Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 601: Nanjing Defense
The capital, a side hall of the Qianqing Palace.

It was already very late at night, but the candlelight in the side hall was still on. Emperor Chongzhen, the first "model worker" of the Ming Dynasty, was still busy with state affairs day and night.

There were piles of memorials on the desk, all of which were sent from the six ministries and various places. It took seven or eight hours every day just to read these memorials, plus the review and decision-making. Emperor Chongzhen could only barely finish them even if he only slept for three hours.

With such work intensity, ordinary people would vomit blood from overwork within a month, but Emperor Chongzhen worked for several years. Although it was hard work, for the sake of the country and the Zhu family's rule, Emperor Chongzhen still gritted his teeth and persevered, hoping to resolve the country's internal and external troubles as soon as possible and get the Ming Dynasty back on track.

Unfortunately, ideals are beautiful, but reality is cruel. After so many years of hard work by Emperor Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty showed no signs of improvement, but instead became worse.

The situation of the Ming Dynasty was very bad now. Jian Nu had been making moves in Liaodong, and the pressure from Liaodong was very great. Especially after Huang Taiji himself had tasted the sweetness of the change, he would stir up trouble from time to time. If he was not fighting with the Ming army in Liaodong, he would find an opportunity to break through and go south again to plunder people and property.

In order to prevent Huang Taiji from attacking the Ming Dynasty again, Emperor Chongzhen repeatedly ordered the Liaodong troops to guard tightly and set up a defense line to prevent Huang Taiji from repeating the same trick. However, Liaodong was already in a difficult situation. After the defeat at Dalinghe, Liaodong's military strength suffered a lot. In addition, because Gao Yingxiang and other bandits were roaming around, the rebellion problem within the Ming Dynasty became more and more serious. In order to encircle and suppress the bandits in various places, Emperor Chongzhen continuously transferred troops from Liaodong to the northwestern provinces, including the Central Plains, to pursue and intercept. These military movements weakened Liaodong's military strength while achieving some results, making it more difficult for the Ming Dynasty to maintain a defensive posture in Liaodong.

I just received news that Huang Taiji has sent troops to Liaodong again, and this time the enemy's target is Jinzhou.

Zu Dashou was stationed in Jinzhou. Facing the aggressive Eight Banners, Zu Dashou had no confidence at all. His army was inferior to the enemy in terms of numbers, combat effectiveness or logistics. He dared not go out of the city to fight in the field. He could only stay in Jinzhou and rely on the cannons on the top of Jinzhou city for passive defense.

The situation was critical, and Zu Dashou sent people to Shanhaiguan for emergency assistance, but Shanhaiguan was also powerless. The withdrawal of a large number of troops, coupled with their own shortcomings, and the Eight Banners were particularly good at besieging cities and attacking reinforcements. Although everyone knew that Zu Dashou was not easy, who dared to lead troops to reinforce? Because if they were not careful, they might fall into the battlefield that Huang Taiji had already arranged, and not only would they not be able to save Zu Dashou, but they would be annihilated by the Eight Banners in the field battle.

Faced with such a situation, Liaodong could only ask for help from the capital and inform them of this. In addition, Liaodong's current military expenditure problem was also extremely serious. The military pay and military rations owed by the court were not small, which also affected the entire Liaodong war situation.

Apart from the Liaodong issue, there is also the problem of bandits.

Gao Yingxiang first went north and was severely defeated by Lu Xiangsheng, then turned around and entered Shandong and was defeated by Xu Xiancheng. He was defeated in both battles, and only less than 30,000 of Gao Yingxiang's 100,000 troops were left. He turned around and quickly headed south. Before the government troops could react, Gao Yingxiang had reached Yangzhou, and then went all the way down to Nanjing.

Although Gao Yingxiang suffered defeat in Zhili and Shandong and suffered heavy losses, his old camp was still there, and his key strength had not suffered much damage. The only losses were the ordinary volunteers who plundered and attached themselves to him, or even the old and weak.

