...

Then his name list would never appear in front of Huang Ze.

A lack of ability can be cultivated, but a wrong attitude is a matter of principle.

A trusted aide, seemingly noticing Huang Ze's hesitation, spoke up to remind him:

“Sir, Lu Xiang-sheng has always had many dealings with the Donglin Party.”

Donglin Party?
Oh! Then you're practically one of us now.

It works.

However, Huang Ze neither ticked nor crossed out Lu Xiang-sheng's name on the list.

Instead, they temporarily drew a circle.

Then Huang Ze handed the stack of names to a trusted confidant: "Go see the first few people first, and leave Lu Xiang-sheng for last."

"Yes! Master."

After his men left, Huang Ze sat in the carriage and closed his eyes to rest.

The core strength must definitely be in the hands of our own people.

However, I might give this kid surnamed Lu a chance.

After all, once the emperor is dealt with, talent reserves are still a very important matter.

It all depends on whether this person will eventually get on the right track.

If things go smoothly, I wouldn't mind promoting him from his humble beginnings in Jiangnan to Hebei.

Let them also enjoy this wealth and luxury.

If they don't follow the rules, then naturally we'll find a chance to kill them.

The Ming Dynasty lacked everything except people.

If you're not going to do it, there are plenty of people who are willing to!

(End of this chapter)