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

Chapter 739 Chen Xinjia

This war was known in history as the "Battle of Songshan and Jinzhou". The consequences of the Battle of Songshan and Jinzhou were very serious. As the last elite border troops of the Ming army, totaling nearly 200,000 people, were lost in Songshan and Jinzhou, and with the surrender of Hong Chengchou and Zu Dashou, the Ming Dynasty not only lost a capable army, but also lost two capable ministers and generals.

As for the generals, deputy generals, lieutenant generals, guerrillas, etc. who were captured and killed, they were countless, which caused the Ming army to be extremely weak all of a sudden. Without heavy troops to suppress and encircle them, the bandits that were originally dying revived again, and finally caused extremely serious consequences.

Zhu Shenzhui was not Emperor Chongzhen. He knew very well that it was not easy to save Jinzhou. If he rashly dispatched troops to Liaodong to relieve the siege of Jinzhou, at best he could only achieve the level of Hong Chengchou in history, and he had to guard against consequences that might lead to defeat.

So how to save Jinzhou, or how it should be saved, is a question that needs to be carefully considered. Fortunately, this matter is not urgent for the time being. Although Jinzhou is in danger now, it will not be broken for a while. Zu Dashou cannot defeat the Eight Banners in a field battle, but he has no problem defending the city. The food in Jinzhou City is enough for Zu Dashou to eat for half a year. From this point of view, Zu Dashou can at least hold on for four or five months.

Just three days after Zhou Anmin informed Zhu Shenzui of the Jinzhou incident in advance, the memorial sent from Jinzhou arrived in the capital.

There happened to be a court meeting on that day. When the cabinet informed the ministers of what happened in Jinzhou, many officials were stunned and could not imagine that such a thing could happen.

"I think this matter is strange. How could Gong Dingzi, a healthy person, suddenly fall from the city and die? It is obvious that someone is trying to murder him. I ask you to find out the truth and severely punish the murderer!" Yang Tinglin stood up with an indignant look and said loudly.

Yang Tinglin and Gong Dingzi were not only good friends, but also members of the Donglin Party. Gong Dingzi went to Liaodong because Yang Tinglin proposed the Ningqian Military Preparations Department, which eventually led to him being appointed to Liaodong.

Before Gong Dingzi left Beijing, he hosted a banquet for many of his good friends. Yang Tinglin was there with him at the time. They drank and talked about their ambitions and plans for the future. He also said that they would accomplish great things in Liaodong to let the world see the character and ability of their Donglin Party.

His face was still vaguely in front of him, but he would never see his old friend again. How could Yang Tinglin not be filled with grief and anger when he heard such news? He immediately felt that this was impossible. As a good friend, he knew Gong Dingzi too well. Gong Dingzi was just a civil servant. He couldn't lift anything with his hands or shoulders. How could he let himself be in danger, and even fell off the top of the city wall and died inexplicably? It was obvious that someone was trying to harm him!

"Murderer? Who is the murderer?" Yang Sichang, the Minister of War, immediately asked, "The memorial from Jinzhou clearly states that Gong Dingzi died accidentally. Do you have any evidence for the murderer, Lord Yang?"

"An accidental death must have been done to cover up his crime! Gong Dingzi was the military governor of Ningqian, with great power. He must have been disliked by the Liaodong army because of his own interests, so they teamed up to murder him!"

"Lord Yang! Be careful with your words!" Xu Xiancheng suddenly spoke, his sharp eyes pointed at Yang Tinglin: "Lord Yang is the censor and has the right to report on rumors, but if you want to say something about murder in this matter, you'd better be cautious without real evidence."

"I have carefully read the memorial from Jinzhou. It clearly states that when our loyal great-grandfather Dashou led his troops out of the city to fight, Gong Dingzi, the military governor of Ningqian, cheered on the three armies and personally beat the drums on the city walls. Afterwards, he insisted on going to the top of the city walls despite being dissuaded by others. In the end, he fell down from the city walls and died due to exhaustion. Although this was an accident, many people witnessed it, including the three armies inside and outside the city."