This is also the reason why Gao Yingxiang was able to survive and escape quickly. Moreover, he conquered cities and territories all the way south, and wherever he went, he would attract a large number of people to join the rebel army. In just two months, Gao Yingxiang's troops were restored to nearly 100,000 people, and they were ready to take Nanjing directly.

Nanjing is one of the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty and the place where the Ming Dynasty was founded. Nanzhili cannot be lost at any cost. Compared with the problem of Liaodong, Gao Yingxiang's current problem is more serious.

In order to prevent Gao Yingxiang from crossing the Yangtze River and attacking Nanjing, the Ming Dynasty had responded accordingly. On the one hand, Nanjing quickly mobilized troops from Jiangnan to garrison there to prepare for the defense of Nanjing. On the other hand, Emperor Chongzhen ordered Lu Xiangsheng and Xu Xiancheng to cooperate with each other and quickly follow Gao Yingxiang southward. They had to eliminate this bandit group in Jiangbei before Gao Yingxiang crossed the Yangtze River.

Now Lu Xiangsheng and Xu Xiancheng have gone south, and Zuo Liangyu, who was defeated before, is also gathering troops from Henan to the east to enter Nanzhili to cooperate with the two divisions in the battle. In Sichuan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Huguang and other places, the troops commanded by Governor Chen Qiyu are encircling and suppressing the remaining bandits. Nearly half of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty have been turned upside down by the bandits. Faced with these situations, Emperor Chongzhen was worried. He couldn't understand why the situation had deteriorated to this extent. At present, all provinces and divisions are encircling and suppressing the bandits. With the combat effectiveness of the Ming army, as long as they cooperate well, whether it is Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, or Luo Rucai and other bandits, they are no match, but they just can't completely eliminate these bandits.

There are many reasons for this. On the one hand, the bandits are too mobile. The key to the bandits is the word "mobile". These bandits run around without any rules. Especially once they are defeated, they will abandon the people they have taken with them and flee with their headquarters and camps. It is difficult to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

On the other hand, there was the problem of dispatching the armies of the Ming Dynasty. The armies of various places basically fought on their own, and it was inconvenient to fight across provinces due to the differences in provinces. For example, Xu Xiancheng defeated Gao Yingxiang's troops in Shandong, but when Gao Yingxiang led the remnants to flee south and escaped from Shandong, Xu Xiancheng, as the governor of Shandong, could not cross the border to pursue Gao Yingxiang according to the rules. He had to obtain permission from the emperor and the Ministry of War to cross the border, otherwise it would be a serious crime.

Because of this, although Xu Xiancheng knew that he could defeat Gao Yingxiang again by continuing the pursuit, Gao Yingxiang ran too fast and could not be stopped in Shandong. He had no choice but to report to the court and let the court make the decision.

After all, crossing the border to pursue local officials was suspected of "rebellion", and Xu Xiancheng did not want to be caught for such a thing. As a result, even if the 800-li express was rushed, it would take time. By the time the imperial edict arrived, Gao Yingxiang had long disappeared.

Not only Xu Xiancheng, but also Lu Xiangsheng, the court's rules are rules, and this cannot be broken. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen specially appointed Chen Qiyu as the governor of five provinces to coordinate the suppression of bandits. But now Gao Yingxiang not only entered Zhili, but also went from Zhili to Shandong, and then from Shandong to South Zhili. These provinces are not under Chen Qiyu's jurisdiction, and even Chen Qiyu has no way to deal with it.

Faced with this situation, Emperor Chongzhen could only think of another way. Since there was already Chen Qiyu, the governor of five provinces, it would not matter if there was another governor. However, Emperor Chongzhen was undecided about who to appoint as the governor. There were two candidates, one was Lu Xiangsheng and the other was Xu Xiancheng. Both of them were civil servants, especially Xu Xiancheng, who was the governor of Shandong. Judging from his official position, there was no problem with him temporarily serving as the governor.

