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

Chapter 665 Commander

Zhou Anmin had arrived in the capital for nearly half a month. He had arranged everything in Shanxi properly when he left. After all, Zhou Anmin had been in Shanxi for many years, and almost all the Jinyiwei in Shanxi were his people, and they had already made the place impassable.

Moreover, Zhou Anmin had a long history in the Jinyiwei. If we count from the time when he was a post station chief, he was a member of the Jinyiwei. He had served in the Wanli, Taichang, Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties. If Zhou Anmin had not repeatedly refused Wei Zhongxian's invitation to come to Beijing, with his uncle-nephew relationship with Wei Zhongxian and Wei Liangqing, plus the operation of Zhang Xijun, it might have been difficult for him to become the commander of the Jinyiwei, but he would have had no problem becoming the co-director of the Jinyiwei.

In recent years, Zhou Anmin has been in charge of the Jinyiwei in Shanxi, and his official position has been promoted to Jinyiwei Commander, which makes him a powerful figure in Jinyiwei. Moreover, he has a wide network of people in Jinyiwei. Although he has been staying in Shanxi, he has always had private contacts and solicitations in the capital. Otherwise, how could Zhou Anmin get the news of any disturbance in the capital?

After arriving in the capital, Zhou Anmin took over Luo Yangxing's post as the commander of the Jinyiwei. In just a few days, he adjusted the internal structure of the Jinyiwei and arranged his own people in the entire Jinyiwei office. Some of them were brought by him from Shanxi, some were his own people who were originally buried in the Jinyiwei headquarters, and some were old Jinyiwei soldiers from the reign of Wei Zhongxian. Because of Wei Zhongxian's downfall, these people were implicated and either punished or put on the bench. Now that Zhou Anmin is in power, he immediately selects available people from these people to reinstate them to their posts and use them for his own purposes.

"At present, the Jinyiwei in the capital is under control from top to bottom. The entire capital, including the surrounding areas, is under my surveillance. In addition, the progress in Shandong is also quite smooth. In two months at most, there will be no worries in Shanxi, Northern Zhili and Shandong." Sitting in front of Zhu Shenzhui, Zhou Anmin talked freely and reported the situation of the Jinyiwei.

The last time they met was a few months ago, when Zhu Shenzhui was just an ordinary member of the royal family, and Zhou Anmin was the head of the Jinyiwei in Shanxi. But now, with the passage of time, Zhu Shenzhui has become the regent of Jiaocheng Prince, and Zhou Anmin has become the real head of the Jinyiwei.

Although one is the brother-in-law and the other is the brother-in-law, the relationship between the two is very good, but the change in status now makes Zhou Anmin seem a little different in front of Zhu Shenzhu. Although they are still relatives, they are a little more restrained and cautious, and there is also a layer of alienation.

Zhu Shenzui was helpless about this. He understood that this was due to the change in his identity. In fact, he wanted to be the same as before, but Zhou Anmin refused. And if he thought about it carefully, there was no harm in Zhou Anmin doing this. After all, the position of Jinyiwei commander was very important. On the contrary, Zhou Anmin's attitude had some benefits.

"What arrangements do you plan to make for Shaanxi, Henan, Huguang, Sichuan, Nanzhili and several other provinces?" Zhou Anmin had done so many things in such a short period of time. To be honest, it was not easy. However, Zhu Shenzhu still asked him about the arrangements for other provinces.

"My humble servant's plan is to deal with Henan Jinyiwei first, replace personnel and adjust the structure, and complete the integration as soon as possible. However, Shaanxi, Huguang, and Sichuan provinces will take some time. On the one hand, they are a bit far from the capital, and on the other hand, the bandits are in Sichuan. Shaanxi and Huguang are both suppressing the bandits. Due to the changes in the capital, the war has changed slightly. I think that the war should be given priority at the moment, and we should concentrate on dealing with the bandits first. The Jinyiwei in several places are responsible for military intelligence, so it is inconvenient to move first. It is safer to wait until the internal troubles are resolved and then adjust according to the actual situation."