"The memorial contains not only the signature of our loyal great-grandfather Dashou, but also the signatures of the deputy generals, lieutenant generals, and even the subordinates of Gong Dingzi. In addition, the Jinzhou Jinyiwei also jointly reported. All of this is well documented. Just based on what you said today, you say that someone deliberately murdered Gong Dingzi? Could it be that tens of thousands of soldiers in Jinzhou City are accomplices? Lord Yang has lost an old friend. I can understand that Lord Yang is in a state of excitement and confusion. If Lord Yang insists on doing so, don't blame me for impeaching you in court for framing the officers and soldiers of the three armies!"

Although Xu Xiancheng was young, his official position was not low. He was now the Right Censor-in-Chief and also held the position of Grand Secretary.

The position of the Grand Secretary was newly established by Zhu Shenzhui. It was an official position in the inner court and was not recognized by the outer court. But everyone knew that this so-called Grand Secretary was not that simple, especially since there was a title of "Leader of Imperial Guards" in front of this Grand Secretary, which was very unusual.

These days, Zhu Shenzhui adjusted the palace ban and directly separated the Han generals who were originally under the jurisdiction of the Jinyiwei. He rebuilt an imperial guard organization based on the Han generals. This imperial guard organization is composed of three aspects. First, there are the Mongolians and the backbone of the new army who were originally responsible for the palace ban under Zhu Shenzhui, followed by the children of Ming Dynasty nobles, and then the Jinshi and Juren who passed the military examination.

Although this organization was established not long ago, those who understand it know the value of the so-called imperial guards. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhu directly divided the imperial guards into different levels and set the corresponding official ranks for each level of guards. For example, the first-class guards are equivalent to the third-rank military rank, and the second- and third-class guards are equivalent to the fourth- and fifth-rank military rank. In addition, there are ordinary guards, who are the sixth-rank military rank. These guards form the basic organization of the imperial guards and are managed according to military rules, thus replacing the previous Han generals and taking on the tasks of the emperor's guards, guards of honor, palace protection, and even court guards.

Don't underestimate these military positions. Although in the eyes of civil officials, no matter how high the rank of a military officer is, it is not as good as that of a civil official. But for nobles and military generals who come from military backgrounds, the Imperial Guard is an excellent place for advancement.

Being an imperial guard, even the lowest ordinary guard, has a military rank of the sixth rank, which is equivalent to a powerful centurion in the army. If it is a first-class guard, it is equivalent to the position of a deputy commander or deputy general. In addition, when officials from the capital are sent to other places, they are usually promoted. In other words, once a first-class guard is sent to the army, he can at least be a deputy general, or even directly serve as a general or a provincial commander, which is directly a frontier official in the military.

The only way for the sons of nobles to advance was to start from the Beijing Camp, but the Beijing Camp had long been rotten, and the Beijing Camp was only a place to gain experience or to get by. Moreover, the Beijing Camp was completely dead in name only under Zhu Shenzhui's tactics. Now the Beijing Camp was just an empty shell, a complete retirement place. The elite of the Beijing Camp had all been incorporated into the new army, and the commander of the new army was Wang Jinwu.

The sons of nobles wanted to make a name for themselves, but they could only live a lazy life in the Beijing Camp. Although most of the sons of nobles were not worthy of being appointed, some of them were brave and capable and intended to restore the glory of their ancestors. At this time, Zhu Shenzhui set up the Imperial Guards, which gave many nobles hope. If they could serve as Imperial Guards, they could not only directly obtain the rank of military general, but also have the hope of being sent out to lead an army.

In addition, although the Imperial Guards were nominally under the command of the Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard, they were actually directly controlled by Zhu Shencui. They were the real "Emperor's personal army." By following Zhu Shencui, one could not only get close to him, but also gain experience under him. In every aspect, it was much better than the previous Beijing Camp.

