Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 785 Rebuilding the Center
In history, the Yuyuan Army successively conquered Caozhou, Puzhou, Dingtao, and Chengwu, supported King Zhongyi of the Ming Dynasty, and even conquered Juye and Dongming. The Qing Dynasty mobilized troops from Hebei and Shandong provinces to besiege Caozhou but failed. It also broke through Nanyue in the west and attacked Daming in the north, with the tendency to enter Beijing.

Later, the Qing Dynasty burned Yulin, blew up Heti, diverted the water of the Yellow River to irrigate Caozhou and other places, turned Zhili, Shandong, and Henan into no-man's land, and killed millions. Since then, the Yuyuan Army has been unable to fight The Qing army resisted, and the remaining part of the rebel army continued to fight hard, and it was not until the 12th year of Shunzhi that they failed completely.

Duo'er Gun was eager to go south to support, but he didn't want his soldiers and horses to be entrusted to Shandong. When he was anxious, Duo Duo sent an urgent report to Beijing, saying, "Nanjing has fallen, and Jiangnan has changed its color."

The Manchu Qing court in Beijing suddenly felt like a frying pan. The Han officials who were originally from the south of the Yangtze River in the court were panicked. Even the Manchus also said that they would retreat outside the pass.

Although Dorgon suppressed this voice, he also felt precarious and had to consider the next question.

The next step of the Ming Dynasty must be to attack the Lianghuai, but there is such a nail as the Yuyuan Army between Beizhi and the Lianghuai. Dorgon must pacify the north as soon as possible before he can hold the Lianghuai. However, the Qing army was helpless.

In order to pacify the Yuyuan army as soon as possible, after learning that Nanjing had fallen, the Qing army blew up the Yellow River at once, flooding Caozhou, Yanzhou and other places, and hundreds of miles north of Shandong, all became Zeguo, and the people died and injured.

With the help of floods, the cities of Caozhou, Puzhou, Dingtao and other places guarded by the main force of the Yuyuan Army collapsed and were destroyed one after another. Fan Ciwu, Liang Min, Huang Zhenshan, Ren Qi, etc. were all killed, and only a small part of the Yuyuan Army, which is known as a million, remained, and they were still trapped in several highlands.

As for the people who died in the flood, it is even more innumerable.

In the hall, after hearing Yan Ermei's narration, everyone's hearts were shocked, and their faces darkened.

This is not only because the Yuyuan army was destroyed, the Qing army would inevitably increase its troops in the two Huaihe Rivers, which greatly increased their pressure, but also because the Manchu Qing flooded several mansions at once, which made people feel a little scared.

After the loss of Jiangnan, without blood transfusion from Jiangnan, it was very difficult for the Manchus to restore the north, and the operation of the entire Qing court needed money and food. There was a feeling of broken pots, but King Lu did not feel lucky about it, but felt the barbarity and terror of Man Qing.

This regime that only knows how to destroy is really terrible. His purpose is to rule China, not for the good of China, so even if the world is ruined, he will not hesitate.

In the past few years, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties have also tried to centralize the Central Plains, but this time Jiangnan failed, and Dorgon seems to be ready to return to the original path.

"What is your Highness thinking?" Zhao Shuxiang couldn't help asking when he saw that King Lu's face was not looking good.

The King of Lu was interrupted by him, and instead of answering, he asked, "Did the Huai River freeze last year?"

Everyone was slightly taken aback when they heard this, but soon a local person from Huai'an reported: "Normally there is no ice, but these years the climate is abnormal, the winter is very cold, and some years will freeze."

Generally speaking, the Huaihe River is a dividing line between the northern and southern climates. Rice in the south and wheat in the north will freeze only in extremely cold climates. However, the Ming Dynasty is currently in the Little Ice Age with abnormal climate.

When Zhao Shuxiang saw King Lu asking this question, he said, "Your Highness is worried that the Qing army will cross the Huai River to attack us in winter?"

King Lu nodded, then shook his head again, "The Yellow River was dug up by the Qing army, and the river rushed northward, and the water volume of the Huaihe River was greatly reduced. If it is colder this year, it may freeze. If the Qing army comes to attack, it will be fine. Gu can close the city and defend himself, and when the imperial court sends reinforcements, he is afraid that he will not attack the city, plunder the countryside, and destroy the place, so if there is no Qing army to attack next year, Gu will not be able to persist in Jiangbei!"