"As for Nanzhili and other southern provinces, we need to take our time to deal with them. The situation there is even more complicated. I am far away from the capital and need to find a solution later. However, in my opinion, as long as the Jinyiwei in various places can be loyal to the court, it won't be a big problem to let them go for now. We can choose trustworthy people to replace them one by one in the future."

Zhou Anmin's answer was well-reasoned, which made Zhu Shenzhu very satisfied. He also knew that it was not so easy to reorganize the entire Jinyiwei. The capital was fine, but the key was the Qianhu Suo in each province and the Jinyiwei organizations spread across the country. Although Jinyiwei was not very impressive, it was actually a very large organization in the Ming Dynasty. The Jinyiwei in the entire Ming Dynasty was said to have 150,000 people, and these people were spread across provinces and prefectures across the country. How could it be so easy to integrate them all at once?

"Is there any news from Shaanxi?" Zhu Shenzhui did not ask about Henan, which is closest to Northern Zhili, but asked about Shaanxi.

Because Sun Chuanting is in Shaanxi now, and Sun Chuanting is Wang Jinwu's brother-in-law. In a sense, he is not only a relative of Zhu Shenzhui, but also good friends.

Xu Xiancheng from Shandong had surrendered a long time ago. Shandong is no longer a problem now, let alone Shanxi. Wang Rong is in Shanxi and is now the commander of Shanxi, controlling the entire Shanxi garrison. Together with the military strength of Luzhou Garrison, there is no problem in suppressing Shanxi.

What's more, Shanxi was the territory where Zhu Shenzhu started his career. He had already made arrangements in various prefectures in Shanxi. After taking office as regent, he conveyed the imperial order to Shanxi. With several efforts made from all sides, there was no disturbance in Shanxi, except for some slight turbulence on the border troops.

However, the turmoil in the border troops was soon eliminated. After receiving the imperial edict, Hei Yunlong and several other border troops generals expressed their willingness to obey the court's orders. Without the border troops to step forward, even if some civil officials intended to cause trouble, they would be helpless. Moreover, the Shanxi Jinyiwei were not pushovers. Zhou Anmin controlled a few troublemakers at the first opportunity and eliminated possible hidden dangers.

"I'm a little unsure about Sun Chuanting's attitude." Zhou Anmin frowned and replied. "Oh, tell me in detail."

Zhou Anmin immediately told Zhu Shenzhu that Sun Chuanting was very surprised when he learned that Zhu Shenzhu suddenly launched an army to purge the emperor and pacify the country, and took over the capital and entered the inner palace. He was somewhat unable to accept such a change. After that, the court sent an order to Shaanxi, informing Zhu Shenzhu to be the regent, and all places should still follow the previous strategy to eliminate the bandits. Sun Chuanting did not express his attitude of obeying the court, nor did he take the initiative to write to the court to acknowledge the fact that Zhu Shenzhu was the regent.

"So what is he doing?" Zhu Shenzhui asked.

"According to the news, Sun Chuanting is still suppressing the bandits in various places. He is currently stationed in Guanzhong with his troops, cooperating with Hong Chengchou, Qin Liangyu in Sichuan, and Chen Qiyu in Huguang to prepare for a joint attack on Gao Yingxiang's troops..."

"Hahaha!" Zhu Shenzhui laughed loudly, shaking his head as he laughed, "Bo Ya is still the same Boya. His temper is hard and bad, but he is not stupid. He knows what is important. Since he is not taking the initiative, you don't need to urge him. Just let him stay in Shaanxi peacefully. As long as the bandits are dealt with, the court will reward him. When that time comes, Boya will receive an order from the court, and it won't matter whether he recognizes me or not."

Zhou Anmin's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he slapped his thigh and laughed: "Why didn't I think of this? Haha, I was really careless. So that's how it is, so that's how it is!"