This is not only true for the sons of nobles, but also for the lower-level generals and military officers in the army. This is of great benefit to the military. Now not only the nobles in the capital are watching this matter, but even the nobles in Nanjing have asked people to inquire about it. As the only internal minister at present, Xu Xiancheng is even more popular.

Apart from this position, Xu Xiancheng's main job was Right Censor-in-Chief, which was the second-in-command of the Censorate. Besides Left Censor-in-Chief, Xu Xiancheng had the highest official position. Moreover, the Censorate was different from the six ministries. Although the Shangshu and Shilang of the six ministries were only one level apart, their powers were very different.

However, the Left and Right Censors-in-Chief of the Censorate were in charge of different areas and their ranks were equal. Although the Left Censor-in-Chief was nominally the top leader, he had no control over the Right Censor-in-Chief, and the Left Censor-in-Chief was not even allowed to interfere with the powers controlled by the Right Censor-in-Chief.

Yang Tinglin was an imperial censor, so he was Xu Xiancheng's subordinate. As a superior, it was fine for Xu Xiancheng to put on airs and scold him. And what Xu Xiancheng said was not without reason. Gong Dingzi fell from the top of the city wall in full view of everyone. From the time he climbed up the city wall to beat the drum to cheer, to the time he walked to the other side of the parapet, there were people around him who witnessed it. Everything was his own behavior.

As for how he fell, there was an explanation in the memorial, which said that Gong Dingzi was so exhausted from beating the drum that he lost his balance and slipped and fell, and it had nothing to do with others.

The memorial was signed by not only the generals in the army, but also Gong Dingzi's subordinates and soldiers. These people were not Zu Dashou's subordinates, but Gong Dingzi's people. Other people's words can be doubted, but Gong Dingzi's confidants' words can't be disbelieved, right? Moreover, the most important point is that when the incident happened, Zu Dashou was outside the city with his troops, and even several of Zu Dashou's capable generals were outside the city. How could he murder Gong Dingzi who was on the top of the city?

Xu Xiancheng's words were well-reasoned and made Yang Tinglin, who had just been aggressive and insisted that there was a conspiracy in Gong Dingzi's death, speechless. He opened his mouth and tried to refute, but he didn't know how to refute. Even if he was an imperial censor, he couldn't lie. He couldn't say black when something was so clear, right?
"I think Lord Yang's guess is somewhat possible." At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded. Everyone was surprised and looked closely. When they saw who was speaking, many of them showed surprised expressions.

This person was none other than Chen Xinjia, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and Right Censor-in-Chief. Chen Xinjia was a very talented person. He had served in the frontier for many years. He was capable, courageous, and proficient in border affairs. He was a rare civil servant who was proficient in military affairs.

Chen Xinjia had served as the Yuwenlang of the Ministry of Justice, Langzhong, Qianning Military Preparations Assistant, You Qiandu Yushi, and Governor of Xuanfu. In the ninth year of Chongzhen, Chen Xinjia returned to his hometown to mourn his mother's death, which allowed him to avoid Zhu Shenzhu's campaign to purge the court and stabilize the country. After Zhu Shenzhu became regent, he re-established the cabinet, with Wen Tihen still as the chief minister. He did not abandon Wen Tihen's political enemy Yang Sichang, but instead made Yang Sichang the Minister of War in order to balance and restrain Wen Tihen in the court.

Yang Sichang knew Chen Xinjia's ability, and he also understood Zhu Shencui's intention to let him serve as the Minister of War. In order to strengthen his own political influence and the clique in the court, Yang Sichang specially recommended Chen Xinjia to Zhu Shencui. After getting to know Chen Xinjia, Zhu Shencui decisively reinstated him and made him the Right Vice Minister and Right Censor-in-Chief, becoming Yang Sichang's right-hand man.

Logically speaking, Yang Sichang was not only a good friend of Chen Xinjia, but also had the grace to help Chen Xinjia. But why did he say such things when Yang Sichang had just reprimanded Yang Tinglin? Could it be that Chen Xinjia had changed his allegiance and planned to leave Yang Sichang and join the Donglin Party?
(End of this chapter)