But Emperor Chongzhen was concerned about the issue of Nanzhili. You should know that Nanjing was one of the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty had a team in the capital and another team in Nanjing. Nanjing had six complete ministries, among which other ministries were nominal positions, but the Nanjing Ministry of War was a real position. Therefore, the Nanjing Minister of War had the greatest power and was directly in charge of the southern guards and garrisons of the Ming Dynasty. Now the war was related to Nanjing. If Xu Xiancheng was appointed governor, then where would the Nanjing Ministry of War be placed?
In particular, in addition to the six ministries of Nanjing, there are also garrison meritorious officials and garrison eunuchs in Nanjing. In terms of power, these two positions are no less than those of the Nanjing Minister of War. It can be seen that the power to control Nanjing, including Jiangnan, lies in the hands of the Nanjing Ministry of War, the Nanjing garrison meritorious officials and the garrison eunuchs. In order to ensure the regime, these three people often check and balance each other. This is naturally no problem in peaceful years, and it is more conducive to the rule of the court, but now it has become a difficult problem that cannot be reconciled.

Frowning, Emperor Chongzhen decided to let Xu Xiancheng temporarily take charge of the governorship of Shandong, Zhili and Jiangbei. Although this position seemed similar to Chen Qiyu's, it was actually a big discount. Because apart from Shandong, Zhili only had half of it, that is, the southern part of northern Zhili near Damingfu. And Jiangbei only refers to the area north of the Yangtze River, and Nanjing south of the Yangtze River is not included. This is equivalent to giving Xu Xiancheng a decree to nominally lead troops to fight Gao Yingxiang, but limiting his power to the current war zone.

Not only that, Emperor Chongzhen also issued an edict to promote Lu Xiangsheng to the position of Governor of Huguang, to serve as Xu Xiancheng's deputy, and at the same time to serve as a liaison between Xu Xiancheng and Chen Qiyu as the Governor of Huguang. This appointment was somewhat confusing to the world, and after careful consideration, it was discovered that this was Emperor Chongzhen's self-righteousness. He seemed to think that Chen Qiyu and Xu Xiancheng were both governors, and their powers were too great, so he let Lu Xiangsheng mediate and liaise and play a restraining role. It is unknown what Emperor Chongzhen was thinking, and he actually came up with this idea.

These were dealt with, but the trouble in Nanjing was not resolved. The current Nanjing Minister of War was Qiu Weizhen, a man whom Emperor Chongzhen trusted. Qiu Weizhen had served as a doctor in the Ministry of War and later became the Nanjing Minister of War.

But Qiu Weizheng had never fought in a war. Although he had been in the Ministry of War for quite a long time, all he did was logistical work. He was only good at talking about war on paper, so it might not be appropriate to let him lead the troops.

As for the meritorious official who was in charge of the garrison of Nanjing, it was Zhao Zhilong, the Earl of Xincheng. The Earl of Xincheng was one of the meritorious officials who helped Zhu Di in the Jingnan Rebellion. Zhao Zhilong also enjoyed the trust of Emperor Chongzhen. Last year, when a meritorious official in Nanjing was vacant, Emperor Chongzhen thought about it and named Zhao Zhilong and sent him there specially.

Emperor Chongzhen was not worried about the loyalty of these two men, but he was unsure about their ability to fight. However, as long as they cooperated, and with the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, it should not be a big problem to defend Jiangnan. So Emperor Chongzhen did not want to move them, but considering the overall situation, Emperor Chongzhen felt that a suitable person who could mediate was needed. This person should have been the most suitable eunuch guarding Nanjing, but the current eunuch guarding Nanjing was Zhang Yixian. Emperor Chongzhen did not trust Zhang Yixian very much. First, this guy was sent to Nanjing because he committed a crime in Beijing. Second, he had been in poor health since he went to Nanjing. Some time ago, he wrote a memorial saying that he was seriously ill and could not manage affairs, and hoped that the court would send someone to replace him. Therefore, it was not appropriate for Zhang Yixian to continue to serve as the eunuch guarding Nanjing.

(End of this chapter)