"You have never met Boya, so you don't know what kind of person he is, let alone his personality. It's natural that you don't know him." Zhu Shenzhui said with a smile, "Boya is a man of great talent, but talented people are often arrogant. Back then, because of the Wei Zhongxian incident, Boya gave up his official position and returned to his hometown to study. This shows his character. Now that I have just become the regent, Boya has always regarded himself as a national hero, so it is natural that he can't change his temperament. Since he still leads the troops to suppress bandits and has great righteousness in his heart, there is no need to be harsh on other details. After the matter is accomplished, it will naturally come to fruition and the dust will settle."

"Your Highness is right!" Zhou Anmin clapped his hands and laughed, then continued: "Hong Chengchou and Chen Qiyu are both smart people. They have made their positions clear. These two people are considered to be captured. In addition, Lu Xiangsheng is a bit troublesome. Although he received the imperial edict, he has not been able to express his position directly. Should we send someone to go again...?"

"No need!" Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand and said, "Lu Xiangsheng and Boya are of the same kind. It is meaningless to suppress such people. As long as it is beneficial to the country, they will naturally acquiesce to me. By the way, I have asked the cabinet and the Ministry of War to issue an order to transfer Lu Xiangsheng's troops to the north."

"What? Transfer Lu Xiangsheng to the north?" Zhou Anmin was stunned and asked hurriedly what was going on.

Zhu Shenzhui told Zhou Anmin that he transferred Lu Xiangsheng to the north because of Huang Taiji. He received the news that Huang Taiji led an army of more than 100,000, claiming to have 300,000 troops. Not only six of the Eight Banners were dispatched, but also troops from Khorchin and Chahar tribes, with the intention of repeating the old trick and invading the Ming Dynasty again.

A few days ago, Wang Jinwu had led his troops to Zunhua first. Not only Wang Jinwu, but also Hei Yunlong's Xuanfu Army, plus the Shandong Army and Dongjiang Town troops transferred from Shandong.

Wang Jinwu had 20,000 troops, including 4,000 new troops, 3,000 cavalry, and the rest were Shuntian troops reorganized after the Beijing camp was reorganized. In Shandong, there were 3,500 Shandong troops, 4,000 Dongjiang Town troops, 4,200 Xuanda troops of Hei Yunlong, plus the Wei Suo troops in northern Zhili, including the Ming troops incorporated in Baoding and Changping, about 10,000 people.

The total strength of these troops was about 50,000, which was far from enough compared to Huang Taiji's 300,000 troops. Therefore, Zhu Shenzhu directly ordered to transfer Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army to the north and put it under the command of Wang Jinwu. The purpose of doing so was on the one hand for the sake of manpower, and on the other hand to test Lu Xiangsheng's attitude. Based on Zhu Shenzhu's understanding of Lu Xiangsheng, even if Lu Xiangsheng was dissatisfied with Zhu Shenzhu's appointment as regent, as a minister loyal to the Ming Dynasty, Lu Xiangsheng would never stand idly by in the face of foreign enemies, and would definitely follow the order to go to war.

Zhu Shenzhui was right. Lu Xiangsheng quickly dispatched his troops after receiving the order. He has now entered northern Zhili and will be able to fight in Zunhua and Jizhou in a few days. This time, Lu Xiangsheng was dispatched to fight not only because of his ability and the ability of his Tianxiong Army, but also because Zhu Shenzhui wanted to let Lu Xiangsheng fight with Wang Jinwu to eliminate the rift between the two sides. As long as he wins this battle, Lu Xiangsheng's attitude towards him will definitely change, and it will be no problem to recruit him for his own use.

After listening to Zhu Shenzui's explanation, Zhou Anmin suddenly realized and couldn't help but reveal admiration on his face. He didn't expect Zhu Shenzui would use this matter to subdue Lu Xiangsheng. Thinking of the rumors about Lu Xiangsheng, Zhou Anmin felt that this method was indeed good and he had to admit it.

(End of this chapter)