It takes several years, even more than ten years, to build up a family business, but it only takes a moment of fire to destroy it.

If the Qing army went south for the purpose of looting as it did in the past, it would be really difficult for the Ming Dynasty with few horses to deal with.

At this time, King Lu was a little fortunate that the turmoil of the position struggle did not expand, and the three families did not disband.

If internal chaos broke out in the Ming Dynasty and the Manchu Qing regained the upper hand, then the hard work of the past few years would be in vain.

"The matter of the Yuyuan Army, as well as this king's worries, whoever of you writes a note, and this king will send it to Nanjing immediately after reading it."

In Nanjing City, there was a lot of noise in the meeting hall at this time.

Wang Yanzuo was in the main hall, and on both sides were the ministers of the three parties involved in the negotiation.

"Since it has been confirmed that the eldest son of the emperor will ascend the throne and the three parties jointly form a cabinet, the official system of the imperial court must be unified. From now on, all appointments of officials will be returned to the imperial court." Wang Yan said.

In order to rebuild the central government, the right to appoint officials must first be withdrawn, at least in name, otherwise the current official system of the Ming Dynasty is too chaotic and it is easy to cause turmoil.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid this matter still needs to be discussed." King Lu has his own team, and if they take it back, King Lu can no longer appoint officials under his rule, and what about those great scholars.

Seeing Zhang Kentang's objection, Wang Yan said in a calm manner: "Not only the Lu Fan, but also the Fan Fan will no longer appoint customs officials privately. The reform is coming step by step, and the Fan Fan didn't expect to complete it in one step, and first take the name back to the imperial court. Lu Fan can use the name of Prince Lizheng to supervise all affairs in Zhejiang and Jiangbei, and the candidate for the governor of Zhejiang is also drawn up by your Zhejiang party."

After Wang Yan finished speaking, he looked at Wanji and the others and said, "The same goes for King Tang."

It must be done to withdraw the official appointment, otherwise King Lu will confer a bachelor, whether the court should recognize it, if so, then King Lu can use his official position to poach the corner of the court.

After hearing Wang Yan's words, Zhang Kentang nodded and agreed since Hengyang Fan took the lead in compromising and did not infringe on the interests of the King of Lu. After all, a central government cannot even appoint officials, so what is it called a central government.

Wang Yan went on to say: "Before this feudal clan implemented a system of meeting halls in Wuchang. Although it was only on the basis of the cabinet and made some changes, it is running well in Huguang, and it is just right to use it now."

Wang Yan paused, and then said: "All of us, according to our strength, send selected officials into the meeting hall. If there is any proposal from the local government or the imperial court, such as asking the imperial court for money, or the imperial court wants to increase taxes, deploy troops and horses , all parties negotiate here, and with the support of a majority, it can be passed, and then all parties must implement it.”

In the meeting hall, there was a lot of excitement. Zhang Huangyan and Zhang Kentang represented the forces of the Zhejiang faction, and Wanji and others represented Jiangxi and Fujian. They didn't know the rules of the meeting hall, but they were all political veterans and bureaucrats. .

"Your Highness, the members of the council hall are allocated according to their strength, and in the end they are determined by the number of votes. Isn't that what His Highness and his family decide?" Zhang Huangyan questioned.

Wang Yan nodded, "This system is still being explored, but I have also conducted some discussions with my aides. According to the practice in the cabinet votes, more than half of them are in favor. There is nothing to argue about. Today In the meeting hall, Ben Fan occupies [-]% and Tang Lu accounts for [-]%. This is indeed a bit unfair, but if the three kings of governance each have an extra [-]% of the votes, and the two feudal dynasties are vertical, it will be [-] against [-]. Is this fair? "

The Zhejiang Party and the Supporting Tang faction couldn't help but look at each other after hearing him finish speaking.

At this time, Wang Yan added: "In order to prevent a stalemate, I also plan to introduce [-]% of the non-party officials and gentry from the provinces. Many systems are not perfect. Let us encourage each other and correct mistakes. be perfected.”

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(End of this chapter)